Attachments...

No, not the kind that connect to your vacuum cleaner. I'm talking emotional attachments we form to inanimate objects.

For some odd reason, I become attached to my automobiles. I know it all stemmed from driving my grandfather's 1976 Chevy Malibu (blue vinyl bench seats and 8-track). From that car, I moved on to a 94 Nissan Sentra. That car was my baby with only 230,000 miles on the engine and still running strong until some idiot backed into it, busted the headlight and signal light to the point of $1200 repair bill. I cried when I had to let her go. I wasn't even home when they took her away.

Now, I have a strong attachment to my 1982 Volvo aka The Bean Machine. I was recently considering buying a new car and every dealership asked about my trade-in. There's no way I will trade in my car - that's what I told every salesman. But why not get rid of a car that's 26 years old with a leaky sunroof, no overdrive, an AC with a slow leak so it needs to be serviced annually, and only gets approximately 230 miles per tank of gas?

I even thought about the cash for clunkers program which didn't start until this month. I could have, potentially, received $4500 trade-in value.

But I wised up for several reasons...

1. I love The Bean Machine. It's solid metal. Metal will crunch a fiberglass automobile - so it's essentially like driving a tank on the road.

2. Although it does not have overdrive, the car hauls @$ and most people are smart enough to move over when they see me barreling down on them in their rearview mirror.

3. The body is in great shape. Unfortunately, the dashboard just started to crack, but I plan to order a cover (which I should have ordered two years ago) to prevent further cracking. I even replaced some body molding clips and put the chrome trimming back on. I've even picked up additional lug nut covers just in case I lose another (thanks to Uncle Mike for losing two within the span of 2 weeks).

4. It's big enough to haul garden supplies. Although my sentra was so flexible that I could put furniture (except a queen size bed and sofa) in, my volvo does great at the garden supply.

5. It's a car that will run for over 300,000 miles on the same engine with minimal care.

6. Never get rid of anything that's paid for. In this economy you never know what will happen. I could lose my job today and struggle to make my car payment. So I always have something to get around town in.

Yes, I did buy a new car last week. But do you want to know the funny thing? The new one is sitting in my driveway while I drive the Vovlo daily (to/from work/school). I actually missed driving my volvo and now we're back to being friends (he's not acting like a spoiled child and stalling in the middle of the street).

If I ever consider getting rid of The Bean Machine, I will sell it to someone who will love it just as much as I do. I wont take it to a dealership only to have it sent to the scrap yard.

Why I pay someone to cut my lawn

There are a lot of things I can do for myself and I consider myself a fairly handy chick, although I wouldn't say I'm qualified enough to get my contractor license and apply for a DIY show on HGTV. However, there is one thing I learned this weekend... unless you have a riding lawnmower or self-propelled mower, it's good to pay someone to cut your lawn. My backyard is monstorus in size (or at least is seemed when I was cutting it for the first time EVER on Friday), so large that I had to stop 4 times to empty the bag on the mower. Ok, it's not THAT large and granted the bag on the mower is small - but goodness it was a difficult task. I will be so glad when my uncle returns so he can continue the lawn care.

Ok, I'm done bemoaning the woes of lawn maitenance and on to trying to finding a natural remedy for mosquitoes. Those pesky buggers can completely ruin outdoor enjoyment. So this coming weekend, I will plant marigolds and geraniums as well as lemon basal. If nothing else the marigolds will keep the aphids from my roses and the lemon basal will be great on fish and chicken. Hopefully, they will also help keep the pest population at bay.

And finally, on today's fashion calendar inspiration - it's my absolute fav - Mrs. Obama day (black with pearls). I still haven't figured out the right distance to capture the shoes in the photo and I couldn't totally crop out the step and ironing board (man, that maid needs to be fired)...but it's fun just the same!

Black Dress - Old Navy (thrifted)
Black Cardi - no tag (thrifted)
Pearl/Floral Necklace - Ross
Pearl Earrings - too old to remember
Shoes (not pictured) - black patent with red ankle strap - Steve Madden (thrifted)

Me thinks I've been thrifting too much! Naw!!!!!!

The Joys of Kickboxing

Wow!!! That's the best adjective I can use this morning. I love love love Turbo Kick at the gym, and didn't realize just how much I missed it until last nite. It was our first nite back and it felt goooood, so good that I know DOMS will set in around 10am today, but I'm ok with that. I am also praying for rain so we can skip Zumba tomorrow for another round of Turbo Kick!

Following the gym, we strolled through Wally World to pick up much needed food supplies (gotta love Amy's and Kashi meals because they are great for grab/go or coming in late and forgot to defrost something to cook). In the checkout lane that's a miles long, lady walks up bemoaning that folks moved her basket. I simply said "if you weren't here, that meant you were still shopping". I wasn't the one who moved her basket and I had no plans on letting her back in line. I don't understand the mentality that if you leave your basket in line, that it's a place holder (if shopping solo). If I forget something, I simply go back and get it and get back in line. To that effect, I was called a "meanie" and said to have an attitude. Oh well! We ended up moving lines since our fuses were getting shorter by the minute. Needless to say, we checked out faster in the 20 items or less and while walking out, I raised my hand in gesture to say "good nite all" to the woman who uses her basket as a place holder. I may simply have to order my Amy's and Kashi meals online or traspe down there at odd hours of the early morning to avoid the masses.

Well today is coral/torquoise day and I don't think I put much thought into it (see photo). The hair's a bit better than yesterday, the smile is creepy (deer in headlights look - so not sexy), and I still can't get my shoes in the shot. Maybe I will cut my head off in lieu of shoe shot, because we all know - it's always about the shoe

New Week for New Habits

Woo Hoo - it's Monday...Yeah, I know - not supposed to be so happy for a Monday, but I am for the major reason: I am once again a member of 24-hour fitness. I dropped my membership thinking it would save me money. Ha! I was wrong. Skippin workouts only lead me to deeper depression and spending more money resale shopping. So when I received the letter begging me to come back with promises of deep discounts, yada yada yada...I thought "why the hell not?" So tonight I will be turbo kicking my way back to sanity! Woo hoo for Monday.

Also, I read a megaload of fashion blogs. One of my favs is Fab Finds. Kimberly has done a great job keeping us frugal fashionistas updated and for providing some chic outfit ideas. So I've printed her fashioin calendar for June and here in my first attempt at dressing by the dots (instead of Nautical, Terrie and I changed it Seersucker Monday). Disregard the Cruella Deville hair and the poinsettias on the floor (I'm too lazy to store those holiday flowers).