Friday Randomness

Happy Friday Everyone!  We finished watching Season 3 of Downton Abbey this week. Agggghhh! How can it be over already? I know, you’re probably saying, “But I’ve only seen 3 episodes thus far, how can you have seen all 7 plus the Christmas Special?” The answer my friend is that I donated money to my local PBS station, and they sent me the DVD. I will not give any plot spoilers, but I will tell you that the LOOK of the show is much better on DVD than it is on broadcast TV. This was a big season in many ways, but I recommend not googling anything, since those in the U.K. have already seen and posted all about the plot points.

This is finals week at Maya’s high school, which has somehow thrown everything off in my brain. Well, not EVERYTHING, but she gets out at 12:20 every day, instead of 4ish, and it’s confusing to my poor noggin. Luckily, she finished yesterday, and has today off, so we can all get back to normal soonly.

Except…that I’m taking Monday off. No real reason, except that I want to, and I happen to think that MLK day SHOULD be a paid holiday. So for me, it is. How do you like me now? I know, I’m in a sassy mood.
Wednesday was my Grandma’s 90th birthday. Go, Grandma! When I spoke to her on Wednesday evening, she told me that she intends to live to 100, and that she wants a party for her 100th birthday. Allrightythen. Call the neighbors. In the meantime, she is still in the assisted living facility (appt for x-rays to determine when she can start putting weight on her cracked pelvis is this week, so we’re hoping she’ll be home soonish), so we are having a small family party on Sunday. I’m making a chocolate cake for her, and I’m tormenting myself with the ‘bake from scratch or use a mix’ dilemma. It’s not that I am afraid of baking, really. It’s just that those mixes have such consistent results, and I’m not sure what will happen if I bake from scratch. OK, maybe I am afraid of baking. It’s so damn precise. I did find a recipe online for a cake mix cake, where you buy a box of mix, and doctor it up with some extra ingredients to make it moist and yummy. I may try that, and if it turns out, you know you’ll learn all about it here.

Did anyone else see this really weird thing on the internets? Jeans that moisturize and reduce cellulite? As much as I’d like to have gorgeous, dewy legs with nary a dimple, I doubt very much that a pair of jeans is going to accomplish that where diet and exercise will not. Also? What kind of freaky chemicals are they putting in dem jeans? Freaky.

Ted saw one of those articles that I was complaining about, the ones that say how to save money by cutting out things that most of us have already cut out.  Maybe eat some leftovers once in awhile so you don’t waste SO MUCH food.  That kind of thing.  This one, however, actually had one handy tip.  They said you can buy discount movie tickets in bulk.  I know that you can do that at Costco, but we don’t have a Costco account.  I looked online, and wow, you can buy tickets online for $3 less than they cost at the theater!  How’s that for awesome?  If you go to the movies fairly regularly, which we do, this might be a good savings.  We haven’t done it yet, so I don’t know if you get them in the mail or print them or what, so I don’t know if you could buy it now and then hit the next showing of your chosen flick.   The three theaters that are closest to us are all Cinemark, so I look at their website, and found savings here.

I’m so sick of insurance. I really want single payer, where everyone takes it, and everyone is covered, and there are no issues. I know many disagree and say no way, but I do! We changed insurance companies, effective the first of the year. I had an eye exam last week, and when I called to schedule it, I told the receptionist that we have new insurance, but I didn’t have my card yet. She told me to be sure to call, because that way they could verify that they indeed accept said insurance. So, I did. However, I spoke to a different person this time, who said no, that’s a PPO, and there’s no need to give us the number or further info. OK. So I went in and had my exam, and then they looked at my card, and figured out, damn, they don’t take this card. SO, instead of an exam that would cost me $10, I got an exam that will cost me $228.00. I know that technically it is MY responsibility to figure this stuff out, and that I will have to pay, but I am NOT happy about it. Grrr.

Ted was in a fender bender last week…some guy in a tall truck (like one that a plumber would drive…because this was a plumber) ran the light, turning left directly into Ted’s path. Ted slowed, honked, and the guy sped on his way. The guy BEHIND the plumber could not see the light, because the plumber truck was too tall, and so he ALSO ran the light. And he ran into Ted. Or really, the car. Poor car. Which is now looking like a 2 week repair job, because they have to order parts and paint parts and so on. The insurance company gave us a loaner, which is good, but I miss our car.

Last weekend, Ted and I went for a walk, stopped for breakfast, and discovered an actual video store! Independently owned and operated! I guess they’ve been in business for something like 35 years, but they only moved to this location somewhat recently, after we had given up on all of our video stores closing up, and gone over to Netflix. I’ll admit, I liked perusing the aisles and seeing their categories…foreign films, classic movies, top 100 box office, academy award winners, etc. We signed up and will give it a go. I cancelled Netflix for DVD, but kept the streaming, as we do tend to use that a lot.

OK, that’s it for now. Have a fabulous weekend, take Monday off if you want, maybe watch some of the inauguration. Disgusting how much they’re spending, and that Obama is selling his face time, just like he said he would not do. Sometimes I truly hate politics and those who smell like politicians.