So…..
How did your new year begin?
At first, I thought my New Year began the same way that my old year ended, as at promptly 12:01 a.m. my son (who had taken my car to his friend’s house 90 miles away) called to report that as he was getting off the interstate, the car shut off and would not re-start. Then I began to think a little. He had asked me to drive him there….and if I had, I would have been stranded at his friend’s house for 5 days! So in a way, I had began with some good luck after all!
Then I decided I would buy a bike instead….On Monday, I walked the 2 miles to the nearest stores, paid my phone bills, and checked out the bikes in 2 stores….They were all a little too expensive for me at the time. I’ll wait…
I did shop at about 6 or 7 stores before making the trip home again. At one store I purchased my usual lottery numbers and bought 3 scratch off tickets….something very highly unusual for me! Our state has this game show where you buy a certain scratch off ticket and if you get 3 “entry” spots, you send the ticket in and you are entered into a drawing where if your name is pulled from there, you can be on the show to win even more money. My mother-in-law has played this game for years. She estimates she has had over 100 entries over the course of her playing and never been in the drawing. She uses her name and sends in tickets for some of her favorite family members…(I don’t think she has ever used my name). I used the automated machine and bought 3 ….and got 2 cards with entries, and won $1…..Hey! Maybe my luck is changing! By the time I was done shopping and returned home, I know I had walked over 5 miles. I had 2 full recyclable bags full of odds and ends I had purchased.
When I got home, I received a text message from my son. He and his buddy had finally checked out my car. The good news was it was only the timing belt….a $23 fix…..(which they decided they would charge me $800 for)! I told them I would pay their labor fees when I won the lottery!!
The following day, Tuesday, I walked to the store with my Mother-in-law so she could purchase her lottery tickets….After all, it was over 300 Million (232,331,000 euro). I would settle for just a portion of that, but alas….2 people in other states shared that pot of gold!
My son returned on Wednesday with the car in good working order.
Another bit of good luck came my way on Thursday. I received a check in the mail from Wal-Mart….where I haven’t worked in almost 2 years. This past year, I had received several class action lawsuits for companies I had been involved with over the course of my living here. This one was over breaks and lunch times. I received $258! ( 165.896 gbp,199.805euro). My mother-in-law came along for the ride as she needed to do some grocery shopping. I took my middle son along as he wanted to stop at the book store…and he’s good for carrying bags! I used the money to pay my car insurance, add money to my “New Computer Fund”, bought some groceries, and even had some extra for Bingo! I also bought some new socks and some well fitting underwear that aren’t afraid of larger rear ends and always try to hide in the crack! (Come on! You know what I mean! The kind that you spend more time pulling down!) In the mail earlier this month, I had already received another class action lawsuit against a bank (which I sent in) over their overdraft fees…I may have some more money coming in from that!. My son was extremely lucky. He buys these journals to write in and picked up 2. One was marked down from $17.98 to $0.98!!
Once again it started snowing this past week. The weatherman predicted 1/2 accumulation….He needs a new yard stick! (As I was only at Bingo for about 4 hours and had to wipe off 3 inches off the car!) I don’t mind snow….I just don’t like driving on snow covered roads where neither plow or salt truck has ventured yet….And they don’t seam to venture down our street very often. The grass can no longer be seen (again!) and they are predicting more snow for later in the week.
I had to run my son to his reserve meeting on Saturday morning about 34 miles away. We left early as I didn’t know what I would run into. The roads were untouched most of the way there and very slick. He was able to get a ride home so I would not have to make the return 70 mile round trip later in the day. We did however learn that after making the trip, my son had been honorably discharged December 21st! That means we would not have to make that trip ever again, but unfortunately he had worked all day for free! He didn’t learn that until after lunch time, so at least they did feed him!
So far, my year has gone fairly well…I did win $3 on one of my lottery tickets. But the Bingo God has still not answered my prayers….Again I have been close, but not close enough. By the way, my mother-in-law won about $600 again! And she told me that she had sent in a bunch of entries in her name, 2 sister-in-law’s names and a brother-in-law’s name….and the 2 sister-in-laws were both entered into the drawing to be on the show!
My oldest grandson called this Saturday and talked for about half an hour. We talked about several things. He often asks my advice over things. He was looking for a company where he could get monthly internet access. He wants to get a laptop and knew I had one like he would like to have. I suggested that since he is now in the Army and almost 19, he should visit the nearest electronics store (Best Buy) the next time he goes to town. He can check out the laptops, maybe even apply for credit to buy one there and they also have the Internet cards through several different companies. I wish him luck. He could make monthly payments, build his credit and get the things he wants. His mother may not approve of my advice, but this is a smart kid who can think for himself.
Saturday morning with my car now back at home and running, again my mother-in-law and I headed to the store. She had to pick up a prescription, and spend some of her Bingo winnings! While she was at the pharmacy, I was checking out the after-Christmas sales. I found her later in the pajama section….Where I found another pair of 2 piece footed pajamas, and a nice pair of hard soled slippers….which I didn’t really need but that phantom hand put in my cart anyway!
I ended Saturday by going to the youngest grandson’s Basketball game. I watched 3 games and went home….pooped. I didn’t even really have the energy to do any more knitting. I have completed 4 scarves so far this year, and I have 2 more that I am working on getting off their needles. From now on, I will only work 1 scarf at a time unless something weird happens and I run out of 1 color of yarn.
I don’t get on the computer much anymore. When I do, it’s never for more than an hour. I miss seeing all my friends blogs and updates like when WLS was still alive…I do check out the Wordpress and blogger spots every so often. But it doesn’t feel the same.
So to all my friends….big Hugs and Kisses, and I miss you! I hope your new year is a good one!
Lots of Love to all reading……
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