Amy Currioman

For as long as I can remember, I have always loved horses. Unfortunately for me, we lived in a suburban area and my parents had no interest whatsoever in indulging my wishes for pets of any kind, let alone a horse! So I resigned myself to a pet-free childhood, and resolved that when I was old enough to live on my own that I would have whatever pets I could afford to have.

One year my parents decided to go on a week’s vacation without the kids and they farmed me out to a cousin’s horse farm for the week. I was in horse heaven that week! My parents bought me a pair of used horse riding boots and dropped me off at Cousin Betty’s house and I was totally emerged in horse farm life for the week. One of the things that Cousin Betty had me do was to help straighten up and clean the saddlery that was in the tack room. She showed me how to use saddle soap to clean the saddles and halters and reins. She had me muck some stalls, which was hard work, but I didn’t mind at all. I was with horses on a horse farm! She showed me how to groom a horse, and she gave me a few riding lessons. I wished that week would never end!

My husband and I usually manage to plan our days around not having to drive during the rush hours, but today we could not avoid it. I had to go have a medical test done in Fairfax, and when it was over rush hour was starting. I suggested that we go to the BJ’s that was only a few blocks away to get my hubby his membership card, and then go visit my brother that lives a couple of miles from that and wait out the rush hour.

Well, we did go to BJ’s and get the membership card, and then we walked around the store for a while. It was the first time my hubby had ever gone to a BJ’s and he wanted to check it out. So we spent about an hour there and then we paid for our purchases, bought a hot salted pretzel to snack on and started our trip home in rush hour. My hubby said he didn’t want to go to my brother’s; he just wanted to head home, even if it was rush hour. Within a few minutes we were in the HOV lane of I-66 headed home. Smack dab in the middle of rush hour. The HOV lane was moving at a whole 30 mph, but at least it was moving. All in all, what would have normally taken 60 minutes to drive home took 90 minutes, so I guess it wasn’t as bad as it could have been. Since my hubby was driving I used the time to call friends and relatives on my cell phone while heading home. I was glad my hubby was driving; I don’t like rush hour traffic at all.

Guest post written by my buddy Lavern Small

I went to CannonSatellite.com to look into satellite and see if it was any cheaper than cable. I also talked to the people with my lawn care company to make sure they wouldn’t mind if I cut back to twice a month instead of every week – that’s helped us save hundreds a year. I don’t know why I got on this money saving kick but for me it’s all about making sure we’re financially viable in this economy and I know that my job’s secure but I get really worried that I might lose my job or get hurt or something else terrible. I love being part of a supportive family but there’s something to be said for taking matters into your own hands and that’s what I’ve done – I’ve asked every member of my family to put their best effort forward when it comes to saving money but at the end of the day it’s an individual effort and everyone has to answer for themselves with what they’ve been able to save.

Well, here it is, Christmas morning and so far the house is still quiet. There are no longer young children that waken the adults at the crack of dawn with cries of “Santa came!”  Such memories are sweet, but I do enjoy being able to drink my morning tea while starting to prepare our traditional holiday morning cinnamon buns. I won’t wake anyone else until I’ve finished making them and put the turkey in the oven. Once everyone else gets up, it will be a busy, noisy, joyous day.

Merry Christmas to all!

I was asked by my mother to host the family Christmas dinner at my house this year. I’ve been hosting the family dinner here every year for the past several years and I really would prefer to go out to eat Christmas dinner at a restaurant. Having around twenty people here is not an easy task. My hubby and kids don’t want the dinner here, so they mope and complain about it. There are other family members that only come here out of a sense of duty, and you can tell that they would rather be at their own homes celebrating inside a bottle. Still others simply say that they want to start new traditions with their own family that don’t include being with the rest of “our” family. Is every single family this dysfunctional?

I’m thinking about trying to start a new tradition at the dinner that would make everyone happy that they came. I just don’t know yet what that will be.  Maybe starting a food fight!