Amy Currioman

Happy birthday Billy! Love you lots!

Hope you have a great time, lots of cake, ice cream and kisses from your girlfriend!

One thing I learned a long time ago, as a woman, is that there are a lot of times that people will try to convince you (me) that things are broken when they are not, or charge more money for something than they should.  For example three years ago I took my sister’s ford escort to the local fast oil change shop (which I will leave unnamed, but it is a huge national chain) to have the oil changed.   I was doing her a favor because she was having a hard time managing the time to get out and do it herself.

The mechanic that worked on the car tried to convince me that she needed a new  water pump, battery, windshield wipers and timing belt!  He gave me a huge estimate of the cost!  I told him that I’d let my hubby check those out before deciding to do anything.  Well, my hubby took a look at the car and said that the car didn’t need any of that!  And even if it did need all that, the cost should be half of what was being estimated!

Aside from having to change the windshield wipers once, the car is still running fine three years later!  No, it didn’t need a new battery.  Needless to say I have not returned to that particular fast oil change shop.

That is why I like the repairpal.com website – it helps me find reputable mechanics and get estimates on line.  That helps me to determine if I’m being treated fairly on repairs.

Have you made any New Year’s Resolutions this year? One of mine is to waste less food. I am apalled every week when I get ready to go to the grocery store and I rummage around the refrigerator to see what needs to be thrown out and find so much food that has been there too long to eat!

Part of the problem is that often times when I cook supper the rest of the family decides at the last minute that they aren’t going to eat dinner. Now I know I’m a good cook, but the only time I can count on everyone coming to the table is if it is take-out Chinese Food or take-out Pizza. And I am NOT ordering take-out food every time we need to eat supper! So I think that I will put the rest of the family in charge of the meal planning, the shopping, and the cooking. I’m tired of wasting time, energy, and money on trying to feed this family. As for me, well I can just fix myself a PB&J sandwich or a bowl of soup if no one cooks!

One of my favorite decorations for the house at Christmastime is a pair of handmade Mr and Mrs Santa Claus. I remember buying them the Christmas of 1974 for $25 for the pair. They were being sold by a friend of the lady who made them and brought them to the office to try to sell them. Well, being a sucker for handmade items, and being young and newly out on my own I grabbed them up! They’ve held up very well considering how old they are, and I love them dearly. They grace a space of honor in my house every Christmas

Our Christmas tree this year – most of the ornaments were hand made, mostly by myself or family members or friends.  Isn’t it pretty?  I even crocheted the angel topper and the tree skirt myself!  This year the tree is a small 3 1/2′ artificial tree that had light bulbs already strung on it.  I just didn’t want to bother with stringing lights this year myself!  And we decided on a small tree to put on a table to help keep the dogs from bothering the tree.  The last couple of years one of our dogs decided that chewing the strands of lights was a good idea!