With a name like that, be afraid. Be very afraid.

We weaved our way through the rows and filled our cart with everything on our list and then some. We finally pulled up to the check-out and proceeded to watch the bill go bigger and bigger and bigger. We proudly handed over our Roundy’s card and the pile of coupons we poured over earlier over coffee. The clerk gladly scanned the card and the coupons and then gave us our total. I swiped my debit card and then watched as the clerk picked up the phone and called the manager. Knowing that I have plenty of cash in my account, I quickly asked the clerk “what’s up? what’s the problem?”

He smirks, looks over to us and says with a shit-eating grin, “you saved too much.” I was like “yah, whatever. What’s the deal?”

Just then the manager bounces over to our clerk, swipes her card and pushes a few buttons and my transaction completes as it should. I asked him again what the scoop was and he replied once again “you saved too much money.”

Seriously?!? Have you ever had someone tell you that “you saved too much money?” Needless to say, I giggled all the way to the car. I saved too much money… too funny.

So, while surfing I decided to see what’s going on in the world.  I’ve been so busy with planning the wedding, unpacking, work, sports and my volunteer duties that I’ve fallen behind on what’s happening in the world around me such as what’s up with the Gimpy Girls, dooce, blurbomat, etc.

So, I’m clicking through my favorites and then I was like “What the hell?  Have I been on Mars lately?  How is it that I’ve missed important news like my friend Jessica being pregnant!”  Yep, Jessica is preggo!  A huge congrats to Jessica and Josh for sealing the deal.  I can’t wait to see Lil’ J when he/she comes to the world in November.

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Please!  Please help us end the “R” word.  Pledge to stop using it.  Pleadge to encourage others from not using it.  Pledge that you’ll help spread the cause.

Thank you!

We did it!  We helped Claire win the race.  Thanks to everyone that cast a ballot for Claire!

Help me help Claire Strader become the House White Farmer!  She has been nominated along with several other folks from across the country to be the next farmer for the White House.  Claire rocks!  She deserves to be the next farmer for the White House but she can’t do it unless we vote for her.  So, I need ya’ll to go to http://whitehousefarmer.com/ and click on the vote button.  Look for Claire Strader in the list, click the button and submit your vote.

The voting deadline is Friday, January 31.  Vote PLEASE!

Here is Claire’s nomination info:

Claire Strader – Troy Community Farm

Claire is just the woman to turn 5 acres of the White House lawn into the nation’s premier urban farm. Claire has worked in small-scale organic agriculture for 15 years, including her 8 years at Troy Community Farm where she turned a 5-acre parcel of weedy urban landscape into a highly productive and wonderfully beautiful vegetable farm. Not only does Claire produce food for CSA, market, and wholesale on this small urban farm, she also educates college students, high-school youth, and adult volunteers through the farm’s internship programs. Claire is an excellent farmer and educator who could not only feed the first family and others in the DC community well, but also serve as a brilliant role model for future farmers all over this country.

What’s more, Claire’s farm is part of a larger non-profit that also runs a 5-acre community garden, a restored prairie, and several kids’ gardening programs on 26 open acres in the city of Madison, WI. Community GroundWorks at Troy Gardens not only feeds people, it also teaches people to feed themselves. Claire’s work with this organization connects her with other growers and educators who have the skills and ambition to help this country both eat local and grow local. First the White House lawn, then the lawns across the nation!

Undead Scottish comedian Anges Macabre presents the rise and fall of fab gore in THE ZOMBEATLES: ALL YOU NEED IS BRAINS! Available on DVD January 23rd 2009…

Woo hoo!  I got a Golden Ticket!  Ok, so it’s mostly blue but it feels golden to me.  Actually, I feel like Charlie Bucket from Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory with my precious ticket!

As you know, I love Sarah Palin.  So imagine my surprise when I read in the Fort Wayne local paper, the Journal Gazette, that Sarah was coming to town.  I was floored.  I’ve been in this town for two months working on a project and now little ‘ole me could have the chance to meet this great person.  But, my hopes were almost killed when I found out you had to get tickets.  Tickets?  How can I get tickets you ask?  Well, fortunate for me, there’s a local “Republican Party” headquarters two short blocks from where I’m working.  Score.

At lunch I head over there only to find that “we’re almost out, in fact we might be out.”  To get tickets, you have to fill out a request form and then RUN to the ticket stand.  I don’t think I’ve ever filled in a form as fast as that one.  Then, came the mad dash to the ticket table — there’s no way in hell that I’ve gotten this close to meeting her just to be the poor schmuck that was one second too late.  I heard bells and magical music when the lady said, “we have a few left.  How many would you like?”  How many? I can get more than one?  That would rock but I tell her that “I just need one thank you” and she gladly hands me a ticket.  I walk out the door happy as a lark and clutch onto my “golden ticket” for the rest of the day.  Thank you kind lady for giving me my ticket.  Later I read in the paper… “Lines form for Palin tickets.”  Lines? Ha, not for me.

So, this Saturday I will be happily skipping four miles, there and back, to the Fort Wayne Memorial Coliseum to see Sarah Palin.  How many people in their lifetime can say that they had the opportunity to see a VP candidate a few days before the election?  My guess – not too many.

So, is my ticket golden?  You betcha!