Monday, January 04, 2010

Cheap Thrills

Beloved and I popped in at a friends house yesterday afternoon. We never see these people any more. He works. She works two jobs! They have a life. Beloved works. I work. I (sometimes) catch up on my grading.

We don't really have a life, but don't tell anyone. It makes us look pathetic.

I've noticed over the past several months that we don't go out. We don't see friends. We just aren't having much fun. Dang it. You know what they say, all work and no play...and pretty soon I'll be seeing ghosts and Beloved will stop shaving and then we'll have to make a trip up to Timberline to get all creepy.

I hate that movie, by the way.

Anywho...The fun factor around here is in the dirt.

I think it's time for a vacation. A real one. One that involved driving or flying and a hotel with clean towels that I did not wash.

There's just one problem...money.

The stove went out. I told you that, right? Beloved took the back off and discovered that we were lucky to NOT have died in a house fire. Melted plastic, melted power cord. I'm feeling pretty darn good not to be melted too! We've now been without a stove/oven for nearly two weeks. The part arrives Friday, thank God.

Our Boy enrolled in school which is awesome, but I would just like to mention that the outlandish cost of textbooks is a crime. It truly is. Someone should be taken out and shot. Maybe several someones.

The tax man commeth. It's almost that time of year and we know we'll have to pay this year and not just our local, overtaxing, illegal, spend-thrift state. We'll probably have to pay the Feds too.

Graduation is looming... with parties and gifts and all that. Which of course, means we'll have another college student next fall.

Our car is soon to need that 120,000 mile "special" tune up.

So, it looks like our entertainment will have to be local and cheap. Which is why I'm thankful for good friends.

We spent a nice couple hours just chatting and it didn't cost a dime.

Since we are all in this sour economy together, what are some ways that your family has found to have cheap, local fun? I'd love to hear your suggestions.

3 comments:

Darrell Michaels said...

I have got a great one for you! Pop a nice big bowl of popcorn and snuggle up with your hubby and watch the mighty Trailblazers destroy their next opponent, despite the fact that they have lost half of their team to injuries. Can't think of a better way to have a fantastic mini-vacation! :)

tootie said...

It may sound corny, but my husband and I recently had a great time cooking a meal together. It was good quality time, and best of all, we had a yummy dinner to eat as a result.

Weather permitting, going for walks are fun, too. Or driving around looking at Christmas lights!

Sandcastle Momma said...

When it's not cold out (it's 29 here right now) we do a lot of geocaching which leads to hikes in the woods as well as trips to parks we've never visited before.
We also get movies through Netflix so we pop some popcorn and all curl up with a movie or 3.