My Lemonade Award & Awards

Thank you, Leslie, for my Lemonade Award!! The icon symbolizes the old saying 'When life gives you lemons, make lemonade!' I'm honored, because this award is for blogs that show Great Attitude or Gratitude, and I do try to keep my blog 'happy'!!

The rules for this blog award are simple:

1. Put the logo on your post or blog.

2. Nominate at least 10 blogs that show great attitude or gratitude.

3. Link your nominees within your post.

4. Let the nominees know they have received the award by leaving a comment on their blog.

5. Share the love by linking back to the person you received the award from.


So....without further ado....the nominees for the Lemonade Award are..... (and if you DON'T want to play by the rules... you STILL get the Award!!! = )

Mik ~ This guy has so much GRATITUDE in life!!! While some of the things in his life would bring others down, he is truly grateful for the blessings in his life, he keeps a smile on his face and puts a smile on faces that surround him.

Kat ~ This lady is such an inspiration to me because she stays on top of her weight loss goals, keeps us posted about her progress, and is doing very well with it. And I think she displays GREAT ATTITUDE during it all.

'On-Ya'ma ~ Talk about GRATITUDE!! This wonderful lady DEFINES it!!

Jimmy ~ You can't talk about GREAT ATTITUDE and NOT mention Jimmy!! This guy will keep you in stitches with EVERY entry he writes, be prepared... when you leave Jimmy's journal, your sides will ache!!

Ken ~ Ken always displays a GREAT ATTITUDE, even when he has to work nights!! Pop in Sundays for a quick dose of Sunday Silliness.

OK, I owe you FIVE more... but that'll have to be on part II, son will be home soon, I HAVE to make dinner!! LOL!!!

Have a great week (and a great attitude!)
Joann

Eating out less, in more

AOL posted an article today from Wallet Pop on Restaurant Tricks.

It really made me think about eating out a lot less than I do.

The article mentioned things that restaurants do to save a buck. Things like, making soups 'brothier' with less ingredients; using less salad ingredients; using more inexpensive fillers in burritos, etc.; or reducing to ridiculously smaller quantities or portion sizes.

Even adding on bill surcharges; drink charges (ice tea/soda can be $2.79 ~ $3.10 or more which can really add up for a family of four); condiment charges or watered-down condiments; substituting expensive items with cheaper imitations; and using processed meat instead of real chicken or beef.

They also use fancy names like 'old fashioned' to get you to think you'll be getting a greater value.

Not to mention one restaurant where the owner would rescue customer's unused pickle slices from the trash and re-use them for the next customer, although, I can't imagine that happens too often, but WHO KNOWS??

Times are tough, and just like the consumer, every business is looking for ways to save a dime.

I, myself, have switched to ordering water at restaurants instead of ice tea, lemonade, etc. (And NO, I don't take my own kool-aid or make lemonade out of it, I drink only the water as it's served.. LOL!!) Yeah, it may sound cheap, but it helps, it even helps me to get my daily water in. I still allow my son to order whatever he wants, but since it really doesn't matter to me that I drink water, it's no big deal.

The biggest switch I've made recently (within the last 3 weeks or so) is just eating out LESS. I haven't been going out for breakfast or lunch (which I've done quite a bit in the past), I've been taking my own breakfast & lunch to work.... I know, I should just eat the breakfast at home, but who has that kind of time... LOL!!!

The article also mentioned that STARBUCKS is NOT supposed to charge for extra caramel in that Frapuccino, but they do as often as they can. (Sorry, Marty! Oh, Wait! Marty doesn't read my blog... LOL!!) Anyway, I have yet to verify if that's true or not, but I HAVE noticed often time, the barista will say... "Oh, I won't charge you for that!" but sometimes they just do.

Anyway, if you have anything that you do to save on your restaurant bill, will you share in a comment??

Have a great next meal!!

Joann

Solvang & a 2009 Log Cabin

Hi Everybody...

Hope you are enjoying a beautiful weekend!! Mine has been great so far, I took the day off yesterday and took my mom for a drive up the coast to Solvang!! It's a very cute, very touristy little Danish town. We had a great time, the weather was PERFECT, (60's there in town, 50's on the coast) and we loved the fact that it was a FRIDAY, and there were NO CROWDS!!! Of course, we came home with baked goods, chocolates, and LOTS of wine!!



Also wanted to show you the new 2009 penny.... they've traded Lincoln's Log Cabin for the Lincoln Memorial. (And YES, it still says "In God We Trust" on the front!! = )



My son is grounded this weekend (nothing big, he just forgot to bring home his weekly progress report, this week).... SOOOO his loss is my gain... we're watching movies tonight. Just got back from the Red Box, and got Hancock; Righteous Kill; and Lakeview Terrace... like I'm gonna watch ALL THREE tonight, but hey, at $1/night, I'll just return the ones I watch and keep the others 'til Monday.

Have a great rest of the weekend!!

Joann

Tea & Windchimes!

Thank GOD for my girlfriends, and for Blogs... my son is hardly ever home anymore, and I MISS HIM... LOL!! Well that's life I guess, huh?!?! I KNEW I should've had MORE KIDS!!! LOL!! He's out with friends tonight, and I'm home, but not alone, I have YOU!! = )

Anyway, last weekend I went to a Tea with some girlfriends, I bought a beautiful windchime I wanted to share with you... but the pic doesn't do the colors justice!





and last night I went to play BUNCO with some other friends.... we had so much FUN!! It was PINK night, could you tell... LOL!! Alot of them were still wearing the pink from work where we all wore pink to let the governator know how the upcoming pink slips will affect the schools.



BUNCO BABES!!!!!!!



Well, hope you all are having a great weekend!!

Joann

A Technical Dinner

OK, So Chris and I wanted to take Anthony (hidden behind Chris) to Joey's BBQ for his birthday.... another friend of theirs, came along too (across from Anthony)... so much for conversation, huh?!?

Lana (my friend, Anthony's mom) and I were sitting at the other end of the table CRACKING UP at these guys!!! We should have taken away all the iPod's, phones, etc. ALL THREE of them were like this until the food came!!! LOL!!!

YOU??? What about ME??!

OK, this is me whining.... it's long, drawn out, and really boring... but I'm doing it to make ME feel better... to talk out my anger.

Today, I was talking with a co-worker, and happened to say something like "I can't afford THAT!" I don't even remember what we were talking about, but she said "YOU, what about ME!??"

I make a little more than she does, but she has 2 side businesses, and a husband who makes VERY good money, plus very skilled side jobs that pay WELL. She has renters, AND just won a HUGE LAWSUIT from an accident.

I was really URKED... I totally understand that EVERYONE feels that they don't ever make enough money, everyone lives at different levels, and I also know that I can't complain because I HAVE a job, when alot of people don't... and I DON'T complain, I totally realize my blessings... but I was being realistic, it wasn't just a phrase I was throwing out, I really couldn't afford what we were talking about. She didn't even THINK about what she said.... or WHO she was saying it to!!!

I don't play the 'single-parent' card too often, I really don't... that's just the way the world is now, probably HALF the kids in the country (if not MORE) are from single parent families (and they ARE still families!). But when someone like this woman throws this at me, I want to scream.... DON'T TELL ME that you're worse off than ME in ANY way, shape, or form when it comes to AFFORDABILITY!!!

I'll have to chalk it up to the fact that she just wasn't thinking AT ALL!!! She was talking through her butt!! I DO know that she is an EXTREMELY selfish person... and that IS the right word.

I hope I didn't offend anyone, in this entry.... I just had to get it off my chest!! Thanks for letting me!!!

Gotta go, American Idol is coming on!!! = )

Joann

Queen for the Day!!

I didn't realize how long it's been since I last blogged. Guess I don't have much to say, huh???! LOL!!

Well, I do want to share a couple of pics with you from my mom's 70th birthday dinner which turned out GREAT!! She had SO MUCH fun!!!!







Hope you all have a great week!!