I lied...accidentally

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Texas, but this heat is even a little too much for me lately. I'm having to put the top up on the convertible in the afternoons and run the a/c. I hate that. I'm also not playing golf right now, but I'm still sporting a nice tan.


I posted and said I was going to give up on cooking. I accidentally lied. Last week, I bought a pot roast with green beans, carrots and potatoes from Market Street. It lasted for way too many meals and as always I ended up still getting two meals for Zena out of it. I gave up cooking because I had too many leftovers, but when I buy pre-made meals, I have the same issue. I might as well cook what I like. This way, I KNOW what is in my food and it's cheaper.


So anyway, I'm cooking again.  I made a spinach artichoke dip this week, some Hamburger Helper for Hayley (I accidentally bought Tuna helper, but I made it with beef and threw away the box so she wouldn't see it and not try the food) and I'm making the wonderful Bearnaise sauce and sauteed mushrooms to go with a nice filet mignon tonight.


So I've found oddly enough that I like NOT having a sprinkler system. Every Monday night, I have a glass of wine, read a book, and run around the yard moving my sprinklers. It's ironic, but every sprinkler system I've ever had ALWAYS had a leak or a busted sprinkler head, or the timer wasn't working right, running around is much cheaper. It's about the only exercise I get and I don't turn off the sprinklers before I move them, so I get a nice cool soaking in the process. 

True love. Zena and Peaches.

It's almost as relaxing as when I would pull fleas off the kitten. My boyfriend told me to quit calling her Possum Face 'cause it was mean, so I'm now calling here Peaches. But take a look at the pic....and guess how I came up with the first name.


Fortunately, we are mostly 'flealess' now....after many flea baths and lots of Frontline. These fleas cost me a lot of money, I've bought flea powder, flea spray, Pet Armor, Frontline, Spectracide, Viper....and I'm sure there is something I'm leaving off the list. I bet I spent a car payment on flea products in the last month. Oh, and I'm trying CedarCide in the yard next.


Another favorite Buffett quote: 
I buy expensive suits. They just look cheap on me.

Coneheads

Well my 'no spending at all' lasted 2 days. That's all I have to say about that.


So today....interestingly enough. I'm going 40mph on Midway Road and I almost run over a grown man on a tricycle. Now it is a grown-up sized tricycle, but really? I didn't even  know they made them. 


So I went back to Frisco City Grill. It's so convenient, but last night the service was so horrible. The bar is fine and the drinks are cheap, but trying to get food in the place is pure nuts. We ordered an appetizer and a meal and a drink. We waited and waited. I finally asked about the appetizer and it magically appeared right away. Then, our food never showed and the waitress was MIA. Didn't see her for probably 1/2 an hour. She wasn't waiting on any other tables. At this point, I have to assume she's out back taking a puff or drinking a beer. We were ready to tab out and they brought the meal we had ordered in a to-go box and didn't charge us. So at least they tried to make it right. The food is good, the people are nice, but I think they need waitresses that don't sneak off.


Which reminds me of my favorite Coneheads quote: Connie: How can it take so long to do a simple alignment on an american sedan with standard rack-and-pinion steering and MacPherson struts When your garage is equipped with the proper Borg-Warner digital hydraulic radiometer? 
Ronnie: Maybe because I was out back finishing a beer. 


Oh and for stock news. I got sick of XOM (Exxon) and CVS and sold them both yesterday. They were underperforming other stocks I own.

Budgeting....

So I decided to look at my daily spending habits on a typical work day. I'm very bad about stopping at the QT in the morning to get a Monster drink and fruit: $6, Tolls $3, Salad and drink at lunch $7. I figure I'm wasting $300+ a month easily.


So today, I have challenged myself to not spend any money for 3 days. Baby steps. I made a sandwich for breakfast, skipped the Toll, and I brought leftovers for lunch. I have food at my house so I shouldn't need to buy anything until the weekend.


Okay, so the worst part of this....skipping the Toll. Not sure I can keep that up. There are some intersections where the light must be 4-5 minutes long. It took me 30 minutes to get to work instead of 15-20, but for some reason it felt like an hour. I prefer the wind in my hair at 80mph. I'm going to try and keep up the no spending until Friday, but the Tollway may be my friend again next week.


When I look at the big picture, I'm wasting almost $4K a year. We won't even talk about weekend spending. I'm thinking I should have bought stock in Home Depot last year since I've dropped so much there in the past year.

"A budget tells us what we can't afford, but it doesn't keep us from buying it."

— William Feather

Travelers Insurance is Awesome and Frisco City Grill

Random cat pic

So Hayley's car was totaled last Monday afternoon. The following Tuesday (yesterday) I received the check. Awesome!!!! Thank you Travelers. My daughter loves her new car. She washed it yesterday and it looked brand new and clean BEFORE she took it to the car wash.


So a new restaurant opened by my house...walking distance. The staff was super nice and the happy hour prices are great. Bonus: On Tuesday's they have Tito's Vodka for $3.75. Regular happy hour is 4-7 with draft beers $2.50, bottled beers $2.75, house margaritas $4, and wine $5.


http://friscocitygrill.com/


The food was okay. The baked potato with brisket could have had a little more sour cream and cheese, but the brisket was really good. The burger which was a little pricey at $10 and not a very big burger, but apparently, it is made from some specially fed Texas cow, so I guess that's why. The bun was soggy. Hopefully this place will work out the kinks. They just opened on Monday. Also, the serving of fries was kind of small. Note: Potatoes are cheap so don't skimp on the fries.


The bar was small, but very nice with great TVs and there is also a big patio out back. I can see myself watching some Cowboy games here.


Anyway, I'll go back. Nothing like getting a little exercise, some cheap drinks, and not having to cook. 

Zena taking a snooze

I was on a big cooking binge and I love to cook, but I can't seem to make meals small enough for just me. (My daughter eats out almost every meal.) 


Zena is getting really fat from all the leftovers, so to help keep her healthy, I'm just going to stop cooking for a while.

Toyota of Plano Rocks!

It's nice when you can say you had a great car buying experience. These guys went over and beyond. Maybe I should always buy cars on a Friday when everyone is in a good mood and ready for the weekend.


My daughter got a much newer car than she ever thought she could afford. The finance manager even called his finance company and talked them into lowering my interest even more...1.90%. Awesome! He also took a credit card down payment so I could earn my points. Yea! Oh and they took our picture for us...but you can't really see the car. 


I was in and out in an hour. My daughter was so excited she ALMOST cried...and that's saying a lot. She's one tough cookie.


The insurance company just called and said they are issuing my check to me today for the totaled car. So yea!


http://www.toyotaofplano.com/


I have a nice weekend planned: happy hour with the girls, sushi lunch tomorrow, and possibly some golf. I still need to throw out all my clothes and start over, but that just doesn't sound like any fun.

A new adventure in cars

So Hayley decided recently she wanted to sell her car and get something newer. She said she wanted a Nissan Altima and we had been looking online to get an idea of prices, etc.


Last weekend, I made her go get hubcaps for her Sentra. Her car parked in my driveway without hubcaps was making my house look bad anyway. 


MONDAY'S EVENTS

• Lunch - Go to bank and get preapproval for car loan.
• Afternoon - American Express happens to send me an email about their auto purchase plan that I didn't even know they had.
• Afternoon - I find a nice car on AMEX site and email to Hayley and she really likes it and its about 4 years newer than what we had seen in our price range.
• 4pm - Call Hayley and tell her I'll meet her at house in the evening so we can wax her car before taking pics to post on Craigslist.
• 4:45pm - Driving home and see a 4-car accident. It is Hayley. Easy to spot because this week she is blond with blue streaks. Fortunately, she is not at fault and the faulty driver has great insurance.

The timing of this is all so uncanny.


I stopped and snapped this photo. Notice the new hubcaps.  


So the car is totaled, but the GOOD NEWS is that insurance gave us $1K more than what I probably would have made selling it, and I don't have to meet up with a bunch of bozos and/or ax murderers to show the car. 


We test drove the car we had found through American Express and it is awesome.  It's at a great price and newer than we had hoped to get.  She is very excited and I'm happy that she can actually get the car she really wants and the payments meet her limited budget. This is quite the upgrade for her. She is going from a 2000 to a 2011....so a complete decade. I'm so happy for her.  


I just came in from getting my mail. To top off all this uncanniness,  a dealer sent me a letter asking to buy Hayley's Sentra. 

Single Girl Fun....Not

So this how a single girl has fun and excitement on a Sunday. I'm attempting to use Wood Glue to fix the drawer support for my coffee table. I tried to put in a screw and the wood is so hard, I can't get it to go in. 


For my next round of excitement today, I'm replacing my a/c filter. Woohoo!






Then off to make Dish #53. Chicken with 40 Garlic Cloves. I should be able to fight off an army of vampires with my breath.


Watching sappy romance movies while I do all of this. I thought about golfing today, but it is so hot. Just needed an indoor day. Plus I look like crap and my friend Liz sent me the following piece of advice.

Frisco Freedom Fest

Went to the Freedom Fest in Frisco. It is Frisco....stroller mall town... so it is all about kids. Anyway, the School of Rock provided the stage and bands. Lots of really talented kids there. Didn't hang out too long since I figured people would frown upon it if I got in a bouncy house or on the bungee cord jumping thingy. What is that where kids hook up to ropes and then jump up and down???? In my day, we used a trampoline.


The great thing about my house....I'm in walking distance to everything. Walked down to  watch the Fireworks. They were okay, but not the same as watching in NYC over the Hudson River when Manhattan tilts because everyone has walked to the same side of the island.


Hayley has been trying to clean up her car to sell it and she inspired me. I realized that I've had my car for 2 years and I never waxed it. Oopsie. I read online that you should wax your car every season. Since Texas only has winter and summer, guess I'll do it again in 6 months.


I haven't cooked in the last couple of days. Used Hayley's 50% discount at Rudy's to stock up on barbecue for the 4th. Love, love, love their peppered beef tenderloin.


TGIF!!! Off to happy hour later with the girls at Blue Martini and fishing in a tournament at 5:30am tomorrow. Yikes.
http://www.bluemartinilounge.com/event/21/plano.html

Teens...ugh

 My daughter wants to sell her car and get something newer. I made her go buy hubcaps for it. I was tired of that ghetto looking car in my driveway anyway.


I told her if the car was polished and waxed she might be able to pull a few more hundred out of it. She's out there with a claybar. I snuck up on her to take a picture. Wasn't sure I'd ever seen her work on anything of hers before.  Love that mean look she gives me.


Oh my camera is not messed up. Her hair is lavender.


I have a friend who told me that every day her teen daughter would come home, go upstairs,  and slam the door. My friend said she was so grateful that she didn't have to talk to her. Hahaha.


So I made the Saltimbocca last night. I was not confident it would be any good. It is pork chop rolled up with prosciutto and sage and sauteed in Marsala wine. It was much better than I expected, and was very easy to make. I'll definitely make it again.


I'm not cooking tonight since I know have leftovers from the last two meals.


Happy early 4th of July everyone. I enjoyed Sunday church service. We sang the National Anthem and America the Beautiful and they had the sanctuary lit in red, white, and blue.

Dish #40 Saltimbocca

I had a wonderful weekend. I spent way too much time outdoors. My skin is so dark. I hope I don't look like that tanning mom. 


So last night, I made Dish #39: NY strip steak with Bearnaise sauce and home-made french fries. The fries were a special request from Hayley. The meal was awesome. I did not get the wine to accompany my meal because I went to the store before 12pm on a Sunday. Sigh.


So tonight, I'm making Saltimbocca. This recipe uses pork, prosciutto, and sage. I have never eaten or made this before, so curious to see how it is. Apparently, this is an Italian food that literally means 'hops in your mouth'. Personally, I hope nothing hops in my mouth.


I'm thinking I might practice hitting some golf balls this week. I'm tired of saying every Thursday...."I'm going to start practicing". I need to really do it for a change. 


So my high school buddy said to download this V1 Golf App, so I'm doing it right now. I'm hoping its a game changer....in a good way.


http://v1golfapp.com/

101 Dishes to Eat Before You Die

My eating has become pretty boring. Spinach salads and way too much chicken. So sick of eating the same stuff. I'm in a rut. So yesterday at Half Price Books I found a book "101 Dishes to Eat Before You Die".


I can tell you now that I will not try all 101 dishes. Some of the dishes include rat, puffer fish, and yak penis. No thanks. Also, some things may be too expensive for my budget. But I'm going to make a go of it and try as many as possible.


Tonight, I'll be fixing Dish #39. New York Steak with Bearnaise sauce, sauteed potatoes, and Pomerol wine. I love Bearnaise. I haven't made it in a long time. Never even heard of Pomerol wine, but if I can find it at the store, I'll try it. I looked online and some bottles of it are $5K so it just might be out of my $15 wine budget.


I had the best shopping experience ever this week. I detest clothes shopping. I wanted a new suit. I left my office at 11:19 am and went to Macy's at WillowBend Mall. I walked in picked out 2 suits, tried the first one on. It fit and looked good. I purchased it and it was half price....love that. I was back in the office at 11:45. If shopping was always like that, I'd probably do it more often.


So as part of my new singleness, I'm going to go through my closet and drawers and throw out all the clothes I don't like any more. I'm afraid I'll have nothing to wear by Monday.