Never Forget…. To Check Out These Links
So I know today is the tenth anniversary of 9/11 and I should post something inspirational and moving about how my life was affected. But I’m pretty sure all of us have spent enough time talking about it in the past ten years, and I’m not really feeling it today. It’s not that I’m a terrible un-patriotic person; I just don’t feel like reliving it at the moment. I promise, I’m thinking about glittery eagles and flags and “God Bless the USA” right now. So don’t hate.
The Yakezie members and challengers have switched up teams for fall, and I’m super excited to bring you some links from sites you may not have seen before. (PS, I’m a member now, thanks to all of you who hang out and support my site!) I also have a random story to share!
Yakezie Team 3 Links
Jackie at Money Crush talks about how to budget when you have an irregular income. This is especially timely for me since my income is now erratic and crazy, even though I’m not 100% self-employed.
Justin at Money is the Root examines the real cost of fantasy football. I’ve never participated in a fantasy league of any type, and this post definitely reinforces that decision! Actually it sounds like a lot of fun, even if it’s not the most productive use of time and money.
Julie at The Family CEO shares some AMAZING stories about the microloans she has given through kiva.org. Funny how an amount like $100 seems almost insignificant to most of us, yet can mean so much to someone in another country. I’ve actually wondered about Kiva before but never took the time to read about it. Awesome!
Sandy at First Gen American talks about going shroomin’ with her mother. I wish I had a digital version of the pic of me mushroom hunting with my grandparents when I was a kid. I haven’t been in YEARS - this post really brought back memories!
Kay Lynn at Bucksome Boomer featured a post about making excuses, especially where finances are concerned. Are you guilty of any of these? I know I am!
Niki at Debt Free by Thirty tells us the lessons she learned from her frugal idols: her grandparents. Since today is Grandparents’ Day, this was a timely and very sweet tribute.
Matt at Matt’s Money Blog asks us to measure our financial boiling point. I absolutely HEART the graphic he made to go along with the post! He is a new PF blogger so please go check him out!
Jason at Live Real, Now talks about the virtue of being prepared. Personally, I think I prepare too much - to the point that I’m so busy planning, I forget to actually do all the things I’m getting ready for.
Shanendoah at Baking the Budget has an allowance, as does her husband, and she lets us know how they keep things organized. My ex and I did the same thing in the last 7-8 months of our marriage and it helped a lot. Financially anyway!
A Random Story
When I was in kindergarten, a lady came to school one day to interview everyone in my class on video. She also recorded us doing various group activities throughout the day. Turns out this footage was included on our graduation video after the taping of the actual ceremony. (Sidebar: I’ll never forget the name of the company - Cat’s Eyes Productions. I kept their business card for YEARS. It was black with these awesome holographic cat eyes on it, which was pretty high tech stuff in 1988.)
Anyway, none of our parents were notified about the on-camera interviews because my teacher thought it would be a cute surprise. As in, we would say funnier stuff if our parents didn’t warn us not to. There were some HILARIOUS moments in those interviews.
One kid talked about his rabbit that pooped everywhere, including on the couch. I’m talking play-by-play descriptions of the rabbit taking a dump all over the house and the lady couldn’t even get a word in. I bet his family wanted to die.
Another kid said he wanted to be “a Indian” when he grew up. The lady’s like, “Um, what?” and he’s like, “Oh, I mean a doctor.” (Lonnie, if you ever read this, I totally hope you became an Indian instead. But if I remember correctly, I’m pretty sure you’re in prison.)
A girl who lived in my neighborhood went on a long tangent about her five thousand brothers and sisters in heaven and how we’re all related because the Bible says so. It wouldn’t be funny, except we live in Kentucky, so the “we’re all related” thing can be interpreted in a number of ways.
And then there was me.
I was a skinny kid. Like really skinny. On the day in question, my mom had dressed me in a tank top and shorts because we were going to the park and it was a thousand degrees outside. My hair was French-braided, making me look even smaller.
Between my talk of wanting to be a writer when I grew up and a long story about a trip to the zoo in which two giraffes looked like they were stuck together, the lady asked me what I liked most about school.
DO YOU KNOW WHAT I SAID?
“That would probably be lunch, because I get hungry a lot.”
Here I am in my tank top and braids, looking like I haven’t had a meal in a month, saying I get hungry a lot. I’m surprised the lady making the video didn’t call child protection. She probably went home and told her husband about the poor little girl who didn’t have enough to eat. (FYI we always had plenty to eat. I just ate like a bird and stayed very active. I have NO clue why I said that.)
The real kicker? Later, she taped us standing in a circle, tapping these wooden cylinders and singing “Hi Ho, Hi Ho, It’s Off to Work We Go” from Snow White. Guess who has two thumbs and wasn’t behaving appropriately? This girl, of course. I was holding my wooden cylinders up to my face like horns and making goat noises.
The moral of this story? Some people talk about rabbit poop or heavenly siblings and grow up to be normal. Other people get hungry a lot and make goat noises in class, and they end up like me. Yes, you may share this life lesson with your children so they understand how NOT to act. I can send the video if you really need it to make your point.
My children (5 & 2 yrs old) told their career choices. My daughter (5 yrs old) said she wanted to be a supermarket checker and my son said he wanted to be god. My children are adults, my daughter is planning director for a retail chain and my son is a lawyer. Not too far fetched!
I wonder if there is any research regarding what people want to be when they grow up vs. what they actually grow up to be. If there is a strong correlation, maybe it's only fitting that I pursue writing even harder, since that was my childhood dream!
Thanks for the link love Andrea!
No problem!
Thanks for the mention!
I am trying to remember what I wanted to be when I was in kindergarten. Yes, it has been that long. Probably a nurse. Today I am a sonographer. I did try nursing school, but by the second semester, I knew it was not for me. Bed Pans, don't cha know.
That was a great idea of the teacher. I'm sure the parents loved seeing the 5 year old face of their kids again.
I'm excited to be in the Fall group with you and the rest of the group!
I laughed so hard while reading your random story that I had tears in my eyes. I was totally the same kind of kid! I got in trouble repeatedly for trying to swipe extra lunches in Kindergarten, all the while looking like a kid who hadn't eaten in weeks (the kicker is that my mom packed me a lunch to eat at school, but I typically would sneak into the coat closet and eat it well before lunchtime).
There's a video floating around somewhere of a gym class where all the kids are getting ready for the parachute game (everyone stands in a circle holding an edge of a colorful parachute that has bouncy balls in the middle and then shakes it to make the balls bounce). I of course am over in no man's land, half hidden behind the bleachers eating a PB&J sandwich (they zoomed in on me and whoever filmed it was laughing their head off). Later in the video, I decided to participate in the parachute game-while it was going on! I literally ran & vaulted myself onto the bouncing parachute because apparently I thought I was a bouncy ball? Oy…
I laughed so hard while reading your random story that I had tears in my eyes. I was totally the same kind of kid! I got in trouble repeatedly for trying to swipe extra lunches in Kindergarten, all the while looking like a kid who hadn’t eaten in weeks (the kicker is that my mom packed me a lunch to eat at school, but I typically would sneak into the coat closet and eat it well before lunchtime).
There’s a video floating around somewhere of a gym class where all the kids are getting ready for the parachute game (everyone stands in a circle holding an edge of a colorful parachute that has bouncy balls in the middle and then shakes it to make the balls bounce). I of course am over in no man’s land, half hidden behind the bleachers eating a PB&J sandwich (they zoomed in on me and whoever filmed it was laughing their head off). Later in the video, I decided to participate in the parachute game-while it was going on! I literally ran & vaulted myself onto the bouncing parachute because apparently I thought I was a bouncy ball? Oy…
I laughed so hard while reading your random story that I had tears in my eyes. I was totally the same kind of kid! I got in trouble repeatedly for trying to swipe extra lunches in Kindergarten, all the while looking like a kid who hadn’t eaten in weeks (the kicker is that my mom packed me a lunch to eat at school, but I typically would sneak into the coat closet and eat it well before lunchtime).
There’s a video floating around somewhere of a gym class where all the kids are getting ready for the parachute game (everyone stands in a circle holding an edge of a colorful parachute that has bouncy balls in the middle and then shakes it to make the balls bounce). I of course am over in no man’s land, half hidden behind the bleachers eating a PB&J sandwich (they zoomed in on me and whoever filmed it was laughing their head off). Later in the video, I decided to participate in the parachute game-while it was going on! I literally ran & vaulted myself onto the bouncing parachute because apparently I thought I was a bouncy ball? Oy…
I laughed so hard while reading your random story that I had tears in my eyes. I was totally the same kind of kid! I got in trouble repeatedly for trying to swipe extra lunches in Kindergarten, all the while looking like a kid who hadn’t eaten in weeks (the kicker is that my mom packed me a lunch to eat at school, but I typically would sneak into the coat closet and eat it well before lunchtime).
There’s a video floating around somewhere of a gym class where all the kids are getting ready for the parachute game (everyone stands in a circle holding an edge of a colorful parachute that has bouncy balls in the middle and then shakes it to make the balls bounce). I of course am over in no man’s land, half hidden behind the bleachers eating a PB&J sandwich (they zoomed in on me and whoever filmed it was laughing their head off). Later in the video, I decided to participate in the parachute game-while it was going on! I literally ran & vaulted myself onto the bouncing parachute because apparently I thought I was a bouncy ball? Oy…