Three things I'm loving this week:
1. Mabel's labels. I dutifully labeled all of Kelly's gear when school started, but come winter, there is more stuff (coats, hats, boots, mittens) to label. And, as we all know, if you don't label, you risk losing the stuff to the school's mountain of lost-and-found forever. My personal challenge -- I buy a lot of black (shows less dirt) and it is hard to label. Mabel's Labels offer washable, peel-and-stick labels that can be stuck right on clothing, coats, etc. I opted for the "School/Camp" pack for $30. I thought it was a bit pricey, but so is buying a new winter gear. P.S. If you've got a hard-to-buy for kid or new mom on your list -- these would make a great and useful gift.
2. Tomato soup and grilled cheese. Seriously, is there a more perfect warm-your-belly meal that is easier to prepare than grilled cheese and tomato soup (Campbell's only, of course). I swore off grilled cheese a decade ago -- too much fat in the cheese and the butter. I didn't touch one for years. Then there were serious advances in fat-free cheese (it melts these days) and I discovered fat-free butter spray, ah....I can enjoy grilled cheese again without the guilt.
3. Studded winter tires. We scored big last week when I spotted an advertisement in the classified for like-new studded winter tires that would fit my GMC Jimmy. Four tires for $220. Better than the $400 we were going to have to spend on cheap, new tires when, after the first big snowfall, it became apparent I wasn't going to make it through this winter without them. With four-wheel drive and four seriously studded tires, I don't have to take the long way to the sitter's to avoid the scary hill with a the one-lane bridge at the bottom that separates my neighborhood from hers.
Three things I'm hating this week:
1. Erie's entertainment tax. Did anyone really think this was ever going to go away? Of course not. We all knew the city would become dependent on the money -- to the detriment of the one thing they got going on for them -- and they see those of us who have "expendable income" as their cash cows. Jim Thompson says "I've heard all the doom and gloom, and I haven't seen it happen." Perhaps, Councilman Thompson...you missed this news last week. It is hurting the arts and entertainment community and raising it will do more damage.
2. Waste Management. They must have learned a few tricks from the YMCA because every time I get a bill from them, it's more than the month before. They raise the fuel charge every single bill. Must be nice. I'm now paying $80 for three months of garbage service. My mother lives 3 miles away in Harborcreek -- where they have a contract with WM -- and she pays half that. The icing on the cake? I am supposed to be able to put out one "large" item a month which I have NEVER done in 15+ years of contracting with WM...but, when I called them last year to have a treadmill taken away, they told me that treadmills were one of the "special" items I had to pay extra to have taken away. I think not. I am a woman of great patience and I guarantee you they will take that treadmill away, bit by bit, if it takes me five years of stuffing pieces into that tote.
3. The Biggest Loser. I know this show has a devoted following of viewers. I know the contestants beg to be on the show and that they willingly hand over their dignity for a chance to live at the ranch (they call it a ranch, right?). I know that most of the contestants come away healthier and happier and many, many pounds lighter. But, I can't bear to watch them humiliate these people week after week after week. Why do they have to take off their shirts to weigh in. That's just cruel. It's wrong. It's so that all of the overweight viewers at home sitting on their couch, wolfing down chips and watching obese people weigh in can say, "Well, at least, I'm not as fat as him/her." I find nothing entertaining about humiliating people. You can say they aren't humiliated, but I've been there, I know, and I promise you -- they are humiliated.