Friday, August 16th, 2013

Quote by Mahatma Ghandi "All through history, there have been tyrants and murderers, and for a time they can seem invincible, but in the end they always fall, always."

 

 

 

No, these pics are not from the set of 'The Walking Dead', this is a local grocery store (just up the road in West Fork), Super Foods and they've gone out of business.  Super Foods was and has been for quite some time, the closest grocery store to us Winslownians. 

 

Another much larger local grocery store chain, Harp's moved in just up the road from them several months ago and I figured it was only a matter of time before the end of Super Foods would be upon us.  Don't get me wrong, I like that Harp's is employee owned and I love that they aren't the big dog that Wal-Mart is, nonetheless, it's sad that Super Foods has closed it doors.

 

It got me to thinking, anyone who's shopped at a Harp's knows that they aren't exactly the cheapest store to shop at and Super Foods couldn't exactly afford to be as cheap as Wal-Mart.  Sure, they have deals sometimes that make the stop worth it and so does Harp's.  So, why choose to put a local grocery out of business?  Of course, Harp's has an inventory that Super Foods wasn't likely to match but they were local and probably just as costly as Harp's. 

 

I guess I just wish they could have found a way to keep the doors open, change their business plan, find a different and cheaper company to purchase their inventory from, something!!

 

Anyway, this is my Friday night.  I went shopping at Super Foods, as they were selling their merchandise all at 50% off, and I couldn't help but take the above pictures.  I've never seen a grocery store that looked like this. It really did feel like it was the zombie apocalypse and I was scrounging around for what little food and supplies I could find.

 

Still, it's sad to see them go.  I don't know the owners or the staff , but I just wanted to give them a shout out.  It was nice having Super Foods just up the road in West Fork and in spite of Harp's taking their customers, they will not take the place of the small town, locally owned, Super Foods!

 
 

Just for fun:
My final Super Foods shopping trip, I bought $75.94 of food and household items, but after their discount: Spent only $37.97 out of pocket.  Thank you Super Foods!  

Friday, August 9th, 2013

Quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson "In order to learn the important lessons in life, one must, each day, surmount a fear."

Another Friday night but not in Winslow....

This year was the 115th Annual Tontitown Grape Festival in of course, Tontitown, Arkansas and we decided to check it out.  I was hoping to pay homage to the classic 'I Love Lucy' episode and stomp some grapes but unfortunately, they did that earlier in the week.

So we didn't get to stomp grapes but we did get to ride some relatively nerve-wracking carnival rides.  Things change the older you get, I used to love roller coasters and anything that went fast and made me feel like I could fly......Apparently, I don't have the stomach for it anymore.  No, I didn't puke, though I'm sure if I would have indulged in some awesome carnival food, I may have lost it after riding some of those rides.

I was pretty freaked out that I might go flying right out of one of those rides and that I guess, use to be the fun of it, but now it just left me feeling a little old.  Regardless, we had a lot of fun and I rode the rides even though I was nervous before I got on them.

There were a ton of vendors selling their crafts and other various items, and we were about to read about how Tontitown was founded by the Italian immigrants that settled it was really interesting.  They were selling authentic Italian dinners and even serving wine from an Arkansas winery, though I must admit, I was disappointed they didn't use Tontitown's very own winery to supply the wine. 

Next year, we'll definitely plan on going on the grape stomping day! 
 

Just for fun:
Bought $11.30 worth of food and household items, but after coupons and sales: Spent only $6.31 out of pocket.  

Friday, August 2nd, 2013

Quote by John Calvin "The torture of a bad conscience is the hell of a living soul."

So things are getting super busy and of course really stressful at work, so I decided to take the day off today.  I turned the ringer off on my personal and work phones, shut off my work laptop, and slept late this morning.  I ate a mountain of french toast in bed this morning and then spent the rest of day getting caught up on the shows I have recorded on DVR.

I spent the whole day just relaxing and watching TV and not worrying about life or work... and it felt great!  Everyone needs a day to just be lazy and recharge.

Of course, after spending the entire day in bed, my ADHD kicked in and I started thinking about projects I need to work on, research I need to do, etc. I don't know if that makes me ADHD or if it's just because I have a guilty conscience about not getting a damn thing done today.

I generally move around so much, try to do so many things, that I often don't take the time to rest and recharge.  If you know me, you know that when I get into something, I go for it full force.  If there's a problem, I want to fix it, I want to conquer it.  Unfortunately, I far too often want to get involved in so many different things that I always have a to-do list a mile long.  Then I feel guilty if I'm not constantly working to mark items off of it.

So this evening, I attempted to do both; I decided to kick up my feet (we've moved to the couch), put on some reruns of 'Friends', pour a glass of red wine, and work on some low impact projects.  I got a few things done for my mom and I of course realized that I had yet to publish last week's blog, so I got that done too. 

Anyway, I'm glad I took the day off.  I really needed it and I got a few things done too, so I don't have to feel too guilty for being lazy!

Goodnight Winslownians!
 

Just for fun:
Bought $6.70 worth of food and household items, but after coupons and sales: Spent only $2.80 out of pocket.  We didn't need much of anything this week but I still saved over 50% of what I did buy!!

Friday, July 26th, 2013

Quote by Anthony Brandt "Other things may change us, but we start and end with family."

So another Friday night in the little town of Winslow.  We don't really have much planned tonight. Some of my family is coming up this weekend to celebrate my sister (Red) and brother (James) birthdays.

So, we basically just cleaned house and prepped food (we're having a "make your own  mini pizza" party when they get here).  We made fresh marinara sauce and fresh pizza dough, and we figured we'd chop veggies and make a nice side salad when they get here.  I'm really looking forward to seeing my fam, we've all been so busy, and we have so many things going on in our personal and professional lives, that we often forget to make time to spend with the ones we love.

After all of that fun, we had a late dinner and curled up on the couch for a movie night. 

Never a dull moment here in Winslow ladies and gentlemen!
 

Just for fun:
Bought $15.60 worth of food and household items, but after coupons and sales: Spent $12.56 out of pocket.  Again, not much savings but several bags worth of stuff!

Friday, July 19th, 2013

'Etymology' : The origin of a word and the historical development of it's meaning.

Have you ever wondered where certain sayings come from?  Well, it's Friday night, and we of course live in Winslow, so after a couple of glasses of wine, we somehow got off onto the topic of where a certain saying came from.  That discussion naturally led to the origin of another saying, that sparked another saying and another, so we spent the evening researching and this is what we came up with.

"Don't piss on my leg and tell me it's raining" - The phrase, as far as we can tell, came from the baddest bitch on Court TV, Judge Judy Scheindlin, but it looks like the original quote was actually, "Don't go pissing down my back and tell me it's raining" and this appeared in the Clint Eastwood movie, The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976).

Either way, it's a pretty funny saying.

"Put it on the back burner" (this is actually what started out our little tirade tonight) - Most people probably assumed that this came from cooking, and as far as I could find, you're right!  The funny thing that caused us to consider the meaning a little further was that, for some reason, we have one back burner that we could have on high and it just doesn't get that hot.  So, in the process of cooking, Damon said something like, "oh just put it on the back burner, it will boil", and I looked at him and said, "Yeah, it'll just take an hour".  Damon had the thought that perhaps all stove's back burners just don't get as hot, and that's where it came from (keep in mind that I mentioned we had been drinking before this point).  Anyway,  I figure it's because we didn't fully connect it last time we cleaned it, or it's just broken , but we went ahead and looked it up anyway and the explanation was simply that things you need to constantly stir or keep a close eye on should be closer to you and the things that don't need immediate attention can be "put on the back burner".  BUT I did find a few references to putting a pot on the back burner just to keep in warm which I guess could lead you to think that the back burners don't get as hot as the front :-)

"Rule of Thumb" - Most say that it came from 17th Century English Judge, Sir Francis Buller, who basically said it was okay for a husband to beat his wife with a stick, but just as long as it was no wider than his thumb.  There doesn't seem to be any documentation to support this, but it's interesting.  Another I found, stating it as the earliest citation, was J. Durham's Heaven Upon Earth in 1685, "Many profess Christians are like foolish builders, who build by guess, and by rule of thumb", which supports some other's guess's that carpenters and tailors who didn't have a ruler, would measure by their thumbs.

Good night all.....

 

Just for fun:
Bought $58.70 worth of food and household items, but after coupons and sales: Spent $43.45 out of pocket, most of which was produce and items I found on clearance, so I actually brought home a mess load of stuff! 

Friday, July 12th, 2013

Quote by Joseph Conrad "The belief in a supernatural source of evil is not necessary.  Men alone are quite capable of every wickedness."

So I'm pretty sure that everyone on the planet has heard of the AMC TV show 'The Walking Dead'.  We have for some time now resisted the hype and chosen not to watch it.  It all seemed a little ridiculous.  This show kind of blew up at a time when vampires, werewolves, and of course zombies were the big 'in things'.  Not being the type of people to be into something just because other people are saying it's the new best thing, we thought it sounded stupid and yet another repeat of something that's already been done to death.

Come on, you remember the old 'Night of the Living Dead' movies, right?  At least those are now entertaining to watch because they are so low budget. 

I'm not sure if Brad Pitt's career is going downhill, or if him starring in an upcoming zombie movie is a testament to how big of a thing zombies have become, but we still think the likelihood of a zombie apocalypse is completely nonexistent.

Anyway, we thought we'd see what all the buzz was about and sit down and watch a few episodes of the first season of 'The Walking Dead'.  What the hell, it's Friday Night in Winslow!

It was surprisingly really good.  Don't get me wrong, the first episode was rather uneventful but still left us wanting to watch the next episode.  We ended up watching the entire first season, only six episodes, and the season finale was pretty damn good!  We finished watching and Damon and I both agreed that maybe we could really get into it, so we put the second season into our Netflix queue and we're looking forward to seeing what happens next!

The moral of my ramblings, even if you don't get into the whole zombie thing, this series, so far, is pretty good entertainment, so check it out, especially if it's a Friday Night in Winslow!
 

Just for fun:
Bought $13.58 worth of food and household items, but after coupons and sales: Spent $5.59 out of pocket!  Keep calm and have coupons!!

Thursday, July 4th, 2013

Quote by Albert Einstein "Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited; imagination encircles the world."

So since today is a holiday, I thought I would share a Thursday night in Winslow instead!

The little community of Winslow puts on a fireworks show every year and its always fun to watch.  You wouldn't think that such a small town would put on a show worth watching, but I have to disagree.  If you haven't ever seen it, you should come out one year and check it out.  It's amazing how many people actually come.  It's always pretty packed and tonight was no different.  Sure, it's probably not as big and expensive as what they put on at the NWA Mall, but for us it's still pretty damn impressive!  Anyway, we got there a little before dark and pulled out the lawn chairs and just hung out waiting for the show to start. 

And for those of you who don't believe me, check it out.

Click Here to see the video 

Fortunately, it was a perfect evening, usually it's ridiculously hot at this time of year making it miserable to be sitting outside.  The weather was really nice, the fireworks were great, and after the fireworks we went home and let off a few of our own fireworks, drank some beer, and star-gazed a bit. 

Again, I cannot stress how perfect of a night it was.  We are always saying that we moved out to the middle of nowhere and we have this land and we never get to enjoy any of it.  We really enjoy star-gazing and Winslow is a great spot for it, we don't have a vapor light on our property so when we go lights out, it's pretty much pitch black, which makes seeing stars so much easier!

 

Just for fun:
Bought $46.06 worth of food and household items, but after coupons and sales: Spent $36.81 out of pocket!  Keep couponing people!!