Planning

Today, tomorrow, yesterday, a week from last Thursday, April 15th, Canadian Boxing Day...next year?  All these things have something in common.  They are all a day that we plan on, regardless of what we are doing on Jan 25 (which is known as "National Voter's Day" in India) we are planning on doing something, right?  We wake up, we eat something, we may go somewhere.  Sometimes we may plan on something, but it doesn't happen because of something un-planned.  I really wanted to go see that movie tomorrow night, too bad I broke my leg and am in traction...maybe tomorrow I'll plan on getting some rest?

No, I did not break my leg, and no, I'm not in traction, but I do have plans.  Some I'll be able to achieve.  Others, not so much.  Here are a few things I am planning on....as always, in no particular order

• Clean the garage so I can get the Honda in there as winter is coming. I don't mind letting the car warm up while I scrap off snow and ice, but it does get old after a while.
• Leaves, leaves, and more leaves....i wish they would just leave me alone!  I hate this time of year.  Of course Isaac loves the big pile of leaves to jump into.
• Sleep
• Travel to Cali and spend some time with the family and friends
• Take Becky to Vegas for our anniversary
• Finish painting the kitchen/bathroom
• Take Isaac up the mountain and get some good sledding in this year (more snow required)
• A nice child free evening out to dinner with some friends.  (Preferably to Barbacoa)
• Christmas Lights
• Sleep
• Take that trip to Hawaii

So why make a big deal about this?  Plans are great, it's always nice to have a "plan of action".  I'm just saying that we can't rely on our plans to the point of rigidness.  We all need to be flexible to some point as we don't know what tomorrow will bring.

Growing up in suburbia, my mom always told me to save for a rainy day.  I was more of a "in the now" type of person.  That is till life caught up with me.  Marriage, family, credit cards, and stupid, stupid mistakes.  Needless to say it has been a bumpy ride after some courses from Financial Peace University, we finally learned that lesson. Other than our house, my family is debt free.  My mom (not sure if she reads this) was right.  If it's not in your hand, don't spend it.  Yes Mom, you were right.

I never planned on living debt free.  Heck before I heard of this class I didn't think it was possible.  It's like a diet, you can change the behavior for a little while and see some results, but you eventually fall back into it.  You need to make a lifestyle out of it.  Like Dave says, "live like no one else, so later you can live like no one else!"

I managed to get some extra sleep last night, not that I planned on it, but it happened.  Today I'm going to work, lunch provided, and then I don't know...I have nothing planned...except that list above.  Anyone want to help with Christmas lights?

What's really going on?

There is actually a lot going on right now.  First and foremost, it's almost Turkey day.  That means it time to start on those tasks you've been putting off for so long...

• Picking out your turkey, size does matter depending on how you cook it.  I'm sure I'll be cooking a turkey in the future, and yes I will blog on it.
• Perfecting your gravy recipe...drippings, fat and flavor, YUM!
• Calculating how much bacon you need to wrap your turkey with, j/k (unless you're gonna do it)
• Potatoes, sweet or regular?  Why not both
• Travel plans?  This way you don't have to cook at all.

Since I never plan too far ahead for my gravy, I'm not that concerned about it, and I have never, nor will I wrap a turkey in bacon, that is a big waste (unless you're gonna deep fry the thing).  You have to have mashed potatoes, and sweet potatoes, it's the yin and the yang of turkey day.  As for travel plans, it looks like we're having turkey with the family
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I try not to get political in my blogs, mostly because I know squat about politics other than to not trust them in general, but this whole "Occupy ______" thing has me asking a lot of questions and not getting many good answers.  So today, Occupy Oakland is calling for a citywide walk off....they want everyone to walk off their jobs, classes, and any other type of job, so they can bring the city to a stand still.  Why?  I keep trying to figure out what the end game is and it keeps coming back to one thing.  But before I go there, I tried to get to the heart of the movement.  First of all, someone came up with the name 'Occupy Wall street'.  I went looking for an actual definition of Occupy and came up with two.

• Engage - This makes sense as generally when people are protesting, they want their voice to be heard.  They want to "engage" in dialog and achieve a set of goals.  The problem is that since this is a leaderless movement, everyone wants something different depending on who you talk to. 
• Take Possession - This sounds a lot like stealing.  Basically, the rich guy has too much money, so he needs to give it to the rest of us, or we take it away and distribute it, thus tax the rich so we can distribute it.

Please correct me if I'm wrong....it's exhausting trying to keep up with it all...  In the mean time, here is a good article
how-do-you-measure-success-for-occupy-wall-street-movement?

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On a seperate note, I'm having a real craving for some snickerdoodles.  Fresh baked is preferred, not that processed packaged junk....