Whit's Wit

My Husband is retiring from Football after 10 long years of play.  "Fantasy football" that is.  I wonder what he'll do next?  Maybe open up a chain of Fantasy Car Dealerships?  Become a Fantasy Football Commentator?  Compete in Fantasy Dancing with the Stars??  

I just hope he doesn't get Fantasy Fat now.....

Whit's Wit

Family Friday!!

The first time we ever took our girls to Disney was in 1999.  Gary and I had just gotten married and, seeing as how he not only married me but got a bonus of two daughters too, we ALL went on our Honeymoon together.  Little Stephanie was almost 9, Little Sammi had just turned 4.  

If you've ever been to Disney you will know that the buses can get incredibly crowded.  We were lucky enough, though, to get some seats together one afternoon when we were headed back to the park after having eaten lunch in Downtown Disney.  Stephi had always been incredibly mature for her age and, therefore, was humiliated beyond repair when her little sister, upon noticing a smidge of ketchup around Stephi's mouth, decided to lick her fingers, walk over to her sister and proceed to give Stephi a Spit Bath!

And the crowd went wild.....

Whit's Wisdom

Sometimes It's Best to SHOW the Dirt!

This is Labor Day weekend, which we all know means wear those white shoes and shorts and pants all weekend because by Tuesday they should be packed up for the Winter!  Right?  I still wonder where this came from and why....the why being "Why do we still even think about this and pass it along to our children?"   This really has nothing to do with my wisdom today - I just sometimes get sidetracked....

Have you ever gone car shopping with someone and you set your sights on a beautiful white ____ (insert dream vehicle here)?  This phrase will inevitably pop out of your friend's mouth:  "Don't get white!  It shows dirt!"  I would honestly think that automakers would simply stop making white vehicles because of the stigma associated with the color white.  Dirt is generally a dark color - - - white is a light color....when dirt gets on white then you can see the dark stuff on the light stuff.  Duh.

The phrase that should be spoken is more like this:  "Don't get white!  You aren't going to get to be LAZY!"  Aaaah, now you see where I'm headed.

We painted my kitchen this Spring. We painted the cabinets white, put up white bead board around the entire kitchen, have a white refrigerator and stove, and I bought a white garbage can.  And dangit, it definitely shows the dirt!  But this forces me to keep it clean!  I have to wipe down the cabinets at least once a week.  The stove, ugh, 5 times a day it feels like, the baseboards and walls get a good once over at least every couple of weeks, and the refrigerator and garbage can is on a visual basis (so, yeah....everyday.)  I don't like to do this.    I don't enjoy cleaning.  But if I didn't have white, do you know how nasty that kitchen might be?  If it 'didn't show the dirt' I might never think to clean it!  

Now, you all might be thinking "ooooh, nasty" but I'm just telling the truth.  If we SEE dirt we clean it.  If something doesn't look dirty we don't think about it....or we put it off.  Out of sight - out of mind.  And dirt begats germs.  And germs begat colds and flu.  And flu  begat children staying home from school.  Do you WANT your children staying home from school????  (If you are an empty nester, just replace children with spouse.)

So go ahead -  buy that white whatever!  And enjoy it - and keep it clean - and feel free to use it AFTER Labor Day!!

This is MY dream vehicle

Whit's Wisdom

Uhm, YES you can afford a new Fall/Winter/Spring/Summer (whenever it is you are reading this) wardrobe!  I'll be honest with you, I have little sympathy for someone who whines to me about not being able to afford to dress nice for work, has gained/lost weight and can't fit into anything so they won't go out, won't attend a special event because they have nothing appropriate to wear....blah, blah, blah.  Here's what I got yesterday for $15.60: 

That is two long sleeve t-shirts, two sweaters, five dress shirts and a pair of pants.  And I did not steal them.  I went shopping at a Thrift Store. (And I was lucky enough to be there on 1/2 price day!) You know, second hand clothing?  It's all the rage.  Seriously.

Back when I was a kid my Mom always bought her work suits from, what we affectionately call them, Junk Stores.  The irony is that she worked in retail and was always being complimented on her wardrobe.  Everything she wore was Designer!  I jest a bit, but seriously, tons of her clothes were barely worn name brand items that would have cost and arm, leg and 1/2 a kidney if she would have purchased them at full price!  So I obviously grew up knowing how smart it was to purchase gently used clothing.  Of course I was a typical teenager ('GROSS, someone ELSE wore that???') and yet would borrow my friends clothing without a second thought....go figure.

Now there is a Thrift Store in every City and I guarantee there is one near you.  So don't give me the "I don't have one near me...."  And I won't listen to the  "I can't afford...." excuse, either.  I just showed you what you can buy with a couple of days lunch money.  Sorry, but I'd eat ramen breakfast, lunch and dinner for two days to buy a couple of suits to wear to a job interview to get a better paying job....or ask for a raise....or to go to my Daughter's wedding.  And here's the excuse most of you are going to fall back on (drum roll please) "I can't ever find MY SIZE".   That's because you aren't willing to look.  Thrift Stores are not department stores.  They don't have five shirts in five different sizes.  You have a giant store with thousands upon thousands of pieces of clothing, usually sorted by type (ladies t-shirts, ladies skirts, etc.) and most times even by color...but NEVER by size.  And you have to look.  And look.  And look.  But I saw everything from a size 0 to a size 28 yesterday and everything in between....and I wasn't even looking for those sizes.  I wanted some long sleeve shirts for the Fall transition and probably touched every shirt in the store.  So, yeah, it's work.  And sometimes I don't even find anything I like.  But sometimes (like yesterday) I hit pay-dirt and it's like Christmas in August!  

Here's a couple of insider tips too - only because I like you.  One, check your local stores to find out if they have discount (usually 1/2 off) days, or offer Senior Citizen discounts.  Two, find some Thrift Stores in the fancy/schmancy parts of town.  The folks in that area tend to give away more, well, fancy/schmancy clothes that haven't been worn very much.  Shop around though - make sure you aren't paying more for a second hand shirt than you would for a t-shirt at Walmart.  Some of these places price their clothes as if they don't really want to sell them, know what I mean?

Good luck and NO MORE EXCUSES!!!  I'm not listening......