Thank You Federali's

Phew, we got our "Economic Stimulus" check this week. In the nick of time. It got me to thinking about money and how far we have come in such a short amount of time in our lives. We have 2 kids, so we got $1800. I mean, $1800 is a LOT of money, right? Right? Well, it used to be. I mean, when I was a senior in college like 2 years ago (stop laughing!) I went to the Bahamas for an entire week for about 1/3 of that. Now, $1800 is a mortgage payment, a trip to the grocery store and maybe a full tank of gas. We have been trying to do a lot of cutting back around here. I lowered our cable channels (no, I didn't get rid of Nickelodeon, I'm not crazy) and cut down on our cell phone minutes and dropped everything that is not a necessity from the phone service. We actually no longer have caller ID or call waiting. Every time the phone rings I look at it and expect to see who is calling. Now I have no idea, and it's like a little surprise every time I answer (not always a good one). I have to get used to it. Every time I come home I grab the phone to see who called while we were out, and there is nothing there. What if Ed McMan called about our Publishers Clearing House winnings? And NO call waiting. This means that if you call me and I am on the phone you will get a BUSY SIGNAL. It's like we are living back in 1988. Maybe I'll dust off the old VCR and watch Top Gun later.

But times are tough. As my cousin's husband said when I asked him if they had call waiting "call waiting, no way, that's like a gallon of gas." There you go. So if you are trying to reach me and you get a busy signal, sorry. Just try again later. Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep . . . . .