Pink Polka Dot Thoughts

You Know It's Deer Hunting Season When...

I live in red-neck central. I can say that because I live here. It's a great place to live, but there are some things that always strike me as very odd after having not lived here for 16 years. Deer season is one of them.

Around here, you know hunting season has begun when...'

 --your son comes home from school and tells you that he was the only boy in most of his classes

   -- you go to pick up your kids and see students driving out of the parking lot on their four-wheelers all dressed in their hunting orange.

--you get a dozen calls a day for the people with the same last name who cut and wrap the deer meat.

--it's really ok not to send your son to school tomorrow. It's actually expected boys will not attend school this week.

 -- you see the Facebook statuses of all your local friends are all about hunting or their husbands being hunting.

--you get to look at slaughtered deer hanging on porches all over the neighborhood.

Yes, it has begun. No, I am not a fan...

Martha, I'm not...

I'm definitely NOT Martha Stewart.

Last night, I was watching the piece on Nightline about her. I am amazed by that woman but at the same time I can't understand her.

Such perfection must be a sickness, yet we want it and expect it.

It's fascinating to me to watch.

Did you know that she has a pink gravel driveway at her house in Maine?  It's a lovely home and in the story, it told how every fall, they rake up the gravel and clean it. Then it's put away until spring so that the bad Maine winters don't ruin the gravel.

I sat here in shock as I heard that.

I lived in Maine for a long time and you have winter. You have mud season. You have a few weeks of summer and fall and then it starts all over. I couldn't help but think that her gravel is only out for a few months before it's all raked up and cleaned.

The amount of time and the money it must take to do somethng like that--plus, can you imagine the storage for all that gravel?

Yes, I'm obsessing over gravel. She said it was because it was expensive pink gravel. Well, why not just put down regular gravel and replace it as needed?

Ha ha...

You see why my name isn't Martha Stewart!

That Chicken Costs HOW Much?

I've been on a coupon kick lately. I know from through the years that this comes in spurts with me and right now, I'm really into couponing. In 6 months, I may say screw it and go back to paying full price, but for now, the coupons are saving me a bundle.

I've also been trying to economize by cooking more. With Mr. Polka Dot's work schedule, it's sometimes hard to cook a decent meal. When it's just the kids and me for dinner, I'm inclined to do something super easy or just go out.

Last week, I decided that we were just spending too much money eating out and that food wasn't good for us anyway. I went to the store to stock up on food that I could make quickly or put in the Nesco or Crock Pot to cook all day. See, even though I work from home, it's still not easy to get a healthy dinner on the table. I'm home, but I'm working. It seems the line  between work and HOME is totally burred when you work in the same space where you live.

Anyway, back to the subject at hand, while I was shopping, I decided to get a chicken to roast. That way, there's usually enough for leftovers the next day, so that's two meals with one shot! As I was perusing the poultry case at Kroger, I noticed they had some "organic" chickens. Then I noticed the price! $11! This $11 chicken was the same size as a Tyson one next to it for under $5! WHAT the heck?

I don't care if that chicken eats at a table from fine china and is only fed gourmet food before they chop its head off. It's not worth $11!

As you can surmise, I did not buy the $11 ORGANIC chicken. I bought the Tyson.

That said, I am concerned about growth hormones in our food. I am concerned about pesticides in our vegetables and fruits. I do worry about things like that. However, I don't have the luxury of being able to spend all that extra money to feed my family--not even with the money I save with coupons.

You may have it, but I don't.

And that's a fact of life for some people. It isn't about priorities or anything else. It's just reality--especially in our economy.