Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Dear Diary – Jennifer Hudson Edition

Frugal Queen
Dear Diary...my resolution this year is to buy nothing at full price all year. Starting January and going all the way to December. I have begun meditating on these phrases to help me stick to the plan: “Half-price Off”.  “Everything must go”,  “Buy One Get One Free”, “Close-out”, “Everything a Dollar”. People may laugh and call me cheap, dear diary, but I will be the one laughing all the way to the bank. Besides, it's not what you pay which matters, it’s the value you get.  I mean just look at you, dear diary.  I bought you at Dollar Tree for a dollar, and look at the priceless pearls of wisdom you contain!!!

Determined Weight Watcher
Dear Diary...I am determined to get the pounds off this year and reach my target weight of 130 lbs. I will walk the talk.  Cut to the chase. Take no prisoners. Make the rubber meet the road. Mmm....what’s that smell...someone’s baking something really yummy next door... like a cake or something...smells like vanilla......gosh, how am I ever going to do this dear diary? !! I must be strong. Resolute. If Jennifer Hudson can do it, so can I, dear diary! SO CAN I!

Miss Everything-In-Its-Place
Dear Diary – Everyone thinks I am so organized. They look at my kitchen shelves and cupboards and they look at my closets and never fail to compliment me.  They don’t know my terrible secret, dear diary.  My photoboxes are a complete and utter mess.  I have envelopes in there marked with the names of different events.  But I have been throwing photos into them without rhyme or reason and now everything’s a hodgepodge. Pictures of A’s baby shower are mixed right in with pictures of our kitty Samson in the Pet Pictures envelope.  And pictures of D’s wedding are nestled with pictures of Pops’ retirement party in the Pops’s Retirement envelope.  I really need to get them sorted out.  Luckily, only you and I know this embarrassing and awful secret, dear diary.  My resolution is to get it all straightened out this year – that’s a promise.

Halo Seeker
Dear Diary...I was not so good in getting involved with any causes in 2011.  I am determined to redeem myself in 2012.  I have to find a cause that’s convenient.  I don’t want to do anything in the summer or winter...it is likely to be too hot or too cold for me.  Maybe the spring and fall would be good.  My problem is I can’t tell which causes are real and which are just jokes or fakes or not worth pursuing.  I missed the boat with OWS and then I spotted this headline Occupy North Pole, but it turned out to be some silly Christmas wish - from an Indian immigrant named Desna to her family and friends.  Maybe I will protest against High Fructose Corn Syrup or against banning Tebowing in high schools.  I will find something, dear diary.  I am determined to.  Look out for further updates on this. P.S. Dear Diary...speaking of protests, I read about this weird Pink Panty protest in India.  Remind me to tell you about it sometime.

P.S. Dear Readers...this is the second of the Dear Diary series.  If case you missed the Socks with Holes Edition, which could also be called the Harold Camping edition or the Jim Berklund edition,you can read it here.

P.S. 2: Thanks for coming along with me on this blog's journey so far and hope you achieve your resolution (or resolutions) for 2012. If you don’t, it’s not your fault.  It’s the fault of the resolution.  Choose an achievable one. Set the bar lower.  Instead of resolving not to eat anything with added sugar, how about resolving not to eat anything with added sugar for three months.  If that's too high, resolve not to eat anything with added sugar for one month; if that's too high, set the bar lower still - resolve not to eat anything with added sugar for one week.  Ok...I give up....how about not eating anything with added sugar just for today?  I am sure that's a resolution you can keep.:):):)

P.S. 3: One resolution I wish we would all make for 2012 is to lighten up.  Literally and figuratively.  Besides shedding the unhealthy desires and unnecessary possessions which hold us in bondage, we should also shed the stress, anxiety and differences which keep us miserable and transfer to other people.  Frankly, don't you think that's more of a priority than resolving to shed pounds? What's a resolution you wish we would all make -  one that would make the world a better place to live in for more people?

P.S. 4: For frugal queens from other countries planning a visit to the U.S., Dollar Tree is a national chain of stores in which everything is priced at a dollar.  

Saturday, January 7, 2012

Dear Diary - Socks With Holes Edition


Child – a few days after the Rapture fails to come to pass in 2011...
Dear Diary...The world was going to end becoz of something called the rapcher so I gave my best doll to Cindy to play with since I thought she should have a turn with it before the world ended.  Now I have a problem.  The world did not end but I can't get the doll back.  Cindy just shakes her head and says "it's mine now". It's not fair.

Child – Week of March 19-March 26 earthquake prediction...
Dear Diary...I am writing this under the dining table with a torchlite. I am too scared to sleep, so I am camped here under the dining table. I will be so releeved when March comes to an end. No one else in my family is taking this seriyus so I may be the only one left.  And you, Dear Diary. I know you will be here to keep me company.

Tween Shopaholic evening of Black Friday, 2011...
Dear Diary... I had such a good day. Me and Jenny went to the Mall together and I bought lots of Christmas presents for everybody. Except for one thing which made me real mad. We went to Papaya and she and me spotted this cute brown jacket at the same time. But she grabbed it before I could, imagine. Even though she knows brown is my favorite color. Other than that, I had fun.  Especially at Abercrombie and Fitch, where I saw this real cute guy.

Teen – at approx 6:30 p.m. one weekday evening...
Dear Diary...I badly wanted Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 and I thought I’d ask Dad outright.  But he was engrossed in his favorite tv show –the one where this crazy guy shouts and screams and utters the word Booyah every few minutes - and he got really ticked off by the interruption. He said “don't you have more important things to think about on a school day - like your homework or your SATs?”. I was bummed. PS- I don’t see what's productive about that show he watches at all - I don't get it!

Twenty something – post TSA ordeal in 2011...
Dear Diary...I had an embarrassing experience at SFO airport. I went to Dallas on a business trip and completely forgot I would have to take my shoes off at Security. As luck would have it, I was wearing a mismatched pair of socks with some prominent holes. Up to that point, I was making quite an impression on the girl behind me with my witty comments and clever talk – but my confidence completely evaporated when I had to take my shoes off.

P.S. This post wouldn't have been possible if not for Harold Camping, Jim Berklund, and more. Thanks to all of them.

P.S. 2:  Now that 2011 is in the rear-view mirror, hope you enjoyed this look back on the events of 2011 - some of which made the year more frustrating, some more annoying and some plain terrifying -  but all of which made the year interesting.

P.S. 3:  Thanks for reading and wishing you an uninteresting 2012 - I suppose!