There’s no place like home…

Maybe she wanted to be able to click her heels three times and disappear if she failed miserably, or maybe it’s the girly version of the power tie, either way, Palin may have stolen these shoes right off the set of Wizard of Oz.

Ruby Slippers
Ruby Slippers

Granted, they may be dyed crocodile skin (most likely from a crocodile shot down by Palin as she flew overhead on her way to a gubernatorial meeting) instead of red glitter, but the sparkle from her shoes brought some new spice to the VP debate.

Of course, the shoes were the only sparkling aspect of the debate. As the daughter of writers and the granddaughter of an English teacher my ears burned in shame as they heard Palin butcher the English language over and over again. (We’re talking basic grammar here folks. She can has primer?)

Let’s not even talk about her clear unwillingness to answer any question posed. If she had chosen to answer, her syntax and grammar errors would have made her answers unintelligible anyway.

As a woman who campaigned her ass off to get Hillary (blessedly eloquent woman that she is) into office, Palin’s verbal stumbling makes me want to bang my head down on the table and cry.

Everything but the kitchen sink debate night stew…

It started as an evening at home with the family. Well, it started as a dinner party, but the intended party was pushed back a day due to headache. So I planned an evening of left over stew made with yams, carrots, beef brisket, mushrooms, onions, and garlic. (I made the stew in a crock pot, cooking the brisket over some onions and garlic with a little beer for 24 hours before adding the rest of the ingredients. It’s fall apart tender now.)

Add a little crusty bread, some apple slices, some beer.

This was my dinner plan. The family and some stew in front of the VP debate.

Then we added a lovely couple, they offered hummus as their contribution. Great!, said I, come watch the debate!

Then my mother, with an offer of beer reinforcements. Well, I can’t leave you to watch the debate alone! Come watch us yell at the t.v.

Then Lee added another, and I, another.

Suddenly, my stew pot, it looka verra empty.

How do I intend to feed so many hungry anti-Palinites?

Toss in more mushrooms, they fill tummies with fat free proteins! Luckily I have a pile of baby bellas from Costco!

Add some more carrots. Everyone likes carrots. If they don’t, they can fill up on hummus.

Beans, legumes, anything in my pantry that will fill a tummy and meld well with my original stew? Wait here it is… a can of organic lentil soup!!

Anything else?

Noodles!! Noodles are filling! Add some noodles!! Yay for noodles!!

Let’s see…. taste it…. hmmmm…. some bullion to make up for the sudden increase in water.

Still…. awfully paltry offerings. It’s just a bowl of stew after all.

Homemade cornbread!! That’s the ticket! Fresh, hot and yummy! That will fill some tummies!!

Into the oven when a pan of yellow and a pan of blue. That will feed the masses!!

Reduce, reuse, recycle…

It’s sexy to toss your plastics in one bin, and your glass in another. However, there is an imminently more satisfying way to recycle, support a good cause, and save yourself some money. With the market down enough to get people talking about “victory gardens”, thrift stores and Goodwill become appealing alternatives to pricey mall shopping. (Frankly, with the economy the way it is, second hand clothing is looking better than Wal-Mart and Target too.)

As a child advocate earning next to nothing in school I learned from other advocates that a certain neighborhood Goodwill received the bulk of the donations from the country club, and therefore had brand name suits for $15. I went, and sure enough argued my first case in a $15 Chanel suit that fit me like an expensively tailored glove.

Over the years, as we prospered and the housing market boomed, I replaced my thrift store habits with thrifty sale shopping, exchanging my $15 suit experience for the $100 or $150 suit experience. Still not a Chanel brand new, but a little nicer knowing I was the suit’s first owner.

Times, how they are a changin’.

This morning found me considering business attire and coats, missing from my post baby sized wardrobe, and a relatively empty wallet. How could I get a rain coat, a winter coat, and some tops that will work with my two precious pairs of slacks for the piddly amount I had to spend? It simply couldn’t be done. I have to have clothes that fit though, if I am to actually start a practice. I can’t meet clients in sweats.

Then I remembered… the Goodwill by the country club.
Down my mother and I went, happily off to search for a bargain, and happily, we struck gold.

I got a gorgeous full length wool business coat by Christian Dior for $15. I got a lovely khaki rain trench from Calvin Klein for $12.99. I also got several sweaters to toss on over my shells and tanks, thereby creating an expansive set of outfits from my seemingly paltry store. Each was less than $5, each was in perfect shape.

Reduce, reuse, recycle doesn’t have to pertain solely to soda cans and newspapers. I saved a fortune today, getting a week’s worth of winter tops and two coats for less than half the cost of one raincoat brand new. Best of all, I didn’t add to any environmental production costs, and I supported a charity I believe in.

Managing life with chronic illness requires savvy spoons