Author: alicewgold

I would like to state that I am a brunette, but now I am a mix of grey, white, brown, and blonde. I would also like to say that I am 150 pounds, but that would be a boldfaced lie. How about I say I am work in progress because that is the truth? A beautiful work in progress. I love the sound of my fingers tapping on the keyboard and my greatest hope is that something that I write will lift someone else on their journey.

Can a good deed erase a REALLY bad one?


Wendy’s Fine Dining

Alright. I can’t believe that I am even going to write about this. My husband will be so embarrassed, but I have to get it off my chest and make a public apology. We all do things that we aren’t proud of right? Well, earlier today, I was in a huge hurry. I had all three of my kids and we were heading over to a church friend’s house to do some cleaning…she had her third daughter yesterday and when I talked to her this morning she related how sorry she was that she had the baby earlier than expected…her house was a wreck…so I went into charity mode and decided to go and clean her house, buy her a fruit bowl and some balloons and a good smelly candle. I also put a gift together for her including a gift certificate for diapers.

Well, in the middle of all of this, before heading over to her house to tidy up the place, I realized that I needed to feed my kids. We went to one of my favorite “Get America Fat” joints: Wendy’s. O.k., so here comes the really bad deed…I went through the drive-thru and saw that there were two brand new quarters on the street outside the pick-up window. They looked like state quarters and so, I was so excited. I squeezed out of my car and picked them up….when I got back in my minivan and closed the door, the cashier was sitting there with her hand held out. She said,”Those are ours.” I was distraught…I had just gone through all that effort for 50 cents, and now SHE unjustifiably THINKS that they are hers.

I didn’t know what to do and then I made one of those really stupid split second decisions. One that I will regret for a while….I dropped those darn quarters and told her that if they were hers, I would let her pick them up……….HOW RUDE, am I? I can’t believe that I did that. I am making a public apology here. I felt bad the instant I acted like a total jerk. I was just on the defense because I felt like I was the rightful owner of those two quarters. I really felt bad too because I hadn’t been given my food yet, and who knows what she would do to it now?

I still feel bad, but I did manage to get to my friend’s house…I cleaned for at least three hours. I am smiling knowing that she will come home from the hospital to a VERY clean place. Probably cleaner than she is even used to. I tend to be obsessive compulsive when it comes to cleaning….I even scraped the moldy caulk off their shower. I really hope that in God’s book the three hours that I spent cleaning selflessly will make up for that really rude decision of dropping those quarters…..you can’t even buy anything for 50 cents at Wendy’s anyway and apparently it has to be your own 50 cents.

Flush it down the toilet


Half way there!!! Trust me it is better then it was B4. Posted by Hello

Have you ever remodeled a 50 year old bathroom? ….when you are “home depot” illiterate? Well, that is what my husband and I are in the middle of doing. In fact, we have been doing it for the better part of two months!….yes, two months and we are only 1/4 of the way done.

Tonight we spent another two hours trying to hook up the piping under the new sink and vanity…it’s still leaking!!!!!! We stink! Ugh. It is a good thing that we have one working toilet. The good news is we only have pink tile in our shower now instead of throughout the bathroom. Who knows when it will all be finished…my bet is by the time we are ready to sell the house.

The other day my daughter Abigail told me, “I wish that we had two toilets again.” Her sister Sophia was sitting on the other one and she had to go. She couldn’t hold it any longer. I wish that we had a plumber and not just a husband with a plumber’s bum!

What we do for love

What in the world have we come to in America? We can commercialize anything. I was reading a publication produced by my Congressman the other day. It stated that America is the home to less than 4% of the World’s population, yet we are the consumers of 25% of the world’s goods….no wonder we are so fat.

So, this is my first official entry. My husband did my real first one because he created this blog for me for Valentine’s Day. Ahhhh….let’s hear it….how sweet. I guess he called it “I’m so funny” because I think that I am, and he likes to tease me that way. He thinks I am funny too, just not as much as I think that I am funny.

A little background and then back to Valentine’s Day. I am a 31 year old housewife…yeah, stop reading, I can only be BORING. My husband, whom I call, LG, but has a “real” name that I am not so crazy about, LeGrand. I only like his name because it is his; it is not a name I would ever wish upon my children. Although, if we ever have a son, he will probably have the misfortune of having his dad’s name at the middle of his. We have been married since Aug. ’97 and have three kids…Abigail (5), Sophia (3), and Isabella or Bella (19 mos). My husband is in his second year of Law School at UT and we are as poor as poor can be. So, most of my entries will probably be about this wonderful predicament of poverty.

Going back to the commercialization of Valentine’s. Abigail had her first school valentines party today. Remember we are POOR, therefore, Abigail goes to a “No Child Left Behind School”. Today I went in for Abigail’s school party. I am somewhat of a regular face. Only one other mom and I ever volunteer. All the other parents are either working or it seems that they don’t care as to whether or not their kid ever learns anything. Mind you, I know that education is a huge focus of mine.

On with the story. Many of the children in Abigail’s class often go to school with dirty clothes on and/or hair that hasn’t been brushed in days…. not their fault, by the way. I think that all of these kids are just awesome, but they do have their problems….mostly their parents. (not that I am perfect by any means) At least 40% (numbers could be higher) of the kids at Norwood Elementary eat the FREE breakfast that the school provides because their parents can’t even manage to feed them before school. My guess is most of the kids get FREE school lunches also.

Only 5 kids in the whole school participated in the free summer reading program. Abigail is the only one in her class who EVER gets Tigger tickets for actually reading at the open library day at the school. So, for the majority of the year, the parents of these children are doing close to nothing to show their kids that they love them.

But, today, wow, you would think that these kids were the most loved in the world. You would not believe the junk food that the parents sent in for this party and the valentines that these “poor” kids brought. I guess I should be happy that the parents are doing something for their kids and the kids really were having a blast, but I find it sad that the only thing we can do for our kids on a holiday about love is buy them into the ground.

Leave it to Americans to ruin a holiday that was named for a Saint. Kids don’t make their own Valentines anymore; the schools only allow pre-bought treats; there are no more handmade mailboxes or the nice letters that the parents send in. All of this stuff is way too much work. Going to a party at the school to actually celebrate with your kids is too much work, but we can all buy each others’ love…or so it seems.

Yeah, we don’t have room to talk. You’re 100% correct in your assumption that we let Abigail have the free school lunch. But, we are poor, remember, and for a good reason….education, not just because we are too lazy to go and get a job. We are poor enough to be on welfare but we are not. But, we do get the free school lunch. And we are the awful parents that let her go to the “no child left behind” school because we are too lazy to drive her across to a “good” school that we transferred her to.

But, I tell you what, every morning when she eats that bowl of cereal at home instead of at school, she knows that she is loved. Every time I make the huge effort to get a sitter for my two younger kids and go into her class to help her teacher, the smile on her face tells me that she knows I love her. When she’s bathed and has brushed hair and clean underwear…she has to feel something warm fuzzies coming from her Mama.

Well, this first entry is kinda mumble jumble. My mind is a little fried today. This morning I got to go to the TN State Dept of Human Services to renew our TennCare, which thanks to Governor Bredesen we will most kindly be kicked off this year. Then, I went to my daughter’s school and witnessed the Valentine phenomenon. Then, we delivered Valentines to my girl’s little friends from the neighborhood and church.

I then had the joy of finishing off the errand day with a trip to my local Health Dept. I went to get my refill on my birth control. Yes, I do know what that is. Well, what was supposed to be a really quick trip turned out the exact opposite. I should have known. This is normal when you get the “free” services for the poor that the health department provides. I left with my prescription in hand a totally frazzled hour and 1/2 later. The nurse practitioner (because when you are poor you never get to talk to an actual doctor) had the nerve to tell me my blood pressure was high…..duh, I just had to reel in my three wild animals in your lobby for the past hour.

The longer I am poor, the more I realize why there are parents out there who have seemed to give up. After being treated like poop everywhere you turn, you eventually will feel that way and act that way. I have been fortunate not to buy into that thinking yet. I hope that I can come out of law school with my pride restored.

What we do for love.