FIF: Payday Loans

Friends, I'm interjecting some realness into the giftiness this week. I want to talk about payday loans.

The short of it: Thems be bad.

The medium of it: listen to/read any of these NPR stories.

The long of it: We ended up paying off someone's payday loans to get them out of a heap of trouble and I really wish they would have come to us before they got the high-interest loans. I mean, I really wish they weren't in trouble at all. I really wish they weren't on mental/physical/emotional hard times. I'm glad they came to us before we had to go to their funeral. But I'm pissed that the payday loan place is profiting. I'm pissed that it even came to this.

In fairness, our friend has said they'll pay us back. It's supposed to be a swap of interest-hungry loan for interest-free loan. But I'm muy skeptical. Money destroys families and friendships with things go bad. We don't want to lose friendship and money.

My PSA to friends and family: PLEASE REACH OUT TO ME BEFORE YOU GET A PAYDAY LOAN.

So for the Flip-It Friday part: 
Would you ever take a payday loan? 
Have you? 
HAVE I SCARED YOU AWAY FROM THEM YET?!

[Steps down from soapbox. Exits stage right. Makes a ham sandwich.]

A Wedded Thought Sandwich

I asked the Mr. last night on our Roo-walk what the favorite part of his day is.

"This. Walking with you and Roo every night. And nice weather."

The power of suggestion is strong with this one. I could say that I thought I had a stomach ache from dinner and within hours he'd have one too. Both of us having different meals. Maybe he's joining me in solidarity*!

He asked me the same question and I said, "This too. And watching the news with you. I like watching the news and having something to talk about during and afterwards. It keeps us from rehashing the same topics or complaining about work all the time."

The Mr. went on to say that he thinks having Roo has strengthened our relationship. I think so too, now that he said so.

The power of suggestion is strong with me too.

Roo has given us mandatory time outside. And we often do it together because we both want to spend time with her. And the nice weather. We team up for walks, some awkward games of fetch-slash-keep away in the front yard**, co-tackle teeth brushing and argue about the best way to train her not to chase the bunnies***.

She's something we can join together to be both for (in times of cuteness) and against (in times of chew-ness). We argue about her sometimes and she pisses us off, but she's taught us patience and defined "fambly"****.

Post inspired by this quote and article:

What's the secret to a happy marriage? 

National Public Radio! My husband and I spend a lot of time during the week driving in separate cars. We both listen to NPR. At the end of the day, when we are done talking about work, one of us will say, "Did you hear the piece about…?" It's nice to have so much to discuss.

*Is "solidarity" a popular word now? I see it everywhere and feel the need to use it frequently. Is it like literary twerking?

**Roo does NOT bring the ball back, so we tease her.

***Bottom line: impossible.

****The Mr. knows what I mean.

Stephen Fry Hates Florida, Q & A

I saw this quiz on a girl's blog. Since this is "Answer The Unasked" I'm going to answer questions that weren't asked of me.

The blogger of origin is an entertaining writer but we have 0% in common:

She's single and always minglin'; I am married and always looking for ways to do less socially.
She's lite beer and fireball shots; I'm craft beer and go to bed before 10 (fireball shots must happen after 10, because I don't see them).
She's from Florida; I'm a yankee who thinks Florida is a swamp-dungeon-o-trailer-doom.

Recognize this awesome dude from Top Gear? He toured America and speaks my mind, people! The whole series is on Netflix! Go watch instead of reading this boring post!

So some of these either/or questions will be lost on me.  Let's see how out of touch I am!


iPhone or Droid: I have an iPhone but am intrigued by the Windows phone. My Mr. is super techy and thinks the iPhone is on it's way out. I think he may be right. But I'm legally required to stand beside him in his defection.

NSYNC or Backstreet Boys: Man, lady, guitar, bass, cello... triangle. That's music. A bunch of boys with headsets and no instruments? That's - at best - a talent show.

Being forced to delete Facebook or being forced to delete Twitter: Facebook. If my Grandmother wasn't on FB and I needed it for work, it'd be gone. I could live without both, however.

Fireball or Miller Lite: Nothing lower on the menu than a Red Stripe. It's like a right of passage. Call me pretentious, but I think you grow up, get a 401k, upwardlly change jobs a few times and write off domestic beer that indicates calorie/color/body with the letter L-I-T-E. Bing, bang, boom.

Full House or Family Matters: Family Matters. Its the least of the two evils as I can't handle looking at Danny Tanner now that I've seen his stand-up and if I hear "how rude" one more time...

Dumbledore or Gandalf: Dumbledore 1.0., because Richard Harris is the sh!t.

Dying Easter eggs or Carving pumpkins: I did both of these handicraps a few years ago for the last time. I'm an all-season Grinch when it comes to crafting. I'll gladly drink spiked cider at your fall carving party or a mimosa at your egg party and fumble my way through poking holes in everything. Because, tis the season.

NFL or NCAAF: NPR*

A hangover forever or sobriety forever: The latter. I actually think about this all the time.

January or July: July, because I live Canada-adjacent and January is just the beginning of seasonal depression and 'the-city-doesn't-have-enough-money-in-the-budget-to-properly-plow-the-roads-so-go-get-yourself-some-four-wheel-drive, Chicago'!

Hannah Montana or Miley Cyrus: I can't hear you through this foam finger.

Shark Week or Fashion Week: Both. Yay! Something I don't hate! Although I don't follow either of them, so maybe that's why I like them.

Fresh Prince of Bel-Air or Saved by the Bell: Fresh Prince. Geeze. Maybe my choice of 90's TV shows is indicative of me listening to too much NPR.**

Britney or Christina: Christina. I think she got her life back on track quicker and that shows maturity. I also thought she was way more talented. But no, I'd never buy either of their music.

Burrito or Burrito Bowl: Bowl. Cause forks are for people who care about the shirt they're wearing.

Reading blogs on your phone or reading blogs on your computer:  Computer.

Angelina or Jennifer: Team Everyone Get a Grip On Their Own Lives And Butt Out Already.

Doug Funny or The Rugrats: Thank God I didn't have cable growing up.

An open mouth chewer or a heavy breather: I've been told I'm the latter, so I chose that. I've tried to will people to chew with their mouths closed before by staring at them without blinking. It just makes it worse because they start talking with their mouths full to ask me why I'm staring.


Now you!

--
*I'm an asshole. I see this now.
** Have you heard of their program called Code Switch? It's all about race in America. Maybe my White Guilt is picking the programming.

Naps and NPR!

And I used to like cooking dinner but am really not motivated lately. Any suggestions to get out of the rut? Any inspiring recipes? 

Bringing back the Wish List (although my birthday and Christmas are way far off!).

Mr. S and I just both got sucked in to the fundraising at our local NPR, WBEZ. We can never agree on music in the car (he asked me recently if I could find his Hinder CD... I politely refused), so NPR is a nice happy medium for the both of us and often keeps us out of long-distance-driving-car-fights.

So I do, I really do heart NPR.

I was sad when we became members though that mugs were not an option as a membership gift. I saw all of my friend Chelsey's annual mugs and was experiencing some hipster mug envy.

Then I saw this puppy on the NPR swag site (not the WBEZ swag site):

Can I use the rest of our charity budget to buy like 5 of these? Well, heck, I might as well make it a set at 6!

Other awesome gifts from NPR:

What really bugs you?

Makes me melt.

Good for a road trip. (Are we the only ones who get in car-fights? Something about confined spaces!)

Do you think it'll be Knee-High-By-The-4th-of-July er, Christmas?

My brother and I would be good at this game. Sometimes growing up I swear we were telepathic and we can both carry a tune!

I think my friend Chelsey would be amused by this one.