Thirteen Things DAN wants to do in his lifetime... 1. Perform a show stopping song on Broadway for a sold-out house 2. Complete a solo flight in a private plane 3. Kiss the Blarney Stone 4. Tour the great cathedrals in Europe 5. Snorkel on the Great Barrier Reef 6. Drive a NASCAR race car 7. Tour where the great composers lived, wrote and performed their music. 8. Explore the Great Pyramids 9. Visit Yellowstone Park 10. Own a vacation home in the mountains of Montana 11. Whale watching in Alaska 12. Own a professional sports team 13. Drive a cigarette racing boat Links to other Thursday Thirteens! 1. (leave your link in comments, I’ll add you here!)

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The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

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Shifting Tides in a New Direction

Yes I know I have only been blogging for a short time but I have found that my quest to get out of debt is not exciting. While it is something I am still chasing, I have found that I am on top of it and right now I just do not have anything to blog about. So I decided there would be just a general theme to this. It will be a place that I can share anything that I want.

As my Debt Diet I was trying to keep my theme focused on that and not go in any new directions. I will still talk about my successes and share my progress with all but I am wanting to write so many other things. Therefore, today we shift the tides....

At the urging of my sister I have decided to do something I have not done in a long time. Read. She called me Sunday night and told me that if I did not read anything else I had to read the book "Three Weeks with my Brother" by Nicholas Sparks. Now I am not much of a reader but I decided I would follow her advice and read this book.

Last night I started it and even though I have not gotten through the second chapter yet I have found it to be interesting. Before I could get through the first chapter I was thinking about the relationship I have with both my sister and brother. We are very close and I am so happy that we are. Immediately I started wondering if either or both of them would consider taking a trip like that with me. I have been thinking about going to Ireland on a tour, how much fun would it be for two or three of us to go.

Ok well now it is time I head off to bed. I must go read more of the book before I drift off to sleep. Stay tuned for more on the book or memories that get triggered.

Thirteen Songs that remind DAN of Growing Up and Family Vacations 1. Flowers on the Wall 2. Ya’ll Come Back Saloon 3. Streets of Laredo 4. Bird Dog 5. Whatever Happened to Randolph Scott 6. Susan When She Tried (Guess I could say Statler Brother’s Greatest Hits) 7. You Never Even Called Me By My Name 8. Kaw-Liga 9. Okie from Muskogee 10. Hello Muddah', Hello Fadduh (Camp Granada) 11. Do Lord 12. Come Sail Away 13. Pass it On Links to other Thursday Thirteens! 1. (leave your link in comments, I’ll add you here!)

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!


The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

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My First Thursday Thirteen...

Thirteen Movies DAN could watch time and time again... 1. Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory 2. Mr. Holland's Opus 3. Jerry Maguire 4. Remember the Titans 5. ET 6. Rudy 7. Ocean's Eleven 8. Mary Poppins 9. On Golden Pond 10. The Phantom of the Opera 11. Meet the Parents 12. Can't Buy Me Love 13. Happy Gilmore Links to other Thursday Thirteens! 1. (leave your link in comments, I’ll add you here!)

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!


The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

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Influences in our lives...

Today I decided I was going to only work a half day, I call these days "Sanity Days". I have been working in the yard the past couple weekends trying to get it awakened from that dormant winter cycle and there are still a few things I want to get done before the weekend so I figured this was a great time to do it.

Now most people that have known me for any length of time know that I really did not like mowing the yard when I was younger, let alone all the weeding, trimming, edging, planting, pruning, mulching and anything else you can think of. In fact, when I bought the house the most common question I was asked was "Who is going to mow the yard"? My response of "I will" was usually followed with a chuckle, snicker or some comment about my lack of desire to work in the yard.

Now that I have been in the house for 9 months, I have to say I am doing a fine job with the lawn. While mowing and working out there I have a tendency to reflect on many things but it seems that the same thoughts creep in week after week. I think about the days when I mowed my parents' yard and how I felt I was having to put too much time into perfect corners and neat edges. Back then I used a riding mower, all I wanted to do was drive, mow and get done. I did not want to stop, back up and make sure that I was squaring my corners. To me at the time it did not really make a difference. If things were in my way they were mowed and shredded right where they were.

Today what I realize is that I have become what was instilled in me as I was growing up. It was evident that each corner I made with the lawn mower I wanted perfect squares and straight lines. Today I stopped the mower to pick up a small piece of paper that was on the lawn rather than running it over. I redid the front flower bed, that included all the things I mentioned above that I hated. But it was important to me that it was done right and looked nice.

It is interesting to see how we become what we were taught when we were younger. I guess in a way we do really become our parents. I am proud of the values I have adopted. Guess life was not really as tough as I thought and that little extra work would not have really hurt me like I believed. Thanks Mom and Dad for the values you gave me. I love you both.

Foolish??

Ok, so sometimes I do foolish things that do not contribute too well to the improvement of my bottom line. Tonight I went out with friends after work for dinner and drinks and then decided to stop by the store where I used to buy lottery tickets.

I walked in thinking I would buy 5 quick picks for the Mega Millions lottery and 5 quick picks for the Texas Lotto. First question I asked was how much is the Mega Millions tonight. The guy quickly said it is $189 million. WOW!!! What could I do with $189 million? How many people could I take care of?

Many thoughts rushed to my head and apparently I quickly forgot all about my Debt Diet. Or did I? Was I simply looking for the easy way out. I believe this is what the lottery does to our society and myself. It shows us all what we could have if we just buy that one opportunity. All your troubles can go away.

Is that so? In my lifetime I probably will never win the lottery. Odds are such that probably no one I know will ever win the lottery. Yet I keep thinking I can win. These are things that are going to be a real struggle for me. I believe I can win and that I am supposed to. I believe when they play a lottery commercial they are talking about me.

There I stood in the store trying to decide how many tickets I was willing to buy. Oh yeah I still had not figured out how much the Texas Lottery was. I then asked that question and it was only $27 million. Ok well I am skipping out on that.

So what is wrong with me that I decide to put more of my hard earned money to the bigger jackpot? Do I NOT need $27 million? Is that just such a small amount that it does not matter to me? But of course I opted not to waste my time with the smaller jackpot.

I was doing so well not throwing my money into an empty dream. It has been probably two months since I last threw money into the lottery. Of course tonight I sparked that desire again. I purchased 20 chances to fulfill an empty dream.

In all likelihood tomorrow I will be able to say boy I wasted $20 last night. I will be able to analyze my cash flow and quickly see there went $20 that I could have put towards debt. How much could that $20 have saved me in potential interest? Boy I gotta get better at this diet. Two days in and I guess I am already doing things I believe I need to quit.

Now that I am home feeling guilty about my purchase I have decided that tonight I am going to penalize myself. I opted to spend $20 on the lottery, so I am going to take $40 and put it as an extra payment on something. I know that it really is not a great deal but it will force me to have to do without something. It will also make me think twice the next time I consider wasting money in a lottery.

A self imposed penalty is difficult to impose but it is also going to force me to miss seeing "The Fantasticks" next week. Boy this is going to be a long road but I know in the end I will be better off. I will work harder to not slip back anymore.