U is for

Unemployment – the condition of having no job, the number of people who are unemployed in an area, often given as a percentage of the total labor force

Been there – done that – DON’T want to do it again. I have been “downsized” out of a job twice in my life, first at a company I worked at for 13 years, second at a job I spent 12 year at. I’m hoping my current job will be my last, but who knows in this economy. There simply is no job security any more. The last unemployment figure for this area was 9.6% - way too high.

Monday Quiz About Me

Based on the original Meet Me on Monday hosted by Java at Never Growing Old, Heather over at Acting Balanced  posts 5 questions on Sunday evening along with a linky for you to link up your post answers! Since Java is coming back , Heather has changed the name of her hop to "Monday Quiz About Me."

And now for this weeks Questions:

1. Finish this sentence - I am glad it's Monday because...I'm interviewing for a job in a different department - not sure I want to leave this office but it's an opportunity to make more money so I have to at least do the interview.

2. Where did you spend your last vacation? San Antonio

3. Who is your favorite author? Hard one - I've loved Sharyn McCrumb for years because she writes about the Appalachian area where I come from in her ballad series. Lately I've been reading Breanda Youngerman's books and love them. Two completely different types of books and writing styles but I really like them both.

4. What other Memes do you participate in during the week? Lots, there's Tuesday's Coffee Chat, Chats on the Farmhouse Porch, Wednesday Hodgepodge, Thursday's Pondering With A Purpose, Follow Friday Four Fill-In Fun, Five Question Friday, and Six Word Saturday. You can find them all in my sidebar!

And don't forget to add a 5th Question on your own blog so we can answer as we hop around!

Let's see - Daughter came and spent Saturday with me. We sat around and watched Lifetime movies all afternoon. What do you do when your grown children come to visit?

T is for

Tongue-tied: unable to speak because of awe, shyness or embarrassment, unable to move the tongue freely because of tongue-tie

I’ve been tongue-tied lots in my life. I was very shy when I was younger, especially after my family moved to IL. My classmates thought that my southern accent was something to be made fun of so I just kept my mouth shut most of the time. Now I just don’t care – and I rather like the southern accent!

I had to look up tongue-tie to make sense of the last definition:  tongue-tie – to make somebody unable to speak, the inability to move the tongue with the normal amount of freedom because the small membrane (frenulum) that attaches the tongue to the floor of the mouth is unusually short.

S is for

Scratch – make mark, tear skin, make scraping movement, make harsh noise, relieve itching, product scraping sound from record, cause itching, drag along surface, write with sharp instrument, pen quickly, delete, cancel, search aimlessly, withdraw from competition, incur penalty, make fluke shot, just get by

I think this one is the winner for the most definitions, seventeen in all. But I knew all of these! My first thought when I think of the word scratch – probably #17. I’ve been scratching out a living for a long time and will (hopefully) continue to do so for some time to come. I truly believe that some of us were not meant to be wealthy and that’s ok with me. As long as the bills are paid and I can put food on the table – it’s all good!

Five Question Friday

Time to head over to Mama M's at My Little Life for 5 question Friday!

Rules for 5QF: Copy and paste the following questions to your blog post, answer them, then watch for the linky post to appear and LINK UP!

Questions for Friday, April 20th:

1. Groceries are high right now what is easiest way you have found to cut back? -I always buy half a hog, a quarter beef, and have at least one deer in the deep freeze. I also buy chickens when I find them on sale and usually grab 4-5 turkeys around Thanksgiving when they get really cheap. Yes, it's a big deep freeze - but I can't imagine my grocery bills if I had to buy meat every week.

2. What are the top 3 things on your "bucket list"? I want to get to England to see my grandson, I'd love to see an old castle in Scotland or Ireland, and I'd love to build a log cabin somewhere in the middle of nowhere.

3. Would you rather give up AC or heat? I'd rather be hot than to be cold.

4. What's your favorite cocktail?? Don't really do much drinking so I really don't know. I will occasionally make myself a bloody mary - does that count?

5. What was your first job & how old were you? Bookkeeping assistant at a retail store and I was 14 - had to get a worker's permit to be able to do it.