My Train of Thought This Morning (and getting lost along the way)

Oh, where my mind wanders when it has no particular destination ...

This morning, my train of thought took me down this path:

"Wow! I sure have a nice little stash of Tim Hortons gift cards! I received almost exactly what I gifted throughout this season. Isn't that interesting?! I wonder just how much I spent at Tim Hortons throughout the year ... "

So I went to my financial records to find out that answer. Do you want to know? Do you have a choice? How much extra information will you receive now that this line of questioning opened up within my brain this morning?

Yes. This is going to be a tedious and boring post. You may stop reading right now.

The year-end stats are this. I have spent a total of $207.70 at Tim Hortons from January 1st to December 26th of the year 2014.

Do you know what else? I spent a grand total of $1,738.50 in take-out &/or restaurant food throughout the year thus far. That is an average of $144.88 per month.

If I divide that by the number of people in my household, that number isn't awful, is it?

Take-out, convenience and restaurant food are my glass of wine. My cigarettes. My addiction-of-choice.

But do you know what else? At least one quarter of that total take-out amount is my social life.

I love nothing more than meeting a friend for a meal or a cup of coffee and just sitting still in a place that no one calls their own. A mutual meeting place, where no one has to host or supply refreshments. It is a time of simply focusing on the person you are sharing that cup of coffee with and thinking of nothing or no one else.

I know there are people out there who seem to enjoy the 'art of entertaining' within their home. I (for the most part) am simply not one of them. Don't get me wrong. I love having people over. I just love it a little bit more when they drop by unexpectedly (no expectations = no disappointment).

So many people I know have to be careful what they eat for various reasons. Others (me included) are simply fussy.

I went through a 'phase' where I cooked a Sunday supper for my family. It was an enjoyable, but somewhat stressful little tradition that lasted about as long as it took for me to run out of ideas for meals for my family's multi-faceted appetites.

One Sunday, we went out for supper instead of dining in. As each one of us ordered a meal completely different than the other I sighed with relief. "This!! Is why I find it so hard to cook for all of us."

I think that restaurant meal may have been the beginning of the end of that phase in my life.

You simply cannot please everyone, all of the time.

But I think I could please my sisters. I cannot begin to count the number of times I have went out for a meal with them when each one of us ordered not only the exact same meal, but the exact same drink and quite likely close to the same number of coffee refills.

I am becoming more and more like my mom every day. She calls her home a "B & C" - a bed and coffee establishment. And she supplies toast along with the coffee.

I am headed off to Mom's "B & C" to enjoy not only her "B & C" but a "T" (for turkey) too!! My brother was conferring with me about the "W" (wine) and I have packed up some "D" (dessert) which has been donated towards the cause.

I think by the end of our time together, we just may come up with the entire alphabet. Because I know there will be a lot of "V" (visiting); "L" (laughter) and "J" (joy) sprinkled throughout our days because I am also packing up my "A" (aunt) to bring along with me. So it will be a real "F" (family) affair which I know I will "E" (enjoy).

A "G" (good) time will be had by all. You can be sure the alphabet theme will quite likely be swirling through my mind as we open our "H" (hearts) and share our stories which get more "I" (interesting) as time goes one...

This post just got so far derailed from my original thought, I am beginning to wonder just how I got here.

I think my train of thought left the tracks and found its own destination which was far more interesting than my year-end take-out stats.

Speaking of stats. One more item of absolutely no relevance whatsoever:

I spent a total of $311.48 in postage this past year. In my eyes, that was the wisest money I spent all year.

When I think of the joy I get by finding a hand addressed envelope in the mail, I think the 'high' cost of postage is worth every penny.

In a society that thinks nothing of doling out two dollars for a cup of coffee to-go, isn't a dollar for a trip across the country and a visit to be reread and revisited now and again and years from now truly a bargain?!

More on that another day.

Happy 27th to You! May you find the best value in your day wrapped up in the little things!!