Recent Up To Dating

Right now I am slouched in a chair with a cat on my chest, while Alex showers and the dulcet tones of Bach's Toccata and Fugue ring through the house. I remarked to Alex today that I haven't posted a blog in weeks. Possibly even months now. He said it was because I didn't have anything to say. I disagreed. I have plenty to say, I just don't know how to say it anymore.

I've had a nice week of vacation and I still get Monday off before having to head back to work at the bank. We lost two more people, and then my boss underwent a surgery, so I had a period of 2 weeks where I earned plenty of overtime. I am grateful. I really am. I just have an odd way of showing it. I love the people who come it. I have trouble with the people who work there.

The garden is completely dead now, and I haven't had a single day where I have been able to go out and clean it up. This bothers me. On the days where I have time to do it, it's either raining cats and dogs, or it's freezing cold. We had our first snow on Thursday. I finally dug out all the remaining potatoes and they were an absolute success this year. I will most definitely continue to plant that same variety in the coming years. I retrieved about 6 dozen potatoes over the course of the summer and autumn, from 7 plants. And they made the most wonderful soup I have ever produced in my kitchen.

The Etsy store has enjoyed a nice holiday rush and I've introduced several new designs to the shop in the last few weeks. I even managed to get a box of business cards printed! Definitely keep checking the Facebook fan page for promotions, coupon codes and free shipping specials.

While antique hunting in New Buffalo, MI this week, my husband and I stumbled upon an old buffet and china cabinet set. How fortunate for us that the seller had her entire booth 50% off and was taking offers! We ended up paying a total of $106 for this new piece of furniture, which will be residing in my kitchen by Tuesday of next week. I won't call it beautiful just yet. At the moment, it's quite hideous. It was filthy, covered it grime, spilled God-knows-what dripping down it's cabinet doors, painted a lovely shade of baby pink with ancient country floral wallpaper pasted into the china cabinet, but by Golly, if nothing else, I have an eye for the POTENTIAL! I see a gorgeous piece of furniture for my kitchen as soon as I slap some new paint onto it! I spent the better part of this evening washing and scrubbing, dismantling and sanding. Now my fingers are torn apart from sanding grit, my lungs are full of paint particles and I am exhausted. I can't wait to get that baby into my kitchen and start filling her up with my things.

I spent 5 hours on Thursday turning roma tomatoes into sauce. It was rather disappointing work. I only managed to get 3 pints out of all that time! Talk about irritating! I made some beef jerky as well, and as I happen to have some frozen salmon in the freezer, I am giving some serious thought to trying fish jerky. Honestly, it sounds pretty disgusting and God knows what the kitchen will smell like afterwards, but I have heard my hunter friends say that it makes a great snack and has essential nutrients.

I have been recently addicted to The Walking Dead on AMC. It's messing with my brain a little bit though. Now, instead of simply preparing for the economic meltdown, I am also preparing for the zombie apocolypse. I'm not entirely sure that they are two different things. What I do know is that I really need to add more canned goods to the pantry and make even more serious efforts in next summers garden. My 40 tomatoe plants did not produce nearly as well as I had anticipated and I got a single serving of green beans from 6 plants. Not exactly thrilling I must admit, although my potatoes and corn were magnificent and I did get a nice crop of cucumbers. I plan to make much better use of trellises next year as well.

So there's the recent news. I will be posting pictures again fairly soon, as soon as the hard work for the new furniture is complete. I am giving serious consideration to returning to school. Not college though. I have decided college was utterly useless. I am considering trade school. Whether I take technical drafting again, start some agricultural studies, or learn carpentry, I see honing my skills and passions in the near future.

The Rare Negative

It is a rare occurance that I give anything a bad review. I am certainly a glass-half-full person, and when I have bad experiences I tend to just go about my business. The world can do with a few less opinions is my stance.

However, I do feel like it is necessary to put this out into the ether. We will not be frequenting any movie theatres owned by AMC ever again. Not because of a particularly bad experience, but because our Showplace 16 theatre, formerly owned by Kerasotes, was recently bought out by AMC and their prices shot skyward. We simply cannot afford to see movies at that theatre anymore.

We first noticed it when we paid $16 for 2 regular tickets last night to see 'Voyage of the Dawn Treader'. It came as quite a shock because we normally pay $14.50. So the ticket prices had gone up. But that was nothing compared to the snack bar.

Alex and I have a system when it comes to our movies. We always go on Sunday night - fewer people. We always go early - never later than 8 pm. We are part of working America and we get up to go to our jobs in the morning. And we usually get 2 drinks and popcorn to share because we could get that particular combo for $11.50. Not anymore. AMC has their own 'combos' and they even gave them fun and exciting monikers so you're blinded to the absurd amount of money you're paying for them! (Please note there is a large amount of snark in that comment that can't be portrayed in font.) A large drink and bag of popcorn - the 'Producer's Pack' - is $12.75. For $15 you can get another large drink! A small soda is $5.50 and a small popcorn is $4.25. Candy is $5.

And there was a huge line at the snack bar.

Now, I know that this is where they make their money, but shouldn't there be a reasonable line? And they wonder why people sneak things in. I can buy 24 cans of soda for $5.50. I can pop two or three pounds of popcorn for $4.25. This is the Midwest - and Indiana to boot. Don't we have enough problems with our economy?

I'd really LOVE to know who looks at a failing theatre, in a city that is plagued by homelessness and unemployment, and says, "Let's RAISE the prices so that it will become profitable again! After all, everyone LOVES movies and loves to go see movies!"

I might feel better about it if they had bothered to clean up the theatre when it was bought out. Sorry AMC, a 20 foot tall sign on the side of the building does not qualify as 'cleaning up'. Showplace 16 is still the ghetto dump that it has always been, right down to the peeling paint and the broken doors in the ladies rooms. If you're going to charge me more money, at least put some effort into it.

We do love to see movies. We are on a pretty strict budget. We don't get to go to the movies all that often. But we left a theatre last night that was a mediocre experience at best. The movie was wonderful, but tainted by the fact that we had put out $40 (a week's worth of groceries for us) to buy 2 tickets, a bag of popcorn and a drink. I can only imagine what it must be like for my friends who have children.

We will no longer be frequenting any AMC theatres. Fortunately there is a Cinemark theatre on the north side of town that still offers more reasonable prices for now. We can still get our adult tickets for $14 and our popcorn and soda for less than $10. And when the prices go up? Well.....going to the movies is a luxury we'll probably go without. After all, isn't that why Movies on Demand and Netflix exist?