To Boldly Go . . .

That iconic split infinitive has been such a part of my families' lives over the years . . . .

I remember watching Star Trek on a color TV with my Dad on WESH during its first run, and then a few years later on WTOG 44 in syndication.  As a matter of fact, my Dad insisted on a color TV as soon as we could afford it just to watch Star Trek in color!  In the years between its original run and reemergence as reruns, my parents had some difficult times. Daddy had to spend some time in the hospital as doctors tried to regulate his medication for his epilepsy. Moma and I would watch the reruns every night (on our little b & w tv) at 7:00.  She would pop some popcorn, and we would spend that hour together.  It was a means of coping with Daddy's absence. It was just a couple of months, but it seemed like forever. 

Fast forwarding many years to the point where Columbia House was producing the 2-episode VHS tapes, my Dad decided that since I would be foolish enough to try to purchase those, he had better make me my own set. He videotaped every one of the original episodes for me, writing down the episode title and the "star date" Captain Kirk mentions! I still have those precious recordings. He would be amazed that now you can buy all three seasons for what two episodes would have cost back in the day.

 Yes, our color TV's were always these major "cabinet"- jobs.  They were major pieces of furniture,weren't they?

If I have time this week, I will sit down and enjoy some more Trekkie things--fortunately for me, there are three other ENTHUSIASTIC Trekkies in the house, and 1 who loves me enough to go along with it anyway. 

Happy Golden Anniversary, Captain Kirk!

A Happy Kitchen

Yesterday was a great day in terms of accomplishments around the house.  My pantry has been getting me down these last few months, and I just couldn't get it together to clean it out the way it needed to be.  Friday afternoon, I came home after my classes and cleaned it out.  I had cans that had expired 4 years ago! Everything that was suspect was ditched or save for the outside dogs (who will eat anything with relish). It felt wasteful to toss things, but it is more wasteful to keep the space occupied with things we can't safely eat.  Everything was getting lost in the chaos of the cluttered environment. My long term motivation was to clean the thing out so that I can better plan and prepare meals for the family. My short term motivation was that hubby was going to take me to Kroger where our dollars stretch sooooooo much further!  I had been looking forward to that for some time. I got to know Kroger when we lived in TN.  Their prices are really outstanding--much better than Wally -World; and their store brands are always great. The bread box you see in the photograph was part of hubby's mother' s collection. We are blessed to have her canisters and bread box as part of our kitchen.  As you can see, there is Sunbeam bread--dear daughter's favorite. Bagels, peanut butter and Rama-noodles are all present and accounted for. I bought the Sunbeam for little more than the store brands here in town. Same thing with the bagels.  Our oven has passed on to its reward, and we are making do without one for a while. So a lot of the meal planning has to be around non-baked items. This planning has been much easier since I purged and organized the pantry.

Another source of saving is purchasing my household cleaning supplies through Grove Collaborative. (I still get my detergent, dish soap and fabric softener at Sam's or WW).  At Grove, the prices are really, really good. Free shipping is available, and they are always helping with little discounts here and there. They only sell those products that are environmentally safe--I have used bleach and comet for so long--I thought I would try something a little less harsh. I have loved using these products. They can be pricey in the grocery stores, but through Grove, the prices are comparable to any other product. Plus, they smell so nice and clean. Yesterday, I cleaned the sink and counters til they sparkled. The happy scent of lemon verbena was everywhere.