Posted by: tlnemethy | April 22, 2013

Bargain Bin

You know it’s a terrible feeling when you buy a bag of discounted candy on break at work, only to return to work and have the same bag come through your line marked down even further. Like to a single candy bar price rather than a hodgepodge of is this worth the money versus I get a company discount feelings. I’ve become a scavenger at work, praying on the unsuspecting bargains huddled on teetering shelves in populated aisles. It’s actually mildly disturbing how my brain functions at work.

Oh there goes a thick winter coat for next year. Did that tag really say $2.99? Dafuq. Want. Too bad it’s for a man. But a bargain like that deserves to be bought. Kudos to you, bargain hunter.

Is that a pair of soft yoga pants for $4.00? I’d start doing yoga if I owned those pants. Seriously. It might be a great investment as my frail body possesses the joint structures of a bed-ridden geriatric.

What? That seat cover would look friggen amazing in Squirtle. I think she needs some butterflies on the interior to brighten her upholstery a bit, maybe cheer it up a little so dashboard Jesus doesn’t just have to look at cracked leather.

That reminds me: I should start buying doll clothes in holiday prints for dashboard Jesus. He’d look dapper in a leprechaun suit and bowler cap for St. Patty’s day or a miniature wizard cap for Halloween; he’s already set for Easter.

So this morning, I woke up and went to the kitchen where the remnants of that bag of candy sat, just waiting to be devoured. They’re minis of kitkats and Hershey’s bars and Reese’s cups, but of course what was left was mostly the plain old chocolate bars. I grabbed a few and watched the latest episode of Vampire Diaries while I came up with a brilliant breakfast scheme. Mind you, at this time I was pretty much junk fooded-out, so I decided to nuke half a chicken breast with a slice of American cheese. Deliciously healthy, right? Not quite. Protein is good for breakfast though, or at least following my thought process.

A few hours later I decided to make a snack to bring upstairs while I was online. There was that bag of bargain candy again. My eyes caught the expiration date: 4/2013. Gosh, they’re about to expire. I really must save them from that stage of inedible. My brain starts cranking into overdrive and I start rummaging in cupboards to make my snack more intriguing and less of a sad hoarder bringing candy to bed. Graham crackers and marshmallows later, I make a couple s’mores. But not just any s’mores mind you, I made Reese’s cup s’mores and although the chocolate pretty much dripped out of the sandwich, the peanut butter middle was a delightful surprise.

God help me if I eyeball another bag of candy or I’ll turn into my hoarding boss who stores nothing but candy in her freezer. Her daughter complains that there’s never any food in the house with any nutritional value. But hey, when a bargain catches your eye, sometimes you just have to pull out that employee discount card and hustle to the stock you’ve hidden behind rows of Captain Crunch.

Posted by: tlnemethy | April 19, 2013

Merfolk and I

For years I’ve been living under the impression that I swim like a fish and that the water is my natural state of being. Come to find out, recently, that my father believes I cannot swim at all.  It is shocking.

I mean, that’s why I always feel so bad for people who audition for American Idol; someone always tells them that they can make it in the business when they are utterly cacophonous.

I’m not a pretty swimmer. Granted, I already knew that I would never win awards for my grace under tides, but I figured that swimming just means getting from point A. to point B. while in or under water. C’mon. Walking doesn’t mean you have a beautiful gait. I myself, walk with a swagger that I never realized until a competition was named for me and held yearly in my honor. The Walk Like Nem-Dog competition. Ah, the memories.

What a terrible feeling though, when I take up a gym membership only to use the pool and find out that I, in fact, cannot swim. Back stroke, yes. Breast stroke, yes. Front crawl, and the most common form of lap-swimming, hells no. Apparently I have a distinctive fear of keeping my face under the water for more than three strokes.

And yes, I know you are reading this Papa Bear. I never would have told you in person, but writing is just so much less personal and embarrassing to express one’s misconceptions of herself. So yes, you were right about my horrible attempts at swimming. Key word: were.

I have a month to swim like a friggin mermaid. And once I do, I will swim circles around you with my merfolk peeps.

Posted by: tlnemethy | April 16, 2013

Clearing House

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RIP beautiful blue dress. I hope your new wearer treats you well.

Clearing house, and selling my valuables. That’s all that’s been on my mind this week. I already weedled down most of my material goods down to a manageable fill-up-the-car-and-mosey sized load when I left Houghton, but it tends to accumulate the most in the spaces you’ve considered your own since childhood. There’s the cricket I made in wood shop class and the pottery mug with the broken handle; the mementos and trinkets that I can’t bear to part with even though they play no significant role in my life.

The first to go though, and really the easiest to part with are the stockpiled prom, military ball, and wedding dresses. Wear em once and the fun’s gone. Not really, but how often do you get to wear a floor length corseted gown? In my life, not often. I put them on Craigslist, hoping prom season hasn’t passed me by without me knowing it. All of them. And since I was a pretty good bargain hunter they never cost me very much in the first place, so making fifty bucks is a good deal.

Mexico tans: flesh bibs.

Mexico tans: flesh bibs.

The first one has been snatched away already and now I’ve got this sinking feeling of seller’s remorse; a definitive I shouldn’t have done that moment. If there’s ONE dress I should have kept it was that one. The perfect dress. The one from those latent fairy tale dreams of childhood. But alas, it is gone and though I fear I will never find a dress quite so perfect, what is done is done.

I can guarantee though, that none of the other dresses up for sale will have any influence on my emotions. They are generic and sparkly versions of thousands of other prom dresses out there, and nothing memorable ever happened while wearing one of them (besides rocking an extreme set of tan lines or getting lost).

Anyone in New England looking to buy a dress? Try my advertisement at http://nh.craigslist.org/clo/3743847559.html.

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