Confessions of a Wannabe

As per my morning routine, I scanned my friends' and family blogs and found that today, my cousin Allison wrote a blog titled, "Pantyhose...thrifty tips from Grandma Melanie" and I nearly spit coffee all over my computer when I read the title. The flood of memories and photographs in my mind were overwhelming. I laughed so hard I am fairly certain I woke the neighbors.

To follow suit, I am here to confess some things that have promoted my husband to ask "did Grandma Melanie teach you that?" On some occasions, he even pays me the highest compliment of saying "you are just like your Grandma Melanie," although at the moment he doesn't mean it as such--later in her life she did some things that nobody really wanted her doing...like using a makeshift scooter to wheel through the crawl space. But I sure hope I am just like her. She was pretty remarkable. So, today I will list the confessions of a wannabe Grandma Melanie.

1. I reuse baggies for dry foods until there are holes in them too big to hold what I want to put in them next.
2. I drink coffee out of the same mug every morning
   
3. I made Good Cookies this week (that's a post for another day!)
4. I actually said on Monday, "my legs hurt, my allergies are killing me and I am weak. But I have my own teeth!" Really, Jenna? You had to throw out the "teeth" reference? Unless you heard Grandma say that, you wouldn't get it. But in my defense, I had just finished the BolderBoulder 10k with 56,000 people, uphill and hungry.
5. I tied my ski boots together for the season with pantyhose
6. Like Allison, I actually contemplated cutting the elastic off some underwear because I needed a giant rubber band. I resisted that one.
   
7. I started whistling for no apparent reason. And I liked it.
   
8. I have been shopping for wind chimes. I used to hate wind chimes
9. I have been smiling and waving a lot lately. Not sure what prompted that, but it's an OK thing.
10. Chris caught me climbing on the counter tops to get something heavy down that I couldn't reach. When he offered to get it for me, I just glared at him like he was an idiot for asking and went about my business. That evoked a laugh out of both of us.
11. I cut a hole in a old beach towel to make a smock.

Now, while that's not a comprehensive list, some of the things I am doing are because it's just a darn good, thrifty idea that Grandma Melanie gave me. The others are things that I don't even think about. Trying to always find the good, smiling and waving, whistling, and fierce independence are things that I think I must have just picked up along the way. When I do them I am not thinking "oh, Grandma used to do this..." They just sort of happen. And it's not a bad thing at all. And for all of the Grandma Melanie I am noticing in me, I see even more of it in Allison. Alli, if you read this, if I find underwear elastics anywhere in your house ever, I will put perfume in your laundry detergent. For all the marvelous things we picked up from Grandma Melanie, that's the only one that may fall in to "too tacky to be thrifty" category. However, if you want to stash turtles or peanut butter crackers in every drawer in the house, I will support that. Love you!!