...when it's worth the effort...

A friend of mine recently came to visit and brought me coffee. Now granted, it's kind of a no-brainer...the me-likey-coffee shtick. But still...I think it's pretty phenomenal, especially since it's Dunkin'Donuts whole bean.

So now, as I sit here with my freshly pressed steaming mug of joe, I'm wondering when is it okay to just say I deserve the good stuff? And more importantly, when is it ok to just throw out the poor quality substitute?

There's a lot of things in my life that can only be called substitutions...from the town house apartment we STILL live in which was supposed to have magically transformed into home ownership two years ago, to the canned veggies in the cupboard, to a good 90% of my wardrobe.

Yesterday we stopped by E's house on our way up to Sherritt's Market so the mister man could play with E and B for a bit. While there, we got to chatting about the rising gas prices (urgh!) and food costs...and then she said she'd finally had it. Had what? It! It-with the cheapo yard sale strollers that she'd been wasting money on all these years. (PS-she now has three little ones) It-with the fact that she's home going crazy with three strong willed kids all day and her husband thinks buying a $300 tool to dig a few holes in the back yard is worth it. And in a conspiratorial and slightly embarassed tone told me she had just put down $500 plus on a high end, all the bells and whistles double-stroller.

Hurrah for women everywhere!

Don't hold me to it...and don't throw it in my face, but I'll admit, I kind of sort of maybe want to read:


E was good enough to point out to me the fact that my parenting is directly affected by my own level of contentment and happiness...and if all I do and have goes straight to the kid, what am I left with to care for myself...

The upshot of all this...tomorrow we're headed to Trader Joe's to stock out cupboards with food that is both good and good for us...and yes, I'll be splurging on one thing JUST FOR MYSELF!