I know you're jealous....

Look at # 20, that's my home town!!!

money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/bplive/2007/top100/

Credit Card Rewards

If you don't have a credit card which gives you points for something, get one! They are so worth it in my opinion. (Bank of America has one and their annual fee is only $30 if I remember right.) If you're going to use a credit card anyway, you might as well get some type of reward for giving the company your hard earned money....

Mine gives me points which I can use for a variety of things including travel. After so many points are accrued, I can use them for an airline ticket. I get "a voucher" for the lowest advertised fare on their reservation site. I looked into prices a couple weeks ago for a round trip ticket home to Chicago. I would have had to pay the difference from the lowest fare to the one of my choice of about $150 when I first checked. Not too bad for a round trip ticket but not so great for my current extremely "fixed" income so I thought I'd wait a little and see if the fares go down at all.

Well, yesterday I decided to check fares again and the difference was only $10! Yes, you can say that I just purchased a round trip ticket to Chicago for $10!!! Not sure that I've ever done that in my lifetime, or ever will again. Of course, it would have been better if it was 100% free but $10 is pretty reasonable and I don't feel guilty at all about buying a ticket without regular full-time work. (Gee, I've got $40+ in change in a jar in my bedroom.) If you decide to go this route, put everything you can on your credit card to earn the points, of course paying off the balance each month and getting into debt, and in no time at all you'll have earned a free ticket too. I think it took me about 2 years to get enough points for this trip. And with my current financial decrease, this is a total blessing to allow me a trip I wanted without having to go deeper into debt.

Now the fun begins...planning the rest of the trips' activities! There will be my High School Reunion, maybe a trip or two into the city, have to look into Wicked tickets again, maybe checking out graduate schools...so many options...

Thank Heavens for Blogs

One of the women at work received flowers today and it reminded one of the men here that he should send his wife flowers. Later, a couple other guys were talking about how they didn't have a reason to send flowers to their wives and I said that was the best reason to do so. And, one juy mentioned that part of him considers giving flowers a waste. Wanting to back up my arugemnt and be right, I remembered that I'd posted a story from the Reader's Digest not too long ago relating to this exact subjet. Of course I had to find the story and email it to the two gentlemen who were a bit hesitant. Guess there may be a little follow up on this topic tomorrow.

Come to find out...

...in addition to owning the Dodo Restaurant, I have my own country. I really do. Just ask my niece Shayla. Shayla's been referring to the Dodo as "JaNae's Restaurant" for awhile now. She'll ask Lynette to take her there when they are at the Gateway or metion they had lunch with friends at my restaurant. I'm sure she got that idea from one afternoon I met Lynette there for lunch and at the last second Shayla said she wanted to come too. The 3 of us enjoyed lunch together and then did a little shopping at The Gateway Mall. Since then, it's become my restaurant.

As to the country, well, Lynette called me on Saturday and said that Shayla had been playing at a park and made a new friend. (They are vacationing in Chicago at Papa and Grandma Cago's house.) Shayla commented on how she has lots of friends; all of her friends at her house, friends in Chicago and friend's in "JaNae's country." I commented back to Lynette that I was Queen of the Universe and that the world revolves around me, when it's not revolving around her daughter of course. You just never know what to expect out of the mouths of nieces and nephews.

Saturday Road Trip

A couple weeks ago I decided to clear my schedule and head down to attend a session in the Manti Temple. Luckily it was a pleasant Saturday afternoon, not too hot and not much traffic. I brought along my MP3 player (which I can plug into my car's audio system!!!) and listened to some music as I drove. Of course, singing along most the way down and back. Who cares what I looked like to everyone I passed on the road....I was having a good time.

The Manti Temple is such a beautiful temple. I haven't been down there for a session in several years and I'd forgotten just how elegant it is. So many memories came back from my first time through the temple, which was at this temple, and from the years of visiting Aunt Jane and Uncle Chris, and family, when they were living in Manti. (I just love the temples but the pioneer temples and all their history...I think they are extra special.)

On the way home (getting out of "Dodge" before all the Manti Pageant attendees arrived) I stopped and visited Grandma's grave in Mt. Pleasant for a little while (no memory writing this trip because I was getting together with friends that evening in SLC and was a little pressed for time). I also stopped by Cousin Lee Phillps' house where we've held family reunions. I think they've sold the house since the facade has been changed and a couple pulled in who didn't look familiar at all.

Lastly, was a stop for a Bishop's Shake...well not a bishop's shake exactly but I did get a shake and dinner from the Dairy Freeze to enjoy on the drive home. Then back on the road for my return to SLC. It was a great visit (I guess you call it that when you do a solo road trip). Very relaxing and worth the time. I have to be sure and go back again soon but this time make sure can stay to do some writing at Grandma's grave and get memories of her recorded. (That makes two temple road trips this summer...one in May and one in June...think I'll be planning one for July and August too....)

"J" Answers

COPY AND PASTE REPLY, ERASE ANSWERS

AND PUT IN ANSWERS THAT START WITH

THE FIRST LETTER OF THE NAME YOU GO BY.

1. Famous singer/band….Josh Groban (that voice!)

2. 4 letter word: ...... Jump
3. Street name:.... J Avenue

4 .Color:...... Jungle Green (thank you crayola.com)

5. Gifts / presents:...... Jewels
6. Vehicle: ..... Jeep

7. Things in a Souvenir Shop:.... Junk

8. Boy Name: ....... Jeorge

9. Girl Name:..... Jasmine

10. Movie Title: ...... Jumpin' Jack Flash

11. Drink:....... Jamba Juice

12. An Occupation:. ..... Journalist

13. Flower:...... Juniper (ok, it's a tree but as close as I can get)

14. Celebrity: ....... Jimmy Stewart

15. Magazine.... ....... Jack & Jill

16. U.S. city........Jacksonville, FL

17. Pro Sports Team: .... Jaguars

18. Fruit: ..... Jelly (again as close as I can get)

19. Reason for Being Late for Work: ... Jam, as in traffic

20. Something You Throw Away:.... Junk Mail

21. Things You Shout: ...... "Jerk" (not very often)

22. Cartoon Character: ...... Jerry the Mouse

Have you ever noticed....

...people don't call any more because of email and don't email because of blogs....
...the 3-second rule no longer exists when driving....
...not everyone knows what "yield" signs mean....
...the flow of traffic seems to have increased....
...how fast time files when on the internet....
...how "cool" 80 degrees can feel after 100 degree temps....
...that there are some songs that just beg to be played full blast....
..."save the flow" toilets don't really save much water because they have to be flushed twice....
...it really stinks to be the hourly temp when everyone's leaving early before a holiday or on a Friday....
..how there are somethings you just never forget and others you never seem to remember....
...driving with the windows down, the music blaring and singing at the top of your lungs go perfectly together....
...despite what they say, computers really do have minds of their own....
...reconnecting with old friends can be wonderful....
...most people use a very limited vocuabulary to communicate....
...the simplist of activites or places can bring back floods of memories....
...there's just way too much double work done in life....
...everything is now in lists....