“Eat it up. Wea…

“Eat it up. Wear it out. Make it do. Go without.”

Lois M. Herman

My mother said this often.  I never knew who told it to her – if it’s an old Swedish or Scottish adage, or a mid-west proverb.   The only place I ever saw it written down was on a slip of paper in her Better Homes and Gardens Cook Book.

I purposely ignored it more often than not, insisting that I work hard for my money, and sometimes I just want to spend it.  It shows in my bank balance, and my mortgage, and my credit score.  I can no longer ignore it, however.  It is time to embrace it, make it my own, implement its charge and to thank my ol’ Ma for planting it in my brain.  I shall finally give it the attention it deserves and hopefully avoid living in a box under a bridge in my eighties.

How best to go about it?  I will have to make it a game, a contest with myself, or I will lose interest, given my history.  I will need to keep score.  Winners keep score, and this game I must win.  Once a week I will determine where I am, reconfirm where I intend to be, and evaluate my methods of getting there.   It will make me accountable, posting to my blog, yes?    And so I shall begin today, Monday, February 17, 2014 – the first day of the rest of my ever lovin’ life.   

I’ll be thinkin’ of ya, Ma.  I’ll be working to avoid a thump on the head when next we meet, HA!