Poor - it's what's for dinner.

Whee, back to being poor! My husband has been laid off and we're both kind of happy about it. I know, this is probably not the emotion that we're meant to have (especially seeing the way things are going in the world) but his job royally sucked and made him really unhappy which made me unhappy.

It's stressful, the money thing, but we're good at it and I think this is our third laying-off together as a couple. My favorite is when we were both laid off at the same time. Whee! Nothing to do! Nowhere to go! Together! We did fine. I mean, hell, I remember when my paycheck was $265. That was for two weeks pay, and yes, this is after I graduated from college. That is the kind of poor where you're trying to figure out how to feed yourself on $7 for the week because you have $8 in your checking account (gotta leave that buffer dollar!) It's real, people. It happened.

Related segue: I am cracking up that there's a politically-related debate over whether a yearly income of $250K is "wealthy" or not. I am here to tell you that IT TOTALLY IS. This is not a debate! If you make a freaking QUARTER MILLION DOLLARS A YEAR, guess what! You're wealthy. I do not care where you live, you're doing JUST FINE. Now shut yer rich pie hole.

Anyway, back to poor. I accustomed as I am to attempting frugality, am sort of worried that we're going to have to make some not-good economies. I'm fine with trying to shop less and planning meals more carefully but if anyone tries to take away my DVR I will cut a bitch. DO NOT TOUCH MY HAPPY RECORDING BOX. NO NO. BAD.

Ahem. Sorry, I get a bit emotional when it comes to my television because it's so good right now. I think Pushing Daisies is the best part of my week, it's so freaking awesome. (I mean, Getaway sticks? Effing brilliant!) And Chuck! I love my Charles Carmichael. I love you, television.

Sorry, I'm all over the place today. I was trying to get around to talking about food and meal planning and whatnot. I plan all our meals out for the week and do the shopping on Friday after work. The most labor-intensive meal I plan is for Saturday or Sunday night when I have a little extra time. This weekend I'm making Butternut Squash Soup with Sweet and Spicy Pecans.

It's my favorite autumnal meal and the ingredients are not expensive. I don't have an immersion blender so I just blend it in batches in my food processor and then pour it all back in the pot before adding the milk. I serve it with grilled cheese sandwiches (made with really good crusty bread) and a simple salad of baby greens topped with chopped green apple and celery. It's good leftover for lunch the next day and freezes well. PS. Do not make a face at it's Rachael Ray origins. A good recipe is a good recipe.

And that's all I've got kids! Have a good weekend.