Every Christmas, my husband and I only ask for money.  We don’t really need “gifts”, per se; we prefer to make a big ticket purchase that is a total splurge, something that we could only afford with this gift. 

My mind swam all of December with what we were gonna buy.

Clothes.  A new tv.  Maybe some jewelry.  Perhaps a trip.  My mind was reeling with the possibilities!

I had finally settled on a new camera.  I’ve been longing for a DSLR for years, and now the prices have leveled off enough for us to purchase one.  I was SO EXCITED.

Bryan had his mind made up, too.  We were going to buy: tires.

OH THE GLAMOUR.

Yes, I needed new tires.  Yes, two of my tires were bald and a third wouldn’t keep air in it.  Yes, I drive the baby around in that car.  BLAHBLAHBLAHBUYACAMERABLAH.  I know all of this.  But.. this was our fun money!  We were going to spend it on us!  NOT ON TIRES.

But Bryan wouldn’t be swayed.  “Sarah,” he said gently but firmly, “we are NOT going to be those people who have swanky cameras and TVs and then drive shitty, beat-up cars.  We know those people; we mock them.  But we will not be them.  We won’t.  We will spend our money to keep ourselves in good standing,” and he was done.  This was not open for discussion.

I know it wasn’t, because I tried.  A lot.  And he had a response for every damn thing I tried.

Me: We can do this LATER.
Him: It carries important cargo.  We need to do it now.

Me: But I want to spend it on something we can use.
Him: This is a present you will use every day, at least.

Me: PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE.. PLEASE PLEASE!
Him: I stopped listening to you days ago.

And so we did it.  Four new tires on my car, the day after Christmas.

And SURE, my car now drives better than it did the day I bought it.  And YEAH, it’s a lot safer on wet streets now.  And OKAY, I didn’t realize I had been pulling my car to the left to compensate my bald front left tire but now I don’t have to.  WHATEVER.  IT WAS NOT THE FRIVOLOUS, FUN PURCHASE I WANTED FOR CHRISTMAS.

Because sometimes I make stupid decisions, and it takes a better half of me to push back.

When I was little, Hoppin’ John was one of those meals that you always HATED to hear you were having, and then you stuffed yourself silly eating when it made its way to the table.  I don’t know we fought the stuff so much; now that I’m all growed up, this is such a treat to make.  It’s also great on New Year’s, because you get the recommended black-eyed peas.

Also: it’s easy, and I’m lazy.

Ham
2 cans black-eyed peas (dried would work, too, but.. lazy)
Onion (optional)
Rice
Salt (to taste)

Take any old ham.  Really.  We had some leftover spiral-sliced honey-baked ham in the freezer, so I took chunks of that.  No need to pull apart or dice or cube or anything.. this is a lazy, New Year’s Day kind of dish.  Throw it in a Crock Pot (I used my six quart) and fill half way up with water.  Cover and turn on High.

Go do something meaningful with your life for a few hours.  Or, like me, take a nap.

After a couple of hours on High, you’ve got yourself a GREAT smelling ham broth.  If you want to, at this point, you can saute up an onion to add to the broth, and maybe even sneak in some carrots or something for nutrition. (I did neither, but .. lazy.) Throw in the canned peas. (If you’ve used dried peas, you may want to soak those overnight before this recipe, so they plump up a bit.) Cover again and simmer on low for another hour or so.

At this point, I took out the ham and pulled it apart into bite-sized chunks, which is a lot easier after it’s tenderized in the broth. 

About an hour before you’d like to eat, throw in some uncooked rice.  I used boil-in-bag rice because it’s all I had on hand, although I did take the rice out of the bag.  Turn it back on high until it is a soft boil and leave it there for about an hour.

This is a good time to make cornbread, because you’re gonna want some cornbread with this meal. 

After about an hour, your rice should be cooked.  You may want to salt to taste; using the honey baked ham gave it a very sweet flavor this time around that I wasn’t pleased with, so mine got lots of salt.  Some hams, though, are PLENTY salty, so you may not need to add any.

This makes a LOT, and it’s great for leftovers because it reheats beautifully.  It’s a great stick-to-your-ribs kind of meal that’s perfect to “set” before you leave for work and finish up when you get home.  Y’all know I adore those kinds of meals, cause.. again.. lazy.

Resolutions for 2009, by Sarah Lena:

• Rid the drawers of maternity panties. I know, sounds silly, right?  But I’ve found that as long as I keep my maternity stuff around (and, honestly, most of what I’ve been borrowing from is what I wore EARLY in my pregnancy), I tend to wear it.  Guess what?  Sarah ain’t preggie no more.  Let’s mark the occassion by not wearing knocked-up knickers anymore.
• Have home-cooked meals on the table at LEAST four nights a week. Notice I said I was not the only one cooking them.  I have found this fabulous online budgeting site (that has an app for the iPhone as well), and after importing all of our expense accounts for December, guess what I found?  We spent an APPALLING amount of money eating out.  We had gotten so good, and then we got too busy to plan.  NO MORE.
• Budget, budget, budget. This one sounds so frickin’ easy.  Every year.  But then something happens and we go nuts (income tax return, sudden commission boost, inheritance) and end up kicking ourselves at the end of it.  We’ve set aside a budget, and Mint.com is going to help us follow it.  I recommend this program to anyone.. it’s free, it’s online, and it links all of your open accounts.  Your credit cards, mortgage, loans, and bank accounts, open on one screen.  Pretty damn cool.
• Eat Less, Move More. Bryan and I have both taken this one on.  Instead of “dieting”, because we won’t stick with that, we’re just going to make smarter decisions.  We’re going to be less sedentary and not gorge ourselves when we have the opportunity.  Bryan and I have lost 10-15 (a piece) in the last month just by being smarter.  We hope to keep that up.
• Evaluate any endeavor carefully. Again, this is a joint resolution.  Bryan and I have the typical actor’s ego that thinks we should go dive into any theatre endeavor that grants us an opportunity.  But I think we’ve finally gotten to the point that we’d rather sit and bide our time and wait for a choice opportunity rather than just be in any show that would have us.
• Spend more time with friends. This one, too, sounds easy.  But somehow, it slips away from me every year.  It’s so easy to get overinvolved in life that suddenly you realize you haven’t seen someone in far too long; I’m going to make a point to NOT be that way this year.  I will see my friends more often than Book Club.  I deserve it, and it definitely makes me a better wife and mother to have that time to be Sarah Lena.
• Take on some new online opportunities. There’s more coming on one front of this, but I’ve been given some chances to expand my writing circles a little.  I plan to take them, because of all my resolutions ever, blogging seems to have stuck.  Also, I want to start doing a monthly-or-so podcast with the fabulous Ronda. 
• Be a Real Wife of Huntsville. I haven’t figured out how to do this one yet, but by studying the last season, it looks like I need to start my own charity by funding an over-the-top fundraiser and drink water out of wine glasses.  Possibly buy some jewry.  Lastly..
• Put these on their own page on the blog so I can see them all the time and remember to do the damn things.