it runs through my veins

I believe if you could look up "Brindley" in Webster's Dictionary the definition would be a family who loves Auburn (especially football), to talk, and save every penny to the point it comes quite ridiculous.  (Oh!  and have premature gray hair.)

If this definition was real, I am truly a Brindley at heart.

Growing up, we weren't poor, but we weren't super rich either.  Sure, there were things that I would have liked to have had, but I was never deprived in the least.  Some might even consider us spoiled since we constantly got "small gifts" here and there...just like we still do today.  Those "small gifts" were always things on sale/clearance.  I grew up immediately going to the sales rack as soon as I entered a store's doors.  To this day, I find is really difficult to buy anything at full price (no matter how inexpensive it may be), hence, the reason for my coupon addiction.

When I was little, we used to visit my grandparents' (dad's parents) house in what seemed like the most extreme weather conditions.  It was either burning slap up or freezing my pa-tooties off.  And it never failed:  the temperature in their house was always just as extreme as the outside.  I never understood why my grandfather would have 2 box fans running full blast with the windows up in the middle of summer while his brand new a/c unit was turned off.  It didn't make sense to have paid so much for a nice a/c unit to only have it remained unused.  In the winter, the windows would be down (a/c off as it was all year round), but the fireplace was a-blazing.  I could never quite sit close enough to the fire to get warm enough.  Maybe if my seat was actually in the fireplace then I would have been warm. 

None of this would have been bad if we were only at their house for an hour or so, but our visits would end up being hours long...or so it seemed.  You see, my grandfather was a talker:  full-fledged talker about anything and everything especially Auburn.  I honestly think he could have held a conversation with a brick wall, because that is how much he loved to talk.  It didn't matter what the subject was; he could talk for hours on end about it, expert or not.  He always had a good heart from what I can remember of him.  He just needed someone to talk to.

As I age every day, I find myself becoming more and more like him.  Since moving out, I have found myself turning up the a/c a degree or two in the summer and layering clothes in the winter to avoid a high power bill.  I have even researched online the cheapest place to find cute brown boots so I won't overpay.  And that mission was a success:  a pair of brown knee-high boots from Rack Room Shoes sold to me for less than $20.  Can't beat that! 

And as I type this blog, I find myself becoming more and more talkative, or rather type-ative.  I don't feel like I have anything too important to say, but sometimes I just need to let all of my "talking" out.  I can't hold it in for too long or else I start talking to the dogs.  Oh wait, I already do that.  hmmm....

And I do love Auburn with all my heart.  I could probably spend an entire blog just about why I love Auburn.  See another talkative subject matter...

But do NOT get me started on the premature graying.  One of my lowest moments in life was Mamski discovering my first gray hair at 19.  ugh!  It is definitely the downfall to being Brindley...if there was a downfall.