Get on the plane!

The Southwest Airlines 72-hour fare sale is in full swing. Southwest is giving you until Friday at 11:59 PM PST to book an almost unbelievably cheap fare to wherever Southwest flies in the US of A. Fares range from $25 (yes, that is correct) for a flight up to 374 miles all the way up to $99 for a flight of more than 1,000 miles. (DC here I come!)

But if you're interested, you better book fast. In fact, I'm cutting this short so I can get on it.

You can find out all the details by going to Southwest Airlines website at www.southwest.com.

Poor women and children have a better shot at healthy eating now that WIC program vouchers support the purchase of whole grain foods, fruits and vegetables. On October 1st, the United States Department of Agriculture's Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC), began national distribution of fruit and vegetable vouchers. The shift came in response to the demand for healthier dietary choices and it was long overdue. This is the first change in the voucher program in 30 years. From Alabama:

"We've added fruits and vegetables," said Teresa Marshall, a registered nurse and the (Andalusia) county's WIC program coordinator. "We've added whole-wheat bread and brown rice, and have also added baby food for infants ages 6 months and above."

If your economic roots are modest like mine, you can probably remember some furniture or clothing that your family bought on layaway. Layaway was popular back-in-the-day because you could acquire some of the nicer things in life by paying $5 or $10 dollars a week. You didn't have to go into debt to afford a little luxury if you were willing to wait a few weeks, or months, for it. But more recently, layaway fell by the wayside almost everywhere because even folks with modest means found it easy to get credit. The old school values of patience, and only spending what you could afford, were replaced by "gotta have it all right now" entitlement.