Nice storm!

It is looking a lot like Christmas. We received 8" of heavy fluffy snow. The limbs on my white pine are laden and bent to the ground. I love this tree for that reason. I love my pear trees too, but one of them did not bend under the weight of the snow, it broke.

All this heavy snow hit the day after I decided that, as a cost saving measure, I was not going to pay the up front fees for snow plowing and take my chances this year. Yeah. Guess who was out shoveling what the snow plow piled in front of the mailbox? I tried not to over do it, and I was sore that day, but not the day after, so I think I am learning.

Sadie LOVES the snow. She high steps, pops into the air, and runs and slips with a great big silly look on her face. I let her run a bit in the back yard, but it is still hunting season, so I pulled her back after a quick run.

Tomorrow I will let her run to her heart's content. We are having our usual Thanksgiving at the hunting camp. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. I love making a dish to pass, this year my double layer pumpkin pie - no oven necessary, showing up to a warm and festive camp drenched in the delightful smell of a huge turkey dinner. It is lots of friends, family and FOOD in the middle of nowhere on the river.

The guys cook the turkey. I believe this tradition started when the guys all hunted and rather that give up a morning of hunting, they would have the women-folk bring out all the side dishes and then they could shoo them out the door afterwards. Regardless of how it started, it has endured for many years. The people and side dishes change, sometimes even a second entree was added, such as a pork roast, for Buddy. But one thing never changes. It is the most pleasant day of the year for me.

I was just telling a friend of mine today that on Thanksgiving 2003, I had my first solid food post op weight loss surgery at the Beaver Club. I had to puree the turkey in a food processor, but nothing has ever tasted so good.

So, on this wonderful holiday of giving thanks, forget your troubles, count your blessings and be thankful....and wear loose clothing, eat a lot, and watch the Lions! :)

Double whammy day

This will also become known as the day the oven died. yep, dead. I now have a very large, very ugly counter timer with a light. I didn't find out until I had prepared 4 breaded pork chops and set them in what should have been a pre-heated oven. I tried the breaker just to see, but I knew it wouldn't make a difference - the light and minute hand were still working. So I just turned off the breaker. If you remember the ugly kitchen contest letter, you will know this isn't much of a loss.

The second blow landed in the mail. That credit card thing I applied for a couple posts back. You need to meet their criteria and provide a bunch of info to qualify. I suspected this in the back of my mind. I am going to call them and have them interpret the criteria, it is written in "lawyer-speak".

I took a run over to the Loom Room and picked up my prize. I got some potholders and some chai tea. I visited with the young guy and he mentioned Traci - of course! :) He said he was going to email her because they are school teachers and going to Galveston for spring break. The place they have reservations is not scheduled to be open until March 1. That is cutting it close. If you recall, Ike took out most of Galveston. We talked about all of that for awhile, but Sadie was in the car and I didn't want to dawdle.

I stopped in at the bookstore while out and about today. We put together two groups of books and I am going to see what happens on Ebay with them. Then we will see about trying to do it on a regular basis. I let her know I had lots of time off during the holidays if she needed me also. I took in Sadie and showed off her good manners. After that we headed home, skipping Wal-mart.

Gas is $1.78 in HL. It dropped a penny to that in the hour I was there.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

The hammer never fell in our area last night! So, yes there was school today. No problem, I did enjoy it once I got moving. When I closed the curtains about an hour ago, it was snowing and it has been snowing since I awoke...at 9:45am.

Before I left for work I got a call from The Loom Room. When Mom and I were there last weekend, I put our names in a jar to win something. We figured we wouldn't win, so we didn't ask what the prizes were. Well, as you may have guessed, I won a prize. Again, I didn't ask what it was, but I will pick it up tomorrow or Sunday, depending on the weather.

I am debating taking a chance with snow plowing this year. Last year I was gouged - 7 months of paying for snowplowing and the guy came the last time when there was barely any snow...then charged me full price for it. Now the thing all of them do is charge, partially or in full, up front. My guy wants $99 up front, at 16.50 a plow. Have you seen my driveway? So, yes, I am thinking I am going to go without a plowing contract this year. I can clear the end of my drive when the plow goes by or pay a local plower to clear my drive once in awhile.

I have decided to put up a tree this year. I haven't done this in, oh, 10 years or so. I bought a tree a few years ago and it is still in the box. I stopped at St. Vinnie's for some baskets and they did not have any, but nearby were tons of Christmas tree lights. So I grabbed 3 bags of white lights ($1.00 ea) and headed to the register. I thought that would go a long way on a 5' tree. I got home and hauled the tree out of the shed, checked it for mice and squirrels, and moved it to the house. It's a 7.5 foot tree! Oh well. I am not planning on spending any more on decorations, I am going to use what I have around the house. Shells, yarn, nautical knick knacks, etc. No macaroni or popcorn! :)

I spent money on un-necessaries today. $3 on tree lights and $6 on SF Dark Chocolate. I can not resist those. For a total of $9. I don't think I need to beat myself up over that, do you?

Thundersnow

Michigan is getting hammered. You could apply that statement to the ridicule aimed at the Big Three CEOs that flew separate private jets to Washington to beg for money, but I am referring to the weather.

They are predicting thunder snow in parts of Michigan tonight. That means I might hear thunder tonight and look outside and see nothing due to a heavy curtain of snow (yeah, and the fact that it is dark out, duh). I can remember this happening only a handful of times. It is a weird weather phenomena. Once, I saw lightning in a storm in the late 80's. One thing for sure, it means LOTS of snow. The forecast, right now, is that the western shore will get in excess of 24" (2 feet!!!) by tomorrow afternoon. This area could get up to 12".

So, here I am sitting here watching the weather reports like a school kid, hoping they will call off school tomorrow. If three or more area schools close, the college will close, and I will not have to go to school, I mean, work tomorrow.

Everyone is finding ways to reduce costs this winter. Do you have any suggestions? Add them to the comments. Personally, I would appreciate any suggestions.

Steps I have taken:

• Programable thermostat - 67 degrees from 6:15-6:50; 65 from 4-10pm & weekends; 60 all night & workdays
• Plastic on windows
• Thermal curtains on picture window
• Rolled towels at bottom of doors to prevent drafts
• Shut off 2 rooms, and shut heat vents
• Unplugging most electronics and all chargers when not in use.

A couple days ago, the Twisted One commented that I seemed to have a good attitude toward my budgeting. I appreciate hearing that. I was kinda having fun with it. Today was the big payoff. I talking about how good it felt to pay the bills and have money left in my account. It isn't much, but that was also after putting money into savings. The best thing? I am not worried about paying the bills. I am in control...at least today! :)

Monday/Tuesday

I need to slow down or something. I am having an uncomfortable flair up of fibromyalgia. Mostly hands, feet and hips. I am thankful I only have a mild form and it is nice to finally know I am not crazy. But it motivated me enough for me to take a look on Amazon for some books about it.

It did not keep me from spinning on a spinning wheel last night! Katie needed to work on a Christmas present - and I have designated Monday nights as MY time to work on whatever I want. :) So Jenny brought her wheel and I sat down in front of it! Next time I will take different wool roving with me, the stuff I had with me was fine and not good for beginner spinning wheel work....at least for me. I spun for about an hour and by then the room and I had become too warm. Plus when I stopped, I realized my ankles hurt. lol

Made a dent in Weekend To-Do List

I have 1/2 of my to do list done AND I finished a major Christmas gift today. (REVISION: After reading my todo list in the previous post, I have to say, I completed the list today! I'm doing better than I thought - I can be a bum tomorrow)

I even made it to Walmart and only went $5 over what I budgeted. That is major considering I thought I had dog food factored in and when I arrive at the dog food I discovered it wasn't on the electronic list! Sadie's usual food is $15. So I had to make some major cuts and had to downgrade the dog food and also downgrade my yogurt from yoplait to Walmart brand. Nothing unessential was purchased and I was in and out in 1/2 hour.

I haven't addressed the rest of the budget thing yet. Mister is sleeping on it in this photo.

The crawl space was not fun. But the good news is that there does not seem to be much damage to the subfloor under the bathroom. I left some of the insulation pulled down anyway to allow some air circulation - can't hurt, can it?

Did I mention I finished a knitting project I have been working on since August? Huge relief!

Mom and I are going to the Loom Room tomorrow for their Hunter's weekend sale. Up to 50% off. Call your orders in to her! LOL I am going for the ride - Sorry, no non-essentials until December.

Gas was $1.97 in HL!

Thursday/Friday

I really enjoy my Fridays now. I can sleep in and still take my time getting ready. A few weeks ago, I asked my class if any of them were afraid of dogs - none were, and I mentioned I may bring Sadie to class sometime. Last week they asked where she was, so I took her to work with me today. I have seen dogs on campus before, so I figured it would not be a big deal and it wasn't. The girls welcomed her warmly, approached her properly and were sensitive to her skittishness without me having to say much about it. Then all of them fell into working, Sadie laid down at my feet, and class progressed without distractions.

After class, I had to drop a piece of equipment off at another building and took her with me there also. Again, she was welcomed, but Sadie didn't relax this time. On our way into the building we passed squirrels and chipmunks (the college's nickname is Chipmunk U) and she was completely focused on getting back outside, despite efforts to get her attention back.

We stopped at my parents' to visit for awhile and the driveway began to fill up like Christmas while we were there. M.A. rang the bell and sat down for a visit, then Cari pulled in, and she was followed by mom returning from shopping for a family for Christmas. I planned on going to Wal-mart so I scooted out soon after.

When I got home, I decided it was getting dark and didn't want to drive over to HL in the dusk/dark. I had been hearing gunshots everywhere I went today and figured the deer would be unpredictably on the move. Tomorrow may not be much better, but at least it will be easier to see.

I chatted online with LC Guy last night. He was packed and ready for deer camp. I wished him luck and pretty much said - see you in about 2 weeks. :)

I stuck to my no-spending vow today, but yesterday I slipped and spent $3 for a bag of sugar free Russel-Stover dark chocolate minitures. It's the only candy I eat anymore.

Tonight I need to make a grocery list and I am going to try and make it no more than $50. I am still putting off making up my budget.

Tomorrow, I also have a list of chores to take care of this weekend.

1. Lower the shower curtain - to reduce leaking from sides of tub
   
2. Hang a set of cupboard doors in the kitchen - who wants to see my oatmeal?
   
3. Put insulation in the vents in the crawl- to save $$
   
4. Inspect the crawl under the bathroom for water damage. I may have to pull some insulation down to accelerate the drying process & reduce mold/mildew
   

What about you? What are your weekend plans?

Mini-update

Just a quick note. I added a picture of my FIRST EVER skein of yarn to yesterday's post Fiber and Politics.

Also, I found this photo on my camera. When I was re-caulking last weekend apparently the fumes did effect me. Because Sadie is wearing the shirt I was caulking in, and I didn't remember the photo until I saw it. Nasty stuff, that caulk. Sadie does not like wearing clothes, can you tell?

Fiber and politics

This morning I am stumbling around, half awake, getting ready for work and I sudden become aware that somebody is yelling at me. It was Lucky. Meow mew Ack - translation: nag nag nag. She usually does this at 10pm when I have not started getting ready for bed. She has never done this in the morning unless she is out of food or water. But, I had just feed them the night before.

So I grumble at her and make a fake toward the bedroom. She doesn't notice I quit following her and continues to the platform where I feed them. When I do get back to the bedroom, she is sitting on the platform, staring down at her food dish. I walk up expecting to see an empty food dish, only it isn't empty, it is full of water! Lucky squawks at me again. I look in the water dish. Yep, it's full of cat food. I had put the water dish on the food side and the food dish on the water side. She didn't like this one bit! So, I quickly traded places and harmony was restored as she dove into her food.

One of my knit night friends, Barb, stopped over after work and she played with Sadie while I fiddled with her digital camera. I changed some settings for her and we settled down at the table to play with my fiber. :) She brought her niddy noddy and we wound my YARN (yes, it is yarn now because it is plied) around and around, after several bad starts. She showed me how to wind it, tie and remove it and how to wind it into a real skein. Then we undid it and did it again, and again. Then I realized we hadn't measured it! The length of her NN was 18" and the yarn is wrapped as you saw in yesterday's photo - twice on each side. So 36" or 1 yard each side - each full wrap = 2 yards. I counted 37 wraps, therefore I have 74 yards of my own hand spun yarn! Then we sipped tea, ate nuts and bolts, and played with my fiber. :)


I spent 2.69 today on milk. I consider this a necessity, so it does not count in my Do Not Spend Vow.

I have set aside the $100 for now. It is going to fund my trip down to Kristi's for another baking/craft weekend. Last year we combined our efforts to bake dog biscuits for Christmas gifts to our dog loving friends.

I behaved today, no snaps, and I actually feel optomistic with all things financial.

To that end, I am not sure it is related to my lift in spirit or not, but as I am learning more about our President-Elect, I am finding that I like him more as a person. I am still not completely sold or clear on his intentions and policies, but I feel better knowing he really is as down to earth as he claims, and has boatloads of honest American values that has been missing in our leadership and society in recent years.

I was a sassy wench today

But first...
About last night....

Sadie and I arrived at knit group later than usual and it was a full house - Sadie was, of course, uncomfortable at first. We usually get there early, settle down and then everyone else arrives and she can get used to it slowly. But, she adapted quickly. Well enough to jump into Katie's place on the couch after Katie had moved to the floor to scratch Sadie's back! Ungrateful dog! :)

Jenny brought her spinning wheel, so we could learn how to ply our spinning efforts. I guess I didn't realize that meant I had to sit down and pump the wheel and keep it going (that's the hard part) in order to ply my spun singles. I don't know what I was thinking. I was caught off guard when she plopped it down in front of me. It was a rough start, and it took almost the whole two hours, but I did it! And it was fun. Not has hard as trying to spin - less hand work, so it was probably good for practice. Unfortunately, no one else got to play with it, so she is bring it again next week. :)

When I got home, I logged on and LC Guy was online...we chatted for awhile and then he ended up coming over until 11. I am not used to staying up that late! It was rough getting out of bed this morning.

Then something weird happened today...Someone dropped off an envelope at the front desk for me. Even when they said who dropped it off I was confused and I made a joke. It was dropped off by a teacher from the high school that I had been friends with about 10-15 years ago.

FLASHBACK: At that time, I was working part time at the school, I was broke, no benefits, and no paid holiday. I house sat for her while she went on vacation over Easter/Spring Break. It was hell. Her dog ate my new $65 Reeboks, I fell on her deck and hurt myself really bad, the leg is still not right (broke, no insurance- so no doctor visit was ever made). Then her dog got loose and ran away and I chased her all over the neighborhood. Her house was a disaster, filthy, and toys COVERED the floor. You should have seen my socks! I refused to clean up the mess (I wasn't getting paid enough for THAT), frankly, I was afraid to touch anything, she didn't even make up a bed for me, she expected me to sleep in her unmade bed! I was reluctant to sit on the couch and was uncomfortable and miserable the whole time - I seriously considered going home! Abandon Ship! And she told me i could do my laundry, but there was no laundry detergent! I had to go buy some. She offered me $100 to house sit and I am already in the hole on day 3! Long story short, she never paid me, and I asked twice, verbally and in an email...saying I really needed the money. I really did! Nothing - I was casually waved off.

TODAY: Anyway, there was a note of apology and $100 cash in the envelope. The kicker, I was afraid to touch the money! Her daughter was the source of a recent serious outbreak the school. Remembering the condition of her house, I checked with a nurse before I read the note. I am serious, I did check.

I was curious as to why the sudden generosity. Well, a couple days ago, after receiving 2 of those annoying chain email FWDs from her in 2 days - mind you, I haven't heard from her in years and suddenly, I'm her spam target. Any, I replied and politely asked her to remove me from her email contacts. Apparently this meant she offended me in some awful way and after "thinking about why" she suddenly remembers she owes me money. Oh, did I mention she is a drama queen?

Then I snapped on one of my snotty co-workers too. I'm taking a business call and I can't hear what they are saying because of her yelling obnoxious comments over the cubicles. I said "NAME, I couldn't hear the person I was talking to on the phone, you need to keep your voice down"...she says, "you need to turn your phone UP"...I couldn't believe it and I snapped, "you need to turn your voice DOWN". She was quiet the rest of the day and ignored my existence. I was able to concentrate and had a very productive day. Normally, I am patient and slow to anger, but that particular fuse has been burning since last spring. I remember telling visiting relatives about how they behave when they were here last summer. (thank you for letting me vent)

I called Barb from my knitting group when I came home. We were going to try and get together. She has an extra Niddy Noddy and was going to show me how to use it to wrap my plied yarn from last night. A niddy noddy is a silly name for a plain stick-like tool used to measure yarn. Every wrap is a certain length, usually one yard. (Click To Read More) The wrap part is where the learning curve part comes in, it is similar to a figure eight - I think! Anyway, hopefully we can get together sometime this week. If I do it right, I will have a finished skein of yarn by next Monday to motivate the other spinners. Not that you need much motivation to spin, it is so relaxing and fun.

So no spending today. I know I said I was going to address that next, but hey, it's been an eventful 24 hours, you've had enough to read already.

I Jump Right Into the Personal Finance Responsibilities - Again

I worry about money constantly, always have alway will. Sometimes it is founded, sometimes not. I have had a particular thorn in my side for awhile and it came to a head last night. I let myself get all worked up about it. My usual mantra "What's the worst that could happen?" wasn't working. I think Dad gave me that one. Could be a Dale Carnagie thing.

After having trouble sleeping last night because of my bills, I awoke determined to do something about it. Sometimes things have to sink real low in order to get my attention. This is such a case. Thankfully, I was able to take the bull by the horns today.

First, I sat down and made a list of all my bills and the minimum payments. Car and mortgage stay the same and that makes budgeting easy. Unfortunately, as we all know, winter increases all utility bills! My gas bill is $12/month in July, last month it was $68 and we are not even into the cold-cold season. We are close, it was 24 this morning and 34 this afternoon.

After evaluating them, the same thorn was sticking. The one that was really ripping me up inside was my GMCard. I am fortunate that I only have one credit card. But last summer when I was laid off and no receiving my unenjoyment checks, I was late on 2 payments. Guess what? That means the credit card gods can legally change your interest rate to something unbelievable! Yeah, I found out the hard way. 30.99 percent! It raised my payment $45 per month! It is truely a hardship now that I am only working part time. And it is keeping me up at night.

Initially, I seriously considered not paying it at all. What's the worst that would happen? I have really good credit, it shouldn't make that much difference. I could wait out the 7 year blight to my credit and stay in my house until it is erased from my credit history, right? I did some research and found out that it really isn't such a good idea. I don't want creditors calling me all the time, becoming a slave to my caller ID, and waiting for the axe to fall.

My next option was to call and negociate with the credit card company. Did some more research and found out that I am in too good of shape to get away with that. Apparently, they will not negoiate a new interest rate or decrease your payment until you are delinquent for 90 days. By then, my anxiety level would be through the roof!

By now I am depressed and running out of options. I poked around on the website trying to make a case for reducing my interest rate. I figured it couldn't hurt to ask, even if they didn't consider me a hardship. I stumbled across some program they offered that would suspend your payment obligations in the case of hardship. Yep, I met the criteria, but there was a monthly fee. Hmm, better see what I can do with payments and interest first before going that route.

So I make the call. I listened real hard to the foreign accent that was telling me, basically, too bad, we can not adjust your payments and interest rate...yet. I will be notified by mail if a special rate opportunity comes around. Hello! Its GM, I am not holding my breath, they are hemorraging money in the wrong direction these days. By now, I am in tears, and I blubber something about their program and he transfers me (eagerly, I am sure, are there any guys that want to reason with a crying woman?) to a harder to understand woman who was very understanding. :)

My main concern was that my interest would continue to accrue at 30.99 percent while the account was on this program. Nope, only increase would be the monthly charge. There were a few other stipulations, like I could not charge/use the card - but I don't use it anyway, and the program lasts 18 months (I just need to get through the winter!). I am MUCH calmer now. This is sounding too good to be true. So I decide to ask her, "why?". What is in this for you? type question. They want to keep their good customers in these hard times. Are you buying that? It sounds good. But I am not sure. She didn't sound like she was reading from a script, like she had for most of the conversation (that drives me nuts too and is part of the reason why I asked her that question). Gee, this is all going so well, and she is so agreeable! So, what the heck, I asked her if she could reduce my APR....alas, I hit another wall. Hey, it never hurts to ask, twice. I hung up feeling like a huge weight had been lifted. I will get the fine print in the mail soon and have 30 days to change my mind or cancel the program at any time. *deep breath*

I have to get something to eat and go to knit knight. I feel SO much better and I will certainly sleep well tonight.

Next time: Regarding the no spending vow I made.

Sunday, the day of rest?

I overdid it this weekend. I blame HGTV.

Just before noon, Sadie and I walked to the hardware to see about replacing the plastic molding around the tub. They had never heard of such a thing, so I bought another tube of caulk and headed home. It is a short walk, but this time it was a cold, snowy, and windy return trip. Yes, it has been windy, and sleet/snowing most of the day. I hardly noticed because I was in the tub from noon until 3:45pm. I scraped, vacuumed, scraped some more, wiped it all down with diluted bleach, then kneeling in the tub, I did some more scraping and more wiping...finally I was able to start the caulking. By then, I had a monster headache, from the fumes, no doubt. My fingers are raw-from the scraping, so I may not be able to knit today. I wore rubber gloves for most of the process, but nothing beats an index finger for smoothing the caulk out. :)

I am curled up on the couch right now. I have the fan on and pointed in the bathroom again. I ate a large bowl of goulash and the headache is slowly receding. That's it, I am DONE for the day. I am unsure if I will be showering in the immediate future, but I am done. Hmm, I haven't taken a bath in a very long time - that sounds....warm!

Friday/Saturday

Friday didn't go well. I started out behind. By the time I had finished class and stopped at mom and dads, I was feeling shaky and ill. So I just went to bed when I got home. Thankfully, LC Guy's hunting partner knicked a deer and they had to track it. I was released from hostess duties and crawled back into my PJs and camped on the couch.

Today went much better! It was cold outside, so I concentrated on things I had been meaning to do for awhile. Laundry, scrubbing carpeted and tile floors, hanging the insulated curtains, and the biggie...recaulking the tub enclosure. That took hours to remove the old caulk and get behind the molding - it is all soaked, mildewy, and I felt like crying! I will have to do the recaulking tomorrow, but I have had the fan on full blast to dry out as much as it can get before I seal it up again.

Now I am tired and sore, but content that I have made some progress today. My house is clean (except the bathtub) and life is good.

Oh! I finally received my new spindle in the mail on Friday! I spent all of Friday night spinning with it. I really like it. However, it is smaller and ligher than I thought it would be. It can not handle the regular roving I have. I had to use some of the lighter and slicker roving and then it went quickly. I will post a picture soon!

Now I am off to finish watching Stormchasers and then crawl into bed with a Lisa Scottilini novel and some popcorn.

I did not go out today, but yesterday, gas is down to 2.18 at the corner gas station.

Packing up summer

Today is the last day of beautiful, warm, sunny weather for awhile. I used the opportunity to sweep leaves off the deck (again), pack the deck furniture in the shed, and pack the hammock in the rafters. Then did some laundry, ran the dishwasher, and made some coffee. Now I am settling down in my studio to spin and watch my Thursday night shows.

LC Guy brought over dinner last night and we spent a very pleasant evening catching up with each other. We had corned beef, potatoes, and rolls. We plan on doing it again tomorrow, but I will do the cooking this time. Yeah, I can cook, I won't kill him. I am not the M. Stewart that Cari is though. :) All I usually do are large pots of whatever I can freeze for lunches throughout the week. Tomorrow will be chili or goulash, I haven't decided yet. However, he will be hunting all afternoon and if he gets a deer, I expect I will be dining alone. :)

I spoke with Sheila this afternoon. Saturday is AJM's birthday and they are having a snow party. This company comes in and makes snow in your back yard so the kids can play in it. I fail to see the novelty of this, but they live in NC.

Well, I better check my email for student's questions. They know that they have to get me before 8 or wait until class tomorrow. I have a wonderful group this year! Small, but SHARP!

Then I need to sit and spin - do they still make those Sit-n-Spins?

Is it Nov 5 yet?

I voted - rah rah! Okay now, get rid of all the signs, phone calls and commercials puh-leez.

Afterward, I ran some errands and took Sadie for a run at work. We didn't go inside to talk to anyone today, the parking lot was still full of administrators - Sadie prefers to stay away from administrators.

I added new photos to the Weekend Update entry below. The hunting camp is gorgeous this time of year (okay, always). Sadie was sporting her hunter's orange - a scarf I knitted for her last year. Dad told me to keep an eye on her down by the river - raccoons were known to drown dogs by holding their heads under water. Either its true or he has been hanging around with Murph for too many years.

Then I sat down and updated my Wasabe account. I haven't done that since last May! Ouch! Yep, it is time to set aside the denial and get serious about personal finance again. Regardless of who our new leaders are, the economy is not going to change overnight. Time to revisit the no-spending plan.

Gas in town was down to $2.29. Gas is beginning to look like my cheapest entertainment!

Well, I'm off to do some spinning - Oh, another one of the girls in my knitting group bought a spindle and I showed her how to use it last night - next week, we ply!

Weekend Update

I spent most of the weekend just trying to stay warm.

Friday was actually nice - high 50's low 60's. My students were wonderful and the 2 hours I spend with them flew by before I knew it. Then I went to give Mom her b-day present - lottery tickets, of course. :) Then I ran to HL to get gas ($2.35!), grocery shop at Wally World, and then out to the Market for feta cheese dip and to fill dad's request for Dearborn smoked sausage.

Saturday was okay. I was feeling blue and lazy and took a nap. Then went to mom and dad's to catch a ride out to the beaver club (hunting camp) for dinner. Sadie was pretty subdued compared to her usually self out there. I wondered if the bear had been around recently. Cari and Jerry joined us and we BBQ'd burgers and visited with friends that were also out there.

Sunday I started putting plastic up on my front window. Cari called and we met at the gazebo to winterize it. More plastic wrapping. :) Jerry was there and the three of us made a good team and it didn't take long. Then I went back home and finished my window, did some laundry, and then tried to take it easy. I did some knitting.

I have trouble with the time changes twice a year. It seemed like it was dark by 4. However, since it was so sunny and bright earlier, when it became overcast and started sprinkling, maybe it just seemed that way. I hauled the garbage to the curb, took a shower and settled down on the couch. I bought a new spindle with my ebay earnings. I will definitely be posting a picture of it - it is made with blue Murano glass.