After I got the kids on the bus this morning, I wanted in the absolute worst way to drive the five minutes down the highway to this really terrific diner in Maple Falls. I had such a hankering for their home fries and pancakes this morning. And they make everything from scratch there, so I don't even have to worry about nasties in the food, except maybe nitrates in sausage or bacon.

But pancakes there are definitely not made with whole wheat flour and I don't know what kind of oil they use to cook the home fries and as I am trying to avoid transfats, well that wouldn't do at all.

But how hard could it be to make home fries? I mean, all it is is diced potatoes, bell pepper and onion. So I made them myself in olive oil, along with some nice nitrate/nitrite free, sulphate/sulfite free, sugar free all natural sausage and throughly enjoyed my homemade "diner" style breakfast. Didn't even miss the pancake that I had wanted earlier. Also saved myself about $10 including tip. They aren't horribly expensive there and I would have had a full breakfast if I had gone, rather than two items and the portions would have been a lot larger, too.

It was nice to not spend the money and stick to my new dietary habits.

I did, however spend some money tonight. We went to the chiropractor and then to Kmart to buy gloves and hats for the kids and gloves for me. The kids have scarves, but gloves and hats always seem to get lost or outgrown really fast. My gloves get lost because I let the kids wear them when they lose theirs.

I'm going to get some chenille yarn next payday and knit myself a hat and scarf to match my new jacket I bought a few weeks back. I'm not a great knitter but I can do hats and scarves that look good. I just can't do anything else. I'm starting to think the jacket may not be warm enough after all. It was 25 degrees this morning waiting for the school bus. But its hard to find anything really, really warm that isn't made of wool or lined with down. I'm not a masochist, I like to breathe and I can't do that with wool or down, so no go.

Oh, when we were at Kmart I looked at all the Christmas stuff. I love penguins, in fact I've collected penguins for 16 years and they had some really cute ones. But there is something that really, really annoys me to no end about Christmas and penguins. Penguins do not exist at the North Pole. They are native to Antarctica, as in the South Pole. And penguins and polar bears do not exist together as polar bears are native to the upper wilds of Canada and Alaska. And yet every year, there they are, cavorting together. Sigh. Just a really big pet peeve. Silly, I know, but it bugs me.

Nothing really jumped out at me to add to my collection of lights for our huge light display. Nothing I've seen at WalMart yet has impressed me either. Or Costco. I know its still early yet. I will be putting aside an extra hundred dollars to pay for the bump in our electric bill that we get after the holiday, due to all the lights. But it is a big deal for us and we wouldn't give it up, the kids just adore it and so does the neighborhood. I wish I'd bought the rope light nativity they had 3 years ago.

Oh, I should probably budget another $100 to buy cable to run through all the standees and hook around the trees so people can't steal from us this year. They didn't get much last year because DH surprised them in the act, but I'm not going to lose something we've paid hard-earned money for again. We also bought motion detectors last year so we will have to get those installed around the most expensive things.

Okay, this is more of a ramble than anything to do with finances so I think I'll wrap it up. Oh, I was able to cash out at TinklyCash this morning. $5 on its way to paypal. Oh, also wrote a check for $10 to fund Matt's hot lunch account at school. Which reminds me, I need to order checks.

I absolutely cannot believe it but it snowed today! It never snows before the middle of November here and usually not until after Thanksgiving. I am just grateful it did not stick down in the valley, where I live. The foothills are dusted pretty heavily from the halfway point on up.

It was very surreal driving today because there was a windstorm on top of the snow and there were tons of big yellow leaves falling between snowflakes along the highway. The trees have only lost about half of their leaves, it was all just very strange.

I wouldn't have gone out in it but the kidlets spent the night with Mom to give me a break. I got the tummy bug and really needed the rest. Feel mostly better today but like someone parked a well-packed rock into my stomach and my ribs feel bruised. Not fun.

Of course, the first half of the drive to town was abysmal but when I crossed the river and went up the hill it was like driving into another world as the sun was out and everything abrubtly stopped. There's this one road that DH and I refer to as the Bermuda Triangle Road because the weather changes on a dime there and of course, that was right where the change was.

Didn't buy anything today. I made turkey legs for dinner and took all the meat off the bones and threw the bones in the crockpot with water, onions, parsely, carrots, and celery to make broth. Tomorrow I will use it to make Turkey noodle soup with whole wheat spaghetti noodles. I could really use some good bone-warming soup as it is really cold despite a roaring fire.

I tried to cash out at TinklyCash today but the redemption button won't show up, despite the fact that I have $5 in my account. I will give it until tomorrow and then email them.

My $25 ING signup bonus was deposited in my ING account today and I got a refund check from the orthodontist of $286.80. I put $120 of that into savings bringing me to a grand total of $1444.01 in savings.

I finished the kid's costumes today, used my Costco cash card at their gas station to get gas @ $2.399 per gallon, put in $30 worth and change.

Tobias threw up at school and Mom came out to get him since I was in town and didn't have my cell phone on. He's running a fever of 102. He was fine this morning, I swear. They didn't have to wait long for me to show up, fortunately. She took him home with her so he didn't have to sit through Rose's soccer practice. Then we went in to Mom's with a bunch of dirty laundry. She's going to wash and dry everything for me since I got so far behind what with the rain and the broken dryer.

That was two trips to town today, yuck, 5 gallons of gas, but that's life sometimes. Anyhow tomorrow brings the last soccer games of the season and T is too sick to play. He's sad, but he really doesn't want to play with how yucky he feels. His friend had this about ten days ago, standard incubation period. I so hope I don't get this. Or Rose.

T's not too bad when he is sick, he just wants to cuddle. Rose, who is probably the sweetest, best behaved child 90% of the time, turns into a whining, horrible monster when she's sick and I so don't have the energy to deal. T woke me up three times last night, and oh, that really should have been a clue, I suppose. Sleep addled me is not a fun place to visit.

Or rather a check in the mail. A nice old "You paid us too much money so we're sending it back," check. $36.50 for overpayment on a bill for an x-ray I had done back in February when the doc thought I had a greenstick fracture in one of the little bones in my foot after dropping a ten pound chunk of wood on it end down. It'll go into savings assuming I ever make it to town this week.

Funny how long it took them to refund the overpayment. I sure seem to remember how impatient they were when the insurance wasn't paying them fast enough. Isn't that always the way? I paid my portion before insurance did within 30 days just to shut them up, that's probably why it was too much.

Oh, well. Recieved a Swiffer duster in the mail today, this one from WalMart. It's the second one I've gotten. I also got the Gain Mango Tango laundry soap.

Not much else today. Soccer practice was cold! It's by the river, so automatically cold, and then the windchill, and the almost icy rain, yuck. Got called early though, it was too cold and getting too dark too soon and we were out of there by 6:10. I was really glad.

My neighbor came over to talk to me which usually means that he wants something from me. Fortunately it was to tell me that he plans to pay me back the $11 he owes me from back in July, I think it was, on Friday. Could have been June. I wasn't about to open my mouth and mention that it was actually $11.55 that he owed, for fear of never actually seeing the $11. Not that I think I will actually see it...and gave up on it long ago. But if it does come it will be a nice little boost to savings.

Oh, yeah, and he did want something. Just wanted me to keep an eye out for people that didn't belong coming onto his lot. Well, that's a lot easier now that he's down to just him and the one roomate, eleven dogs, and porch full of puppies. Still 4 broken down vehicles and one RV on the lot, though, drives me crazy, as it's only a 3/8 acre lot, and they park on the little front lawn instead of in the bigger back yard or two car garage or the driveway, well one car is in the driveway. It just looks tacky. I mean beyond the cow crossing sign tacky and the old farm equipment lawn ornament tacky. Sigh. It's such a pretty house, too.

Oh, well, I will keep my nose in my own business and not begrudge the weird taste in decorating the front yard. To each their own. Just get rid of the cars already.

Rose's team won their game today! First time since the jamboree where they won 2 games. And not only did they win, they slaughtered the other team 7 to 2. It would have been 8 to 2 but the ref called offsides. Kind of surprising as he didn't call it for the whole first half of the game despite both teams frequently doing it.

Tobias' team did okay. They managed to make 2 goals. I don't really keep track on the micro-fields as they always get trounced. It was really cold today. The temp was 45 but the wind was blowing so I'm sure the wind-chill brought it down.

Thankfully we had T's blanket, the ugliest afghan in the universe. DH's aunt made it a couple years ago. It is dark brown and light blue and white and looks more like a table runner than a blanket. A very thick, long table runner. A very thick, long, ugly table runner. But it makes a great lap quilt type thingy and its long enough to cover three people sitting in camp chairs, if they don't mind being seen with such an ugly thing on them. And no one cares if it gets dirty, its so ugly. Did I mention it was really ugly?

Don't know where DH's aunt's taste went when she made that. The other two we have that she made are beautiful and look like real blankets, nice colors, nice patterns. Oh, well, it has a purpose that makes it useful. And T is actually quite proud of how ugly it is. Boys.

We did not buy anything at the concession today. Not one thing. We all remembered water bottles and we all ate a good breakfast beforehand. First game was at 9:15 and second game was at 10:20 and we were home by 12:30 for lunch. We made tacos. Discovered that the Schilling taco mix didn't have trans fats or partially hydrogenated anything in it and the Mission taco shells didn't either, so yay. Had stuff on hand. I do have a recipe for making taco spice mix for future, but it was nice to not have to do it today.

Dinner will also be out of the pantry, oven baked chicken, canned corn, broccoli/cauliflower, potatoes and gravy, and fruit. Appropriate portion sizes, everything made from scratch, gravy made with 100% whole wheat flour (no white flour allowed anymore). Oh, and milk.

We are doing a fairly good job avoiding white flour, sugar, trans fats, and unnatural foods so far. I really can see that this will actually be cheaper in the long run. My caffeine headache was bad last night but is almost gone today. I feel lighter. Don't know if I am as this is not the point of eating this way, we're trying to fix our overall health.

I am sick and tired of Rose catching everything under the sun and bringing it home to share with me. She never got sick like this when we were homeschooling. She'd get maybe two colds a year. School is a giant germ factory. But it is where she wants to be. I did notice that Rose's face is less puffy today. Don't know if she lost a little weight or if she was swollen and getting the allergens out of her system made her stop retaining water. Come to think of it, my face is less puffy, too. Hmm...Well, whatever, I feel better within my body, so that's a good thing.

I haven't done the bills yet, but will tonight and do a separate post regarding those.

So, I'm at Costco and this couple gets behind me in line at the checker and they are seriously crowding me. Not just invading my space bubble, but pushing their cart into my back. I had to ask them twice to stop shoving it into me. The third time I just sort of leaned back and gave the cart a little shove. I heard a little yelp. That stopped that, but...as I'm unloading my cart they are grumbling at me taking so long. I only had 8 things in my cart and I had to wait for counter space to put stuff up.

Anyway, I get my cart cleared and I go to push it into the cart aisle and the woman has walked around me to stand in the cart aisle and is putting stuff down on the counter. When she finally moves I push my cart where it goes and turn to walk into the customer aisle to pay and they've shoved their cart right up against the end of the counter. So I try to walk around them and they manage to block the customer aisle. I am biting my tongue pretty hard at this point.

I say excuse me and they just look at me blankly. I let out an exasperated sigh of noise and say, "I don't care how much of a hurry you are in to get out of here, if you don't let me get back ahead of you to where my groceries are, you are going to be waiting an awful lot longer." I said it politely, when what I really wanted to say is 1. not appropriate for a family forum and 2. not words I say out loud or usually even in my head.

Finally one of the employee's physically escorted the couple out of the way. And they had the nerve to bellyache the entire time as if they thought I had cut in line in front of them. I so wanted to give them a piece of my mind or say one of the lovely, bitingly sarcastic remarks I had going on in my head. But I didn't. I held my tongue.

These people really should have known how to behave, they had to be a good 20 years older than I am, but they were behaving as if they were (well, I was going to say teenagers, but I've seen better behaved teenagers) raised in a zoo. They were just flat out rude. But I calmed myself down by imagining dumping a bucket of ice cold water over their heads. And when I was done I smiled at them and with as much saccharine as possible told them to have a nice day now. I thought the lady was going to blow a gasket as I casually sauntered away.

Anyway, I spent $31 there on groceries and loaded $50 onto my gas card, then went and got gas at their station. It is at $2.55 a gallon now, spent $32. Other expenses today $6 for 4 hot chocolates at the soccer game but my mother will reimburse me $3 of that. I also spent $6.70 at Arby's for lunch.

That about sums it up. Did bits around the yard today. Wiped down the inside of the pool and then the outside of the pool and folded it up and put it away for the summer. This is the first time we've managed to do that before the end of October so I'm proud of us.

We laid out tarps over the old greenhouse foundation so that by next spring all the weeds and stuff will be dead without us using poison to do it. It's also cheaper than buying poison to do it.

Stacked wood and covered it with tarps, though I still need to do some more rearranging and bring wood up onto the porch. So far we haven't had a fire at night yet but the days are getting cooler and I don't imagine it will be too much longer.

The dryer is completely dead now, not just halfway dead. I think it is repairable but I'm not sure I'll bother. It still heats up but the drum doesn't turn. I had used it a bit too much this month because of the rain combined with the laziness and the kidney infection. We had a nice couple of days so I've had stuff out on the line as well as some stuff in the house on the drying racks.

I just need to get caught up during the warm spell so that when it gets rainy again it won't be hard to dry everything in the house. I may buy another drying rack or two to increase my capacity. Of course, once we start using the wood stove stuff will dry within a few hours since the racks are in the same room. So maybe I should try to hold off on that purchase.

Rose stayed home sick from school today. She caught a cold from her best friend who was out Friday (and today). She was in total whine mode. I know she is sick and miserable but she is also ten and can be sick and miserable without being a whiny PITB. Of course, I have not got a great amount of tolerance because she has oh so kindly shared her cold with me and I'm already on antibiotics for the kidney infection, so didn't really need another thing on top of that.

Tobias seems like he is getting stuffy and he felt warm tonight so it is just possible that he will be down by Wednesday if I am any judge. Well, I'll save on gas this week by not having to go to soccer practice with sick kids and I don't have to go to the open house at the school tomorrow which is worse every year with the boring. I think they devise ways to make it more tedious each year.

I was supposed to schedule an oil change for the car this week but that may get pushed to next week. I'm not driving that car until I can take it in. Fortunately, I don't need to.

I drove DH to the airport tonight and he is safely off to work. Filled up with gas at Costco for $2.57 a gallon. Oh, I bought a coat from Land's End online tonight and ordered a new knob for my dishwasher ($28 for a one ounce piece of plastic?). I had to use the credit card but will make an online payment to the card tomorrow in the amount of the two purchases. I really wish these online companies would allow you to make check payments online. So few do.

I really had a hard time buying that coat. I haven't got one anymore, the one I've used for the past ten years just fell to pieces the last time I washed it and I've been using DH's extra coat (work gives him a coat every year) when I've needed one but it is really too large to be comfortable. It is hard for me to find warm enough coats (we live in the mountains) that don't contain down or wool. I am allergic to both, so when I finally found one after searching about 18 different sites, I was thrilled. Wasn't happy about the price of $89.90, but since everything comparable I looked at was $149 or upwards, I guess it it okay. Shipping was $8.95, and there was a bit of tax, came to total of $106 something. I really like the colors, too, imperial blue and deep navy (is there a non-deep navy?). And since I will probably have it for another ten years, that works out to just over $10 a year, so that isn't too bad.

I wasn't too thrilled on the $28 for the dishwasher knob, either. I've been using pliers to turn it on. That's easy as it starts when you get it to the right place. Problem is, I don't know when the knob gets to the dry cycle so I can turn the machine off. And I'm not sure where off is. So it has to run all the way. Now we don't do heat cycle at all, but still, it runs for about fifteen minutes after the wash/rinse is complete and that wastes electricity, so we bought the knob.

I'm tired so I'll end my whine now. Kudos to those of you who waded all the way through it.

Not too much excitement today. The autotdeposit was today so savings is $10 richer, putting me at $947.

We loaded $100 onto our Costco cash card and then used it to put $30.19 worth of gas into the car 2 today @ $2.58 a gallon, 4 cents less than a few days ago. It is weird seeing the gas tank on F, or even on the right side of the halfway point, really.

I had a doctor's appointment this morning, so $15 co-pay and $10 perscription. My kidney infection came back or else its a new one, so I'll be on antibiotics 3X a day for the next 14 days. Oh, joy. Big old capsules, too. Bought organic milk at the store my pharmacy is in so $5.29 for that.

I pulled all the meat off the rest of the turkey bones and seperated it into packages and froze it. I then threw all the bones and skin into the crockpot with 6 quarts of water, a head of crushed garlic, a chopped onion and salt and pepper and am making broth. I will have it going all night and it should be good and rich in the morning when I'll pour it through a seive and then I will make turkey noodle soup to have with supper tomorrow.

I am really into having soup right now. It is very comforting The weather turned on us this last week or so, went from mid to high 70's to wet, rainy, mid 50's to low 60's, and one night got down to 33! Yikes. It hasn't been that cold again, but we really have to drain the pool tomorrow before it happens again.

As for the soup, twice this week we've had homemade chicken noodle at dinner and tonight we had golden potato (DH's great grandmother's recipe), very rich and good, very satisfying and I notice it cuts my appetite for the heavier protein that follows. I still eat the same large amount of veggies as usual, though. But they are cheaper than protein, usually.

I may make a nice onion soup, possibly French onion, but I really don't know if I have the patience to be finicky. I like the ease of crockpot soup. It allows for a large degree of laziness. Which the lousy weather is encouraging. Just want to curl up with a good book under the covers. The current good book I am reading is "Smart Couples Finish Rich," by David Bach. It is very good and I am learning a lot. I had no idea the limits on spousal IRA's for a non-working spouse (when the working spouse has a 401K) had risen so much. Last time I checked, it was a lot lower. This book was written in 2001 and it was $2000 then, so it might be more now, even.

I will have to look into that. I'm not sure when I might be able to fund one, but I want something in my name for my own personal security. My DH is a solid man who I don't think would ever leave me for any reason and seems to think the sun rises and sets on me for some reason and I see no reason I would ever leave him, he is kind, good and a wonderful spouse and father and I kind of think the sun rises and sets on him also. But I still want something in my name. Security is my biggest issue. I want it no matter what else happens. The idea feels right.

Not much else today. Oh, DH took Tobias to soccer and they are having team pictures so that was $8. School photos were yesterday and today so that was $16 for both kids. We only get the 8X10 and scan it to make copies on the school ones, and the 5X7 team photo with the individual shot in the same photo for sports photos. Rose will have her team photo tomorrow, another $8. I wish these weren't all in the same week, but I guess this is a good week for it if it has to be all at once.

Okay, I think that's it then for today. Got in a very talky mood, I guess.

Tonight (or technically yesterday) was my mother's 67th birthday. It was me and my kids, my sister and her three youngest kids, my neice (from my other sister) and her husband, and my parents. My mother invited everyone over for dinner tonight, and out of my sister, neice, and me, I'm the only one who stayed in the kitchen to help my mother out. No one ever helps but me, anyway, but come on, its her birthday and they don't lift a finger? That is so not right.

But the meal was fabulous and I got a ton of leftovers to take home. A big gallon Ziploc full of fried chicken, a quart of gravy (only fitting, as I made this), 2 quarts of green beans, and a quart Ziploc full of broccoli/cauliflower (which I'd also made). No one else went home with leftovers, one of the benefits of working in the kitchen. Anyway, I have enough there for at least 4 meals for me and the kids for free. I just need to add potatoes or corn.

I may make soup with the bones, depends on if the weather drops out of the 80's or not. I am not having a stock pot on the stove all day in this heat. Well, maybe the crockpot, though.

DH is gone again, took him to the airport before I went to Mom's. Just as well, as there would have been no gravy left if he'd gone to Mom's, LOL.

We had a pair of twins move in 3 houses down today, a boy and girl aged 6.5. Tobias is in heaven. And they will come to our bus stop when school starts.

I listened to the first CD in "The Automatic Millionaire" and it was really good. I did it while I was doing my PTR emails. I wanted to be listening to Damia (book on tape by Anne McCaffrey) instead, but after the first 5 minutes I was really enjoying it.

I have just finished reading an anthology of Robert Heinlein stories, his juvenile space adventure stories which was quite good. I'm a couple chapters into The Best of Living Cheap News on the financial side and started 1 Million A.D., an anthology of speculative science fiction stories.

I am not buying anymore books this year unless they are by Elizabeth Moon or Anne McCaffrey. I have a list of financial books I am getting from the library as I finish one. And I have about 500 books in my den that I have ordered from the SFBC that I became a member of in 1990 but never got around to reading. Okay, that is an exaggeration, but I have a six foot tall bookcase double stacked on their sides with hard back books. I don't need to buy more. I just need to work through what I have and start listing them on half.com or somewhere to sell.

I am reading so much more without the cable tv. It really frees up my time.

Well, DH did not get the new job...but they are going to install the new software on his computer anyway so he can master it and they are going to start grooming him for that position for the intended opening of a new project in 12 to 18 months. So, better than what it he might have been left with which would be nothing. And the new guy could still go kaplooey.

Although, I suppose its not nice to actually wish for that, but so many of the new hires can't hack the work conditions, especially come winter. I mean, arctic circle people. It's gonna be dark most of the time. And cold. And then there's the family seperation, which some people are not suited for. I do okay, as I'm a loner and DH does okay though not as well as me, he's less of a loner. The kids are who its the hardest on. So maybe he'll have twelve kids and they won't be able to stand it. Though come to think of it, having twelve kids might make him want to stay up there, LOL.

Okay, so no bad wishing they go kaplooey, but we will be happy if they have to leave due to circumstances beyond their ability to cope. >;o}

Well, DH will be able to pick up an extra week in December and some extra days in January when his alternate goes on vacation. If we are careful and don't let it slip through our fingers, we should be able to bank about $2500 into the new car fund just from that. Here's hoping anyway.

Well, Rose finally learned how to ride her bike today. Not just the riding, but the starting and stopping by herself part as well. It's been a long time coming but I am just so happy and she's through the roof.

Now we can work on teaching Tobias to ride without training wheels. I am sure he will pick it up about ten times faster than Rose did. But he's fearless.

Now we will have to get our bikes down out of the rafter's of Mom's garage. I need a new seat put on mine as I don't do that type of bike seat anymore. Mine will cost $20. The tires are still in good shape, just need air, and the chain is okay, just needs to be greased.

DH needs a new pedal and a new bike seat. This could get a little costly, but the return in family fun and exercise will be worthwhile. I just hope this old body will react okay with riding. I haven't ridden a bike since 1994, when I was 24. I've been pregnant or recovering from pregnancy or miscarriage, or having abdominal surgery or recovering from having abdominal surgery for the past 12 years. That makes bike riding hard.

But I seem to be past all that now, can't get pregnant anymore without those bits or get endometriosis or PCOS without those bits, don't have a gall bladder or an appendix, don't have much left they could take out, well maybe a kidney, my spleen, or another tumor, but let's hope not, LOL. So I think the bout of abdominal surgeries is well and truly over. And I can ride again. Well, we'll see. That could be an adventure.

Well, we have a chance to refinance the $149,000 that is left of the mortgage my parents took out on their house to pay my medical bills. The interest rate is a lot lower, the payments would be $300 a month less than what we are making. And it would get paid off ten years sooner.

They are checking with one other company first, but it looks like it will be a go. She didn't want to say anything to me until she knew that everything checked out. So with that $300 a month we could make a car payment. By April we will have $5000 saved up for a down payment. Maybe more, depending on whether or not we can sell the Blazer.

So, this means that even if my husband does not get the better new job with his current company, we will still be able to get the sorely needed new vehicle.

The job closes tomorrow and then it is a waiting game. His boss really wants him to move into this new job, and he (the boss) has some say but not final say. But...there are 6 other people who have applied for it. One has a bachelor's degree who has been out of the industry for 4 years working as a carpenter. One is just finishing up his master's degree and has absolutely no real life job experience. 2 DH works with and and one has no drafting background which has been part of the problem with people in this position before not working out. The other is close to retirement wage and already makes more than the new job pays, which he didn't realize when he applied. So that leaves 2 wild cards we know nothing about.

I am hoping they are the flaky type they've had in the past. Where they ask for petrochemical experience and get a resume from someone who has pumped gas for the last 20 years. But I doubt it. I know that we are probably taken care of now on the needing to get a new car issue.

But I still want this for DH and I know how badly DH wants it, too. He wants to do this before his degree gets rusty. And I want it for our finances. To be able to throw $1000 extra at our debt each month would mean so much towards getting out from under all this massive debt.

Aside from the medical mortgage we still have about roughly $74,000 between the mortgage on our own house and what we have left on our credit cards. $223,000 total. I want it gone. Some days I wish we had declared medical bankruptcy instead of trying to pay this all off ourselves. I don't know where we would be if the hospital hadn't cut our bill in half and we hadn't had medical insurance at all.

DH is a hard worker and a good worker and he really deserves this. I so hope it happens. It would be the answer to so much. I don't have my hopes up though. I'm afraid to because I just don't want to be disappointed.

And to think I didn't think I had anything to blog about tonight and almost skipped. LOL Guess I was wrong.

I don't think I'm obsessively worrying about whether or not DH will get this new job with his current company during the day but at night time it seems to be the only thing on my mind.

There is nothing wrong with his current job, it pays well enough to get us by. Maybe it is just that I am so tired of "just" getting by. And that this other job is such a large step up the pay scale.

I want breathing room. More than breathing room, really. I want to be able to buy a new car and not have to keep babying along the '92 and the '96. I feel like I just keep throwing good money after bad with those money pits. Its getting close to the point of not having much choice and if I can only keep one of them going until April when we get back our tax return we should have enough to get something better than what we have.

With the new job though, we would be able to get something really good. Something that isn't too old and gets excellent gas mileage and is reliable enough so we can go back to just having one car again. Maybe even a brand new car. I've never owned a brand new car. I'm not sure if I ever will, but I want to be able to have it as a choice that I could buy one.

So we are saving for it. That is what our long-term savings is planned for. That is what I so obssessively add money to and update on my blog each time I do. And then...I see other people doing stupid things that they shouldn't be doing and getting yet another vehicle they can't really afford. When they didn't need it. They just wanted it.

Other people being SIL and BIL. Again. I have deep running issues with the way SIL and BIL are about money. Mostly because they don't have it but still spend it like the do have it and this is after claiming bankruptcy 5 years ago. No, this actually goes back further than this. But I don't suppose I'll get into it tonight. Much.

Its just hard to watch people get handed things over and over and over again. And we are doing everything we can to sacrifice right now so we can get what we need and pay the hospital debt we owe. A debt we couldn't help. Not a debt we could help or a debt we walked away from. Sometimes I wish we had, but I don't think I was raised to believe it was an option.

There are so many issues that darn new truck of theirs brings up with me. I hate feeling like this. I feel petty and childish and surly. I know their lives have not been a cakewalk but it has been charmed at times beyond their fair share, you know? Stupid, jealous green-eyed monster has ahold of me.

My daughter is forever saying "Life isn't fair!" To which I reply, "Whoever said it was supposed to be?" Dang it, I wish it was supposed to be.

Did I mention that SIL and BIL have digital cable and digital internet? Okay, stop it. You are not a Jones. Quit trying to covet like one!

We'll get there. I know we will. Eventually. But that new job would really, really help. It would improve my attitude markedly as well. I like being positive. So negativity begone. Thanks for the rant.

I know because I counted. 27 days until school starts. Why did I count? Because if I didn't know better, if I didn't know that normally my kids are sweet, loving, good to each other children, I'd be thinking I'd given birth to demon spawn. I can survive for 27 more days. And hopefully the kids won't actually kill each other.

I do not know what has gotten into them. I had to threaten Rose that if she slammed her bedroom door one more time today I was going to take it off its hinges and she wouldn't have one. I know how to do it, too, and I will so its not an empty threat. Rose had already broken Tobias' door when she kicked it open so hard and it pushed the door stop right through the wall when she body slammed it after getting it open, so now T has a hole in his wall. That's going to cost money to fix. Plus, we will have to rehang his door and fix the latch.

I am at my wit's end. Rose never loses her temper. T can be a pain and get angry on occassion, but not Rose. Hormones, I think. I hate puberty.

Okay, got that out of my system for now. Thanks for the vent. It stopped raining (rained all day yesterday) and the sun is out now, but it isn't too hot. I have laundry to hang. And getting fresh air will restore my lightness of spirit for the next go-round. Back to the trenches.

DH and I had a long phone conversation last night. His company has an opening for a higher position and it looks like he may have a shot at getting it. He's been with the company for 10 years and has a very good reputation as a hard working, detail-oriented person. When he got his second degree 4 years ago it was for what this position does.

I am so hoping he gets it. If he does the starting scale is $1000 net per month more than what he makes now. Net. Not gross. $12,000 a year more take home pay. When I think where we could use that much money...Of course, he would no longer be on a 2 and 2, he'd be on a 3 and 3. That would be hard. Especially for the kids. But he'd be home for a longer stretch of time when he was home.

And instead of having to buy 12 plane tickets a year, he'd only have to buy 9, which is a savings of from $1500 to $2000 a year. It would also mean 3 less hotel bills for a total of $300. So ultimately closer to $14,000 more net a year.

Because it is in the same company there would be no changes in his medical, dental or vision benefits.

And that is just the starting wage. The position tops out at $575 a day. This would be the answer to just so many of our problems. To not have to pinch quite so tightly on everything. We could get the credit cards paid off, then the house mortgage, then the medical mortgage on Mom's house. And buy the car we need to get soon. It would make all of our goals reachable in ten years time.

I'm afraid to hope for it. I don't want to start counting any chickens either. But if...if, if, if...it would be pretty wonderful. And I'd still use everything that I have learned in the past 4 months here at this site. I'm not about to let go again and go wild with money. I'll still do my surveys and my click-thrus and my product evaluations. But maybe I'd be able to use them to open my own IRA instead of for a down payment on a car.

The last time I prayed this hard was when I was trying to carry a pregnancy to term the last time. I eventually got that 2nd surviving child, albeit with a boatload of medical bills between the two. Not to mention all the ones that came afterwards. (At least I never had to pay for infertility stuff. Getting pregnant was never the problem. Staying that way was.) Now with this, we would finally be able to put a dent in those bills.

I really, really want this. Almost as much as I wanted my kids. Is it wrong to want something this much?

I decided to work out how much money I will have in long-term savings, which is our car fund by the end of April of 2007.

With just the $10 deposit every Thursday, the amount of our usual tax return, and the the amount of my DH's annual bonus, all of which we will receive by April's end, we will have $5312.00. We are assuming a low trade-in value of $2000 for our 96 Blazer, so that is $7,312 right there.

This doesn't count any of my click-thru earnings or trial offer earnings at all, since I won't know what those will be. So far my earnings have been anywhere from $100 to $30 a month, but it'll definitely all go into that fund. I think I'll put the freezer money account on hold for now and deposit my rolled coin and recycled cans money into the car fund, too. Our old freezer is adequate right now for our needs. It is not as energy efficient as the new ones, it is at least 32 years old, but we keep it full so it runs at peak condition.

This really gives me new heart. I'm going to try harder to see where I can save money. I'm not sure how much longer the 96 or the 92 will last. But I'm banking on the 92 lasting longer than the 96, based on past performance.

If I could save $8,000, plus the $2000 trade-in, we could be looking at actually buying in a year instead of two. We'll have to see how long the other's last and I'd prefer not to finance at all if we don't have to, again, depending on how long the other vehicles last.

I wonder if the car place would take two cars for trade-in? Do they even do that? Hmm. I'll have to find out. Anyone on here a car salesman or married to one?

After an hour in the swimming pool, I feel like a whole other person. Who ever came up with these quick set pools, the kind with the blow up ring and its made out of vinyl, should be given a medal. The water was the perfect luke warm and we stayed in until the air began to get a little too cool. It was fantastic, though the kids didn't want to get out when DH and I did. He stayed out a little longer while I ran in and took a quick shower to get the chlorine out of my hair. Now I feel like I have a whole new attitude.

Plus the house is starting to cool off. Always good.

The pot roast in the oven is smelling fantastic and it is a really big one so it should last for several meals. As long as DH doesn't start "snacking" on it. Nothing ruins my menu planning like that.

I tell you, the last few days have been so ridiculously hot that I feel like a puddle of wax melted on the floor by eleven a.m. We don't see temps at 100 in North Western Washington, we just don't. But once this week and a couple high 90's and the last two days of high 80's, I just wasn't built for this kind of heat.

Heat like this makes it very easy to eat out, because who wants to cook anything, knowing the stove or oven will just add to the discomfort in the house? So to combat that I have been cooking at night. Last night I made fried chicken at ten and tonight, I just put a pot roast in the oven, on low heat, to slow cook between now and midnight. It is just starting to cool off and we can have the curtains open, the windows up and the fans going to bring in the (finally) cooler air from outside.

We have adequate cooked protein for several days and we are eating a lot of cold veggies, cucumbers, lettuce, radishes, kohlrabi and instant potatoes. Sure makes it so much easier. Plus we have sandwich fixings so that's another no cook meal. Having the choice of ready made foods in the house instead of having to decide between cooking or wasting money at a restaurant, it is easier to choose to stay at home.

Tomorrow we will go to town and we will pack sandwiches with us so we don't get tempted to go to Mickey D's. Too many trips there can really break the food budget.

I'm usually up pretty late during the summer, so I might even make a cake after the roast comes out tonight. Then the begging to go get cookies or whatever will hush. It's gotten kind of annoying today.

Right now I have a book out from the library called Not Buying It. It has been talked about before, as I learned about it from one of the blogs here. I'm about five chapters in, and it took me until about page 50 before I could adapt to the writer's rather choppy writing style.

I don't know, she's awfully foul-mouthed for someone who wrote a non-fiction book and it always jars me right out of the text. I'm not big on swearing, but I do recognize that there might be places where it could be utilized appropriately, such as someone dropping a ten pound ice block on their foot and letting out an expletive. I do not, however think it should be used casually and this author is very offhand about it. We have too much stuff is fine. We have too much s*** seems very unnecssary. It makes her sound less educated than she obviously is.

Beyond that, so far I feel like her experience is that of a pampered princess who chose to deprive herself of consumer goods simply so she could write a book about it. I get the feeling the whole time that that is the only reason she is doing it at all, to one year later make a profit. Just makes me glad I didn't buy the book, but got it from the library.

Maybe its just too hard for me to empathize with someone who gave up caviar or new skis and thinks that is a sacrifice. That that is rouging it.

I hope the book gets better, I still have seven months to go.

I am having a major craving for Pepsi right now. Too much soda over the holiday and now I want more. Of course, not any of the non-caffeinated stuff that I have in the house from that 7-Up promotion will do. Has to be Pepsi.

I have four gallons of gas left in the car and I don't want to waste it driving 1.2 miles to the gas station store. Even though I am finally able to fill up at $2.99 a gallon at the cheap Arco now, its still a precious commodity and I don't need to waste it on a silly errand. And yes, I do still have $40 in Shell gas cards, but the nearest Shell is 10 miles away. But that isn't the point.

I could walk the 1.2 miles, it takes me about 20-25 minutes to walk that one way. I could collect cans on the way home because after the 4th there are more than ever in the ditches, to make it a productive walk. Lots of beer cans off the highway, which really makes me wonder how many drunken drivers were out that night.

But I want a no spend day and walking down to that store and spending $1.85 on a 2 liter bottle, which is a ridiculous price considering all the sales I passed up last week, is not only dumb, it won't give me the no spend day.

After reading about all the library dontaions others have been making lately, I hopped online to my local library branch and renewed a book on tape that I have out. It wasn't due until tomorrow, but I figured if I didn't renew it today, I might be joining you all in the land of ovedue fines. Although, technically we have a week long grace period, since this book on tape was loaned out from storage, which means it is attatched to the city library system and loaned into the county system, I might have to abide by the city grace period (1 day) and the city fines (10 cents instead of 5 per day after grace is over).

Anyway, I have it checked for another two weeks, which is good, because this is an unabrideged dual recorded set of tapes, and is about 16 hours long. While I was doing that I checked my holds list and a book I put on hold about a month ago just came in. It was the Not Buying It that was recommended by someone on this site.

So I will pick that up tomorrow when I go get my children on Friday. They are spending two nights at grandma's along with 3 of their cousins. Nice break for me and I am being utterly lazy. Okay, not really, I am doing dishes and washing and hanging laundry and cleaning the pool, and probably mowing the lawn. But I have aleady managed to watch two movies from Netflix last night (Iron Will and Just Like Heaven) while I did click thrus on the computer. I just noticed that I can't actually be lazy even when I'm being lazy, LOL.

And I finally finished the book The Mom's Guide to Earning and Saving Thousands on the Internet. Interesting read and I did sign up for a few things I hadn't heard of already on my own. We'll see how that pans out. Hopefully it will add one or two more income sources.

Oh, I was offered anther $2 survey today and I didn't qualify yet again. I have migraines, but I don't have them often enough for the dumb survey. Sigh. I can't help it if I avoid all the food triggers and only seem to get triggered these days by lack of sleep or extreme barometric pressure changes, like the onset of a huge storm. Sigh. Oh, well. Again.

Today was my electronic transfer of $10 to my long term savings account, bringing my total up to $444.34. I am hoping to add $20 tomorrow (payday) so I can meet my June goal of $60 added above the weekly automatic $10.

I counted out the money in my change jar and then rolled coins. I have $18 in rolled coin to deposit into the freezer money account. I'd like to add an extra $5 to that, also. $209.14 + $18.00 will bring it up to $227.14 + $5.00 will bring it up to $232.14. We are buying fireworks tomorrow so that is why I can't guarantee the extra $5 or even the extra $20.

As for the fireworks, I recieved a coupon in the mail where I can get several different fireworks as BOGO free so we will use that. Last year we spent $150 on fireworks, and I'd like to get just as many but hopefully for $75 or so. Every 4th we buy fireworks and take them out to my sister's house. They get a bunch, too. Then my DH (if he's home and not in Alaska, he'll miss it this year), my BIL and the oldest of their boys lights them off.

Her oldest boy has moved to Arizona 3 weeks ago so he will miss it, too. But he's 20 (graduated with his A.A. through Running Start at 18 and is taking a correspondence course to get his B.A., currently, after living a year in Arizona he will apply for one of the universities as a local, much cheaper, and his correspondence credits will transfer as it is one based in Arizona and he checked).

So only BIL will be lighting them off this year. And this may be the last year we do this at all. BIL recently got a new job (after 20 years at the last one) down South that pays a lot more and has benefits and education reimbursement, so they are looking for a house in the Everett to Lynnwood area. They have to sell their house in this county, too. BIL is staying with relatives and comes home on weekends and he gets holidays off, also, which he did not get before.

We don't go to the fireworks shows anymore. The last one we went to had so many rude, drunk, stupid people I just hate subjecting my kids to that. Truthfully, the rude, stupid people bothered me more than the drunk ones. The one that really got me was rude, stupid, and drunk. This younger woman (maybe 21, old enough to know better, anyway) who lit up a cigarette in the bathroom line (about 50 people long and she was with friends who could have held her place while she stepped away from people), and stuck it in my then five year old son's face. It came within an inch of his eye before I knocked her hand away and it fell out of her hand. Then she got all indignant, "Hey that's my cigarette, (expletive)!" And I said "And that was my child's eye you just stuck it in and my child's ears you just swore in front of. If I hadn't knocked it away, you'd have been looking at paying some serious medical bills. My child's vision is more important than your addiction."

Well, she grumbled on for a bit, still swearing and making a jerk of herself, while her friends were trying to shut her up) until one of the plainclothes policemen who was in line a few people back and was working the event told her he could arrest her for disorderly conduct, public obscenity, and quite possibly underage drinking. And someone else in the line said, "Too bad you can't arrest her for being an idiot!"

Well, she got all huffy, stomped off into the woods while lighting another cigarette (it hadn't rained in about six weeks at that point and we had a burn ban on because everything was tinder dry, so not the smartest place to light up) and went to the bathroom in plain sight of everyone, though I think she thought the foot high shrub gave her privacy. Maybe if she's actually been all the way behind it. Well, the officer didn't and she got arrested for public indecency or something (same as the flasher law).

Anyway, that just really turned me off the whole thing, plus they were charging $20 to get in. I didn't mind when it was a $10 donation for carload or even $15, but now if I wanted to I could go to the one in Bellingham for free, its not worth it. Plus, it may have gone up again.

Okay, tangent.

So, I also want to buy another flat of berries and a couple buckets of cherries tomorrow from the farm stands, so we'll see.

Perky's musings on why people don't often pack real food made me think about a recent purchase I made at Fred Meyer. They had all sorts of little to medium size Aladdin thermoses, most came with an attatched spoon and some came with dividers. I purchased four.

My kids will be taking real food to school next year. When I was homeshooling I didn't have to worry about sandwiches and chips or junk food that much. I just cooked a hot meal or put together a cold salad, depending on the day. My kids don't really think sandwiches are all that great, unless they are hot, toasted and contain cheese and ham. So this last school year, Rose's first back to public school after 2 grades and Tobias' first year, lunches were difficult.

Both my kids enjoy hot lunch but it is $1.90 per lunch. That gets pricey fast. I did have one thermos each for the kids and on occassion I would send ravioli or soup instead of a sandwich lunch. It always went over so much better than anything else.

So, with my kids in very loud agreement, next school year they will be able to take things like chicken and potatoes in the same container because of the divided dishes. Rose won't eat chicken cold, but if it is warm she devours it. They both want my beef stew in one compartment and a homemade biscuit in the other side. Or leftover spaghetti and meatballs, or meatloaf and green beans, or enchiladas and rice. They were so enthusiastic over the idea.

I told them they can still have hot lunch once a week if they want to, but that the rest of the week they can eat real food from home. I will still let them get the 40 cent milk at school, though. I can't beat that price really, when I send it in a container from home they never drink it all or complain it wasn't enough, or don't screw the cap back on tightly enough and milk leaks all over the inside of their lunchbox and if I'm really unlucky all over the inside of their backpacks. The school sized one is perfect for them, so I will give on that. I can get juice boxes a lot cheaper, but I'd much rather send along a fruit than a juice.

Being able to balance Rose's diet more will be great. She is pre-diabetic (long family history of diabetes) and has several food allergies. When she eats hot lunch, we never really know what is in it. We've learned through trial and error which ones she can eat and which one's she can't. And she spent a lot of time in the nurse's office with stomach and intestinal pain.

Rose has even said she would give up hot lunch from school altogether if I would send hot lunch from home every day. I think we will all be much happier next school year. And it will cut back or cut out that expense altogether.

We went out to eat so much this past week that we have a whole lot of leftovers, so I decided that I am not cooking anything new until all the restaurant food is either gone or has gone off.

For breakfast I had one slice of thin crust pizza with Canadian bacon and green peppers. Had to take a rolaid, too or the green peppers kill me. Lunch was half a French dip with au jus and jojos. Dinner was one taco al carbon and half of my son's toasted cheese sandwich with a little Mexican rice. There are still a couple of enchiladas, more rice and some more jojos that will get eaten tomorrow. I also have some veggies to use up before they go off as well, so somewhere along the line there will be a zucchini, a crookneck yellow squash, a cucumber and some lettuce.

My power bill came. It was $22.75. No that is not a typo. I had a credit of $70.25 and my new budget amount is $93. It was at $110, but the just refigured it. They do this quarterly on the budget plan. My actual usage would have cost $64.96. They may adjust it downward more, but who knows at this point. I'm just happy to free up $17 a month.

My KWH usage for the Apr-May period was 967. For the same period last year it was 2668 KWH.

The changes I have made are to avoid the dryer as much as I can. I have a five load bearing clothesline, 2 drying racks and 2 shower rods that I can hang clothes on from hangers to dry that way.

I have unplugged everything that does not need to be plugged in unless the outlet is too awkward to get to or it is like the TV or VCR/DVD player where you have to reset it each time you unplug it.

I am vigilant about turning the fans off when we are not needing them.

I make sure my son turns his CD player off every morning and unplugs it. He sleeps with it playing music all night. I'm trying to convince him that he should just let it play through once but he still thinks it needs to be repeating the CD all night long.

I am vigilant about lights not being left on when someone is out of that room.

We are turning our computers off at night.

I am using the microwave more often. When I do use the oven I try to bake more than one thing at a time and in large quantities so they can be divided up and frozen and then later thawed and cooked in the microwave. I am unplugging the microwave when not in use. Resetting it is easy.

So one big thing and lots of little things. It really does add up.

A little flyer that came in my bill is offering a handmade copper and brass coffee scoop and two bags of organic, shade grown, fair trade coffee from Grounds for Change (local to the PNW, uses 100% of its energy from the green power program) if you sign up for Puget Sound Energy's Green Power Program. This program charges at the minimum a $4 a month surcharge on your power bill that goes to support the development of renewable energy resources in the PNW. You can also contribute more to this program in increments of $2. So $4, $6, $8 and so on.

I am going to think about it for awhile. It's good until October 15. If I am saving $17 on my power bill now by reducing use, $4 might be worthwhile to me. That would only be a savings of $13 then, but I do strongly believe in the development of non-oil based or polluting energy sources. I think it is a necessity and when we can afford it we will get a hybrid car.

The thing I must ask myself is, if I put that $4 in the bank to go towards the car (which is what my long term savings account is for, if I hadn't mentioned it) will it make a bigger difference in the long run of getting the car earlier and polluting less that way? Or will supporting the development of resources now make a bigger difference. Like I said, I will have to think on it.

It used to be I could never leave Costco under $100, usually $150 but that was with a case of diapers or pull-ups and wipes. Then after we didn't buy those anymore, I still couldn't get under $100 for a long time. Last time I went I came out of there having spent $48. And this was after a month long challenge to not go there at all. I was so proud of myself.

I write a list and stick to it now. I do not go through the toys, dvds, cds and books at all. I avoid the office supply section like the plague. I wouldn't go by the bakery at all if you didn't have to to get to the walk-in refrigerator. Well, I could go the long way around, but the bakery doesn't tempt me now that I bake from scratch. Just not as good as what I can do.

I have to go tomorrow, just for a few things (cheese, milk, eggs and veggies, maybe fruit if the price is good). I found out you can buy a Costco cash card and then use it at their gas station. It won't take cash, which I hate, but of course will take credit and debit. So I don't buy it there up to now. Last time I went it was at $3.11 a gallon, which is 2 cents cheaper than the cheapest Arco, the average is still running right at $3.29. Since I will be there anyway, I will try this. I am saving my gas cards for when things are tighter. Usually that is the one week each month we don't get a paycheck at all.

Since it is coming up on summer we won't be driving as much. No dance, no sports except one or two week long sports clinics, and only swim lessons twice a week in town. I will try to bundle everything that is needed in town into those two days. Less driving equals less gas consumed equals smaller amounts of money going into the gas tank.

I did a survey near the beginning of last month for $4. It was evaluating a commercial for a cell phone company that hadn't come out yet. Well, I just saw it on TV, slightly changed, and one of the changes I had suggested was actually made. Now, I don't expect it was just a suggestion I made. I'm sure others made it as well. But still, I was never expecting to see this commercial so soon! And it really makes me feel like my opinion is actually counting in these surveys.

I did a product evaluation this morning, well it is in two parts, I did the first part, and have to wait for the product to arrive before I can do the second part. It pays $23 but part of that covers S and H, so really it is a net of $13.50. It's already in my account. I have had a lot of luck with product evaluations, more so than with trial offers. This one is for something that if it works I would actually buy it.

I also found $2.19 when I cleaned off my computer desk. Courtesy of DH, who likes to plop his change in various nooks and crannies around the house, even though he knows full well where the change jar is located. Sigh. Oh, well, it makes for nice little surprises from time to time. Better a surprise like that then the ones my kids like to leave me (half eaten hot dog behind the couch that has mummified, for example).

I had my massage therapy appointment this morning and feel so much better. I have one more on Friday and then I think I can put this muscle strain behind me. I can walk without pain and I can sit without pain, but the getting up from lying down and the getting up from sitting and the trying to bend down still is painful, though not the excruciating pain of when I first did this. So the total hit of all four appointments is $200. Insurance will reimburse half if they decide it was justified. I'm not holding my breath.

I was able to hang laundry. Yesterday it hurt a little to do it, today it wasn't that bad. I did five loads, as that is all my clothesline will hold. We are still behind badly from all the rain. It's a good thing we have so many clothes, although it takes forever to get them all clean and then I feel like we have too many. Admittedly, I'm also washing all the spare bed linen as I just put fresh on everyone's beds and washing the winter blankets so I can put them away until October.

Put $20 worth of gas in the car when I was in town. I went to the Arco closest to where my appointment was, which was $3.15 a gallon. The cheapest Arco is $3.13 a gallon, but since I was only getting $20, I would have spent more than the amount I saved, driving the five extra miles. At least its not $3.29 like the vast majority of stations around here, though the Citgo is at $3.21.

What I would really like to see is a 2 for that first number. Wildest fantasy would have a 1. My parents talk about when candy bars were a nickel or a dime and buying their two story house and 1/2 acre property for $23,000. I wonder if I'll be telling my grandchildren (not yet born, oldest is only 9) someday about when you could use a 20 dollar bill to fill an 18 gallon tank and get change back and when a starter home could still be bought for under $100,000.

Okay, that got tangential (and that probably isn't actually a word).

Today we drove up to Lynden and went to the McDonald's there. We stayed for a good couple of hours. The kids played in the tubes and I read my gardening book. Of course, they both had happy meals and I ate off the dollar menu. Then they both got the freebie kid cones for dessert. It was just over $12 (8.4% sales tax).

Then we stopped at MIL's house to spend a couple of hours there. We watched (and helped, sort of) them make a cobblestone pathway. They had the forms and then you pour the concrete into them and use a trowel to smooth it down. Then they had some green landscaping rocks, I'm not sure what it was, it looked a little like jade and a little like that soft, almost soaplike stone that I can't for the life of me remember what it was called. Apparently college geology classes don't stay in your mind forever.

Anyway, they pressed the shards of these green rocks into the poured forms so that they were even, kind of like mosaics, and then MIL put a little glitter over it all. It was a very pretty effect. What's more, it shouldn't be too difficult for me to recreate it. They, of course, bought 100 bags of concrete at once. But I figure, if I do a bag a week, it shouldn't be quite so overwhelming budget-wise. I've been wanting to put in a pathway for a long time, just couldn't see myself doing it, since DH is gone so much of the time. But this shouldn't be so hard.

Anyway, afterwards we went to my mother's house and I cooked them all dinner and then the kids are spending the night so I get some free time tonight. I've started on laundry as it is supposed to be sunny tomorrow and am working on the kitchen. The floor needs mopping, so I'll do that tomorrow.

Oh, I did spend $10 at Haggen to get a black caladium. I am just waiting on two other ones that are in the reds to show. They usually don't appear in our stores until early to mid-June. Then I will be done buying flowers for the year.