How are you stretching $$$ ?

Tuesday will be hectic for me. It will not be cheap as I am paying some bills like the plumber, the computer geek, and my cleaning lady.

I need to rinse the dishes and load the dishwasher. Then I need to run the dishwasher.

Scott is coming to repairand/or replace my computer. I'm getting a nice big flat screen monitor !!!!

The plumbers are coming to do something to my water softener. That will get rid of the egg smell in the water. I am giving them the check to pay the previous bill, which will save me a stamp and an envelope. I'm out of envelopes. I had some, but they are hiding from me.

My cleaning woman is coming to clean for a few hours.

Monday night we took up some rugs in the living rom and in the room with the computer. You just wouldn't believe how much better it smells in this room now. The rug had coffee stains, etc., and probably it had mold, etc. There was no way that we could've cleaned the stains and gotten rid of the smells.

Aurora is pouting because the two rooms no longer smell like Mom. That little cat HATES change. She's not a happy little kitty at the moment. She looks beautiful as I've been combing her and I've gotten rid of a lot of dead cat fur.

I would like the whole house to smell like vanilla. I have vanilla solid air fresheners in the rooms. If I could find air fresheners that smelled like freshly baked bread I'd use them. I can't open the windows to air things out and the air outside smells smoky from fire places and leaves being burned. Those smells bother me.

I'm going to Outback for supper.

My new pink bedroom slippers will be coming in the next week. They look like clogs. I will throw out my ancient SAS slides as I replace them. They are so nasty that I don't wear them out of the house anymore. They are literally falling apart from spills and old age. They are over 5 years old.

I found the hornet on the floor of the downstairs bathroom. I killed it before it stung Aurora or me. I have just located the fly swatter.

Yesterday was so busy!  I got a phone call regarding the resume & cover letter I submitted on Sunday; I have a job interview on Wednesday.  Went to the PTO meeting and it was very short -- 45 minutes; half the usual time.  Said I would let them know my volunteer availability after my interview Wednesday; I want to be available to start work immediately if necessary.  Prayers please for a good outcome and G-d's will for me & my family regarding this job. At the women's meeting at church we made 245 cheeseballs as a holiday fundraiser.  We sell them for $5 a piece.  I completed 3 loads of laundry with DH's help and finished harvesting the larger pumpkin yesterday.  I have to rest for a couple of days now b/c my right shoulder hurts so stinkin' bad.  So far I've frozen 8 cups of puree, but I have a bowl full of about another 8-10 cups and I have a batch all cooked up ready for blending that's maybe 6 cups worth.  Yay for pumpkin-y goodness all winter long!

When I came home DD, who's had a cold for 10 days (just like me and DH), had spiked a fever and said her ear & throat hurt.  Her fever was pretty low-grade (99.8), but I have a feeling we'll be at the dr's office today.  Surprisingly she slept through the night; at minimum she will be home today resting.  Between the end of daylight saving time, my right shoulder, a 5-year-old visitor looking for comfort, and middle-of-the-night coughing fits, sleep is an allusion right now.  I think tonight I may take something to help me with the coughing; I have a cough medicine my dr gave me that's okay to take.  Many asthma patients can't take OTC cold meds; I am one of "those" people!  LOL

Today I plan on blending up the rest of my pumpkin and then packing in 2 cup increments and freezing.  I need to get my chicken marinating so we can have that for dinner tonight.  There's a single portion of potato potato soup and a bit of turkey sandwich meat that must be finished off today so maybe that's my or DH's lunch.

One last note: I got an email from my DD's grandma.  Her father (DD's great-grandfather) passed away Friday and she immediately started the drive up to NY state to visit with her sisters.  Her father did not want a service so they are all going out to dinner together to remember the good times and memories.  Even though DD's bio-dad and I never got married, I've met and adore all his family and the feeling is very mutual.  His health had been very bad the past year so this was not a shocking or unexpected passing.  Still, anytime a passing of a parent occurrs it's very sad.  I have made it known that DD's grandma can come and visit us anytime as we easily have room for a guest or 2 and I've made it known that Thanksgiving would be a fine time to visit.  She never mentioned coming up, but I can imagine she may want to now, which is fine with me.  We would love to have her here for a few days.  Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers.  She is a single lady and is close to her family so I worry about her being alone, especially in the evenings when work is through and her own DD goes home for the night.

Sunshine, I hope that you feel better !

Re-tired, I hope that you're feeling better.

Dixie, I hope that you're well. It's been a while since you posted.

Tracy/Latenightleader, How is school ?

Good morning to all....

At work by 6:10 am this morning and the computers are down "again".....so it will be a long long day.  Need to pay bills on my break and balance the check books...ahhh it's been one month since I have even looked at the household bill stuff.

Should be very little $$ out except for the regular monthly bills I need to pay :)

Since takeing Family Leave Act back in April to care for Mom I have had unpaid time off of 9 week's so far - seems like Im in a whirlwind sometimes.

Take care my friends and be kind to yourself...

Deb in az

Sunshine, Praying for your new job and family.

Not a very stretchy day.  Paid bills, going to the grocery store.  Tried to pay car insurance online and tried to call (automated system) and neither way will take my money!  How nice!  I will call another number later after I get over my irritation, so I'm not ugly to the service rep.  It is supposed to make life easier by doing stuff online, but doesn't seem to work that way sometimes.

I have alot of things to do today.  Cleaning, laundry, errands, and I wanted to walk/exercise,  Of course exercise always is never at the top of the list! 

For dinner I am making beef soup.  Wish I had some right now!

Have a good day!

good luck on the job interview Sunshine!   my sympathies on your loss.

no pressing things today. last night I had my moms group meeting that I forgot about in the morning lol. fun time.  

think I will start taking ds to drop in gymastics on tues morning. not up yet to ask him if he wants to go.  starts at 930 so it works out great.   safeway has customer apprec day today 10% off  so will do my shopping today.  get the specials and save more. 

  also need to deposit the homestay chq and pay the newspaper subscription.  will do that on line. I don't have problems paying bills online.

 of course housework and I need to start on organizing for the swapmeet sunday.  should cook up the pumpkin too.  will see if I have time since I am in and out all day.  need to do some mending on dd clothes too.

dd has soccer practice tonight.   still have ham leftover but after 2 days in a row, I will give it a break and do pergories or chicken strips.

just saw a commercial for furreal friends panda. lol someone gave us one used and meanwhile it is $60 with tax!  would pay that type of money for it!

Good Morning!

I thought it would be stretchy today...but apparently the "E" on the fuel tank does NOT stand for Efficiency.    So I have to stop and get gas on my way home from work. 

I made taco salads last night..well DH had the taco salad, I had cheese nachos.  So I have leftover taco meat.  I think I'll freeze it for the weekend when we can have tacos as a snack or lunch, or something.  During football season we "snack" a lot! LOL

I'm thinking we will have a casserole tonight, as I need to portion out the ground beef we fried up on Sunday for the freezer.  I normally buy a large quantity, cook it all up, and freeze in 1-cup portions.  This way I can add a frozen "blob" of meat to spaghetti sauce, cheese sauce, whatever and by the time it's done the meat is all nice and hot.  I don't have to fry it each time.  I also need to get my food processor out and shredd some cheese.  But the noise freaks out my baby. 

Working on a transfer to a different department at work.  My department wants to change my hours to 10-7.  I'm grateful for the job, don't get me wrong, but my family comes first.  With a disabled DH and 6mth DS, I need to be at home in the evenings...and the mornings.  Could someone just win the Lottery for pete's sake???    (my DH and I laugh about that, because neither of us will spend our money on the lottery!!!)

Doing a little research online, I found a Christian Private School near us that is modeled after colleges.  The children go to school on MWF or TTH and on their off days, are "at home learning" with their parents.  It sounds very interesting!  I haven't figured out how that works for the younger children, or if it is just for High Schoolers.  Will continue to check it out...not like I don't have PLENTY of time.

Have a wonderful day everyone!!!

Sunshine, so sorry for your loss.  Good luck with your interview!  Sounds promising they called you so quickly!

Pumpkin . . . LOL DH & I do that all the time too, imagine how we'd spend our lottery winnings but we never play the lottery!

Back to our regular schedule today after a nice 4 day weekend for DS.  It's been a nice break from the routine of school and all.  But now, back to it!  He is about to start working on his homework while I do some work at the same time.  Today, I'll work, do some cleaning and more laundry (ugh . . . it NEVER ends these days!).  Don't plan to spend any money, plan to stay home and work on the house and such-DH's parents arrive in 10 days-MUST CLEAN AND ORGANIZE THIS HOUSE!

Mild day here so hope the furnace can be left off during the day. We have been having luck with mild weather and it is supposed to get in the upper 60s and even 70 by the end of the week. Yay!

We have lots of bits and pieces of leftovers in the fridge that tonight may be "leftover night" for dinner. Some BBQ beef, sloppy joes, chicken and rice from last night and bagged salad that I bought on clearance because it was so close to expiring. I have a church meeting at 6:00 so will eat when I get home at 7:30. I'm heading home for lunch to let out our dog and hopefully empty the dishwasher or do something else to help my messy house while I am home.

My dad stayed with us for 2 days while he had a conference here. He is leaving after the conference and I packed up in a small cooler some leftover ham and soup to take home. It was nice having him here as he really gets to see the boys and really play with them, moreso than when we visit his house for some reason. maybe it's because all their toys are at our house, LOL.

My job (Court system) has to make a 2.5% cut to the existing 2009-2010 budget (started July 1, 2009) and then 5% for the next fiscal year. Talk includes closing courts one day a week or 2x a month or furloughing employees one day a week but keeping courts open and just working with reduced staff. Either way, it means less pay. I think of the employees in rural parts of our state who make less than $10 an hour who have to give up 8 hours of pay a week. Those employees will be hardest hit.

Take care everyone!