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Archive for January, 2007

6 hours!

January 31st, 2007 at 07:58 pm

I have had a clod so even though my supplies were in I didn't run out and collect them so I could get started. Yesterday though they were delivered. This morning after feeding DS2 I decided to get started on creating somethign that hopefully will sell on ebay and thus work on the challenge. I spent the next 6 hours working on it. I have very simple ones for now and as I get more practiced and as I see what sells I will get more elaborate. I do have supplies left for a couple dozen more. Tomorrow I put them online and see what happens. I have to decide how I want to list these, individually or in sets and if set how many per set? Actually I think I will do some of each and see what sells best.

another day another cold

January 30th, 2007 at 03:06 am

I have a horrible cold. The only good part of this is my son is learning about germs. He made the connection that he caught one from the kids in GA and Daddy caught one from him and I caught one from Daddy. He asked me about the little things on me that gave people colds. Today I didn't have to remind him to wash his hands, i fact he went and got his stool so he could reach when I was on the couch hoping to not move for at least 20 minutes. I tried lying on the couch figured it was close enough to be "with" him and watch that he was safe as he played, close enough to know when the dog wanted to go out, and could get drinks, food or what ever was needed by my little one. What I didnt' realize was that the dog wanted to be with me as did said child. Our couch which is really a loveseat got very crowded and I got very little rest. I did feel very loved though. At nap time I tried to lay down upstairs. The dog forced himself past the gate at the bottom of the stairs and came up to his "room" (where we lock him in if we are gone) and stayed there, the cat crawled up on me and proceeded to have an argument with me on where she should be allowed to rest. She wanted on my head and I was having none of that. I won (barely). DS2 was in his room sleeping so I had a bit more room and a bit more rest. When he woke up he asked why the dog was locked up. I got up and looked and he was forlornly resting his head on the low dresser we use to block her off (it wasn't in place to block her off she had free run of the house) DS2 came into bed with me to play with the cat and the dog stayed where he was until we went downstairs. I couldn't believe it.

We were wrong about our taxes

January 27th, 2007 at 11:47 pm

That's the bad news, the good news is it was in our favor. Yeah we let them get the interest on our money but it could have been worse. We had cut our deductions way down for the first part of the year because we didn't expect to pay much in th eway of taxes. We didn't cut it down far enough. The good news is the IRS bill we owe from 3 years ago will be paid and we will be able to replenish the EF and pay some of the medical bills off.

Yuck

January 27th, 2007 at 11:44 pm

That is how I feel, Yucky Yucky Yucky and did I mention I don't feel good? Ah well now that I have that said I will go back to doing the things I always do. I have never understood how some people are able to call off sick. My DS2 just says Oh when I tell him I don't feel good then asks for whatever he needs to do again. The dog is even less understanding. He wants to be brushed, fed, walked, go out, eat the cat, etc no matter how I feel. The cat is willing to curl up with me but looks quite indignant when I hav eto get up to go fix dinner or reach a toy or... Somehow that paid sick day thing is nebulous to me, maybe because my work days aren't paid?

Changes

January 25th, 2007 at 07:44 pm

I opened a sharebuilder account about a year ago and was buying a local stock every month. Then in January I changed it to another stock I am willing to support. Today after a great deal of consideration I decided to sell the first one and go with another. The people I knew who were with the company have left and I am concerned that it won't be doing as well so I sold the stock and bought one that seems to be doing well. We'll see. The fees for selling really take a bite but that's cause I am investing so little right now. I upped my monthly investment amount also so that will help. I don't plan on changing anything for a year at least unless I decide to invest more every month. I'm considering that. I also don't have a goal for this money although I may choose one soon.

Weekly Update

January 25th, 2007 at 07:41 pm

I have lost 4 lounds this week. They say to lose no more than 2 but the first week is always way over, at least for me. I'm happy with the weight loss. I'm not hungry very much but I need to figure out different things to eat sometimes. I'm getting tired of shredded wheat!

losing

January 24th, 2007 at 05:17 am

After finding a tiny bit of info in a thread on this site I joined sparkpeople.com. It is a website geared to helping people lose weight. I really like it. There are alot os similarities between this one and that one. They use points, they have blogs, they have forums, dispelling myths (food consumed standing at the refridgerator really does count!), and they are looking for hints tips and common experiences to help each other achieve goals. It is interesting and i am enjoying it. I don't know if I have lost any weight but will find out on Friday. I do know that I am getting the proper amount of protein which I was curious about since we became vegetarians. If any of you decide to join after reading this please use my name (nanamom) I need the points to stay ahead of my DH!

No Make Up

January 19th, 2007 at 04:32 pm

yeah right! She showed up with lots of makeup on and proceeded to set in front of me cotton balls, mascara wand, makeup sponge, and cloth. When she held a color chart up to my face to see what color it was I reminded her that I don't wear makeup. She said I know and proceeded to tell me what color foundation I would wear. I said, foundation is makeup and I don't wear makeup. I said it very mildly and politely. She said but that's what I do! I looked at her and said, "I warned you on the phone I don't wear makeup and you told me you mainly did skin care. I have dry skin and that is why I let you come over." She said (again), "Then you don't want to do all the makeup?" I said, "No what do you have for dry skin?" She showed me a multi step process that made my face feel like a tight drum skin (yuck) and I asked how much the moisterizer was. She told me they had a great tinted one. I had the feeling at that point that I had lapsed into Greek or some other language. I looked at her and she was serious. I repeated the no makeup thing and she finally looked up the price of the stuff. It was $22.00!!!!!! I
said , "So with the $15.00 you told me I had that makes it $7.00?" She told me the $15.00 wasn't for makeup. I told her there was no way I could justify paying $22.00 for a moisturizer. Thinking, I can get better cheaper, alot cheaper. She said thank you and went to her car for my gift cards. I got 3 $5.00 gift cards for the bagel place. Not bad for a few minutes of frustration. I was honest with her but maybe she didn't understand that no makeup meant none?

I Won

January 19th, 2007 at 02:32 pm

Several weeks ago I dropped my name into a fishbowl at a bagel place for some stupid drawing or other. I must not have realized what the company was that had put it there. They called yesterday it seems I won the "grand prize" This consists of a total make over and 15 dollars in product from a local home party makeup consultant. When she told me I started laughing. I don't wear makeup. My DH considers it a waste of money (I'm old, can't change what that looks like I guess) I told her I don't wear the stuff and she said that's OK I don't really sell the make up I sell the skin care line. So today at 10 AM I am going to spend $15 of someone else's money on a moisturizer. My skin is super dry, too much astringent when I was a teen I guess. I am looking forward to seeing just how much makeup she doesn't wear when she gets here! After all why go into that line if you didn't have some experience with it?

Somebody stop me PLEASE

January 19th, 2007 at 03:10 am

I have spent today unpacking boxes. I had 3 stacks of boxes waiting for my DH when he came home. He carries the empties to the garage for recycling or saving. During his men's Bible study I unpacked another 2 stacks upstairs in the library. My back hates me right now and I have really had it for the day. My DS2 was very helpful in the morning when I was working and played happily most of the time I did the last two. But I really wasn't up to his running full tilt around after we were done. My DH took pity on me and is reaidng bedtime stories while I veg out in front of the computer for a few minutes. I was really on a roll but I misjudged th esize of a table and ended up with one a foot too long so I can either block a foot of a doorway (it's an arched double doorway) or block a ft of window at the other part of the L. I haven't decided what to do yet. My brain is fried right now so I will wait until another day for the big decision. Anyway I don't plan on being quite so industrious tomorrow but I may get a couple more done.

electric bill

January 18th, 2007 at 04:07 pm

At the old house I was grateful to have an electric bill around 80.00. We just got the one for this house and I am tickled pink!! It was under 40!!!!!

Should I worry?

January 16th, 2007 at 04:03 am

The cat sat on my lap and I reached out and pulled over a skinny piece of paper to play (torture) her with. She happily grabbed at it with teeth and claws until the large german sheperd that lives here came over and proceeded to do the same thing (teeth not claws) It was a riot. Both of them different species doing the exact same thing. The really bad thing is the dog was better at it than the cat. The cat was smart enough tho to realize if she caught it and then let go I would make it do that wonderful thing again (move) The dog just hung on until I pried his jaws apart and removed it by force. So my question I swas th edog acting like a cat or was the cat acting like a dog? As I type this both are playing under the feet of the blanket my DH is wrapped in. I wonder how he gets any reading done with them doing that!

Part done

January 16th, 2007 at 02:18 am

Part of my no 2 financial goal is done. WE increased our 401K percentage by 2.5 % this year. One small step.....

The plan starts tomorrow.

January 15th, 2007 at 02:55 pm

My SIL and DD gave me an idea on what to do for this challenge. I am going to spend $20.00 on materials for cards. I have lots of stamps and inks and notions. I need to buy the card stock. I have an order in for that which totals $15.68. My dealer charges a couple dollars for the use of her brads, inks etc. I am going to pay myself for the use of that stuff as well. Then I am going to make as many as I can from the materials and try to sell them on ebay. If I can I may try to sell some at a craft fair in the area as well. When the weather warms up that is. The money I will pour back into the "business" and see what happens. I will log it here. I want to see what I can make from the original 20. So far I have:

Seed Money: 20.00
Card Stock: -15.68
Supplies: - 2.00

Total left: 2.32

That should cover ebay fees.

Stalker

January 15th, 2007 at 02:39 pm

I am being stalked on a daily basis. I never know what corner to be wary of or when the shadows are hiding a lurking form ready to reach out and grab me. My kitten (the one I am allergic to) has discovered the safest place to hide from the dog is under my skirt. I wear skirts all the time, no pants or jeans in my closet. When I wear them ankle length that is fine but when it is only calf length I have a problem. I also have blood dripping down my legs alot! She tends to try to climb into my lap and she is still pretty littel and I am pretty tall. Result is her claws into my skin. She is sweet. She really is, but at night she sleeps as close to my head as I will let her. Her preference is on my head but I have limits. She tends to wait until I am asleep to make her move of course. Then if I don't move her to a better place to sleep (in my opinion) she takes pieces of my hair in her mouth and pulls until I am tempted to see if she really will land on her feet! She has discovered that on weekends nothing she does will get me up out of bed at the time she prefers (before 6 AM) so she goes to my DH room and plays outside his door until she wakes him up. That of course has the desired effect (at least hers) She tries the same trick at night to get me to go upstairs in the hopes I will go to bed so she can curl up on or near my head and ....

Home again, sick again

January 14th, 2007 at 10:19 pm

I was amazed that an old lady like me could move as fast as I did this morning when my DS2 looked at me in church and said"I need to throw up in the potty" He was in my arms because I knew he was a bit under the weather from catching a cold from our GK while in GA but didn't expect this. I ran for the foyer bathroom and someone was in it. I turned 90 degrees and ran for the crying room bathroom which thankfully was empty. I even had time to think as I ran what an awesome 3 year old he is to tell me. He didn't "frow up" but gagged a bit. I poked my head out of the room and found our pastor's eyes glued to the door he went and found DH and we went home. DS2 ate lunch and has been sleeping ever since. Unfortunately that means he will be up late but he needs the rest right now and I can probably stand to be up a bit tonight with him.
Our grandkids are awesome and we didn't get nearly enough time to hold, hug and spoil as I would have liked but at least we got to do a couple fun things with them.

Travel Bugs

January 9th, 2007 at 05:07 am

My DH has been looking up lots of "caches" along our travels and we all went along for the ride on Saturday. We pulled into a tiny park and a police car was just leaving. He flagged us down and when we pulled up to his window told us the park was closed for the season. I was amazed to hear my law abiding DH say "Can I go in anyway?" from the look on the policemans face I was not the only one surprised. He quietly explained that he wanted to look up a cache. After a short explaination of what the heck we were talking about I guess he decided we were harmless cause he let us go look. About 15 minutes later DH came back up the hill covered in mud with a happy grin. Seems there was this women who didn't like her husbands watch so she attached a travel bug ot it and put it in a cache in PA and asked that it be removed to another far away place. We are taking it to WI.
A travel bug is a dog tag that you put in a cache and someone picks it and moves it to another one. Some of them have specific requests or destinations in mind. We picked up one in WI that wanted to get to NC Cool, we could do that. Along the way it wanted pictures of diabetics having fun. We took a picture of two nieces that are juvenile diabetics making ice cream with a ball. Another wanted to be pictured with fire stations. We took a picture of it with a grocery store shopping cart shaped like a fire truck and standing beside th estate fire memorial in WI. It is a clifford toy attached to the bug. We are going to a Fire Hall tomorrow. The other one is a pirate who wants to get to Spain. We are taking it to the East Coast area which is th ebest we can do. We've decided to get a couple of our own. Maybe I should get one and have people taking its picture with ways to save money!!! I could attach a penny to it!

We'll Travel; Have Idea

January 9th, 2007 at 04:53 am

Does that sound backwards to anyone? I was visiting with my DD and SIL and asked what I could do for the $20 challenge. They came up with something that I am going to try. I am going to see if I can make my hobby into a bit of cash. So I will get some raw materials and get started, but first I am going to enjoy more time as Nana.

20 dollar challenge start 2007

January 3rd, 2007 at 08:12 pm

I am taking the challenge this year. I have to decide what to do but I am doing it! The trip East comes first, and then we are off. I'll keep a running total with all ups and downs on this blog in a 20 category. So far I am checking out where to buy lots to resell.

carless

January 2nd, 2007 at 04:26 pm

We still have the 2005 van (and the payment) but we have gotton rid of the car. A former co worker was in big trouble transportation wise and I mentioned we were going to get rid of the car and would do it now if someone wanted to pay off the balance. She jumped at the chance and our car is now at her house. I have to finish the payments (she gave me the money for that) and transfer title so am retaining the insurance on it until that is done but the car is as far as we are concerned sold. That money (from what we were paying) is going to go straight into savings, some for vacation, some for EF, and some for paying off the house faster.

I created a monster!

January 2nd, 2007 at 04:12 am

For Christmas this year I gave DH a GPS unit. He had expressed an interest in going geocaching and was drooling over the units. I found one that was an acceptable price that seemed to have all the bells and whistles one could desire and the ability to be updated. Little did I know how consuming a hobby this can be. He took our loaner son out while he was here and they walked around the neighborhood finding secret hiding places. We first had to go get little "things" to replace whatever little thing he took out of the cache. He came home elated that he had found a "bug" This bug wanted to go west and we are going east so he returned it to a cache in the local area slightly west of where he found it. Today we took loaner son to the capitol to catch a bus and lo an dbehold he had found online 4 location of a cache. We came home with 3 different bugs that we are going to take to the east and hopefully deposit in a cache somewhere there. He is hoping to take the pirate one that wants to get to Spain to NC and have one of our GS help him deposit it in a local park. One of them needs its picture taken with local fire trucks and originated in PA three or 4 years ago so it will either be left here in one or taken to another state along the way. We also had to order 4 bugs of our own to start on their way. One is going to be a homeschooling bug. It really is a cute idea but I don't think I have that much time! Some people give coordinates of three or more places and the cache is in the center of them. Beats video games though!