Saturday, March 31, 2012

Time Marches On

Bye bye March! Can't say I'm sad to see you go! Though I do miss your weather.... stupid me exchanged my dark and disgusting winter clothes for my brighter more colourful spring and summer wear in my closet. So then Mother Nature stuck her tongue out at me big time for my silliness and sent snow and ice pellets - serves me right I guess. Today I have my front door open anyway just for spite - it's a good thing (sometimes) that I have my hot flashes to keep me warm. I REALLY don't want to have to turn the furnace back on -
NO WAY! 


Just got my natural gas bill and although I budgeted $70 it rang in at only $51.62!! So another $18 for me! Natural gas heats my home, my hot water AND dries my clothes - very economical! I almost put the word "my" at the beginning of that last sentence but thought that might confuse y'all a little - it's not MY natural gas!! (heehee)

So I'm closing March's budget and have April's all ready to go. Although I complained about March being a spendy month I ended up with $16 left in my chequing account and $10 in my wallet plus I paid an extra $88 to my credit card so that when June rolls around I'll have a credit large enough on the card to pay for our new TV that we bought in January. The $16 got added into April's budget and the $10 went into my sealed pot.

I do have a confession to make, however. I did make two other purchases that I will now be working on paying off, hence I've joined Francesca over at the Tasmanian Minimalist in her NO FRIPPERIES APRIL challenge. We are going to TRY to not buy anything but necessities for the month of April. Now, this is going to be hard, especially if the nice weather makes a comeback as I'd like to purchase some new sandals, but I think I can wait until May.

So, my two other purchases....


  • I sort of found myself in Winner's a couple of weeks ago when the weather was actually HOT and somehow some new clothes found their way into my cart - I don't know how it happened, really. And just to assuage my guilt I bought a couple of things for Michael and Kazi too!!! (oops)
  • This one I'll blame on SFT over at SFT's Travel, Mortgage Freedom, 101 and Life Goals blog! After reading about her anniversary plans and the wonderful inn she stayed in and the lovely meals etc I decided I deserved (there's that bad word - deserved) a birthday weekend away in May! I did some checking around on B&B websites and found the PERFECT ROOM in a simply gorgeous home in Niagara Falls.  The rooms all have names and this room is called THE SUN, THE MOON, AND THE STARS which has very personal meaning for Michael and I. When Michael and I first met and he came to stay at my trailer in Bayfield he asked me about the decorations I had attached to the lattice of my porch: a large metallic sun, several stars in different colours and a moon. I told him that at the trailer I have the Sun, the Moon and the Stars as opposed to when I'm in the city and I can't even see the stars at night! So when I saw the name of the room and it's low off-season price I knew it was meant to be! 





Isn't it simply divine??  I am SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO worth it LOL!!

15 comments:

  1. The very same thing seems to happen to me in the fabric store, when I have my back turned stuff just piles up in the buggy. Glad you are treating yourself to a holiday at the BB, it looks so pretty. Life really is about balance, you have plenty of time to save up for the trip!!!!

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  2. My fingers turn into magnets in bookstores. It's amazing what I find clinging to them sometimes. They don't drop off until I've paid for them and left the store...weird!

    And it's your BIRTHDAY. Of course you deserve a treat!! What a lovely gift. Serendipity definitely played a hand in that!!

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  3. sounds like a sign to me LOL! have fun! I just need a big-dog-friendly B&B...my friends are at a quilt retreat this weekend but not dogsitter for me :-( though I DID havea  great time quilting with my friend last weekend..we did ouro wn mini-retreat at her place complete with a 4 yr old! and dogs!)

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  4. Uh oh, right now I'm sitting at chapters, hope I don't get magnetic fingers!
    Sent from my iPad

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  5. Yup, balance is key. Treat ourselves in the short term will help us stick to our long term goals!
    Sent from my iPad

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  6. How are the dogs at quilting lol? There must be places that accept dogs?!? Though I suppose a sitter would be better, then you can concentrate on quilting.
    Sent from my iPad

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  7. I live in tropical Maryland and I turned my heat back on (I'm a wimp, I know it.)  The Niagara falls house looks gorgeous.  

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  8. well.the dogs usually wait for us to lay out our blocks or tops to 'admire' then we turn around and each dog - my 2 and her 2 - each have at least their head plopped down on the edge! no kidding. a few times one's entire body was on the top - realized when the other was raising heck about not having space! needless to say when I give one away I have to wash it first LOL! not dirty really but just in case...my dogs have never been kenneled/boarded - either a friend watched them(the same one I retreat with) or my parents watched them. Boarding is also expensive - would cost more for the 2 of them to spend the weekend in a cage than for me to go to a quilt retreat and have all the space I want! I'd be happy and they'd be misearable - they're old enough now they want to be in familiar surroundings. none of the retreat places allow dogs unless they're for a handicap and are service dogs though so far none have fit that criteria.

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  9. Oh, it looks gorgeous! We planned a little vacation too for just the two of us for the end of April. We all need it once in a while!!

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  10. It looks lovely Jane...and well deserved :)

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  11. Oh I'm glad you're getting a mini holiday too! You've been through the wringer lately with illness in your family. Where are you going?

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  12. That really limits your options doesn't it, especially if you're WITH the friend who usually babysits them! Looks like you need to be on the lookout for another person who would be willing to babysit.

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  13. So far I haven't succumbed. The good news is that so far no one else has noticed or complained that there's no heat!

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  14. I think it is great when you deserve something. You deserve so many blessings too. But deserve is a naughty word in my vocabulary too. 

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  15. Yes, feeling like you "deserve" something can lead one down a very slippery slope! But the ride is fun :)

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