- ...I've been testing a few different models of bicycle-planes for my upcoming journey...since I drew up my itinerary I've had another seven or eight fellow bloggers wanting me to visit them so tomorrow I am going to photocopy another map and replan my route. I will absolutely visit everyone who has expressed an interest which will mean having to occasionally take to the skies! And thanks Sharon - I will take you up on your offer so that I can include a visit to Tanner during my time in Virginia! And Barb, no I didn't realize my route was in the shape of a starter's pistol - how cool is that!? Once I redraw my route I wonder what it will look like??
- I've got Christmas all figured out - suhweet!! Kazi and I went and looked at beds and mattresses and found what she wanted at Jysk. I've transferred the $$ from my Christmas/gift fund and will make the purchase tomorrow. Both the bed frame AND memory foam mattress were on sale - yippee!! Kazi is a very practical girl - in the next couple of years while she's still living at home she wants to receive small appliances for her birthday and Christmas - like a coffee maker, iron, microwave and so on. I actually think she's quite brilliant!
- Further to Christmas: we currently have 3 TVs in the house but only 1 of them works lol! So I proposed to Michael (no, not THAT kind of proposal!!) that we buy ourselves a nice sized flatscreen, put our older larger TV in the family room and get rid of the 2 that don't work. Oh, and he said YES!
- Michael bought us tickets to see PRINCE on Dec. 5th!!! WOW!! Thanks honeybunch!!
- I have been keeping up with inputting my spending in www.spendingdiary.com and will post November's first weekly wrap tomorrow
- and finally, it's a brilliant sunny day here in SW. Ontario and I've had a wonderful LONG morning thanks to turning back the clocks...once everyone else is up we'll be planning our usual Sunday hike. I hope everyone else's Sunday is as gorgeous as mine!!
It's a blah kind of day and I'm feeling...well...kind of blah. This is the kind of day that makes me want to stay in bed. Or, at 5:30 in the afternoon, get back into it! I'm so tired it took all my effort to hit that exclamation mark...my nose is still running (I know, TMI), my head is achy (blame the low pressure system currently dumping drizzling rain and millions of leaves) and, sadly, the numbers don't add up.
You know what I mean? Just bring on Thursday and let's get this week over with. I'm feeling glum chum. And I'm at a loss to think of anything good to cheer myself up with...lemme see...my hockey team sucks (Montreal Canadians...well at least they beat Winnipeg but that's not saying much), I'm all alone (kinda good, kinda not), I'm hungry (when am I not?) and I'm afraid to step on the scales (thanks Sharon for your kind "skinny" comment...you're a dear), I should go make myself supper but all there is is turkey and I'm tired of turkey after eating it Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday...my knees hurt (tried a little jogging on the treadmill...yes, I'm that desperate), and I feel like going shopping.
OK, now I should look at the bright side of things: I finished my students' progress reports today, I am almost finished my last IEP (Individual Education Plan for my special needs students), Michael's taking me out to dinner Friday night (it's for his son's 24th birthday but he said he'd buy mine too, only two days left in this short work week, I get paid Friday, I have free library movies to watch, people actually love me, I HAVE food to eat and I HAVE shelter from the rain. And if I really DID go shopping I could afford it.
Isn't it great how a little review of one's life can put everything back into proper perspective? Not that I'm feeling all cheery and perky now but I am sitting up a little straighter.
Here are the numbers for the first twelve days of October, read 'em and weep!
It doesn't look too bad laid out like this but what you don't know is that my food budget of $200 was supposed to last til this Friday's pay and I'm over already by about $73.00. Like I said yesterday, I need to budget more for food when there is major feasting going on.
I had $150 for misc spending til this Friday's pay and am over by $54. Oops. I still have $25 for gas and I will use it up before Friday. And I had $0 set aside for entertainment and I spent $61 - do I sense a pattern of overspending here? After all the whining I did in Sept. and all of my vows to keep my spending in line I can plainly see I haven't taken those lessons to heart...yet.
What I've had to do to make up for my overspending is reduce how much I had planned to put into savings. That affects my long-term goals. Somehow I need to keep my long-term goals in the forefront of my mind - I'll have to think about that and see what ideas I (or you!!) can generate! HELP!
I think I need to set my goals for this coming year. I've been talking about it but haven't actually gotten down to the nitty gritty yet. Such procrastination! School has kept me super busy and I'm afraid I've neglected other important stuff - like finances and goals. I'm just sort of wading through each day hoping the money will take care of itself. It rarely does as you and I both know.
I'll try and find some motivation and see what sort of plans I can come up with, but it's so NOT happening today. I plan to procrastinate a wee bit longer...
