Layout:
Home > Archive: September, 2011

Archive for September, 2011

Something to Make You Laugh

September 27th, 2011 at 07:57 pm

Here is a little something someone sent me that is indisputable mathematical logic.

It also made me laugh.

This is a strictly mathematical viewpoint....it goes like this:

What makes 100%?
What does it mean to give MORE than 100%?
Ever wonder about those people who say they are giving more than 100%?
We have all been to those meetings where someone wants you to give over 100%. How about achieving 103%?
What makes up 100% in life?

Here's a little mathematical formula that might help you answer these questions:

If:
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Is represented as:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26.

Then:
H-A-R-D-W-O-R-K
8+1+18+4+23+15+18+11 = 98%

And
K-N-O-W-L-E-D-G-E
11+14+15+23+12+5+4+7+5 = 96%

But,
A-T-T-I-T-U-D-E
1+20+20+9+20+21+4+5 = 100%

And,
B-U-L-L-S-H-I-T
2+21+12+12+19+8+9+20 = 103%

AND, look how far ass kissing will take you.
A-S-S-K-I-S-S-I-N-G
1+19+19+11+9+19+19+9+14+7 = 118%

So, one can conclude with mathematical certainty, that while Hard Work and Knowledge will get you close, and Attitude will get you there, it's the Bullshit and Ass Kissing that will put you over the top.

Big Grin

It Did Rain

September 26th, 2011 at 02:29 am

So yesterday DH came home with a hand wood planer which was only $20. Instead of spending the $80+ that I thought it would be. (I was thinking he was going to buy an electric one.) Very glad about that.

DH and FIL fitted all the doors and drilled the handle holes. They ran out of time to paint anything yesterday evening and it was pretty cool and windy anyway. They re-hung the most important doors: the bedrooms and the main bathroom.

This morning it was heavily misting when we got up. It rained while we went out to breakfast. By the time we were home and watching the football game it had stopped, but was grey, cool and moist out. I really kept hoping that the sun would come out so FIL would be able to help DH with spraying the doors and getting them all hung. Unfortunately that didn't happen. The new doors look so NICE and I just really want the door project to be DONE. Smile

The sun is out now. Of Course.
Naturally we've had high heat the past week and this coming week it's supposed to be very warm again, but it couldn't be warm earlier today!

MIL gave us a $75 Home Depot gift card and gave DH $100 for his birthday which is in a couple weeks. She also made three trips for dinner items, some bread and other food/drinks that they wanted. So as usual she spent money on us. Thanks MIL! AND as a bonus they didn't drive me crazy at ALL. Big Grin

Spending at the Home Improvement Stores

September 24th, 2011 at 10:17 pm

My DH and FIL are replacing the interior doors in our house this weekend. And just like any project that involves two men, moving parts, measuring; it's hitting a few snags. Wink

I'm just kidding. It's not their fault, it's more the house's fault. Each door frame is slightly askew. Not square or plumb. So each replacement door slab must be carefully fitted and trimmed. DH just headed out to buy a planer in order to shape the doors to fit in the best way. That'll be about $80. I bought paint last night and hinges. $71. We bought new handle sets a few at a time over the past few months at $29/set. $150 total for those.

Yeah, the home improvement stores are making money off us. Plus, I'll be buying tile soon.

The real kicker is they planned to use the paint sprayer my FIL brought to paint the doors tomorrow, and now the weatherman says it's going to rain!

Cross your fingers we'll have doors up soon so we'll have some privacy in the bathrooms!
Big Grin

Inlaws Visiting Tomorrow

September 23rd, 2011 at 12:27 am

My inlaws are coming to visit this weekend. My FIL will be helping DH change out and paint the interior doors. I plan to repaint the door jambs while the doors are off.

I am very appreciative of their help, but they can both drive me a bit crazy. Big Grin

MIL especially, hehe, I guess that's pretty typical, right? Thankfully we all get along better than a lot of families. Still I'll be glad when the weekend is over I can have my house back.

Gotta get back to cleaning the house. Rolleyes

Doh..That was stupid!

September 20th, 2011 at 07:31 pm

I had an email this morning from our bank that they did an overdraft transfer to our checking account. I was a bit panicked because I knew we had money in checking; DH deposited his paycheck Friday. On Saturday I had transferred money and set up some bills to be paid and updated the checkbook. So I was worried that somehow there was a mistake, or worse, someone had gotten access to our account!

Well, neither happened. I am such a dork! I set up a $300 payment to CC3 and totally forgot about it. So of course I thought I had $300 more than we actually did. This stupid mistake will cost me $15-$20 for the OD fee. Hopefully no more. *groan*

I get paid today, so our account will be well in the black by the end of the day.

I am feeling very foolish.

School Fundraisers

September 18th, 2011 at 08:37 pm

DD's school has a ton of fundraisers for the PTA and other projects at school. There is hardly a week that goes by when there isn't something. One of the usual money raising things is called "Dine and Donate" where on a set date one of the local restaurants will donate a percentage of your bill to the school. You bring a flier from the school and the restaurant takes care of the rest.

On Friday there was a "Dine and Donate" fundraiser at a frozen yogurt shop in town. We treated ourselves to an after dinner treat for $13.45 and 35% was donated to DD's school. It's an effective way to fundraise. I think each time they do this type of thing (really, like weekly) the school makes $150 to $350. My DH's volunteer fire department does this a few times a year also.

Does anybody else's school or non-profit do this?

----------

Yesterday my mom and dad came down to take DD, DS and I to a renaissance faire fundraiser. DH didn't go because he had other things he wanted to get done. This is a big fundraiser that Sebastopol City Schools puts on. Very family friendly. Excellent location in a park in the middle of town. Great vendors and very tasty food! My mom paid for our admission. $10/adults and $5 for DD ??. DS was free. DD made soap, lip balm and a chainmail bracelet. She also spoke with "Queen Elizabeth" (there's an actors guild all dressed up roaming around) and won a prize catapulting rats (fake, stuffed rats). I spent $28 on food, games, crafts and a souvenir glass stein filled with hard pear cider. Stick Out Tongue

Afterwards we went for ice cream at Screamin' Mimi's, a local ice cream parlor that makes all their own ice cream and sorbets. Their fresh local strawberry is killer! Big Grin

Extra Money in September

September 16th, 2011 at 01:14 am

September is another wonderful month with five Fridays. That makes five paydays for DH!
Big Grin
This fifth paycheck will cover the cost of tile for the bathroom with some to spare.

I think November has a fifth Friday too. Just in time for holiday expenses.

On the Bright Side

September 15th, 2011 at 12:51 am

I noticed this quote on a mug we have here at work and I thought I'd share:

"Bread and water can so easily become toast and tea."

How about that for positive spin?
I like it! Smile

Bought a Trumpet and More Household Happenings

September 14th, 2011 at 06:27 am

Ended up buying DD a trumpet.
We have a young man working with us two half days at work and I asked him last week if he or his siblings ever played any instruments. He said he had played trumpet and he still had two at home. Smile
He brought them to my work on Monday to look at. I bought the nicer one for $120. Our local music store rental was $30/month, so in four months I'll be money ahead. Plus, the least expensive trumpet I saw on Craigslist was $150.
I spent an additional $36 at the music store for her music book, metal stand and valve oil.
DD is very excited to play her new horn.

--------

Twice yearly (Fall & Spring) DD's school has after-school enrichment classes. They do have a fee and run once weekly for four to six weeks. She is interested in the Fused Glass ($50), Cooking ($35), Golf ($60), Lego Robots ($35) and Pottery ($45) classes this session. We will choose one or two and have an alternate in case her first choice is taken. It used to be that all the classes had the same cost. Now you write a separate check for each choice in case you don't get in the class the PTA doesn't have to issue a bunch of refund checks. It is inconvenient, but I can understand how it makes their bookkeeping easier.

--------

Used the last of my 30% cash-back-credit at Diapers.com last week. I bought a ton of "squeezy pouch" food and meals (Happy Tot)- $54 worth of food for $17.70! What a thrill, hehe. And we are well stocked on diapers. I bought so much while on the cash-back program because I wanted to "max out" on the credit. Big Grin

--------

Our water bill was emailed to me this morning. Highest it's ever been. $102. Blah! DH will need to cut back on his lawn watering. He re-seeded a few spots and has really been babying the lawns. It also seems like we've been doing nonstop laundry. That doesn't help either.

What will help is when we replace the toilets. I want to go with a dual flush. It's a toilet that has one lower water flush for urine and a regular water flush for #2. I think they may be eligible for a rebate thru our city. Water saving incentive thing.

---------

I have pretty much nailed down the tile I want for our master bath. Just deciding on the shade of the accent tile. Darker? or Lighter? Hmmm.

I got an estimate of $675 to install the tile. Great guy. Excellent work. But, we can't afford that and the cost of tile.

I took a Home Depot tile workshop Saturday and I really think I can do it. Especially with a little help from DH who has done floor tile before. Plus it was fun.

'Course I used to think painting was fun until I painted the interior of our house. :P

---------

My mom came for a visit this past weekend. We bought Chinese food for Saturday night dinner. It's a place we hadn't ordered from before and they had left their menu and COUPONS on our doorstep last week. They totally hooked me with their coupons and their menu prices are on the lower side. We ordered crab & cream cheese wantons, pork pot stickers, fried rice, veggie chow main, sweet/sour prawns, orange chicken and broccoli beef. $48.

Now I'm hungry and it's bedtime... Smile

Wanna Help Pick Tile for My Bathroom?

September 7th, 2011 at 05:42 am

We are tiling our tub/shower surround in me and DH's bathroom. DH had to tear into the wall (and tear out the old tile) to reposition the bathroom window. The previous owners replaced the window, but installed it incorrectly AND five inches lower than the other bathroom window! The windows are side by side and face the street. It was so shoddy looking. The window looks GREAT now. Normal.

Anyway, I have a very loose idea about what I want. And that's the problem; too many choices! Over the next several months to year we will remodel this bathroom bit by bit. No way to afford everything at once. But, I pretty much need to decide on what I want now because each item ties into the other. I don't want to pick something that will look outdated in several years if we decide to sell. Or pick something that looks cheap.

My goal for the whole bathroom:
something that appeals to most people
high quality look for low cost
neutral color for the 'permanent' stuff

I am leaning toward the browns/beiges. I want to go pretty light because the bathroom is small. 5' X 7'. White or Grey is not out of the running yet either.

Some examples I'm considering:

(A) Subway, glossy white tile with glass accents.

(is glossy tile cheap looking?)

(B) Keeping tile and accent pieces in the same color and in a usual arrangement.

(Too much of the same color?)

(C) Stone looking ceramic tile with mixed mosaic accent tile.

(Too "fad"ish?)

I've spent ALOT of time looking at tile the past several days. I think I'm going cross-eyed!

Trumpet Time

September 7th, 2011 at 04:55 am

Now that DD is in 5th grade she can play a musical instrument if she wants. And she does of course. Smile
The trumpet. *giggle*

This should be interesting.

She had to sign an agreement that she would stick with this for the entire school year. Now I need to find her a trumpet. We could buy a used one or rent one. Renting looks to be about $19-$28/month. Buying as low as $150.

I'm leaning toward buying. I could re-sell it at the end of the school year if she decides not to keep playing. Renting: 9 months X $20 = $180

Any suggestions?

Cleaning Up and Clearing Out

September 5th, 2011 at 02:54 am

DH has been so motivated this weekend to get things done. Yay him! Big Grin
He cleared out and organized the pantry and Lazy Susan.
Yard work in the front and backyard.
Folded a ton of laundry.
Loading the dishwasher.
Cooking all the meals so far.
And a few other things.

I'm a lucky girl.

Me? I've been watching the baby, watching TV, surfing the web for tile ideas (more about that later), sorting laundry and I bagged up a bunch of too small baby clothes.

About 30 minutes ago DH decided he finally wanted to get rid of his "project". An old horse trailer he wanted to convert to a heavy-duty utility trailer. He decided we should just get rid of it ASAP. I snapped a few pics and posted it for free on Craigslist. It's gone! (Well will be soon as it's picked up.) I think it's funny it took me twice as long to post it as to get rid of it.

Lovely Sunday. Lots of stuff got done (Thank You DH) and dinner is almost ready - BBQ babyback ribs, corn and rolls.

Oh yeah, tile.. Going to finally tile our bathroom soon. It's only been 11 months since DH tore the wall down to start the remodel process.

Bed Sheets

September 4th, 2011 at 08:13 pm

We needed a new set of bed sheets because our usual set got a little tear. I should have patched it right away because DH caught his toe in it and tore a huge hole. It was my favorite set too - dark blue damask stripe. I found them on sale at K-Mart when I didn't need sheets, but I bought them anyway because they were so pretty and thick and $35. Suprisingly, K-Mart seems to have very nice sheets at great sale prices. The Jacalyn Smith brand.

DH thought he'd be helpful last weekend and he bought a set at the Linen Warehouse going-out-of-business sale. Non-returnable. $54. 600 thread count, but thin. I didn't like them, but would only be able to return for store credit. I looked and they didn't have anything I would want to exchange for. Blah. Stuck with them. They're okay, but I wonder how long they'll last. Sheets seem so pricey for what you get.

I did check at K-Mart, but they didn't have the same set as before. All we need is the fitted sheet anyway. I should check on-line..hmm.


My Car was Hit... Again!

September 1st, 2011 at 06:01 am

I was rear ended this morning on my way to work. We (DS & I) were in very heavy stop-and-go traffic and a younger woman bumped into my car. Thankfully we were going very slowly so it wasn't a big impact. Nobody was hurt. Her car's hood was slightly dented and the paint was rubbed. My bumper is "bumped" in a bit more than it was from the last time it was hit. Oy! Rolleyes (What is it with my car's rearend?!?)

The girl is insured thru her parents and she was a bit shaken up and kept apologizing. I told her accidents happen. Thankfully we were all fine and our cars were still drivable so we could get on with our day.

As a real reminder of that - there was a four car accident about two miles up the highway. Serious. Like fully smashed cars.

I am thankful.

And it looks like I'll be getting a new bumper.