Yesterday I ended up having the day off because it was so slow at work. I was glad because Monday I started feeling not-so-hot. Scratchy throat, headache, that sort of thing. Anyhow, I thought "Great! I'll spend Tuesday resting and try to kick this bug."

Well DH calls me while I'm out for my Tuesday morning walk with some girlfriends and tells me he's having like chest pain. (I wasn't too worried, but I was concerned.) As quick as I can walk I get back to my friend's house where my car is. Then I drive over to hubby's work and run him to our family doctor.

DS and I waited for a bit over an hour while the doctor did an EKG. Everything was fine with his heart. *Phew*
Then over to the lab for some blood work.
Then to get chest xrays about 10 miles up the road. Which was about two miles from my work. (So much for not having to drive my usual commute.)

His blood tests were fine. His chest films were normal. Doctor thinks he was having a bad bout of heartburn/acid reflux. Thankful for that news. Not surprised that everything was normal, but thankful all the same.

I joked with him that because it was Valentines Day his heart was full of love it felt like it was going to burst.

We stopped at Costco on the way home and picked up the acid reducer his doctor recommended, a few other items and filled up with fuel. $3.59/gal.

Finally ended up back at home about 2:30pm.

To celebrate V-Day we exchanged cards and each got a card for DD. I also bought peanut butter hearts for DH and DD at $3.50/each and their cards were $1.99/each.

DH made dinner. Fettuccini w/homemade Alfredo, breadsticks, roasted mushrooms, steak for him, lobster for me and DD. (DS got surf & turf. Lucky toddler!) A little champagne. Éclairs for dessert.
It was wonderful.
$61 for everything and we have two steaks leftover that he'll BBQ tonight.

And DH is feeling fine today and I feel better than I did Monday.

Quiet morning here.
Woke up to some heavy fog so we all slept in a little because it was so dim outside. The fog burned off quickly to a pretty, sunny morning.

We went to a fancy champagne brunch at 10:30am. Stuffed myself on shrimp, chocolate dipped strawberries and champagne.

Used a 2-for-1 coupon and gift cards from Christmas. Our total ended up at $0.06!
DH left a $10 to cover the bill and tip.
$72 brunch for $10.
This is EXACTLLY how I like to do things!

Afterward, we walked to a park across the street and the kids played for about 30 minutes. Lovely sunshine-y day. As I sat on the bench I reflected on how much I like the city we live in. It really feels more like a cozy small town, but has so many city conveniences.

In a few hours I am going to run over to Safeway to use my $10 reward coupon. Today is the last day to use it. Not sure what to buy with it because we don't "need" anything right now.
Boy, that's a nice problem to have, isn't it?
Probably buy fresh veggies.


Here's the lamp I splurged on from Etsy. Perfect next to my bedside.

Let me start with saying I have had lots of good luck with CL. Maybe better than average. No flakes. Nice people. Quick sales.

This past week I posted two items to CL.

One is a sheet metal brake (a piece of equipment that bends sheet metal). Obviously this is a specific item that will need a specific buyer.
I have posted this on and off for several months.
We had one interested guy back in October (I think?) Our brake just wasn't the size he needed or he would have bought it.

And this week DH had a guy who sounded very, very interested. He set up a day and window of time to come see it, and then never called to confirm.
Ugh! Why be so rude?! If you're not interested anymore call and say so!

Anyhow, DH calls him and the guy says,
"Oh, gee, well the price seems high."
DH says "Do you know what this brake costs new?"
And the guy was like, "Well, uh, no, I haven't checked that out."
DH said, "Well, maybe you do that and then call me and make me an offer."

Grrrr... What a dumba$$!

The second item is a pair of Coach knee-high, leather boots with a small heel. I have had them in my closet for several years. I wore them three times I think. I bought them on clearance with a Macy's gift card I had been given for Christmas. If I worked in an office I would probably wear these often, but I don't. So why not sell them?
They've attracted two interested buyers. I have called the numbers they left and haven't gotten any calls back.

Why bother saying you're interested when you obviously are not. You waste my time and your time.
Blah!

The upside is that I may be able to get a good price on the boots at a local used clothing store. I am going to take them there next week if they don't sell.

Two more tax forms rolled in. Our mortgage statement and DH's W2. Now we are waiting for a 1099 and then I can file. Looking like a bit bigger refund than I was guessing. One thing was we maxed out our childcare credit this year; getting the full $1200.

*The* shower curtain arrived yesterday too. It's pretty. A bit more golden tone than brown, but I think I will be keeping it all the same. It looks good up against the tile.

Had the "Water Wise" house call Tuesday morning. The toilet in each bathroom qualifies for the rebate. I'm not surprised. Old water-hog toilets.

DH is going to order a new potty from one of the supply houses he uses. Wholesale pricing.

Going to do some painting in the bathroom this weekend. As well as tearing up the floor so DH can lay new tile. Our goal is to have the bathroom wrapped up by next weekend. All the major stuff anyway. I won't have the towel bars, hook, etc. or new door pulls for the vanity until after I get my AmEx Gold card rewards.

Last night I used Plastic Jungle and bought a $50 Bed, Bath and Beyond gift card for $45. That way in a roundabout way I will save on my shipping.
($7 to ship a shower curtain. Grrrr!)
Could not find any free shipping or %/off coupons that were valid online either.

Thanks mjrube94 for commenting about doing this. I have never done it this way before, but have thought how it would be a good way to save.
(Usually I think "I should have bought a discounted GC." after I make a purchase! )

I don't have the gift card code yet. Plastic Jungle says it takes them about 24 hours to process. I have the curtain and liner all picked out.
Hope I love it.
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Going to run over to the grocery store now. As predicted we need milk. We also need butter and eggs. I will try very hard to only pick up those things and no extra on sale items.
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More football playoffs today.

GO NINERS!!!

After they win today they'll be in the Super Bowl!

I bought Quicken Deluxe at Costco Thursday. After the coupon it cost $20.

I was thinking I would get the Home/Business edition because I have a little dream of having a side business here at home someday. I figured I should just buy Quicken once and have all the options. But, Costco was out of that one. (I suppose I could order it from them online...)

Do you ever buy an upgraded product in anticipation of using a feature "someday"? Or do you just re-buy the upgraded product when you end up needing it?
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Getting paid every Friday is pretty nice. DH gets paid every Friday too, so it makes for a large influx of cash weekly.

There has been some discussion about whether or not more taxes gets taken from your paycheck if you get paid weekly, bi-monthly or monthly. I don't know. Seems like it would all work out to the same amount in a year. Anybody know?
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Speaking of taxes, I have the childcare total from DD's afterschool program. $1168. I plugged it into our return I'm working on at FreeTaxUSA.com. I also plugged in the 1099-G. I wish I could get the remaining info I need so I can complete and file. Just like to get rolling on our return.

We loaned $600 from our EF to MIL. I drove to her bank on my lunch to deposit a check into their account. She talked to DH, so I have no idea why they needed the money. I think it's just to get them through until the 1st. DH said we'd be paid back then. I don't really mind lending the money. She has asked before and always paid us back when she said. When we've needed a little money to get us through in the past MIL has always helped us.

Although, I think the last time was maybe seven years ago and she kind of kicked up a fuss about when she was going to get repaid...
(We always paid her back quickly BTW.)

Anyhow, for now the current EF balance is $2,070.
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Got to call my bank and rattle a few cages. HeHe.
They had a little promo where if you tried the bill pay they would credit your account $10.
Okay, for $10 I tried it, but I hadn't gotten my credit. I called once about two weeks after I did the bill pay thing and the CS rep said to give them about 6 weeks. They had two months now, so it was time to call again.
No problem. Now I'm $10 richer.
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Oh, the cell phone company is charging us for two plans!

When DH bought his iPhone the guy changed his plan, but left my phone on the old plan. The past two billing cycles they've charged us for both family plans. I told DH about this after I saw the first "new" bill at the end of December. He is the one who is the account holder of the cell phone account. I love my hubby, but dealing with things like this is his weak point. He still hasn't contacted them. Now we've gotten the second bill. I haven't paid either bill and I'm not going to until they fix the account.

I figured when they turned off his phone he'd hop to taking care of things. We'll that plan backfired a little today - They turned off my phone! His phone still kept working totally fine! Well my phone getting turned off did jump him into action. He called and was on the phone for close to an hour. I was surprised he really had to fight to get things straightened out. I overheard part of the conversation and it was getting pretty heated. He had to ask for a supervisor like three times.

I figured it would be simple.
Call. Explain situation. Charges removed. The end.
I mean who carries two share plans in the same family, but doesn't share them?

It seems DH has won the battle. The old plan was removed and credited back. And, he asked for his "upgrade fee" be credited back and I believe he got that too in the end.

I want to see all the credits post to our account before I pay.
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I have been searching for a bathroom vanity, shower rod and shower curtain. I have narrowed down what vanity and rod I want, but not a curtain yet. I think I have looked at 500 shower curtains.
Why am I so picky?!

There is one at B, B and Beyond that I like, but I can only buy it online and they want to charge $6 S&H. Phooey!

I'll keep looking.

This morning was the coldest morning of the year for our area. It was 22F. There was only a little covering of frost because it's been so very dry here. We are way below normal for rainfall and it's just been day after day of beautiful sunshine. I was almost ready to water my lawn! Thankfully it looks like the rain is coming starting Thursday.
I am happy to see the rain coming our way! (As long as our roof can hold up for us one more season!)

I picked up my year-end statement from DS's daycare lady last night. $7,430 for the year.
No wonder I can't max out the ROTHs!

Nah, he is worth every penny.

I am chomping at the bit to get all our tax paperwork and get to working on our return. I entered in my W-2 this morning along with DS's childcare amount and if that was all there was I would get $6k back.
Too bad that's not what's going to happen. LOL.
Still have to enter DH's income (W-2 and 1099's), mortgage statement, DD's childcare and misc. receipts.

For the past several years I have used FreeTaxUSA.com to do our taxes. Very user friendly and has been great for us. It costs us $10.
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This is a picture I took a few months back to share. Then I forgot I had it on the memory card.

This is a tree next to my work just before it dropped the last of it's leaves.

The 49ers won!
The game was uber exciting yesterday. I think it will end up being the most exciting post-season game this year. What a nail-biter!

Transferred $20 to the EF.
Current balance $2670

Today I'm watching the other two playoff games. Not really rooting for anyone in particular. I do like Green Bay, but am hoping that New York will win so SF can play next weekend at home.
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DH and DD are working together on replacing a furnace for my boss today.

DS and I went grocery shopping this morning. $142. We should be all set for two weeks. The only thing we might need before then will be milk.

I also need to pack away the Christmas stuff. Of course everything is down. But it's all piled up and needs to be organized into the storage totes and then packed into the garage loft. I expect that will take me about an hour.

I have some laundry to wash and fold today too.
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Friday I was finally was able to set up the "Water Wise House call" with the city water company. This is the first step in order to qualify for the $150 toilet rebate.
That would mean a new toilet for FREE!
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Thinking about buying Quicken. Costco has a $20 off coupon for it every year at this time. I was thinking the Home & Business edition because it has the most features. With the coupon it would be $45. Advice?
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Here is the new tub/shower trim set. I hope we can find a way to make them easier to turn.

A very funny email I received! I thought I'd pass it along if you'd like a good laugh.

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"Hi Everyone...I usually don't send these types of messages but had to because I was laughing so hard I was crying! Some of it is a little raunchy so I hope I do not offend anyone. If you have a minute it is worth reading."

I've never been one for New Year's Resolutions, but setting some goals and tracking progress is a great idea. So here goes....

2012 Goals

*Pay down credit card debt to under 13k.
Starting balance: $20,434

*Grow EF to $7k.
Starting balance $2,624

*Replace roof.

Those are the biggies. Then I have several other items I'll post in my sidebar.

*Weight loss. Baby will be TWO years old this year. Time to get some of that baby weight off.
*Consult on Lasik for my horrible eyesight.
*Is this the year for braces for DD??
*Get a trust set up.
*Life insurance.
*Re-home one of the horses to save money.
It's very hard for me to do this, but it needs to be done. We're not riding or enjoying them like we should. Finding her a new home would save us $150/month for board, plus the extra in vet visits, wormer etc.. Not an easy decision, but a financially wise thing to do.

Long Term....

*Pre-payments to mortgage.
*Save for preschool.
*Save for an extended family vacation.

I have the afternoon off today. Right now I just finished watching a movie with DD. DS is napping. Going to get some To Do stuff done today. So far I've...

- I cleared the cash out of my purse and deposited $40 to the EF.

- I added DH as a second card holder to my Wells Fargo CC. By doing that I am hoping I'll be able to transfer the points he earned with his debit card to the credit card's point total. They discontinued the points program for the debit card about August and he has enough points to redeem for about $40 worth of gift cards, but there will be points left over. I would really like to combine the two point balances so we don't lose out on any points.

- Cancelled HBO. Our special deal ended. Not paying $10/mo to keep it. I will try to get another deal on it in a few months when "Game of Thrones" season starts.

- Paid mortgage. $1776.

Still need to...

- Buy some TP! Yikes, we're out!
- Donate some pet food I have to the animal shelter.
- Donate two bags of DD's old clothes and my old plate set.
- Un-decorate the tree and remove from the house.
- Call the city water department and set up a "water audit" thing. First step in qualifying for a $150 credit for a new toilet.
- Dishes.
- Wash all the new clothes DS got for Christmas.
- Take a picture of the new tile for you all to see.

Happy 2012 everyone!
May we all accomplish what we need to this year. I'll be cheering us all on.
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I am at work today, although it is not very busy, I would much rather be at home. I might get to stay home tomorrow because so far there is only one appointment and my boss is leaving early. It would be nice to get a few "To Do" things crossed off my list tomorrow.
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The 49ers won their game on Sunday!
I will need to add $10 to the EF. They won 13 games this season. That was $130 to the EF!
Now let's see what they can do in the play-offs.

We were blessed enough to have another lovely Christmas here in our home with family.

I hope all of you had a blessed holiday also.

Not much drama from the in-laws. Or my family either.

DH and FIL tiled the shower. It looks AWESOME! Pictures to follow.

I made out with plenty of really nice/useful gifts. Everyone seemed very satisfied with their "haul". DS still has a few gifts he hasn't opened yet. He opens a gift and then wants to play with it right then. So it's taking a little more time to get thru his stack.

The food has been amazing all this weekend. I am sure I've put a few pounds on.
DH handled most of the cooking.
Christmas dinner last night was sooo delish. Prime rib, ham, mashed potatoes, green beans, fruit salad, dinner rolls, deviled eggs..

Okay, now I'm hungry. Gotta go eat some leftovers!

We've been busy bees here. Trying to make up the lost days we had from being sick.

We went to Costco first thing yesterday morning and I picked up our Christmas cards. $15 for 50 photo cards and envelopes. They turned out very cute.

We stopped at Home Depot and bought all the tile for me and DH's bathroom.

Getting the bathroom tiled was on my Christmas wish list.

DH is planning to start working on it on the 23rd with his dad. At first I thought that might be kind of crazy, but I'll be at work all day so what do I care.

The total for the tile and materials was less than what I expected. Then we had a $75 gift card and MIL chipped in $200 (Christmas gift). Making the out-of-pocket cost for us $188.

I hope it turns out as well as I picture it in my head.

When we got back home a did all the Christmas cards then took them to the post office and mailed them out. I had planned to this on Thursday, but was sick that day. Oh well, I think everyone will still get their card before Christmas.

Mailed 27 and have about 10 that we will pass out personally.

Getting the photo cards made up with the personalized message makes doing cards very easy. I address the envelope and stuff in the card. Stamp the return address. Stamp with postage. Easy.

I like getting Christmas cards.

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Today we've been cleaning, catching up on laundry and putting to final touches on the decorations.

I need to wrap gifts tonight. DH has wrapped several, but I haven't wrapped a single one - yet...

Not to be graphic...

We all ended up with DD's "stomach bug". Blah!

Little DS threw up right after I picked him from childcare Wednesday night.
It's heartbreaking to see a toddler wretching.
Thankfully, he seemed to recover the quickest. Only a few hours of the "bug" and then he had a full night's sleep.

I was sick from midnight until about 7am Thursday.

DH stayed home from work with me yesterday. He was having some milder symptoms and thought it would be best to stay home and rest. Maybe not get as sick as the rest of us. Well, early this morning the "bug" hit him hard so he is home again today. Poor guy!

It really sucked because you feel so bad that nothing gets done even though you're home all day. I feel like I've lost two days worth of time. I needed to get things done.

On the bright side - I am very thankful that we did not get this over Christmas. That would have been WAY worse.

Sure, he has run into burning buildings, cut open mangled cars and has performed CPR. BUT, today he headed to the mall on a Sunday in December AND he took both of the kids with him!!!

For THAT I give him the brave badge.
LOL!

Such a nice break for me. I am watching the 49er game and having a nice fresh cup of coffee with eggnog mixed in. Yum.

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Last night DD and I ran all over town searching for a pair of solid red tights to go with a black and red dress she has. We searched about 12 of the outlet stores before we went to Kohl's. There we found one pair and it was lying on the floor kind of under another rack. We grabbed them for $9. Kinda pricey, but supply and demand I guess.

Afterward she and I went to Safeway. They are doing the buy $75 get $10 off next purchase deal again. I didn't know that ahead of time or I would have split my basket into two transactions. The total was $210. Well at least I earned one -$10. I will need to go back in before the 14th(?) to use it.

The splurge item I bought was lobster tails. On sale for $5/tail. I have had them before and they are pretty darn good. Better than some restaurants and for $5 how could I pass it up??? DH boils them a few minutes then grills them on the BBQ. He doesn't care much for lobster, so more for me and DD.

Steak and lobster for dinner tonight with rolls and corn. $27 total for "fancy" dinner makes me .

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This morning we went to a friend's house to see Santa. She has her dad dress up so she doesn't have to take her children to a mall Santa. I think it's because of the germ factor. It's pretty cool that she invited several families over. Free pictures with Santa!

When we got back home I spent about 1.5 hours cleaning up the backyard. Poop patrol, cleaned the hen house, cleared out the garden box and swept the patio. DD raked up a bunch of leaves. It's another gorgeous day with beautiful clear blue skies. A bit cooler; about 60F right now, but so mild. This type of weather makes it easy to be outside doing things.

Here it is - DECEMBER!
I can't believe it's really December because it is such a beautiful, sunny day here in Sonoma County. It's 70F! Can you believe that?
How's everyone else's weather?

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I have been meaning to post about a person on Suze's show on the 'Can I Afford It' segment. (This was two weeks ago I think??)
He was asking if they could buy a round-trip private plane flight from Boston to Chicago for $20k. Their son is hyperactive and doesn't travel well.
His income was $20k+/mo. Personnel management?? His wife was a SAHM.

Which made me think: how do I get a job like his?

No really - I COULD DO THAT!!!

Did any of you see that episode?
Did he really need to call into Suze?

Boy, how fast three days can fly by!
We had a delicious T-Day dinner at my mom and dad's with my in-laws. My mom is a fabulous cook and baker, so no one went away disappointed or hungry.

We were staying with the in-laws so after dinner we drove there and watched the 49er game. Unfortunately the niners lost.

DH, DD and MIL went to the 10pm sale at WalMart. MIL bought the $188 32" TV at Midnight. DH bought a little food processor/chopper for $2.88 and a few other small items.

Black Friday DH and FIL went off shopping at 6am. They do this every year and it's pretty funny because they are such unlikely Black Friday shoppers. I don't know if you could give me such a good deal that I would be tempted to shop in such craziness. Sure I look thru the ads and if I see something worthwhile I ask DH to try to pick it up. But, rarely is there anything that tempting to me.

DH did buy an early Christmas gift for himself; an iPhone for $100.
I can see the allure, all those "smart phones" do really cool things, I know. But now our monthly cell phone bill is going to be higher. DH and I have already had a "discussion" about that, but the phone is still staying. We very rarely argue about money. I just think having to upgrade the cell plan is a stupid waste; he feels it's very important to his happiness.

Other than the phone, DH did score some good deals on a few needed items (shoes) and on a few Christmas gifts (me and the kids). All the money he spent was cash from a side job he did last weekend. No household money spent for Black Friday. Something to be happy about.

While DH was shopping I drove up to see my grandma with DD, my BFF, my mom and dad. It was a long day. We started out about 8am and came back to the in-laws just after 9pm.

Grandma is doing better! Hard to see her just laying there in the hospital bed, but she was very talkative with all her visitors. She was really happy we drove up to see her. The doctors plan to release her to an assisted living/rehab facility on Tuesday. She is expected to be there about three weeks before she can return to her home. Hoping and praying it will all go as easy as that.

On Saturday DD and I checked in at the ranch where our horses live. They were great. I miss riding so much. We brought out carrots, apples and crunchy oat horse cookies. I also bought two 50lb bags of senior horse feed. $40. They'll be getting that daily as a special treat, plus they need the additional calories as the weather gets colder.

Saturday evening we drove home. Ahh, so good to sleep in my own bed last night!

Our Thanksgiving trip cost $157. That was for two fill-ups (gas for $3.49/gal) and the horse feed.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving everyone.

My 85-year-old grandma is in the hospital.
She went in on emergency because of a serious GI bleed. She is now in the ICU. The doctors have her feeling much better after giving her several units of whole blood, plasma and fluids. They still have not found where she is bleeding from and last night she had another bad bleed. They are not allowing her to eat anything either.

She is about 7 hours (driving) from my house so we are not able to visit her.

Today I ordered her a Red Poinsettia basket and a balloon from a florist near her hospital. Total $52. Yes, pricey, but I wanted her to have something that will brighten up her room and let her know we are thinking of her. It's a living plant that she'll be able to take home when that time comes. I did use a $10 off coupon, but delivery is more expensive the next few days because of Thanksgiving.

If the weather is cooperative I will drive up to see her Friday or Saturday. We will already be half way there because we're having T-Day with my parents and staying over with the in-laws.

This was sent to me as an email.

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Remember, not only did you contribute to Social Security but your employer did too. It totaled 15% of your income before taxes. If you averaged only $30K over your working life, that's close to $220,500.

If you calculate the future value of $4,500 per year (yours & your employer's contribution) at a simple 5% (less than what the govt. pays on the money that it borrows), after 49 years of working you'd have
$892,919.98.

If you took out only 3% per year, you'd receive $26,787.60 per year and it would last better than 30 years (until you're 95 if you retire at age 65)
and that's with no interest paid on that final amount on deposit!
If you bought an annuity and it paid 4% per year, you'd have a lifetime income of $2,976.40 per month.

The folks in Washington have pulled off a bigger Ponzi scheme than Bernie Madhoff ever had.

Congressional benefits = free healthcare, outrageous retirement packages, 67 paid holidays, three weeks paid vacation, unlimited paid sick days; now that's welfare. And they have the nerve to call my social
security retirement entitlements?

We're "broke" and can't help our own Seniors, Veterans, Orphans, Homeless.

They call Social Security and Medicare an entitlement even though most of us have been paying for it all our working lives and now when it’s time for
us to collect, the government is running out of money.

Sad isn't it?

*THE ONLY THING WRONG WITH THIS CALCULATION IS THEY FORGOT TO FIGURE IN THE PEOPLE WHO DIED BEFORE THEY COLLECTED THEIR SOCIAL SECURITY! WHERE DID THAT MONEY GO?
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What do you think?

Some recent expenses and EF additions.

- $285
Eye doctor exam and six pairs of monthly disposable contact lenses. I don't have vision insurance. My last eye exam was two years ago. I usually wear my disposable contacts much longer than a month. (More like four months at a time.) I will make six lenses last me awhile.

- $125
Baby DS's 18 month-old doctor visit. Self-pay.

- $46
Christmas gift shopping. Three BE makeup gift sets.

- $230
Costco. Chicken meatballs, two tri tips, two pork loins, 2.5lbs dry-cured bacon, two dozen eggs, 1800+ Q-Tips, 36pk Pepsi, 28pk V8, gallon Orange Mango juice, 3pk Boursin cheese, 10lb Krusteaz pancake mix, Copenhagen (DH's bad habit), 2lb roasted almonds, 52pk razors, two pack chocolate Cheerios, 18pk Uncrustable sandwiches, (I'm missing something???) and dinner for four at the food court.

- $64.
Costco gas. $3.64/gal.

+ $25
Regular EF auto transfer.

+ $10
49er win this past Sunday

Yup, DH now has a fishing boat.

It did not cost us anything because...
his bosses bought it for him!

One of their clients was selling it for a really low price ($1k). DH tried to talk me into us buying it so we could re-sell it at a profit. I was not going to even go there because of the "What If's".
What if he loved it and couldn't part with it.
What if we couldn't find a buyer? Etc..

His bosses (husband & wife) bought it for him because of all the fond family memories they, and the client selling the boat, have of fishing with their children. It was given as a "Thanks for all you do" gift. Really quite generous.

Hubby picked up the boat which is a 2004 15' aluminum Klamath with an outboard motor, bass seats, (2) fish finders, depth finder, on a very nice trailer. He was also given all the paperwork/manuals/receipts on everything. The seller had bought everything new and paid over $8k.

DH has talked with his dad and several friends and this set up could sell for $4k to $5k pretty easily.

DARN!
Now I wish I would've let him talk me into buying it just to sell it. lol!
Could not sell it now that it's a gift.

Looking over the prior boat and trailer registration it will cost $14/two years for the boat and $25/five years for the trailer.

My co-worker has taken to calling DH "Ken" now. As in Ken and Barbie, because Ken has all these "accessories".
**shaking my head**

Skip to the end if you don't want to read about MIL's visit.


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MIL's Visit:
MIL left early this morning before any of us woke up. Naturally, there was drama with her visit but not all of her visit was bad.

She came Thursday night. Watched DS and took DD to school on Friday. Treated to pizza delivery on Friday night. Very nice.

Saturday we went shopping at Kohl's and had a nice trip. She and I enjoyed shopping and visiting.

By Saturday evening things were going downhill. DD was in tears because MIL said she'd never bring crafts to our house again after DD didn't wash out a paintbrush. Then MIL tells me she would've rather bought KFC for dinner on Friday. Which would have been okay with us, but she picked pizza, but only after she said she wanted to go out for Mexican.

When DH and I got home from our "date" Saturday night DD told me that she had been crying again. MIL got angry that she wasn't helping her clean DD's room. MIL told DD that she would never stay in DD's room again. *Nice way to foster a loving relationship with your granddaughter hu?

I told DH that two days/one night seems to be the "sweet spot" for a visit from MIL. More than that and things go bad. He agreed.

She's called twice since she left. Apologized to DD and cried to DH because she doesn't feel FIL gives her enough love and attention.

While she was here, she and I talked about some of their financial issues (could write a whole post about that.) The biggest thing is that they've been in their house for 20 years. They bought it for $120k. They owe $240k. Current value is about $145k.
Cashed out in a refi and used the money for RV, new truck etc. None of which they kept.
BTW, she's glad they haven't paid off their house. They wouldn't have any tax deductions then. Yeah really!
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Weekend Happenings:
At Kohl's I checked out the clearance racks and found a shirt for DS and a set of PJ's for DD, both were $4.80 each. Will be Christmas gifts. I also found girls T-shirts that are meant to be colored on, like a page from a coloring book, with markers that come with the shirt. $4.40 each. My first thought was to grab a few to hold on to for birthday gifts for DD's friends. Decided we will use them as party favors for DD's party. The girls can color them together at the sleepover and then take them home. My grand total was $32 for 5 shirts, 1 PJ set and 1 toddler shirt.

DH and I had a nice date night. Saw the movie "Moneyball" with our free passes. Afterwards we had a great steak dinner with drinks for $62 total.

Now I'm having a cozy and relaxing Sunday watching football and just lounging about. It's been chilly out so we have a toasty fire going.

I have chicken enchiladas all ready to go in the oven for dinner later on. Ice cream cake for dessert. Yum!

The 49ers won their game so I will transfer $10 to the EF.

There was a news story about how "recession proof" Halloween is. Seems people shell out quite a bit each year and it's steadily increasing.

Our Halloween spending:

$36 - DD's costume
$21 - DD's costume accessories
$10 - DS's costume (bought on clearance)
$14 - pumpkins
$17 - decorations (add a little more each year)
$14 - candy (big bag from Costco)
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$112 Total

Could have easily spent more on decorations. There or some cool things we saw. I wanted to add a few more tombstones, but passed this year. They were $6 or more each.

We only ended up with about 15 Trick or Treaters so we have a ton of candy left over. Seems that a HUGE amount of people T/T in the historic area of town. That's where DD went and she said it was packed. Makes the "average" neighborhoods pretty empty I guess.

How much did Halloween cost you?

Happy Halloween everyone!

DD is out Trick or Treating with school friends and we just put DS to bed. DH is in charge of handing out candy, but so far we've only had five. Our street not a popular place???

Here is my pumpkin - I am very proud of it.


For Game of Thrones followers: Winter is Coming

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I see a whole bunch of you are already seeing snow! Yikes! I wish you all a cozy day with hot coco, a snuggly pet (or blanket) and a good book or movie.

It was 80F yesterday. My DD's school had their harvest celebration with a pancake breakfast, concert, games, crafts and raffle. My mom came down and she bought breakfast. DH spent $20 of his cash on the raffle. We ended up winning a big basket full of craft kits and craft supplies. It's supposed to be 75F here today. We have bright blue skies and it's just gorgeous!

It's been very nice most of the month, but has been getting cool overnight. Last night it was 39F. SO it seems you run the heat at night and in the early morning and by mid-day you're wondering if you shouldn't put the AC on.

Really I should not complain about how nice the weather has been this month, most days it's been just right where we haven't had to use heat or AC.
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My mom stayed the night and I have totally put off doing any weekend chores.
Now, I don't have much desire to get anything done.
What I *must* do:
- watch the 49er football game at 1pm
- carve pumpkins
- load dishwasher

Have a bit of down time here at work. We only have four appointments this afternoon so my co-worker has left for the day and the boss just got back from lunch now.

Yesterday I had a dental appointment. Just a routine cleaning again. It's the third one for the year. The office will bill my insurance, but I think I will end up paying for it because it was #3 in a 12 month period. My hygienist had a few areas that she wanted to double check/clean from my last visit. Last year I only made it in for one cleaning because I was busy with new baby DS and totally lost track of time. It ended up being a year between cleanings. Making up for it now.

After my cleaning I met my previous co-worker for lunch. I brought her some doggie supplies so she bought me lunch. Her DH works in the movie theater business so she also gave me six movie passes! Approx a $60 value! She also gave DD several shirts she didn't want anymore (she is a pretty small woman) a package of Silly Bands and a cool cup with spiral straw. She's really a cool person and I miss working with her.

Next weekend MIL is coming for a visit so DH and I are going for a date night and see a movie for free.

I am at work today, but I am all by myself right now and will be for the next two or more hours. My boss is out of the office for a business/attorney meeting thing and my coworker headed for home already. Not much for me to do but man the phone and the front desk. Which is very easy to do while I sit in front of the computer here.
I could clean or something, but......Nah!
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I forgot at home the fax number for the person who hit my car. I had wanted to fax the final invoice to him so I can get a check ASAP. Oh well, it'll have to be tomorrow.
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I took a survey for my health plan and earned a $5 Amazon credit code. I hope there will be more of those because $5 is nice, but isn't going to get me very far!

I did second survey for Diapers.com last night and was entered into a drawing for $100 credit. I think I'd rather have a guaranteed $5 credit.