Where Are My Painting Supplies?

The Princess is heading to Tampa with my Mom this weekend and will be gone a week. During that time, I'm planning to repaint her room --- we are changing it up to a more grown up scheme. Most of that can be handled with a new coat of paint. I've already purchased the bedding and curtains --- shopped around for good deals on exactly what we wanted over the past couple of months. Once I get the walls and ceiling painted -- all we really need is an area rug. And that's not necessarily a "must have".

Anyway, my Dad gave me a gift certificate to Lowe's for my upcoming birthday to cover my paint and supply costs. I was hoping to have enough room left on that to put towards a new weedeater as mine has now officially died.

I went down into the basement last night to gather up the supplies I'd need and to see what I would need to purchase. Unfortunately my paint rollers and trays are nowhere to be found. So dang frustrating. The last time I used them was when I repainted my bathroom about four years ago. I assumed I had put those things right back where they went, but I can't find them to save my life. I am so dang irritated.

I'm going to put in some calls to some friends today to see if they have some I can borrow. I'd like to skip that expense for now if I can. Wish me luck.

Yawn!!!!!

Its going to be a really long day. I tend to be an early to bed and early to rise type. I used to be a late to bed and early to rise type. I used to do just "fine" on 5 or 6 hours sleep. Since I've scrolled back to an earlier bedtime though, I'm generally getting 7-8 hours and it has made a big difference in my functionality.

I went to bed a bit later than normal last night though. So, I was only on track to MAYBE get 7 hours of sleep. Then as I was sinking into sleep, the Princess came in to tell me that her BFF was having boyfried problems and was coming by. Sigh.

Okay, fine... no problem. But by the time we finished talking.... I was awake. Wide awake. Not wanting to go back to sleep awake. Ugh. I think after all was said and done I managed about 5 hours sleep last night. And I have a meeting today. A two hour meeting. A two hour likelyveryboring meeting.

Sigh. Yawn. Need more coffee.

My Little Old Man

Thing 1 is now 13 years old. Wow. 13. I got him as a 6th birthday present to The Princess. As an older gentleman, he is now starting to have some personality and health issues that he just didn't have as a pup. Personality wise, he's still a happy pup, loving his treats and trying to steal pizza off your plate. But he had completely run out of patience for things like getting his hair brushed and at home baths. Since he will not sit still for a real brushing anymore, I have to sometimes go and have him clipped all the way down. Personally I think he likes his hair shorter with no muss and no fuss.

Health wise, well, he's 91 in pup years. He's had some bladder issues, some skin issues, and after this latest grooming, we noticed some lumps on his neck Friday night. I took him back into the vet Saturday morning. So, several tests and exams and $173 later, we know that he now has hypothyroidism....which fortunately can be controlled with meds. And the meds weren't as pricey as I thought. $39 for six months supply. I can deal with that. We still don't know what the lumps are exactly. We are going to likely have to do a procedure to aspirate them and see what it really is. I'd like to know what we are dealing with in the long run.

I know at some point we will have to make the decision between quantity and quality of life for him. I don't think that time is now. And I hope that time is a long way off in the future. For now though, I think I'm going to have to do some budget adjustments to allow for more money in the pup care category. Time to get to crunching those numbers.

Realizations

Today was supposed to be a rainy day as in all day rainy but maybe clearing out in the afternoon. I had decided to forgo getting yard work done because it was supposed to be rainy. I ran some errands, piddled around the house a bit, then decided to get busy with laundry. It was bright and sunny so I figured all the rain had skipped over me. So, I put the laundry out to dry on the deck. About 15 minutes later, I looked up from cutting up a chicken ---- and it was raining. and apparently had been for several minutes --  everything was dripping -- not just out of the washer wet. I got super mad about this. I mean blowingitwayoutof proportion, stomping around, saying a few choice words, and thinking "WTH ELSE CAN GO WRONG?" (Fortunately The Princess was not around to hear my way over the top for the situation reaction).

When I cooled off a bit, I had to really analyze my actions and reactions. That was WAY overblown for the situation. Yeah, it was irritating, but generally the kind of thing I would just laugh off. WHY did I make such a big deal of it? And then I realized, it wasn't the rain on the laundry I was really mad at. I was mad at me. And situations. And the fact that my life is not currently going the way I want it to. Or the way I planned. Or any number of things. So that made me sit back and do some real thinking. Where was I? Where did I plan to be that I'm not? And I made a list in my head of the things that had somehow veered off path in the past couple of years. (If you don't want to listen to me whine and bitch ---- stop reading NOW)

When I started this blog, my goals were pretty simple, I wanted to get out of debt, get The Princess to college (and pay for it), and buy my own home. Fast forward 2.25 years and I'm not quite where I wanted to be.

I still currently have $3K in debt -- I'm working hard on it, and should hopefully kick it to the curb come August, but my plan was to have it GONE by the time the Princess graduated high school. Some of it couldn't be avoided (costly car repairs, unexpected vet bills, surgery, etc). But some of it was overspending at Christmas, overspending here, overspending there. Not being nearly as intense with keeping my eye on the prize as I should be.

I got the Princess to college. But half of the first semester was paid for with student loans. The other half wiped out half of what I DID have saved. And she hated it there. She moved home for the second semester, and is happier, but now we are down to about $2K in college savings with a long road to go.

Home Ownership? HA! I'm still renting from my Dad. Originally the plan was for him to sell the house after The Princess graduated from high school (we needed the school system). BUT (and it turns out this works in my favor), the market hasn't rebounded enough for him to get close to what he paid for out of the house, so he is content to let me continue to rent (he could get more from another tenant, but has no desire to be a landlord to anyone else). My emergency/homeownership fund has about $3K in it. Yes that could wipe out my debt, and I'll use half of it to do so in August, but that is also the "letmesleepatnight" money. Not touching it if I don't have to.

And then there's the personal life. I've got great friends -- and I love getting together with them. And for YEARS that's been enough. I've been divorced for 15 years and in the earlier years I dated quite a bit. But nothing and no one ever panned out. Some were pretty good guys, but just wrong time, wrong situation. Some were downright losers. And then you had the "set ups". Not sure, but I always seemed to get set up with guys who were nice, but their speech was horrendous. I'm talking nails on a chalkboard deep, country, bordering on redneck accents --- and couldn't speak a sentence with proper subject and verb agreements to save their lives! Sounds shallow doesn't it? Especially for someone who is far from perfect herself. BUT, when I had to repress the urge to correct every sentence... well, I knew that wasn't the person for me.

So, I abandoned the dating game. I figured, it will happen when it is meant to happen. Since then, I've been very content being alone. Not lonely, mind you, but alone. Single mom, great kid, great friends. Lately though, alone has been a lot more lonely. I'm not nearly as content with it as I was. That's a bit troubling to me. Loneliness is not an emotion I like.

And then there's the stuff I want to do, but don't have the money or time to get done. The furniture in my house. Every single piece of it is second hand. Some of it I LOVE. My great-uncle's roll top desk. The sideboard from my Mom. The tall skinny chest of drawers that was my grandfather's. All of that is wonderful. But the other pieces are showing their age and look downright shabby. I hate to enterain because everything looks like crap. And the sad thing is, I really LOVE to entertain -- but it's embarrassing. And quite honestly, no matter HOW MUCH I clean --- this house is so old I'm never going to get it clean enough to NOT be embarrassed unless I strip it back to the studs and start over. Paint, sheetrock, tile, caulk, floor, everything. Pretty much original to the house and it was built in 1957 -- which was NOT one of the great periods for architecture. Even my yard, which is generally my pride and joy, looks like crap right now. And to add insult to injury --- my freaking weedeater basically died yesterday. UGH.

Okay --- I think I'm finished whining now. That felt good. Got it all out. I'll be back soon with (hopefully) a lot more postive outlook on things. If you made it this far.... thanks for listening!

An Expensive Month

For the second year in a row, May is turning into a very expensive month. Last year, it was the Princess's graduation, graduation party and birthdays and Mother's Day. My bank account was screaming for mercy by Memorial Day.

This year, May looks to be just as expensive! My niece's graduation, my nephew's 21st birthday, my other niece's birthday, Mother's Day --- plus the fact that baby clothes are so dang cute (as we anxiously await my newest niece's arrival in September). Plus Thing 1 was way past due for a hair cut. I let them go all summer short on him. Fortunately he feels like he looks rather dapper!

It is only the 11th and my bank account is already going "OUCH!". And to compound matters, it looks like we are due for another wave of cold weather starting Monday as overnight temps dip back into the 40's. In Mid-May. In Alabama. Ridiculous.

I'm just hoping that June is a bit easier on us!

And A Final Stop

I made one last trip to Publix this week, just to take advantage of some of the deals. There are certain items that we just love, but I only treat us to them if I can pair up a sale and a coupon (Oreos and Fig Newtons, anyone?). Anyway, here is waht I picked up:

2 Coffee-Mate 16 oz. Creamers (yes, I still have issues)
1 Hidden Valley Ranch Salad Dressing
2 Wholly Guacamole (Redeemed a rain-check from last week's sale)
1 8 O'Clock Coffee
1 Mrs. Pauls Fish Sticks
2 Skintimate Shave Gels
3 Voskos Greek Yogurt
1 4C Panko Bread Crumbs
1 Nabisco Fig Newtons
1 Publix Pretzels (Penny Item!)
1 Birthday Cake Oreos

Spent: $20.17
Saved $29.41 (or 59%)

Publix For Big Savings

I'm always intrigued by those people that can buy $200 worth of groceries for about $20 by using coupons and sales. That just doesn't work in my little world. I've realized that the deals out there aren't as slap yourself in the face good as they used to be, but there are still some deals to be had. I don't have the time to devote hours of my day to clipping and sorting coupons or scouring ads for the best deals ever. I tend to limit my grocery shopping to Aldi and Publix and a local Piggly Wiggly (if their ad is really good or I need something RIGHT NOW because they are on my way to and from work). I'll check out my Target's grocery department if I'm there anyway, but for the most part.... well, I'll spend maybe an hour per week working on my Publix couponing --- and that's plenty. I don't believe in having a couple years supply of anything stashed in my house. Anyway, here is what I picked up the other day....

2 Sea Pak Shrimp
1 Digiorno Frozen Pizza
2 Stouffers Family Size Entrees
3 Crystal Light
3 Voskos Greek Yogurt
2 Beneful Snackers Dog Treats
3 Boxes Publix Tampons
2 Bottles of Wine
1 20 oz Coke (free product coupon)
1 Reese's (Publix free product coupon when you buy a 20 oz coke!)

Spent: $44.83
Saved $44.54 or 49.8%





Spent: $44.83