Well I took my cat "Monkey" to the vet this morning. As I suspected, he did have worms. While I was there they informed me that he is considered a "senior" and reccomended blood work and urine work as well as the normal yearly vaccanations. I agreed to it because he is almost 8 years old, and he is my "kid." After the exam they told me two main concerns - one, his weight , and two his teeth. They reccomended that I put him on a Senior diet food as well as limiting the amount I feed him and that I bring him in for monthly weigh-in's (free of charge). They also strongly reccomended a dental cleaning. I need to check if that is covered in my pet insurance policy - I hope it is, cause it's going to be a BITE of money.

I paid for today's (~$200) out of my slush fund. The dental cleaning they have to put him under anstesia(sp?) and will cost ~$350!!!! I made an appointment for March 9. I do plan on doing some research to make sure just HOW neccessary this is, but I imagine it is neccessary. I will be able to make two more payments to my slush fund before this date, so will also be able to cover this. Yikes! My slush fund has been taking some major hits lately - though it is really nice to be able to do all this on a cash basis. They do offer a payment plan - pay 50% up front, then 5% a month. If they offer that with no interest, I might do that. Poor thing. As soon as we got home I gave him his morning food, and he promptly lost it. He's been sleeping all day, didn't even come upstairs with me when I took a nap.

I made it back from the vet in time to get ready for church, and my kids program. As soon as I pulled into the parking lot I had two phone calls in a row. One from the 3rd grade teacher saying she wasn't going to be able to make it, and could I let our VP know. Then the second one from my friend and colleague, Tammy, telling me that they had totally messed up the schedule of when our kids were to perform. In the end it all worked out - we had the schedule changed back to how it was supposed to be (with our kids performing first) and the kids did a knock down job. I also saw one of my former students from a couple years ago. He had grown SO tall! His mom told me that he was put into 4th grade because the teacher didn't have any 3rd graders, and wouldn't accept a 3rd grader. He's doing just fine - he's an awesome kid, and very bright. One of my all-time favorite students.

I was a bit distracted during the pastor's sermon today. He was talking about a particular king of Judah who had the longest reign and was VERY bad for Judah. The reason I was distracted was because the name of that king is also the name of one of my students this year who tests me to the limits of my patience. I noticed some of my other students kind of snickering, and am assuming they got the connection. I'd known this kids name was a Biblical name, but hadn't made the connection to exactly WHAT character his name was associated. I sometimes really have to wonder about the name parents give their kids. A few years ago I had a boy named Jessie James -- WhY????

After church I spent a bit on the computer, and then headed off for a nap ( a bit longer than I intended though). When I finally got up (didn't really want to, but also didn't want a sleepless night) I got on the computer again, and completed another 9 lessons in my Real Estate course. I have 80 lessons left in this first course. Next weekend I hope to get a whole bunch of lessons completed, with the long weekend.

I think I'm going to watch some of my second Ally DVD tonight. Tomorrow I need to do laundry and my lesson plans. I've been really bad about spending my grocery money this week. I only have about $10 left for groceries this week. That will be plenty for what I need, just not much left for any kind of stocking up. I wish I knew what it was that allows me to sabotage myself like I have the past couple of days. Like today, I had a perfectly good frozen pizza in my freezer. I had totally planned on making that for lunch/supper. But when it came down to it, I ended up ordering a pizza from Pizza Hut! Ugh! (Well, not ugh to the pizza -mmm! but ughh to the unneccessary purchase!)

Spending Log:
Today:
Vet: $191.41
Pizza Hut: $13.00

Total: $204.41

Groceries/Gas:~$68.71

No Spend Days: 8/12 (actual/goal)

Keeping It Frugal in Texas,
Laura