Thursday when I got home from work I was SO hungry and SO cold ... but I knew we were going to be eating out, so I didn't want to spoil my appetite.

So .. I bumped the heat way up (it was COLD) and did about 20 minutes or so of cleaning/picking up. Then I started getting ready - actually putting on makeup! and actually fixing! my hair .. :big grin:

My manicure from when I was out in CA was still good on my left hand, but several of the right hand fingers were looking pretty sad. So ... I spent about 25 minutes taking the polish off. Then, just as I was finishing the second coat of polish, NE called saying he was on his way over! Uh ...

So he came over and I finished getting ready. Then before we left I used a coupon code that had come in my email from Restaurants.com to get a $25 gift certificate for $4.25. *Still have not heard back from customer service about my missing $200 credit!*

The fancy restaurant we went to is a repurposed home built in the late 1890s. The restaurant itself has been in business around 22 years. It is really beautiful inside the home. I kind of wanted to explore it, but thought that might be a little unclassy ...

A few minutes after we were seated, our waiter came by to get our orders. As soon as I mentioned that I was vegetarian, he went and got the chef! to come talk to me. The chef (who turned out to be the waiter's dad) sat and talked with us for at least 6 or 7 minutes. I think he was a bit flummoxed when I told him I didn't like spicy foods... When I told him that I do eat eggs, he was like "Oh, a fake vegetarian." LOL! (It was especially funny because NE teases me almost along the same lines.)

A little while later our entrees were brought out. OH MY WORD! The dish the chef created was this HUGE mound of spinach linguine with lots of veggies. I mean HUGE. I ate as much as I could last night, had some for lunch today, some for dinner tonight, and have enough probably for dinner tomorrow too! It wasn't the best tasting dish I've ever had, but it was pretty good.

The cool factor was mainly though that the chef came by personally to figure out what to make for me.

I wish we could have had someone along to take a picture of us outside of the place - very nice backdrop. Oh well..

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So far so good with my mini goals. I've been getting in a lot of practice with Oh Well at work. I also have been making sure to get some cleaning/picking up in each of the past 3 days.

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I cashed out for $12 from Pinecone today (thanks CCF and LibLady for alerting me about the $3 status!)

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I think my afghan came from my aunt today - but I had to arrange delivery to a closer pickup spot for tomorrow. (Otherwise I'd probably never get it - since they like to come at 9 or 10 a.m. on weekdays ...)

Speaking of deliveries - I'm still waiting on the package from my mom - with birthday and Christmas gifts. She mailed them a week ago Saturday - I'm the only person who hasn't received their package yet.

It could possibly be in my mailbox right now ... but of course my mailbox key isn't working again! I stopped by the PO to mail my mom's package (I know, procrastinate much ...) and went to the window to ask about who I needed to talk to. I was told that it was my property managers job to take care of it.

So ... I made the dreaded call and spoke to PMs wife She said she'd have him take a look tomorrow. (Hopefully NOT a look in my apartment ... much better, but still needs work.)

I really do not like the cluster mailbox thing where you have to have a key to get your mail ... (Key was working just fine on Wednesday. But on Thursday neither I nor NE could get it open.)

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My boss and I were talking yesterday and were discussing the person who retired from my position. I mentioned to her how I've had several people bemoan the fact that I don't decorate for all the holidays/dress up for Halloween, etc. She told me she was GLAD I don't do that. What was really funny though was that about 15 minutes after she left, one of the main bemoaners came by to buy a pass!

I'd also said something to her about how it seemed like finally after nearly 1 1/2 years that people have accepted that I'm a stickler for following policy (previous person *wasn't*) Then ... today I have not one, but TWO different people challenge me on the policy. Oh brother!

(For low income passes the only requirement is to show a photo id - plus only can purchase one pass per person per month - this gives a %55 discount from the regular fare pass. The policy used to be much more involved - people had to sign a log with name/address. Then before that they had to prove their income with bank statements/tax returns, etc. So it's NOTHING now - just a photo id!)

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So anyway, I'm glad for the weekend.

On Sunday NE and I will probably do some shopping for our Christmas dinner / Rum cakes. He wants to do 4 this year. 1 for his sister, 1 for his friend, 1 for us, and 1 for a mutual friend.

Thankfully we have plenty of rum left from last year (that was the most expensive thing we bought last year!) He's probably going to come over here early on Christmas Eve to make the first two - since I won't get home til at least 4:45, and the CE concert starts at 6, then we'll be doing C lights looking.

We're doing tater tot casserole (vegetarian) for Christmas Dinner. I know, not exactly traditional, but he really doesn't want to do a vegge dinner roast or tofurkey. So ... we compromised.

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I need to update my sidebar - maybe tomorrow.

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I finally managed to get a doctor's appointment set up for the end of January. It took two days of calling during my breaks and leaving voicemails. But it's set up now. One of the things I'm hoping to do is have the doctor write me a prescription for Allegra D and Flonase so that I can use my FSA money for them. I'd much rather use pre-tax money for that stuff than post-tax .. or maybe pay for it with my regular card, then get reimbursed - so, pre-tax plus cashback.

Anyway, it's past 10, so I should be signing off here. (In preparation for that mini-goal ...)