Today after work I stopped at Walgreen's to pick up a couple of things (had a raging headache, even with Allegra D ....)

On my way to my car I noticed this really really CUTE guy sitting in a jeep parked in front of my car. He must have seen me look at him or something, because he nods his head at me.

At this point I have my door open ... and I proceed to nod my head back at him ... just being friendly.

Instead of smoothly flowing into my seat and driving away .... I end up bumping my chin on the top of my door! Then land in my seat doubled over from laughing at myself.

The guy calls out asking if I'm okay, so I manage to contain myself enough to let him know that I was fine. Just my pride was damaged.

They say that pride goeth before a fall (of which I've done plenty ...) but today it's more accurate for me to say ... pride goeth before a chin bump!

----
Work was okay today. Had a good bit to catch up on from yesterday (mail in orders, end of the month bus repair reports -- so funny some of them, etc.) I had a couple of delightful callers - one is a repeat lady who makes me smile big as soon as I hear her voice; and the other was a little old lady trying to figure out the system and just SO appreciative of my help.

Kind of helped to cancel out the guy who was ticked off because the fare box ate his card and kept asking how that could happen. Um ... fare boxes eat cards sometimes?? If you saw the bus repair reports ... it's amazing more bus passes don't get eaten. (He hung up on me before I could figure out exact bus/route/time .. if I had that info then I could have had the driver contacted to check the story and get the guy a new pass.)

---
The other day I took a survey abut a local e........y company. One of the questions asked about whether I'd experienced any power outages. Well, in the year or so I've been here (to that point) I hadn't!

Today that changed! A few minutes after I sat down for lunch (finished microwaving) we had a 20-25 minute power outage at the bus station. It was so weird and so quiet.

Today was my 1 yearaversary at work. Talking with my boss made me really wonder if I want to try for something else. It's not always a sure thing that you're going to find good bosses.

Plus I'm thinking about the gym ... if I go to this CC, I'd have a 20+ minute commute home and then a 15-20 minute drive to the gym. Maybe a 30 minute commute straight to the gym (not stopping by home first). I'm worried it'll be even easier to excuse myself from going.

I'm still going to do the application package though ... nothing says I will get a job offer and nothing says I have to take said job offer if it happens. Won't hurt to try.

---
Spending:
Amazon - Kitty flea/tick collar, ink for printer - $23.xx after $30 in gift card and $1.50 cash back discover

Walgreen's - $2.75 (major headache cure attempt ... not health food.)

So today is NEs actual birthday, but we did the celebration yesterday.

We drove out to Nebraska City to a Chinese buffet. There wasn't much selection of veggies not mixed with meat ... in fact I accidentally took some mushrooms which had meat mixed with them. NE found plenty to eat though ...

Afterwards his GPS unit took us on a merry chase finding this state recreation area he wanted to check out. We finally did find it - it has a really nice access point for boats to the Missouri river.

When we got back we ate some of the cake I had made earlier (who knew the Jiffy mix was for layer cakes, and not full sized ones? Oh well.) He also drank some of the koolaide he'd asked for ... (said it wasn't quite like he'd remembered - I had him make it himself actually so he'd know how much sugar, etc. was in it.)

I guess I was kind of not in a great spirit because earlier that day I'd had to buy a pitcher in order to make the dang koolaide and was kind of annoyed to be adding all these extras on top of dinner out.

Then of course he's not in the mood to do anything when we get back because he ate way too much. UGH.

---
Earlier in the day after my grocery trip and making the cake, I spent a few hours working on the application for the library job. On the background check form they want address history for the last TWENTY years! Um.... I can give you city and state for that time frame, but I barely remember the name of the roads I lived on five years ago (3 different places while going to grad school) let alone 8 or 9 + years.

I tried finding a way to search public records to get that info, but couldn't find a way to do it without paying for it. Ugh.

I have until August 12 to submit all my documents/application. Need to put together a cover letter and update my resume, scan my transcripts (find them first .. they're somewhere around here), scan my certifications (after I locate them ..)

---
I cashed out for a $25 paypal from SBs today - got the 50SB swagup. Apparentally there's been some kind of mix up- the special offer swagup should've been up first for 150 SBs. Hopefully that'll get sorted soon - I have enough to get a second $25 PP once that is fixed.

I also cashed out for a $25 AGC from PerkTV - that should come sometime today.

Tomorrow I'll have enough Bing for a $5 AGC.

Once I have the $30 AGC, I'm planning on ordering a flea/tick collar for Kari from Amazon. She's picked up fleas somehow - I've tried a variety of other things which haven't helped much. So I'm hoping this collar will. (Bayer Seresto Flea and Tick Collar) It supposedly is supposed to work for 8 months. It better for how much it costs! ($43.xx)

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So I'm posting in the middle of the day here. Called in sick from work - I think something I ate at the buffet didn't agree with me. In a major way.

---
I'm going to see about making an appointment at Brakes Plus on Wednesday to get my oil changed and see if they can do an alignment too. If I get that appointment I'll be near the mall where I can return my shoes.

Then Thursday I have my first school event from 4 - 6:30. Can you say 90 minutes of overtime?!

---
I checked my FSA balance. I have just enough for 3 more Synthroid prescriptions. Then the FSA year starts over. I'm planning on upping my contribution by $10/month. I didn't use my dental insurance at all this year, and my Syntrhoid ended up being more than I had thought it would be. I still need to find out if I can do a prescription for Allegra D to have it covered by the FSA - if so, I'll need to up the amount by $30-40/month. (Our FSA year runs November to October.)

---
August Spending:
1st - Fazoli's - $13
2nd - Grocery store - $57.xx (groceries, cat, NE birthday stuff)
Chinese buffet - $25 for two
3rd - hopefully none!

Well, I updated my numbers for July. Groceries and treats were my problem areas. For August I have decided to increase my grocery budget to $150 for two reasons - 1. There are more grocery trip days; and 2. One of the reasons I think I went a bit overboard with the treats and grocery spending overall this month is because I kept looking in my fridge at dinner time, and nothing appealed. So, I'm giving myself the room to be a little more lenient with my groceries in order to not spend so much on the junk.

--
I did get a full refund from Airbnb for the money I paid for my reservation. So all of that is back into my Vacation funds.

---
Extra income included:
Swagbucks - $50
Pact - $16
Parking Garage - $33
Amex Cash bonus - $125
Interest - $8.36
---
Spending in areas other than fixed amounts:

Car Fees - 175 (registration/wheel tax)
Groceries - 145.91
Phone - 26.26
Internet - 67.61
Gas - 21.97
Electric - 37.88
Auto Fuel - 28.48
Medical - 40.64 (Allegra D)
Kari - 12.57

Clothing - 37.31 (two pairs of shoes - will be taking back one pair)

Toiletries - 7
Electronics - 19.45 (two android phones)

Household Goods - 20.45 (folding chair, off spray, paper towels)

iTunes - 6.41 (clothing app)
Treats - 42.70
Restaurants - 8.82
-------------------
Savings:
PT (Personal Trainer fund) - 60.15/350 (funded by extra earnings)
EF - 10% of net income + $68 = 8449.91/10,000
ROTH - $200

----
August will have car insurance (funded) and some spending from my vacation fund for a staycation.

I anticipate a good amount of extra income in August, due to overtime from my main job, and getting paid for the last parking garage shift. (I'm not scheduled for any in August yet.) That money will be split between PT, Vacation and EF funds.

So Thursday after work was spent riding/driving to O city and back. Why? NE had found a 2000 Chevy Prizm for $1200 which he decided to buy.

There is some work that will need to be done to it - brakes, driver side window, etc., but mechanically it is in good shape.

I am SO glad to have my car back now (he filled up my gas tank and treated me to dinner at Hardee's as a thank you for letting him use my car this week.)

----
I convinced my boss to let me have a 3rd school event in August. That'll make 4 different events I'll be doing.

I figure I can do more than my fair share now since I won't be able to help with any of the football games (they all are on Saturdays or Friday nights. Except for the one after Thanksgiving, which I'll be in CA!) (We run a shuttle service from multiple locations in the city to the local public uni's football stadium.)

----
The last two weeks have been a bust financially and health wise. The numbers aren't going to be very pretty .. not as bad as May's, but definitely not as nice as June's. You can probably guess where a lot of the budget busting came from.

Ugh.

---
I bought two $9 Net 10 phones from Family Dollar today (sale ended today.) I'm going to be using them for the sole purpose of playing paid videos. I think they'll pay off soon enough to be worthwhile.

I also read this article posted on FB:

http://www.thepennyhoarder.com/ways-to-make-money-at-home/

Many of the things I knew about already, but I did see one thing which interested me. Send Dollars - almost exactly like Inbox Dollars. I signed up for it and already have about $6.80 (out of $30 to cash out.)

---
I did this horrible survey yesterday morning which turned out to be mainly about coffee. I somehow managed to complete it - mainly because they didn't ask the one question which would have saved both them and me a lot of time .... Do you drink coffee? Nope - they just assumed that everyone drinks coffee. Yuck.

---
I managed to complete the Survey Soiree for SBs this week - 150 SB rebate. I only was able to do this due to waking up around 4 a.m. 3 out 5 mornings ... not on purpose. At all.

I don't know if my tiredness affected my viewpoint today at work or not, but MAN were people ever crabby and argumentative. There were a couple of times I wanted to ask - why are you even asking me this question if you won't take my answer?

---
The local community college is looking for a Learning Resource Director. Gulp. They aren't requiring a specialized higher education librarian degree (like most universities would ...) It pays $4/hour more than what I'm making now. I'm not sure what the benefits are.

I'm thinking seriously about applying.

My two big qualms .... 1. It would put me WAY out of my comfort zone dealing with CC students; and 2. It doesn't state what the expected hours/days are.

2 is probably the bigger issue. I checked on the website for the LRC and it shows it is open on Saturdays.

I have the feeling that my stating that I can only work M-F probably would get my application thrown in the proverbial trash without further reading. But, still, it probably wouldn't hurt to try. Who knows how many other ALA certified (well, expired certified?) librarians are here AND know about the job offer. I might have a slim chance.

I do want to see what the benefits are though first - because if I got the job, my commute would change from 6 or 7 minutes to more like 20minutes + - and definitely not walkable. (but would be bussable.)

(And yes, the not working on Saturdays is completely, unequivocally, non-negotiable for me. This is partly why I've hesitated to apply for any of the various public librarian jobs - all of which require weekend hours. As a newbie, I probably wouldn't be able to say - I want Sundays only!)

---
Ok, I'm now off to catch up on your blogs. (This is actually a second rendition of my post... thanks to accidentally hitting the backspace button instead of the arrow to move over tabs ...)

Tuesday night I had my 3rd shift at the parking garage. This time there was a WWE event going on. I got there about 7:40 - 20 minutes early. We didn't end up getting sent to our spots til nearly 9:20 (I clocked in at 7:55.) It seems kind of wasteful to have 8 or so people standing around for an hour+ on the clock waiting for an event to actually end. But oh well, it's more money in my pocket. (I clocked out a bit before 11. So about $33 before taxes.)

Once the cars started coming out, time went by pretty fast. Before I went, I had no energy nor desire to go. By the time I got home though, I was pepped up and couldn't go to sleep for a long time. (Still woke up about 4:45 a.m. ....)

----
Before I left for the shift though, I tried calling Vanguard again. I was being transferred to someone when the call ended suddenly. So I called back and got the name and number of the person I was being transferred to. I called and left a voice mail - more than 24 hours later, and I have not gotten a call back.

I'm going to try again tomorrow night (when I don't have to run off to Vacation Bible School like tonight, or have a shift to work.)

Hopefully, third time will be the charm.

---
Work. Ugh. Still ongoing saga of 268 page document and the perfectionist who believes there is only one way to do things (she tells me to make a change, I make the change, she insists I should do it her way instead ...) My boss is also frustrated with this person (they had to do a presentation to the other co-workers yesterday - some book the staff is reading.) My boss has told me that if I want off this project, all I have to do is say so. Part of me wants to say OFF, but a larger part of me does not want to do that - kind of feel like being a quitter.

Lady sat up front with me today going over some cross-referencing in the document. I was logged off the phone. Still had at least 6 calls and 7 people come by to buy passes. She got so frustrated with all the interruptions that she told me we'd keep working tomorrow if my boss could cover the not logged in phone calls. She asked me if it always was this busy.

Ummm... the phone wasn't even logged in. Yes, it can sometimes be that busy x50. Other times, not so much. One never knows.

---
Tuesday -
DMV - $175 - Car registration
Taco Bell ... $4.19

Wednesday:
Walgreen's - $20.xx (junk, locker lock for gym, deodorant, real food)

Extra Income:
$16 from Pact cashed in

---
Okay, it is now 11:08. I am going to try to go to bed and see if I can get more than 4 1/2 hours sleep ...

Tuesday night I had my 3rd shift at the parking garage. This time there was a WWE event going on. I got there about 7:40 - 20 minutes early. We didn't end up getting sent to our spots til nearly 9:20 (I clocked in at 7:55.) It seems kind of wasteful to have 8 or so people standing around for an hour+ on the clock waiting for an event to actually end. But oh well, it's more money in my pocket. (I clocked out a bit before 11. So about $33 before taxes.)

Once the cars started coming out, time went by pretty fast. Before I went, I had no energy nor desire to go. By the time I got home though, I was pepped up and couldn't go to sleep for a long time. (Still woke up about 4:45 a.m. ....)

----
Before I left for the shift though, I tried calling Vanguard again. I was being transferred to someone when the call ended suddenly. So I called back and got the name and number of the person I was being transferred to. I called and left a voice mail - more than 24 hours later, and I have not gotten a call back.

I'm going to try again tomorrow night (when I don't have to run off to Vacation Bible School like tonight, or have a shift to work.)

Hopefully, third time will be the charm.

---
Work. Ugh. Still ongoing saga of 268 page document and the perfectionist who believes there is only one way to do things (she tells me to make a change, I make the change, she insists I should do it her way instead ...) My boss is also frustrated with this person (they had to do a presentation to the other co-workers yesterday - some book the staff is reading.) My boss has told me that if I want off this project, all I have to do is say so. Part of me wants to say OFF, but a larger part of me does not want to do that - kind of feel like being a quitter.

Lady sat up front with me today going over some cross-referencing in the document. I was logged off the phone. Still had at least 6 calls and 7 people come by to buy passes. She got so frustrated with all the interruptions that she told me we'd keep working tomorrow if my boss could cover the not logged in phone calls. She asked me if it always was this busy.

Ummm... the phone wasn't even logged in. Yes, it can sometimes be that busy x50. Other times, not so much. One never knows.

---
Tuesday -
DMV - $175 - Car registration
Taco Bell ... $4.19

Wednesday:
Walgreen's - $20.xx (junk, locker lock for gym, deodorant, real food)

Extra Income:
$16 from Pact cashed in

So I'm thinking about combining all my investment accounts. I think I want to put them all in Vanguard, but I'm not sure if it is possible.

I currently have two stock/brokerage accounts at Scottrade.

A stock/brokerage account and target fund at Trowe.

A defunct 403(b) account from teaching at some place called Empower Retirement? (used to be at Valic AIG, but my former employer switched companies this year.)

A traditional ROTH at Vanguard.

Almost forgot - another stock account at Cap One - formerly Sharebuilder.

And then of course the accounts I have with my new employer. (These I plan to leave alone.)

The 403b and the TROWE target fund I think can be moved over with no problem. It's the stock accounts I'm not so sure about.

I want to consolidate these accounts as much as possible for two reasons - 1- ease of tracking/accounting, and 2 - less maintenance fees eating into profits.

I know I need to just call Vanguard and ask if it's possible to move stock only accounts over to them, but I seem to think about these kinds of things on the weekend or after business phone hours.

I don't want to sell my stock holdings, just move them to another ... holder? I'm not even sure if that is possible??

Anyway, I have this on a reminder note for the August business days I'll have off to call and get the ball rolling on as much as I can.

----
Oh get this! I just got a message from J of airbnb fame ... the "friend" found an apartment and doesn't need her room after all. Too bad, so sad. :roll eyes:

---
I've been on a bit of a junkfood binge the past few days. All that stuff I bought Thursday ... I had thought about returning some of it before I actually ate it ... Oh well. It was a good reminder that I actually like how I feel *without* eating all that junk *much* better than the opposite.

---
I cashed out Bing for a $5 AGC yesterday. Today I am within less than 600 SBs of my second $25 Paypal for July. (Ngage is back ... which can be "watched" while doing stuff in another window at the same time ...)

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I've set my fitbit sleep thing on sensitive this last week. It sure has shown me why I'm so tired! For example, last night out of 6 hrs 30 minutes "asleep" 85 minutes of that time was "restless" or moving enough to shake the fitbit. Other nights had less hours of "sleep" with roughly the same restless minutes. I wish I could figure out how to change this. Consistent exercise doesn't seem to be the answer. Eating better doesn't seem to be the answer. (the little hours sleep / restlessness are similar for before Thursday's junk food binge - so really made no difference.)

Getting TO sleep isn't the issue - it's once I'm asleep that there are multiple periods of restlessness, and then waking up at WAY too early hours (WAY before my alarm is set, and not being able to go back to sleep very well.)

---
This coming week my sleep issues are probably not going to be helped much ... Monday and Wednesday evenings I'm signed up to help out at the local VBS. Tuesday night I'm doing a parking garage shift from 8 p.m. - ?? And of course Sunday and Thursday nights are NE's nights. Somehow I'm going to fit in regular exercise into that schedule.

So today as I was heading to lunch I took a look at my phone and saw I had a couple text messages from my Airbnb host. I got a bad feeling ...

Then I read the entirety of the messages.

Apparently this person has a friend who needs to stay in the room, and is coming over to check it out. She'll need it for a month. Which of course falls into my reservation.

J says"I just want to give you a heads up so you can make a backup plan."

I was livid.

I didn't respond right then because I wanted to cool down and also get the opinons of a few others - so I posted a question on FB asking how others would react.

Cancel reservation and contact admin were the two main responses.

So when I got back from the gym tonight (another way to cool myself down more before responding) I got on Airbnb and started looking for a way to contact admin. I'd been planning on just contacting them first to ask their opinion.

IMPOSSIBLE! They make it nearly impossible to contact them with all these "choice" trees - none of which have an option for "other."

So I left a message for J telling her that I was cancelling and why. I was very polite, but very clear.

Then I canceled and found out I won't get my $7 in fees back!!!

I finally figured out how to actually send them an email (chose a choice that didn't really work - but it got me to where I could send an email.) Now I'll wait to see what happens.

In the meantime, I'm going to be looking for a hotel room!!

---
I got a message today that I have a meeting with my boss and her other supervisee about contracts. I don't know for sure what it is about, but I do know that the current union contract ends sometime in August. So I'm guessing it's to go over the revised one and have us sign it or something. If that's so, then I'll also get to see what my new payrate will be (probably not starting til September.)

---
NE is going to change out our cars tonight after work (he has a key to my place, so won't have to wake me up.) He'll be taking his Honda to get the air fixed on Thursday afternoon. Then he'll decide what to do with the Subaru.

---
CCF - (or others who know Des Moines) - please give me suggestions as to what hotels/streets/areas to avoid. And if possible, which ones might be good deals & decent? All I care about is cleanliness, working plumbing and a bed (and that there isn't a big chance of my car getting broken into overnight ...) Hotels.com

The cheapest hotel they have is $60/night - Extend a Stay - 5220 Northeast 14th Street. It has a very poor rating. The next one is $70/night.

Whatever happened to the $30 and $40 rooms??

--
No spend day #12

---
ETA - Hmm... I just got a response from my email. Basicaly saying the CS person was going to pass my message to the "right" people. Let's see what happens.

Today during lunch I was browsing FB and my eyes just about bugged out. There in front of me was a 1334 sq ft house for $30k!

Everything I usually see on there is 3x+ as much. So I inspected it a bit closer to figure out why it was so inexpensive.

The main thing I could come up with was that it is a mobile home. From the pictures it looked well kept, it included a yard and a screened in back porch. It didn't sound like it was in a bad part of town, nor too terribly far from work.

I couldn't click on the link for more info, and it seems to have disappeared. However, it gave me hope that I might be able to afford something without taking on a huge mortgage or waiting ten years ... as long as I can find a mobile home in good condition and in a good / well taken care of park. And apparently there is such a thing here!

I could do 20% down on this thing with only my EF savings. Give me a few more years (and more time to research areas/mobile home conditions) and this might just be the way to go.

---
I ended up walking to work this morning even though I really had not planned on doing it (so HOT yesterday morning.) It was a little warm, but much cooler than Monday a.m.

NE picked me up after work today and took me over to his place so I could use his car to go to the gym.

The drive without a/c wouldn't have been too bad if it hadn't been for the horrible traffic! It took me nearly 30 minutes to get to the gym! (In comparison, it took me 12 minutes to get home.)

NE is planning on getting the a/c fixed in his Honda, and then taking his Subaru in to see what is going on with it. If it's more than a $1k fix, he's probably going to get rid of it. If the a/c gets working in his Honda, that'll give him until October or so to get another second car (for winter driving.)

We're trading cars again tonight after he gets off work (11 p.m.) I'll be glad to have my car back.

--
I figured out that my digital scale just takes AAA batteries. I have some around here somewhere ..

---
No spending today (Day #11)

Tonight I was just sitting back relaxing and getting ready to enter my receipts from my Walgreen's shopping trip when I got a call from NE telling me his car had broken down just a few blocks away.

The end result is that I'm letting him use my car for at least the next few days. I'll take the bus to work, and he'll pick me up tomorrow and then I can use his second car (no a/c) to go to the gym. (He delivers pizza, and it is WAY too hot to be driving around for hours without A/C - I can survive 20 minutes to the gym and back.)

He's going to have a mechanic friend look at it, but it'll eventually have to get towed and fixed. It doesn't sound like it will be an inexpensive fix.

He's had so many troubles with his two cars (both are 2002/3 models - Honda Civic and Subaru Impreza I think.)

This of course had to happen in the midst of our first major heatwave this summer.

---
After work today I went to the UPS customer center and picked up my 2" washers (IOW cheap fractional plates.) Then I stopped at Walgreen's to pick up some more Allegra D ...I also picked up some candy bars ... and a folding chair in a carrying bag. All came out of budgeted categories.

By the time I got home I was pretty hungry, plus this morning I saw I'd lost another pound and was thinking it was going a bit too fast. So I decided to treat myself to Burger King. Again, budgeted. (but no more left for the month in that category!)

---
My digital scale died this morning - just after I weighed myself. I was wondering if maybe the reason the numbers had been going down on it was due to a weak battery - so I weighed myself at work. It was only a difference of 5lbs - which made sense (eaten breakfast, drunk water, work clothes, shoes, etc.)

I need to figure out how to get the scale going again.
(It's a Wahoo fitness wi-fi scale, about two years old.)

---
NE paid me back today for the two things I put on my Discover and American Express cards. So as soon as that money is available, I'll send it on to the cards.

---
Just a month from now and I'll be on my mini-vacation!! Woo hoo! I can hardly wait. 4 whole days in a row away from the phones! (If you're calling for directions, it's a good idea to have something to write on/with, and know the address of where you are and where you want to go ... just saying...)

---
Almost forgot! Saturday night I worked my part time job at the parking garage. It was only supposed to be for 90 minutes. But the concert lasted until well after 11 pm. They finally told us to go home about 12:30 a.m.!! That definitely won't work for me on a weeknight ... But I can thank ND (performer) for 2 extra hours worth of pay!

So this past week I kept checking my SBs Shop & Earn ledger to see if my shoe purchase had posted yet as pending SBs. It never showed up, so I wrote to customer service asking where it was.

They replied back to me that I need to wait 5 to 7 business days. I was very annoyed.

Then last night I did my ten videos on Mypoints and then took a look at my points ledger. Guess what was showing as pending?! A purchase from Amazon!

Somehow I must have made the purchase through a Mypoints link rather than a Swagbucks one. Although I thought I'd been pretty careful to go the Shop and Earn tab on SBs, and then to Amazon.

Oh well, either way, it looks like I'm getting points for it.

--
Speaking of The Shoes .. They arrived on Thursday afternoon. I have tried them on, but not worn yet (Friday is jeans day.) I'm not sure I'm going to like them as much as my falling apart ones, but I can live with them until Sear's gets the shoes back in stock!!

(they are much firmer material, and the over strap is very thin.

---
Remember the 2" washers I ordered to use as fractional plates for weight lifting? They arrived on Monday! Or at least that is when I first got the UPS notice on my door. I love how they come at times when the majority of adults are .. at work!

Tuesday afternoon I called to arrange to have them hold it at the main facility - but first I had to jump through the hoop of the automated scheduler thing. The only option offered to me by it was to have it sent to an "outlet." The outlet would have been WAY close to my work, but cost $6! I was very annoyed, and had to be very persistent to get a live person.

I'm planning on going there on Monday to get them.

---
I ordered a bunch of books about MS Office/Word 2013 from the library. Most of them were in yesterday. I need to browse through them and figure out which one will best meet what I'm wanting (something to help me with learning intermediate/advanced skills.)

A couple DVDs came in too - Theory of Everything, and When Calls the Heart (a Janette Oake series movie)

So I now have 3 movies to watch (Boyhood) .. I have SO gotten out of the habit of watching movies/television. (I bought Season 4 of Downton Abbey on Amazon streaming ... quite awhile ago ... and still have not watched any of it ..)

---
I've agreed to help out with the local VBS program for two nights (July 20 and 22) ... That means I'll have to change my workout schedule that week because I have to be at the church by 6. I really considered saying NO because I didn't want to change my gym routine which is still in its infancy .. but realized that I probably would enjoy doing this, and it is only one week.

The 21st I have a shift at the parking garage - 9 to runoff. I found out that runoff means about 10:30. I can handle that once in awhile on a weeknight.

I have a 9 to runoff shift tonight, so I'll get to see firsthand what it involves.

--

I got very little sleep last night. Went to bed a bit after 11, and woke up about 4. My fitbit sleep thing showed I had about 15 minutes of restlessness during the night. I am SO tired. I will probably try to take a nap before going to the parking garage tonight.

Looking forward to when the good diet and good amount of exercise is going to equal a good nights sleep!

---
On YouGov surveys I am only 8k points away from a $100 Amazon gift card!! That is about 16 surveys. (They have smaller denomination ones for less points, but the $100 one is 1 point per dollar value, whereas the others aren't.)

---
I almost forgot one of the reasons I wanted to post today!

This morning I got my loaf of bread out because I was going to do toast and a fried egg for breakfast. However when I counted how many slices were left, I realized I only had enough left for 4 lunches this week. I don't think I used any for toast last week (although I may have.)

What this means is that one loaf of the Orowheat Everything bread is NOT enough for two weeks of work lunches. I had thought it would be enough, plus a little extra. I really like this bread because of its size - it perfectly fits my black bean burger patties and is cheaper than the full sized bread (obviously because it is smaller.)

I'm thinking lunch on Friday I can cook some quinoa or something and crumble a burger patty into it, along with my regular veggies. Kind of a burger bowl. That might just work for lunches the rest of the month too so I don't have to buy any more bread. (Especially since the grocery budget is so thin right now.)

I have English muffins I can use for toast (although my PB and my J are running low.)

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My diet/lifestyle and exercise seem to be working. I am within 3 lbs of where I was a year ago. (I have lost/gained/lost/gained ~16 lbs since then.) This is the lowest I've been in 7 months or so. Another 4 lbs and I'll be in a decade I haven't been in since ... ???? (I did briefly flirt with the top of the decade maybe a 1 1/2 ago, but that was all of two or three days.)

It still may be possible for me to be down 30 lbs (from Jan 1 weight) by my 40th birthday (Dec 15). That would be another 18 or 19 lbs. If that happens, I'd be at my lowest weight in at least ten years. Within ten pounds of when I first met NE. Wow.

I'm not really eating that much less of real food... just not buying/eating much junkfood. Amazing how that works, huh?

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Saturday spending: $0 Day 10! (I know I won't be spending anything since I'm not going anywhere til tonight for my parking shift.)

This morning I decided to check the airbnb site again to see if anything new had come up. Guess what! I found a place for $29/night! Previously the best I had found was $45/night. I booked for two nights, so my lodging costs will be $65. Right now I have $176 set aside for my getaway, plus whatever I can add this month.

I'm thinking I will be coming in under budget!!

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I booked the lodging with my Amex card. Between paying for a portion of NE's medical bill (he's paying me back minus $125, which is half of the cash back reward) and then booking the lodging, I finally have my Amex finished! I doubt if I'll ever use it again unless some offer comes up again like the Sam's Club one, or some kind of Amazon deal. Too much of a pain.

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I also finished out my $500 for July spending on my Discover card. (Actually I just realized that I might need to do one more grocery trip with it - because once I take the shoes back, then I'll be under $500 again.) I've put all my recurring bills on it - electric, gym, Internet, etc. I also used my card to pay for the final treatment of Riddles (again will be paid back.)

*Working on spending $500/month from July to November on my Discover card for a $75 bonus. I am not spending anything I would not normally to get this.
I have no debt, and pay my balances in full every month.

August looks like it will be easy too, between trip expenses and car insurance renewal. September should be easy too - mom/brother visit, purchase airplane ticket for Thanksgiving, etc. November I'm not sure what all I'll be able to do to get it.

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Went grocery shoppigng today after the gym. I walked over there, totally forgetting til I passed the pet care aisle that I needed cat litter ... Oops. At least the cat litter and the grocery bag weighed fairly the same.

I bought: apples, bananas, egg salad sandwich, eggs, green bell pepper, Boca crumbles, candy bar, paper towels, sliced cheese, shredded cheese, cat litter.

Total of $28.70

There are 3 more grocery Friday's in July, and I have $39 left in my grocery budget. I'm going to have to try to keep my next 3 trips to $13 or less to stay within budget. That means probably forgoing the sandwich and/or Amy's meal.

(paper towels and cat litter come out of non-grocery categories)

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On the way to the gym today I was nearly sideswiped! There were two left turn lanes. I was in the far right one. I turned into the corresponding lane. Luckily out of the corner of my eye, I noticed the person on my left starting to come over! I beeped my horn and swerved into the extra lane to my right (for right hand turn people.) My adrenaline sure was pumping!

CCF you might know the intersection I'm talking about -- 27th and Hwy 2 heading towards Walmart.

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I had two people at work argue with me today. One was someone wanting directions. I even gave him to the bus driver supervisor, and the caller argued with him!! The other person was someone who came to the window with commuter checks. I told him he needed to fill them out. He told me that "NO, it's your responsibility to fill them out! The lady who I've always dealt with before never asked me to fill them out." I told him that in the year I've worked here, anytime someone's brought commuter checks, that they had them filled out already. He didn't believe me. Finally I just took the checks and gave him his passes.

(We hate commuter checks! They give them two checks for every pass AND the check numbers are LONG. Such a pain in the patookus!)

Before the arguers, I'd been thinking that this had been a pretty calm week - nothing really of note. (at work at least)

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Thursday - No spend day #8!

Friday - spend, spend .. but all within budgeted categories

As part of our contract we are able to take credit classes as long as they have something to do with our job responsibilities. We get reimbursed up to $1200/contract year.

So today I was thinking about the recent project which I tried to help out our purchasing agent. There was a big time crunch, and what she wanted me to do was something I hadn't done before - create a clickable table of contents. So I was on a huge learning curve under a time crunch. Then had to send it on to the main pa before I was finished.

That felt very stinky to me. I absolutely hated sending on a document which I knew wasn't finished.

What could I do to change that for the next time?

I figured out that I could take classes on the various MS Office products and then take the certification tests! That way I'd KNOW I had a very good/advanced grasp of all the inner workings - plus it might be helpful if later on I decide to try for a higher level position.

So I checked with the local community college. I saw they had a program focus for those wanting MS certification, but there was no list of required classes.

I sent an email to one person, then got a friendly response with the name/email of who I needed to contact. So I contacted the first person.

Their response seemed like they hadn't read my email very well. So I sent another polite email repeating one of my questions.

What I got back totally blew me away:

I DON’T KNOW BUT YOU CAN CONTACT OUR OFFICE PROFESSIONAL PROGRAM ....

The rest of the email was in normal writing (not all caps.)

Is it just me, or does that seem like an uber unprofessional response? I can't imagine ever responding to someone in all caps like that in an email. Especially a business email. I kind of feel like emailing the person she mentioned and suggesting that they may want to make sure that the people answering emails know it is impolite/shouting to write in all caps.

Anyway .... while I was waiting for responses I kept looking for other avenues. I am almost thinking that I'd rather just buy the MS Word Study Guide ($14.29) for the certification course and go through it on my own pace. Then take the certification test for it. Then do the next one (Excel probably.) and so forth.

I still want to take some classes though - so maybe Spanish (we have some Spanish speakers that come by), or ASL (had a mute person come by today!) Or something else that I can figure out how to make it fit with my job.

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On FB today I read an article that Amy's is opening a fast food restaurant in CA near San Francisco!! I LOVe Amy's food! (vegetarian/vegan) Next time I'm in SF, I will have to make a point of going there.

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Today at the gym I talked to one of the personal trainers. I first asked him about the barbel weights - he told me that the barbel in the Smith machines was lighter than the one in the power rack - which explained why when I tried to use the pr one, I couldn't do it. He gave me a couple ideas on how to get a barbel that was weighted between decade amounts (I'd been using the fixed barbel weights after realizing I couldn't do the regular barbel.)

I also asked him about Pilates classes. He basically told me that they don't have very many because there isn't much interest. He suggested Yoga. No thank you ... (although maybe I should try one class of it to see if it is all new agey, or just straight poses and no nonsense.)

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I got home pretty late due to having talked with the pt guy. I made a pot of spaghetti with a bunch of kale and 1/2 cup of Morningstar crumbles. It was SO good. I had in my meal plan that I was going to eat the pie that I'd bought at Dollar Tree on Sunday (one slice frozen) but after eating my spaghetti I was so full that it doesn't even appeal to me. So I'll save it for another night.

I'm reading Judy Beck's Diet Trap Solution which is all about retraining your brain - CBT or cognitive based therapy. I'd heard of an earlier version of it (this is a 2014 or 15 copy) but never checked it out. It's pretty interesting so far.

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So I asked my boss today if I could have the Friday and Monday off of the weekend my mom and possibly brother are coming. She said yes, but then reminded me that I had signed up to work an event that Sunday!

It's a 4 hour event.

What would you do?? Should I ask my boss if I can get out of it, or have my mom/brother drop me off and do whatever, then pick me up later? I kind of feel bad either way.

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No spending day #6!

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One more question -- How do you easily measure 1/2 cup of dry spaghetti?

I decided to walk to work today. The weather was perfect for it - 55 in the morning, and in the low 70s in the afternoon.

On my way home today I was about ten blocks away from work when a woman standing at a corner waved at me. I went over there and she asked me "Aren't you the person who works at ....?" I told her that I was. She thought it was funny that I was walking instead of taking the bus. So I told her that I only live 1.5 away from work, and enjoy the walk. However, next week (if I decide to walk) I'll probably take the bus on the way home because it's supposed to be in the 90s in the afternoon.

She told me that she calls me all the time asking for directions. She must have come by to buy passes too, although I didn't recognize her.

On the way home I thought of another way I could possibly take the bus for my return trip. It still would mean walking about 8 or 9 blocks, but then I'd be dropped off within a block of my apartment. I might try that next week.

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My mom has bought her tickets to come here in September - $137! Awesome price! Now we wait to see if my brother actually buys tickets .... or it it'll just be me and her.

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I redeemed for a $25 PP from SBs today, and thanks to my SBs Visa, I am about 300 towards my next one.

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I got an email from the place I ordered the 2" washers from - total cost with shipping is $18.48. SO much cheaper than Amazon's fractional plates. They are already here in the city, so maybe I'll get them tomorrow before I head out to the gym for my next weight lifting workout.

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I was reading "In the Unlikely Event" by Judy Blume today at work (Great story so far!) when a lady came by to buy a bus pass. She asked me if I liked to read. There followed a nice 5 or 6 minute conversation. (She also is an avid reader.) That was fun.

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No spending today. (I think that makes 5 NSDs for July?)

So today the world lost a special person and a special cat.

You might remember me mentioning about NEs cat Riddles and how he'd been doing pretty poorly. NE took him to the vet and for about 4 or 5 weeks had the vet give him fluids 3x a week. Then NE started doing the fluids himself.

Up til about 4 days ago, the fluids seemed to have made him much better, nearly like his old self. Then he started getting worse. Failing rapidly. So much so that as of Sunday he stopped eating completely and didn't have the strength to jump up on NEs bed. (his favorite place)

Today NE made the decision to let Ridz go in peace. I was able to get off work a couple hours early so I could be there with them. I hadn't seen Riddles since September (long story.) He was literally a skeleton with skin and fur. It was bad.

Hopefully I can put a picture of him here in his better days:



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I also found out today that the woman who I learned ASL from when I lived in Texas, and who helped me to do an ASL interpretation of Kevin Henke's "Kitten's First Moon" had died from ALS complications.

This was a very special woman. Someone who loved God, loved her family, and loved the deaf community.

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After dealing with Riddles taking a trip to the Rainbow Bridge, I really did not feel like going to the gym for my workout. But I did it anyway. Kind of a shortened one, but at least I kept in the habit.

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No money spent today.

I love fireworks, really I do. However, I will be glad when the people in my neighborhood run out of them. Really? Firing off something at 3 a.m.? (It had finally gotten quiet around 1 a.m. so I thought it was safe to try to go to sleep, then got rudely woken again.)

Got up this morning, made my SBs daily goal, then made my oatmeal banana greek yogurt pancakes (no mishaps this time!) Spent a little more time on the computer.

Unloaded the dishwasher (finally ... been clean since Wednesday.) Reloaded and started it.

Headed over to the gym. Did about 30 minutes of walk/jog/run intervals. Then went upstairs and used the stretching contraptions (need to ask how they work when there's someone actually there.) and used the thing where you place your feet under something, and bend forward and up (back strengthener thingy.)

Got home and started my laundry. Took a shower and then got started on making a quadruple batch of my black bean burgers.

Put the laundry in the dryer. Put the black bean burgers in the oven to bake. Boy does the oven make the house heat up!

I made a total of 20 burgers. I think I added a little "too" much liquid this time because they aren't sticking together very well (even after I added a little extra oatmeal.) That's how it goes when you're not really measuring. Once they're frozen and then reheated, they should be fine I think. (I'm waiting for them to cool off enough for me to put them in the freezer now.)

Just had an apple and a piece of pb toast. I didn't want to eat too much because I'm not sure where we're going for dinner tonight. It'll probably be a Chinese buffet - NE loves those places. If so, a plate full of veggies and fruits first, and then a second plate with some of the other things I like in small amounts.

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I'm just 200 SBs away from being able to get my next $25 PP. Kind of tempted to do some surveys to see if I can get any. Did a few last week? whenever they were having the Survey Soiree thing that I actually completed (shocked!)

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Spending today:
Laundry - $2

Dinner will be NE's treat.

So yesterday I talked a bit about my car registration expense of $170 and how I was thinking I'd pay it in July, but not count it til August's budget. The more I thought about doing that, the more I didn't like it.

I knew the expense was coming up (couldn't remember exactly how much, but I knew it was probably a July expense.) So ... I could have set money aside for it. I think I didn't do that mainly because I was working off the idea of just "cash-flowing" these kinds of expenses. Which would work fine if it wasn't for the fact of my making a new goal/challenge of taking half of "extra" money for June and July and putting it towards a getaway.

When I thought about having to subtract $170 from my extra amount for the month, it made me not want to do it!

But the more I thought about "cheating" the budget, the more I didn't like that idea.

So I spent some time today reworking my budget. And putting the $170 for car registration in July's spending.

I then figured out that even with taking that out of the equation, if I was really careful this month, I should still have at least $200 for my getaway. $102 for two nights lodging. $36 for park admission, $15 for living history farm - leaves about $50 for gas and food. Might still be doable. Plus maybe in August I can just budget an extra $30 or so to the Vacation category to give me a little leeway.

I also decided that maybe I should just go ahead and go back to setting aside monthly amounts for known, or possibly known expenses which don't occur regularly. So, I readjusted my July budget to reflect that. It drastically reduced my "extra" funds, but I think it probably is also a better reflection of reality.

My system worked for six months, but now some of those "irregular" expenses are coming up and like with the car registration, I almost feel resentful taking them out of my extra cashflow. If it's set aside already, then it won't (maybe) feel so painful/annoying.

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Oh about the shoes! I was almost ready to bite the bullet and purchase the DSW shoes when I decided to give Amazon one more try. (I'd looked on there several months ago when first looking.) I found a pair that aren't *quite* the same, but very close. In the size I need. $37.98. I had $26.xx in my gift card balance (thanks Perk and Bing!) and $1.xx in Discover cashback. So my final cost was 11.78. They'll be here sometime this coming week. (Womens shoes also just happen to be in the 4SBs per dollar category right now.)

If they work, then I will return the other shoes. If not, then I will return them to Amazon and go back to DSW for that pair.

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Doing Stronglifts the weight increments go up by 5 - 10 lbs a workout. That is a lot of increase for a woman. What is suggested to make the increase go a bit slower is to use fractional plates. I checked at the gym on Friday and they do not have them.

On Amazon they have a set for about $50. That's not too much, but of course I wanted to check first to see if there was a cheaper alternative. There is. I bought 6 2" washers for a total of 11.67 (don't know shipping yet - but probably about $7.) They'll be shipped ground, so might be a week or two before I get them. Until they get here, I'll probably just stick with only using the barbell (the barbell by itself is 45lbs.)

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People were shooting off fireworks til at least 1 a.m. last night. Then for whatever reason I woke up about 6 and could not go back to sleep. Got up, but was so tired I ended up skipping church and church picnic/ walking group. Still feeling really tired.

(eating the chocolate desert bread meant for the picnic probably didn't help my tiredness .... no more junk food for me this week!)

So today was the day. I finally made the trek to Dollar Tree to find out if they had the frozen fruit deals like Laura (other Laura ) had mentioned awhile ago.

The first Dollar Tree I ventured into did not have anything other than ice cream. It did however have a mom who was being incredibly rude to her daughter and the mom caught me giving her a dirty look while pressing my lips together to keep from saying something.

So I headed on to the next Dollar Tree - the one that is about 8 miles from my home. (It's a LONG way when you work only 1.5 miles from home and have a grocery store within 1/8th of a mile!) That one had the frozen section!!!!

I bought ten bags of frozen fruit (mangoes, strawberries, peaches, and pineapple), 3 bags of mixed frozen veggies, two vegetable samosa thingys that looked good, a little Hershey's pie, and a bag of chocolate covered pretzels. (I was getting really hungry at this point ... my earlier shoe expedition took WAY longer than expected.)

In all ... I spent $17!! The frozen fruit should probably last me a good 6 weeks, maybe more. The veggies should be enough for July. I'm thinking about taking the frozen fruit out of the bags, putting one cup servings (mixed up) of them in sandwich baggies, and then putting those baggies into a large freezer baggie. That way I'll really know how many servings I have (and it will save me ten or 15 seconds in the morning ...) Maybe I'll do that with the veggies too, that way my servings of them are a little more ... even. (somedays I have a lot more than other days.)

Next time I go up there I'll need to stop at Walmart and/or Sam's first to get non-freezer items to help make the trip a little bit more gas friendly.

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I did buy shoes today. They're not exactly what I'm wanting, but they're the closest I could get at the mall. I spent over an hour going into every store that had a shoe section in the mall. Sears had the shoe I wanted, only not in WW. Online they HAD it in WW, but it was out of stock!! ARghh!!

If anyone knows where I could find black MaryJanes with medium/low heels and a rounded/box toe, in an 8 1/2 W or 9 W, PLEASE tell me or buy two pairs of them for me and I'll paypal you the money and shipping! Seriously.

Why do stores make it SO darn difficult to find WW shoes?? With as many ... larger ... people as there are, you'd think there'd be an incredible market for them.

I SO hate shoe shopping! When I got my last pair, I KNEW I should have gotten two pairs right then and there.

Here is a link to the exact shoe I'm wanting:
http://www.sears.com/i-love-comfort-women-s-mary-jane-girly-black/p-05487533000P?prdNo=22&blockNo=22&blockType=G22

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Okay, so besides Dollar Tree and Mall walking, I also got my library books dropped off, filled up with gas, did some more grocery shopping (at the store 1/8th of a mile from home) and got in a great workout at the gym!

Groceries: $27.80 -- canned black beans (for black bean burgers for lunches), loaf of Orowheat Everything bread, bananas, big bag of washed/cut kale, bag of apples, zucchini, Amy's frozen entree (my Friday night treat), loaf of chocolate bread (for church picnic tomorrow) and a can of Off! spray. (holy cow! Nearly $6 for the Off! spray!!! it better last a good long time!)

Gas: $25.70 - got .07/gallon discount from local grocery store loyalty card.

Shoes: $26.73 (am going to hold off on wearing them until I just can't possibly wear the other ones ... in case I find the ones I really want and can take these back!)

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Workout! I did my second Stronglifts 5x5 workout today - first one using the app. Even though I did it only using the barbell (not adding weights) and it didn't *feel* like it was very hard ... I was sweating majorly by the end.

When I was done though, I did about 15 minutes more of walk/jog/run intervals. Was *really* sweating by the end of that!

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Now I think I'm going to finish my Alex Cross book (Hope to Die by James Patterson) and just have a nice relaxing evening.

Tomorrow is church, church picnic, and the church biking/walking group. Might finally watch "Boyhood" tomorrow night (borrowed from library.)

Sunday will be my oatmeal banana/greek yogurt pancakes, making a triple batter of black bean burgers to freeze, laundry, another workout, and then going out to eat somewhere with NE (his turn to treat this month!)

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Almost forgot! On the way to the gym I stopped by my PO box (need to close it - was about to close it this last time, but got charged for it before I'd sent in the forwarding order.) I got my bill for my car registration. I knew it was either July or August. Apparently it is July. $170.

Oops. I kind of forgot to budget for that. I'm kind of thinking of cheating just a little bit ... I'll put it on my Discover card for the July spending requirements, but I won't actually count it out of my budget til August. (the CC won't be paid til then anyway, especially if I wait til July 20 or so.)

The reason for this of course is that if I take it out of July's budget, then I'll have very little to put towards my getaway or extra for the EF.

In August I know I'll be getting at least ten hours of overtime (which would count as at least 15 hours of pay) so that would pretty much cover it.

Note -- I will be making sure to set aside $15/mo for next years registration!

I did so well all of June with no fast food ... but today at work I was SO tired and out of sorts. It didn't help that a project I was working on was giving me fits and caboodles (ever try making a table of contents in a document that already has a TOC? Yeah, me either til today.)

The phone calls were hopping (with some cranky people) and the window sales were pretty busy too.

So by the end of the day I did NOT want to make my own food, and I WANTED chocolate. I did NOT want to go to the gym.

So .. I did, and I didn't.

I think I may have been a bit overambitious to say I'd do strength training 3x a week right away. 2x a week plus 2 or 3x more going for walks, etc., I think is a better start. (It'd probably also help if I got better sleep ...)

So ...

Wednesday Spending:
Walgreen's - 19.xx - Allegra D
1.00 - candy
Burger King - $4.63 - dinner

I think my personal challenge / getaway goal worked pretty well.

In my Everyday Expenses categories:
Groceries - $103.92
Medical - $40.64 (Allegra D)
Kari - $9.05 (food and litter)
Treats - 18.78
Movies Out - $5
Gifts - $39.50

SO much better than May!

I earned extra income in June:
$78.xx - parking garage job
$50 - PP GC from Swagbucks
$25 AGC from PerkPoints
$10 - AGC from Bing
$10 - Pact

Besides my usual ROTH contribution and my 10% to my EF, I had $313.06 left over! That means I have $156.03 to put towards my getaway in August. (The other half goes to my EF.)


In July I'm going to do the same thing, really try to keep my spending down as much as possible. There are a few things I know I'll have to spend on though:

new shoes!!
higher electricity bill than the past 5 months or so
possibly have to renew car registration?

I know I have at least one shift at the parking garage in July, and I might be able to manage $50 from Swagbucks again. I'm also going to put some more things up on eBay and FB ... see how that goes. I think $100 more should make for a nice trip.

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My EF is at $8220.25 of my $12k goal. Sloooowwwlllyy moving towards the goal.

So I just got off the phone with NE. He got a call from his sister letting him know that their aunt had died.

This wasn't really unexpected because she'd been suffering from Alzheimer's for awhile, and not in the greatest health.

What WAS unexpected was how long ago she had died.

ONE MONTH ago!

NE's sister was contacted by the aunt's son to let her know that the aunt had left her some money in the will. Otherwise who knows when she would have been told about the aunt's death.

Apparently the son got all hissy fitty with her because she hadn't come down to take care of the aunt last summer.

Oy vey.

NE is going to have to call this guy because he also was left something in the will. If it is the same or similar amount as what his sister was left, it'll be enough to pay off his surgery debt and have some left over. That would be a huge weight off his (proverbial) shoulders.

I just hope this guy doesn't try to berate NE for not coming down there .. NE would not let that fly. (He hadn't been asked to do so in the first place.)

Just wow. I'd feel so awful finding out a month AFTER a relative died. No chance to go to the funeral (if there was one?) etc.

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I cashed in for my second $25 PayPal from Swagbucks today.

I went to the gym yesterday after work. Barely found a parking space - guess they have some kind of swim meet at the outside pool?? When I was leaving I picked up keys off the key board .. walked all the way out to my car ... and realized I'd gotten the wrong keys!! So trudged back and exchanged. Ooops. Don't think anyone missed them ...

Five weeks from now and I'll have been at bus company for 1 year! And I still have people coming by the window sometimes asking where the "other older lady" is. (she retired)

Spending: Monday - None (other than buying Fitbit stock)

Tuesday - None

Sunday afternoon NE and I went on another little joy ride into the country. We went out as far as Hickman (for those who know NE area) and visited a couple lakes there. We stopped at the local "grocery store" called Jack and Jill and each got a drink. (He treated )

We also stopped at a large hotel that had a lot of brochures for tourist attractions in the area, and took a number of them to look at further.

It was a nice way to spend a few hours.

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Right now it is looking as though I'm going to have about $300 in "extra" money this month. That is .. if I continue to resist temptation til a week from tomorrow.

That means I'll have $150 or so to put towards my little get away. That will pretty much cover lodging and gas. So July will be all about getting the money for food and entertainment.

I have $11 left of the $100 I allocated for my groceries category. Must resist temptation. (SO wanted pizza this weekend -- delivery pizza! But resisted!)

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I'm trying to make the Allegra last a little longer by not taking it on the weekend ... not sure that is such a good idea. Because I have a bad sinus headache right now. Wasn't bad Saturday or Sunday, but maybe it was because I'd built up over the previous 5 days ...

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I checked the Dollar Generals here, and :**( no frozen fruit. So I had to get the frozen fruit from the local grocery store - $3.29 for 1lb.

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Spending: Saturday - none
Sunday - $13.33 - frozen fruit, etc. (groceries)
Monday - none

I have a good amount of stock in an electric car company - mostly inherited, but some that I personally bought with my own cash or with money rolled over from a company 401k fund. I've been wanting to diversify it a bit with another single stock, but hadn't found anything cheap enough or interesting enough.

With the recent IPO of Fitbit, that changed.

I love my Fitbit, and from the many articles I've read, it seems to be a pretty healthy company (ha ha - no pun intended, really) with good growth potential. I'd forgotten about the initial IPO date, so unfortunately wasn't ready to pull the buy card at the start of the bell Thursday.

So I pulled it this morning. I had $170.00 cash in my brokerage account which was leftover from the rollover where I purchased electric car stock. So I bought 5 Fitbit shares. I want to buy more than that though, so I went ahead and sold 5 electric car shares, which netted a bit over $1k after the trade fees.

I tried buying more Fitbit after work today, but I got a popup saying that if I put the new order through, my other one would be canceled. ???? So I guess I'll have to wait til Monday and hope the price doesn't go up too much by then.

All of this trading and selling and buying was done in an IRA account, so whatever tax consequences there will be won't happen for another 20 years.

When I put my own cash money into the electric car stock, it was roughly around $1k. Enough to buy a good amount of stock, but not enough to hurt if I happened to lose money on it. That's kind of how I figured how much stock I'd go with for Fitbit.

I'm curious to see where this will go.

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Hectic afternoon at work today. Have a new story for my bus chronicles - might do one tomorrow.

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Did some grocery shopping this afternoon. bread, fruit (bananas and oranges), cheese, frozen vegges, chocolate, soda ... $18.41

Also stopped at a local green grocer type place (OH) and treated myself to some stuff from their deli - curried tofu, cajun yams, and a spinach/lentil, etc. patty. $6.31 It was either that or give in to my strong desire to order pizza ...

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I'm reading a really good book by Elizabeth Musser right now - Swan House. I've read other books by her, and they were also very good. (Christian, romance, historical, major issues like racism, poverty, etc.)

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I got paid for my part time parking garage job! $73.65 - that is one 8 hour shift (although it wasn't actually a full 8 hours, because I left 30 minutes early after being told I could if I wanted to.)

I don't know when I'll have another shift though, because it seems like all the available ones are on Saturdays. Sometimes having beliefs that are so different from the mainstream can sure make it hard to find the extra income (and sometimes the main source of income too ... so many jobs I've had to turn down over the year due to Friday night/Saturday issues ...)

Note - I am an Seventh-day Adventist. Similarly to Jews, we celebrate Sabbath from Friday sunset to Saturday sunset.

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I think I have settled on what my August trip is going to be - Des Moines -- Friday - Living History Farms; Saturday - Memories Day (visit church my dad was pastor of, visit various places we lived, etc.); Sunday - Adventureland!; Monday - drive home and recover.

I still need to get the addresses from my brother - our dad kept a list of all the places he lived his entire life. My brother has it somewhere. We lived in three different houses in Des Moines. I'm most curious about the house we lived in where my bedroom was in the finished attic, we had a lake within close walking distance, and I had an awesome friend named Tara who lived across a hayfield from us that had a small stream running through it. Lots of good memories there.

I was in 3rd grade when we moved from there to New Mexcio.

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On Sunday I plan on going to Dollar General to buy frozen fruit, and also stop at Sears to see if they have the shoes I want. (dress shoes for work to replace ones that are falling apart) I'm going to try to hold off til July to actually buy them though so I can put it on my Discover card and have it count towards July's $500 spending.

I've also been thinking more about the Nationwide thing of using the debit card 8x in a month to avoid fees. If I give myself a budget of $20/month for treats (which would be much less than I have been spending) that would mean 2x a week I could get about $2 worth of a treat. So in reality it would be money I'd spend anyway (realistically) and $20 not put on the Discover or Swagbucks cards isn't going to be that big of a deal. And it's only for 3 months + 2 weeks.

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A good friend of mine and her family are doing fundraising to pay the fees to adopt a baby boy from Papau, New Guinea. They were missionaries there this past year and were asked to adopt this particular child, but before it could happen, they had to come back to the US. I'm thinking that this might be where my charitable giving will be going starting in July.

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So that's all for now folks ... (bet you thought it was never going to end ...)

I asked today about having a direct deposit split between two banks and was told that the city isn't set up for that. (I had that capability when I taught ten years ago .. could do it myself on our website.)

So that means I'll have to have my whole paycheck go to Nationwide for a few months. Then do a quick withdrawal. Good thing I have a month's buffer in my checking account at all times.

I've also done some thinking about the 8 debits per month to avoid the $8 checking account fee. I think that will be a total hassle and would probably end up making me spend more than $8 each month that I might not have otherwise spent. So .. considering that the bonus is $200 ... I'm going to eat the $8 fee until I get the reward - probably total $24 - $40.

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Got Firefox working again properly! I was beginning to think I was in need of a new computer ...

I did something called "Refresh Firefox" that got rid of all my add ons (Adblock, Swagbutton, etc, etc.) It's now running super silky smooth! I'm just going to deal with the ads for now I think.

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Spending:

$9 .... at Walgreen's. Sigh. So tired today all I wanted was some chocolate and soda. Kind of overdid it.

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Dollar General - found out where one is which is near another store I like to go to once in awhile. I might try to get over there on Sunday - also want to go to Sear's to see if I can replace my dress shoes. They are beyond bad.

This morning when I walked into work I was met by quite an intertesting item in the Lost and Found. My first indication that something different was afoot was the noise. Chirp ... chirp ... chirp ...

I looked on my desk and saw a sweater, a bus pass folder, some keys, and a Wal-mart bag. Hmm... maybe the noise is coming from the bag.

So I look inside the bag. There is a round container with small holes in its sides. Then on top of the container is a removable plastic lid with a small round hole.

The mystery was solved though by the sticker on the lid ... 50 live crickets!

My boss thought I should throw them away. But I wanted to give the person who lost them at least a day to make a claim.

So all day today I was serenaded by the lively chirp, chirp, chirping of 50 crickets.

At the end of the day I took them home with me and let them go on the front lawn near my apartment. They were pretty good sized crickets! I hope they are happier having some freedom (even if short lived) now rather than being fed to some creature!

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NE dropped his phone in water this morning .. and it was ruined. So I still had my Android phone I'd gotten 3 years ago to test out Ting. It's operating system is so outdated I can't run Perk or SBs on it, so it's pretty much useless to me. But for texting and calling it will still work perfectly fine.

I called Ting and had them take the phone off my account and put it on NEs after porting his number to it. What a process (the actual process wasn't that difficult - it was the 20 minute wait for a rep when NE was already running late for work.)

I'm glad I didn't get rid of that phone! (I'd been planning on getting rid of it somehow, just hadn't decided the how or the what.)

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I called Nationwide bank tonight and found out that due to some issue with the identity verification process when I applied for my account, my application hadn't gone through. So I redid the verification questions over the phone, and had a welcome email about a minute later. Now I just need to figure out if I can have two direct deposits - the main one to CapOne and then a small one to NW. Then a few months from now, I'll have an extra $200. (and will close the account asap w/o fees.)

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Spending - Monday - forgot I bought Allegra D - $20.32
Tuesday -- None

*I didn't have any Allegra left Sunday night, so tried with just the non-d allergy stuff. Misery. I really hope I can find a cheaper alternative, but having a sinus headache when you're trying to sleep or work just isn't worth saving a few dollars.

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Forgot to ask my Firefox question - I have the latest browser and am finding it to be really slow and buggy. Also, I can't delete any of the bookmarks from my favorites bar. I don't know for sure if it is FF fault, or if it is just that my computer is getting too old for the browser.

Just wondering if anyone else uses FF and has similar issues.

Sunday was my first shift for my part-time job working as a parking garage attendant. Pretty much what I did for 8 hours was stand at the back of a parking garage and help people get out of the garage by putting their ticket in and paying, or swiping their hotel parking key.

There were a few mishaps that kept the day somewhat interesting. Several hotel parking keys not working, a CC getting stuck in the machine, someone not have a CC to pay and the floating supervisor not being available because someone in another garage couldn't get out and was threatening to drive through the gate ...

All in all it was okay - not a bad way to make $11/hr. Once in awhile.

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So NE and I went to HuHot last night. The food was good, especially once I found the tofu. But OH MY WORD it was expensive. $13.99 per person not including a drink. By the time I paid for our meals, NEs drink, tax and a tip, it was about $40! So .. I have $10 left for next time. Ugh. If I would have realized that, I probably would have ordered a dessert or two to go just to finish off the card. In fact, that might be what I do anyway. NE wasn't overly enthusiastic about the place, and would much prefer a buffet. We can go to a buffet with tip for $24, which would be less than what another meal at HuHot would cost minus the $10 on the giftcard.

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Work today was much, much, much better. Seems like the grumpy sauce ran out even though the rain didn't.

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Made it to the gym tonight for the first time in too long. 30 minutes walking the track.

I've been thinking about trying the Stronglifts program, but feel intimidated to go into the weight room and figure out how to do the stuff myself. I asked NE last night if he'd be willing to come with me once or twice to just basically talk me through the form, etc. He basically said no without saying no ... Said he didn't think it'd be safe to do without a spotter. My question is ... what do other people do that don't have a spotter???

I'm going to try something similar with just dumbbells and a bench. Maybe also see if they have a pullup bar. The outside pool is also open, so I really need to try my swimsuit on to see if it still fits and get in there! Make use of my gym membership!!

I really wish it didn't take me 20 minutes to get there and 7 to get home ... That makes it more difficult. But if I were to say I'd go later ... yeah, wouldn't happen. I can't sit down other than to put my shoes on.

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I put in for vacation for August 7 and 10 today. Now I just have to figure out what exactly I'm going to do ...

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Spending Sunday and Monday - $0 (other than gift card)

This afternoon after church a group of about 20 of us participated in a Kids Against Hunger event. It was a blast! Within the space of two hours we were able to put together enough food packages to feed 6000 people!

It's setup in an assembly line fashion - each part of the food bag is supposed to be manned by one person, then one person weighs the bag, one person seals the bag, one person puts a sticker on the bag, and another person puts it in the box.

At my table we had a 7 yr old and an 8 yr old. For the first hour they were pretty good, but after that they started goofing off a bit. We put them to different tasks and that seemed to help - but for the last half hour or so their grandma and I were doing 5 jobs between us - it actually went a lot faster and smoother with just the two of us doing those jobs.

I didn't get much sleep Friday night (again) and almost decided to not go today. I'm SO glad I went!

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Stopped by the library on my way home and dropped off 4 more entries for the Adult Reading program, and picked up the movie "Boyhood" which was on hold for me. I might watch that tonight.

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Tomorrow I'll be doing my first shift for the parking people - from 10 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Afterwards NE and I might be going to eat at HuHots (with my gift card.)

I'm hopeful today was the last day Walgreen's has their candy on sale 2/$1 .... $3.89 gone again. Sigh.

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Talked to my grandma tonight and found out my brother has been interviewing for a different position. If he gets it I have the feeling that will put a crimp on him having vacation time to be able to come out here in September. Supposedly it's a good bit more money and he won't have to move. They came to him.

So NE has still has a large amount he owes for his surgery over what insurance covered. He's been paying what he can each month. I asked him a week or so ago if the place took AmEx, would he be good with the idea of my paying a portion (maybe $500 or so) and then sharing some of the cashback.

Last night he told me he got a new bill ... and drumroll please .... they take AmEx! So my dilemma about how to get the spending requirement finished is done! Even if I only keep 1/2 of the cashback, that is better than none (or purchasing grocery gift cards from future months grocery budget money.)

We're going to work out the details more on Sunday night.

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The above news is especially good since I'm planning on attempting the Discover deal of spending $500/month for 5 months for $75 starting in July (I think.) If I put everything on the Discover, I should be able to do it pretty easily.

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I forgot my lunch at home today. Luckily I had a tortilla and vege refried beans in the fridge at work. Still, I wasn't sure that'd be enough, so I bought some things from the vending machine. Yikes! SO expensive. $1 for a standard sized Snickers.

After work I went grocery shopping - English Muffins ($1 each!), eggs ($1.99 for 1/2 dozen OMW!!), Brownie mix (for treat day when I'm on - $1/each!), canned sweet peas ($.89), oranges ($1/lb), bananas ($.59/lb), Morningstar pizza and corndogs ($2.99 each), Amy's Black Bean enchailadia ($4.15 - cheaper than going out to eat or most take out -which I was sorely tempted tonight), 20 oz Cherry Pepsi

Total - $27.18

Two more items I "bought" with rewards points - a can of Pilsbury crescents (YUM!) and a 1/2 gallon of Mint Chocolate Chip Gelatto. I've never had gelatto, and have always wanted to try it. This sounded SO good. Especially for free.

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Edited.

Summary - Rant about bad day at work.

I told my boss that some people here must have gotten ahold of the grumpy sauce this week. She told me she thinks people are just sick of the rain.

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Redeemed Bing points for a $5 AGC today

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My rent check was cashed today, and I heard from the property manager that I can put my keyboard box in the laundry room (big box that I can't break down and will help make my bedroom look a bit more ... finished.)

So Tuesday night after much hemming and hawing I decided to go for it - or at least see if I could find a parking space in a safe area and reasonable distance from the jazz concert.

I left for the concert about 5:40 with my phone at 56% ... Not smart.

Had to use Google maps to find my way there. Even so, got turned around. Finally found a parking spot that was somewhat reasonably close, and had lots of people / other cars.

Put $.25 in the parking meter - after 6 the spots are free, and I parked about 5:50.

I started walking in the direction I thought it was ... only went two blocks when I saw a woman at an outside restaurant - asked her where the place was and was told to turn around and turn left.

About ten minutes later I found the Jazz concert! I was carrying a book, a water bottle and a blanket. The temperature was a cool 97+ degrees ...

I had brought a $5 bill with me in case there was some vendor food that tempted me, but I didn't even see where the vendors were (although I saw a lot of people with vendor type food.)

I found a place to spread my blanket out and preceded to try to be comfortable sitting on the ground on a blanket in the "cool" weather. Not too long into this my phone died. Oops.

Shortly after 7 the band began playing. It was pretty good music. After about 6 songs though, I'd had my fill of sitting on the ground. (I have circulation issues with my feet ... sitting on the ground for very long makes for sleepy feet.) Amazingly that was the same time they broke for intermission - so it made it easy to slip away.

I'm really glad I went, even though the weather made it almost miserable (saved by good breezes.) However, if I were to go again to something like this, I DEFINITELY want to procure a lawn chair! It also would be nice to have company ..

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Walking into work today I found a quarter laying on the ground. Thought it was pretty funny since I had just spent a quarter the night before.

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Today was kind of stressful at work. The phone was going constantly - with quite a few memorable calls. Not all for good reasons. I also had a slew of mail in pass orders for the football bus shuttle. I had to really pay attention so I didn't put an bus shuttle order into the front desk receipt book.

I decided to treat myself after work ... Walgreen's has their candy bars on sale 2/$1 - not a great price considering that's what the NORMAL NON-Sale price used to be ... but better than today's "normal" prices.

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My rent check hasn't been cashed yet. Usually it's cashed within a few days of my putting it in the box. I sent the property manager an email tonight to see if I can find out what's going on. I'd sent her an email a few weeks ago too though, which I haven't gotten a reply on. Hope nothing is wrong.

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I got two more medical bills stemming from my ER visit. One can be paid with AmEx and the other can't. Sigh. I still am not sure how I'm going to get to $1000 spent on that darn card. I'm at about $300 right now - it's so hard finding places that take it. The lure of the $250 cash back made me not consider carefully HOW I could actually do it. I'd always heard that AmEx is'nt accepted everywhere, but the reality is now sinking in ...

I *really* don't want to go the route of gift cards - but I'd rather do that than lose $250! Maybe I can purchase gift cards for the airline I'll most likely book for my CA trip in November .. hmm... (haven't figured out which airline yet.)

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Tuesday spending:
$.25 - parking meter

Wednesday spending:
$3.89 - treats from Walgreens

Earnings: $.25 from in front of bus garage

Yesterday NE and I went out for a lake drive -- we went to a total of about 5 nearby lakes. Before we got started on that though, we had to get a park permit. He decided to get two of them - one for each car. It came out to $39.50.

He didn't have enough cash, and there'd be an extra $2 charge to use debit/credit. For once in my life I actually had the cash on me! (thanks to all the FB sales lately.) Later he was going to pay me back and I told him it was my treat - his birthday gift. (August 3rd - he's HARD to shop for.)

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Sold my folding table via FB garage sale - $5. Only about the fifth or sixth time I listed it. At least it's gone now.

Cashed out for a $25 PayPal from SBs.

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I'm not sure if I'm going to go to the jazz concert tomorrow night or not. I'd really like to, but I'm just not sure about parking in downtown. It starts at 7 - not sure how long it'll last. I could always leave early I suppose. If I had someone to go with me to it, I'd like that much better (especially if that person were to drive/park!)

I'll see.

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Sunday I also went to see Avengers 2, and bought some candy at Walgreens. Shhh...

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A fairly major intersection closed for roadwork today and for at least the next 18 days. As expected I got tons of calls about it/about the detour.

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Spending:
Sunday:
$39.50 - 2 park permits
$5 - Avengers 2
$2 - Candy from Walgreens

Monday - No spending.

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I'm still feeling somewhat sore from my fall on Saturday, and some of the bruises got bigger/easier to see. But otherwise no ill effects from it.