Yesterday afternoon I noticed that my cat Kari's perch which hangs from the door and that she LOVES to sleep in the top section of, had started separating. There was one large hole, and another smaller one. I was worried that she might fall through the larger hole while sleeping, or the remainder would tear out.

I checked the weight limit, and it was 20lbs. Kari is roughly 9lbs. Someone on FB suggested that I could use fishing line to reinforce/fix it.

Today though I decided to take it with me to church, and stop by WM afterwards and see if the customer service could do anything for me - seeing as though I no longer had the receipt. That's what I did. The CS person told me that if I could find one in stock, that I could exchange my old one for a new one. There was one in stock! Yay!

Kari is sleeping right now in the top section. This one actually appears to better made than the other one. The top section seems to have some kind of reinforcement --- I wonder if they had the same problem I had with the other one, and so made this fix to newer versions?? Oh well, Kari is happy and safe, and I am happy, and no money was spent for either!

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Yesterday I was talking with the preschool director who is the person I share my assistants time with each week. (She is split - 20 hrs with me, 15 hours with the pre-school.) The ps director told me that my assistant had told her that "all she's doing is putting stickers on books," and that I'd been doing it too. Oh brother! I thought I'd explained to her WHY I was having her do that - putting spine labels on books and taping them. If she truly doesn't get it yet, she will be very happy for it once it's time to start re-shelving books!! I don't know if she thinks I'm just creating things for her to do, or what. But I hope she realizes eventually that these are all things that will help the library run more efficiently and having her do some of the more time consuming/tedious work, frees me to put together some more fun activities, etc. I warned her at the beginning that a lot of what I might ask her to do will be time consuming/tedious, but are things that *must* be done one way or the other - either by me or by someone else. Exactly why I desperately needed a second person!!

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I didn't get to do my grocery shopping Friday afternoon before the small group meeting like I'd wanted to do. (Speaking of which, I think I probably won't continue to go to the small group. Last night's was made up of 3 married couples and me... plus I didn't get home til nearly 11pm!)

So, I did my grocery shopping today. Normally I would *never* grocery shop on Sabbath, but I was out of a number of items and did not relish the thought of trying to fit in a two-hour trip on Sunday plus doing all the finishing touches to prepare for my first day of classes on Monday!

Of course, as luck would have it, I ran into 3 of my students there. :roll eyes: They were so happy to see me, it was cute. I just hope that my principal doesn't wonder why I was out shopping when everyone else was at the school taking a required CPR class. (I'm going to take it on my own, because I am required to recertify, but I'd begged out of it due to Saturday being my church day.)

I spent approximately $40 - a bag of apples (looked better than the loose apples!), spinach, baby carrots, bananas, Fiber One brownies, Kashi Cereal, Kashi frozen meal, Amy's frozen meal, Stouffer's Spinach souflee, a candybar (my one real treat for the week), sweet potatoes, a bag of frozen raspberries (for smoothies), etc.

Of course, I again forgot to get more cat treats. I also forgot to get Rice Dream - but I do have one more container of that left which should be enough for this week. I think seeing the students threw me off track a bit.

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I took today off from exercise - boy does it feel good! Tomorrow I plan to do an hour run, both in commiseration with my brother (who'll be doing his first tri-athalon) and because I'll be skipping my morning run on Monday due to a dentist appt.

I stepped on my scale this a.m. ... 236.8! Down 13.2 lbs since June. I know I have a tape measure around here somewhere. I really need to take some measurements soon so I can see the inches+ the lbs.

Speaking of my brother's tri-athalon tomorrow - I found out today that our Aunt is traveling from San Jose to the town where it's being held to cheer him on. I'm so glad he'll have family there to support him. If I had the newer iPhone, and the new operating system was out, then my brother and I could Face Time each other (the new operating system is supposed to let you do FT over 3g!!)

I hope the September 15 rumors are true ... even so, I probably won't get it (iPhone5) til January - give it a bit of time for all the kinks to work out.

Today was our first day back to school. It was really cool seeing how much some of the kids had grown over the summer. It was also strange having so many new teache3rs - when I got to the cafe, all the teachers had taken over the middle table. That's the table that the assistants always sat at last year, while the teachers mainly sat at the back table. Oh well, change is good right?

I didn't have any classes today, and won't until Monday due to it being half-days this whole week. I am LOVING having an assistant! She finished a project for me this am (and ran out of book tape), and then we worked together on a couple of big projects I'd been wanting to get done, but just had seemed like too much for one person. Between the two of us, we got them finished in about two and a half hours! Of course, a couple hours after I'd finished up a few odds and ends (mainly getting all the donated books and book sets looking neat and organized in the library classroom until I can get to them) I got a phone call telling me that they had FIVE boxes of donated books in the teachers lounge for me. I wanted to cry. I had just had nearly 20 boxes of books that I'd weeded from the library shelves and donated books taken to storage, and the remainder of donated books in somewhat of a neat and organized state ... I was just picturing more of what I'd gotten in a donated box the day before ... no book less than 20 years old, and a sticky messy erasable writing pad/abc practice thing. I looked through one of the boxes, and it looks like there are a few usable items, and a good number of duplicates. Sigh... I'll find room for them somewhere ... (until I can go through them and see what is really usable.)

In the afternoon I was by myself (my assistant went to help in the preschool like we'd arranged.) I did some more cleaning/organizing in the classroom and sent out an email with some CCSS Math links to all the teachers (I'd watched a prof. dev. webinar on Common Core Math and tech, so passed on some ideas.)

Tomorrow I'll only have the morning to get much done - thankfully I'll have my assistant for that. In the afternoon we have an in-service with the mission. Fun, fun.

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This morning I did 30 minutes on my elliptical - I wanted to change up my routine a bit. It was every bit as difficult to do 30 minutes on it, as it is to run 45 minutes in the gym. Weird.

Drum roll .... I think I'm solidly in the 230s ... in fact this a.m. I clocked in at 238.4! It's been a LONG time since I've seen that number. Last summer I hit 239 a couple of times (when I was having those bouts of nausea, etc.) but this is coming about from solid work and about 75% better eating habits.

I really need to add in strength training. I enjoy lifting weights, so I don't know why I haven't gotten the motivation to add it back in just yet. Just gotta do it, I guess.

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August NSD's = 7/15

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I almost forgot! I did an experiment last night with my oatmeal. Usually I put a bowl of oatmeal with water/milk and a little brown sugar in the fridge to soak overnight (so I don't have to microwave it.) Last night I decided to add in ground flaxseed, probably a couple tbsps (didn't measure.)

So ... this morning after my workout and shower I went to go eat and got my oatmeal and sat down at the table. Blech!! Double Blech!! The oatmeal looked and tasted like paste! I think it would've been ok if I'd added the flaxseed to it *after* it was soaked, and just a little bit of it sprinkled on or something. I ended up eating a tbsp of peanut butter so I would have something in my system besides just a banana.

I managed to get myself out of bed when my alarm went off this am at 5:40 .. just barely. Judging from what time I was ultimately ready though, it doesn't look like 5:40 is going to cut it. So ... tomorrow I'm going to do 5:40 again, but then Wednesday I'll try 5:25.

When I did my run today I interspersed with about 6 one-minute full out runs. I was zonkered and ended up ending early - only did 36 minutes instead of 45 total (although partly that was due to um... extra stops from nature ...) I'm going to set up my app to do a more balanced interval setup - with jogging, walking and a few full out runs.

I've gotta do something to get the scale moving. It's starting to go the wrong way again.

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After getting up so early this morning (and having very little sleep) staying at school today til 4 was almost torture. I needed to stay longer, but oh well, I guess.

I am worried that I may be having to fight for my assistant's time ... she is supposed to be dividing her time between me and the pre-school. Today she was about to go to the library to keep working on a project, when the PK director told her that there were two "urgent" items waiting for her. This was at lunch (after having been in meetings all morning) and I didn't see her the rest of the afternoon. Ergh!!

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One good thing .. I actually ate some of my spinach for lunch today!! I took it plus almonds and carrot shreds and cut up oranges in a baggie. We had taco salads for lunch - so I just used the shell for a bowl (since they didn't have any bowls out.)

I also talked to the PE teacher about using the boxing dummy thing and gloves - he told me he has one pair that he borrowed from the guidance counselor ... so I need to check with her I guess to see if I can use them. How much would boxing gloves cost I wonder?? I just think boxing would be a great way to let out stress, not to mention something different than running.

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I did spend money today. On the library. We are just about completely out of book tape and have a ton more books to go (re doing labels, etc. which need to be covered with tape.) I used the $26.xx gift card credit I had on Amazon, plus $12.xx of my own real money to buy 6 rolls. (I checked at another site, and to get 4 rolls +shipping it would have been roughly the same amount.) I'm not sure what budget category I'm going to take that out of ..maybe the fun money to make it really hurt so I won't procrastinate on ordering stuff like this again...

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Tomorrow I'm supposed to show the other teachers my planbook. Last year I used a template I created in Excel, but this year I am using a website (plan book . com) I've got all my classes set up and the first week's lesson plans created.

Ok, I better go so I can get my stuff ready for tomorrow and hopefully get a somewhat decent nights sleep.

Yesterday I ended up not going into town/church, but spent the day resting and reading. Today I also slept in and didn't do the running I'd planned on doing, but I did get into school and worked for about 4 hours. I guess I was just feeling really, really lazy.

Tonight I'm going to make sure I have everything ready for the morning - because my alarm is going off at 5:40 a.m. and I *will* get up!! I need to be exercised, showered, and breakfasted and at the school by 8:30 a.m. Really though, I need to see if I can do all that by 7:30, or else that means I'll have to get up earlier than 5:40 a.m. from Wednesday forward ...ugh, ugh, ugh.

I spent some of my fun money today - got a footlong Blimpie, soda and candy bar. ~$9.xx The lady making my Blimpie said she'd never made just a veggie and cheese Blimpie - and it tasted like it too. Oh well, maybe remembering that it wasn't all that great will help me resist the urge to treat myself again next time. (I hadn't had a soda in nearly a month... not sure why I decided I wanted one today.)

I'm feeling frustrated by how excruciatingly slow my weight loss has been. But I have to be honest and admit that I haven't been anywhere close to perfect with my eating. I've been *a lot* better than in the past, AND have done a lot more exercise in the last 3 months than I did in the previous 12 months ... but there still is a lot of room for improvement.

I hope I'm not being pessimistic, but I don't think that any of the new teachers this year are going to be ones I connect with very much. They seem to have joined together due to the commonality of being new.

I'm thinking of asking the PE teacher if he'd be willing to show me how to set up the boxing equipment and how to use it. I need to have other workouts besides just running and elliptical, both to keep it interesting and to keep my body guessing.

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I got a check from my grandma on Friday reimbursing me for half of the headstone. She and my dad are going to be sharing the same grave-site. My aunt really feels that there will be no or very little medical expenses due to the plan dad was on. If that is true, then right now I have nearly half of what my goal is for replacing my car. I can't imagine using the money for anything else - I know it would be what would make dad happy - knowing he helped me to get a new car. Of course, the next car I get will be even harder to let go of when the time comes...

I had planned on doing a lot of organizing and decluttering once I got home. I did some cleaning, but have done nothing as far as organizing and decluttering - at home at least. Maybe once the school year is started and I feel like I have a good handle on how everything's going, I'll get remotivated to work on my house.

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I have two groupons I bought which expire at the end of October. One for a 2-hr horseback ride, and one for a trolley tour -- both in/near ABQ. I'm debating on going out there over Labor Day weekend so I can use them (although I don't know if the places would be open then??) I hate to spend the gas money just to not let them go to waste ... (they cost a total of $26.) I'd kind of rather wait til Thanksgiving break to use them, but I don't think I can do that. I guess I need to just ante up and call these places and find out!!

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It looks like I won't be starting back to my online classes this Fall. I'd been accepted into the wrong program - called to find out what was going on, and was told to go to this particular link to update my application. I did that -- now nearly two weeks ago, and have heard nothing. Ugh. Although it probably is better to wait til January to start a class - it will give me more time to figure out my eating and exercise while working full time - get those habits going strong, then I can add in doing outside classwork.

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August NSD's: 6/12

Sorry, I just can't think of a title.

Yesterday I put in another full day at the library. I stopped at 5 p.m., went home and grabbed a bite, then headed up to big G to attend a small group meeting (my pastor/his wife, another couple and myself were the only ones in attendance.)

I spoke with the newbie teachers during lunch. I really should've made an outline of what I wanted to cover - I felt like I was all over the place. But today one of the other teachers who also was intro'ing herself told me that she thought I'd done really well. So, who knows.

My principal did something really thoughtful for me. At the lunch she had bought Blimpie subs for everyone, and she bought a veggie sub especially with me in mind. At the oil and gas company where I was for 3 years, we had free lunches many, many times, and very very rarely did they ever do anything to acknowledge that my eating preferences were different.

After my small group meeting, I went grocery shopping. I was nearly 9 p.m. when I started and I was already SO sleepy.

I made it out for $24.99:
bananas, oranges, diced butternut squash, carrot shreds, Kashi ceral, Kashi frozen spinach/pasta meal, etc.

I also filled up with gas ($32.xx). My tank of gas lasted for 2 1/2 trips to big G, at an average of 30.2 mpg.

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Today I had my assistant work with me for the first time!! She got a lot accomplished.

I also had the chance to talk with the person who took over lead mid-school teacher for summer school. He told me that the kids really had a blast, and that there were way more ideas than there was time to do them in. He also told me that one of the books I'd bought for them to read had some questionable language/scene description about two chapters into it - so they scrapped that book and went with the two others. He showed me the section ... oops. The reviews I read didn't mention anything about this - and it was recommended by middle school librarians and the school library journal!! It doesn't sound like there was any backlash from parents about it, so that is good. All the books still look brand new, so I hope that I can sell them for most of what I paid.

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This morning after I finished my 45 minute run I went into the office and saw the maintenance man. When I'd come in I'd found the lights and swamp cooler already on, so I wanted to tell him about that. When I said, "Good Morning!", he nearly jumped out of his skin. I apologized profusely. I really thought that he knew I was in the building since he'd seen my car parked out there before and found me in the gym ... Later I found out from AL that our maintenance guys had supposedly been "seeing" someone/something in the gym/chapel, so that may have contributed to his edginess.

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I am so glad that I can take the next 24 hours off without any guilt. My throat was feeling scratchy today and I really just wanted to go home, but had so much to do. Tomorrow I'll be sleeping in, going to church, staying for potluck, and then probably go sing at the nursing home. Then I will probably come home and take a good long nap!

Sunday I plan to do a 90 minute run/walk. I think I can do it. Next Sunday my brother is doing his tri-athalon and I want to do a 2-hr run/walk around the same time he's doing his event - so to kind of be in tandem.

I've been watching an episode of EH: Weight Loss edition most nights this week. Today I watched an episode where a man that weighed 493lbs got down to 313lbs in 6 months and completed a tri-athalon in 4:20. Seriously, if these people can do some of the things they show, then I sure can push my body to do more as well! Chris (the trainer on the show) constantly talks about how it is all about mind over body. If your mind believes you can do something, your body will comply no matter how difficult.

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August NSDs: 5/10

Cashed in for $5 AGC from SBs.

Yesterday I mentioned that some of the neighborhood/school kids had set up a sno-cone/fry bread stand. I had bought a sno-cone for $.25 (but gave them $1.) Today when I was coming home from school, I noticed that they are now selling the sno-cones for $.50! I guess they realized that they were majorly undercharging.

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As I was going through donated books today, I cam across this one book that looked interesting to me, but I wasn't sure if it'd be appropriate or not for our library. It is called, "The Kidnapping of Christina Latimar." I took it home to read and decide. Wow! It was really good -very suspenseful and some good twists and turns. I'm definitely going to put it in my Teen Fiction section and promote it too to my 7th/8th graders.

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I ran again this morning - 45 minutes. I got there a few minutes earlier, but still got caught at the tail end by the maintenance guy. I plan on sleeping in tomorrow though - my principal asked me to speak to the newbies at lunch tomorrow, so I want to be sure to be well rested.

I spent a good bit of time today getting desk space cleared off for my assistant. I may have use of her starting tomorrow - I can hardly wait!

I have a ton of boxes of books that I've weeded - either from the stacks or from donations. I'm really not sure what to do with them. Most of them are in good shape (I'm weeding duplicates, some triplicates as well as old and outdated or in poor shape books.)
If I was in Texas I'd haul them all to the nearest Half-Price bookstore, but I think the only used bookstore here went out of business this summer (besides, I don't know if they even purchased used books or not.) Some of the books are like new and fairly recent, so I may try selling them on half.com or something.

The little boy who let air out of my car tires last year drove by on his bike today. He called out to me, and told me that he wasn't coming back this year but was going to the public school. He lives diagonally across the street from me. I told him I was sorry to hear that, and truly I am, because despite the car tire incident(s??), I really did like him.

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August NSD's - 4/8

Last night I went on Hulu's website for whatever reason and ended up watching the most recent EM:Weight Loss Edition. For some reason watching that really kicked my behind. Since coming back from CA I've been kind of slacking off in the exercise department. I've been exercising... just not as much as I'd really committed to do.

So ... last night I made sure to set out all the things I would need to go running. I slept in my exercise leggings and socks. I made sure my water bottle was filled up, and my alarm set.

I got to the gym about 6:22 a.m. - about 7 minutes later than I was hoping for (most of that was the time it took me to convince myself to actually get up out of bed!) Then I preceded to run for most of the next 45 minutes!! My best guess is that I did roughly 3 miles (based on previous runs where GPS worked.)

One of our maintenance guys came about 5 minutes before I was finished. He started turning the lights on all over the building. (I'd not turned any on because I didn't want to make it obvious that someone was in the gym from the outside.)

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I'd mentioned to my principal that I had started back with my running program this summer. She apparently mentioned that to the K teacher ... The K teacher told me today that I might be asked to help out with the cross country/track elective! I didn't even know we had one ... just thought we had basketball. I'm not sure if this is something I want to do or not ... but I'll wait to make any decisions until I know what exactly it would mean as far as a time commitment.

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I spent about 9 hours at the library today. The last 2 of them unfortunately were not productive hours due to people talking to me .. but at least I had the first 7, right?!

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Today wasn't a no spend day. When I was coming home from school I noticed that some of our school kids/neighborhood kids had set up a sno-cone/fry bread stand at the entrance. After parking at home, I walked back over to the stand and asked about the sno-cones. $.25! So I ordered one - gave them $1 and left the change. When I got home I dumped it. I considered eating it, but decided not to for several reasons (one being empty calories.)

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I still haven't finished off that spinach (from last week) or opened up the new one, or cooked the asparagus. I must do that tomorrow, or else that food is going to be wasted. Plus it would be good for me to have the green leafy veggies.

This afternoon I took Kari to the different vet. She was so anxious and upset about being in the car/carrier that she not only did not stop yowling the whole way there, but she also got stomach sick.

When the vet tech took her back, I told him that she was very difficult to handle in regards to her nails. He went and got a second person and a towel. The towel worked (with two vet techs doing it!) Kari yowled a couple times, but overall didn't struggle too much. She was *very* happy to get back in her carrier when they were done.

Most of the way home she was quiet, although she was still doing some hyperventilating (not sure if it was hyperventilating, but she was breathing really heavily with her tongue out - the a/c was on so she wasn't hot.)

I gave her some wet food as a treat when we got home.
I think I have found my vet for the remainder of the time I live here (or have a pet.)

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Thanks to the hailstorm yesterday, the internet at school was down today. So I wrote down the barcodes of the books I was weeding in Excel and then printed them out and entered them at home. I also printed out some of the signs I'll be using for the fiction section and weeded more books.

I found out that the new (free) books had been picked up last week. They were in the art room for whatever reason. ?? H was going to take them over to the library for me. From my short perusal of them, there didn't seem to be many non-fiction books, and one box looked to be all of the same book??? I'll have to take a closer look tomorrow. I was really hoping for mostly non-fiction ... oh well.

Before taking Kari to the vet, I stopped by the mission office. I found out that the structure that runs our sewer system here was flooded yesterday under 6 inches of water. This is not good. Our sewer system was already barely holding on ... So I'm guessing we are going to have a few days without water here sometime soon while they work on it. Not fun.

The reason I went there was to ask if they could do one of their appeals for money for non-fiction books. They said they didn't think that would work, but I did find out that this year the library has an actual budget!!!! $1k!! I would never have known this if I hadn't asked. I almost wonder if I had one last year, and the principal didn't know ... so when I asked her about it, she told me I didn't have one. Hmmm...

I need to do some extensive weeding in our non-fiction, and then start figuring out how to best build it up. This'll be fun!!
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Spending:

$10.79 --- Kari's Nails

I'm glad I decided to make today a stay at home day. I got some housework done, finished season 7 of Family Ties (and then had to do some searching to find the episode(s) I was really looking for ...) and am working on reading MJF's book.

We had some major domo thunderstorms today ... and for a good 45 minutes+ there was hail! I would guess that it ranged from pebble sized hail to a small golf ball size. I haven't gone outside to check to see if there is any damage to my car, but if there is, then it isn't as though it would make it look any worse.

I found out during the heavy parts of the rain that there is a leak in the area of the roof where the swamp cooler is. I haven't noticed it before in lighter storms, so I'll need to mention it to the maintenance guys.

My phone weather app sure didn't do a good job keeping up to date with the weather conditions. 30 minutes into the hail storm it still showed cloudy skies. I was wondering if a tornado was possible, so checked online for any weather alerts and didn't see any ... only mentioned "scattered thunderstorms." So I guess nobody had any idea we were going to get hit with hail.

I feel bad for those with gardens though ... they are probably completely demolished. My co-worker who had me watch her cat for her when I got back from CA for a few days had tomato and bean plants in a small garden plot, and I think my principal grows corn and some other stuff.

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August NSDs 3/5

This morning I went over to the school gym and ran for almost 35 minutes straight (had a few walking laps.) I'm not sure what the distance was, but I'd guess it was around 2.5 miles.

Then I came home, showered, and ate breakfast (apple, orange, banana, and a bowl of Kashi cereal - I was stuffed!)

At church I received lots of hugs and many people saying how happy they were to see me back. I stayed for potluck, and ended up staying well after the food was gone. A group of about 8 of us were just sitting talking - shooting the breeze so to speak.

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When I got home I read my other frugal forum that I like to save for Saturday afternoons. In one of the threads someone posted a link to a PowerPot. I was thinking that it looked like a great thing to have for emergency preparation, or simply for camping as well. At $149 it isn't something I'm going to probably get anytime soon, but I did think it was a neat idea.

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I talked to my grandma this afternoon. She told me that the pkg with the car charger should be here no later than Monday. Yay

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I get frequent emails from Pixel of Ink for free and inexpensive ebooks. Today I saw they were featuring an ebook by Michael J. Fox called "A Lucky Man" for $1.99. It is only the 3rd ebook I have actually paid money for (really, I paid giftcard money ...) I've already read the first couple chapters, and am really enjoying it.

I think after sunset tonight, I'm going to watch season 7 of Family Ties. That I think is probably my favorite season of it - with Micheal's new relationship, and then the breakup. The episode with the breakup has a song that I absolutely fell in love with, and still love ... never can remember the name of it ... I thought it was on my phone, but then I think I must have gotten it off a CD, so it was one of those songs erased when I changed computers. (One reason to not get rid of CDs even after you have ripped them onto whatever variety of MP3 player you have/use.) One of the lines is something like "What would you say" and it talks about how he can't believe that she thought he'd hurt her - that if he had the chance he'd kiss the ground she walked on - that he'd give anything just to hold her one more time ...

When I was running this morning I realized that I only had 30 minutes of Christian songs tagged on my phone. I had to restart the playlist before I was finished running. So I need to go through and double check that I have everything tagged, and then if I do, well ... I may need to spend some of my fun money on a few more songs. (Again, why you don't get rid of CDs even after you've ripped the songs ... used to have a ton of Christian music CDs, ripped them, and gave them away. Now have had to slowly rebuy my favorites from those collections ...)

All in all with labor, parts and tax, it cost 616.xx to change the timing belt, replace the pulley, and replace the drive shaft. I was without a car for 3 days which was interesting .. I had planned on going into the library/school today after my car was finished .. but it wasn't finished until nearly 4 p.m. I'm just glad to have it done.

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I did my grocery shopping today.

I bought:

Groceries = $34.70
large container of baby spinach
7 bananas
3 oranges
6 apples
a bunch (is that the proper term?) of asparagus
a frozen Kashi meal of whole wheat pasta/spinach/artichoke/beans
a bag of milled flaxseed
a box of Kashi Go-Lean cereal
a 12 pk of Fiber One brownies
a bag of green grapes
a tub of Smart Balance Omega 3 butter

Kari budget --- $13.71
a door hanging scratching post
a bag of cat food

Misc. budget -- $23.76
Car charger (will probably return - just want to test the cig lighter to see if it works or not)
A pack of colored pens

My grocery budget for this week doesn't have much left (I'm trying to keep it to $40 or less per week) but as long as I actually eat what I purchased before it goes bad, I'm okay with that.

I am considering taking any desert type purchases out of my fun money category instead of groceries. If the bulk of my grocery money is spent on produce, then I won't have much left over for the non-healthy stuff, so that may work out fine.

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Tonight for supper I steamed half the bag of spinach I purchased on Monday. I hadn't opened it all week ... ooops! I also microwaved the bag of cut up butternut squash. Then I microwaved the Kashi dinner and mixed all of it in one large dish. It was really pretty good (and helped to not let the spinach or squash go to waste!!)

I'll probably steam the remainder of the spinach for supper tomorrow night (and maybe have an eggplant patty with it from my freezer.) MMMM....

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I really don't like the medical clinic here. I don't know that going to someplace in big G would be any better, at least not better enough to make a 35+ one way drive worth it. I was supposed to *just* get bloodwork done today (checking thyroid.) When I was taken back they weighed me as usual (down 5lbs since last doctor visit) and then the NP took me into one of the doctor's exam rooms. ??? She took my blood-pressure (which was on the rather high-side, rather unusual for me) and then told me the doctor would be with me in a few minutes, then she'd take my blood.

Remember, all I was supposed to be there for was bloodwork!! The doctor comes in and asks me if this was the first time she was seeing me. Mouth drop. This is the same lady I saw back in February, and then the office denied refilling my prescription a few weeks later because I hadn't been seen by this doctor. Ugh!!

She asks me some various questions, and then tells me that she's going to have my blood tested for diabetes as well - due to my weight. I can understand where she is coming from, and probably not a bad idea to check that again -- but not one word of acknowledgement that I had *lost weight* since my last visit? I don't know, I guess it just rubbed me the wrong way.

So I got my blood drawn (first time stuck, thankfully!) Then I went to the receptionist to pay - but apparently there was no co-pay (or they just didn't charge me one?) I had to tell her that I had a balance due (I'd gone in to pay it before leaving for CA, but no one was in the office.)

So ... $13.17 Medical

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Kari was attacking my feet again today. I got really fed up, and decided to see what options there are in big G. I called several places, and made an appointment for Monday afternoon with the one that actually had a live person answer. I told them that I needed to find someone who could trim Kari's claws *without* putting her under. If they can do that, then they'll have my business probably once every six weeks or so. (They charge $10 + tax.) It's worth every penny of that to me if they can do it.

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I was thinking of going to see a movie on Sunday (Wimpy Kid probably ...) but since I didn't get into the library/school today, I should do that on Sunday. It'll save gas money and maybe a better movie will come out that I can use my fun money for this month.

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August NSD's - 2/3

Well I took my car into the mechanic again this morning. They took me back to school (where the internet was down ... so I got my keyboarding curriculum put together and a general outline for the year for all grades except PK.)

Around 11 am I got a call telling me that as they were getting to my timing belt they found that the pulley? was needing replaced and that it would come from ABQ.

Then around 1:30 I got another call telling me that my drive shaft was cracked and leaking. He did tell me that it was something that probably could be put off safely. I asked him how much, and he told me $120. So I said to go ahead and do it since they already were in there and who knows how long it had been cracked...

So, it looks like the total is going to be closer to $500 than $300 ... This is kind of what I was afraid of ... that once they really got in there they'd find problems that weren't readily apparent. Hopefully there won't be anymore, or else I may just have to call a halt to anymore and make some hard decisions.

My car won't be ready until tomorrow morning sometime. I have a doctor's appt at 8:30 am, so they will come pick me up and take me (it's only a mile or so away.) I guess I'll call when I'm done to be taken to the school??

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I called my graduate school alma mater to find out why I'd gotten a letter telling me I'd been accepted to the teacher pre-certification school ??? It seems as though I filled out the wrong application ... I thought I filled out the one from the link in the email from my advisor ... but oh well. I hope I can get it worked out before registration closes. Class starts on August 29 and I don't even know what books I need - probably can find that out though.

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Kari scratched the under part of my upper arm this morning pretty badly. It was an accident - she was on my chest and jumped off. Her claws are pretty long right now. Thankfully I had some anti-biotic cream.

I've tried unsuccessfully to trim her claws since the two times I managed to do so (partially). I'm almost willing to think about having her put under so her claws can be trimmed!! (I absolutely hate that idea for many reasons - $$, unnecessary meds, putting a cat under is unnecessary risk (i.e. Monkey ) I'm just not sure what to do though because she *really* needs them clipped. BADLY.

*The vet's office told me that if I wanted them to trim her claws, she would have to be put under due to her nearly biting the vet tech last time when she trimmed them.

Looking Forward, do you have any suggestions?? Anyone else?

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August NSD's = 2

I took my car in today to the shop - even skipped my workout to get it there as early as possible. One of their people dropped me off at school.

About 3 pm (6+ hrs later) I got a call telling me that they couldn't change my timing belt today because they didn't have some valve thing. Ergh! So they came and picked me up. Will take it in tomorrow to actually get it done.

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Got a good bit done at school. Cataloged and lexiled 52 books (hi/lo books), and then deleted at least 300 books I'd previously weeded. Now I just have to figure out where to go with them. Too bad there isn't a half-price bookstore in NM.

There was a set of library lesson books with no markings or labels (duplicates) so I'm thinking of putting them on ebay or perhaps half.com. Whatever I get from them will go into the book fund.

All but two of our new teachers have arrived now. One of the newbies suggested doing a teacher book club once a month -- good idea (esp since I'd tried suggesting the same thing last year...)

There is so much I really need to do in the library that it's hard to know what TO DO. I probably need to focus on putting together my keyboarding curriculum (3rd - 5th will come 2x/wk for 20 minutes of focused keyboarding - Common Core requires a student to comfortably type 2 pages in one session...) I'd also really like to get my signs made - though I still need to finalize what they are and check to see if the laminator is working. I have a ton more books to catalog and relabel and lexile. I also have a tall stack of books to read and make tests for (the high/lo books - I want them all to have a test ready.)
I also would like to create a media center newsletter - but really need to figure out my lesson plans for Aug/Sept first...

My principal asked me if I could use my asst's help on the 8th/9th. Hah! Could I ever!! Let's see .. finish covering the grade level labels on all the books (and retaping most of the ones in the early series section..) Go through non-fiction sections and make sure they are in as perfect order as possible. Work on finding lexiles for all the numerous books that don't have one in the computer. All of that should easily take every spare minute of time she can give me!

(BTW, the list above is just barely scratching the surface ... I at least have until the 20th to be completely ready ... so that gives me a little breathing room.)

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When I got back on Monday I realized I'd really left my place a mess. I think I had swept most of the house and taken the trash out before I left, but that's about it. Monday I was zonked. Yesterday I managed to motivate myself to unpack my suitcases and mostly put everything away. This morning I cleaned the bathroom sink and mirror before leaving ... then this afternoon I picked up all the trash, cleaned the litter box, and then swept the whole house! I also started a load of laundry.

Tomorrow I plan to do more laundry, and clean all the counters (bathroom/kitchen.) Then Friday I need to do dishes, and maybe start on decluttering my closet.

Baby steps ... baby steps.. (I'm not much for keeping up my home .. I like it when it's clean, just have a hard time motivating myself to keep it up.)

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I possibly have a babysitting job either Saturday or Sunday night. It's for two girls who go to our school (my principal already said this was okay - as long as it is at their home.) The mom has said she also would like me to do an overnight.

Can you say car fund baby?!!

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My brother saved me some money last night. I told him about getting the cig lighter fixed and that I hadn't found my car charger yet. I was thinking I'd get one this weekend and test it to make sure it worked - if not, I could take it back. He told me I should call grandma and ask her to send me the charger that is in the Rogue. I'd thought about taking it with me, but since I didn't think I'd actually be able to use it, I left it. Now though.. I might be able to use it.

The phone call to grandma trying to explain what I wanted was ...interesting... I hope she sends me the right thing.

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I've decided to see how many no spending days I can have each month. I'm not going to make a particular goal amount, but just see which month I can have the most NSDs in.

August -- 1 NSD

I went over to the school today to check my mail and see what if anything was happening. To my surprise, I received a card from My English Castle. I guess I've given enough clues for someone to figure out the name of the school I'm at (not that there's many in this neck of the woods ...or should I say, desert?) Thank you MEC, that was very thoughtful.

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This morning I used my elliptical for the first time since moving here. I managed to make it 30 minutes - the little computer on it said I'd gone 4.3 miles, but ... I kind of find that hard to believe.

Kari was slightly scared of the machine, but was also very interested, so kept coming near it. Thankfully not near enough to get hit though!

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Last night I was really wanting to eat some ice cream I have in my freezer. Instead, I ate a banana!

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This morning I took my car over to the place my co-worker recommended. I asked them to go over it with a fine tooth comb and see if there was anything they thought was a possible problem (safety wise.) They spent a good two hours on it! The end result was that they told me that my car looks like it is in good shape - they didn't see any potential problems.

So ... that is now two mechanics/places that have told me the same thing. Neither of them mentioned anything about the things holding the engine in - so I'm not sure what to make of that.

I also asked for an estimate of how much to change out the timing belt/water pump. $300!!! Including labor!! (I really thought it would be closer to $8 or 900 - at the dealership they charged me $1100 back in 2003/4.) I also asked them how much it would cost to fix my cig lighter. $10 - changed the fuse. Now I just have to find my car charger (if I still even have it...)I also asked about fixing the windshield wiper - that would be $90, so I passed on it. (It only works on two speeds - medium and fast.)

They charged me $20 for the fuse and tightening my a/c belt plus the two-hours of looking over my car. I thought that was very reasonable. I'm going to take it back tomorrow to get the timing belt changed.

In case you haven't guessed already, I have decided to take a chance on getting another year out of my car.

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Tithing $135.00
Offering $15.00
Phone $75.00
Internet $30.00
Netflix $9.00
Food $160.00
Auto Fuel $90.00
Fun Money $40.00
Medical/Dental $100.00
Clothing $10.00
Household/Misc. $30.00
Car Ins. $12.00
Life Ins. $16.00
Renter's Ins. $14.00
Gifts/Christmas $15.00
Professional $15.00
Kari (CAT) $25.00
Car Savings
(Repair/Replace)$255.00
Vacation $50.00
ROTH $100.00
EF $20.00

Most of these categories will stay the same going forward, except:

Medical/Dental -- I have a Dentist appt. and a blood draw this month. Normally this would be $50/mo

Car Savings: Should be closer to $388/mo.

ROTH - This is what I have been doing, but starting next month I plan to increase it to $150/mo.

EF - I'm mostly concentrating on my car savings right now, but going forward this will be $50/mo.

Car/Life/Renter's are all paid either annually or 2x a year.

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Today's Spending:

Car Stuff: $20
Auto Fuel: $31.71 (will come out of August's budget - I was on fumes otherwise I would have waited til tomorrow.)

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I am seriously loving YNAB 4! I entered my transactions on my phone at the gas station and the auto place. When I got home, they were both already updated on my desktop version. Also, it is a lot simpler now to copy and paste my budget numbers now. So Yay! Great job Jesse!!

The train pulled in about 9 a.m. this morning, only 40 minutes late ... What a ride! If Amtrak would like some pointers on why they are losing business, I may be able to offer a few. Last night I don't know if I got any real sleep at all. I was put in the car directly behind the lounge car ... ALL night long people were going into and out of it -swhoosh swhoosh went the doors .. Loud talkers exiting .. and on and on. The one good thing about it was that the seat was much roomier than the ones on the other trains I rode this summer.

My co-worker was there waiting for me and took me to Walmart so I could get groceries. I meant to get cat food but totally blanked! I bought $24.xx worth of fruits and veggies and nuts. Now I just have to actually EAT them!!

My co-worker and I were talking about the Rogue and about my car (Honda). She told me that when she drove it (H) around the other day it sounded to her like my brakes are about ready to be replaced. Ugh. She also called my car a piece of junk. She wasn't trying to be mean (I don't think at least...) She did suggest another mechanic I might want to take my car to for an intensive inspection. So, probably tomorrow I'll do that.

I am so utterly exhausted today - I tried sleeping earlier but couldn't. Kari wasn't quite sure what to make of me being back for the first hour or so. Now though she's been up on my lap while I've been at the computer for the past 4 or so hours.

Kari found $6 for me today. She knocked off an old box of letters on my bookshelf. When I picked them up I noticed some green ... it was a letter from my brother back in 1996 with $6 cash! Isn't that bizarre that in 16 years I didn't find that money??

I bought YNAB 4 today. Mmmm... Yummy. Automatic synching of budget between phone and computer program ... Seweet!! ($40)

Oh ... I did make it into the next decade yesterday morning. Down 10.5 lbs!

I need to run by the Post Office, and then go feed my co-workers cat (the one who picked me up this am.)

I might post the budget I'm looking at either tonight or tomorrow. Maybe I'll wait to finalize it until after I hear what the mechanic says ... dun dun dun...

I did not exercise today .. I need to check with my principal how early people have been arriving at the school - don't want to run in the gym if there's people around! (If too early, then I might just do my elliptical instead.) My co-worker suggested that I might not want to go full force into running here due to oxygen level differences between here and CA ... If I do run, it'll be in the gym so I guess it won't hurt to experiment.

My brother and my dad's friend arrived here late Thursday night. My brother and I finished going through the shed and dad's room - getting everything packed and put away or thrown away or put into donation boxes. It went much more quickly than either of us thought it was going to, so that was a good thing.

Then this morning I woke my brother up to go jogging. I didn't want to go any later because it gets *hot* quickly here. I had planned on a 2 mile jog and then let him go for his 6 miler ... he had other plans though!! The longest I've ran since starting back into jogging this summer was a 3 mile walk/run. Today I did 4.35 miles of walking and running - mostly running!! I told my brother that I was going to be wiped out the rest of the day after doing so much - he was like fine, take a nap. No sympathy there.

When we got back we both ate breakfast, and then went on a 3 mile walk with our dads friend. Part of the walk was feeding the ducks/geese by the veteran's home. I go pecked on the leg/shoe by one of the geese! (It didn't hurt, just was kind of funny.)

Tonight we are going to work on finishing up the garage (I took a nice long nap this afternoon ... can you say sore?!)

My brother flys back to Napa tomorrow morning, and I head back to NM tomorrow night. Hard to believe that the time has finally come to head back home! My dads friend will be staying here with grandma.

One of my coworkers turned my car on yesterday to make sure the battery, etc. was still good. It turned over with no problem. Today I think she was going to drive it around a bit to put the gears through their paces. She told me - I shouldn't have been surprised, it's a Honda!

I'll be getting back into big G Monday morning around 8:30 (depending on whether the train is on time or not) and hope to do some grocery shopping - depends on how much time my co-worker has who is picking me up. (They are heading to ABQ for a few days after dropping me off - I'll be looking after their cat.) It'll be so nice to be back home. I hope Kari (my cat) won't be too upset with me ...

This summer between exercising more regularly and not having boco access to junk eating ... I managed to lose approximately 9 lbs ... after today, I think I may be going into the next decade on the scale. Now I just have to figure out how to keep this up at home. Running outside isn't a very good option - lots of empty roads yes, but also lots of loose and wild dogs/animals. So my other option is the school gym .. on the small side, so could get *really* boring *really* fast (i.e. 20 laps equal 1 mile, so to do 3 miles 60 laps ...)

My dad had quite a few diet/healthy eating books in his closet. Most of them I just roll my eyes at, but one did actually intrigue me. I read it in less than an hour - mostly common sense, but just not practiced. It's called "The Full-Plate Diet" and it essentially advocates working up to eating 40+ grams of fiber daily (real foods) and of course drinking plenty of water to go with it. It suggests to eat the fiber rich foods first, then other foods. It has lists of the top 5 fiber foods in various categories (fruit, veggies, grains, something else.) The only food in any of the top 5 categories I don't eat is avacado.

I'm thinking I'm going to really try to get myself working towards eating this way. My normal breakfast is pretty fiber rich - rolled oats w/raisins, a banana and orange juice. I think I'll change the OJ with an actual orange (though I'll want to have that cut up the night before - especially during on school days.)

My lunches and dinners are all over the place. I had gotten away from relying on the vege meats, but they have slowly come back into my diet with a vengence. So .. I'd like to make a change there as well.

I think I'll start buying the fresh spinach again (I stopped after too many packages went bad before I used them up - sometimes before I even opened them ...) Lunch could basically be a big salad of spinach, shredded carrots and squash, diced cauliflower and broccli, silvered almonds, and more rasins. (I love raisins ...) This is something I can take to school with me pretty easily and keep in the teacher fridge until lunch. I may also add a cut up apple or orange or pear on the side.

To make this easier on myself (at first at least) I'll probably buy the pre-diced stuff. I'm WAY too likely to just let it sit in the fridge and mold if I buy stuff I have to actually dice and chop ...

For dinner, a sweet potato and quinoa or baked beans or lentils... (vegetarian!).

Then for a dessert/snack I could do a smoothie with frozen berries and a banana. Also for snacking I need to keep grapes in the fridge.

That would be a pretty fiber rich diet, and also a good amount of protein and numerous vitamins. It also is made up of all foods that I like and enjoy. It also is basically a vegan diet ... which I don't think would be a particularily bad way for me to go considering how my body tends to react to dairy products anymore.. (Poor Thrifty Ray and her DD3 got the pleasure of seeing my body react to the overload of ice cream from Ghiradelli's.. it was SO good, but almost not worth it ... almost..)I won't go strictly vegan because being strictly vegan is more of a whole lifestyle and being vegetarian is difficult enough at times. Besides, when the cafeteria serves grilled cheese and tomato soup ... I want to treat myself!! (I think they had it maybe 6 or 7 times this last school year. Twice during Lent.)

I don't know exactly how this will affect my grocery budget ... but having a good idea of how much I was spending on junk food ... well, I think my overall spending will go down.

Anyway, I won't be able to go full force into it because I have a lot of food in my freezer that I need to use up first. I think though that what I'll do is do breakfast and lunch like I outlined, and then use up the food in the freezer for dinner. Then, once it's gone, go to my dinner plan.

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I've been emailing back and forth with the internet sales person about the Versa for under $15k. I'd finally apologized to him for taking his time, but that I didn't think it was worth driving 200+ miles to see if the car was a good deal for me or not. He wrote back and asked me what *would* make it a good deal ... So I told him $13,500 walk out the door price after trade in. Then I described to him my car. I was pretty prolific in outlining it's good and bad points. Figured it didn't hurt to take a chance and see if a deal could be made... I have the feeling that he doesn't think it is a workable bargain because I haven't heard back from him today.

I think what I'm going to do when I get back is take my car to the local mechanic. Then I'll tell them that I am trying to decide whether or not to take a chance on my car lasting (w/o major repairs) for another year, or trying to sell it and get a newish car. I'll ask him to look over my car carefully and see if there are ANY safety concerns (such as the things holding the engine in, etc.) I'll also ask for a quote on the timing belt (because that absolutely will have to be done if I keep the car much longer.)

I read an article on yahoo today about how to get your car past 100k. In the comment section there were dozens of multiple people commenting that getting past 100k was nothing, and that they had cars easily make the 200k and more with no worries. My car made it to 100k with the only real major repair being the air conditioning going out (around the 50k mile mark.) After 100k is when the computer died (which led to my electric locks unlocking doors but not locking, the windshield wiper functioning from medium speed and up only, cruise control not functioning, the radio frying, and the airbags being disabled. I think it was also around this time that the cig lighter stopped working - for charging my phone.) I'm on my third or fourth starter (can't remember for sure.) So ... I'm kind of curious to see if I *could* get my car to 200k ... but I've got to admit that I'm really getting tired of driving something where about the only thing that works well (usually) is the ac/heat. That isn't a good reason to get a new car though... especially when the only way I can do it is to take out a loan ...

If I look at what I've spent on my car in the last year beyond the normal oil changes/new tires/change fluids stuff, it is nowhere near what a car payment would be. Even if the timing belt/water thingy cost $1k, divided by 12 it still would be less than a car payment. So ... I guess what I am thinking is that I am going to wait. If something else comes up with my car, then I'll be ready with having ideas of where to go to replace it. In the meantime I will be doing heavy duty saving in order to have the smallest possible loan when the time comes. (This is of course assuming that the mechanic doesn't tell me some expensive repairs are needed beyond the timing belt .. then I'll have to reconsider, as well as maybe get a second opinion.)

In one week I will be back in my own home with my own bed and my own cat! Can you tell that I'm more than ready to be back in NM??
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In looking at cars and prices, I'm beginning to wonder if I made a mistake not taking the Rogue. While it would not have been a car I was very excited about driving, it would be approximately the same amount as most cars I'm finding ($wise.) I showed my Egyptian Aunt and Uncle the car I found last night (2010 Versa w/less than 5k miles for $14,989) and my aunt came to me later and told me that I should probably keep it close to my chest that I'm looking at cars in the same price range as what was owed on the Rogue. Ugh! I can see what she's saying ... but if I looked at cars in the under 10k range, they'd be at least five or six years old with 50k+ miles. Someone probably would come up with some reason to be annoyed by that too.

It really would've been easier to have just kept the Rogue. Easier .. but I don't know that it would've made me happier (especially when my gas costs rose - Rogue avg 26mpg, Honda avg 30mgp.) Ok .. so maybe it's not THAT big of a difference in gas mileage... My brother's already changed his plane ticket, I've booked a train ticket and have someone picking me up.

I was pretty much in meltdown mode last week. I'd been doing research on what documents I needed for the DMV to transfer title, and saw a line in the affadavit that said something about "the estate has no creditors outstanding" and since all we've had come in so far of the medical bills is from the ambulance, I was worried about signing my name to that. Then my mind started going to where I imagined that the medical bills wiped out the little bit of cash estate left after paying the funeral expenses ... so then the choice would be to sell the Rogue or the stocks. Selling the stocks would be extremely stupid, so selling the Rogue .. what if I'd been making payments on it for six months and paying for the insurance .. sold my Honda already ... then I'd be out the payments plus have to look for another vehicle.. (this was part of my panic/meltdown thinking) Then I started looking at how to file taxes for a deceased, and it looked like the only way to do that was to petition the court to be appointed as the personal representative (still not sure on this one...) Anyway, my emotional state was way out of whack ... and what made me calm down was making the decision to NOT take the Rogue.

My aunt who works for a health insurance company, and a close friend of my brother's who is a doctor, both have stated that the liklihood of big bills from this isn't big due to dad having both medicare AND his former employer's health plan. Plus all the stuff he had done in the hospital are considered to be just procedures - not actual surgeries. I'll believe it when we're down the road a year from now and have seen the final costs ...

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In other news ... this morning I walked/ran 3 miles in 43:34 minutes. My pace was 14:50 - which is just ten seconds shy of my best 5k race time.

I am so tired - all the time. I keep hoping that my regualar running will at some point translate into energy. I wonder if my synthroid needs to be upped (although I hope not, not sure how much higher it can go - .137mcg.)

When I was feeding the birds this afternoon there was one larger bird that didn't get away. I stood really really still and it stayed put. I slowly stepped forward, and then a little ways towards it. It stayed. Only when I lifted my hand up to take down one of the bags did it fly away. That was pretty cool.

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I did the final steps to link my Bofa and ING accounts today, and then transferred the money. By Tuesday it will be available for me to pay off the credit card I put the funeral expenses on. I'll be very happy to see that balance go back to normal!

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Last night I spent about an hour weeding my dads garden. I only got maybe half-way through - the weeds were really running rampant. As I was taking my bucket of weeds to the garbage, I heard the garage door close and lock. My grandma had locked me out of the house! I knocked on the back window - she went to the front door. I kept on knocking and she finally figured out where the knocking was coming from.

I think I'll probably go weed some more in a half-hour or so (hopefully cooler ..) this time though I'll be sure that she knows I'm outside!

One thing I've noticed while out here in CA this summer is that most of my tops have a number of claw shaped holes in them, as well as some staining. I've seen Kari (my cat) in my closet before, but hadn't really realized how much damage she was inflicting on my clothing.

I decided that while I was in an area with an abundance of places to buy clothes, that I should try to replace a number of tops. So today my grandma and I went clothes shopping. I ended up buying 7 tops total - 3 from Walmart, 1 from Macy's, and 3 from Sears. The least expensive top was $5, and the most was $25. I'm very happy with all of them, and think they will help to upgrade my professional image. I was really hoping I could find a replica of this one particular top I bought at Lane Bryant 4 years ago which I absolutely love, but I didn't find anything close. (I've been looking ever since I realized how much I loved the top ...) It's at home (NM) so if I think about it I'll take a picture of it - maybe one of you have seen it somewhere ...

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***Please be advised, the following is a spewing of my thinking/thoughts arguing back and forth with myself ...

So in thinking about cars I took heed of the advice to look at certified cars. In my area (within 200 miles) there are 0 certified cars that are 2010 or newer AND less than $15k. There are 14 cars that are 2009 and newer AND less than $20k. So ... if I'm going to pay $14k+ for a car ... I'd rather get a brand new (last year model) with full warranty, etc., than a 2 - 4 year old car for the same $ or more.

When I get my next car, I want to be able to run it for a minimum of ten years. (My current car I've had since 1997 - bought new with 37 miles on it.) Since I live out in the boondocks (30+ miles to nearest town with more than two gas stations) I really cannot take many chances with the reliability of a vehcicle.

It would be great if I could find a car like my first one - a Hundayi Sonata that had sat in a grandma's garage and had 33k miles on it and was 4 years old .. in perfect condition. I paid $5k for it (in 1994) and drove it for 3 years, then sold it to my parents in 1997. My dad drove it for two more years (he put more miles on it in two years than it had on it when he bought it from me.)

I'm really looking at the Nissan Versa - mainly because it seems to get similar gas mileage to my Civic, it is a similar size/handling, and from my experiences riding in my co-workers Versa - seemed like a good car for the price range. I'd be open to other cars. Mostly what I'm lusting after is the ability to charge my phone via cig lighter and play my phone over the radio. Everything else I don't care about too much. (ok, I care a lot about gas mileage and size/handling - large part of why I ended up not taking on the Rogue.)

I could put $2 - 4k into my current car - change the timing belt, do whatever needs to be done to make sure the engine doesn't fall out, figure out how to get my cig lighter working again (was told $3-400), and install a radio (and just hope that it doesn't fry like my last radio fried ...), oh yeah, the shocks probably will need replacing soon and possibly the brakes within the next year or two .. Maybe I could get a new hood too ... My car might last another 4 years after all that, or .. the electrical system will go out or the a/c will fail and then my car'd be a goner or need a few thousand more dollars work ... Meanwhile my family would be getting more and more worked up about how unsafe my car is, and I'd be getting further and further behind on having the ability to get a new car with cash.

Or ... I could do all that and my car could keep going fine for another 4 or 5 years, and then I'd have more than enough time to save the funds needed to replace it.

Or .. I could buy a new car (last years model) for around $13-15k. Put down $4k in cash for it up front, and then use dealer financing for the other 8-11k. Depending on the dealer finance rate, either stick with it or borrow 10k from my grandma (5% finance rate) to pay it off. (I read in several places that you can work a better deal on the overall price if you go with dealer financing.) Then either way I went ... aggressively pay the car off within two years (any money left from dads estate after medical bills, using tax refunds and extra paychecks, plus whatever I can sell my Honda for.) Then have 7 - 8 years to save towards the next replacement car (while also having the ability to work on other financial goals.)

Whenever my family starts to chime in on how unsafe they think my car is, I tend to defend my car. But the reality is that every time I take a trip to ABQ (about a two-hour one-way) I do worry. I've kept up with the general maintenance and oil changes - but I've also had multiple minor accidents and mishaps over the years in it. The hood that is currently crumpled (due to me rear ending somoenone in Dec.) is actually the 4th hood my cars had (hail damage, running into a pipe sticking out the back of a truck and something else I can't remember ..) I was told before moving to NM that one of the things holding my engine in was completely corroded and that the other two were just a matter of time. My timing belt was last changed in 2003 or 4?? so it's probably on borrowed time. The computer in my car appears to be working fine right now - although it is the same one that was in my car when my radio fried... (it's the 4th computer in my car - 1st one died, replacement was stolen, 3rd one from junk yard was for a standard car and not automatic ..)

When I get back to NM in a week, I'm not really going to have time to do anything about this one way or the other. School starts on the 15th and I'm WAY behind in everything I feel like I need to have done. So ... maybe I'll wait till November when we have a week off for Thanksgiving. I'd have a lot more to put down by then, and my timing belt should *hopefully* hold out til then ...

(In doing further research about the best time to buy a car, it seems that there really is no consensus. So November might just be as good of a time as any other..)

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I finally made enough Swagbucks to redeem for a $5 AGC today. 1st one this summer!

One thing I've noticed while out here in CA this summer is that most of my tops have a number of claw shaped holes in them, as well as some staining. I've seen Kari (my cat) in my closet before, but hadn't really realized how much damage she was inflicting on my clothing.

I decided that while I was in an area with an abundance of places to buy clothes, that I should try to replace a number of tops. So today my grandma and I went clothes shopping. I ended up buying 7 tops total - 3 from Walmart, 1 from Macy's, and 3 from Sears. The least expensive top was $5, and the most was $25. I'm very happy with all of them, and think they will help to upgrade my professional image. I was really hoping I could find a replica of this one particular top I bought at Lane Bryant 4 years ago which I absolutely love, but I didn't find anything close. (I've been looking ever since I realized how much I loved the top ...) It's at home (NM) so if I think about it I'll take a picture of it - maybe one of you have seen it somewhere ...

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***Please be advised, the following is a spewing of my thinking/thoughts arguing back and forth with myself ...

So in thinking about cars I took heed of the advice to look at certified cars. In my area (within 200 miles) there are 0 certified cars that are 2010 or newer AND less than $15k. There are 14 cars that are 2009 and newer AND less than $20k. So ... if I'm going to pay $14k+ for a car ... I'd rather get a brand new (last year model) with full warranty, etc., than a 2 - 4 year old car for the same $ or more.

When I get my next car, I want to be able to run it for a minimum of ten years. (My current car I've had since 1997 - bought new with 37 miles on it.) Since I live out in the boondocks (30+ miles to nearest town with more than two gas stations) I really cannot take many chances with the reliability of a vehcicle.

It would be great if I could find a car like my first one - a Hundayi Sonata that had sat in a grandma's garage and had 33k miles on it and was 4 years old .. in perfect condition. I paid $5k for it (in 1994) and drove it for 3 years, then sold it to my parents in 1997. My dad drove it for two more years (he put more miles on it in two years than it had on it when he bought it from me.)

I'm really looking at the Nissan Versa - mainly because it seems to get similar gas mileage to my Civic, it is a similar size/handling, and from my experiences riding in my co-workers Versa - seemed like a good car for the price range. I'd be open to other cars. Mostly what I'm lusting after is the ability to charge my phone via cig lighter and play my phone over the radio. Everything else I don't care about too much. (ok, I care a lot about gas mileage and size/handling - large part of why I ended up not taking on the Rogue.)

I could put $2 - 4k into my current car - change the timing belt, do whatever needs to be done to make sure the engine doesn't fall out, figure out how to get my cig lighter working again (was told $3-400), and install a radio (and just hope that it doesn't fry like my last radio fried ...), oh yeah, the shocks probably will need replacing soon and possibly the brakes within the next year or two .. Maybe I could get a new hood too ... My car might last another 4 years after all that, or .. the electrical system will go out or the a/c will fail and then my car'd be a goner or need a few thousand more dollars work ... Meanwhile my family would be getting more and more worked up about how unsafe my car is, and I'd be getting further and further behind on having the ability to get a new car with cash.

Or ... I could do all that and my car could keep going fine for another 4 or 5 years, and then I'd have more than enough time to save the funds needed to replace it.

Or .. I could buy a new car (last years model) for around $13-15k. Put down $4k in cash for it up front, and then use dealer financing for the other 8-11k. Depending on the dealer finance rate, either stick with it or borrow 10k from my grandma (5% finance rate) to pay it off. (I read in several places that you can work a better deal on the overall price if you go with dealer financing.) Then either way I went ... aggressively pay the car off within two years (any money left from dads estate after medical bills, using tax refunds and extra paychecks, plus whatever I can sell my Honda for.) Then have 7 - 8 years to save towards the next replacement car (while also having the ability to work on other financial goals.)

Whenever my family starts to chime in on how unsafe they think my car is, I tend to defend my car. But the reality is that every time I take a trip to ABQ (about a two-hour one-way) I do worry. I've kept up with the general maintenance and oil changes - but I've also had multiple minor accidents and mishaps over the years in it. The hood that is currently crumpled (due to me rear ending somoenone in Dec.) is actually the 4th hood my cars had (hail damage, running into a pipe sticking out the back of a truck and something else I can't remember ..) I was told before moving to NM that one of the things holding my engine in was completely corroded and that the other two were just a matter of time. My timing belt was last changed in 2003 or 4?? so it's probably on borrowed time. The computer in my car appears to be working fine right now - although it is the same one that was in my car when my radio fried... (it's the 4th computer in my car - 1st one died, replacement was stolen, 3rd one from junk yard was for a standard car and not automatic ..)

When I get back to NM in a week, I'm not really going to have time to do anything about this one way or the other. School starts on the 15th and I'm WAY behind in everything I feel like I need to have done. So ... maybe I'll wait till November when we have a week off for Thanksgiving. I'd have a lot more to put down by then, and my timing belt should *hopefully* hold out til then ...

(In doing further research about the best time to buy a car, it seems that there really is no consensus. So November might just be as good of a time as any other..)

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I finally made enough Swagbucks to redeem for a $5 AGC today. 1st one this summer!

This morning I got up and got my run in - did 1.5 miles running in 14:39 pace. Then I did another mile walk/run in 15:12 pace. I think I may be getting close to being ready for another 5k. In fact ... I'm looking at a 5k race on August 12 in ABQ ... The weekend before school starts. The race is early in the morning, so I could make a day of it in the big city. It might be kind of fun actually - especially if I can get anyone to come with me.

My first 5k race was Too Hot To Handle and I think it was in mid-July 2008?? My dad was there cheering me on and took before and after pictures, as well as making a short video of it. He loved hearing all about my races when he wasn't able to make them.

Sigh.

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Today we went to the bank and got all my dads accounts closed out. I had them give my grandma a cashiers check for the amount I think was hers. (For some reason dad had an account in his name with her money ...the only way I figured out this was the account she was talking about is because of my dad's meticulous record keeping.) The rest was made in a cashiers check to me. I was going to deposit it into ING via picture deposit, but after opening the app to do it realized the amount was too large.

So tomorrow I'll deposit it into my Bofa account, and once I have ING and Bofa linked, I'll be able to move the money to ING. THEN I'll be able to pay the credit card bill that I put the funeral expenses onto. Whew. It's not due til mid-August, so I'm not worried.

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We had to get two documents notarized today. That cost $30. Thankfully no one else was there so we didn't have to wait. (There was no wait at the bank, but it took nearly two-hours to close out the accounts!)

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Next we stopped at the stock place where my dad had an account and started the process to transfer them to my name.

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Then we went to Walgreen's and picked up a prescription. (There are few Walgreen's in this area, but lots of Rite Aides.)

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Finally we went out to dinner at this Asian food place. Today is my Egypt Aunt and Uncle's 42nd wedding anniversary. They are high-school sweethearts.

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Before all of the above though ... I made a phone call to my internet service provider. I really didn't think it would do any good at all, but decided to try.
I was able to get a reduction of $20/month on my bill!!! Woo hoo!!

Before the phone call, my grandma and I had a nice chat to kind of clear the air about the last couple days worth of drama. She *really* wants me to replace my car. She said if I really want a Versa, that she'd loan me the money to get it this coming October (end of fiscal year) and I could pay it back $150/month. I tried to tell her no outright, but she wasn't taking it. So I finally told her I'd take it under consideration and think about it.

I have about $3k right now that I could put towards a car, and I *might* be able to get $1000 for my car. By October I *might* be able to save $1500 more (if I *really* buckle down.) So ...that's roughly $5500. That would mean a loan of approximately $8000.

I know the timing belt needs to be changed *soon*. I also know that I was told a year ago that one of the things holding the engine in had gone bad, and that it was only a matter of time for one or both of the remaining ones to fail. I also know that there are many other things that could go wrong that I don't know about.

I think I could probably pay this loan off in 14 to 16 months. If I put all of my tax refund to it, and then also the two "extra* paychecks, plus as much as I can afford to throw at it otherwise. I absolutely abhor the idea of the loan, but ... if it is for a car I'm choosing (and that gets good gas mileage) maybe it would be better to get the new car before my current one really starts falling apart and become worth nothing.

**I could also possibly have some money from my dad's estate to put towards it depending on the amount of the medical bills. So, that could cut the payoff date to 8 to 10 months.

I'm not sure if I'm trying to rationalize taking a loan, or if this really may be the thing to do....

My plan (before dad died) was to wait til Oct, 2013 and go to a dealer at the end of the day towards the end of October and ask to see what Versas they have from the last year models stock. Then name the price I'm willing to walk out on. (Depending on the features, I was thinking somewhere between $12 and 13k.) If I take my grandma up on her offer ... I could do the same thing, only in Oct, 2012.

If my car were to break down before Oct 2013 and/or require really expensive repairs, then I might have to take the loan anyway and end up paying more for a car. I had no warning that my car's computer was about to die in the summer of 2009, but yet it did. I definitely cannot afford anything like that again with this car.

I don't have to decide this right now. I can see how much I'm able to put away in savings between now and the beginning of October. I can also check with the local mechanic who's been working on my car and see what he thinks I might really be able to get for it. Then decide one way or the other after running the numbers.

**No, I am not in the market for a used car. I've read all the arguments for and against. I know many people have great success with used cars. IF I had a mechanic I trusted completely AND was in an area where I could have a good number of used vehicles to choose from, I might consider it. Since neither is the case - last year's model is my way to go. **

I had a great time this past weekend meeting SA friends and spending time with my brother. If you are ever in Napa, be sure to take in the Wine Train - it is quite a fascinating experience.

It's been a drama filled 36 hours or so here in LL. The long and short of it is that I am no longer going to be taking over the car loan for my dad's Rogue. It's going to stay with my grandma who will sell it to recoup as much of the loan cost as possible. I will be keeping my paid for 97 Honda Civic and buckling down hard to save for my replacement car (which is sorely needed.)

I feel a sense of relief in that I'm not taking on a debt, but I also feel sad that we're letting dads car go and that I'm not going to have the majorly updated car (2010 model) with all the nifty features. After sitting for 7 weeks, I'm not sure what shape my car will be in ... but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.

Starting in August I'm going to go on a cash basis for groceries, entertainment and the etc. stuff. I'm also going to attempt to lower my internet bill (only one provider in the area .. but will see if possible.) I need to start looking into the cost for making a will and living trust for a single person, as well as making sure that every bank account I have has a Payable On Death person listed and ALL my other accounts have a beneficiary listed. Then I will probably send my brother a sealed envelope with a list of accounts and passwords and update them twice a year or so (old copies to be destroyed without opening.)

I need to really save aggressively until September of 2013 or until I have at least $10k in my car fund. I probably will have to replace my timing belt sooner than later if I want to be sure my car lasts another 14 months ... so I need to start pricing that out.

Whenever I see a book I want to get for the library on Amazon that I don't have gift card money for ... I MUST learn to say NO!! If I don't, that will derail my car fund faster than anything else.

Last night my aunt and uncle, my grandma and I all went to a free concert put on by an oldies group called The Preps. (I had to Google them, did you?) The community next to LL has an outdoor arena type thing where during the summer they sponsor two concerts a week.

It was a lot of fun, and I actually knew about 60% of the songs they sang (lots of covers, but a few orignal hits from their own group.) I especially liked the song they ended with -- I'm not sure exactly what the title is ... but whenever I hear it I'm reminded of an especially tender/romantic scene in the movie Ghost ... "time goes by so slowly and time can change ... I need your touch..."

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I got a call this morning that the Rogue should be ready to be picked up around 4 today. They had to install a new part in the transmission - hopefully that'll take care of the problem.

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My grandma gave me a little money as a thank-you for taking care of her. It doesn't come close to making up for the loss of summer school ... but that wasn't my reason for staying here and helping out. Plus, if I look at it in terms of money I've saved by being here ... gas, food, impulse purchases, etc. I probably have saved around $600 (including what she gave me.) So ... it's something.

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It's really hard to know what to get my grandma for birthday's/Christmasses because she doesn't really have a need for *things*, so today when we were shopping at Walmart I saw she had slippers on her list. So I helped her pick out a pair, and then when we got to the checkout I informed her that *I* was getting them for her. She protested at first until I explained that it was an early birthday present (her birthday is in September.)

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I'm getting ready for my trip to Northern CA tomorrow. I have a long bus/train trip ahead of me, but I have plenty of reading material on my phone and may download a movie from iTunes to watch. Plus I'm sure I can sleep a bit.

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If you remember I had filled up the bird feeders when we got back from San Jose on Saturday. Well, the birds haven't been eating anything from the hanging bags. I thought maybe it was because we were using the larger bird feed instead of the finer grain (which we'd ran out of.) Today we stopped by this really cool store completely dedicated to birds (with a mini-zoo of a camel, goats, etc) and I found out that I was correct. So this evening when it gets cooler (110 degree high yesterday!!) I'm going to go change out the feed in the bags. (I'm also going to do some weeding in the garden. The section I didn't get to very well last time has really sprung up the weeds!)

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Tomorrow will be my first payday of the new fiscal year. Instead of it being my yearly salary divided by 24 like 2011/12, it will be divided by 26 plus the 1% raise. I'm a little nervous about how that final amount will work out ... but one way or the other, I'll be able to make it work. I'll just need to see what I can cut or minimize - probably Netflix .. and then maybe going to cash only for groceries to keep within a budgeted amount... Maybe I'll try calling my internet company and tell them I can't afford to keep them any longer and see what happens ... although I have no where else to go for internet if they call my bluff ...

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One thing I'm really really going to miss when I go back to NM is the extremely easily access to vegetarian and vegan food here. In the normal run of the mill grocery store they have most of one aisle dedicated to canned veggie foods. Then of course there is the university supermarket which *only* has vegan and vegetarian foods ... Then today grandma and I went to Clark's and they were 80% vegan/vegetarian with a HUGE selection of Amy's foods AND 4 or 5 varieties of vegan pizza.

The university market is having a campmeeting sale through the end of July ... so I am planning on making a large shopping trip there before heading back to NM. Half a case or more of Big Franks, 4 or 5 cans of Nuteena (Nutmeat or whatever they're calling it now) ...etc. It will probably take all of my food budget from June and July ... But it will be so nice to have those things on hand (and they keep for a long time.)

When we were on our San Jose trip last week the Rogue displayed a loud whining sound within the first 100 miles of going up hills and other steep terrain. We turned off the A/C and the radio to be able to hear it better. Once we got back to flat land the whine stopped. My uncle also experienced times where he lost acceleration power going through intersections.

So we got up bright and early (well... bright and early for me for summer time...) and headed to the Nissan dealer. My car was the 3rd in line. It was *just* under the 36k mark (so still under the general warranty), and well under the extended 100k transmission warranty (which my dad LOVED to brag about.) Around 3 this afternoon we got a call telling us that they had found something going on with it, but would need it for a few days to figure it out.

Luckily we have two vehicles here, so we can get by for a few days with just one.

I hope that they figure out whatever is going on with it before I head off to NM, because once I get there it's a minimum 2 hour one-way trip to the dealer!!

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My uncle dropped me off at the fitness center where I did 17 laps around the indoor walk/run track. Unfortunately my gps did not work in there, and I got conflicting reports on how many laps made a mile ... I *think* I did around 2 miles. Then when I was finished I walked home -- 0.9 miles. If I had actually gotten myself out bed this morning at 6:30 then I could have had accurate time/distanc/pacing info (because I would've done it outside..) but making myself get up that early on a summer day when I didn't *absolutely* have to... yeah, not going to happen!

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We had baked sweet potatoes, vege baked beans and salad for dinner tonight. Yum! One of my favorite meals. (not to mention easy peasy!)

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Now I'm waiting for it to get cool enough out to coerce my grandma for her daily walk. We did some walking while grocery shopping today, but I'm not letting her get by with just that.

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This is so cool! I just got off the phone with my brother and he told me it was okay to tell you guys. If you watched (or have read about .. and really, who hasn't at least heard or read) the Bacherlete (sp??) ... you may recognize the name Ali. She was the Bacheorlette from two seasons ago (before Emily.) Well my brother snagged a new travel show being syndicated nationally by NBC to be run after Saturday Night Live. It is hosted by Ali and some other people. One of their first stops is ... the Napa Wine Train!!! They were there today filming - my brother put *everything* together for them. He may even be included in some of the footage.

He doesn't know for sure when this episode will air, but as soon as I know, I'll let y'all in on it.

(He received lots of flirtation from both Ali and her friend who was with her ... no big surprise at all considering his charm and good looks. )

Those of you coming to the SA meetup will have to put up with me showing off my brother for a few minutes.

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I've gotten really tired of carrying my phone with me when I go walking or running. (Most of my workout clothes don't have pockets, and the eh em "extra" pocket isn't so good when you're sweating up a storm ..) So today I bit the bullet and bought a $15 arm band to hold my phone. The only thing I don't like is that I have to take my phone out of it's protective cover to fit it in ...

Ok, going to go drag grandma out for her walk. Then I'll come back and catch up on blogs and forum posts.

I am back at my grandma's house (for a few days at least.)

We (my uncle, grandma and I) traveled up to San Jose on the 3rd. We ended up arriving at my aunts house a little earlier than we thought, and were greeted by a very unhappy uncle. I can't say that I have ever felt less welcome. To give him some space, we went over to my aunt's best friends house (where my uncle and his wife were going to be staying.) A few hours later, after eating supper and relaxing, we went back to my aunts house to find my uncle in a much better mood. A while later my brother arrived.

The morning of the 4th my brother and I went for a "jog" together. (Warmup for him, dying for me ...) Then we put together a nice picnic feast in my aunt and uncles backyard - veggie franks and veggie baked beans, corn on the cob, potato salad, regular salad, watermelon, etc.

That night most people backed out of going to the fireworks, but my brother, uncle and I all went. It was a really awesome display - and both my brother and I felt a little like our dad was there. Neither of us believe in ghosts, etc., but it was more that we knew it was an activity he would've loved. He really loved fireworks - but especially on the 4th - a prelude to his birthday.

The next day my brother and I went on a grueling 3 mile walk/jog (with some tortorous hills!) Then we headed to Lodi where the cemetary is where my dad was to be interred. Our appointment to sign the paperwork, etc. was at 1, but we didn't get seen until nearly 2 - apparentally they were overbooked. Hmm...

While we were working on the paperwork, my uncle (the one who was very unwelcoming) and my aunt's best friend went out and got a flag and enough red roses for everyone in the group. I thought that was really sweet and thoughtful.

Finally the paperwork was done, and payment made and we headed out to where they had already dug the hole for the ashes. We all gathered around while the man put the ashes in the hole, and then we each took turns placing a rose on the ground near the hole. Somebody said a prayer, and then the man started filling up the hole with dirt, and finally covered it with grass sod. We took photos of various groups of people, and then headed to our cars. Before we got to them though, we stopped for a while at the graves of my aunt's (who lives in Egypt) grandparents.

We all went to a late lunch at an Italian restaurant. Their bread was simply out of this world (Strings, if you ever get to Lodi.) We stayed there for awhile talking and laughing and reminiscing. Then everyone took off on their various ways.

Friday we had a late brunch of leftovers from the 4th's lunch, and managed to take off shortly before 2 p.m.

When we got here to LL I was disheartened to see that some of the plants I'd been given from coworkers in NM had pretty much completely withered, even though I'd watered them well before I left. I'm hoping I can still revive them though.

I also realized that I didn't pay the car insurance for my/dad's car -- I'm so used to paying car insurance automatically once every six months that having a monthly due date doesn't register very well. I'll call them tomorrow and make a payment over the phone - once they get my dad's death certificate, I should get a good sized refund. My dad had had a number of tickets recently which caused his rate to go up.

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I'm REALLY looking forward to this coming Friday and meeting up with some of the SA Family. It will be a much needed break. Plus I'll also get to ride the wine train with my brother on Sunday, so that will be quite an experience as well.

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I got an email from my principal yesterday (she's taking care of my cat Kari.) She assured me that Kari was just fine ... then told me this story: She'd gone over to my place in the morning to feed/water Kari, and then had gone off to G to run errands. She'd only locked the doorknob lock on my front door. When she came back a few hours later, she noticed as she was walking up my steps that my screen door was swinging
AND that my front door was swinging! Her heart dropped thinking that Kari had escaped .. But when she walked through the front door, Kari was sitting there on the couch facing the door just looking at her! I can just imagine the look on Kari's face.

It's good to know that Kari won't attempt to escape the house even when she has such a golden opportunity. Truthfully, I think she has an unhealthy fear of the outdoors - seeing as how the only time she gets to see it is when she's in her carrier going between the house and the car.

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Ok, now I'm going to do some blog catching up.

Most of today was spent working on calling the various accounts my dad had and finding out what was needed to close them. All but two credit cards did not ask me to send a death certificate. One card I "discover"ed is a real pain in the rear to deal with - when I asked what was needed to make sure the card was closed out, I was asked for my contact information and told that "we will contact you with further information." ARgh!! That dealing is making me reaccess if I want to keep my card with them or not.

For BofA, the DMV and one other place, we have to wait until after 40 days. At the 40 day mark we can claim "Small Estate Claim" and with the death certificate be able to work with those items (bank accounts, car/motorcycle title, etc.) So that's what I'll be doing once I get back from my San Francisco trip.

As hard as it was yesterday getting the ashes and death certificates, today calling all the places to close accounts was not very emotional. Although every place I talked to expressed condolences - which I hate to admit, but it was kind of annoying. I just wanted to get my task done and over with. (I know they were being kind, so I wasn't *really* annoyed, just it was kind of annoying. If that makes any sense.)

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My grandma came with me to the bank today. I wanted her there so she could hear *again* from someone else that there was only *one* safety deposit box and that there were not any bank accounts with her and my dad's name on them. I explained it to her a second time after the lady left to check on something ... but I wouldn't be surprised to hear her being confused about it again later. All in all though, she's doing remarkably well for an almost 91 year old who just lost her eldest son. (She got really discombobulated last night when her youngest son who hadn't called her in nearly 4 years, out of the blue called her. Not to offer condolences about dad of course, but to just chit chat. I had all I could do to keep my mouth shut. This supposed relative of mine did not reach out to either his remaining brother or sister on their loss, nor to my brother or I, not to mention his own mother.) I may be being skeptical or judgemental, but I think he thinks that now my dad is out of the picture and grandma is going to have to update her will/trust, that he better get himself on the radar/good graces. I hope I'm wrong, but his actions of the past sure don't do much to speak otherwise. (He and my dad had a falling out 25 some odd years ago over something stupid. My dad tried numerous times over the years to reach out to him and restore their relationship, to no avail.)

My grandma has 6 bird feeders in her backyard. I had filled them up on Monday evening. While filling them up, the birds made themselves completely scarce. Then as I was watering the garden, they slowly landed on the electric lines above the yard. It wasn't until I was out of the yard and out of sight that the first few came slowly to the feeders. Tonight the feed was all gone, so I filled them up again. I was barely finished and heading towards the hose when the first bird landed on one of the feeders. By the time I was half-way through watering, there were at least half a dozen birds eating merrily. I guess they've decided I'm not a threat.

I hope you all aren't too tired hearing me talk about all that's going on out here right now.

Today was a really, really hard day. About 4:20 p.m. this afternoon I got a call telling me that the death certificates were ready. Grandma and I hopped in the car and headed over (we hurried because they closed at 5.)

When we got there the funeral director person handed us the death certificates and the nuts and bolts from dads ankle (my brother wanted those - dad broke his ankle in several places 20 odd years ago body surfing in Hawaii.) I realized that neither my brother nor I had settled on what we were going to use for "keepsakes" for the portion of ashes we each wanted. So I asked the fd person if he could put aside a small portion for once we did have the keepsakes ready. He did so, but this took about 20 minutes.

The whole time grandma and I sat in the lobby waiting (and I filled out the acknowledgment form for the certificates) it was just ... hard. In a way it was worse than when we went there for seeing dads body. It was way worse than when we first went there to make the cremation arrangements.

Tomorrow I am going to start making the phone calls - making sure before I do any visits that ALL they need is the death certificate. I don't want to have to do more than one visit per place.

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The day wasn't totally hard. Earlier in the afternoon I took my grandma to the mall to get her walking done. On our second trip around the mall I realized that one of the food court shops had bubble tea (or boboa) which one of my co-workers in NM had introduced me to. I had looked forward to introducing it to my dad ... but instead today introduced it to my grandma. She liked the drink part, but didn't care too much for the "bubbles."

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I also went to the fitness center this morning in an attempt to make use of my membership. I used one of their elliptical machines. Yuck. I know how to change settings on a machine (I worked at a gym for nearly 16 months! I should know!) but these ellipticals were old and cheap. The angle the feet were at made my toes get all scrunched up. That was two times using that machine. (first and last!)

As much as it pains me to not use my membership, I think that unless I oversleep the cool part of the morning for jogging, that I'm going to just jog every day (except my rest days.) Boring, yes, but at least I know my toes won't get scrunched! If I do miss the cool part of the day, then I can use the fitness center's indoor jogging/walking track.

So the cemetary kept adding on more and more expenses ... estimated cost was reaching upwards of $7k!!!! My aunt basically told them thanks, but no thanks - we'll come up with another plan. Oh boy, did they ever start back pedaling!

In the end it looks like what we're going to do is use my grandma's plot for both my dad's ashes and when grandma dies, her ashes. We'll get a headstone with both her name and dads name on it (hers minus a death date of course.) Basically we'll all arrive just like we're coming for a visit, grandma will sign the necessary paperwork, and the cemetary people will dig the hole. No other fan fare (canopy, chairs, funeral direcotor, car to drive ashes to site, etc.)

That brings the cost down to approximately $1900 + $750 - 1450 for the headstone. Still a lot of money, but considerably less than the first quote ($3300) and WAY less than the recent quotes.

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I think I want to have my body donated to science (organs donated), you get cremated for free, and then have my ashes spread out somewhere ... So basically no cost at all.

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A friend of mine works at Kohl's and she posted today that the newest Kohl's cares books/animals were out. I'm usually two hours away from the nearest Kohl's when they put out their stock, so I decided to see if I could take advantadge of it. I bought 4 hardcover Skippyjon Jones books, a plush SJ toy, and a plush monkey -- $31.xx. My friend had said her store had penquins also .. but to my dissapointment, the Kohl's here did not have penquins. I really wanted two penquins - one for my non-ficiton penquin books, and one to go with my Tacky the Penquin books. They did have a stuffed bumblebee ... I was wracking my brain for any books that would go well with a bumblebee, but really couldn't think of any. My grandma suggested it could go with the song/poem, "Flight of the Bumblebee," but I was looking for a bit more to go on than that.

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I talked to my principal today. She told me that Kari (my cat) is still doing well. That everyday when she goes in to feed and interact with her, that all Kari wants is some loving - doesn't seem too interested in playing at all.

My principal told me that she was worried that I wouldn't be back in time for school to start. I assured her that I would be heading back the last weekend of July. I *have* to have some time to get ready for the next year!

Summer school seems to be going well. The person who took over for me is pretty much using the plans and ideas I left with him. I really hope that they do video the closing program .. I so was looking forward to seeing the kids put it together. I'm just glad to know things are going well...

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I had a major missing my dad moment today. When my grandma and I were at Kohl's, I went to lock the car using the remote. No matter what I did it wouldn't lock. I went around the car and made sure all the doors were shut tight. Still didn't work. My first thought was, "I need to call dad, he'll know what to try/do!" Then .. sigh...

It worked fine on all of our later stops. My brother thinks it probably is the battery. Dad *loved* to do the "lock" function multiple times - especially when around other people - just to get a reaction of some sort. So, that probably wore the battery down. My brother thinks he can change the battery easy peasy - there is a screw on the back of the key fob thingy. I just need to find the right battery for it.

I'm glad I still have my brother to call on.

Argh! My dad's ashes are going to be interred in the same cemtary/gravesite where his father is buried. In fact, there are many relations in the same area of the cemetary. So, we thought it would simply be a matter of digging a hole in the same gravesite as his father's, and redoing the headstone. Ha! Not quite.

This cemetary says that it is *mandatory*since there will be more than three people there to have: a canopy, a car to drive the remains to the gravesite, a funeral director, and ten chairs set up and something else I don't remember right now. It doesn't matter whether we want any of those things or not - we have no choice. (Well, our choice would be to not do it there ... but then it wouldn't be the same ...)

Oh well, I guess I just have to chalk it up to being what it is, and not worry about it.

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I'm still waiting on the death certificates in order to start closing out accounts. I found out about something called "small estates" claim here in CA, so you can avoid probate if the estate is under $150k. You just have to wait 40 days from death to claim it. So for some things I may have to just wait til I can make that claim.

Just a note to everyone ... please, if you haven't done so recently, update your will and your list of accounts and anything else that might possibly be relevant to those you leave behind. It also would be a wonderful gesture to leave information behind about what kind of service you might like, whether or not you want to be cremated, and if you have any wishes as to where you'll be interred. All of that would just make things so much easier.

Once I'm back home in NM, I plan on starting on that process and checking into what it would cost to do a living trust - even though I have few assets, I think that still might be a good easy way to go. (I already told my brother I want to donate my body to science, be cremated, and don't care what happens to my ashes - whatevers least expensive. Also if I happen to have a lot of money in my estate it's to go to caring for whatever animals I have, then to a school library, and finally to a no-kill animal shelter.)

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Anyway, enough with the morbidity.

I was able to get a library card yesterday. This way I will be able to read through some of the children's books which my library and their library share in common. I didn't bring a list of books with me yesterday, so will have to wait til Sunday to go back and get some.

I also signed up for the local fitness center. I went to my first class on Wednesday. A 1 hr torture... er ... Pilates class. When it was finished, I seriously was worried whether or not I'd be able to walk out of the building without triping over my own two feet. I was going to do another class last night, but decided to wait til next week to do another one.

Today was day 10 of being back into jogging. I did 2 miles at a 15:43min pace. Not great, but still pretty good considering how long it's been since I've done any real exercise. If I keep this up, I might just run a few 5ks when I get back to NM (if I can find any.) My brother right now would be all over my backside for using the word "if." He wants us to do a half-marathon in honor of our dad. I told him maybe in another year or two ... (he runs an average 9:40 - 10 minute mile ... on *hills* - the fastest time I got to when running regularly was a little over 12min/mi - and that was only doing one mile!)

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I'm not spending hardly any money while I am here, which is good since I .ah hem.. spent a goodly sum on books, etc. before leaving NM (under the notion that I'd be getting summer school pay ...)

I have one more paycheck at what I had gotten used to this past year, and then the first paycheck in July will be the new amount (spread over 26 payperiods instead of 24 + a 1% raise.) So I'm not going to even think about my budget until I get back home in August. Then I'll figure it out again. Too many variables to think about right now.

My dad always wore one of two watches - one he wore more often than the other, but he wore both. The one which my brother took for his own, has had the band replaced many multiple times over the years. I took the commemerative Lionel train watch with origional band.

This watch's band was so big on my wrist it was more like a bracelet. So today grandma and I went to the mall to a watch repair shop. Before getting there though we passed by a Things Remembered shop, and it gave me the idea of engraving the watch. So at the repair shop I asked if they could remove a link in the band, and if they could engrave the back with my dads first and last name, and birth/death. It cost $45 to do both, but I think it was well worth it.

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In going through my dads files, I have found several versions of a code list. This is a list of all the websites where he has a username and password, and their respective username/password. This is much better than what he had at one time - all that information posted all over his corkboard by his desk.

Anyway, I'm beginning to think that I might do something similar. It's been very frustrating trying to access some sites while away from home. One site in particular keeps telling me that it doesn't recognize my username or my email - yet in a previous password recovery email, it shows both exactly as I'm putting it. I don't know if I'd put the exact password for the sites, but perhaps a hint that would let me know what it is.

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Something else interesting I found as I went through my dads files is a file on N family history. His father was a minister in the church until his death in 71 (at 51 years old.) During that time he also was a treasurer in one of our conferences. The document I found shows that even back in the early 50's that there was greed, corruption and political misdealings in our church high hierarchy. My grandpa must have cleared his name from the accusations, because he went on to minister multiple churches until his death 20 years later.

I also found a letter from my grandma to her dad in which she speaks of her mother. Apparantally her mother was very similar to mine. This helped me a lot in understanding my grandmas attitude/feelings towards my mom.

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I signed up at the local fitness center today. $50 for one month. I also bought a pair of capri style workout pants. I've been using workout shorts/shirt of my dads when I've been jogging in the mornings. I didn't quite want to go to a public exercise class in a mans workout outfit. Tomorrow I'm going to go to a Pilates class. I've done Pilates many times in the privacy of my own home, but never in a public class setting. This should be interesting ... especially since it has been at least two years since the last time I practiced Pilates regularly (and I never did work up to the roll up!)

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I didn't get to the library today. Hopefully I can do that tomorrow.