I got my new phone bill for March -- well, at least I got the bill amount, not the actual bill yet. It was about $4 more than my previous bill, so I decided to take a closer look - considering the problems with my landline recently.

Well, one thing I noticed right away was that I had 15 extra calls. *I have the measured rate which gives you 25 outbound calls a month, then charges $.08 per extra call.

So I called the phone company. I asked to have those charges refunded, plus I asked about how many extra calls there were for the March bill. 59! So, I got those charges refunded as well.

That was a total of $5.93.

Then I called my cell phone company to see what I could do about the spam text messages I'd been getting. I found out that those numbers couldn't be blocked because they weren't real numbers. My only options were to block text messages for a period of time, or change my number.

I opted to block text messages for 3 months. Hopefully by that time my number will go out of the spammers systems. I also got those charges refunded.

That was a total of $1.80

Savings: $7.73

Spent some:

I bought a Sportbrain Personal Assistant (pedometer) off of Ebay for a total of $18.

I went to Walmart and got 3 gallons water (refill); two tops and a pair of Khaki pants (on clearance) for $29.86.

* Have to give myself a shout out here -- the pants? They were a FULL SIZE smaller than the last pair of pants I bought -- and they FIT! Woo Hoo!

Next I stopped at CVS. I had dropped my prescription off there on Friday - but of course they were busy and it would've taken forever for them to get to me.

So, when I got there I picked up my prescription and handed the pharmacist my 2nd coupon. Then I paid for my prescription with the gift card I'd received previously.

So - the prescription was $26.99. Subtract the $25 gift card = $1.99 spent. Plus I have another $25 gift card for the next prescription. (Oh, not to mention I earned $1 CVS extra care buck, so my next prescription should only cost me $.99!)

Last, I stopped at Whole Foods to pick up some more quinoa. I had a choice of getting a 1 lb bag that wasn't sorted or washed for $1.69 or getting a 14 oz box that was pre-washed and sorted for $2.79. I decided to take the route of convenience and bought the box. But, because I had brought a reusable bag (purchased at Walgreens a few weeks ago for $.99) I got a $.05 bag discount. So, I spent $2.74.

Walmart = 29.86
CVS = 1.99
WholeF = 2.74

Total Spent = 34.59
Saved = 7.73

Difference = $26.86

ETA:

My Tivo was getting close to running out of programing since its not been connected to the phone line since last Saturday. So, thanks to my dad making me keep all those odds and ends of phone cords, I was able to stretch the phone cord which usually connects to my actual phone in my bedroom, all the way out to the living room! At first I was thinking I was going to have to go buy another phone cord, because the one I had wasn't long enough. But then I kept digging around - and found ONE short phone cord from when I got my current computer - and that made it just *barely* reach. My Tivo is now happily updating - so no worries about missing a new episode of Lost or Survivor on Thursday.

I've been feeling it coming on for a while now. Been reasoning with myself, telling myself that I can handle it. Reminding myself of all my long term goals and how letting it take me over will cause them to take even longer to achieve.

I have a case of Wantitus.

As the weather is getting nicer, and darkness falls later, one particular area is really strong.

I've been running on a treadmill 3x a week for the past few months doing the Couch to 5k program. I'm starting to make some real progress - actually able to run for 5 minutes at a time before taking a walking break.

But . . . I'm hankering to get outside and whet my feet on the turf. See if I can make it out in the fresh air.

While I've been thinking about going outside, I've also been reading about things you "need" to run outside.

A GPS device that also can track your run/walk intervals, pace, distance, etc.

Garmin

A way to keep yourself hydrated hands-free:



A way to help roll
out the aches and pains after running:


You Tube - How To Use Foam Rollers

Then of course there's the clothing - wicking shirts, wicking shorts, wicking bras, wicking socks . . . Oy Vey!

Of course if I really get into all this there's going to be new running shoes and if I *really* get into it . . there'll be race entrance fees . . fuel gels . . . energy bars . . etc., etc., etc!

Save me from myself! Ahhhh!!!

Ok, ok. The two things I really am interested in right now are the foam rollers and the garmin.

I think I would really use the rollers, and they aren't that terribly expensive.

The garmin . . . I already have a wireless heart rate monitor/watch with a stopwatch function/calorie counter - which I haven't used in nearly a year because the chest strap kept unhooking while I exercised. What I'm really wanting the garmin for is the ability to have it track my pace and distance outside, and to be able to set little alarms to tell me when its time to increase or decrease my pace. The geeky part of me also really likes the idea of being able to upload all my data into a website and manipulate away.

Help me out please! Anyone have ideas on how to alleviate this horrible disease? Or maybe ideas on how to get what I'm wanting for less??

I'm about to run off to see Jim Brickman but wanted to let y'all know about my phone.

The repairman arrived at 3:58 p.m. He left about 5:45 p.m.! Long story short - he loves to talk. Good news - the line that goes to my DSL is working. Bad news - apparantlly it was my direct downstairs neighbors who were helping themselves to my phone line. It appears that it may have been intentional.

He was not able to get the line that goes to my Tivo working - the only line that works in that socket is the one my ds neighbors have tapped into.

So he's going to come back on Monday and see if he can catch ds neighbors in and go in their apartment and check out their phone jacks. If they don't let him in, then it could get ugly.

So, bottom line - my DSL is working. My Tivo is not able to call in for updates. I will not be charged for his service visit.

Guess we'll have to see what happens Monday!

This afternoon I had my permenant crown put on. It didn't take very long -- but she put a piece of guaze in my mouth and told me to bite on it for the next 30 minutes!

Well, I was heading to the gym for my personal training session right afterwards . .. . So I walk into the gym clamping down on the piece of guaze. My trainer asks me if I'm chewing on something. I explain to him what's going on. So he then proceeds to talk back to me clamping one side of his mouth! What a dork! It was very interesting doing cardio while concentrating on keeping your teeth together. Can't say that I want to experience that again.

So, about the egg on my face.

I received in the mail a few weeks ago an advert for opening a checking account with Capitol One and getting $125 bonus after a direct deposit.

Somehow though I had gotten it into my mind that it was CHASE bank. Can you see where this is going??

When I was finished at the gym this afternoon I went home and checked the mail - hoping to have the insurance reimbursement. It wasn't there. ARgghh! Then I went across the street to the building I used to work in. There just happens to be a Chase bank branch there.

I sat down with the guy who opens accounts and told him about the offer and that I wanted to open an account. I give him the advert. He tells me that he'd love to open an account for me . . . but that this advert was for Capitol One, not Chase. *If I knew the code for super embarrassed that's what would be here*

He told me that they did have a deal where you could get $100 for opening an account, but that he'd be willing to match Capitol One's offer if I still wanted to open one with Chase. So I went ahead and opened the account.

Now, you have to understand that this is the bank that my company has a business account with, and when we were in that office building, many of the company's employees had accounts there. So as soon as I said who I worked for, they (the guy opening my account and the branch manager) started naming names of people in my company.

I can only hope that no one from my company goes into that particular branch in the near future.

Today we were all let go at 2:30 due to the weather conditions. Yay!

Some of you may remember my dealing with the $287 phone bill last summer. The bill was a result of my phone line somehow getting crossed with another persons - and that person did a 10-10 dial to Cuba.

Well, the past couple weeks my DSL has been acting funky. Sometimes working fine, sometimes slow as dialup, sometimes not working at all. Then in the past week or so I've been getting those two or three ring phonecalls. I generally don't answer my landline since it would almost always be telemarketers. But, yesterday I picked it up - only to hear two spanish speakers chatting away. Then again, at midnight last night, my phone rings. I pick it up, only to hear two spanish people. Again, this afternoon it happens.

So, I decided to be proactive this time, and not wait to get another $300 phone bill. I sent in a repair ticket. Then I called customer service to find out if there'd been any weird charges to my phone number. They couldn't tell me if there'd been any 10-10 charges, because that would be with Ameritell (10-10). But they did make note of what was going on.

The repair person will be coming sometime between noon and 4 p.m. on Saturday to find out what is going on. At first it was "sometime on Saturday before 9p.m." I told the lady that I would NOT be in my place from at least 8 - 11:30a.m., and would be leaving again by 6:30 that evening. (Church in the morning, Jim Brickman! concert in the evening.)

---
I've been trying to find a way to get rid of my extra Tivo box ever since I upgraded over a year ago. I've had no takers. Today I was talking with our new receptionist about Big Brother, and eventually about Tivo. I mentioned that I had an extra one I'd love to find a home for. She told me that her parents might be interested in it! Woo Hoo! To finally get it out of my house and not in a landfill! She asked me how much I'd want for it, and at first I told her I'd just give it to them. But she kept asking, so I was like - o.k. $5.

If it had Lifetime with it, then it would be worth a LOT (probably could get $100- $200 for it). But of course if it had Lifetime with it, I would probably never have upgraded to my current one . . .

** I mentioned earlier about receiving a second EOB regarding my root canal. I called the endodontist this morning and was told not to worry - and that my refund would be out in the mail this week. Yay!

** I did the Defensive Driving course back in October 05, but never seemed to receive the certificate I needed for insurance. Almost exactly a year ago I called to get the certificate - never received it. Today I called again. This time they faxed me a copy! So, as soon as I got it I called Geico and asked where should I send this? I was told to just give him some info off the certificate.

I won't get retroactive discount savings, but I will get the savings through the end of my next six-month renewal period (end of November). Yay!

** I have two CVS transfer/new prescription coupons for $25. I plan to renew my allergy meds ($10) to get the first one. Then I'll go back in a couple weeks and renew another med ($27) and pay for it with the first gift card. Then I can use the second gift card to pay for a 2nd renewal of the $27 med. So, between the free samples from my doctor, the refill I already have, plus the two new refills, plus hopefully more free samples from my doc when I see her in May - I may be able to make it through July without having to pay more than $15 for meds! Woo Hoo!

** Another money making adventure . . . I got a card in the mail offering me $125 to open a free checking account with Chase. All I have to do is start it with $50 and have ONE direct deposit. Funny thing is, there just so happens to be a Chase bank right across the street from where I live (where my company used to be). So it would be way more convenient than WAMU. So, I may just open it and keep it! Of course I won't be doing very many direct deposits to it - I prefer ING EO for that.

** Today we had very nasty weather conditions for the drive home. I was actually thinking of going to CVS to get my allergy meds refilled. I was driving along carefully, paying attention to my surroundings. When all of a sudden in front of me were two police motorcycles! I quickly changed lanes to avoid them, but still had to slam on my brakes. One of the cops went into the lane directly in front of me and turned around and gave me what seemed to be a dirty look. Thirty seconds later right around 25 various police vehicles swarmed onto the tollway in front of me (and a couple other commuters). There were about five or six of us cars that just kind of stayed where we were for a few minutes, not sure what exactly to do. I ended up missing my turn to go to CVS because I wasn't sure if the police cavalcade was blocking certain exits or what.

It was quite surreal.

** Less than 30 days now till the end of my church's 20 week fitness challenge. I may have taken myself out of the running by some of my slip ups weight wise in December and January - but I am still going to press on forward with the hope that I can win. I kind of wish there were a couple different prizes for individuals -- oh well, whether I win the money or not, I will still be further ahead in my healthy living journey than I was 4 months ago.

Two main frustrating things right now.

1. I received an Explanation of Benefits (EOB)for my root canal showing that my responsibility was $352. That means that I should be getting back about $300.

I've been waiting for that refund check to come - was planning on using it to pay for part of my crown. It still hasn't shown up.

But in todays mail I got a new EOB saying that there was double charge, and that I owe the full $1300!!!

I got on the website and saw that for some reason there were two charges for the same thing on the same date - one of which part was paid, and the other none was paid.

I guess I'll have to wait till Monday to call and find out what is happening and when I can expect my money back!

2. Today I stopped at Walmart to do some early March grocery shopping. One of the items I bought were these La Tortilla Factory tortilla's. I bought 3 pkgs. On the shelf, the only price I saw that came close to what I got was $2.82.

When the cashier rang them up - they rang up at $3.32! I of course spoke up. She ended up taking them all off the receipt. Then I thought she put them all back on?

So after I paid, I went back to the shelf to doublecheck that there was NO $3.34 sign. There wasn't. So I went to Customer Service. The lady took my tortilla package and looked at the shelf. When she came back, she told me that someone must have taken off the upc label for this particular item - but that the price WAS $3.34. But since the label was off, she would go ahead and give me the $3.34 back.

I was happy with that - but then I asked about the other two packages. She then showed me on my receipt that it showed only ONE tortilla pkg charged! So, I ended up having to pay for the two that were not charged.

I guess I should be glad that I got the one package for free. But I do feel frustrated that I was thinking they were $2.82, and through no fault of mine, the correct price tag had been taken off the shelf. I really felt that I should have been given the price difference on the other two items - especially since the only proof she had of the item's cost was what the bar scanner said - and that isn't always correct!

At any rate, I left with 3 pkgs of LTF Tortillas for $6.86, which is less than the $8.46 it would've been for 3 pkgs at $2.82 each.

3. A couple things at work today really frustrated me too. A little too easily almost. Had to bite my tongue really hard a few times.

This afternoon I had the tooth which was root canaled a couple weeks ago get built up and have a temporary crown put on.

Since all but about $300 of my yearly dental insurance cap has already been used, I had the wonderful priveledge of dropping $832 in payment.

In two weeks I go back to get my permenant crown.

I like my dentist, but I kind of wish she'd get a clue.

Each time I've had an appointment with her she's mentioned to me that she'd love to do a tooth whitening treatment on me and that she'd love to close up a gap between two of my teeth. Each time I've told her I'm not interested.

AGAIN today AFTER discussing how much the root canal cost me ($650) and discussing how much I'll have to pay for the crown ($832) and seeing me cringe at parting with that much money - she again mentions about the teeth whitening, etc.

So I tell her that right now I am trying to spend money on only ESSENTIAL and necessary items - and that neither of those things fall in that category. I also told her that I'm saving up for a house downpayment. She misunderstood and thought I was looking at buying a house *right now*. I explained to her that no, I'm looking at more like 3 or more years down the road.

She told me I sure do long term planning.
Yes, I am trying to. I didn't say this to her - but I also probably would never spend the money on either of those things even if I had MORE than enough for everything I want.

I really hope she doesn't bring it up again on my next visit. I really like her and the office, not to mention the fact it's in the same office building as my company. So I'd really hate to have to find a new dentist.

If only . . .

my financial situation was different.

I lived on the ground floor with a fenced in yard.

I wasn't gone 10 - 14 hours most days.

I lived in a house.

If only.

Then maybe things would've turned out differently tonight.

My downstairs neighbors have a Taco Bell dog (or a Chiuaua sp?). Most of the time when I am home - especially on weekends, I hear it crying and whining. Sometimes when its in their half a postage stamp backyard crying its little heart out, I have gone out on my balcony and leaned over and talked to it.

Tonight I was watching t.v. and heard it whining in the foyer. I actually went out my door and almost started down the steps once, but turned back. Finally when my program was over I just COULD NOT stand it anymore. So I went down the stairs and sat on the bottom step.

The dog stuck its top half of its body through the stairs and laid its head on my lap as much as he could while I petted it and talked to it. This went on for maybe 15 minutes.

A car passed by and the driver looked into the foyer and saw the dog and I. She looked very excited. A little girl got out of the car and came in. She told me that Maxie (the dog) had been lost for two days. That it was the third time he'd gotten out.

She also told me that they realize they can't take care of him like they should, and are looking for a new home for him.

OMW! My hearts first response was I"LL TAKE HIM!!! But my head calmed my heart down. It would be so selfish of me to take in a dog. I sure as heck wouldn't be leaving him outside by himself for more than a few minutes at a time - if that - but he'd have to be cooped up in the apartment for at least 10 and more hours a day. Then I also realized that I really don't have room in my budget for vet care.

I would have spent every dime I had on my cat - it would have hurt, but I would've done it. But now . . . I just don't have room in my budget for vet bills. This little dog deserves someone who can give it the time and attention it deserves every day. It deserves a nice yard to run and play in - not to be cooped up in a small apartment from sunrise till past sunset.

But oh my word it just breaks my heart to NOT take that sweet puppy in my arms and give it as much as I possibly can.

If only things were different.

I had my follow-up appointment with my endodontist this afternoon. GOOD NEWS! The cyst was completely gone, as well as the infection! So she was able to finish sealing the third canal.

I also saw my regular MD this morning about my heartburn/side effect of Clindomycin. She told me that probably what happened is when I took my first dose last Tuesday, I went to bed right after, and it got stuck in my esophogus, thereby leaving a sore. She prescribed some kind of liquid coating medicine that I'll need to take for a week. I went to pick it up tonight from Walgreen's and the copay was $60!!! I just about croaked right there. The pharmacist told me there is a generic available, but they didn't have it right then, but could by tomorrow. So I told her I'd rather the generic! If I've lived with this this long, another day isn't going to kill me.

Wow. You know how I had a root canal on Tuesday and had to start taking a more powerful antibiotic to get rid of the remaining infection?

Well, starting Wednesday night, I began having terrible heartburn. It let up after a few hours, and I was able to go to sleep. The next day I again experienced it a few times, then it would go away after an hour or so.

Today it wasn't too bad at first, but then this afternoon it became more constant.

I finally decided to call my endodontist and see what was going on - if this had anything to do with the medicine I was taking. She told me (through her receptionist) to stop taking the antibiotic and that she'd call me later to figure something else out. Still waiting for that call.

But tonight I posted on another forum I visit about my wonderful week *dripping sarcasm* and someone posted a link to a thread about the antibiotic I was taking -- Clindamycin. OMW! The people on that thread were experiencing the same symptoms as me, and some even worse - being hospitalized, etc!

Needless to say, I will NOT be taking this medication anymore. But I will be calling my endodontist again in the morning because I still need to take *something* to get rid of this infection!

I did also have one person give me a lot of hope that it IS possible to have an infected cyst go away on its own. He'd had a similar situation, and the cyst went away after antibiotics.

I am feeling so out of control financially right now. I don't know where all this is going to end up $ wise or health wise, and I already feel as though I've spent WAY too much money - even though it is for stuff that was absolute needs.

It also is worrying me a lot that I'm now going to have to include in my budget all my copays for prescriptions and office visits for the rest of the year - not to mention however much the crown is going to cost me. I just got way too used to using my Flexible Spending Account money, and not really thinking about how much it was.

At this rate I don't think I'm going to even be able to find the money for my Vacation fund, let alone get my EF fund full enough to even think about starting my downpayment fund. It feels kind of like as soon as I put my mind to really buckling down and watching my pennies and making them work hard, oodles of situations came out of the woodwork requiring the use of not only current money, but also set aside monies.

I'm moving backwards right now - not forwards. And I HATE that feeling!

----

On another note --- My car passed the 100k mark Thursday night! Only took me 10 1/2 years to do it, but I did it.

I was watching Biggest Loser last night, and one of the tips that the guest cook/chef had was about pink lentils. He said that they were even better for you than beans.

Lentils are pretty cheap food, as well as very nutritious, but I don't think I've ever even seen pink lentils.

The chef also said that they cook up in "just minutes."

Anyone ever hear of pink lentils or know if they really are something that cooks in "just minutes"?

---
On Sunday I made a crockpot of 2lbs of pinto beans. Tonight I finally got around to putting the beans in snack size ziplock bags. It made 33 1/2 cup servings! Since I take my lunch to work 99% of the time, that means I have more than 6 weeks worth of beans for lunches! The cost of the beans? $1.39 LOL!

This morning I had my first root canal of my life. Ugh!

It took forever for the endodontist to get the area numb. The infection hadn't gone down enough with the antibiotics, so the area was still pretty tender.

Then when she (endodontist) had cleaned out all three root canals, she was only able to plug two of them. The third one would not go "dry". She told me that I have a cyst in my bone? which was infected, and the infection was running through that third canal.

So she prescribed new antibiotics for me, a round of steroids, and pain meds. I'm going to have to go back a week from tomorrow to see if the antibiotics and steroids worked. If they didn't, then I more than likely will have to have an oral surgeon remove the cyst!!

The root canal (including my next visit) was $1300.00. I had to pay half today. So that completely emptied my FSA which had $392.xx left, then I had to put another ~250 on my credit card. I also had to put the copays of all my meds on my credit card.

No more pre-tax money paying my medical expenses this year.

I am waiting with great anticipation to see how much the crown is going to cost me out of pocket. NOT!

The one good thing today is that I had less than a 10 minute wait at Walgreen's to get my prescriptions filled! Practically a miracle!

I'm not sure exactly how long ago it was that I first borrowed the CD set of Learn in Your Car Spanish from the library, but I do know it was at least 8 or 9 months ago.

I played the first CD of it, and realized that it wasn't what I wanted. So, I put the CD back in the case. About a month later I took it back to the library.

The next time I went to the library, the librarian told me that there was a CD missing from the case. I was sure I had put the one CD I'd used, back in the case, but went ahead and took it back home. I looked high and low - even did some "spring cleaning". No CD to be found.

So, I took it back to the library. The librarian renewed it for me. Repeat ad nauseum of the librarian renewing it for me.

Finally, about two months ago she gave it back to me and suggested that I take it directly to the library it actually came from and see what they'd say. So, I took it. For various reasons I wasn't able to attempt to find this particular library branch until last week, after the renewal had already run out.

My attempt to find this library branch did not go well. I got royally lost in downtown Dallas. At night. I never managed to find that branch.

So, today after church I stopped by my regular branch to turn the CD case in once again - to at least stop the late charges. I again asked them what I should do, since this seemed to be a never ending cycle. The librarian told me I should talk to this other librarian for better directions to the downtown branch.

So I did. I explained to her what the situation was, and expressed some of my frustration. Unexpectedly, she told me that the situation was over, and not to worry about it anymore! She said the other librarians didn't have the authority to do this, but she did.

I thanked her profusely.

I had $11.25 cash on me, so I paid all but $1.25 of my late fines. So now at least I'll be able to renew my other books.

I am just so thankful that I was finally pointed in a direction that led to the end of this situation!

Well I finally received my W-2 today. So, being the eager beaver that I can be when it comes to taxes, I went straight to irs.gov and used the free file option.

The good:

I realized that I earned `$20 more in interest this year.

The bad:

My "raise" apparentally was enough to knock me out of qualifying for the "Saver's Credit".

I realized that my Roth IRA has $100 LESS than what I have contributed to it between 2006 - 2008.

The really bad:

I owe $144.00.

-----
I went ahead and e-filed. They had the option where you could set a date to have the amount you owe debited from your checking account. So, I set the date for the debit as April 15, 2008. I also set a Yahoo reminder that I need to make sure I have that money in that checking account before that date.

Ok .... I'm trying to figure out how to post a copy of my spreadsheet showing my expenses for January. I tried copying and pasting, and that didn't work too well. (Read - jumbled up mess.) Arghh - didn't work!

Pointer's anyone? I'm going to try it on one of the pages, because I think you can use html on those.

YTD:.....Expenses.................January
$650.00..Rent:....................$650.00
$23.00...Renters Ins:.............$23.00
$150.00..Charity:.................$150.00
$138.50..Groceries:...............$138.50
$11.69...Eating Out:..............$11.69
$26.00...Dentist:.................$26.00
$20.00...Doctor:..................$20.00
$57.97...Medicine (OTC/Scrip).....$57.97
$5.00....Gifts:...................$5.00
$136.83..Fitness:.................$136.83
$37.80...Car Insurance:...........$37.80
$108.70..Gas:.....................$108.70
$175.48..Repairs & Tires:.........$175.48
$40.00...Tolls:...................$40.00
$35.14...Cable:...................$35.14
$5.40....Netflix:.................$5.40
$84.60...Phone & Internet:........$84.60
.................Total:...........$1,706.11

$40.00...Extra Income:............$40.00
$270.00..Savings:.................$270.00
$75.00...Roth IRA:................$75.00

Rent: I found out today that my rent will be going up $10/month in April.

Renter's Insurance:
This amount will be going down next month. -- Well, actually it won't - because I paid for the whole year in one shot, but am counting it in February's expenses. The actual monthly cost will go down though.

Charity: I pledged a certain amount to something at church, and then gave some that was left from last month, plus this month to the mission trip fund.

Groceries: I spent WAY more than I should have on groceries this month. I think one of my biggest problems was going more than once a week.

Eating Out: This was when I went out with my friend N and her family.

Dentist: Got a cleaning, then had a fluoride treatment.

Doctor: Copay for a visit.

Meds: 2 tubes of orajel for my toothache (lost the first one ). Various prescriptions.

Gifts: Paid for part of Grandma's new divided skillet.

Fitness: This total includes paying for two Callanetic's classes, and my new running shoes.

Car Insurance: Self-explanatory.

Gas: This was a good bit higher than I think it would normally be, due to a couple extra fill ups - thanks to the drama of my car window being smashed.

Repairs: Two new tires (paid for warranty only); Used driver side window from junkyard; Oil change; replaced burnt out taillight; etc.

Tolls: Ugh.

Cable: This is actually two months of charges. When my old credit card number was cancelled due to fraudulent use, I changed my payment info as soon as I had the new number - several weeks before payment was due. Unfortunately, they charged the old card.

Netflix: I decided to keep this - on the lowest plan of two movies a month.

Phone/Internet: This is for my landline, DSL, and cell phone. It's a fairly typical amount for me. -- My landline is the MOST basic, but has ~$17 in fees and taxes!

So, that's my January in a nutshell.

Well, it looks like I am going to have to get the root canal after all.

The last time I saw my dentist, she told me that if the pain came back, that I'd have to get one, no doubt about it.

The pain is back - two-fold.

I'm going to call her Monday morning and see the first available time to get in and get this done is. The thing is, I'm supposed to have a regular doctor's appointment on Tuesday morning, then go the geological library after that. So . . if my appt ends up being Tuesday afternoon, I may very well be out of the office most of Tuesday.

I'm almost thinking I should reschedule my doctor appointment to next week.

Financially, it really would have been better to have had the root canal done last year. That way the root canal would have mostly been paid for by my insurance, and then had the crown done this year and be mostly paid for by my insurance. Now . . . a whole lot of it is going to be out of pocket.

Ugh! If it's not one thing, then it's another.

I made a decision this weekend. I'm not going to take the SAT tutoring job. The training session I went to Wednesday night felt very rushed. I left there feeling like I hadn't really had a chance to retain much of anything. Also, the pay is a lot less than what I had thought it was going to be - especially if I don't manage to make the 700 mark before starting.

So, I've written the person who was working with me and let her know this.

I am going to look into other ways of making an extra couple hundered dollars a month. My mom suggested another tutoring type place that I could check out.

In other news . . I have decided to add a bit of running to my workout schedule - on a treadmill for now. I am going to be using a program called "Couch to 5k" which can be found on the coolrunning.com website. Before really getting into it though, I needed to get some real running shoes.

So, I did that this afternoon. $100. Ouch! But my back and knees will thank me for it later.

I haven't really decided if I'm going to go for doing a 5k or not. If I do, it wouldn't be until the fall when it's not too hot or too cold.

Wow! I was just reading Miclason's blog about how today is her blogaversary, and it made me remember that today is my blogaversary as well!

So many things have changed in my life since three years ago.

When I first started blogging I was in the middle of my last year of teaching and was working towards building up my emergency fund. I was making *a lot* more money, which made saving easier.

Now here I am three years later.
On February 15, it will have been two years since I started my new job in the oil & gas industry. Oddly enough, I am living in the same city I was three years ago, just five miles south of my old apartment. After nearly depleting my emergency fund between the end of my teaching career and starting my O&G job, I am now on track to being close to where I was in Jan 05.

One similarity between Jan 05 and Jan 08 is that I have renewed my friendship with my exbf S. (Yes, I know. I haven't mentioned this. Not a big deal really. He contacted me in early December via email after over 2 years of silence.)


There have been so many new people who've come to be favorite people to "read". Some of my favorites I have not seen in a long time (DivaJen for one! Another one is the person who did the minimum wage challenge - can't think of her name right now.)

Jeffrey and Nate, I am so thankful that you two have put so much time and effort into making the blogs and the site so useful. I am also so thankful for the people here who have become like a virtual community of like minded friends.

So, this morning I walk outside to my car. Much to my surprise and unhappiness I find that the window on the front driver’s side has been smashed to smithereens. Flashback to almost six years ago (this coming Feb 14) when my back driver’s side window was broken into. Thankfully this time they didn’t steal anything. Of course, there really isn’t much of anything to steal in it anyway.

Ugh! ARRGHH! Curses and bad words! (That is what I was doing this morning upon finding my smashed window.)

I called my coworker who carpools with me and told her I’d be a little late, seeing as though there was glass all over the front seats. The apartment complex’s cleaning lady was nearby and saw my distress. She helped me get the glass all cleaned out, which I thought was really sweet.

The ride to the office building was – COLD!

I walked into the gym and asked the manager, “Do you have a punching bag? I really need the use of a punching bag right now.” He was like, “Yeah, E.” (His son and my personal trainer.) Ha ha. So, instead of punching at something, I hit the elliptical hard for 15 minutes – a whole lot less time than normal, thanks to getting to the gym so late.

Once I got to my desk I called my dad and told him what happened. He offered to call this guy our family’s used for various auto repairs for the past 12 years to see what he could do. Later he called me back and told me W had found a used window for $85 and could replace it this afternoon!

Dad came by my office (a 70+minute drive!) and we traded vehicles. I do not like driving his car, but under the circumstances. . . Later this afternoon he called me and let me know the window was in – W had only charged $10 labor! My dad had stopped at a junkyard (where he got the window.) He was told that he’d have to get it himself – he didn’t have any tools with him. Luckily there was another guy there who HAD the necessary tools and was willing to do the job. My dad gave him $20.

My dad and I will be exchanging cars again probably Saturday afternoon.

Yay! for great dads! Boo! to idiots who think breaking a car window is a good idea!

I've got to run to my first training session now for my new job!

I got a call from A around 7 p.m. tonight telling me that they would like to have me join their team! Since I didn't quite make the 700 mark on the SAT tests, I will start training, then half-way through take another diagnostic test. Then at the end of training will take another one. If I make the 700 mark, then I'm good to go. If not, then I'll be on a probationary status, but still able to start tutoring.

Wednesday night after my regular job I'll have my first training session. I'm not too excited about the late night that promises to be, but I AM excited to get started!

The two areas I really need to work on are recognizing the grammar errors (and being able to see the most correct fix) and making a list of easy to remember studies which can support the various possible essay topics. My essay was not given full points because I hadn't used any "studies" to support my answer.

---------------
After the scare I had on Wednesday regarding maybe losing my home due to developers buying the land, I've been giving some serious thought to what I'd need to do in order to be able to purchase a home in the next two - three years.

Right now I have about 5 months salary saved in my EF/Car fund. I have no money earmarked towards a down payment. Before being comfortable starting a downpayment fund, I feel I need at least 6 months income + $4,000 Car repair/replacement in place.

I think I *might* be able to find an older home in the 85K to 90k range. So, 20% downpayment would be $17 - 18K.

Let me put it this way. There is NO way I can save that much money in 3 years - not on what I make now.

So, in a more optimistic view, I have two choices available to me. One, cut down on optional expenses to increase savings. Or two, find ways to increase income.

I am going to do both.

Money Cuts:
First, I have decided to stop taking my Callanetic's class. I love it. It's very relaxing and rejuvenating, but really, it is something that I could do just as well at home for a WHOLE lot less money.

Second, I am going to renew my personal training ONE time. That will put me through May with about 6 extra sessions. I spoke to my trainer today, and he said I could space those last six sessions at one a month - as kind of a check in session. However I would have to pay the gym fee of $20/month. He also is going to help me figure out a good routine rotation which I'll start practicing on Wednesday mornings.

Third, I am going to drop Netflix (not a lot of money saving here - but really, I CAN get movies from the library, and just HOW long have I had this last movie out??)

Fourth, I am going to look into whether or not I can sell my Tivo w/the remainder of my prepaid service contract. If I'm able to do that, then I'm going to drop Cable. (If my Tivo worked without Cable, I'd keep Tivo in a heartbeat and just drop Cable.)

Fifth, I am finished with fast food, soda and frozen dinners. If I go out to eat somewhere, it will b only because I'm going with someone else (i.e. part of a group) and will order as cheaply as possible. i.e. At a Mexican resturaunt only order one single enchilada, no sides. I also am going to continue to try and cut my food budget as much as possible, however, I will be keeping good nutrition in mind.

Increasing Income:

First, I am going to go through my apartment and find everything I can find that may have any cash value (that is not necessary) and try to sell it. (Books, extra t.v. ??)

Second, I am going to redouble my efforts to lose as much weight as possible by March 20 to increase my odds of winning the cash prize.

Third, I will be starting the tutoring job. Training is paid. I will do everything in my power to increase my scores in order to make and surpass the 700 mark.

Fourth, I will seek out other opportunities to earn extra income. I need to see if maybe there's people who need a babysitter, etc.

-----
So ... My top four financial goals --

All money left in grocery, other, gas and phone at the end of each month, as well as any other money earned by any other means will be sent to --

1. Vacation Fund - $500 (Will be essentially a free vacation, but I want to be sure to have money available to pay my own way for anything I do while in CA. After the vacation, any leftover money will be sent to #2.)

Then to:
2. Emergency Fund - 6 months income

Then to:
3. Car Repair/Replacement Fund - $4,000

Then to:
4. Downpayment - $18,000.00 -- GULP

This afternoon I went to one of the Health Seminars that I get 50 pts for - a part of the 20 week fitness challenge. (Ends March 20). I hadn't realized that they were going to have the scales there so that you could weigh in today, rather than coming back tomorrow - otherwise I would've waited to eat my late lunch. Oh well - I still showed a 4lb loss on their scale. 10 weeks to go!

I'm trying to elliminate soy from my diet. This is somewhat difficult for me, because I am a vegetarian and while I do get protein from veggies and beans, I get a whole lot more from soy protein sources. I drink a fruit smoothie each morning which uses soy milk, soy protein, banana, various frozen fruit, and spinach.

I've been doing some research, and found that Hemp protein is about as close as I can get to the soy protein. So, tonight after the seminar I found the Whole Foods store which was listed as having Hemp products. I found the Hemp Protein powder, but did not find the Hemp milk. For right now, I still have two containers of soy milk I need to use up, so that'll wait. Little steps.

While I was there I realized that I was out of spinach. So I went to WF's HUGE veggie section and looked for bagged baby spinach (the easy way, I know, not the cheapest.) There was none to be found!

So after I was done at WF's, I headed home, stopping at Tom Thumb. I went to the bagged salad section where there usually is a ton of bagged spinach. Again, there was none! I found the produce worker and asked where the Spinach was. He told me something about it being a "hot seller" and that all the bags were off the shelf. Huh??

He led me to where the unbagged spinach was and I picked up a bunch. Not my favorite way to do spinach, but I guess it will work.

I've got to say, it was really strange to look at two different stores bagged salad areas and see no spinach. The last time I saw that was when there was a recall.

So ... Whole Foods - 1 16oz cannister of Hemp Protein Powder - $14.99

Tom Thumb -- 1 bunch of Spinach, 1 candy -- $2.77

Brings my grocery spending so far to $90.33 and leaves me with $17.91 left for the month. Hmmm . . . somehow I think I'm going to have to use some of my "other" money for groceries. There are two "grocery days" left in January - maybe I can stretch it.

I had a not great day today.

At work one of my co-workers told me that she'd heard from another one of our co-workers that he'd read a story in the business section of the paper talking about how an development company had bought the land where my apartment complex is located. The article also talked about how the company plans to tear down the current buildings and put up new apartments/town homes/retail shops.

So I went searching to see if I could find the article for myself. I did find it.

Needless to say I was feeling quite a bit upset with the idea of some development company deciding they had the right to kick me out of my home, not to mention the families in the other 399 apartments! Not to mention the fact that I am SICK of moving!

On my way to my Callanetic's class I called the apartment office and asked what was going on. The person who answered didn't deny that the land had been sold, but she did reassure me that nothing would be happening anytime soon. And that when or if it does, we'd be given notice.

My current lease is up at the end of March. I have till the end of January to say whether I'm renewing or not (60 day notice). I'm not quite sure what to do right now. I like where I am living - especially the cost factor and being right in the middle of work and church.

Arghh!!! If I lived in a house of my own the only things that could force me out would be foreclosure or Eminent Domain!

------
My day got just more fun after class. Not. I was backing out getting ready to head home, when all of a sudden I heard "CRUNCH!". I went back into my parking space to see what had happened.

I had apparently backed into the front end of a HUGE pickup truck. Another lady who was leaving shined her headlights on the truck and we both looked for any damage -- there was NONE of course to it. Then we looked at MY car.

On the front bumper of the Gigantic truck was this horn shaped iron thing that stuck out. This horn shaped iron thing did a pretty darn good job of crunching underneath my left taillight and cracking my bumper. The good news is the taillight still works and the bumper doesn't seem like its going to fall off.

I think my car didn't even make contact with the actual truck - just that iron horn shaped thing!

So ... what else is going to happen!??

So I stayed home sick today from work.

This afternoon though I needed to get by Walgreen's to pick up a prescription. So I got myself presentable for public view and headed down my stairs. Just as I was closing my front door, I heard a loud man's voice yelling some indistinguishable expletives. I figured it was one of the two older men that roam around our complex who seem to be a little "off" mentally.

When I got to the bottom of my stairs, there is an enclosed area with a window to the outside - kind of a foyer for the four apartments in our section. I happened to look out the window and see a female cop running through the parking lot after a man. I waited a few minutes to make sure no one else was coming, and got in my car.

As I was driving towards the exit I noticed two cop cars pass by with lights on. I thought maybe they were going to backup the lady cop. I drove slowly by the next two possible areas they'd be but didn't see them. (The street I was on is a very non-busy street most of the time - little traffic.)

Now I'm heading to Walgreen's. I'm very stuffy and not entirely paying 100% attention - kind of out of it really. All of a sudden I hear police sirens and see the car in front of me slam on their brakes. A cop passes through the intersection in front of us. The car in front of me goes, and me not noticing any more cop cars, started to go as well. Then there was another cop car! So, I slammed on my brakes. After he passed, I look both ways to see if any more cop cars are coming and don't see any, so go ahead through. Unfortunately the one place I'd neglected to look was up. The light had turned red. Ooops! I think I was legal to keep going though anyway, because my front tires + a bit more were already in the intersection - but still it get's a little iffy.

I made it to Walgreen's got my prescription, filled up with gas, and made it back home with no further incidents.

Whew!

Ok to make this applicable financially ...
If I would've put this particular prescription on mail order I would've 1) avoided having to go out when not feeling well, 2) avoided nearly being sideswiped by a cop and most importantly, 3) saved a few dollars on the scrip.

About 2:30 this afternoon I received a phone call from the person I was to have an interview with asking if I could come in earlier than I was scheduled for. I agreed - even though I hadn't done some things I'd wanted to do before the interview, but felt I wanted to show flexibility from the start if possible.

So, I got there just a few minutes before 4 p.m. I think it went pretty well. After the interview questions were over, we went over my test (I took the Reading and Writing portions of the SAT). She told me on my essay that one of the problems was the lack of a variety of examples - I needed an example from some study or such not.

I bit my tongue, but very badly wanted to ask her how many high-school students read Newsweek or whatever enough where they'd even KNOW supporting studies, let alone be able to remember it accurately to include in a 25 minute essay from start to finish??

Anyway, from going over my test results, I saw that I essentially needed to have omitted more questions than I did on the Reading part, and on the Writing part I needed to have answered more correctly.

She told me there were two possibilities going forward - 1) Go ahead and start my training while I continue to study to retake the test and make the 700 mark, or 2) Study to retake the test until making the 700 mark, then begin training.

So . . . neither of these two options made it sound like I won't get the job - just have to make the 700 mark. I wasn't far off in the Reading (missed by 30) but in the Writing I was 80 pts off.

Any English teachers out there know of a good resource to really get down pronoun agreement?? That was one of my weak areas - recognizing when pronouns didn't agree. i.e. "It is one's duty to read diligently, because you will learn more that way."

---

My Grandma has been searching for the past few years for a divided skillet. Each time she came here to TX to visit, we would also check around to see if we could find what she was looking for. This time however, I got the bright idea to do a google search -- and found just what she was looking for on Ebay!

The starting bid was $10 + $9 shipping. I put in a max bid of $20, thinking there was no way it would go higher than that, because, really, how many people even know such a thing exists? To my dissapointment and amazement, I was outbid! I started raising my bid bit by bit until I hit $27. Then I called my dad to double check just how much she was willing to go. He told me she had been thinking $29 max (cost +sh) so I said I'd be willing to throw in $5, and my dad said he'd be willing to throw in $5 or $6. So, I put my max bid at $35.

I finally found the other person's max! I bought the pan for $31 + $9 sh = $40.

I was a bit annoyed though, because it just seemed a little too convenient that someone came along and bid up to $30 on something that is pretty obscure. It made me wonder if it wasn't a family member's account or something who saw that there was a bid on their item, so went to bid it up to the retail price.

Maybe not. It could have really been someone else wanting it.

Oh well, I'm just glad that my grandma now will have her pan. I asked her what she'd use it for and she told me she'd use it to be able to cook her meals all in one pan at the same time. Guess that makes sense.

Ok, not really.

This morning I was getting ready to go to church when I got a phone call from a friend of mine. She asked me if I had any plans for dinner, and I told her that I didn't. So she then tells me that her youngest son (5 y.o.) had informed her that she needed to invite me for dinner! So Cute!

So tonight, my friend, her oldest son, her youngest son, another friend of hers named Nora (who youngest son had also told his mom needed to be invited) and I all ate at the Blue Mesa. I hadn't met Nora before, so it was nice to meet one of my friend's coworkers.

Do you get why youngest son was so adamant about the two of us coming to dinner? Laura ... Nora He thinks it's so funny that his mom has two friends whose names sound so alike.

I really was NOT planning on doing any eating out this month - but how can a person resist a request from a 5 year old cutie patootie?

So, anyway, the kid made my day.

I got a spinach and cheese enchilada plate - was $9.69, plus $2 tip = $11.69

I only ate half of it, then took the rest home in to go box -- so lunch tomorrow!

When I got home I put my lb of pinto beans in my new crockpot to soak overnight.

Why am I up so late tonight? I've been working on updating my resume. Tomorrow afternoon I have my interview for the part time tutoring job. A little nervous - but it really wouldn't be a big deal if I didn't get the job. It would just be so nice to have a couple extra hundred each month - give me some breathing room.

I was a beehive of activity this morning. Put my laundry away, did a trash run and actually took it to the dumpster, picked up things that were out of place around the apartment, and cleaned out my car! Wooh! I'm exhausted. -- Just kidding.

I also decided to go check my mail - hadn't checked it since Friday.

I had two interesting pieces of mail. One was from my friend Karin who lives with her husband and two little ones in NM. Her hubby got a job here in Texas, near Houston and they'll be moving in the next few months!! Yahoo! I haven't seen her since her son was about 7 months old, and he's now 4 1/2!

The other piece of mail was from my lovely brother and his even lovlier wife. It was a belated birthday card -- and not just a card, but it also had a $25 Barnes and Nobles gift card! Woo Hoo! Does my bro know me or what?

Within 15 minutes of opening it, I got on mypoints.com and clicked on the Barnes and Nobles link - then preceded to go through all of the bargain priced books. In the end, I bought one regular priced book, and four heavily discounted books. My total purchase was over $25, so I had free shipping, but I did get charged tax.

So, for $4.79 by Saturday I should have 5 brand new books, courtesy of my brother and sil -- plus, I earned myself ~275 points! Woo Hoo!

My Christmas Eve Day was spent in two very different worlds.

Christmas Eve morning I woke up in time to eat a bite of food and get dressed. I had spent the night at a hotel with my dad and Grandma. I was over warm in the night - and had thrown most of the covers off. I had clean water to shower with, brush my teeth with, clean clothes to put on.

I headed to the below lobby level of the hotel to check in with the Soup Mobile organization. There were at least 150 or more people milling around in the lounge area, either waiting to check in, or reading through their instructions.

I got up to the table and found out that I was supposed to have a partner - since I didn't, I got sent to the 'corner' till someone came along without a partner. About 5 minutes later this nice lady named Veronica came over, and we partnered up. We were given a clipboard with a baggie. The baggie contained 6 slips of paper, a few sheets of post it's, a tape measure, two pens, safety pins, and two instruction sheets.

We sat with the others and read through our instruction sheet. It was the first time for both of us to volunteer for this duty, and I think we both were apprehensive about what was about to happen. At first, the instructions looked quite daunting, and I wondered how we were going to actually get through all of them -- especially since one of the pieces of info needed for each person was their inseam.

Essentially Veronica and I's job was to get in line with the other 50 pairs of volunteers, greet the two homeless people who were assigned to us, get their names, waist size, inseam size and shirt size. Then take them to the lounge and give them one of the sack lunches. While they ate, we dropped off their information forms, then got their room number, and then went back to pick up their clothing bags. Once we had their bags, we went back to pick up our pair of homeless people and take them to their rooms. In each of the hallways there was a pair of hall monitors (keeper of the keys) who would let us and the homeless people in their rooms. Then, after dropping them off, we would go back downstairs for our next pair.

A total of 300 homeless people were fed and housed at a *very* nice hotel for Christmas Eve.

The first two pairs we were assigned were men. Two of the four men were either on crutches, or used a cane heavily. I talked sports with one of them - he loves his Cowboys! These first four were all relatively clean and able to carry a conversation well.

The first two times we took our pair to their rooms, the path was lined by other volunteers helping to lead the way. All of them were saying "Merry Christmas" etc to our group as we passed. Just before getting on the escalator to go upstairs, each homeless person received a backpack with toiletries, etc.

Veronica and I were talking later, and both of us agreed that it felt a little weird walking all that way with them and having so many people saying greetings. We both wondered if the homeless people, while appreciative of what was being done for them, weren't also somewhat humiliated by the overabundance of greetings.

The last set of people we were assigned were two women. One was very quiet, and the other was *very* talkative! She was just completely overjoyed and overwhelmed at being in the hotel - getting new clothes -- and the backpack! She just about fell over in excitement about getting a backpack. As we dropped the ladies off in their room, she kept repeating over and over "This is just Heaven!"

So, for about 4 hours of my Christmas Eve, I had the chance to find out just how lucky and blessed I am. I felt sad that the idea of getting a brand new backpack doesn't excite me at all - in fact, my first thought if I was given a new backpack probably would be "What am I going to do with this? Ack - clutter!"

Here I am with my cellphone, a good apartment (even with the neighbors who don't understand what an appropriate volume level is for a complex, or the neighbors who think that just because they have an enclosed back porch - its a great place to leave their dog for umpteen hours) -- I have food galore -- not only that, but I have the CHOICE of eating the good for me stuff or the not so good for me stuff. I have plenty of clothes - and as much as I loathe the laundromat, I have enough clothes to last me three weeks between laundry runs - without running out of clean things!

Okay, so now it's Christmas Eve afternoon. I'm back with my Dad and Grandma. We decide to go out to eat at IHOP and end up eating way too much. Then we go over to Walmart where we spend a lot of time picking out Christmas cards to send to different family members, then continue on to the men's clothing area to pick out a new shirt for my dad (from Grandma). After we finish, we head over to the theater to watch "National Treasure 2". Then we head back to the hotel where we exchange gifts. I gave my grandma a shawl, and I gave my dad Season 2 of Home Improvement. I got cash from both of them (what I asked for.) Then we watched a National Geographic documentary on Killer Whales and the summer of 2004 where they were attacking the California Gray Whales.

My morning showed me just how little some people have, and how such little things, that many of us may take for granted, are greatly appreciated by them.

My afternoon/evening showed me how easy it is to take the ability to choose where you want to eat and what you want to eat, the ability to see a first run movie, the ability to be able to exchange gifts with your loved ones, etc., for granted.

From now on, whenever I get the case of "I wish I could afford that' or "My life stinks" I'm going to think back to Christmas Eve morning and remember that no matter how bad it may get, I still have it really good.

Saturday marked the end of my 31st year of life, as well as the beginning of my 32nd year of life.

It also was the end of my relationship with so called elevator guy and the beginning of a new period of being single yet again.

My birthday had many good elements to it - spent time with good friends, saw several of my former students be baptized, was able to listen to beautiful music, and saw "August Rush". I also got to speak with my brother for an unhurried conversation, as well as with my dad. My mom and stepdad both left messages for me.

As far as the ending of my relationship ... that was my decision. We'd had several discussion with regards to our ideas as to what our relationship was/how it should be with no real resolution other than around Thanksgiving we agreed to the idea of still dating each other, but not being exclusive. Well Saturday morning I received a phone call from him that was the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back.

It's a feeling of both relief and a bit of sadness. I'd much rather be single than be in a relationship that is causing me more frustration and disappointment than happiness.

On the financial side - I received a reimbursement check from my health insurance company for $92.00 from when I went to the endontologist. It was perfect timing - because it will pay for my two tickets to see Jim Brickman! on March 8.

I had quite the frustrating time getting my laundry done today. The first two places I went to didn't have any working change machines nor anyone visible who was working there. Luckily, the third time was the charm - plenty of open machines, a basket with a hanging bar, and a change machine.

In this picture I'm wearing my $20 dress from Ross, and $15 of jewlery from Claire's (including my hairpiece). I don't think anyone had any idea that I didn't spend anywhere close to what they spent on their outfits.



We had a lot of fun. I even got up and was part of a Conga line! I got Tye (my bf) up there on the dance floor for one song - which is more than he said he'd do.

There was an Austin Powers impersonator there - he was really good and really funny. I must have made an impression on him because he remembered my name enough to call me up by name to be part of the Conga line.

Yeah, baby, yeah! (Yes, I am a 31, almost 32 year old woman admitting that I actually liked -- no, enjoyed -- the Austin Powers movies.) It was so weird when I was talking with him, because I *knew* it was some guy playing a character, but he was doing such a good job of it, you felt like you were maybe really talking to Austin Powers.