Arghh!!! I check my financial accounts everyday - sometimes more than once a day. Yeah, I admidt it, I'm a bit anal about wanting to know exactly how much I have at any given moment.

So, yesterday I noticed on my credit card account that although my rent and a number of other things had gone through, they weren't showing up in the actual balance. I thought that was strange, but figured I'd give it a day to see what happened.

Tonight I attempt to log in - I get the message that Nope, You can't log in. Call *********** customer service.

So, I call. I get run through the id verification process. Then I'm asked if I had made the following charges: $2,349 at Home Depot; $1,569 at Williams Sonoma; $689.57 with Time Warner, plus some others I don't remember-- I reply with a Holy Sh**! Um, NO! those aren't my charges!

So, my current number is closed now, and they are sending me yet another new card with a new number. So now I get the fun job of remembering all the various things which I have coming off my card on a regular basis. Fun. NOT!

I have a dentist appointment tomorrow with a co-pay of at least $100. I was planning on using my card for it. Guess I'll have to use my debit card - thankfully ING is still running its 1% back promotion, so it won't be a total loss.

I should have my new card here by Friday when I get home.

It's amazing how something like this can sneak up and bite you even when you keep a tight eye on the accounts.

I'm very glad that Providian realized that these were WAY out of the ordinary charges for me -- I feel bad for the retailers who are now out whatever products the idjiuts bought with my card number.

Hopefully this will be the last time I have to change card numbers for a LONG LONG LONG time! PITB!

Well I went to the endontologist (sp?) on Tuesday for my root canal. It ended up though that she didn't think I actually needed one! She did say that my tooth has a crack in it and so it will need a crown. If it is still causing me pain after getting a crown, then we'll look into getting the root canal.

So, I'll be getting the temporary crown put on this coming Thursday (December 6.)

Our company's receptionist had her last day with us on Friday. If you may recall back in August how I was taken off the phones completely by our head honcho -- well she was experiencing the same treatment from our head honcho and got totally fed up with it. Can't say that I blame her at all, but I will really miss her. I put together a good-bye lunch for her because supposedly she hadn't worked here "long enough" to get a company sponsored farewell party (she'd been here since August 06). Someone else in our company took up a money collection for her - I'd thought about doing that, but wasn't sure how far to push the envelope with having put together the farewell lunch. So she left knowing that she was loved and cared for and would be missed greatly - even if the head honcho was still a pitb to her on her last day!

Our Christmas party is going to be this coming Saturday night. My bf will be going with me - it will be his first time meeting many of my co-workers. He'll know some of the brokers (other side of our company) from the old office building.

I stopped at Ross last night on the whim of maybe finding something appropriate for the semi-formal dress code in my size -- Wow! I found seven different dresses that actually fit me! The one I liked the most was purple, but I didn't get that one since it probably wouldn't have been the most appropriate for a Christmas party.

I also decided I wanted to get some clip on earrings and a necklace to go with my dress. I've never been one to really buy jewelery, nor really wear it much -- but I didn't think it would be so difficult to find a non-ugly pair of clip ons! I did actually find one pair that were nice - but they were nearly $30, which is more than I paid for my dress! So, that was a no go.

I'm going to go to Sam Moon's after work on Tuesday, and maybe Claire's as well to see if I can find something.

My mom is leaving today to go to NJ for two weeks for a training class for her new job. She won't be getting back until Dec 16, the day after my birthday. She's going to get to go see the Rockette's though - when we lived in NJ, we got to see them at the Radio City Music Hall a couple times, so it will bring back good memories.

Her new job is being the Director of one of those tutoring learning centers. She's told me that the lady in charge of working with SAT prep tutors needs people to tutor the Reading/Writing portion very badly - especially on Sundays. Hmmm . . . All you have to have is a teacher's certificate (check) and to have scored at least a 700 on the Reading portion of the SAT's. I took the SAT back in 92 I think, and do not remember what my reading score was - except I know it was a LOT higher than my math score (snicker.) The place I graduated from has closed its doors (two years ago) so I am working on figuring out how to get a copy of my score. I'm really hoping I don't have to take it again, because well, it's been at least 12 years since I've been in any kind of an English/writing class. I love writing, but mostly its for my own pleasure, so I don't worry too much about "correctness" or being too polished. I'm afraid I may have lost much of my "refined" writing skills from way back when. But maybe my score was high enough so I needn't worry.

It sure would help me out a lot to have a second job like that -- one which I could possibly turn into a full time job later on once I have my "Goodbye Head Honcho" Fund fully funded.

--
Oh - the 20 week fitness challenge -- We are now three weeks in, and I have lost 4.5 lbs! Which translates into 1.85% loss. Next Sunday they are having the first seminar - a Holiday Cooking class. I'm going to see if my bf would like to go to it with me. Might be kind of fun to do together.

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I have my Christmas shopping all finished. Most of it was accomplished using my Mypoints credits for various gift cards. Other than gift cards, I bought my dad S2 of Home Improvement from Overstock, I bought my mom a handheld football game from Walgreen's (yes, this was something she said she actually wanted) and I'm getting my bf a gift cert for a massage. So, all in all Christmas is going to come in well under $100.

A couple weeks ago I got a disconnect notice from AT&T due to the past due payment of $175. That $175 charge was due to two 10-10 phone calls made to Cuba in May - minus a $15 credit from the 10-10 company.

A phone technician came out shortly after I received the original bill and confirmed that there was a problem with my phone wires - they had somehow become crossed with another persons phone line. I was credited for all the extra local distance phone calls made (97 over my alloted 25/month) - the next month I had to call again, and was credited for another 15 local calls over my alloted 25/month. (I use my landline ONLY for DSL and Tivo.)

At&T customer service is and was wonderful and has attempted to help me get this resolved however they can.

The 10-10 company on the other hand has been completely unhelpful and completely obtuse and obstinate and HORRIBLE! AT&T has of now taken the charge off my account so I won't see it anymore on my bills from them, and won't receive anymore disconnect notices. The charges are being reversed to the 3rd party 10-10 company.

If my dealing with this particular company today are any indication of what will happen once I get a direct bill from them . . I'm in for more headaches and hassles. BUT I AM NOT going to pay those charges!!

I spoke with a rep first today of the 10-10 company who kept repeating that their company had given me a $15 credit back in July and that is all they can do. So, I asked to speak to a supervisor. The supervisor said the same thing. I asked her if it mattered at all to her that the phone calls were NOT made by me nor anyone else that has ever been in my household. She just kept repeating that the phone calls were made from my number and all they could do was issue me a $15 credit.

I got so fed up because it was going nowhere, that I finally just hung up.

The lady I spoke with at At&t told me that once I'm direct billed by the 10-10 company I'll have to contact them directly once again and see if they'll budge any at that point. Most likely they won't, so then my next step will be to contact the Public Utility Commission or the FCC. Either of those agencies will be able to contact At&T for my account records and will easily see the validity of my story - and hopefully put an end to this saga once and for all.

So, that's how I spent the better part of an hour of one of my few vacation days this year.

Some of you may recall near the beginning of this year my bout with some terrible jaw pain, which was diagnosed finally as nueraliga. I was told that I may only have the one episode, and never have one again. But if it did come back, then I'd probably have problems with it the rest of my life.

Well, the last few weeks I've been getting pain in my upper left jaw/teeth area which I've summarily written off and ignored. Till this past weekend - it let me know that there was something wrong and it wasn't going to let me sleep till I got it figured out.

So when I got to work today I called and made an appt with a new dentist who was able to get me in on my lunch break. Long story short - she took an xray of my teeth , then did what she called a "cold test" on one of my teeth, and determined that it was dead (due to no reaction.)

So ... Root Canal $$$$$$$ here I come. It may sound crazy, but I was actually relieved that there was an actual reason for the pain - no worries of the nueralgia coming back.

---
My church has kicked off a 20 week Fitness Challenge. It started on Sunday with an Initial Weigh In and will end in March. The participants are divided into teams of 5.

The team at the end of the 20 weeks with the most points gets $250, and the individual with the most points gets $200.

You earn points by:
Eating 5 servings of fruits/veggies per day.
Drinking 6 glasses of plain water per day.
Exercising 30 minutes per day (or more).
Attending the free seminars.
Bonus points for attending all 5 seminars.
3x your percentage of weight loss up to 20%.

Let's put it this way - I'll have no problem earning max points in all but the last area. I want that $200 so I'm going to work extra hard to lose weight in the next 20 weeks. If I actually lost 20% of my body weight, I'd be within 10 pounds of my ultimate goal.

My bf is being very supportive of me. We played basketball at his gym on Friday for 90 minutes. Later I told him how many calories that had burned. He told me we should play again this coming Thursday night so I could lose more calories for the challenge. (At first I thought he was going to say - so you can lose to me again - oops!)

Hi all,

Just a quick update on life, love and happiness.

At work this past week one of the main people I do work for pulled me aside and said that he realized he wasn't the easiest person to work for (no kidding Sherlock!) but that he wanted to take the time to tell me how well I've been doing the past few months (with the various projects I do for him.) -- Hmm . .. that was nice of him. I wonder though if a little birdie mentioned that I have very real plans of turning in my resignation papers by August 08??

Oh something else work related ... Some of you may remember how I applied for an assistant's position to our Landman ... then found out the position had been offered to a coworker? Well I found out Friday (from the coworker) that she had decided that the position wasn't really for her. Great for her to have figured that out. As for me . . I had to go into my head and play the chorus of this little ditty "Get Over It!" There's little to no chance that they'll ask me if I want it, and even if they did I don't think I would take it -- ya know, second choice and all that!

Cool unexpected freebie! In today's mail I got a card from my cable company -- and in that card was a voucher for one free ticket for Six Flags!! Now I just have to find someone else to go with me -- and figure out when to go. It's only good through December -- I wonder how much longer it will be open? Mmmm mmm I LOVE amusement parks -- give me some rollercoasters - the higher and the faster and the more loop de loops the better!

Love life .. or should I say dating life? LOL! I'm still seeing Mr. Elevator guy. He's a real gentleman - opens car doors, carries my green bean casserole dish into church for potluck, stands up whenever a woman enters/leaves a room, etc. He sure was raised right -- I'm just having to get used to having my door opened for me -- I'm no feminist, but have been on my own so long that it feels almost unnatural sometimes to sit and wait that extra few seconds or stand to the side while the door is being opened. I think I'll get used to it though.

I can see though that if anything long term develops out of this that I will have to be super bug killing woman - he's very creeped out by creepy crawlies. I live in an apartment in a pretty old building with lots of places for the creepy crawlies to get into. This afternoon we were at my place chit chatting after getting back from church when his attention was diverted by some small creepy crawlie meandering across my ceiling. It kept going back and forth. I finally got up on top of a stand with a tissue and killed the little fella. Discussion then was able to resume. LOL!

Finances - Doing okay. Took my mom and stepdad out for mom's birthday on Friday. They had a coupon for the place she picked out, so that was good - still was a good bit of money, especially since the only thing I could eat there was a baked potato. I've spent a lot of money on gas the past few weeks. Between a little less than half a tank a week for commuting, plus a number of trips to my mom and stepdad's, plus a trip to my dad's, plus a trip to where Mr. Elevator lives -- gas has been guzzled at an alarming rate -- even though my car gets 300+ miles on one tank (~10 gallons).

Hi all,

It's been awhile since I last posted an update on my spending/budget. I've actually been doing okay with it. I ended up deciding to NOT get the fluidity bar, but instead I found a local Calanetic's class which I have been taking once a week for the past few weeks. It's really been quite enjoyable.

I'm finding my commute back and forth to work to not be too terrible. I guess it's all what you get used to, right? Work is going okay - although I am still actively working on a plan to be able to leave it by next August (possibly earlier).

Somewhat exciting news -- A few of you may remember the guy at my old office building who asked me if I wanted to get lunch with him about a year or so ago, and I put my foot in my mouth? Then a short while before my office moved, he asked me for my number. Well, I'm not quite sure just what to call our relationship yet . . . but we have been seeing quite a bit of each other the last few weeks. So . . I've broken my two-year non-dating streak. Yay!

So . . just wanted to drop by and let y'all know that I'm still alive and kicking. I'm really going to try to get back to writing here more regularly.

August 11



I met with a number of my friends from Pathways at Barnes & Noble -- one of them lives in Houston and was in town for the day with her new baby boy. It was so great seeing her (and the others too). They all bought drinks and treats at Starbucks - but I'd eaten before I went, so wasn't even tempted (well, maybe the chocolate brownie the one gals son was eating tempted me a little).

After I met with my friends, I went to the library to pick up a bunch of books on hold. Then I stopped at Target because I needed to find something for the head honcho's daughter who had a baby shower this weekend - I didn't go because of the meeting with my Pathway's friends.

So, I did end up spending:
$13.49 - 3 onesies (3mo,6mo,9mo) and gift bag
~$5 - 3 bean burritos, string cheese, coke, candy bar.

August 12

Spent $2 -- Treated my dad to seeing "Oceans 13" at the dollar theater.

We also stopped at Sam's Club and I got a box of Fiber One Oats & Chocolate bars -- they were at least $.13/bar cheaper than a box of 5 at Walmart - and Walmart is way cheaper than Target or Kroger. Dad bought them for me though, so it wasn't me spending any money.

I made a pot of beans tonight which I'll be eating for supper this week. I also made a pot of quinoa which will be part of my lunch.

I'm excited about Thursday after work. I'm going to be taking an introductory class for calanetics. If I like it, I will probably sign up for 10 more classes. It will cost a good bit of money ($160 for 10 classes) but if it actually helps me on my fitness quest, then I feel its worth it. I'll be taking measurements on Thursday morning so I'll have a baseline to compare to. The only problem is that I'll have to leave work at least 30 minutes early in order to make it in time -- so between the cost and the time factor, I'll have to *really* like the class!

After work today I managed to find one of the toll tag stores and got myself one. It will be nice on Monday to not dig for enough change for the the tolls.

I got a bit lost coming back from the toll tag place, but finally managed to make it to Preston - where I thought I found my usual Tom Thumb. After going inside though I realized quickly that it wasn't the same one - much older/much narrower aisles.

I've calmed down quite a bit on my upset from Wednesday - although I am still seriously considering my options.

I hadn't even mentioned to my mom about what happened, but I did tell her about head honcho guy saying that if he knew who had been the one smoking in the bathroom (which started the trash smoldering) that he would fire him. (men's bathroom). Luckily it wasn't the woman's bathroom, because there are only two women smokers between the two companies (there are maybe 5 male smokers - none on our side though.)
Mom called him an egomaniac. (He wasn't going to fire the person for the act of nearly starting a fire - but more because he'd made a HUGE deal about not wanting to walk through smoke to get to his car at the new building -- then one of HIS employees is smoking in the bathroom!)

I got a call from a friend of mine today telling me that a mutual friend of ours will be in town tomorrow with her new baby! So, we're all going to get together in the morning. Normally, I would be in church - but I feel this is a worthy reason to not go - I don't get to see this mutual friend very often, and haven't gotten to meet her new little family member yet.

My dad is coming up Sunday. He's going to change my license plates for me and also bring me some things my grandma and aunt sent for me. I'm really curious to see what they sent.

I haven't been keeping up with my spending log very well --- but here's what I spent today:

Sent $670 to HSBC (5th paycheck + regular savings amount)

Toll Tag: $40 prepaid

Groceries: ~$22

--- Oh, I also want to mention that I think it won't take much more than half a tank of gas each week for my commute - so maybe 2 1/2 tanks a month or about ~$65 - 70 in gas money. Not so bad - especially when split in half with my carpooler.

Definitely NOT worth moving.

Today was our last day at our office building. Both my coworker and I were finished with everything we needed to pack early this morning, so we both were going around trying to find others who needed to help. Finally at 12:30 we shut off all our computers and wrapped up our phones -- and were told to go on home! Yahoo!

After work I stopped by the library to pick up a bunch of stuff on reserve for me, then headed out to the grocery store. After I was finished shopping, I had quite the scary experience.

I needed to turn right out of the parking lot. There was a car in front of me turning right, and an SUV type vehicle on the other side of the car in front of me. When the road was clear, both vehicles in front of me started moving out - only the one on the other side of the person in front of me turned *in front of that vehicle!* I must have been paying more attention than I thought I was, because all of a sudden my foot is slamming on the brake as hard as it can, and my car shakes like I'd hit something.

The car in front of me pulled on out and went into a turning lane. I pulled out after it and went to the lane beside it, because I wasn't 100% sure I had hit them, and wanted to make sure I did the right thing if I had. In the car was an older lady. We rolled our windows down and I asked her if she was alright, and if I had hit her. She said she was fine, and that yes I had hit her. I told her to go into the parking lot of the apartment complex across the street so we could check for any damage. We did that, and neither one of us could see any damage. She had an 89 Lincoln Towncar -- so I guess our bumpers absorbed the majority of the impact.

God was really looking out for the both of us - especially me - because I *know* I wasn't paying enough attention to be able to have as quickly as I did, slam on the brakes unless my guardian angel moved my foot for me. Wouldn't be the first time thats happened to me.

Spending:
~$40 - groceries (lots of frozen veggies, jam, fresh veggies, snacks for work, flaxseed, fresh fruit, etc.)

7/31
$9.63 - milk, water, etc.

8/1
$4.67 - a treat, frozen pizza


Today was a very busy day at work, which I absolutely loved! Something else that happened which just made me so happy was that the man from the delivery place (remember, he's the one who flashed me a Happy Valentine's Day ...etc) was back! He'd been on medical leave since early June. When I walked by and saw him I stopped out of surprise, and then he jumped up and came out the door. We gave each other a quick hug and a quick chat - but I forgot to tell him we're moving on Friday! It was good to see him again.

Oh! Something that happened yesterday. Some of you may remember my tripping myself up with that guy in the elevator who off handedly asked me if I'd like to go to lunch sometime and I replied about only having thirty minutes? (Quite a few months back.) Well, yesterday (Tuesday) we were again going down the elevator together and he actually followed me to ask me again - seeing as how both my company and his company are moving this month. This time I told him that sure, I thought that sounded fun. He asked me for my number, and I gave it to him. I haven't heard back from him yet, but I'm going to let patience rule the day on this one.

Also, I found out today that I had my picture taken at our recent fire drill for the Office building -- and it was on the front page of the monthly newsletter! Even better ... it was actually a pretty good picture.

Ok, its way late and I need to take Millie (my mom and stepdads dog) out for one last walk. She'll be picked up sometime tomorrow - she was nice to have around, but a dog sure is a lot of responsibility!

Through Sparkpeople.com I found this really neat website where you send in a full body picture of yourself, tell them what you would like done to it, and they send you back the revised picture. All for $17. (seeyournewbody.com).

I did this several weeks ago and was starting to wonder when I was going to get my picture. Today it finally came!

So ... if losing 40 more pounds will really make me look anything close to this? Ummm no more junkfood for me and for sure no more skipping out on workouts!

So ... I wonder how much money this picture will save me in the long run due to not eating or buying the junkfood? Of course if I really get to that size, all the saved money will be spent on clothes! Ah well ... the sacrifices one must make for good health.

Accountability 7/29/07:

No spending

I just finished reading this totally amazing book. I picked it up off the library shelf yesterday when I was there picking up some other books I'd had on hold.

It's called "So Much For Happy Endings" by Kyra Davis. Once I started it this evening (last night?) I did not stop reading until I finished it. It's essentially about a woman who comes from a pretty dysfunctional background who marries this guy who seemed very spontaneous before the marriage, but she starts to find out a whole new picture from the first day of the honeymoon. Long story short, the guy had some serious mental issues. The story is absolutely riveting and breathtaking and heartbreaking all at the same time.

It's just an amazing book. I've read a lot of books that I've enjoyed or really liked, but don't really give whole hearted recommendation to many. This one I do.

What does this have to do with money/finances? I think one of the themes of the book is not letting go of your dreams. A steady job/assured job doesn't really mean much if you're not believing in yourself enough to follow your heart. For many of us who blog here or visit the forums, financial freedom - whatever that means to each one of us - may seem unattainable - but it is attainable with time, effort and belief in ourselves (and for those of us who believe in God or a higher power - God).

This book may also put whatever marital or relationship problems you may have, or have had in the past, in major perspective.

I wrote this for a blog I keep on Sparkpeople and am reposting it here. For here I am adding in the facts that between my vet visit on Friday for updated shots, a bunch of geriatric bloodwork & exam, and today's surgery - I came close to spending a month's takehome. Monkey was worth every penny - but I am so thankful for my Emergency Fund.
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Today has been a very bad day, but I also have felt so much love and compassion expressed towards me that it makes it so I can't say this was the worst day of my life.

I took my sweet, sweet, wonderful, loving friend and companion of nearly 10 years to the vet this morning. My cat was going to have some dental work done and a bump removed from his leg to biopsy.

I arrived early with him, so spent about 25 minutes out in the car with him on my lap just loving him to pieces. I thank God that I had that time with him.

Around 9:30 a.m. I get a page telling me to call our Office Manager. She tells me my cellphone had just gone off. I run back to my desk and listen to the voicemail. It's the vet. He says something bad has happened and I need to call.

I call. My cat died during surgery.

I tell the people around me what had happened. They knew something was very wrong because I shouted WHAT a couple times on the phone and was barely controlling my crying. They were so sweet. I told my Office Manager that I was going to take the rest of the day off - she had no problem with that.

I went back to talk to a coworker and friend to tell her what had happened. She was very sweet and supportive as well.

I somehow made it home. I called my parents - both of them dropped what they were doing today and started to make their way to my place. I had so much nervous energy that I didn't know what to do with myself, so I started cleaning my place. I managed to get it pretty nicely picked up in just over an hour.

Then I started looking for ideas on what to do with my kitty. My mom got here first and she was crying just as hard as I was. She had called my brother, and while we were talking, he called. He was so sweet. He also got me to laugh out loud telling me about his misadventures with seeding his front lawn and ending up with a lawnful of mushrooms!

Shortly before my dad came, a friend of mine who I get together with most weeks called and said that she was bringing lunch for me and my parents. (I had sent out an email to a group of friends about what had happened.)

When my dad came we all sat around talking about Monkey (my cat) and also remembering some of our other pets we've had through the years. It was good talking about them. My friend came with the food, which was just so very thoughtful and sweet of her. She stayed for a little while, then had to get back to work.

After that my mom, dad and I went to the vets so we could see Monkey one last time and say goodbye. The vet and his assistant were pretty shook up about the whole thing themselves. Monkey was laying on his heating pad in one of the little kennel cages with a towel partially covering him.

His ears were in an alert position, and the tip of his sweet pink tongue was just barely sticking out of his mouth. We moved the towel and I squatted next to him and petted him for a long time while the vet and the assistant and my parents talked intermittently I

didn't really want to hold him because I knew he wouldn't feel right, but my mom really wanted to hold him. So after she did, I went ahead and did too. He was so heavy, not like he used to feel when I would hold him. -During my conversation with my brother, he'd suggested taxidermy. After holding my sweet little kiden I knew for sure that my answer to that would be a solid NO.

I told the assistant that I had decided to have him cremated since I live in an apartment and have nowhere to bury him. So I had to fill out a form saying what I wanted to have engraved on his little plaque. I should be able to pick him up on Friday..

After we left the vets we came back to my place and stayed in my mom's car just talking about everything and anything for a couple hours. Then my mom left and my dad and I went up to my place. It was so hard walking through that front door knowing that I wasn't going to be greeted by an annoyed meow telling me it was WAY past lunchtime.

Dad stayed for a little while checking his email and sending an email to my grandma about what happened. She and my uncle and aunt are in Euorpe right now visiting a sick relative. I actually got Monkey from a close friend of my Grandmas Labor Day weekend 1997.

It wasn't too long after my dad left that I started thinking about the fact that I felt pretty hungry. I was thinking that I wanted to go to Walmart and get all my favorite comfort foods (chocolate and more chocolate). That I would stop at Boston Market and get my mac & cheese and mashed potatoes. But then I started thinking that if I did that, if I went that far off my healthy eating of the past week - the eating where I've lost 4 lbs - that that would be dishonoring Monkey's memory.

I'm doubly glad that I didn't go to the store, because a few minutes after 5:30 I had a knock on my door. One of my coworkers was standing there. She'd come by to check and see how I was doing and to generally commiserate. She'd not been there even 5 minutes when another sort of coworker came by to do the same. I was so incredibly touched by both of them.

They hadn't been gone even 3 minutes when another coworker of mine called me to make sure I was doing okay. When I checked my email, I had well over a dozen responses to my mass email from that morning, plus I had a good number of responses from my posting here on Spark.

My heart is heavy tonight as I try to absorb the shock of my Monkey's death, but my burden is lighter due to the outpouring of love and friendship from so many different sources.

And, in honor of my sweet kitties memory, I DID not go out and indulge in my comfort foods of pastimes. However, I DID allow myself SOME comfort food in a controlled portion - I made a protein powder/banana/peanut butter/chocolate syrup/soymilk shake. It wasn't even all the good.

RIP Monkey 1997 - May 9, 2007

Today started out really good. I wasn't in much pain at all - felt the best I have in several weeks. Kept pretty busy the whole day.

Then about 20 minutes before the end of the day I get a call from our VP asking me to see him before I leave.

When I go into his office he asks me to sit down and then calls in our Landman. By this time I've figured out that I'm about to find out about the assistant position I had shown interest in several months ago.

Well, our Landman had figured out what he needed - as far as the job description. I think it actually changed from what he'd at first been thinking because of our CPA/accountant leaving a few weeks ago. The position now entails a lot of math knowledge and analytic ability. Not my forte'.

My coworker who has been the assistant accountant for a little over two years also expressed interest in the position. She has the math background/ability, program knowledge with the particular program, and seniority.

Although I understand their decision, I can't help but feel totally disappointed and sad. I'm really wishing now that i hadn't even said anything about being interested in it.

It's so depressing to look at the next 20 years of my life and see a never ending sea of me standing at a copier making copies or being told to "roll those maps tighter".

I really wish right now I had the financial backing and the gumption to just be able to quit and do something that would actually make me feel like I was doing something worthwhile - something that actually did something to make other people's lives better.

I've always thought that I'd like to be a reading/English tutor - but I'd want to get my Reading Specialist degree and take a number of different tutoring methods coursework before I'd feel comfortable doing that. Even with all that though, it would take a lot of time before I could build up enough clientele to make a living on my own. So, even if I had the money to go back to school and get my Masters, I sure don't have the money to wait out however long it would take to get a good enough client base.

I'm just feeling so disappointed right now. The VP did say something about them looking into getting financing to expand the drilling base and that would make us busier and possibly open up more room for growth/moving up/around. Man, I hope this doesn't mean I won't be typing the Landman's documents/letters anymore - that's one of the highlights of my day.
ARGHHH!!!!

Tuesday morning I went to see my regular doctor. I mentioned to her that a number of people had suggested that the problem might be a sinus infection, or possibly TMJ related. After me explaining to her about the location of the pain, as well as the frequency, and then her doing a number of tests, she came up with something that really threw me.

She said that she thinks I have SHINGLES presented without a rash! She told me there are three nerves in the face and the one that is causing me problems is my Cranial Nerve V 2. I had a really bad case of chickenpox when I was 3 - Shingles is a reoccurence of chickenpox - although it usually happens to much older people. lucky me.

She told me that because of the location of it, there could possibly be hearing loss, vision loss or even encephalitis! She gave me a list of ENT (Ear Nose and Throat) docs to make an appt with. I called one and explained what was going on and they told me that what I really needed was an Otolarynogoloist (sp?) or someone who deals with facial nerves.

So, I have an appointment with one on Monday. Until then I am taking these awesome pain meds that make me very loopy, but I much prefer being loopy to being in pain!

I have been trying to find info on Shingles without a rash on the net, but haven't had much luck. I'm also being very paranoid every time I have an itch or a pain anywhere - fearing that a rash might suddenly appear!

All I can say right now is Thank God for my health insurance plan! My coworkers too - they're all being so sweet and worried about me.

Like my mom said, my company may not pay much, but they treat a person right in the other ways that count.

I'm still trying to believe that this is really happening and not a story about someone else. I've always been fairly healthy with few issues (other than weight).

I now can definitely never afford to lose health coverage.

Anyone know a good way to reduce jaw/tooth pain other than tylenol, etc? I went to the dentist on Friday and he did an xray of the left side of my mouth and couldn't figure out why it's hurting me so much. He's referred me to a specialist who I am going to call today to try to get an appointment with. I've not been sleeping very well - it tends to get very bad at night just as I lay down trying to go to sleep. Right now it's hurting so bad I feel nauseous - and I tend to have a very strong stomach. I've been living on tylenol and tylenol pm for nearly a week now, though it really hasn't helped much. The pain starts in my upper jaw/gums and resonates all the way up my head to the back of my left eye - so much so that I can hardly bear to keep it open. I don't get migraines, but if I did, I think this is pretty close to what maybe a mild one would feel like. The pain comes and goes without warning - no real rhyme or reason that I've been able to figure out yet.

I really hope I can figure something out other than tylenol, etc to take because I know it isn't good to take a lot of that stuff over time - and it isn't really helping that much anyway. I'm losing sleep and my concentration at work is suffering as well.

Sorry mostly this is a rant I guess - but if anyone has any advice on a way to help the pain go away I'd really appreciate it. I usually have a really big pain threshhold - this is reaching my max plus some.

I received my second check from Treasure Trooper's today for $42.00. I guess they're not on my bad list anymore, but I don't think I'll be trying to earn anymore with them. It's way too annoying to have to clear my cookies after doing each offer, as well as keep up on all the offers I have done. Between that check and the last one it will pay for my renter's insurance through April.

Had a dentist appointment today for a cleaning. Ugh. Cleanings are almost as bad as a filling. The sound of the scraping of the teeth - worse than nails on a chalkboard.

A coworker of mine has been asking me about the best ways to go about getting a used car. Her daughter recently turned 16 and has her license. So, the plan is to give her daughter the mom's paid for car, and get a different car for the mom. Then in a few years when the son is 16, mom's car passes to daughter, daughter's car passes to son - mom gets a new car. I've made several suggestions (ebay, Rental Car companies, newspaper, putting word out amoung friends/family members, yahoo groups, etc.) Her husband doesn't like the idea of a rental car because he thinks they'd be too abused. She looked at a yahoo group I mentioned, but gave up because it felt like too much work to get signed on to it.

So, they're talking about buying a new car - mainly because they can't seem to find anything in their $5 $8k range used. They also just recently put a $6,000 instrument for their daughter on their credit card. (She is very talented on this instrument, is a sophmore, but very likely could get a good college scholarship.)

She's worried about the money and is willing to listen to my ideas, but is very good at finding reasons why it won't work for her family.

What can I say? All I can do is try to offer what I have learned through experience and through much reading. If it's taken, it's taken, if not, then it's not.

This pet food recall is a very scary thing. It's scary to think that a company that makes pet food would be willing to scrimp on ingredients irregardless of the effect it would have on its customers - people's pets. I actually have 3 cans of Special Kitty in my cupboard that I bought 3 or 4 months ago - one of the items on the recall list. Thankfully I only fed my cat a couple tablespoonfuls from one can.

I just can't imagine the grief and heartache that the owner's of affected pets are going through right now. If something were to happen to my Monkey, I just don't know what I would do.

I was reading a story today about a woman who has lost TWO of her cats this past week to renal kidney failure - both tested positive for the rat poison. She has a 6 year old daughter and a 3 year old son. Now, just HOW do you explain that? Two perfectly healthy cats, dead.

This morning I had to be out the door of my apartment by 5:30 a.m. so I could make it downtown by 6:00 a.m. Why? Because if you remember, on Valentine's Day I was pulled over by a cop for making an illegal left turn (warning) and got a ticket for not having proof of current insurance with me.

I thought I had sent the correct paperwork in a few weeks ago, and had it all taken care of. But Thursday night when I checked my mail I had a letter from the County Clerk telling me I had NOT sent in the correct paperwork. So Friday morning I call and manage to get in touch with a human being who essentially tells me that the only way for me to take care of this now is by coming in to the courthouse and seeing the judge.

Gulp.

They only take the first 90 people who are there at 7 a.m. Which is why I decided to get there by 6 a.m. - hoping to be amoungst the first 10. I ended up arriving there about 10 after due to a few wrong turns, and found about 20 people ahead of me.

Courthouse doors finally open at 7:10. As we are going in I realize that I had not taken the pocketknife off of my keychain. I asked the officer if there was a basket or something I could leave it in to retrieve later. He essentially said throw it away or take it back to your car. With at least 50 people behind in line, I threw it away.

Once inside I followed the crowd and managed to find the place where we were all put into a corded off area. Well, at least the first 50 of us were. The others all had to come back at 12:45. The line moved slower than grass growing, but finally at 9:30 I was called to one of the clerks spots. She quickly looked over my proof of insurance, and then handed me my papers and directed me towards the correct courtroom.

A few minutes later I arrived in the courtroom and stood in yet another line to give the bailiff my papers. He was dealing with someone with a lot of questions, so a kindly lady called me over and did my paperwork. I was so grateful to just be able to sit down. I was even more grateful when she told me that my case would be dismissed and I would not have to pay the $410 fine.

My relief was short lived however, because as I walked to my car I realized that the 2 hour time limit was long gone. Thankfully though, there was no parking ticket on my windshield. So yet another sigh of relief.

It was almost 10:30 by the time I arrived back home. I was exhausted due to not having slept hardly at all last night, plus getting up at a much earlier hour than normal. So I decided to take care of a few phone calls that needed to be made, and then take an hour nap before heading to work.

I made four phone calls. Three of them were to cancel trial offers (Mypoints and Treasure Trooper stuff). The 4th was to Trowe price. I am finally moving forward on figuring out what to do with my two rogue retirement accounts that are losing money for me rather than earning. Yay!

After my nap I wasn't feeling that much better, so decided to just take the entire day off. Not the most fun filled way to use up a vacation day, but I did get quite a few things taken care of that needed to be accomplished.

All in all, I have truly learned my lesson, because I do not ever want to have to stand for 3 + hours in a courthouse again. I will be super vigilant about making sure I have my current insurance card IN my glove box!!!

Tonight when I retrieved my mail, I had two items of interest.

One was a check from Treasure Trooper for $38.00. I'm still annoyed with them for a number of reasons, but I am happy to get at least this amount. We'll see if I get the other $40 next month.

The second item was an envelope from poetry.com. I had entered a poem into the contest as part of one of Treasure Trooper deals. I hadn't kept my own copy of it, so I was glad to get another copy. It supposedly is in the semi-finals.

Of course, they offer to let you purchase a copy of the book it will be published in, as well as offer to publish an "author's bio" for the low low price of $25. Um, yeah sure. I'll buy a book if I win the $1,000 prize.

Well, that's all for now folks.

I mentioned in a previous blog about how Sparkpeople.com was having a contest this month for people referring others to the site. The top prize is a $100 Amazon Gift card, the only other prize is a Sparkpeople bumpersticker. Every person who refers at least 10 people get the bumpersticker.

Well as of this afternoon, I received credit for my 22nd person referred (total) and my 10th person this month! It may sound kind of silly to get so excited about earning a bumper sticker, esp. since I don't put them on my car . . . but I really wanted one anyway and didn't really want to buy one.

I wonder if I'll get to choose which one I want?

I'm also only 600 points away from the 10,000 point trophy. I wonder what that is going to look like? I wonder how many points to the next trophy? I am way too focused on those points I think, and I can't even do anything with them like on saving advice.

Feb 13:
* Woo Hoo! Lost another 0.4 lbs.
Also, my Spark team had a NO GAINER week - which is pretty amazing for 20 people. It is the second time this has happened for my team since I started leading back in July of 06.

* I got an email from Coach Jen (who is the Spark person in charge of the Community Team Members - kinda like Jeffrey/Nate). One of the things she mentioned was that for the first New Member sparkteam there were over 12,000 members! Wow! I'm really curious how many people will be on my team when my turn comes. (Each New Member Sparkteam has 3 co-leaders and stays together for a month. Community Team leaders have signed up to lead these teams - essentially help new people with whatever questions/concerns they may have.)

* I now have 8 people signed up for Sparkpeople thru me for February! I just need two more people to get a bumper sticker. Woo hoo! I'm so happy people are getting to enjoy the wonders of Spark because of my obsessive ramblings about it.
Valentine's Day:

* Pulled over by cop for making illegal left turn. I thought the sign said no U-turn. Received a warning for that, but did not have my current insurance card with me. So, I did receive a ticket for that.

* One of the people at the delivery place I walk by everyday on the way to work held up a special sign for me, "Happy Valentine's Day."

* Spoke to our Landman and to our Communications Director about my being interested in completing whatever training would be necessary to become our Landman's assistant. They both seemed happy to know that I was interested.

Feb 15:
* Celebrated my one-year anniversary at work.

* Received an email from Treasure Trooper saying that my check has been printed and I should receive it soon. It was $40 less than I was expecting. The $40 is from one deal where the company was giving me problems and I canceled early. I am SO done and over Treasure Trooper. (Much more to it.)

Feb 16:
* Received my Fed Tax Refund. Have thought of a million ways/places it could be spent/used, but for now it is sitting in my ING checking account.

* Had my first session with my mom's Personal Trainer (gift certificate for Christmas -2 sessions). I throughly enjoyed it and felt I could gain so much from it if I could do it regularly. But throughly DID NOT enjoy the drive to get there. Too bad he's not 20 miles closer to me.

* Ate supper at my mom and stepdads. My mom had made me this super sweet mini-booklet card talking about how I was when I was younger and how I am now. It was essentially celebrating my one-year at my company. Then we played a game of Scrabble and unbelievably I LOST! That doesn't happen very often. I blame it on the fact that we were missing about 12 - 15 letter tiles.

Today was another laundry day. Fun, fun, fun.

Have you ever noticed that laundromats have an abundance of the large capacity washers ($2.25/load) that are almost never full, but the normal capacity washers ($1/load) are nearly impossible to find one, let alone two that are available? (Holy run on sentence - yikes!)

And is it just me, or is it a purposeful ploy to not have enough laundry carts for everyone to use?

Have you ever noticed (or maybe this is just in Texas) that the only station on the tv is some Spanish language station played at extreme volume. But of course the screen can't be seen by the majority of the people in the laundromat.

Why is it that parents feel comfortable letting their barely toddling children have free range throughout the laundromat where numerous strangers go in and out constantly?

And is it just me, or does the price of the dryer correlate directly to how clean or grossly unclean the bathroom is?

I'm thinking that I'm going to have to come up with a good reason to make another visit to my mom and stepdad's before my next laundry day.

Signed,

Throughly sick and tired of using laundromats and longing for the day of living somewhere with my very own washer and dryer again.

I have about six pretty nice suits in my closet that I bought about six years ago when I was trying to start my own business.

I didn't have very much opportunity to wear them after I closed my doors, mainly because I started teaching again, but also because I gained weight and couldn't fit into them anymore.

So, a few years ago after having lost over 50 lbs, I was once again able to wear them. I couldn't wear them to work (school) so I wore them to church. Fast forward a bit, and again couldn't wear them due to gaining weight.

A few months ago after having lost a good bit of weight once again, I decided to try on the suits. Most of them fit! I had them dry cleaned and was thinking of adding them into my work wardrobe. But then realized that it may be a bit of overkill for where I work, plus if I wore them more often, then I'd have to get them drycleaned more, which would add up. So they sat in my closet.

Today I decided that I would wear one of them to church. I picked out one of my blue suits, fixed my hair, did my makeup, etc. Looked in the mirror (front view only) and felt like I passed muster.

After first service I decided to step into the ladies room to get a tissue for my nose. While there, for some reason I decided to check out the back view in the mirror. Doh! On one side of my otherwise very nicely fitting jacket, was a two inch rip along the seam! I wish I knew how it happened, although it doesn't really matter I guess. It shouldn't cost too much to get it fixed, since it is along the seam.

But knowing that I'd been walking around church with that big hole in my jacket really made me self-conscious!

-------

Then when I got to my apartment complex there were a bunch of young boys riding around on bikes. I was getting close to my parking spot, when all of a sudden this kid flys out between two parked cars on his bike right in front of me! Thankfully I was going fairly slow, and we saw each other about the same time, otherwise I don't even want to imagine what may have happened!

Needless to say, that sure got my adrenaline pumping!

I finally got my W2 from my current employer, so I could file my taxes. I went through irs.gov and then used Turbo Tax online. I'm getting a refund of slightly over $800, even though I readjusted my witholding amount in September.

So, what are my plans for this money? I'm going to use part of it to pay myself back in a couple budget categories I siphoned from a little in order to pay for my new eliptical machine. Then I think I'm going to put $100 in my Vacation account. Then the rest -- 1/4 to each of the following: Emergency Fund, House fund, Roth IRA, and New clothing fund.

This is the largest refund I've ever gotten. One year I got $500 back, but most of that was because I had opened a Traditional IRA that year.

_____
Something else really cool - well two things actually. Today I got an email telling me when my week is to lead a team of Sparkpeople new members (newbies). I'm so excited because I think this will be a great way to help people really feel comfortable and accepted right away on the site.

I'm also kind of excited about the promotion Sparkpeople is running this month for referring new people. I've gotten credit for 11 people so far (4 others who forgot to use my username when signing up). What's really neat is that *everyone* who refers at least 10 new members gets a Sparkpeople bumper sticker!

I think Sparkpeople is such an awesome site and I absolutely LOVE telling people about it! I kind of embarrased one of my friends the other night when we were at social dinner for women. There was this lady who was talking about how much she wanted to be healthier and lose weight, etc. Of course I felt like that was a perfect opening, and started telling her all about Spark.

I just can't tell people enough about it! After having used Weight Watcher's Online and paying out the nose just to use the site and their online tools, it is
SO refreshing to find a site that in my mind at least, is SO much better in every way, not to mention completely FREE.

I love that word Free, don't you? I love it even more when that word is coupled with losing over 40 lbs.

I have been at a bit of a standstill lately, but with a little revamping of my exercise program and trying to keep my eating in check (did I mention tracking *every bite*?) I am slowly starting to move in the right direction again.

A girlfriend of mine received two gift certificates for a pedicure and manicure. She invited me to use the second one. We used them this afternoon.

I'm not sure what the problem was, but the person who did my pedicure/manicure was pretty rude to me. My entire pedicure/manicure took maybe 15 minutes tops. My friend's took more like 25 minutes. The lady who did me finished and then tried to ask me how I was going to pay - but she wasn't exactly easy to understand. It sounded to me like she was asking for a tip. I played dumb and told her that no I didn't want any tips. Her coworker (who was working on my friend) finally interpretaed for her and let us know she wanted money. So my friend gave her the two gift certificates.

I sat next to my friend waiting for her to finish for a good 8 - 10 minutes.

I haven't had a *lot* of manicure/pedicures done in my lifetime, but I have had enough to know that this experience was WAY below subpar. If this would have been one I was actually *paying* for -- I would have been majorly complaining. Of course, I wouldn't have gone to this place in the first place, because there is this great place that does a *real* spa pedicure, including heated rocks/towels etc, for $10 LESS than this place.

My standard tip when going to one of these places is $10. I would have left a tip today if I would have received even good service. Maybe the lady thought I was going to stiff her because I was wearing my workout clothes (clean, but a bit wrinkled - the last of my clean clothes that I could wear and push the pant legs up) ?

I could say maybe it was because of my weight - but my friend weighs as much as I do. Maybe it was because my heels were in such bad shape. I do give myself pedicures and manicures of a sort, but am not that good at getting my heels nice and soft.

Who knows what the problem was. At least it didn't cost me or my friend anything. It did cost that lady a $10 tip though!

I wasn't going to say anything to my friend about it, but she actually spoke up and apologized to me for getting jipped -- and mentioned that it was a good thing we weren't paying for it, otherwise there would be a scene!

My dad took my car to Discount Tires yesterday afternoon after getting the alternator fixed.

My car's been having some major vibrations going on for at least the past 5 or 6 months. I thought maybe it had to do with the rear something or other thingy that needs to be fixed sometime (according to the Honda dealer who did my 90k mile checkup, its needed, but not urgent).

Well, according to Discount Tire, my two front wheels are made of steel. And they are now an oblong shape rather than a circle. That's why I've been getting the vibrations.

They suggested either replacing the two front wheels with two new steel ones ($180) OR replacing all 4 steel wheels with aluminum wheels (which supposedly last forever) which would set me back $300 or so.

I know so much more about cars now than I did on Thursday. Ugh!

Anyway, my dad offered to look and see if he could find some steel wheels or aluminum wheels at the junkyard on Monday, while he's looking for a spare tire to replace mine that vanished.

I'm really glad he has my car right now and is willing to do all this stuff for me. Cuz most likely if it was left up to me. . . . I probably would just live with the vibrating and would probably have been sick in the gut, but paid the bigger price for the alternator just to get it done and over with.

I really wish I could find a class that would be geared for women who want to know more about their cars - at least enough knowledge so I sound intelligent when talking with a mechanic so I'm less likely to get taken for a ride.

I do wish I had my key ring that my car key is on -- because that key ring also has my mailbox key on it! I do have an extra mailbox key - but it unfortunately is IN my car.

For the past couple of weeks every time I've gone somewhere in my car I've had a more difficult time getting it to start. My dad was going to check the battery this weekend to see if it was low on water.

Well, yesterday after work I headed to the library to drop off a couple of books. When I got back to my car, I realized that I had a problem.

Btw - to complete this picture. -- It is a Friday after 4 p.m. and it is drizzling/raining off and on.

My car would. not. start. I have roadside service with Cingular, but I couldn't remember the customer service number. (I thought it was *66, but apparently not.) So I went inside the library to look it up in a phone book.

When I came back outside, I noticed there were people in the car next to mine getting ready to leave. I hurried to their car and got their attention and asked if they would be willing to jump my car. The man was willing (an older oriental man) but did not have cables. I thought I had cables in my trunk, but they were nowhere to be found.

So, I go back inside to ask the security guard if he happens to have any. He doesn't, but does follow me outside. At this point a woman pulls into the spot on the other side of me. I ask her if she has cables -- she does!

So now the security guard and the first man get my car jump started. The woman with the cables gives me the name of her trusted mechanic. I thank everyone profusely for their help and start driving (well, not before having the security guard flirt with me a bit!)

I'm trying to decide what the best thing is to do. I know that now that my car is started, I better not turn it off until I'm someplace where I know I can get it going again easily. I decide to head to the place I got my oxygen sensor replaced at.

When I get there I ask them if they sell Interstate batteries (because that's what my dad told me my battery was). They didn't. So then I decide to go to the place where I had my car inspected a couple months ago.

They confirm that my battery is dead, but that it isn't an Interstate battery - in fact they're not sure what kind it is. They then replace it with an Interstate battery ($86.xx with 72 mo warranty). Then they run a test to make sure the problem was the battery.

Bad news. My alternator is dead (which is what caused my battery to die in the first place.)

These guys give me an estimate of $130+ $100 labor + tax for a rebuilt one, and $180 + $100 labor + tax for a new one with lifetime warranty. My dad tells me that he thinks both of these figures are WAY out there and tells me to give him a little time to check with the person who fixed his alternator a few years ago.

He calls me back about 15 minutes later. This person will do it for $75 + $25-40 labor + tax. Woo hoo! But this person is in the town where my dad lives. About 80 minutes from where I am.

When I tell the mechanics that I've decided to go with someone else who gave me a much less expensive estimate, they start giving me all these dire predictions about how my battery will be drained within one - four hours depending on how much I use my headlights/wipers.

I still decided to go with the less expensive option. I did however drive the 10 minutes or so home with just my parking lights on and minimal use of my wipers. Not fun when its getting dark out and it's raining.

My dad came last night and spent the night, then this morning he drove it to the shop he found. I'm now just waiting to find out if the guy can fix it today or if it'll have to wait till Monday.

Thank goodness for Dad's and thank goodness for having money set aside in a car repair fund, and thank goodness for the kindness of strangers!

___
So far this visit from Murphy has cost me a total of: $107.13 The cost of the alternator: ? $100 - 125 + tax. Plus probably another tank of gas - ~$20

ETA - Just got a call from my dad. The alternator is fixed! Cost: $129 total. He also filled up my gas tank - $1.93/gallon -- $17.82.

He is also going to check at the local Discount Tire place to see what it would take to fix the vibration in my car. He thinks my front wheel is bent and is causing the vibration. May as well get it fixed now since he has my car and I'm already spending money on it!

It almsot didn't happen today. A lot of people were out due to the weather. The VP said he wanted to talk with me when Sh was also there - she wasn't coming in that day.

Later this morning he called me into his office and he had Sh on the speakerphone. They told me what my raise was. Let's just say its a good thing I didn't set my expectations too high. It works out to about $.70/hour increase -- or about enough each month to buy less than two tanks of gas for my car.

Not exactly what I was hoping for, and certainly not enough to make it feasiable for me to move closer to the new office area anytime soon and still be able to have any kind of significant savings.

So, I can chalk this up to another life experience -- asking for and getting a raise. Maybe next time I'll be able to do it in a better way where I can let them know how much of a raise I am hoping for.

Remember I mentioned that I bit the bullet and asked for a raise this past Monday?

Well, I didn't hear anything at all about it one way or the other by Friday afternoon. So, I planned on talking to Sh, our Communications Director about it on Monday, to see what she would suggest I do. (She is the President's daughter and VP's niece).

I had to leave 30 minutes early on Friday to get to a Dentist appointment.

While I am sitting in the waiting area, I get a call from S, the VP. He asks me where I am - and I tell him that I had to leave early for a dentist appt. He then tells me that he was ready to talk to me about my raise!! But that we could do it on Monday instead.

Oy vey! I could have found out about my raise Friday afternoon and had the whole weekend to rework my budget - but no, I had to go to the dentist!

The one good thing is that I now know I will have an answer by Monday. Yay! Maybe it will go into effect by this Friday's paycheck, which would be awesome!

Moral of the story: It's good to take care of your teeth - just don't do it when you're waiting for an answer from your boss!

P.S. I ended up having 2 small cavities. Not too bad considering that it had been over 3 years since I last went to the dentist.

Last week I put myself on a kind of financial roller coaster.

I canceled my cable (basic), a hosting service (for a website who's domain had run out 9 months! ago), and the pet insurance plan for my cat.

But . . . over the next few days the more I thought about it, the more I realized that I really wanted to keep my cable .... and that I really wanted to keep going with Tivo. So . .. I reinstated my cable (thankfully before it was fully canceled - thus no reconnection fee) and . . . bought a dual tuner 80 hr Tivo w/3 yr plan. Gulp. Regarding the Tivo - My current Tivo's 1 year gift sub ran out this month. To continue it on the monthly plan would be ~$13.10/month. The DT Tivo w/3 yr plan works out to be ~10.80/month. Big initial outlay, but a lot less in the long run.

My spending spree didn't stop there though. I bought two needed sports items from Ebay (think bounce reducers) which will be helpful in my upcoming fitness classes. AND I bought two items from Harriet Carter -- Both of which I had seen in their catalog a year ago and wanted, but kept talking myself out of it. ---
Divided microwavable/freezer plates (3 sets of 4) and a cordless water pump. The plates obviously are for make ahead do it yourself freezer meals. The cordless pump is for, well ... pumping water! I'm really getting tired of drinking water from the tap. -- I still need to get one or two of those big 5 gallon jugs to use and fill up.

All in all I ended up spending close to $500. In one night. Gulp. All paid for in cash (initially credit card for bonus points, but already made the payment to pay it off.) Oh yes, all spending also was entered into YNAB (You Need a Budget.)

Then Friday I found this website called treasure troopers and sort of snooped around it checking it out. Finally decided to take the plunge and sign up for it. Chose a few of the offers that looked interesting. As of tonight, I have $58 in approved offers + $27.50 in pending offers. I feel pretty confident that this will actually payout. And, if it doesn't, then I'm not out very much at all ($3 Sh&H on one offer.)

What brought all this about? The best that I can come up with is that all my cutting expenses happened at the beginning of the week before I had made my final decision about whether to get into a house with my dad/grandma. The spending splurge happened after I was completely settled on the idea that I was NOT going to go for the house deal -- and I got some very encouraging news regarding a very real possibility of a raise in the near future.

So, anyway. I better hit the hay. I'm meeting a bunch of veggie heads for lunch tomorrow. Supposedly this place has the best vegan/veggie food in town. We shall see. This will be my first time actually going to a meetup activity --- check out meetup.com (free site).

Of course I've gotta put in another little plug for Sparkpeople. If you made a resolution to get in shape this year, but don't want to spend a lot of money on a diet program - be sure to check them out. If you do join, I'd love to get a sparkmail from you. I've had a couple people let me know when they joined because of me.

Off to bed I go!