+++
Day 4
No soda bought or consumed
Got in 4 servings of veggies/fruits

Day 5
No soda bought or consumed
Got in about 8 servings of fruits/veggies
Tumeric/Cinnamon/black pepper in smoothie

- - -
Day 4 and 5
Too much chocolate bought and consumed.

Am thinking that I am going to keep the focus just on eating lots of fruits and veggies and no soda. Not worry about the chocolate intake for now.

--------------------
Thursday when I got to work boss pulled me aside and basically told me what I'd planned on saying to her .. That it made the most sense to put the extra person at the extra desk/table rather than me.

The phone didn't start working properly til today - after a bit of magic by the phone/IT guy.

Extra person I think hadn't caught that the plan had NOT been for us to be sharing desk/phone space. At first she was wondering if I'd had an issue with her invading my space, or if my boss had a problem with her.

I told her that no, it had been the plan from the beginning to have her at a separate phone/space, but that we hadn't figured on "retired" person being here doing training and using that extra desk/space.

She seemed to accept that ...

So, essentially I guess this isn't that big of a deal. Maybe more of a miscommunication between my boss and I.

I can deal with the situation as it is now for the next 4 or 5 weeks. Hopefully with less chocolate intake then the last few days ...

Thank you everyone for your thoughts/comments/suggestions. They all are greatly appreciated.

++++
30+ minute walk
Smoothie with cinnamon/tumeric
Got in about 7 servings of fruits/veggies
Didn't buy or drink soda

--
Ate chocolate (bought yesterday)

----------------

So ... I like most things about my supervisor. There is just one thing that has slightly irritated me over the past two years. Almost every time I come back from taking a vacation of more than I few days, I find my office space / work supplies rearranged.

I get told that this is done because the way I have things arranged don't make sense to my supervisor and she can't find anything.

(When I am gone, she basically does my job as well as her own. Just she isn't logged on to the information line, so there are somewhat less calls to answer.)

So ... I sort of get this. I get used to the changes, put some things back where I prefer, and move on.

Only to have it happen again the next time.

Oh well. Not a big enough issue to bring up.

But ... a month ago or so I'm told that one of the bus drivers is going to come in and do "light duty" by answering the phone. She would wear my earpiece and I would still sell passes, etc. I was also told that I would "get" to sit at the extra desk.

Um... ok. I didn't like this idea very much (other than not having to answer the phone constantly) but I decided that if it was only for a few days, then I would just deal with it.

It turns out, that it didn't happen.

Until yesterday.

I had a lot of mail in orders that came in over the holiday weekend, needed to enter the work order reports for August, and a few other things - which I needed my computer for. Also, with just a few hours of listening to the light duty person answer the phone, I realized I needed to be there..

Plus, the extra desk is presently occupied by our "retired" accountant who is training our new accountant.

My boss was gone yesterday. So, I stayed put at my desk in my office space. There were multiple times where both lines lit up, and I tried to explain to her how to hear that, and how to deal with that ... but she for some reason couldn't hear the beeps ...

So today my boss comes back and is wondering why I'm sitting at my desk with her. I explain why and she's fine with it.

Then a little while later she comes in and tells me that the others in the back were complaining about the phone not being answered. Um ... not much I can do about that!

So the IT guy attempts to install a second phone line towards the back of my office space, by the lost and found cabinets. I'm told that this phone will be for me. That they'll set up a table or something for me there to work on. Um .. okay.

So .. the person who has no computer skills and is doing what comprises 50% of my work most days, will be sitting by MY computer and using my earpiece. While I will be sitting in the back of my office space with just a phone and a table.

No. Sorry, that just isn't going to work. Not only would I be bored to tears, but there are multiple things I do as part of my job where I NEED my computer.

The phone isn't working yet, so I'm still at my computer. But ... this person is talking like she's going to be here for at least the month of September.

If it was just for a few days .. I could deal with it. But for an entire month? NO WAY JOSE!

I already feel like I get the short end of the stick with absolutely no privacy in my office space. People are constantly walking back and forth in the back of my office space (to the conference room area, lunchroom, bathrooms, etc.) I don't mind this, really. But because just by virtue of being at my desk, anyone walking into the lobby assumes I'm available to help them, I can't make personal phone calls at my desk, eat lunch at my desk, etc. I HAVE to do that in the lunchroom.

I feel kind of ... maybe, disrespected? Like they think I shouldn't care about giving up my space for someone else. Like they can make changes to my space without asking me if I'm okay with it - it's more important for the space to make sense to them - people who spend less than five hours a week in my space.

I'm seriously, seriously irritated right now. I want t approach my boss tomorrow about this, but I'm not sure how best to do it.

We have a pretty good relationship overall, but still, I want to be careful.

I thought about asking her how she'd feel if she was told that she was going to be given an assistant, who was going to do half of her work, and be given her desk space, while she would be relocated somewhere else without all the tools to do her other 50% of the work. Or, how would she feel if she came back from vacation to find that someone had decided to redesign her office for her - to make that space work better for the person redesigning the office.

I'd really like to ask her if they're trying to get me to quit. But I don't really think that's the case. I think she's just not getting how this is sounding/feeling to me. (There's very little that makes this job tolerable. Putting me at a table with just a phone and no computer will drive me beyond bonkers with boredom.)

Please SA, your words of wisdom would be greatly appreciated.

My little girl (cat) seems to be on the mend from her bladder issues.. Unfortunately, it hasn't helped her behavior with the other cats. At all. On more than one occasion I have seen her go from one side of a room to across the room and into the hallway to pounce and growl at another cat.

I've also witnessed her swatting at the other cats while they are using a litterbox.

I'm not really sure what to do.

I'm worried that the other cats patience with her is going to run out and they'll gang up on her. Or .. that they'll stop feeling safe using the litterboxes because they are worried she's going to walk by and attack them.

I think a lot of it is her being territorial about me. But I've heard her go on the attack when she's on the other side of the house from me.

I wonder how much it would cost to get a cat behaviorist to come and help us get this figured out? The vet tech said something about giving her her own litterbox and water bowl ... but how would that work?

I have one litterbox per cat plus one, plus water dishes throughout the house. I have no idea how I could make an area accessible to her, but off limits to the others.

Sigh.

--
This morning I did something I haven't done in YEARS. I walked / jogged 3.2 miles! It took me about 52 minutes ... Considering that for the past six months or so, about the furthest I've *walked* at one time is 1.75 miles, I'd say not bad.

Maybe I'll try training for the Turkey Trot. Haven't done an actual race in quite a few years.

--
Tomorrow I'm working the BR Welcome (local university welcoming their students back.) It'll be at least 3 hours of overtime. I'm hoping it won't be too hot or humid.

I'm also going to be picking up a piano bench for $20 from someone on a local FB group. I'm hoping that having a bench will make me more likely to actually use my electronic keyboard.

I'm also planning on picking up some more veggies from a local FT store (place that sells lots of veggies/fruits/natural foods.) Possibly get them chopped up and roasted before heading out for the BRW event.

I wonder if frozen pre-chopped veggies would roast very well???

----
I dropped off DHs scrip for a glucose meter last night at 5:15 and told them I'd wait for it. My name finally got called at 6:10. Ugh. Double ugh.

*DH helpfully told me this morning that I should have just dropped it off to pick up today. Um, sure. But then I would have had to go BACK a second time - though I guess I could go through the drive through and not be tempted to buy stuff inside....

I was also picking up refills of my scrips. My overall total was $79, but then after coupons, ECBs (CVS), etc. it was down to $45. (Of which, ~$38 was scrips.) Besides other things, I picked up knee highs, Gold Bond foot powder, Glade plug in scent warmer/refills, and a thing of hand soap.

---
While at CVS, I picked up a pamphlet talking about a Weight Loss Program offered by the Minute Clinic. You have someone talk with you about your goals/lifestyle etc. and help you develop a plan. You also get enrolled in a DASH website (based on that diet.) You check in with someone there on a regular basis to collect vitals, etc.

It would make it so you are accountable to someone else, but on your schedule.

I'm wondering if this might not be something worthwhile - especially if insurance would cover most of it. I'm wondering if insurance would cover any of it ... Maybe DH would be willing to do the program with me?

Anyone hear of this program?

So DH did go to the doctor, and we got the bloodwork results on Tuesday (last week.) High blood pressure, diabetes and another issue.

Sigh. He had been worried for awhile that he might have developed diabetes. His mom died of diabetes complications in the late 80s. One of his sisters died of complications from it (juvenile onset) a few years before their mom.

Right now he is refusing to meet with the diabetes lifestyle counselor. He says that he knows enough about it, and any questions he has can be Googled. He has agreed that if after 30 days of doing it his way, if he doesn't see improvements, that he will see the counselor.

He does seem to be a little more willing to eat veggies ... and is cutting back on soda a good bit.

I'm really, really trying to not butt in and tell him what to do. To let him set the pace. It's really hard though - especially when he started out by doing 90% protein calories ...

I spoke to a CVS pharmacist about a blood pressure cuff and an glucose meter. They told me that I should contact our insurance to see what was covered.

I did that today - found out that both the meter and strips - of any brand - are 100% covered, but the bp cuff would count towards OOP and deductible. I need to contact one of the local medical supply places here to find a cuff with a large enough extension piece.

---
Work ... Sigh. The last week and a half has been extremely busy, hectic, stressful. Last Friday there was an incident where I had two people in a row come to the window asking for route info, logged off the phone, and still had 5 different people call and be placed on hold (then hang up) while helping the people at the window. Then had someone call moaning and groaning about being on hold for 25 minutes.

I kind of vented unwisely to my supervisor ... Usually there is at least one other person there who can help handle an over load of phone calls, but my supervisor was in a meeting and those present in the office weren't ones who generally answer the phone ..

We both left quite frustrated Friday afternoon.

I nearly got sideswiped on the way home which definitely did not help my perspective. Thankfully DH was home and was able to give me some much needed respite so I eventually felt calmer about everything.

Then yesterday my supervisor asked me to come back with her to the conference room.... One of the things she talked about to me about was Friday. We agreed that I should try forwarding more calls to the information line when I get swamped like that.

The other thing she talked to me about though really threw me for a loop. Apparently people have complaining about my area smelling bad. Sometimes about ME smelling bad.

I practice good hygeine - teeth brushed, hair washed, clothes washed, etc. The only things I could think of would be my shoes (which I leave at my desk overnight so I don't have to walk too much in them outside.) Or ... my clothes.

Yes, I always wear clean clothes (or at least clothes that still pass the sniff/smudge test after a wearing or two) But ... I think the issue could possibly be the cats. The smell from the cats.

When you have many multiple litter boxes throughout a home, it seems impossible to NOT have it smell. The chickens in the basement sure don't help either.

I asked my supervisor to alert me when she smells something off, so that way I can possibly pin point the cause better. (Such as - that top was hanging in the laundry room for the past week which is next to the workshop with the chickens and also in a room with a litter box. Or, that was the third time I wore those pants - maybe I was wrong about them passing the sniff test.)

I wasn't upset that she told me about this - in fact I appreciated it. However, at the same time, I'm now feeling mighty awkward around my coworkers wondering who had been talking about me behind my back.

Ugh.

I'm thinking it might be worth it to try to find a few hundered dollars in the budget to have someone come in here and help me figure out what to do to eliminate / alleviate the smell factor. (Supervisor's suggestion was get rid of most of the cats and all the chickens ... Yeah, that's not going to happen. Though maybe I can spur DH to get the chickens outside with the idea that their smell may be affecting me at work!)

(Shoes - I am planning on putting baking soda in them, and also maybe dryer sheets, and a few other ideas I found. Maybe also get some footies to wear with them. Probably also try to take them home with me each night.)

(Litter boxes - I use the scoopable kind with baking soda for multi-cat households. I completely scoop them ALL out daily. I have air fresheners in every room of the house, plus a couple of those things that are supposedly supposed to "refresh" the air ... I also use carpet freshener when I vacuum. The only other thing I can think of to do would be to completely clean out the litter boxes .. but I have done that a few times, and it is nearly an all afternoon ordeal and completely zaps any energy I have for the coming week. And that's only with doing half of them. *and no way would DH help with THAT - he's just barely agreed to take over scooping the basement boxes this last week.)

Speaking of energy ... I thought I was on an upswing and maybe the iron supplements were helping. Maybe I just way overdid it Sunday, but I am beyond wiped Monday and Tuesday. probably the busyness / stress at work isn't helping either though.

*I did see the counselor Monday. She basicaly told me that I'm doing a pretty good job of setting boundaries, but need to work on making DH take care of more of his responsibilities (like how he is eat) hour was barely enough time to scratch the surface. But it definitely was helpful.

The last few days I'd been noticing that my cat Kari had been in a litter box every time I turned around - and not just in and out quickly, but squatting and squatting and ...

I mentioned it to DH, and he also observed the same thing.

I'd noticed also that for about a week or so she had seemed to regress quite a bit in her acceptance of the other cats. Screaming at them and attacking them if they dared look at her ..

So I called the vet before work on Monday and got an appointment for her after work.

I walked her in her kennel (the vet is about a block from us) and took her in. The vet tech reassured me that it wasn't an urinary blockage, but said that they needed a urine sample to test for a bladder infection. They could keep her overnight (at no charge!) and take the sample in the morning, or I could try to collect it myself ...

With multiple cats and multiple litter boxes ... I chose to let her have an overnight away.

I got a call this afternoon letting me know that she indeed did have a bladder infection. My poor little girl.

The vet suggested strongly that I put her back on her old more expensive food (Purina One Beyond) and see if that helped, as well as the pills they gave me.

One 3 lb bag of this food costs almost what 3/4 of the 16 lb bag of Purina Complete which we've been feeding the cats since moving in here. DH probably isn't going to like this too much. Oh well. I have to give her her pills twice a day - only way to do that is crush them up and put them in some canned food. They cost 2x what the Friskie's costs for 1/2 the amount. Oh well. I'll be able to make one can last for 3 meals, so it wont be SO horribly extra expensive.

The vet visit and meds cost $102. A 3 lb bag of food and 4 cans after coupons, $16.xx My Kari hopefully feeling better in a few days? Priceless.

---
I spoke too soon about my allergies being better/no more sinus headaches ... had a doozy of one yesterday. Of course starting the day with an argument with DH probably didn't help matters ... We probably won't see each other again til tomorrow night thanks to our schedules. Probably not a bad thing...

--
My aunt texted me today telling me that grandma had gotten some form in the mail telling her that my dad had $100 coming to him from something. She's going to mail it on to me. I'm guessing it will be something like a defunct bank account or deposit refund on something or the other.

If it really is something, I plan on offering my brother half of it - although I doubt he'll take me up on it, because he's now making 5x? what I'm making per month ... and doesn't know what to do with all the money.

Those of you who've met him won't be surprised to know that he had been given the goal of making $250k in sales by the end of this year ... and he surpassed $300k in sales a month ago ... He truly could sell ice to an Eskimo.

---
The next two nights I'll be working overtime at open houses - selling passes, answering questions about the school booster buses, and probably also fielding questions about the new routes coming in to effect in October. I've already got a little snack stash ready to go so I am not tempted to stop at the local grocery store near the school ... I just hope my energy can hold out and that I don't have a sinus headache either of the nights ... Will just have to power through come what may.

---
I've reached out to the counseling services provided by my employer and made an appointment for Monday. DH and I have had some issues I haven't mentioned here, as well as some of the ones I have ... I'm at a point where I feel I need a 3rd party (disinterested) to bounce the issues/thoughts off of.

---
Is it reprehensible that I haven't written the thank you notes for the wedding gifts yet?? I keep putting it on my to do list, and it keeps not getting done ... almost to the point where I'm embarrassed to send them ...

Although we've now been married just over 3! months, July was the first month where we followed a joint budget and I completely took over the bill paying. It also was the first full month where we only had one household - although we were paying the final bills from our former apartments.

Whenever DH wakes up, we're going to have a quick budget meeting for August. One thing we've kind of had to hash out this month is the when/how of him giving me the cash tips to deposit. He was used to to just going by the bank once or twice a month to make a deposit. I want to make a deposit every Friday (when the lobby is open til 6.)

He didn't see why I wanted to do that since our account balances have more than enough for our daily expenses. I explained to him that all my money is directly deposited and that helps me be able to guage what the next month's budget will be like. When I showed him how much was available to budget for August from my contributions versus what he'd given me so far ... he started giving me the tips as he got them. (He's a delivery driver - makes a small hourly wage, but averages 2x that in tips/delivery charges.)

So ... since we were putting everything together this month, it is difficult to say what our "income" really was - our budget was based off of all moneys from various checking/savings being put together. Expenses include final bills and deposit charges for new accounts. In other words, this isn't a typical month for us by any means.

So .. expenses:
Mortgage (loan only) $526
Extra Principal: $25
Natural Gas: 69.20
Electricity: 382.44 (includes June bill that got misplaced!!)
Phone: 239.04 (last month of DH needing to use phone as a hotspot for Internet - our bill for August is less than $60.)
Water: 51.43 (2 month bill)
Internet/Cable: 150 (deposit, extra house visit)
Groceries - Fast food: 29.81
Groceries - 265.08
Auto Fuel - 241.87 (delivery driver ....)
Tithe: 130 (DH isn't on board with tithing, but is ok with me continuing my same level as before)
Giving: 30
Car Maintenance: 14.97
Car tax/licenses: 421.69 (Tags for 3 cars, 2 new licenses)
Clothing: 20.40
Computer Replacement: (DH) 249
Garmin Replacement: (DH) 142
Household (blanket, toiletries, paper goods, fan, etc.) 148.36
Medical - Non-deductible (allergy, etc) 64.53
Medical FSA Reimbursed- 80.48 (copays, meds, heating pad)
Pets - Cats - food/litter -$80.97 (a LOT of litter/food)
Pets - Cats - Medicine(flea meds) $77
Pes - Non Cats - Food - 13.50
Pets - Non Cats - Medicine - 16.61
Fitness - 41.83 (my gym membership, hopefully can cancel soon)
Date Night: 14.77 (although will be getting pizza tonight)
DH fun money - 16
Laura fun money - 79.22
Student loan (DH) 55
Medical debt (DH) 372

Whooh! I think that covers it! Besides the money put into the above categories, there was also money put into a variety of other holding categories.

August will be spendy for car maintenance, and I just got approved for a new AE card which I'll be using to make a $1k payment on the medical (get back 250!)

I'm looking forward to what our first month of spending will be like without deposits and final bill fees. (also without needing to replace electronics!)

I have around 6 hours of overtime in August, and I think September will be a 3 paycheck month. DH is working on putting together some speaker sales. (To help fund his boat and tv wishes.)

Mortgage Principal Balance:
Start 7/1/16 - $112,000
As of 7/31/16 (2 payments) - 111,619
Medical Debt:
As of 7/1/16 - 3,668
As of 7/31/16 - 3,296
Student Loan - TBD

So I finally heard back from my doctor about the bloodwork results. My lymphocytes had gone back into the normal range, but my platelets had not. She also said that my ferritan levels were on the low side. So she suggested two options - try taking iron supplements for two months and retest; or, go see a hematologist.

I decided to try the iron pills first. Reading about the symptoms of low iron, it sounds a lot like me. Extreme fatigue, brittle nails, etc.

The problem is though, I eat a lot of foods that are iron rich! My smoothie five days a week has strawberries, etc. in it. Spinach, raisins, pumpkin seeds, and on and on are most of my diet.(outside of my chocolate addiction ...)

So I don't get how I could have low iron.

Right now I'll try just about anything to get my energy back. So .. iron supplements it is. (taken with OJ for now - vitamin C helps the iron absorb better.)

The supplements are pretty cheap - got a 30 day supply for just a few dollars. So .. worth it.

---
DH and I had our first date night (just us) Thursday night for July. Ordered out from Ming's and ate in the bedroom with the door shut - to keep the cats out.

I had been supposed to cook, but just had no energy to do so. So DH suggested Ming's. I'm going to do the CC roast on Sunday instead (when it's likely I'll have the most energy, after two days of not working.)

We still have most of our date night budget left - since DH's friend paid for our meal at the Chineese buffet on Sunday.

---
DHs friend who we dogsat for and who had indicated he'd reimburse us for the meds we bought for his dog ... well, it looks like he isn't going to follow through on that. Ugh.

I bought the meds knowing full well that we might not be reimbursed, but of course I was hoping! $150 out the door.

--
Our electric bill ... OMW! Somehow I missed the June bill (amoungst the many final bills, etc) - that was $99. Then the July bill - $149! Ouch!!!

We had our a/c set at 72 - DH agreed to let me put it up to 78. I couldn't sleep at all at 78. So put it down to 76. That seems ok so far.

Hopefully our next bill won't be so huge!

DH helpfully told me that big electricity bills should be expected in a house in the summer. Really hubby? I had no idea. Doesn't mean I have to like it- or live with it!

----
Our checks for our joint account finally came today. We bought them from Walmart - enough to probably last us the rest of our lives. (250 I think.)

It came in some weird packaging from someplace in New Braunfel's TX. At first I thought it was some kind of tourist brochure and almost tossed it without opening ... Glad I didn't do that!

---
At work we now have 8 women and two men in administration. One of our men who retired at 53 was replaced by a woman.

I really like her so far. In fact, she helped me out big time with a project I was working on.

We are changing our bus routes and our time schedules completely in October. My boss gave me a spreadsheet with all the time schedules on it for all the routes that one of the dispatchers had created.

The problem with it was 1. All the routes and times were on one sheet; and 2. All the times were written without a colon. i.e. 843P instead of 8:43P

So, the first problem was easily fixed. It was the second problem which caused me a great deal of frustration. How to insert a colon into umpteen cells without having to click on each one individually?

I tried every thing I knew how to do, plus what I could find on Google. Nada. Then TN saved the day by suggesting a V Lookup - and made one for me too!

From there, it was just a matter of around 4 hours of copying and pasting. (There were a lot! of times needing colons ...)

So today I took off of work early to go to my doctor's appointment. My boss came out to help someone at the window who'd come just as I was getting ready to go.

Before heading out, I stopped at the restroom. Then I had to pass near the window on my way out. Guess who was at the window being helped by my boss? Let's see if you can guess, "My problem is that I don't agree with the policy about lost passes ..."

As soon as I saw/heard this, I scooted out of there ASAP. Seriously, that lady is back already? Did she lose her pass already? I am SO glad I didn't have to deal with her before leaving, or my blood pressure would have been sky high!

---
As it was, I left with plenty of time to get there. You never know how long it'll take ... I got to the turn off about 30 minutes early, but then missed the turn off.... So, got there about 20 minutes early.

They still had me in their system by my maiden name, so got that all updated. Then gave them the bill from the lab with my maiden name (got a call later from their coding department telling me I'll have to get back in contact with the original place. This may be fun ...)

Anyway, when my doctor finally came in to the room she told me that my platelets have always ran kind of high ... really? But that they don't usually get concerned til its in the 600's (mine was 580.) But still combined with the lymphocytes, it was worth looking into. So she's scheduled me for a repeat CBC and a blood smear (where a person looks at the individual cells?) That'll happen on Wednesday morning.

She also is referring me to an allergist. She said that I could possibly take allergy shots for a couple of years, and then be DONE with allergies! Oh joy! If that is truly possible... I'll deal with getting shot up every month for a few years!

She thinks that my tiredness, moodiness, nauseousness, lack of energy etc etc etc can all be attributed to my allergies (and insomnia due to allergies/taking Allegra D.)

All I know is I'd really like to stop putting all these chemicals into my body (especially when they don't seem to be helping all that much) and get my energy back!

We'll see I guess.

---
On Sunday I made a recipe from the Stuffed at the Gills blog for Chow Mein noodles. It reminded me sort of of my favorite Amy's meal - Chinese Noodles with Cashew sauce. It was a bit of work ... but oh so good! Even DH approved. (We had a bit of a tiff because he was tired of my "trying" out recipes that weren't turning out that great ... we compromised that I'd limit my "trying out recipes" to 2 x a month. Otherwise we'll stick with ones we know we like already. Whatever. )

--
I've started putting FSA eligible expenses on my credit card. I also downloaded the app for the FSA place - already have submitted two claims and been reimbursed for one. Pretty nifty! (Now if I can just find the receipt for the copay DH had back in May ... getting his 1 1/2 year checkup on his shoulder, that'd be another $25 back in the budget ... gotta be around here somewhere.)

--
Our associate pastor preached this week. While I'm not too sure what I think of him overall, I did really like the story he focused on and how he related it to today.

He talked about the story of Jesus and the Samaritan Woman at the Well. His focus was on how Jesus gave a great example of breaking down walls and barriers. Jews and Samaritans were very close cousins, but hated each other. The Jews thought they were better than the Samaritans. Sound familiar?

What I wonder is how can I / we go about breaking down the walls / barriers today? How can we make everyone feel equally worthy of love, equally worthy of a good place in the world, equally worthy of respect, equally worthy of dignity? All of us bleed the same color ... no matter race, religion or sexual orientation. All of us are equal in God's eyes.

How can we get the blinders off of peoples eyes so they can really see this? If we could do this, the world would be so much better off.

Sigh.

---
On an unrelated note - I got the iPad working again without having to take it in anywhere. It is now mine. Ha ha ha. (DH is quite happy with his Chromebook.)

DH has been using miad for the past 6 nonths or so since his 6th used laptop from eBay in 2 years died... So today he comes into the office and tells me iPad is dead - won't charge, or turn on. I test this out too. reaching the same conclusion.

I call the Apple store in O town and find out the next appointment isn't till Friday at least. The person did tell me about some local places - but didn't know their schedules.

Just on Sunday I worked through a joint budget. I'd put $200 in computer replacement category. Knowing how both DH and I like to be on the computer, I didn't relish the thought of however long it would take for an appointment to even find out if this is fixable or not.

So ... I told DH - let's get you a Chromebook. We'd looked into them before, but had put off getting one. We bought him a 15" Chromebook at Walmart for $179 plus a $40 2 year warranty. Normally I wouldn't go for that ... but DH is tough on computers.

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I added an offer to my Aexpress card to spend $75 at chewy.com and get back $25. Then I went to chewy and ordered 160 lbs of cat litter and 48 lbs of cat food. The total came to $102.

I then added "autoship" for 16 weeks from now to get $15 off. Which brought me to $87. Once I have the $25 credit, my order will cost a measly $62. This will also add rewards dollars to my account - I ave 14 sitting in Limbo until I reach 25 and can cash out.

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DH took me to see Finding Dory on Thursday. Loved the movie, but loved even more that DH took me to a movie he didn't really want to see in the theater.

We were hit with sticker shock though ... unwittingly we chose seats when asked what we wanted. I thought I heard the guy say that'd be $25.50 but was sure I was hearing things. I wasn't. Apparently we chose premium seats. Shows how long its been since we've been to a movie ... yikes!

---
I spent some time today cleaning the hardwood flooring and living room carpet. Most of what needed cleaning was dried cat upchuck. I'd been dreading it and putting it off ... but when it came to it, the swiffer type mop and floor cleaning spray left by the former homeowner, made it pretty easy (relatively). Hopefully DH will notice when he gets home tomorrow ... I need to get some more of that spray stuff!

--
I'm in charge of the food drive at work this year. I set up three fundraisers, as well as putting out the barrels. A guessing jar, a team challenge to "feed the pig" and selling casual day tickets. To say its not going well would be an understatement.

Oh well. I tried.

---
Did I mention that the dog is gone? For almost a week now. His owner paid us the $300 he'd said he would, and said he'd reimburse us for the $150 in meds. Waiting.

That first day I walked in and was only greeted by cats ... heaven.

---
Ok, I'm going to get a walk in before heading to bed. Hopefully I won't run into any fireworks.

The last few days I've been working on getting utilities set to switch over to the house. Today I called the water department and found out that the title insurance place had already put in an order for that to happen?

We are getting the basic Kinetic Internet/cable package. I'd prefer to go without the cable part, but DH really wants it, and since he's willing to go with the basic ... It'll only be maybe ten to fifteen dollars more a month than what I'm paying for just Internet right now.

I also got movers lined up for the 15th (which means I need to get my stuff packed PDQ!)

--
DH and I are in discussion mode about possibly replacing the locks on the doors with keyless entry locks. I think since we need to rekey the doors anyway, why not spend just a little bit more and have their convenience? (i.e. you can set a temporary code for someone you need to let in, but might not want to have continual access, like a guest or a housekeeper.)

DH wants us to have a deadbolt on the front door for added security. I need to look into a solution for that ..

Anyone use keyless door locks? What are your experiences?

---
We'll be heading to Branson on Sunday! We're planning on doing Silver Dollar City, one of the acrobat shows and then either the Haygood's or the Frankie Vallie show. We also may rent a boat - although the one we were thinking about is much bigger than DH had in mind (the one at the marinia by our hotel.) We may also take in a movie - possibly Captain America.

On our way home, we may be making a stop for DH's first chicken (as an adult at least - his family had lots of chickens as he grew up.) It's a bantam hen - he plans to keep it in the basement in an open cage til we get the chicken coop and privacy fence figured out. As long as I can't smell it ...

---
Did you know that most auto insurance companies won't insure pizza delivery drivers? If they get into an accident while on the clock, the insurance will just not pay out anything, and then will drop the previously insured!

I found this out while working with S to find a home insurance quote. DH wasn't too happy with me insisting that he check to see if his employer carried the right kind of insurance to at least cover liability. But he did it anyway - even check with his insurance company ... (I waited with bated breath, hoping not to hear that he'd been dropped as soon as they heard "pizza delivery driver.")

The good news was ... his particular company does not have an exclusion. The bad news is ... most other companies do. He had them do a home insurance quote, and it came in higher than Geico's. So ... no can do with having all of our stuff on one policy. His insurance guy wants to see the home insurance quote I got - he couldn't figure out how we got it so low. ($713/yr.)

I'm just relieved to know that he's covered (only has liability.) I am thinking about looking into an umbrella policy, or see how it'd work to put stuff into a living trust - if that would protect our assets in case he got into an accident where someone got hurt (and he was at fault.)

Pizza delivery is one of the top dangerous jobs - right up there with construction workers, etc. DH is a very careful and defensive driver. But he also is on the road TONS of time ...

I was wanting to post last night, but kept getting an error message for the blogs! I was very glad this morning when I was able to get on with no issue.

--
Thursday night Mr FT got several texts from his nephew. He was telling him that Mr FTs sister was in the ICU!

During the wedding weekend, his sister, S, had told him that she'd been bit by her dog earlier that week. Also that she had a weird spot on her arm.

It turns out that the weird spot was some kind of blood infection!! She didn't go to the doctor until Wednesday ... They sent her home with some antibiotics and painkillers. On Thursday they got the results of the blood tests back, and told her to come back to the hospital.

At this point, she also had a weird spot on one of her legs.

We found out last night that she is going to be having surgery (now, actually) to clean out the blood infection. We'll be going to visit her later today after she has a chance to recuperate from the surgery and is up to visitors.

Goes to show that you just never know when something is going to happen!

--
My goals this weekend are pretty much to get thank you notes written and get my apartment looking less like a whirlwind hit it. (As Mr FT so helpfully intoned when he came over on Thursday - he apparently had no memory of what it looked like on Sunday after bringing in everything from the wedding ... )

I also need to figure out what to do with the leftover cut up veggies before they go bad - there's at least one full veggie tray, plus another large container. A week old now ... I've managed to eat most of the leftover fruit for lunches at work last week.

---
I signed the paperwork for the home warranty plan after work yesterday. Also made sure that my mortgage broker J knew that we had home insurance lined up.

A little less than two weeks til closing!

I plan on asking J how long he can make it before our first mortgage payment is due. We'll be having to pay rent and utilities on two places through June. So it would definitely be helpful to not have to pay the first mortgage payment on top of that.

Just one week left of work til a whole week off! Plus, the Branson trip of course.

On Sunday I had my bridal shower. There was a nice sized group of ladies there. It felt really weird to be in the center of things ... Some of them thought it was funny that I looked for the card first before opening the gift - I told them that I'd been taught to always try to find the card first and thank the giver before you even know what the gift is. (We also usually give big hugs after opening ... but I didn't do that on Sunday.)

I got quite a few nice items - which made me glad I had spent the time on making the registries. I'd kind of wondered if that had been a whole lot of wasted time ..

--
Still helping Mr FT with his big project. Although tonight I had to tell him I needed a break. Hopefully it'll be mostly done by this Friday - otherwise I'm going to have to tell him he's on his own. I have to get some stuff done for the wedding!!

I checked in with the cake baker, the videographer, and the caterer on Monday and Tuesday to make sure everything was still good to go.

I need to write out thank you notes for all the gifts on Sunday (maybe take them to work with me tomorrow ...)

I am SO tired of having people argue with me about route information. SO TIRED!

My sinuses are really acting up = probably somewhat related to the big project I've been helping with.

--
The radon testing is getting set up at our house tomorrow so we'll have the results by Friday. C really made me roll my eyes today when he texted me to make sure we'd asked for radon testing. Uh yeah. It was in the offer thing, and I specifically specified it when talking to you ...

--
I'm really liking the plant based cooking class - I haven't had time to do TOO much with it yet, but mostly it's just reading background info / watching videos right now.

--
Mr FTs inheritance check looks like it may actually be coming in the next few weeks. We've been discussing what to do with it. My suggestion was 30% each to medical debt, present needs (landscaping), and future (retirement) and 10% to fun (his boat fund / 4 wheel vehicle fund probably). He's agreeable to the idea, but we haven't made any final decisions.

I signed up for one week of Hello Fresh through a Swagbucks offer ($19 after a coupon, plus another 1000SBs) This weekend I made the flatbread pizza (didn't take a picture though) and tonight I made this:



Southwest Zucchini Bake

It used basmati rice which I'd never had before. I wasn't too thrilled by the rice, but the dish overall was really good! (I have enough for dinner tomorrow!)

If I had several recipes I could do the prep work for at one time, then it would make this meal take about 30 minutes. As it was, it took me about 50 minutes with chopping the different ingredients/figuring out how to scoop out the zucchini.

---
I did bite the bullet and sign up for Culinary DX plant based cooking lessons for $50. It's a 60 day course, and it starts tomorrow. Prepping the stuff tonight made me hope for better knife skills ...

I do have a good set of Cusinart knives now though. Bought them from Amazon a few months ago when a deal site advertised them - I think they were $19 for six knives? Normally a $100+ set.

---
I was so busy at work today, that I had oodles of time to look at different arrangements of cat wall shelving environments. Our cats will more than likely be our kids, so I may spend a little bit of an insane amount to make the house fun for them. (Hopefully eliminate or lessen territorial issues, and also give Kari a way to get away if she needs to.)

I also was looking at various contraptions to let cats be "outside", but not really have freedom. Our deck I think will be perfect for some of the ideas I saw. Eventually, we may build a sunroom off of the back door/deck of the living room. That's a ways off though.

I also spent time looking at DIY home decorating ideas. I really liked one for decorating the front stoop - Mr FT and I will have to discuss it of course, but I bet I can get him to go for it.

Can you tell just how busy I was?
--
I woke up around 4:30 this morning and couldn't get back to sleep. Finally I got up and put some music on, and "danced" for about 30 minutes. I am now SO tired. I'm going to try to get to bed here in the next hour or so.

---
I updated in the comments, but for anyone else ..

I talked to J today and my interest rate for the loan is locked in at 3.875% (30 years), and no escrow/no fee! I'm meeting him at his office on Thursday with the initial round of paperwork he's needing.

I asked him about taxes. He told me we'd not have to pay taxes at closing - but we'd get a tax bill in December which would be due in March. You know what I'm going to do right?

Just 30 days to go til I change my last name and add Mrs to it.

Mr FT and I had a heart to heart a few nights ago about the househunting. I suggested maybe taking a break from it - he realized that part of my frustration was from feeling like he was dismissing all of my suggestions. It's going much better now (not taking a break.) Who knew, communication, right?

We may have found another really good candidate. It'd be about a 30 minute commute. 3+ acres. We plan on driving out to give it a closer look tomorrow - plus find out the policy on chickens.

Chickens ... the main reason we totally gave up on the house we love. The house we love(d) is now off market.

There is a second home we are going to drive by tomorrow that is actually in L town.

Mr FT has agreed that if we don't find THE house by the end of April, he will be willing to look for a house that is "good enough" for 4 or 5 years. Just so we can get ourselves into ONE household!

Hopefully one of these two homes we're looking at tomorrow will be THE one.

----
My aunt from Ohio is going to be making us a quilt! She made me a handmade Cabbage Patch doll when I was 5 or 6 - Rosie - which I still have. I'm really looking forward to seeing it! (Speaking of, maybe I should remove the quilt from my registry ... not that anyone is even USING the darn thing. Ufta! What a waste of hours that seems to have been ...)

My bridal shower is in less than a week!! I really have no idea what to expect. I've been to lots of them over the years, but none since I've lived here. Will be interesting.

We have all but one of the six rooms at the bed and breakfast reserved now. Mr FT's relative may or may not be coming ... We're not sure if she has her panties in a wad because we didn't send out invites to his other relatives (whom he has never met ...) or if it really is just that she's not doing well. No response to my message asking if she'd gotten the invite, and a two word response to Mr FTs message ...

Oh well, I built into the wedding budget this possibility (that we'd be on for two rooms.) If they do come, it will be a nice surprise.

---
This Sunday I MUST do some major cleaning of my apartment and my car. Will be having way too many relatives probably wanting to come over and see the place /see Kari to wait to the last minute.

I've been doing more cooking lately, but not been doing so well at cleaning as I go. So .. hence the need for major cleaning.

Tonight I made fried quinoa and asparagus with leftover cooked quinoa (from last Sunday) and asparagus I bought for $.88/lb at a new local fresh grocer last week. Yummy!

---
I'm in the midst of working on several projects related to the wedding - slideshow' typing up / putting together final product of ceremony schedule; typing up final unity candle version; typing up / emailing photographer list of must shots; typing up wedding weekend schedule; working with Mr FT to finish up music playlist for rehearsal dinner ...

Just a few things left. Oh yeah, I still need to get the baby's breath for my hair. Forgot to ask the lady who made my bouquet/boutonniere for some.

---
With all that's been going on, I've gotten REALLY behind on my budget / recording spending. It's not going to be pretty once I do get it caught up. Especially since some things could go into multiple categories ... Really do need to get it done though soon. Maybe tomorrow night.

Speaking of spending ... my phone bill is going to be the highest it's been since starting to use Ting this month. It's already at $39, and I think my text bucket is going to go into the next level (if it didn't already tonight.) Sigh. Still better than $76+/month no matter how much I actually used. Once this wedding stuff is finished and we're in a house together, the bill will drop significantly.

---
I ordered a Hello Fresh delivery through Swagbucks - 1000 SBs, plus a $40 off coupon. That should come tomorrow. It'll be enough for 6 meals for me. $19 is still a lot for that much food - put it on pause for the next week (and will continue to do that for a few weeks, til it's safe to cancel.)

---
Work has been up and down this week. Had a few days of major irritability ... but my talk with Mr FT on Wednesday night helped a lot, plus better sleep, so Thursday and Friday were decent.

---
Next week need to make the downpayment for the photographer, also for the cake, and probably should check in with the caterer as well. Plus decide how many pizzas / what kind for the rehearsal dinner and figure out how to do rootbeer floats (two cartons of ice cream - one dairy, one non-dairy? Scoop your own?)

Then two weeks from Sunday will be meeting with photographer at the bed and breakfast.

---
With all of this, I have been sorely lax in much of any kind of physical activity. Thankfully it hasn't been affecting the scale too much (even though I've eaten my share of junk ...) Am looking forward to getting to a place where I can put a more normal schedule together again.

Mr FT talks about getting back to "normalcy" too ... It will be fun to discover what "normalcy" will mean when it's the two of us +cats in our new home.

So .. I went to work today. Within about 20 minutes of getting there I was really wishing I was back home.

People on the phone being obtuse. My computer got switched out on Friday (which is a good thing, mostly) which meant that I had to re do all my settings ... and my locator application was hidden, and a my address book program didn't get put back on .... etc., etc.

Then I talk to my supervisor to find out what the text on Friday was all about. She told me that people taking Friday and Mondays off is a pattern of someone unhappy at work.

So I told her I had a doctor's note because I was genuinely not feeling well! At first she tells me she doesn't need it. Then ten minutes later she comes out and wants to see it. I thought that was pretty bizarre.

Can I take 20 more years of this?????

----
So ... the houses. First, the $52k (1880) one. The reason it is $52k is because it needs extensive renovation. Plumbing, electric, etc., etc. Neither FHA nor Rural loans would work for it unless a lot of improvements were made first (by current owners.)
We didn't get to look inside of it because C (our Realtor) hadn't gotten in touch with the seller's Realtor. (Granted, the house was only listed on one site, which made it difficult to find.)

The $120k house. Mr FT and I got there more than an hour before scheduled time and just drove around the town/area, and walked around the property. Sigh. Love. Love. Love. That feeling you get when a place is just *right.*

A super sappy wide smile lighting my face as we walk around inside the house.

Until ... heart falls into stomach ... the basement wall has bulges....

C at first declared "you guys don't want this house" but then after looking it over more, he told us that it wasn't as bad as some he's seen, and maybe it could be fixed.

He's suggesting offering 85k (last tax assessment of $95k) -- 15 y.o. roof, basement wall issues, the amount of work the yard will take to get it back to a manicured level, etc. (Where we would ask for a credit for the roof, them to get the basement taken care of, and closing costs.)

Mr FT and I feel like we're capable of tackling the yard stuff (although probably hire out the dead tree removal.)

We're taking time to sleep on it a few times and think some more about it.

I also have a call in to the mortgage broker person to find out what would disqualify a house from an FHA or Rural loan. (i.e. the basement or roof)

Love, love, love the house/land/town. Love. Will feel so sad if we can't make it work. Worth the 30+ minute commute.

I'd love to share a link to the property, but we might end up actually living there ... so

--
I came across an article today that mentioned something about Obamacare which got me wondering.

Mr FT has healthcare through the NE health exchange. He's getting subsidies.

I have health insurance through my employer.

When we get married, Mr FT is going on my insurance and dropping his insurance.

Now what I can't figure out, is this - I know tax wise we'll be considered married for the whole 2016 tax year. So, I had already figured we may have to pay back part of his subsidy. But ... now I'm wondering if we'll have to pay ALL of it back - because once he marries me, he'll be disqualified from having Obamacare coverage.

I haven't been able to find anything definitive on this. That could be a lot of money. Gulp. It also really doesn't seem fair ... but what is fair in life, right? Especially when it comes to government and taxes. Sigh.

So yesterday (Thursday) I went home from work early due to feeling majorly "crummy." I ended up sleeping for at least 5 hours before Mr FT came over. I wasn't the greatest company for him, but he was understanding.

This morning I still wasn't feeling all that great ... so decided to stay home again. I had a doctor's appointment already to get some bloodwork done (recheck TSH) so called and had an appointment added to see the doctor.

I slept most of the morning after getting the appointment made, and would have slept more, but got calls from the Realtor and from Mr FT.

---- We may have found a house that works for us. Two possible ones actually. One is $52k and the other is $120k. The 52k one doesn't have a basement, but it does have a HUGE garage/storage shed. Mr FT thinks we could partition off part of it, insulate it, and make it part of his "man cave" instead of using a basement. Hey, if it works, and we get into a house for $52k ... I'm all for it!

The $52k house was built in 1880! About the same time the town was started. Yep, you're reading that right. Both of the houses we are looking at are NOT in L town. Both houses would mean a commute of about 35-40 minutes.

Yuck I know. Especially in winter.

But ... both houses come with LOTS of land. 1 acre for one, and 1/2 an acre for the other.

We're going to go actually look at both of them on Sunday.

---
I got a weird text from my boss today. She was asking me if I was unhappy at work. I texted back that I wasn't, with a couple of question marks, but no response.

My first thought was that maybe the CC I applied to back in January? didn't respect my request to NOT contact current employer. But it seems like its been a long time for that to happen...

The other thought was that she was thinking I wasn't really sick this week, and just taking time off because I don't want to be at work. In case that's the case, I got a note from the doctor. (felt kind of like a little kid doing it ... but, whatever.)

The third thought I had was that little miss busy body had taken my little off hand joke on Thursday morning as literal, and gone to my boss about it. One of our copiers has a bad part. The technician was in another town, and so talked me through resetting the code over the phone. One of my co-workers (who is invited to the wedding) jokingly told me that now I can add copier repair to my resume. I found that funny ... and without thinking, when talking to busy body co-worker, repeated that.

If it's the first issue - then that's going to be a headache to clear up. And is going to make me quite upset at the CC.

If it's either of the other two issues, then I think those will be easy enough to clear up.

Oy vey!

---
Mr FT has asked me to go with him on Wednesday to get his suit / tux picked out. Whew!

April 24 is getting closer and closer ....

Tuesday I have my makeup trial. Hopefully she can work miracles with undereye bags ... and make my eyes actually look open when I smile (I squint when I smile big - when I concentrate on NOT squinting, my smile looks all weird.)

---
I cashed out for $9 from Pinecone, and $5 from Bing.

I'd made a new email account for dealing with all the wedding related stuff /websites so that once it's all done and over with, I won't have residual "email subscriptions" to deal with.

Of course, I forgot my password for the account. So, I had to reset it.

When I finally got in, I found out that 4 people have used the website to RSVP! Sweet! My first responses.

---
So ... on Monday? I called C and told him that we were interested in looking at other houses. Told him we had two or three we were thinking of.

C tells me = great! Find another 2 or 3 and email me the list so I can get it set up for Sunday.

Huh?

Ok ... so Mr FT and I scour some more, and find another 5 or 6 possibilities. Mr FT drives by them and ... we're down to 2 possibilities.

I email C Tuesday night to let him know that Mr FT would be emailing him the list soon. Crickets.

Mr FT emailed C the list (of two) on Thursday morning. Crickets.

I emailed C today to find out where to meet him on Sunday. Crickets.

Mr FT and I have decided to take this Sunday off from wedding and house hunting. C will be replaced by a Realtor recommended by my boss next week.

---
I had one of *those* calls today. Multiple calls where same person is cursing. Multiple calls where said person gets hung up on. Send caller to boss at one point - boss hangs up on person. Person calls back yet again - much calmer at first. Gets a 2 ride ticket freebie. Starts cursing again. Gets hung up on.

I didn't deal with it well (at the time I did, but later ...) Made a Wal-mart run. Junk food ensued.

---
On Wednesday we had our annual county/city employee health fair. Lots of freebies. One of the booths was our health insurance provider. They're starting a new program this year where they are providing a health coach for free.

I signed up for it.

Got an email from the coach today because she couldn't find me in the system. I explained that the health insurance place had changed my name prematurely.

I also told her kind of what I was hoping she could help me with - namely figuring out how to make healthy and tasty meals which work for both Mr FT and I - especially ones where I can make something good without needing to taste test it (i.e. meat dishes.)

She told me she could help me with that.

I'm supposed to call her sometime next week to chat for 30 minutes - to kind of lay out the beginning framework. Not sure when to do it, since the only 30 minute time frame I have during her hours is my lunch break. Maybe I can take something to eat that I can eat in small bites at my desk between phone calls ...

Once Mr FT is on my plan (for real) he could also use her services if he wants to.

--
ETA - Well, nevermind then. Mr FT just called me to tell me that he got an email from C asking him to call him tonight. So, we may be going ahead with Sunday househunting plans after all. I'm leaving it up to Mr FT to decide.

Today my boss finally did my yearly evaluation. She told me that the raise (2.5%) will be retroactive. Just one pay period, so not that much. (It'll equate to about $.35/hour before taxes.) But still ... every cent counts when house hunting.

Mr FT and I found a house we both really like. It'd be stretching our price range a bit, but might be doable. We just have to get the loan application done! (We're going to work on it this Sunday.)

--

I'm thinking about making a slideshow / video for the reception giving some background on Mr FT and I's childhood/growing up/ dating life. That way people who only know one or the other of us can get a "picture" of us. Also, it'll take up some of the time.

I was looking into renting a projector, but the realized I'd also need to rent a laptop. So ... am now thinking I'll get one of those iPhone / iPad projector things. I'm just not sure which one to get. Reviews on various ones are all over the place on Amazon (one to five stars.)

I'm also not sure which app would be best to use. I was thinking of buying iMovie (app) but don't know if there is something else that might work?

Would love any suggestions!

---
I found out today that the place I applied at when first moved here has had to let go of a lot of positions and completely restructure itself. That could've been me if I hadn't gotten the bus job while waiting to hear back.

As much as I dislike this job sometimes, I am glad to HAVE a job. Especially right now with a wedding and househunting!

I feel badly for the people who lost their jobs there though. I sure know how that feels.

---
I'm thinking of taking tomorrow off from church. I'm starting to feel pretty run down, and Sunday is going to be hectic with the Valentine's tea thing, and then whatever Mr FT and I do that night.

Mr FT got some happy news Thursday - his nephew is coming to the wedding! He hasn't been back here in 8 years! Mr FT and his mom had a large part in raising the nephew. I'm so glad Mr FT is going to have both his sister and nephew here for him.

--
I got my bloodwork results back from the doctor. My TSH level was on the high side again (not 17, but about 7.8) so she increased my dosage. I'll have to get it rechecked in a month.

I was also told that my bad cholesterol was a bit elevated and was suggested to use red yeast rice. It's an over the counter supplement - from what I'm reading though, it doesn't sound very effective. Plus, I'd really rather try to do better with my eating. (Krispee Kreme opened a shop here recently, and Mr FT has fallen in love with the hot & fresh glazed donuts .... this is not going to help the diet.)

Anyone ever use Red Yeast Rice?

---
Spending hasn't been horrible, but definitely not being as careful as I could be.

I've changed all my direct to credit card bills to my new Citi card, and Mr FT is using it to buy gas. I added him as an authorized user too. Once his card gets here, then I can use mine to do other in person spending. (wedding, groceries, etc.) We're planning on using the $500 towards either the mortgage or student loans, and not towards travel money.

*** Almost a month and I haven't heard anything back about the librarian job. Maybe they're just slow. This actually works though ... It would be better if I get the job, to not have it start til mid-May.

So I've been reading / browsing through some of the books I got from the library about communication. One I've been reading via the Kindle app (during work ...) is Crucial Conversations. Very interesting and very good. Am hoping I'll be able to learn some of the techniques.

I asked my boss this afternoon how she had learned to be such a good mediator / communicator. At a stressful meeting a few weeks ago between myself and a co-worker (one I've mentioned before as being a perfectionist .....) she basically mediated between us. The whole time she was so calm, cool, collected - while co-worker was on the attack and I was withering ...

This question led to a 40 minute discussion which I felt was pretty valuable. She was surprised when I told her that I thought she was confident and calm, etc. Funny how people see us as things we don't see for ourselves.

She also told me that my evaluation should be coming up in the next few days (I'd been biting my nails to not ask about it yet again ...)

Can I just say again how great a boss I have?

----
After work today I met with a local cafe owner. He's going to do scones w/jam, finger sandwiches, fruit and veggie trays, cheesecake bites, etc. all for $160! (including tax!) for 20 people. They'll bring it and get it all set up in time for the reception to start. No delivery charge.

The person doing my alterations raved about their food.

---
Question time ... I am wondering about the etiquette of this .... My mom was asking if I was going to do a formal FB announcement of place/time/registry. I don't know that I've ever seen anyone do that? Maybe I could make a post stating the day, and a link to our website for more info??

I *think* she wants me to do this for the extended friends of our family who aren't being invited, but may want to send something.

I'm just not really sure what the etiquette here would be. Emily Post of the FB age, where are you?

---
Ouch! I had my doctor call in prescriptions for Allegra D 24 hr and Nascort spray. $43.xx for the Allegra D (30 day supply) and $50 copay for the Nascort!! I'm not sure how many sprays that works out to - need to figure that out to see if it works out more cheaply than buying it just OTC.

I did this mainly so I wouldn't have to go in so often to get more Allegra, but also so I could use my FSA money for my allergy stuff. Very many refills of this will use it up in no time ...

When I was working as a school librarian in New Mexico, I was part of a program called Americorps. As part of that program you get an education award for each year of service. I earned two awards.

I used about 30% of it for a certificate program, but have had no use for the rest of it.

With marrying Mr FT, my plan was to transfer the award to him so he could pay off his student loans.

I'm almost POSITIVE I read that the only qualification was it had to be an immediate family member.

But ... tonight I was doing a little more research into it to refresh my memory. Unless I was reading something way different, I really messed up.

Apparently you can only transfer it to a child or grandchild AND only then if you were 55+ years old when entering into Americorps service.

If this is truly the case, then we won't be able to pay off his student loans in one fell swoop. So .. I guess that means that we really have no reason to wait to actually buy a house til after we're married. (I figured it would take a few months for the award to be transferred, and then pay off the loans.)

What a colossal waste of money. The award money will expire in 5 years (7 years from end of service.) I have absolutely no desire to go back to school for anything.

Ugh and Double Ugh!

--
We sure got some snow here this morning! There was nothing by 2 a.m., and then when I looked again at 4, there was at least 4 inches. By noon, there had been at least 10!

I got stuck trying to get out of my parking lot and couldn't find my shovel. So I improvised and used ... a mop! Then when I came home tonight, I had to make 3 attempts to get up the little hill into the parking lot!

I kept track today of how many calls I took asking about if the buses were running. Over 100 total, but 45 of them were in the first hour! Other people were also taking similar calls.

It didn't help that Omaha shut down their bus system. I think that got a lot of people here panicked that we were going to do so as well. How nice would a snow day be ... (did you notice how well I slept last night? Yeah.)

---
I may have misunderstood the Brink's PrePaid deal. I have an email in to customer service to clarify, but from what I can gather, it pays interest 1 x per quarter, not monthly. Which is why I didn't have any interest show up for this month. The .50% is for amounts over $5k, so it still should be 5% for the first $5k.

Waiting now for clarification.

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I received my $25 AGC from SBs today. Pretty fast since I only ordered it yesterday!

This morning I woke up feeling pretty under the weather, and called in sick. A few hours later after getting some more sleep, I was feeling better and decided to get on the computer and see what I could do towards wedding planning.

Sunday night I'd been added to the local FB wedding group. I posted a question about finding someone to do hair and makeup on a Sunday. I now have two people who will come to my location and do my hair and makeup for me! It's going to run a bit more than I was planning on, but I think it'll be worth it.

Then ... I saw a thread talking about photographers. I noticed one in particular mentioned multiple times. I contacted her. She is going to do a video and photographs for $485!

Then ... I noticed someone offering to do alterations. I checked out their page/work and was impressed. I IMd them with a picture of my dress and what I needed. $75.

Then ... I called the bakery I visited last Tuesday to find out why I hadn't gotten a return call yet. The woman I needed to talk with answered - she'd just not had a chance to call yet. The two layer cake is going to cost $85, plus $5 for delivery, and another $15 for 20 wedding cake cookies.

Then ... I get a call from one of the catering places I'd contacted last week, but only got a voicemail. This place will do a proper tea. With scones and jam. Plus lots of other finger foods/sandwiches. Plus they may work out cheaper than the local grocery store. I have an appointment with them next Tuesday.

Almost forgot! I found shoes! Wide width, decent heel, white shoes! $25. Sweet! From Sears online.

Finally, tonight I stopped by the bed and breakfast and signed the contract. One thing I asked about was whether we could "discount" the room prices by paying part of the cost ourselves. She said that wouldn't be a problem. I'm thinking I might do that as a thank you to people coming from out of state. Especially since I'm saving so much money in other places.

And in a few hours I'm heading to bed praying that even though most of the city is shut down tomorrow, the snow will miss us! Cuz no matter what, I have to go into work tomorrow!

The first time I talked to Mr Ft about getting a picture of us in a photobooth was back in 2004. Yep. The very first time around for us.

Finally, today, it happened. Just took getting engaged to do so!

So .. here is a sort of engagement photo. (I was trying to get my ring in the photo, but it cut that part off.)

--
When we got back to my place, Mr FT and I started talking budget and finances in preparations for talking to the mortgage originator on Wednesday. We've agreed that whatever assets/liabilities we each have as of April 23rd, those will still be ours to deal with/use. From April 24 forward, we will combine whatever we bring in.

I emailed him the link to my YNAB budget program where I had put together two sample possible budgets based on varying levels of contribution from each of us. He's going to look them over and see what he thinks.

We also discussed how we're going to fund the downpayment. I'm going to pull $10k from my ROTH (which I've had since 2007, and in a sense had really thought of using the money for something like this.) Then together we'll come up with another $10k + whatever we need for closing costs.

It was a very good conversation. The only thing we need to figure out is groceries. I average around $130 - 50 / month. He averages more around $200-30 per month. I could only come up with $225 for groceries ... Hopefully we can figure out how to trim groceries for both of us (like maybe I'll do less stocking up? Only buy for the week ahead? Meal plan? Although that'd be difficult with a vegetarian and a carnivore ...)

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I picked up my dress today! Tomorrow I'll have to start calling the alterations people and get that going.

Before going to get my dress, I stopped at Party City and picked up DIY invitations for $10. Also a garter (something blue), and paper lace placemats/doilies for the reception.

I also stopped at my beloved Dollar Tree - frozen fruit and cheap veggie food!

I stopped at CVS too - the lady at the register recognized me (she buys a bus pass from me!) But she told me that I looked so much nicer out in public! LOL Probably because I was wearing makeup and had my hair down/fixed - don't wear makeup to work usually, and always have my hair back so it doesn't get tangled in my earpiece. I bought Flonase and Nascort - both of which had rebates (MobiSave and SavingStar.)

Finally I did a bit of grocery shopping at Walmart. Some of it was eligible for rebates.

I'm counting some of my grocery spending for February - I would have waited on most of it til next week if t hadn't been for me being in that part of town already for picking up my dress. (I had to wait til 1pm when the store opened.)

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It looks like I not only have my centerpieces taken care of, but I also have teacups! The women's ministries leader texted me a picture of 24 teacup mugs she got at Goodwill this morning. Beautiful!

---
Some weather reports are predicting 1 - 3 inches Monday/Tuesday. Some are reporting anywhere from 8 - 16 inches, but 40mph winds. Would it be really awful of me to call in sick on Tuesday? (Won't do it, but am tempted!)

---
Cashed out $20 from iBotta.
Cashed out $5.75 from MobiSave
Will eventually cash out $8.75 from Saving Star when my purchase processes.

So today was quite interesting.

It started off with an email from Mr FT suggesting the PERFECT recessional song - peppy, joyful - On Top of the World Now (Carpenters.)

Then an okay morning at work, followed by a very stressful afternoon.

I was SO tempted to text C and tell her that I wasn't coming to the women's ministry meeting. One, I didn't have anything figured out for the technology aspect of the Valentine's Tea we're doing, and two, I just was completely wiped out.

But ... I decided to keep going and not let the afternoon derail me. In fact, I decided to head over early so I could get in touch with R and work on the books (church library) before the meeting.

When I got over to the church, I pulled in next to an older couple. The wife has alzheimer's. The man is just barely with it. They were needing to get in to the church, and also were looking for the number for CH who has been having Sewing Sundays.

I have the code for the church, so was able to let them in with me. Then I looked on my phone at last weeks bulletin to see if CH's number was in it. Her name was, but not her number.

I'd had the mobile church directory on my old phone (the one that got lost last year) but not on my current phone. For the life of me I couldn't remember what it was called. It took about ten minutes of sluething, but I finally figured it out and was able to give the couple CH's number!

So I ended up not actually doing what I had planned (R wasn't there) but still got to do something that was a blessing to someone else. That right there picked up my spirits a lot.

Then it was time for the women's ministry meeting. First, I found out that we're going a different way with the craft project (so no technology needed!) Then the lady in charge of the decorating starts pulling out these gorgeous teapots filled with silk flower arrangements! And the ladies start talking about cake stands ...

My eyes are about bugging out!

Afterwards, I talked to C and asked her if she thought I could borrow some of the teapot decorations and cake stands. She said that she thought that would be fine, and gave me another idea for a place that might do catering.

So in the end, because I forced myself to go and follow through with my commitments, I ended up being able to bless someone else AND maybe have found a free way of getting most of my decorations for the reception!

I also got an idea for wedding favors. I hadn't really planned on having any at all, but these just seemed SO perfect! We're doing them for our ladies tea - 4x4 tiles with beautiful pictures/saying decoupaged onto them. They can be used as hot pads or if you add something called polyurethane? they can also be used at coasters.

I'm thinking about making 25 of them with a picture of Mr FT and I and our wedding date on it. That way people have a useful reminder. We'll be buying a box of 100 tiles, but only using 50 of them - so I'm going to ask if I can buy 25 of them. The rest of the materials are pretty cheap.

Yesterday I made the invitations using VistaPrint. I ordered 20 of them, plus a sheet of seals and thank you cards - all for $64.17 (after a processing surcharge.) They should be here by February 1.

I've pretty much got our wedding website all finished. I just need to get a recent photo of MR FT and I. I wanted to do it last night (use a photobooth at the mall) but Mr FT wants to get a haircut first. So .. next Sunday then.

Mr FT made me roll my eyes last night. He said to me, "I know you sometimes miss some details. So I was wondering if you'd thought about the centerpieces for the tables." This was after I showed him the wedding budget where there was a category labeled - Reception - Decorations.

I rolled with it because I want him to have some input on all this planning.

--
Today I called the courthouse and got us an appointment to get our marriage license a week from Thursday. They stay open late on the first Thursday of each month. A license here is good for one year.

I also emailed my pastor to get started on the pre-marital counseling Mr FT agreed to do with me. It starts out with a 100 question survey we each have to do online. I've already done mine - I can just guess how excited Mr FT is going to be ...

Did you do pre-marital counseling? Was it worthwhile?

---
I got great news about my brother tonight! His poor choices which led to the possibility of major negative consequences, has been alleviated. It's still definitely had some negative consequences, but I'm hoping it will turn into a positive for his life. This has been stressful for all of us.

---
Wow, was today interesting at work. A light dusting of snow was predicted for today. Yeah right. Parts of the city had white out conditions at certain points. By early afternoon most of our buses were running 20 - 1:15 minutes behind.

Can you just imagine the phone calls I was getting? They were coming so fast and furious that I couldn't keep up with them, and a couple other people were catching them. About 4 p.m. one of the ladies came out and was like - I can't believe these calls. I'm heading out before having to take any more!

It was like people couldn't get the fact that if the cars near them were traveling at a snails pace, and lots of sirens all around heading to accidents all over the place, that just maybe that might mean the buses might also be having some trouble getting around?

Oy Vey!

First off - thank you everyone for your comments on my 24 hour post. Ya'll made me blush.

--
So .. last night I talked with my mom to go over some of the wedding stuff. I told her I was planning on asking Uncle J to officiate. She told me that I better be prepared that I'd be expected to pay for Uncle and Aunt J's expenses.

I was like, "What!!" I'd planned on giving him something like $100 as a thank you, but not paying for two plane tickets and a hotel room!

So .. I call my Aunt N (the one paying for my dress.) She tells me that couldn't be further from the truth. That Uncle J is honored that I want him to do it (she'd told him) but that he might have a problem with the date.

So .. I call Uncle J. Talk to him about being the officiant. He then tells me about having a flight to Egypt on April 26 - not back til June. Aunt J is going to be in Egypt at that time too. (Yes, both of their names begin wtih J. They were high school sweethearts. Too cute.)

So ... I very reluctantly figured out that maybe April 17 would work. He reminded me that was Aunt N's birthday. Also, Grandma was having some friends from Singapore fly into LAX she wants to see.

So ... I ask Uncle J if him being here on the 24th would be too close to leaving for Egypt. He said he was more than happy to do it.

Whew!

Now I'm waiting to hear back from my brother if that weekend will be okay for him. He's a bit preoccupied right now though. So who knows when I'll hear back.

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Can I say how much I don't like Amazon's registry? The results when searching are abysmal! And I haven't figured out how to put things in there that don't come up in the search results (like for say example - different colors of the item you want!)

Supposedly there's a universal option - but I haven't gotten that to work yet. Mr FT however is able to get in to the registry and add stuff from his computer. So that way we can both work on it when we have time.

(I haven't started a Target or Bed Bath Beyond one yet - am hoping to figure out the universal thing so only have one registry to work with!)

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The last two days at work were very stressful. In fact, yesterday I went to my supervisor and asked her how bad it would be if I asked to be relieved of helping one certain person. Help which is NOT part of my job description.

Apparently this person also had gone to my supervisor. She was frustrated with me as well.

So ... today we had a meeting. I don't know if it was the stress of everything, overtiredness, or just utter frustration ... but I embarrassed myself by crying! Ugh! I hate that.

Once the tears start, it's very hard to get them to stop. And then it's hard for me to talk. (Name something that drives Mr FT up the wall ... )

I acknowledged my part in it (not being as careful as I should be in double checking the work output) and we figured out how to maybe make it work better.

We'll see I guess.

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So ... between my mom, grandma and aunt, I am being given $2500 towards wedding expenses. That's (hopefully) going to be more than 1/2 the cost.

So ... I have no clue how to word the invitations.

Mr FT bio parents are both dead, and he has an almost non-existant relationship with his stepdad. And then of course, my dad is also dead.

What I WANT to say is: Mr FT and Ms. FT invite you to come share in the celebration of our marriage on April 24, 2016 at 12:00 p.m. at place. (Or something similar.)

Not sure though if that is the "proper" wording, especially now that over half of it is being funded by mom/aunt/grandma.

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I got halfway home tonight and realized I left my phone at my desk. So turned around to get it - What a nightmare! At one particular light where I was trying to turn left, I sat through FOUR rounds of lights!

By the time I got my phone and was on my way back home, it was getting late - I was worried I would miss R at the church (wanted to ask her about her daughter doing photography.)

So I decided instead of going home and getting something to eat, then going to the library (to drop off the now overdue DVDs) and then to the church - I would stop at Walgreen's and pick up something to eat, then go on.

That's what I did. Spent $2.93 on a payday bar, york patty and a big thing of sparkling water. Then I got to the church, and R was nowhere to be found. Ugh.

I had also planned on printing out the labels for the church library books - my printer isn't working that great. (It prints, but not great quality.) My friend C is introducing me this week as the church librarian .. had kind of hoped to get some more books PUT in the library before hand.

Oh well ... right?

Going to try to get to bed a bit early tonight.

So today wasn't the best day at work. One situation in particular really made me need the OH WELL!

I wasn't doing very well with the Oh Well ... when up from dispatch came the wallet of a local university student who had lost it on a bus earlier that day. He'd called me and sounded nice enough.

So when I opened his wallet, I saw this:

Okay, not exactly this. I couldn't exactly take a picture of his photo id. But what he'd done was to draw in a very oversized mustache on his face. It just looked so funny, I couldn't help but laugh.

I showed it to someone else, and they thought it was pretty funny too.

So, thanks MB for providing me with a good, needed laugh today.

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I decided to set a stop loss of $203 on the stock I'm planning on using for part of a downpayment. That way I can be sure to have at least the minimum I want from the stock. This way I also don't have to watch it like a hawk ...

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Several of the SBs apps have not been running well for a couple of weeks which has been quite aggravating. Tonight I decided to try deleting and reinstalling ... Voila! It worked!

I got my $25 PayPal from SBs today. Yay!

Can definitely tell on PACT that the New Year's Resolutioner's are going strong. After 3 weeks of nearly $4 rewards, this week I got $2.12 At least the veggies are nearly instantaneously being approved. (Have to have $10 to cash out.)

I have several pictures to choose from today ... will save the others for later though.

Today I went shopping - my second shopping day of the year.

Carrots were on iBotta for a rebate at Walmart (as well as broccoli) otherwise I might have missed this entirely.

Here you go:


Is it just me, or are these gigantic carrots?!

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Between CVS, Aldi's, and Walmart I spent about $35. $12.89 of that was at CVS for my Allegra.

Today was my first trip into Aldi's here. All I got there was fruits and veggies - bananas, spaghetti squash and sweet potatoes. $2.86. Wow! The bananas were $.29/lb. The squash was $1.29 each.

I spent a good portion of the morning working on my application. It is pretty much all done - I just need to find out how to attach multiple documents to it. I scanned all my transcripts (a total of about 13 pages ...) but can only attach one page. Uh ...

The deadline is the 18th, so I still have some time.

I couldn't think of a name for my post today, other than one celebrating the fact that it is the end of my work week. Two days off from answering phones (and the one incessant man who keeps calling asking for information and getting annoyed when I try to find out where exactly he's trying to catch the bus at - I cringe when I hear his voice. Oh well.)

--
I cashed out for a $25 PayPal from Swagbucks last night. Today I got 200 swagups because my Groupon and Living Social purchases just happened to be within the timeframe of a shopping promotion (not on purpose.)

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I've been reading Forks Over Knives the past couple days at work (Kindle app on computer ) and the book has some pretty appealing recipes.

I haven't made any goals/resolutions/ etc. but in trying to keep this month low-spend, I'm also trying to eat as much as possible from what I already have on hand. Since treats tend to go fast .. that means I haven't been eating as much junk. The scale is liking this.

So .. anyway ... I'm really working on eating more healthfully. Both to save money, and to maybe see if I could get rid of my allergies so I could stop taking Allegra!

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Today at work I got called into the staff meeting and was given a certificate of recognition. I guess that's all there is to that. Oh well, I guess that certificate (with the text my boss wrote) will be a good addition to my application for the librarian position ... being an asset and customer service oriented and all.
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I'm continuing to do well with my minigoal #1. I'm not quite sure I'm ready to say it's a habit yet .. but I think it's pretty close to that.

So, January 16 I'll probably add a second minigoal.
--
In January so far, other than bills, I have had 7 NSDs.

I'm not really sure how I came to use this expression. It is a Yiddish term, and I have never really spent much time around Jewish people speaking Yiddish. Perhaps it's a term I read in a book - maybe one of Chaim Potok's books.

At any rate, I picked it up, and used it.

Apparently at least one student had heard me use it more than once. One year for Christmas, I got this:

I haven't kept very many things that were given to me by students through the years, but this is one of the few.

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I got a decent night's sleep last night - not great, but decent. In a much better mood today. (And didn't have to deal with grumpy delivery guy yet.)

--
My supervisor just found out about the guy who was let go the last week of December and how he emailed threats to us. She'd not known why the door code was changed.

So today she went into paranoid mode. And now we have to keep the door between my office "area" and the hallway with the bathrooms/breakroom/exercise room closed and locked. Which means I have to have my key with me all the time. Oh well.

--
The IT person who comes by every Thursday stopped by to see how my computer was faring. (Another data dump this week ...) She told me that she'd suggested to the person who posts our route detours that I would be more than capable of doing the changes we're talking about.

So, I might be having another aspect of my job added. (This IT lady and I have had a couple opportunities to talk while she does things to my computer(s).)

This isn't my picture, but a picture of a project/Christmas gift that someone (Pep) on the YNAB forums made for his mom for Christmas.

Here is a link to his journal: http://forum.youneedabudget.com/discussion/42718/pep-pep-hooray#latest (You do have to be logged in to view journals.)

I wanted to share this picture today for two reasons: 1. It shows how much thought and love can go into a homemade gift. and 2. It makes me smile!


--
Today wasn't the best at work. I found out that I made a foolish mistake on Tuesday - as in got the order book for one agency when the order was actually for a different one. The two agencies names had one letter different. The passes got delivered to the wrong agency ... so the grumpy guy who does the deliveries with whom I finally seemed to be making *some* progress with ... will have to go get the wrongly delivered passes and take them to the correct place. Ugh.

I think part of why I made that mistake is because I haven't been sleeping well the last few nights. I've been taking melatonin for a few weeks, and at first thought that it was helping ... but now am not so sure.

I really hope to get a decent nights sleep tonight because I kind of feel like I'm running on fumes. And that + coming up on that "time" makes for one very cranky Laura.

I did not stop for Coke and Chocolate. Which is definitely what I would have done before on a day like this.