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Archive for May, 2010

A "Wicked" Weekend!

May 31st, 2010 at 07:12 pm

Friday night - our youngest DD had a campout at school. It was DH's turn to do the camping since I did it when our oldest went through it a couple of years ago... it turned out to be a great night for everyone as I had a super time with our oldest just by ourselves. We rented The Blind Side and snuggled in with some popcorn, while DH spent the evening with little DD roasting up smores with all the kids. Smile

We took the kids to see the musical "Wicked" on Saturday -- none of us knew a thing about the story but boy, was it a show! We absolutely loved it! Great music and the story was fantastic. The 2 hour drive to get there and the $300+ price tag for the four of us to see it was absolutely worth it.

Sunday was spent with my entire family -- sisters and their families were up for the Holiday weekend... had fun eating and just hanging out with each other.

All in all, a wonderful weekend but now, back to a boring no-spend week (since we spent a lot this weekend).

A lot going on...

May 24th, 2010 at 02:35 pm

1. DH and I agreed to a "no spend week" starting today, Monday, through this Friday. We are going to see if we can make it through 5 days of absolutely no cash going out at all. Our cupboards are full, the cars have about half a tank of gas each, and we don't have anything pressing to worry about this week. Cross your fingers! Smile

2. I started on May 22 to buckle down and lose the last 10 pounds that I need to before our beach trip in July. I even put on my 2-piece suit and had DD take my "before" picture! Ugh. I'm at 118 lbs now and want to reach 108 (better yet 105) before July 22 rolls around. So far so good. On Sat, May 22, I started out running (and walking) in a 5k race. Then on Sun morning, I worked out with Fit TV for an hour and took the kids to the local park with the dog -- walked for another hour or so. Then this morning, I worked out with Fit TV for half an hour and will be running at the kids' track practice tonight for another hour. Believe me, I'm not a runner but I am intent on losing these stubborn pounds. Last April 2009, I got on the exercise regime and lost 15 pounds putting me at my current 118 so I can't complain. At least I've been able to maintain that weight for a year and didn't gain it all back... now I just need to lose that last 10 and I'll be good to go!

3. I have such a positive outlook on my life right now and it feels so good. We paid off all our non-mortgage debt just last week or so and look forward to June when we can start saving our money more instead of sending our money to creditors. No car loans, no credit card debts, no personal or student loans - life is good Smile

Vegetable Plant Updates

May 24th, 2010 at 01:59 pm

On April 17, I posted the two week picture below of the cucumber seeds we planted using the method suggested by cptacek... here is the pic again:



And now 5 weeks later, on May 24, look at my beautiful cucumber plant!



The smaller pot on the left contains the seedlings from tomato seeds I planted a couple of weeks ago.

I've never had luck with seeds until now so thanks so much to cptacek for giving me the idea to do it this way.

I have cucumbers, tomatoes, and watermelon coming up so far and look forward to June when I will transplant these guys outside.

Just applied for a teaching job...

May 19th, 2010 at 03:52 pm

Ok, so I got my MBA in Dec 09 with the intention to further my professional opportunities with it. I got a $2500 raise at work because of it which I'm so grateful for... and now with my MBA, I am qualified to be an adjunct (part-time) instructor at our local community college. So, I just mailed off the application and my transcripts. I indicated that I want to teach accounting or business administration courses... I think it would be a nice challenge and something different for me to explore -- I could teach at nights/weekends and this wouldn't interfere with my "real" job. Heck, it can't be that hard, can it? Does anyone out there do this too? I would enjoy the challenge and of course, the extra income would be cool too. Smile

Another Showing

May 17th, 2010 at 05:30 pm

Please send your positive energy our way. We've had our house listed for 2 years now and no offers. The feedback has consistently been that the house is wonderful, priced well, and in excellent condition. So, why no offers? Who knows? We had a showing last Friday evening but no hopes of that one turning out in our favor (the realtor said the buyer liked another one better that they say that same night).

However, we just got a call from our realtor that there is going to be another showing tomorrow at noon. Please, please, please let this be the one! We are just tired of having to clean the house (and we clean it up spotless for every showing) and not 'living' in it, you know? We are very fortunate for NOT HAVING to have to sell the house due to any financial hardships or anything like that so we know that we are inconveniencing ourselves and it's our own faults since we DON'T HAVE to move anywhere. But, we just WANT to move... alas, the house is on the market and we aren't going to give it away by undercutting the price way low, so on with the inconveniences.

We visited my parents this weekend (they live just 30 minutes away) and had a conversation about their next door neighbor's house. The lady that owns that house is very elderly and hasn't lived in the house for years now. She lives with a daughter somewhere and her kids just pitch in to have the yard taken care of and they come and take care of the inside of the house every other week or so. My mom has been eyeing this house because she wants us to buy it when/if the family ever gets around to selling it since it's a great house. Well, we've had this conversation many times over the years and I've always replied that it would be too much of a commute for us (we currently live 5 minutes away from our jobs). However, this weekend, my mom said that SHE would buy the house if we would live in it and take care of it. We wouldn't have any mortgage or rent at all and could bank that expense into our long-range savings goals. Needless to say, I got excited over this prospect even with the 30 minute commute issue. Hmmm... just something to think about!

Non-financial post: I ran a mile for the first time!

May 14th, 2010 at 02:06 pm

First, let me say that I absolutely hate running. My theory throughout life is that I will only run if something or someone was chasing me! Smile Well, last night during the kids' track practice, DH and I decided that we would actually run a little (gasp)! We've walked during their practices which has been great but for whatever reason, I felt motivated to run last night. So, 4 laps on the track is equal to one mile and that is what I did. Granted I didn't run the entire 4 laps at once but broke it down into manageable pieces, 1 lap of running, 1 lap of walking, and repeat. We did a total of 3 miles last night. Anyway, what an accomplishment for me! Heck, I may keep trying to run a mile during each track practice (twice a week) and before summer, I might actually be in pretty good shape. I turn 35 years old tomorrow so maybe this will help slow down the aging process for me... ha ha. The ladies at work made me brownies today for my b-day which were so good! Smile This counteracts the running I did last night but who cares? The family is going to participate in the girls' school fundraiser tomorrow which is a 5k race/walk so see, it all evens out... Life is a balancing act, isn't it? So, even though my birthday isn't until tomorrow, I plan to welcome it with open arms and look forward to another 35 great years!