Pay Day

Pay day = bill paying day. I love putting little red check marks next to my list of bills due on my handwritten budget. Two doctor bills I have been paying on the past 2-3 months are done with, finally. The last 2 months I paid $100 each. This month I paid them off - one was a $54 balance and the other was $104. It will be really nice not having those payments going out again next month. Now I can concentrate on the last big bill - the one for the MRI that DH had done and went to deductible. I have paid $150 towards it so far. When I called to ask to set up monthly payments of $75 (to start, until I got these other 2 paid off) the lady was so kind and said they will take $25 payments and she would set it up that way, in case I ever had a month I couldn't make the $75, I wouldn't have to worry about calling and letting them know. So, I called this morning and made a $75 payment and next month I should be able to start doing $150 per month.

Now I can finish my Christmas shopping, too. I've already gotten some of it done last week, but probably still have about $300 to go. Other than a dvd, I haven't gotten anything for DH yet (though we are just doing stocking stuffer's this year for each other) or DS. Since DS won't be here I'm just going to get him some more shorts and t-shirts for his trip. I'm not sure what else for him yet. I had originally planned to just give him cash for his trip, but he hasn't been very responsible with his money as we would like, lately, so instead of cash he can just waste on stupid stuff, we decided to get him things he can use. He did well to work and save for his plane ticket, but other than that he has been wasting a lot of money eating out and doing fun/expensive things with his GF. We had a sit down with him last weekend that we are not going to keep going without and sacrifice while we are still supporting him quite a bit, while he can go out and blow his money on absolutely unnecessary things. GF spends like money grows on trees (but it's all borrowed!) and he's just getting caught up in her lifestyle of eating out every day and buying "stuff". Now that she's living on her own while at college, it's gotten even worse. Meanwhile, I'm sitting here having to tell DD that if she wants to take a few private tennis lessons this winter, she'll have to pay for them herself. The money I'm putting out for DS to live here, provide him with a car, health and dental insurance, food (when he's home), etc could be used for the rest of us to have a little fun. I think he got the message somewhat, but it's still going to be an uphill battle since his GF has no parental restrictions on her life or what she spends her money on, even thought they still mostly support her. When he gets back from his trip, we'll be working on cutting the bank of mom and dad off even more.  Time to grow up and take on those responsibilities himself. If he was scrimping and saving, like we have to, then I would have no problem to continue to help him out as we are, but he's not at all. I've really reached the point, now that he's 21 years old, where I now have no guilt feelings about cutting him off.

I spent $137 and ordered more of the little trees (50) and once those are planted should eventually give us a very nice privacy screen along the front and one side of our property. Hopefully in 2-3 years they will be getting alot bigger. DH is working on getting the Christmas lights put up outside today and has brought the tree (artificial) in, so I can finish my inside decorating this weekend. I'm really scared of putting the tree up with this 4 month old puppy! He's just so clumsy and playful and hasn't really learned all his boundaries yet. Everything is fun to him.

DS texted me this morning that the window tinting company next door to where he works has a new guy they need to train, so he offered to do DS's (our) car for free. DS wanted to know if it was ok to do, so we said sure! It sounds like the owner does it himself and the new guy just watches to learn, so I feel safe that it will be a decent job done on it, plus it does have a lifetime warranty. I don't know what a window tinting costs, but I'm sure it's not cheap.

Next Friday is the employee Christmas lunch/meeting at work. This is where they gave us our bonus checks last year. I'm so hoping we get a bonus like we did last year ($1500 net). That would be so nice to put in the bank, like I did last year. It helped get us though all the doctor and prescription bills we've had come up this year. Being the accountant, I do know that as this year is coming to a close, the owners/management are actually trying to spend some of the money - it was a very good year and they don't want to owe a huge tax bill. I'm hoping that with this "problem" they are really feeling generous in the bonus department :-)

Target trip

DD was at Target the other day buying a sports top to wear to the tennis lessons she started this week. I guess I have her trained good because she actually looked at the catalina coupon that printed out with her receipt and it was a $5 off $50 purchase, so she left it on my desk.  I probably spend that much a month (not counting prescriptions) at Target in household supplies and some groceries, so I got a list together and went shopping yesterday afternoon.

I did get a few good deals combining their sales with Target coupons and manufacturer coupons.  These are my prices after coupons and 5% Red card discount:

Crystal Light On the Go - $1.46 per box
Up and Up Eye Drops - $ .21
Pepperidge Farm Milano Cookies - $1.43

I've also really been wanting some Christmas Throw pillows for the couch. I looked last year on clearance after Christmas but didn't find anything. They had their $15 pillows on sale for $12.00.  There were 2 Target coupons I printed. One for buy one get one 50% off a throw pillow and one for $2.00 off a throw pillow. I wasn't sure if I could use both, but I gave it a shot and it worked, so I got both pillows for $16. Since this purchase was what brought me to the $50 I need to spend, with the $5 off coupon and 5% off they really came to $10.45 for both! And they look really cute on my couch.

Dreams really can come true

I've been waiting to post this until it became "official". I didn't want to jinx the dream come true for DS if something changed in the last few weeks.  It just seemed too good to be true and it's now just seeming more real to me. You might have noticed I haven't posted the past month or so that he's had any big job interviews for that full time job he's been searching for quite a few months now.........That is because he got a call a several weeks ago.....

A call from a guy he met when he was in Australia for 2 months a year and a half ago. He asked DS to come back to Australia to be the driver for the race car he owns!!!  He wants to put DS in the car for about 8 or so races over a 6 week period.  DS is beyond excited! We are all so thrilled for him.  He absolutely loved Australia when he stayed there before.  It was the opportunity of a lifetime then to just visit and experience Australia and to get a second chance to visit AND race is a dream come true.

DS has to pay for his plane ticket there (about $1600), but once he is there all his expenses will be paid for.  He is staying with the car owner and his family.  He has been working hard with his contract type job he's been doing for the computer repair shop and was able to purchase his plane ticket, so it's official now.  He leaves in 2 weeks and thought he'd have a about a week to settle in before his first race, but the schedule got changed and he will be strapping those seatbelts 24 hours after he gets there! Sadly he will be gone for Christmas, but we'll all survive, even though it will be strange to not have him with us.

This is a fantastic opportunity for DS's driving career. He's never had the chance to drive someone else's car or be crew chiefed by someone other than his dad.  It will be a great learning experience for him to drive a different car and communicate with a different crew.  This is a smaller type of car and motor than he drives here in the States, but still the same general type.  I think he is gong to do really well in the smaller car and it sounds like it is good, safe equipment.  I can't imagine what it's going to feel like to me knowing he is in a race car and 7,000 miles from home. I'll be on pins and needles waiting for updates each time he races. I guess we'll have to be on Australia time during the races - after midnight our time, but no one's going to be able to sleep when we know he is out on a race track!

I think since he's already been to Australia it will help with any "nerves" he might experience - he's already experienced the flight, customs, being on his own for a big trip, etc. This time he actually knows the people he is staying with, since he met them in person the first trip. Last time he only knew the guy/family he stayed with from talking with him over the internet via his online gaming headset and emails.  We will miss him "heaps", as they say in Australia, but we are so happy for him!

Mystery box

I guess the old saying "one person's junk is another person's treasure" is true.  While getting out some Christmas decorations from our built in china cabinet cupboards I decided to do a little digging in the far back corners and see what is hiding back there. First I found an old baby wipes tub. Opened it up and there was a bunch of change, keys, batteries and screws. I counted up the coins (2 silver dollars and a Susan B Anthony dollar among the high dollar coins) and got $4.20.  Threw away the rest.  Then there was this brown box about 4"x6". Inside it appeared to be a cup holder for a car. Since the box had to have been down there probably 15 years I knew it wasn't to any car we still owned. I was going to throw it away, but thought I'd show it to DH first. He was almost going to toss it out too, but just out of curiosity he wanted to know which vehicle we owned at one point that it came from.  He googled the part # on the cup and was lead to these selling on ebay. Listed anywhere from $35 to $50!  Apparently these are no longer made so people are willing to pay a good price for them, especially new in the box.

He listed it and it is now up to $42. We are sure having a laugh that the piece of plastic we almost tossed in the garbage can is making us money!

Puppy cuteness!

Puppy had his last visit for shots yesterday. He heard the vet's voice coming from behind that door and ran over to sit and wait for the lady who always gives him lots of treats! He's so stinking cute. 37 pounds now.  We are having an "itchiness" problem, still. We've been giving him fish oil tablets, but those take about 6 weeks to start working. It's only been 3 weeks but his itching seems to have gotten worse. Vet suggested trying to give him some benadryl. So, when I went to Target to pick up DH's meds and a few misc things I of course forgot the benadryl. After I get the bird in the oven a bit later this morning I will see if Rite Aid is open and run over and get some. If, after the 6 weeks or so on the fish oil, he doesn't seem to get any better I'll probably try a different dog food and see if that helps.

A few gifts off the list and other savings

Work was just a half day for me today. When I first got up this morning I did some Black Friday shopping! Yes, on Wednesday, at home, in my jammies. Kohl's is offering their Black Friday deals online, starting today.  There was a couple of things DD had on her wish list from Kohl's and I was so pleased to get good deals. If I spent $50 I get $15 in Kohl's cash back and free shipping. I also had a 20% off coupon, so I really needed to spend $62.50 to be at the $50 level after the discount.

My prices after discount:
3 piece PJ set (she wants some that have shorts, too) - reg. $40 for $15.99 (gift for DD)
Simply Vera slippers - reg. $34.00 for $7.99  (gift for DD)
Picture Frame - reg. 15.99 for $5.13 (gift for son's GF)
King sized alternative down comforter - reg. $119.99 for $21.59

The comforter is for ME! I've been looking for something new for our bed to replace the old, dirty (too big for washing machine and I hate going to laundry mat) comforter. The reviews on it were very good and the price was awesome. I'm still going to look for a duvet cover that I can remove and wash easier than a heavy bulky comforter, though from the sounds of the reviews, those with king size were able to fit it in their washer since it's not real thick and heavy.

I'm waiting for DH's doctor office to call back. Since being on this 2 week trial of another fibromyalgia medicine he is really having trouble urinating. Nothing much will come out and what little does takes forever. Seems to be getting worse every day and especially since he upped the dosage for this past week. From looking online it can be a side effect, apparently. This mornings dose was the last of the 2 week trial pack and I dropped the actual prescription off at the pharmacy yesterday (not knowing about this problem). They were out and will have it in today, but now I'm not sure what to do about it. Wait to hear back from Dr.'s office I guess. It's $128 so I don't want to go pick it up if the Dr. is going to say stop taking it. If I don't hear back by this afternoon, I think I'll call the pharmacist and see what he thinks.

Other savings this week:
$30 off the prescription with savings card (if I actually end up refilling it)
Jimmy Dean Delights breakfast bowl - .22 after coupon
GE Reveal 4 pack lightbulbs - .19 after coupons (I got 2)
UP an UP Alum foil (2) .79 each

No end in sight

When does the skyrocketing health insurance costs end? Will it just eventually be that people start going without because they just can't afford it anymore?  Last year the health insurance premiums on the private insurance I have DH and the kids on went up 58%.  This January it will go up another 25%. It keeps going up and I keep upping the deductible and lowering the benefits to try and keep a plan that is within our budget.

Let's talk actual dollars here. Two years ago I was paying $188 a month - for all three of them! Then it took a jump to $266 a month. Last year it went from $266 to $422. Then this past summer the insurance company dropped prescription coverage on the plan (it basically only covered generics with a copay of $15 and a small discount on brand name drugs). With the drop in prescription coverage they lowered the monthly premium down to $408 (big whoop). If I wanted the one plan they now offer with prescription coverage (and not even as much coverage as the old plan) it would cost over $200 more per month than I was paying. Now, effective Jan 1st the plan goes up to $503 per month. So, in 2 years time our health insurance premiums have gone up a total of 167%.  There is something seriously wrong with our health care system and the insurance companies.

As of right now I basically have 3 companies to choose from in my state for individual/private health insurance options. I'm looking into the other 2 (again!) to see what plans they are offering this year and see if I can either get something cheaper or at least more benefits for the same cost.

Currently, I'm spending about $283 a month for Dh's prescriptions (but this keeps changing every 2-3 months as DH keeps trying to find a drug that will help, so it's hard to budget). Three of these prescriptions are generic, yet one costs $83, one cost $66 and one is on the $4 formulary. The name brand drug he is currently on is $130 (for a few months, then I lose the $30 copay discount that is offered by the drug company for the first 3 refills).  So, I need to take that monthly cost into figuring out which is the most cost effective plan and give him the benefits he needs.

I think I found a plan combination today that will cost $506 per month. $3 more than what our current plan will be Jan 1 but, with some key benefits that will bring my other out of pocket costs down. Generics will be $10 copay and brand name drugs will be 50% covered after a $500 prescription deductible.  The plan also has a vision benefit of $150 per year, which we have never had and DH is much in need of an eye exam and glasses. The deductible is very high at $7500 but the first 4 office visits are not subject to the deductible, just a $25 copay. This year was probably one of his highest in medical costs and we still didn't quite hit our $3500 deductible with our current plan.  Knock on wood, but I don't foresee next year being quite as costly as this year. The doctor is about out of options for him to try and I don't see him having to have an MRI (the bulk our our cost this year) again. So, I might as well take the high deductible that has much lower monthly premiums. If I can get those 2 higher priced generic prescriptions DH takes for $10 ea, then I will be saving $129 per month just on those.

I'm going to send in the application for this plan but I'm also now concerned because now DH is probably considered to have a pre-existing condition. The info wasn't real clear on whether that would cause a 9 month delay for the plan to cover pre-existing conditions. The info I could find said "may" be a 9 month wait. I think I'd have to stay stuck with the plan he has, if that is the case, or do some serious thinking of what my out of pocket costs for his fibromyalgia might be if it's not covered.

I'm so tired of paying a $100 or more a month increase every damn year!

Out of sight - out of mind

This is what we want along our property line to define the property line better AND to block our view of the neighbor's junk yard. He also now has a woodpile that is literally almost as tall and big as a small house, covered with blue tarps. Yep,  nice to look at every day.

Ya - that's what we WANT.  But that is not in our budget at all, so this is what we got instead:

We got 25 of them to start with. Hard to tell in the picture but they are about 10-12" high.  Tiny little guys that supposedly will grow up to 3 feet per year. If they are 5-6 feet high in a couple of years we will have a nice screen.  I actually purchased these on Amazon! $60 ($2.40 per tree) but I used $10 in amazon gift card codes I had from Swagbucks, so that covered shipping and a little more. Planting these 5 feet apart got us 75 feet along our property line......only 200 feet more to go!  I'm hoping to have enough in my budget from my paychecks at the end of the month to order some more.

Turkey and crab

I did some "2 week" grocery shopping yesterday in order to get a free turkey.  The grocery store offered up to a 24 pound turkey for free if you spent $150.00. I figured I might as well just shop for more than a week and get a free one. Picked out a 19 pounder. It was probably more like "12 day" shopping since when trying to plan out 2 weeks of dinners I got stuck and still needed something on the menu plan for 2 of the days. Nothing was sounding good...or we just had it recently...and I think I'm just getting tired of the same meals all the time.

Anyhow - my total came to $185. Gulp. The register was showing $230 before the checker hit the magic button and my store card savings and coupons came off. That was scary for a minute!  But I did add to my stockpile. Lots of soup, canned veggies and 24 packs of soda for $5 ea. It was so nice to be able to put the extra Thanksgiving refrigerated items out in the extra fridge.

And I totally splurged on a very rare purchase - Alaskan King Crab Legs for $13.99 a pound. I think the last time (like a year ago) I bought some it was closer to $25/lb. I spent $42 for 12 King crab legs and we are having a feast on this for tonight's dinner! Yum. My absolute favorite food, besides cheesecake...oooh I should make a cheesecake :)  All 4 of us love crab, which is saying a lot as DS is so picky. Much cheaper than going out to eat (and I'd never order that at a restaurant -way too expensive!) and the last time we had dinner out at a restaurant was almost 2 months ago. So, I guess this is our little family dinner get together. One of the few meals we will all get together, as soon DS won't be able to have any dinners with us for many weeks.....More on that news to come!

Lots of housecleaning plans for this weekend on tap. I need to get it "guest ready" for our family coming over on Thanksgiving. I hate housecleaning and for some reason I hate doing it even more when everyone else is in the house. I don't know why it bugs me. If I'm alone I can seem to get a lot done and don't mind it so much.  DD is at work this morning and I think once DH and DS get up they will probably be doing stuff in the shop or outside, so maybe I will actually get something accomplished.

Stop being a mommy

I'm sitting here this morning trying not to be "mom".  Trying to just let my 21 year old take care of himself and his life. This isn't even anything serious, really. But, it's totally nagging at me and driving me crazy!  He's been working for the computer repair shop just about every day. It's in the town where his GF goes to school - about a 45 minute drive from here. So, he stays at her apartment all week and comes home on the weekends.

He came home last night because GF was leaving on vacation with her family, but he told me last night he is working today, so he will have to drive back down there this morning. I asked what time he had to be at work and he said 8:30am. Well, here it is 7:40 and he's still sleeping! I can't stand it. Drive me absolutely nuts and he's always doing this. Usually, if I wake him up it's plenty of time before he has to leave and he most likely would have gotten up and given himself 20 minutes to shower, dress and walk out the door. So...I decided to wait and give him that time - just in case he really is going to get himself up. He should be walking out the door right now.............How do I start letting go and just let him do his own thing? I know as soon as I finish this post I'm going to get up and go ask him if he's supposed to be up or what....

Ok, I couldn't even wait for that. I just HATE being late and if he's going to live here he's not going to be late for important stuff like work.  Geez.  I just said to him - aren't you supposed to be down at work in 45 minutes? He looked at his phone and said "yes". So, then I said "didn't you set your alarm?" and his reply was "I think it's set for 7:45". Huh? How does that work? I gave up and just walked out and of course now wished I had just let him sleep and deal with it himself.  I have never once had to worry his sister - she has never been late a day in her life. How can they be so different?

Easy diet

I never would have thought the 2 words "easy" and "diet" would go together. I think I mentioned awhile back that DH had started that daily shake diet (Visalus) that a couple we are friends with sell.  And boy do they sell it! She has been able to quit her full time job and sells this as her job now, making more than she did at her job. It seemed worth a shot and the $55 a month (with shipping) would be some what offset by the daily cost of the meal he has been replacing with the shake. For someone who can't exercise this seemed worth a try.

It couldn't be an easier diet! I fix him one banana shake a day (he won't get creative and try different flavors). In the first 30 days he lost 12 pounds. 5 more pounds and he will be under 200 pounds for the first time in years. His pants are getting a bit baggy and he is mentally just happier now that he is loosing some weight and hasn't really had to give up anything else he normally eats.  We don't have to count calories or try to figure out what to make him each day, like when he's tried to diet in the past. There's no whining that he isn't getting enough to eat or that he doesn't like the diet type food (you know, the good stuff - salads, veggies and fruit!) he's made himself eat in the past to try and lose weight. Nope, just a shake instead of his normal lunch of a lunchmeat and cheese sandwich, chips and a pop or lemonade.

It gets even better - now it will be free for DH! If you get 3 people to sign up under you and order the same (or higher) kit, your kit is free each month that they order. Without even trying (DH is NOT a salesman at all) by the end of the first month DH had 3 people sign up. Next month's shake kit will be free, free, free! My mom needs to loose weight and was impressed with DH's weight loss, so she signed up.  He had made a weekly post on his facebook page about how much weight he's lost (not trying to sell the stuff, just excited that it was working at he was losing) and a friend saw it (she has fibromyalgia, also) and she signed up.  Then DS's girlfriend decided to do it.  She really only needs to lose about 10 pounds, but the shakes are so nutritional that she thought it would be a much better (and quick) meal for her for either breakfast or lunch than what she has been eating lately while living on her own now while at college. She has been eating total junk food every day and has gained weight and of course is not eating healthy while she tries to juggle a full load of classes, a part time job, and studying. I'm sure it won't be hard for her to get 3 people to sign up, either and hers will be free soon. She has a huge family and network of friends that would probably try it.

So, all in all this has been a great and now free diet plan for DH!  Can't wait until he can see that scale show under 200 pounds.

Gift shopping

I have a list started of what gifts I want to buy for Christmas. That's a start, at least. I realized a couple of years ago that I stress myself over finding the best price for each gift. I might be out shopping and see something that would make a good gift but I won't buy it because in the back of my mind I might find it or something similar cheaper. Even if it's just a couple of dollars I would potentially save. I do that with just about everything, year round, but at Christmas it puts extra stress because of the time limit.  Consequently, I'm always trying to buy the bulk of my gifts close to Christmas.

Stocking stuffers are usually purchased a day or two before Christmas. I told myself last year I was going to start shopping year round for them. I found a cute purse sized makeup mirror almost free for DD last Jan or Feb and was all gung-ho to find little stuff all year. That's the only thing I got! I'm surprised I even remember now that I got it or where I hid it.

Since my Christmas budget is pretty small to begin with, other than maybe the few larger priced items I might have on my yearly list for DH and the kids, I'd probably only save a few dollars here and there, overall. Seems like my time would be much better spent just buying it when I find it now (and it's still on sale and a good price!) rather than waiting, thinking I'll find it cheaper if I keep looking.  Then I might have more time in the week leading up to Christmas to make cookies or something.

I won't have the money to buy all the gifts until the paychecks from the end of this month, but I can start on a few things.  That is my goal this year - to try and get past the "but you can probably find it cheaper" annoying little voice in my head and get the gift shopping done somewhat ahead of normal.

Stocking up

The great stock up of food and supplies has begun.  We got my mom's old fridge squeezed into the shop last week.  Not much to put in there yet as I'm having to go slow as budget allows and as I find good sales.  Today I was able to add to the freezer 2 packs of hamburger and 2 packs of lunch meat. We drink lots of milk and I can never buy what we drink at one trip because it won't all fit in the fridge so I'm always making a trip for milk later in the week. Smartypants DD reminded me I can put the extra milk out in the shop fridge. Duh!

Last week I stocked up on 3 extra jars of Jif Peanut butter that were on sale for $5 ea. and 10 cans of Del Monte vegetables for .69 ea. and a few jars of Mayo that I got for $1.49 ea. Today I stocked up on 4 jars of Welch's grape jam for $1.27 a jar.

Not much yet, and I still need to start getting a bit more organized on where I'm putting it.  Last night we had a pretty cheap dinner. I hadn't made chicken fried steak in years! The package for 4 pieces was only $5, made up some mashed potatoes with gravy, slices of bread w/butter and some jello and fed the 4 of us for probably $7 total.

Today I have to get over to Target for a few things. I have a $5 giftcard I forgot I had in my wallet, plus I just received a 5% off your shopping day from pharmacy rewards. I need puppy food and treats and a few other items that are on sale and I have coupons. Speaking of store rewards - we recently had .90 cents off per gallon of gas from grocery shopping. DD was thrilled to fill up her tank and even printed out the receipt to show me how much she saved!

Gobble Gobble!

Just got a call from DS wanting to know if we are having turkey or ham for Thanksgiving. "Turkey", I say, "why?".  The guy he has been working for is buying DS and the other guy who works for him a turkey or a ham for Thanksgiving.  Very nice!  He sure gives DS lots of nice little perks.  He bought him a new iPhone case that was like $55, when DS's old one wore out. He buys lunch all the time.  It's  nice to know there are employers out there who value their employees.  I think little perks make such a difference. My employer just decided to re-institute the perk of free pop and bottled water.  They stopped doing it a few years ago and put in a pop machine, but for some reason decided to start offering it free to the employees again.We also get free coffee, tea and hot chocolate and lots of lunches brought in for everybody quite often. Yesterday was delicious fried chicken, mashed potatoes and rolls. We also have a kitchen where I work and there's always pre-made cookie dough in the freezer....every once in awhile someone will bake a batch. Makes the whole office smell yummy and warm chocolate chip cookies are the best!

What kind of perks does your employer give?

Car troubles

It's been getting cold in the mornings this week- almost frost on the car windows. DD left to go to school Wednesday morning and texted me when she got there that her heater and defroster were blowing out cold air. Not good.  DH did the great "google" search for her make and model and the problem and came up with a couple of things to check.  First (which he already knew) was for her to see if she had water pressure.  Thankfully she did so she was able to drive back home after classes.  Then he checked her fuses and those were ok.  Then he sent her off to Walmart for an antifreeze tester and some new antifreeze.  That did the trick so she was only out about $15-$20 for the fix and has heat again. Good thing because the last 2 morning have been below freezing!  Puppy always takes a run at going outside the front door and did a slip and slide across the porch to the sidewalk!

One present done!

Got a Christmas present out of the way! Only it wasn't one I am giving - darn!  DD has been wanting to get DH a new Carhartt jacket for Christmas. His is quite old and finally wearing out. I told her they are going to be at least $100 in any store around here and maybe find something a bit cheaper online. She was going to see if her brother wanted to go in half since they are so expensive.

I was scanning my usual online sites this morning and slickdeals.net had a 40% off coupon for the Carhartt outlet. They had a jacket DH would like that was regularly $100 on sale for $75, so with the additional 40% off and free shipping it was only $45! I texted DD real quick and made sure she still wanted to get that as a gift and snagged it up. They were going quick.

Catching up on the week

I was up at my usual Saturday morning 7:15am time (thanks to puppy!). I spent about 45 minutes getting some work done for my side job.  Third quarter financials and info sent off to their CPA for a meeting the owners have with him next week. Feels good to have all that out of the way and not have to worry about for another quarter.

Later my mom, grandma and I are going to go over to eat where DD works - haven't seen her in action yet! It's a pretty pricey place for breakfast food so we haven't eaten there in a long time, but mom is paying so I wasn't turning down the invitation.

I didn't get to see DS all week. He's been working quite a bit for the computer repair shop that is about a 40 minute drive from our house, so he's been staying at his girlfriend's apartment during the week to save on gas. I miss him so much when he's gone! He got home last night but I only got to see him for a few minutes before I went to bed. DD and I had gone over to her school to watch a play that one of her best friends had a lead role in and we didn't get home until 10:30 last night. I really enjoy watching the high school plays and musicals they put on and this was the first time her friend had a lead role. She did great and so did the male lead. DD took her some flowers to give after the performance.

The puppy is doing well and we are all adjusting to him and he is adjusting to our home. His vet visit earlier in the week showed his weight has doubled to 30 pounds since we got him! He does have dry skin, which explains why he's been scratching so much. We're adding a fish oil pill to his food daily now, but probably won't see the benefits of it for about 4 weeks. He hasn't had an accident in the house for over a week so I think we've rounded the corner on that issue. He's figured out how to jump up on furniture and beds now - eek!

DH has still been feeling extra crappy all week, so we haven't started him on his new med yet.  The doctor said to wait until he was feeling his usual crappy self so we'd know if he was feeling better from the meds and not because his overdoing it last weekend was finally wearing off.

Well, the kitchen is a disaster and I'd better go clean up. DD didn't get time to empty the dishwasher yesterday afternoon and we had to leave for the play right after dinner and neither of us felt like cleaning at 10:30 last night, especially when she had to be up and out for work early this morning.

Enjoy your weekend!