Wave!

I’m a waver.  When I pass someone in my car on the street, I wave and smile to them.  Sometimes they wave back, sometimes they look at me like I’ve got 3 eyes.  I haven’t done this my whole life…just the past few years. 

I find that sometimes, it brings a smile to people’s faces, and that’s why I do it.  And, I want to be nice and say “hi” to people even if I am driving by. 

I think it may bother Todd sometimes when I do it. He says, “Are you waving to strangers again?”  Many times, my reply is “Yup!”

Do you wave at people on the street?

I'm Not Worried About It!

I will admit, I am very high-strung about a lot of things.  I tend to want to be in control of everything.  However, I have a saying that bothers Todd to no end, “I’m not worried about it!”

Todd: You should wear your winter coat, you’ll get sick!

Me: I’m not worried about it!

Todd: Maybe you should take a half day today because of the bad storm that is coming in.

Me: I’m not worried about it!

Todd: What if Lana gets off of her leash and bothers Squiggy?

Me: I’m not worried about it!

You get the drift.

I know people who are the ultimate worry-warts!  They worry about EVERYTHING!  I get irritated at times listening to them go on and on about their worries.  Usually, it’s over nothing.  I don’t see the sense in worrying about something that you don’t have any control over.  Maybe I have this theory because I’m an optimistic procrastinator.  I figure it will all work out eventually.

As my 2 year old niece, Annabelle, says: “No biggie.”

I think we all need to take that motto in our lives.

Winter Wardrobe

This past week, it started to get cold.  I knew I got rid of a lot of my wardrobe in the Spring, but I didn’t realize that I kept only 3 long-sleeve shirts/sweaters!  So, last Saturday, Todd and I hit up our favorite thrift store in Akron, OH.

I was able to purchase 9 (yes, you read correctly, 9!) sweaters for this season.  Wait until you hear how much I paid for 9 sweaters…$14.70!!! And one of the sweaters cost $3!  So 8 were $11.70.  Some were $0.75, others were $1.50.  I was giddy with excitement for the rest of the day.  I love knowing that I have 2 weeks worth of clothing for work for less than the price of a new sweater from a department store.

I started to take pictures to show you what I bought, but the pictures didn’t do the sweaters justice.  So, I will do without.  Some of the sweaters look brand new.  I couldn’t be happier.

This is just another way we save money.  If I had to estimate how much we spend on clothing a year, it would be less than $250 for the both of us.  We are both very hard on our clothes.  I get stains on my shirts because I’m always dripping something on my chest, and Todd works in his clothes when he tinkers around the house.  It is so much easier for us to get rid of clothing that we know we paid very little for versus a sweater I bought from Kohl’s for $25. 

We also like to keep everything versatile.  I have 4 pairs of dress-pants for work.  1 light grey, one medium grey, 1 navy and 1 khaki.  I only buy new pants when my others are worn out (every 2-4 years.)  My work shirts go with my jeans, so I don’t need any casual clothing for the weekends.  And the best part about having an inexpensive wardrobe is that every season, I don’t feel guilty for buying myself new clothes and tossing the worn out clothing! 

Pesky Whiskers!

In my old age, I am getting whiskers! I know…real becoming.  But it’s true!

As I get older, these thick whiskers grow out of my chin.  I have to tweeze them about once a month.  What the heck is up with that? Where are these things coming from?

I will admit, I have a thin fuzzy layer of blond hair on my face and chin, always have.  But these whiskers really bug me!

I'm On A Roll!

Wow! I’m on a roll!  I have about enough posts to last through mid-November! 

I’m not sure why the surge in blogs for me.  Well, none of my blogs are very long, and they don’t take much thought.  Whatever is going through my head at any given time is what I write about.  That’s why most of them are pretty unimportant and a little scatter-brained. I enjoy writing blogs and then scheduling them to post at a later-date!  Using this feature helps me to take the time I need to do things in the mornings and the evenings when I’m at home.

New Website!

I finally got done taking pictures and posting the pictures of the products I will be trying to sell at craft shows.

The website is:  http://www.simplygiftastic.com/  .

Enjoy!

Results of October Goals

At the beginning of October, I made a list of the goals that I wanted to accomplish.
Lets see how I did this month:

Financial Goals: I would like to see if we can live off of Todd’s income this month so that we can pay off Todd’s vehicle by mid-November.  Todd gets paid 5 times in October, but we are going out of state for the first weekend of October for a 3-day weekend.  Can we save $2150? 

We failed at this! Miserably!

We paid off $1527 toward Todd's vehicle.  We were off by $623.

I have a post listing the reasons (excuses) why we failed that will be posted a little later.

Personal Goals: I would like to finally get the fireproof safe organized with all of our paperwork.  I keep adding to the stack of paperwork that needs filed, but none of it is going into the safe for some reason!  Right now, the pile is daunting.

I finished the fireproof safe yesterday at 5:30!

Mind you, this does not include the paperwork that is on my desk and has been piled up on my desk for over a year.  I will try to get to that soon.  But this was all of the paperwork from our closet that has been accumulating.

This is the before picture:

Sorry, no after picture taken.  It is just like this, but no paperwork piled up!

Weight Goals:  I would like to lose 10 lbs this month.  Instead of my drastic measures I usually do (drinking raw shakes every meal for a week,) I would like to try to do it with eating smaller portions, healthier food, drinking more water and exercising regularly.

Another fail.  I lost 6 lbs the first week, and nothing since.  I am not doing well with my portions at all, but I am definitely going to work on it in November!  I have an app that will help me keep track of my calories and weight.  I will be trying to eat only 1200 calories during the week while I'm at work.  We will see how I will do with that!

So, as you can see, I only got 1 out of 3 goals complete this month.

Oh well.  There's always next month, right?

Dreaming of Labor

I have been thinking alot lately about having children.  I'm not sure what the change in heart has been, but it is definitely a strong one.  I wrote a blog (that will post on November 4th) about some passive thoughts on children.

Last night, I had a dream that I was pregnant and in labor.
I have very vivid dreams, and I remember most of them the next day.
In this dream, I remember the contractions and thinking, "This isnt so bad. I could do this naturally."  Then they got a bit worse, but I still held strong.  However, I woke up before the baby arrived.

Then, I got online this morning and read my best friend from childhood's birthstory of her 2 month old daughter.  Alot of what she described is what I dreamt about!

I decided to take a look to see what my dream could have meant.
So, here goes (from A-Z Dream Dictionary):

To dream that you are laboring, suggests that your goals will take a lot of hard work to accomplish

If you are a woman and dream that you are in labor, indicates your desire to be pregnant and to start a family. To experience or feel labor pains or Braxton Hicks contractions in your dream, indicate the anticipation of hard work ahead. If you are actually pregnant, then the dream serves as a rehearsal for the actual birth. The dream is trying to prepare you for labor and proper breathing.

Just to make myself clear - I am NOT pregnant right now.  So this was NOT a rehearsal of the actual birth.  I DO have alot of goals and I'm sure it will take alot of hard work. 

Have you ever had this type of dream before? 

October Grocery Budget : Result

For the month of October, I had a grocery budget of $200.  When looking at our mint.com account, we spent $211.86!  DOH!  We are over by $11.86.  I looked to see what we spent and where.  I see the culprit (and remember the other!)

When we were driving through PA at the beginning of the month, I picked up concord grapes for my mom ($7/basket) and the 52 lbs of apples for $4. Oh, and $1 for a small pumpkin for my desk at work. That was $12 right there.  Also, when I went to Aldi’s in the middle of the month, they had margarita tubs that we have every year for our 4^th of July party ½ off.  I ended up getting 2 tubs for less than the price of 1 that I normally get!  That was an extra $5 expense we didn’t really need.  I put the tubs of mix in the cabinet to save for July 2011’s party. And my last excuse reason is that meat was on sale and I loaded up. That was a $35 trip.

November has only 4 weeks.  Not to mention I stocked up on meat while it was on sale last month.  I am thinking about making the budget $150 for the month of November.  We may have to eat what we’ve got in the cupboards and freezer!  Lets see if we can do it!

Complain & Praise

I really like Joel Osteen.  I have set his sermons to automatically download when there is a new one posted to iTunes.  I am finally getting caught up from the past month’s sermons.   I find Joel very uplifting and motivational, which is exactly what I need!

One sermon talked about thinking positively, and he stated the following:

To Complain is to Restrain

To Praise is to Raise

What does that mean?  To complain, you are restraining yourself from witnessing the good around you because you are too busy being  negative-Nelly. You are limiting yourself! 

When you praise, you will raise.  You will be lifted up and abundance will flow.

Thinking back, I can see how this has definitely applied to my life.  Can you?