Christmas was nice enough.
We had a ham dinner and i brought my slow cooker over with a cranberry rice pudding, as well as chocolate/walnut/cranberry cookies.
The gift giving was very simple this year. My mother gave my and my sister money, figuring we could use it. (yes.) My sister gave us each a bag containing several jars of homegrown and homemade strawberry and kiwi jam as well as cocoa dried pear rings.
My sister surprised us both by telling us she'd had hip replacement surgery 2 weeks ago! She's only 2 years older than me and very anti-medicine in general, so this was quite a shock. But she had been hobbling around for the past year or two and refusing to talk about it becus she doesn't like my mother asking questions and acting all worried. Anyway, I'm glad she had it done; I know she was in a lot of pain becus she's into herbs and natural supplements and stuff like that but doesn't trust doctors. She has extreme views which are frankly ridiculous.
It looks like a friend will be coming up here for a visit tomorrow night. I haven't seen him in 3 years or so but we talk frequently on the phone, almost daily. He's just a friend, and frankly gets on my nerves at times. Guess we'll have to see how it goes. I sort of have mixed feelings about seeing him.
I'm sort of stalling on buying a new dryer. I just don't want to spend the money. I came out about $600 ahead for the month of December, and I keep thinking about the next oil tank fill-up that will likely come toward the end of next month. I haven't checked oil prices lately, but I'm thinking it'll be in the $500 to $600 range. So I know I'll have to get a new dryer at some point, but for now, not working, I can air-dry my laundry in the dry air of the house. There's always the iron if I need to go somewhere for a job interview.
Monkey mama had suggested getting a used dryer. I suppose I could go that route, but I don't really feel comfortable buying a used dryer from a stranger, cus I'd have no way of knowing whether it was a decent dryer or not. I might as well get a new one where delivery and set-up are included...just not right away.
I've got a beef stew with orange zest going in the slow cooker.
I went way overboard with groceries this month. Spent $280. That's way more than I like to spend. Not sure what to attribute it to.
I spent my Xmas eve applying to a bunch of p/t jobs I saw on Craig's List which seemed like they could be interesting. Even a single regular p/t job would do wonders for my budget.
I spent an hour or so this afternoon tromping around in the brush perimeter of my backyard, where the downed trees were cut up, and rolling some of the smaller logs down the hill, which I then carted in my wheelbarrow to stack in the driveway. They're in the bramble patch, and come spring, that whole area will be impenetrable, so this is the time to get that firewood. There's also a lot of smaller tree branches that aren't burnable, so I've been stacking them in several piles, which make great cover for the birds here.
It was good to get out and get some fresh air on a relatively mild (low 40s) winter day.
I forgot to mention that when I finished up the nutrition study, I got the results of my 2 DEXA scans, which check for bone mineral density. (Or maybe I did?) Anyway, my bone density is slightly better than the average bone density of a 20 to 40 year old, and even better than other women my age. I also have greater hand strength than other women my age. Presumably, I'm stronger in general due to my yard work, but the testing involved things like hand grip, how long I could balance on one leg, how quickly I could run up and down 3 flights of stairs and stuff like that.
Nice enough
December 26th, 2011 at 09:26 pm
December 26th, 2011 at 10:26 pm 1324938410
I'm laughing at $280 being way overboard with groceries. I'd be being remarkably frugal if I ever got my grocery bill down that low. It's typically twice that (including pet food and toiletries and household supplies). I have no idea how you do that. And if I were still on unemployment, I'd definitely have to sit down and figure out how it is that I manage to spend so much. Well, I just threw out a pound of asparagus, a half pound of mushrooms, and a bunch of spinach that I bought a while ago and never got around to cooking, so I guess that's part of how that happens.
I'm crossing my fingers that one of the part-time jobs works out for you (of course, I'm really hoping for something much better, and soon). I talked to a friend last night who I hadn't talked to in May and he said he could hear the relief from stress in my voice from the my now having a job.
Going out at all on New Year's Eve, or staying in?
December 26th, 2011 at 10:41 pm 1324939297
I keep my pet expenses, including food, separate from my own food bill, so that could be part of it. And I seem to spend an awful lot on the 2 cats monthly, like about $75 including mostly canned food and then just their cat litter.
I really make a big effort not to throw away food. The only thing I can remember wasting recently was one quarter of a head of green cabbage.
No plans for New Year's, which is not unusual. How about you?
December 27th, 2011 at 02:20 am 1324952406
I actually do have plans for New Years Eve. Friends from my congregation are throwing a party. It'll be the same people (but a different host) than the Christmas Eve party, but that's ok. This is the second year in a row that I've had an invitation out for New Years Eve, which is really unusual. The last time I went out for New Years' Eve prior to last year was to a Y2K party!
December 27th, 2011 at 04:19 am 1324959543
December 27th, 2011 at 03:02 pm 1324998177