Ahh, the weekend has arrived.

Although I only worked on three days this week (as usual), I took home work for the evening each night, and including this weekend, so I worked about 30 hours instead of the usual 20. I want to take advantage of it while the work is there; I will be furloughed, or work very few hours, come June, and that will last until fall. Hard to imagine I'll still be there at that time, but things have a funny way of working out.

I'm happy to see my investment portfolio is doing quite well in the bull market of the last two months. In the month of January alone, it gained $19,330. In December, it gained $4,200 from the month before. Nice.

I'll be starting my taxes this weekend. I went out of my way to the IRS field office in nearby town last week only to find even the IRS did not have any instruction manuals, just the forms. I had TRIED to call in advance to ensure they had them, but wouldn't you know you get a recording; no live person answers the phone. (The library didn't have anything either.)

I guess I'll just have to refer to the manual online. Not my preference, as the whole process seems so complex I often circle, underline and otherwise mark up my instruction manual to guide me. Hmpgh.

For 2013, I'm already in the red to the tune of $1,039; however, that's because I chose to pay off a $2,900 sewer loan that would otherwise have another 6 years to go. I would have come in well under expenses in January had it not been for that sewer loan thingy. I guess it will all even out in the long run, and of course I will save around $400 in interest. It was due to some of your comments here that I finally decided to pay it off. Comments specifically to the effect that the loan, small as it is, could make the difference between a perspective buyer going for my house or someone else's. So it's gone now.

A rather shocking discovery: the zeal with which I hit BJ's since a new one opened here led me to spend $500 on groceries, just for myself, in January. I usually try to keep it under $235.

Well, I am well stocked with all my favorite foods: a lot of frozen teriyaki chicken, salmon, chipotle bean burgers and bean burritos in the freezer, and quite a few canned goods, cat food, a case of toilet paper, you name, I bought it.

I'm making pretty good progress at greatly reducing sugar in my life. And just now I dumped all mu white flour; no more quick breads for me, I'm afraid, at least not until I can find some bread recipes using something other than white or wheat flour. Chalk it all up to the book I'm currently reading. See side panel.

My neighbor and I are going to barter. I cleaned out my liquor cabinet on a whim and decided I wouldn't ever drink it all, so she wants my vodkas and rum. In trade, she's giving me a gently used bread machine that her son used only once. So I really need to find some healthy grain flours to cook with. It was the book "Wheat Belly" that convinced me to lay off even whole wheat breads.

While waiting to hear from said neighbor about the liquor, I went and also offered it to The Author, who also took me up on the offer; luckily I had enough to give to both. So I'll be giving her the Jim Beam, the Irish cream liquor, the Frangelica and whatever else is left. Will see her for our usual coffee shop get-together on Tuesday, but she won't return to Demitasse, the coffee shop in Sandy Hook Center. Maybe one day she will. Those shops needs our business. She'll have another payment for me for the book editing. Yay.

In the month of January, I made $276 in "miscellaneous income," so I'm off to a good start. That includes:

Focus group, $100
Credit card bonus, $105
Online surveys, forums, $46 (Amazon gift cards)
Credit card gift card, $25 (Home Depot, saving it to buy vegetable seeds and seedlings for the garden)

I may go out this afternoon and try to prepare (aka saw) more logs (from Superstorm Sandy) in my driveway, small enough that I can pick them up and put them in my trunk to go to landfill. Each week I haul 4 or 5 of them. Little by little. I kind of sneak them off there becus if they're more than 4 inches in diameter, you're supposed to pay to dump them. Mine are probably 6 inches, and I don't want to pay. So there. (Other pieces are probably 20 inches in diameter. Really huge.) Otherwise, I have to pay big bucks to have someone come out and chip it all, which I'll likely have to do for the really huge cut wood anyway. And I don't want to ask my dad for help anymore; he's really too old to be doing that kind of work although he's got the pick-up truck. I have thought of barter, but don't really have something to trade. If I have to pay to chip some of it, at least I'll have mulch for the rest of the season.

I need to fine out if the superbowl will be on the radio. cus I want to watch the coin toss and see if i won a free pizza!