OK, this past Sunday marked Week 2 of my Newspaper Coupon Contest. I think it's over, and if so, that means JustErica was right!

But I'm not sure I'm doing it right. In the Sunday circulars, I clipped a coupon for a bottle of fish oil, on sale for $10, plus you get $10 in Reward points.

Being out of work, i wouldn't normally be buying fish oil (it's not on the "permitted" list), but i bought it today since I'd get $10 in "cash" to spend at Walgreens. So it would appear I already paid for the newspaper subscription ($10 for the year) by getting the $10 in Walgreen's "cash."

But wait. I'm reading the coupon and it says, "Save $10 off your next in-store purchase over the value of coupon." So umm, does that mean I have to first spend $10 and then I get to apply the coupon for the next $10? For example, buy a $20 item and get it for $10?

Or does it just mean that I can buy a $10 item for free? I'm confused! (doesn't take much) Could someone who knows how Walgreen's rewards work please explain?

If it means I have to spend an extra $10 just to be able to use the $10 in savings, I don't consider that much of a deal at all, because it's making me spend in order to "save."

Today was a longish day. Left the house at 9:45 am and got to Yale for a 2-hour series of mostly computer exercises on my emotions and how I handle them. Walked out with $50 traveler's check (I guess they don't like to keep cash there), so net of gas to get there and feeding the meter, I netted about $40.

Stopped at Big Lots on way home but didn't buy anything cus I didn't think the prices were anything special and they didn't have Pepperidge Farm bread there. "Treated" myself at McDonald's cus i was starving. Passed a gas station with gas at $3.95 a gallon and I SHOULD HAVE STOPPED TO FILL UP, BUT DIDN'T. Dumb. Prices back home are about $4.16 a gallon.

Arrived at new riverwalk and killed an hour in oven-like car waiting for my friend Ron to show at appointed time, getting way more sun than I am used to getting. We did a shortish walk on a nice enough, paved urban-style river trail (aka "gritty"), but i did learn where a boat ramp is where I could put my kayak in. It's in a little bit of a down at the heels town, but he thinks it's safe enough in the daytime.

We drove around a little where he showed me various things, since this is near where he lives, then I headed home a different way and hit 2 different Walgreen's I passed by.

Yes, I am talking about that critter that makes many people squirm....a s-n-a-k-e.

I can count on one hand the number of times I've seen a snake in my 15 years here, but this morning, as I trudged up the side yard with my wheelbarrow, I caught sight of a rather large (large for a garter snake) snake catching the morning rays near my stone wall. It didn't move, and I kept moving.

About an hour later, I decided to check on it and possibly take its picture for you folks, but I was disappointed to find it gone.

I figured it had moved on, but later this afternoon, I caught sight of it again, just a foot or two from where I originally saw it. I went to the house for my 1. camera and 2. binoculars.

I watched incredulous as a really dumb chipmunk approached it on top of the stone wall. He seemed unsure whether the snake was real. The snake was frozen still but it had its head raised. I wondered if a snake of this size could kill and eat a chipmunk, which is considerably larger than, say, the many mice around here.

The chipmunk froze, then had the good sense to jump down off the stone wall; it ran into a crevice in the wall; I think he lives in there somewhere as I often see it in the vicinity.

I continued watching the snake through the binoculars (from the safety of inside my garage, looking through the window), but the snake didn't move at all, so after a time, I lost interest and went on with doing doing something else. About a half hour later I again went to look at the snake, and again, the disappearing act. Darn.

I'm very happy to have a snake in the yard; to me, it's an indicator i have a healthy environment here.

Still, I admit I'm feeling a little squeamish about doing any gardening in that area. I sure don't want to reach into any tall weeds with my hand and uncover a snake. And now I'm worried about possibly running over it with the lawnmower.

The other garters I've seen in my yard have been small, about a foot long and the diameter of a pencil, to give you an idea. I couldn't tell how long this one was, but its diameter was considerably larger, like maybe 3 pencils together.

I'm at a bit of a lull in the freelance work. True to his nature, the client who had said he would call me yesterday to discuss some work he wants me to do never called, and he didn't call today, either.

I checked in with the web developer to see if he'd gotten feedback from the chemical company client about the website copy I'd written, and I was surprised to learn from the web developer that he hadn't even finished dropping the copy into the website he'd designed, so he hadn't sent it to the client yet! When I talked to him Monday, he said he would do so in a day or two. Apparently, he's either busy with other stuff or a bit of a procrastinator.

And neither the real estate agent or the builder for whom i wrote a bio for a sales brochure got back to me with any feedback.

So for all those reasons, I turned to doing yardwork all morning; it was a glorious weather day, a bit breezy, sunny and a high of 72 or so.

I did manage to book a 2-hour study at Yale for this Monday. Just answering questions on emotions or something. It pays $50. Since I know my car gets about 36 mpg,the trip to Yale is about 27 miles and gas is going for something over $4 now, I calculate my gas there and back will cost about $8, or 2 gallons of gas, plus I'll have to feed the meter. Can't remember how much, but I'm guessing maybe $2 for 2 hours, so my net will be just $40. Hey, I'm not working, so it helps.

Since I'll be out that way, I can stop at the Big Lots on the way home, and possibly meet a friend for a walk who lives out that way, too. Big Lots has cheap Pepperidge Farm bread that I can freeze.

I also committed to doing another focus group, this one on cleaning products, the week after next. It's about a 40-minute ride and pays $100 for 2 hours.

In response to someone's comment on an earlier post about focus groups, yeah, there are a handful of focus group companies here. They tend to be around urban areas, and probably not something you'd find much in a rural area. I live in Fairfield County, a pretty affluent area, and so there is one I'm aware of in the Hartford area, another one in Fairfield and one in Westchester County, and they're all doing focus groups on an ongoing basis. You're not usually permitted to do them more frequently than 1 every 6 months, so it's nice to have several to rotate among. And yes, Yale does a lot of studies. These are all just things I've discovered in my quest to earn a little money. I also recently discovered a place close by that does clinical trials. They're doing one for menopausal hot flashes, but after talking to her I decided I was not comfortable taking a drug that I won't know anything about. I would have been more comfortable in the study they did on aspirin, but that study's done now. I'll have to keep an eye on their website and see what else comes along.

There were a couple of better paying studies I didn't qualify for: one was an all day focus group talking about social issues that would have paid $250, but they had filled all the spots in my age group. Yale was doing a study that paid $1400 (!!) but it required 4 overnight stays in a month's time plus frequent visits, and it's too far away for me to consider doing that. For the overnight stays, you'd have to be there at 7 a.m. and couldn't leave til 10 a.m. the following day. You had to stay on premises, and,not having a laptop, I can't imagine what i would do to keep busy that length of time.

I got $23 in checks in the mail today from Toluna and Pinecone.

I got some poison ivy on both forearms; it's not the worst case I've had, but it's itchy. I rely on a product called Tecnu. If you think you've been exposed to poison ivy and wash the affected skin with this lotion and COLD water as soon as possible, it can prevent your getting the rash, or at least reduce the severity, becus it washes away the oil that causes the rash. I washed my left arm cus i saw when i accidentally brushed my arm with some of the stuff i pulled up, but even so, i ended up with poison ivy on both arms.

I figured the house wrens in my 2 bluebird boxes had fledged their young and thought i would clean out the old nest so another pair could nest again this season. I took a gardening spade to lift out the nest. Imagine my surprise as I pulled the nest out and peered in to find a fairly large bird sitting there. I assume it was a baby not yet fledged, although it was big enough that I would think it should any day now. I tried to return the nest to the box, but I had pulled it out so far that it did not fit neatly back inside, and I sort of had to jam it back in. I was afraid of hurting the wren sitting inside, so I didn't jam it in too hard, but becus of that, I couldn't close the door fully. So the hinged door is partly open at the bottom maybe an inch. I don't think it really makes much difference and I believe the bird is still safe inside, but i do hope it fledges very soon. It's supposed to rain all next week and I suppose it might get a bit more wet than it would have otherwise, but I don't think that will hurt it either. I feel guilty for having interfered with it before the nest was vacant. I hadn't seen much activity near the box so i figured the coast was clear. Have to be more careful next time!

I'm talking about my vegetable garden, of course.
That's it, the fence-in area in the background.

This is actually my front yard, which is much bigger than the back yard. I chose to put the garden in here because it gets much more sun.


Tomato plants (there are 8 of them....cherry, beefsteak and roma seedless) look pretty good. They're staked and hooped and I'm just waiting for the little yellow flowers.


Lettuce: I planted more lettuce (3 rows) than I ever have before, mainly because I had the seed, I guess. It's looking good, but pretty small, not ready for picking. Some of the seed was left over from last year, so the germination rate, as you can see, was ot 100%.


Broccoli: Umm, some plants look better than others, which are riddled with insect bites already.

Bell peppers and string beans: These look worst of all! I mean, how easy are string beans? But both have been attacked by insects quite a bit. I planted another row of string beans just to ensure myself of harvesting something should the first planting not make it.

Today I planted snow peas, somewhat late, I know, but they grow quickly.


After chalking it up as a "miss," I see my Swiss chard, some of it anyway, is actually coming up. Very, very tiny.

There's one potato plant coming up and looking healthy, from a potato tuber in the ground that I missed last year, apparently.


I squeezed in some zucchini and acorn squash; the seedlings look very healthy at this point, though it's just the first two leaves.


Cucumber seedlings are up also, and i planted a few more seeds after seeing that 2 of the 3 hills only had 1 seedling up.


Egyptian walking onions are thriving; I actually pulled up one plant cus they were "walking" a bit too far! I tried slicing up one of the stalks just the other day and it added the expected oniony flavor to some coleslaw I made. They don't have much of a bulb, but you can east the flowers and stalks, which are quite a bit thicker, with a hollow inside, than a chive.

I have chives, too, but use them infrequently in cooking.


I love to make my own pesto in summer, so I planted four pots with basil. They're coming up, but they're very tiny.

That's about all I could fit in the fenced garden. I love growing my own food. Maybe there's still time to plant some corn??

Elsewhere in the garden, the peonies are in bloom.



This boxwood is three years old. I was sitting in the little Contemplation Park at the Episcopal church and snipped off a one-inch piece of boxwood from an established shrub there. i dipped it in rooting hormone and planted it. Voila! It's barely a foot tall now and I can't bring myself to start shearing it to shape it. Pretty soon, little friend. I only regret not planting a dozen more cuttings at the same time.


This is the area under the canopy of a large white pine in the yard that I recently cleared out. It always looks so messy and unkempt due to the variety of weeds that grow there. There's always been some poison ivy there, lots of wild garlic mustard and this spring I pulled out tons of Virginia creeper. Eventually i hope to have those ferns encircle the whole area under the pine.

A woman's work is never done.

Sorry, but more discussion on my work life.

The freelance work continues to dribble in more steadily than before. Which is nice, as I've done absolutely nada to promote myself.

Here's a status update of what's cooking:

I wrapped up the website copy for the chemical distributorship and sent it in on Monday; hoping to get some client feedback this week from the web developer who hired me. Hopefully it will be favorable and will require zero edits.

Today I wrote two pieces that will form part of a sales brochure for a new condo in a certain shoreline town in Connecticut. It was interesting to do because the renovated building was built in the 1800s as a private school, made of the same granite that was used to form the base of the Statue of Liberty. So it has some historical interest, plus the units are absolutely posh. Too bad they weren't more in my price range at over $700K.

Briefly spoke to my VP client at same real estate company; he wants me to do some promotional work for him, though he wasn't too clear and will call me back tomorrow as he was driving. It could mean updating his bio and doing a press release on something.

Also tomorrow I'm going to try contacting the builder of the condos at the stone schoolhouse and interview him so i can write up the builder bio, which will go in the same brochure.

Today I responded to 3 Craig's List ads posted by Yale University for people to participate in various studies. I don't always qualify, but I did a few last year. The pay varies, depending on how much trouble or how invasive the study is. One of the studies I applied for today requires 4 separate overnight stays and a full day (ie, 7 a.m. to 10 am the next day) at Yale in a single month; but they pay $1400. Not sure yet what's involved, but it's not a medical study. There was also something involving a Hartford area focus group (an all-day thing) that paid $250, so i applied for that as well.

Otherwise, it's stifling hot and muggy here. Connecticut apparently narrowly missed being hit by tornados, while 2 caused a lot of damage just north of the border in the Springfield, MA area. The next few days are supposed to be super nice.

I've been trying to trim Luther's long fur to help him keep cool, but he gets annoyed when I try to cut his hair. I do a little at a time, and then he runs off. Just like last year, I'm collecting his fur in a plastic bag, just to keep track of how much I'm cutting off. It's more or less like trying to shear a sheep, one that bites. His fur is incredibly thick.

It was a little late in the day for photos, but the sun had gone done and a nice breeze was blowin'....


This is blue milkweed in the foreground, and giant allium behind it.


Here's a closeup of the pretty, star-shaped blue milkweed flowers.


You've seen my doublefile viburnum before.


Mountain laurel quickly follows the bloom of rhododendrons.


My favorite rhododendron


Another shot.


More rhodies.


Still more!


This is wiegela,an old-fashioned shrub.


Wiegela closeup. Hummingbirds like the funnel-shaped flowers.

I spent most of today writing website copy for that chemical company, and guess what? It's done! So now I can enjoy the rest of my holiday weekend (not that I'm doing anything special).

I started mowing the front lawn and will continue it tomorrow, along with the back. A woman's work is never done.

More from the Cat in a Basket series...


This morning I met the web developer whom I found on Craig's List in the parking lot of his client, the owner of a small chemical company whom I was to interview so I can write the website content.

It was a little weird, becus the web developer said he wanted me to pose as his employee, not a contractor. I know it makes him look good; I don't care as long as I get paid. (He gave me a $300 check for deposit.)

But anyway, it felt a little weird because I met him 5 minutes before we went in together to see the client. Web developer, a young guy in his 20s, let me use his laptop to take notes and then he emailed them to me later. He was not very friendly on the phone. Maybe it's just his cautious nature until he sees how I work out.

The interview went well, although the owner was not particularly articulate and i had to keep going back to questions that he hadn't really answered. I pretty much managed the interview and web guy mostly listened, though he started asking some of his own questions midway through. I think we worked fairly well together. Sometimes it can feel like pulling teeth to get good material from someone, but in this case i think i have enough.

I had a lot of really good questions and i even made some suggestions to the owner, not all of which had to do with the copy, that he liked, so i think i must've scored points with the web developer. Afterwards, we got a little tour of the factory; they're in the business of distributing chemicals to all sorts of businesses (automotive, electronics, aerospace) that need the chemicals for metal finishing purposes. The chemicals are applied to the surface of the "annode," or different metals, in order to make various parts corrosion resistant, or perform in a certain way.

I plan to write this up this weekend.

Yesterday at Trader Joe's, the woman in back was giving away the most delicious samples of a recipe. So on the way home from toxic chemical place, I stopped at Shop Rite and picked up the ingredients for this delicious summer salad, and oh so easy, too.

Take a bag of frozen edamame (soybeans) and put it in a bowl with half a bag of frozen corn. Let both dethaw. Add 1 can of rinsed black beans, chopped red onion and grape tomatoes sliced in half. Add Goddess dressing. Delicious!! This one's a keeper.



I've been making good progress tearing out the Virginia creeper growing under the big white pine. Every year, various weeds take over and it looks so unsightly. I'm also back to daily watering of my new grass area, lest it dry out in this hot weather. What I really would love to have is one of those old-fashioned sprinklers that you hook up to the hose. But I don't want to spend the money on it; maybe i can find one on freecycle.

A friend of mine, also long-term unemployed, is in worse shape than I am. He rents in a very ritzy town, paying the same amount monthly as I pay for mortgage and insurance. He's being sued by the attorney who got him his divorce a number of years ago; it cost him $20K and he still owes him $2K. He just doesn't have the money but has to show up in court this week.

Can't wait til i start my newspaper coupon experiment on Sunday. Those coupons better be good! Front lawn already ready for another mowing.

Waldo's had a problem since last winter. On and off. He's been congested, with some sneezing. The problem seemed to wax and wane; some days he was better, some days he seemed worse. Although he's come a LONG way since his feral days, he's still extremely skittish/timid. I am trying to work on getting him more used to me picking him up, but he scrambles and leaps and is so darn wiry I've only been able to pick him up maybe 3 times in the 2 years I've had him.

So twice i was able to get prescription antibiotics from the vet without seeing the vet because it was such a challenge to get the cat there. But I didn't see any improvement, and I was worrying that he had some sort of drug-resistant bacteria, or a virus.

I hoped that like a human with a bad cold, he could eventually shake it off. I turned the heat up in the house. I started dosing his food with extra Vitamin C and Vitamin E, plus some homeopathic stuff. Didn't really do anything.

I knew I needed to get him to the vet, but didn't know how. If I put food or treats in the cat carrier, he'd refuse to go in there, or, he would take his paw and dab at the food, then eat it off his paw.

The night before last, his breathing got really labored. I didn't sleep at all, because his loud breathing kept me awake. He was totally congested, and didn't seem to know to breathe through his mouth. I could hear him whenever he walked into a room the previous week because of his wheezy breathing.

So the day before yesterday, I went to capture him. I knew I had but a single chance to do it because if I tried but failed, he would not trust me and wouldn't let me near him again for days. I knew the best chance was mid-morning, when he usually lounges in bed for a morning nap. I called the vet, made an appointment, then had to reschedule it when Waldo was wandering around downstairs (because it was sunny and warm.) I had to break the 2nd appointment as well when Waldo didn't go upstairs. (Believe, me, i tried before to corral him in a single room and then catch him, and it is still impossible. And he gets so scared.)

The last time I called the Cat Whisperer, I left a message asking for her help but said if she didn't want to return (she'd helped me once before), I would understand. She didn't return my call.

Yesterday, I decided to try to capture him first, and worry about making the vet appointment later. If the vet who's seen him before couldn't squeeze him in, I'd find another vet; there are several in the area I've seen before, though not with Waldo. Although the vet who has seen him is incredibly expensive (he charged me $400 for Waldo's ear infection in 2010), he seemed to handle him well and well, he has that degree from Cornell, a top vet school, hanging in the waiting room.

So I put on a pair of jeans and a heavy shirt to protect myself from possible scratches. I waited til Waldo was grooming himself on the bed in the sun. We got friendly, we snuggled, and then I grabbed him quickly and got him in the carrier in about 5 seconds flat.

Waldo was astonished, extremely frightened and unhappy, but he was in the carrier. The first time I have been able to do that myself.

I called the vet and they said, can you be here in 45 minutes. Perfect.

We took the harrowing 15-minute ride there, Waldo wide-eyed and meowing mournfully and loudly.

In the waiting room, there was a monster shaggy dog about as big as a pony. His owner said it was a Russian dog, and I guess this beast would do well in Siberia.

Anyway, when it was our turn, I immediately warned the doc and his assistant about how timid Waldo was, and let's make sure we keep the doors to the exam room closed becus if he escapes, we'll never catch him. Waldo was super scared. The vet opened the door to let Waldo out and he jumped down off the exam table and started looking for a hiding place, ending up perched precariously on top of the plastic waste receptacle with a large hole in the center used to collect used syringes.

I was really rather upset with the doc for letting him out of the cage like that. He said he wanted him to calm down a little. I told him he wouldn't calm down til he was back home again. So anyway, after that extremely stressful start, i managed to keep him still as he perched on the syringe receptacle container while the doctor listened to his heartbeat with a stethoscope.

In just about a minute, the vet said it was allergies, gave him an allergy shot and said his breathing should be improved in a day, maybe two. We got him back in his carrier and after paying $99 (what relief), I headed home.

Waldo's response was IMMEDIATE. He has breathed quietly ever since. I am amazed at how quickly the doc diagnosed the problem. I had no idea it was allergies. Doc said he's seen 10 cats with allergy problems in the last 2 weeks. The pollen count has been off the charts here in Connecticut this spring, though Waldo's problems started last winter.

When I got Waldo home, I brought him in the carrier to the upstairs bedroom and let him out there. I figured he'd go for the security of under the bed. Instead, he ran out and headed down to the basement. He likes to sit under the stairs on a piece of carpet padding I have stored there, but in the past I'd shooed him out of there because it's too chilly in the basement and I thought it wouldn't be good for what I thought was his cold.

This time, i let him be and i was surprised that after just about 2 hours, he was already upstairs and poking his head in the sun room where Luther and I were. Not much longer after that, he allowed me to rub his head and I knew he wasn't holding a grudge against me. I had worried that it would take him a week to trust me again!

Doc said the shot will last at least 4 weeks, and maybe up to 3 months. If he needs another shot, he said we can just keep him in the carrier, and he can inject him thru the carrier so it wouldn't be as much of an ordeal.

Anyway, I am SO relieved. I've been worrying about Waldo for a long time. Allergies, of all things.

Last week I responded to another Craig's List job...a web developer looking for a freelance writer. I was thrilled when he contacted me after I told him my hourly rate was $40. If this first job goes ok, there would be more work on a hopefully regular basis. I checked out the guy's website and googled his name and he's done a lot of website work for a wide variety of clients, and I'm thinking, more regular work would be fantastic.

This first job would be for a small chemical company that wants a new website. I don't think it necessary I know much about the business, a distributor of chemical supplies to the metal finishing industry. The sections I'd be writing would be About Us, Why Us, Our Sales Team and the like.

He kept pressing me for a more exact estimate of what I'd charge and I gave a rather wide range because there are so many variables. (Does the client want us to basically start from scratch with content, or just revamp and improve existing copy? Does the home page require just a summary of copy found elsewhere? etc etc) He answered a bunch of my questions and again asked for a narrower estimate range. I gave that to him last night; we're supposed to talk on the phone tomorrow about the job.

I told him about 12 or 15 hours of work for this first job; I also would have to travel about an hour to interview the company owner. A lot also depends on how my interview with the owner goes. If he's fairly articulate and engaged in the process, I can do a lot with that, but if he's too busy and doesn't have a lot of time to talk to me, I can only do so much, even if i have brilliant questions and am perfectly prepared.

I plan to ask for mileage reimbursement and for an advance retainer of about $125. This is to protect myself in case I do all the work and he doesn't pay me. This way, if he pays me the retainer, he shares in the assumed "risk," since there's a risk I'll take the money and run. Until we know each other, I feel a little nervous about entering into a work contract with someone I only know from email/phone. By getting the retainer, I mitigate my risks somewhat.

If he flat out says no to that, I'm not sure what I'll do. I don't think it's an unreasonable request and I'm not sure I can proceed without it.

And since I would typically interview someone over the phone, I think it's fair to ask for the mileage reimbursement. I hope he goes for it. This job will pay in the $500 to $600 range.

The sales manager for whom I wrote the bio loved it and asked for my bill ($110), which I already sent. The other real estate client also loved my writeup for the breast cancer website ($95) and said she'd have 3 more little assignments for me next week. (They'll likely all be in the $100 range.)

If I get enough of these little assignments, it does add up, but this is all gross, and by the time you deduct regular income tax plus the self-employment tax, it really whittles it down. I take very modest deductions for a home office on my tax return.

It looks like for the month of May I will squeak by with income slightly exceeding expenses, and that includes my new washing machine. That's mainly because I got several more unemployment checks this month that were delayed in April and retroactive to then.

I'm torn about whether it would make sense to make another SEP-IRA contribution for the additional freelance work I've done YTD. It would be nice to do that because it lowers my taxable income, but typically, without a lot of freelance work, I run a monthly shortfall in income vs. expenses of about $300.

Everyone who's placed a wager in my Newspaper Coupon Experiment seems fairly optimistic about how quickly I'll pay for the $10 subscription fee. I don't often buy a lot of packaged food with preservatives, high salt or high sugar, dyes or hydrogenated fat, so that rules out a lot of coupon foods. However, double coupons might help. If I use just $1 worth of coupons a week, I guess I'd clear the subscription price by Week 10 or 11, as Baselle predicted. We shall see.

Yesterday was household hazardous waste drop-off day. I had just a few items, and I also picked up a few things from my neighbor, the one who is now home but still recuperating from knee surgery. I also mowed most of the front lawn and was glad i did so around noon because the rest of the afternoon ended up rather rainy, unexpectedly.

I plan to make more cereal for my breakfast. It's similar to granola, and will go really well with plain yogurt. I should also do a load of wash. And I need to decide whether to accompany my mother to pick up some art from the latest show. I don't have much to do today, but maybe i need to get out of the house.

I haven't been able to get on the site for 3 days. Just wondering if it's me or maybe they're doing maintenance?

I'm out of work and on a strict, self-imposed budget not to do any unnecessary spending.

However, today, while shopping at Stop & Shop, I decided to buy a newspaper subscription.

Here's the deal: 1 full year, Sunday only, for just $20, plus I got a $10 Stop & Shop gift card (which I used immediately). I figure I will make up the net cost of $10 by using the coupons that come in the paper. But I'm not sure.

Let's make this interesting! I decided to meticulously track all coupon savings (only those coupons that come from inserts in the paper) from when my subscription starts Sunday, May 29 and see how long into the following year it takes me to break even on the $10 subscription cost.

Keep in mind I generally like to eat healthy, but I do buy some sinful, packaged foods.

Care to wager in what week (week 1 through 52) it will take me to break even? I'll report in each week, in fact, I'll keep a running total posted on my sidebar here.

This could be fun!

I'm all caught up now with the 4 freelance jobs I got recently: two were press releases, and I was able to find and forward links to 5 published hits already, so client is happy. I finished writing a bio this morning.

Went to the MS program last night and enjoyed a chicken dinner but am proud to say I refrained from eating the chocolate cake for dessert. However, I still goofed and ate the fresh pineapple, watermelon and strawberries. I say goofed because I'm still staying away from fruit until I'm positive, absolutely sure the yeast infection is gonzo. (I am thinking more and more that it is, by the way, but will stick to the no sugars/dairy diet through Saturday of this week, to be sure.

At the conference I picked up a few freebies: 2 sticky note pads, 2 pens, 2 chap sticks and a tote bag (all emblazoned with the Copaxone logo). Teva Neuroscience also picked up my parking fee at the hotel. I left the meeting a little early so i could be back home in time to watch Idol and America's Next Top Model. I'm a reality TV junkie, sorry. Go Brittani!

After 5 consecutive days of heavy rain, there's a lull in the action, but weatherman said if you see sun peeking out by mid-day, there's a good chance we'll get severe thunderstorms this afternoon. The sky has brightened, but it's still overcast, so hoping no big, scary storms.

TNH Channel 8 is doing another $100 gas card giveaway all week; 5 winners each day. To enter, you have to watch the morning news, wait for that day's clue, then enter it online. I suppose there are many thousands who choose to do this, but I sure could use a gas card.

Trying to figure out what to do now. I need more work. Too wet to work in yard.

It was delivered this morning around 9 a.m. after I got one automated and one live phone call from Sears telling me the 2-hour window of time I could expect delivery.

I was feeling some trepidation, the memory 15 years ago of when my old washer was delivered still vivid in my mind. Rude and unprofessional guys swearing up and down when they saw they couldn't drive their truck up my driveway hill and had to carry the washer up it.

Anyway, these 2 young guys were nice and polite.

I ran a load of wash to try it out and even though it's considered a "basic" model, I could see it had several upgrades compared to my old Whirlpool. And it is indeed much quieter than you'd expect, though since it's in my basement, noise isn't really an issue. But they even include a special section in the manual explaining how their new technology makes it so quiet.

I was surprised to learn after reading the manual that becus it's considered "high efficiency," even though it's a top loader, I should be using high efficiency laundry detergent. I have at least 3 full gallons of regular, and i don't plan on throwing them away. Anyone know what the special detergent does? That was one thing the phone rep didn't mention.

After getting the washer delivered, I ran out for a trip to the landfill, to deposit some checks at the bank, to vote in my town's budget referendum, to return some DVDs to the library and to pick up some spinach for a barley/mushroom casserole I made for lunch.

I got a revision back on another press release I did and so was able to distribute it to the media. I scheduled a phone call with my other real estate client for 1 pm today, but she ended up being a no-show when I called her. At least I was able to clear my plate before getting involved in her bio.

I'm snacking on crackers and am bored silly with my diet. Someone suggested nuts and seeds, which I could do, though I would find them kinda dull, too, and dry. I have a nice nut and seed mix from Costco, but it contains dried cherries, so that would be a no-no.

I'm afraid I'll have to break my one-fill-up-a-month rule as tomorrow I'm headed to another free dinner and MS doctor lecture sponsored by the pharma company that makes the Copaxone I take. I only have a quarter tank of gas left and would feel better filling up before i go to that tomorrow evening.

I like to go to these dinners whenever i can, usually every other month, which i could never make when i was working f/t. I'm working so hard to not spend ANY unnecessary money, so these free dinners go a long way in making me feel a little pampered and indulged. I enjoy the social aspects of it and like seeing new doctors I don't know do the lectures. Although the one at tomorrow's lecture is my own doctor, whom i'm not really crazy about, but stick with becus the hospital he's affiliated with is closest to me and speed and convenience is important when you have a relapse and need treatment.

It may be difficult to meet my gas goal in June as well, becus my neighbor has already asked me if i would ferry her to some of her rehab therapy appointments once she goes back home. I really don't feel like doing it; i feel i've done so much for her already, and her daughter, who lives in neighboring town, is only now getting involved in caring for her own mother. I think i possibly embarrassed her last summer when her mother was telling her how much i helped her organize her tag sale. She and her daughter weren't really on speaking terms for several years, though thank god that's finally changing. I like to help when i can, but i think sometimes she assumes i'll be available to her simply because i live down the road less than a mile away.

Rather chilly here given the time of year. In the 50s, I think, but I've had the heat turned off for many weeks now and have no intention of turning it back on!

It was rainy, cool, and overcast all day. As a result, I did practically nothing. I'm going to make myself feel better about that by listing what I DID do:

* Distributed a press release I wrote.
* Rebuilt my PR list of media contacts by creating a new email address using my business name and typing in all the contacts with email info there. It took several hours, but it then allowed me to remove all of these same contacts from my personal email account, which has been hacked into by spammers who hijacked all the emails in my contacts list and sent them spam under my name. It's happened twice now, and I think I am vulnerable because since I'm home all day now, I like to keep the computer running and my email open all day long.

I won't have a need to keep the new email address open since I will use that exclusively to distribute press releases for my freelance work.

* I did as many Toluna surveys as I could
* Prepared for a call from an old/new client who could be calling tomorrow to discuss a bio she wants me to write for her.
* Prepared for delivery of the new washing machine tomorrow by clearing a pathway in the garage and basement and moving my car from in front of the garage so they can pull right up.

Umm, that's about it! I am finished with my homeopathic treatment for the yeast infection. I wasn't convinced I was "cured" yet (itchy), so I got a quart of unsweetened Kefir and 2 quarts of plain, unsweetened yogurt and have been consuming liberal doses of the stuff 3 times a day with meals. It's not all that tasty when it's plain and unsweetened. I'm also liberally dosing my morning breakfast cereal and whenever I have toast with cinnamon, which is also supposed to help according to my Natural Pharmacy book.

And I finally got REAL serious about cutting out sugars, fruits/fruit juices and dairy from my diet for the rest of this week at a minimum, or if I still have this yeast thing after that.

I had "thought" i was more or less cutting out the dairy and sugars, even as I knew I was cheating here and there. I was thinking I wasn't doing that badly because I don't eat lots of cakes, cookies or ice cream. Well, I was still really cheating quite a bit. I never realized how many sweet things and dairy things I regularly consume.

Back on Mother's Day, I made cream of carrot soup that called for a cup of light cream. So I froze the leftover soup. With the leftover cream I made rice pudding. I decided to freeze that too rather than eat it (or throw it away). I use skim milk in my breakfast cereal. Froze it and bought 3 quarts of pricey rice milk as a substitute. Can't touch the Tropicana in the freezer, either, and there's a slice of Swiss cheese hanging out in back of the fridge. Can't touch the preserves/jams in the fridge; using the cinnamon instead. Thank god i can still have my two cups of tea each day with a little Truvia. I'm going to STARVE this yeast infection out of me. I feel ok today, so maybe it's working. Hate to go back to the doc becus it'll mean more $ spent than anything else I do.

So as a result, my diet feels incredibly BLAND and BORING. Really boring. All I can safely eat is meat, vegetables and whole grain bread/rice. I'm not a big meat-eater, so it's a bit different. I find myself wanting to snack on something, but what?? I'm not a huge salt addict, and only very occasionally buy a bag of potato chips. What I usually snack on is something sweet, like the aforementioned rice pudding, dried apricots, a piece of fruit or sometimes a Blue Bunny ice cream cone.

For weeks now, my 15-year-old Whirlpool washing machine has been leaking. Last week I went out and paid $14 for 2 new water intake hoses. I replaced the cold water hose and kept the other for future use. I was pretty sure I'd fixed the problem.

Yesterday, I did another load and gosh darn it, there's still a puddle of water on the floor. Now, it's clear it's not coming from where I screwed on the hose, it's coming from underneath the machine.

I think I mistakenly thought one of the hoses was leaking because I had to use a wrench to loosen one up, and I think before I got it off, I loosened it maybe one-quarter turn, just enough so that when I ran the water, it leaked.

I went online and found a good article on how, after replacing the washers on the hoses, if you still have a leak you can remove the back panel off the washer and look at 3 different common leak areas. OK, but now we're getting into possibly replacing a pump or other parts.

It's certainly not worth it paying someone to come out and do the repair; I looked at the back of the panel and saw I'd have to remove all the screws plus the water outtake hose and, I don't know, I have a history of attempting things like this and then getting stuck because I basically don't know what I'm doing.

So I caved. Time for a new machine. I spent a good part of yesterday afternoon researching washing machines online. I was thinking I'd go with the latest technology, aka, high efficiency, front-loading washing machines. I was looking at machines priced in the $800 to $1,000 range. But I was quite surprised to see that customer reviews were really mediocre.

You would think that if you're shelling out that kind of money, you're going to get a rock star machine. But so many of them seem to be extremely prone to breaking down. The more bells and whistles and technology built into them, the more the chance of them breaking down, I guess. Even the high-end brands, like Whirlpool.

There also seemed to be a lot of complaints about mold issues. Water collects on the inside of the door, and if you don't wipe it down after every use, mold starts to grow and your clothes start to smell. You're supposed to keep the door open when not in use, for that reason, so it can dry out, Sears told me.

There were many extremely frustrated buyers who dealt with unresolved repair issues for weeks and months, along with manufacturers who didn't offer much help. Many people seemed really disgusted.

So I went back to researching top-loaders, and overall, I found much higher ratings and more satisfied customers.

I've always bought Whirlpools, in fact, all my kitchen appliances are also Whirlpool, solely because when I did the research, they always ranked high.

But this time, I settled on a GE top loader for $500. I like it because it's Energy Star-rated, and I'm very committed to buying Energy Star products whenever possible. This particular model also got lots of praise for being quiet. It is a basic, no-frills model, but even then, it has a delicate cycle that my current machine doesn't have!

My strategy in reading the customer reviews was to look for the highest number of stars (out of a maximum of 5) and the highest number of reviews for any given machine. The GE I picked out had 11 reviews, and all 11 of these customers gave the machine 5 stars. By comparison, NONE of the high efficiency washing machines earned a 5-star average rating; at best, they had 3 stars. I checked ratings at my favorite site, www.consumersearch.com, epinions.com and individual store websites like Sears and Lowes.

I bought it from Sears (Lowes had the same price) and they will deliver it on Monday! The setup is included in the price and for an extra $10, they take away the old machine. (As I recall, the small appliance store nearby where I've bought from before charges $50 for taking the old one away.) And by using my Sears credit card, which I just recently got, I get 5%, or $25, off. I also earned some rewards on the purchase through Sears' rewards program.

I never saw the machine in person, but for me, that's not really necessary. I want a dependable, basic machine that will do the job like a workhorse for years to come.

I've noticed an uptick in my freelance work.

Last week, I got 2 press release assignments (already written, but not yet distributed), along with a personal project from my client's admin assistant.

She wanted me to interview her best friend, who has stage 4 breast cancer, and write content for a website she wants to create to help raise funds to pay her friend's medical expenses. I interviewed the woman yesterday and she already signed off on the copy. She was very nice. She has two young sons.

I spent a fair amount of time thinking about how I would approach the interview and prepping for it. I usually do more business writing, and this required a sensitive approach. I ended up with 10 questions, none of which really focused on the details of the woman's cancer or treatment. Instead, I decided to focus on getting to know who the woman was as a person. What are her interests, how does she like to spend her time, what does she consider her life's greatest achievements? I wanted to portray a person who is not defined by her illness. I also asked her how her cancer had changed her priorities and the biggest ways it has changed her life.

It was a surprisingly uplifting conversation. Her two young boys are the center of her life. She talked about the circle of friends and loved ones who have supported her in many different ways. The biggest way her illness has affected her, she said, had to do with time. Doctor's visits and various treatments like chemo eat up much of her time, and when she's not at the doctor's, she's focused on getting enough rest and battling fatigue, so she has less time to dedicate to her family.

I wish I could do this job pro bono, but I really need the income. The subject of price never came up (she sees what I charge her boss, since I copy her on my invoices to him) so I guess she can't be that concerned with it, but I decided to build in a 25% discount anyway.

Then, yesterday, out of the blue, I got an email from an office sales manager at another big real estate company I used to do tons of work for. She really kept me busy, but then I got a perm job and had to tell her I couldn't do it anymore.

Anyway, she wants me to update her bio, and I'm really hoping that after several years' hiatus, more assignments from her will follow.

So 4 assignments this month so far, plus that focus group I did. It will add up to about $590; that's the kind of income I'd like to generate every month. (Did I tell you my COBRA premiums rose another $25 a month, to $468 now?)

The forecast calls for possible rain for part of each day during the coming week. I'm actually looking forward to it because it means I get a break from my twice daily watering of the grass seed I planted.

I went to see my neighbor yesterday who is still in rehab recovering from knee replacement surgery. Her biggest complaint is the bland food. She is diabetic, but I brought her three organic pears. She should be back home next week.

On the drive over to see her, I saw another neighbor walking his dog down our street, and I stopped to talk with him. He had told me a week earlier that his daughter had been killed in a car accident late last year. He is having a tough time dealing with it, but at least he is talking about it. Each time I've talked to him, he gets choked up pretty quickly. He said he was ready for the good Lord to take him, because he will never get over it.

I find it difficult to know what to say in these situations because i don't have children and i don't believe in God. Whatever I say will be inadequate, given what he's going through. I try to be a good listener. I suggested that maybe talking to a counselor might help him find new ways to cope with his grief. I also said that maybe just keeping busy and not allowing himself to get lost in his thoughts might be a good thing. He's a really nice guy. His daughter, in her early 20s, had been enjoying her first apartment on her own in Massachusetts.

A lot of people are hurting. Despite my messed up family background, I count my blessings. Both my parents are still alive and are an important part of my life. Aside from my MS, which is mostly manageable, I am very healthy. Perhaps a bit overweight, at 148 pounds. It costs nothing to offer a few words of encouragement or support to those who need it. Many have done this for me over the years, and I consider it an obligation and an honor to repay those kind acts.

Yesterday I drove an hour south to do a focus group on kitchen remodeling. It was 2 hours long and I walked out with $125. Nice. On the way home, I hit a Petco and got 2 free cans of Halo cat food. Then I went straight to my sister's house to pick up a 6-pack of broccoli seedlings she had offered me. A day full of freebies and money!

Today was a very leisurely day; I had trouble getting going, again, because it was cloudy and cool outside. I had a phone meeting with the assistant of my oldest freelance real estate client; she gave me 3 new jobs to do, 2 press releases and the third assignment is a personal request from the assistant to interview and write a story about her best friend, who has stage 4 breast cancer. The copy will go on a website to help raise funds for her medical expenses. I did my prep work today and will call her in a day or two. If I were working, I would like to do it for free, but I really need the money; she didn't ask for my price, but I will try to build in a smaller discount.

I planted my broccoli and gave the veggie garden a good watering. The lettuce is just starting to come up. So everything is planted now. This year's garden includes: tomatoes (cherry and beefsteak), bell peppers, yellow wax beans, green beans, swiss chard, cucumbers, acorn squash, spinach, broccoli, parsley and basil. Each year, i like to try something different. What's different this year is the Swiss chard.

I made some rice pudding. Instead of using 3 cups of milk as the recipe directs, I wanted to use up some leftover light cream I had used for a Mother's Day recipe (cream of carrot soup) and a pint of hazelnut creamer which is just milk and sugar, basically. (I don't drink coffee but I had a free coupon so I decided to get it and use it for a purpose it probably wasn't intended for.)

The recruiter called me and said that Anthem BC/BS job went to someone else. She said the other person had less experience than I have but got the job because she had a health care background. See what I mean? It's easy enough to say change fields if you can't work in your own field, but actually convincing employers you can do that is nigh impossible.

It's so beautiful this time of year.


I always forget the name of this perennial, but here's a detail of the interesting leaves, after the rain.

One of 3 crabapple trees on the property.






I put hosta and lungwort together in a planter last year, and I'm really happy with how they look.


Luther has gotten too big to fit in this basket like last year, but he squeezed himself in anyway.



Waldo prefers the chaise lounge.

An agency set up a phone interview for me with a big health insurance company this morning. I was pleased and surprised, because I don't have a health care background; most of my writing's been in financial services and real estate.

It seemed to go fairly well; the guy said there are 3 or 4 other candidates they'll be talking to. It's a contract job for 6 or 9 months with a possible extension. He mentioned there's some law that says that a contract job can't last more than a year (umm, i guess that's to protect employees from becoming forever contract workers with no benefits), so he said if it goes a year, they'd have to wait a month, during which time I couldn't work, and then rehire me.

So this is how successful companies today manage their human resources. Can you imagine the devastation to families if every company tried to get away with not having any permanent employees? There are very few protections for contract workers...no pay for holidays not worked, no paid vacation days, no paid sick days and health insurance, of course, is your problem.

Trust me, if I get the job, I will continue looking for something with benefits.

I think I mentioned before how the recruiter immediately latched on to the low end of the hourly wage I cited when she asked me how much I wanted. There was no special reason that I could see that she included the rate, $35 an hour, in the email she sent me which contained contact information for the interview with the employer. I think it was her way of trying to establish the "official" rate at the low end of the range I gave.

When she had asked me earlier what I wanted, my answer was, "Around $40 an hour...maybe $35." Her response was that this was perfectly within their range. So her immediately assigning the job a value of $35 an hour ticked me off.

I mean, the rule of thumb I always understood was that if you're working without benefits, the hourly rate should be higher than if you're working with benefits. This rate of pay is not higher than what I could expect to get in my field, with my experience, with benefits.

Now she may think she's got that taken care of, since I haven't said anything, but if it turns out the employer chooses me for the job, at that time I will tell the recruiter that I expect $40 an hour, given my background and expertise, and given the parameters of the job. How could she argue with me then, since she already responded that $35 to $40/hour was within their range? And how offensive that she would so quickly try to pin me down to the low end, possibly guessing I want/need the job too much to object.

Is this just a little bit slimy?

Well, the difference between $35 an hour and $40 an hour is substantial to me...over $10,000 annually. I figure that if the employer says he wants me, she has no choice and can't then tell me, screw you, we'll find someone else. She may have had the power to do that prior to my interview, but I don't think she can do much once I'm chosen by the employer, and especially since she already assented to the range.

I mean, her company still makes money if I'm hired at $40 an hour, but possibly they make no money if I'm not. I'm not sure if any of the other candidates the employer mentioned were put forth by the same agency that found me. And I would think it would be embarrassing and unprofessional looking if, after the employer said they want me, if the recruiter tried to steer him toward someone else becus they didn't want to pay me the $40 an hour.

Anyone have experience with this sort of thing?

A lot of you have heard reports of bank robberies and a rise in petty crime during this recession. But small-time criminals aren't the only ones seeking to enrich themselves at someone else's expense. Sad but true.

Three recent examples:

1. Many, many people, myself included, seem to have a blind faith in the trustfulness of their doctors. But really, people who happen to be physicians surely face the same temptations to increase their income in less than honest ways, if given the opportunity.

My father saw a dermatologist who told him he had a melanoma on his ear. He asked the doctor, is it going to kill me? She said no, so he said, just let it be. The doctor made careful notations in my father's file regarding the location and size of the melanoma.

My father went to another dermatologist and asked that one to look at his ear. They said there was no evidence of any melanoma there.

My father's convinced the first doctor was simply trying to pad her income with an unnecessary surgery.

2. I went to my dentist 6 months ago. The hygienist cleaned my teeth, as per usual, and then the dentist came in to take a look. He noted that I had 2 small cavities in 2 opposing wisdom teeth that would need to be filled. I was upset about that, because I'm not working and don't need another expense.

After he left the room, the hygienist, who I've seen for years, said why don't you spend a little extra time brushing in the area of those 2 cavities and maybe you can get rid of them. Now, look, I always figured a cavity is a cavity, you either have one or you don't. I didn't think that extra brushing after the fact would make any difference, but it is true that all the dentist did was poke around my teeth with that pointed metal instrument, and when they find a sticky spot, it seems they pronounce there's a cavity.

So I took my hygienist's advice and remembered her words every day when I was brushing. Last week, I went back for my next 6-month cleaning and and was anxious to learn whether or not I still had my "cavities." My hygienist say, hey, let's not say anything about the cavities to Dr. so-and-so, let's just see if he notices them again, or not. So after my cleaning, the dentist came in and asked me if i was having any problems, and I said no. Then he looked at my mouth and pronounced that everything was fine. No mention of any cavities!!! What the (*&^^>>>>??????

Either a. The dentist is not very thorough and simply missed something he saw 6 months ago, or b. I never had 2 cavities to begin with! Which do you think it is?


3. The other day i got a call from a recruiter about a possible contract job. As we talked on the phone about it, she asked me how much money I wanted. I said around $40 an hour, and after a delay, I added, maybe $35 an hour. (I didn't want to price myself out of the job.) The recruiter started responding as I finished saying $40 an hour and she said good, that's right in our range, you realize you can't really negotiate the wages since the employer pretty much tells us what they're prepared to pay, etc. This particular recruiter, I must say, comes off very cold and unfriendly on the phone. Ugh.

Remember, the recruiter started to talk after I'd said around $40 an hour, I added "maybe $35 an hour" after a small pause. So in the paperwork, the recruiter put down the pay was $35 an hour...of course....

I'm pretty sure that yes, the employer says what they want to pay, but it's still up to the recruiter how to divvy up that pay between themselves and the employee. So the less they can pay the employee, the more is left for the recruiter. I realize this is business and they need to earn money, but I just got the strong impression throughout this little scenario that the recruiter could care less about me and that they're just trying to maximize their take.

No matter what you're doing in life, it just seems harder and harder to find truly honest people who aren't driven by a willingness to rip off others for their own gain. I mean, it is possible to earn income in an ethical manner, though if you do, you'll never get to the head of the pack, apparently.

The bottom line: Never trust ANYONE to look out for your best interests. That's your responsibility.

Nothing like a little adventure to add spice to your life. That's what I did about an hour ago when I accidentally locked myself out of the house.

I had all the doors on the main floor open during the day since the cats like to look outside. It was about 5:30 pm and the sun was sinking, so I went around and closed all the doors. (My heat's turned off for the season!)

I started making a simple dinner which included putting a piece of fish in my toaster oven. Then I remembered I had the garage door open. I went down the basement and exited through the door to the garage and pushed the auto garage door opener button to close the big door, then walked over to a side door and closed that too. I returned to the door leading to the basement, and lo, it was locked.

Jiggle, jiggle.Nothing. How could it be locked? The door doesn't lock unless you turn the little thing vertical from the horizontal position. I've locked myself out of the house twice before, but this time I had that toaster oven going and didn't want to start a small fire. I knew everything was locked up tight, and unlike a previous lockout, when I allowed a police officer to break through a screen and BREAK a WINDOW, one I knew I was going to replace very soon, there was no way to break in without causing rather major damage.

I called my mother in neighboring town, who usually has a spare key. She came right over and we got in. I went down to the basement later to check out the lock, and I saw that it was in the UNLOCKED position but I still could not open the door from the inside either!

Obviously something is wrong with it and I'll have to replace the whole knob becus I don't want to risk this sort of thing again. It's not that old, maybe 5 or 6 years. (I will find a good hiding place outside for a spare key, something I used to do, but then retrieved from an overly cautious sense, I guess.)

I'll go to Ace tomorrow and get a knob/lock set and either have my friend Frank or my dad, who is coming tomorrow, install it for me, I hope.

Phew. My fish was very well done, but actually edible. (Hate to waste food.)

Having charged the lawnmower the night before, I commenced with the season's first lawn mowing yesterday. When it's allowed to grow without a shave, my lawn resembles a colorful spring meadow, with wild violets in bloom, teeny white flowers and patches of taller white flowers that will bloom if given the chance. So I mowed around the largest patches of wildflowers so I could enjoy the show.

My lawn's too big to do all at once, so I'll hopefully finish up the mowing today.

Yesterday, I also planted some Swiss chard, which I like to use in soups. I also planted several pots of basil. (A girl can never have too much basil, especially a girl who loves her homemade pesto sauce.)

It's so easy to forget all the great things about summer in the depth of winter. But then again, would we appreciate them so much if we enjoyed them year-round?

I also laid the soaker hose in the vegetable garden and cut back the overgrown basket willow and giant hemlock that were shading out my blueberry bushes. I dragged the cut branches down to the ever-growing pile in the driveway, now taller than me. It awaits my father's arrival to help me bring them to the landfill in his pick-up truck. Hopefully some time this week.

I changed the hummer water, watered the newly sprouted grass where the forsythia stand was and weeded more garlic mustard, which is growing just about everywhere.

I discovered a small water leak that discolored a large wall mural my mother painted in my living room in 2001 and wondered if that leak was the source of the musty smell I've been smelling for the past month in my upstairs bedroom. If so, perhaps the leak came from the attic window, traveled down the 2nd floor bedroom wall and down to the first floor? (I see no evidence of a leak in the 2nd floor bedroom, just a smell.)

So i hauled my extension ladder out, used it to climb to the shallow pitched roof of the family room, and then hoisted it up to use it again to reach the attic window. There was a good-sized gap between the top of the window casing where it meets the wall of the house, so I caulked it up pretty well; while i was up there, I also caulked the top of the upstairs bathroom window. It will all be covered with vinyl siding this season, but still a good idea to seal up any openings.

I'd also more or less pinpointed where ants were coming in the sunroom at a corner at the ceiling. Looking at it from the outside, I could see some cracks where ants could crawl through, so I did more caulking there, too. I hope it finally does the trick.

I'm still concerned about the musty smell in my bedroom, which was never there before. I don't think it's from this past winter's ice dams, because the water infiltration was all on the back (south) wall of the house, and the bedroom abuts the north wall. You'd think if there was a mold issue, I would have smelled it sooner. Besides, it would have dried out by now and then the mold would die.

There is no plumbing in my upstairs bedroom, so don't think it's a leaky pipe. Although, I remember years ago I kept smelling a musty water smell on the first floor, near the front door, and I traced it to a sink in my basement which didn't have a proper trap on the drain pipe, allowing those bad odors to rise up to the first floor. Recalling that incident, I examined the plumbing in the basement, but see no leaks.

I want to go back into the attic again with my flashlight and look behind the knee walls, and then do it again when it's raining so I could more easily spot an active leak.

So for now, the source of that musty smell remains a mystery.I would like to think that my caulking of the attic window fixed the problem and the residual mustiness will dissipate with time, but I'm not sure that's it, partly because if the bad odor was coming up from the basement, you would assume you'd also smell it on the first floor, which I don't. I smell it on the 2nd floor, in my bedroom, which leads me to think it more likely to be a leak from above, somewhere in the attic, if it's coming from somewhere other than the attic window crack which I already caulked.

One more possibility: I recently discovered I have some sort of leak from my washing machine, which is in the basement more or less directly underneath the 2nd floor bedroom where I'm smelling the musty smell. (If that's the source, why aren't I smelling the musty smell on the first floor?) The leak appears to be coming from either underneath or behind the washing machine, will have to do a load and watch carefully as the water fills. The wet spot on the cement floor spread about 5 feet.

So what to do about the washer? It's 15 years old; it's a Whirlpool. Had it repaired once before, something to do with the water not draining away. I was happy with the repair job, though i recall it being about $75 (?) or so. Considering I'm not working, should I go for a repair again or consider a new washer?

I hope that once I have the vinyl siding installed, this sort of thing will happen no more; everything will be sealed up. But I'd feel better if I were able to identify the source of the mustiness and deal with it prior to vinyl installation because once it's on, it could make it harder to deal with any leak issue later.

I seem to have recurring issues with leaky windows. I don't think this is normal. Is it something about how my window casings are constructed? Because there's always that weak spot, along the top of the window casing, which is basically a piece of wood trim that butts up against the side of the house. This joint is supposed to be kept sealed/caulked, but no caulk lasts forever.

It seems that with the $25 monthly increase in my already expensive COBRA premiums, effective June 1, to about $468 a month, preventive care doctor's visits will now be truly 100% free, meaning, the patient doesn't even pay a co-pay. (I think this came about due to Obama's health-care reform.)

Right now, many of the same services are 100% paid for by the insurance company, AFTER the co-pay. That would explain why I haven't received any bills from my insurer, I think.

Once I confirmed the new rule, I promptly canceled next week's gyno visit and rescheduled it for July. That will save me $30.

Unfortunately, becus my primary care doc did an EKG during my physical, I still have to pay a $30 co-pay there. For whatever reason, ConnectiCare doesn't consider an EKG as part of a routine physical. Of course, the average patient wouldn't know that, would they?

However, they will cover a colonscopy, 100%, so I guess I'll have to put that on my list of things to do this year.

Yesterday I got a fair amount of stuff done outside. I planted lettuce in the veggie garden; I think I could plant warm weather crops in another week or two. That being said, there are 2 days this week when temps may get down to the upper 30s.

I also cut up and disposed of a large tree branch that came down in the northeast corner of yard. I planted two stone crops my sister gave me at Easter in a window box on the side of the garage that gets tons of sun. The annuals I usually plant in the window boxes dry out quickly because the overhang prevents rainwater from getting to them and in the heat of summer, you can't miss a single day of watering without wilting. I've always loved stonecrops and they would seem to be a good choice.

I watered the grass, which is finally growing, hallelujah.

This morning I'm going to an MS conference (free breakfast and lunch), then since I'm in that town, stopping at pet food store with coupon for free 2 cans of Halo. Then hitting Shop rite in same town, and on way home, visiting neighbor in rehab from knee surgery and watering the plants at her house.

It's too quiet on the job front. I learned from someone that my key contact at real estate firm's mother passed away; that would be why I hadn't heard from him to start a few freelance projects for him. I applied for a job at a large construction company that needs an editor for its publications. Haven't heard from agency rep about the health-care writing job.

The author who's book I was supposed to edit keeps going back and forth on what to do. She seems easily swayed by whatever "pro" she talks to most recently. I have a feeling this could go on indefinitely.

The robin is still nesting; I don't think anything has hatched yet. I think wrens may start nest-building in one of my bluebird boxes. Chickadees checked it out earlier, but apparently passed it up. It's probably too open for them. A hummingbird has returned to my sugar water feeder, its ancestral feeding home. He'll be at that feeder every 10 minutes until the cold weather returns in fall.

It's all spam.

You're probably getting bored by all my talk of vinyl siding, but anyway, I AM making progress. I had my fourth (and final!) contractor here to look at the house. If his price is right, and I think it will be, he'll be the one I go with.

But he's so busy he won't have the estimate to me sooner than a week,and if i give him the job, I won't likely get it done until late summer. That's how busy he is.

But in the meantime, I can look at a few houses he's done.

The other area of my life where I'm making progress is yard work. I've moved on to the next big task, taming my fenced in garden, the one place that always comes last and as a result becomes completely overgrown by mid-summer.

Last year I didn't touch it at all, and it shows. There are some valuable plants in there: 5 blueberry bushes, 3 dwarf cherry trees, gooseberry, a mulberry tree, a viburnum of some sort, an Alberta spruce, and shade loving perennials like astilbe, hosta, Jacob's ladder and so on. I spotted a lone asparagus spike popping up; I had thought the asparagus had died out at it's gotten very shaded from a large willow growing gangbusters over it.

Some god-awful, thorny brambles were spreading into the area from the north side of the yard. I spent considerable time yesterday and today digging up the brambles to stop the spread, wearing 2 pears of heavy duty gloves to protect my hands. I'm sure there are some roots I missed, but i got the bulk of them.

Next, I started pulling out the ever-creeping pachysandra, which had also begun an assault into the fenced garden. There's a huge patch of it just outside the fence, and far too much for me to ever rip out completely, but I can control it and at least keep it from taking over the fenced garden. So i was yanking it out at the fence line and in about 3 feet.

I finished about three-quarters of that but decided to wait until the nesting robin fledges its babies so I don't disturb her; she's incubating eggs right now.

Another thing to yank out of there will be the vinca, which now covers about a 4 x 12 foot space. That stuff is also hard to pull out. I tried using a metal rake but even that was quite difficult.

But since the robin is there, I may put that on hold and turn my attention to another chore that needs doing: planting the earliest crops in my veggie garden, namely, lettuce and snap peas.

Not much happening on the job front, except a recruiter took some writing samples of mine to send to their client, a well-known health insurance company. It's a contract job for an indefinite period of time, no benefits. But pretty good pay, also a long commute (one hour). I'll take it. Always wanted to get into health care writing...this would open a lot of doors for me. Not sure what my chances are of getting an interview, but we should know more by tomorrow.

Other than that, I DID get my parking garage reimbursements from my last employer. Which I really appreciate.

Tomorrow, I'll have to chase after another small amount, the $30 I mistakenly paid to my doctor's office when I had my physical. I was reading over my health plan and physicals are covered 100%, with NO co-pay. I seem to remember something like this happening before with the same doc office and that it took a long time to get the reimbursement. They're so quick to TAKE your money, like, pay us now before you even see the doctor. And I BET I wouldn't see that money if I didn't point it out to them.

My friend had her knee replacement surgery and seems to be doing well. She'll be moving from the hospital to nursing home for rehab tomorrow. I'll visit her there.

Tomorrow am going for a walk with Frank in the a.m. and my mom's coming over for dinner/soup in late afternoon since she'll be in town to pick up some of her art work at a show she was in.

I certainly am not at a loss for things to do. Another warm day in the 70s. Lovin' it.

Incredibly warm today, in the 70s, but a bit drizzly. I really don't mind, it's the warmth that counts.

I opened up the sun room, even the windows for the kitties before leaving this a.m., then headed to my neighbor's. She's getting her knee replacement surgery tomorrow and wanted to give me the key to her place, as well as some food that will not last. After a few days at the hospital, she'll be spending several weeks at a local nursing home for rehab and therapy.

I hope she mends very well because we used to go for some really nice walking trips to various parks, and she procrastinated about the surgery until, for the past few weeks, she's been hobbling around.

I decided to zip back to my house after visiting with her so I could put the food in my fridge...a few eggs, almond milk, chicken broth and a bag of onions. I can make use of all of these, and free groceries are always welcome!

After that, I headed toward mom's for Easter lunch. I debated whether to get gas ($4.13), but decided not to. Went to Wal-Mart, which was open (!) so I could return some canned cat food flavors the boys dislike, and got some I know they DO like. Then hit Pet Choice just to use a Halo coupon good for 2 cans of premium cat food. I know they like the Halo. Then stopped at Stop & Shop to pick up some broccoli rabe for dinner which we ended up not having.

My mother had a good Trader Joe's ham (no nitrites) with a spelt stuffing and stringbeans, red wine; dessert was an apple crisp.

My sister as usual left early, i dozed up while my mother was cleaning up in the kitchen. Then we went for a walk around her condos and down the road where we met a HUGE black Newfoundland with its owner.

Came back home, had a cup of tea in the sunroom, did some caulking in the sunroom as ants keep finding their way in.

I had spoken to a DOL rep to reopen my unemployment claim last week. Somehow, we got into a fairly personal conversation about the difficulties she had when her father died. But she didn't do something right because when i tried reporting in this a.m., as you're supposed to do, the system didn't recognize my SSN. Which means I'll have to call again this week, always a pain due to the long wait on hold.

Tons of stuff I could do outside, if it's not too rainy tomorrow. There's a very narrow window of time for me to do a lot of stuff becus once all the foliage comes out, I don't like to go tromping around in the brush, where the ticks live.

It seems the robin I spotted outside my 2nd floor office window is intent on brooding in the nest it built in the tall rhododendron. I thought it was scared off last week because I had to shoo away a black-capped chickadee that was pecking at a hole in the siding of the house just a few feet away from the robin's nest; I do believe the chickadee also wanted to build a nest, inside the asbestos shingles! I had to plug the hole, about an inch in diameter, with wadded up tinfoil until my carpenter/handyman can insert a replacement wood plug. (The hole had been drilled by someone to blow in cellulose insulation,and his original plug had come undone.)

But no, the robin is back and sitting on the nest. I've been worried that it could be permanently frightened off by the workmen who do my vinyl siding, but after doing some quick research online, I see that robins sit on the eggs for 12 to 14 days and then they fledge in just 9 to 16 days, for a total of 30 days from hatching to fledging. I doubt I could schedule the vinyl siding job any sooner than that anyway.

I say that because I got a huge job done in my yard. I had ripped out a whole bunch of overgrown forsythia and today I finished raking smooth the ground, getting rid of rocks I unearthed, pulling out lots of roots, planting grass seed, then covering it with hay and watering it. A huge job.

Looks like a fair amount of rain in the coming week so hope that will minimize the amount of time I have to spend with the garden hose. It's a very large area, maybe 20 x 10'.

My carpenter was a no-show today, which is annoying.

Remember that contract job I had for 5 weeks that ended? Well, the guy paid me my final paycheck, but I had a hunch he would try to stiff me on the $36 in parking reimbursements he owed me, simply because he could. And I was right. Emails to him and his payroll guy have gone unanswered.

It says in the contract he had me sign that they would pay reasonable out of pocket expenses, provided I had prior written approval. Well, he told me verbally he would reimburse my parking garage fees. I never got written approval since it would seem quite odd for me to ask for that after he told me he would, as if i didn't trust him or something.

So I told an old friend of mine the situation and he said he would call him and pose as my lawyer. It's worth a shot. (My friend is very good at this sort of thing and i think he actually enjoys it.) Otherwise, $36 is too small an amount to haul the guy into small claims court for, and I'm sure that's what he's counting on. Plus the fact that i didn't have "prior written approval." But I sure would like to teach him a lesson. Perhaps I would win the case anyway based on my statements.

I have exchanged a few emails with one of the other writers still there, who says he will probably quit the job this weekend. It's his first job out of college, real nice kid. But anyway, this was my little act of revenge, telling the other writer, and encouraging him to share the info with the other writers there, about what happened with my termination and the parking reimbursement issue. He's been very sympathetic and told me that the owner did something else much worse to someone else but said he "didn't feel at liberty yet" to tell me the details. Well, of course, I'm pleading with him to tell me what it is.

And today's overcast.

But still, not too bad a day.

I managed to rustle up another focus group for early May, AND get an unemployed friend to qualify too. It's $125 for 2 hours' time. it's a one-hour drive, but I have a Honda and plan not to speed.

Talked to my dad and we agreed to defer his trip up here til possibly later next week. He was going to help me bring a huge pile of brush/tree branches to the landfill with his truck on Friday, but turns out town offices/landfill are closed on Good Friday.

Speaking of the landfill, that was my one outing today. I'm being so careful, or trying to, anyway, not drive if I really don't have to. Gas is over $4 a gallon here now. Incredible, but I hope it turns a lot of SUV drivers into compact car drivers. Better for the environment.

My real estate client is supposed to call me to give me the info I need to write his blog and press release.

The book author is changing gears and has decided to shelf the book I was going to edit. She wants to work on another book and have me edit the 1st 25 pages to entice an agent to take her on, I think. It's a little disappointing. She wants to meet me for coffee and talk about it. Ordinarily I probably wouldn't have the time, but I'm not really all that busy. I met her just one time and have been trading emails with her.

I'm glad she's making progress and all, but I feel totally preoccupied with my own need to find paying work and support myself. Her "journey," as she puts it, is so involved and I don't feel I have the mental energy to get too absorbed by it. But I think I need to make an effort.

I spent a LOT of time yesterday on the vinyl siding issue. Had 2 more siding guys come over. I have a price from 2 guys, am waiting for the 3rd and 4th hasn't been over but we had a real good talk about my siding issues on the phone. So Guy #1 wants to cover over it for $17k. Guy #2 I'm ruling out, he spent very little time here and hardly asked questions. Doesn't seem like he does a lot of it. Guy #3 wants to remove the existing asbestos shingles. Guy #4 also would prefer to remove it, but after being swayed to go along with that, I find myself really wanting to just cover it with the vinyl. It would be a lot cheaper and it's what the state recommends to minimize health risks.

However, the siding guys say it won't look as good if they lay vinyl over it cus it won't be a completely flat surface, plus I wonder if potential buyers of this house down the road wouldn't like the idea of still having the asbestos underneath the vinyl. Or wouldn't they focus on that if they see nice vinyl siding and all the other charms of this house? I don't know. I've posed the question to a realtor I know. I might ask 1 or 2 more realtors the same question to get some good feedback.

My handyman finished the 3 jobs I asked him to do yesterday. He charges $25 an hour, or $200 a day. When I asked him if he thought he could get all 3 jobs done in a day, he said he was pretty sure it wouldn't take him a full day. So he got here at 9:15 am and finished up around 4 pm. That's 6.75 hours in my book. When I asked him what I owed him, i started calculating his 7 hours of time here and he said, no, I'm charging you my day rate, so that's $200 plus materials. I felt like he was ripping me off by charging for a full day's worth of work. I didn't say anything, just paid him. I felt funny about it. I've known him for years, and he's done a lot of work for me. He said he's charging me less than his standard rate. I know he's hurting for money, but he also knows i'm pretty much in the same boat as far as not working full-time. I also had a feeling when he finished up this job as well as when he finished up the other job that he went out into my garage, had a smoke and was just killing time so he could get paid for more time. I don't mind that too much, cus everyone deserves a few work breaks, but the other part about his day rate did bother me. It's my own fault for not questioning that, and i can't really say why I didn't. I guess i've always trusted him to be honest and was just feeling very startled that he was pulling what he did. An example of his honesty: most guys who do work for you will include in their price to you the cost of materials. I assume they estimate it in their head and then pad it quite a bit. Billy doesn't do that. He charges his hourly rate and then goes and buys the materials he needs and GIVES you the receipt so you can reimburse him the exact cost, with no mark-up. I think that's unheard of among most contractors.

So, bottom line, he charged me $25 more than i think i should have paid. I think this is just a good reminder to me not to become too casual or trusting with him and ALWAYS be careful to have him clearly spell out what something will cost, and whether I'm paying him hourly or by the day!

Thanks.

It seems like there's a lot going on.

I have my handyman guy Billy here all day and I hope he can finish the 3 or 4 little jobs I've given him. He's still working on the 1st one.

I finally shook loose the laziness and started thinking more seriously again about doing vinyl siding after several weeks of just thinking I'd go the cheap route and have the house painted again.

The problem with painting is that with asbestos shingles, you're not supposed to sand or even scrape them, or do anything that would create dust. So of course, if you do a lousy prep job before painting, the paint won't adhere well. And that's exactly where I stand today. The last paint job I got started peeling in year 2.

But i also still didn't have a certain comfort level with the one vinyl place I met with, or their high price ($17k). While I know that "encapsulation" is an acceptable way to deal with asbestos, I wasn't convinced that they wouldn't end up shattering all the shingles once they tried to nail the Styrofoam insulation onto it. Then the broken tiles would all drop to the bottom, and even though he said they install flashing at the bottom to prevent broken tiles from falling to the ground, another guy told me the piles of broken tiles would create bumps in the vinyl at the bottom and not look right. Not to mention the idea of having a bunch of broken asbestos tiles still around isn't too appealing to me.

I called 2 references, got thru to 1, but he said they had the asbestos removed.

This a.m. i had a brief conversation with another guy who's coming over this afternoon. He quickly boosted my confidence level in him right away because he said he always removes asbestos shingles first, for the exact same reasons that i have concerns about covering them up, that they will shatter when nailed bunch up at the bottom and make the vinyl look weird, etc.

He is certified to do it and said that removal is not as expensive as i might think. So that got me excited because i had gotten a price years ago from an outfit that just did removal, and it seemed like a pretty pricey proposition.

The guy i talked to today said they don't do the whole surround the house in plastic thing when they do the tile removal, they just wear special face masks, lay tarps and of course dispose of it in a special hazardous waste landfill. Still, i wouldn't want him to do the work on a windy day, cus then I'd have to worry that dust particles could be blown down into my veggie garden, which is a good 75 feet from the house.

Sp here are my reasons for wanting to go with vinyl instead of painting:

1. Much easier to sell the house without asbestos shingles. (Though it didn't bother me since I'd grown up in a house with asbestos shingles and didn't foresee or anticipate the extra hassles painting would entail.)

2. No more short-lasting paint jobs due to inability to really sand down peeling paint well.

3. I have at least 2 windows that periodically develop leaks between the outside window trim and side of house. The caulk just doesn't seem to hold for more than a year or two. I'm pretty sure that covering window trim and walls with vinyl will eliminate this problem.

4. Slightly better insulation since they use something like 1/2" foam insulation and possibly some noise insulating value??

5. i have seasonal problems with carpenter ants getting in the house; maybe redoing siding more snugly could help?

6. Years back i had a guy blow in wall insulation from the outside. He had to drill 1" diameter holes every 6 feet all around the house and didn't care at all about asbestos issues. After blowing in the insulation, he had these wood corks he used to plug the holes with glue around each cork. Now, 1 or 2 of them has worked loose, and now i have to deal with plugging them back up to prevent water and insect and draft infiltration in what was previously a lot more airtight without those holes. So I deeply regret that move, but it can be difficult to anticipate every possible problem. I was just trying to better insulate an old house. So now I plan to have my handyman replug those holes before i have the vinyl installed.

So are those enough reasons to go vinyl?

On the freelance work front:

I'm supposed to be editing a book for a local author, but things keep changing on her end. She may delay that project in favor of another book, which would require more work on her part before I could edit it. She's juggling several different projects all at once. I just want to start a job to earn some money.

Another pending job is a press release and a blog post for my real estate client who's excited by a big uptick in attendees at 4 recent community open houses. He thinks it's indicative of a returning housing market.

Another possibility is a woman who revamps and improves websites for a living who needs writers. I was put in touch with her by another writer i used to work with. The good thing there is she has a wide variety of websites she deals with, from environmental to financial. I'm hoping something comes of it.