Got our notice of our dividend from USAA insurance. $58.65, and I haven't decided yet where it's going.

We have our property and auto with USAA, and I've been a member since I was 16 and started driving. My father was in the Navy (which is how I was eligible for USAA), and I really think having USAA insurance is a privilege.

Other financial thoughts for the day;
- I bought D and F each a chocolate orange; they get one every year.

- Today's chiropractor visit was also paid for; I have one last appt. on Friday for which I will have to pay the co-pay, but overall this back pain (nearly gone) hasn't been a financial setback.

- I set our deductible for a lower amount. The premiums are higher, but it means the business absorbs more of our healthcare costs, which makes sense. I am thinking of setting up an HRA. Does anyone have experience with these?

- I sent out the end-of-the-year bills to my clients. They probably won't pay in December which is fine. I'd prefer to get the money in early January, which is why I sent them out now. My business is on a cash basis.

- I got a request from the County to submit a letter of interest on a transfer station/volunteer fire station project. Given my experience, I have a good shot at this. The response is due January 5th, so I am feeling very forward-thinking to have F in a three day camp just before new years!

- I can't wait for F to be out of school on Friday! Holiday break! We're meeting my friend and her daughter (one of F's best friends) for lunch since it's a half day. Since D is getting a holiday office lunch I feel like this is my office holiday lunch!

I had to go to the chiropractor today (that's the bad news - picked up the vacuum cleaner while twisting - ouch!). The good news is that the last time I was in, I paid in full but they submitted the claim to insurance. So I had a credit. I didn't have to pay for this visit.

The other bad news: I have to go back tomorrow. But the other good news is that I've had a version of this low back pain for a few weeks but very mild - the vacuum cleaner incident just brought it out. So now at least it's being addressed.

I'm pretty irritated that the medical category was way over this year. Even with insurance, it's just a fact of life. I'm budgeting better next year because I know that D will do his allergy shots.

I have a very low prescription cost, and I'm wondering if the doctor can give F a prescription for her allergy medicine even though it's not a prescription medication. It would cost half as much as we pay now! Also, I take omeprazole for acid reflux; if I could have a prescription for it instead of having to buy it I'd save a ton!

That is on my financial to-do list for next year... check with the doctor about medications!

It's one of those days that you can't believe is so long! Which, in this case, since it's a weekend, is a GOOD thing!

D was up all night with food poisoning/stomach bug so F and I are hanging out today.

We got up early, had pancakes, and I cleaned the house (and bleached the bathroom).

We drove to the animal shelter in the next town (about 30 mins away) but met the other kids who were volunteering today at the Lovin' Oven (real name!) for donuts beforehand. I drove F and her friend, and the other mom drove her son and another boy (carpool!). I brought lunch to eat in the car because the volunteer slot was 12 to 2.

The donut man was so impressed that four 4th graders were volunteering at the shelter that he gave each of the kids a cookie/marshmallow concoction for later! So nice!

The kids played with and exercised the dogs, and then we came home (and they ate the rest of the packed lunch). F and her friend played for a while before K's dad picked her up.

While they played, I replaced our alarm keypad (DIY!!!); the buttons stopped being pressable about 2 years ago. It worked really well, so I'm going to replace the other one (the buttons are pressable but just barely). I am pretty sure pressable is not a word.

Now we're going over to my friend L's (she is F's guardian if something happens to us; a very, very special person in our family) to bake Christmas cookies. L's daughter is home from college, and we can't wait to see her, too!!!

Dinner tonight - well, I had a plan. But D's stomach is so sensitive he just wants rice. I always have rice on hand, so I just need to figure out something that goes with that for me and F. Poor D. But he's had the day to himself to recover.

I am feeling financially very fortunate right now....

- D found out that he got a small raise for next year; along with his employer's 6% match, that is very good news for us. I am trying to increase our savings based on this raise, and just feeling so happy. I haven't been able to raise my salary for the past six years, and D was the same before he took this job last year.

- Our solar panels are operational, and we can see our meter running backwards. When we get our tax credit I'll be applying it to our mortgage principal.

- Our Christmas spending ended up being less than budgeted. I will take the remainder for the school teacher gift fund and for the giving tree that is up at school. The tree went up on Tuesday, and today there were no more ornaments! I think K, who organizes the tree, will get more kids' names tomorrow...

- I saw a young man today sitting on the side of the road with some food; it looked like maybe someone gave it to him and he was sorting through it. I desperately wanted to give him a voucher to a restaurant or something, but I wasn't sure what was going on, and he wasn't holding a sign or anything, so I didn't want to offend him. I wish I knew what to do in these situations.

- 4th Grade breakfast with the Head of School tomorrow morning - I love that F goes to a school where it's small enough that we can do things like this. I love that I know every kid in the school, and every parent, too. I love that they tell me that the time that I volunteer means so much to them. I love that no one treats us differently because we aren't wealthy like some of the families.

- I am going to take F and her friend up to the animal shelter to volunteer on Saturday. Their class has already made $1000 on homemade cat toys and dog treats; all of the money will go to the shelter. It's only the first week; they are hoping to make another $1000.

Last month's income decreased by 15% compared to the same month last year (that's because D started his new job last year and he collected income from his previous business for the previous month - about $1500 extra).

But our expenses were 49% lower than last year.

Our savings was 3% lower (because we put last year's extra income into savings).

Knowing D now has an employee savings plan at work and that he'll be getting a raise, we've been working on the 2015 budget. I set the budget based on last year's expenses as well as anticipated expenses (had to increase a few categories including home repair since we hope to restucco at some point and medical - D needs allergy shots).

Since the employee savings plan is before employment taxes, I'm not sure how to calculate our savings rate. I was just going to add that amount to what we're saving. I'm trying to keep my 50-30-20 formula.

Have you re-jigged your budget for 2015?

The meal plan for the week:
this week:
- soup and garlic bread $6
- pasta with turkey balls and marinara sauce $8
- spinach and cheese frittata $6
- white chicken chili $17.50 for 4 servings (the other three go in the freezer)
- tostadas $5
- tuna melts with salad $6
- going to our neighbor's house for dinner tonight and bringing dessert ($8 for dessert)

I bought a few extra things on the grocery budget to have around at Christmas, sort of doing some of my shopping early. And we're eating out of the pantry next week, so the bill should be low.

As far as the mortgage, we've hit a milestone. The amount we have left on our mortgage is equal to the amount I paid for the lot 17 years ago. We worked out that we'll have the house paid off before D turns 47.

This is really hitting home (ha ha!) because one of his coworkers just bought a house; she's in her 60s and used to have a house in another city/state where housing prices were lower. She now has a brand-new mortgage and so she can't take advantage of the employee savings plan which has a really great match (6%).

Today: we've baked biscuits for the animal shelter (and our dog got one, too) and now we're going to the Indian Arts museum to see some dancing, make some christmas ornaments...

I'm in a much better mood today!

For one thing, I resolved things with my mother (life's too short).

And I got a ton done today around the house since F is playing at a friend's house; that way tomorrow is freed up to do fun stuff with her and not vacuuming!

Last night we went to the Recycled Fashion Show (kids and adults made awesome dresses from TRASH!) - it was amazing! Also very festive. They have booths, too, but I didn't buy anything.

Today we put up our tree; haven't decorated it yet. We'll do that tonight or tomorrow morning. I did put green christmas ornaments in the tree in front of our house. It doesn't have any leaves since it's winter, so the green baubles are not only festive but add some green!

Tomorrow - Winter Festival at our Indian Arts museum. There'll be dancing and storytelling and ornament-making. It's free with our state drivers licenses. Also we have to bake dog biscuits to raise money for the animal shelter (it's F's class service project). And we're going to our neighbor's house for dinner. I'm bringing dessert: a raspberry tart with a cream and mascarpone filling. Gluten free, of course! Big baking day tomorrow. Total cost of tart will be about $8 for all of the ingredients (raspberries were on sale). Not inexpensive, but our neighbor is providing dinner for three of us, so I wanted to do a nice dessert.

What a week. Ugh. Nothing truly horrible, but lots of little things that add up, so I'm really glad it's Friday. TGIF!!!

Stupid Bark Beetle - which kills piñon trees; I had to spend money to spray the trees, and it's a chemical which I hate. (The upside: the tree sprayer said he felt like it needs one more spray, and is coming back to spray next week to get the rest - for free which is super nice of him).

Irritating Clients - actually not really my clients. I do review for two subdivisions, and these are homeowners who don't want to do the things they already said they'd do. And one of them hasn't paid my invoice. Grrr....

D eats lunch out once a week - which is ok; I don't eat out hardly ever, but I know it's his little luxury and he needs it. Usually it's about $6 to $8, but this week it was $10.20. That seems like a lot for lunch!

Teacher Gifts at School - one parent is making my life miserable. I wish we were a normal school and everyone just gave individual gifts; you don't need to comment on the way we pool the money. I know it's odd. At least this way the specials teachers and staff get something, too.

My Mother - cannot let go of one certain perceived failing in my parenting. I have a child who is sometimes anxious. D and I rarely go out without her (this is part of the failing in my mother's opinion, but it's at least 75% economic). We went out when we were in CA, and F got very anxious worrying that something would happen to us. I was an anxious child, too, and I can tell you from experience that my mother (who is also super anxious - this runs in the family!) can't deal with anyone who is freaking out (if it's not herself) and tends to cause people to feel anxious because she's super high-strung and jittery. So, we've been arguing for the past several days about how I caused this episode and how it can be prevented in the future. My take is that something completely different will cause her to be anxious in the future that I can't prevent. My mother's take is that if I don't want her in F's life, that's fine (huh? when did I ever say that?). I'm sure this will blow over. Thank you for letting me vent.

OK, time to go pick up F from school. Then tonight we have tickets to the Recycled Fashion Show, and this will hopefully be the start of a fun weekend and a new week!!!

I grew up without Christmas (I am Jewish, but no one in my family is religious, so we didn't really do much for Hanukkah either).

So now, I am the biggest Christmas fan ever! Our tree is full of homemade ornaments that are so fun to take out each year, and we decorate the house (also stuff that we use every year), and I pretend to be Santa (Santa has his own handwriting, so that it isn't like mine or the Easter Bunny's).

We make tamales on Christmas Eve and have a big dinner with Christmas crackers. I have a bowl of Cadbury roses out starting the week before Christmas.

And F has four advent calendars.
- There's the one from Trader Joe's with the chocolate (it was 99c)
- There's the one Grandma made - reused every year - with little pockets (I put cookies in that one)
- There's the Playmobil one (with playmobil guys - it's not cheap at $30, but she plays with the toys all year - she loves playmobil)
- There's the one with little boxes - also reused every year - which I put notes into. Then you turn the boxes around one by one and at the end there's a scene with a snowman. This year the notes are fortunes. She likes them to be funny so tomorrow's is: " You will receive another fortune tomorrow... and that one will be funnier!"

I so hope it snows! That is the best way to have free fun on Christmas!

It was an expensive trip to Petsmart today... I went there to get a seat belt strap for our dog. Usually we don't strap her in, but we are driving about 1000 miles for Thanksgiving, and she's a big dog. Just in case, I want to make sure she's secure (not just for her but for us).

The strap itself wasn't that much ($14) but I ended up having to get a new harness. Our old harness (which we use with her leash) has a ring in the front, but now harnesses have a ring at the back, which is what we need to attach the strap to the seatbelt.

So, now she has a new harness ($20). It's purple (which I knew F would like). And it will replace the old one. It does seem like it will work a better for regular walks, too.

We are saving a lot of money by driving instead of flying, so part of me wanted to put this as a travel expense, but I put it under pets. The pets category still has $14 in it even with this unexpected expense (and the cost of using the dogwash tubs at our local pet store because Grandma won't like having a dirty dog at her house!).

Do you have any unexpected Thanksgiving expenses?

Our solar panels are on the roof (but not officially hooked up yet - we need to get the building dept. inspection). A friend of mine, N, is interested in panels for his house, so he asked me how many panels we have and how much of our energy use is covered (answer: 7, 100%).

N thought this was pretty reasonable, and so he asked what our annual electricity usage is, and I told him. He looked up his usage, and it's double! (His house is smaller than ours - 1900 sf v. 2250, his family is the same exactly - husband, wife, one daughter, we both have gas cooktops and gas heating, we both have mostly CF and LED with a few evil halogens, no AC, energy star refrigerators; honestly, I thought our use would be exactly the same).

He borrowed our energy meter and has been testing every plug load in his house. We've just shared our gas bills with each other and his gas usage is exactly the same as ours in the summer but double in the winter (even though his furnace is super high efficiency). So they have a less efficient house than ours (smaller, but takes a lot more energy to heat).

That still doesn't explain the electric bill being double what ours is. (At first I thought it might be the electric used by his furnace, but then the summer electric would be back to our level, and it isn't).

We're both really curious about what is going on. We try to conserve, but we are very similar to N's family in terms of habits.

I am still scratching my head over this, and when N returns my energy meter, I am going to do a spreadsheet of each room and retest everything. My degree is in environmentally responsible architectural design, so I understand the house itself, and occupant choices to a degree, but there is something I'm missing.

Have you analyzed your energy usage?

An expensive day. Ah well. These things happen and that is why we have money in the bank.

- Replaced a tree in front of our house; I did get a discount for paying in cash, however. Total = $400
- Found out from the tree guy that I really need to spray our other trees, which I hate doing, but I think we're close to losing some of them, too. Will be = $250 (but he can do it during Thanksgiving week so we don't need to be around the spray, and our dog will be with us).
- I forgot to defrost something from the freezer, and excuse, excuse, excuse - basically I don't feel like cooking. So I started the rice cooker, and there are peas in the freezer, and I've asked D to pick up a rotisserie chicken on his way home. At least lunch tomorrow is taken care of, too. Cost = $6

I have to remember the two financial victories today:
1. I got a Pinecone check and paid it right into our mortgage principal. $18
2. I deposited the money from D's side work - the school photos - into his business account. Some of will go toward taxes, and some pays for the photos themselves, but the total profit is about $3300. We're thrilled! And the plan: as suggested by some smart person on Saving Advice, we're going to put part toward mortgage principal and part in our vacation fund.

It was pretty chilly this morning, and so F was going to wear jeans (instead of the thinner leggings she usually wears). They were waaaay too small (size 6x and she's 9 years old... but the 10/12's that I had bought: still too big).

So: trip to Target. It was ok, because last night we realized she doesn't have any long-sleeved pajama shirts (just short-sleeved). I tossed all of the pj shirts that didn't fit sometime in early September and didn't realize that there were no long-sleeved shirts left!

In my defense, she was in a 6x bottoms for so long, that I somehow lost track. Her size 8 tops have a lot of room but are above her bellybutton and the sleeves are just below her elbow. But the 10/12 - huge! They don't make size 9. So - it's 10/12 shirts and size 8 bottoms.

Got her three pairs of jeans/jeggings (the soft kind she'll wear, but warm, 1 tshirt and 2 tshirts to wear as pajama tops.

And I had a coupon for $3 off D's shampoo, so I got that, too.

Plus a few misc. food items (including a bag of m&m's and a few other snacks to take on our road trip).

I made it back in time for a conference call with my hotel client (that project probably won't be due for 2-3 weeks, so my workload is pretty light through Thanksgiving - phew!).

And then I sorted our health insurance for next year for me and F. (D is covered through work).

I've been getting a ton done around the house. We're staying in because of the snow.

F has a friend over, and they're dancing around our bedroom.

I have been using my new steam cleaner. It's so great! I've cleaned all of our trash cans, cleaned the windows and screens in our bedroom. Cleaned all the nooks and crannies in the kitchen (ovens, under the fridge). This was what I bought with my birthday money - so happy I did!!!

I've also done my usual chores like vacuuming the house. And I reorganized my pajama drawers. And tidied up the hall closet (we had a lot of visitors this past summer and things were put away haphazardly).

Now I just have to make the girls lunch and I can spend some time doing something I want to do while they play.

Other things I've done to make next week easier and save money:
- got the supplies to make christmas crackers (I've been saving toilet paper tubes and have some scraps of christmas paper, so now I have the snaps and crowns) - enough to make 25 crackers which should last us 4 years.
- printed out license plate checklist and slugbug checklist and paper battleship for our Thanksgiving road trip (free entertainment!)
- made a list so we don't forget anything for Thanksgiving (including my parents' Christmas present which I'll hide in their house because my mom will open it if I give it to her right away - so I'll hide it and then send her on a secret mission to find her present at Christmas time)
- worked out a "meal plan" for the drive to California: sandwiches for dinner, lots of snacks and fruit (bringing our little cooler), hotel breakfast buffet the next morning and more snacks.

And, biggest money saver: D put the snow tires on today (we bought tires and rims which we worked out would save money in the second year because D can put them on himself rather than take the car in to have the tires put on).

It's cold and dark here, and I'm sitting in the nice warm waiting area listening to F's piano lesson. She's actually doing a pretty good job on her recital piece.

Then it's home for dinner; I defrosted some posole from the freezer, and we'll have a salad with it. Posole is pretty filling; have you ever had it?

Tomorrow the Director of Coaching for US Youth soccer is doing a training session for our coaches. The coaches pay to attend, but they needed two teams to be demo teams, so F's team is one of the teams that he'll coach to show our all-volunteer coaching staff some tips and tricks. What a cool opportunity for the girls!

Then F will go to a birthday party; it's an evening party, and the kids will be making dinner (lasagna) and then they'll have a sundae bar. So glad it's not a sleepover!

So I'm trying to decide if D and I should go out to dinner, and if so, where. Maybe better to just pick something up and eat at home. That would still be romantic, right? And I wouldn't be cooking, so that would be special. I could light candles. We wouldn't be spending as much as going out if we get something nice to heat up.

Other things I'm thinking about:
- prepping for the drive out to California for Thanksgiving (what we need to bring, snacks, games for the car)
- what I need to get done next week (I have a big meeting at the County on Thursday, a conference call on Monday, driving on a school field trip on Tuesday, but otherwise not too much going on)
- meal plan for next week

Yesterday I bought a new cheese grater because our old one fell apart... and today I took it back (negative $17). We tried to use it last night, and it didn't grate or shred, it just chipped the cheese. The holes for a fine grate were huge. I told D, "I'm taking it back tomorrow; we had the last grater for 15 years and I can't deal with this thing for 15!" He thought I was a little crazy, but Target is great about returns. I should note that it's a KitchenAid grater, so a reputable brand. Grrr!

I also paid down our mortgage principal by another $60 (money from teaching at the gym).

Here's the big snowflake (more like a snowball!): D is going to make about $4k on the school pictures! Still trying to figure out what to do with the money. I'd put it all on the mortgage, but D would like to spend some on a vacation.

I paid down principal on our mortgage yesterday (popcorn day, of course!) and our regular payment went through as well.

So now our mortgage will be paid off in June 2020 even if we don't make any more principal payments. We've paid $3583 extra to principal in 2014.

We now owe $65,926.

Today we went down to a huge soccer tournament. There was terrible, terrible traffic, and we arrived just 3 minutes before the first game started! F was freaking out. But everyone was in the traffic jam. You have to understand - we don't actually have traffic in New Mexico (except in Albuquerque, and then only rarely) so this was a big deal. They were doing roadwork. I've plotted out a different way to get there for tomorrow's games.

F and her team played really well! They lost one (but it was close) and tied one. This was the first time they'd played in the Silver category. One last game tomorrow.

We brought a picnic lunch, and one of the dad's bought the girls pizza afterwards, so that was dinner taken care of.

We did stop and get some drinks on the way home.

We also got the coach gift (a gift certificate to his favorite restaurant) on the way home. Everyone contributed $10. I decided to make the card (and over the past few practices all of the girls signed it). I guess it's an advantage being an architect because I always handmake cards rather than buy them (free! but also much more personal).

OK, and get this, the highlight of the day: D tweeted that he was on his way down with a group of U10 girls to play in a soccer tournament and hoped they'd be channeling F's favorite US women soccer player, and that player favorited D's tweet! F is over the moon!

My husband is a children's portrait photographer on the side, and he took the school photos for F's school this year. Orders are due this Friday, and I'm sure we'll get more, but at the moment, he's making over $2,000! (It's a small school, so I didn't expect that much).

Totally great, although he's stressing about it a little bit because he still needs to get the class photos uploaded.

I offered to help by putting all of the orders/amounts into a spreadsheet (which is how I know how much he's making) and then entering the orders into the photo processing website. I also pull the orders out of the envelope at the front desk each day so it doesn't get too full.

Now, technically this is his money, so I just asked him what he wants to do with the money. He said he's putting some into the new computer fund that he keeps in his business, and then keeping 50 quid for himself (he did actually say "quid" because I think that's still how he thinks of money even though he's lived in the US for ten years now) and the rest we can use toward the mortgage.

The best part about the school photos is the overwhelmingly positive reaction from all the parents. They were so unhappy with the photographer we used to have (the photos were cheesy and he was frankly sort of strange - the kids didn't like him). My husband does natural poses, outside, with greenery as the backdrop (there's a perfect tree on the campus). Everyone has been coming up to me saying they love the photos; I've been passing on the comments to him.

Income = 6599 (this includes paychecks, snowflakes, gifts - all incoming money)
Expenses = 4422
Savings = 1254

Compared to last year:
Income increase by about 4%
Expenses increased by 8%
Savings increased by 11%

I'm feeling pretty good about this... The increase in expenses is due to the new tires that we had to buy for D's car, so not too worried about that.

Our ratios are exactly 30% wants, 50% needs and 20% savings. I should point out, though, that F's tuition is in the wants category, even though in my mind that's really a need. Her tuition represents 9.76% of our budget, so maybe it's more like 20% wants, 60% needs and 20% savings. This is why it's so crucial for us to get the mortgage paid off (that way we can put tuition into "needs" where it belongs and still be at the 30/50/20 ratio.

When my routine is altered, it's a lot harder to stick to the food budget!

So... F has a soccer tournament next weekend, which not only means traveling about an hour each way on Saturday and Sunday, it also means three practices during the week. They'll be earlier because it's dark earlier, but it still means I need to plan more carefully.

So here's the plan:
- bring snacks in the car on Tue, Wed and Fri (days of the practices) so that there is enough time after school to eat a snack, do homework and get to the fields by 4:30 (before Daylight Savings it was 5:30)
- figure out a plan for food during the tournament and bring a cooler (sandwiches, cheese, nuts, fruit, something sweet)
- make sure that the meal plan has easy meals on Tue, Wed and Fri since we always get home late from practice.

Here's the dinner plan:
S - pasta with zucchini and goat cheese (that's tonight!)
M - tostadas with beans, lettuce, sour cream (I have a couple of ripe avocados, too)
T - posole with salad (posole is a New Mexican dish with green chile, hominy, chicken, oregano, some stewed tomatoes - I make it in the crockpot)
W - asian meatballs (made in the crockpot)
T - v sweet salmon, brown rice, broccoli
F - grilled cheese, tomato soup
S - something from the freezer (made last week in the crockpot!) with peas or salad

I so badly wanted to go out and get a pastry or lemonade or something. But I didn't - instead I waited until I picked F up from school and we got 2 for 1 slushies at Sonic ($2 total).

That was the official start of my birthday celebrations! F is off school tomorrow, so we have a whole day planned together including pumpkin carving, eating pumpkin seeds, playing scrabble, going out to lunch, watching a movie. Then we go to our friends' house; they live in the perfect trick-or-treating neighborhood. I always have birthday dinner with them, which is a nice tradition. And the daughter is one of F's two best friends. Also the grandparents will be there, and we've gotten really close to them, too, over the years.

My friend said she made my birthday cake this afternoon and it was hard not to eat it! She and I have many of the same dietary restrictions, so

So - some spending tomorrow for lunch, but it is my birthday!

Although it's unseasonably warm, we've had a series of small snowflakes that I can put toward the mortgage...

1. I received another pinecone survey. That should bring my balance to 1800 points.

2. I had to order $500 in school tshirts on my credit card. I'll be reimbursed, but since it's on my credit card, I'll get the cash back. I earn 2 miles for every dollar, so that's $10.

3. I sold an old Halloween costume through craigslist today and made $12.

Our grocery spending was low this month, which means the extra money can go to pay back our extra spending on D's new tires. I'm very relieved; that was an unexpected expense! I worked hard to keep it low, and next month we'll be in California for Thanksgiving, so there will be a week when we won't buy groceries. So November should be low, too.

Which is good because December is always right at our spending limit for groceries due to Christmas dinner!

Other unexpected expenses: gave a donation to Fs school for the Annual Fund. That comes out of our dining out budget. Also last month's repair to our shower faucet. And F's piano cost more this semester than we were expecting, so that money needs to come from somewhere until we adjust next year's budget.

In unexpected windfalls: I got a coupon for a free ice cream cone for my birthday next week from Baskin Robbins. Glad I signed up for that! And my mother sent me money for my birthday and decided no strings attached after all, but I loved people's suggestions of holding on to the money for a time when there is something I want. The only thing I can think of right now is a new cheese grater; ours has fallen apart after about 20 years of use - I think it would have lasted forever without the plastic, so next one won't have plastic. I have a coupon for Bed and Bath.

F has had several days off school - a 5-day weekend!

I was worried that she'd get bored, but it's actually been super fun, and I'm sad that today is the last day she's home with me.

Yesterday we met another mom with a son in F's class and a daughter in 2nd grade and we drove down to a cute pumpkin patch together. There was a corn maze, hay-ride, "sand"box filled with corn, animals to pet... we had a picnic lunch, and I made apple pie to share. Admission was $6 for F and $8 for me, but it was worth it. The other mom somehow failed to make a picnic lunch, and then was shocked that there wasn't food to buy at the pumpkin patch. We had to go to a nearby cafe so she could get takeout sandwiches. She was pretty upset with herself, but the thing is, she's just moved from California, and she is still learning about the life and culture here (which is partly to do with how rural most of our state is). A few rules: always bring cash, always pack a lunch and snacks, always fill up your gas tank!

Today we woke up to a steady drizzle. Right now she has a friend over, another sweet girl who also plays soccer! They are playing some kind of made up soccer game with a balloon and giggling like maniacs. Free fun!

Later on - soccer practice (more free fun). F finds out if she's been selected to play in the extra game; fingers crossed.

I've been sitting at my computer, not getting much done. Autocad keeps crashing (ugh!) and while it restarts, I've been doing Pinecone surveys. For some reason, I've gotten 4 this morning! I've never gotten that many in one day! But... 4x $3 each = $12 - yes!!

It's turned chilly here, and there's a long weekend coming up (but D can't get off work, so it's just me and F). Most of her friends are going away for the long weekend, so playdates won't work.

I'm trying to figure out things to do... None of this can compete with an RV trip (one friend's family is renting an RV and going to Canyon de Chelly) or Disneyland (a few other families). But we are going to California for Thanksgiving, so that's the next real vacation.

1. The road with all of our art galleries has a "paint outdoors" festival this Friday; it'll be artists painting outside, and I thought we could bring some watercolors ourselves, and then walk up to the Tea House and get a scone.

2. Maybe visit one of the corn mazes.

3. Saturday soccer game.

4. Game day? Play a ton of board games.

5. Go up the hill and see the aspens which are now extremely yellow!

I have a birthday coming up at the end of the month, and for some reason, birthdays are always financially difficult for me.

Here is why: I don't want anything. Well, nothing that you can buy, anyway.

What I do want: everyone to be nice to me, do my housework (my birthday is on a Friday this year, so the housework is minimal, but include doing the dishes, making dinner, tidying up, etc.). I like to get a card from F, too, because she makes the sweetest cards, and I cherish them and save them.

What I don't want: more stuff! I am working diligently to get rid of my stuff, and I have plenty of clothes and everything else in my life (and I am very thankful for that). I don't want to eat out, either.

My husband really wants me to have something, but I think I can convince him.

My mother, though, is a different story. She is going to send me a check (which I do want, actually, because there is nothing more satisfying to me than paying off something (like the new tires we had to get for D's car). But she says she won't send me the check unless I spend it on myself. Which is sweet, and I know she loves me and doesn't think I do enough for myself. But I swear I am far from deprived and it really makes me feel good to watch the red categories in my budget tracking go to black (or in the program I use it's green - even more satisfying).

So, what do you think? What do I tell my mom?

I got my Pinecone check for $18 and sold an old jacket for $25, so I'll be making a visit to the bank today to pay down the mortgage principal. As a bonus, it's popcorn day (to be honest, I save my bank visits for Fridays, popcorn days).

F is supposed to have soccer practice tonight, but it's been raining constantly since this morning so I'm not sure it'll happen. If it does, D will take her, because I'm supposed to go to this school thing tonight.

I am not super-keen on going; it's like a cocktail party, and I have to dress in something called "business casual" which is a little funny for where we live (where everyone wears exercise and hiking stuff). I am actually sitting here in a regular shirt and scarf, but on my lower half, I have pajama bottoms and smartwool socks. (My jeans are on the table, but I'm only putting them on just before I go out!).

It's all my friends, though, and there will be food. And it's free.

I was told that as Parent Association president I have to set a good example and attend!

Working from home today... no real reason except that my workload is light today, and it's going to be HEAVY next week, so I thought I'd give myself a kind of break.

I am going to make some tea, work in a less manic fashion, head out at noon to teach my spinning class. Oh - and I just cleaned the mirrors.

Cleaning the mirrors made me think: my house is never completely clean at once because I have a weekly cleaning schedule (one or two things done each day) which means everything is cleaned at least once a week, but not all at the same time. It's the only way I can keep the house clean without spending an entire day doing it.

That got me thinking: I am almost the only one of my friends (I can only think of one exception right now, but there might be one or two more) who doesn't have a house cleaner. That's amazing to me!

No one ever talks to me about it; I think they know me, and know it's not in our budget.

I can see how it would be a justifiable expense, though, especially if we had more money; time is worth so much! I am figuring when I'm older/retired that it would be nice not to have to clean the house myself.

Do you clean your house or have a cleaner come in?

This past week we've had a soccer coach from the UK staying with us. It's so great, and fun, and it's an important cultural exchange for F. So I don't mind the slightly higher grocery bill.

But next week will be "eat out of the pantry" and my grocery trip will be for fresh fruit and veggies only.

I'm going to try to do this on the last shopping trip of every month. I'll report back on how this works.

Anyway, the meal plan:
- something from the freezer with a salad (need lettuce)
- tostadas (need lettuce, I may buy a thing of salsa - not sure we have enough and it will be eaten)
- potato pancakes with a veg (need eggs, 1 onion, veg)
- veggie sushi (need avocado and a cucumber, sushi rice since we only have a little bit - bulk bin)
- chicken thighs adobo with rice and a veg (need one onion and a veg)
- tuna melts with salad (need one can tuna)
- pasta with butter and parmesan and courgettes (need courgettes)

For lunches we need jack cheese and fruit and one tomato for F.

I am finally getting around to posting photos of F's room... we redid it at the start of school, partly so that she could have a desk, and partly so she could have a more grown-up room. And partly for more storage!

We sold some furniture (bed and unused dresser) and got some new stuff (bed with storage underneath it, desk). The rug is the same, we didn't paint or anything. I painted an old bulletin board with silver glitter paint. I stole a chair from our other bedroom.