Checking Out (for a little while)

Blog Friends, Due to a particularly rough time that I'm going through combined with a traumatic weekend last weekend, I am taking a little bit of a break from the blog to focus on some personal issues.  I may still be posting every now and then over on Single Mama Stuff but I'm not sure yet.  We'll have to see how everything goes.  I hate to just drop off like this but I really need to push some things off of my plate for a brief time so that I can focus on getting myself back to a place where I'm happy, healthy, and full of blogging spirit.  I hope that I won't lose any of you throughout this time but I know that my loyal followers will still be here when I return.  At this point, I don't know how long this break will be but I'm hoping that it's no longer than a couple of weeks.  However, since the stress that I'm currently under is somewhat unpredictable, I'm hesitant to assign any sort of timeline right now.  Thank you for your continued support during this tough and trying time. 

Weekend Goals--Weekend of 3/2/12

Here's what's on my proverbial plate for this weekend: 

• Write another page or two of my Senior Thesis for HR class
• Figure out what my next assignment is for my Econ class
• Hang shelf and pictures in Tyler's bathroom
• Put up the last "project" in Tyler's bathroom
• Clean Tyler's bathroom
• Finish painting trim in Tyler's bathroom
• Take pictures of Tyler's bathroom
• Write (FINALLY!) blog post for Tyler's bathroom reveal
• Write at least 2 posts for Single Mama Stuff
• Sweep & Mop floors in the house
• Clean the other two bathrooms (might as well if I'm going to have the cleaning stuff out, right?!)
• Pick up the limbs from the hedge trimming that I did earlier in the week
• Pay bills
• Get quote on new carpet from Lowes
• Plant bulbs in front flower bed
• Spray yard for weeds
• Start cleaning out the spare bedroom (May will be here before I know it!)
• Post House "To-Do" list on this blog
• Sleep in at least one morning and do something fun with the little dude

Anybody else notice that my lists just get longer with each passing week?  Hmm. . . .

Thirty by 30--Update for end of February

Update for end of February:



 Today (October 8, 2011) marks the beginning of the last year of my twenties.  Today, I am 29.  In approximately 365 days, I will be 30.  Gosh, I feel old. 

So, to commemorate the last year of my youth my twenties, I've created a list of 30 things that I want to accomplish by exactly one year from today.  My Thirtieth birthday. . . OMG, that sounds strange.  Real strange.

Here goes. . . .

1. Graduate with my Bachelor's Degree from college--after that's typed out I realize how odd and ill timed it looks.  I'm slow at finishing what I start. . don't you know this by now?
2. Go to Great Wolf Lodge--this is a GREAT water park that's fairly close by and I think Ty would really enjoy it!
3. Visit the 17th Street Farmer's Market
4. Try to wakeboard
5. Build a piece of furniture
6. Refinish a dresser--technically, it's a nightstand but I'm choosing not to sweat the small details! :-)
7. Go to Busch Gardens
8. Go to a baseball game
9. Attend a football game at my University
10. Go apple picking
11. Take a hayride
12. Go camping
13. Eat a deep fried oreo
14. Finish decorating (or redecorating?) my bedroom
15. Have a girls night
16. Visit the James Center at Christmas to see the lights
17. Play in the snow (if we get any!)
18. Take Ty to Starbucks on a Fall morning--one of our favorite past times!
19. Go fishing with Ty
20. Go on a hike
21. Go to a fair
22. Volunteer to read a book to Ty's class
23. Eat lunch with Tyler at school
24. Plant a garden
25. Go to a concert--I'm going to cheat and include a musical into this category.
26. Try a new Richmond restaurant
27. Volunteer @ a community outreach event
28. Go sledding--we didn't really go sledding since there wasn't enough snow and that's the only snow we've gotten all winter, so I crossed it off simply because we rolled around in the snow!
29. Visit a museum
30. Visit a winery

Some of these are things that I've never done, but would like to do, and some are things that I have done but really enjoy doing and want to do more of. 

I'll try to post an update every couple of months or so to keep track of what kind of progress I've made toward my goal. 

What about you?  Do you have a bucket list of sorts?  Share something from it! 

Blogger Budget Challenge--Week 4

It's been an expensive week.  Yeah, it's been an expensive week.  Here's how I'm rounding out the month in our budget challenge:

Food: $160.43 spent out of $200 monthly budget--Not Bad!!  I managed to come in under budget.  HOOORAY!!!!  Although, I do have to make my grocery list tonight so I'll be starting off next month already kind of crippled.  Oh well.  I managed to totally work it this month! 
Fuel: $171.14 spent out of $250 monthly budget--I cannot believe it but I'm still at the same number on gas as I was last week.  I'm literally driving around on fumes right now (yeah, gotta fill up on my way home tonight) so I won't actually end the month at this number but I doubt I'll go over it.  I mean, $78.86 (the amount left before I hit my budget for the month) is certainly not out of the realm of possibility seeing as how I drive an SUV and gas is nearing $4.00 a gallon. . .but, I think I can manage to keep it under budget for this month! 
Eating Out: $145.43 out of a $50 monthly budget--Eeek.  Yeah, it's bad.  I know. 
Pet: $41.10 out of a $60.00 monthly budget--Again, still at the same amount as last week.  But, that's only because I can't pick up Pete's heartworm medication until Tuesday night.  It's going to cost me $60.  ALL of March's budget.  Yikes! 

Other places where I spent money this week are as follows:

Target: $36.32 spent on some shoes for Tyler (he needed them), a shelf for his bathroom (I'm almost done with it!!), and some cat food. 

Costco: $152.80 HOLY GUACOMOLE!  This one hurts.  I went in for cat litter and walked out with cat litter, 3 bags of bulbs (they are so pretty. . .and my house needs lots of pretty out front!), a bistro table, two chairs for the table, and a set of pretty little pads to sit our pretty little tushies on when sitting at the table and enjoying some time outdoors.  I justified this expenditure because I've received my tax return.  And I've got big plans for it.  Big plans!

WalMart: $157.81 spent.  Another one that hurt the old wallet.  I went in for an oil change.  I came out with an 8 person tent (for camping trip in May), two sets of tent stakes, a jar candle, and a coke (I was thirsty!).  Ouchie. 

Well, that pretty much concludes the Blogger Budget Challenge for February.  Hop on over to my challenge-ees sites to see how well they survived the challenge.  the.mrs. and Attempts at Domestication are the two blogger buddies who so bravely joined in the challenge with me.  Coincidentally, they have both tackled big moves this month so I'm not sure if their final reports are posted yet.  Bear with them and enjoy what content they do have posted in regards to their moves and their new houses (YAY!  So happy for both of them!!) until they're able to get everything settled in. 

Now, on to March's Challenge.  At the request of the.mrs. at rich.in.love we're going to replicate February's challenge and just continue to post about our abilities to stay on budget.  However, we're in need of more folks to join us.  Who wants in?  C'mon. . .we won't bite. . .hard! :-)  If you want to jump into the challenge with us for March, just leave me a comment below!

Weekend Goals Update--Weekend of 2/24

Okay, don't go being all judgey on me.  Here's how I stacked up this weekend:

• order heartworm meds for the dog--doing this at work today. 
• tag stuff for the consignment sale
• deliver tagged items to the consignment sale on Sunday
• write a god-awful paper on a god awful subject: Globalization in Mexico and the U.S.
• turn in previously mentioned assignment meant only to inflict torture upon an unsuspecting (and undeserving of said torture) soon-to-be (if God has any mercy at all, that is) graduate and smile while doing so because doing anything other could impact a (nearly) flawless GPA
• get an oil change (I'm pretty sure this is God's way of punishing me for something--single women should not have to drive around in cars that require maintenance.  Or new tires.  Where's the gal who can design a car that doesn't require either of those things?  Wherever she is, she's soon to be rich.  And my new BFF)
• volunteer at consignment sale on Sunday--I hide behind the concept that I volunteer at this thing because I want to help and I'm invested in the owners' success.  Really, it's just that they give me a bigger percentage of my sales if I volunteer.  So, again, I slap on a smile and grit my teeth while the two sale owners talk massive amounts of trash and gossip about every.last. unsuspecting customer, consignor, or volunteer who sets foot in the place.  And then I leave and they talk smack about me.  I'm not naive.  I know their game.  I'm not special so there's no valid reason to think that I would be spared from their middle-schoolish gossip fests. 
• Take-out Chinese and a sappy movie date with a girlfriend for tonight--Lucky me, I get to indulge in this little bit of single mama bonding while attempting to multi-task and write the paper mentioned previously.  Where did I leave that damn cape??
• Sweep & Mop the floors--oh joy--yeah right, this is probably the 3,460th time that this same task has shown up on my to-do list and hasn't gotten done. Convenient isn't it?  I HATE (as in, H-A-T-E) to sweep.  Don't mind the mopping but sweeping usually leads to violent twitches for me.  Since mopping just isn't as effective without sweeping first, my floors usually look like they are meant to be streaked.  It's the new look.  Just don't eat off the floors!   
• Laundry--maybe I'll find my missing cape
• Go over and help a friend fill out a job application on Sunday afternoon--since said friend is an HR professional, I'm very unclear as to why she asked me to help her fill out the application.  But, I'm flattered and more than happy to help her.  And I mean that geniunely.  She's a nice friend. 
• Paint the final paint project for Tyler's bathroom--didn't get totally done with this but I did get something done on it
• Write at least 2 posts for LoaDoL-SMS (if you haven't checked out the new addition to the blog, you must do so here.  Right now.  I'll wait.)
• Talk my friend into actually scheduling a date for when we are going to go to Ikea and spend a very large chunk of my tax return

IN ADDITION, I also managed to get the following things done which were not on the original list:

• Buy tent for camping trip in May
• Read the Sunday paper while sipping a hot cup of coffee in a quiet house while completing ignoring the fact that there are dust bunnies hiding in every corner of the house constantly taunting me and quietly whispering to each other that they've lived here so long that in order to get rid of them I'll need a legal order of eviction.  Just keep blabbering you dust bunnies, I'm coming after you.  One day.  Maybe when I run out of coffee. 
• I got two more pages written for my final Senior Thesis paper in my HR class.  Yay!  Only a few more pages to write and then I can start on the finishing touches.  Once I get that done, I can turn in the paper to my professor for a preliminary review.  I dread this--he'll probably pick it apart and cause me hours worth of more work just to get it the way he wants it before I can turn it in for good.  Oh well. . .T minus 69 days until graduation.  I can make it. . .I can make it. . .I will make it! 

Can I get a collective BOO-YAH?!  No?  Just me?  Oh, okay. . be that way, then.  I'm actually pretty happy with the amount of stuff that I managed to get done this weekend.  Then again, Ty was at his dad's house so that might explain the extra burst of productivity.