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Home > Archive: November, 2010

Archive for November, 2010

Haven't Blogged Much

November 17th, 2010 at 03:58 am

I haven't blogged much lately as I've been diligently working my way through a pile of British Lit papers. Only occasionally do I think about rolling down the car window and letting them fly all over the road.

It's been an inexpensive week on my front; I made a big pot of soup on Sunday and have been eating it for lunch--avoiding the deli specials that put a dent in my budget. We spent part of the weekend winterizing the lawn and garden and a few hours putting up removable caulking. I hate to admit this, but we've never caulked the windows before. I hope it helps with our heating bill.

I officially got a full teaching load for spring semester again, so that takes one worry out of the mix. We can make it fine on three classes rather than four; it's just easier with four.

I still have a couple of money-related errands on my "to-do" list. One is to sell some gold jewelry of my parents. There's only a few things, but I've never sold gold before. Any advice? I plan on getting a couple estimates, but I don't want to drive all over town.

Back to those papers....

Ignored Too Long?

November 10th, 2010 at 05:17 am

I've been sort of ignoring our finances lately because I've been so busy at work, and I've decided it has to stop. No big crisis, they just need more attention. One case in point: Too frequently on the way home from teaching, I've been stopping at the local "expensive" grocers for their specials, and (it's true!) buying myself a deli lunch or some sort of food reward.

There's no real need for that, and today I came home and ate a decent-enough bowl of Progresso Veggie soup and a whole-wheat tortilla and cheese. Would I rather have a treat from the fancy grocer? Yep! But it was fine and saved me probably $5 over what I've been spending. Little leaks need attention too. Plus I was home earlier and watched MI5 on library DVD while grading. That's a real treat for me!


Bit by Bit

November 8th, 2010 at 08:24 pm

I'm adding (or should I?) $100 to my ebay totals for something that sold, but which hasn't yet been paid for.
Things are back to normal busyness around here with the current crisis a lost library book of my daughter's. I'm convinced it will surface.

Today in class we had a discussion about persuasion. A whole bunch of my students--mostly young men-- insisted their ethical values never sway them in the marketplace. I was so taken aback by that I was at a loss for words. Can it be that people's ethics don't sway their decisions? We had other things to discuss, but I need to come back to that contention on Wednesday. I think they were exaggerating, but still it astounds me that someone would actually say that. I'm still mulling that over....


Good Bargain Day

November 7th, 2010 at 06:29 pm

Yesterday was a great bargain day. We breakfasted at Einstein's while DD was doing French and used our 25 percent off coupon. Then to a local church rummage sale where DD got lots of cute clothes and books, followed by a thrifty trip to the library and then a double-coupon extravaganza at the grocery store.

Don't you love when that happens?

Busy and Tired

November 6th, 2010 at 02:48 am

That's me lately: Busy and Tired.
I probably should stay up late again tonight and grade, grade, grade. But I've spent twelve hours on school stuff today--publisher visits, presentations, student conferences, preparation--and frankly, I'm tired of it.

Although it's not yet 10pm here, I'm going to bed in the hopes that I can face 70 new student papers tomorrow feeling energetic and reinvigorated.

I ate breakfast at a meeting, lunch at another meeting, and my dinner was a sandwich and a brownie from yet another meeting. Perhaps some of my tiredness comes from vaguely unhealthy meeting food?


Good Night!

Dining on Leftovers

November 3rd, 2010 at 01:19 am

It's a catch-up week, and I guess I'm glad we had lots of leftovers in the fridge. Not the most exciting of meals, but it did take minimal prep and used up lots of bits and pieces.

I did manage to get some things listed on ebay last night, but it'll be a minimal week for me with ebay and other budgetary demands. I need to catch up on my grading after the fun of the weekend!

These cold days seem like soup weather to me. Maybe Thursday!

Back From the Conference

November 2nd, 2010 at 04:02 am

I'm back from four days in Chicago at a professional conference. I spent two days at the conference, and another fun two days with girlfriends who flew down to play with me.

My happy news is that the university is reimbursing all my conference expenses. I'm very glad! Last year I footed all my professional conference bills myself; although they include those points in promotion packages, they often won't pay for even the most frugal travel expenses.

While I was frugal with their money, eating every meal at publishers' events, and using hotwire for my hotel, I did spend a nice amount on my play days, but it was very fun and well worth it. I've got a friend who is a huge Chagall fan, and the Art Institute had their Chagall window reinstalled. It's beautiful! The weather was also great, and it was pure pleasure to walk around.

On the heat front, my DH just asked if we were EVER going to switch the heat on. Usually it's me that is so cold, but I expect we'll relent one day this week.