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Home > Archive: August, 2010

Archive for August, 2010

Set....

August 31st, 2010 at 08:31 pm

Well, almost set. DD will be ready to go to school tomorrow, and her clothes and backpack are both ready.

DH has volunteered to do morning bus duty for the first three days of school. He has an odd, geeky, ongoing fascination with American school buses since that kind of school transportation just doesn't exist in his part of the UK. I'm doing the afternoon ride along for three days too.

My class went well last night; they appreciated and drank the Diet Coke, and I spent no money on snacks, only coffee.

Today's surprise was the final bill from the basement remodeler. As I was going over it, I realized he forgot to credit us for a $5000 check we wrote him in July. I've e-mailed him and will have him refigure the bill.

I've got a couple small projects planned over Labor day weekend, including degunking the shower in the master bath. Anyone have great suggestions for the best way to tackle that? Ugh.

Sucked into the Target Vortex

August 30th, 2010 at 07:43 pm

I'll bet most of us have been there. I took DD to Target to return a couple things and pick up some coffee. About $100 later, I staggered back out into the sunshine with two bulging bags.

At least I remembered the coffee----

My Women and Lit class starts tonight. I'm bringing snacks for me and a big old bottle of Diet Coke someone left at my house to share with my students. We don't drink Diet Coke, and I'll bet they'll be happy to have it. Small price to pay for listening to me yammer on for 4 hours!

Ready?

August 29th, 2010 at 07:46 pm

Nope, we're not ready for school, but I hope to have an entry that says "Set" this week and another that says "Go."

My evening class starts tomorrow night, and DD's school year begins on Wednesday. My day classes begin on Thursday, so it's sort of an easy start, followed by the long Labor Day weekend.

Wishing all of you getting ready for the school year success!

Late-Summer Jobs

August 26th, 2010 at 02:12 am

I've got tons of editing jobs left to do, the garden needs to be weeded, the kitchen cabinets need a sorting through and reorganizing, my syllabi need another check, and I've still got most of my mom's stuff to list and sell. Oh, and old gold jewelry to be sold and doctor's appointments etc. What I suspect I really need is a day without DD in the house to get caught up on things.

But it's hard to resist an 8-year-old who wants to create new hairstyles for hours on end and read books with guinea pigs as the main characters. A week from today she starts back to school, and as antsy as I'm feeling about getting things done, I'd rather hang out with her a little bit more.

We had a good day shopping for shoes, made some survey cash, listed a couple things on ebay, and went grocery shopping. But the best part was sitting in the cool sunshine and pulling out creeping charlie with the girl and pretending it was spaghetti.

My jobs can wait another few days......

Another Day, Another Book Sale

August 25th, 2010 at 02:27 am

I've sold the last of the discarded textbooks that I foraged (and blogged about). I'm happy they're gone, and my bank account is also happy.
But I've been at the P.O. so much, I suspect the postal workers think I have crushes on them.

And I've managed to freecycle everything from a load of kid's videos to a pinata. Someday I'll find the floor in my office. It's probably time for me to list some more of my mom's things--perhaps tomorrow morning.

I suspect it's the cooler weather, but I feel upbeat and energized about my world. Or maybe it was the holiday?

The Home Depot measuring team is coming out tomorrow to measure our basement for carpet. That and the closet system are the last steps before we move things back in there. Progress!

Back to Reality

August 24th, 2010 at 01:53 am

We're just back from an expensive but delightful two weeks in the UK. We've eaten a lot and spent a lot, but it was just wonderful.

We did have some small unexpected savings: at the most expensive guesthouse/hotel they had a problem with their hot water tank and were without hot water for 12 hours. Because of the inconvenience, they gave everyone there a free night's lodging. This was a bit undeserved for us since after I awoke to see the notice of the problem on the note under the door, I checked the hot water--and we all got up and had quickie showers before they ran out.

We did take a foldable cooler with us and had some snacks in it, but no one could really say we economized much. The London hotel had an "executive lounge" where we had drinks and snack, but the costs probably outweighed the savings. We spent a week near the in-laws, saw tons of friends, and just enjoyed ourselves--especially on the seaside and at the historical sites.

But all good things end, and I've taken on an extra class to help rebuild savings. I sold a book today and managed to get some things listed on ebay.
More of the same is scheduled for this week.

I love to travel; it's so wonderful. We're already planning the next trips,