Back again

I've had difficult house guests for the past week, and I've finally getting back to what passes for normal.  

Looks like I'm not the only one back though.  Judy has a new blog:  http://justmakingmywayback.blogspot.com/.   Although I'm concerned that it may be an impostor, I didn't see anything spelled wrong.    ;)

I'll show you mine...

...my pig bank, that is.  This is Gertrude Petunia (my childhood nickname from Mom).  I routinely empty her out and take the coins to the credit union, so when I did it this week I finally remembered to take her picture.  Isn't she pretty? 

I found her on clearance at Target this summer.  I'd been stalking her for awhile because she coordinates so well with my kitchen colors; but I refused to pay full price for a bank.    She only coughed up $15.50 this time, but it's been put into my savings account and will be a nice little snowflake at the end of the month.  I haven't decided which of my credit cards will get the extra, the balances are all within $50 of each other.  With the interest rates figured in it's pretty even on the progress no matter which one gets it. 

I just realized I've never talked about my debt, other than to claim I have it, or my budget.  I suppose I should.  I'm never going to be one of those bloggers who plan out exactly what I'm going to write about, so expect some rambling.

Here goes:  As of today I owe exactly $74,911 (rounded to the nearest dollar). 

Here's how it's broken down:

Home Depot: $241
Orchard Bank: $260
Kohls: $210

Car Loan: $4,876

Student Loan 1: $46,144
Student Loan 2: $23,180

A bit staggering, isn't it.  Especially when considering that the amount I owe is twice what I make in a year.  I still feel better off than at this point last year though when I couldn't even afford to pay all of my bills because my ex husband's addiction and entitlement issues ate every cent I made.  So it may take me the next 10 years to get this paid off, but I'm fine with that.  

And since it's been a judgement issue of some blogs this week let me just cop to the fact right now that even though I'm repaying debt, I'm still planning to taking some vacations this year and probably every year.  But I won't accrue new debt to do so, nor will my bills be going unpaid.   That said, I really do need to find a way to produce extra income. 

I've been on vacation

February was a brutal month at work, which cut into my blogging time.  It's always that way when I have vacation planned, no matter how much notice I give my Project Managers.  I'm the only one who does my specific job in our office, so they always need something at the last minute. 

I met up with my boyfriend in Orlando last week for a short vacation.  It might have been only 6 days, but we packed a ton of activities into the time we had together.   Disney wasn't on the agenda, but we did hit Universal, Sea World and the Kennedy Space Center.  Overall Sea World was my favorite, mostly because my honey surprised me with a behind the scenes Penguin Tour.   I got to pet the penguins.    Isn't that awesome? 

I'm being called to run an errand, so I'll try to post more later.

How I spent my January

Normally I spend New Years holiday's decluttering.  Instead of spring cleaning, I do a major clean up around New Year's and the 4th of July.  Normally these are days that I have off, that my ex usually worked, and I never had plans that were fun.   This year I was invited to my boyfriend/ex-boyfriend's parents house for the weekend.   (My boyfriend is also my ex-boyfriend prior to my disaster of a marriage, it's a long story) So no decluttering for me this year.  Then certain areas of my condo started bothering me.  Mostly the craft area.  When I moved in I put all of my craft stuff in the closet in the den (really the 2nd bedroom), but its so dark and cramped in there that I couldn't find what I needed.    I decided to fix that by moving things around, and it's gotten out of control and taken over my life.   But my craft area looks great now. 

That's a picture from when it was still in progress.  I took a cheap bookcase and attached 4 cheap closet organizers, added backs and painted them.  Then I organized my craft supplies in fancy painted boxes (USPS flat rate boxes...free) and cheap (80%) Christmas painted tins. 
For $30 all of my craft supplies are organized and the best part is that it's in my living room/dining room, which is very under-used.  And furthermore, it blocks the ugly fireplace and the gigantic porn mirror above the fireplace.  Seriously, that mirror is 5.5 feet x 5.5 feet, and hideous. 

The downside to this is that I had to rearrange some furniture, and it's still an ongoing process.  Mostly because I've decided to paint all of my furniture.  I blame Kristen @thefrugalgirl.com.  All her fault, I swear. 

And then I found Pinterest while searching for advice on painting the furniture.   I have a bunch of projects in progress, and even a few that are finished, like these:

My yard sale bar stool/plant stand.  $0.50, painted and stenciled. 

My superhero logo "COEXIST" sign.

Family picture display.  Supplies on hand, photo prints cost 10 cents each at Walgreens.

I hope I've inspired/amused you with my projects, and as I finish up the rest I'll be sure to post them.

It's Rough Being Me (not)!

Despite the upheaval in my personal life this year a large number of friends and co-workers have recently commented on how happy I seem.  It was summed up quite nicely today when I broke a nail. 

See, I have very little vanity, but my nails are my weakness/strength.  I have natural nails that are unusually strong, long and healthy.  They are low maintenance, even when I ignore them they look good.  I do frequently pamper myself with DIY manicures, and I admit have a bit of a polish addiction.  So today when my index finger nail broke, 2 days before a big weekend full of social plans, I was bummed.  And I admit I whined for a bit.  Okay, it was actually 2 hours of whining.  And then I realized something, this was the only thing in my life to whine about. 

For the first time in years, I have nothing more than a broken nail to weigh my spirit down.  My bills are all paid, my health is good, my loved ones are safe.  I have some money in the bank, I have a job, I have a place to live.   If all I have to complain about is a broken nail, I should stop wasting my time with complaining and start thanking God for my blessings.   So I did.   And then I made plans to go get acrylic nails for the weekend.   God still loves me, even if I'm silly and slightly vain. 

Still crazy busy (with pictures)

ETA:  I've linked this to the Christmas Tree Party:

Somehow I've found myself volunteered to help plan and host a children's party at my office.  I work with around 40 people, and there are 9 kids (ages newborn to seven) who will be attending.   We haven't done a children's Christmas party in awhile, it went away when the budget had to be tightened.   This year a co-worker (a child free one) asked if we could hold it, if it was funded by her.   The Powers that Be agreed, and somewhere along the lines it went from my coworker planning it, to me planning it.   I've decided we're doing a sugar cookie decorating party.  I have it on good authority that kids LOVE sprinkles.  As do I. 

I finished the Oreo Truffles and the Christmas Pretzel Mix this morning, so tonight I will be boxing them up.  I made labels for the boxes/bags, so I won't be tempted to open them.  I also brought in all the extra pretzel mix and my coworkers have snacked on it all day. 

This is a picture of my Christmas tree.  I had a regular tree, the prelit kind which I scored on clearance at WalMart for $2.97, but it had colored lights.  I dislike colored lights, I prefer white lights, but my ex insisted on having his way when I bought it.  So once the divorce was final I gave the thing away, along with all my Christmas ornaments and decorations we'd bought together.  I kept everything I'd made, or that a family member had made though.  This year I wanted something "fresh" and cheap.  Mostly cheap.  

Twigs from the lot across the street:  free. 
Ribbon: 50% off at Hobby Lobby, under $10 total. (Aqua, Hot Pink, Lime and White)
Glass Ornaments:  I already had clear ornaments that I used to make glittery ornaments with $2 worth of glitter.
Unbreakable Ornaments in new colors: $3 at Dollar General for 20.
Glass Vases, Pebbles for Base: Already had those. 
Lights: $5.  I loaned some to a friend for her Halloween party and forgot to get them back. 
Tulle for table top: $2 (the three colors are layered but you can't tell in the picture)
White paint for twigs: $1

So for $23 I have a new "tree".  The best part is that it makes me really happy.   Aqua is one of the colors in my main living area, so I'm thinking about just removing the pink and lime elements and leaving it up year round.

Here's the ornament my Mom sent me:

It was in one of my care packages this fall.  Yes, I'm 40 and my Mom still sends me care packages, she's just awesome like that. 

I swear I haven't fallen off the face of the earth.  I was gone the last part of November to my hometown, where I can't get reliable internet.  Now that I'm caught up at work, I've started the holiday madness.  Although all of my presents are bought but 2 small items, I'm in the middle of a baking frenzy.   I'll update with progress soon.