Peeking in

I'm still alive!

My mom was finally able to come down for a visit this past weekend so I took a four day weekend.  Amidst all of that, work is ramping up for our second biggest deadline on July 1; it's looking like I'll be working every day between yesterday and July 1 to get it all done since I've had more than my average of vacation days over the past few months.  Which has been nice but there's lots to do. 

I still haven't talked with my boss about a raise but I've been preparing for it.  I read this fabulous book last night about women and knowing their worth.  Which along with the couponing (still doing it -- saved about 85% on the items for which I had coupons last night, throwing in other non-coupon items still had me saving 50% overall) has me back to the horrific conclusion that (a) I have a shitload of debt and (b) I need to get out of that shitload of debt.  Ergo, I'm going to be reading Dave Ramsey and a Suze Orman book directed towards women (I read part of it a year or two ago, but now I'm getting my own copy).  Funny how trying to save money means you're buying books on saving money.  Right?  I did go to Powells for the Suze Orman book, so I'm only paying about 25% of retail on that -- and I found another money/debt book (name escapes me at the moment) for only $0.95 that normally retails for about $18!  Dave Ramsey I got for the Kindle, which was cheaper than any of the used ones out there.  Yes, I know I could get these through the library -- which I did previously with Suze Orman -- but I go through books like these slowly and never manage to finish within the three week checkout period.  Plus I like to refer back and highlight stuff, which you can't do with a library book.  At least, you shouldn't be doing it with a library book!

In other related news, I'm looking into some container gardening.  I planted some butter lettuce and romaine starts a couple of weeks ago and Monday night I had my first home-grown salad.  My mom and I looked at a lot of plants this weekend (farmer's market in Beaverton plus Wal-Mart's garden section) and even though I don't like a lot of veggies there are several which I do like that I could grow myself.  I'm extremely interested in a cucumber bush plant for saving space.  I think I could do broccoli and cantaloupes.  Maybe even carrots for next year; I think it's too late for this year.  I'm going to hit up some thrift stores and freecycle to find pots for all this plus the plants my mom bought for me -- a beautiful star jasmine, some lavender, and carnations.  If I really get into gardening, there's a spot in my yard that I think would be perfect for a raised bed next year -- it seems to get good sun and I can't get grass to grow there anyways. 

Let's see, what else?  Still no running and I haven't gone to the gym to do other things either.  Boo me.  Self, if you're not going to use that gym membership then you need to cancel it.  One way or the other, do it!  I'm picking up 40 lbs of fresh, never-frozen boneless/skinless chicken breasts tomorrow that I got for $1.64/lb through Zaycon Foods.  My co-worker is buying one ten pound bag, I'm poking at Julie to see if she wants one too, and I'm hoping that I can manage the freezer space for 20 to 30 lbs of chicken!  Happy that I recently got a good deal on quart sized freezer bags and a whole lotta marinade too!

That's about it from my corner of the world.  I've got some pics and details about my mom's visit to post eventually.  Oh, and today is my dog Cute But Stupid's 16th birthday!  The past year has been hard on her so I was glad that she made it to her 16th birthday.  I have a feeling that this may be her last and I've been preparing for that eventuality for some time now as our other setters made it to 17 and 15.  This September will mark ten years we've been together.  I'm ready to let her go when it comes to that, and otherwise we just enjoy every day we have together until then.

Cheers,
the CilleyGirl