Today is a free day at our local nature and science museum. I had planned on taking the Midge, but after spending yesterday driving 50 miles to the hairdresser's, tennis, the store, etc., I decided the round-trip to the museum (about 30 miles) is just too far to venture out for when you consider the cost of gas. Instead, after the Midge's art class, which is about 1 mile away from our house, we're headed to the pool (another mile from our house) and then karate lessons this afternoon (less than a mile from our house).

The high-cost of gas is definitely making me rethink our daily outings....

Despite all attempts to stay at the beach, I have returned.

We had a lovely time here:



We did a lot of this:



And saw a lot of these:



And ate a lot of these:



And I am proud to say the trip was paid for entirely in cash and I actually came home with money leftover, which I put back into our vacation fund for our next adventure.

So someone (I'm not saying it was me) forgot to take into account the time it will take to get through customs on our return from our upcoming vacation and booked the second leg of our flight home a little too close for comfort.

Oh, and that second flight is the last flight out of Dodge for the day. So, if we happen to miss it because we're standing in line in customs for longer than the 1 hour and 7 minutes that certain someone allowed between flights, we'll be spending the night in the Lone Star State.

Anyone in Houston got a couch we can crash on?

I went on the airline website to see what it would cost to fix this little boo boo and found out it will cost a whopping $300 to change all three tickets.

Uh, no thanks.

I'll just take my chances; and if we do miss the flight home, I'll be playing dumb at the airline counter and hope all I have to pay for is a really cheap hotel room for the night.

Hey, but good news: I had another no spend day yesterday.....

I called in sick to the "office" job today. I'm down to my last 30 days there and the motivation is just not there most days. I woke up dizzy -- seriously -- so I decided it was grounds enough to stay home. That means I won't get paid, but it also means I'm not leaving the house and won't spend money. I haven't had a no-spend day in a few weeks, so it'll be good for me.

By the way, did I mention that I really AM dizzy? I'm not sure what it is. I have no other symptoms, but every now and then a severe wave of vertigo hits. Probably a good thing I'm not driving today....

In case you missed it, I very briefly posted a link to my other secret blog with a warning that the post would expire very soon. Sure 'nuff, it's gone now. Back to just me and my boring ol' financial life....

One year ago today is when I started this blog. As I recall, I was busy digging under the couch cushions for spare change and rolling coins last year.

I've definitely tightened the spending belt considerably since then. I gave up cable, trimmed my grocery bill from more than $100 a week to $50 a week and generally turned into a frugal fanatic -- while still managing to enjoy my life.

If you'll look to your left, you'll notice that I've managed to carve $12,000 from my debt while socking away an additional $15,000. Not bad for one year.

Gil the Grocer came back with my missing bag of stuff. He felt bad that he messed up the order so he threw in some extra tater tots. Funny, because I never buy things like tater tots, but I wanted to make a tater tot casserole to see if Mini Me would possibly like it (she hates everything resembling food....).

My tooth is feeling better, so I might be able to hold off on the dentist a while longer.

And, I did manage to get six things listed on eBay today. I still have plenty left on the dining room table, though, so I'll get back on it later this week.

I was sitting here thinkin "Hmmmm... I wonder when our tax refund might be showing up???" So I went down into the scary, dark basement and then into the even scarier domain known as my husband's office to dig out a copy of our tax return.

After quickly grabbing the tax return and running back up the stairs like I was being chased by a creepy guy wearing a hockey mask and wielding an axe while scary music was playing in the background (think Halloween), I logged into the IRS site and clicked on the link that said "Where's My Refund?" (Personally, I think the IRS needs to lighten up a bit by changing that link to "Where's My Refund, Jack?" or something else along those lines....)

After entering a bunch of stuff, I was told the refund should be deposited in the checking account on March 28. Hmmmm... isn't that like coming up???? Wait, that's TOMORROW!!!!

Life is good -- at least until I have to go back into the scary, dark basement to clean up the scary playroom later today.....

That pink streak is back ...



... from the art museum, which is one of the many stops we made yesterday while celebrating my birthday.

Mini Me had fun doing kid-friendly activities from an art pack we borrowed from the museum.

The pack was a "randoseru," which is a Japanese backpack for elementary-age children.




Mini Me loved it so this morning I went trolling on the web for one since her backpack is falling apart (you can actually see daylight if you look through the bottom of it). The best I could find was one on eBay for $119. I don't think soooooo......

Back to ME, ME, ME. ... Before we hit the art museum (where the pink streaks were taken as Mini Me hopped around trying to "pop" bubbles projected onto the floor in the contemporary collection), we went on a tour of the U.S. mint. It was a free tour so even though I thought Mini Me wouldn't be that into it, I figured it was a bargain worth checking out. Surprisingly, Mini Me loved it. She was particularly excited to see millions of unpressed coins being fed into presses, which then spit out shiny new pennies. (Sorry, no pictures. They strip you down to nothing before you go into the joint....)

Way before we hit the mint, we went to the local REI store with my dividend check and the $50 from my mother-in-law. I was able to get water shoes for myself and Mini Me with the dividend check, and with the $50 I got two wicked "wicking" shirts to workout in/sweat my way though the jungle beach vacation in.

We followed that up with a stop at Qdoba, where I was treated to a free lunch thanks to a coupon I got as part of their birthday club.

Fast forward to after the mint and museum, and Mini Me and I could be found at a Starbucks downtown snacking on mini scones and my favorite tea (plus a tall strawberries and cream with NO whip) -- all free with the gift cards I got in the mail the other day.

We then stopped in a local kid's clothing store where I bought two baby outfits on sale for a shower that I'm going to Sunday. The cost: $21.

We then continued our stroll down to an excellent seafood restaurant where we met up with my husband, who treated us to dinner and a flaming baked Alaska for dessert. (Cost unknown since he paid for it and I just sat back and ate my way through a mound of crab, lobster, shrimp, oysters and mussels.)

Overall, a very nice day.

Wondering what that pink streak is? I'll tell you tomorrow when I'm done celebrating my birthday.

The Easter bunny showed up at our house last night around 11:30, which is when Mini Me ran into our room because she thought she saw an Easter basket in the living room. We assured her that it wasn't Easter yet and that there was no basket in the living room, so she went back to sleep. About 20 minutes later, the Easter bunny snuck into the living room and relocated the Easter basket in case Mini Me decided to investigate further. Fortunately, she didn't and this morning she had no recollection of the incident, so the lore of Easter was preserved for yet another year. (One of the benefits of having a kid with memory issues....)

After a quick Easter egg hunt in our living room this morning and digging through a basket of snorkeling gear that the Easter bunny left Mini Me (the Easter bunny is nothing if not practical....), we went off to our annual Easter brunch at a nearby resort. (Yes, we are heathens who only go to church for funerals and weddings. Get over it. ...)

In addition to the great food at brunch, face painting, balloon art, and a visit with the Easter bunny himself, the resort held another egg hunt for kids. Being an old pro at this, Mini Me managed to load up her basket with candy in less than 3 minutes. Then she promptly shared her treasure with a set of twins, who arrived late on the scene.

After Mini Me's good deed for the day, we then trudged home where the rule for the afternoon was "eat all the candy you want, but let mommy and daddy rest for a couple hours." This went over well -- along with the Hannah Montana video mommy provided shortly before passing out in a heap on the bed.

By 2:30, though, we were up and on the road again. This time to pick up the crazy grandma who was returning from her Vegas getaway. Crazy grandma apparently spent 6 hours lost in the Venetian hotel yesterday. Fortunately, she was staying there with her other daughter (my sister) and son-in-law, and had plenty of quarters to feed into the slots while security was scouring the hotel grounds looking for her. Once found, rumor has it she insisted she wasn't lost and wasn't budging from the slot she was playing because she was sure it was going to pay off at any second.

After retrieving crazy grandma (my mother) and her entourage from the airport (where my sister tried to ditch crazy grandma again....), we all retreated to a local restaurant for a tasty Italian dinner. Still stuffed from brunch, I ended up bringing most of my dinner home to eat later this week. Plus, crazy grandma gave Mini me three shopping bags full of "stuff" -- including a big box of Ethel M chocolates -- and a quart-size Ziploc bag full of change that she hadn't gotten around to playing during her 6-hour slot machine binge yesterday while "lost."

With crazy grandma and her dog now safely reunited back at my childhood home, Mini Me is now in official sugar "quarantine" here at home. No sugar shall touch her lips again for the next 24 hours. She is downstairs playing in the basement Toys 'R Us (hate them....) while mommy is contemplating lying down on a heating pad (bad back aggravated by too much running, swimming, water lifting and kitchen cleaning).

So, happy Easter everyone. Hope your day was as fun as mine.

I didn't spend any money today. In fact, I saved $5 by complaining to the grocery store about a messed up delivery order and they agreed to refund half the delivery fee.

After going into the "office" job today to see what was going on, I'm now rethinking the whole quitting thing. Right now I am telling myself to give notice May 1 and be officially gone before the end of May instead of sticking it out through June.

I think I'm going to experiment the next two months by immediately pulling my paycheck from that job out of my checking account when I get paid and pretending I'm already down one income. This will help me figure out where I need to tighten the belt.

My husband and I have been having an ongoing discussion about whether I should quit the "office" job. (He wants me to quit....) We can easily meet our monthly income requirements between his job and my booming side business, and all our "benefits" are through his job, so the "office" job isn't a necessity.

Emotionally, I'm ready to quit, but mentally I keep putting it off because I like having that extra money each month guaranteed -- as opposed to having to go out and pimp myself to more clients for the booming side business.

If/when I do quit, a number of our expenses will go down. For instance, I won't have before- and after-school child care expenses (which is only averaging about $60 a month, so it's not huge but still a savings.) I also won't be paying for as much dry cleaning since the booming side business doesn't require even getting dressed if I don't want to. I'll be driving slightly less, so that means slightly less gas costs. And, Hazel the Housekeeper most likely will be let go since I'll need something to break up the days working at home, so pushing a vaccuum again might be in my future.

Not working at the "office" will allow me to have a life again. The booming side business has kind of consumed everything, so without the "office" job I can start working more regular hours at home instead of piecing together work hours here and there. I also can go back to being an anti-social/agoraphobic curmudgeon who rarely leaves the house, which is when I'm at my best.

I am now telling myself that I will give my 6 week notice on May 1. I'll be gone for about two of those weeks, so that's really 4 weeks notice. I could give them less notice, but I did tell someone I would help them out the last week of June so I figure I should stick to my word there.

Of course, I could come up with a thousand excuses not to quit between now and May, so this may all not come to pass but a girl can dream....

I'm sure you're all dying to know why I've been so quiet for the last 24 hours. Well, to squelch any rumors that might be floating around out there, it's because there's simply not much going on here.

I didn't win the $200 million lottery jackpot. I haven't gotten any challenge additions this week (not even a measly buck left by the Laundry Fairy). And I haven't been spending up a storm.

I did splurge on a 12-pack of Pepsi for $3 today and put it in my trunk, so we'll see how far that goes in solving the impulsive trips in search of sugary, caffeine-laden drinks. Now my big concern is that I'll forget the Pepsi's in the car since I rarely go into the trunk. ...

I officially found out that Beauty of "Beauty and the Beast" fame is 5 pounds overweight. (I say "officially" because I knew she was packing on the pounds when she couldn't fit behind the bed anymore, but the vet "officially" told me this today. My response: who ISN'T 5 pounds overweight???)

So, now I'm either going to have to drag her out running with me (probably not likely given her short legs), or slap a "Wide Load" sign on her butt and leave it at that. (Where's my duct tape????)

At least once a year, I'm forced to dress up in something either than jeans and a t-shirt, and be my husband's Trophy Wife at a black-tie event related to his work.

In the past, I've gone shopping for gowns in January, which is when you'll usually find such things on sale. I've always lucked out and have never spent more than $100 on gowns that were originally much more than that.

Last year, I actually lucked out and came down with dysentery or some other cleaver excuse not to go (the exact nature of which currently escapes me). And, this year, I figured I would be off the hook since my husband switched jobs last summer.

Boy was I wrong. I now have two prom-like-events-for-the-geriatric-crowd coming up in the next month that require "formal" attire -- both of which involve me having to sit at a table with the same people, so wearing the same dress to both events won't work....

Aside from the fact that I didn't bother with my usual January gown shopping outing this year or last year, I've also put on a few pounds so I now either need to shed some weight fast, suck it up and invest in a new dress, or just suck it in and hope that nothing "pops."

The things we do for love.....

After a month of stealing the neighbors' newspapers (kidding....), I renewed our subscriptions last week at the much lower rate and while doing so signed up to get two Sunday papers for the coupons. Today was the first day they came and after spending way too much time clipping and filing coupons, I've decided not to clip them from now on until I actually go to use them.

I've been storing them in baseball-card holders inside a notebook, but now I'm going to dig out an expandable file and just mark the date on the entire bundle of coupons each week and then take it from there.

My grocery savings this week were pretty much a wash because the Grocery Game folks said I would find two coupons in the paper today that weren't there so I ended up paying full price for the items -- plus I bought Tide on sale, which is like buying any other detergent at full price



I'm not sure if it's the time change or the slight cold I've got, but I ended up getting a whole lot o' nothing accomplished today. I did book the beach vacation early this morning, but from there the day went downhill as far as productivity. I got very little work done on the booming side business -- mainly because I was redoing something that someone else worked on before me and it was a mess that took forever to fix (GRRRR....) Of course, it probably didn't help that the whole family laid down for a nap after a late lunch and the nap turned into a two-hour snooze fest for my husband and I while the kid and dogs bounced on the bed every few minutes while watching Monsters Inc. for the 50th time this weekend. (Please don't send me any nastygrams for sleeping while my child and dogs were running amok. We were all in the same room, sober and watching/listening to a G-rated movie -- not exactly "quality time" for Mini Me, but I'm sure she'll get over it....)



This cold is just annoying enough to make me want to lie low for a few days, but I have a bunch of commitments this week so I don't think that's going to happen.

I promised I would put in a few appearances at the "office" this week. In my line of work, it's usually a bad thing to go in if you're sick but I'm not so blatantly sick that I should stay home (then there's the whole no play/no pay deal I agreed to, so financially it's at least to my advantage to "suit up" and show up for at least a couple minutes every now and then).

Mini Me's also got a "gallery opening" that I have to attend this week. Yes, at the tender age of 7, she is having her first art exhibit.... I don't know how it happened since her kindergarten teacher once questioned her artistic ability (to which I reminded the wench of Jackson Pollock and others who looked at the world through a different lens). But no matter now, because the little Picasso's artwork was chosen for a display at a local gallery -- a real gallery as opposed to the gallery on my refrigerator.



To give you some idea of what we're talking about, here's a self-portrait that she did, which I thought was so good that I got it framed and it's now hanging in the area between the kitchen and living room.

I finally was able to book my vacation (with cash), so this is going to be me at the end of May.

My husband and Mini Me are off to see the accountant this morning while I head out to see what's going on in the "office" for a few hours. We think we'll get about $1,000 back on our taxes, but none of us are mathematical geniuses so who knows....

Assuming we don't owe a bunch, then tonight we're booking our cash-only beach vacation. It's OK if we owe a little because I've got a bunch of cash saved up for the trip, so we'll just scale it back a bit. Even Mini Me is excited about going to the beach. I used it as a bribe to get her out of bed this morning -- if you want to go to the beach in May, you need to get out of bed NOW!

I'll report back with either good or bad news later.

Oh, and I discovered a rock that the laundry fairy left me in the washing machine this morning. I wonder what that means....

I know a kid's first birthday party is a big deal (witness the homemade Cheerio cake I made for Mini Me on her first birthday), but this couple just so don't get it....

Mini Me missed two days of school last week with a high fever and cough. She went back today because she didn't have a fever and seemed to be on the mend. However, when I picked her up this afternoon, I could tell all was not well.

Although she's not running a fever, she is coughing a lot and looks miserable. She's also got very little energy.

Rather than send her to school to be miserable tomorrow, I've decided to keep her home again. She's off for parent-teacher conferences Thursday and Friday, so if she doesn't make a considerable improvement tomorrow I'll just keep her home Wednesday as well.

The problem now is that I need to show my face at least twice over the next two days at the "office" job. My husband has agreed to come home early tomorrow, but Wednesday is still questionable for both of us. Where's a grandma when you need them????

The Germanator (aka Mini Me) is not one to hang out in the doctor's office. In fact, she may be the only 7 year old in the modern world who has never had antibiotics. Since she hasn't been sick for more than 10 days yet and is eating OK -- and has a wet nose -- I see no need to haul her in to the monster of all germ factories -- the doctor's office. Instead, I'm just going to ply her with lots of liquids and sleep, save the $30 copay, and hope for the best.

Today was Gotcha Day at our house.

Seven years ago today, Mini Me arrived from Korea at the age of 5 1/2 months. To this day, she remains the best thing that ever happened in my life. Here's the first look we got of her in December of 2000:



As we like to say, she's our little bird her flew across the great blue sea to make our house a home and our family complete.

Excuse me why I wander all over the place here today....

Another freelance check arrived in the mail today. After I took out 25% for taxes and covered my basic income, I had $9.70 left to put toward the challenge. The new total is $3,613.53.

That $9.70 won't buy me much, but I did put it in the new car fund. At the rate I'm going, it might buy me a gallon of gas when I finally get the new car.

Both our regular paychecks showed up in the bank yesterday, so I paid some bills and updated the debt/savings numbers over there on the left. I only paid "some" bills because the balk of our bills are automated and will be withdrawn from our checking account over the next few weeks. I do nothing but make sure there's money in the account.

Most of the projects I've got going on the booming side business this month are being delivered in bits and pieces, which I don't particularly like. Mainly I don't like it because I don't bill for jobs until a project is complete and at the rate these bits and pieces are arriving I won't be seeing another check until April. Out of 11 jobs I've got on my plate for February/March, I've only managed to get one complete job done in the last two weeks. Blah.....

In addition to putting the challenge money toward the new car fund and debt, I've also been saving up for a vacation in May. I am holding off actually booking the vacation despite having all the cash in hand until after we get our taxes done next week. I don't want any "surprises" coming back to bite me in the you-know-what. I noticed when I went to check the prices again that the rates had jumped in the last two weeks, which is making me nervous.

Mini Me is still sick, which has put a damper on the weekend -- but has also saved us money. We had to skip vision therapy today, so that was $97 not spent. We also skipped our usual Saturday lunch and ate leftovers. We're still planning a celebratory lunch tomorrow -- for an occasion I'll explain tomorrow -- plus a family outing if the little germ machine is well, so there's still the potential for serious spending this weekend.

I'm now off to shampoo the carpet in Mini Me's bedroom. She was coughing so hard last night that she threw up on the floor. I then promptly stepped right in the mess when I went to check on her in the dark. Kids....

Mini Me is home sick so I went no place and spent nothing today. In fact, aside from a mad dash to the mailbox, I can't say that sunlight ever touched me.

I did get a workout on the treadmill this afternoon. As I've said before, I hate running on the treadmill, but there is one good thing about it -- an excuse to watch TV.

We don't have cable and don't really get television reception where we live. But we do have free access to DVDs from the library. I rarely even watch those, though, because I can usually find a bunch of other ways to fill my time. However, I've been curious about the show Lost, so I got the first season from the library and have been watching it whenever I find myself on the treadmill. It's great for making one want to jump out of their skin every now and then.

People tend to find it surprising that we don't have cable and/or watch TV on a regular basis. Initially, when we got rid of it, it was very much a money-saving decision. Now it's more a lifestyle choice.

Today was Hazel the Housekeepers' day to come work her magic on the hovel we call home.

It's been suggested that I drop Hazel the Housekeeper and put the $80 I spend on her every two weeks toward debt payoff. In the end, I don't think it's worth losing my marriage or life over, so Hazel stays.

My husband has a very demanding full-time job and is working on another degree in his "free time." As I've whined about here numerous times, I work two jobs, which equate to more than 40 hours a week -- plus I have a 7 year old and two dogs to pick up after, not to mention the countless hours of volunteer work I do.

If my husband and I were to clean the house, it would take a full day, which is something neither of us has available to give up at this point in our lives. In the days when we did have a day to give up for cleaning, we would bicker over who was going to clean the bathtub. Now, it's a no brainer. Plus -- and here's the big clincher -- I have issues with chemical smells and asthma, so it's better to leave the cleaning to a professional and skip the whole gasping and wheezing part of the experience.

Hazel is not the greatest of maids, but she's better than the alternative -- living in filth or lying dead from an asthma attack. (Plus, I love walking into the bathroom after she has left to find the perfectly folded towels....)

After reading Kim's blog and finding myself in awe of her incredible weight loss, I've decided to start counting calories again.

I should probably preface this by saying I'm not really over weight. I just want to clean up my eating habits while shedding a few inches here and there so even at my ripe ol' age I can still wear a bikini this summer. I'm 5 foot 7 and the last time I checked I weighed 150 pounds, so tomorrow I'm going to weigh myself again and then multiply that weight by 10 and try to keep my daily calorie intake at that amount.

I do run and swim regularly, but I also spend a lot of time sitting in front of a computer and a little time noshing on Doritos and Ding Dongs (if the mood should hit me).

What does this have to do with finance? Well, by cleaning up my eating habits, I will be saving money by not buying things like Ding Dongs and -- ultimately -- saving money on health care costs.

My big concern, though, is that even when I was trying to keep my calorie intake at 1,700 calories a day (just a random number that I came up with based on some article I read) I felt like I was always hungry. Anything less than that and I may start gnawing on my nails....

Today while killing time until lunch, my husband and I decided to look at model homes. This little outing reinforced my belief that we're not moving until they back the hearse up to the front door and wheel us away to the morgue.

At 3,000 square feet (including the finished basement), our house is the perfect size for our family of 3 humans and two dogs. Best of all, it's perfect for when we're old and decrepit, and the kid has abandoned us. It's a ranch that is set up so one can live on the main floor if need be (i.e. two laundry rooms -- one upstairs and one down).

Also, the rooms are all really big (better to maneuver in the wheelchairs and walkers when the time comes for that); and while we have great neighbors, we can't reach out and touch their homes -- or even see their homes in most cases.

This is huge with me. I just can't justify buying a home for a half million dollars only to find that the neighbors can see into the whole house.

So, we're staying put until death comes knocking....

As for lunch, we budget for one meal out a week so we usually make it Saturday lunch. My husband has this thing about lunches out on Saturdays. He thinks they're "decadent." Personally, I just know lunch is cheaper than dinner and Saturday is as good a day as any to eat out. We usually eat a little later lunch (Mini Me refers to it as "dunch") and then we skip dinner, so in our own sick, twisted way we're saving money.

(And before you get on me about dining out with all that debt over there on the left, remember my goal is to still live my life while paying my debt off so this is one luxury I'm not giving up.)

Speaking of debt, I made an extra $400 payment to one of the credit cards today with the challenge money I got in the mail. I also put $96 into my tax savings account. And I put the rest into our travel account.

Since Hazel the Housekeeper didn't come last week, I decided I couldn't live with the filth so in between the two jobs and the kid I've been doing some serious power cleaning. In the process, I started compiling a list of things that needed replacing or fixing.

Tops on the list were a couple of table lamps from the master bedroom. We've had these lamps since we bought our first house way back in the early '90s. Over the years, the lampshades got ripped, the paint became chipped and the bases became wobbly. Yet, we never got around to replacing them.

Then, yesterday, while running on the treadmill in the basement family room, I found myself staring at two lamps that are rarely used and look brand new. The basement family room has become Mini Me's toy emporium. We rarely hang out down there as a family and the overhead lights are the only ones that are ever turned on.

When I was done with the run, I hauled the two lamps upstairs and replaced the bedroom ones with them. Surprisingly, they really looked nice; and I was even more pleased last night when I got home from the office job and my husband had them turned on. It's amazing what some not-so-new light can do for a room. Best of all, I didn't have to spend a dime for my little makeover....

Despite being an overly educated, rational, fact-based person, I'm also a strong believer in karma -- what goes around comes around and all that other stuff about good and bad juju.

So the other day when Mini Me fed 50 cents of her own money into a snack machine for a pack of Lifesavers at the rec center and the machine proceeded to then spit out about $10 in quarters, I talked to her about how the right thing to do was to take the money to the rec center cashier and explain what happened since the money wasn't hers.

We had this conversation while about 5 boys who were slightly older than Mini Me surrounded us in awe of all the quarters we were holding. I'm pretty sure I heard one of the boys sigh and say "Oh, man...." when I started in about "doing the right thing."

So Mini Me took the money to the cashier and left with her pack of Lifesavers as the gaggle of boys took their turns trying to hit their own snack machine jackpot. As we left, I told Mini Me, one day your good deed is going to come back to you in the way of good karma.

I was reminded of this today when I went to the automated postal machine to mail some sea glass that I sold on eBay. I actually had two bags for sale and only one went. Instead of relisting the second bag or just hanging onto it, I decided just to combine the two bags and give the winning bidder all of it -- even though the person hadn't asked for it or even know I was sending it.

Of course, I didn't think about the weight difference, so shipping was more than I had listed on my auction. If I sent the package with the extra seaglass, shipping alone was going to cost all the proceeds the buyer had sent -- plus a big 50 cents out of my own pocket.

I was standing at the postal machine lamenting this and decided "what the hell." I've made some decent money on eBay over the last month -- about $300 -- so giving someone a freebie seemed like the right thing to do. Now, here's hoping some good karma comes my way.....

Since my husband and I celebrated our anniversary last week -- yes, we got married on Valentine's Day; you can all go "ahhhhhh, how cute" and I'll smile nicely and try not to barf -- tonight we took Mini Me out to an early dinner following her candyfest/party at school.

We got to the restaurant before 5 p.m. so we were able to get a table without even waiting. A few years ago on Valentine's we tried to go to the same restaurant -- a popular Cajun place that doesn't take reservations -- and couldn't even get in the parking lot.

Today was particularly nice because my husband took off work early to attend Mini Me's school party. He also bought us both flowers that he picked up at the grocery store. We agreed not to exchange gifts since there's nothing we really need, so he kind of cheated but I'm not complaining.

The earlier posting on this topic must have been aimed at me. Tonight my husband and I are going out to celebrate our anniversary at a fancy schmancy restaurant.

Now before you start flinging mud at me for not staying at home to eat Ramen noodles (which I love, by the way), let me say that my husband and I have already saved up a wad of cash for this outing and the little pink envelope is ready to go. We both are serious foodies, who have cut back on the fine dining drastically over the last few years of economic stupidity.

However, since we have survived 13 years together, we feel like we can afford to take this one evening to blow some bucks on something that we both enjoy.

Yes, I could probably stay home and make something just as delicious in my own kitchen, but there's something to be said for having someone else do the cooking and cleaning (plus we did the stay-at-home thing the last two anniversaries....)