November is a vacation-y month.

I certainly have plenty to do but this week has been rather fluffy at work. I had a seminar and today we are going to go through old files at work.

Of course, sounds boring as heck. I'd rather do my regular work!

But it is brainless and low-stress I guess. I can handle it for a day.

I also have vacation later this month.

I am also extraordinarily caught up at work - more than in years. We have a wonderful new employee (makes 2 good staff) which helps. I was behind from the years when we had no staff.

Things have seemed to take a turn for the better. It's interesting to have room to breathe. Phew.

But yeah, it won't last long. I am just really enjoying the CALM.

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This week was a crazy low-spend week. $100 on groceries, and that's it.

Don't ask me why. I just downloaded the credit card expenses and realized all we spent since Monday was groceries.

It will all change today!

I have a $10 off Kohls card and I almost forgot about the MErvyns clearance sale. I hope to hit both today. I need a shrug or something for a dress. I hit some thrift shops this weekend and did not score. I think they are pretty picked over in this economy. I also only have one pair of jeans I generally wear. So I will maybe pick some up at Mervyns if the price is okay. Jeans are my nemesis I guess. But I can usually find something at Mervyns and better stock up if they won't be around any more!!!

I'll also keep an eye out for kids' clothes - christmas gifts for all the cousins. We agreed many moons ago the grandmas have the toys covered. What we really NEED is clothes. So I'll keep an eye out on Clearance items. What I am thinking of more with the $10 Kohls card.

I also need to pick up a couple of gift cards at Target - a cousin birthday and a friend birthday this weekend.

Tomorrow we have an anniversary party to go to. I will probably go for 2 hours and drop off the kids. Dh is taking a simple video as a gift. I wouldn't be surprised if he was reimbursed a token amount for his work. But at this point he had finished all his other projects and this one is from the goodness of his heart.

The party coincides with a kid party at Chuck E Cheese - the kids' best friend. So I will probably take the kids - albeit a little late.

So tomorrow is nice and crazy!

Dh is doing a product test for the focus group place and will pick up $125 Monday for his efforts. (Not bad!) They invited me to take a survey about the product (it's soap) for $25. If the neighbors can watch the kids for an hour? I'm there. If we have to pay $13/hour for daycare it won't really be worth it.

I had originally written it off, but thought better of it later. We can get babysitting for $5/hour. I doubt it will take more than an hour. An extra $20 or so would be pretty sweet! For maybe an hour of time?

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House has been as low as 65 degrees, but still not a ton of chill in the air.

So it's 65 degrees I can handle.

Today is about 68 and it feels chillier to me. The thermostat does not tell the WHOLE story. But the days are s'posed to be warmer today and tomorrow. SO I don't expect to turn on the heat this weekend. But I am getting close to the breaking point for sure (for the morning showers if nothing else. I am remembering why we only had a $20 bill last November - probably only used heat briefly in the mornings).

& for $20 it's a luxury worth having, if you ask me. I am only saving $5 by suffering (for the whole month). NOT worth it if you ask me. (The hot water alone cost about $15; so I figure we only spent $5 on heat last November).

So yeah, I am getting close to breaking in the morning, but still trying to adjust down a degree in the evenings. For the long run...