2010 Goals

First off, I was unable to track my spending for December in Excel because my Excel says I am using a trial version. I reset my computer several weeks ago to try and rid it of issues it was having and it removed Microsoft Office. I thought this was fine because I purchased Microsoft Office and even paid the extra money to have a back up disc version mailed to me. I put this in but no where on the disk can I find the product number. I also had the e-mail sent to my university account and I no longer have access to that. So it seems like I am out of luck with Excel. Are there any online Excel type of programs that you use??

Anyway, back to the goals. I did well with the financial ones and not so well with the personal goals.
Financial

Pay off the $5000 I owe to my family (This is my priority right now) PASS!! I finished this goal in JULY!

Contribute $4000 to TFSA (which will also serve as my E-fund) PASS!! I actually have a little more than $6350 in there now! AND I created a separate E-fund (my regular bank account) where I keep a minumum of $1500 in there at all times :)

Save at least $500 for Christmas PASS!! Went over this one as well, had $800 in there for Christmas 2010.

Start and contribute $1000 to Retirement PASS!! I did a regular RSP of $500 and a 3 year RSP GIC of $500.

Make an additional $2010 in ways other than teaching (tutoring, babysitting, summer and holiday part-time job, etc)  PASS!! I babysat, and worked at the rec centre doing a child drop off centre and a day camp. I didn't do a great job at tracking this exactly, but it is around $3000.

Save $300 for a shopping/travelling trip PASS!! Going to say pass to this one. I didn't end up doing the shopping trip, but am travelling in a couple of days and had $500 saved in a Travel Fund.

Purchase my parents something nice PASS....half-way pass. I didn't actually buy them what I wanted to which was a new couch set because my brother talked me out of it. But I saved up $400 for their Christmas presents and they were quite appreciative so I will still say I get a half-way pass on this one.

Personal
Stretch everyday SOMEWHAT....I didn't stretch everyday but I did a lot more than in 2009. Still working on flexibility, so this will likely be a 2011 goal as well.

Complete a 5k run (hmmm since I hate running this will likely be the hardest goal on my list) FAIL...yah this definitely didn't happen. I still have dreams of doing a 5k, so maybe one day.

Complete TWO American Sign Language courses (already signed up for one in Jan) FAIL...I only completed one. The second one I wanted to take was cancelled. I hope to get a couple in for 2011.

Read at least 12 novels (average of one per month, this can be done) FAIL...definitely not. I think I read 7. Awww, this is such a doable goal though.

Complete a full-size quilt (completed a baby's quilt this year, next is full size, I think I want to try to do a rag quilt) FAIL...but sooo close. I made it, and sewed MOST of it (95% done), D even helped do some of the cutting for the rag effect.

Volunteer twice at a new place (I already volunteer at a Girl Guides group, and at teen dances) PASS...I volunteered throughout the year with Girl Guides, teen dances, the OSPCA. Although I definitely don't do as much as I used to. Something to strive toward in 2011.

Learn how to crochet (maybe make a cute baby's blanket, or at least a dish cloth) FAIL...I self-taught myself how to crochet a little bit. But not enough to actually make anything. I still have the hooks and yarn though so maybe another 2011 goal.

Hmmm, so financial goals rocked. Personal goals failed pretty bad. I will think about my 2011 goals and hopefully have a post up about them before the years end!

What did I spend my money on. I tracked my money this year (minus December!)

So from January to the end of November I spent:

$2854 on my car (gas, repairs, tires, etc)
$380 on food (grocery store)
$642 on restaurants (eeek, gotta get this down in 2011)
$1184 on clothing (how is that possible? I did buy boots, and a winter jacket, and a few dresses, but still! This NEEDS to be lower next year)
$853 on gifts (weddings, birthdays, paying for others at restaurants, most Christmas gifts were bought in December and therefore not included in this amount)
$1216 on personal (makeup, hair, and prescription, this is expensive but will likely be similar again next year, WISH I had benefits at work!)
$203 on education (sign language class, applying for jobs, some books for school)
$554 on my cell phone (once I had to pay for my parents landline too because I racked up a lot of long-distance, oops!)
$1868 on miscellaneous this includes entertainment and things for myself (GPS, external hard-drive, books, alcohol, printer, fabric, etc)

Next year I hope to do better in these categories, and up my savings as well. Next year I won't have debt to worry about which will make it easier :)

37 hours till take-off!

Wow the trip sure came fast. I suppose that's what happens when you book last minute vacations lol.

Anyway yesterday my friend called and said she was too sick to hang out. My dad bought me an external hard-drive for my computer without realizing I already had one so he exchanged it for an instore credit at Staples. I went there and bought an I-pod touch with the gift card and Christmas money I received. It's 32GB which is huge and holds all my music and I've already downloaded about 10 apps. Angry Birds is my favourite so far lol.

A friend stopped by to visit as well while he was in town so it was nice to catch up with him. I spent most of the afternoon playing with different apps. Last night I went to D's parents house to play board games with his sister and her husband. I stayed over and we played some more this morning with his dad too. It was a nice time, his family is really sweet.

Today I was supposed to go to my dad's family's house in Oshawa for Christmas. It's about 2 hours from where I live and my parents had left. We planned on taking separate cars because they are sleeping over in the city tonight. But neither of my brothers wanted to go. I tried hard to convince my one brother. I decided that I would go myself, but then after about 40 minutes of driving I decided I really don't want to go. I know I'm a bad cousin, but honestly, several members of this family has made me upset on numerous occasions because they are arrogant and self-centred. My grandpa wasn't going anyway. I called my mom and she said she totally understood. I felt really bad, but just didn't want to be there without a brother.

Tonight D, his friend and I are going to play some board games. I need to do some laundry and pack for tomorrow night! My brother is driving us to the airport, hopefully everything works out and we don't forget anything! I'm getting excited but still doesn't seem like it's so soon!

I am hoping the resort we have will have wi-fi and I can check in on some blogger lives while we are there on the Ipod. But we will see.

Blogger Secret Santa

Serendipity organized a Secret Santa gift exchange among blog friends about a month ago. Last week I went to get the mail and received my gift from Jenn at Paying Myself. Yay, how exciting!!

In it I received a children's book "The Hockey Sweater." I actually don't have it but remembered it well because my French teacher in elementary school used to read it to us. She also gave me a $5 Tim's card with a little hockey player on it (there was a theme!). Annnd she made a Christmas CD. It's awesome!

Definitely made my day!! Thank you soo much Jenn!

PS Did you know that the quote on the $5 Canadian bill is a quote from "The Hockey Sweater." The winters of my childhood were long, long seasons. We lived in three places - the school, the church and the skating rink - but our real life was on the skating rink.

Christmas Aftermath :)

I hope you all had an amazing Christmas! I had a great time.

On Christmas Eve, D and I hung out. His sister's husband's family rented the arena in their town and we went up. I hung out with his sister and other girls skating while all the boys played hockey. It was nice to see D play hockey, he's really good!

We decided we weren't going to do Christmas gifts for each other. We left it too late and the trip was good enough. I'm happy with that decision. I picked up his family some wine and scratch tickets.

D went to church with his family and then I hung out with my cousin and D's friend. We just chatted and ate too much Christmas baking. Then I went to midnight mass with my family. Love the Christmas carols!

Christmas day was yesterday! It was a good time! I received a lot of things for my trip (scrapbook stickers, passport pouch, ID tags, travel toothbrush, etc), gift certificates to a local clothing store, a local restaurant, Walmart and Staples, shampoo, FIVE scarves, a computer mouse, $100, and candy. My brothers and parents were happy with what they received, felt nice to give them things they wanted too. My one brother got me an "I.O.U. one gift" hmmm I'll have to think about that one lol.

We had some snacks and took the traditional family picture. Then I headed to D's. We had a nice brunch there. His parents also bought me a gift. They got me a scarf, $50 and a beautiful red sweater. I tried it on there and kept it on for the rest of the day! D got a game called Who's Who for Christmas so we played that together. His parents have mistletoe up at their house too and I received a kiss from D under it which was cute!

I came back home for supper with my family. My brother actually made the turkey and everything this year. It was good. Then my brothers and I had a bit too much to drink before bed. It was a nice time with family. Such a happy day!

Today I was debating on going Boxing Day shopping but I really want to avoid the crowds. I was thinking I would go to the city to buy a luggage bag I liked the last time I was there that is on sale, but again, it will be too busy. I think I will see what my cousin and D's friend are up to today. D has a family Christmas to attend at his grandma's. I have my dad's family Christmas to go to tomorrow. That one is always "interesting..."

Christmas Season!

2 shopping days left. I STILL have not got D anything. We talked about it yesterday and I suggested that we set a limit because we are going on a trip. Probably around $150-$200 which is still quite a bit for a Christmas gift I think, so that is good.

The other day I made candycane bark. It's the EASIEST thing you can make. You need, white chocolate chips, milk chocolate chips, and candycanes. Melt the milk chocolate ones in a microwave and spread over parchment or wax paper. Let it cool (I just put mine outside on a cookie sheet). Then melt the white chocolate chips and spread over the cooled milk chocolate. Then top with crushed up candycane. Put it outside or in the fridge to harden a little more and then break into pieces. I cut mine into strips first and then broke into pieces so they were a bit more even. Mmm

I've learned that the average person gains 7lbs from now until New Years Day. I believe it with all the Christmas baking and celebrating!

I am having Christmas with my family and my mom is cooking a turkey. D's parents invited me over for Christmas brunch or dinner at their house on Christmas day too. I said I'd come in the afternoon for a short visit. I'm thinking about bringing them some Christmas flowers and a card. Although I may have to buy the flowers tomorrow or Friday since they won't be open Christmas day.

My mom's birthday falls over our trip as well. So I am thinking I will go to the florist soon and order her some flowers to be delivered to her work or our house. Her b-day falls on a Sunday so not sure whether I should send the flowers here or to her work on the Friday before her b-day.

Will The Trip Even Happen?!

I am so frustrated with Expedia right now. We booked our trip through them since they were the cheapest on the day we booked.

D filled in the forms, we triple checked the CC number, the names, e-mails, etc. All good. Then we talked about it before he pressed "next." Obviously our session timed out. And instead of pressing start over he pressed back and refilled out the form. We double and triple checked everything again and pressed next right away but since he didn't start over it didn't work. So he presses start over and fills in everything for the third time and decides to not double check (mistake!) and presses "next" and it all went through. The next day I receive a confirmation e-mail and notice my first name is spelled wrong.

He added an extra letter in the middle, grrrr. It also says at the top of this e-mail that the names must match what it says on the passport identically. So I call expedia thinking this is going to be a quick call to get the name changed.

For so long they said I am not in the system. I was on hold a lot for this process too. They asked me if I was sure I booked with them! Yes, first line of the e-mail says "Thank you for booking with Expedia." So they had me forward the e-mail and said they would get back to me within 5 hours. Well 6 hours roll by and nothing.

So I call again. This time they were much better and actually found D and I in the system. They said yep sure easy enough to do, they changed my name and I would receive it within 72 hours. Nice.

72 hours pass and still nothing. So I call AGAIN. I tell them the problem again and ask them to send the e-tickets with the right name. Apparently I called after 4:30 and the documents department was closed so I would have to call again the next day. So I do, at 9am, they said sure and I will receive it shortly. I came home yesterday and saw that I received new e-tickets. I open the document and see that my name is STILL spelled wrong!!!

So I call AGAIN (how many times now?) and the girl was very nice and somewhat sympathetic. She said that she would be able to fix the problem and that I would receive the new e-tickets with the correct name within 24 hours. 24 hours will be around 6pm. I think I'm going to call by 4 today if I still have not received them though.

Grrr, the flight is at 6am in one week. I hope all of this gets sorted out quickly! I am beginning to get very frustrated. I don't think I would book with them again.

5 Days 'Til Christmas! 9 Days 'Til DR!

Cannot wait for either. I still haven't bought D anything. Orrrr sent my roommates their Christmas gifts. I know...they aren't going to get them in time for Christmas, but they know I procrastinate. They both said they aren't done their shopping either so it's okay. Lol....

I had a great weekend. D and went to town on Saturday for a hot chocolate. We talked about our trip and things we want to do while there. I would really like to see the town, and hopefully a school. He would really like to do some scuba diving and waterfall jumping. Eeek, but I'm super excited about those things too!

I am going to tell D that I don't want to do big-ticket items for Christmas just because we are going on a trip. He doesn't have a camera or luggage. I wanted to get him those but cameras are hard to pick for people. He is a picky type too with things like that. I was thinking maybe I would get him a gift card so he can put it toward a camera or computer stuff he wants. Maybe tigerdirect or futureshop. Ah decisions!

Saturday his friend came home too. He lives at his friend's dad's place. So we all hung out on Saturday evening talking and then we watched The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. They actually both liked it! I did too, I am reading The Girl Who Played With Fire now and it's already a much faster read. As soon as I finish we are going to watch that movie too.

Yesterday D, his friend and I made some banana pancakes, then went public skating. It was a lot of fun! Afterward we were going to play a board game but ended up just chatting. I practiced juggling haha. Then we watched Slumdog Millionnaire. I've seen it already but he hadn't and he enjoyed it too. We didn't do much this weekend but it was a ton of fun. Made me so happy :)

It's Official....

We're going on a trip! To the Dominican!

The price was right at $700, plus $331 in taxes. FOR TWO WEEKS. We leave on Dec 29th and come back on Jan 12th. Includes flight, all-inclusive 4-star resort, pick-up and drop-off at airport, a bunch of water activities, 2 a-la-carte dinners per week, and a special new years gala dinner.

I am super excited!! For some reason a little nervous as well, maybe that's just excitement? LOL. 12 more days to pass through! Including Christmas in there.

I now need to figure out where to draw a little extra money for spending.

Also D does not have a camera OR luggage. So I was thinking maybe I'll get him one or the other for Christmas. We'll see though, it's a big spend month. SO glad I saved up for Christmas this year lol!

Today is the last day of school for the kiddies, and I'm working the morning. I'm off to school now, they are going to be super excited...will be an interesting morning!

Life Lessons...

Health:


1. Drink plenty of water.

2. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a beggar.

3. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that is manufactured in plants.

4. Live with the 3 E’s - Energy, Enthusiasm and Empathy

5. Play more games.

6. Read more books than you did in 2009.

7. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day.

8. Sleep for 7 hours.

9. Take a 10-30 minutes walk daily. And while you walk, smile.



Personality:

10. Don’t compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.

11. Don’t have negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.

12. Don’t over do. Keep your limits.

13. Don’t take yourself so seriously. No one else does.

14. Don’t waste your precious energy on gossip.

15. Dream more while you are awake.

16. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.

17. Forget issues of the past. Don’t remind your partner with his/her mistakes of the past. That will ruin your present happiness.

18. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone. Don’t hate others.

19. Make peace with your past so it won’t spoil the present.

20. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.

21. Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn. Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away like algebra class but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.

22. Smile and laugh more.

23. You don’t have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.



Society:

24. Call your family often.

25. Each day give something good to others.

26. Forgive everyone for everything.

27. Spend time with people over the age of 70 & under the age of 6.

28. Try to make at least three people smile each day.

29. What other people think of you is none of your business.

30. Your job won’t take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch.



Life:

31. Do the right thing!

32. Get rid of anything that isn’t useful, beautiful or joyful.

33. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.

34. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.

35. The best is yet to come.

36. Your Inner most is always happy. So, be happy.

Christmas Shopping is NEARLY DONE!!! Potential Vacation??

I had two days off last week because one was a snow day, and the other job was just cancelled without me knowing the reason. Instead of wallowing about cancelled jobs (which I did do for a bit) I decided to go Christmas shopping. I spent a lot of money but am pretty much done.

I had a few things saved up too so that lessened the blow. I also transferred the $800 I had saved up into my bank account and have already paid off my credit card for this month!!

For my family, I made them all STOCKINGS!! We haven't done stockings the past couple of years and they are a fun part so I decided to bring them back. I won't receive one, but that's okay.

Anyway what did I get? I got my cousin (best friend) a new board game, and some puzzle glue. I got my brothers each razors, Christmas beer, deoderant, candy, soap and a $20 beer store GC. For my dad I got him soap, Christmas beer, a bingo dauber, mouthwash, $50 to Canadian Tire, $100 to Home Depot. For my mom I got her Olay lotions, a bingo dauber, hairspray and $50 to her hair salon, brown socks, $50 to Walmart, kitchen tongs, $50 for Mark's Work Wearhouse. I'm probably forgetting things. I also want to get them each a scratch lottery ticket because those are fun too.

I got my roommates each a book, some candy, and am going to make them a Christmas/Holiday pillowcase. I got the one a kitchen tool, and the other one lotions from a country she recently visited. I have not bought D anything. However we were talking tonight and he asked me if I had any money saved up to go on a vacation. I told him I did and he said maybe we could do that over this Christmas break.

I think that would be pretty cool! We looked into some places. Some look awesome but just far too expensive, like Asia and Europe. So we focused a little more on the Caribbean islands. We may or may not actually do anything but I'll let you know! I think it would be fun and neither of us has been on a vacation in a while. It also just snowed here another foot so it would be nice to not have to wear winter boots everywhere for a change!

New Boots! Christmas Baking?

We had a pretty good weekend. Saturday we went out for hot chocolates. Have you tried the Tim Horton's candycane hot chocolate?!? It's delicious!!

Sunday we went to the parade with my mom too. It was fun to see. After the parade I stopped by D's house for about 20 minutes to pick him up to go skating. In those 20 minutes, the german shepherd he lives with ATE my boot. He actually ATE the side of my right boot. And of course it had to be the side that people see. BAH! Skating was fun at least, and I'm getting much better.

So yesterday after work D became my fashion consultant and we went to Mark's Work Wearhouse to get some new boots. I need boots for school, that look nice but can keep me warm on yard duty days too. So I tried on a couple of pairs. I liked the flat ones that looked warm, he thought they were nice but liked the boots with a heel. I tried them on but the leather just looked like it was going to get wrecked too fast because it wasnt tight to my leg and would crease easily. So I went with the warm flat ones. They were on sale too, so total was $101 after taxes.

These are them, except black and the "fur" is black too.

Today I was supposed to work a full day but the job was cancelled due to snow! Darn. But I still have tomorrow and Friday booked as well. Hopefully no more cancelled jobs. I can't afford it! However I did receive a call this morning from my boss at the rec centre and she asked me to come in to do the child drop-off centre for 4 hours today. So at least I will have that, although it's definitely not my favourite job to do. I'm thinking about doing some Christmas baking after work this afternoon.

What are your favourite things to bake at Christmastime?

Oh yah...interesting fact of the day (somewhat relates to the question posed). Yesterday on the radio I learned of the scent that turns men on the most. It's pumpkin pie! Well they always say the way to a man's heart is through his stomach. And a few weeks ago I learned of the scent that turns women on the most from the same radio station. They said gasoline! I agree it can be a nice smell on work clothes of a guy, but definitely not my favourite smell. I think I prefer cologne, or baking bread or something lol.

Christmas Weekend Coming Up!

I love this time of the year. We have so much snow now too. I drove D home yesterday after supper and a giant tree branch had fallen on his jeep. Luckily no damage!!! But the weight of the snow on the trees is causing branches to fall and power to go out.

Anyway the snow is beautiful!! Tonight is the festival of lights in town. I may go if D will join me, otherwise I might just go myself to do some Christmas shopping. They are having a tax-free event so it will be nice and I'll buy a gift for the toy drive too.

Sunday is our Santa Claus parade which I'll go to and afterward they have free public skate which will be fun! I also noticed today that our town has free skate for 12 days over the Christmas break. Cannot wait!

After the parade we usually put up our Christmas tree too. It will start to look a little more festive indoors like it does outdoors.

Oh yes, kind of a cute story from work today. I was teaching Grade Four and their assignment was to summarize the Nativity story from the story their teacher read to them yesterday. They started working and one of the students comes up to me and says, "I forget, was Mary a vegan or vegetarian?" It was cute...she obviously meant virgin.

Books, Movies, Spending, and Weekend Recap

On the weekend D and I went skating. I am one of the few Canadians that cannot skate. D has skated for as long as he has been able to walk. He played hockey. So we went on Saturday and he helped me out. I did not let go of him the entire time. On Sunday we went again and only held one hand. I actually made it around the rink once all by myself. Yep I'm 25 and there are 3 year olds at the public skate that were wayyyy better! It was so much fun though, I only fell 3 times, and he caught me everytime :) Thankfully!!! We got a 10 pass which ended up being $38 and we split it.

Saturday I also got my snowtires put on. It came to $90!!! I wish I knew how to change a tire. Apparently it's way easier if you have rims so maybe I will invest in those for my next car.

Monday and today I worked. Woohoo. I got gas after work today and also had to go to the dentist. Cha-ching! $32 to fill my car up...holy gas is high right now. It was $180 at the dentist. Just a cleaning, no x-rays. Sheesh!

D and I also made a supper last night and I bought the sides. Things to make a spinach salad, and broccoli. It was a good meal. He made game sausages, and I made the salad with a hard boiled egg, cucumber, red peppers, and this greek and feta dressing. I also steamed the broccoli. Delicious! We made jalepeno poppers at the same time but were too full to eat them by the time they were ready.

We watched The Hurt Locker last night. It was good. Opens your eyes to the war in the middle east. It was hard to watch some parts but overall a very well done movie. Tonight we are either going to watch Get Him to the Greek, or Slumdog Millionaire.

I also finished The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. I really liked it. It took about 200 pages to get into it, but it was a good read and I am looking forward to reading the next one. Has anyone seen the movie? I have started to read Survivor by Chuck Palahniuk. It's strange so far. He is also the author of Choke and Fight Club. Has anyone read any of his books? I think it's a weird book but I really like it as well.

Disney A-Cappella

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0Bq9Ayz7g4


Just found this and thought I would share. It's really cute, although not the video isn't the best quality, the singing is really great! And really, who doesn't love Disney songs??

Because Who Doesn't Love Questionnaires?

01) Are you currently in a relationship?
Yes.

02) What was your dream growing up?
I wanted to work with animals or be a ventriloquist. Eventually it turned into wanting to be a teacher and that pretty much stuck.

03) What talent do you wish you had?
I wish that I could fly. Or maybe have a photographic memory. My memory fails me sometimes and it's annoying.

04) If I bought you a drink what would it be?
Non alcoholic: Chocolate milk. Alcoholic: Canadian.

05) Favorite vegetable?
Potatoes! Sooo many different ways to make, sooo delicious!

06) What was the last book you read?
I'm about 100 pages from finishing The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. It's really good!

07) What zodiac sign are you?
Cancer.

08) Any Tattoos and/or Piercings? Explain where.
I have my ears pierced, one in each ear.

09) Worst Habit?
Procrastination.

10) When was the last time you cried?
I cried of laughter last night playing around with D. We were trying to do our best "sad face" and it was just hilarious. Last time I cried because I was upset was probably a couple of weeks ago when a dog bit me. I was just so surprised, it caught me off guard! :(

11) What is your favorite sport?
Love to watch hockey and favourite sport to play would maybe be soccer or swimming.

12) Do you have a Pessimistic or Optimistic attitude?
Generally optimistic.

13) What was the last movie you watched?
D and I saw Harry Potter in theatre last night. It was very good, dark but good! Last movie not in theatre we saw, I think was Salt? I forget, we watch a lot of movies.

14) Worst thing to ever happen to you?
Losing a grandparent. Losing a close friend of the family.

15) Tell me one weird fact about you.
I cannot burp. My brothers are pros and tried to teach me but I can't.

16) Do you have any pets?
Not anymore :(

17) Do you think clowns are cute or scary?
I think they are silly. Not scary or cute.

18) If you could change one thing about how you look, what would it be?
Mmmm I'd give myself naturally blonde, straight hair.

19) What color eyes do you have?
Blue.

20) Ever been arrested?
Nope. Hope to keep it that way!

21) Bottle or can soda?
Bottle. It takes me forever to drink pop so I like being able to reseal it.

22) If you won $10,000 today, what would you do with it?
Woohoo! I would probably put $9000 into savings. And allow myself to spend $1000 how I wanted. Most likely a vacation or some new bedding furniture.

23) What's your favorite place to hang out?
I like the beach in the winter. Otherwise probably anywhere with my friends or D.

24) Do you believe in ghosts?
No. Maybe spirits, but not ghosts.

25) Favorite thing to do in your spare time?
Spend time on the internet, baking, or sewing.

26) Do you swear a lot?
Hardly at all. At least not around people!

27) Biggest pet peeve?
Arrogant people, grrrrr.

28) In one word, how would you describe yourself?
Kind, I guess.

29) Do you believe/appreciate romance?
Of course.

30) Favorite and least favorite food?
Favourite: pizza and mashed potatoes. Least favourite: Beets and mushrooms

Christmas is Coming!!

One month left to finish ALL the Christmas shopping!! No one has given me lists, or at least REAL lists. Both of my brothers told me they like beer. Beer to me just doesn't seem like a Christmas present. Ah well, if they can't think of anything else they want then I may just go with beer and possibly a gift card.

Although I was thinking about bringing back the stockings to my house. We haven't done stockings in a few years and I miss them. So maybe I can find stocking things, along with beer to give.

I am still thinking about Ds gift. Ah that is going to be the hardest one to do. Work clothes, but that just seems boring. I dunno, still time to think I guess.

My parents, hmmm. My mom said that my dad is likely going to buy a TV for downstairs. He wants to "modernize." She said there is a TV stand they like at Home Depot, but didn't have a picture and I don't want to get the wrong one. She said that my brothers and I could go in on it together to get it. I had originally wanted to get them new table and chairs for the kitchen, but again not sure what they would want exactly. Then I thought about how my mom used to really want a wii. I have one and they use it sometimes. But it would be nice to have their own. My dad wants a blue ray player for the new TV he's getting. So I thought why not get them a PS3 with Move. It's new and I'm not sure how great it will be since there are only a few games out. But she can play the active games like wii has, and he can watch blue-ray movies. Win-win?

There is also the Xbox Kinect that looks pretty neat. But the problem with that one is that it uses no remote, just a camera and so you need a big clear space to move around in. No people or objects in that area, and where my dad wants to put the TV there just really isn't enough space to be able to do that. Anyone have either of these? Played them?

I bought my cousin a board game. My roommates I have small things and I'm going to also give them pillow slips I'm going to make soon. Going shopping this weekend. Hope to get several things crossed off my list!

Need More Work!!

I worked 3 days two weeks ago (2 of them half days) and 2 days last week (one of them not teaching). I NEED more work. I have things to save for and need money to spend! Last year around this time was awesome. H2N1 was in full force and I was getting work nearly everyday! Hopefully it picks up soon.

I had a pretty good weekend. Visited my two roommates from university in Toronto. We got to Toronto late-ish on Friday night, had some supper and chatted until 2am. It was nice to catch up. We had been planning on going to the Wine and Food Expo for a couple of months. Then Friday my one roommate (the one that got married in July) says to us that she is excited to go but she can't drink any wine. It took about a half-second to realize what she was telling us! She is having a baby!! She is 12 weeks pregnant, wow!

It was pretty exciting news. She is a bit stressed financially but her husband just got a new job that pays really well so that will help. She will be the first of my close friends to have a kid. I'm very excited for her!

Saturday we went out to the Wine and Food Expo. I wasn't overly impressed. We bought tickets ahead of time and still had to wait in line for nearly 2 hours. It was totally overcrowded and overpriced. I would have much rather gone out for supper and had a better meal for a less expensive price. Ah well!

Sunday we planned on going to the Santa Claus parade but it was too busy and my roommate thought it started earlier than it actually did so we didn't end up going. We played a game and went out for ice cream instead (just as good). I left and visited my cousin who also lives in Toronto then drove home. I went to D's and we watched Vantage Point. Overall it was a good weekend. D and I are going to be doing something tonight, gotta think of something!

It seems like today is going to be another day of no work, so I hope to at least do some productive things around the house. *Sigh*

Weekend Coming Up

I'm going to the big city (Toronto that is) this weekend with my old roommates! I haven't seen them in a really long time, I think since the end of July!! So it will be nice to catch up. We plan on going to a Wine and Food Festival on the Saturday and then to the Santa Claus Parade on the Sunday. It should be interesting.

Yesterday D got off work early so we went to his parent's house so he could pick up some mail. His dad was wondering what his plans were for Christmas and invited me to the family Christmas parties as well. That was a nice gesture :) Last night D and I watched She's Out of Your League. I thought it was pretty funny and had some cute parts to it as well.

What are your weekend plans?

How Often Do You Update Your Budget?

I wonder how often you update your budget? I used to update it daily, or whenever I spent or saved something, which worked out to be almost daily. Now I update it about once a week and that is due to the fact that my spreadsheet is no longer on my computer, it's on my external hard-drive, and the fact that I'm getting lazier with it. It's still accurate when I update it though so it really doesn't make a difference.

How often do you tweak/change your budget? I have a column in my budget that I try to stick to approximate values monthly based on the low average I make each month. With my income fluctuating so much it's usually off and I no longer have debt so that one is off by a lot. I just try to spend a low amount and save a high amount each month. It works but I think I could do better. I think I may try to tweak the budget a bit more for the new year since some items are obsolete and others need to be added (car fund, computer fund).

D and I made bacon wrapped jalapeno poppers last night. They were as good as they sound! WARNING though, if you do make them, wear gloves when cutting and scraping out the insides of the jalapenos. We did not and I touched below my eye and he touched his eye after we both rinsed our hands and they were BURNING! It was quite funny afterwards, but painful at the time!!

I am also getting my hair cut and highlighted today. I cannot wait, it's been since September I think, usually I go every 3 months to extend the budget but it's needed now. I think I will ask for them to thin my hair out a little too, I think that might make it a bit easier to straighten.

Quick Update!

I bought skates!! I went with hockey skates. And apparently my feet are pretty small so I was able to fit in a boy's size 4 and save money that way along with the pair I got being on sale! It was $71.99 for a pair of Easton skates. I'm so happy with them, now just to get some ice time.

D and I made Chili on Thursday and banana pancakes on Friday :) Of course we listened to Jack Johnson's banana pancake song while eating them :)

Today he and I drove to his Nana's house where D and his dad helped to take down a tree in her yard. I did some errands and washed my car while I waited and then Nana and I "snoopervised" the boys work. It was nice to talk with his grandma. He has such a nice family.

I am about half way through The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. It's getting better. It was a slow start with all those character names I thought I needed to remember. Hope to finish it by the end of this month, but I've been taking my time with this. Definitely won't reach my 12 books for the year goal :(

Added Some More...

I paid another $700 to my TFSA which brings me now up to $5850!

I had an extremely boring weekend. Hung out with D on Friday evening (remember, remember the 5th of november) and Saturday morning. We made pizza and watched a movie. He left to go to Toronto to see a concert for the rest of the weekend. I helped my mom make soup, did some laundry, chatted with friends on MSN, watched the hockey games, and that's about it. I must say I did enjoy the time change! Gotta love the extra hour of sleep.

Today I am off again, geeze teachers get sick! This is day 5 of being off (including the weekend) and I am getting very bored. I think I am going to try to make the rest of today productive at least. Banning myself from the internet where I just procrastinate and instead finish up putting away my folded laundry, straighten my hair, and work on my quilt which has been calling my name for almost 2 weeks!

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas!!

It's snowing!!!

Snow and I have a love/hate relationship. I love the look and some of the activities it allows me to do, but I really dislike having to drive in it, the damage the salt does to my car, having to brush off the car, the coldness, the wetness...

Well D is going to put on my winter tires next week. I also want to purchase some skates. I am one of those few Canadians that is a terrible skater. I wonder if figure skates or hockey skates are the way to go? Which are easier to learn in??

Christmas is also coming! I am so glad I have saved up for it. It will make December a lot easier! I have $800 saved to spent. I may or may not end up using all of that. So far I have noooo idea what to get anyone! I'm hoping people will start dropping hints soon. No procrastination this year!! I need to buy for at least 8 people.

Happy November!

Did you have a good Halloween weekend? I carved pumpkins with D and his roommate. They turned out really well. Pictures to come. I watched a scary movie, Hostel on Saturday night (I do not recommend it), and we went to see some decorated houses on Sunday. One house had about 30 carved pumpkins!

I also did some baking. D and I made apple chips. Then I also made chocolate chip cookies with some reese's pieces to make them more Halloweenish, chocolate cupcakes with orange frosting, Haloween papercups and Halloween sprinkles, and I roasted all the seeds we collected from carving pumpkins. Lots of snacking foods!

I worked today and have another full day lined up for Wednesday in the same class. My computer lately has been going to a black screen of nothingness (however not totally black or off), I can tell it's still on but I have to reset it everytime it does this. Maybe one of my resolutions will be to start a computer fund. Or maybe extra earnings next year can go toward it. It works well when it stays on, but it's so frustrating when it shuts off. It did it already once while typing this post!

Went Shopping

Yesterday I was working in a town that is close to the only city with malls around here. About an hour away. I was only working a half-day morning so decided to go to the mall to look for a duvet cover for the afternoon. I've been wanting one for a while and it will keep me warm once winter comes!

So I looked and looked. I finally found one that I really liked but it was $200 just for the duvet cover, and then the shams were $44 each! Craziness. I wrote down the brand name and searched for it on the internet today to see if I could find it for a lower price and had no such luck. Maybe there will be a sale coming up! D said he would go "halfsies" with me if I wanted it, as a late b-day present.

Anyway I also did a bit of other shopping as well. I bought parts of TWO Christmas presents!! I bought some teaching clothes, all on sale! A pair of jeans and a couple of t-shirts that have my hometown name on them (weird to see that in a city mall) on sale! It was a productive trip, I haven't added everything up yet though.

When I got home I also bought a couple of pumpkins and some Halloween candy to keep us energized while we carve pumpkins. Tomorrow we will do that and roast the seeds mmm. I still need to pick up some pumpkin carving kits. Tonight we are going to have a game night, yay!

Last night D's roommate returned from college and we watched Anchorman. I'm looking forward to game night tonight!! I worked a half-afternoon today in a really nice grade 3/4 class. Have a great night! Off to update my budget from this shopping trip :S

All Financial Goals Accomplished!!

I paid off $5000 to my family loan!

I saved over $500 for Christmas!

I saved $1000 toward retirement!

I saved $500 for travel!

I made over $2010 doing work other than teaching!

And today I contributed to my TFSA to push it over the $5000 mark too!!

Mondays...Halloween costume ideas?

I'm happy that today was a teaching day for me. However Mondays are always hard. I taught grade 5/6 today, and wow were they ever a chatty class! They weren't bad, just chatty. It's tiring staying on top of that too with close to thirty 10-11 year olds!

I had a good weekend. Friday I hung out with D and we watched My Super Ex-Girlfriend. Saturday my friend came up so we spent the day together and visited another friend. That night we visited another friend from elementary school who just bought a house. She bought the house with her boyfriend who is a nurse. I don't know how they can afford it since she has a seasonal job and isn't currently working. She is a teacher but cannot get on the supply list in our area. Sad really! Their house is beautiful though and I want one!

Sunday I hung out with D for the morning and he invited me to go to his parents for supper but I declined so that he could have some family time. I'll go the next time, they are very nice! I hung out with my cousin instead and had some family time myself!

A friend in town is having a Halloween party on Saturday. I asked D if he would be interested in going but he wants to take me to this town where his uncle works. If that doesn't happen I might go to the Halloween party. Is anyone dressing up this year? Any costume ideas??

My mom wants my dad and herself to dress up as Mr. and Mrs. Clean. Wear a white t-shirt and put on white eyebrows and an earring. My dad already has the bald part covered ;)

Everything My Brother Touches...

BREAKS!!

Last week it was the car. I have never had the battery die on me until he used it. Suspicious, lol.

Last night he borrowed my printer to print resumes and I went to print something today and it's dead. What is going on?!? Actually it's not completely dead but it's making really weird sounds and not working.

Looks like I'm going to have to buy a new printer. I wonder if they still sell my model since I am pretty sure I have a couple of unused inks and it fits so nicely on my desk! Maybe it's fixable??

Quilting! Picture progress...

Well I haven't had any jobs this week. Actually I got three calls last night when I was on a walk with D and I accidentally forgot my phone at home! Oops!! Anyway, this time off has let me be productive in my quilting! Here is a taste of what I've done: (by the way it's a rag quilt defn: A quilt, usually using flannel, whose raw edges of seam allowances are exposed and then cut to form a soft fringe.)

This is what my desk looks like right now. I have cut out most of the printed flannel, but not all of the white squares yet. There is a total of 315 squares to put together this rag quilt.

My floor is covered with these 6"x6" squares laying out the pattern.

So far I have only completed 4 rows. Each with 13 squares in them. This is going to be the "rag" side (this is before I fringe the edges).

I wanted to show the back, the flat side of the quilt but it won't let me upload anymore pictures! Maybe tomrorow! It's still a work in progress, might get it done this week though if I continue not to get any calls! It's my first rag quilt, and second quilt (if you count my extremely small baby quilt I did last fall). Hopefully it turns out!

More Car Troubles!!

So after I spent around $600 a couple of weeks ago on my car (muffler, oil change, brake pads), it continues to die on me. My brother borrowed my car earlier this week and went to take it out again and it was dead. I get a boost to it, and it works fine. A couple days later this happens again when my dad wants to borrow the car. He gives it a boost and it works fine.

I have driven the car everyday and no problems! Must be those boys!

Until today. My mom and I go to a festival which is about 45 minutes away from my town. Fun festival by the way. Then we decide to leave and I try to start....and nothing!! I had to call my brother to come out and give me a boost. On the way home I stopped at Canadian Tire and bought a new car battery.

My dad installed it this evening and I'm hoping that is the end of my car troubles for a long, long time!

Car battery was $107, but when I return the old one I get a $10 refund. :)

In other news, D and I saw Red on Friday. It was really good, kind of like the old funny James Bond movies but with a team. I laughed out loud at some points, I would recommend it. Saturday D had to work so I worked more on my quilt. It's coming along. A LOT of cutting and sewing though. I'll update with some pictures hopefully this week. The cranberry festival today was good, we went on a tour of the marsh, did some wine tasting, and ate some cranberry crepes, mmmm. Hope you all had a great weekend!!

Met Another Financial Goal

I really enjoy these three paycheque months. I put $800 toward my TFSA today. Yay! That brings me past my goal of $4000, but now I want to hit $5000 for the year. I'm thinking it's now doable. I also want to begin to add more to my Travel Fund. There are still 2 and a half months left in this year.

I have also babysat a few times this month. Not exactly my favourite thing to do after a day spent working with kids, but it's nice to have a bit of extra income!

On my off time that's not spent with family or D, I've been working on my rag quilt. I have ALMOST all of the squares cut out. I have no pattern so we will see if it works! Hopefully, the flannel fabric is so soft! I'll keep you updated on how it is coming along. If I can complete it before new years that would mean I get to cross off a non-financial goal of mine, and I'm not doing very well at those this year!

This weekend there is a cranberry festival going on close to where I live. I am thinking I might take my mom there if D doesn't want to go. She and I went several years ago and it would be nice to go again. D and I are also going to try to go to the movies and see "Red" tonight. Our theatre only has early show times so it depends on whether he gets off early enough. I hope everyone has a great weekend!!

Happy Belated Thanksgiving!

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving!!!

I had a good thanksgiving weekend. Spent Friday working and that evening hanging out with D. Saturday D and I made lunch together and then I met up with some girl friends from elementary school for dinner and drinks. Afterward I saw D and we had a really good chat about things going on that I wasn't entirely thrilled about. Sunday I went over to a friend's house who just bought her first house and is living on the same street as me! Then D and I went to his Nana's house for Thanksgiving dinner. It was really nice to meet his Nana, she is so cute and taught us a new card game. Yesterday was a holiday so we fed his boss's 9 puppies and 2 dogs who was on a hunting trip. That was a lot of fun to see the puppies! Then we just hung out for the day. I looked into teaching overseas, and then we made supper and watched Grown Ups.

Things I am thankful for this year
-my family
-my friends and D
-the health of all those people and myself
-the fact that I have a job
-that we live in a safe country :) The news is definitely scary to watch sometimes, makes you not take what you have for granted.

What are you thankful for? Happy Thanksgiving!

Quilting!

So one of my goals this year was to make a quilt. I have not started. Actually I haven't sewed in so long! I started working on an apron back in March or April and almost completed it but then stopped for some reason. Every piece was cut out it just needed to be sewed on. Maybe a task to complete this week.

Anyway back to the quilting, I want to make a quilt. Last fall I learned how to machine sew. My first project was a baby's quilt. I really like the way it turned out! One of my new years resolutions was to make a real quilt. I even bought some fabric and created my own design. However I got tired of it and decided I didn't want to make it anymore.

This weekend I sewed a patch onto one of D's workshirts using the sewing machine. It sparked a renewed interest in sewing and on Monday I made a stop at Fabricland and picked up some fabric to hopefully make a rag-quilt. It's using flannel material so it will be really soft and warm when it's complete!

I SHOULD probably complete the apron before I move onto the quilt. Maybe I can do both at once. A little bit of cutting for the quilt, and a little bit of sewing for the apron. I could definitely use an apron with the baking I've gotten into! We'll see. I'll post pictures if I ever complete either! Always more fun to start a new project than to finish one you've been working on for a long time. Although once the project is complete it does give a lot of satisfaction. Just gotta get it done!

The new material I picked out is a light purple/lilac colour. I hope the patterns go well together! I'm going to make it three layers with white in the middle. I may even make my roommates some pillowcases again this year for Christmas. They really liked the ones I gave them last year. Or I'll have to think of another project that is somewhat simple and useful for a gift idea.

Didn't Get It.

I didn't get the job. I wasn't expecting to really but it was nice that I even got offered an interview. I've been supplying for 2 years now and it was my first interview for an LTO. The principal let me down really nicely. He said it wasn't something I said or I didn't say but they went with someone with more experience. Apparently a person who has worked at this school before and has had 3 LTOs in this grade level. So that's to be expected and he gave me some pointers for my next interview.

He said I interviewed well and was articulate and that he will put my name out there for other jobs. He also said that I could see him to practice for my next interview if I ever wanted to. He was really nice.

I thanked him for the consideration.

On the bright side, I did get a teaching call today and worked a full day teaching grade 6. The kids were pretty good as well. I also put $500 in a TFSA and $500 into an RSP (I need to update me RSP bar). So getting closer to those financial goals. I don't think I will complete a lot of my non-financial goals this year! Less than three months until 2011!!!

Last night we celebrated my brother's birthday who turns 24 today. We went out for supper which was nice. D came over and we chatted and played with that Tipp-Ex youtube video for a while haha. My mom asked what all the laughter was about and so I showed it to her after. She wasn't as interested lol. D and I are going to go for a walk tonight with the dog, will be nice to see the fall colours on a warm fall evening.

I applied for another half-time teaching position last night but I was at the school the position is for today and a teacher kind of mentioned to me that she pretty much has that job. I didn't even mention the job or the fact that I applied for it at all, so that kind of sucks. I'm hoping more positions will become available soon. This teacher glut is quite depressing!

Interview Today

Saturday was fairly stress-free. I made a breakfast for D and I and then we spent the day hanging out. I did some laundry and then we watched a movie that night. We are now all caught up on the Harry Potter movies :)

Sunday however was a little more stressed. I went over to D's and brought a big file folder I have full of interview material. I reviewed it for most of the day. Still never feeling 100% confident, but feeling pretty good about my experience and answers.

After supper I came home and studied some more and talked to some friends about interviews. This morning I woke up and got ready for the interview. I headed to the school and waited 10 minutes for the secretary to tell the principal I was there.

I was brought into his office which was freezing cold and was greeted by another principal from a school I have supplied at as well. They ask me about 6 questions, all of which were not on my list of prepared questions!! Grrrrrrr. However I feel that I handled the questions and answered them fairly well.

There was one that caught me offguard and it went something like, "tell us about a time when a student was misbehaving and you feel that you handled the situation wrong." I did not expect that question.

I was surprised they also didn't do the "tell me about yourself" or "why should we choose you" question. The principal said that he would contact me either way today so that is good. I have a feeling they have someone else in mind for the job, someone with a little more experience but I'm happy to have been considered and the interview itself was good experience.

The person who does get accepted for the job is going to have a busy week, the principal said that the person chosen will come in to observe the class tomrorow and then start full-time this Thursday for the rest of the year. Pretty crazy! I'll let you all know what I hear.

EEEEEeeeeeeekkkk!!!! So excited/nervous!!!!

I have my FIRST teaching interview coming up.....on Monday!!!!!!

I taught last Monday for this 1/2 split class. The regular teacher for the class was a girl I used to go to school with that is a couple of years older. Class went well, sweet class. That night I went on her facebook and she posted that she got a PERMANENT job!! I told her that was amazing and congrats and mentioned that I was in for her that day.

She writes back and asks if I am looking for an LTO and says that she will put in a good word for me with her principal. I guess she did because today at 3:00 I got a call from the principal asking for an interview! It will be held at the school at 10:15 on Monday morning. I am sooooo excited/nervous for it. There goes my weekend, now it's going to be stress-filled, lol.

I am going to read up on the curriculum and look through my past interview questions I wrote down. Any advice???? I am terrible at interviews, I get so nervous and have been told I am too modest with my answers. Teachers, are there any questions you know might be asked? Any buzzwords I should drop? Eeeeek!!!

Workin' Woman

I've been getting busier with work. I worked Monday and Tuesday. Then today I did a short shift at the rec centre. I will also be teaching Thursday and Friday. Will be teaching grade 7/8 those two days which is my least favourite grade to teach, but at least it's something. Another good thing about working so much now, is that October is a THREE paycheque month!! Yay!

October is generally a busy month. There is Thanksgiving, Halloween, and both of my brother's birthdays.

D and I were talking about Thanksgiving last night. His parents invited him to go to his grandparents house for Thanksgiving (3 hour drive). It will be a big family gathering and they plan to go for some wine tasting too. He would like to see his cousins but is not interested in the wine tasting. He said he might not even go. I said he should, it would be pretty boring here, and way less tasty.

My parents will be closing up their seasonal site so my family will not be doing anything for Thanksgiving. My best friend is coming up and her family's not doing anything either so we said we might go out for supper together. Some friends from elementary school are also planning a get-together on the Saturday of the Thanksgiving weekend. It will be really nice to see those girls I haven't seen in a long time.

Things I want to do this October are to go on a hike and take some fall pictures before all the leaves fall. It's peak season right now and it's sooo beautiful. Maybe this weekend I can convince D to go on a walk with me if it's not raining. I also want to carve a pumpkin! What else is there to do in the fall? It won't be long before the you-know-what arrives, the dreaded s-word!!! Ahhhh!

Troubles

My computer had somehow caught a virus. I tried the free programs to get rid of it but they weren't working. I decided to reset my computer to out of box shape. I bought an external hard-drive from Staples for $90 and loaded my pictures, videos, music, and documents onto it. D helped me to erase everything and start fresh. It's working way better now. Still not as fast as I would like it but at least it's not acting weird anymore :)

I was also having car troubles. I took it in for an oil change and they said that I needed a new muffler and brake pads. So I took it in first thing on Friday. My mom went to pick it up later that day but they said they needed to order a part and it would be done by 1pm on Saturday. I called Saturday around 4 to see if I could pick it up and no answer. So D drove me over there on Sunday to pick it up and they said they STILL weren't done! I had a teaching job on Monday so that was tricky to arrange cars. My mom ended up picking it up on Monday after she finished work. It came to $543! They estimated $360 :( They should have given me a discount for them being so delayed! Ah well, car is working much better now too.

Yes I have been working a bit more. I actually babysat on the weekend for a few hours. Then today and yesterday I taught. Both days went well. Hopefully the calls keep coming! I also got my first paystub today and they moved up what I make by $6 daily so that is nice too!  Not a huge change, but every little bit helps!

I was pretty bored last night so around 9:30 I baked chocolate chip muffins. They were so easy and turned out really well. Only took one bowl to clean up too, that's what I like!

Cold Season

Things are getting sorted out with the bank. I have sent off my void cheques and the bank automatically set up my bill payments online. Things are looking better. Hopefully I get paid next Friday, that will be the real test since my employers use direct deposit.

It's also that time of the year...cold season. On Monday while doing all that bank stuff my ear was killing me. I also have a cold. After the bank I went to the doctor and she told me I had an ear infection an prescribed antibiotics. An ear infection, really? I've never had one before, they are not fun though. So I'm getting over that now.

I am working an 11 hour shift tomorrow at the rec centre. Hopefully I can make it!!

I made cupcakes with buttercream frosting as well as pizza yesterday. I made the pizza dough too and it turned out well. Thicker than I typically like (I prefer thin crust usually) but it was still good. D came over and he ate 6 slices. I had 1.5 and was beyond full. He was too full to even try a cupcake!

I have no weekend plans yet and I'm okay with that. A mom did ask me to possibly look after her girls for a few hours on Saturday morning. We will see what happens. Have a great weekend :)

Bank Account Fraud

Well yesterday was a long day. I went to the bank and spoke with a teller about what happened to my account. Money being taken out of my LOC and put into another account that I did not create in order to pay paypal and not my paypal account. She was really nice and helpful, we highlighted the transactions that were not mine and she froze all the accounts. Then she had to see her supervisor about what to do next to dispute the money paid to paypal.

The supervisor came over and questioned me about things, very accusingly and said she would be back once she talked to the head office. The teller and I chatted more just about things while we waited.

Finally she comes back and tells me what is going to happen but keeps saying I am the one that opened up the new account and that I am the one who transferred money from the LOC. When I told her it wasn't me that was doing that she started accusing me even more saying that I must have given out my SIN, my pin, my online password, and my driver's licence because they had it all otherwise they wouldn't have been able to do what they did. I kept saying I have never done that. My eyes were filling up with tears at this point from her tone and accusations.

The supervisor leaves and the teller tries to chit chat with me about something and I couldn't help but start crying. The teller gives me a tissue and takes me to the bathroom in the back and tells me to take my time and come out when I'm ready. Well that was embarrassing walking past all the customers and employers with tears running down.

I come back out and the teller takes me to another lady who was so much nicer and got things all figured out. She created a new bank account for me and closed all the other ones. She helped me fax equifax and looked into them herself and said that nothing weird looks like it has taken place. She got me a new debit card with a new pin. While she was doing this the teller and the supervisor were reversing what happened with that account I did not open to pay back my LOC and then add what was taken from paypal.

The supervisor came in several times when I was with the other lady and was super nice to me. I think the teller must have told her that she upset me or something because she was overly nice. Anyway it all seems to have worked out now. I cannot take out money today and I have to contact my employers who use direct deposit and send them a new void cheque for this new bank account. Also I will have to contact ING and tell them to link my account with them to this new bank account. Then I will also have to set up my bill payments online again.

It's a lot of work. The one lady also said that I should seriously consider applying for a new SIN number because it looks like my identity has been stolen. I am going to look into that soon too I guess.

Seems like the branch and the head office are both confused as to how this has happened. Which is not helpful to me since I have no idea what I did either to make this happen. I would really like to know if I did something wrong so that I can ensure this does not happen again.

The one bank lady told me that I should erase my history and cookies before and after I log into my banking website. I think I will start to do that now just in case. Might be good advice for the rest of you as well. I do not want this to ever happen again!!

I've Been Hacked!!!

My Friday really went from bad to worse.

First was the whole car has a lot of issues with it that are going to cost a lot :(

Then I go home and notice that some money has been moved around in my Scotiabank account. Then I look a little more into my accounts and notice that money ($12,500!!!!!) has been taken out of my Student Line of Credit and put into another account. I was able to view this other account. From this account almost $6000!!!!! has been spent on various paypal payments!!!

I have paypal but I haven't used it in many months! I call my bank who basically tell me I have been hacked (they were very sympathetic) and give me the number of the head security people at Scotiabank. I call them and he talked to his supervisor too and because my parents name is on the LOC they asked me to look into them taking money. It wouldn't be them!! They said everything has been done online. They suspended my online ability and told me that I would have to go to my local branch to fill out dispute forms. They also told me to call paypal to see if I could figure out what the money was being spent on and if there was a name attached to my account number.

I called paypal and they could not help me. They said there was no link to accounts with the account numbers I gave them. Grrrrr!!!

Apparently this person opened a paypal account on September 7th and then started slowly transferring money from my LOC to this new chequing account they created in my name and then made a purchase to paypal on the 9th of over $1000, and on the 16th of over $4000!! At least glad I was able to stop it before they were able to make even more purchases. Very sneaky of them!!

How does this happen??? I've heard of people hacking into credit card numbers, but how would someone hack my regular bank account!! I'm off to the bank shortly now to fill out a dispute form and figure out where to go from here. I really hope I do not have to pay anything because of this. Very frustrating!!!!

Car Issues

Had my car in for an oil change today. Total was $52 which is not too bad. However, he also told me that my brake pads need to be replaced and that my muffler has a hole in it. Blah! I asked what his estimate on those would be and he said approximately $200 for the brakes and $160 for the muffler. I made an appointment for next Friday. Ah cars are so expensive!!!

Still cheaper to get this car fixed than to buy a new one. However I'm not sure how much longer this one is going to last me. It's a 1999 Toyota and has a bit over 211,500km on it...

First Day of Work!

I worked at the child drop off centre twice this week and on Tuesday a mom of one of the kids asked me to babysit for her kids later that evening. I agreed and made a bit of extra money yay! Babysitting money is tax-free yay!

Last night I got my first call to teach. I taught today which was awesome! Hoping more calls will come in soon.

I was supposed to get my hair cut today but had to cancel because of the job. So I rescheduled for Monday morning. I am also going to get my car serviced tomorrow. Hopefully they don't find too many things wrong with it. Could be expensive, my car has been making loud sounds.

I've caught a few episodes of the Big Bang Theory, it's so funny!! I really like it. Any other fans? Sheldon is just way too cute.

D and I hung out yesterday. I made some chicken broccoli alfredo spaghetti and a ceasar salad and we watched an episode of Dexter and then just talked for several hours. It was really nice.

I developed a bunch of pictures yesterday and bought some groceries and gas. Total was $61. Hoping to have a relatively cheap weekend at the fall fair and with friends :)

Dense Bread? Good Weekend!

Friday I made lasagna and two loaves of bread. Lasagna turned out really well but the bread was a little dense (heavy on the inside) any tips??

Saturday I hung out with D for the morning. Then he went to the wedding and I went to the pig roast. It was sooo good! I ate so much food :) There was a dance afterward.

Sunday I went to my friend's going away party and two other girls we went to high school with were there. I used to be really good friends with these two girls in elementary and high school and then we kind of lost touch, so it was really nice to see them. One is actually moving into a house with her boyfriend at the end of this month on my street! So hopefully we will keep in better contact again.

Yesterday evening I went to D's house and brought the leftover lasagna and we shared it with his roommate's dad an watched Out of Time. It was a pretty relaxed weekend and I only spent $50 which was on groceries and bread pans.

I am hoping to go for a bike ride today and need to finish some sewing projects I've been putting off. Maybe today is the day. Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Friday Musings

Last night D and I went out for a walk with the dog that he lives with. It was a long walk and then he came to my house where we chatted in my kitchen for a couple of hours. It was so nice and we talked about everything which was really good. A lot about what we want in our lives in the next year or so. Who knows if it will be independent or separate it was nice to talk about things on our minds.

I really think I want to do a volunteer trip somewhere to help a community in a developing nation. D did this a while ago and loved it. I told him I would be very interested in doing something like that for a couple of weeks and then take another week or so to return back home while doing some touring of other nations nearby. What an experience that would be! If not now when I am able to take time off to do something like this, then really when?

Today I have the day off :( I have been contacted by two people so far to ask if I would like to run a Sparks group in my town. However I would be the sole leader and I have never had any interaction with the program so I think I will tell them I would be willing to help out where needed but I don't want to be the only one doing the job.

It's been kind of a boring day so I think I am going to head to the grocery store soon to pick up some things to make a nice dinner tonight. I want to attempt to make bread in my kitchen aid and a lasagna mmmm. I'll let you know how they turn out.

Tomorrow D is going to another wedding and I am going to go to a pig roast with my family. Sunday a girl I went to high school with is having a goodbye party at her cottage because she is going to teach in England for a year. It will be nice to see some of those girls I haven't seen in a while. Those are my plans, hopefully you all have an exciting weekend. Enjoy the fall weather :)

Started The New Job

I have worked two days at the "new" job. It's a childcare drop off centre at the rec centre I sometimes work at. I did this job for a while last year and was an on-call person for them when their regular person needed time off. It's a job. I get to hang around babies while their mom's workout. When no kids are around I read. Today I only had one kid and only for an hour so I got an hour and a half of reading completed. Paid to read lol.

I am hoping that supply work picks up soon. I know it's only the second day of school but I am anxious to get back into the classroom. Hopefully at least a few days this September!!

Today I also contributed $500 to my TFSA. I was going to put it toward my RSP to fully fund my goal of $1000 for the year but my TFSA is lagging as well. Hopefully I can finish those financial goals this year! Will update sidebars soon.

The lost paycheque problem has been solved. There has just been a delay of two weeks with the paycheques and the paystubs we receive have incorrect dates on them. So I still have one more paycheque from the rec centre still to receive for summer work. That also means that I'm going to have to wait several weeks to be paid for this child care drop off work I am doing now.

I hung out with D this weekend but he is terribly sick. He has an ear infection and a bad cold. I feel bad for him, it was a pretty lousy long weekend. Hopefully he feels better soon. We had a really lazy weekend because of it just watching movies and he rested a lot. Last night we had corn on the cob with supper and it was corn from his boss' garden. I love corn on the cob season! Hope you had a great long weekend!

September Goals

I have not done a goal post in a while. I want to keep them fairly simple this month.

Put $500 toward TFSA.
Finish at least one book.
Make at least one new dinner/recipe.
Get my car serviced. (hopefully not too expensive!)

If I have some extra money at the end of the month I'll put it toward the RSP.

Back To School

It's the most wonderful time of the year.

School starts for the kids in one week. That means that I am hopefully going to start receiving supply calls shortly after that. I cannot wait. I need to get back into the classroom. I have been reading a lot this summer and wish I had been more productive but it has gone by surprisingly fast. I am ready to start work again but wouldn't mind if this awesome weather stuck around for a bit longer.

I have my first P.D. day tomorrow. It's a half day and the drive is an hour away but we get paid to go and it should be informative. A fellow supply teacher called me this morning and we are going to carpool. She is going to drive so I will give her some money for that.

Today I read a lot of this Greg Isles book that D suggested for me. It's been good so far. It's called Footprints of God and it's about a secret project where a small team is creating a supercomputer. At first I didn't think I would enjoy it, but it's been pretty fast-paced and interesting so far.

I really want to get back into sewing. I think I may go to Fabricland on Thursday and pick out some fabric to make a rag quilt. I still have a gift certificate from last Christmas that is waiting to be used up. I think I may even get started on a Christmas project I want to make. I am sometimes really slow at finishing projects so the earlier I start the better. Afterall, Christmas is less than 4 months away now.

My boss at the rec centre also said that I could come in to work with a child care supervision program they have 4 mornings a week starting after Labour Day. That would be good to get a bit of extra income until the supply calls start coming in and they find a replacement.

Weekend Update and RSP Update

I actually had a good weekend. Friday I did some things around the house and went for a bike ride. Saturday I read some of my book and then left to visit my cousin in TO. She and I had lunch at the mall and then we drove to XBF's and picked up my stuff that he wanted out of his apartment. It was an awkward meeting and we were only there for about 5 minutes, it made it a little less awkward that my cousin was there with me at least. Glad that is done with.

Saturday evening our uncle brought us some supper and then we went out for ice cream mmm! We went to bed pretty early and then on Sunday we went out for breakfast with our uncle and then my cousin and I went to the EX. My cousin is having some financial issues right now so I paid for her ticket as well. It was really fun there! We didn't even do rides or games. We saw a lot of exhibits, met up with my roommate and my cousin's friend. Saw some shows. My favourite part was the ice show which featured David Pellitier and Jamie Sale. It was so awesome, definitely worth the price of admission!

I headed back home after that and met up with D. He said the wedding was awesome. He had a lot of fun and it seems like everything went really well for his sister and her now husband. They are headed off to Spain today for their honeymoon.

I spent $30 in gas, $4 in drinks, $32 on EX admission, $4 on ice cream, $10 on breakfast, $9 on lunch. An expensive weekend and nothing to show for it, but it was really nice to see my cousin and uncle.

Oh yah I also put in $500 toward a RSP GIC with ING. I locked it in for 5 years which has a rate of 3.25%. I am half-way to my goal of $1000 in RRSPs this year. I think I will make another contribution once school gets started and I am earning more money.

Summer is Almost Over!

It's sad. This summer has absolutely flown by. It's hard to believe everything that has happened in such a short period of time. It's been a good summer though too.

I baked cupcakes on Monday and did laundry, then went for a walk with D in the afternoon. Tuesday I went shopping for a gift for D's sister's wedding with him. She is getting married this weekend. He got her a coffee maker off of their registry. We had lunch and then he bought me a wii game and we had supper here with my family and then played the game for the rest of the night. I worked on Wednesday which was a lot of fun actually. After work we went and saw Inception which was confusing at first but had a great ending (one of those thinking movies)! Then today D and I went out for breakfast and then he headed off to meet the groom and his sister for wedding stuff.

I'm not going to the wedding. I would have liked to but was not invited. It is probably for the best anyway since D is in the wedding and would have to leave for pictures, and I wouldnt be able to sit with him at the ceremony or reception. It would have been a little bit awkward I think during those times. I've seen him everyday for the past 12 days though and probably won't see him again until Monday. I'm a bit sad about it lol.

I think I might do some reading, biking and sewing. Might even visit my parents where they go camping every weekend and do some swimming if it's nice. Might even go to TO and visit my roommate to go to the EX. I'm not sure yet! I've never been there so it could be fun!

What have I spent this week...I bought a wii nunchuk for $25, $28 on gas, some candy $3, D bought breakfast today, movie yesterday $10, and $10 for lunch on Tuesday. I think I've been eating out a lot more since hanging out with D. It's fun and we usually choose cheap places (typically breakfast) but it definitely adds up after a while. Gotta have more make-our-own dates.

Lack of Postings

Sorry about the lack of postings. It's been busy around here!

I had workshops Monday through Thursday. Friday I worked. I hung out with D everyday this week as well. Last Sunday I visited my cousin in Toronto. It was nice seeing her and some of the people in her life. It's always weird talking to her and she tells me all about these people. I picture them a certain way and it's never the way they actually turn out to be. It's kinda neat to do.

The workshops were for the school board. They were optional and we weren't paid but I believe in lifelong learning and thought they were well done. D was house-sitting this week for his boss and their dog just had puppies, so it was pretty neat to see the puppies. Their eyes are still not open.

I finished Generation A, it was interesting. A very weird ending actually. Not what I expected at all, I thought the ending could have been better, but oh well. On to the next book, not too sure what that will be yet. D recommended a mystery to me, but I think I might be in the mood for a quick chick lit. We will see. I have this entire week off so I could probably get a book done if I really tried.

This weekend we rented a couple of movies (Couples Retreat and  Cop Out). We made dinner together and this morning we woke up really early and went out for breakfast. We also watched Lilo and Stitch today haha. I think D and I might go out for supper tonight with my family, my brother's girlfriend, and my uncle. Not sure yet, but I hope so!

I still have not contributed to RRSPs, I will soon though. I think I am going to go with RSP GICs from ING. Wow a lot of acronyms!

I think I am also missing a paycheque from work I did in early July. I thought it would work itself out this past paycheque but it did not so I am going to have to go to the bank and get some records just to make sure, and if I really did not get paid I'll have to contact my boss and  payroll people. Grrr!

Finished Harry Potter

On Sunday I finished reading Harry Potter. Yes I'm several years late in reading it!!

It took me about 100 pages to really get into it. I'm just not that into fantasy books. I'm more of a chick-lit kinda girl. But once I got into it, it was really good!

Last night D and I watched Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (why do they call it the Sorcerer's stone in the movie and the Philosopher's stone in the book??). I really liked it and it was neat to see how I imagined the characters to look to how they were presented in the movie. Usually once I have read a book that has been made into a movie I always think the book is better, however in this case I think they did an excellent job at sticking to the storyline.

Now I am reading Generation A by Douglas Coupland. Anyone heard of it before?? He also writes J-Pod and Generation X which I think are his more popular novels. I am about one-third of the way through and it's been quite humourous and a little strange. Basically it's about 5 people (each chapter is written from a different character's perception) in different parts of the world. It takes place in the future 2024ish. All the bees on the planet have vanished, so it's a darker world without the pollenation of bees, and then these 5 people get stung by a bee in their part of the world. They are taken in for testing to see if they are connected in some way.

It's been an interesting read so far. D recommended the book to me. It's funny and I like learning about the personalities of the 5 characters. For example, one is addicted to World of Warcraft, one is from North Bay, Ontario and has Tourettes, one lost his family in a tsunami, and another is a very interesting corn farmer. Hope to do a little more reading today!

Not-So Planned Spending

My brother asked me to take him to the city yesterday because he had to do a medical for the Army. I agreed as long as he paid me gas money. So I dropped him off at 10 and had until 3pm to occupy myself. What did I do?

I went shopping :S

I went to the mall AGAIN! Yikes, good thing I live an hour from the mall because it could be detrimental. Anyway, I did pretty good, I bought a tank top ($12.99) and a backpack. I've been looking at backpacks for a while now that mine has a broken zipper. I've had my old Jansport since I was 13....that's 12 years!! It was time for a new one. I bought a Burton on sale for $59.99. Hopefully it will last me another 12 years.

After the mall I headed to Futureshop. I had a giftcard I received from XBF for Christmas and wanted to look at the GPS's. There was a Tomtom on sale so I got it. It came to $46 after the gift card was used. Not too bad, hopefully I won't be getting lost as much now! My brother programmed it on the way home and it seems pretty easy to use.

After Futureshop I had lunch at The Great Canadian Bagel mmmm love that place! Lunch was $2 something. I brought a few snacks and water of my own.

After lunch I went to the beach. I brought the book I'm reading and laid down on the sand to read. I was only there for a few minutes though when my brother called me to pick him up. He gave me $70 for driving him, I said I don't want that much but he made me take it.

Overall, probably another too big of a spend day. But I already paid off my credit card today. Plus I made $70 for driving him.

Next week I am heading back to the same area Monday to Thursday for some school workshops. Gas is going to be difficult, and I am not going to allow myself to go to the mall!

Phone Plans and Big Spend Day

Yesterday my mom and I both had the day off. We decided to go SHOPPING!

We went to Winners, and then to the mall, then out for lunch, and then to Costco. I bought a dress (lol I thought it was cute, although I don't have any event to wear it to, it was only $35 and could be worn multiple times). I also bought a casual shirt, and a couple of work shirts, two white undershirts, two bras, a calendar, a giant bag of chocolate chips (for baking), a couple boxes of tea, a hoodie, and a DVD player (mine broke last week).

Total cost was $250 yikes!!

I owe my mom $125 for the Costco trip. Then I also owe her $30 for some long distance calls darn. I know I have made a number of calls from my cell phone this month too, definitely not looking forward to that bill. Oops! *Actually I just looked it up online and it was double what it typically is. Ouch!!* Maybe I need to look into updating my plan to include more minutes.

What is your phone plan like? I am currently with Bell. I have 200 minutes, 500 texts, call display, and message centre. I think that's it. What got me this month was the 200 minutes. If I go over then I am paying $0.20 per minute!!!! Long distance is only $0.10 per minute. Typically I pay $45 with taxes etc each month and this month is going to be $90.

Where To Invest in RSPs??

I still have not invested in RRSPs. I am 25 and have thought about them but haven't looked too deep into what it all means. It's a bit confusing with the GICs, Mutual Funds etc.

Currently I have two bank accounts: Scotiabank, and ING Direct.

Where should I contribute to RRSPs? Should I be looking into GICs or Mutual Funds? What is the safest route to go?

What do you do?

In other news, I worked three days this past week which were really good. I enjoyed them a lot. I had a game night with D and two friends. D and I watched a couple movies this weekend and went out for ice cream and sat by the lake. It was a chilly weekend compared to normal. It was nice to hang out with him and hope to see him again soon.

I also contributed $600 to my TFSA on payday Friday woohoo.

LONG Weekend

I had an extra long weekend because D had Tuesday off. I worked Friday and then we were supposed to go to this shopping festival in town with my cousin and another friend. However he bailed on me because he was too tired to go, I still ended up going with my cousin and friend. It was a lot of fun and we saw a lot of people there!

Saturday D came over. We ran some errands in town, and he got a new HTC phone. Very cool. We then got some ice cream and sat at the falls and he took me to where he lives and showed me his favourite computer game and we chatted with his roommate. We then went out for supper and looked up potential areas to camp.

Sunday we talked more about camping and thought we really should have left that morning because it was beautiful out. We drove to Georgian Bay and looked into camping there, then decided to buy a tent and get ready to camp the next morning early. We went to his parents' house and borrowed a bunch of canoeing gear and some camping supplies. Strapped the canoe to his Jeep and then came back to our town to pack the rest.

We woke up early on Monday to pack everything up and head back to Georgian Bay, Massassauga Park. We got there and packed the canoe and then paddled for FOUR hours to get to our site. We swam and then started setting up. As soon as we were done setting up, it just poured for the rest of the night. The tent leaked with a tarp over top out of every zipper, I wonder what the return policy is on tents at CTC. It was difficult to have a fire and cook our burgers but it was done. Good thing D is very outdoorsy!!

Today we woke up, cooked breakfast over the fire and then packed up. It took about FOUR hours to paddle back as well. We did stop once for a quick swim to cool off. It was such a nice time camping with him. My back is absolutely killing me now though from all of the paddling! What a great workout! After we packed up the car we drove back to his parents' house to return everything. Then we returned his things and then mine. Then my brother, D and I went out for supper and a beer.

Total cost for the long weekend? $62. I found a loonie on the street during the shopping festival downtown and I didn't buy anything. I bought a sandwich which was $6 (lunch for two days) and ice cream for both of us ($7). I also paid for supper tonight which was $50 (D paid for the camping pass which was $23 for a night and two days of parking). It's a good thing I am working the rest of this week! I hope everyone had a great long weekend and enjoys the short work week woohoo!!

Dating is Expensive! or at least can be...

Many of you know that I broke up with XBF in June. It was a hard decision but the right one as well. We were together for a long time, 6.5 years. He would pay for a lot of the things we did together, I contributed as well but he covered most expenses. In the beginning of our relationship I wouldn't allow it, but I became very poor very quickly and he wanted to pay for things. It made going on dates really easy.

Now that I am starting over and it's summer there are a lot of things going on and a lot of them cost money. I don't want to have to rely on someone else to pay my way. But I'm also realizing quickly that dating is expensive!! I forgot HOW quickly things can add up. A movie here, a dinner here, a tank of gas, and there goes $60.

So I've been searching for cheap date ideas. I've been to the movies on cheap night ($6 awesome). I've looked into the drive-in, see 3 new movies for $10 each, or $15 together on carload night. Movies at home are always good too. There is a band that will play every Sunday, Monday and Thursday locally for donations. I live where there is a lot of lake access and beaches so that is always a fun option as well. Who doesn't love game night?? Tonight I am going to see a free improv comedy show. Tomorrow the town closes the streets downtown for shopping and entertainment.

Dinners are always fun to go to, but they add up so quickly. So I am thinking about seeing if he would like to make something together once in a while. Kind of a fun date and a delicious result.

Do you usually split the bill on dates? What was your favourite inexpensive date?

One of my FAVOURITE dates with XBF was actually a pretty cheap date. We went grocery shopping together and picked up these Easter colouring contest sheets (for kids, we weren't going to enter the contest), and a bottle of wine. We made supper together, then I brought over some crayons (yes, every teacher has crayons in their dorm room) and we watched the Leafs play as we drank wine, had some snacks and coloured. It was so fun and did not cost very much!

My FAVOURITE date so far with D was when he had a weekday off and we met in town. We got some ice cream from a new store and walked to the falls. We then stood in the water cooling down and just talked. It was so nice and peaceful there. Total cost was about $3 each. Another easy cheap date is when we take his roommate's dog for a walk. It's fun and free :)

Budgeting on No Income

I haven't been working very much this summer. I have received two paycheques in July and one GST cheque which have been helping me a lot this summer. I also have $1000 in vacation money that is unused. I asked XBF to take it or give it to his family but he refused.

So now that money will help fund other things this summer. I depleted my vacation fund but would like to bring it back around $500 in case I decide to do some travelling this year I will have some money on hand. It's a small start, but I have also been thinking about teaching overseas and that will be a start for that as well.

I also over contributed to my Christmas/Birthday fund because I was thinking of buying XBF something big for his bday in September. But since we are no longer together my Christmas fund is at $800 and I think that I could stop funding this and be totally prepared for December.

My TFSA is at $2050 and my goal is $4000 for this. I want to add more to this soon. Also my RRSP is non-existant right now and my goal for that is $1000. I want to get a start on this as well. Not sure if I should use my regular Scotiabank or perhaps ING to start a retirement savings plan. Any suggestions?

I still want to leave some room for other things like my car, entertainment, etc. I will be receiving a small paycheque this friday from working 2 days in July, but I do not know when I will receive another paycheque as I have not been working lately. Maybe I will cash in my EUROS today.

Awesome Wedding :)

On Thursday I headed down to where my roommate lives. I met her where she would be having her wedding reception. We decorated and put on chair covers. Most of the other things were already done or would be done by the owner of the building. We then headed to her house for some supper and then got to work on wedding programs. Wow that was a ton of work!! My fingers hurt so much.

Friday we woke up early, had some breakfast and headed off to the spa. We all got our nails done and it took 5 hours. Too long, but it was fun to spend the time with the girls. Then we got some well deserved fast food. We went back to her house where I practiced my reading and the bride (roommate) worked on her rehearsal dinner speech and wedding day speech. She is SUCH a procrastinator!!

We then headed off to the church for the rehearsal. The priest was hilarious and made it really fun. Then we went to the groom's dad's house for a very fancy dinner. It was very nice! We went home and tried to go to bed early but everyone was so excited for the next day that it was hard to fall asleep.

Saturday we woke up early. The girls had their hair professionally done. My roommate did mine. Then the bride paid for everyone's make-up to be professionally done. That was very nice. The photographer came and took a ton of pictures of the bride getting ready and a bunch with the bridesmaids and her on the farm. The bride looked absolutely beautiful :) We put out a rosary on the clothesline to keep the rain from falling. It didn't work but I'm sure the pictures still turned out well.

Then the limo came. Red carpet and everything! We all jumped in and sang along to "we're going to the chapel." Got to the church and it was a beautiful wedding. A few tears before the ceremony began when she saw her grandma who they didn't think would be able to make it. But during the ceremony it was all smiles. Then we headed to the groom's dad's house again for some snacks before the reception.

The reception was great! The food was amazing, the songs they chose for dancing were great! I had a blast. I even got a centre piece! The groom grew up on a golf course and so their kissing game was a putting game where you had to get a hole in one. Also one of their favours included a golf ball with one of their engagement photos on it. It was the best wedding I have been to, just a ton of fun.

XBF was there too, but it wasn't very awkward. I think the group of people we were around made it a lot easier. It was nice to see him.

On Sunday we headed off to the groom's mom's house for brunch. Then the bride and groom opened all of their gifts. Most were household items they needed from their registry. They received a lot of really nice things. XBF and I bought them a wii (not on registry). It was a great weekend!!

Sunday night I hung out with D. We went out for Chinese food, played some boggle, then drove to a small town very close to me that I have never been to and sat on a dock and talked watching the stars. It was very nice.

For the weekend, I spent $45 on gas (filled up twice), $140 on the gift (shared the spending with XBF), and $22 on supper. It was well worth it!