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!