Way busier than I thought it would be, thanks in part to talks for The Book and two collection appraisal appointments. (Those mean at least 20 more hours of writing and research each.) The Brick has not felt well; for two weeks, sadly, neither did I. But that paled in comparison with Son #1 and Daughter #2, who lost their mom Nov. 5.
November's dreary skies and bare ground have made everything look dull and cluttered. The house is messy, in spite of putting away several boxes. A huge pile of clothes needs ironing and putting away. Large bags of books, clothes, etc. need to be donated.
The reports should be completely caught up by the end of the month, thank God -- then it's on to three restoration jobs I've been looking forward to finishing. The holidays are looming, with the prospect of several singing gigs, wrapping presents, cleaning house... plus planning for the Seven Fish Dishes.
(This includes a few items from late October.)
*Free investment dinner, with friends. Another free dinner, this one with the ASA appraisers chapter. (Sadly, the food was awful at the latter -- but the talk was interesting.) A potluck, at our church's Thanksgiving feast -- sold 3 books, plus we got a large takeout container stuffed full of turkey, dressing and my leftover mashed potatoes. Free meal!
We didn't go much for Veteran's Day this year... just didn't feel like it. But we did take advantage of Golden Corral's free meal for veterans. The Brick also got a coupon for a free haircut.
Another potluck happened for Thanksgiving, hosted by Daughter #1 and her partner. Price of admission: four pies. In spite of a recurrence of fever for me, the evening was interesting, filled with good talk and great food. Sold a book there, too -- it happens!
*Did some catsitting for our neighbors. Deliberately let a last-minute dogsitting job go...because I had the flu, and the Brick was anything but enthusiastic about taking it on. Just didn't feel like it.
*Two little girls, ages 10-14, will get boxes for Operation Christmas Child. What a wonderful way to help out children around the world. It's not too late to have Samaritan's Purse build a shoebox for you!
*Lindor truffles -- my family adores these. Amazon had a special: 120 for $18.71, including free shipping. Works out to less than 16 cents a wrapped truffle -- whoo hoo! (You have to watch for these specials...Amazon currently is asking $43.41 for the same pkg: 36 cents a truffle. It adds up.)
*A free concert of Gilbert & Sullivan music. I love G&S, but we had to go on a Friday night -- the Brick refused to let it get in the way of the hallowed Michigan/Ohio State game on Saturday.
*Flu kept me home for most of two weeks... and improvising out of current freezer and pantry food, rather than buying more. I guess that's good. I put off two errand-runs for the same reason, and let a few coupons expire. None of them were critical.
*Didn't have to cook a full Thanksgiving dinner -- just pie. (See above) Regardless, I:
*Cleaned out the fridge. That way, I've got space for:
*Turkey for 49 cents/lb, and ham for 97 cents/lb (Safeway). Five pounds of potatoes, 69 cents each. Put it all together, and I not only had ham for breakfasts, plus a turkey for Christmas dinner.
*Cooked the pumpkin I bought for a buck in Michigan. I'd been using it to decorate the book sale table at the recent signings.
Three bad oranges in a 3-pound mesh bag of clementines = a fresh bag as a replacement. (Note to fellow Hollanders: ALWAYS politely ask for a refund or replacement if you have spoiled fruit in the bag, even if it's weeks later! Just be sure to keep the bag...and the receipt, if possible. I have never had this questioned.)
*Got a $25 overdue fee waived on the credit card. (We missed the deadline by four days, darn it.) Had to pay $15 interest, though...I HATE that. Ironically, we had to pay credit card interest last November, too. This is not like us at all. But then, we've had extra expenses on an already strained-tight budget. I'm not complaining, considering.
*Watched new episodes of our favorites, including The Walking Dead and The Last Ship. (The last of the latter--I'm going to miss Adam Baldwin.) Monarch of the Glen (only 5 episodes - darn) has been an interesting new friend. Got Branded as an early Christmas present for the Brick -- inspired, no doubt, by all the tv cowboy shows we've been watching lately. Plus, I have vivid memories of Chuck Connors' epaulettes getting ripped off. (!!! Yes, Gentle Readers, the full DVD set was very reasonably priced: $21.)
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| Ooh, that Chuck -- what a cutie. |
*Saved on insurance. The sale of the Outback let us take one vehicle off our policy -- which the customer rep said wouldn't affect our premiums at all. What?!? After much discussion, and a reminder that they'd had us paying extra fees because our different policies weren't hooked together, we finally got a substantial discount for the coming months. But we had to work for it.
*Halloween candy, a Thanksgiving wreath and two fall-themed tablecloths: 50% off at Wally. Some Halloween fat quarters -- 75% off. More Halloween items for a stunning 90% off. (The latter are going in the girlies' Christmas stockings.) I did have to go back to Wally for a refund, when the clerk charged one tablecloth properly -- but not the second.
*Several mesh bags of red and orange peppers -- foursomes for $1 each. I love red peppers.
*Sold more copies of The Book. Sent copies to Brother dear's family, as well as Brothers-in-laws' families (equally dear), as early Christmas presents. Helloooo, media rate!!
Sold two videos via Amazon, too. (I'd given up hope.)
*Sent a large Christmas box of books and videos, nearly all from the thrift shop or the library used book room, to nieces and nephews for their kids -- and themselves. (Cautionary note here: you can NOT send magazines this way -- even though publishers do it all the time. Go figure.)
*Twenty bucks in free Red Robin 'cash' -- when I bought a big batch of gift cards for our employees at Brickworks. Used a BOGO coupon there...and paid full price one visit, because I thought we had an additional coupon. (We didn't.)
*A pretty little pot of roses: 3/$10.
*Free cheeseburgers at Red Robin. I have no idea why they thought this would be a smart idea, but the Brick and I enjoyed them -- twice.
*More appraisals done. Feels wonderful.
*Piano lessons given. Just one student at present, but two more are due to start soon. I don't charge much on purpose; this is my small part to help cultivate music-lovers. But I do something I enjoy...and the extra $$ buys groceries and pays the water bill.
*Had to practically beg for one gig check -- but finally got it. Reimbursed quickly for several others. We're finally on our way to having an emergency fund again.
*Several book signings, one talk. (Two more coming in December, and more in 2019.) Nearly all of these were selling books for the host -- not us. We paid our own mileage and other expenses, too. (Guess that should go into Hits...except it will have long-term benefits.) Fortunately, one of the two December signings will be for Brickworks' copies.
The Book continues to do well. Hooray!
*A bunch of Amazon Warehouse Deals -- many were the last one in stock, including dried cranberries, Christmas stocking candy and a steal on pecans: $5.70/lb. (These made wonderful pecan pies.)
*A new toaster, for slightly more than $16. To replace the old one.
*$2 videos from library -- lots of them. Several were TV Westerns, which the Brick and I seem to be craving lately, including Wagon Train, The Deputy, Wyatt Earp, Sugar Foot and Chuck Connors' The Rifleman. We also dug out our collection of Have Gun, Will Travel.
The surprising movies have been spaghetti westerns, including This Man Can't Die, released in 1968 as Long Days of Hate. Italian-made, like the Clint Eastwood threesome, but like Eastwood, the main star is a Californian: Guy Madison. (Try watching him, and not think of James Franciscus.)
You can see it on Youtube for free:
FRUGAL MISSES
*Dinged the neighbor's car, backing into it. A half-dollar-sized scrape, plus another further down by the wheel, were the result. Sighhh. Waiting to hear how much it's going to cost.
*Paid for the order of new books. Ouch. (Gave away a number of review copies, as well.)
*Sent out a number of free books, including Ghosts & Legends, Crazy Quilts and Quilts of the Golden West, for my appraisal clients. They've been so patient with me.
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| These are both good present options, too! Contact us for more -- and a sale. |
*Went through a LOT of printer ink this month. Much more than usual. Envelopes and other shipping materials, as well -- but it makes sense.
*Clogged pipes meant a plumber's visit, soon after Thanksgiving. (Tree roots were the culprit.) A $93 coupon saved us $169 in additional charges. I'm grateful we had an emergency fund to pay him from! You don't always appreciate the bliss of clean clothes, clean dishes, clean body and flushed toilets -- until they're not possible.
*Charley's vet visit. It wasn't a dislocated hip -- he's just aging. The biggest help to easing his pain has been, surprisingly, CBD oil. It's not cheap, but to see him prancing around again is worth it.
*Continuing to pay on one medical bill: $990 and change. But at least it's the only one...and our monthly payment is $33.00. Some other dental bills needed paying, too -- fortunately, they're small.
Other medical bills came in -- all paid by insurance. Thank God. I mean that.
*The Brick had another doctor's appt. And x-rays. And tests. Hopefully, because of his medical expenses earlier this year, these should be nearly all covered by insurance.
These medical expenses are discouraging... and have meant that I've put off some of my own needs, like new glasses. (Mine are scratched up, and the only pair I have.) Sometimes I feel, like Katy here, that I'm saving pennies up-front while dollars are pouring out the back. On the other hand, those pennies often help to pay off the dollars.
Do I believe that God cares about us? (And you, quite frankly.) YES. Yes, I do. It's been amazing to watch sudden opportunities or sales surface, 'just when we need them.' If the Master of the Universe cares enough to help us keep going, I'm going to trust Him -- even when it gets a little scary.
Last month's report is here. Or take a look at last year's November report -- way different, huh. We've had improvements this year. No mice, lots of income, and time to start cleaning up and putting away, is a big step forward to our future plans.
P.S. After I wrote this, the Brick noticed a light scattering of sunflower seeds from the bag I'd gotten for the birds. The bag of seeds went into the cooler outside (already holding extra potatoes and carrots). Yup, we've got at least one mouse again...
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