Happy Halloween! I hope you’re all having a wonderful day so far. Trick or treating in our area begins in a little more than an hour, and I’ll be headed over to my Grandma’s to help pass out candy at her house. It’s become a tradition the last several years for my mom and I to go over there and answer the door for trick or treaters. We eat dinner, and play card games, and it’s just generally a good time. I’m looking forward to seeing Killian dressed up as a monkey too– his parents are supposed to be bringing him by at some point tonight. I’ll try and get pictures to share, but I left my camera at home and I’m not currently too thrilled with the idea of going all the way home to get it. Grandma lives a couple of blocks from where I work, and I just can’t bring myself to drive all the way home, fighting Friday afternoon traffic, just to turn around and come all the way back to where I came from. Granted, it would give me a chance to change out of my work uniform, but I just don’t think I care that much.

Besides, I’ve been having fun with all the “regulars” through the lobby today… when they’re getting ready to walk away, I’ve asked them if they liked my costume. When they look at me funny, I just add that I’m a security guard today and while it’s a bit of a stretch for me, I think I’m pulling it off pretty well. hehe So there you have it… my Halloween costume this year is a security guard. How original!

Is it just me or did this weekend just fly by? I just can’t believe we’re within spitting distance of bedtime on Sunday night already. I’m looking back and trying to figure out where this weekend went because I sure don’t feel like I accomplished a whole lot. Took this picture way too early this morning when I would have much rather been in bed. Unfortunately, I’m on such a schedule from getting up so early all week long that I find it impossible to sleep past 6:30 in the morning.

I think I should order one of those tv lifts for my bedroom so I can just prop myself up in bed and spend the whole weekend watching movies. Actually, that’s not a whole lot different from how I actually spent my weekend. Swap in the couch for the bed, and add in a little bit of housework, and quite a bit of crocheting and there you have it. Today I left my couch and went to hold down Sarah’s couch for awhile. It’s a rough life, I tell ya!

I just can’t believe it’s almost time to start another work week. I’m not ready. *sigh*

Consider this a public service announcement from yours truly. If you have an online savings account, but you still use your regular checking account, it is very important to leave at least a little money in your brick and mortar savings account. You know, the one that is attached to your checking account, and may provide some sort of overdraft protection? I bet you can see where this is going. Because someday you may forget to write something down, and eventually you will get hit with $93 in overdraft fees because your checking account was short 19 cents needed to process a check. Yeah…

This happened on Monday. I logged into my bank account and noticed that my account balances and available balances didn’t look right. I realized right away what happened, but because I didn’t have any extra money in the same bank, there was nothing I could do to stop the ball that had started rolling. I did call my dad and ask him to transfer some money into my account, which he did, but not before they pushed through pending payments and charged me two more overdraft fees. (I’m still mad about that, by the way. I’ve NEVER seen a debit card payment run as credit post the very next day. It’s ALWAYS 2-3 days before it posts. No, I didn’t make those payments counting on the 2-3 days– I didn’t realize I had a math problem until the check was 19 cents short. But I was counting on the usual 2-3 days to avoid the rest of the overdraft fees. I’m not convinced that the bank didn’t see my account was overdrafted and pushed things through early, but I digress.)

In the end, I went to the bank and talked to them about the 3 overdraft fees. I understood exactly how it happened, but I wasn’t going to pay $93 in overdraft fees for one 19 cent mistake. He eventually agreed to refund two of the fees, but because I had no money in my savings account, I still had to eat $31 in overdraft fees over 19 cents. That hurts. So when I got paid today, the first thing I did was transfer a little bit of money into my savings that is attached to my checking account. Consider it one very expensive (and stressful!) lesson learned.

Look who stopped by my house this morning! Harold came over to put on my new license plate since the old one expired on Wednesday, and I didn’t have the tools to take it off myself. He brought this little man with him. Don’t mind the dirty face. I was going to try and wash it, but he was a little clingy and wouldn’t let me put him down. You know that was just torture for me! You should thank him too because if it hadn’t been for this picture, I probably wouldn’t have bothered to dig out my CD to reinstall the camera software to post today! It’s been so long since I’ve had a blank slate to work with on my computer that I forgot how much stuff had to be installed.

For now I’m just installing things as I find I need them. In the meantime, I’d like to ask, “Is it vacation time yet?” I’ll even buy travel insurance! Okay, no I won’t, cause I’m broke. Instead I’ll probably just take a couple of Fridays off… I have 4 vacation days left for this year, 3 of which I haven’t made any plans for. I’ll probably take one off in November, another one in December and just take the buy back on the last one. We’ll see, I’ll have to talk to my boss about it tomorrow.

I think I’m going to spend the rest of this evening crocheting and watching TV or a movie. I’ve been itching to make something, but since I can’t afford to buy fabric, I’ll have to settle with working on one of my many abandoned crochet projects. Oh the horror! Hopefully that will hold me over until after Christmas. I should be able to start my Christmas shopping after this next paycheck, fingers crossed. Just have to figure out what to get everyone!

For my Friday Finances post (only at least 3 weeks after I posted the first one, and my intention to post every Friday, oops) I wanted to point out the newest addition to my sidebar. That would be Debt Progress Bars. I’ve been looking for a way to put something like that on my blog for a long time. I finally found a plugin that was created by a knitter to track their works in progress, but it was easily adaptable to my purpose. As I make payments, once a month for most of the debts listed, I’ll go in and adjust the percentage of progress I have made towards my goal. I still have some tweaking to do on the plug-in, like colors and dead links, but I’m happy for now. I have a nice visual representation for all of you that doesn’t require me to repeatedly take pictures of the paper and highlighter version that’s taped to the back of my front door. Don’t worry, I’m still updating that one. It’s highly motivating to me to be able to color pink lines on that chart when my payments clear the bank.

In other financial news, I’m considering selling a few items in my house. I have a Sizzix die cutting machine, with a sizzlits adaptor, a full Sizzlits alphabet set, several Sizzix dies (hearts, circles, squares, confetti, etc) most of which has never been used, some of it gently used. I tried to get online and price everything, but there were a few things I couldn’t find. Altogether, I believe everything I have would cost $300+ brand new. So I’m thinking about listing the whole set somewhere for $200. If you know someone who might be interested, send them my way. I’ll try to get a picture of everything I have put up at some point. I have to get my camera software reloaded on my computer before I can do that though.

The other thing I’ve been considering selling is my Wii. I’m a little more torn on that one though. If I had a playstation 3, I’d sell it in a heartbeat. BUT at the same time, I haven’t used the Wii at all in a couple of months, and it seems silly to hang onto it just because I wanted it so badly if it’s not going to get used. I have the Wii console with 2 controllers and nunchucks, WiiPlay, GameParty, the WiiFit with balance board and Dance Dance Revolution: The Hottest Party with dance pad. Altogether, MSRP on what I have is $480, but that’s IF you can find the Wii and the WiiFit in stock somewhere. I’m not completely sold on selling the Wii just yet, but again, if you have any takers, send them my way. I’m looking for someone to buy the whole lot, I don’t want to try and sell it off piece by piece.

So that’s where I’m at right now… no money moving towards debt for another 2-3 weeks probably. This next paycheck covers the bills and such, the one after that will have the debt payments. That’ll probably be the next time you see most of the charts update.

I am saying this with my breath held, my fingers crossed, and knocking on wood, but my computer might be fixed. In any case, my boss got it up and running yesterday, I took it home, was able to get on the internet, and it still started up this morning. Much faster than it was before. All of my documents are on a different drive than the one I’m running windows on, but they are at least all still there. He’s not completely done with it yet though, I have to bring it in tomorrow for him to install some Windows updates, and do a little more configuring, but with any luck the computer will stay running for a long time. If nothing else, it has at least bought me some time before I have to do anything because if memory serves me correctly, buying new computers isn’t cheap. After Christmas, I’ll have to sit down with my budget and see if there isn’t at least $10 here or $10 there to siphon off into a computer fund. We’ll see, but as much as I’d love to pretend this computer will last forever and ever, amen, I know I will have to replace it eventually. Just hopefully later rather than sooner.

My poor laptop is completely dead now. You’ve heard me talking about how it’s been slowing down and just generally been irritating… Well… now it has officially bitten the dust. I brought it to my boss to look at, and he said there was nothing he could do, I need to replace my hard drive. Which, if you’ve been following my financial woes, you know I have no money to do, at least until after Christmas and even then I *shouldn’t*. So you’ll probably see less of me for awhile… I can still access my blogs from work, but I won’t be able to post my Self Portrait Sunday on the weekends. I might have to load my camera software on my work computer cause it would be a shame if I never got to show you the funny car covers I saw yesterday. Actually I didn’t get a picture yesterday, so I may have already lost that opportunity. But I’m crossing my fingers that they’ll still be there when I get home today.

In the meantime, how about a survey about me? Cause I’m at work, I haven’t the internet at home for 3 days (usually I’d post this crap as a bulletin on MySpace) and I’m bored. Enjoy!

1. Who was the last person of the opposite sex you lay in a bed with?
Is it wrong to skip the very first question? If I wasn’t too lazy to renumber the rest, I’d take it out. This one qualifies as classified information.

2. Where was the last place you went out to eat?
Chipotle… and I’m thinking that just might be dinner tonight too.

3. What was the last alcoholic beverage you consumed?
A wine cooler.

4. Which do you prefer - eyes or lips?
Eyes.

5. Medicine, fine arts, or law?
Fine arts.

6. Best kind of pizza?
Pizza hut stuffed crust with extra cheese.

7. Is your bedroom window open?
Nope, I don’t open my bedroom window.

8. What is in store for your future?
Exciting things I hope!

9. Who was the last band you saw live?
Does the ND marching band count?

10. Do you take care of your friends while they are sick?
If I’m needed!

11. What is your favorite soda?
Sierra Mist Free.

12. How many songs are on your iTunes?
This computer has 961. My home computer *did* have a LOT more than that. *sniff*

13. When was the last time you purchased something over 100 dollars?
When I bought the Wii in a fit of stupidity in July.

14. Where is the last place you drove to?
To work this morning.

15. Are you experienced?
That depends on what we’re talking about.

16. Any historical figures that you envy?
Nobody comes to mind.

17. What brand of digital camera do you own?
Canon… will upgrade to a better Canon some day.

18. When was the last time you got a good workout?
Can I plead the 5th on this one? Too long ago…

19. If you need a new pair of jeans, which store do you go to first?
Walmart cause I’m broke. And cheap.

20. Where did your last kiss take place?
Front door of my apartment.

21. What were you doing at 11:59 PM on Monday night?
Sleeping.

22. Are you a quitter?
I try not to be.

23. Who was the last person you had in your house?
Sarah.

24. Can you speak another language?
Used to speak German… now you’re hard pressed to get more than Guten Tag out of me!

25. How about you put your legs behind your head?
HA! I have BOOBS, y’all. Those legs would never fit with them in the way. And let’s not talk about the fat rolls lol

26. When was the last time you went dancing while under the influence?
Vegas last November.

27. Nickname?
Jenn, Jeffiner

28. Describe what you are wearing in detail.
white bra, orange undies, white “wife beater” tank top, white uniform shirt, badge and nametag, black pants, black socks, black shoes.

29. What do you think about people who party a lot?
To each his own, but it’s not my idea of a good time.

30. Does talking about sex make you uncomfortable?
Not usually but it depends on who I’m talking to.

31. Are you one of those people who obsesses over Hollister?
Uh, no. I don’t think I’ve ever been in there.

32. What was the last CD you purchased?
I have no idea, it’s been so long.

33. What are two bands or singers that you will always love?
Shoot, I don’t know.

34. Which of the seven deadly sins are you guilty of?
Probably most of them at one point or another.

35. Did you just have to Google the seven deadly sins to see what they were?
No

36. Where is your favorite place to get coffee?
I don’t drink coffee.

37. Have you ever been offered a job?
Well I’ve been working here for about 3 years, so that would be about the last time.

38. Have you ever stolen anything off a road?
Don’t think so.

39. When was the last time you dyed your hair?
Probably 5-6 years ago.

40. Whom was the last person you rode in a car with?
Sarah

41. Have you kissed somebody in the last 2 weeks?
In the last 2 weeks? No.

42. Miss someone?
Yes

43. How is your last ex doing?
I have no idea… haven’t gotten an update in awhile. So I’ll say I know he’s alive and that’s about all I know.

44. Is there someone you want to fight?
no.

45. Where would you rather be?
In bed! Or on the beach… somewhere where it is still warm.

It is 9:04 am, and I am NOT hungry. I seem to have found a good appetite suppressant…. want to know what it is? *drum roll please* Eating a good breakfast! Seems like those “experts” might know what they are talking about after all.

I have to leave for work by 6:30 in the morning, and I’m just not a person who has much of an appetite when I first get up. So usually I find myself grabbing a quick bowl of cereal before making a mad dash to finish getting ready and get out the door on time. And then of course, I’m hungry by 9am, and positively starving by lunch time. For the last week or so, however, including this morning, I’ve stuck a few brown n’ serve sausages in the microwave and scrambled up a few eggs for breakfast. It doesn’t take more than a few extra minutes, and even though I don’t have much of an appetite that early in the morning, I haven’t had a problem getting them down. Even better, it’s almost lunch time before I’m really starting to feel hungry. Definitely a step up from getting hungry at 9am and spending a couple hours trying to stay out of the chocolate!

Well, hopefully you can tell by this picture that I stood by my promise to actually get in the shower today! I can’t say that I accomplished a whole lot more than that. I woke up with a headache again (starting to wonder if there might actually be something wrong with my prescription, but I don’t think there is), so my morning started off pretty slowly. I did get a little bit of sewing done today, and I cleaned out litter boxes which is always one of my favorite jobs.

I also spent a few hours at my friend Sarah’s place tonight. She just got an apartment with her fiance this week, so I got to go check out the place and watch her unpack. Which is much better than unpacking yourself, I assure you. She’s discovering the same thing I did when I moved out– you managed to cram far more things in your bedroom at home than seems possible within the laws of physics. “Where did these Manolo Blahnik memorabilia come from? Why do I keep them, and what do I do with them now?” I didn’t have any of those to unpack when I moved, but I did get to try and figure out how it is that one bedroom of stuff from my parents’ house didn’t fit into an entire apartment of space.

For now, it’s almost 9:30 which is getting past my bedtime… I want a job that doesn’t require me to set an alarm for 0500… it’s just painful. Though it could be worse, in a couple weeks, I get to be AT work at 0500, and I’ll think my normal alarm time sounds just wonderful on THAT day!

Another item to cross off of my 101 Things in 1001 Days list. I’ve made a secret to send to Postsecret. And no, I won’t be sharing it here… it wouldn’t be a secret if I did! It’s not actually in the mail yet, but it will be when I leave the house next. I might let you know if it gets posted. In the meantime, you can check the Postsecret site and let me know if you figure out which one is mine. They update every Sunday.

And a hint, it has nothing whatsoever to do with cell signal boosters, but I’m going to go out on a limb and guess that that isn’t going to help you out very much.