Last week at this time we were heading home down I-5 from Bellingham, WA and complaining about the cold! Thankfully the weather cooperated and there was no rain, but there was quite a bit of fog, except for around Seattle where we received breathtaking night-time views of the city as we drove through (and no traffic, either!).
But that was then, and this is now. Tonight, I am
- Reading: The Hanging Garden, by Ian Rankin, one of the last two Rebus novels I haven’t read. I’m also reading Telegraph Avenue by Michael Chabon.
- Watching: I’d love to be watching the new season of Downton Abbey, but will have to wait for it to appear online tomorrow. Sigh.
- Listening to: Meiling run the vacuum cleaner upstairs, and the washing machine run the last load. Tré exciting!
- Cooking/baking: Mr. Losing It is making a Hawaiian pizza (ham, pineapple and onion) as I write. I’ve pretty much stayed out of the kitchen all day.
- Glad I accomplished: Finalizing the budget for next year. I had it pretty much done before we left for Hawaii, but got it tweaked this past week so we’re ready to go. Also, finishing up all the leftovers today.
- Looking forward to next week: Mr. Losing It’s first paycheck of the year. He got a nice pay increase, but with the changes to the withholdings that will occur we don’t know whether he’ll actually receive any gain or not. Our budget is based on last year’s income; if we receive any extra this year it will go toward debt repayment.
- Thankful for: A small thing: that the inexpensive refilled ink cartridges I bought for our printer through Amazon (using credit from Swagbucks) work after all and I don’t have to order the expensive new ones instead.
- What is the “minimum” # you feel comfortable with sitting in your bank account/piggy bank? These days we’d like to keep around $2500 available for emergencies (we have around $1450 now). We’ve had more or less in the past, depending on whether times were lean or fat, but we don’t have to worry about layoffs and such any more; we’ll be living on a fixed income beginning in July and $2500 seems about right. If we can save more though, great!
Many thanks to Carla at My 1/2 Dozen Daily for hosting Sunday Night Chit Chat (and for coming up with such interesting bonus questions!).
We flew out of Bellingham for our Hawaii trip, & LOVED the tiny airport. It was so easy to navigate with kids.
We also had pizza for dinner tonight – I made fresh mozzarella & meatball. It was yummy. May have to try Hawaiian next weekend!
I agree – Bellingham was very easy to negotiate. The long-term parking for our car was very affordable (and safe) as well. We lucked out as well that we had good weather driving up and back; on the drive up we had incredible views of Rainier and the Cascades. The flight was definitely no-frills, but we would use it again (although now Allegiant has flights out of Eugene, which is only 2 hours away).
You read soo many books! How do you find them all? They always sound so interesting!! Congrat’s on hubbys pay increase! Hope it helps you out financially!
I’ve never seen Downtown Abby, but EVERYONE seems to love it! Definitely going to have to try to hunt it down to watch!! Have a great week my friend! 
Carla, you’ve got to see Downton Abbey – your whole family would probably love it. You can catch up on all the episodes online now.
I am very fortunate that our library system has what’s called a “Lucky Day” shelf; these are current/new books that are very popular and with long waits if you reserve them. If you find them on the shelf you can get them immediately, so I find lots of books there. It’s always the first place I check when I go to the library (I go weekly). There’s another shelf of new books as well and I find good things to read there as well (they have a whole section of mysteries). Third, I always go and check if there is anything available on the shelves from my favorite authors – I can usually find something. Finally, I keep a list of each year’s notable books from the NY Times, and put ones I want to read on reserve. Going to the library is like going to the candy store for me – always so much to choose from. I usually end up bringing home too many books!
Check your email for Downton joy!
Oh, thank you! Can’t wait to get started!
Ah, we just watched the first episode of Downton from last season tonight.
I am really looking forward to this season – each episode is a delight!
Downton was great. A bit long, but very enjoyable. Hard to believe that the storyline takes place over 93 years ago (1920)!!!!!!!
I like to have $5000 in the account, but settle for between $1K and $2500.
I think we’ll eventually get to $5000, but it won’t be until after the girls are grown and out of the house, or at least finished with college.
Can’t wait to see Downton today. It’s about the only reason I’d consider having cable again, but still not that much of a temptation (unfortunately, we can’t even get local channels without cable).
Ditto. We live amongst the mountains, so we have to have cable/satellite. TV waves can’t make it through the rock.