We love the library here... so many more readily available materials then at the library in DeForest. Luckily they are both hooked up to the same system (Linkcat), where you can reserve materials from the many other libraries in the system.

I borrowed The Legend of Hell House (an old black and white horror flick) two mysteries by Susan Wittig Albert featuring China Bayles as the woman slueth... lawyer turned herb store owner turned mystery solver, and DH borrowed six photography magazines... He's really excited about their photography books because they have a much larger selection and a lot of good titles.

We also went to Movie Gallery, where we had gotten a gift card with $27 for signing up... strange amount but it probably adds up to a certain amount of rentals. We got Spellbound (it follows a group of kids in a spelling bee championship and their crazy parents... It's from the makers of Best in Show.... a flick that follows dogs and their crazy owners in a dog show), and the remake of Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

DH doesn't really like horror movies, but he's never seen it before and I wanted to see what they changed around in the new one so.... We watched this one last night and it was good. I actually jumped a few times and I liked how they changed the ending around.
We still have to watch Spellbound, but it's a week rental.

I may be getting my first secret shopper job soon, I applied so hopefully!

We brought in the living room furniture (couch, entertainment center, tv, and electronics) and Spyros's desk yesterday. My back was sore this morning, but it feels better now. The living room is actually starting to resemble one... and I was able to put away a box of DVDs... : )

I've been folding clothes all morning since our closet is a lot smaller and we'll need a dresser/armoire to fit them all. We're going to us an old icebox chest that was left in the garage and conver it into an armoire with four shelves inside.
The front and side that will be showing look great, but the left side (which won't be showing) and the top need some work. We're going to cut a piece of paneling (from the paneling we tore down), and put in on top. Then we'll take some fabric from a bedskirt we aren't using, but that matches the comforter and staple/glue it on top of the paneling.

DH is going out with the boys in Madison tonight, so I'm going to spend the night at my Mom's. I'll be helping her move the huge fish tank tomorrow... not fun.

Waiting for DH, he's finally done with his jobs in Madtown. Then he starts here tomorrow....

One of my biggest pet peeves are when people are late... even five minutes. Growing up my father had me every other weekend, usually picking me up around 6pm on Friday. After school I would pack my stuff, read some or play, and then wait by the window.
Often times the clock would ring six times and he still wouldn't be there. Granted he always showed up but usually late, and sometimes up to an hour. I hated that... the wait, I wanted to be with him and having to wait longer was excrutiating.

I always try to be early to appointments, whereas DH takes a more casual approach. Granted we're rarely really late, but even 10 minutes to me is too late. When we tell friends we'll be there at 5pm, but don't get there until 5:30 I always feel bad and apologize right away.

I realize situations do arise, but that's what phones/email are for. And if you just lost track of time to me that says that you don't respect me enough to care. I know it may sound simplistic, but hey that's how I see it.

You may be asking who did what to cause this tirade... no one... I was just thinking of how I have to wait for DH because I have no set time as to when he will be up!!!

A squirrel just ran up a tree, birds are constantly flying by, and I saw a bunny about five minutes ago. I love our house and yard. The other day two squirrels were chasing each other all around, then suddenly they stopped about two feet apart. The one in front had to go potty and the second one waited until he was done to begin the chase again... very cute.

I did both coats of the light green yesterday, and I think I may get away with only doing another coat for the medium and not the dark... so hopefully.

More raspberries must be picked today. I also want to go to the library and get new cards, and pick up a phone book.
I may call BookWorld to see if they are still hiring....

Jodi... more details please! Did you not get any shops, did it take forever to get paid, or did you not get paid???

I finished painting the first coat of stripes in the porch this morning. The dark green looks good but the medium and light will need a second coat... and I may as well put a second on the dark green then too.

My favorite type of weather is cloudy over-cast days that turn into thunderstorms (as long as they don't last all week...), and today looks to be such a day. Unfortunately this is Baby Kitty's least favorite type of weather.

I want to try and get up the rest of the staples and nail boards around the living room today, so when DH comes tomorrow we can get the furniture in, and I can start putting some more stuff (picture, knick-knacks, etc...) away.
That's why I've been working on the stripes too, because the desk that is presently in the living room will be going out into the porch until we get the garage that will be DH's office finished.

Well must get busy applying for more mystery shopping... and hopefully the jobs start coming in!

I do want to become the crazy old lady with lots of cats... but I don't think I'll be able to do the lots of cats part... so I guess just crazy for now and old later...

Some of the frugal things I do I know others will think of as odd... including DH. Since we have a garden and other pretty living things outside, I've decided to start saving good used water for them.
Like the water I soaked the raspberries in and the warm cat water and the water from the dehumidifier.

I tore up the carpet in the bathroom yesterday and glued hardwood was found. I'm excited about this, but at the same time not liking the work and/or money that will be put in to restore them. But I really do think it will be cheaper then wall to wall carpet. This also most likely means that the kitchen and steps to upstairs will also be hardwood....

Painted around the windows and ceiling again in the porch. Since I had left the painters tape on for about two weeks, it was a pain to get off... so if you ever use it make sure to take it off much sooner.
I'm going to tape up the other eight windows and door on the last wall in the porch today and them begin painting one of the three different shades of green stripes. Three of the walls are a light green and then the fourth wall will have the same light green and two darker shades of green painted on it.
I'm also going to do one of the walls in the dining room in the same fashion. On this wall I will highlight some of DH's black and white nature photography. I think it will look wonderful!

I've been walking around trying to figure out where our framed pictures and wall clock will go, but I've only come up with a few ideas... I'm hoping once all the furniture is in I will be better able to place them.
Maybe we'll have too many and have to donate/sell some of them....

I'm also going to try Mystery Shopping... so once again if anyone has any experience with it, I would love to hear about it... good or bad.

Starting another chapter in my life so I am once again coming back to this spot. If people find it, wonderful... if not that's okay too, since I can look back on this for inspiration.

We bought a house... not exactly frugal since we had bought (and sold) our one in Windsor is a span of about two years...

But this house is definately a keeper. Lots of raspberry bushes, garlic and onions; plus a garden spot already made just waiting for more veggies. There's mature trees, flowers and bushes all around the house.
Most of the flooring is hardwood (hiding under carpet and/or pasted on carpet padding). It will take a lot of work to get them finished, but in the long run probably cheaper then wall to wall carpet. And we personally like hardwood the best for floor coverings.

Since moving here Spyros will have only one job, and will be taking a major pay cut. I'm going to continue to look for a job, but they are pretty scarce in this area, so.... I must put frugality into over-drive.

I had ordered some new checks through one of the mail-order places. I didn't think we had order from them before so we would get a new client deal. Well, I got the checks today along with an invoice for $26.30 remainder balance.
I was just going to let it go since I must have ordered from them before... but me being me I couldn't, so I called and inquired. I talked with a nice customer service person and she was able to take that amount and cut in in half. Better then having to pay the whole bill, and now I'll remember that I have already ordered from them twice.

I picked about a 1/3 of a pot of raspberries today, which I'll freeze. I already have 3 bags in the freezer, we've had two bowls ourselves and gave one to Mom and Joe. I'm liking the garden already.
Now we just need to get the mulch pile that is already set up, going again.

I subscribed to a site that has lots of sites that you can sign up to, to give your opinion and you can receive cash or prizes. I had to pay a fee to join, but I'm hoping this works out well for extra money.
If anyone has ever done this, I would love to hear about your success, or lack of, with these companies.