Sweet sundays

It's just before 9 here Sunday morning and it is an absolutely gorgeous Sunday here. There is sunshine (a rarity here these days). The leaves are turning and there is a smattering of them across my lawn. It feels like a great day to go for a walk and appreciate the little moments of the fall.

Yesterday was a busy day. DS1 had a hockey meeting then a game, which together, ate up most of the day. DS2 had a Scout Bottle drive which went from 9 AM to 3 PM. thank god for divide and conquer parenting.

For the bottle drive, all the scout/cub/beaver members and their families are expected to show up. The fees for scouting at the beginning of the  year go to head office, not the local groups, so the bottle drives twice a year are our fundraiser for all the local activities. We take two postdated cheques of $100 each from each scout family at the start of the year. If they show up for bottle drive, they get one of the cheques back. ditto for the spring one. It helps ensure someone from each family shows up.

It always amazes me how many bottles we collect in our wee community....bags and bags that won't go in the landfill.

Yesterday was also payday which is my favourite day of the month. The good news is that just before payday, I was able to go to the bank with 800 lovely dollars and top off the rest of my RRSP goal for the  year. Hello completed goal and pretty fulfilled sidebar. wheeee

It also means then that the $400 a month that was dedicated to the now goal filled RRSP, EF and XMAS fun, can be syphoned into extra money on the vehicle loan, at least for the Sept 25, Oct 25 and Nov 25th cheques.  That makes me very very happy.

I will start moving money into the 2011 goals starting at the end of December.  I guess it's almost time to start thinking about what I want to do for 2011. wow the year has gone by fast.

Woo hoo it's finally here!!

Well it's been two months since I ordered it but my couch is finally here. It arrived on Tuesday. It was great to go down and put the balance on my Credit card (for the airmiles) knowing that I am going to the bank today to pay it off with the cash that I saved up for it.

However it was not all joy and giggles. Getting the darn thing into the basement was a nightmare. I am glad DS1 is old enough and strong enough to do the heavy lifting. We took the legs off and managed to get the first piece down the stairs but getting it around the corner into the recroom was a big challenge. We had narrow space to work with. It took about 20 minutes of shifting and angles to get it in there.

Then came the second piece. Larger. With the joining part so it was much harder to work with.

We had to take the door off to the house to get it in through there. Good times. We haven't had that door off in awhile and those pins were stuck tight. When we finally got it down the stairs, it became apparent that it was not going to make that turn. The extra length and the sides put us about 6 inches too large to get through as we played angles. We tried this way and that. high and low. rotating it. We got it stuck a couple times in the narrow hall as we tried to turn and approach the door differently.

Apparently asking my husband at that point "you DID measure before I bought it like I reminded you???" was a bad idea. Furniture moving, furniture assembly and hanging wallpaper = reasons to divorce.

At one point he dropped it on DS1 as DS1 was wriggling under it (as per his father' s instructions) to move into laundry room to lift that way. Nothing broken on his arm, but close.

I finally called my dad. He's really good at reading angles and such. I promised him he would not have to lift....just give us directions or tell us it was impossible. After all, he's 74 and shouldn't be lifting tons. He's stubborn however and really hard to tell not to do something.

We got it in. He saw an angle we hadn't seen in the heat of the moment.

Thank god for dads!!!

It looks really good down there. There's tons of room to sit and it's very comfortable. The cats were excited beyond belief and took no time at all deciding where they wanted to sit when the boys were down there.

Was it wrong that when I went downstairs this morning to change a load of laundry and chase DS1 upstairs to the shower, that I said good morning to the couch? lol

After 6 weeks of sitting on the floor, the boys are very much appreciating the luxury of a couch. DS2 says I feel like I'm so high up!! I say 'well anything is higher up than the floor darlin' LOL

It's bought.It's paid for. It's mine! wheeeeeeeeee

Weekend This and That

It's been absolutely crazy this past week. Like being tied to a treadmill and it just keeps getting faster and faster.

It was a short work week. 3 days. Our school was gone out of town for a teacher conference for Thursday and Friday. There were a ton of people there. Lunch was provided but transportation, parking and overnight(for those who chose that option) were on our own. It wasn't a bad conference...not the worst I've ever been to by far. I came away with some things I want to try this week in my classroom. Still, being away from 6 AM to 5:30 PM including drive time, really puts everything behind at home.

Thursday night when I got home I had enough time to head to facebook to reply to a few birthday greets and then it was off to watch DS1 play  hockey. Birthday supper was rink fries and a mocha. mmmm rink fries :-)

Friday night by the time I got home I was exhausted. I had picked up a lovely cold sometime Wednesday that was blossoming and blooming so it was early to bed for me. Apparently I was out like a light so obviously I needed it very badly.

Saturday was catch up day. A few 'run here run there' errands, including one to Walmart to pick up some of the great sales they had. I was not alone. It was like Christmas shopping and I could see how a good case of cart rage could  develop.

Some much needed house cleaning was done including re-arranging some furniture downstairs to accomodate the sectional which is coming soon to a house near me on Tuesday or Wednesday. The boys are very excited to know it's on the way.

I had to wrap my head around Grade 10 Math for awhile yesterday. It truly is a species all on it's own. I hope he catches on to it or it's going to be a steep learning curve for mom as he and I learn it together.

today is a mishmash of things. DS1 is at a referee clinic, so he can hopefully make a bit of cash here and there to pay for gas for his car. With his hockey schedule, a regular teenager part time job isn't really an option if I still want  him to get his homework done and sleep sometimes. ah well, we shall find our way.

Then DS1 heads out of town for hockey and DS2 and I will stay at home, so I can supervise his homework and then go to my mom's for a small, belated birthday supper. Somewhere between I have to grocery shop and get some schoolwork done.

I really need to get myself back on Weight Watchers. It's been the only plan I've ever had success with, though I will be the first to admit that each new time I go on it, it is progressively harder and harder to stick with. Alas I have not only blew my goal of losign 40 lbs out of the water, I have gained. I am at a highest ever so I guess it is time to get moving.

Happy Sunday everyone!

Ok now I am offended

*chuckles* Last one of these I will post but please do note what I've enlarged and put in bold.

Dr. Patrick Mensah,
Regional Manager,
Zenith Bank Ltd,
Kumasi Main Branch,
Adeabeba, Ahodwo Road,
Kumasi, Ghana.
I got your contact during my search for a reliable, honest and a trust worthy person to entrust this huge transfer project with. My name is Dr. Patrick Mensah, I am the Regional manager of the above mentioned Bank In the Northern region of Republic of Ghana.

I am a Ghanaian married with two kids. I have contacted you so that this transaction can benefit the both of us, knowing you are advanced in age with the fear of God, but if you are not willing to get involved in the Deal, do not REPLY THIS MAIL, as you will never hear from me again.

I am writing to solicit your assistance in the transfer of Us$12,500.000.00USD.This fund is the excess of what my branch in which I am the manager made as profit during the last year. I have already submitted an approved end of the year report for the year 2009 to my head office Here in Ghana and they will never know of this excess. I have since then, Placed this amount of US$12,500.000.00 on a suspense account without a beneficiary.

As an officer of the bank, I cannot be directly connected to this money thus; I am compelled to request your assistance to receive this money into your bank account.

I intend to part 40% of this fund to you while 60% shall be for me. I do need to stress that there are practically no risk involved in this. It is going to be a bank-to-bank transfer. All I need is for you to stand as the original depositor of this fund.

If you accept this offer, I will appreciate your timely response. Note that you are free to come to Ghana for confirmation.

With Regards, DR. PATRICK MENSAH.

sigh I mean really...just because it's my bday tomorrow and I'm now over 40.....lol

On the bright side, I've an invitation to go to Ghana to confirm things.

ok i'll be good and not throw these up anymore. Just made me chuckle

There goes another $500

I went last night to sign my sun up again for his band program. They meet in the evening once a week. They also meet 2 noon hours a week for practice. He absolutely loves the program and even moreso, the conductor. They did a lot of great things last year concert-wise.

The painful part was the payment tonight. The cost??? $500

Here's how it broke down:
1) cost of the program - $150
2) cost of the instrument rental - $150
3) fundraiser payout - $200

ouch

The program is well worth the fee.

The rental...well it's cheaper than when I used to rent one out of the city.

The fundraiser payout - well it's either work 8 bingos (5 hours each) for $25 a shot, or payout $200. That's saying my time is $5 an hour.

On their own, each component isnt' bad at all...but together, it bites!! hard.

sigh. ah well. good thing I saved up for this.