I had a great 4-day weekend with my hubby despite having to cancel plans to go on a haunted hayride Saturday night – my brother, who was planning on joining us with his girlfriend, ended up having to work, plus it rained most of the day. Joe ended up using the time to repaint the master bathroom since we didn’t like how the color had turned out. We had chosen a beige that looked good in the store but terrible in the artificial lighting in the bathroom. It came across like a fleshy-pink which I absolutely hated. The funny part is we had a free quart of paint we originally planned to use but Joe said there wasn’t enough paint to cover the walls and didn’t think adding a second quart would still be enough so we ended up buying a gallon of the crappy color. After that we bought a second quart of the original color and it was enough for two coats of paint. So the lesson here is to stick with your original plan. We wasted about $25 and Joe’s time by not doing so.
Sunday’s weather was sunny and cold, but that didn’t stop us from attending the Scarecrow Festival in St. Charles with Joe’s sister. We got there super early so we could view the scarecrows in peace and were surprised to see a lot less scarecrows compared to two years ago (not sure how it compared to last year’s turn-out since we didn’t go). There were no less than three different Despicable Me inspired scarecrows of the cute little minions, though. I really enjoyed those! If I had money to blow I would have came home with more than a few holiday decorations because there were some really unique crafts available. Instead I purchased a necklace for $10. I knew I had to have it after walking around the area and wanting to go back to the booth to look at it again. The company is called Wirefly Jewelry and the owner makes more colorful pieces; I just wanted something that would go with everything which is why I got the silver/black color combo.
Monday was errand day which included a wild goose chase searching for Halloween bat decals to put on the windows. The only thing that came close to what I was looking for was sold out at Target. There were some Martha Stuart wall decals at JoAnn Fabrics but they were overpriced so I didn’t get them. I did come home with some holiday accents (acrylic harvest-themed beads, glass Halloween-themed beads, and some Halloween gel clings) that were 60% off at Michaels Arts & Crafts, however. I have a love hate relationship with that store because it irks me that on October 14th they were already shoving the Halloween decor over to make way for Christmas crap. On the other hand, their impatience is what led to the great deals I got, so I guess I’m a hypocrite. ;)
The best deal of the day, however, was thanks to Joe – we went to Savers to look around and he suggested I look for fleece for the rats’ cage. I had been buying remnants from JoAnn Fabrics and hadn’t even thought to check a second-hand store. Sure enough, they had a pretty nice selection of fleece blankets at a deep discount. With the extra 50% special going on I got three blankets for $5.40 which is less than I paid for one remnant! I wish he had thought of that place sooner!
I’m always sad when Joe has to go back to work because ever since leaving my stressful job I’ve become even more attached to him. Not necessarily because I have more time on my hands, but because I’m more relaxed and able to enjoy our time together even more than before without feeling anxious about work.
Besides, I don’t have as much free-time as I used to – I have been working part-time three days a week at a local family-owned business since August doing Accounts Payable work. I don’t see myself working there for a really long time because I don’t care for A/P that much even though I’m good at it and everyone wants me to stay (it was an A/R position when I applied but then they changed it when they offered me the job due to my advanced skills), the pay is much lower than I used to make (I don’t necessarily expect to make what I did before but I’d like to be a little closer than I am right now), and I need to get a full-time job eventually so we can save for our future. I just haven’t found the right thing yet. I’m still looking every day and have even been toying with the idea of going back to school but I haven’t thought of a career that excites me enough to pursue a degree at this point, however, so it would be a waste of money to do so. That being said, I love the people I work with: it’s 95% guys (including me, there’s only 5 women in the company out of about 40-50 employees) which is so refreshing and drama-free. A new Accounting manager started on Monday and I met him Tuesday. So far he seems really nice and knowledgeable.
I work Tue-Thu so I get a four day weekend every week which I love because it gives me time to keep the house clean, clip coupons, try new recipes, work out, and not have to spend the weekends doing anything but having fun with Joe. Honestly, if I was making more money I’d be perfectly happy with my life right now but I can’t help but stress about saving enough money for our eventual retirement. That, and I’m really itching to go on a vacation! We usually go somewhere new every year or two so I’m feeling the travel itch again. If nothing else I think we can afford to visit Omaha, Nebraska next year for a long weekend. I’d really like to see their zoo and just be able to say I’ve been to Nebraska.
» Scarecrow Festival Photos
