Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Combining Finances....

Sucks.

I shouldn't say that... the end result won't really suck, but I can safely say the process if not much fun. It's awkward and uncomfortable... but I guess it's necessary.

You see, I have always been a very independent person. In the last few years I had develop quite the little budgeting system for myself, which included a list of what bills get paid by which paycheck (I get paid every two weeks, so basically it came out to what gets paid the first half of the month and the second) and then how much money I had to do with as I pleased. Included in that was a plan to pay off all my credit card debit, save for vacations and save for a 6-month "emergency fund". Yes, I had actually started doing that! I was very proud of how far I had come. I knew exactly what I made, and I knew pretty much where every cent of it was going.

When Zach and I first started living together I paid "rent", which covered my half of the mortgage and other home related bills each month. When we went grocery shopping we'd split the bill, and at times we'd each just sort of cover it. It took some getting used to, but it worked.

Then earlier this year Zach and I decided to refinance the house and officially put me on the mortgage. (Isn't that sweet, at the time I didn't have a ring but I did have the 30-year mortgage commitment. Nothing says love like sharing major debt!) Then Zach and I decided to create a "household" checking account (Yeah, I know. We were just tipping our toe into the pool of joint finances). We added up all the "household" bills, including all the usual stuff and then added food and other household type supplies to the list. We figured out about how much each of us would pay towards this account, and so we each tried to do that. I did mine direct deposit (because my work makes that nice and easy and it makes the checking account free!). Zach would deposit when he could.

Here is where the trouble started. I worry about money, well, a lot. I check my checking account on-line every day (Except on vacation, but well, that is mostly because I don't generally have Internet access). I have spreadsheets that detail when debt will be paid off. I signed up for mint.com so I could see where all my money was going. Is it all a little OCD? Probably. But I spent a lot of time in my past feeling NO control over my money, and I hated that. I like knowing where it is going and knowing I'll have enough to pay all the bills all the time. Hence all the lists and spreadsheets and madness. It all gives me the sense of control over my money that I really need.

Well, when Zach and I joined forces, it was no longer that easy any more. Zach's current financial position is less constant than mine, so he gets money throughout the month at various times, including often just cash. Zach's money doesn't magically show up in the account (he has to actually deposit it) and I found myself having to remind him about depositing the necessary money for his half of the bills. I would worry he didn't have enough, but wouldn't want to tell me. It wasn't too bad though. There weren't too many "variables" because mostly, it was just the regular bills, food and household stuff (lots of trips to Target!) and I was still basically paying for most of my personal stuff myself, and frankly I had a lot of "extra" money to spend as I pleased. I could fairly easily see that we were generally on track for our joint stuff, and I had to make comfort with that fact.

Well, then, Zach went to what I'll call "full" unemployment. Meaning his dad's company wasn't paying anything and it was no longer paying any of the benefits it was before (health insurance and gas mainly). So our household now had more bills to pay and less to pay it with. It became increasingly obvious that combining financial forces was the only option to make ends meet at our house. So now we're in the process of just having a joint checking account, and paying all bills and everything out of the joint account.

Suffice to say all the work that goes into changing everything over to a new checking account is 0% fun. Virtually all my bills are on auto-pay, so I had to go back and switch them all over to the joint account to get paid. Zach is still in the process of doing the same. So far, only one bill didn't get paid on time because of the change over, which isn't too bad.

The bad part? I've lost all of my sense of happy money controlling security. I'm trying to spreadsheet my way to happiness with the joint situation... but so far I'm coming up pretty darn short. You see, we've learned here that Zach and I have been using two VERY different means to control our checking accounts.

Zach was using the, I pay each of my bills as the come in, and I generally have X amount sitting in my checking account. He liked writing out the checks for each bill, so he knew exactly where his money was going. As he told me, if the X amount was going up, he would throw some into savings, or pay off some extra credit card or other bills. Oh yeah, and Zach likes paying for everything in cash if he can. He likes having a lot of cash on him. That's just how he rolls.

I, on the other hand, used a system of auto-bill pay. Half of my bills were paid with the first paycheck of the month, the second half with the second paycheck and they all paid themselves. I marked on my google calender when each would come out, but that was it, I barely thought about that money at all. I knew I had X amount of each paycheck to spend as I saw fit for gas, clothing or whatever else I wanted. Rarely would all of X not get spent. You see for me, when there was money waiting around, I like to spend it on fun stuff. I already had a fairly aggressive debt paying off plan built into the bill paying, so I was comfortable with those and didn't feel a strong need to pay off more with my fun money. Man do I love spending fun money. Oh, and cash? I don't really like having cash on me. A little is fine, but more than $100 and I get uncomfortable. I like using my debit card so I can track where the money goes easily.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that these two money schemes aren't going to be very compatible. So how do we do it?

If you've got a good plan, let me know. :) We're still working through it. I think a lot of compromising is going to be in the schedule. For the moment we're reading "Smart Couples Finish Rich" which is a somewhat hokey book (You have to get past the idea that he has copyrighted half of the stupid gimmicky phrases he uses.) on I guess planning to become rich. I think you can imagine who purchased this book... but Zach seems in to the idea of getting us on the right track (and I think that getting rich part didn't hurt). It seems to have helped to foster some discussion about our joint financial situation and our joint financial future, which were both needed. I'll let you know how our progress goes!

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

A Little Move...

In an effort not to bore people with all my wedding thoughts (unless they want to hear them) I've moved my wedding related blabbering over to another blog.

Check out http://lefthandedpartnersincrime.blogspot.com/ to view any and all of my wedding thoughts and mussings!

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Please Explain

Go take a look at this wonderful item listed on Amazon:

Amazon.com: Master Lock 7113D Cash Box with 7-Compartment Tray: Home Improvement

Now scroll down to the "Frequently Bought Together" portion. Can someone please explain why a lock box and black satin sheets are "frequently" purchased "together"?

Just thought I would share.

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

I'm becoming a statistic!

Well... I guess I shouldn't say that it was inevitable... but it probably was. Tomorrow (I learned today because I'm in the boss' office!) my employer is announcing that all non-Union employees will be required to take 15 fulough days over the next 15 months.

I'm trying to focus on the positive. That is 15 days off! As an exempt employee (meaning I'm salaried and therefore not eligible for good stuff like overtime) that means 3 one week vacations over the next year and a half, which will come in handy with the wedding and what not coming up. I generally only have 2 weeks of vacation a year, so I've been stocking up on vacation days with the hopes of being able to use them in the upcoming year for the three time-off activities I had planed for next year (Paris, wedding and honeymoon!). I guess all that stocking away of days isn't really necessary now... I'll have plenty of time!

What won't come in handy? Um... 15 days less pay over the 15 months. That essentially amounts to a 5.8% reduction in pay, which I think means I'll make about as much as I was making when I started this job a year and a few months ago. It wouldn't be so bad if I was still stocking away all that money I was making off the raise (It was supposed to be my vacation savings!) but with Zach not bringing in as much right now, every penny I make is pretty much going towards our household expenses. I haven't really been saving a dime for wedding or other "fun" expenses, let alone the raining day fund I was hoping to begin. You know, that 6 months emergency reserve everyone is "supposed" to have, I was actually trying to do that! So much for that....

On the plus side, Zach has been doing really well with getting new students for his budding piano teaching business, and he is bringing in more money every week. Hopefully his new income should be able to replace my minor reduction.

Ok... I'm over it. I wanted to feel bad for myself for a second, and now I'm done. I am blessed to be employed right now given the economy, so I need to just get over it. I can still help support my little family, I can still pay the bills, and we still live a really GOOD life. I can't very well complain about that right?

I'll just consider this God's way of telling me to get a little more crafting in. I guess I'm going to have more time for Squirreled Away business adventures...

Friday, September 11, 2009

Now That is Love...

Yesterday I had the joy of going in for a minor medical test and Zach got to be my "designated driver". Suffice to say that the procedure involved me not being able to eat for basically 1 1/2 days and required the consumption of some less then fun liquids to help clean things out. It hasn't been the most enjoyable few days of my life, but it made me realize how my Zach loves me.

As we were driving the the hospital he said he had a tough time sleeping the night before because he was so worried about me. In fact he was still a bit of a nervous wreck on the way there... he was more nervous than I was! Then, as I was waking up post-procedure, as soon as my eyes were open he said, "I'm not letting you close your eyes in here again!" On the way home he confessed that it was pretty scary seeing me all passed out and hooked up to tubes and such. "Not exactly an easy way to see you," he said.

Then, if those first few pieces of adorableness weren't enough, he cleaned up my mess when I managed to get sick all over the living room floor after my first attempt to eat solid food failed. No questions asked, no gross faces, no comments, nothing, he just quickly cleaned up the situation and went on about his business.

Now that is love.

I love you Zach! Thank you for being there for me, it means the world. :)

Monday, August 24, 2009

Wedding Things I'm excited about.... Installment #1

Ok, after my rant I thought it might be good to start thinking about what wedding related items I might actually be excited about, since there are a few.

#1 - Paper Goodies - I love paper and I love paper products. What I REALLY love is letterpress, but my wallet does not agree with my love affair. When I bought my Gocco I was convinced that would be how I would create my invitations (or whatever it is we end up doing). After a few minutes and a goggle search for "Gocco wedding invitations" I'm quickly reminded of the wonders of the Gocco and how much fun it would be too produce something wonderful for the wedding with it. Now if I could just remember to actually purchase some more supplies before they run out....

#2 - Dress Shopping - Although I am a little terrified at the idea of shopping for a dress in a BRIDAL store (where they all cost too much and look beautiful). I am not at all scared of shopping for a dress. I'm thinking shopping for a off-white dress in a non-bridal store, might be best for me. That way I can avoid all the pushy sales people and just shop at my own pace. Now if only Anthropologie would start making wedding dresses...

#3 - The Honeymoon! - I love me a good vacation, so I'll take any excuse in the book to go on one. Zach and I have already been on 3 lengthy vacations (Dominican Republic for a friend's wedding, Vegas/California and our recent trip to New Orleans/Mexican Cruise) so this is by no means our first trip away together. We know each others quirks and limits and we know what we like. Each vacation we've taken we've learned a lot about ourselves and I think they've always brought us closer. I am sure that this vacation will be no different! I am just trying to fight the urge to make this "the" vacation and spending a boat load on it. We'll have other vacations!

Wow, I'm happy to report 3 things I'm actually excited about for the wedding. I know that 3 things isn't exactly a ton, but it is something right?

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

I'm a Deadbeat Bride

I’ve been thinking a lot about my pending nuptials. It has been almost a month already, and I’m starting to get the distinct feeling that my time for not having a wedding plan is running out. In all my thinking, a certain Sex and the City episode keeps running through my head. In it, Carrie gets engaged to Aden, and she is trying to get in the bridal mode. She even goes so far as to try on gowns and ends up getting a rash. In her little “inner monologue typing” she says,

“As progressive as our society claims to be, there are still certain life targets we’re all supposed to hit: marriage, babies and a home to call your own. But what if instead of breaking out into a smile, you break out into a rash? Is it something wrong with the system or is it you? And do we really want these things, or are we just programmed?"

I keep going back and forth between wanting a wedding and not wanting anything to do with it. In the days following my engagement I spent a few hours looking at possible locations and possible ideas and I just couldn’t even stomach the thought. A location that costs $3,000 just to rent? Then I have to pay even more for food and booze? I’m getting a little nauseous just at the thought of it. Of course you can go cheaper, but not for a place with any personality or pizzazz.

I know I already posted my idea of a tiny wedding at the Chicago Cultural Center and then a party at Ravinia. I’m still not 100% sold, but I’m getting closer every day. The Ravinia idea has its perks (and its costs) depending on how we did it, but I still think that would be a wonderful idea that would keep the pressure off of doing the typical “wedding” things. No cake cutting, no need for flowers or any of those other trappings. Unfortunately though, lawn seats for Ravina are at least $25 per person, and then if I actually catered food beyond that (yes, Ravinia does that), the price gets up there quickly. The idea of trying to cart in food and booze for even 50 people is a little daunting… although it could definitely be done if necessary.

I’m not going to lie and say there isn’t a little tiny part of me that worries I’m missing out on something by not doing a big production of a wedding. That some day I might regret not having a million formal pictures of me in a big white dress with the family. More often that not, those are pretty fleeting thoughts, and a pretty big “what if someday”. But right now, I’m not a big white dress girl. Zach and I don’t have any type of familial obligations that a lot of other people do. No one is pressuring us to have a big wedding, in fact a few of them have actually nudged us in other directions.

I guess I just have other priorities in my life than a wedding. What I really want is to be married and start living the “rest of my life” part. I dream of making my little craft business something worthwhile and Zach finding a job he loves, is happy in and provides us with enough (between the two of us) for financial stability. I dream of wonderful vacations and making our next house a real home before we have kids. I dream of having kids and being a loving, wonderful, supportive mom. What I don’t dream about is a wedding.

I was getting teary-eyed just writing that, but it is the truth. I dream of bigger and better things than a wedding. I dream of a wonderful, full and amazing life. I know that for a lot of people the wedding party at the beginning of that is a great kick-off, but for us it just isn’t right and I guess what I have to realize is that it is OK to want something other than what I’m “supposed” to want from a wedding.

Zach and I were talking about honeymoons (it’s the one area that he is really interested in!) and I mentioned something about wanting to do a helicopter tour if we went to Hawaii, “since it would probably be the only time we got to go there”. His response was, “Why would you say this is the only time we would go? Who’s to say we won’t be back?” It makes me happy to think that I have a partner who wants to go to Hawaii twice and more importantly provided me with the perspective that I want in this whole process. Who’s to say we can’t do any of this again? Plenty of people have vow-renewal ceremonies, hold big parties for anniversaries and the whole thing. This doesn’t have to be “the” wedding, party, dress, honeymoon etc. If I “regret” whatever choices we make now, we can just do them over in a decade or two.

Wow… this post is really lacking focus. Sorry about that. I tend to think things out through writing, which is exactly what I did here. I feel much better about doing our own thing now, whatever that might be.

Friday, July 31, 2009

I've Got A New Piece of Jewelry...

I am happy to announce that Zach and I are officially engaged! He popped the question last weekend on a lazy Saturday afternoon around the house. He had initially planned to make a big deal out of it, but realized I would probably see that coming from a mile away. The true surprise was a much better plan. :)

Here's a picture of my lovely new bling:

Ok, now ever since I've gotten this thing (and I mean that with all the affection in the world) on my finger I haven't really been sure how to deal with it. I know that most girls want to scream from rooftops and stop strangers on the street to share the good news, but I'm not that type of girl. I love Zach and I couldn't be more thrilled that we are going to spend the rest of our lives together, but broadcasting that to the world from every outlet available just seems like bragging. Is that bad? I feel a little sheepish telling people on my own, so I am thankful that I am surrounded by people who are more than willing the share the news for me. Don't get me wrong I am THRILLED, I just don't know how to tell people about something that really feels pretty personal.

I guess I better get over it though, since the "Did you set a date yet?" questions have started, and I'm sure will not stop until we get around to that date setting stuff. Maybe that is where my hesitiation really lies... Zach and I have already discussed that we will not be having a big traditional wedding. There will be not traditional ceremony, no church, no cake cutting, no big rubber-chicken reception. I guess knowing that makes me hesistant to share our potential plans because I know that there are a lot expectations about weddings and what they should and shouldn't be. I'm pretty sure that our plan will likely fall into the "shouldn't" category!

With that being said, here are our thoughts (or I should probably say really MY thoughts, with at least a nod of semi-approval from Z):

1) Wedding - I had initially thought Courthouse, but that just didn't seem right. A great happy medium? The Chicago Cultural Center does civil ceremonies for $10 (in addition to the usual marriage license fees) on Saturday mornings from 9 - noon. You have to register in advance, but you get to get married in what looks to be a gorgeous old building downtown! You can bring family and friends, but you might have to wait a little to get in the room with the judge. I must say I am pretty smitten with the idea... and it wouldn't be totally strange to have a friend of ours photograph the event so we have something to look back on. And, as Zach pointed out, we could have everyone go to our favorite restaurant, Marge's Still, for lunch afterwords.

2) A Wedding PARTY! - I refuse to refer to whatever we decide to do as a "reception" since it won't involve the usual trappings of that type of affair. An initial thought was a bar with bar food type party, but that isn't really as "us" as I would like and renting out a bar (even just a room) is EXPENSIVE! My second, and current, thought was Ravinia! Zach and I have some of our fondest memories at Ravinia (we even celebrated our first dating anniversary there!) and there is nothing better than hanging out on that lawn, listing to great music, drinking wine and enjoying yourself. There are a variety of options open to make a ravinia evening easier to manage for a decent sized group, including full tent parties down to just catering. If we were really ambitious, we could even just bring all the food ourselves! We're still trying to work out some of the details on this one (it could get pretty expensive too) but so far, I'm really like this idea!

3) HONEYMOON! - I'll be honest, this is the part we're really the most excited about. In fact, I think if it were up to Zach alone, it would be pretty much the only part :) We're still batting around a lot of ideas, must of which (at least for me) center around a cruise ship. I loved our cruise vacation back in February, and I can't wait to get back on another ship and set sail for multiple destinations in such a short period of time! My biggest problem is the "hell, it's our hoenymoon" why not!

Monday, July 6, 2009

Goal Work: Worrying Less and Being More Financially Savy

I'm not going to lie, I haven't come up with some great solution to my ever present state of worry or the end to my financial woes.

I have however begun to let some of the little "worries" in my life go. Be prepared for a fairly un-interesting story to unfold :)

I love shopping, and even more than shopping I love a good deal. And as any good shopper does, I've signed up for about a million and one e-mail lists from my favorite places. Somewhere along the line I must have given them all my birthday too, so I was getting birthday cards and birthday sales all over the place last month. At the end of June, when a lot of those "birthday month" specials were expiring, I got very sad. I hadn't used a single one of my "birthday" specials! I seriously considered skipped my golf lesson (something I've already paid good money for!) to go visit Anthropologie to use a 15% of birthday coupon I got from them on the last day it was valid. Oh, should I also mention I don't really have any money to spend there anyways?

This isn't the first time I've had these types of thoughts. I frequently stop into stores because I have a coupon. The more I think about it, the more I realize that I'm 100% being douped. Those darn advertisers are just praying that my poor ass thinks that I have to get to the store to use my coupon. Like I somehow need more clothing, even though I don't have a clue what I'm actually going to purchase.

I don't like the idea that I'm not going to get these deals (let's be honest, in this economy, deals are piling up faster than a squirrel's winter nut pile) so I came up with an alternate solution. I've set my gmail filters to automatically archive, mark as read and label with "Shopping Deals!" anything that comes in from my shopping deal frequent flyers (At the moment that is Banana Republic, Gap and Crate and Barrel, I'll add others as they come in). That way, when I decide that I need something new I can go check out the folder and find some great deal.

I like simple ideas that work towards multiple goals of mine! I can 1) Stop worrying about NOT using good deals just because they are out there (since I won't even really see them!) and 2) I can save some money by not running out to use great deals on things I don't need but still have the deals for the times when I need them.

Consider yourselves douped evil coupon marketers...

Friday, June 12, 2009

Facebook... you've crossed the line.

So I’m just minding my own business, checking my Facebook and what do I suddenly see to the right of my screen? The name of a less then friendly ex staring back at me from the “Suggestions” for friends column. Now I know how these things go, I know that in the past people who attended my high school or college, or know my friends might pop up on here and I honestly thought that was creepy enough. But this ex, I have no connections to this person whatsoever, we have not mutual friends, no mutual school attendance and no mutual interests. Hell, we don’t even live in the same state. So how, creepy lords at Facebook, did you make this crazy 5 year old “connection”?

One quick Google search later and I have my answer.

http://www.insidefacebook.com/2009/06/12/facebook-now-suggesting-friends-found-in-imported-contact-lists/#comments

Evidently, at some point I allowed Facebook to look through my address book for friends who might also be on Facebook. I assume this was when I just started out, although I don’t honestly remember it.

It seems that ever since that time, Facebook has been harboring that information, just waiting around for these people from my past to join Facebook and then suggest that I be friends with them. Although I appreciate the sentiment Facebook, I find you keeping my address book handy for all these years a little unsettling. It’s like a creepy stalker keeping a list of all the people I’ve ever talked to or something.

And even creepier? I think the stalker parallel is very appropriate since clearly you have been keeping an eye on my e-mail list all along, not just the list you saw when I first entered that information. I know for a fact that I didn’t start e-mailing my Pilates studio (who also showed up in my “Suggestions” this week) until WELL after I signed up for Facebook. So that is a new e-mail address, and evidence that although you mentioned in that nice page when I signed up that you wouldn’t be saving my e-mail password, you evidently did.

I like facebook, I like learning about what everyone else is up to, but I don't know if I appreciate Facebook pushing everyone in my e-mail address book on me. Just because I e-mailed you once doesn't really make you my "Friend" does it? I guess in Facebook land, it should.

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Sometimes I can't help myself...

I find all the discussion of Obama’s Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayer to be incredibly disheartening. Although I’m in full support of people questioning her credentials, questioning her past judgments and even questioning (to some extent) her religious convictions (since they often have an effect on one’s moral compass, which is an important tool as a judge.). What I do have problems with is the discussion of the efforts to “court” the future votes of Latin Americans here in the US.

Even Rush Limbaugh went so far today as to say that he doesn’t think that many Republicans will give this nomination the thorough screening that it needs because Republicans are so busy trying to get Hispanics to vote for them and they fear that holding up the nomination would hurt that.

Are we so dull in this country to think that people actually wouldn’t vote for someone because they questioned the credentials of a Supreme Court nominee? I’m not going to say that I have the utmost faith in the power of our country as a whole to pick the correct leaders all of the time. In fact, I’d probably saw we’re batting about 60% on leaders that should actually have the power to do what they do. That being said, I don’t really believe that the majority of the people would have ANY idea what their local reps and senators did on a particular issue, especially a Supreme Court nomination process. Please raise your hand if you know (without looking it up) what your senator or rep had to say about any previous nominee. No hands? That’s what I thought.

That being said, even if in some miracle universe where people pay very close attention to their elected officials actions, I don’t think the majority of them would vote one way or the other based solely on this issue.

As a woman, I was still adamantly opposed to George W. Bush’s ill-fated nomination of Harriet Miers for Associate Justice of the Supreme Court to replace Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. Using the current pundit thinking, I must just hate woman and I should probably somehow be disowned by all other woman for not support our cause. I also should hate every Representative or Senator who dared to speak against her. Yet, I don’t. In fact I would applaud them for taking the confirmation of this extremely important position as seriously as they should. I wouldn’t dare support a nominee based on such a random qualification as gender (or in this case race) without anything to back it up. If there is a woman on the bench, representing me and my interests, I want her to be the best damn Justice out there, not just a token woman to say they have one.

It is the job of our representatives to evaluate the candidates for this job with all of the scrutiny that they feel is necessary to make sure she is fit for this job. And I hope that they do scrutinize her and that she still passes through with (which I’m pretty sure she will). But don’t try and claim it is all just to pander to the Hispanic vote, that is an insult to Hispanics everywhere.

Monday, March 9, 2009

I'm a Re-Crafter...

I've spent a lot of time and energy (not to mention money) on crafty things. My mom is probably the most creative person I know, even though she likes to pretend that anyone can do what she does. Sometimes she gets ideas from other people, but most often things come straight from her head. She is the queen of making an idea come to life. I really envy that trait of hers.

Me, I'm a "re-crafter" and yes, I totally made that term up. I can take things that exist and that I see elsewhere, and then I make them. Sometimes I can remake them better than the original, sometimes not so much. I've just recently realized this seems to be my artistic calling. I should have realized it much much sooner. My first big hope as an artist started because I thought I was really good at "redrawing" things from a Lisa Frank coloring book. Seriously, I was amazing at putting a piece of paper next to one of those drawings and redrawing it (and NO I don't mean tracing it). Yet, I could never just draw on my own from ideas in my own head. It would always turn out a mess.

One great example of this would be the cover of the Aaron Williams Band "special edition" CD I did this past summer. Blogger seems to be having some difficulties this morning, so I can't share pictures, but I'll add them later. I had the intial version of the CD, and we wanted to do a similar, although not completely identical screen printed version for the special edition. So I stared at it for a while, and eventually came up with a workable design by working with the medium of choice (Gocco scrreen printer). It turned out wonderfully! But it wasn't my original idea, and I surely couldn't have come up with it all on my own.

My current project is similar. I fell in love with some cool bottle cap magnets, jewlery etc. at the One of A Kind Show in Chicago last year. After a few months of thinking about it, I'm doing something similar, but with different images that I personally find a lot more appealing and intersting. I'm taking the best of what they did and making it my own.

I'm a Re-Crafter... and I'm proud of it.

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Weather in Ashley's Brain: Cloudy with a Chance of Rain

Today is one of those days where my brain can't seem to focus on any of the million and one tasks at my desk. I'm trying to muddle through some serious changes to one of our Union contracts, and it's like my brain is two steps behind my body. I'm here, I'm looking at the contract, but my brain can't quite seem to focus and figure out what it needs to do to get this thing done. Not to mention the million OTHER things I have floating around me... phone calls, e-mails, newsletters, questionable committee actions.... it makes me want to crawl under my desk and cry. Really mature hey?

I keep trying to come up with something more interesting to say about this... but it just isn't there. I guess that's how it goes when your brain isn't firing... I can't be witty or even come up with something productive to say. Other than, suck it up woman and quit your whining.

Well, that helped.

Thursday, February 26, 2009

I'm a bad bad blogger...

I know I'm terrible... I talk all about a vacation and then I disappear after it.  Hopefully none of you got the postcards we sent to Zach's parents that said we were going to stay in Mexico, otherwise you might have actually believed it!

No no, we're back at home and I've been awfully busy with a variety of work and semi-work related activities.  I'm busy drumming up crafty things to sell, so not work related but maybe new work related.  I purchased a Klic-N-Kut, which is a super sweet computer operated paper/vinyl/chipboard cutter.  I've had it a week, and so far it is awesome!!  The software is a little difficult to deal with but I was up and cutting in a day, so I think that is pretty good.  I'm hoping to use it make some cards and other goodies, as well as create some cool vinyl wall art stuff.  

The Klick-N-Kut

I've got a lot of crafty ideas in the works... so far nothing that is actually done... but a lot in my head.  Zach  is gone pretty much all this weekend so I'm going to be crafting it up and hopefully have something to show for all my talk!

The first goal would be to actually create some things to be sold.  My first "selling" goal would be the Fairy Festival at Monches Farm (Where my mom works in Wisconsin) which is held in August.  I'm hoping to have some fairy goodies for the kids and their moms who show up at that event.  I can't decide if it should be first or after that, but I want to create an etsy shop as well.   A part of me would like to exhibit at the  Renegade Craft Show in September, however that might be a little ambitious, especially with a $310 booth fee and the possibility of a terrible rain-out weekend (like last year!).  Maybe I'll be ready for the Christmas one (not to mention the weather will be less of a threat since it is indoor!). 

I'm pretty committed to this little venture... I'm plotting designing a logo and such right now and determining some of the packaging as well.  I'm all about packaging... I know that is dorky but that's me.

I'll make sure to keep this updated when my ventures are more fully baked... I'm a little nervous about putting everything out on the Internet without it being sold by me or something... I know... totally lame.  Maybe I will if your lucky... especially since no one reads this :)

Friday, January 23, 2009

If you need a good laugh...

I highly suggest you check out the blog F**k You Penguin. You will die laughing, and if you don't well, I'd suggest you visit a doctor. Basically the site takes those million and one super cute animal chain e-mails you receive and berates the animals in them for their cuteness.

Below is a little gem from last week:


"First I thought this blue-footed booby was just doing a cute little dance, which is bad enough (personally, I can dance fucking circles around this loser). But it turns out this is a fucking mating ritual, which basically means dude is hitting on me.

But the fucked up thing is that these sexed-up douchebags do this sort of thing all the time. Take a look at this piece of work. Does she even know you are videotaping her, Romeo? Then halfway through, he invites his goddamn friends over! She's having none of it, of course, which is why a minute in she pees right where he wanted to do it! TAKE THAT YOU FUCKING SLIMEBALL."

Is it totally unnessesary? Of course it is. But it also made me laugh out loud at my desk on a day when I was a bit stressed and that is simply priceless. Go check it out, and if you have a Google Reader, I highly recommend you subscripe to it because it is a great way to start the day.

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Some thoughts about today...

Jenna over at That Wife raised some interesting questions regarding Obama's inauguration today. In short she said, "If we turn Obama into “The Black President” and judge all his successes and failures as those of the black man who once ruled the free world, are we really living “The Dream”?" The more I thought about it, the more it plagued me, and the more I felt compelled to respond. Below is my response, with some more thoughts added once I moved it here:

I think it is silly of us to think that the media isn’t going to have a field day with anything that is a “first”. They look for any angle they can to exploit, and Obama’s race is just that angle. Remember, if it is “historic” than we all have to watch it, and that means ratings for them!! It would be the same thing had it been Hillary (she’s a woman!) and it would have been something similar had it been McCain/Palin (he (I think) would have been the oldest, and she the first woman VP). When there is only 44 of something, you can find a “first” pretty easily, and they sure will.

In the same respect, I think it would be inappropriate to not acknowledge that him being President does indicate that our country has come a LONG way… it wasn’t too long ago that someone like Barack Obama would have had to sit at the back of the bus and couldn’t have eaten at the same places as you and I, him being President would have been a joke. That now his is President, says a lot about us as a nation and how far we have really come. Just because you and I may not judge him based on the color of his skin, doesn’t mean a lot of other people (both past and present) do. It is just nice to know that enough of us have gotten past that to elect him President.

I think unfortunately, the media has really latched on to the “historic” stuff and not focused on his policies as much as they should have. To imply that many people who voted for him did so only because of his race and not because they believe strongly in what he has to say and where he wants to take this country, is just plain inappropriate. Are there people who did so? Of course. In the same light, there are likely people out there who voted for McCain only because they wouldn’t support a black President. Did you ever notice that the news media always talks to the person on the scene who is probably the LAST person they should talk to? The always sound goofy, and never have much to really add? I feel like that is how the media has covered Obama voters. Like we're a bunch of sheeple who didn't bother to look past his race to see what he stands for (For the record, some of us did, and we actually liked what we heard!). Hopefully for ALL of us, the majority of us voted with our thoughts, morals, ideas and goals in mind and not just with our eyes.

We all have to find the balance between celebrating the fact that he is the first African American President and the fact that he is our President, our leader and hopefully the one to get us through a seriously trying time in our nations history.

Kennedy was once celebrated as the first Catholic President, but he is judged by history for his actions, not his religion. Let’s hope Obama will be looked at similarly. I think when that is the case, we will finally be living “The Dream.”

It seems almost all great changes generally come in steps, and Obama’s election was one of the steps to get us all to the ultimate goal of true equality, and that does deserve some level of celebration. You'd celebrate your engagement before you were actually married right? I think all the steps that get us to the things we aspire to be (both personally and as a nation) deserve recognition and appreciation. This should be no exception.

I can't wish the Obama administration enough luck and courage in these comeing 4 years. Whether you agree with him or not, he faces an uphill challenge bringing this nation back from the brink. Let's hope he can live up to everything he has promised.

Thursday, January 8, 2009

Cruise Preparation

We'll be in a room very similar to this (complete with portholes) very soon!!

Zach and I will be heading out on our Carnival Cruise from New Orleans in a few short weeks!  In fact, we have just two work weeks left and we are going to be out of here!!!  I have been ploting what we'll be doing on our two port days (Cozumel and Progresso) and what we will do on our weekend in New Orleans before we leave on the ship.  Sometimes I think that the Internet is really more dangerous than helpful as I can spend hours learning about a million more bits of information than I would ever need about all of the locations above.  In fact, sometimes I think it makes me worry more about what I might miss than what I'm actually going to do!

In addition to all of the planning that I've done in preparation for the many places we will visit, I have also been plotting what exactly we will be bringing with us.  My luggage arrived earlier this week (and is AWESOME by the way) and I've started a fairly serious wish list on Amazon for all the books I want, including some Sudoku books, a few to read and a guide book about New Orleans.  I've got to have something to do on the plan before we go as well as on the boat when I'm lounging right?  When we went to the Dominican, I think I brought like 3 books and managed to read, ah, maybe one.  Not to mention I plan to bring some knitting with me as well, which probably has a much better chance of actually getting done (as long as they don't confiscate my needles when I try to get on the plane!).

Monday, January 5, 2009

My dog a gimp!

Poor Rigby! On Saturday, while doing his usual in the house ball fetching, Rigby ran into the wall/door molding outside our bathroom door. Zach was playing with him, saw the hit and the following doggy limping/whining. I heard the whining and instantly thought the worst (see, there goes the worrying again...) and ran to see what was the matter. Poor puppy was sitting there looking awful pathetic with his paw up in the air and whimpering. Zach and I both started to try and calm the little bugger, which seemed to help. After a few minutes it became clear that it probably wasn't broken, since he is more than willing to let us poke and massage his paw/arm with no whimpering or whining. Yet, he has been seriously limping and not using that front right leg ever since. He spent most of the rest of the weekend napping on the couch with us, only getting up occassionally to eat, pee, play with the cat a few times and try and get us to play ball with him a couple times before giving up and coming back to nap.

We are fairly certain it isn't broken... we've done a lot of handling of his leg/paw and aren't getting any reaction. I would have to think if it was broken, he'd be reacting when we touched it. However, if it is a sprain, what do you do for a doggy leg sprain? I assume a lot of rest... which has pretty much been the ticket so far. I have read you can give them asprin in really small doses, but I worry that if it feels better he'll start walking on it, and obviously I can't exactly explain to the dog that since it feels better he can't run around on it. The crazy in me wants to take him to the vet pronto, but my wallet is urging otherwise. I can only imagine what the vet bill will be after an exam and x-ray... not that Rigby's health is more important that my money (at least up to a point...) but I would hate to go through all of that only to have them tell me there is nothing we can do! Does that make me a bad pet mom?

Friday, January 2, 2009

Becoming more financially savy... Step 1

Wow... it is only January 2nd and I've already made some progress on my "hopes for 2009", I am so proud of myself. I guess me and the million people who went to the gym this morning... :)

Yesterday, when I was filing away some of seemingly never ending piles of receipts, bills and other paperwork I always have sitting around, I got to thinking about just how much of this stuff I actually need to keep. I have pay stubs from all the way back to 2001. I also have credit card statements from roughly that same time period. All of which are shoved into two big file boxes, one of which I can currently barely close. As Zach wandered in to see what I was doing, I started asking him if he know what I actually needed to keep, and low and behold all we both knew was that if it was tax related, it should be kept for 7 years. Other than that, we were clueless.

So this morning, I asked my friend Google what he thought, and he sent me over to bankrate.com, which had a great answer you can find here: http://www.bankrate.com/brm/news/mtg/20000518h.asp.

Suffice to say, I can probably throw out about 7/8 of what I have been hauling around with me for years. I can't wait to go home and spend the night clearing out that clutter and reminiscing about all the stupid purchases I made during my time as a Boston Store purse seller. I think the justification was something like, I get 25% off though, how can't I buy another Coach purse I don't need? Now if only my paper shredder was working properly....

In addition, I went on-line to a majority of my bills (credit cards, phone etc.) and signed up for paperless billing. Since everything is already set up to pay automatically for me, it seems silly to get statements, only to toss them a month later. Less paper for me to deal with, and better for the environment to boot!

On a less financially savy note.... I ordered a new set of luggage for our upcoming cruise! :)

I could try and justify that I actually "needed" it, but it would pretty much be a big lie. My old set of luggage, which is listed on one of the aforementioned Boston Store bills that will be shredded, is neon pink, I mean hurts your eyes pink. (When my luggage missed its connecting flight once, the lady at the counter pulled out a card with various luggage fabric swatches on it, suffice to say my obnoxious pink was not on it.) It has seen better days, and actually on our last vacation had the zipper pulls sheared right off of it. Not to say I couldn't make it work, but to be honest I was just really over the pink (and honestly I think Zach was sick of having to be seen with me and it too). I got the beautiful set pictured above, which features an easy to find on the luggage carousal Fleur De Lis pattern on a red background. A little more adult than the previous pink set, to say the least. I am sooo excited, and it was on sale at overstock.com, so how could I go wrong? And with $1.00 shipping for this big old set, I couldn't say no. Have I mentioned I can justify almost any purchase? That's probably something for another financial entry...

Thursday, January 1, 2009

Change.. one step at a time

I've never really been a fan of New Year's Resolutions, but I feel somewhat compelled to make some changes in my life, and the start of 2009 seems like an appropriate time to do so.  I'm not going to refer to them as "resolutions" since I don't want to be like all the gym goes who quite their resolutions by February.  My hope is to use this blog to chronicle the progress on these changes throughout the next year.  I like to think if these ideas are out in cyberspace somewhere it will make me accountable.  (I do recognize this is all in my head, since I doubt my non-existent readership will be clamoring for updates, but hey, a girl can dream.)

So, without further ado, my hopes for 2009.

1) Read More - Ok, I know this isn't very exciting, and will not likely provide some great amusement for this blog, but I always loved to read, and every time I read a book for pleasure I am reminded how much I love it.  With that, any suggestions?

2) Blog More - I used to use livejournal a lot, and really enjoyed writing about my life.  It might not be Paris Hilton style antics, but I think I've got something to share.  I love reading other blogs, and I hope that I can provide some amusement as well out in the blogosphere.

3) Become more financially savy - I am 25 years old and I think it is about time that I start thinking more strategically about how I spend my money.  I know I do a fairly good job, but I think there is always room for improvement.

4) Start an Etsy Store - I've always been somewhat crafty, and I would love to be able to provide myself a little extra income (see goal above!) by creating something I love.  Ideally, I would love that to turn into something full time, but I'm not exactly holding my breath.  Real employment does have it's perks (like health insurance!).

5) Clean House - I have a TON of stuff in my life.  I mean, Hello Kitty paper, pencils and stickers that I've never used and have been trucking around with my since middle school, kind of stuff.  I used to find some odd comfort in this stuff but now it is starting to feel like extra dead weight.  E-bay here I come!  I'm still struggling with the memories stuff... things from High School etc.  But that is for another day.

6) Learn my way around the kitchen - I'm not bad at cooking but I'm not great.  I'm a stickler for recipes, since I'm terrified that I'm going to screw things up otherwise.  I need to get over that.  I had my first big baking adventure (for another post) but it turned out wonderfully!!

7) Knit Christmas gifts - I always PLAN to do this (and I actually did for 3 people) but I want to do more.  I love knitting, and if I start now I should easily be able to do this without the stress around the holidays!

8) Learn to worry less - I worry a lot.  I worry about big things (employment, money etc.) but I also worry about a million and one stupid things which constantly stop me from enjoying my life.  I wake up on vacation worried that we are missing valuable vacation time because we were sleeping.  I spend time at a party worrying about when we are leaving so we can make sure to be up in time for something the next day.  I am constantly one step ahead of myself and worrying about the next thing.  This needs to stop.

I think that is good for now.  Eight things is plenty to work on, and if I somehow master these, I think I can find something else too :)