"On with the boots, back out in the snow...."
Ian and I excitedly left the house early to catch the el cheap showing of "The Borne Ultimatum." I made us popcorn, and packed half a ham sandwich for us to share, packed water and Coke, and we headed out to the movie theatre... only to learn that "before 12:00" does not mean "and also inclusive of 12:00." We couldn't get the cheap tix for the movie we wanted, so we decided not to stay for matinee prices. We got marginally soaked going in and out of the theatre on this rainy, blustery Saturday. It sure was nice having Ian drive us in his car, though!
While at the mall, we did check out the new Illuminations store. It's smaller than every other store of theirs I saw in the past, but at least it exists! It's only marginally Yankee-Candlefied, too. The budget is wicked tight this month, so we bought nothing, but I find it fun just to window shop.
Though as to the budget, Ian and I had a talk last night which brought some succor to my financial concerns. He's a saver, I'm a spender. I can save only by thinking of it terms of "paying" a savings account like a bill. Anyway, he's sitting on a dragon hoard of personal savings that I had assumed he had ear marked for personal spending - games, clothes, whims, what have you. Apparently not so! He'd originally ear-marked that money for a car. Since his parents made us a financial gift which we used as the down payment on his car, Ian says this money is up for grabs if we need it, or just want to use it for occasional dinners and out and things not in the budget for my single salary. Whew! That's a huge burden lifted, honestly. There's nothing that makes you feel poverty more than not being able to do something fun now and again, even within reason. We'll still be very careful financially - we're having fun and making a game out of it, really! But that made me feel better, and frankly relieved a little guilt I didn't even recognize I was feeling for "not making enough money" to sustain us in the lifestyle to which we were accustomed under two salaries.
In that spirit, we're going on an outing tonight to our favorite restaurant overall, Don Pablos. You know how often we went to the one in Atlanta and loved it! The closest one to us is 15 miles away, which is hardly far at all, but it's in uncharted territory. We've got a $25 gift card for there, so we'll treat ourselves to a "free" dinner (well, pre-paid) at our favorite place. We're really looking forward to it.
Last night the most unusual and happy surprise greeted me at our front door! Ian was home before me, but he enters through the garage, and had missed it. There was a little felt bucket shaped like a ghostie dangling from our doorknob, filled with candy and a note! It appears to be a meme, a "chain" bucket of candy, as it were. It contained a little happy Halloween poem, and instructions to share the wealth of the nice surprise with two neighbors. What a happy thought! We suspected it might be other Guildhall students who did it, but I don't think so. I think it was just some random neighbor. I have a straw witch hanging on our front door, and few others have Halloween decorations outside, so perhaps that's what attracted there. I put a ghostie on our door that says, "Thank you very much, booooever you are!" hoping they stop by again to see if we found our surprise. Natch, although it's a nice thought, we do not intend to eat the candy. This is just not the world for such things. I'll reciprocate and pass on the meme, but I'll select maybe some decorative items instead of edible ones, nice as a candy surprise might seem.
Washing the car is out of the question today - maybe tomorrow or next weekend. I've got to go out in the rain to the public library to renew Gone With the Wind and maybe pick up something new. I'm still 400 pages from the end, but that won't take me three weeks, and why make an extra trip to the library later if I don't need it?
Lastly, for anyone still playing City of Heroes: I took advantage of their new server transfer option this morning. I have a 31st level healer on Triumph, and I just didn't dig my SG there despite early promise. Ian and I have put a lot of work into our SG on Freedom, so I moved Doctor Scott MD over there. Issue 11 promises some cool stuff with the new ability to auto-exemp down to finish old storylines. YOU BETCHA I'm gonna take advantage of that like you wouldn't believe! Hello, badges!
T$
While at the mall, we did check out the new Illuminations store. It's smaller than every other store of theirs I saw in the past, but at least it exists! It's only marginally Yankee-Candlefied, too. The budget is wicked tight this month, so we bought nothing, but I find it fun just to window shop.
Though as to the budget, Ian and I had a talk last night which brought some succor to my financial concerns. He's a saver, I'm a spender. I can save only by thinking of it terms of "paying" a savings account like a bill. Anyway, he's sitting on a dragon hoard of personal savings that I had assumed he had ear marked for personal spending - games, clothes, whims, what have you. Apparently not so! He'd originally ear-marked that money for a car. Since his parents made us a financial gift which we used as the down payment on his car, Ian says this money is up for grabs if we need it, or just want to use it for occasional dinners and out and things not in the budget for my single salary. Whew! That's a huge burden lifted, honestly. There's nothing that makes you feel poverty more than not being able to do something fun now and again, even within reason. We'll still be very careful financially - we're having fun and making a game out of it, really! But that made me feel better, and frankly relieved a little guilt I didn't even recognize I was feeling for "not making enough money" to sustain us in the lifestyle to which we were accustomed under two salaries.
In that spirit, we're going on an outing tonight to our favorite restaurant overall, Don Pablos. You know how often we went to the one in Atlanta and loved it! The closest one to us is 15 miles away, which is hardly far at all, but it's in uncharted territory. We've got a $25 gift card for there, so we'll treat ourselves to a "free" dinner (well, pre-paid) at our favorite place. We're really looking forward to it.
Last night the most unusual and happy surprise greeted me at our front door! Ian was home before me, but he enters through the garage, and had missed it. There was a little felt bucket shaped like a ghostie dangling from our doorknob, filled with candy and a note! It appears to be a meme, a "chain" bucket of candy, as it were. It contained a little happy Halloween poem, and instructions to share the wealth of the nice surprise with two neighbors. What a happy thought! We suspected it might be other Guildhall students who did it, but I don't think so. I think it was just some random neighbor. I have a straw witch hanging on our front door, and few others have Halloween decorations outside, so perhaps that's what attracted there. I put a ghostie on our door that says, "Thank you very much, booooever you are!" hoping they stop by again to see if we found our surprise. Natch, although it's a nice thought, we do not intend to eat the candy. This is just not the world for such things. I'll reciprocate and pass on the meme, but I'll select maybe some decorative items instead of edible ones, nice as a candy surprise might seem.
Washing the car is out of the question today - maybe tomorrow or next weekend. I've got to go out in the rain to the public library to renew Gone With the Wind and maybe pick up something new. I'm still 400 pages from the end, but that won't take me three weeks, and why make an extra trip to the library later if I don't need it?
Lastly, for anyone still playing City of Heroes: I took advantage of their new server transfer option this morning. I have a 31st level healer on Triumph, and I just didn't dig my SG there despite early promise. Ian and I have put a lot of work into our SG on Freedom, so I moved Doctor Scott MD over there. Issue 11 promises some cool stuff with the new ability to auto-exemp down to finish old storylines. YOU BETCHA I'm gonna take advantage of that like you wouldn't believe! Hello, badges!
T$