Big Plans!

While I am sitting here at work with one patient (making overtime pay...) I guess I will share what I've got swimming through my mind...

My paycheck yesterday included 80 hours of vacation time that I cashed in, so that plus my overtime shifts are going solely towards bills, debt, and savings! I haven't decided what all we are going to use our tax return on. I have been thinking along the lines of paying my car off, buying a new mattress, or rebuilding our back deck. The only thing that would use all of the return is paying off my car, so I may put a chunk toward that and another chunk toward the deck. A new mattress isn't a priority, we are still happy with our memory foam that we got a few years ago. But our deck does need work before we sell the house, and of course it would be awesome to pay off the car! I only owe like 3k on it now so I'm sure I'll pay it off at some point this year. Car payments are not conducive to frugal living! After this we won't have another one for a long time. Maybe never!

I am VERY excited about our upcoming anniversary celebrations! Sunday evening we are going to a Mexican dinner/birthday party for my brother, then Nick and I are going on a horse-drawn carriage ride downtown at 6:30pm. I can't wait! It's going to be dark and chilly, and I can't wait to snuggle on my love with a blanket while we slowly cruise the streets in true old-fashioned style.

Monday will be our EIGHTH wedding anniversary--and no, I can't believe it has been that long already--so we are going out to eat Italian then see a movie. We will have a nice bottle of wine and some pastries waiting on us at home to enjoy while our little boy sleeps. His aunt Sarah is going to babysit while we are out on the town. I am already thinking of big things for our 10th anniversary in 2013!

I am very grateful that I have 6 days off in a row this week. I don't go back until Friday evening, and I plan to get a lot done! The regular chores of course, but in addition to that I want to do some yardwork, try some new cooking techniques, do some scrapbooking, and tidy up my craft room. Our neice Zoe turns 2 on the 20th but we haven't heard of plans yet for that.

I have finished the bedroom afghan that I have been talking about! Before I take pictures I want to wash it then tuck in all of the yarn tails. I am about 3/4 done with a baby blanket for a coworker so I am going to finish that this week also. Then I will have free time to work on other projects!

The upcoming months are already filling up too! Next month I have several family birthdays, and I just signed up for more extra shifts every week. In March is my dad's birthday, and I am going to take him to an Italian cooking demonstration by the chef of the Italian restaurant Benvenuti in Norman. I'm sure mom and I will go to one too, but we haven't decided which one yet.

In March I also have my next craft show that I will need to start preparing for! I still have some leftover hats, but since it will be later in the year, people aren't going to be buying hats and cold weather gear. I am trying to think of other things that will work good for Spring/Summer use. I have to really think hard and be creative because there are always several booths with repeats of the same things--jewelry, candles, headbands/warmers, soap, shirts...and I don't want to be one of those! The trick is to be original. That's why I don't like Etsy.com. There are just millions of everything on there, and whatever someone puts on there is going to get lost in the waves of inventory.

That's it for now! My next blog will have pics of our carriage ride, my blankets, and maybe my baby boy!