Our Christmas was really nice. I got quite a few sweaters from my parents which I desperately needed since not many of my clothes from last year fit at the moment.

DH got me the Time Life collection of

70's Hits. I have been wanting this for a long time but wasn't about to spend the money on it. Leave it to him! He's probably tired of having to sit through the infomercial every time it comes on.


I got DH a new emergency response light for his truck. His old one was pretty worn out.

The kids all enjoyed their presents. My favorite of their gifts was DS#3's alarm clock. I got him a sonic boom alarm clock that has a strong vibrating alarm. No more having to get up on my days off to get him around to deliver his papers! Now all kids have alarm clocks.

DS#2 (16 years old, the one that wants to be a paramedic) had quite a dramatic Christmas Eve. He took his great-grandma back to the nursing home and then went into the city to do some shopping. He got there close to closing time for the stores so it wasn't very busy. He went to the strip mall and was walking outside of Borders when an older lady (60ish) yelled for him. Her husband was down on the sidewalk not breathing. She had seen that DS#2 had on his ambulance association jacket and thought he could help.

Thank goodness he's CPR certified. He did all the stuff you're supposed to do before starting CPR and then started the procedure. He managed to revive the gentleman! The wife took him to the hospital herself, much against DS's recommendations, but he came home feeling pretty good that he'd been able to keep his head and do what he'd learned.

I guess he's well on his way to his dream of being a paramedic. He was beaming the rest of the night

Merry Christmas to all of you!

I'm waiting for the rest of the family to rise so that I can start getting Christmas breakfast in the oven. The cinnamon rolls and Swedish tea ring were made last night (DH and I do the task together) and are in the refrigerator.

DS#3 is out delivering his newspapers and I can hear DS#2 moving around up above me. So 3 out of 7 is a good start so far.

I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas today!

I mentioned previously about DH's Shop Vac biting the dust. Well, yesterday we made a trip to Valu to replace it because we heard that they were on sale for 20% off.

Regular price for the 6 gallon one was $49.88. He had just gotten a gift certificate from his supervisor for $25 to any of the chamber of commerce members in town so when he applied that towards the total of his purchase he ended up paying $14.90 plus tax!

I'm taking my box of Christmas wrap, ribbons and bows to work today and am going to get the presents wrapped that have been stacked in the corner for a month or more. The tree has been up and it's time to fill in a little underneath.

On the health side of things, I'm going this morning to get blood drawn to test for Cushing's Disease. I had blood taken at 4 yesterday afternoon, took a pill at 11 last night, and get the final blood drawn at 8 this morning. Everything has to be spaced out just right. The doctor doesn't think this is what I have, but wants it ruled out. On a side note, my legs feel really swollen this morning.

Blood pressure is sure much better than it has been so that's a plus. And the referral to a neurologist is in the works.

After work today I will be stopping by the store and picking up the last few things I need for Christmas dinner and desserts. I have to make something to take to my librarian's Christmas party on Thursday and DH needs a couple things for his party on Friday. Tonight is DD#2's Christmas concert at school.

My change box is actually getting a fairly decent amount in it. Everyone knows now not to get into it. LOL!

DH and DS#2 are both active in the volunteer fire department and ambulance association.

A couple of nights ago DS#2 woke us up about 11:00 p.m. wanting to know if he could go to an ambulance call. DH had heard the call and knew from what was and wasn't said that it was either a suicide or domestic violence, so he said no.

I just found out today that it was an attempted suicide and was a kid that just graduated with DD#1 this past summer and a friend that DS#2 attended Vo-tech with. So it is someone he knows well. I am so glad that DH told him no.

I know he wants to be a paramedic but to have your first "heavy-duty" call be an attempted suicide and be someone you're friends with would have been extremely traumatic.

Just got back from taking my last exam for my accounting course. Now all that is left is reading 1 chapter and writing a report. Hurrah!

I have my last accounting exam tomorrow morning and I am nowhere near prepared for it. With not feeling well, I have not studied at all. I'm trying to do it tonight but really battling with not caring. I just don't feel good and don't feel like studying. Ho hum....

I was thinking the other day as I was watching Top Chef that I would watch a show where people from different economic classes lived in each other's shoes for a while. It would be interesting to see how people adjusted to lower incomes.

I got an email from DS#1 shortly after I got to work today. I thought it was unusual to get one so soon after hearing from him yesterday. (He's not the chatty sort).

He says that 2 students tried to blow up the building that he works in at college! They are being charged with 250 counts of attempted murder. He didn't say if he was there at the time or not or when exactly this happened. He just said "just a bit ago", so I have no idea what that means as far as timeframe.

The really disturbing thing is that he works in the dorm for the handicapped students on campus. His college has one of the 3 highest enrollments of handicapped students. He helps them bathe, get in and out of wheelchairs, whatever they need.

What kind of demented people want to blow up a building full of handicapped kids???? That really disturbs me.

I haven't had time to blog about this, but it's been on my mind a lot lately. I have written about my librarian friend who is going through difficult times and have mentioned that I'd spent a couple of days working on a proposed budget for her library for 2007.

The board meeting took place a couple of weeks ago and they passed the budget. Sad to say, but it does not include a raise for her. Her assistant will get a raise because they have to give her one since minimum wage in PA is going up. So she will be making almost as much as my friend who has all the responsibility on her shoulders.

My friend will continue to make less than $15,000 a year while trying to support herself and 2 teenage girls.

One of the board members did take her and her full-time volunteer and buy them new eyeglasses. I thought that was very kind of her.

I sure do wish that library boards saw themselves as an employer and not just volunteers. I have seen it over and over again in these small, rural libraries. They pay peanuts, yet expect the librarian to do everything, usually including the fundraising, which is the board's responsibility.

I have to say that I have really enjoyed my time at SavingAdvice and blogging. It's keeping me focused on our finances and paying down our debt as much as possible. I have made some decisions, like term insurance and Vanguard, that I would never have done previously. I have learned a lot and want to thank all of you for the wisdom that you share!

This morning I set up a transer of the $10 bonus that I got for opening the Emigrant account to my Amboy Emergency Fund account this morning. Thanks Jeffrey!

Today I need to go to the Post Office and pay the extra postage on my paperwork for my IRA rollover from Northwest Savings Bank to Vanguard. I hope this can be done quickly and smoothly.

Still haven't heard on either of our term insurance applications.

Tuesday DH should get his profit sharing check. I want to apply all of it after the tithe to CC#1 and hopefully pay that off.

Exercise= 1 mile walk with weights

Today is another opportunity to earn $5 for my challenge. PB&J is already in my work bag along with some Combos. I'll add an apple and I should be all set for lunch and not need anything else. This delivery is the longest one on my rotation and the worst roads. I'm glad to get it done before the snow hits.

Tonight is also grocery shopping night. I need to figure out how much money we have for groceries. I'm finding that with putting it on the cash-back credit card it's making it harder to keep track of what we've spent. But I will figure that out before we go.

I called yesterday and answered some questions about DH's term insurance application, so hopefully that will speed them on to a decision soon so we can cash in the whole life policies.

I mentioned yesterday that it was going to be a hard day for DH and I. It really was. We came home from the almost 8-hour meeting and DH is very hurt. I don't know what to do to help him through this other than to show my support in any way I can. I am glad that today is a delivery day for me and that it is a long trip so I have time to process some things.

And speaking of deliveries...here's my chance to add money to my $20 challenge. I intend to pack a pb&j and see what else I can take along with me to eat so that I won't buy my lunch. My main challenge today is to find a beverage to take though. If I drink water while traveling, I need to take too many bathroom breaks, and where I go there isn't always that opportunity. If I drink soft drinks I do not have that problem because they tend to dehydrate me.

Maybe the solution is to stop at a store and buy soft drinks in a pack and then challenge myself to keep them at work and only drink them on my trips. That sounds like a pretty good plan, actually!

I see that my class software is finally working again. I guess that means that for the next 2 nights I'll be spending my evenings trying to get the homework done on time. How frustrating to have had the past 4 days to work on it and not be able to!

The 2 college kids go back to campus today. It will seem empty for a few days with only the other 3 left. But they'll be back in a few weeks for winter break. DS#1 will be home almost a month so he'll go back to work at his grocery store job. DD#1 only has a week off. She still has not been able to find a job, so isn't sure how next semester will be financed.

Don't want to go into details, but today is going to be a very hard day for DH and I. Nothing to do with the kids. This is concerning our church. I don't know what the outcome will be, but I'm not looking forward to it at all.

This morning I set up our electric bill for online paying. So now I can keep the $151 in my checking for a few more days. If I were to pay it by mail I would be mailing it out on Monday, but now I'll wait until 5 days before it's due to pay it on-line. So I edited the bill in Quicken to remind me again in 5 days that it's due.

I am trying to set each of our utility bills up to pay on-line. Some are easier to do than others.

I had all day yesterday to work on my accounting 2 homework. It's due on Wednesday and it would have been great to get it done early. Went to the homework site and it wouldn't log me in! I tried off and on all day and then tried on my parents' computer, thinking maybe it was a problem with mine. Nope.

I haven't tried it yet today, but I sure hope it's up and running. I still have almost half of it to do and I'm not the type that waits until the last minute. The sooner I can get it done, the better.

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving.

We are going to my parents' house. My brother, his wife, and daughter are here from Indiana. We usually only get to see them at Thanksgiving time.

They adopted their daugher from Estonia a few years ago. She is an only child and really enjoys getting together with her 7 cousins. I think she was so used to being in an orphange and surrounded by other children that she gets lonely. So I'm sure that she'll enjoy the full house today.

I now wish I had taken a vacation day for today just so I could get the laundry done that college DS and DD brought home! My tiny little bathroom is flooded with piles of it at the moment. I did 2 loads when we got home last night but I'll bet there are at least 5 (probably more) loads still to do! You can barely walk through to get to the washer.

So I know what my evening will be spent doing. Not that I mind much. Since we got the new washer it's been heaven to put the clothes in and then not have to go sit on it every time it spins. Of course I don't get as much reading done now either though. LOL!

My librarian friend received another gift today. I just happened to be going by her library today so I stopped and dropped it off and she had tears in her eyes.

She told me that she has been weepy at the thought of the kindness of those who probably will never meet her. She told me to pass along to you all her sincere thanks and gratitude.

You all have made her holiday seasons much brighter. I don't think she can even express how much this means to her. Or to me also for that matter.

What a great group of people here!

Aww...a sad night on Amazing Race. The Cho brothers were eliminated. I have been rooting for them from the beginning. Just a nice couple of guys who possess manners, loyalty and respect. Sad to see them go.

Now who the heck do I root for???

First off, exercise: 1 mile walk. Didn't get to exercise on Thursday or Friday. DS#3 had early morning basketball practice and I had to get him up at 4:45 both mornings. I hope that doesn't happen too often.

Quicken tells me that the gas bill needs to be sent out today. So $83 will be going to that. This is our first month back on the budget plan. Could be much worse. Before we had the wood pellet stove we were paying $189 a month, all year long! And that was back before the price for natural gas skyrocketed! This is a big house and since most of it had no insulation back then it was very hard to heat.

The kitchen addition still isn't done, so the coal stove hasn't been started yet to keep that heated. But we can already feel a difference in that room with just having those 2 walls insulated. The kitchen has always been the coldest room in the house.

Today's other spending will probably be for lunch. Today is a day on the road for me. I have to meet with the Workman's Comp auditor at 9 so he can audit the books of the library that I do the bookkeeping for. Then I have to take our Jeep we use for work to the garage so it can get the rear axle shafts replaced. That is just unbelievable to me. This is a brand new Jeep Liberty with 2,000 miles on it and it needs the rear axle shafts replaced already???

My son and I went and picked up the food we had paid for through the Angel Food Ministries today. I'm fairly happy with what we received. There was no line to stand in at all. We were in and out in 2 minutes tops. It was a 10 minute drive, so all in all I think it was well worth it.

We got quite a variety of groceries and it really helped fill up our freezer, which had gotten pretty bare. They really do give you quite a bit of frozen food.

At first, the amounts you get looked little to me but then I had to remind myself that I was used to shopping at BJ's and also shopping for 7. For a smaller family or couple this would look normal.

I had held off paying to get next month's food but now I think I will go ahead and order it.

Quote from a comment on my blog entry thanking those that helped my friend:

"Why not forego your tithing of $130 a month to your church and give it directly to your friend in need? I always thought you tithed to your church so that money could be used to help those less fortunate in the flock or yourself if you came down on hard times."

I am a bit offended by this. Maybe I'm reading it the wrong way, but I feel the commenter is judging me.

Let me tell you why I tithe to my church. Our church is a very small church, average of about 30 adults right now. It is going through hard times and we are just barely keeping the doors open. If I didn't tithe to the church they wouldn't be able to pay the bills on time. Also, as an elder's wife, what kind of an example would it be for me not to support my own church?

The church does have a benevolent fund with which we help out those in our own church and community who are in need. Just last month we supplied a family with groceries whose husband is not able to work because of health problems. My librarian friend is not in our community, but in another town. I did not ask the church to dip into what is left of the benevolent fund because of that. I have talked to individuals in the church who are willing to help her, but have not approached the church itself.

I did not post about my friend here with the thought that anyone here would offer to help. I posted about her in hopes that it would make each of us aware of how greatly we are blessed, even though we take it for granted. I was more than shocked when people wanted to send things to help her out. After all, I was pretty new here myself, and no one had any idea if I was trustworthy or not.

I don't usually take offense easily, and certainly don't usually stand up for myself. But I guess the judgmental and accusatory tone I read in the comment just set me off. I'm sorry if I have misread your intention.

2 more Walmart gift cards have come in for my friend. Thank you both so much. She was so touched that you all would be willing to do something for someone that you don't even know. I don't think you'll ever know how much it meant to her. She was just overwhelmed. I think Christmas was looking impossible and now she sees a glimmer of hope.

She told my boss that through all of this she has told her girls that they just need to look at what they do have and be thankful for those things. One of the things she pointed out to them is the friends they have.

That's a testimony to what has gotten her through all these trials: her positive outlook no matter how hard things get.

I don't know which of you it was from Indiana that sent the Walmart gift card for my librarian friend that arrived in the mail today, but I wanted to say a huge thanks to you! I know your "real" name but don't want to post it here, for obvious reasons. Just know that your gift is going to be hugely appreciated and will be a real blessing to her. I know of a couple of other things coming for her so I'm going to wait until they arrive and then take them all at once.

Thanks again!

Today is my 3rd exam in Accounting 2. The test is actually here, not late like last time. I am having an extremely hard time making myself study for it because I've studied so much. I'm spending an average of 3 hours a night, after work, on this class. Can't wait for the end of the semester.

I woke up this morning with my carpal tunnel really bothering me so that will make it interesting for the test. As I type all the fingertips of my right hand are numb. Very annoying!

Quicken tells me that my car payment needs to be made today, so I have the check all written out and just need to subtract the total from my budget book and enter it in my spreadsheet as an expense for the month. This is my 2nd payment and we still haven't gotten our payment book! Guess I'll have to make a phone call on Monday. This payment takes the amount we owe below $16,000! Progress!

Thought that title might get some attention. LOL!

Part of my job is a sort of bookmobile/delivery service. One of those deliveries every quarter is to the county jail. Today was the day.

The jail only houses male inmates, so you can imagine that I get some interesting comments when I go in. But I also get many good comments. I usually have at least one inmate that will call out a thank you to me as I go by their rec room on my way to the library/conference room.

I actually don't really mind going there because I know that, for the most part, the service is appreciated. I am always saddened though as I go through the books that have been there for the quarter how many of the young adult titles have been read. Most of the faces I see are teenage/early 20s. What a way to start your adult life.

I spoke to my librarian friend on the phone yesterday. Her neighbor managed to temporarily fix her electrical problem. He thinks she'll be okay until spring and that to get it fixed properly then will be about $1,000. I would be nervous with a temporary fix.

The refrigerator is definitely dead. Too many power surges, I guess.

A friend from my other forum emailed me yesterday to say that she had sent a package out for me to give to my friend. I have never even personally met this forum friend, so this is really kind of her. Our women's group is going to figure out something to do for her when we meet next Tuesday. My husband has said that he will take the wood he has split and stacked that we aren't going to use this winter so that she has heat and doesn't have to worry about that.

I searched yesterday for grants and loans for my friend to get this problem fixed and found a loan through Rural Development that can be taken out for 20 years at only 1% interest. She definitely qualifies for it because the "very low income" limit was over $22,000 for a family of 3. I'm going to stop on my delivery today to drop that off to her and talk to her. My boss and I are both willing to help her through the process in any way we can. I think now she's just overwhelmed and it all seems too much.

Health exam for the term insurance is over. Yeah! We should hear in about a week if we can be covered or not. If we do get the insurance I'll have to decide what to do with the money we'll be getting from the whole life insurance cash value. I would like to take it and pay down the CCs. It would come within about $600 of paying them off. I have a feeling that DH will be wanting to use the money to fix the house up though.

I need to sit down today and figure out how much I need to pay extra on the CCs that has been added because of Christmas gifts. I have the money in savings just need to transfer it over and get the payment made.

Today is a delivery day for me at work so I'll be on the road. That probably means buying lunch. Sometimes I take a lunch with me. I'll have to see what I have available to pack. Get tired of PB&J all the time.

I'll be making an extra $40 this month from my side job as a bookkeeper for the library in town. They want me to come up with a budget for them for 2007. At first they wanted to pay me $20. I don't think so. DH told me to tell them $100. I knew that would never happen. Of course, I'm not going to count on the money until I actually see it. I was supposed to get paid extra for doing a salary projection for them because of the minimum wage increase and never saw that money after spending a few hours working it up for them.

Today is a paid day off for me that doesn't count against my vacation time! The library is the voting center so we are not allowed to be there. Okay with me! LOL!

So how am I going to spend my day? Sitting in the car dealership getting the things we've found wrong fixed before the warranty runs out! :-( But at least it will be done. They're also putting my snow tires on so I'm ready for the snowy, icy hills that will soon be mine to drive.

I'm going to take my book to read, my accounting to study, and if it's going to be too long I will ask for a loaner car to go do my Christmas stocking shopping and get it done.