Friday, March 1, 2013

Friday Mishmash

We have been lucky for the most part with the downturn in the economy, but this year, things are hitting us a bit...Jeff's take-home pay is less, thanks to tax breaks ending, our gas bill had a huge rate increase, gasoline prices have skyrocketed, and we just got our auto insurance renewal, with yet another rate increase, which was crazy considering we have had zero claims or tickets.  I'm doing the best I can to stay even (forget getting ahead), so I got to have fun this week and get new quotes for auto insurance.  Oh, so much fun - but in the end it was worth it, as I was able to get it lowered by nearly $300/six months.  Staying even...it's the new austerity?

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In more exciting developments, I won a prize (and the best one, I'm convinced) from Lori's Healthy Heart Weekend - some of her freshly roasted coffee!  It smells so good...and tastes great, too!  Before I opened the package, I wanted to take a picture of it.  Lately, Paco has been going insane whenever I pick up my camera - he becomes obnoxious about getting in the shot.  So fine, I made him pose with the coffee:
"You want me in pikture, right Mom?"
"Dis my serious pose...I stare into distance and tink about coffey"
 
"Dis my sexy pose"

What can I say, the dog is crazy.  Further evidence:  I went to go knit and Kip was on the footstool, so I sat on the chair carefully, not disturbing him.  Paco normally sits on the footstool when I knit, but since that wasn't available (and honestly, I don't know why he didn't just bully Kip off of it like he usually does), he sat on my lap.
 Soooooo super comfortable.  NOT.

Then he got fresh with me...
Paco has some fast moves!

Kip was pretty much over all of it:
Can you all PLEASE just go away???

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Speaking of knitting, I finished a project but can't show it to you yet.  And I'm still working on another one - it's a hat.  I know it doesn't look like a hat just yet, but trust me, it's a hat:
I like having an easy, mindless project on hand...knit 3, purl 2 times infinity (well, 8 inches), before anything changes.

I also started working on my mystery knit along project yesterday - even though my friend Cary once again got me back on track, I still ended up off on my stitch count.  So I started over.  From the very beginning.  At this point, I'm not sure if I'm showing great determination or incredible stupidity in keeping at this.  I'll let you know.

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Have a great weekend - if you're up bright and early central time on Sunday, think "forward momentum" thoughts for me as Jeff and I run the Armadillo Dash half marathon!

27 comments:

  1. Good luck Sunday, I'll be cheering for you from here.

    What can I say about Paco, I love that dog. He's so funny. He makes me smile every time.

    Everything got so expensive here too. I've become a huge fan of Groupon to buy coupons for dinners out that usually are 2 for the price of 1 so we can still do some fun things.

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    1. Coupons and deals are the only way to go these days!

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  2. there was a news story the other day indicating that food prices are going up....really? so frustrating that everything keeps going up but the paychecks don't get any bigger to compensate, I hear you Shelley! Good for you for doing the research though, a little bit of you time but that's a HUGE savings!

    Love Paco..that's all :-)
    have a great weekend!

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    1. You know, I kinda thought that some of the standard grocery items were priced a bit higher...great.

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  3. I hear you on the economy. I am taking a bit of a hit in my job, but John's business is picking up - so hopefully that will even out.

    Do not give Paco any caffeine! :D

    I love Kip. His look says to me, "Just cover me with this blankie and then you can go away."

    Have a great race!

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  4. These are cute pics =)
    The animals are just tooooo adorable!!

    And good luck for the marathon!!
    You can do it :)

    meetingkat.com

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  5. I'm so excited for you to run your half this weekend! FM thoughts to you for Sunday.

    I need to get our homeowners and car insurance requoted. Why do they go up each year?

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    1. My agent told me that homeowners is going to go up a lot because the reserves are down, thanks to all the natural disaster claims recently - bah!

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  6. Oh my god, the sexy pose!
    So much cute!

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    1. That was the one he held the longest, too...such a crazy dog!

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  7. Haha, Paco is so funny, as are his Mom's captions.
    So goofy how he is about the camera.

    Enjoy your run.

    Chrissy

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  8. Sophie says, "Swoon!!!"

    You've got me motivated to check out my insurance and see if I can't get a better rate.

    And the knitting. Waaaa! I have other stuff to do today, and I just want to sit and knit all day!

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    Replies
    1. Don't you hate it when life interferes with hobbies?!

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  9. The Paco shots are killing me!! So funny! :)

    I love how you casually mention "oh yeah btw, we're running a half marathon tomorrow". !!! It's a HALF FREAKING MARATHON. I don't think I could crawl 13.1 miles, let alone run the whole ding dang thing!

    You're awesome. That is all. :)

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    1. You are too nice - I don't mean to take the half for granted, but I'm also trying to not stress over it, considering the last two I did were less than optimal. Here's hoping third time's the charm!

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  10. I just did the same thing!! Our auto insurance went up, so searched and found a better rate!! THEN I added my newly licensed 16 year old, and it shot up past the old rate. OY!!!!

    Have a wonderful half on Sunday!!!!

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    1. Well yeah, those younger drivers don't help...we are just a few months away from dropping our 23-year-old, woohoo!

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  11. Do y'all live around Amarillo?
    I went to college in Plainview!

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  12. Good luck on your run Shelley. I LOVE Paco!!! He has a huge personality that comes through in the photos.

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  13. Love the photos with Paco! He is so funny

    Have a great weekend!

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  14. It's been such a crazy day at work today - just now getting to read your post - wtf?!

    I am with you - I think you are winning just staying even in the money department!

    I'll probably still be sleeping, but I'll be thinking of you when I am still in my jammies at noon! :D Good luck!

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  15. Love love love the pets! :-)

    Wishing you LOTS of luck and happy running vibes on Sunday!

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  16. Great thought--the "new austerity." And your knitting and then unravelling reminds me of the story of Penelope, from the Odyssey.

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  17. LOL, love the Paco pics. He is a cutie :)

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