Makings of a Good Day

A new iPad and $200. What's not to love?

Blessings

A small raise is in next week's pay check, and I was just able to see my pay stub online. Heavenly Father has (always) been very good to me. Now if I can just exercise a bit more financial restraint....


-----------
Image: Chicago Daily News, Inc. (1922). [John Gibbons, Michael Grady, and Ernest Daliege standing and counting money at a table in a police station]. Available from American Memory.

Moving On, or, Going Out with a Bang

I finally closed my Audible account. At $14.95 a month, I decided it was a luxury I should forgo for now. I used my remaining 4 credits to buy:

• A Christmas Carol (narrated by Jim Dale)
• Macbeth: A Novel (narrated by Alan Cumming)
• Our Mutual Friend (Charles Dickens)
• Around the World in 80 Days (narrated by Jim Dale)

I feel like I'm listening to a Harry Potter book whenever I listen to Jim Dale, but I still love him

I also purchased two sale books:

• Adventures of Huckleberry Finn ($6, narrated by Elijah Wood)
• The Poisoner's Handbook: Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz Age New York (I think the narration and production are not top quality, but it was only $1.20)

These ought to keep my busy for a while, or at least they will once I run out of audiobooks to borrow from the library!

It Pays to be Lazy

Instead of going to the track after work yesterday, as I should have, I went to Ulta instead. I bought what I believe to be my first prestige cosmetics purchase--stila lip glaze (in berry). I'm trying to not think about the fact that I just paid $22 for lip gloss, but it is very nice lip gloss.

Anyway, it turns out that skipping the track was the right move. Sometime between 5 and 10 pm last night, the water in my apartment went out. I probably would not have jumped into the shower as soon as I got home from the track, and would have been very sorry later to have to spend the night and next day wearing my dried sweat. As it was, I "freshened up" this morning with moistened wipes, brushed my teeth with bottled water, and came to work early to wash my face and put on makeup (and use the toilet). So, I may be fat, but at least I'm not totally smelly!

The Last Shall Be First

At this point in life, I'm quite resigned to the fact that having a name that starts in the latter part of the alphabet means I'm often near the bottom of any list.

But today, being last paid off. The sixth digit in my SSN is a pretty high number, and because of that I got my tax rebate today. Granted, the money is really just passing through my account on the way to the credit card company, but at least it will be mine for a few days.

Red Letter Day

As I drove to work this afternoon (it's Monday, remember?) singing along to The Very Best of Sheryl Crow, I realized today is remarkable:

• Not once in the past month did I say to myself, "I don't want to go to work today."

• Today, for the first time since Sept 2005, I received a pay check, either biweekly or monthly, for more than $1,000.