Betty Boogie's Oddventure

Happy weekend to everyone. Sorry I have been absent for a few days. Catching up on my sleep from staying up and making PJ's for my nephew for Christmas and going to a midnight movie will do that to a person.

Sorry to say I was a little disappointed with Quantum of Solace. The direction they took this movie was out of character for Bond. The villain was really forgettable and they used some of those shaky film cuts used in Bourne Supremacy which I do not like. Cool flat surface computer graphics and at least this Bond girl has a brain. An homage to Goldfinger as well. The hubs wants to give it another try in the theater so I probably will see it again.

Not much to report in the hand crafted arena today because of the previous mentioned lack of sleep. I need to do some serious grocery shopping and a little clean up around the house. I did FINALLY get more yarn for Lady E Thursday and have been knitting on her. She's almost done and I discovered I bought more yarn than I probably needed. That's OK, the colors are ones my mom likes so she is getting a scarf for Christmas styled like my wrap but not as wide.

Funny thing is I may have to block Lady E at my parents house since I have no place here I can do that without it getting trampled and covered in cat or dog hair.

Not much else going on today. The hubs is finally getting his overdue b-day gift. Ingredients for making beer - dark, dark beer. I can't work on flannel PJ's for the SK's cause they are here so that will be next week. I do have a two sweaters I picked up at the thrift store to make the SK's new stockings. These are not a surprise so I can work on them with them here.

Tonight I'm headed over to Betty Boogie's (name changed to protect the crafty) for Taco's, boardgames and cards. "Betty" and I are friends IRL. She's really in to vintage (like me) and has costumed several local play productions. She's a stay at home mom of four who is currently living in the dissaray of a home remodel. When you get a chance check out her new blog which she will link to her ETSY site.

And The Awards Goes To....

This will be a quick post as I need to go nap so I can get up and go see the 12:01 showing of Quantum of Solace (Kerry we are still going with you in two weeks!). It doesn't help that I was up last night (this morning) until 2:00 sewing PJ's. I was wired and just could not sleep. Love me some James Bond!

Mrs. B over at Confessions of a Pagan Soccer Mom gave me my first ever blog award! Thanks Mrs. B!. If you have never checked her out you should click on over. She's tons of fun!



Now to pass it along. This is really hard cause there are so many good blogs out there that I read every day. Drum roll please...

First of all The Hubs over at A Kilted Travel Agent. I love the way he writes and he's the bestest most supportive husband in the whole world!

Weirdy Pants over at Unfinished Object. This is one of the first knitting blogs I started reading and one of my inspirations for starting a blog that has evolved in to what it is today. She's a total crack up, shares my interest in Geocashing and her dog Rufus is truly one of the cutest on this planet!

Benita over at Chez Larsson who has the most organized tiniest home I have ever seen! She's a constant inspiration for me to declutter and organize my home in the most beautiful and personal way possible.

Roland an expat from Britain living in the US over at Militant Ginger who is such a clever writer! I totally enjoy reading him as he always puts things in perspective for me. Weather he is talking about the new Knight Rider, his love affair with a very American car or the most recent political campaign.

FruGal over at Totally Money an Australian living in London who is managing to pay for her wedding without using debt.

That was fun and hard cause I could have kept going. If you want to get a taste of who I read every day just take a gander at my blog roll to the right. Off to bed!

November Goals

The leaves are falling off the trees like mad and it's darn cold out there. Welcome to November!


I had posted my October Roundup & November Goals on Friday and decided after I posted it was too long and involved. At the end of this month I will make my wrap up a lot more simplistic. I decided as part of this I would start out November with my goals.

Pay off personal loan and credit card debt with home equity loan.
We went to our credit union yesterday and will find out tomorrow if we are approved and for how much. There are many advantages to this type of loan. We will reduce our minimum payments per month which will allow us to decide what to do with the money we keep every month as well as make it easier to pay extra on debt. We will reduce the amount of interest we are paying and we can write off a portion of our payments on our taxes.

Lose five pounds.
I have been sedentary for a while with the exception of my Sunday morning walks. Five pounds is probably easily achievable and I could go higher but just really don't want to set myself up for failure. If I lose more then cool beans. I plan to achieve this by using my elliptical trainer four times a week and continuing my Sunday morning walks. I will also make an effort to include more fruits and veggies in my daily diet and drink more water.

Drink coffee out only twice per week.
Coffee is one of my weaknesses. I think because coffee is a treat for me and it's relatively inexpensive at the time of purchase. Going and getting coffee every day or at least several times a week really adds up. I usually get coffee with my friend Sunday morning after my walks so that will be one of the days which leaves another day during the week for coffee out. The rest of the time the hubs and I will be utilizing our french press and espresso machine.

Complete seven hand crafted or purchased gifts for Christmas.
Thank you for your comments on my post about Holiday Gift Stress. This has definitely given me some food for thought as far as what I plan to buy or make for Christmas gifts this year. I know part of my problem is the guilt I feel over disappointing family members with something not from their list. I made some headway last night creating scrap book calendar pages for my niece and nephews scrap books.

Have twelve no spend days this month.
I'm taking an idea from Holly Is Stopping Shopping and FruGal and tracking my no spend days. I am guaranteed at least four this week since I have bought groceries and paid all my bills and have nothing due until Friday when the hubs and I get paid.

Manage extras ahead of time.
There are a few extras this month as we celebrate Thanksgiving here in the states. My sister is hosting and I have voluntered to bring green bean casserole and squash to feed approximately 17 people. This should not be too bad on my grocery budget for the month.

It's also my dad's birthday which we always celebrate at Thanksgiving and which means we need to purchase a gift. We know what we are getting but need to wait until payday.

My niece is also being baptized the weekend of Thanksgiving so that means two trips up to my sister's house in one weekend. Hopefully that won't hurt too bad in the gas budget, especially since gas has come down and costs about $15 less to fill up my tank. We don't have the hubs kids this year for Turkey day so we will save some gas we would normally have spent driving to get them.

I need to pay the tabs for my car this month but first I need to take it through emissions. We will do that this weekend to get it over and done with.

Finally, the new James Bond film Quantum of Solace comes out this month. I don't know about you but I am sucker for this particular English gentleman. There will be money in the entertainment budget to go see it. The question will be if we go at midnight on the night it opens?


Have a great day!