So it was Ds's 13 birthday party last night and 9 came for a sleepover. Well, four of them actually (including mine) stayed up all night. They were reasonably quiet. I was only woken up twice between midnight and 8:00am, so that's not too bad. The kids who did sleep got anywhere between 2-4 hours, so they were all running on empty this morning. They swam at the pool for three hours last night and had a blast there and then came back and I put out chips, pop, lemonade, bagel bites, honey garlic wings, pogos and birthday cake. They microwaved popcorn at some point through the night. I made them sausages and waffles for breakfast and they played hockey indoors until 11:00am, when parents started to arrive for pick up.

They are a wonderful group of kids: polite, well mannered, and FUN! It was a pleasure to have them all together enjoying themselves. I think we had a great start to teenagerdom...we'll see what's to come!

How did that happen? It's ds's 13th birthday today! He's invited 9 of his friends to go swimming at the wave pool and sleep over...it's going to be one long night. Luckily, my wonderful sil offered to take our younger 2 kids for the evening so they won't be home and kept awake until the wee hours of the morning. Ds asked if they could pull an all nighter and we told him that's fine, but we don't want to be woken up, so they're going to have to be somewhat quiet...yeah, right. I had to say it--we are the parents.

I think tomorrow is going to be a restful, quiet day at my house. I'll be looking forward to an early bedtime!

Seven no spend days so far this month for me! I would like to get to 15 for January. We do have a big spending day coming up next week. It's ds's 13 birthday and he has invited 9 friends to join him at the wave pool and for a sleepover! I think Saturday night is going to be one loooong night!

Work is going really well. I'm meeting all the goals that have been set by our Provincial Office and am over by a few...these are goals that need to be met by JUNE!!! My office manager and I had a meeting yesterday and she is thrilled because she so believes in celebrating all our successes...whenever one of us shines, the office shines. I am just relieved that the pressure is off me!

I'm going to go for a long snow walk today. I have a return to make at the
mall and may as well trot on over and get my walk in for the day. I hope it's not freezing outside!

Our power went out around 4:00pm yesterday due to high winds. We ordered Chinese food for dinner and went for a 'dark walk' (as told by our 6 year old). The power was still out this morning, which really sucked. I discovered that I really don't like getting up to a freezing cold, and dark, house.

I got the kids to school and attempted to get to work. Unfortunately, it started to snow early this morning, causing major traffic jams and slippery road conditions. I went about 25 blocks in 45 minutes before I decided to turn around and come home. When I arrived back here, there was power! Yay! I've spent the rest of the day in a nice, warm house drinking tea, puttering and reading.

The kids will be home from school soon. I'm going to get my pedometer on in a bit and go for a walk. We are completely out of bread and milk...not a good thing! Those are staples in our house. Hopefully, the snow stops soon. We have about a foot now, and I really do have things I need to attend to at work tomorrow...

We got a new office manager yesterday. She seems really nice and wants to work as a team. She sat with her through a 1.5 hour conference call, and then had a meeting with her. She told me that she's heard really good things about my work, isn't at all concerned about my programs, and I should just carry on as I have been. She said to come to her if I need help with anything and she'll be more than happy to assist me, but she's pleased with whatever I would like to do. WOW! My previous manager was a wonderful woman and a lot of fun, but she loved to micromanage everyone and everything and drove the whole office crazy coming up with ideas that were way out there and would whip us all into a frenzy trying to accomplish ridiculous things while actually getting our jobs done. We have a lot of volunteers in our office, and they disliked the old manager because they felt that she talked down to them. I feel some positive changes coming along!

Both Sunday and Monday were no spend days for us. On Sunday, Dh and I took the 2 youngest kids and one of their friends on a 5 km. hike. It was a beautiful day and I really needed some fresh air and a big stretch after all the Christmas goodies and lazing around. Yesterday the office administrator and I decided that we would go for a walk together on our lunch break and then eat at our desks instead of in the kitchen. Hopefully, we stick to it. I love to walk and definately have not been doing enough of it...reminds me that I should be bringing my runners to work today, because I'll be in heels this morning!

Well, since it's the start of a whole new year, it's also the start of Dh's new and improved paycheque. He got paid today and it was $200 more than last month. I think his second paycheque each month will work out to $100 more. We should find out in the next few weeks whether he'll be going full time, and that will really bump up the income...

With both of us working part time, we've become accustomed to living very frugally. This is interesting having some money that is truly just extra bounty!

I woke up feeling much better today. Dh is going to work a long day today and take tomorrow off and then, after the weekend, it's back to work for me too! I have enjoyed my time at home and wish I didn't have to go back to work. I do like my job, I just like being home more!

I'm taking the kids to the bank and the mall today. They all have Christmas money to burn, I have clothing to return (didn't fit) and I will buy them one treat each there...usually a shake or something. I have to go to the grocery store and buy a few dinner type items. We've been living off leftovers and appetizers for the past two weeks so it's going to be nice to eat real home cooking again. I refused to cook a real meal until the fridge was cleaned out of all the goodies.

So today will be the first day I've spent money in 2007!

Yep, it's my third day of being home sick with the flu. I feel awful. Actually, I can't remember the last time I felt so sick. My nose is running, throat is sore, I have a headache and all my joints ache. Yuck. I'm tired just from sitting up.

My mom came and got the two youngest kids and took them to her house for some crafts and lunch. I'll be meeting them at the dentist at 1:00. Ds6 has two cavities to be filled and dd10 has to get a tooth pulled. Worst of all is my Dh has my van so I have to walk there. It might be good for me to get some fresh air, but I can't believe how tired I am.

I'm on my third day of no spending...I'm too sick to go out and buy anything!

So I dug through pockets, drawers and bottoms of purses. I came up with $27.81 and this will be the start to my 2007 $20 challenge. I am looking forward to it. I'm not setting a goal amount but will put in as much as I can from extra money earned, change saved, and coupons.

I'm going to ask Dh if he would like to join and we'll have a contest to see who can save the most! My bet will be on me...

Good luck to all my fellow challengees!

I'm looking forward to starting this challenge for 2007. Last year I saved $898 between January and May and then started adding in money with Dh and got totally confused and ended up quitting. This year it's going to be mine, all mine!!! Dh is on his own challenge!

I am going to start with whatever change I have lying around, so it may not equal up to $20, but it will be close. I will be adding in whatever I don't spend from my blow money and anything extra (found money, money saved from using coupons etc.). I will not be using gift money or money out of our regular account that, as a family, we didn't spend. Leftover blow money is okay to put in because it's mine anyways!

Let's get this party started!