10/09/2000

jade plant, a begonia, dieffenbachia, and something she referred to as a "travelling iris." The travelling iris is a tall, spiky plant, and while there was room to put everything else up high out of the reaches of the kitties, the travelling iris ended up on the table in our bedroom, next to the TV. I figured I’d wake up this morning and find it completely eaten, but apparently the kitties left it alone last night. Maybe they’re waiting ’til we’re all out of the house… We watched Final Destination last night, which is just a great movie. I feel like I’ve seen it 14 times, though, because Fred repeatedly puts the DVD in and then forwards through to all the gross and gory scenes. In spite of that, I enjoyed seeing it all the way through a second time. It wasn’t until this morning that I realized we missed not only Sex and the City (which I can catch Tuesday night), but also the season premiere of The Practice. Grrrr. So speaking of money and such (which I was doing up there at the top), Fred and I sat down and made up a budget Saturday night. We’ve been threatening to do so for a few years now, but just never did. As we talked Saturday evening, though, we both wondered where the hell all our money was going. Once we started writing everything down, it was fairly obvious. So we made a pact to stop using the Amex card (we were using it for things like groceries and gas as well as spontaneous purchases, so we could earn "points" towards airline tickets, but it was getting confusing trying to remember to subtract everything out of the checking account so we’d have enough to pay the amex bill), stop buying books (I’m the worst when it comes to that), and start investing $200 a month, which will go up some. We also each will get a monthly allowance of $150, to spend on whatever we wish. However, our movie rentals have to come out of that money, which will be fun when we both want to watch a certain rental. ("You can watch it with me, but you have to pay for half of it…") I’m sure we’ll end up having to fiddle with the budget before it’s set in stone, but hopefully this will help cut down on the unnecessary money we spend. And before you ask – because I know you’re dying to know – we’ll continue to go out to eat once a month, and order pizza or some other fast food the other 3 or 4 Fridays of the month. We like our fast food, we do. The spud informed me over the weekend that she wants to be an animal hunter like Steve Irwin, only she doesn’t want to hunt crocodiles. I didn’t ask what she does want to hunt – perhaps cats? She’s certainly got the experience for that. It sounds like Journalcon was certainly something. I informed Fred that come what may, I’m attending the next one, no matter where they decide to hold it. It’s interesting checking out the pictures in the meantime, though, and trying to figure out who everyone is.

Okay, I’m off to enjoy the rest of my afternoon. I suggest y’all do the same!
—–
]]>