He goes through shoes really fast, and I think it’s partly because he doesn’t buy quality ones. The same is true for watches. I can’t remember him ever paying more than $5 for one, and he wonders why they fall apart or quit working.

One day when I have the money, I’m going to sneak and buy him one of those nice Sector watches. I’ll order it online, put it on my PayPal card, and be sure to destroy any evidence of the price. And no matter how many times he asks, I will not tell him how much it cost. Not until it lasts long enough to have paid for itself in comparison to all those cheap watches he would have bought.

She was in the sandbox playing, when a boy ran by and tripped over her. They both fell, and her hand landed hard on a board of some sort. She went to the school nurse, who gave her ice to put on it and sent her back to class.

I asked her why they didn’t call me, and she said the nurse just told her to come back to the office if it got to hurting too badly. I was a little angry about that, but I checked it out and saw no evidence that it was broken. It was a little swollen, though.

She woke up about 2:00 this morning complaining about it hurting. She didn’t go back to sleep for about 2 hours, so we didn’t send her to school. I took her to the doctor, ended up sitting in the x-ray department at the hospital for 2 hours, and finally found out that it wasn’t anything serious. The doctor said to wrap it up with an Ace bandage, put ice on it, elevate it, and give her some ibuprofen for pain.

I came home to find that I only had 2 doses of liquid ibuprofen left. But after digging in the medicine cabinet, I found a bottle of children’s Advil pills. They’re tiny little pills, not like those huge antibiotics or diet pills, so I decided to try them on her again (the last attempt was unsuccessful, but happened a year or so ago). She did a pretty good job with them, so hopefully I won’t have to buy more liquid.

The hand is still hurting her. I hope it quits soon. I can’t stand to see her in pain, and she’s extremely sensitive to it. I have a feeling it’s going to be pretty brutal until it gets all healed.

I have several email accounts, but it didn’t seem to matter until a week or two ago. I’d click “Check Mail” and it would breeze right through all of them, unless there was a problem with one of the servers or something. Now it just sits there forever saying it’s connecting, not just for one of the addresses, but all of them. Not the end of the world or anything, but very aggravating.

I would hate to see how slow this machine would be if I installed a keylogger. Even the kind that doesn’t slow most systems down would probably slow mine to a crawl. It’s really time for a new computer, but so far the funds haven’t materialized. I’m hoping they will within a month or two, because if they don’t, the guy who has the laptop I was going to buy will probably give it to his daughter for Christmas. And then I will be back to square one.

I’m even prouder of the fact that I got caught up on my work before I went offline. Now if I can just stay that way, all should be well. We’re going to be in a tight spot this month because Hubby didn’t get in his hours last week due to rain, but if we can hang in there until next month things should be better.

I know today is Labor Day, but I’m trying to do a thing or two while I’m home alone. I’m not going to type like a madwoman or anything, just try to get a leg up on some research for the report I’ll be working on this week. But as soon as Hubby and Pumpkin get back in, the computer’s going off again and I’m going to enjoy the rest of this long weekend with them.

Luckily it hasn’t happened to us yet, but one of Hubby’s uncles ran out of water last week. And having only lived where we live now for a few months, I don’t know for sure how good of a well we have. So conserving water does interest me.

We could use all new plumbing, and when we get it I hope we can afford something that will conserve water without reducing performance. Moen has some good faucets and showerheads to choose from, and they’re very nice looking. I was watching a video on YouTube about their efforts to make functional yet conservative products, and I was impressed.

A lot of people forget that saving the environment is something we all need to work together on. I’m not the poster girl for sustainability by any stretch of the imagination, but I try to think about how what I do will impact the earth. And conserving water is something we can all do that not only helps us, but everyone around us.

I was not happy about that at first, but I ended up getting attached to the little boogers. Especially the mutt. He looks like some sort of toy terrier mix, and he’s sooooo sweet. We’ve been keeping him out on the porch until we can get a dog carrier for crate training, and until we can get rid of the small amount of mange he has (which I’m almost positive is the hereditary and non-contagious kind, but you can never be too sure). But once that’s all squared away, he will be a housedog.

I guess we also need to start looking at pet beds, because of course we won’t be keeping the poor sweetie cooped up all the time. I might get some Lassie pads and see if I can train him with those and forget about the carrier, I’ll have to do some research on it. The only way I’ve housetrained a dog was through careful watching and putting it out when it was about to go, and it’s been about 13 years since I did that.

Anyway, it looks like we’re a three dog household now. But it’s all good, because I’ve rediscovered my inner dog lover.

Well, things have been pretty rough for the past few weeks. I was sick for what seemed like an eternity, and had to go back and forth to doctor’s appointments due to other health issues. I found out I have fibrocystic breast disease, but that was actually good news since it’s completely harmless. Well, sort of. The doctor said there was no real treatment that would help in my case, just to cut down on caffeine and maybe that would help. But it’s not like I’m in excruciating pain or anything, it’s just mainly an annoyance. And I’m glad it’s nothing serious.

Other than all the health junk, I’ve just been working my butt off trying to get caught back up on my writing. Feeling bad really put me behind, because I couldn’t stand to do much of anything besides laying in bed. But I’ve got to get back on track so I can make some money this month. This month was very lean, and I don’t want to go through that again next month.

I found some great deals on clothes for Pumpkin. I got her a bunch of stuff on clearance: several shirts and shorts for $3 apiece, a pair of jeans for $7, and two pairs of pajamas for $7. I also got her an adorable little skirt with shorts under it and a shirt to match, and I think altogether that outfit was less than $10. I spent about $65 and got her enough new clothes to last her until the weather cools off, so I guess I did pretty good.

Mom bought her a couple of outfits and another pair of the $7 jeans. We also looked for unique baby gifts for my cousin, but didn’t find anything that struck our fancy there. Besides, I didn’t have the money to put toward that just yet anyway.

Pumpkin’s school supplies are taken care of, thanks to a nearby church. All she needs now is a pair of tennis shoes and a new book bag, and she’ll be ready. It’s a good thing, because school starts this week here.

Pumpkin’s birthday will be next month, and I always try to have a nice get-together for her so she can have lots of fun. I don’t know how much we’ll be able to get her as far as presents go, but I always try to make sure she has a good time. And most of the time, she has a blast.

Next will be Halloween. Of course Pumpkin will dress up, but I wouldn’t mind getting all gussied up myself. It’s been a long time since I did that. Maybe I’ll look at some of those cool renaissance costumes. Who knows, maybe I’ll even talk Hubby into dressing up with me (yeah right).

Next is Thanksgiving, which we don’t usually do much for. Sometimes we go eat with my mom or Hubby’s parents, sometimes I fix a good dinner for us, and sometimes we just chill at home and be thankful for each other. That’s what it’s all about anyway as far as I’m concerned.

After that will be winter. I don’t even want to think about that, so I’m going to end this post right now.

Mom was disappointed to hear that school would be starting back next week. She had wanted Pumpkin to spend a week with her this summer, but that’s not going to happen. But I may pack up some luggage for her and let her stay the weekend. I have to make sure it’s alright with Hubby first (we don’t send the kid off without both of us expressly approving), but barring any unforeseen problems that’s probably what will happen.

I’m glad we’ll finally get to see her. I used to go up there about once a month at least, but with money being so tight lately and gas being so expensive that has just been impossible lately. But maybe now that Hubby has a better job I can get up there a little more often.