this wasn't in the plan |but life is still pretty good

Our vacuum cleaner broke about a month ago. We've still been able to use it, it just isn't nearly as efficient as it was before it broke. Yesterday, I threw in the towel and decided it needed to be fixed or replaced ASAP.  We knew how much the needed part would be, but I sought out some alternatives. It was my husband who ended up heading to eBay and finding our exact vacuum cleaner. The auction ended that night and if we won it at a good enough price (even including shipping), it would be less than half of the price of the needed part. I just had to figure out how much we were willing to bid for it.



As I'm sure you all know, eBay can be crazy dangerous when it comes to getting you to spending more than you really want to.  I knew what I wanted to spend, but realized that if it ended up going for just a little bit more than that, I wouldn't be happy. I needed to figure out just how much we really could afford to spend (and, of course, make sure that amount wasn't more the price it would take to just take ours to a repair shop or purchase a new one).  Luckily, it's the end of the month and I knew just how much extra money there was in the budget. We also had a pretty good idea of how much it would cost to repair it. With a few minutes remaining on the auction, I entered in our maximum bid and we won! Now we'll have an extra on hand for the part that we need now and for anything else that should break in the future.

My youngest son has a very limited diet. We've eliminated all the common allergens, plus a few others, in an effort to figure out what's triggering his eosinophilic esophagitis. Finding foods that he can eat and wants to eat has been tricky. One food he's fallen in love with is avocados. I don't traditionally feed my babies avocado because they tend to be a bit on the pricey side and if I'm going to buy one, I don't want to share it! But back in April or May, when I decided to test out avocado with him, they were on sale for three for a dollar. And you know what? Every week since then, they've been three for a dollar at our local Smith's. There is not some obscene overage of avocados in town either. I've visited other Smith stores in the area and none of them have ever had them at that price. From what I can tell, it has simply been a summer-long unadvertised special at my local store.

I'm truly grateful to have a food that is healthy, doesn't seem to give him trouble, helps him gain weight, and doesn't cost too much (unlike some of the other foods I feed him!). Focusing on smaller blessings like this helps me realize that things are going pretty well after all.

Remember the TV show Saved By The Bell? Remember Zack's cell phone? Though my current cell phone isn't that archaic, it's still very old and I'm looking forward to having a phone that doesn't require me to put the antenna up for the best reception.

My Zack Morris Phone (ZMP) was given to me by my sister-in-law when my original cell phone took a ride in the washing machine.  A year later and a half later I got my free upgrade phone, but a year after that I lost it and activated the ZMP so I wouldn't have to purchase a new phone.

I've always been pretty adamant that I my cell phone really only needs to be able to make and receive phone calls. But I'll admit that I changed my tune when I walked into the store and learned what phones worked with my plan and would cost me little or nothing out of pocket. A camera? Hey, that'd be nice! Ability to browse the web? Sounds fun! GPS navigation? Sure, why not? Suddenly, I feel like I need a whole lot more that just the ability to make phone calls.

And to think that four years ago I functioned just fine without any cell phone at all.

photo by DigitalAlan

This weekend, my family enjoyed a nice little end of summer getaway. On our first day there, we stopped at a produce stand to pick up some things. When the man gave me my total, I was a little surprised, but for some reason it seemed okay in my head and I didn't say anything. After we got in the car I figured out that we were probably overcharged by a few dollars. We could have perhaps gone back, but we didn't. Normally something like this would make me really upset and perhaps ruin my day, but I decided to just blow it off and enjoy my vacation. I didn't want it to be remembered as 'the trip where I got really mad at the produce stand guy'.

Instead it will be remembered as 'the trip where I got really mad that I forgot my son's shoes and we had to go buy some' because the same nonchalant attitude from the produce stand did not carry over to the next day.

Clearly I am capable of blowing things off in some situations, but not in others. And there appears to be little rhyme or reason to it all.