Day 3: Approaching the Oasis

Today was an exciting day for Sarah. Her best friend from school came by this morning and visited for a couple of hours. Erin is a pretty girl with short dark hair and a big smile. When they saw each other they were ecstatic. I couldn't believe how happy. They were grinning and giggling. I was a bit envious. I don't ever remember having friends like that. I remember having friends, playmates, but I don't remember anyone ever being thrilled to see me. I think I'd have remembered that.

They played for a couple of  hours before she had to leave. It was so funny when Erin arrived. She had on this purple shirt with a dog on it. Sarah laughed and said, "I have that same shirt." In a bit she rooted her shirt out and went and put it on. They really were cute together and you could tell by the constant smiles on their faces that they were just so happy to be together.

After the company left, Sarah went to play with the little girl up the street, Harper. I sat down to do my bank account and pay bills... and nearly had a heart attack.

Mid-month is when I update my account and make sure everything is entered before I pay bills. I do the same at the first of the month. I remember doing it mid-month because I was extremely low on money and knew I was going to need to be very careful.

Imagine my feeling when I got into my checkbook program to find everything from the 5th of May was gone. All the entries I made weren't there. Not a trace. It appeared as if I hadn't done a thing since the first of the month. I knew it wasn't true because of the balance that was showing when I finished. Both the active file and the backup file were affected,which is very odd. I never figured out what happened. I only knew I had to fix it, fast.

First I had to do the May reconciliation. Then, I had to pull out every receipt for the whole month of May and review them to see if there were in the system.  After the 6th of the month none were there. So, I had to start entering them.

I have a system I've had in place for  years. Every dime I spend I get a receipt for and I put that in an envelope labeled for that month and year. Each month I start a new one. I keep these envelops in a file drawer and shred them about every 4 years. Yes, 12 months of envelopes x 4. But I can't tell you how many times in a year I've had to research a month for a receipt to prove something, to claim a warranty, to return an item that proved defective, or to prove I paid a bill. You have no idea how many times this has saved my bacon.

Today was a case in point. Had I not kept those receipts, I don't know how I would have rebuilt a month of the register. Yes, I could research my check register or the statement when I get it but the register was the problem and it is tedious reading over old bank statements. In this case, the statement won't come out until the 6ht. Then if you can even find what you're looking for the stores still want a receipt. If I can find when I bought it, I just go to that month and pull the receipt. My system paid off big time today.

I finished another coaster cozy in a couple of hours while Sarah was off playing. They look so nice in the living room. I'm very impressed and will be making more of these. I have two more of my hard coasters that need covers. I may take a look at some of the thrift stores to see if I can find some old ones to use to make as gifts. I use a lot of coasters. They're in every room in the house because I have wood furniture every where. And I don't mind people carrying a drink to the living room or cold water to their room at night. I just don't want it on the wood.

I was doing a lot of "business" stuff today which included calls, one related to medical bills. I found out that I may qualify for some help with my medical bills. That has been a slowly escalating debt. I either have to curtail my doctor's visits or lab work. The hospital is going to send me the paperwork to fill out. She thought I'd qualify based on my income. We'll see. I generally don't qualify for anything so I'm not getting too excited.

At some point Sarah came home, around 3 pm I think, with the friends and played outside until she decided to play in the "lake" at the bottom of the drive. I caught her with mud smeared on her face, hands, and a ball. She came in for a bath and change of  clothes and the other kids sent on their way.

I think she thought I was going to be roaring mad. It was rather amusing actually but I didn't laugh or even smile. I told her I was mostly annoyed because she could have played a couple of hours longer. She's been told before to stay out of that mud hole at the end of the drive. It is just filthy and with all the rain it just won't dry up. I asked her what she was thinking. She said, "I'm stupid." Of course I had to nix that idea, too. I told her, "No, you're a kid and you do dumb things sometimes." She didn't agree. Insisted she was stupid. But she smiled at me.

I went back to work while Sarah entertained herself. Around 6 p.m. I stopped . We decided it would be nice to just go and eat and relax with no phones. I left my cell phone in the car. We just sat in Dairy Queen and ate chicken and chatted.

When we came back we sat and watch Disney's Tarzan. I'd never seen it before but I really enjoyed it. She got tired and went to bed. I was going to work more on the data entry but I've had it. I'm headed for bed when I close this post.

Oh.. it is Day 3 without Facebook. Again, the first hour of the day is a bit difficult. A couple of times I found myself hovering over the icon on the task bar but I moved on to something else. I've had a about half a dozen comments on the blog and it was so nice to hear from them. I said people who wanted to hear from me or talk to me would find me. Jilly, in particular, has been absent for a while and it was great to hear from her. She's the busiest person I know but I do miss her blogs.

I'm still getting my land legs under me. I need a bit more organization and structure. I suspect it will take a bit. I'll have plenty of time when Sarah goes to her Dad's but I am sure going to miss her so much. She's become a good little companion at times.

What I have noticed almost immediately is that I'm actually doing stuff. Lots of stuff, without a lot of organization, but it is getting done in fits and starts. That's giving me fits. I have to reestablish some structure to my days.

Good night, my friends. I hope you have sweet dream and pleasant days.