There Used To Be A Blog Here

And I used to post on it once in a while. Our lives have just been very busy here lately, so I haven't paid much attention to the blog.

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The 365 Declutter Challenge is still underway. In my last update, I mentioned buying a lot of 50 books to resell on eBay. Eight of the last twelve declutter days involved selling and shipping those books in lots of varying sizes. Incidentally, when it was all said and done, I quintupled my money on the books.

On the remaining four days we gave away the old console TV to a single mom in need of it, set up some stacking trays to control office clutter, culled out the "baby" dishes for donation because Kat wants to use "big girl plates" now and cleaned out the fridge and pantry, tossing a few items from each.

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Kat is completely enrolled in Kindergarten, finally. Getting three immunizations last week were the last items on the list except for a back to school night next Monday evening. School starts next Tuesday.

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We spent nine hours at the Missouri State Fair on Saturday. After some extremely hot and sticky days the week before, the weather on Saturday was perfect; overcast but not rainy with temps around 80. We had a great time, and I think we saw nearly everything there was to see there. Kat's favorite part was either the carnival or the talking Highway Patrol car. My favorites were looking at the RVs for sale and of course, the food. I appreciated getting all the free literature on recycling, reusing, and conserving our natural resources, too.

I also have an unusual urge to enter a crocheted afghan or a decorated cake in our county fair next year.

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On the home improvement front, all the lumber and hardware has been purchased for the privacy gates, and the smaller of the two is up. Pictures to follow in a week or so. Shane is usually the better of the two of us to follow-through on projects, but lately his mind is off and running to the next project on the list. I know this feeling all too well in myself, and it's been a challenge to help him stay focused on the project at hand.

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It's time to re-vamp the budget, although I just updated it in June. With daycare expenses ending, but our monthly average electricity bill increasing and school lunches being added, it's time to juggle the numbers a little.

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I did pick up veggies last week, and have tried a few recipes that turned out well. I even have some photos to prove it. But finding time to share them has been a problem. I hope to do better in the days to come.