My Weblog

Welcome to the dog house..........

Folks in Las Vegas are happy to see the end of 2011. So happy they're lighting off fireworks.  My dogs are going crackers, barking at every noise. Oh.my.word.......

We are doing the low blood pressure thing for the moment. It was even lower earlier--felt funky. Won't be long til it tries to work its way up. 

Today turned out to be a weird day. I got up really early so I could get all my uploads done. I've had it take as much as 4 hours to get them done, so I have to start really early if I have to go somewhere. I needed to leave here by 10:30 and, of course, I had to get cleaned up before I could leave. So 5:30 was as late as I could sleep, no matter how tired I was. I got everything uploaded in just under 3 hours so I had time to do a post in the forum at A Cherry on Top to show off my kits for this week. 

I was supposed to be with the munchkins for a couple of hours. Eventually, I was asked to stay for 6-7 hours which rammed me butt up against blood pressure pill time. As it turned out, I left after just a couple of hours. So, I managed to get home before I needed to worry about a pill or about having a headache. 

I gave myself a little treat today. I ran up the street to Jack in the Box and bought myself a hamburger.  I've been wanting one for weeks. I think it's been about 4 months since I've had a hamburger. Isn't that un-American? So, that was my little gift to me! 

I also gave the van a shock today. I actually put more than half a tank of gas in it! I know that hasn't happened in 2011. I've been gradually trying to increase the amount of gasoline I buy. I want to get to the point where I fill it up and a week later fill it up again. Of course, I expect I won't spend much once it's filled up because I try to be very careful that I don't drive much.

I checked yesterday and found that the good Lord (my sales manager, LOL) had increased my December 2011 sales 466% of what they were in December 2010. Now that's some increase! But, it gets better. I checked tonight and more sales hit today and my December 2011 sales are now 514% of what they were in December 2010. It pays to have a good sales manager!!!!!!! Fact is, December 2011 is my second highest month's sales ever! 

Well, it's quite cold here in this corner. I'm wrapped in an afghan and I'm still chilly. I haven't been able to stop thinking about that radiant heat heater that I saw at Costco. I never even checked the price because I knew I didn't have the wherewithal to get it. But, I sure haven't forgotten it!  I'm going to go crawl into bed and see if I can get a little sleep before there's another onslaught of barking due to more fireworks. I'm expecting sleep may be tough to come by tonight which, on top of last night's short sleep, should leave me in FINE shape for tomorrow, LOL.  But, hey, at least it's warm there! Goodnight.

New Release Day!

Please scroll down for the Blog Train post!  (I think by now it may have flipped over onto the next page.)

Did you miss New Release Day last week?  Yeah, we took a week off.  We needed a rest and who cares about scrapbooking stuff on Christmas Eve anyway? But we're back full force, so settle into your chair, grab a warm cup of somethin', and follow along.

Today is New Year's Eve.  I did a perfectly good New Year's Eve kit a coupla years ago.  I still loved the colors and I didn't think I could pick any I'd like better.  But, I thought the kit needed freshening. It's back with lots of new elements and about double the papers and 3 shiny alphas.  It's got lots of sparkle and shine to reflect our hopefulness for the New Year.

Of course, you can buy the kit or just the elements, just the papers, or just the alphas.  Everything is on sale 30% off at A Cherry on Top.  Kit preview is linked to the store.

My two SnowFriends kits are as cute as they can be, but they're pretty much kid-oriented.  I wanted to do something a little more slanted towards the grown ups for scrapping our cold-weather photos.  Here's Sweater Weather, the new release for this week.

This kit is totally unique.  I sat here for hours with my nose pressed up against the screen, converting cross stitch patterns I found online to patterns I could use for scrapbook papers and elements.  It wasn't easy, but I think it was worth it!  I LOVE this kit!

I don't have the patience to make alphas from scratch. I particularly don't have the patience to make alphas filled with lots of little cross-stitches. Shoot, I rarely have the patience (or time) to do alphas that come in individual .pngs. So, a special friend of mine created these alphas for me. You won't find them anywhere else! They're custom made for me (and you, of course!)!!!!!!  And, yes, you can buy just the elements, just the papers, or just the alphas.  But why would you want to? Buy the whole kit--you'll be glad you did. It's on sale at 30% off at A Cherry on Top right now. I've linked the kit to the store to make it easy for you.

And don't forget the stackers.  We usually only do 4 sets of stacked papers but we got a little carried away with this fun kit and did 5 for the same price.  They make scrapping so easy and give your pages that "professional" look!

One final note:  I've never announced it or made a big to do about it.  I've just quietly left my Christmas kits at introductory price throughout the whole season.  So, if you still need (or want, LOL) a Christmas kit or two, grab them today or tomorrow or Monday.  I'm putting them back to regular price Tuesday morning.  I'll add the kit previews here and link 'em to the store for you.  We have lots of extra goodies, stacked papers, clusters, word art, etc too and they too will be on sale til Tuesday.  Just check the related products tab beneath the preview in the store and you'll see the other items we have available.  And, if you like to see layouts done with kits before you buy them, click on the "media" tab below the previews.

I hope you see something you love!  Have a great week and stay safe tonight!

Darn Facebook!

All week I've thought of today with various titles. It's Saturday. It's New Release Day. It's New Year's Eve. Then I signed into FB and there was a reminder that today would have been Joe's birthday. He would have turned 62. It was a birthday to which he was looking forward. The way he had it figured, we could take early retirement from Social Security, he could cut his work schedule back to 3 or 4 days a week and we'd be pretty well fixed. He lived only 5 days past his last birthday.......... 

When I saw that, it was a mule kick to the gut, but I am not going to let it get to me today. He is where he most wanted to be. Within hours/days of his death, I had a single scripture verse running through my head:  "For I know the plans I have for you, plans to give you a hope and a future." I've lived on that for almost a year now and I can live on it a while longer. I'll think about my great expectations today.  Here's my song for today:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ztr8RmpV9Ys&NR=1&feature=endscreen

Truely, I'm glad to put 2011 behind me. It's been a struggle, emotionally and physically and financially.  But my God is interested in "increase". I expect to be happier, more joyful, stronger, healthier, fitter, and to move out of the pit where my finances are concerned in 2012. I'm also on the lookout for a senior Guy Penrod look-alike (as long as he doesn't have or want 7 kids, LOL.  Don't forget the smile lines, Lord!). I have GREAT EXPECTATIONS, based on the promises in His Word.

So, I am uploading kits and more kits in the background this morning. I have a new kit releasing today as well as the revamp of my New Year's kit. Those are all in place now and the kit for next week is uploading for the CT. I've been at this since 5:30. It seems there are no lazy Saturday mornings in my schedule.  It looked like everything was going well. All the bits and pieces of the two kits that I'm releasing today uploaded without a hitch. Then I started work on the kit for the CT. Got to where about 89% was uploaded and then it seemed to stall, but picked up speed and all was well--I thought. But, I found out nothing but the alphas had actually uploaded so I'm uploading the rest again......Phew! It actually seems to have finished this time! Yay!

Later this morning I am scheduled to drive to Jen's and babysit the munchkins for 2-3 hours.  That'll take a chunk out of my day, but, hopefully, I'll still accomplish something around here. I want to work some more on that Valentine's kit. Five papers (which is what I have now) won't take me very far, LOL.  And I want to get some work done in the house as well. Since I've managed to get all the kits completed except the Vday kit, and I've got a start on it, maybe I can allocate part of my attention to this house. Now, wouldn't that be grand!

So, I have to leave here in 2-2.5 hours and head across town. I still have a lot to do so I'm gonna sign off and get on it. You be blessed today!

Saints be praised.......

my planner refill arrived today.  That's GOOD news!  Now, for the first time in a good 9 months, I have a chance at having some clue, from time to time, of what I ought to be doing next.  What a relief that would be.  I've felt like the headless horseman since I discovered 2011's refill for April-December was packed away in some box. No idea which box, of course......... By early tomorrow morning, I'll have January through March properly installed in the binder. Now where do I put the rest that no dogs eat it, it doesn't fall into some random box, I remember where I put it, etc.?

So, the kit I've been working on is done all but the details. All the design work is done. The previews are made. The alphas are made and so is the alpha preview. We're down to TOU, Piracy Notice, and Product Description. Wahoo! I started on the Valentine's Day kit. I've only got 5 papers so far, but at least it's a start. Honestly, I can't relax til that's complete. I've got it scheduled to go to the CT on 1/14 and to be released in the store on 1/21. I do not want to be butt up against a deadline, trying to produce something glorious. That would totally freak me out!

Do you remember I said I gave the CT a week off because I've worked them so hard this year?  I made 'em promise they'd pray for my sales though, LOL.  Well, tomorrow is the last day of the month.  It's possible there will be a sale or two tomorrow, but as it stands, my sales for December 2011 are almost 5 times what they were in December 2010.  Don't you wish you had pray-ers like that prayin' for you?  And that "almost 5 times" multiplier is my answer to someone who has thrown numerous critical comments at me lately. 

I am supposed to babysit tomorrow.  Of course, I have to do uploads to the store before I can do anything else.  And, from the looks of my gas tank, I may have to do a fill-up before I hit the road.  Apparently Jen needs to go in to her office for a couple of hours tomorrow and I'm on duty with the munchkins. So, there'll be no late night/early morning hours for me tonight! I'll need my wits about me since they outnumber me 3 to 1, LOL.

Here's a funny babysitting story from the family history books. My father was a big chunky kid. My aunt, his older sister never weighed more than 100 pounds til she began to put on weight in mid-life. She was 8 years older than he. When my grandmother went out, it was my aunt's job to babysit my dad, the baby of the family. He gave her fits, pulling all sorts of dirty little tricks on her. She'd be working intently on her homework at the dining room table. He'd crawl under the table and quietly tie her shoestrings together or to a table or chair leg. Things like that. So one day, my grandmother was barely down the front steps and my aunt grabbed my father and wailed him good. This was possible only because she caught him completely by surprise. He hollered and carried on and finally asked her why she'd done that.  After all, he hadn't done anything bad. Her reply was that she'd whipped him when she did for whatever he was gonna do! She knew him well.....

Well, I need to drag my body off to bed.  I'm tired enough and it's late enough, especially considering my duties for tomorrow.  Goodnight.

Dream come true........

I was getting ready for bed last night when it occured to me that it would be just wonderful to be able to stay in my jammies all day and not have to deal with a certain female undergarment ever again.  Well, so far, I'm in my jammies and it's 1PM here.  I didn't plan it.  It is more that I have had so much to accomplish this morning that I have been at it non-stop.  Haven't taken time to dress or even to eat.  Guess I'll have to do something about all that really soon!

I was all excited yesterday.  I opened the door and there was a package!  I hoped against hope that it would be my planner refill.  No such luck.  Many many moons ago, I ordered an "autoship" order from HSN, an olive oil based skin care product I really love.  If I stop the shipment, I can't get the same price again.  So, I keep extending the number of months between shipments.  We started at every 3 months and I've now extended it to 7 months between shipments.  Alas, it was that I found on my doorstep, not my planner refill, LOL. 

BJ (before Joe), I used to go around from room to room every month with the vacuum cleaner and vacuum along the tops of the walls and wherever else was necessary to knock down or do away with cobwebs.  Joe saw me struggling with the vacuum cleaner, doing that, and decided I had to stop.  So, I stopped.  Well, it occurs to me that I no longer have a Joe around here from whom to take orders but the spiders are still around.  So, I think I will have to begin my monthly routine again.  Southern Nevada doesn't have many "bugs", but it does have spiders!

Okay I am in the home stretch on that latest kit.  The design work for the kit is complete.  I need previews, alphas, alpha preview, TOU, piracy notice, and product description and I'm done.  Could it be today?  I hope so! 

I have my 5 habits to complete today.  I also have a load of laundry in the dryer.  That will need to be folded and put away.  Step by tiny little step, I can see this place improving.  It might still look like a pit to you, but I know it's less of a pit than it used to be.  This cheers me. 

Come Tuesday, I will request the last of the money in Joe's IRA.  I did not want to take it in 2011 because I'd already liquidated the teeny tiny bit in my own IRA last year and didn't want to cope with whatever tax consequence there might be from taking distributions from both in the same year. If it's going to be taxable, it could cost me hundreds of dollars. But, by Tuesday, we will have both feet in 2012 and it will be safer. I had hoped to be able to use these funds to make an offer in compromise to the IRS but I think I may to have to use them for living expenses. Of course, I'll squeeze every nickel. Maybe by year's end......

Okay, it's really late in the day for my first post.  I have miles to go before I sleep.  Bye for now.  Be blessed!

More randomness........

I was emptying and refilling the dryer and I remembered a story I want to record here.  For a long while, Joe and I had two dogs, Punkin and Max. They both slept with us. Punkin is the smallest and was happiest curled up at the foot of the bed. Max slept up between us. It's a king size bed and it worked. Then Parker arrived on the scene and Joe insisted he had to sleep with us too. Well, three big dogs plus two humans just doesn't work, even in a king size bed.  Max is long, thin, and tall; Parker is short and round as a barrel. And the two of them are rivals with each other and were vying for space with the humans. Joe was big enough, heavy enough, to maintain his place. I wasn't. Night after night, I found myself, literally, clinging to the edge of the bed to keep from being pushed out. Need I tell you, one doesn't sleep well under those conditions? After weeks of complaining about being totally exhausted, which fell on intentionally deaf ears, I laid down an ultimatum. Either the two boy dogs were no longer going to sleep with us or we were going to have separate bedrooms. Max sheds like crazy and having him in our bed meant that I was constantly fishing Max hairs out of my nose and mouth. And Parker was the last one in, the one who "broke the camel's back", so to speak. Joe literally went with the two boy dogs to sleep in the spare bedroom!  And what brought this to mind?  I just pulled one of the bedspreads from the other room out of the dryer. The lint trap was loaded with Max hair. The bedspread is still covered with Max hair. And, everything that was washed with that bedspread is covered in Max hair. AND, my sweatshirt is now covered in Max hair from handling it all.  Now, I ask you, why would all that be a problem for anyone?

I'm doing my "joker face" today.  The consequences of forgetting to take a potassium supplement before I went to bed.  I did take a supplement when I got up this morning but that apparently did not do the trick. 

I thought you might find it edifying to learn what it's like to try to design with a malfunctioning mouse.  You create a paper; before you can save it, without clicking anything, the paint bucket dumps paint on your texture layer.  You go to save a flower as a png file; somehow the computer saves it as a layered file and reverts to the edit screen.  Or, you move your mouse across the layer styles and, without clicking anything, suddenly a layer style is applied to the element you're working on.  You click 3 times on something that should only need to be clicked on once before anything happens.  OR, you click once and suddenly you're 4 steps down the drop down menu.  It's crazy.  And frustrating.  And time-consuming--fixing all the weird stuff.

Alright.  I'm shuttin up for now.  I need some food!

 

Ah........that's better.....

I worked until the wee hours of the morning.  I rolled out of bed at 5:30 and lasted two hours.  Then I went back to bed for an hour and a half.  I have this to say about that:  5.5 hours of sleep is way better than 4.

I also worked so late last night that I forgot half of the things I'm supposed to do before I go to bed.  I forgot to feed the dogs, I forgot to take a potassium supplement, and I forgot to take a BP pill. Knowing that my BP has been soaring the last week, you can maybe guess what my initial reading this morning looked like. Fortunately, all is now exactly where it should be. I think the moral of all this is that it takes a special kind of idiot to stay up that late and I qualified last night! I promise--I will be going to bed at a decent hour tonight, tomorrow night, the night after......

So yesterday, I finished up all the papers for the kit + mini that I've been working on. The mini also has its full complement of elements. I even did two elements for the full kit, LOL.  Long way to go on that one! I still have to do a formal preview of the mini and I think I might make a coupon to go with it, but then it's done!  Now, if I could manage to finish the full kit and a Valentine's Day product between today and tomorrow, I might have time to work on those projects I so fervently hoped to get to this week.  Oh, yeah, like that is going to happen.......

Well, the bucket thing got done yesterday. I managed to bring a bucketful of dogfood in from the van. That means I am officially working on the second bag now. If you remember, my son-in-law loaded those two bags into the van for me. Somehow the second bag got wedged between the second and third rows of seats. Oh, my, did I struggle to free it and get it into an upright position so I could begin to empty it. Maybe it was the way he put it in, not thinking about me having to try to get it out. Maybe it moved around afterwards as I was driving. No matter how it happened, I'm sure my muscles are now larger than they were yesterday this time. 

The predicted high for today, tomorrow, and Saturday around here is 67 degrees. That's positively balmy! My door will be open, I promise. I do appreciate these occasional warm days.

I tried "resetting" my mouse, according to instructions I found on the internet. I wish I could tell you it made a truly miraculous difference, but that would be a lie. I'm not sure if it made any discernible difference. I did download the driver for the mouse and I'll have to try installing that and see if it helps. I had one person tell me it would, so I'll give it a try. Cheaper than buying a new mouse you know.......  It may just be that the darn thing is worn out. Other computer equipment wears out so I suppose it's reasonable to assume the mouse might too. It's a wireless mouse, but I'm sure it was a cheapy one when we got it.

Yesterday, the dogs barked all.day.long.  Make that ALL.DAY.LONG.  I thought I'd lose my mind. They are so loud. 99% of the time they are barking about something that has nothing to do with this house. A car moving in the street, another dog barking somewhere, kids playing outside and making "kid" noises. It is a real crazy maker. I am really beginning to wish I lived somewhere out in the country with the nearest neighbor 5 miles away. At least, then, if they barked, it would probably mean something.

There is a possibility the refill for my planner may arrive today or tomorrow. I am SO looking forward to that. I ordered it the night of the 22nd and it said 5-8 working days for delivery. I've counted on my fingers and toes and I think we're right at 5 days. It is being delivered from Utah, an area about 450 miles away. Honestly, I think the Pony Express could have gotten it here faster. I chose the least expensive shipping method, so now I'm paying the price........ But, I sure am anxious to have it in hand and to be able to use it. I've been without my 2011 refill since I started packing boxes way back in February. I've tried online calendars and such and they just do not work as well for me as the old fashioned paper planner I've been using for decades. I had January through March in my planner when I packed the refill somewhere; I've felt like a headless horseman ever since.

Alright. I have to get this day rockin' and rollin. You be blessed today!

 

It's not the middle of my day.......

but we're calling this the mid-day report anyway. It's more like 1/3 of a day, but who's counting.

I have actually found a time when the BP was down and I could jump on the treadmill. Haven't done that in days and I've been beating myself up about it so I'm glad I got it done. I also managed to start a load of clothes. The hamper was starting to fill up so it was time. A few weeks ago, I found a sweatshirt among Joe's things that I confiscated. It was on the floor of his closet. I grabbed it and washed it and started wearing it.  Then, later, when I was working on his "spare" closet, I found matching pants. I grabbed those, washed them, and wore them. They have a drawstring waist so they work just fine.  My problem, one of the smallest of my problems in life, is that I can't seem to get the shirt and the pants on the same wash cycle. I found the shirt in the dryer this morning and immediately put it on. Meanwhile, the pants are waiting to go in the washer. I think they'd probably look pretty good together, if I can ever get them both clean at the same time, LOL. 

I spent a couple of hours last night re-working some elements for the kit we'll release a week from Saturday. It had to be done now as I have to upload that kit for the CT this Saturday. I didn't want them to be scrapping with elements I wasn't thrilled with. So, I redid about 11 elements and cleaned up a flaw I found in a bunch of ribbons. The flaw is a direct result of something the designer of the CU product did or didn't do. Anyway, that burned through some time. However, I totally forgot that I was going to have to redo the preview. So, at least I got that accomplished this morning. I've also done 3 papers for the new kit + mini I'm working on. Four to go and then I can round up some good lookin elements and call the mini done and start fleshing out the kit.  I really feel like I need to move on to my Valentine's kit, but I hate starting a kit and then trying to come back to it later, so........I'll push on.

Okay, I haven't eaten yet today and I need food. I'm going to go find some and eat it while I do "school". Later........

Spammed again.......

I'm really starting to feel pretty special. I got spammed again. Only one comment today and it wasn't about Viagra so that's good. Nevertheless, I deleted it. Of course, one day I had 3 spam comments so one is not so bad. Fortunately, no one sees them but me so I know no one is offended.

What the heck day of the week is it anyway? I've been butt-in-chair, nose-pressed-to-computer-screen for days on end. Hey, it's Wednesday--pays to check the calendar! So, what will I do with Wednesday?  Probably pretty much the same. I gave the CT the week off and took the week for myself hoping against hope to get to two or three special projects this week. One thing I wanted to do was decide what kits will hit the store each week in the coming months. I've only got January worked out so far, but that beats nothing. I have yet to design my Valentine's kit so it's hard to schedule its release..... I wanted to solve the mailing list mystery, but I haven't had time to touch that. I also wanted to get the categories set up in our CT forum, but.......no, I haven't gotten to that either. I'm very unhappy about that. I NEED to get these things done. I REALLY do. But, before I can even think about that stuff, I have to get this mini kit done for the blog train. I said I would participate and I will keep my word, no matter what.  If I'm not in the hospital, it has to be done!

Around here, I'm about to dust the last part of this room. That will pretty much take care of dusting for today. I'm due to vacuum the same area of this room and it is always the worst part of the room--the part by the pet door. I'm starting to think the rubber flap works like a brush of sorts and deposits a handful of Max-hair on the floor or outside the door everytime he uses it. I need to clean the windows in the french doors again. I can see nose prints and paw prints and cob webs. I guess that ought to be done before I start work on Joe's desk again. Of course, I didn't do desk time yesterday so that will have to be first on the list today. And, who knows, maybe I'll actually get treadmill time in today if I can find a time when doing it won't cause my head to explode. Got to work on dragging buckets of dog food in from the van so I can get that second bag of dogfood out of there. It's starting to smell like dogfood!

I have been dealing with some extra stuff which is putting a lot of pressure on me. I am pretty sure it is working against God's plan for my life as I know it and it certainly is beyond upsetting. I am doing my best to keep my mouth shut and pray about it and leave the solution up to God, but in the meantime it's requiring lots of extra time, this precious time I set aside to accomplish specific goals I need to accomplish on the design side. I have finally had to request that someone not contact me for several days til I can get myself back where I belong. You know, if Satan can't steal your peace one way, he'll work on finding another way and I can't participate in that. And that's all I have to say about that!

We're headed for a high of 63 today. A good day to open up the house and let some fresh air in. The forecast said partly cloudy but I can see some fairly dark clouds--like rain clouds, except this is the desert and we have a hard time remembering from time to time what rain is! They'll probably burn off.

I am really going to have to think about a new mouse. Mine is malfunctioning so badly. I know it needs batteries, but I kind of think that means it will malfunction badly faster rather than cease malfunctioning. Sometimes I have to click multiple times to get it to do anything. Other times, just moving it over the surface of the screen it does something I don't want to do. It's becoming very counterproductive and it's eating time. Like everything else I'm working with, it's old. I'm going to try re-downloading the drivers for it if they're still out there in cyberland. Maybe that will help?

Okay. The forecast may be for a fairly warm day, but that is for AFTER the sun gets going. Right now it's 39 degrees outside and pretty darned chilly in here, thanks to that lower thermostat setting. I need to go find warm clothes. I'm dressing off the floor of my closet this week because an entire stack of clean sweatshirts tumbled over in there, LOL.  You be blessed today!

There are days.........

when I think I've had about all I can take.  This is one of those days.  I've got the praise and worship music workin' in the background, hoping it will break this thing.  If nothing else, maybe the sight of Guy Penrod will cheer me, LOL.  I'm only on my third song so don't expect too much from me.

So today has been pretty hairy.  Photoshop locked up on me and I lost 10 papers.  I've recreated 3 of them but I have a long way to go.  I have to finish this SOON.  I need to pull 5 papers and do some elements so that I can meet my commitment to the blog train.  I waited and waited and waited for Photoshop to unlock, but it just sat there.  I had to shut it down through task master and start again.  Darn near broke my heart, LOL.

I had a bit of sadness with regard to my SS check.  I researched the other day and determined that there will be a COLA this year which would add some to my budget.  Now, here's the fun part.  The check I got today is for NOVEMBER.  Received 12/27.  Somehow this tells me that I won't be seeing that tiny little bit of extra money now til the end of February. 

Wasn't it just last week that I was dealing with low blood pressure readings?  Yes, of course it was.  Well, that was last week.  This week, it's high.  It's not dangerously high, just high enough to give me a dandy headache.  I took a pill and soon it will be fine, but it doesn't feel too fine right now.  AND, silly me, I waited to do the treadmill and now I am not going to get on there because it will just make the headache worse.  I did do "school" today and I did a double round of "dusting" in here--the hot soapy water and wet rag kind of dusting.  I even went after some parts of the wall.  I do think maybe I'm slowly edging ahead of the dust problem, at least a little.  I sorted through some of those file folders from Joe's credenza and decided some weren't in bad shape so I'd keep them.  Eventually, I'll get my filing system back to the way I want it and that will require extra file folders.

Before Joe, I had a filing system that I thought worked very well.  It was a little slower on the front end but infinitely easier on the back end.  I keep copies of client's tax returns for 7 years.  Inevitably, I lose a client here and there.  Someone passes away, someone else moves, someone falls victim to "the box", and like that.  I go through my active files and pull out all the returns that are 7 years old and shred them.  Then I pull out all the inactive files.  Then, I sort through those inactive files and make a separate manilla folder for each year.  They are filed alphabetically by year.  That way, it's simple as pie to grab whatever is eligible for shredding and get it done. 

Joe couldn't be bothered going through the client's folder and making up separate manilla folders by year.  He just slammed the whole darned thing into the file drawer I keep for inactive files.  What that means is every year when it is time to clean out files, I have to go through every inactive file.  And I get to go through the same inactive file every year for 7 years til I get it emptied.  To me, that's a waste of time.  Yes, there were some things we didn't agree on............

I did do some vacuuming today.  In fact I treated myself to a new bag and vacuumed around and under Max's chair and then did about a quarter of the office.  I didn't do any desk time.  However, I folded a load of clothes, straightened up the kitchen, cleared off a hot spot on the dining room table, etc.  So, I didn't exactly sit on my thumbs all day.

Now I'm signing off.  You have a good sleep!