Well, the new couple moved in last night and so far, all's well. They get up at 3 something to get themselves to work (only 1 vehicle, so lots of driving for her).

Forgot to mention the best benefit of this entire arrangement.........she is a massage therapist, licensed in CA, but here she needs to go back to school for additional hours. But, she is bringing her table tonight and offered to share her talents!!! I'll have to bite my tongue or I'll let her have the room here for nothing!!!

This is sounding like my deal with the horses........I get to have them here on the property and don't have to pay for them...Oh, wait....the horse lady PAYS ME.

This is sounding sort of similar...but it is temporary! I did ponder the idea of going to rent their apt. they are waiting for, so they would have to stay here and I could get my massage here while they PAY ME. (seeing a trend here........???)

Anyway, Day 1 of the temp. people and at this point, I like them both. Very fun couple and funny too. Animals lovers, gardeners and gone most of the time. I need to find something they want/need to trade for my massage now...... Will keep my ears open & see if we have something on their list.

Well, the renting out of the spare bedroom didn't actually work out with a full time person...........but, we've got the room rented out for the next 17 days. At almost the same rate we had it advertised for too!

This will be interesting, I felt like we could do anything for 17 days. It's a young couple that thought they had an apt. sewed up, but can't get in it until Sept 1st, due to some painting & carpeting work. They were going to camp in a local park, but advertised on Craigs list since they have a cat & didn't know how well that was going to work 'camping'.

They both work and have a long commute, so I doubt we'll see much of them. I'm so used to having other people in my house, it won't make a bit of difference to my daily life here.

If all goes well..........it should be a win/win situation. They have a place to stay and I get some help with the bills this month. Works for me!

My efforts at the $20.00 Challenge began with renting space at a local antique mall here...........and stocking it with 'free to me' items to sell.

Just one catch. Most of it isn't doing that.........selling that is.

So, today I gave my notice and I'm pulling out at the end of August. Admitting failure on this front......but not giving up totally. I like doing this so much, I'm going to give it one more try in a different city, hopefully one with more foot traffic.

This might work out better, since it will be in the town my mom lives in. We can fiddle with the booth together and I'll be a little more attentive to the space, since I'll be at moms anyway. Could end up being a fun thing to do together too...although she hasn't shown any interest so far (and when I started this venture a few years ago, it was originally to sell her things for her.......she didn't wnat a garage sale but needed to clear out 60 years of stuff)

Bottom line...........My Challenge cost me money. I only made rent and a profit one month. The other months, I paid for the privilege of displaying my collectables for other to LOOK AT, not buy. So, a definate money out sort of day here, as I paid the last months rent..... Good thing we're not talking BIG money here, but I the whole experience ended up in the red.

I don't even watch the 6PM news usually, but tonight I was by myself for dinner here, and didn't have a book to read so turned it on to find a neat little morsel of info.

A gentleman who was tired of reaching companies customer service departments and getting lost in the continual loop of voice mail called erroneously; Customer Service...........set up a website called gethuman.com

I have checked it out and saved it for the next time I want to call a company for any reason; I know there will be a next time......I'm getting better and better about this, thanks to many of you here.
He has indexed the companies and listed the prompts you need to key in at each opportunity, in order to by pass the recorded messages and truly, get a human.
TA DA. What a great service!

I almost can't wait to have an instance to try it out....the website list of companies looked massive. I've been ticked off at the automated voice commands too, but can't imagine coming up with a solution to the entire problem.

I don't even remember this one exactly......I'm just getting too old to keep all the details straight on the things I'm signing up for. (thank goodness I quit the trial offers that needed to be cancelled, huh??)

I got an email just now, saying Thank you for your participation. Amazon gift card info enclosed. This one is for $10.00 and has to do with a cell phone survey. All I can think of is it must have looked like one of the surveys & an entry in a sweepstakes.....which I have been doing a few of....and it turned into this. Nice, however it happened.

So, now I'm up to $125 at Amazon. For just some emails and a couple surveys. I will be filling out more of these surveys at this point!! Pretty habit forming when they actually start producing something other than "thank you, your name has been submitted into the Whoop de do Sweepstakes"

Amazing but true........it's raining here in WA state, at least where I live. I can't remember what month it was when it rained last.

The skies are cloudy, no sun in sight, and there is that wet stuff coming from the sky. I had to take a walk around the yard as soon as I got up this AM, just to feel the rain! ( A true Seattlite here) Barefoot, in my robe, with my coffee........enjoying the rain.

The Chihauhau, however........hasn't stepped off the mat at the door yet. He's not from Seattle I guess!

I can't even relate this weather to finances, as I water the yard with well water, so no savings there..... We don't have A/C to turn off & save money there either......... So, I guess it's raining purely for my enjoyment, which as the commercial on TV says; Priceless.

I've passed from an Insider to a Guru tonight at InsiderPages.com. I have completed 50 reviews this past week, don't have to have them completed until the 14th, so I'll do a few more just for insurance.

Don't want my offerings not meeting the criteria by just a few and missing the $50 Amazon G/C. Way too good to pass up.

Since I've lived in the same county most of my life ........this seems like such an easy task to me. I did have to work tonight to find the last 5 businesses......especially since there is a list of catagories that qualify for this campaign.

So, I'll review the list during the next couple days and see if there are any I've missed. (also will my eyes peeled for ideas as I'm out running errands tomorrow)

Since I'm opinionated and I like to write, this project seems to be just the ticket!
Can't wait to have the gift certificates to use for Christmas shopping.....Shop from home and not even spending my own money, it doesn't get much better!!!

Unheard of these days for me...........but, I did spend money this afternoon. I didn't even shop around, just whipped into Lowes' and bought 3 outdoor light fixtures. All on sale, hopefully, they will work for my project here.

Getting the supplies here, so when our Navy man gets back in port next week, he has all the stuff he needs to get to the next TO DO list.

Our outdoor lights have been a constant problem for me since we moved in a year ago almost! (can't believe that) They are all sensor lights, with no override switch, so you can't do the simple thing of turning on your porch light. I needed to wait until someone made their way to the porch in the dark, then tripped and fell on the step.......triggering the motion detector and then the light would go on..........for 30 seconds.

In WA state, we really do have lots of dark days in the fall & winter.....and I like to have the outdoor lights on when expecting either company or a customer. I was actually glad Mr Navy couldn't fix the lights in a way.......because at least I knew it wasn't just me being stupid with the electrical stuff. They really didn't work right!

So, money out........but necessarily so in my book. Each light was on sale from 20 something to 9 something, so it won't break the bank here.

I've kept my receipt as I'm notorious for finding the ONE item at the store that doesn't work, or is already broken in some way......... I'm almost expecting to have to take at least one fixture back. Hopefully, they will all go up without a hitch and we'll be lit up with a switch instead of people tripping up the walk!

Finally got accepted and made it through the pre question sort of stage for not one, but 2 surveys. Both happened today.

Got paid $4.00 for watching Good Morning America today.......at least 30 minutes of it, (which was easy, since I usually watch this while slicking up my room) Had to log in and answer a dozen questions anytime today prior to 10PM. Done, easy. Way easy.

2nd one, was a whole lot longer. Tons of questions earlier in the week. Can't even remember them specifically, because in my mind, they were both the same survey. Got all the way to this afternoon before I realized there were two of them.

Had to log in at a certain time this afternoon, not as easy as it sounds. I had qualified for one from the same company last week and I didn't get logged in in time, so they told me Thank You Very Much & I was done. I started earlier on this one, had to make quite a few adjustments to my PC in order for the thing to load. Was interactive this time, about food, which was hard since it was right before dinner for me.......and it made me really hungry!!! Lots of pictures of yummy food. Anyway, 60 minutes.......which flew by actually, and $20.00 for this one.

Now, if the new blinds actually show up from the Hunter Douglass survey, I'll really have a good month for this catagory of money making. I was beginning to think I was way too old, didn't buy near enough stuff or something......I haven't qualified for a survey since I started filling them out 5-6 months ago. Good thing I'm not easily discouraged, huh??

Also squeezed in a sewing customer among the events of the day....and she is bringing another couple jobs when she picks this current one up next Monday. Love these kind. Repeats before I even get the first order done!

I just returned from a walk through of my rental property. I didn't cry. Tears would be warranted, that's for sure. Also, tearing out of hair, screaming to the heavens, all sorts of ranting & raving would be totally appropriate when I saw the condition of the place. All the work, as well as the money, I can't even think about it right now. This is one of the times to just close that book and open a new one, otherwise nothing beneficial would happen. I will be attentive through all this, and learn what I can from the experience.

On the flip side, I did take a helper, empty pots & shovels, and did take the time to fill the van with plants. The gardens weren't as bad as the house was; only a bit overgrown, not too many weeds due to the way the beds have been planted with ground covers. The ponds are dry, no one cleaned or kept them filled.........the veggie garden has been allowed to go back to blackberries....

Fortunately, the 2 sets of contractors that have rented it now, had been in the place for 48 hours..........working their tails off. They had removed all the ruined carpets, emptied the trash out (will fill a 20 yard container I'm having delivered on Wed) and started cleaning before I got there this AM. I do owe these folks something huge as a thank you for dealing with this mess.......it isn't theirs, truly isn't mine and we are both left dealing with it.

I will be keeping my eyes & ears open for ways to bless them as we get to know each other over the next couple years.

Adding the entire experience to my 'hard lessons learned'.

You know all the jokes about zucchini...and the instructions to leave them on strangers porches, ring their doorbell & run...

Well, I'm almost to that point again this year. I go along great for a few weeks in early summer, picking the tiny little veggies to chop and eat fresh in green salads and anxiously await the time when I let one get big enough to slice & fry for the yummiest of appetizers.....and then it hits.

I've somehow missed a couple veggies on my ONE plant and I've now got 2 that are a great size to stuff with sausage & onions and call "Zucchini Dinner Boats" and 2 more that are approaching the size of baseball bats.

What to do? Put Zucchini in the cake! Yes, that's right. It makes a delicious addition to dessert, however I confess I don't tell many people here what's IN the cake!



I've included the recipe here, just in case there might be one or two of you who have let your zucchini plant get away from you again this summer!

Zucchini Chocolate Cake
(one 13 X 9 inch cake)

1/2 cup margarine
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 3/4 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup buttermilk

2 1/2 cups unsifted flour
4 Tablespoons baking cocoa
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cloves

2 cups finely diced zucchini (Be sure to chop, NOT shred this)

1/3 cup chocolate chips

Cream margarine, oil & sugar. Add eggs, vanilla & buttermilk. Beat with electric mixer until well blended.

Sift dry ingredients together & add to batter. Beat until well blened, then stir in zucchini

Pour batter into greased & floured 9 X 13 pan. Sprinkle top with chocolate chips. Bake in preheated 350 degree oven for 40 -45 minutes or until it tests done.

Boy, do things look different to me this morning. With the rental issue resolved, (months of work left to do, but we have a PLAN) I slept for almost 8 hours and feel like a new person....maybe not new, but at least a well rested old person!

Have been up for hours, make breakfast for the natives here, cleaned the kitchen that didn't get cleaned after the cooking marathon of yesterday..... did the rental meeting instead of cleaning up.

Have a kettle of applesauce simmering and the house smells delicious. If I'm making applesauce, fall has to be on the doorstep here. Meals are all a snap today, due to mass food prepared yesterday. Love that.
Will have several meals to put in the freezer tonight too....I'm doing a fair job of keeping the kitchen freezer just for my ready to heat & eat meals. Helps with the organization and I get a more constant update/reminder of what there is to use, as well as what needs replentishing.

The day might even get capped off with a paycheck this afternoon. It is the first week of the month already........and both my kids families owe for Aug now. An uneventful day here...just like I like them! No spending, no going anywhere, just enjoying a day without a schedule.

I'm doing a major happy dance here in my little corner of the world.....I've just met with the new tenants of the other house, and we signed a one year lease, with the hopes they will be there 2 years.

I will sleep better tonight, knowing there is a team approach now, to fixing the place up. Just got an email from the previous tenants, letting me know they have it as good as it's going to get.....so Monday morning is the day I go to see the nasty place. The new tenants have all taken a week off starting Monday and are going to work with me, so it feels less overwhelming tonight. Thank goodness.......

We've set a goal to have it back up to par by the first week in November. With 5 of us working and a couple of my friends ...I think it's possible.

I think I've still got one beer thats cold, and I'm thinking my name is on it!
I'm done for the night!

Thanks to my dad & his years of hauling other people's excess lumber home; I've now got a stack of Free To Me lumber for the Navy man to create wonders with.

We went scrounging in the back forty of my parents home, an acre of stuff I just can't adequately describe here. Anyone remember the TV show, Sanford & Son?? Think that, but switch from auto parts & junk to lumber, anything wood and then some junk. All in piles, all covered, all in great shape.......and after 40-50 years, all really difficult to get to.

We worked hard for FREE this time. But, the lumber was in great shape, albiet covered with spiders & occasional critter droppings...the price was right.

The first item getting built here is a work bench for the garage. The framework is done, supposedly the top gets cut and attached this afternoon. I've got the vice and a grinder that will get put on and then we will be ready for inspection I think! Even the bolts for this event are from Dad's stash......we also poked around all of his shops and workbenches!!

My dad would be pleased to know some of his items are getting put to good use. He was a great one for 'seeing' the possibilities in found objects and just putting them away for later. No matter how long he worked each day of his life, he never did make it to the end of his TO DO list. We used to joke about it often!
It's going to feel good to use this work bench, long after the Navy gets done with his stint here..........

With the day I've had.......heck with the last couple weeks, I could stand a few hours of intensive therapy sessions. But, instead.....I headed to my garden for a bit of meditative weeding!

Digging in the dirt is FREE, compared to paying a therapist to listen to me whine & complain about my current situation. Plus, I can see actual progress here, I get fresh air and exercise and I also brought in FREE veggies for dinner.

So, another benefit chalked up for those of us who put in gardens. Frugal Gardening as Therapy. Works for me.

I am so full of mixed emotions; ranging from sadness to rage. Disappointment to fear. The whole gamut all at once.

My rental (which was to be vacant as of Sunday the 6th) is in such awful shape, I can't even imagine what the tenants did to trash it to the current state. I'm beyond being mad, anxious enough about the entire project to have not slept well for a few nights and feel like getting a ticket to another country and forgetting I know the place exists.

After ranting and fuming here to myself.......I figure Monday will be the day I take the camera to the place & at least get a visual record in case there is anything I can do to recoup some of the losses. (I know what my avenues are, so pleeeease don't remind me! But, the company isn't going to be able to come up with money, I would be wasting mine to take this that direction)

I have some interested folks, who want to rent the place..........and they have been inside and aren't scared to pieces. They are young, energetic and really think they can get it back into shape. Two families, unrelated both guys own their own construction companies (which will be very handy, considering all the damage!)

We're meeting on Monday to see if we can hash out a deal we can all live with, while the work is going on. They need to be out of their homes (which they have sold to the new mall developer here in our county) by the 14th of this month, so they are willing to work with me......for me......however we decide to move on this.

I feel like taking an ad out in the Seattle Times and putting in pics of the home and sharing the previous tenants name & company with the world. I do know she still has a couple adult homes, as well as a couple bed & breakfast inns here in WA state. I would like to at least prevent others from ending up in my particular pickle here!!! But, I won't.

I really don't mind hard work, in fact, I like it. But, work from others leaving things un done and poorly done is just nasty. We've already scheduled a big wine tasting party on the grounds when we get the house & property back into shape. Hopefully, it will be this year!!!

I'm hoping the planets re-allign pretty darned soon, so my life starts moving in a different direction.............or, I am going to get that ticket to some other country and head to the airport straight away!

You know the saying, "when a door closes, there will be a window that opens" or something similar relating to opportunities....???

I had another door close here yesterday. Opened my email to find a message saying the non profit co I just started working for part time, is NOT going to be pursuing the contract with WA state, so my brand new job will be done Sept 30. Drat & Darn. I was just getting so I knew what I was doing on my own. And, I confess, I'm not too jazzed about doing a bang up job for the next couple months when I'm not getting to continue. Granted, the reasoning is good, the company didn't think the money was good enough for their independant contractors, so they just passed. We will get to apply to whomever is awarded the new contract...and at this point, I do think I'll do that......but there is no guarantee there will be someone who wants to apply... So, only 2 more paychecks from this source.

As I said, I'm searching for the other opportunity to show up ....now that this door is closing.

I needed a thank you for an aquaintance & cashed in enough MyPoints to get a $25.00 G/C for Home Depot for the gentleman. He was thrilled, so it was just the ticket.

That left me with a meager number of points, however..........last night my aunt called & asked me to order flowers for her on line... Well, having learned from other MyPoints junkies, I did a simple deal of ordering the posies through 1-800 Flowers, off the MyPoints site. Whoosh........just like that, my point total is looking better and definately on the way back up.

I remember thinking "5 points for reading an email....that will amount to nothing!" when I started this venture. HA. I'm a convert.

Just the G/C for others is a painless little deal here. I can zip through my email list while taking phone calls, or updating lists for work....Like making money for just sitting here. Too easy. No gas to use up, I don't have to go shopping.......just easy money.

I'm no where near the advanced sort that some of you are on here, with the triple sorts of deals & the multiple site savings plans for things..... But, I don't do much shopping in the first place. I'm more than satisfied with my little place in the scope of things and will happily await my next total for another gift card!! 5 Points adds up fast....it's amazing how ones perspective can change.

Good thing I don't have anything I have to do, using my van. As of yesterday, it doesn't have current tabs.

Not because I didn't get right on the license issue the first of July, by taking the van in for some necessary work (or the emission crew wouldn't test me).........and then ran directly through the emission test....and then mailed the fee and paperwork off the next day......... No, not because I was trying to be on time, no.....a little early actually.....

None of those things had anything to do with the tabs not being here yet, more than 3 weeks later! I called the licensing dept yesterday & they checked on my paperwork. Yes, it is all there, no, there is nothing missing, nothing wrong with anything.......... But, the state is running a couple weeks late on tab requests and it could be another couple weeks until they get to mine.

I was told I could either have them mail me a 3 week extension, or go pick it up. Knowing my luck with stuff like this, I opted for her mailing it! Hoping it comes today, as I'm scheduled to do some driving tomorrow. The best laid plans often go amuck is the theme for this entry. I couldn't have started the process sooner than July, as I didn't have the freedom to go without the van for the couple days it took to order parts & work on it. As I said, it is a good thing I work here, and have no need to drive.

If the state were a privately owned & operated business, this type of customer service wouldn't be tolerated. I guess this is why I voted for a business owner for governer last time.....and I guess this is the result from him not winning the election.