a very wise choice indeed...

well, my boss has FINALLY made a decision, and a very wise one at that. He has decided to go with the Audi, and I have to say, I'm so glad that I won't have to stay up late at night worrying about him n`vigating those icy roads in that second-rate BMW this winter, thank god the Audi has all-wheel-drive or I just wouldn't feel safe with him out on the roads.

Meanwhile, my older than time Hyundai has decided to leak all of its oil out onto my parking spot and then make a funny clunking noise while I drive. But you don't see anyone here losing sleep over that one (except for me, but what else is new)

I LOVE my life today!

uneventful...

My weekend was good, and pretty uneventful, I spent Friday night with the boy, and then Saturday, we slept in, lazed around, went for a walk to the store to get the ingredients to make Chicken Curry (which he bought) and then walked home, made dinner had a bottle of wine and watched a movie, it was nice and relaxing. Sunday we had brunch with his parents, then I went shopping with my Mom, the Gap was having a huge sale, so while my Mom was buying a bunch of stuff for her, she also bought me this super cute jean skirt (ok, I tried uploading the picture of the skirt 3 times, but apparently Blogger doesn't like me today, so instead you get a link), I heart my Mom!

Today is busy at work, and for all those who asked, I did not inflict any harm on my boss (see post below), although I wanted to, I'm a bigger person than that (barely) but he still hasn't made his decision, so everyday, we have to listen to 'the great debate' as I've started calling it, over which is better, Audi or BMW.

HB is here today, looking stunning in a tight white t-shirt, dark jeans and sandles, (sigh) oh how I love him! I think he's having girl troubles though as he seems pretty sad today. maybe he needs a shoulder to cry on (aka mine!).

My mortgage refinance is finalized on the 5th, so I can't wait for that day so that I can get myself back on track. I'm thinking I should take a second job for a bit to really get my finances & savings in order, I'm thinking of stopping into the Starbucks at the top of my hill and seeing if they are hiring, because I figure, if I've gotta work somewhere in my spare time, what better place than the land of the grande-2-pump-sugar-free-vanilla-non-fat-latte's.

oh... so... tired...

Last night was so fun, I went out with a couple of people from work (including HB) to this great sushi/martini bar. We had a blast, I don't think I have ever laughed so hard in my life, but didn't get home until after 1:00am, so this morning I am feeding myself coffee through intravenous and praying that I don't fall asleep at my desk.

Yesterday, while reading Lindsay's blog, I came across a great website called Story People, and I found the following quote which pretty much sums up my life right now.

'Tired of knowing everything without ever being sure'

Have a great weekend, I'll be back on Monday!

changing my look...

I see so many people with such cool looking blogs, and it starting to make me a little bit jealous. Does anybody know of some good places I could go to get some ideas on how to make mine much more beautiful?? I've looked at the Blogger templates, but none of them are very exciting, and I know that there are people out there who you can pay to do it for you, but I'd really like to do it myself. Any ideas, or suggestions would be great.

By the way, check out my links on the side, I've been browsing around and found some really cool people in my travels.

tough decisions...

My boss - not HB, but the other one - was complaining today about a very tough decision that he has to make, the lease is up on his car and he can't decide whether to trade it in for a BMW, or an Audi, he's spent the entire morning obsessing over his choice and asking everyone in the office what they think. It must be nice when this is your hardest decision. Here is a bit of our recent conversation.

Boss - 'I'm just not sure, the Audi has all-wheel drive which will be great when we go away skiing in the winter, but I just like the BMW more, Katie what do you think?'

KQ - 'Well, I'm not sure, that's a tough call, are you going to do a lot of skiing this year?'

Boss - 'Yes, we bought a chalet on the mountain, so we'll likely drive up there every weekend'

KQ - (as I sit here sipping my crappy office coffee because its free, wishing I had a ski chalet) 'Well then maybe the Audi is the better choice'

Boss - 'I think it is, but I like look of the BMW more. Its just so hard, I don't know what to do, what do you do when you have to make such a tough decision?'

KQ - 'Well, I really don't know, my toughest decision this month was whether to buy groceries, or to pay my phone bill, but your choice is obviously much more difficult than that'

Boss - 'hmmm... maybe I'll call my wife and ask her what she thinks'

Oh my god, kill me now!!!

the dress...

This is the dress I will be wearing next summer at the wedding that I am in, I'm ok with it, it was the best of the options, in my opinion, its a little too shiny for a beach wedding, but I'm not the bride!

My weekend was pretty good, not a lot to report, I didn't really spend anything other than the gas to get to Ottawa, so that was good, I'm in the process of working on my budget and figuring out how to get my money situation all figured out, so I will report on that when I get it all figured out.

Its been a while since I've given a HB update, today he's wearing a longsleeved white shirt, light jeans and sandles, Friday afternoon we were the only ones here, and we ended up having an hour long discussion about our lives, which was very interesting, as I learned some things about him that I didn't know. If only I didn't love the boy so much, HB & I could run off & live happily ever after!!!

this is cute, what are you...

Your Personality Is

Artisan (SP) You are both grounded and flexible. You adapt well to new situations. You are playful and free spirited - but you are also dependable and never flaky. You don't do well in conservative, stuffy situations. It's probably very hard for you to keep a normal job or stay in school. You are always up for fun and adventure. Most people are too boring for you. You take risks and bend the rules. And if things don't work out, you chock it up to life experience. In love, you tend to take things quickly - but you have a huge problem with commitment. At work, you need to make your own rules. You're best suited to be an entrepreneur. With others, you are animated and physical. You prefer doing something with friends to just hanging out. As far as your looks go, you tend to be buff and in good shape. Your spend more time on your body than your clothes. On weekends, you need to keep active. From cooking up a storm to running a 5K, you wear yourself out.

The Three Question Personality Test

happy & sad...

well, I called my bank yesterday and talked to the nicest man (I love you Al, whoever you are!!) who was able to get all the information needed for me to apply to refinance my mortgage. Because I did it through my actual bank, there are no fees or penalties, and they will blend my interest rates so my rate may actually go down a little. I'll end up paying around $75 a month more on my mortgage, but that will be the only loan that I have, so all my CC's and my LOC will be paid off. He's going to send me the paperwork today and it should be all completed in the first week of September.

I'm happy and sad. Happy that I will be able to actually start a savings account now that I have reduced my monthly bills by almost $300, but sad that I let it get this far and that at 26, I have now owned 2 houses and refinanced a mortgage, I'm sure I have just become some sort of obscure statistic!

This weekend I'm going bridal shopping for the wedding I'm in next summer. I hope that will be fun and not stressful, the crappy part is that I have to drive nearly 7 hours each way to do it as the girl getting married lives in Ottawa. Oh well, these are the things you do for your friends.

money sucks!

What awful cruel person gave me a credit card, line of credit and a chequing account in the first place, cause whoever they are, I want to hunt them down and strangle them!

I got paid on Tuesday and my chequing account is now sitting at -$249.52 (that's a negative sign for anyone who missed it). I just feel like I will never be able to get out of this black hole of debt.

I went over to see my Dad last night and brought him a copy of all my bills and expenses each month, he's going to go through them and make me a budget so that I can get myself back on track. I asked him again about consolidating my debt and he suggested I call my actual bank, rather than a third party like I did before, he thinks I may be able to keep my rate since I am already a customer, and in the long run I will be giving them more money, so I will do that when they open at 9, maybe they will take pity on me and help a girl out.

I just want to go home, crawl into my bed and never come out!!! :-(

did you miss me??

wow, this week's been crazy and it has barely started!! I was so busy at work yesterday I barely even had time for lunch. I'm feeling very out of touch, I've had no time to read anyone's blog, no time to catch up on the gossip from People Magazine, I've done no email chatting with my friends! I've actually been super productive at work which I guess is good, but I really miss my work related social life!!

I did really well on the spending over the weekend, since I had no money, I spent almost nothing! Here's how I spent my time.

Friday - went to see The Devil Wears Prada with my Mom, she paid for the movie & popcorn!!

Saturday - cleaned the condo, put gas in the car ($10.00), went to the store for very minimal groceries, milk, bread, chicken breasts, cheese, lettuce ($18.62) then had some friends over went out to dinner (the boy paid) and went to the drive in (the boy paid again)

Sunday - Lazed around, did laundry, then went to the boy's Dad's place for dinner

Monday - went to work, worked like a crazy, then had a girlfriend over for dinner, I made alfredo chicken pasta (all from things I already had), and provided the wine, she brought caesar salad, garlic bread & blueberry cheesecake yum!!!

I think overall that was a very good non-spending weekend! I get paid today, thank god!! And I'm hoping to get myself out of the overdraft this time, we'll see how I do.

Still thinking about the tattoo, my sister said that if I get the one I posted below, it will have to be pretty big or else they won't be able to do the detail, and I really want it on my foot/toe, so I'm not sure now, maybe I'll just get the little yoga person, and not the word.

Here's what I've been thinking of, for my tattoo, let me know what you think...

tattoo

so I have been thinking for a long time that I want to get a tattoo somewhere on my foot, maybe on one of my toes. My problem is that I have absolutely no idea what to get. Here are some ideas that I have been thinking about

• Bubbles - maybe on their own or coming from a bubble wand
• Ants - crawling from the side of my foot across my toes
• Writing - possibly the title of my blog which is a quote that I love,
  'everything will be ok in the end... if its not ok, its not the end'
• A Yoga symbol - maybe a little stick person doing a yoga pose, and or the word 'Satya' (which kind of means 'truth', or 'that which is unchanging' and is one of the 8 limbs of ashtanga ) incorporated into it somehow

But I'm a very visual person and I am having a hard time picturing any of those on my foot. Last night I got out a Sharpie and drew some stuff on, but I'm the world's worst artist and they looked awful.

Do any of you have a tattoo, or have you seen one you really like. I'm looking for input about my ideas, or suggestions for something else. I'm not a 'deep meaning' kind of person, as long as I like it and I can relate to it, I'll be happy with it.

updates...

I'm feeling very behind on both my blogging and my commenting and I aplolgize for that, this is a very hectic week for me at work (which is the only place I have internet) so it makes it hard to get it all in.

I talked to my Dad about the debt consolidation on my mortgage, and he thinks with the penalties & fees I'll have to pay its going to end up costing me an extra $5,000, so I really don't think that will be a wise financial decision. He said I should just wait it out, try to pay off as much as I can and then in February 2008, when my mortgage term is up, I can renegotiate and add in whatever debt I have left, that way I don't have to pay any cancellation fees, or extra lawyer's fees. This totally sucks, but I think its the best option for me, maybe it will help me to be more frugal, because I'll have to be in order to pay all my bills each month.

On a happier note, I went shopping with my Mom & Sister on Tuesday night as my sister had to get some stuff for going back to school (she's in her last year of university), and while we were picking out stuff for her, my Mom said she felt bad for me & my no money situation, so she bought me a new pair of jeans, a really cute t-shirt, and a new bra/underwear set!! yay me :-)

I paid my bills yesterday, and am now left with $72.69 in my account to last me until the 15th, I should be able to do it, but it will be tight.

HB is not here yet today, so no updates there, although I did have a dream about him last night, he took me on a date and he was driving a Hummer that was a convertible and we were driving around looking at the stars, and then at the end of our date, he kissed me, and I told him that it was wrong and that I had a boyfriend but he said he didn't care, then I woke up. Very strange and I feel like I'll be uncomfortable when he comes in this morning!

you're invited...

I have been invited and so am extending the invitation to a little blogging mixer at the fabluous Bumble Blog by the extremely talented and wonderful TTQ (I hope she appreciates this lovely description!) Stop by, say hi and be sure to tell her that I sent you, there's a great prize for the one who brings the most people.

Thanks!!

tired, tanned and still broke...

Well, my weekend was really fun, my new BFF didn't end up coming which was great for me as I didn't have to feel like I was entertaining someone all weekend. It ended up being me, my sister, the boy and his friend (who I adore). There was a lot of tanning, a lot of drinking and a general good time had by all.

The town we were camping near was having their annual festival over the weekend and they were 'lucky enough' (as all their signage said) to have Amanda Marshall playing there on Saturday night. We were across the river from the actual town, but could hear the festivities, and after a few too many drinks we all thought it was hilarious that the concert in the town square that cost everyone in the town $35 each was free to us! At one point around midnight, the boy was standing at the edge fo the water screaming "I LOVE YOU AMANDA MARSHALL" and then "AMANDA, DO YOU LOVE ME??... AMANDA... AMANDA MARSHALL... CAN YOU HEAR MEEEEE??" Oh my god I was laughing so hard, I hope she couldn't hear him because it was more than slightly embarrassing!

We got home around 10:00 last night, so I am extremely overtired today, and have to have dinner tonight with the parents and my sister, so it will be a long day. I'm doing great on the spending, I only spent about $100 total over the weekend for food, alcohol and gas money so that was good, today I have to pay a few bills which I'm not looking forward to, I will update a proper spending post when I have all the amounts figured out.

yippee long weekend!

Just a super quick post for me today, I'm crazy busy at work right now and I am taking tomorrow off so that I can have an extra long weekend, as Monday is a holiday for us here in Canada.

So far so good on the spending, I've spent nothing this week. I will have to purchase some food and alcohol tonight for camping on the weekend, but that's it, I'm feeling very proud of myself and my efforts.

I'll be spending the next 4 days laying on the beach, reading and working on my tan, I can't wait!! Try not to miss me too much and I'll be sure to post a proper message when I'm back on Tuesday.

two baby steps towards the end

Well, I cancelled my hair appointment and I called to set up an appointment with a Debt Consolidation specialist so that I can hopefully cancel my credit cards and line of credit and put that money onto my mortgage, it will suck that I'll be paying back this debt for basically the next 25 years, but it will make more sense because the interest on my mortgage is only 5.5% and that's a heck of a lot less than the 19.5% I'm currently paying to Visa, also since I'll only be making one payment for the whole thing rather than 3 diferent ones, it will reduce the amount I have to pay each month making it easier for me to get from paycheque to paycheque.

The lady I spoke to also said that they will work with me to set up a savings plan as well and take some of the money that I am saving from only having to pay one loan and put it into a separate account so that I have an emergency fund and can actually start saving money like a normal person.

I'm feeling a little better about my situation, and I really do need an emergency fund because I know I'm going to owe about $2,000 on my taxes next year, and I'm the maid of honor in a wedding next July and its a destination wedding in Dominican, so that will be at least $2,000 as well. It seems like it just never stops!