It's official, furlough days were cut from 11 to 6 days, making last Friday my final furlough day (for this fiscal year at least) and this week, my first 5-day work week, in 6 weeks! It's bitter sweet ... I will be very glad to start getting regular pay checks again, but I will surely miss the long weekends!
This past 3-day weekend I was more focused on enjoying my last long weekend (due to Furloughs ... Labor Day weekend is right around the corner thank goodness) than on being productive and crossing things off of my list of things to do!
I started off my weekend at the Raven's game on Thursday night, and then later in the weekend fit in a visit with my mom, a movie with a friend, an Oriole's event, the Little Italy Festival, a long walk along the water, had a great night with friends helping paint a barn, and had a reunion of sorts with a group of high school friends ... all in all a great weekend!
I did manage to get some painting done inside and outside at my house, hung some pictures/art I'd been meaning to hang, got some cleaning done, and accomplished a few other odds and ends things around my house, but nothing too noteworthy.
Over the course of writing this blog I feel that I have knocked some major things off of my list of things to do, and hope, that even though the 3 day weekends are over, I will be able to finish off the list soon! All the painting I have started I hope to finish this week! Then, before it gets cold outside I'd like to patch and seal my concrete patio and seal my interior bricks. I still want to frame some of my grandfather's stamp collection, and attempt to sell the rest. I really need to look into getting life insurance, need to sell or donate old prom/bridesmaid dresses taking up space in my closet, and then I really REALLY need to study for the 3rd part of my Interior Design licensing exam which I will take in the spring, and hopefully be done with!
So, this concludes the Furlough Friday blog! Thanks so much to everyone who has been following, I actually really enjoyed writing, and hope you have enjoyed reading! Maybe blogging is something I will continue as I think of interesting things to write about in the future ... we shall see!
Monday, August 19, 2013
Monday, August 12, 2013
5
Although no official word has yet been given, it seems pretty certain that the 11 furlough days planned for at the start of this will be reduced to 6 days. Financially, this is great news, and while I have not accomplished everything on my list of things I had planned to do on furlough days, I feel that I have definitely made progress, and crossed off some of the higher priority items!
That being said, last Friday was furlough day #5 and this coming Friday will be furlough day #6, and possibly my last furlough day (for this year anyway)!
Friday I got up and made myself pancakes for breakfast, a definite perk of not having to rush off to work! I then made a much needed trip to the grocery store ... I was thrilled when I pulled into the empty parking lot, thinking this was going to be the fastest, least stressful Safeway trip ever ... unfortunately not the case! It was that day that Safeway was reorganizing their entire store, unstocking shelves and loading up carts that were all over the isles, taking down and rebuilding shelves, and restocking shelves, it was quite a mess, and took me forever to hunt for what I needed and get out of there, BUT, I can't complain too much, because, I had the time!!!!!
When I got home I made a pasta salad for a party I was going to on Saturday, and then I headed downtown to meet some friends for lunch. Otakon was in town this weekend, and usually a group of us from work eat lunch outside just to observe the crowd ... I decided I shouldn't miss out just because of the furlough, and I must say, it was well worth it!
When I got home from lunch I vacuumed out my car, something I've been meaning to do for a while now, and then it was time to head out to get my oil changed. While there, I asked for a quote to have my fog lights replaced because somehow both of them have holes in them. I was told that it was a common problem, and that it would cost $683 to fix! My initial thought was, "why would I pay $683 (on a furlough budget mind you), to fix something that would most likely happen again," and I then asked, "is it a real problem to not get them replaced?" I was told that the only thing that could happen is that if water got in the lights might not work. I decided, if it's not obvious, that it was not worth it, and justified my decision with the fact that I really rarely drive my car, and it's even more rare that I drive it in the rain (which is how water would get in a create a problem) ... then I drove back to Baltimore in a torrential downpour - go figure!
When I got back to the city, I spent some time with a friend before taking him to the airport, and when I got back home, decided to cancel my plans for the evening and stayed home and painted my stairs instead! The stairs had been painted before I moved in this ugly brown color ... they are now a lovely charcoal!
Saturday morning I got up and had to run to the post office to pick up a package, for whatever reason, even when I leave the signed form on my mailbox, they will not leave the package on my steps! When I got home I finished up the pasta salad for the party I was going to, and also made a vegetable pizza to take! It was then time to get ready and head to the party where I spent a lovely afternoon/evening with great people and great food!
Sunday I got up and got to work on my stairs again ... it is quite a challenge to paint stairs/railings when you need to also be able to use them, so I got as much done as possible, but was unable to finish completely, hopefully that will happen this week! While I had all the paint supplies out, I decided to go out and finish up sealing my back fence, so that's finally completely done!
After I cleaned up from painting I got a call from my Mom saying she had food, so I headed home to have dinner with her, saw my brother, and came back to Baltimore with lots of leftovers!
Hopefully this week I'll be able to plan and prep for everything I want to get done next weekend so that I can make the most of my last (even though I'm not holding my breath) furlough weekend!
That being said, last Friday was furlough day #5 and this coming Friday will be furlough day #6, and possibly my last furlough day (for this year anyway)!
Friday I got up and made myself pancakes for breakfast, a definite perk of not having to rush off to work! I then made a much needed trip to the grocery store ... I was thrilled when I pulled into the empty parking lot, thinking this was going to be the fastest, least stressful Safeway trip ever ... unfortunately not the case! It was that day that Safeway was reorganizing their entire store, unstocking shelves and loading up carts that were all over the isles, taking down and rebuilding shelves, and restocking shelves, it was quite a mess, and took me forever to hunt for what I needed and get out of there, BUT, I can't complain too much, because, I had the time!!!!!
When I got home I made a pasta salad for a party I was going to on Saturday, and then I headed downtown to meet some friends for lunch. Otakon was in town this weekend, and usually a group of us from work eat lunch outside just to observe the crowd ... I decided I shouldn't miss out just because of the furlough, and I must say, it was well worth it!
When I got home from lunch I vacuumed out my car, something I've been meaning to do for a while now, and then it was time to head out to get my oil changed. While there, I asked for a quote to have my fog lights replaced because somehow both of them have holes in them. I was told that it was a common problem, and that it would cost $683 to fix! My initial thought was, "why would I pay $683 (on a furlough budget mind you), to fix something that would most likely happen again," and I then asked, "is it a real problem to not get them replaced?" I was told that the only thing that could happen is that if water got in the lights might not work. I decided, if it's not obvious, that it was not worth it, and justified my decision with the fact that I really rarely drive my car, and it's even more rare that I drive it in the rain (which is how water would get in a create a problem) ... then I drove back to Baltimore in a torrential downpour - go figure!
When I got back to the city, I spent some time with a friend before taking him to the airport, and when I got back home, decided to cancel my plans for the evening and stayed home and painted my stairs instead! The stairs had been painted before I moved in this ugly brown color ... they are now a lovely charcoal!
Saturday morning I got up and had to run to the post office to pick up a package, for whatever reason, even when I leave the signed form on my mailbox, they will not leave the package on my steps! When I got home I finished up the pasta salad for the party I was going to, and also made a vegetable pizza to take! It was then time to get ready and head to the party where I spent a lovely afternoon/evening with great people and great food!
Sunday I got up and got to work on my stairs again ... it is quite a challenge to paint stairs/railings when you need to also be able to use them, so I got as much done as possible, but was unable to finish completely, hopefully that will happen this week! While I had all the paint supplies out, I decided to go out and finish up sealing my back fence, so that's finally completely done!
After I cleaned up from painting I got a call from my Mom saying she had food, so I headed home to have dinner with her, saw my brother, and came back to Baltimore with lots of leftovers!
Hopefully this week I'll be able to plan and prep for everything I want to get done next weekend so that I can make the most of my last (even though I'm not holding my breath) furlough weekend!
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