Pretty quiet day today. The 7-month-old SL is sick, and not happy about it, but other than that not much going on. I've only recently gotten over a cold, and who knows if I'm going to catch this one too, so I'm just trying to rest and do as little as possible. I do need to make lunches for this week, but I can do that later. Right now AS is at a work function and NT took AA to the park to feed squirrels.

It was a hectic but pretty good week at work. Training is going well with my new hire (who is also an acquaintance I like, so that helps). I also found out I had 3 more vacation days allotted this year than they thought, and that I'll get 20 days next year! I was very pleased with both bits of news, but I already have more PTO this year than I know what to do with. I tacked the three days onto two I was taking in December anyway so that I now have a whole week off with no plans, plus random days off here and there in November and December.

I got it in my head that I should visit my parents and AS's mom in Virginia, and take both daughters with me. I know they would all like that, and what with the family visit to England planned next year, I don't know when we'll get out to Va. in the near future.

There is the question of how to pay for it though. I'm a to-the-penny budgeter, so I don't just have money lying around for an impromptu trip. Of course I could just ask my dad for the money, but I'd rather find a way to get there myself. I know he'll loan me one of his cars to drive while I'm there, and that everyone will provide food for us. So it's just the plane tickets for me and AA I have to worry about.

I'm going to keep my eye out for a last-minute deal. I would love to get there for about $300. Of course I still need to figure out where that $300 would come from, but we'll see. These things have a way of working out, and worst comes to worst I could just gradually pay it back in with my spending allowance.

I don't look forward to staying with relatives, but I can't justify the expense of a hotel and rental car. My parents' house has finally succumbed to my mom's hoarding and general uncleanliness, and they now have a fairly severe roach problem. AS's mom's house is better, but last time we were there, the hot water had been turned off. And my sister's is the best option, but even it is strange -- sparsely decorated in some places, unaccountably cluttered in others -- plus it's a 30-minute drive from my parents and even longer from AS's mom. Plus her husband, my brother-in-law, can be a real PITA sometimes.

But, I love everyone (well, except my BIL) and I feel more of a duty to visit home now that I have kids who should see their grandparents (and vice versa) from time to time. So we'll see if I can swing it.

I definitely don't want to go home for major holidays. We are creating our own traditions here with my nuclear family and close friends, and it's never relaxing to go home anymore. I believe holidays should be for ultimate enjoyment. So this random mid-December trip would be just the ticket.

***

I've had a very fun weekend; costly but fun. We ended our raw cleanse a week early -- I'd already hit my weight goal, AS and NT also lost a good deal of weight, and our friend we were doing it with just hated it. So we all went out to a Thai restaurant on Friday. The kids were great, the food was great and the company was fun. Then yesterday I went bra shopping -- it put my spending allowance in the hole but so worth it -- and then last night went to a reading by one of my favorite authors (AS's press publishes him). No admission fee, but I bought food and drinks there. Then there was an after-party which, thankfully, didn't cost me any more money. My boss was there; he's a poet active in the literary community and good friend of AS's boss, so I wasn't surprised. He's a good guy so it was nice to see him.

So I had a lot of fun, but I've already tapped my next week's allowance and then some. Our super-social October is nearly at an end -- I have a corn-maze event with my alumni chapter next weekend, but hopefully that's the last thing I'll have to spend money on for a while. I think I can get back to equilibrium on my allowance by mid-November if I'm careful.

***

I think I'm going to try and participate in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) in November. I've done it almost every year since I found out about it nearly 10 years ago. I've never reached the 50,000-word goal, but it's always an interesting experiment.

This year I really need to have a firm plot in mind, or I won't get anywhere with how busy and tired I feel most of the time. I also need to rid myself of the inner editor that points out every cliche and badly written sentence and slows me down or gives me writer's block. I should brainstorm this week or so before Nov. 1 so I'm not flailing blindly on the first day.

***

We've completed our latest three credit-card spends, payoffs are planned, and we're just waiting on rewards for the last two. The rewards were $100, $100 and $150 for spending $500 on each ($1500 total). I've decided to take a break from the rewards credit card churn unless a big, tempting one comes to light. All I've seen recently are ones I've already done and/or little rewards like the three we just did. I hope something new and exciting comes up before we start our Xmas shopping! Meanwhile, we'll probably get a Target credit card so we can get 5% rewards on our spending there at least.

***

We totally blew it on our grocery spending this weekend. We'll be about $100 in the hole by the time we buy diapers. I'm hoping to gain back some ground with Amex rewards from our grocery spending card that gives us 6% back.

I think that's all my news. SL has managed to fall asleep, so the house is quiet for the moment. I'm just going to sit and savor it!