Heeelllooooooooooooo

First things first, didn't make the cut for an Oct referral. I have to say I was really surprised about that. And sort of pissed, but what can you do?

I was looking forward to the Jan trip because I was going to introduce her to everyone. Now that I'll be in China during that time I had to cancel (poor me lol). But it's $1000+ I won't be spending at a time where I shouldn't be spending anything.

I put in for some of my leave for this year. Starting Dec 21, I'll be out. Now when I come back is a bit trickier. I have decided to max out FMLA but 5 of those 13 weeks will be unpaid. So I am tightening the belt now so I won't feel the pinch when she's here and we are trying to have fun. It was hard to figure out exactly how much I was losing my taking those 5 weeks off. First you have to break your pay down to weekly pay. You don't have to worry about 401K contribution for the time but you do have to keep paying your health insurance premiums. The after you figure out your true lost wage you have to add in your expenses for the month. But then you get to subtract the daycare you were going to pay. It is still several thousand dollars but I think its worth it!

I went on the cruise and had a good time. I wish I hadn't dressed up like I did, it was a very casual cruise. But Grand Turk, Half Moon Cay and St Thomas were great stops. I'd def do this trip again but I would only pack shorts and t-shirts and stay out of the main dining room. I'd also visit Coki Beach this time too, not that Sapphire wasn't great but there are lots of beaches to visit in St Thomas :)

I have spent a lot of time on the house this week. After 5 years and 4 months, I am pretty close to being done. I've not done much decorating during that time so I am doing things like making lists of the different size picture frames I need, evaluating any curtains/cushions/pillows I need and trying to decide what type of furniture I'll be buying in the near future. It seems odd after years of living like a college kid, that I am thinking about buying brand new furniture not used fixed up furniture . Of course its still not crazy expensive (the table is $130) but still, brand new shiney-ness... just for me!

I have been Christmas shopping! I decided to do kitchen things this year (which is ok to say because everyone that is getting one doesn't read my blog!). I got some great knives (Kitchenaide marked from $20 to $7); some are for bread and come are for meat. The bread knives will get bread pans, yeast, a pot holder and bread recipes. The slicing knives will get a cutting board, towel, some sort of seasoning and recipes. My goal is to keep each goody basket at $15 and to pay 50% or less for each item.

I am still trading stocks during the day. Right before I went on the cruise they shot up big time, like $5 a share. So I am trying to get into the groove and determine what my low and high buy prices are. I ended my first month of trading with a $1605.13 profit, I'd love to hit that again but since I lost time to the trip and have had my bid too low for several days, I hope to get one transaction in during my second month. At 1000 shares, that could be $500 or $1000, just depends on how it all goes. My main goal is to double my cash (21K) in one year. I am 7.6% there!

I guess that is it for now. I have to fix all the images on my blog, it's so sad looking. For the 4 people that read this thing, how have you been?