Bah!

Honestly, it seems like I just wrote a post yesterday, but when I noticed that the date on the last post was a month ago, I freaked a little. And it dawned on me that I'm not quite sure exactly what I've done with that last month. Not in the alcohol-induced-blackout-but-hey-that-must-have-been-a-hell-of-a-party sense but more in the vacations-and-piles-of-deadlines-make-you-crazy sense.

A week ago I started considering that I might want to hire someone to clean my house. It's one of those things that seems to get pushed aside until we see tumbleweeds of dog hair rolling by as we traverse the halls. Then it dawned on me that we really can't afford the extra expense. We don't live extravagently, really. We rarely, very rarely, go out to eat. We haven't been to a movie in two years. Our outings to the symphony are on tickets given by friends who can't make a performance. You get the idea. Our indulgences in life? Good cheese. Books. I haven't bought clothes in ages because I'm just now getting back into the smaller sizes. I have a whole freakin' wardrobe in my closet just waiting for me. Where exactly am I going to cut back to be able to have a little extra? Would I be willing to give things up for the extra time I would gain from a cleaning person? You bet. I'm just not quite sure what else there is to cut. (And for those who are thinking, "you said you took a vacation- that's an extra," the vacation was a car trip to see my in-laws. Not exactly Club Med.)

The solution for now? Revamp the household budget to look for the "extras" that are surely lurking around and eliminate them. Continue working on the homemade Christmas presents I've already started (don't hate me, I know it's only August). Make some extra jewelry and other niceties to possibly peddle for the holiday season.

And for the hairballs? Get a Swif*fer.