My oldest daughter's mouse, named Melody, died last night. We knew this was coming. The mouse had been having trouble breathing...or so it looked. About a month ago, I even took it to the vet for $25! He said it didn't look good without doing invasive procedures. He gave an antibiotic which was included. It didn't seem to help.

Last night after our tornado warning here...we discovered she had passed on. We will bury her in our back yard later today. Daughter said she was said, but that she was ready to accept it.

So, today we are off to purchase another mouse to give Harmony, the remaining mouse, some company. The new mouse is to be named Poppy. The mouse will cost us less than $3.00. The enjoyment will be priceless.

Thanks for the memories, Melody.

P.S. All is fine from the storm, no tornado touched down.

I painted our daughter's bathroom this past Tuesday. It was about the only room in the house we had not painted since moving in over a year ago.

All the funds came from the garage sale we had about a month ago. It was their motivation to declutter their stuff...so they could get a bathroom makeover.

The makeover included paint, shower curtain, bath mats, toilet cover and new towels. I think our total was less than $100 for the whole thing. I bought everything at Bed Bath & Beyond and used coupons for every item. The paint was from Lowe's. I had a $5 coupon and the paint qualified for a $5 rebate this past weekend as well.

It looks much more like a girls bathroom than before and they are thrilled with the results.

It feels great to have sold many things we no longer needed and to have a new bathroom at the same time. It really was just a matter of priority for me, as well as the girls. Which did we want more, stuff we don't use or a redone bathroom?

My daughter will be in 6th grade at a middle school next year. I'm already paying!! We have registration in April. They collect many fees at that time.

I paid fees for books & materials, a planner, gym uniform, and a yearbook. A total of $101! On top of that, I bought her a one-piece Speedo swimsuit. They have a wonderful pool there that they will use multiple times next year. The one piece part is required for girls.

Today the 5th graders are going for a visit. They also get to try out the pool. It's a wonderful school and I'm very excited for her. I just hope that the costs don't get too out of hand.

It sure would be nice if schools could give you a list of expected expenses, such as for field trips, pictures, fund raisers, dances, ect. Who knows what else there might be!!

I know all schools are different, but can anyone think of expenses that are different in high school/middle school compared to elementary?

We just came back from my DD's 5th grade band concert. This was her first year playing the flute. All those kids did just wonderful. My DD was part of a flute trio, because she was doing so well. Nice to just hear flutes, since they can be hard to hear at times!

We had a dessert potluck after, with parents donating dessert or drinks. It was a fun way to celebrate a successful year of band.

My daughter will continue to play band into 6th grade. She's even crying tonight that she will miss band!! She's worried she will forget to practice over the summer. It will be a good excuse to get her some new music and have some band friends over to play together.

I've been renting to own the flute, which is a great deal when you don't know if your child will continue in band for more than a year. If she didn't like it after two months, then we could have returned the flute and owed nothing more than the months we had already paid for.

Now that she's made it through one year, I should see if I can pay it off early for less. I feel pretty confident that she will continue.

...is just around the corner. He seems like the hardest person to shop for. Is it because I don't know him well enough? Or maybe he just doesn't seem to have a lot of wants and needs. It seems like I feel this way every year.

We will be traveling to his town for a couple days next weekend. I think he is looking forward to having my family visit. It has been awhile since we've been in their next of the woods.

It seems harder, too, that his birthday is followed so closely by Father's Day! Yikes...two gifts to buy in a row.

Last year we bought him golf shirts, the wicking kind. He really liked those. He had bought himself new golf clubs, so it seem to fit with what he was doing at the time.

I hope I can think of something soon...

take piano lessons. Unfortunately, we don't have a piano. I could get one from my sister...she lives three hours away. But my sister was looking forward to having it.

I'll have to look into renting or finding a give away piano. I don't even know what the least expensive type costs.

She took dance lessons this year and has decided she doesn't want to continue. I had no idea she had an interest in piano! I could have been saving for this.

Interesting how children's interests change! How does one plan for that. Of course, if it turns out we can't afford it then it won't be an option and she'll have to find something else.

I'm off to look at craigslist!

I think of my ebay sales as a online garage sale. I'm not trying to get much more than I would at a garage sale...okay maybe I am!!

Turns out from last weeks sales of 12 items I netted $74.16! That's an average of $6.18 per listing. Definitely nothing to sneeze at.

The nice thing about a online garage sale is that you can have them any time of year. Right now it is cold and rainy here. I'd much rather be inside by my fireplace making sales than in my cold garage.

Now I will be having a garage sale in a couple of weeks and I will enjoy that too. For now, I'm just pleased to be getting rid of some of our stuff. It's all apart of our spring cleaning.

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On another note, my DH and I will be celebrating our 12th anniversary tomorrow on April 12th. We have never had a honeymoon, so we feel lucky to get to go out of town for one night and spend some time alone together. My sister is coming to stay with the girls.

Yes, it won't be our most frugal anniversary. We have had plenty of those. I'm sure this won't even happen every year. So, I'm really going to enjoy this one!!

is the total cost for all Liberty's vet visits! I am so not used to this as an expense. We do have some slush money and our emergency fund to cover things. It was money well spent to get her feeling better. I wish we could have avoided x-rays...$95!!

She has finally started eating, just not large amounts yet. She's being treated with another antibiotic and gets to stay home now. The vet's best guess with out charging me more for blood work is that she got toxoplasmosis...most likely from our newly adopted cat. She was also on antibiotics recently...so now they should both feel great!

Here are the offenders...Liberty on the left and Riley on the right!



Thanks again for all the well wishes!

Liberty is our oldest cat. We have had her for 3 years as of tomorrow. She's 3.5 years old. A dark gray tabby. She was our only cat until about 6 weeks ago when we adopted Riley from the animal shelter. Riley is a light gray tabby about a 1 year old. They have become good friends...lots of playtime together that's fun to watch.



Now Liberty is sick. We aren't sure what it is yet...maybe just a hairball or something more. She's been to the vet for a couple shots. She won't eat or drink. Vet doesn't want her to until tonight anyway. So, since Sunday night she just sleeps and gets sick. I feel so sad for her. It would be great if any of you could send us healing energy for Liberty.

The vet visit was $75. I'm just guessing there may be another visit ahead. Sometimes life and all that goes with it doesn't follow our plans or expectations. I don't escrow vet visits because with cats they are so rare. I suppose as they get older it will be more important to have a vet fund.

Update: She's back at the vet. She had xrays...nothing shows up! Now they are keeping her overnight for observation and to give her fluids. Thanks for all the warm wishes.

I'm married to a man who is half Irish, so I have a Irish last name. Am I Irish?

I like to think that I am. I can't say that we have maintained any traditions. I do wear green, but we don't attend parades, or eat any special meals. I've recently learned that cornbeef and cabbage is more of an American tradition.

At any rate, Irish or not, I want to share one of my favorite Irish blessings:

May love and laughter light your days,
and warm your heart and home.
May good and faithful friends be yours,
wherever you may roam.
May peace and plenty bless your world
with joy that long endures.
May all life's passing seasons
bring the best to you and yours!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!