Saving Money

For those of you who don't know, I have a dog. She's a 65 lb pit bull rescued from the Dallas SPCA. Her name is BeBe. Now BeBe is a lovebug and while I do like it when she sleeps in my bed, she does tend to stretch out her 5 ft frame and take up a majority of the middle of the bed, leaving me with a portion of the side. To avoid uncomfortable sleeping arrangements, I bought her a doggie bed about 7 months ago. Well, her 65 lbs of goodness have smooshed that bed so she really ends up sleeping in the middle of some cushy stuff but on the floor. I felt bad (yes, I love my dog that much) so I was trying to find some sort of a dog bed that would withstand her 65 lbs but also last for longer than 7 months. 

I started my search at this Texas store called Garden Ridge. The place is insane. It's massive. It has everything you would need to decorate your home and your garden. And then it has some more stuff. In my search, I discovered that most dog beds that are cushy just don't withstand a lot of weight. Personally, I think this is discriminatory against the larger dogs, but who am I to say anything. I thought I'd try to go to a Good Will store and find an old couch cushion  to put under her existing bed, but then who wants an old couch cushion in their bedroom? I mean, why did someone throw it away? Did the cat puke on it and they cleaned it up as best they could and then donate it? Who knows.

So before heading out to buy some germinated couch cushion from the Good Will, I asked a number of my fellow dog owners at the dog park for some ideas. I received an array of ideas which included (but are not limited to):

Papasan Chair Cushions 

Fill the existing bed with more pillow filler

Use foam for under the pillow 

Buy a Chaise Lounge cover and use that

And the best idea of all... Refill the existing bed with shredded newspaper.

Since the last idea was the only idea that did not involve spending a single dime, I tried it. Now, for those of you who may want to take this route the next time you need to fill a dog bed, may I suggest doing it in your garage? Because it does make quite a bit of a mess. But the results are perfect. BeBe will be sleeping on a cushy bed this evening and it won't be mine! 

And that is my money saved idea for the day. Woo Hoo!!!

it's been a week, where are you?

my mom sent me a comment on my blog asking me where i am. call it guilt but we all learned at a young age that when mom asks you to do something pretty easy you should probably just do it instead of complaining. so here i am. no complaining, just writing. that isn't to say that my writing won't be all happy-happy-joy-joy-full-of-positivity because honestly, today was one of those crappy days. you know - the ones where you wake up and all seems to be going just fine and then one small thing sets you off on the wrong foot and then all the other little things that happen probably pretty regularly just seem to be gargantuous in size and therefore really irritate you? well, that was today.

i won't bore you with the details, because honestly looking back it really isn't anything to complain about. i'm just feeling down these days and a little un-needed in this society. i actually feel like i'm a burden most of the time. i mean, i am collecting unemployment. don't get me wrong, i don't sit around all day watching tv and eating bon bons. i apply for jobs left and right. the best ones are the ones that sound so great and then you realize it's a scam. i'm getting really good at identifying the scam emails. you would think they would mix it up a bit. i mean at least change up the "application" or something so each one doesn't ask the same exact questions. and what's with the military question? if i'm in the military or any member of my family was or is in the military does that mean you are going to not pick me to be duped by your stupid brain plot of sending me a fake check, having me cash it at my bank and then wire funds to someone living in the same zip code as you all before my bank figures out that it's a fake check? hell, i can figure out it's a fake check. see that part at the top that says "this check should have a watermark on the back" in small writing? well, that means that if it was real it would have a watermark on the back. i just feel sorry for the poor putz who actually falls for this sort of thing. and no, i didn't fall for this so this is not why i'm pissy today.

i guess i'm pissy today because this job search is just futile. i apply for positions that i am perfect for and never hear from the companies. or i hear from them within 24 hours with a "thanks, but no thanks" note. the irony of it all is that i really don't want to work for anyone else. unfortunately for me my catering business is not taking off. i am about 5 days away from baking up a storm and just slutting myself from business to business in some tight pants and low cut neckline to stand in a parking lot and hand out baked goods to all the fat executive men who get out of their BMW's and Lexus' and maybe, just maybe one of them will hire me to cater one of their poker parties. 

now i'm just ranting. my apologies. 

on a good note, my sister (in actuality she is my step-sister but she really isn't step anything because she's just my sister) is in town. i'm picking her up tomorrow and get to hang out with her for about 24 hours. she's here for work but extended her stay so she can hang out with me, meet BeBe and let me show her what little i know of Texas. it will definitely be nice to see her and catch up over a glass of wine. damn, it will just be nice to talk to someone other than my dog park friends. i mean, i love my dog park friends but i really need to find a life out here. i need some diversity... and i need to get the hell out of this suburb i live in. so today, i throw to the universe a request - please let all the pieces fall where they may but keep in mind it would be really cool to meet some wonderful couple who has a guest house in which they need me and my dog to occupy so i can be their private chef. and it would be really cool if that house was located somewhere in the Bishop Arts section of Dallas. it doesn't hurt to ask, right?

about time, right?

i guess i need to get on here more. i honestly don't know what has been keeping me occupied these past couple of weeks, but obviously i haven't been in the mood to write. but today i jumped onto blogspot to check out if my mom had posted and realized it's been 2 weeks since i had posted so i should say something.

not much going on around here. we have gone through what people tell me is Texas weather - 30 degrees one day and 80 the next. i'm waiting for our spring stormy season when the skies turn dark and the lightening comes and the dog freaks out as the heavens open and god throws buckets at us. i think my roses are waiting for that day too. 

in other news, i am finally roommate-less. i am extremely ecstatic about this because it means i get my guest bedroom back. of course my checkbook has other emotions as the dollars dwindle down and we await someone from the bank to tell us we can cut our house payment in half. until then, i am procrastinating doing my taxes (i fear i am going to owe the government some cash) and just hoping and praying that the process with the underwriter does not take as long as it could. 

as we enter into March i have to say that i am saying goodbye to February with joy. February was a hard month for me... not only did i start the month with a nasty roommate departure (who still continues to harass me with phone calls and text messages) but Valentine's Day is in there and what would have been some 2 year anniversaries if DJ and i were still together scatter the calendar. so you take those things and add to that the fact that my A/C unit needed it's coil replaced (thank GOD it was under warranty or that would have been a $2K expense), the fact that the downstairs toilet seems to not want to balance properly no matter how many adjustments i make, the fact that my washer squeaks when running and the fact that my refrigerator seems to be wanting to make its presence known to all who are even remotely near it with the noises it exudes. yeah... i'm ready for something better in March. 

and here is what i have to look forward to so far: the hysterically small farmer's market in Grand Prairie opens this Saturday, i have a lunch scheduled for next week, my sister comes to visit next week for about 48 hours, and my mom is coming mid-month to hang out for 2 weeks. and then in early April, Susie has blocked my calendar for some jobs. hopefully those jobs will equal income that will either pay the tax man or buy me the materials to build some raised beds out back for gardens. i mean, if the price of produce is going to sky rocket, then we better grow some of our own, right??

happy March, y'all.