Getting My House, Er, Life, In Order

My mom left to go back to Michigan on Wednesday. Before she left, she sewed bias tape on the back of the mattress of the futon in the guest room to keep the mattress from sliding off. The difference is dramatic. Now it looks like an actual livable room. Harlee was very traumatized by our moving the futon, but she finally bounced back. It's a lot nicer to sleep on without my back against the metal back of the futon!

I've been spending a lot of time planning the upcoming year. My workbook asked how I was going to give back to the community, and I decided to volunteer at the local Humane Society. I dropped off my application today, and the manager was thrilled to get another volunteer. She asked me to come for orientation on Saturday. So I was feeling pretty good about that.

I also have been working on the kitchen, and emptied another large box. The trick will be to keep organizing after I go back to work.

I plan to track my expenses in the New Year. I found a Web site and app (Toshl Finance) that looks like it'll work and is free. I like the fact that I can set up my own categories so that I can horrify myself with how much I'm spending on diet soda (for example). I need to spend some time setting it up.

I'm trying to talk myself into going to the UCC church on Sunday to meet more people, but I've been resisting it. I think that I need to just do it.

All and all, I'm feeling very optimistic about 2016. Happy New Year!