Took the afternoon to work on my taxes.  Glad I did, hopefully beating half of the US population to the punch!  Plus, I dont have to look at the stack of paperwork every time I sit at the computer.  

How are you spending your refund?  Saving? 

At Moe's Southwestern Grill today for lunch. 

I've joined the Facebook craze.  I have a profile, I update it, I tell people what is on my mind, what I am doing.  I have friends, even one from high school.  I am not sure what happened but all of sudden this thing became the thing to do.  I dont even know if I get any kind of pleasure from it, but I can tell you this.  The damn thing is addictive. 

If you are not on Facebook, you are nobody.  Do it!

I am amazed at the deals I have been finding at the stores lately.  I mean, they should really be called 'steals'. 

Purchases from the Gap on Monday:
-Merino wool sweater - normally $59, $9.97
-Silk peasant blouse - normally $40, $14.97
-Jersey dress - normally $40, $8.97

Last night, I found a cable-knit t-neck sweater at Target.  $24.99 online, $6 in-store.  Very Hubble-like-wearing-at-the-beach-kind-of-sweater.  (you know Hubble ... Robert Redford, The Way We Were ... sigh, great movie)

I should say this started the whole thing.  I was at the Goodwill looking for a file cabinet to use for all my taxes and warranties and other legal documents.  I surely never imagined finding this.  I was expecting boring ol'gray cabinet, not this beautiful orange.  Not sure if I am going to use it for the boring paperwork.  I am thinking scrapbook stuff needs to be stored in here.  And it was $3.99.  S-w-e-e-e-e-t. 

Boy was I surprised when I got the mail today.  A postcard from Finland.  Its of a picture the sender took of her summer cottage/place.  What I would give to be there right now. 

This isnt the same woman I had sent my postcard to.  The system automatically assigns who you send your cards to.  
 

Thanks to Postcrossing, I now know a little bit more about Finland. 

Will be doing it again ... sending another postcard. 

I wake this morning to this email from Postcrossing.  The woman in Finland received my postcard.  

She wrote me a note, saying thanks.  This was definitely worth the effort and .94c.  I look forward to doing it again. 

 
Work.

 
Exercise.

 
Play (read).

I have given myself an assignment.  I am to take pictures of each day this week, of my life, no matter what I am doing. 

Day One.
 
Sunday cleaning.

 
Sunday laundry.

 
Me downtown Naperville.

 
Riverwalk.

 
Reading in Barnes + Noble.

 
My view from the upper level in Barnes + Noble.

I also had dinner with the family tonight.  The first dinner of 2009. 

I need a little more of this.  No.  I take that back.  I need a lot more. 

 I created my postcard to send to the penpal I was given from Postcrossing.  Mind you I wont hear back from her, but she will get a little goodie in the mail soon.  She said she likes hedgehogs ... so I made her a postcard from a photo of a hedgehog. 

Not really not sure what to include in the text, so I told her about a woman on Etsy who sells hedgehog coin purses.  I also added that the postcard is coming from good ol' USA!  

It'll be interesting to see how much this costs to mail and even more interesting to see where my postcard comes from.   

Though 'getting organized' is not on the resolution list, this is definitely a 'needs improvement' category in my life.  I started with getting a pocket calendar, the paper kind, and am now carrying it in my purse to remind me of appts, special days, BIRTHDAYS!, etc.  (I always forget birthdays, and I want to start remembering and sending a nice homemade card instead of email or text or call)

I have moved on to storage organization.  Friday night I cleaned out a closet where I keep my gift wrapping stuff.  I was very strict on what I could keep ... I threw a lot away, and another heaping load went to Goodwill today.  Then Saturday night, the pantry.  The Goodwill bag had then turned into a giant Goodwill box.  Sunday (today), with the help of my brother-in-law Ron, I was able to take this mess:
 

and change it into this:
 

Its not a complete re-do of the garage storage, however its a 100% improvement of the mess that was collecting on the floor.  In addition, I was able to move the pillows and floral chair covers from the closet to the garage, which made more room in the gift wrapping closet for stuff that was starting to collect in another closet. 

Now back to the regularly scheduled resolutions.