Winter has arrived

Friday: I was at the bookstore all day, it was more busy in the morning and then less so in the afternoon. We were supposed to get a winter storm with a bunch of snow on top of ice. It was freezing rain when I left the bookstore, but it had stopped by the time I got home (at most 10 minutes later). I found a WTA of pretty paper in my mailbox:

 I was expecting scrapbook paper, but I can still use these.
Finished my third book of the year: Shattered Silence, it was about a serial killer's daughter.
Saturday: was a very lazy day, I read and put together tags to mail out.
SMS squishy and SMS fuzzy:

 The squishy I got for a favorites tag, I wasn't impressed, so figured I'd send it on. The fuzzy is a pen I picked up at Goodwill.
Flat item:

 I got these for a WTA, I don't usually use a lot of stamps.
Homemade:

 Thought I'd do something different and went with one of my lace stars.
Happy mail:

 This always consists of stuff I get for other happy mail tags but won't use. Everything is from Winner Takes All prizes that I wouldn't use.
A Winner Takes All of postcards:

 Again received these in tags and wouldn't use them.
I worked the men's game that night, it was pretty cold. My mom picked me up and gave me my Christmas presents from my brother and his girlfriend, which arrived in the mail that day.

 2 minion Pez dispensers, a journal, a Chef Louis Pop figure, an owl coin purse and some knee highs with dinosaurs in roller skates.
I think the Chef Louis Pop! figure is my favorite:

 Sunday: Also a lazy day, I did my laundry and worked on art stuff.
A Valentine's Day Loaded pocket:

 Monday: I opened at the library and went to the bookstore for a few hours in the afternoon. We were pretty steady at the bookstore, I was certainly ready to leave when I got done.
I found a Winner Takes All of nail stickers:

 Very cute, just not sure if I'll use them.
Unicorn:

 Normally I don't use stamps, but these were soo cute. I tried them out and even colored a bit.
I put together a Dollar Store tag:

 I either bought this myself or got it for another Dollar Store tag. I love these coin purses, but I don't need the obnoxious amount I have.
Tuesday: I was at the bookstore in the morning, jumped over to a luncheon at the library, went home for a few hours and back to the library to close. The bookstore was weird, we kept getting a bunch on interesting questions. The library was having our annual winter soup luncheon, so I hopped over there for lunch and then went home for a bit before I had to close that night.
I found a wish granted of happy mail:

 And a flat item:

 I got a few tags put together, Unicorn:

 Sticky notes:

 50 loose stickers:

And a grant a wish of a bath bomb, which apparently I forgot to take a picture of. The bath bomb is shaped like a macaron. The sidewalks were icy in the morning and it was cold that night.
We got more ice Wednesday morning, I ended up walking in a lot of snow banks, which was much better than sliding on the ice. No mail on Wednesday, but I did make my fit bit happy and hit 10,000 steps for the third time this week.

Purple scarf

Tuesday: I chose to take the later bus, I didn't want to worry about having to waste time. I got there right on time. I didn't learn much in training, it was different this year as a lot of the people I work with seem to have moved on to somewhere else. The dress code changed a little bit, I think it's for the better, I have more options of stuff to wear. I left about 12:15, they said I could stay and practice, but I don't need the practice. I did find out that they had me scheduled for Thursday and Friday, they just forgot to tell me. I messaged my friend and told her, I was mistaken I wasn't actually free. She got back to me saying she was trying to carve out some time on Thursday, which made me feel bad, even though she didn't tell me. It's so frustrating. I messaged her some other dates I was free and she said what would work, so I suggested a certain day, I haven't heard back from her. I didn't get any mail again. Work was normal, I had to do something early this week as I have plans for other things I have to do next week. We're implementing a new thing in our interlibrary loans, it's more work right now, but will be better in the long run.

Wednesday: work was not exciting (which is fine), had a little downtime between getting home from the library and having to go out to a game that night. The temperature had dropped a ton and it was kinda cold. The walk home certainly wasn't warm. I had 13,000 steps at the end of the night.

I did stop by a store looking for some discounted Surprizeamals as Facebook told me at this time last year they had a ton. I picked up a couple frozen dinners and these:

I probably shouldn't have picked up anything, but I really wanted something after not getting any mail for a few days.

I did find one item in the mailbox when I got home:

I don't use facemasks, but since this one isn't one you just put over your whole face, I might.

Thursday: The bookstore was wicked slow, I'm not sure why they didn't send us home. I made it through the 6 hours mostly because a friend was scheduled with me.
I found a couple things in my mailbox when I got home.
My International Blessings Box

 An infinity scarf, a bracelet and a keychain.
I'm really not sure why I signed up for this box, most of the items I can get at a store in town. I've gotten a bracelet every month, I have an overabundance of those now. The infinity scarf came with a tag on how to wear your scarves, only ones with ends. I want to try another subscription box, but I'm not sure what. And that would go against my spending less on stuff I don't need. I did learn I love knowing something good (even though I've been lukewarm on all these boxes) is coming soon for me. With my mail groups, I don't know if I'll like what I get. I've liked one thing in each of these boxes.
Also, and ATC:

It's cute, but that word at the top which I believe is supposed to be beautiful, doesn't seem to be spelled right.

Bad Day

Friday: I wasn't scheduled to work, but someone called in sick, so I said I could work. I finally got word from the bookstore that I was scheduled for training on Tuesday. I found 5 pieces of mail on my way into work.

Winner Takes All: happy mail:

 I love the mermaid memo sheets, that top card, the bookmark and the cork sticker.
Winner Takes All of some stationery sets and a bunch of washi:

 the person said 4 washi, I figured 4 samples of washi, not 4 cards of washi samples. Love this one, the stationery sets are neat and the washi are pretty cool, too.
Winner Takes All, happy mail:

 I like the Trolls, Market List and cacti memo sheets. That's about it. I left the True Orange packets at work.
Winner Takes All, tea

 These all look very interesting, I'm excited to try them.
A wish granted of something Kawaii and happy mail.

 I like the kawaii items and the typewriter and the shoe, the rest I'm not so interested in.
I also had a thank you note in my work mailbox:

 It was from a co-worker thanking me for the New Year's star I gave her.
I decided to make some New Year's resolutions this year. We'll see if I stick to them:
1. Read 100 books
    This is a constant goal every year, I don't care if I get to 100, but it's my goal
2. Participate in more tags/swaps that I'm interested in.
     As opposed to just doing ones because I want mail. This would take out wishes, because I feel obligated to do wishes, not sure why, but I feel obligated, also not to do the Secret Sister swaps in one of my groups because I seem to not get much that I want, I've only had a couple where I loved most of what was sent to me.
3. Walk home from every event I work at one of my jobs.
     That is a goal for this season, and I have walked home most of the times I've worked, on one night someone told me it was too cold to walk home (it was like 20 degrees, not that cold), though I gratefully accepted it because I'd been on my feet a ton that week.
4. Spend less money on things I don't need.
    This would be the less shopping thing. I was thinking of trying to just go shopping once a month. that would be once down south and once up north, which I don't think would be an issue because I don't get a lot from up north.
5. Eat more salads.
    I should give a number as I find that easier to do than saying do more or do less of something.
And of course I'm trying to cut down on Mountain Dew.
Saturday: I had to open at the library. I found 8 pieces of mail when I got home.
Winner Takes All, postcard:

 This was the end of another one I got earlier, she had said she'd send 4 postcards and ended up only sending 3, so this was the last one.
Winner Takes All, destash:

 A great selection on this one, this person always sends good stuff.
Favorite color purple

 I don't know how I feel about this one. The butterfly is broken, because it's not flexible. It's much better than a roll of ribbon.
A flipbook

 She made an envelope one:

 With a beautiful waterfall feature in it. You pull on the bottom piece and the top pieces flip up and reveal things.
The goodies:

 Winner Takes All, destash

 If it's all one kind of thing (stickers) I don't really consider it destash, but I like stickers, so still a win.
A wish granted of fuzzy warm socks:

 and they are both. Very nice to put on when I get home from work.
Winner Takes All, notecards:

As I said before with the other person that just sent me notecards, I wish they weren't all the same thing, or in this case, not something I have. Oh well, I can always use more notecards.
I stopped at the grocery store on my way home to pick up essentials for my days at the bookstore. I figured if I worked all the days I told them I was available, it would be 7 days. So, I splurged on Colby Jack cheese and off the bone ham. I also picked up pickles instead of lettuce, mostly because I wouldn't take anything until Tuesday and I didn't want to go back to the store on Monday for lettuce. I also picked up a bag of chips.
We're getting a new grocery store next to the old one and it's getting very close to opening. It seems that they're not restocking stuff at the old one. I find it a bit annoying as I don't want to walk to the more expensive grocery store to get the stuff I need. I guess I only have one more shopping day before what I heard was the opening (Jan 15). Everything is also 10% off. Somehow I still ended up spending more than I thought I would.
Sunday: I got my laundry done before having to go into work. That was nice. Work was constant, not as busy as I wanted it to be, but still kinda busy. We had a last minute change in people working which threw me off.
Monday: became a crappy day. As I was crossing the street on my way into work at a stoplight, a Fareway semi truck ran the red light and turned left and cut me off. And then while I was very annoyed with that guy a cop was going to turn left (but he had the green) and stopped to wait for me but I guess didn't notice the giant semi running the light. Seriously, right in front of you and you couldn't do your job? He stops in the middle of the intersection when he noticed me and was waiting for me to cross, but it was pretty much a yellow light at that point.Kinda made me think he wasn't paying attention at all. I went into the Fareway to complain, asked for a manager, none came up as the cashier checked out 3 people. She tells me they must all be at the new store (right next door) and they wouldn't be able to do anything anyway, I realized that, I thought they could pass it up the line. She tells me to call the corporate office and I went on my merry way. I ended up not doing anything, because I figured corporate wouldn't do anything and if I said anything to the cops, they probably wouldn't do anything either. That made me a couple minutes late for work. Work was fine, the patrons can always brighten my day.
I didn't get any mail and heard back from the bookstore. They scheduled me for all the days I said I was available next week. So, I'm only working tomorrow (training) and 4 days next week. My friend was saying last week that she might be available at the end of this week to hang out and then I told her I wasn't available, now that I'm available, I bet she isn't. Since I had an overabundance of lunch supplies, I had one of my sandwiches today. I'm trying to decide if I want to be super early tomorrow, or just early. I will be packing a lunch because they have me scheduled until 3 even though I told them I was only available until 1, I don't think training will take that long and I hope they don't need me for that long, because I'm not available that long.

a new microwave

Friday: I read, and found a bunch of things in the mailbox.

Winner Takes All: Stationery sheets

I don't use stationery, I'll probably pass these on.
 Dollar Store:

 Also, probably won't use these.
Winner Takes All: washi samples

 I like the Disney princess and the animal ones.
Happy mail:

 There is a cat shaped paperclip in the monsters inc bag. I will pass the paperclip on to a friend, I love the tiny Monsters Inc bag, the washi, the cat bags, the unicorn package and the tea. Definitely happy mail.
Winner Takes All: 3 postcards

 I'm not a big postcard person, I'll pass these on.
Christmas card:

 This was postmarked the 23rd of December, it was supposed to be mailed by the 21st, so I could get it before Christmas. It also wasn't written in, I'd rather you sent me a card with a nice message.
This or That tag: Disney gift bags

 Would've been nice to get these before Christmas, or sent some that weren't Christmas themed.
Saturday: was another lazy reading day. I did get one piece of mail.
Winner Takes All: 3 sticker sheets

 This is the reason I don't do the sticker sheets tags, because people send out cheap stickers. the Toy Story ones are the best.
Sunday: I did my laundry and then got fed up and opened all my blind bags from earlier.

 The tiny things are from the slime capsules, I realized you're only guaranteed 2 figures in 6 capsules of slime, not worth it on clearance and not worth it full priced. I don't get why every thing has to have slime. How to Train Your Dragon: I have no idea whose dragon it is, but it's cute. Godzilla blind bag: This was an exclusive, I'm not sure which Godzilla this is, but I like him. The Little Mermaid blind bags: Ursula and Eric, Ursula is my favorite villian (I'm sure it's because she's part octopus), not too excited about Eric. Surprizeamals: 2 pink unicorns, a green penguin and a grey penguin, those were all duplicates of what I already have. The red unicorn and red hedgehog are new to me. I realized I now have 3 different colored hedgehogs.
I made a flipbook:

 And an ATC:

 And got a wish of socks ready to mail:

 Monday: I returned a ton of items to the library, maybe 12. A lot of big heavy books, I could have waited, but I love returning things and seeing how many items I have left. Found some stuff in the mailbox when I got home.
Destash:

 I like the 12x12 paper, and the gems.
Winner Takes All: Destash

 Not a ton in here I really liked.
Winner Takes All: stationery sheets

 Again, I don't use stationery but I like the gnomes.
Winner Takes All: washi samples and postcards

 I like the washi samples.
Winner Takes All: 4 postcards

 Or 3, she said she'd send another one on it's way.
Winner Takes All: 3 handmade envelopes:

 I don't really use handmade envelopes, though there are some times where all I need is an envelope to use to mail things out, maybe I should start.
Tuesday: I had to work 12-5, as we closed at 5. Found this bowl filled with candy in the break room.

 After eating some of it, I was thinking, I should practice more self-control with things in the break room, it's certainly not helping with my weight. I found a few things in the mailbox on my way to work.
Winner Takes All: a couple sheets of stationery, loose stickers and 2 cards

 I like the carebear and the stickers.
Winner Takes All: 3 handmade envelopes.

 Winner Takes All: 3 notecards

 I'd like this more if she sent 3 different cards.
Happy Mail:

 There was a Christmas wish post on one of my groups. I told them how crappy my Christmas was and asked for something to cheer me up. This definitely cheered me up. I really like the stickers and the washi.
I went to Applebee's with my parents for supper. Had a mudslide (that tasted like it didn't have any alcohol in it) and a quesadilla burger. I just wanted to get a mudslide, a really good burger and a yummy dessert. I got two of the three. Mom asked on our way home if a mudslide at Applebees was better than one at Red Lobster. I just wanted a good burger, I'm not going to go to Red Lobster for a burger (not even sure you can get one there), I'm not sure my mother really likes Applebee's.
The whole reason I had to go out to supper with them was because a large box had been delivered and it was for me. It turned out to be a microwave:

 Mom was afraid I'd trip and kill myself taking it home, so she delivered it on the 1st.
I wanted to stop at HyVee and see if they had any sparkling grape juice, but my mother conveniently forgot about that when we were headed home. I was pissed that she made me come over to open the box, but wouldn't let me take it home, so after she dropped me off, I went to Fareway. I bought a 2 liter of Mtn Dew, but then decided I wanted a cold one, so picked up a 20 oz, I was going to put the 2 liter back, but decided I just didn't care. I picked up some cereal and some scones. I stayed up until slightly after midnight and headed to bed.
We had this whole discussion on the 31st about how I didn't want to go outside on the 1st, but I had to because mom was delivering the microwave. It's much smaller than my old one. I'm happy to have it, it was just my parents were getting me one for my birthday (6 months ago), we went to Walmart and then realized I didn't have measurements, so we didn't get one. I kept waiting for them to just buy me one after I gave them the measurements. So, my parents got off the hook for a birthday present and my brother got off the hook for a Christmas present. I'm so tired of thinking about them all the time and them not seeming to give a damn about what I want. I'm done getting gifts for them. I certainly didn't get them gifts when I went after Christmas shopping.
Wednesday: I didn't go out after getting my microwave. I watched TV all day.
Thursday: I did head to HyVee as Fareway is getting close to moving into their new store and they're not restocking some stuff. They've been out of mouthwash the last three times I've been there. I was getting rather low, so I headed to HyVee, figured that meant the universe was telling me to go to Hobby Lobby as they're both in the same strip mall

I only picked up the mouthwash at HyVee:

 I was very proud of myself. There were other things I wanted, but since I wasn't going straight home, I chose not to get them.
My second stop was JoAnn's, I very rarely find anything to buy in there. I'm not sure why I even go in.
I made an eye appointment, since it's been at least 5 years since I got new glasses. I was looking at my eye insurance and I'm not sure it covers the exam, I think it's just frames, I guess we'll see.
Next up was Hobby Lobby:

 They of course had Valentine's they were stocking, but it wasn't on sale, so I didn't really look. OK, I did, there was a pair of resin sloths I wanted, but I refrained.
They did still have a couple aisles of Christmas left. I got the fuzzy ornaments, the yeti, the donut, the pretzel, the nurse, Scottie dog and macaron from there. The owl planter was in the home decor clearance aisle. The elf, Frankenstein's monster and the elephant were from the clearance aisle. The last time I was in before Christmas, their clearance aisle was kinda overrun by Christmas, now it was just really small. I hope they bring it back. I didn't buy any papercrafting stuff, which was weird. Paper Studio was 50% off, I just didn't feel like looking at any of it. I spent less than $10.
I headed over to the Asian food store to see if they had anything new.

 some kind of white kidney bean mochi, tiger cakes, peach flavored drink, 2 Thai teas, muscat grape gummies. I spent $22 here, I wish the stuff was priced better, I'm sure I'd spend less if they had the prices on them.
My last stop was the HyVee drugstore.

 I was hoping they'd have better Christmas sales, but I didn't find anything I really wanted except for these stickers. I'll need the chai soon, now I won't have to think about it.
I kinda wanna go up to the mall tomorrow, see if they have anything left.
I found a Winner Takes All of memo sheets when I got home.

 I don't really use these either. I know a lot of people use them for their notes on tags. I've been using Project Life cards. I was so excited about buying them a few years ago, but I never used them, so at least I'm using them.
This ornament:

 I picked up for my aunt, she's a nurse.
I put together a Valentine Grab Bag swap:

 We have to send at least 20 different items.
I put together a stickerpalooza swap:

We have to send 10 new packages of stickers. OMG!!! I have a ton of stickers, I really don't need to buy more. I also learned I have a ton of pens as well.
I put together a Valentine's Day swap

We have to send 5 new Valentine's Day themed items. I wanted to look at the Valentine's Day things at Hobby Lobby because of this. I also want to go to the Dollar Tree and look, but I'm *trying* not to spend money on stuff I don't need (after my trip to the mall), I feel like I say that a lot.
I also worked on a Countdown to Valentine's Day swap. We have to send 14 items, 7 can be store bought, at least 7 need to be handmade. I know I just did the other big swap where half the items had to be handmade, but I'm still stuck on things to make. We also have to decorate the bags that the items are in. I found a bunch of bags in my Lollipop Box excess, so I decided to use those and just decorate them. I did a lot of sorting, trying to get like things all in the same place. I feel I made more room in my  bedroom.