Rayen

Say hello -- and goodbye -- to my trusty HP Laser 1320 PCL 5 printer. I spent over $800.00 on it back in the early years of my career. It finally blew up this week, which made me very sad. It has been the most dependable, reliable, long-lasting printer I have ever owned. Since it is 19 years old and I've been using it weekly (sometimes daily) since 2007 I think I got my money's worth out of it. Most laser printers only last between three to seven years according to Google. Say hello to my new HP Laserjet printer. I got it on sale for $259.00 (which is $120.00 off) so it was cheaper, sort of. It prints nicely, although it only has one paper tray and it's a bit slower than the old printer. Still, it will serve my needs. Here's the toner cartridge for it, which was $151.49, which is roughly double what cartridges for my old printer cost. That really hurt. Did I want to spend $439.22 this month on a printer and toner? Nope. Outside of medical bills, I...

When I spotted this pile of fourteen cookbooks at the online auction I saw three about grilling that I wanted, and put in a low bid. I figured I wouldn't win the lot -- only I did. Nearly all of them are titles that appeal to me, and I think I can learn a lot from them. Well, not so much from the Keto cookbook, but the rest, sure. :) The cookbooks are in very nice condition, and would probably bring in at least $70.00 resale; I got the lot for $9.99, or about seventy-one cents per book. Hopefully we can find some new recipes to inspire our summer cooking.

Last month I went over budget in almost every category, mainly because I was upset and not paying much attention to my spending. It seemed more important to get back my equilibrium and be happy, and I don't regret parting with a little extra cash to do so. I am an emotional creator, and my emotions tend to get out of hand when things go toxic for me. I am easily frightened and I know that intellectually, but what I tell myself in my head seldom migrates to my heart. I have triggers and I imagine I always will. Everyone does. Mine just happen to take a lot of work to quiet down. Anyway, I'm over the trauma, and I've taken steps to protect myself. It's time to get back on track. I already know that I am not suited to having no-spend months, mainly because it's almost impossible to resist temptation when I try. Then there is non-negotiable necessary spending (medicines, reference materials and other things I need for the day job, etc.) which I'll disc...

The other morning I was preparing to drink my second cup of coffee when I realized I was tired of drinking out of a plastic tumbler. I have about a dozen of them, all Starbucks, all red, all thrifted. Yes, it's safer if I happen to drop it (and I drop lots of stuff these days, thank you arthritis) but the color red always makes me nervous. Red equals emergency, blood, and crisis in my head. I didn't think about any of that when I thrifted them; I just wanted something cheap and convenient. Cheap and convenient is nice, easy, and preferable, but not always when it comes to mood. Part of me is tired of settling for what's easy and sacrificing my mood in the process. I want inspiration. I want to be surrounded by beauty and whimsy and things that make me happy. I really, really want to smile in the mornings. So I ditched the plastic tumbler, took out my favorite Halloween ceramic mug and had my second cup of coffee in that. I don't care that it's five mon...

I thrifted a book of origami that included the papers from our local church thrift for $1.99, and decided to try a few of the designs as something different and fun to do. This bunny was my second attempt (the first I had to abandon when I couldn't figure out the directions.) Then I made a swan. Origami is pretty exacting, and sometimes the way the illustrations show to fold the paper is confusing. But I like the results when I do get it right, so I'll keep practicing. I'd love to be able to fold a thousand paper cranes. :)

One morning a few weeks ago I was starting my morning routine when I noticed dried blood on my ankle. I vaguely remembered scratching an itch in that area before I went to bed. Evidently my skin is getting so thin I can tear it with my fingernails. This is one of a few new body problems I have to deal with. Note to self: get the Benadryl lotion when you have an itch. I would like to write more poetry (the inspiring kind, not the depressing kind) so I invested in this poem-a-day prompt book. It has nice pages with a one-line prompt and space to write a poem under it. Only I forgot that due to my arthritis I can hardly hold a pen any longer. Ah, well. I'll type the poems on the computer. I have a story I want to write for pleasure this summer, and I decided to try some free AI online image generators to see if I could create cover art for it that way. I have only tried using AI a couple of times and was expecting something less than professional, frankly. Plus ...