I made one of my mom's birthday gifts this year, out of lavender buds our neighbors harvested from their garden. I made an eye pillow with the lavender, plus flax seeds. it smelled yummy! I'm going to try making some lavender-filled muslin 'pillows' to put in the dryer.

DH and I tried to go out the day after Christmas and get a few things we needed, but we had no luck in finding them. That was disappointing.

I have yet another doctor bill to dispute. I took DD in for a meet and greet with a new doctor, and they did a very routine physical (but no lab work) - eyes, ears, heart, lungs, weight, height, eye chart. There are two charges on our bill - one for $70 that insurance covered its part of, and one for $160 that insurance denied!! So now I have a call in to the doctor's office to find out what the charges are for, and a supevisor is supposed to pull the doctor's notes and give me a call back. I get so tired of this kind of stuff, yet I refuse to pay for something when I don't even know why I'm being charged. And when insurance doesn't cover it (and it seems like they ought to have covered everything from this visit), it makes me raise my eyebrows.

I'm also waiting to see what kind of check I get from the headache clinic. They don't take insurance (though the hospital they're associated with does) so I have to pay in full and then submit a claim to my insurance company. Long story short, the ins co cut a check for x dollars, but it appears they also had a negotiated discount with the hospital that isn't included in that x amount. So if the check that the hospital sends to me also does not include the negotiated discount, I'm going to get on the phone and find out why. But I'm waiting until I get the check before making any calls.

I get so weary of dealing with these things. But $160 and $225 is a lot of money! I hate to pay what I don't owe when we pay good money for insurance, and I hate not getting back money due to clerical oversights and the like.

I looked online to verify that the late fee on our credit card had been waived, and indeed it has. I called my credit union to put a stop payment on the lost check, and the rep who answered told me that I could do that online for $5, versus via telephone for $15. So online I went! I'm sending the credit card company a new check today, and hopefully this will be the end of the troubles. I've never had this happen before, but so far it hasn't been difficult to resolve. Bummer about the $5 for the stop payment, but better that than my check for over $3000 falling into the wrong hands.

Hopefully the last of my last minute shopping is now done. I went to the grocery store today, in hopes of avoiding the madness of the 24th. I think I'm set. According to my list, I am. I find making lists helpful - when I don't make one I inevitably forget something. I usually make lists when packing to go somewhere too.

It appears our last credit card payment has been delayed or lost in the mail. I spoke with a very nice representative this morning, and after hearing when I mailed the check and that we have never been late in the past, nor do we even carry a balance, he waived the late fee and made a note in our account. So I'll give the check one more day before I call my credit union to put a stop payment on the first check and mail out a new one. What a pain. But at least the rep was helpful.

Here we are, heading into the final few days before Christmas. I got DD's dress and cape made, as well as my top. In her cape she sort of looks like a wizard, or a young Jedi. But she loves it.

We've been baking cookies yesterday and today and will make some more tomorrow. I think these will be DD's gifts to her cousins, as well as gifts for our neighbors.

My parents get here Friday, and my mom and I have figured out dinner for that ngiht - southwest vegetarian stew (I'll make it) and one of her own bread recipes (she'll make and bring). Saturday we're responsible for bread, salad and stuffing and then we'll all go over to DH's parents' house for the big dinner. Sunday? Haven't gotten that far yet.

Dh and I tried hard not to go overboard this year as far as gifts for DD goes, and I think we've been relatively successful. I am an only child and was the only grandchild on both sideas for abuot 15 years, and DD is an only child, my parents' only grandhild, and there's a 17 and 19 year age difference between her and her cousins on DH's side. So the mindset to spoil is ingrained in me, and I have to fight it. I want to fight it, because I feel like it wasn't necessarily all that good for me growig up.

I spent about $73 at the grocery store today (and that included some Tom's of maine toothpaste and a new toothbrush for DD), and I think I have enough food for breakfast lunch and dinner for at least five days. Breakfast and lunch are easy, since it's just DD and I. We eat cereal or oatmeal for breakfast and sandwiches for lunch, with fruit, cheese, yogurt, crackers, etc. for snacks. We brought home lentil soup from DH's parents' house last night, so dinner for one night is already taken care of. I've got three other dinners planned, and I bought a Boboli crust for pizza one night, and am planning on having some simple pasta another night. So barring migraines and other ailments, we're set.

I had to go to the fabric store to pick up a zipper and return some bias tape and seam lace. I had coupons for 50% and 40% off, so I picked up two skeins of yarn that will crochet up into a nice scarf. I've already sold two of these in my shop, so with the price break I got today I'll get a little bit more profit if this one sells, too.

Speaking of returning items, for some reason in the past I would have just kept the things I returned today, figuring I'd use them at some point in the future. but now, I am of the mind that if I don't need them, return them! It was only $1.50, but still.

I'm almost finished making myself a red brocade holiday top. We're seeing the Nutcracker tomorrow, and I'd like to wear it to that, so I need to finish it this afternoon/evening. I only need to put in the zipper and sleeve facings.

Leftovers tonight. I just haven't been wanting to cook, but at least this way we're not throwing away good food, and we're not going out and spending a ton of money.

I've gotten back on my nearly every day Starbucks routine, and I feel like I want to cut back some. It went from once a week to almost every day, and that feels like way too often. I want it to be a treat, not a necessity.

I find that when I have cash, I spend it. It's there, I won't use it for gas for the car or groceries, so I just blow it on dumb stuff. See paragraph above, for example.

I went out to dinner with some other women Sunday nght for a mom's night out. I also sold a scarf I'd knit to one of my friends while we were there, so all in all I came out $5 ahead for the evening.

DH and I are both going to the doctor this morning, as we've been sick off and on for two weeks now. I feel like all I've done lately is go to or take DD to one doctor or another. That's an exaggeration, of course.

We had breakfast food for dinner last night. Sometimes that really hits the spot. We are sorely in need of groceries around here, but scrambled eggs and toast worked just fine last night.

I need to do some online shopping for DH today. I priced what I wanted at a place in town but know I can get it cheaper online.

I doubled a casserole yesterday and froze some for another dinner another night, and I plan on doing the same thing with the soup I'm making for tonight's dinner. To me, this is one of the great things about planning menus. It is just as easy to make a big batch as it is to make a small batch, and now when there's a night where I just don't want to make anything at all, I can grab something from the freezer instead. Very nice!