What the Junk?!

So, it's my birthday. Another year down in this so-called life. I didn't do much. I had a delivery from Amazon Prime. I bought myself some rechargeable batteries to use in my Shortwave radio and they came today. Exciting, huh? :p

I was able to get 8 AA batteries. My little Eton takes four so I can use four and have another set charging or charged ready as a backup. They were less than $10 so that was a great deal. I tried several different 6-volt adapters and all caused static so batteries were the way to go. I didn't want to have to keep buying batteries all the time, so I went for some rechargeable ones.  I can't wait to try them and see how long they go. That last set of regular batteries that I put in my radio have lasted a lot longer than the first set. I was able to turn off the lighted display when it's not in use and that helped immensely!  I've been on this set for at least a week now. The others had only lasted a few days. I'm hoping to get at least a couple of weeks' charge out of the rechargeable ones when I start using those.

I had to run out to get my birthday drink from Starbucks! I also got gas while out because I got 20 cents extra off of gas today because of the reward card I use and it is my birthday. I already get 5¢ a gallon off with them, so today it was .25¢. I washed Goontz while out and went by the grocery store. I wanted a small cake for my birthday, but like last year, all they had left was chocolate. ~_~; I got cupcakes instead. Of course, I FORGOT that I bought cupcakes when I got to Starbucks and got a lime-frosted oat bar to go with my latte. :p Oops. 

I went by the post office while out. I haven't checked my box in a while. I also needed to mail off something. Hopefully, I'll get a QSL from that soon!  I had a yellow card in my box so now I have to go back during regular hours and stop by the desk. Not sure what that is. Nothing has shown up in informed delivery. Hmm.

So, busy day, I totally forgot that I do laundry today and just put that in to start washing a bit ago. I probably will not be putting that away today! lol. Right now, I'm just trying to cool down from all the running around. I want to pull out the Shortwave and see what's going on the bands. I meant to get to that earlier but it's been a day!

I did a small photo shoot today. I had to go out to mail holiday cards to local people.  I checked my post office box while there and then went to Starbucks.  I also swung by Lowe's to pick up something.  After getting Starbucks, I went to the park and took a few pictures.  I also took a few at home. Here are a few I picked to share.

One of the outside with the charm and one open with the first insert showing.  The little plastic pockets are an Eric Condren insert I got on Amazon that fits perfectly!  It has three slots on the front, two larger ones on the back of that side (as shown) and the back of the insert is one big clear envelope. :)

I checked the iPad this morning as I did every day since I ordered my item and it actually said it was out for delivery! :D I was so happy and so shocked. I really didn't think it was ever coming!  It came.  I wanted to do a photoshoot of it, but I wasn't able to today. My friend had texted and wanted to know if I wanted to go a couple of places, but I said I couldn't because the package I've been waiting for years on (seems like it) was coming today and hadn't been delivered yet.  I had planned to do an unboxing video and everything!  Well, since we didn't go anywhere, he was nice enough to bring me some food from KFC. (that sammich is the bomb!) He was here when the mail came. I got my package in, but I didn't open it until after he left and by then, it wasn't light enough out to get a good photoshoot.  I did take a picture in my room in my crappy lighting though. :p So, what is the mystery goodie I ordered myself? A traveler's notebook.  I've been wanting a traditional A5 size TN that would hold some of my largersized notebooks. I saw this one and fell in love with the color and design.  I wasn't sure until it actually got here if the notebooks would work as the dimensions weren't lining up but they did fit! :)  I am also going to make a slip of paper to carry in my purse that I can compare to notebooks with I find them in stores. I do occasionally come across these little notebooks.  Right now, it has three in it and it's made to have four, but I think that will make it too chunky.  I have a charm on it. It's a keychain that I got from Myrtle Beach and modified and made into a charm. It's very cute!  The color of the TN in person was darker than the pictures on the website, but I like it. It's so soft and it smells sooooo good.  Here is the picture, remember, it's not the greatest as it's in poor lighting:

There it is without the charm. D'oh! Here it is with the charm. :p

The little star was filled with copper-colored glitter, I took it out and put pink and blue in there. I thought it was a nice addition.  Of course, the cork broke and I had to find a way to replace it.  The second picture is more what it looks like on the website and the color I wanted, it's more like the first picture in person, but again, I have crappy lighting, so...   The color is pink and grey according to the Etsy listing. The grey to me is more blue grey than grey so that makes me happy as I love blue.  It's a gorgeous TN!

Well, I got another update from USPS today regarding my package. It's now "in transit and arriving late" WELL DUH. I wonder where it will travel to next? That damn package travels a hell of a lot more than I do. Sheesh! I am wondering if I'll get it by the beginning of the year at this rate. *Sigh*

So, today, when I woke up, I picked up the iPad and refreshed my tracking app as I have been doing for days. It actually updated. Whaaat?"  It says it Arrived at the USPS Regional facility! WOO HOO I said and then looked at where it was.  Jacksonville, Florida. What, what? LOL! It was in Wisconsin, went to Illinois, was stuck in limbo for a week to end up in Florida? Keep in mind, I live in Virginia!  Crazy, crazy! So, at a bit, after 11 am, it updated again and it's left Florida.  I hope the next stop is Roanoke VA. All mail and packages usually got through there first and then get here.  It was so good to see an actual update for it as I was about to give up hope of ever seeing it!  Now, I just have to wait longer.  It's agonizing. Ah! So, hopefully, I'll get it this week!  

I did my usual Sunday chores today and I'm now finished. My bed linen is already back on the bed too! All I have to do after I get off the computer for the night is just pop in my bed with the fresh, clean, bed linen. bliss!  I wrote a good portion today, too. I am going to watch a few Peanuts things on Apple TV and then crash.  I watched the new Peanuts special on there last night and it was cute, but they didn't include Rerun! I thought that was odd.  I guess they were basing it on earlier Peanuts strips before Rerun was born.  At least Spike and Snoopy's other siblings were in it. :)

Well, first of all, I had no clue we were going to thrift.  My friend texted me at noon and said he was getting off then and we'd go thriving.  I agreed and we headed to Reidsville.  We went to Salvation Army. I only got some vintage buttons there.  We ate and then went to the Goodwill there.  They had two Amazon basics office chairs for $15.00 each! These are $61 at Amazon. These chairs were brand new and assembled.  My friend didn't have room in his car to carry the chair so we bought it and let them know we'd be back to pick it up.  We headed back here and got Goontz and went back.  We picked it up and then headed on to a few more places.  I also got a Fossil handbag in Goodwill with owls on it while there. Very cute!  We got the chair and then went to Walkertown.  I found a few little things and one Fossil thing.  I got a tiny clear zippered backpack with colorful icons on it and a Fossil travel/toiletry bag.  Here is that:

It's really cute!  We went to Mayodan and I found a few assorted goodies. A 3 ring binder, two wallets, a cover for my old video iPod, and I think that is all.  I probably forgot something from one of the places.  By the way, here is the exact chair I got:

Amazing deal, yes? I loved that I didn't have to put it together too! :p  It still had the protective plastic on it and the little instruction booklet was included.  I love great thrift finds! As for my package, still nothing. I submitted a request via USPS as I said before and asked to be notified via email only.  They called. So annoying.  They left a voicemail and it was pretty much useless.  "It's stuck in transit... bla bla bla." No, really? Sheesh!

I contacted USPS today to try and see what is going on with my package.  They send a generic response and I should hear from them in one business day.  I am hoping that my package starts showing up again in the system now that I've done that.  I was searching online and saw where this had happened to others. I saw a thread on Reddit and people there suggested contacting USPS and letting them know.  I did that this morning.  Hopefully, this will get things moving! Wish me luck.

I didn't take a single picture today. :p  I have spent most of the day being lazy.  I did wash clothes and then pulled up a rug and toss it in to wash alone.  It needed it!  I used to wash small rugs all the time.  Of course, that was back when I had a washer with an agitator.  I have a HE one now that has the low water thing and no agitator.  I swear it doesn't now clean clothes like the old kind.  If I ever have to replace it, I'm getting an agitator or a better washer! 

I was supposed to get a small package from Amazon today.  I was at my desk in the window all day and never saw the mail truck or anyone delivering.  I checked my package tracking about 5:45 and it said it couldn't be delivered because of 'animal interference'.  I have no pets. I think they were just lazy and didn't bother to come to my street today. They must have realized that I had a package with tracking and put that to give a reason why they didn't deliver. So annoying. When I got those pen refills at Goodwill and ordered a pen to use them in, I ordered the wrong pen. I kept it anyway and looked up the correct pen. That is what I had coming today.  I have so many refills, I thought getting the correct pen would be a good idea! Now I have to wait until Monday. Boo!

I wrote today. I was glad to do it as I only wrote about 500 words last night. Today I edited that bit and then added 1500 more words. Much better word count!  I would have written more but it's getting late and I'm tired. Plus, I wanted to post here.  

This time I knew I was going to do it, though!  Last night it was getting late and I had to put the linens back on the bed, so I skipped posting here. Sorry about that.  I got all my usual Sunday things done yesterday and also went to the grocery store.  I started the month off right today by going to Starbucks! I got a peppermint white mocha and it was delicious! It was extra delicious today, actually.  Yum!  I didn't go anywhere else while I was out. I just went to Starbucks and then came home.

I wrote a lot yesterday (3813 words!) and I'm already a bit past 2500 for today.  I am going to try to add a little more to what I wrote today but I'm pretty happy with what I wrote.  I might go through and edit the last two days. It was two good writing sessions for those almost 7500 words!  If I wrote like this during NaNoWriMo I could do two books! I was on a roll yesterday. I had a big thing happen and it turned out well. I will go back and make sure I don't need to edit anything.  Today's writing was good too. I am going to see if I can't get a few more words as I mentioned.

My DS charger finally updated on the tracking.  It's been over a week since it updated at all!  It now says it is in Roanoke. This is usually the last stop before it gets to Danville. Normally, I would say with it being in Roanoke today, I will get my charger tomorrow, but with the way things are, I am scared to say it! The set of styluses that I got has been sitting in Raleigh NC since Wednesday of last week. Raleigh is only about 2 hours from my house. I know the USPS is slow lately, but come on!  Sheesh!  Anyway, I hope to get the charger and the I'll get to really play with it. I still haven't ordered a game.  I should have done that already. It will be April before I get one at this rate. :p

Guess who was about to forget to post today? Me!  Sorry about that.  I got some good writing done today.  I wrote 2,777 words on my story! Yay! That makes up for not writing anything yesterday.  I went to the post office as I planned. I picked up my mail, I got a book of stamps, and I paid for my post office box.  After that, I headed back home where I've been since then.  It is raining here again. ~_~; I hope it isn't too bad this time.  I am not ready for cold and rain. Boo on that! I got a few penpal letters.  Now I just need to sit down and write my letters. I hope to do that tomorrow or Sunday at the latest!  I so wish I could do it at Starbucks. I miss my favorite 'third place'. 

What am I babbling about?  Well, I ordered a laptop bag today for the MBP since my laptop bag was too small, yes, I could use the sleeve and I might use that too at times, but I wanted an actual bag. I ordered one on Amazon and I also ordered a clear snap-on case for the MBP.  It's blue and clear. This MBP is in such great shape so it will look so nice in that case.  I looked at a lot of cases.  The ones I really wanted were $20 and up. This one was $10 and it looked nice.  I hope I like it. I am not a fan of the 'frosted' look and that is the case that is on it now.  I could have gotten a pink one but my new laptop bag is pink.  That is too much pink! :p. The laptop bag came in black (too basic), blue (not a good shade) and grey (I think). I liked the pink the best.  It's pretty cool. It opens completely. If you pulled the zipper down, you can lay the bag out flat.  The laptop goes in the big sleeve side and there are two smaller pockets on the other side and it has an outside pocket.  I like it.  I hope I picked right by getting the pink.  I like pink in limited doses. :p

As for I'll be ready to go and I can't go.  I can pack up my laptop to go out, but that is really not an option now.  I miss going out and sitting in Starbucks on my laptop. I am getting the bag and case with the hope that a future time will be back to normal and I can go sit in Starbucks!  I shouldn't have bought them both this month, I'm low on money because my personal property taxes were due and my post office box was due.  I plan to go to the post office tomorrow and check my box, pay for my po box, and get any letters.  Then I hope to write all my letters.  Any that are at the post office and any at home.  I need to buy stamps too. I haven't had any in a while.  I want to get my letters caught up and sent out asap!

Here is the bag as shown on Amazon:

Well, letters, no lattes. Phooey!  I got all of my pen pal letters written today and mailed!  Whoo hoo! I'm so glad to have them done.  I got only one at the post office, so I'm now all caught up and have a new one.  It was a good thing to get them all done.  I went to the car wash while out and washed my car.  It needed a fresh wash.  I was going to do it here, but since I was already out, I went ahead and got it done.  I was tempted to go to Starbucks, but I was good and didn't go.  

When I was in the car wash, I took a picture of the pretty rainbow foam.  I always call it unicorn pee. :p. It's pretty, but this time it didn't go on very thick.  

Exciting, isn't it? :p

What did I do to celebrate?  I went to mail back my old phone.  I checked my box and had some letters.  I washed my car because it needed it and I was too lazy to do it at home! I left there and went to Starbucks.  I got my birthday drink.  I sipped on it and went to the park to sit by my favorite tree for a bit. I hung out in the park a bit and then went and got gas for my car.  I filled it up / topped it off and it was only $8 so that was nice.  I did take some pictures.  Two in the post office and one of the darkening sky when I was sitting in the park.

I thought it was going to rain, but it never did. The sky was pretty though!  My friend texted me from work and said he was bringing by a hoagie from a local place.  Steak and cheese. It was delicious!  It was a good birthday lunch.  What's for dinner?  My favorite, hash brown casserole! :D. Yum.  That is too delicious meals today.  The Starbucks was pretty darn good, too! :p

Well, I didn't get my inspection sticker today.  I went but he was really busy and said if I came back tomorrow he'd work me in.  I will head back up there tomorrow and get it done.  I did get by the post office while I was out though.  I picked up a stack of mail and was able to get a 'book' of stamps.  It was actually a sheet of stamps, but there you go!  Now I can get my letters written and mail them out.

I should have worked on them today, but I didn't get around to it.  I had to go back out for a quick errand this weekend and ended up riding around a bit. I couldn't help myself. :) It's nice to not worry about the car cutting off, overheating, etc!

In other news, I need to get one of my mowers going so I can get the front lawn mown.  The back doesn't really need it and even if it did, I'm not worried about it as no one can see it.  The front is still not horrible, but it's getting shaggy and I don't like that! I'll see what I can do tomorrow after I get my sticker.  

Yes, it's Monday.  I got my pen pal letters done today! Yay!  I also got them all mailed off.  I had three new ones in my box.  Not new pals, but new letters from old pals.  lol

I was thinking of Starbucks while out, but it was rainy and bleah out, so I just came home after the post office.  I came home to a bit of a mess. The new container I had in the closet to catch the drips was working well.  The old one tipped and fell out on the floor. UGH!  I cleaned that all up and put it back.  I put another heavy item in there to keep it from tipping again.  I hope that helps.  It's supposed to rain for days.  BOO!  

I did take a picture while I was in the post office.  I love the old boxes they have.  There are little windows on most of the boxes so you can see if you have mail or not.  I love this old building.  It's very vintage. I just wish they had lockers.  At my old post office location, if you go something too big for your box, you got a key.  It would open a locker and you could just pick up whatever it was that didn't fit in the box.  It was quite convenient.