I hate needles. I barely make it through the times that a blood draw is required. Like today. I had made a doctor’s appointment in relation to seemingly inexplicably putting on 15 pounds over the last year, being very tired much of the time, and always being very cold (I’ve always been on the cold side - see the picture from yesterday in which I’m wearing two t-shirts, a zipped fleece hoodie, and a buttoned sweater along with slippers in a 20C (68F) house and I was just comfortable). I haven’t had bloodwork done in a couple of years so I figured I was due. As luck would have it I hadn’t eaten breakfast this morning (rushing out the door) so I was within the timeframe of the 12-hour fast and was able to go straight over to the lab to have the blood drawn and the requisite urine sample provided. I wasn’t able to get in for a follow-up appointment until February 12, so it’ll be awhile before I know what, if anything, is going on.

It was a good day and a bad day and definitely a busy day. I left this morning to take B to school at 8:15 and didn’t get back home until one o’clock.

The good: a city employee passing by in a loader moved the snow from half my lawn and dumped it across the road. The entire lawn had been level or slightly higher than my front porch (which is seven steps high) and it was getting very difficult to shovel my driveway as it was getting harder and harder to get the snow tossed up there.

The bad: I spent $70 on clothing (for me and B) at Value Village today. The bad(der): I didn’t budget for clothing this month so I had to shuffle to get out of the red on my budget page. They were items that we need but not that we need, if you know what I mean. I picked up two long-sleeved t’s for layering for him and a pair of so-ugly-they’re-adorable sandals for him for this summer and some long- and short-sleeved t’s (for layering) and jeans for me. I have one pair of jeans that I wear regularly and they’re getting worn out. I wish I could find another pair like them but I haven’t been able to. I picked them up at the same store a year ago and they are the perfect fit.

I use YNAB Pro (You Need a Budget) for my budgeting and I love it! This is only the second month in a row that I’ve stuck with it but so far it’s working out wonderfully. I find that I need to enter my transactions the same day they happen or I get too behind then it becomes easy for me to just let it go. I’m actually excited for February to come so I can plug in all my numbers for that month.