September 2008

 September 1st - Happy Labor Day - Yeah a day off for Sasha, not for me, but that is OK, we are going to take a week off starting on Friday September 5th to Thursday, September 11th. We have a wedding to go to, and also plan to be with the folks in NJ and go into PA for a couple of days.

September 2nd - Work Day for me, since we are going to take off on Friday.

September 3rd - Work Day, saw that Tropical Storm Hanna is making its way up the coast and will probably hit New Jersey and New York during September 6th - during my friend's wedding. We are hoping it is a really fast moving hurricane and comes and goes before too long.

I went shopping for a new pot for our oatmeal. We have oatmeal almost every morning - but it is not just oatmeal! The recipe is as follows:

Laura-n-Sasha Oatmeal - Complete Nutrition in the Morning

2 Cups Water
2/3 Cup Dried Milk
1 Cup Oatmeal
1/4 Cup Oat Bran
1 Tablespoon Wheat Berries
1 Tablespoon Soy Nutlettes (9 grams dietary fiber and 25 grams protein, plus calcium and iron)
Less than a handful of dried fruit

In a Measuring Cup have 2 Cups of water, then put in the 2/3 Cup of Dried Milk. Stir, then put in pot. Put on medium heat and try not to make it boil (Unfortunately it has boiled a couple of times for me, which makes for a more interesting clean up process!)

Once the milk is warm enough, put in the rest of the ingredients. Turn down the heat to a low heat. Check often and stir occasionally, for about 5 minutes. When it is the consistency you want, turn off the heat, cover and move to a different burner. Wait a couple of minutes and then serve.

If we have some fresh fruit, we omit the dried stuff. But as it is getting to apple and grape season, those fruits are not really good for cereal - unless of course they are dried. I have not made dried apples yet, I might just try it out, but I'm not sure about the skins - whether or not to leave them on. Taking the skins off is a bit of work, but more importantly, that is where all the fiber and nutrients are, so slight dilemma. 

So our old pot, the one we got when we started the adventure back in 2005, was put into the trailer until I can get over to a Goodwill or thrift store to drop it off.

September 4th: Another work day for me before the vacation.

September 5th: Up to New Jersey, but first, checking out Green Dragon: Green Dragon is an awesome farmer's market/ flea market/stores galore sort of place. Food of all kinds but mostly Pennsylvania Dutch, candy, meats, bakery, fresh veggies, food to eat, jams, jellies, canned goods, dried stuff, grains, the list is endless. The prices were pretty good too. And of course, the different stalls had clothing, lots of hardware types of stalls (Sasha found a very hard to find drill bit at one of the stalls) and they had an auction. So we went there before we arrived in Jersey. It is near the PA Turnpike of I-76.

One of the most important factors about the Green Dragon is that it is only open ONCE a Week - Friday. During the rest of the week, everything is packed up and brought home, or else locked up in the stalls of the buildings and then brought out again. There is also a big field in the back for RVs, and lots of parking. We plan on going back. Unfortunately, I did not bring my camera in to the place so you could see it. But I did not know. Next time!

September 6th: Congrats on getting Married - Mary Beth Dunn and Matt Wilson! The wedding was very nice, considering the threat of the tropical storm Hanna. Have a couple of pictures. Saw some of my friends from high school:
This is a picture of the "Westfield Group" from left, Gabe, Doug, Mary Beth, Me (Laura), Emma, Darlene, Amy and Carolyn (Mary Beth's sister). Once we expand it to include family, it looks like this: --------------------------------------->>>>>

We truly enjoyed the wedding, it looks like Mary Beth and Matt are quite happy as you can see in this picture.

This is after the ceremony. Thankfully, Amy Metroka was taking the pictures, she did a great job considering the pictures were outside, and inside, with not great lights. We were happy to see that the ceremony did not get rained on. I'm sure some people were a little worried about that. But it turn out quite nice.

Here is the Photographer, getting into at least a shot herself plus us at the reception. It is hard to see from the back, but it is coming down harder than cats and dogs.

After the cake (cheesecakes of all different types plus other deserts) was cut, we decided that it was time to go, we were a little worried about driving back, with Tropical Storm Hanna at the door.

While it took us about 1.5 hours to get to the wedding in Breezy Point, NY, it took us 2.5, almost 3 hours to get back, because of flooding of the road and bone-headedness of some people. We saw some SUVs driving on the median of the highway because the could not be bothered in waiting like the rest of us in line. As we had my car, not the truck, we did not want to go into any low lying areas of the road, so we waited in line with everyone else. Sasha's driving was superb, all the way from the parking lot of the wedding (which was flooded) to Avon, where we were staying with the folks.

Although it was just a tropical storm, I can only imagine what that area would be like if it was a true hurricane. Kind of scary when you think about it. Thankfully, New Jersey did not seem as effected by it, but the waves will be kind of rough I'm sure for the next couple of days.

September 7th: Sunday: Beach Day - Sasha and I tried to get out early to go to the beach, but we were moving slow. But we did get out there. The waves were rough and, amazingly, there were lifeguards even though the "season" was over. I think because it was still so nice out, and warm, that they stuck around for the next couple of days. We had brought some boogie boards with us, but did not use them because of the rough waves. The surfers were having a ball of a time.

After the beach, we got cleaned up, and went out to eat with the family from New Jersey, to celebrate Jack's, Sasha's and my birthdays. We had a great time and enjoyed everyone's company. Afterwards, we went back to my Aunt and Uncle's house for ice cream cake. It is so nice to see the kids, they are really growing up.

September 8th: Monday: Beach Day: Another beach day for us, this time we got out a little earlier, but had breakfast at home first, then went out. Sasha and I decided it would be a good idea to come back in for lunch and to wait out the sun for a little bit after lunch. Sun is great, but too much is too ouchy. The waves were still high, even at low tide. And at low tide, the jellyfish were out in force. So I did not go into the water as much today as yesterday. But I had a book to read, so that made it easier.

It was kind of funny, my Mom, Dad, Sasha and I were lined up in a row, and all of us reading at the beach. I guess that is a great way to read and with the sky so blue and the temperature so perfect, it is so nice to relax and not have to worry about anything.

Once we got back to the house, we got cleaned up and went back over to Aunt Tina and Uncle Joe's house. My cousin Denise was there and we again had a nice time with the family. I think on this day, when we got back from the beach, the electricity was out. (It might have been on the 9th, I can't remember...I know I should keep better track but when you are on vacation each day slips into another.)

Anyway, it was interesting in the fact that we were not really prepared. Could only use the computer for a little while before we had to shut it down, AND we had not brought our car charger for the computer. Plus, there was tons of food in the frig, which we were not sure if the power would be on before some of it thawed. It seems someone crashed into an electrical pole and took out the electricity for the entire TOWN of Avon, granted, this is a small town anyway, but we were without power for about 6 hours.

September 9th: Tuesday: Rainy Day at the beach just getting ourselves ready for the Hersey Show.

September 10th: Wednesday: First day at the Hersey Show in PA: Notes to follow. Actually, I think we are going to have a separate page for them, because we have a ton of pictures and notes.

We did not bring the camper with us, as it would have been too tough to bring into New York and while staying with Mom and Dad in Avon, NJ. So we stayed in a motel - Days Inn - OMG almost $90 for one night! I really don't know how most people would really pay that amount to stay at a not so great hotel. I can only imagine what the price was at Hampton Inn. Thankfully we do not stay at hotels that often.

September 11th: Thursday: Patriots Day and Happy Birthday to Jacqueline Jevtich - My niece! Second day at Hersey Show in PA, notes to follow. New page for this. After the show we drove home, since we were not going to pay for another very expensive night. We did go to a nice diner - yes, they still have diners in NJ and PA - and it was good. Normal food at reasonable prices. 

September 12th: Friday: Back to work. Have to work a bunch of days to make up for the week off. Looks like the garden is OK, got a bit of rain while we were away.

September 13th: Saturday: Work Day: After work, I went to the garden and pulled up a couple of cucumber plants, two pepper plants and by mistake, a tomato plant - it still had three green tomatoes on it. Now I have to find recipes for green tomatoes. If nothing else, I'll make a veggie salad with cucs, tomatoes, peppers, and get some onions. Saturday was very hot, almost 90!, too bad the pool is closed, it would have been a perfect day for it. As it was, we did not go out, just had some dinner in the camper.

September 14th: Sunday: Work Day: But I slept in, I guess from staying up late the night before. I actually started work a little earlier today so that the other person could get off earlier. Thankfully, it is a shorter evening because it is Sunday, so I got off around 7 pm. We just had a relaxing day at home.

September 15th: Monday: Work Day: I decided to stop reading the book Dream West. It is a long book and while good things happen to the guy, lots of bad things happen too. I just can't read something depressing for too long. I have too sunny a nature and to read sad stuff on and on and on, just gets me down. So no more of that book. Instead I read an extremely sappy romance novel in a day or two. I'm almost too embarrassed to put it up on the right side here, but sometimes you need the sappy books too.

September 16th: Tuesday: Happy Birthday to Karen - My sister and Jack Miles - My nephew! Work Day

September 17th: Wednesday: Work Day: Went to pick up mail and dropped off our request for a mail-in ballot. Sasha is going to be working on Election Day, I mean really, how many people are going to have it off - it is not like it is a national holiday. I know I am not going to be close to where we need to be for the election, so the mail in is a much better bet.

The catalog season is almost upon us, I can tell because our box was stuffed to the gills with catalogs. --Sorry but I have got to VENT: I just absolutely hate the fact that the US POSTAL SERVICE can not stop the junk. We have been asked to be taken off of the junk mailing lists via online forms, and yet we still get mail - not to our names, but to BOXHOLDER - hello, that is total junk. If you do not even know my name, why should I open your mail? This was something the Realtors tried to do with their postcards and such when I ran my business, and I told my clients at that time, make it personal not Current Resident, they might just open it then. But NO such luck, too many people just want to flood us with USELESS JUNK MAIL.

And of course, the garbage can at the post office was FILLED to the brim with all of this junk. So we get it, we throw it out, and it is going into already filled landfills. SO Unbelievably wasteful. I absolutely hate going to the Post Office now because of all the junk.

And this is the kicker - for only $450 a year the post office will throw out the junk and forward your mail to you once a week. Similar idea to Escapees or other mail forwarding systems. BUT they put the junk in you say, they should take it out for FREE! Besides which, I do not want to get mail - almost all of our bills are online, and we pay ALL of the bills online.

Well, enough of the vent. Can't really do anything about it, Look at Kramer on Seinfeld, the episode where he went against the post office. He had to take back all of his catalogs.

September 18th: Thursday: Work Day, Sasha at Parents to help them out with a few things, so I have the camper to myself. I ate a late dinner of salad greens and bread, had a cool beer, played a couple of games, downloaded a couple of news programs (with the markets doing lovely stuff lately, really need to know what is going on) and went to bed at a normalish time. I was worried that it was going to be cooler this evening, but with our down comforter, no problems.

September 19th: Friday: Work Day This weekend will be interesting as it is another major festival in Northern Virginia. We are almost completely booked, except for some sites.

September 20th: Saturday: Work Day

September 21st: Sunday: Work Day, but first, went apple picking with Sasha. This was the first time (I think for Sasha) to go apple picking. We also picked up some tomatoes and peaches (seems like the end of the summer is truly here as the most of the tomatoes are rotting on the vines and the peaches are totally gone!) as well as non-picked peppers.

I plan on drying the apples as soon as I can get my hands on Pineapple juice. According to my drying book (the one that came with the dryer), it states that apples must be prepped before drying. That way they do not get brown before being dried. Commercially, people use sulfites. But I wanted to try without sulfites just using ascorbic acid (i.e. Vitamin C) and using a juice of some sort. So I have to find the pineapple juice soon. Don't want fruit flies in the camper or trailer.

An apple a day keeps the doctor away, but too much fruit and then you toot! (First part is old wives tale, second part me!)

September 22nd: Monday: Work Day: Before work, went to a health food store to pick up some stuff. I was trying to find the soy nutlettes that I had found in the Front Royal store, but this place did not have them. Actually, they did not have very much in the way of bulk food, which is kind of shocking as most co-ops/organic food places have bulk food. I remember in a place in Oregon (I think it was a grocery store) they had bins and bins of food, you brought your own containers and filled up the food that way. So you could decide how much food you wanted to buy. I think the store was called Albertson's but I could be wrong.

Anyway, did not get most of the things I was looking for, BUT I did find organic Pineapple juice - OMG the price was outrageous! - $6.19 for 32 fluid ounces.  OK Organic I could see, but that price - what are they thinking? I am certainly not going back there for that again! There have GOT to be other places for Organic Pineapple Juice.  Now, I am not an organic food nut or anything, but when I am preserving food for long term, I want to make sure it does not sour on me. I am, after all, having to cut these apples up and if the directions say pre-treat, well, then I will pre-treat.

September 23rd: Tuesday: Work Day - This is my Friday! I was not able to get back in time yesterday to cut up the apples, so I did that today. So anyway, I did two cups of water and two cups of juice into a bowl, cut up some apples and some of the peaches in the frig (they were already turning - oh well) and got them ready to go into the dryer. A little soak in the mixture and then onto the dryer.

After work, and since Sasha was going to be late, I made dinner of pasta with sauce of a green tomato (they are not ripening on the windowsill, so might as well put one in), dried pepper flakes, olive oil, parmesan cheese, and a pepper from my garden, and a can of chicken. I just wanted to try out the canned chicken to see how it takes - tastes like chicken! But it was a test, to see how well we like chicken that way. It turned out pretty good (Sasha took it to work the next day a sure sign he liked it) and we found out we could eat chicken this way.

--- Just a side note about the chicken.  Both Sasha and I do not eat it very often, partly my fault on that. I absolutely HATE to touch chicken, I am totally grossed out by it. I do not know where this intense dislike came from, but we hardly ever eat chicken so this has not been an issue. Sasha on the other hand, (ha ha) does not mind the touching part, but he does not like when the chicken has even the slightest touch of pink in it. So if it is slightly undercooked, he won't eat it. SO that being said, chicken in a can worked out well for us. Granted, it is a little high for chicken (I guess) at 5 oz for $1, but I am sure I could get it for less if I went with both dark and white meat. Don't want to, so we will pay more.--

Around 11 pm, I took the apples in to test them out (the book said 6-12 hours so I went with 12 hours) and they were awesome! Sasha tried a few and wanted more, a good sign. This will be a great snack for us and we might be able to use it in the oatmeal for a change of pace. We shall see tomorrow when I try it out.

September 24th: Wednesday: Day Off: My book club meeting was today but I was not able to attend, I felt I need to get things done here at the camper. But First - (horn tooting!) The oatmeal with the apples turned out great! I do want to mention - I did not peel the apples. That would have taken WAY too much time, plus, we would not get the good fiber from the skins. I just washed them really well and then pre-treated them and dried them. WOW was the taste. Next time have to put a little cinnamon in so that it will taste like apple pie for breakfast.

It is a beautiful day, so I spent some time in the garden. These are the plants / veggies / herbs that I have now:

Tomato - only have two more tomatoes on the vine, they are still green. The other tomato plant was pulled because there were no more tomatoes on it.
Peppers - I have two pepper plants still growing, one only has one pepper on it (leaving as an experiment - how long does it take before it turns red, OR how long can I be patient?) and the other plant has several peppers on it. Ultimately I will be pulling both of them.
Habanera Peppers - This pepper plant is still going strong, with flowers, small peppers and larger peppers. I usually try to pick one or two every couple of days for Sasha.
NEW - Peppermint - I heard peppermint is good for dry skin and eczema, which I have on my forehead, and I am sure will get worse as winter comes on, so I got the plant a little while ago. Of course, now I found out why it was so cheap - it is an annual. Oh well, next time I'll know. I figure before the first frost, I get as many leaves as possible, dry them out and use like a tea. Supposedly, peppermint is good for digestive tracts as well, so making a tea to have after dinner might be good for Sasha and I, and then using the spent leaves as a poultice afterwards. I'll have to figure that out.
Basil - I have two plants -one is a miniature basil - hasn't worked too well for me, and regular basil. Because the tomatoes were not as good this year, we did not use the basil as much. BUT, basil is good for other reasons such as: curbing gas and indigestion. And it is good for an insect repellent and the juice of the leaves are good for bug bites. Basil has antibacterial properties. (I am getting this info from books like Natural Health Encyclopedia.)
Chives: I have two squares in one of the 4x4 areas that are for chives. We use them with the salad and they are also good for Vitamins A & C, and possibly help in lowering blood pressure.
Nasturtium: My garden is overflowing with these flowers - I have now got them growing up the trellis. (I promise to get some pictures up soon!) The flowers and leaves are edible. Most people still have a hard time eating a flower, but I think it is a great idea. They are pretty to look at but they also have value as a food. A little spicy, but oh so tasty. And they have nutritional value as well: High levels of Vitamin C, and they are antibiotic. I might just try an infusion of the flowers, as it is supposed to clear nasal passages (been stuffed up because of allergies) I'll let you know how it goes.
Marigolds - I have over 4 squares of Marigolds - they not only look pretty, but supposedly keep out the pests like rabbits and deer. However, I don't know if that is really true as I think I have seen some bunnies around the garden. Also it is good for eczema as a tincture. I'm not too sure if the kind I have is good for these things or not, but Pot Marigold (Calendula) is good for these things. What is confusing is that my marigolds do not look like the ones in the book or the websites so I do not know if it is exactly the same. I guess pictures would be a good idea here.
Arugula: I have so much of this and I just cut it down and it keeps coming back. Sasha does not like this lettuce as much, because it is a bit strong, but if you have it with other lettuces, it is not so bad. But I like it as it has lots of vitamins in it, including Vitamin K! And protein - I don't know how, it just does. It also has calcium in it, which is why I like it too, getting Calcium from a source other than milk. This information came from www.NutritionData.com a great source of information.
Cucumbers: these guys are still going strong. Well, I still have two on the vine, climbing up the trellis, which is kind of amazing as everyone else is saying their cucs are done. For a newbie, not bad! We use these in our salads still. They were an interesting plant to grow, I probably would have done only one or two plants rather than 4.
Carrots: These guys have taken FORever to grow. And of course, you can not figure out how big they are until you pull them up. So I have pulled one at a time, and they would be considered baby carrots.
Radishes: Something is eating the radish leaves - I can just tell. As long as whatever it is does not eat the radishes themselves, I'll be ok with the sharing. I actually like radishes, when they are small they are not too strong a taste, but when they are big, they are not too bad either. I just can't seem to wait for them to get big. But right now they are just plugging away. I just picked one and the radish was only as big as the first joint of my little finger.
Red lettuce: I got some seeds from Sasha's Dad, and so I planted them, but so far, they are not doing very much, haven't grown very big yet. Thankfully have not been munched on by anything yet.
NEW! Spinach: Just put the seeds into the ground about 5 days ago, so not much happening yet with them. I am hoping that they will be as good as the arugula, so that we could get that back into our diets. We ate a bunch of spinach in the spring, but then the prices got higher and we went on to other things. Spinach really is a good food, but I rather eat it raw than cooked. I do not like it mushy and most of the nutrition goes out the window once it is cooked anyway. But it really is an unbelievably good food. Lots of Vitamin A, C, E & K, Calcium, Protein, Iron, Potassium, and other stuff.
Red Clover: I have not seen the flowers as I keep picking it before that could happen but I heard that clover was a very good for you food, so I got it as a sprouting food and then decided to put it into the garden. Supposedly it is good for hot flashes and other stuff for menopause, so when I read about that, I thought it great as a sprout, and then put it into the garden. I have yet to see the flowers - they are supposed to be purplish flowers, but I guess that is because I keep eating the leaves. Don't know if the leaves are as good as the flowers but will have to experiment with that.
Something is eating some of these things, also have some strange lettuce - I am not sure if this is what bolted means, but there is hardly any lettuce. So first picture is something is eating the leaves and the second is strange lettuce.

Wow, I did not realize until I wrote it down all of the things in the garden. As this is my first year at it, not a bad list. I would probably take out a few of the marigolds, forget putting in Squash like I did this summer, put in cherry tomato plants, vine string beans, two cucs plants, two pepper plants, more salad greens, maybe an eggplant, and nasturtium and pansy. I might be able to put in a couple of pansies in the fall, as it is a cool weather flower. Might have to see if there are any around. Or Not, looks like it is a late winter, early spring, early summer plant.

September 25th: Day Off: Doing stuff around the camper - laundry and other things. Read a couple of books, really good ones: Sue Henry's Dead North (see right side for cover) and The First Wives Club by Olivia Goldsmith (again see right side for cover.)

OK First - Sue Henry's books are awesome for RVers - she talks about a woman named Maxie McNabb, who is a snowbird - lives the summer in Alaska, winters in warmer climes in the US. What is so cool is that she winters by herself (and a little dog named Stretch - a dachshund or wiener dog) and has a class C motorhome. In the first book I read, it was a Winnie Minnie, but this one seems to be just a Winnebago of some sort. Really good reading, lots of vibrant words and great descriptions of the area. The last one I had read was in Grand Junction, about Grand Junction area. 

September 26th: Work Day: I also check out the Valley Fitness Club which is close-by. It looks nice, but really have to get more info about it. $84 for two a month is kind of high, but that seems to be the same price for a park here in town. And this one has more stuff to it. I will do a full review on the day that I signed up.

September 27th: Work Day: After work, Sasha and I and a coworker (Steve) went to check out one of the toy haulers that we were interested in, a Fuzion 362. Sasha had called up last week to make sure that Outdoor Express RV had the model, and the general manager stated that it was at an air show, but that it would be back this week. Then Sasha called up today to make sure it was there and they guy said YES. So we went to check it out. NOT THERE! I especially feel bad for Sasha as one of the guys stated "I was not paying attention to what you were asking" OMG! But we checked out the other Fuzions there. One of them had bugs like all through it - they are called stink bugs because they stink if crushed. The entire experience there was plain awful from the very beginning. BUT it was a nice day for a ride so it was worth it.

We were a little hungry afterwards, having had just a quick lunch. So we headed over to a place that would not have been listed at the visitor center anywhere, a place called Piggy's Club. Sasha had gone by it on the motorcycle about a week ago, and it looked interesting, so he took us there. It was a dive, and we had to be BUZZED IN, but they had cold beers and chicken tenders and fries for dinner, so it was OK. They also had slot machines, I played a couple of games, and won $2.70 but when they cashed it in, I lost 70 cents to "taxes" - I think just to the place for their services. Anyway, it was not a bad place, but afterwards when I told others where we had gone, they said it was good we were not there after dark. Obviously not a place to go without someone else, but again it did not look too bad to us. I'll put a picture up of it soon.

September 28th: Work Day: Sasha did some work on the camper and we finally got a ladder - pretty neat, it folds up real small but can go as high as 13 feet.

September 29th: Work Day: Happy Birthday to Yvonne Batal - Sasha's sister! I went today to the work out place and finally signed up to work out. I signed up both of us, so that Sasha can go in the evenings and weekends and I can go during the day and other times too. It is a really nice one, much better than the one in Woodbridge.

It has better classes, more machines, a lap pool, a warm water pool for water aerobics, beautiful locker rooms (with no need to bring your own locks), towel service (no need to bring your own), sauna, steam (so nice after a work out), shampoo, conditioner, and soap in the showers (so no need for that either), PLUS, nice waiting area, WIFI available, and ultimately will have salads, sandwiches and snacks. It is country club living in a health club.

Of course for $84 a month (for two people) that is not bad. We were quoted $100 for two for Gold's Gym with a contract for a year. Here, no contract, just month to month AND they also have what is called a bridge, where if you are gone, you could suspend the total payment until the next month.

So I worked out on a treadmill for 30 minutes and then elliptise (sp - I'll have to look it up on the machine - Frontpage is giving me weird spellings) for about 7 minutes. Then off to the awesome showers AND they have this centrifuge machine that dries suits and workout clothes. All in All a great place.

September 30th: Work Day: My Friday. I plan on going to the "club" first, taking a Yoga Class - now that should be interesting - never have done Yoga, but it is a beginner class so that will be cool, and then head back to eat lunch and go to work. After work, I will head back to the "club" where I will meet Sasha and maybe I'll check out the pool. This is so exciting for me, kind of like an early birthday present. We wanted to find a good gym and I think this is it. 2008 and 2009 are the years to get fit and fit we shall get. 

Expenses: Hopefully not as bad as August. No MUCH MUCH WORSE - had to pay personal property taxes so Major OUCH!

Ouchy, Ouchy, Ouchy is all I can say about this month. Although we managed to keep our food expenses low, we are still eating out more than we should, even though we are getting some great stuff from the garden. Of course, part of that eating out was when we went to the Hershey Show, with all of our meals eating out while we were there. However, we have stopped eating out as much as we did before, and we are eating more healthy now, so we are on the right path to getting healthy this year.

I did go to the Pick Your Own farms quite a bit this month, mostly getting apples and a few peaches in the beginning of the month. We seem to eat the dried apples as a snack, so I haven't been able to put away as many of them as I had hoped. But it is better than eating candy, so again, on the road to healthy living.

Sasha got some new clothes that he needed, thanks to Aunt Tina and Uncle Joe giving him a Target gift card (Thank you again for such a nice party and being able to see everyone up in New Jersey!). I'll be getting some new clothes in October. The clothes are also for getting fit.

Transportation costs were inline with last month, however, going up and back from New Jersey and Pennsylvania, we took some hits at the tolls. EZ Pass hit us twice in a month which is a little unusual, but Sasha is taking the toll road every day as well, (usually just in one direction) so that has gone up.

The fuel costs have been around the same, we finally fueled up the Truck again, the last time was in June. We are just not using it very much. I am sure once we are moving around that will change, but then we will not have the car.

We hit a big Ouchy with the insurance for the car, truck, and motorcycle. It seems crazed that it is so high for me hardly driving and us not using the truck very often. We might have to check into lowering the bill. Also, Sasha did an oil change on the motorcycle, and had to get oil and chain oil, so that was that expense.

Have not had to pay for propane this month, but probably will see it in the next couple of months, as it gets colder here. We did have camper expenses, I bought a new pot as the old one was on its last legs. We were worried that the non-stick was coming off and that it is not very healthy for us so we got a new pot. We also got a new throw rug for the camper, it is a bit bigger and goes all the way from the bathroom to the dinette, so our feet aren't as cold. We also got a new ladder, a very needed necessity as we kept borrowing someone else's when we should have had our own. It folds up real well and is a good thing to have.

We added extra minutes and time to Sasha's cell phone. Sasha does not use his cell phone as much as I use mine, so with this pay as you go, I have tons of days still available before I have to renew but no minutes to call. Sasha is the opposite, lots of minutes to call people but no days before it expires. So we switch phones occasionally.

We also got a new hard drive for backing up files - especially Sasha's music collection. Always good to do a back up, and we have to do them more often. We had a slight - OK MAJOR scare, when my computer would not turn back on. I was several days without the computer, very scary. So we are looking into getting a new one, but I want an Apple and before I buy, I want to understand how I can keep the info I have on this PC and bring it over to a Mac. I have been a PC user for so long now, it will be hard to switch. But I will.

In our plan to get healthy this year and next, we signed up at a new gym - or as I like to call it, The Club. It has Country Club amenities at gym prices. The amount you see above was for the application fee and one month's fee. But it will go down to $84 a month. So much is included in that price, I am sure in the next couple of months I will be still singing it praises.

Fun Stuff was a guess because we had cash to spend and spend we did at the Green Dragon and other places when we went up to New Jersey and the Hershey Show. But we had a ton of fun there, so it was well worth it. The motel was definitely not worth the price. I think that Sasha got bit by bed bugs, he had a few bites that showed up the next few days. We were afraid that they jumped and went into our bed, so I washed and bleached everything in sight.  But I do not think they jumped ship and the bites calmed down. I also bought some more seeds for the garden, one of the garden shops was having a sale, so I got a few seeds and other implements.

We went to Mary Beth and Matt's wedding and gave the gift most new couples need the most, money. Every one needs it, more so than what is on the registry, and so that is why we always do that.

The biggest ouchy of the month was our personal property tax. In Virginia, you pay for the stuff you own, like cars, RVs, trailers, boats, planes etc. The Camper is not part of that because it does not have a license plate. If it did, then it would be taxed. Although boats and planes don't have license plates, they are also taxed. Thankfully this is only once a year, and it is to pay for the previous year. So we will just have to pay it once more. We also got a finance charge from American Express because we were one hour late on payment. We cut it too close to the due date, and got dinged on it.

Check out Next Month: October, a couple of birthdays, More Apple picking and the start of the wine season! and much cooler weather! And hopefully less expenses.