The Found Change count for 2010 is……. (drum roll please!)…….
$1.19
.25 = 1
.10 = 7
.01 = 24
This is down 86¢ from last year. Could it be that because the economy is so bad that people are more careful with their change? Or maybe more people are bothering to pick up change from the ground? Or maybe I just wasn’t as lucky this past year?
The world may never know 
I can only hope to find more in 2011
It’s been a bit chilly around here the past few days – I think the high temperature today was 5° F and it’s down to -5° F now… So to get your mind off the weather, here is a cool video (Get it? Cool? 
If you liked this – check out the guy’s website…
*Update* – the high was actually 14° F, but that’s still cold
For the first time in a loooong while, I went to the Galleria Mall.
None of the stores I went to had what I was looking for, but that’s besides the point – I couldn’t believe all the security guards that were all over! What’s going on there that I missed?
I will say that they all looked very professional and had the mall very well covered.
Whatever trouble they had or are anticipating, it looks like it’s taken care of.
I’m not sure if I should be happy or sad about this.
I’m not super-deep into astrology and horoscopes, but I do find them fun and entertaining. I was born under the sign Scorpio, which I was very happy with.
Even tho’ I don’t see logically how a description of a an astrological sign could possibly apply to everyone born under that sign, when I read about Scorpios or a daily horoscope, I tend to look at the similarities that apply to me and feel comfortable with the way they seem to fit.
That all changed this week, when it was announced that the dates for the zodiac signs had changed a bit - including a new one added to the lot. I had changed from Scorpio to Libra. Ugh. Scorpio was fun… a scorpion has personality – I don’t think the same could be said of a set of scales… except maybe bor-ing. I was happy being a Scorpio, notsomuch a Libra.
Fortunately, I’m a Scorpio again! Not that I really believe in horoscopes 
When I woke up this morning, there was about a foot of snow on the ground.
When I got home from work, it was was up to almost two feet.
My tractor did an admiral job of clearing it out of my driveway
The patches on the hoses are leaking a bit, but they held good enough to get the job done. (hopefully they will hold for the season!)
I’m dreading to see what my yard is going to look like come springtime… With the blade on the tractor, you can’t let it “ride” on top of the driveway – that is going up and down over the grade of the ground… you have to set a height and go with it. Unfortunately, either my driveway is very uneven or the three-point hitch isn’t level – either way, I’ve been digging up a lot of dirt, stone and grass.
Whatever mess there is tho’, it will be worth cleaning up as long as I don’t have to shovel for the rest of the winter 
When the weather gets warmer, I’ll have to see if there is a way to adjust the level-ness of the blade. Until then, I’m going to try to minimize the mess as much as I can…
When it comes to cars, I am by no means a gearhead. I don’t understand people who spend their evenings at car shows, wandering from car to car looking at engines and fenders and the like. Boooooooring 
That being said, I enjoy watching Top Gear. I don’t watch it regularly, but when I do, it has never failed to make me laugh. And of course I’m talking about the original BBC version, not the crappy US remake. I tried watching the new version on the History Channel and it was pretty awful. The cast just doesn’t have the charisma of the BBC guys… they weren’t very entertaining to me.
It amazes me sometimes (most of the time?) how remakes can totally ruin something really good.
I would love the chance to have a go around their track and see where I would rate on their board. I have a bit of a lead foot and I’d like to think that I would end up at least somewhere in the middle of their ranking board. I guess we’ll never know, tho’ 
This is the first part of one of my favorite episodes. If you get the chance to watch the whole thing – do it… the last part is soooo funny 
Unfortunately, the only place I can find the whole episode is on iTunes… but it’s totally worth the 99¢ – just search for Top Gear US Road Trip.
So before Christmas, I finally bit the bullet and traded in the Jillmobile.
It needed to be done – I was getting tired of taking her into the shop every few weeks… Not to mention, the cost.
I think I would have liked to get another pickup, but when I saw the price of used ones, I knew that was out of the question. I went with my next best option: an SUV. They can haul pretty much what I need from Home Depot, they can pull a trailer and are priced much more reasonably. After much research, I had narrowed down what I would have preferred, but discovered that what looks good in reviews doesn’t necessarily match real life.
I ended up getting a Jeep Liberty. It’s still old, but it has a lot less miles than my Dakota had. It had a few issues, but the place I bought it from is being good about taking care of them. All-in-all, I am pretty happy with it so far. There’s not as much room in the back as I had with my pickup, but I love the way it handles in the snow. The inside is really well laid out – it’s very roomy and comfortable. And the engine looks pretty accessible, so I’m hoping I won’t have too hard of a time taking care of a lot of the maintenance myself. I think my biggest complaint is the gas mileage – it’s pretty awful… I think it’s worse than I got with the Dakota. I’m going to keep track of the gas and mileage for another few weeks, just to see if my first mpg results are the same. I’m really hoping I made a mistake somewhere 
I hate having a car payment now, too.
Here’s hoping that I get many good years out of the new Jillmobile!
So the holidays are over - routine will hopefully fall back into place and I will start posting more regularly…
I can’t wait to get my garden growing again.
