Last week I got Ol Betty out of her storage parking spot (by the barn) and drove her around to the front garage. Now, before you imange me driving an old woman with a whip, let me explain that Ol Betty is my 99 Chevy Suburban. I parked her when gas went over $4 a gallon. I then bought my manual Chevy Aveo which gets 34-37 mpg. So, she has been parked except for a few trips around the farm to check fences and to keep her battery and spirit up.

But, I miss Ol Betty. The kids have more room in Betty and she has a TV and lots of storage room (think going to Aldi for a stockup in a hatch back with 3 kids.....or in a pickup on a sunny calm with food blowing in the back as it starts to rain from no where.......)

Now I am watching 2 little ones, that is 5 kids and the Aveo will only hold a total of 5. Dare I let them go off without me??? NO.

DH broke Bettys mirror--playing ball with the dog. So, for $12.95 I got her a new mirror off of ebay (brand new-correct color and everything). At 2:30 she has an appointment to get inspected, then we will go to the license bureau.

I just hope she passes. Her tires are border line. She has better tires, but they aren't on her. I want to drive her tomorrow, but DH is working so can't put her other tires on till Sunday. I refuse to pay the $60 to swap out her tires at the inspection shop.

My insurance company has a program now where they only charge insurance when you drive the vehicle. I need her every other Friday. So I will pay full coverage every other Friday, and reduced coverage the rest of the time.

She is a good looking truck. Black and shiny with lots of chrome and all the extras. She came from the KC Cheifs--used to pull the PR trailer to events around town, then I bought her in 2003. She pulled the first camper we had through over half our states, showing my daughters and I our land. She is ready to go again!

Today was my 3rd ns day of the week. Of course the day I did spend, I spent $181.08. That was for the storm door for the kitchen door, which I am hoping will pay for itself within one year of cooling and heating saved.

I babysat today (or nannied as the mom calls it) so $50 in-or will be in when she pays me on Friday.

I will probably spend money this weekend however. A dear lady from church, whom I have known since I was born passed away this morning. Most likely I will get a ham to take to the house the day before the funeral. The arrangements have not been announced yet, so I won't buy it until then. She could play the piano like no other, and she could yodle. I loved to hear her yodle.

One of my goals to use my babysitting money was to spend it in such a way that it would be an investment or to save us money.

Today we got another storm door. This will go on a south door and will save on cooling costs this summer and heating costs in the winter. Its a nice door, and insulated. It is made with a double glass, and the glass slides down into the door and the screen when not used rolls up inside the door like a shade. I like that feature because when not in use, the screen is inside the door where no animal can claw at it, and no itty bitty bugs can fly into it.

I also bought some horse radish root. DH eats it like crazy, so I am going to grow it. It will take over the garden if you let it (as well garlic), but I have that figured out already. We have a couple of metal barrels that we can not get the tops off of. I am going to have DH cut them in half. Then I will bury them. I will put the garlic in one and the horse radish in the other. They won't be able to escape. Now I just have to decide if I want the barrels cut lengthwise or just in half. I could have a little bigger crop if they were cut lengthwise. I will have to devise some sort of cover until it takes off, so that the chickens won't scratch and dig it up.

I planned to work outside in the garden today but it has been way to windy. We have had gusts up to 50+ mph. Orginally I planned to take some dirt up and fill in my strawberry bed I made last week, and also to fill in the tractor tire that holds our weather station so I could put some bulbs in it. So, that will have to wait until a less windy day.

There is a possibility it may snow this weekend. Ugh. I knew that groundhog was right! Plus, our horses have not shed their winter coats yet....