Spending update

I wasn't sure how my last post would go over, so I thank you all for your nice comments! :) The Yukon's one of those places that piques a lot of interest, but not everyone knows much about, never mind visiting it.

I've never loved living somewhere so much that I want to share everything I can about it, but there's something special about the Yukon. I suppose part of it is its "frontier" aspect, some of which remains today in the buildings and surrounds of Dawson City and, to a lesser degree, Whitehorse. The population grows slowly and our current Territorial population is about 34,000. It's its own small community! Very apparent when you run into someone you know in Dawson City, which is about a 7 hour drive north. That happened to me in August and it was very surreal!

Only a week until Christmas and I'm basically done. I have two presents left to send, but there's no point now until after Christmas because they won't get where they're going until after it's over anyway. D (the man I'm dating) and I are going to exchang gifts tomorrow night. I got him an iPod - a bit more than I had anticipated spending, but something I know he'll really like - and he called me the other day to ask what size feet I have, so I'm very curious to know what he got me. Skates? Boots? Snowshoes? Slippers?

I got a card and letter from my aunt in Toronto today and she stated that she's at the stage in life where she feels the need to hand on some of her treasures (she and my mum are twins, and they turn 77 next year). That said, she's going to be sending me a charm bracelet that my Dad apparently started for her year ago. I'm flattered and very moved by this as my Dad died when I was 13, so I will have something from both of them to cherish. I am really looking forward to receiving it.

I've been doing quite well with my spending this week (so far), although I'm not really counting my Tim Horton's spends because, well, it's not really my money I'm spending :) I made a great big salad that lasted me three days and managed to not spend as randomly as I normally do.

I mailed a parcel to my friend in Kingston on Monday, and am hoping it makes it there by Christmas. The book cost me $3.71 and the postage: $13.51. Ouch!

My Canadian Tire purchase the other day cost me $29.38. I've tried out the spray on de-icer and am a little frustrated because I think I must be missing something. I spray it on and it FREEZES! Argh... I'm sure that's not what's supposed to happen. It then gets stuck on the ice scraper and ends up all globby and mucky.

Another visit to the grocery store to stock up on lovely fruits and other perishables for salad cost me $78.62. I made gigantic fruit salads for three days with pineapple, strawberries, apple, banana, blueberries and blackberries. Amazing how a bowl of that can fill you up! All the fruit, obviously, is grown elsewhere, so the carbon footprint of my blueberries alone is HUGE, but honestly and particularly in the middle of winter, it's really nice to have some fresh fruit. My cravings lean towards starches and carbs, which your body craves in winter to stay warm. But it does get a bit much sometimes.

My cost of visiting the vet on Monday for Dinah's ears (it turns out BOTH are infected - unusual for a cat) was $134.10. That included the vet consultation and all the medication she needs for a week to ten days. Hopefully this will clear up her infection for good. It's not the cost, but it makes her miserable and she hates me when I give her her pill and put various liquids into her ears. Poor girl!

The temperature today was -36C, with ice fog. Today was a day to start the car and walk away. I started up the truck about 20 minutes before I left work and she was humming along fine by the time I needed to go. It's still strange to do it, but it takes at least that long for me to be barely warm. Northerners aren't the most environmentally friendly people in mid-winter, unfortunately.