Merry Christmas to me!

I made my first extravagant purchase of the year!  And it will probably be last since there are only 14 days left in the year.  I say extravagant because it's something that's not necessary and it cost more than $50.  I'm a tightwad these days so over $50 and there is some hard thinking involved.

I bought a new to me Garmin Forerunner 205.  It's a GPS enabled watch that can track a ton of different things while running.  Or moving in general.  It can beep at me if I'm running to slow or to fast based on the pace I tell it to monitor.  It keeps track of time, distance, calories burned.  And I can plug it into the computer and will show me where I ran on a fancy map.  I got it at the bargain price of $80 from a coworker who had used it a handful of times.  Not bad considering they run between $120-$300 online.

When I brought it home at lunch time yesterday I started thinking about things that I've purchased this year.  I really couldn't think of anything expensive.  Seriously.  That doesn't mean I didn't shop some - I did travel and buy touristy stuff and I bought the normal household goods and random hobby items (Cricut cartridge, camera card, etc.).  But this year, I haven't purchased any big ticket items like last year... couch, end table, coffee table, tv stand, BIG tv, recumbant bike, carpet cleaner.  SOoooo, where am I going with this??!!

For once in my life, I can actually say I succeeded at a New Years Resolution.  I placed my focus on not spending frivolously so that I could put my money towards paying off my second mortgage.  And it worked!!  I'm so close to having it paid off that I can taste it!

So needless to say, even though it is right before Christmas, I don't feel even slightly guilty about buying my new to me Garmin!  We'll spend lots of quality time together as I continue to build up miles.

In other random news.  Yesterday I was sent to assist a tow company in identifying a vehicle it had towed from a private parking lot.  Long story short, I now know how to find the VIN plate on a 1966 Volvo.  And pop the hood, which was something a tow driver and a group of mechanics couldn't figure out.  Thank you, Google.

I thought the car had character.  And I thought it looked like the girl car from the movie Cars.  The interior was trashed and I took a deep breath bracing myself for a dead body when I opened the trunk.  No dead body.  Exhale.  Clearly, I watch too many crime dramas.