wedding outfit and thievery

Your comments to yesterday's Gary and Elaine post made me laugh. You all are too funny.  

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I am attending a wedding at the end of October in DC, and I will admit that my selection of fancy-wear in my post-childbearing years is...um..I have nothing that fits.  I asked Mel from I Pick Pretty to help me figure out a nice outfit to wear, because she is excellent at that sort of thing.  She came up with a beautiful ensemble, which I have ordered.  Thank you Mel! I will post pictures once the outfit gets here.  

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I am not that great with cash.  If its in my wallet, I spend it.  Knowing this about myself, I rarely carry cash.  I almost always use a debit card, because then I can easily track my spending.  

I take out cash for specific purposes at the beginning of the week.  If I know that I will have a sitter on Wednesday, or that I need to give a donation for a maternity gift for a teacher, or that I need to pay the swim teacher, then I take out exactly that much money and usually keep it in a designated basket in a cupboard. 

Over the past few months I have felt like I have spent more cash than I could account for--I thought I had more cash than this? I thought I had forty dollars in here, not twenty?  But, as I said, I know that I am not that great with cash and figured I spent it on something.  Although yesterday I could have sworn that I had taken out $80 for various things, and I couldn't find that $80--it wasn't in my purse, and it wasn't in the basket, and that's pretty much the sum total of places I keep money.  And I might not notice if I spent $10, but I assure you I would notice if I spent $80 or a series of small purchases that added up to $80.  

So, after not being able to find that money, I went to the bank and took out $400 because I was on my way to go buy something off craigslist.  I ended up not buying the piece I went for because it was bigger than I thought.  I bought some cupcakes and Auntie Anne pretzels at the mall, and I left the remaining $390 in my wallet.  

Tonight I went out, and upon arriving home, pulled out my wallet to pay the sitter, and the $390 was gone.  Okay, I may not be great with cash, BUT I DID NOT SPEND $390 SINCE LAST NIGHT and "forget" where I spent it.  Also, if someone stole $390 out of my purse, why did they leave me $12 and all my credit cards??

A quick Spanish Inquisition of the childrens revealed that one of my children had, in fact, helped themselves to $390.  Kindly go get that money and bring it here, child.  Child brought the box in which said child had been hiding the goodies, and we proceeded to count all the money that said child had been hoarding.

To the tune of $700.  And my nice gold watch.  

SEVEN HUNDRED DOLLARS.  

(Granted, $470 was accumulated in a twenty-four hour period, but SEVEN HUNDRED DOLLARS!!!!)

If you are a family member who has stayed in my house in the past few months and want to put in a claim, line forms on the left.  

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Tomorrow is my painted rug reveal!