Random Thursday Things

• Something kind of big happened in my world this morning.  I had been thinking about it all week, and the day has finally come. I have been paying off a line of credit for what feels like a million years.  I got myself into credit card debt in my foolish late teens/early twenties, mostly buying concert tickets... I was the concert Queen back then! I'd round up a gang to go to whatever show was rolling through town, order the tickets for my friends, they'd pay me in cash, and the cash would stay in my wallet.  I'd never put it against the actual credit card bill.  I had good intentions, but then POOF, the money would be spent and I'd be another couple hundred in the hole on the card.  Somewhere along the way, I realized it was getting pretty serious, so I had a meeting at my bank, and they set me up with a line of credit with a much lower interest rate to pay off that card, and then I started paying off the line of credit.  It has been a long, slow process.  I know that in the grand scheme of things, my debt was small compared to many others', but for a single girl struggling to survive on a sole pay cheque, it's been a long ol' run of living pay day to pay day.  It's been a little cloud hanging over my head for years.  There were days when I didn't think I'd ever be done with it.  But the day finally did come!  I keep signing back in to my online banking just to look at that zero balance on my credit line.  Such a feeling of relief! :)
• So what shall be my first big investment now that the line of credit is paid off?  What shall I start saving for now?!  Because you all know me... I always have a big goal in my sites! haha!  Since Netflix has been a big focus for me since I got Internet back in early March, my next project is to maximize my Netflix time.  You've all heard me lament the woes I've had streaming Netflix thus far.  It started out great, but then after about a month, it went whacky on me.  I'd google and find a solution that would seem to work for a few days or weeks (re-booting the router, switching playback settings to "low", deleting the app and re-loading it, etc) but eventually, it would go back to freezing or giving me error messages on a regular basis again.  The past week and a half, I can't get through more than five or ten minutes without getting an error message.  I have realized, though, that if I'm watching on my laptop, it works perfectly. No freezing, no error messages. Ever.  But it seems a shame to have to huddle over my laptop screen to watch my favourite shows when I have this nice big flatscreen TV sitting there... So that brings me to the next step.  I now have purchasing a Chromecast or an Apple TV on my radar.  I don't really understand how the things work, but I understand they essentially turn my TV into a "Smart TV" - and think it would be the best solution to this problem.  If anyone has any feedback on either of them, or a suggestion that I might not have heard about, please do share! 
• We are in the midst of a string of really nice weather here right now.  Which is nice, since the last week or so was pretty crappy.  Cool and windy and rainy... blech.  For awhile, it felt like we got a May heatwave and that was going to be it for our summer!  Thankfully, the hot sunny days are back again.  I'm especially excited that it looks like it's going to be a beautiful hot day on Sunday for our Sunday School picnic.  A perfect opportunity to test out one of my new bathing suits!
• Have I mentioned that I've found a new summer drink?  I've always liked Palm Bays, but they are so sweet that I can usually only handle one or two.  This year, I've discovered they're selling them in pouches that you can freeze into slush.  My friend Lindsay let me try one of her Cherry Lime ones at Book Club a few weeks ago, and I LOVED it.  I have a few Strawberry Pineapple flavoured ones in the freezer that I think should hit the spot this weekend!
• This weekend is one of those weekends where I don't really have a lot of firm plans, and I'm sitting on the fence of trying to decide if I want to do EVERYTHING or NOTHING.  I have to do groceries at some point, and make a dish for the Sunday School picnic (and of course I'm going with the sweet potato/bacon/quinoa salad...thank you again, Shannon, yummmm), and I have to go to said picnic.  I've been tossing around the idea of trying to find someone to do the whole Pontiac Artists Studio Tour on Saturday with me... or, just visit the two fab artists in town, and spend the rest of the day bumming around home.  There's something quite appealing about just sitting out on the deck and reading in the sun, then hitting the couch for a movie night... Oh decisions, decisions.
• This weekend, I MUST go to Marcotte's for a chocolate-dip vanilla soft serve cone.  I haven't had one in over two weeks!!!!  AGHHHH!!!!

Well, I think that's all the random I've got burling around in my brain this morning... Happy Thursday, pals!  The weekend is almost here!!!