* The roof on the rental property was repaired. Actually, replaced. The entire front was taken off, the damaged wood was repaired, reshingled, broken antenna was taken away. It looks very good, and was actually done last Friday. Cost: $1,938. We also paid $400 for vents to be installed when the gutter was replaced. I'll be able to recoup the deprectiated $176.

* I received a surprise $50 check from the Director of Religious Ed that I work with to coordinate the summer vacation Bible school programs that our parish offers. This was above and beyond the huge grant/scholarship my family was given to bring our tuition to a mere $1,300.

* DH's Corvette bumper was repaired, and we can cross that off the financial goal/to do. It cost $1,200. DH helped to stain my parents' gazebo one weekend, and they paid him $350, so our out of pocket costs were nothing above the $900 we saved.

* We are going on vacation leaving this Friday to head to Virginia: Busch Gardens, Jamestowne, Williamsburg. I secretly cannot wait to get out of Dodge for nine days. We're fairly organized and plan to picnic there (as opposed to meals on the road). We're partially stocked up on snacks and drinks while we're gone.

* DH is continuing to ride the train to/from work through August/September, pushing our vehicle purchase date to beginning of October. We are rethinking a new vehicle to a used one one or two years old, saving probably $6,000.

* We did an inventory of school clothes, and it appears that no one needs anything new other than socks and school shoes. I've already purchased gym shoes for everyone. School supplies: we'll have to inventory things when I'm a bit more organized on the vacation planning front.

* September is a third-paycheck month.