I Feel A Disturbance In The Force

It's pretty early. I have the day off so I can take Riley to her first day of school. She's starting her second year of nursery school at the same one I went to. I'm really looking forward to hearing about her day.

Doc's taking his sweet time getting ready, so while I'm sitting here drinking a Diet Coke and trying to get my eyes opened, I checked my email. I get this nice note from my friends at Netflix:

Flannery, come back for only $5.99!It's easy to restart your Netflix membership! As always, Netflix offers:

• More than 65,000 titles
• No late fees
• Fast, free shipping both ways

We've added lots of new titles while you've been gone, so come browse our selection.

-Your Friends at Netflix

If you recall, my family and I have sworn of paying for movies for a year. We are down to a mere 252 days left until the pact expires. That means we've gone 112 days. I'm really proud of that. Giving up something for a year really teaches one how long a year is, let me tell you. The biggest struggle has been gift buying. Usually I pick out the latest DVD or a classic DVD for every gift-giving holiday. This year I've had to get creative when buying gifts. I'm not sure how much money we've really saved while on the pact; we're still sweating it a week before payday. I know I've got the strength to make it to the end of the pact; I really don't have a choice. But still, it doesn't help matters when "my friends" try to lure me off the wagon by sending me pictures like this: