Three Weeks and Counting

It's been a nice week mostly off - though I did work a bit on Friday and a bit today...better to over-prep for the busy week ahead then to assume I will be OK this week and get it all done.  Sure, I will...but I prefer to skip all-nighters when possible.  It's a massive board prep week for me and it feels good to have spent some time getting some things off the list in advance. Also a week of many, many meetings - 1/2 day meetings three of the days and not things I can bump or skip.

Three work weeks ahead before Winter Break.  In my 3AM ruminations, I contemplate maybe taking off some time the third week to start the break early - but I know it's not likely.  I have a meeting on the last work day that I don't want to miss so....vacation days will have to wait.

We have no big trips planned - a trip to Disneyland in April is all that's on the agenda for the foreseeable future.  I've checked out airfares to Paris but haven't purchased yet.  All cash in reserve for the upcoming car deal - still in process.

B. called on Thanksgiving day and had no plans - not many folks on the base since most took time for Thanksgiving given that all have been told Christmas is a 'no'.  B. is still hopeful his 4 day pass will be approved - but it's still not official.  We asked if he would be OK with us transferring him some $ to host him and a friend going out for a nice dinner - he said he'd love that and then promptly apologized.  ??  He's trying so hard to not 'need' help from us - so we reminded him that we would really like to buy him dinner; that we offered - so no apology needed.

It's hard to shop for him when we aren't sure where he'll be - and we know he won't have a lot of room for 'stuff'.  H.'s big gift is purchased and that's pretty much 'it' for him this year - it's pricey.

We had a really nice week - yesterday, we gave some thought to going out and looking at houses.  As J. said 'it's getting us out of the house; it's something to do together; it will help us get ideas about how much space do we want in our retirement home'.  Ultimately, I had no inertia - mainly because looking at houses makes me covet something we don't want to spend money on at the moment.  We've decided to stay here absolutely as long as we can - it's the most financially responsible thing we can do.  So we didn't go look at other places to live since we don't plan to go anywhere else.

I've had a relaxing series of days off and it's been lovely -

With Thanks

For each morning with its light, For rest and shelter of the night, For health and food, For love and friends, For everything Thy goodness sends.  ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Never Too Old

I am pleasantly inebriated - I know I shouldn't admit that but it's true.  Three Blue Moons in a casino which I could only indulge in knowing I wasn't going anywhere tonight.  I would never do this in front of my 22 year old son....well, there was that one time with the wine on a work night -  but for the most part, I don't over-indulge often or with my kids around.  It feels really good to 'let my hair down' (well, it's short but looks a little tousled) and have a fun night -

I'm not winning so that's the only not great thing.  But losing is helping me 'let go' - I'm winding down my gambling and this will be the last trip anywhere with slots for awhile.  I've got better things to do with my time (not to mention our money).

It's approaching 11PM and dinner was at 10:20 - a great cheeseburger, fries and pumpkin pie milkshake.  A pre-hangover cure, I hope.  (I really don't feel that 'under the influence' but you never know).

My only regret may well be that I did not bring any meds with me - so a heartburn filled night awaits. Time for sleeping with big, cushy pillows to prop me up - and sleeping mostly on my left side....

I have a noon check out time so will sleep in, get some work items going, play a little more (watching for machines with set progressives that hit by a certain amount - if I can catch one that's close, it could be mine...) and then head home.

It's been really fun to have this early-week get away.  I needed it.  But I've sure missed hubby.  And son.  And other son though he's far away.

Time for sleep.

This Feels Strange

It's Monday evening and I am technically now on 'vacation' for the rest of the week.  However, judging by the stack of stuff I brought home to work on and my plans for also being in the office F-Sat-Sun (hopefully not all but we'll see) make it feel not all that vaction-y.  It feels weird to have a Monday evening be 'vacation-eve'.

After what can only be described as a weird day (that will leave me feeling unsettled and unsure for all the upcoming days off), I was able to head home just after 2PM.  I trekked to the bank and Starbucks on the way home only to realize that I had left my wallet in my desk drawer at home - so I had to just head home.  J. and I headed straight out together and went back to the bank and Starbucks, then across town for Winco shopping.  We'd synced our lists, checked our pantry, adjusted our lists and got the shopping done in record time - have everything we need to get us through the week and all the fixings for Thanksgiving.  Glad that to-do item is crossed off both our lists.

Tomorrow, J. and H. head to Modesto for H.'s swallow study...and blood work here in town soon, too.  His oncology appointment is next Thursday.  I think he's lost more weight.  :-(

I'm probably going to bed pretty soon and will get up when I wake up around 6ish or so.  It's better if I just get up when I first wake up vs. going back to sleep - going back to sleep leaves me groggy and fuzzy for most of the day so I'm trying to just get up, even on weekends and days off.

We got Chloe's 'burrow bed' off the garage shelf today, thinking she'd jump right in and snuggle into the warmth - but no.  She won't go near it!  Reminding myself that she wouldn't get in it when we first got it so maybe she has to just think it over.  I'm not covering her up in her day-bed like I have been, trying to encourage her to get into the burrow.  I even put a dog biscuit w-a-y in the back of the burrow bed - but she just slinked in headfirst, grabbed the biscuit and backed out as quickly as she'd gone in.  She'll do anything for a dog biscuit.

Tomorrow through Thursday will definitely be down time so I'm just going to focus on that for now and enjoy it.

Happy Heaven Birthday to my mom - she would have been 91 today.  Miss her.

Sticking to a Budget

Lively discussions have been held about the new car.  We sketched out our taxes and realized, sadly, that the withdrawal we made from retirement savings the first part of 2015 has nudged us up - it wasn't even 1/3 of what J. made when he worked and we did have them withhold - but not enough. So our thought of maybe withdrawing more this year to make a nice down payment on the car is now 'what can we cash in to scrape together a down payment on a car?'.  (And I acknowledge with a grateful heart that we are blessed to have options such as these).

I'm on a frugality kick - which I promptly almost blew upon seeing a Facebook link to specially packaged Oreo cookies - winter theme - you 'customize' the packaging and they make it and add Oreos.  I had $40 worth of cookies in my 'cart' when I stopped myself and said 'this is what you do at Christmas ever year.  Buying two for 'the boys' isn't enough.  You have to buy one for every person unwrapping under the tree and before you know it, you've spent an absolute fortune on Christmas'.  So I stopped myself.

I've also stopped myself from ordering one or two cases of our favorite wine - it was 25% off AND free shipping so the deal of a lifetime - but I looked at the notepad by my desk where we've been writing down what we've spent this month (so far) and said 'no, not going to do that, either'.  Yes, I really want that wine because I love it - but no, I don't want to spend $240 a case for it - not now, and probably not ever.  (Well, maybe when I'm sure there's no young adults looming around that finish a bottle off really quickly).

Yesterday, H. performed meaningful chores in exchange for money we'd advanced him - and I have to say that if he worked this hard and diligently every time we've tried him earning money through chores, I'd do it weekly in a heart beat.  He took the list seriously and worked constantly and well for hours yesterday - got some things done that needed doing.  His 'getting the place all sparkly' gave me inertia to also do some things.  We've been piling up boxes and packaging materials in the garage for awhile 'cuz I have gifts to ship for Christmas.  I decided to tackle the box graveyard and started breaking down boxes to put out for recycling this week.  Sadly, I couldn't actually find the box of gifts that was also out there and I mis-judged the size of boxes I would need to ship them - so I broke down a lot of 'right size' boxes before realizing (upon finally finding THE BOX) that I now don't have boxes to actually ship.  Grrr....  .  And also grrr - the gifts are 1 inch off from every box I can find that's close - thus necessitating using a larger box.  More packing material.  Oh well.  We still have plenty of shipments coming in so we'll see where we end up in a week or two.  I hope we can figure out something vs. having to buy boxes.

We were supposed to be brunching with H. and his new girlfriend today - but she got called into work so had to cancel.  Hoping for a dinner sometime this week -

We're also heading to Gallo today for a mid-afternoon show - Jeanne Robertson is in town!!  Ready to laugh my head off.

Working tomorrow because I was asked to participate in an interview committee and if I'm getting up early and dressing for work, I might as well make a day of it.  No one else in my office there so should be able to make steady progress.

Tuesday, I'm heading up to Thunder Valley (not Jackson!  Surprise) for a free hotel night and some play time.  I am taking work items with me - reviewing and writing what needs writing for our annual audit as well as some other projects I can tackle in the quiet.  The room is free so why not?

J.'s car shopping is stalled - they found a car that's what he wants but 'it's 300 miles away'.  (I'm not entirely sure why they aren't moving heaven and earth to get that car here 'cuz if they want to make a sale, they should).  They are discussing ordering it but I foresee the 0% financing offer will not be available when the car arrives and though they may insist it will be, they don't control their financing company so....  we can make it with one car, honestly - very few days I actually need a car so J. can just use mine.  Though I know he's excited about a new car (so am I even though it's not 'mine') -

J. took the french horn to the music store in Modesto that accept consignments and they encouraged him to put it on eBay - so we're going to go back to trying to do that.  Today, maybe, now that our morning is unexpectedly free.

That's all the news here....it's cold and time to either get moving or get dressed.  I think I'll try moving.  Making a recipe for dinner tonight that my cousin shared with me and there are some prep items I can start on to get the dish completely ready to pop in the oven when we get back from the show this evening.

Scion is No More

H.'s car is confirmed as a total loss.  The insurance company has a department that handles everything.  We sheepishly admit we were shocked at the amount - and no, not because it was so little.  It was considerably more than we ever imagined recouping and though they said the 'total loss department' was very backed up and to expect a delay, the funds for the car are already pending in our bank account - so start to finish, it's been about 10 days.  Not bad considering -

H. paid for 50% of the car but we felt he should pay the full deductible since it's his fault the car is now junk - still, he got a boost to his bank account which will get him through many weeks without drawing on his long-term savings.  We got a boost in savings too - and my sweet hubby gave the OK to also move some to my fun $ account, which makes me happy.  Very happy.

The insurance company also has a department that helps policy holders replace their car - so now J. has to tell them what he wants (a fully-loaded Honda Accord hybrid) and they will find it, negotiate a price for us and arrange financing.  Yes, really.  That's full-service insurance right there.  Not a 'name your price' policy.  I don't think we would ever insure our cars through any other carrier besides AAA.  They have been stellar through this entire process.

I was sort of hoping to put off the new car purchase until January - to avoid an annual registration payment in the same month we have Christmas - and to give us until the next tax year to make a retirement savings withdrawal - but whenever it happens, it's fine.  We'll manage.  I think this car buying process has produced sort of a 'break through' with the two of us - 'cuz all I really want to know is how much can we withdraw annually and be comfortable about the money lasting the rest of our lives.  No one wants to commit to giving us said number - they always ask a zillion questions about our expenses, etc. - and I'm at the point where I want to say 'no, you don't need to concern yourself with the outflow we need to cover - you just need to tell us what is a comfortable, safe withdrawal number and we'll figure out the rest'.  And then I want to withdraw that amount every year - even in years when we don't 'need it'....to start building up after tax cash.  That's a critical component of the 'Majah isn't working anymore' scenarios - having adequate cash to cushion unexpected things that we all know happen in day-to-day life'.  I felt like J. finally 'got that' - we keep avoiding withdrawing and technically, he's been retired for a few years now and we should be able to withdraw annually - and hopefully not need it.

J. and H. and a friend of H. ventured to the body shop where the Scion was towed and took out the stereo - I was picturing the dash unit and arrived home on Friday night to find a HUGE (really, I don't know how they ever fit in the car) set of speakers that had been custom installed behind the back seat of the car.  J. says H. wants to store them in the rafters of the garage in case he ever has a car where they can be re-installed.  I am suggesting he try to list them on Craig's list and sell them - if/when he gets a car he wants to customize again with an over-the-top stereo system, he can do that then.

I'm really averse to more junk in the rafters of the garage.

I came downstairs this morning to rain and a dog who would not go out.  She'd left presents on the throw rugs in the family room...so....yeah, it's Sunday...it has cleared up now and is sunny and clear. More wind expected later today.

I am heading to work shortly - thanks to my cousin for the Facebook pep talk.  A few hours of stuff will help cover for the time I will not be in the office this week - all day conference tomorrow.  We are all in pre-Thanksgiving week off mode - actually, I'm not sure who's going to be off.  We have to use paid time off for the M-T of the week - but most will.  Use two days vacation and get 10 days off in a row - it's a 'bargain' on the paid time off scale.

Last night for dinner, J. and I made cheese bread sticks - and the crust was made with cauliflower! Tonight, we are going to use additional 'riced' (just chopped up in a food processor to the size of rice grans) to make stir fried cauliflower rice.  (I actually think I might throw in a little brown rice, too but we'll see).  Last night's effort was pretty good - though I overdid the cheese on top so it was a bit 'heavy'.  Homemade marinara sauce to dunk - everyone seemed OK with it so we might try it again and use pizza toppings like pepperoni and sausage next time, too.

Alright - I'm heading out.  Well, first I have to get dressed..but then I'm really going.  :-)

DVR Madness

Awhile back, Dish Network forced me to swap out the DVR in my bedroom for a new unit.  I didn't give it much thought - which was sort of a breakthrough for me 'cuz I had totally freaked out the last time this happened.  That time, I made Jim put all the things on the box onto DVDs - a process that included him moving the box into the room with the recorder and playing every recorded item to get it onto a DVD.

I have no idea where that DVD is and have lived happily without all those shows I couldn't live without.  So second time around, I was way more nonchalant about it all.  

I lost William and Kate's wedding events which crushes me every time I think of it - but oh well.  J. said he was sure I could find the wedding on DVD - but there was one particular part of the NBC recording where an American there pointed out what was the sweetest moment for her - as Kate and William were leaving the balcony, she stopped for one last look out - and William sweetly took her hand and guided her inside.  Such an endearing moment and I don't think any video will have it.  But I remember, right?  So that's good enough.

This topic of the DVR also reminds me of something else I've been meaning to mention - the new DVR box has a bright blue 'power' light....and after a couple freakish late night moments, I realized that if that light remains on, it casts very odd shadows across the ceiling of the room and when you are trying to go to sleep or wake up in the middle of the night, those shadows appear to move - and scared the crap out of me more times than I should admit to.

All this DVR talk is to get to the issue that surfaced this week - all my timers are gone and I've been neglectful in setting them back up.  I've totally, completely missed this year's Best British Baking Show - the entire event off my radar.  I somehow noticed - maybe a Facebook link - the show was on and the final is this week - then I scrambled to watch as many episodes as I could on PBS - but I've missed one through four and won't be able to watch them until they are on Netflix next year.  

And coincidentally, my cousin loves the show, too!!  I was going to tell her my sad saga of having missed a favorite show and she mentioned that she's enjoying a 'new' show - and it was the same show!

I've had a completely lazy day and while I felt a little guilt and was hard on myself about it, my sweet husband said 'you've worked a long, hard week - so it's OK.  Be lazy today'.  Ahhhh....that's love right there.  

We went to dinner and Gallo last night with friends - Kathleen Madigan was so, so funny.  The evening was very fun and the couple we spent time with our two of the dearest people on the planet. We really need to try to get together more often.  J. and the husband (R.) get together monthly for lunch - I jokingly refer to R. as 'your other wife' 'cuz J. says things like 'I need to go there with R.'...even the boys are like 'Dad, go there with your wife!!'.  But it's all in good fun and they are great, many decades together friends and it shows.  

The many terrorist events in Paris yesterday make my stomach sink - so sad.  So wrong.  I feel like a lot of people - I've just run out of words.  There are no words.  

Happy Veterans Day

Veterans Day is the day to honor our military forces for their service.  I've been thinking a lot about this day as it's approached because it does take on new meaning being the mom of a soldier.  B. is uncomfortable when people thank him for his service.  In his mind, not being deployed means he's not really done anything to deserve the thank you?  He's not realizing how selfless and serving enlisting in the military truly is.  He chose this career - he felt called to serve, really.  As his mom, I wrestled with his enlisting quite a bit - but when your child tells you they want to serve, how can you argue with that.  So he is.  And thousands of others are, too.  And we remember all those loved ones we've known who've also served - and fought. It's a very meaningful day for me these days.

I was thinking back to his graduation from Basic - how it felt to see the hundreds of newly minted soldiers taking the field and the huge lump in my throat I had - this tremendous sense of pride that one of those young men was ours....and also just the sheer magnitude of realizing that all those young people volunteered to do this.  They stepped up and into a world they knew would challenge them in ways they'd never imagined - and they still said yes.

I looked back in my blog for recollections of that trip and found this post in draft state - so in honor of Veterans Day, I will share it.  It truly can't convey the pride and joy we felt watching these young people become official soldiers - B. included.

B., people thank soldiers for their service because you are serving - you've chosen to serve.  Of all the other zillions of thing you could do, you have chosen to be in the United States Army and that's no small feat.  You are a great young man and a soldier - and you deserve thanks and acknowledgement for that.  Your reply of 'thank you for your support' is perfect - and all soldiers past, present and future deserve our warm thanks - on this day and every day.

Here's the post from April, 2013.


The Turning Blue and Graduation ceremonies were amazing.  B. was right in front of us at the Turning Blue - we had left some papers and a Dunkin Donuts bag on two chairs in the front row before we went to the family orientation meeting - and miraculously, they were still there when we returned.  He was literally 15 feet from us - though sometimes hidden by his drill Sargent who was standing directly in front of B. .  Oh well.  I teared up when I saw him and he smiled a brief smile and then stared up and straight ahead.  He later told me he had to do that 'cuz it was emotional for him to see us, too.....

After the Turning Blue, we went to the National Infantry Museum and toured and had a nice lunch. There were a lot of families there with new graduates and it was fun to see so many smiling faces. All of us with grads knew what they've endured - at least not first hand but watching from afar - and there were proud faces everywhere.  The museum was amazing - it's hard to describe but it would be impossible to go through it and not have a lump in your throat through most of your walk.  When you think of the magnitude of what soldiers do - and now, that they do it voluntarily - it's pretty incredible.

B. went back to the hotel with us with all his 'gear' and then we had dinner at a small sports bar.  We hung out in the hotel room for a bit and then it was time to take him back to base.  B. found out that immediately after graduation on Friday morning, he had to report to Airborne School for 'processing'.  We pre-agreed not to try to find each other after the ceremony -

The graduation ceremony was incredible....the base band played and entertained us (they were AWESOME) and the speeches were brief and meaningful.  Again, lump in the throat most of the time because you just can't imagine these 400+ young men volunteering to put themselves in harms way - but they are.  The new soldiers marched off the field and headed to the front of the museum to have their group photos taken - and then they were off.  We got to the front of the museum in time to see hundreds of soldiers running towards the buses that awaited them - so we were very glad we had already agreed not to try to meet up.  Wouldn't have wanted B. to be worried that he didn't have time to find us - 'cuz he had to get where he needed to be.

He was 'processed' for the next six hours and we picked him up in time to have a nice dinner.  He arrived with all his gear - much of it soaking wet 'cuz it rained off and on that day and while they were being processed, the gear sat outside in the rain!  After dinner, we headed back to the hotel to do some laundry and help B. get his gear tidied up and readied.  Though he wanted us to take some stuff home, we decided it would be better to keep everything issued so far - even though he's pretty sure he won't need it....we did take some papers and his boot camp year book home with us.


The post is a bit choppy - I actually sort of told parts of the story in a few other posts - but the Turning Blue ceremony on the field at Ft. Benning is what I will never forget about my soldier. Having survived the hardest 13 weeks of his life up to that point - including absolutely no phone or social media direct contact with anyone in his circle of friends and family - was reason to celebrate. The field, completely full of new soldiers was such a proud moment for me as a mom - but really, more as an American.  I didn't expect to feel so overwhelmed by the events that weekend, but it was truly an awe-inspiring weekend.  

B., I'm so, so proud of you and your service.  You are an amazing young man and I am so honored to be your mom.

Post-Beethoven

You know it was an amazing concert when you can't stop humming.  The 2nd movement of Beethoven's 7th is one of my most treasured and beloved pieces of music and it's playing in my head over and over this morning.  Lovely evening - and considering I wasn't feeling stellar most of yesterday and wasn't sure about getting there last night, I'm so glad I/we made it - it was beautiful.

I'm heading out this morning for some errands that I didn't get to yesterday and then back upstairs to continue working in tidying up my bedroom.  I've got a box of books for the library filling up and soon, bags of clothing will be added to the donation pile.  Hoping to create a better 'sanctuary' vs. 'the place you sleep that's also where you stash stuff you don't know what to do with'.

And I might need to retract the EBay post about the french horn...it makes me nervous to list it and then be on pins and needles hoping nothing goes wrong.  Like someone 'wins' and somehow manages to not pay - I think J. is going to take it to a music store in Modesto that accepts consignments and we'll see what happens.  Bidding on EBay may increase the price vs. consigning it - but it's a lot less nerve wracking to just have it sell in a store and they send us a check (net their commission).

The free fish that we've purchased a small tank for also got a new heater yesterday - he's not doing all that well and I keep trying to gently remind H. that fish are fraught with all kinds of things that can go wrong - and there's no way to take them to the vet so....we watch and wait.  We were hoping the heater would help but poor Bowzer is still lurking on the bottom of the tank, not moving much and not eating.  Not good signs.

I dread getting in the shower - wait, that's not true - I'm fine with getting IN the shower, I just dread getting OUT of the shower 'cuz it's freezing cold.

Long week ahead, which I also dread.  Sundays have become mostly about dreading Mondays (even more) and all that comes after Monday, too.  Here's to better days ahead, at some point.

First Timer

I'm marching out boldly - after decades of tiptoeing lightly - into the world of trying to sell something on EBay.  It's time for my french horn to find a new home and hopefully, there will be a little cash to us in exchange.  I've considered (carefully) donating it to the district I work for - but there are multiple schools with music programs and it's hard to go random on the selection of who gets it. You'd think I would lean towards the school my kids attended - but I lean way far from that school these days so....I just can't decide and I'm not willing to draw straws.  I'm setting a minimum and a reserve but it's reasonably priced - though I hope it will be bid on aggressively and sell for much more than my minimum.  I just can't bring myself to risk it and list it as a straight auction 'cuz if I had to let it go for very little, it would break my heart.  It's approaching 39 years new - I got it around Christmas time my Junior year of high school.... 1976!

It's cold here.  I'm dressed in a short sleeve shirt and jeans and wishing I'd remembered to bring a sweatshirt or something downstairs this morning, 'cuz even with the heat on, it feels cold.

As I've been expecting all week, I'm dealing with a side effect of the antibiotics that has me desiring to stick close to home.  Plenty of errands I need to run but I'm not venturing out of the house..yet. Concert tonight will be challenging but I hope I'll be OK.  Made Cracker Crumb buttered pasta for lunch - comfort food.  Hoping the pasta helps slow things down a bit.

J. is car shopping online and says 'I'm going to not get the parking assist feature'.  Um, OK.  But he is looking at the 'lane change' and rear view camera, etc. .  We've managed our entire lives without all these razzmatazz features but now, they're embedded into the other package features he does want, so...you end up getting things you really wish you didn't have to get (and pay for).  I don't begrudge him getting what he wants - something nice - but maybe my stomach is all knotted up and clenchy today trying to figure out how we will pay for it.

We will.  We will be fine.  :-)   We just won't be taking as many trips for a bit - we've had a trip to Paris, a trip to Rome (J. and H.), a trip to Cancun, a trip to Phoenix and Disneyland in April - so that's a lot of expense in one year that we most definitely won't be doing when there's a car payment in the monthly budget again.

I warned J. that my next car will likely be the Toyota Highlander hybrid - Escape Hybrid is no longer made - and that's going to be pricey.  But five to seven years from now - who knows what will be out there!  Maybe it will be a hover-car of some kind.

H. wants a hover-board for Christmas.  And Playstation 4.  Nothing inexpensive on his list at all.

We will depart for Modesto in a few hours so I think I'll try to take a quick nap.

A New Car on the Horizon Anyway

We got B. through his new-car-itis and feel reasonably sure he is realizing that buying a very expensive truck and committing himself to long term debt is probably not the best decision.  Dodoged the 'new car bullet' on that one - at least we thought we had.

H. was in a car accident on Wednesday - he rear ended the guy in front of him and the guy in back of H. hit him.  As the three cars were moving over to get out of the main road, the guy who hit H. hit the gas and took off - H. is at fault so....he was a little sore (and pissed off that his air bag didn't deploy) but he's fine physically.  And that's what's most important.

We are reasonably sure the car will be considered totaled - the repairs are $5500 and it's not worth that - so....

Our current plan is to let H. drive J.'s current car (a Hybrid Toyota Camry) and J. will be getting a new car.  We're trying to postpone until after the holidays 'cuz we'd like to make a savings withdrawal to make a large down payment - but we'll see what kind of 'great deals' come up during the next couple months.  I know our monthly budget can handle a car payment 'cuz it's only been a little over a year since we paid off my car - but I'd really like to avoid a $700 a month payment if at all possible. Under $400 is my goal.

It sort of makes me consider leasing (which we've never, ever done) but I really don't like renting a car....even though J.'s mileage is fairly low, I just don't want to pay every month for the 'use' of a car. I much prefer investing in a car and when the monthly payments are done, we have something that's an asset -

J. loves shopping for cars so he's a happy camper and will be well occupied in upcoming months.  He does want a hybrid and there are a lot more options out there now than when he purchased his Camry (9.5 years ago), so he's happily looking over car after car -

Since H. pitched in for his car, the check we will get from the insurance company will beef up his savings.  And depending on his final report card this semester, we plan to greatly assist him with expenses for his next semester.  He's really done an amazing job - keeping up with assignments; attending classes regularly and forming friendships with others in the class to help with studying; reading and studying often.  It's a joy to see him 'getting' that if you put the effort into the process of learning, it really makes a huge difference.  He loves his math teacher and he's really working hard at mastering the things he needs to 'get'.  Finally!

Tonight, we head to Modesto for Beethoven's 7th at Gallo Center for the Arts.  Looking forward to an evening out - we may eat here in town or just eat at home.  Probably home 'cuz we are going to a show next Friday evening with friends (Kathleen Madigan also at Gallo) and we plan to enjoy dinner out with them before the show.

Work is work lately - there's so much going on that I can't write about and some days, I feel so 'done' with things....I love my boss, love my job - but the same 'stuff' from the same people day after day gets to me.  When people you think you know and trust start doing things that are just so completely wrong - and there's really not much you can do except think 'what a train wreck of a person' - it's hard.

We are working in the yard this weekend - we have a bunch of plants that arrived before we left for Cancun - they are doing well keeping moist in a bin of water but it's time to get them in the ground and then cross our fingers we don't experience a huge freeze before they get settled in the beds.

I'm still dealing with my sinus issues.  I'm religiously taking my antibiotics and am less congested than I was but the nights are back to being a challenge - trying not to cough through the night.  I see a repeat visit to the doctor in the future.

Fortuitous Absence

At 5AM yesterday, I woke myself up enough to get the iPad off my nightstand and go to our district website....then the HR department link...and then the link to our Substitute/Time Off system - and officially 'called in sick'.  Normally, I would have also phoned my boss and left a message on his office phone - but for the first time ever, I just used the system everyone uses and skipped the phone call.  If it's good enough for other staff, it's good enough for me.  I got an email from my boss at 8:02 acknowledging he saw the absence with two words 'feel better'.

Knowing the housecleaning crew was coming for the first time in four weeks (we cancelled during our trip to Playa 'cuz the logistics of getting H. to get things tidied up for them combined with the risk of having no idea what the house would look like when they arrived and not wanting to put them through that) would be enough reason for me to not want to hang out at the house on a day I feel punky - I don't really do well when other people are doing things I should be doing.  But I stayed home anyway. J. said he thought they'd be here 11ish....but 11 came and went and so did noon.  I wanted so badly to crawl into bed and sleep - but their 1PM arrival made that not doable.  So I piddled around trying to help J. get things ready for them - all the suitcases are officially unpacked; the 'Vamos a la Playa' box in the garage is restocked for the next trip - .

J. fields a lot of things with the 'boys' and I leave him to it.  Our family dynamic is one of avoiding talking to mom about 90% of things at all costs and it's worked for us.  They are 'men' and they know that my reaction might be significantly different compared to their dad's....maybe I shouldn't admit that in these missives but whatever.  I'm the mom.  I point out the illogicality of much of their stuff and they don't like that - so they go to their dad.  He's a good listener, smart, also a guy....

B. had somehow convinced himself that - because his truck needs 'another' $500 in repairs (rear brakes this time) - that it's time to buy a new truck.  He apparently had found one at a dealership...and been told they could get him into it for $150 per paycheck.  'Around 2-3% interest'.  He actually had no idea about the specific terms of the loan - interest rate, length of the loan, out the door price of the vehicle being considered.  I inserted myself into the equation pronto by requesting J. switch the call to speaker phone mode (iPhone)....and tried to gently, though firmly, but with as little bat-shit-crazy-banshee as I could point out how ridiculous it is for him to want to avoid a $500 expense by buying a $35K vehicle.

I then also proceeded to use Edmunds and Kelly Blue Book with J. - and we couldn't find any inventory within 250 miles of El Paso close to what B. was being told (over the phone only, I think) about the truck.

J. wrote a list of things for B. to consider and emailed it to him - and B. wrote back (finally) and said 'you're right, I'm stupid'.  So I hope that means he's not planning to buy a truck.  I added a FB message (not revealing that I knew he had just messaged his dad an indication he was realizing how ridiculous it was) that confirmed that if he locked himself in to $300 a month for a car payment, plus increased insurance (which he hadn't scoped out yet) combined with savings monthly for maintenance (because yes, even new cars require maintenance and if you'd been saving monthly for maintenance of your current vehicle like you were going to when you bought it a couple years ago (with us loaning him the $ for a ridiculously low interest rate and payment), you would have the $500 you need for brakes that you can't afford now thus deciding going into debt $35K is 'better'), your budget would be so tight, you would have no $ to travel home; no $ for tattoos and golf (his latest obsession); no $ for time with friends going out and enjoying food and beverages; or a movie; or anything 'extra'.  For a to-be-determined number of months - though J. and I surmised the terms of the loan must be at least an 8-10 year obligation to make the $300 a month work.

And somewhere in all that, B. also confirmed with J. that it's looking not likely on coming home at Christmas - but he hasn't told me that yet.

We quickly offered to come up with the $ for the brake job (driving an unsafe truck is unwise) but he refused to accept the loan.  Leaving me with nail biting nightmares about an accident....but J. drove the truck when he was there and said that with the front breaks fixed, it's likely far better and it should be fine until B. can make repairs.

If I hadn't called in sick, I would have missed all the 'fun' and B. might own a new truck by now - so it was worth the 8 hours charged against my sick time.  :-)

It's now 6:30ish and I need to hop in the shower to get going for a very busy day....

It's Raining, It's Pouring

And lightening and thundering, too!  I awoke in the middle of the night (Awoke!  as in I was actually sleeping!!  Yeah!) hearing strange noises.  Unfamiliar sounds.  I decided to get up and go to the bathroom and realized when my feet hit the carpet that it was coming from outside....and then a couple steps towards the bathroom, it hit me - it was raining!  I did a little happy dance between my bed and the bathroom and then snuggled back in bed and went right back to sleep.  Nothing like a rainy night to promote sound sleep.

The Benadryl I took also probably had something to do with it - but that's OK.  I plan to repeat again tonight in hopes of another good night's sleep.  I also added my inhaler to the mix which took away the tickle that makes me cough with every breath.

I made it until 1PM today which was pretty good considering at 8:30 this morning, I was pretty sure I wouldn't make it until 9...but I had things I had to do so I just kept doing them -

I'm still coughing a little but things are improving...but it's only 6:19PM, pitch black outside and I'm so ready for bed....so I think I'm heading upstairs pretty soon -

This week has daily meetings across the entire week along with board prep and starting on my report due to the Board in December.  It's going to be busy so I sure hope I start to feel better soon -

I read back this time last year and it also rained a fair amount in November - which gave us all hope for a good snow year...and that didn't happen.  Sure hope this year will be continuous snow and rain - one major year of snow won't really get us out of the drought but it might help.  I'm looking into ways to store the shower water we have everyday 'cuz Mother Nature is watering our plants at the moment. I know J. thinks I'm crazy - but if we could use a huge bin with a lid or a barrel of some kind, we could store water to have when the rain stops - whether that's in a week or six months.  I just hate to waste the water now that I see how much we have been wasting.

So many little changes we've made that I realize we could have and should have made 'standard practice' for our entire lives - it's amazing the amount of water wasted that we've never thought about.

It's time to head to bed....hoping for another decent night's sleep.

So True

The only difference is:  we just take all the Reese's out of the candy bags and don't give them out.

It was pretty quiet last night - things seemed to start much later (probably because it wasn't a school night) and wrapped up pretty quickly -

There's plenty of leftover candy to take to work - so it will be a busy but chocolate filled week.

I had another rough night but am going to get cleaned up and head out to Petsmart - I came downstairs and noticed Bowzer's bowl had a crack - with two ends approaching the meeting point (moving in a circular direction) - which would have been a disaster if I hadn't noticed.  We moved him into his temporary apartment (a clear Tupperware bowl) to give me time to get to the store.  He will be enjoying a significant upgrade to his digs today.

Always enjoy this Sunday with the extra hour - usually, I feel like we get so much more accomplished in the extra time - but today will be low key and I won't be doing much.  Just trying to stay vertical and not break a rib coughing my guts out.  :-)