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Archive for February, 2021

March? Really?

March 1st, 2021 at 02:45 am

How on earth is it possible that it's March tomorrow?  It seems incredible.

My DH and I were taking a walk this afternoon and talking about how a year ago our daughter was prepping for her AP exams and trying to make college choices.  It seems like forever ago.

But we're all healthy and all employed and not spending much at all.  I've decided to use two days of my spring break to go over all our accounts and do some serious retirement plannng as well as ensure we have enough for DD's remaining years at university.  I'm confident we do, but would like to see the numbers.

March 1 is also a big day for educators (me) and grocery workers (DD) as eligible for the vaccine.  We've managed to secure appointments through a lot of screen refreshing, so we should (crossing our fingers) be vaccinated by the end of the week.  I'm pretty darn excited. 

We have a few things coming up including a food drive at church and muffin making for a local organization that packs meals for the homeless.  And that's it for Sunday night. 

 

Paying Myself Back

February 19th, 2021 at 05:45 am

It's been a busy day with student zoom conferences and an unexpected vet visit.  Our old dog had a strange episode last night--something the vet called an acute collapse.  She came running in from the yard, and when I turned around she was flat on the floor and not moving.  She stayed that way--though conscious --for about 4 or 5 minutes while I sat next to her trying to comfort her.  There was no sign of injury, so I'm not sure whether she ran into our unforgiving iron chair legs or collapsed for another reason.  But when my DH came in, she raised her head, and a few minutes later as I tried to carry her to her bed, she got up, drank some water, and sat there staring for a while.    By midnight she seemed almost fine, eating, drinking, etc

 

The vet was unsure too--did she have a concussion from running into something?  A cardiac event?  He ruled out a seizure as there was no shaking or spasms.  But she seems pretty good today for almost a 15-year-old.  So aside from $70 at the vet, I stopped into ALDI on the way home for some bargains.  I also am slowly paying myself back for DD's first year at university.  I owe myself $15,000 but have paid back $3000 since November.  A few other minor additions from refunds and Swagbucks added more to my big goal.  Financial goals for the weekend include DD's taxes.  Happy it'll be warmer!

Singing the Same Song

February 15th, 2021 at 08:03 pm

It's cold cold cold.  We were whining abut -4 until I checked my friends in central MN at -26.  My cabin fever comes and goes, but February--ugh.

We had a nice cheap Valentine's Day with lots of good food. I made strawbery pancakes and sausage for breakfast, then jambalaya for dinner with a bakewell tart--my first attempt at those.    I'd ordered some cute penguin earrings for DD, and DH bought a pretty blooming plant for me.  It was a nice day.

I have student conferences all week.  They're challenging weeks as I try to juggle regular work with talking to them.  But it really helps us all to talk to each other and build a solid bond. 

In between I'm decluttering,  and adding more layers to my bulky Michelin man conference clothes.

Good luck to all of you with the weather challenges!

 

 

February Cold

February 9th, 2021 at 11:08 pm

Yes, it's my least favorite month of the year, and we have a long cold snap.  Oh yeah, and everything else that's going on.  COVID has hit our circle hard--My best friend has lost her mother-in-law, two work colleagues have lost parents, and Friday my aunt died.  In between those, we lost two friends to colon cancer.  Man, I'm cheery, aren't I? 

So we keep on keeping on.  Work is fine for all of us.  DD is very busy with online classes, and my minor victory is I actually got on the treadmill today.  Little money news here.  I've become a fairly regular ALDI shopper as it's big and mostly empty when I go--and cheap.  I'll do the taxes this weekend. 

My major decision looming is whether to try to figure out our retirement timeline myself or hire a CFP.  I know some of you have experience with them, and I think I'd feel reassured if I go that route.  Dido?  Anyone else have recommendations?  My only qualm is that many of them I've found want huge $$ of assets, some stipulating over 2 million.  That's not us.  But we are a bit complicated with money in two countries and juggling tuition etc.