I guess  the countdown to my last day at the university should begin.  I think we're at 16 days.

I spent the day reviewing applications for one of our open positions.  Man alive, people need a class on employment communication.  One of our applicants had a picture of blue bird on top of her CV while another named the wrong university, not ours, as the one he was applying to.  But it does make them easier to sort through!

I also handed off a bunch of paperwork to my friend/colleague/ aka workhusband who is taking over my job.  That was very fun.  And I threw away (unbelievably) sets of overhead slides.  Have I been doing this too long?

In financial and decluttering news, I offered a bunch of my dissertation books to an online colleague for free and got them mailed.  He's sending me the postage.  And in a kind of strange ebay sale, I've been holding on to a pair of my mom's "fancy" eyeglasses from the late 1950s and early 1960s.  They were kind of funky cat's eyes shape, and I toyed with the idea of wearing them myself.  But my mom was a much smaller person than me, and well, they're not really my style.  However, the aluminum frames were popular on ebay, so I listed them and got an almost immediate offer. Does it seem creepy to you that I sold them?  She was a practical soul, so I don't think she'd object.  They're packed, mailed, and gone now.  Other than that postage, I spent nothing, bringing coffee to my university office.

Onward!

I spent a lovely week away with friends in Northern Minnesota to celebrate my pending retirement as well as another friend's accomplished retirement.  We hiked a lot, had some lovely wine and cocktails and dinners, and best--spent some beautiful moments watching the moon rise over Lake Superior.  One of these women has been a friend since 2nd grade.  No friends like old friends.

I then headed toward home meeting some university friends in a town on the Mississippi where one of their kids is thinking about attending university.  I love them all, but man, traveling with others that get up at different hours, spend WAY more money on food and drinks, and don't like the outdoors is not my thing.  I did spend some happy hours at a minor league baseball game, in a bookstore where I resisted buying anything, and walking through the marsh and along the river.  I find it hard to imagine that someone's ideal weekend on a beautiful July day could be holed up in the hotel watching TV.  But anyway, each to their own.

It's been a hot one here, so I'm decluttering, selling books and rearranging crud.  Spending has been limited to groceries.  So many odds and ends to accomplish as again we count down to when DD returns to Scotland. Absentee ballots, doctors' appointments, money mgmt--I feel like we've done this all so many times before. 

Wishing you all cool and breezy weekends!

It was our DD's 20th (eek) birthday this weekend, and although no one except maybe Jeff Bezos would describe it as frugal, it was lovely.  We spent Friday night at the Brewers' game on an absolutely stellar evening with an exciting game.  Saturday DD worked, but she got free tickets to Summerfest, so we met one of her friends there.  I was concerned about paying mega$$ for parking, but she found us a Spothero spot for $5.  Honestly, I had a hard time planning her "real" birthday yesterday with her somewhat boring parents.  But we've always enjoyed the Chicago river boat trips, the European city boats, etc, so I thought, why not try the river boat architecture tour right here in Beer City.

It was a spectacularly gorgeous day, and we really enjoyed the narration, learning more about the place where we've lived so long, and just being on the water.  We topped it off with dinner at a local Italian place and an ice cream cake.

That was the weekend, with more activities than we've had the last month or so combined.  Time to rein in the budget just a bit, reducing where I can.  We have leftovers from yesterday--and a heckuva lot of cake which we'll share with friends.  Tomorrow I'm headed to northern Minnesota to spend a couple of days with my best friends, followed by a weekend along the Mississippi with my university friends.  Packing a lunch for tomorrow, staying with friends for a few days, and I'll pick up an audio book at the library before I go.

And I am again aware of how much I've enjoyed this site over the years.  I see more than a few of you on other sites, including Frugalwoods too--and am grateful for the friendship from the Lauras, Scottish Sarah, and so many of the rest of you.  It's always funny trying to explain who y'all are to my family--although as my DD casually tells my DH--"That's one of mom's blog friends. "  It's a pleasure and a privilege to know you. 

As we transition from my university insurance to my DH's, I'm again grateful for how good the state insurance was/is.  The pay was certainly awful, but great coverage.  I spent half yesterday filing for my accumulated sick leave to be escrowed towards future insurance in what can only be described as a blizzard of paperwork.  But I've filed for it, and I'll have to wait 7-10 days to see whether they've accepted it.

In other news, I've spent all my remaining FSA cash on new glasses.  Happy I could use it all, but man alive, glasses are expensive.  Now we have to learn an entire new bewildering insurance system with DH's insurance.  And their wellness incentives seem absolutely crazy.  Do I want his employer to have access to my fitbit and phone?  Grrrr.

DD had another allergist appointment as we try to squeeze every last doctor appointment into the next month and a half.  I've booked her also at the dentist and eye doctor. 

More on that front as we progress!

Well, our DD is home from her whirlwind European tour--14 countries, one by accident as they missed the Copenhagen stop and spent 20 minutes in Malmo, Sweden.   She has some serious replenishingof her bank account to tend to.  And predictably our grocery spending has gone up.

What have we done--some minor decluttering and book selling, some travel planning for the first week of September when she returns to Scotland, making some dr appts to use up my flex spending and taking advantage of my paid deductibles before we switch to DH's insurance. 

I have a lot to do, but am taking this day off to sort of soak up summer, have a patio dinner and relax. Happy July to all of you!