I have been scrambling hard at work, and there's plenty to do around here. But after a lovely class session earmarked as "Drop In and Work on Your Projects" complete with some jazz playing in the background, I walked to the car amidst a gorgeous light snowfall. It was really lovely and made me determined to find many more such moments in the coming weeks.

I again spent nothing today. We had a simple supper of CSA vegetable soup and grilled cheese sandwiches with ham and pineapple on them. It was delicious--I'm definitely doing the ham and pineapple grill again.

Our daughter and I went to the ortho for an initial consult today. Are all the orthos now so freakily upbeat and happy? We had to shake hands with a dozen people there, look at all the jazzy colors for her braces, and watch a very strange film on the ortho practice with bad rock and roll soundtrack. I guess it's better than the dread I felt going as a teen, but I thought it was way over the top. The price? About what I had planned, but still unpleasant.

I've been trying to balance minimal household chores, cooking, and family time with the mountain of grading that is staring at me. Despite some frustrations, it's going pretty well.

We spent some time over the holiday discussing whether we could afford French camp for DD again this year. Those numbers and our weakening water heater has brought on another round of belt tightening. Oh, and there's the plane tickets to the UK for my father-in law's 90th. I've reset the frugal daily spending, making an impromptu dinner at home after Saturday's post-holiday driving, parked in the free zone enabling a long walk to class today, and brought my own coffee. If I can make that work for the next few weeks, we'll call the water heater fund started. Maybe Swagbucks can kick in $100.

It's all about the balance.

September is always bittersweet for me--goodbye summer, hello schedule. But DD was up and out the door on time this morning-although no sign of the school bus. The first couple weeks are always iffy with the bus.

And I'm at the university today copying, then home to try to create some order. I do plan on a stop at Home Depot for more spray paint and a tack cloth, but not much more.

And the paycheck countdown begins! I should get some cash from my capstone reads today, but another month before a real paycheck.

I'm hoping for a leaner month!

I've been feeling very off-track lately. It seems like I'm not getting much done and am behind in housework and self care too. The house needs a solid pick-up, and I find a very full fridge and freezer hard to deal with. I think I officially have August-itis.

Causes? Uncertainty about DH's job (always and again), impending semester with lots to do, August-afflicted child who sleeps too late and hates the heat, travel hangover, delays in bathroom remodel bids, massive canning days that put off everything else, horrible edits and capstone projects that frustrate me, too many social obligations. I feel stuck.

Plan? Tomorrow (heat and aforementioned social obligation today) must be devoted to catching up. I may have to build in a reward to the child for helping me. Maybe even build in a reward for myself.

It's time to get financially back on track too. Back-to-school shopping was expensive as child now requires adult sizes. Yesterday I spent (ouch)$250 on jeans, pants, and shoes for her. The only upside now is if she outgrows those three pairs of shoes, I can wear them.

Tomorrow demands a list. Getting on that today. Wish me luck to get unstuck.

I had my London de-brief meeting yesterday, and they've asked me to do the program again. I'm undecided, but leaning that way. Lots of things to discuss with the family first.

My DD is still at French camp, and I'm missing her a lot. She's my partner in crime in the summer. But I'm getting a lot done. On the way home from yesterday's meeting I dropped a big bag at Goodwill. Then I stopped to deposit checks from a friend and for the root canal reimbursement. For the life of me I can't figure out what and how they're paying. It seems the endodontist has received half the amount, and I keep getting tiny check for other portions of it. I'll wait until next week for the endo to reimburse me, but I'm not sure what else they're actually paying me for. Honestly, it's like putting tiny shards of tile together to see what kind of sculpture they form.

I've been dragging my feet on closing my Wells Fargo checking. It means moving my paycheck direct deposit and my IRA direct debit, but I moved the direct debit a while back, and since I don't get paid again until October, it seemed like the ideal time. I figured it might take 15 minutes but 90(!!) minutes later, they finished it up, and I walked out with another check to deposit in our joint checking. Check that one off. Now to fix a few other direct debits.

I also need to spend some time on the phone setting up dental and doctor appointments. And some more decluttering--and a long walk. I've also blocked off a couple hours to write next fall's teaching materials.

Our CSA box had turnips this week. Anyone have fabulous (stop laughing) turnip recipes they'd like to share?

I am home again after driving 1200+ miles to take DD and her friend to French camp. The trip taught me a few things including that my DD is pretty low maintenance. Her friend is not. My DD is used to our rules about food, stopping, buying junk, etc, and it was interesting to see their differences.

We spent $100 on Sunday's hotel, had a lovely dinner with some of my Minnesota friends at a place where kids eat free on Sundays. Again, my daughter was a star. Free breakfast the next morning saved us some cash as did the car snacks in lieu of lunch. I stayed with friends on the way back who made me an excellent dinner. So gas, hotel, and some road food was all that I spent--and I even managed to stay out of the outlet stores.

It's very quiet in the house without the kid around. I hope she's having a grand adventure.

It's actually been a productive day, but such a drag. I packed up lots of the books we sold, an ebay sale, a book given to my husband by his history professor, and (the most exciting!) two boxes of Swiffer wet-jet pads from our busted Swiffer. Everything except the professor's book and the ebay sale was sold on FB, and the other two delivered to the post office.

But most of the day was spent reading truly horrible capstone projects, most of which I failed. They have a new advisor this term, and his students are not getting good advice from him. I failed more than half his projects. There's only so much bad prose a person can handle.

DD and I did take a little trip to Target for some camp essentials for her: stronger insect spray, a new flashlight, that kind of thing as well as some fill-in groceries. That was a swift $50, even with the Red card.

I need more fun! Perhaps tomorrow?

After the Door County expenses, now comes DD's summer camp expenses. So, to keep things as much in line as possible, we're going to need some simple weeks with limited spending. We have lots of food around, and not a lot of obligations. DD and DH have been going out to Noodles or some such place on the nights I teach. It's more cash, but I feel strongly it's better for them. They spend more time in conversation rather than hurrying back to their respective screens.


DH is flying back to the UK to see his dad later this week. It's another slightly optional expense, but his 89-year-old dad is failing and they need time together.

So, as you can see, we need to hold it down. I'm always looking for ways to economize and stretch. Hit me with some new ones! This is the week to try things!

I feel like I'm swamped--so much to do, but much of it is self-created work as I'm trying for more and more FB sales, so I'm finding, taking photos, listing, replying to inquiries, and packing things up. While the first round of this was mostly kid's stuff, this time lots of it is my clothes. I'm rarely a planner when it comes to clothes and when I find a style I like, I tend to stick with it. The last few years I've worn a lot of cardigans with camisoles to teach. So I've probably bought too many. Axe probably, I have too many.

Inspired by some of the Marie Kondo ideas, I went on a folding spree last night, fished five rarely worn tanks and camis out of the beautifully folded drawer--and was able to consolidate two heaping drawers of stuff into one gorgeous drawer of origami camis. I feel a little crazy just typing that. I washed them and took photos, listed, and have sold three of the five. Out also is going a rocking David Bowie tee, another cardigan, and a peach top that is more tent than top. All sold awaiting pick-up.

I Kondo-ed DD's horrible top and pants drawers this afternoon, switching their order, and I'm over-the- moon excited by how wonderful it is. And also very tired. I'm listing some of her outgrowns tonight.

In between this odd flurry of wackiness, I bought plants, spread mulch and compost, planted another crop of lettuce, tomatoes, and filled six planters.

Although I feel like going to bed at 8, I need to finish laundry and grade tomorrow's homework responses. And pull together a quick PowerPoint for our discussion. Hopefully I can stop folding for long enough to do that.

Part of my real and financial housekeeping has been to look hard at all of our upcoming expenses. We both tend to just throw money in a pile, try not to overspend, and hope to find the money in the pile when we need it. Indeed if we want to use some of my nest egg for an English property, we're going to need to examine our domestic spending and goals. That means looking at our spending even more carefully.

My DH doesn't spend a lot on frivolous things, but also never compares prices or thinks about long-term planning. That's just not how he is. Our retirement planning has been my task, and I've done pretty well with it. We also have set aside some money for DD's college expenses, but not really enough. DH had the advantage of a free British university education (no longer the case there), so hasn't really thought through what DD will need. I spent some time running college calculators the past few days, and it's clear we need to save more. Although he fidgeted through the discussion this morning, he actually lasted through the whole thing--culminating in our increasing our 529 contribution significantly.

I'd still like to get a new water heater and a new bathroom in the next year, but I can see I'm going to have to find a bit more freelance editing work over the summer, be more vigilant about expenses, and keep selling clutter.

My current small steps have helped, but I'm committed to examining all our bills--from finding a better phone plan to increasing our insurance deductible on the older car.

I sold some kid's clothes over the last week via a FB group, and today saw someone wanting to buy iron patio chairs. We replaced our patio chairs a couple years ago and have exactly the chairs she's seeking gathering dust in the garage. I'm going to inspect them tomorrow, and hopefully have them out the door by the end of the week.

More decluttering was done in the office and master bath. I listed a couple books on Amazon, but my ebay items failed to sell. I also have a box of postcards (gees, maybe I am a hoarder) that a co-worker's daughter would like, so I hope to get them out the door soon too.

We've just received the information about DD's school trip to Washington DC next year. It's a groaning $1200+, and of course, all her friends are going. So--in a burst of inspiration, we're doing the 52-week savings plan which will fund it nicely. There are also fundraisers along the way, but if we have overage, she can use it for spending money.

And today was a NS day!

This was one of those days you had to push through. About 11 last night as I was finishing up some work, DD started vomiting. Twice we got her cleaned up and re- situated, then she'd start up again. Eventually around 2 she settled down and slept. But of course we were up hours after that, cleaning up, washing sheets, figuring out who could stay home. At 7 she woke up and insisted on going to school. She was giving a presentation on Jonas Salk and was very excited about it. Yet by lunch she was queasy and came home again.

So, little work was done. DH stayed home, dozed while she was at school, then worked online for a bit.
I zombied through my classes, stopped at CVS, then took over the afternoon shift. She seems better but has eaten only a bit. And nothing like a vomiting kid to make you feel queasy yourself. I'm opting for an early evening.

We had a couple inches of snow here this morning which screwed up everyone's commute, so to optimize a speedy exit, I again spent $7 in the ramp. No more!

Let's start with the biggest anxiety reliever. DH's contract runs into at least the end of 2013. They sort of casually told him this on Monday after we'd been fretting at the impending end-of-October date. And since they have more money in 2014, it'll likely be extended again. Pheww.

Yesterday a colleague and I had a meeting with our dean about salaries. Our department chair is nice but useless and, as he says" doesn't want to spend HIS capital" arguing for us. Thanks a bunch. Three additional colleagues and I all missed a $2000 salary increase because we "went up" for our tenure equivalency early. The salary bump came six months later, and we were not eligible for it. The university so rarely moves on any of these issues, no one even whimpered publicly. No one except for my colleague who was madder than hell. As it turns out, the dean see our point that it penalizes seniority rather than rewarding it and is pushing our case. Since it was all going so swimmingly, I asked if they could do something about me being on half salary while in London. She was genuinely shocked about that and promised investigation there as well.

So, nothing definite out of it yet, but I'm cautiously optimistic. Cross fingers, please.

Then I narrowly dodged a $65 immunization last night. The school wants 11-year-olds to have a booster tdap vaccine right now. I figured we'd save the doctor visit and went to Walgreen's, but they don't honor my insurance for "medical" vaccines, whatever that means. They were happy to do it for $65, and there were other parents there all grumbling about it. I called our doctor this morning and she'll have it in the office on Tuesday morning-no fee or co-pay. I'm thrilled.

No other big news. DD and I went to Noodles last night for dinner as I had a coupon for a free meal. I'm shocked at how many people and their kids eat dinner out all the time. We spent under $6 for both of us with my birthday coupon, but the couple behind us who confided that Thursday is their Noodles Night spent $54 for themselves and two kids. Eeek.

I think all I've bought in the past three days is some yogurt for DD and two cups of iced coffee at school.
It's just too busy for much else.

Another full day of teaching today with little prep or grading done. I had that iced coffee with a prospective London student. I think we have 15 now that have started the applications.

Tonight we attended the middle school (or Muggle school as we call it) parents' night. I'm always happy to hear other people's kids lose as many assignments, spend as much on lunch, and are chronic dawdlers like mine. But I'm not sure I needed 160 minutes there. We got nothing else done tonight. Yikes.

In further financial news, I sold a book for $90 and saved a mint at CVS. Their stooopid coupon machine wouldn't print, so the cashier gave me double off. Isn't that nice? I paid for ALL of my purchases with coupons and extra bucks. Such thrills!

Sure of imminent budget disaster, we embarked on a shoe buying venture today. First, the foot measuring. DD has gone from a Girls' 3 to an adult 6 1/2 over the summer which explains the fit of her Tevas.

My predictions were correct as we left Infamous Footwear $230 poorer than when we entered. Yet that staggering total includes Clarks, already half price, PE shoes, and Bear Traps in a size up. We used every trick in the book: BOGO half off, coupons, loyalty cards, codes, and every other shenanigan I could pull. I did ask if I could stack shoes in the back for a couple hours for another 10%, but to no avail.

Cinderella's mom also got a pair of acceptable work shoes and a deeply discounted pair of summer wedges since I have had no new shoes this year.

So we got the Shoe Blues but alotta sole.

A $1.70 thanks to CreditCardFree who alerted me to the Target cartwheel app that you can just print out. I have a severely dumb phone, so no smart phone apps for me. But after turning off all the Facebook share stuff, I saved $1.70 on things I had already planned to buy--most of which I had Target coupons, manufacturer's coupons, or both for. And of course, that 5% RedCard savings.

It came in especially handy since DD seems to have left her last wearable swimsuit somewhere and has been invited to a pool party tomorrow. She's oddly between sizes, and I didn't want to spend a lot on a new suit. Between that, school supplies, and a fair amount of groceries, and allergy meds, the savings helped. As my mom used to say about people who scoffed at her coupons, "If you saw it on the floor, you'd pick it up, wouldn't you?" I am by no means an accomplished couponer, but every little bit helps.

We had huge downpours today which slowed down my errand list. Yet DD and I had our traditional Friday lunch out. We alternate choices, and today was hers: Culvers.

We stopped at Office Max to get a few school supplies, including most of their specials. She needs a new calculator this year which they had for $15.99. Our next stop was the ever-tempting Target where we got more school supplies, a cute jean jacket for her, and a few grocery items. A big shout out here for DD who spotted the identical calculator at Target for $6 less. Plus, of course, the savings with the Red Card.

I used several good Target coupons and got a $5 gift card as well as returning some party items from last week. All in all, good savings, good shopping.

I'm reading an older Kate Atkinson novel which I also like. This is part of the Jackson Brodie detective series, and it's a good summer read.

Our state income tax refund finally arrived yesterday. What a relief. We did file late because I was in London, but it's been months. It's almost $700 and I'd like to divide it up into Roths and DD's college fund. That, coupled with a few rebates, will at least get some things rolling.

My study abroad debriefing session is today. Not sure what that all entails, but I'm eager to get going on next year's recruiting. I also need to find a better text for my advanced professional course.

The weather looks a bit scary. Big storms forecast for this afternoon.

I took a little break from my money blog here last week to get some much-needed tasks done. DD had a writers' camp at the university, and I used every minute she was there and all of the rest of my free time to get some research done on an article I've been trying to get written.
Most of the days were spent in the university archives, and I'm such a geek that I LOVE archival research. But I think I have just about everything I need now to start writing. It was an expensive week. DD and I ate lunch together, and despite my determination to bring our lunches every day, I caved and we ate in the university cafeteria twice--then had a Friday lunch date as we always do in the summer. But it was fun, and it was great to see her all excited about writing.

I'm off to go strawberry picking this morning, but I am happy to be spending most of next week home to catch up on everything that didn't get done last week.

We got our second chimney bid finally, and it was more than 3K higher than the other bid. This guy said we needed a new chimney liner too. I'm frustrated with the process, and will go with the first bidder. I've had such a hard time getting anyone to bid, that I'm not pursuing this further. The first bidder is highly rated also on Angies List and works with our roofer. Good enough, I hope.

I spent all day Friday with DD and two of her friends. They did lunch, a library movie, with the time in between spent at Barnes and Noble reading books to each other. She really had fun--and so did they.
It wasn't my dream day, but I'm glad they all enjoyed themselves so much.

Saturday was not so fun--lots of errands and shopping and more bids on the chimney and exterior painting. It's going to be an expensive summer for the house.

Today we had a quiet day with special treats, gifts, and foods for DH. It was a spectacular day here and we all went swimming in the municipal pool. A really lovely summer time.

What's ended?
My DD's school year. Getting up at 6am. Homework supervision. Our bedtime book, Inkheart, which we loved.

What's beginning? Summer vacation! Library reading contest. Fun times with her girlfriends. Our "sandbucket" list. My diet (ugh but necessary)

Other things continue as usual with little to report except another ebay sale for $9

I've been offered a PT one evening a week tutoring job for a couple months this summer. The pay is good, and I'm thinking about it. But with my other class, it means two evening away from home in July and August, which is not my ideal. But I'll be spending most days with DD, so perhaps three extra hours away wouldn't be so bad?

I'm just not quite sure.

In other news, the decluttering continues. Tomorrow I'm dropping off books at a local charity with some also going to Half Price Books. And DD seems to have outgrown virtually all her summer clothes, so I've made a bag of them for a friend. Tonight I pitched several lone earrings.

There are about a dozen things that all need doing at the same time time, so some decisions had to be made. First, some sad news. One of my old high-school friends who always struggled with depression had died. They suspect suicide, but we're broken up about this.
The funeral is tomorrow in Minneapolis, but I don't think I can do an overnight trip and another 12-hour drive by myself only three weeks after returning.

I investigated airfares (staggering) and even the megabus, but the time is the major factor.

I also have a departmental meeting today that I should attend,but the dog's pre-surgical consult is at that time, and I'm trying to spend extra time with DD as she is really struggling with her math.

I will go in to the university today and start putting up flyers for next year's study abroad session as I promised.

But today is family and dog first.

Following the sage SA advice, but still chuckling about the ironing jokes, I've purchased a Rowenta iron on sale at Target. And yes, I saved 5 percent with my RedCard.

Yesterday was very productive. I went to the bank to deposit the flex spending checks, (w)Al green's for my husband's instant coffee fix earning Balance points along the way, Noodles for a free pasta lunch courtesy of a coupon received, then the charity shop to dump off donations, Target for the iron, then finally the grocery store. It seemed like one of those charmed days where you actually remember your shopping bags, your coupons, and get great deals.

Then DD's science project hit. Yuck. We spent four hours helping her paint, assemble, and label mini-amusement park rides demonstrating Newtonian laws. Other students had two weeks to complete this, but she was under a time crunch because of our holiday. Thankfully we all avoided shouting and slamming doors, but there were a few almost tears. And it's done.

DD and I abandoned other errands to go see President Obama today. The virtues of living in a swing state? I've never felt so desired in my life. It was a long day of waiting and listening to speeches--but I think it's great for a kid (and her mom) to see the President of the United States. We spent nothing on it, found free parking, then went to a friend's post-Halloween party.

Tomorrow to the errands--after a round of teaching Sunday School.

I can't say I had a fabulously fun day today, but man, I got a lot done. I'm all prepped for the week, papers almost all graded, and even some laundry done.

It was a beautiful day here, so when DD went to a friend's house to play, I sat on the patio and read in the autumnal sunshine. It doesn't get much better.

This evening we grilled steaks, watched Wallendar, and I read a couple capstone projects; one passed, but one failed.

Being caught up will make tomorrow easier. It's my long day--and our school district has Jewish New Year off tomorrow, so DD has to spend the day at the university with me.

In some financial news--DD has decided to play the flute in the school band. As we were on the verge of heading toward the music store, we heard from friends that their daughter had given up flute, and asked if we'd like hers. Wow! Flute rental was $20+/month, so I'm pleased as heck. They were given it on the condition that they give it away when their daughter was done--so on it goes!

All told, both DD and I had successful first days back at school. I only had a single class today, so it was a fast one for me.

DD's bus didn't show up until after we left to take her to school. We didn't want to risk lateness on the first day, but I spoke to the bus driver this afternoon, and she assured me they'd be more on schedule tomorrow.

I did a few errands after my class. I purchased a paper attendance book since the university doesn't provide them anymore, deposited some checks, and returned a few library books.

I suspect I'll be wiped out tomorrow with four classes back to back from 8-2. If I can make it to the restroom, grab some water, and down some string cheese, I'll call it successful.

I spent $13 on school supplies, and $1.75 on coffee. No other news to report!

I feel like we should have done something spectacular this weekend--especially today--but we spent the morning deep cleaning our bedroom. We took the bed apart, vacuumed underneath the bed, behind the bed, behind the dressers etc. Everything in there got washed, then we moved onto DD's room.

Is this a sign of age that rather than whooping it up over the holiday weekend, we clean? Probably.

I did some minor grocery shopping, we grilled steaks, and got every one all spruced up to begin the school year. This will be almost an hour earlier rising for DD. I hope she doesn't crash tomorrow on the first day of middle school! I hope I don't either, but I only have one class tomorrow. Mondays and Wednesday are the heavy days with four classes back to back.

I hope to get a walk in before heading to the university. I've been such a slacker this summer, my good habits need to kick in.

The child and I spent our last real day of summer vacation at that traditional summer funhouse, the outlet mall. We went out to lunch, bought shoes for her, a few too many clothes for me, jeans and pjs and tops for her, a vest and some chinos for DH. It was swell. I bought nothing very extravagant, used outlet coupons, and feel no guilt whatsoever.

Tomorrow is full of errands, meetings, tutoring, copying, and then the Common Read. I really need a day to myself to get things up and moving, but that will happen very soon.

Still no word from the bank about clearing the check from my bro. I was really hoping we could get 'er done Friday, but it looks unlikely.

We finished up the school supply shopping yesterday, and bought lots of groceries. The bulk of the school supply shopping was at Target (with that 5% Redcard saving), with a few specials picked up at other places. DH and I were commenting on how many more supplies seem to be required every year. I suspect it's the impact of school budget cuts.

I've got a workshop at the university tomorrow, so today is my weekly lunch date with DD. We're headed to the art museum in a bit and will have lunch there overlooking the lake. I'm am so proud of what a geek she has become. We spent an hour last night watching a PBS special on rats in areas of India. When it was over, she went to the atlas to look up that part of India, and we talked through the differing regional ethnicities in India. One of our friends is from that region of northern India, and so we had a special interest.

I've turned down all offers of activities this weekend, and want to spend the weekend here in the garden and cleaning in prep for school. Man, I feel like my mom.