My English Castle's Personal Finance Blog

My pick-up comp class ended last night. I have no complaints about it at all, and we did some great work. Despite losing half my students to attrition, all seven who ended will pass. And their writing is significantly better. They were supposed to come into class with their work completed last night; but I was there with them for over four hours, helping them finish.

I talked DH into going out for a margarita at 10pm to celebrate. The bartender foisted lots of free food on us as they close at midnight and were throwing it out at the end of the night. So, for $12 I came home with chipotle salsa and enough taco fillings for lunch and dinner today. I left her a nice tip.

That was my entire spending for the day except for refilling my gas tank. Now, off to brave Target, close my Chase savings, and write a new syllabus for fall.

I received an estimate from the periodontist about the insurance charges. I was thinking it would be 5K since that's last time's damage. But they seem to believe insurance will cover all but $500. Do I believe that? Not sure. If it were true, I'd be happy and relieved.

But now I'm a little stuck. I'd happily start investigating bathroom remodeling if I was $4500 richer. But I suspect I won't know for sure until the surgery at the end of July. And it would be fabulous to have the bathroom done before school begins in the fall.

DD is off camping with church until the end of the week, and it's quiet and empty here. I hope to get a lot of work done while she's gone, and need to start planning her birthday events.

My last-minute class is actually over tonight, but I start a literature class next week. I've taught that one a dozen times, so I'm prepared. Man, the public schools here do an amazingly horrible job of teaching writing. It's such a critical skill, and it's depressing to see how poorly the 'average" student emerges. Have any of you seen or are planning to see that new movie on student loans? Now there's a depressing fact. The NYT magazine had a great article on the situation last week; I recommend it.

While I was out teaching last night, the periodontist called with an opening for my initial check. He got me in two weeks early, which is good news, sadly, the only good news.

It looks like oral surgery with a bone graft in at least one spot. It's disappointing because I've been SO diligent, but he was very kind, assuring me that it wasn't my fault, but likely due to my bad gum genes. There are other spots that are bad as well, but he's doing less invasive procedures there.

I'm waiting for a call back within a couple of days to get the insurance estimate. I'm not sure how much they'll pay, but several years ago when I had the hated Humana insurance, I paid $5K out of pocket. The surgery is scheduled for late July. What joy.

Hmm--other news? I found 2 cents in the period parking lot. DD and DH swam last night, but the pool was closed due to our torrential rain today.

In a fit of frustration I cleaned the refrigerator and made quiche from verging-on-dubious leftovers. It was very good. Now, back to pouting.

The season pass which starts today at the municipal pool costs $180 for a family membership. DD is very eager, but we can also spend $14/day for one parent and her. It's a close call, but I think we're going for it. I'd like us both outside more all summer, and this way I won't have the cash hesitancy. I'm always grumbling when we go for 45 minutes or less, but with the membership, we could go all the time.

I guess if we're going to buy one, today is the day.

A small but nice snowflake floated into the mailbox as our insurance finally reimbursed DH's flu shot. I'll drop that $30 in the bank on the way to the pool.

It's was a World Cup dominated weekend here, despite England's loss, we enjoyed the "footie" very much.

Not much other spending, but we need to watch the grocery budget a bit more.

It's 52 degrees here and has been pouring since 6 a.m.
From my original enrollment of 15, three people showed up for class last night.
My last half-hearted stab at dieting ended rather spectacularly with DH's birthday cake last night.

To combat this malaise, I'm going to the library to avoid being sucked into Swagbucks, leftover cake, or continuing e-mails with past London students who are also sniveling about missing London. It's a snivel-fest here.

Let's see what joy I can find at the library.

Wow, I'm adding $2.50 to my bathroom fund from an ebay sale. Not sure that would even buy toilet tissue for the bath, but it's there. In slightly more exciting news, I'm taking on a one-night tutoring gig in July for $100.

It was an inexpensive weekend for us. DH is really concentrating on his class, and I spent time in the garden and around the house. DD went camping with the Girl Scouts. Our only major spending was a plant for the neighbors' anniversary party and the rest of the money ($225) for DD's upcoming Apostle Islands trip. She'll need a few things for that including a camping mattress and a Nalgene water bottle. I'm looking around for places to borrow the mattress.

I also picked up furniture from another friend for my returning-from-Germany friend. She's got quite a pile of it stashed in our basement now.

DD has three more days of school left. I will be very happy to sleep in with her, and we'll both be happy to be rid of her English teacher. I could say a lot more, but I won't.

Looks like a lazy June so far. Tomorrow is DH's birthday, but I have to teach in the evening. I'll make something special for he and DD to have for dinner while I'm out. Now I'm out to an estate sale for a bit.

Unfortunately, the setbacks are bigger than the triumphs. My evening job is revamping their capstone project for business majors. This means they will no longer write capstones, eliminating about $75/month for my reading fees. Ugh. Plus I got to spend 90 minutes driving there and back in traffic to hear this good news. Capstones will continue for liberal arts majors as well as in the social sciences.

Tiny triumphs included selling a book, using some nice doubled coupons, and the Girl Scouts deciding we don't need a mess kit for DD's weekend camping. All that probably saved/made $30.

Our fun artsy next-door neighbors are celebrating their 50th anniversary this weekend and have invited us to the party. Any one have a cute idea for an inexpensive but interesting gift?

It's been a productive enough weekend. I had a great time garage saling for items for my US-bound friend. We got her many things off her list: A tremendous doll house bargain for her daughter, a Brita pitcher, two matching bedside lamps, placemats, a winter jacket for her DD, a great glass bowl, a magazine rack, and other misc. stuff. The bargain of the day was the dollhouse. It retails for around $200, was in perfect shape, and the folks sold it to us for $40, throwing in the winter jacket. All in all, we spent $65, and we were both pleased. And done by noon.

But my found money came from my own guest room where we found $40 in Target gift cards. Some of them were Christmas gifts, others earned from Target offers. They came at a good time, because try as I might, I couldn't get everything I needed for the garden for $75. I only spent $75.26, but still need more potting soil and a few other things which I'll try to pick up from Target.

We watched "In Bruges" last night, which I really enjoyed. The language was a bit crude, but they were Hit men after all.

I hope to get the back gardens squared away today and tomorrow. And I met my SB goal all month, so I'm looking forward to those bonuses.

Happy June!

One of my ebay items sold last night, so I'm adding $5.52 to my bathroom fund. I still have another item listed, and I got the book sold mailed.

I'm off to the garden center to get the summer plants purchased and hope to only use the $75 in gift cards I have.

I've shut the door on the guest room until I get the planting done, but have agreed to go garage saling with a friend tomorrow to help buy some things for our returning from Germany friend. It sounds like a fun day, a bit frivolous, but very fun.

I also checked the IRS site, and our refund should be in the bank tomorrow. Hooray! I'll update the bathroom fund then.

I finished the JK Rowling mystery and really enjoyed it. I'll need another library trip over the weekend. DD and DH are very busy with school, and I spent hours last night on a conference proposal. I think I need to get in the sunshine!

I hesitate to call the teeny amounts I've found for my bathroom budget snowflakes. They are more like teeny drips, an apt description for such a rainy odd day.

I did a bit of shopping over the weekend, and actually did quite well with coupons. DD has been very interested in, of all things, tortoises, so we took her to see some at a local pet shop. Interestingly, their patio was FULL of giant tortoises returned after their former owner didn't realize how big they get. Some were huge, too big for DH to lift. But we enjoyed watching them.

Besides the usual groceries and Claritin purchases, we got "Monuments Men" from Redbox. Any one else see it? I thought the idea behind the story was fabulous, but the writing just didn't do it justice. Still, it was worth the $1.20. We also had lots of fun at the library where I got the JK Rowling mystery written under her pen name, Robert Galbraith. The story is set in London, and all my favorite places are referenced again and again. I'm halfway through and enjoying it.

DD went to a sleepover Saturday, and DH and I had an impromptu anniversary dinner as we weren't expecting to go out. We had a lovely time. Going through the stack of papers he left piled in the guest room, I found a four-month old check which I deposited. I'm not sure they'll honor it, but I figured it was worth a shot. I'll credit it to the bathroom fund if it clears. It's a refund from the dental insurance, so cross your fingers.

Yesterday I returned some sandals I didn't need, but bought some others for DD. Still, it was $50 credited to the Mastercard. I also succeeded (ha) in spending Kohl's cash on tee-shirts and summer shorts for DD. She's growing so fast we seem to need new clothes every season. But amazingly, Kohl's took two coupons and the Kohl's cash, saving a lot.

In other boring drippy news, I sold a book for $8 on Amazon, and listed several things on ebay, one of which has a bid. The week clears after my class tonight, so will get flowers and veggies planted then.

While the rest of our house (except the basement) is clean and organized, my DH dumped everything he didn't know what to do with in our guest room while I was gone. Consequently there were stacks of magazines, unpacked Christmas presents, things inherited from my late friend, mutual fund reports, and things too various and odd to mention. On top of all that, the closet is my "gift" closet. Except about twice as much goes in as comes out.

Faced with that mountain and my yen for the bathroom redo (ignoring the periodontist for the weekend), I've recruited my university gals for another rummage later this summer. I've got a towering pile, and discovered to my amusement and somewhat shame, a lovely new set of sheets purchased for the guest room that I'd completely forgotten about. I planned on 45 minutes in there, but was there most of the day. And I figure I'm about half done. I listed a couple books on Amazon, and some of the rest will go on Craigslist before the rummage.

DD had the day off school and spent it with the Girl Scouts at a local waterpark. Her day was more fun than mine.

However, I got the state taxes mailed, deposited a rebate check (watch that burgeoning bathroom fund in the sidebar!), and mailed the latest book sale. I'll get there, to that clean decluttered place again, it's just going to take a while.

The tax refund good news was fun while it lasted, all 10 or so hours of it. Then I went to the dentist. I have bad gums; blame my mother and her bad gums. So I get my teeth cleaned every 3-4 months, but about 8 or 9 years ago had gum surgery. And now it's flared up again and after talking with the hygienist about the state of one tooth, I'm booking the periodontist. Ugh. Last time it cost a fortune. I've got my flex spending account, but I'm really dreading the appointment.

In the "drop in the ocean" news, I listed a book on Amazon which sold in five minutes.

Sigh.

We filed an extension since we were out of the country over tax season, and yesterday, after pondering the need for more cash, I finally got to the taxes. It's good news there. Because I only got half pay in 2013 while in London, we seemed to have dropped a tax bracket and are getting a good refund. That won't happen again this year because on my online teaching, but I think we're about 25 percent of the way to funding the new bathroom, carpet, and maybe, (gulp) a water heater. The fireplace facing will have to wait, and we'll need to be pretty scrupulous with other spending.

The water heater situation looms. We've been in the house for 11 years, and were told the water heater was 10 years old when we moved. It's recently started to not heat as well, and we've received conflicting advice about draining it. It's situated poorly, not as near a floor drain as I'd like. The weekend's tasks will include toting up some estimates on that, the bathroom, and the carpet.

Bean and veggie enchiladas were assembled last night from misc fridge findings. I'm still in a bit of a post-London funk. The London office and classrooms are right around the corner from the Waterstone's book store on Torrington Place. I did a google image search of it this morning and almost started to weep. It's an amazing building and a brilliant bookstore. I really miss it.

But I'm glad to have the taxes done, glad to get a nice refund, and hope to come up with some ideas to make the budget stretch.

How's that for a headline? Right now my desires are outpacing our income. We really need new carpet in the family room and office. It was cheap carpet put in by the previous owners and it's not only worn and fraying, it's stained. I keep cleaning it, but it's a losing battle. My office carpet was originally in our living room, but 10 years ago when we installed hardwood floors, we moved it in here. It's at least as bad as the family room.

I also really want to re-do our 1960s bathroom. We've done some interim remodeling along the way, getting rid of the truly horrible tiled vanity top, but the pink-beige wall tile and yellow beige floor are awful. I dunno, minimum bathroom remodel is what $10,000- 15,000 with ceramic tile?

And then there's the fireplace refacing. And I'd like to do some traveling this summer. And we need to top up our retirement savings. And, and, and.

DH's college classes have not helped the budget. He adores them, and they've made him very very happy. But they're expensive.

Besides the regular teaching, I've got three evening classes stretching from now to the end of October. I need to figure out a way to rustle up a couple more thousand without touching savings. Hmmm. What to do.....?

Yikes. I'm still grading hours and hours a day, but to add to the load, my week is chock full of meetings. Really? Every instructor I know is working full tilt, and I have an obligatory 4 1/2 meeting? And another one on Wednesday? And two shorter ones tomorrow?

In a reminder of how time flies, I just got an e-mail from the institution that runs my evening adjunct classes congratulating me on my 10 years there. What? That job sort of got dumped on my lap when we needed extra money for a garage roof. I've been at it ever since though I often swear I'm going to quit. I started a new class there last Tuesday and did a couple more capstone projects for them over the weekend.

We spent a nice Mother's Day with a lovely lunch out, a trip to the garden center for herbs and a hanging plant, and new shoes for my DD. She has again outgrown all her shoes, and is now wearing a woman's size 7-8. I'm hoping she can get by with Teva sandals, athletic shoes, and one pair of dressy sandals for the summer.

Lots to do once I get done with all this grading, but I suspect it will be Friday at the earliest.

This looks to be a much busier week than I'd like. The class I've inherited begins tomorrow night, and while I'm done with the syllabus, I have no class plan at all.

My online class is wrapping up but I have 20 students whose final projects need reviewing. That takes about 45 minutes for each project.

Our house is still a disaster post holiday. It needs a big blitz.

I three appointments tomorrow at the university, two about the possibility of London again next year.

The yard needs some attention too.

Did I mention the laundry? Yikes.

And that arm-length list of stuff to do from restarting the newspaper, doing the taxes, signing DD up for camp, and 20+ others.

But I do have good news. Both DH and I have lost 5 lbs. I'd like to lose another 20 and have been pretty darn good about my diet.

My plan?

Attack the house in 15 minute periods.
Attack the list in similar periods.
Attack the laundry while watching Jack Bauer tonight.
Write up a class plan tomorrow morning from 7-9.
Read three student projects tonight.
Read three more tomorrow afternoon.

Taxes can wait until my online class is over as can the necessary review of our financial situation.

Off for the first 15-minute attack.

Though we've been home a week and are we're mostly over the dread jet lag, I'm still a bit overwhelmed with how much there is to do. The house is clean-ish, but I still have a large suitcase to unpack, piles of mail to sort, and lots of planning to do.

The office and family room carpet that we've needed for years is now really tatty. I think that's our first spending priority, then a new laptop for DH, then the bathroom remodel. I need to go through those savings accounts and our retirement accounts to see where we're at. DH is very good at small-picture saving, but never looks at the future planning, so I need some time with that.

Though I filed a tax extension, I still have to actually file our taxes. I have insurance claims to file, two weeks left of my online class, and to boost income, have volunteered to do an eight-week evening class beginning (eek!)on Tuesday. Lots more university duties loom too.

I can't say I've been distracted by the fabulous weather; it's still 40 degrees and raining. And I'm on a diet. Ugh. I may need 15 minutes with photos from Nice and the English countryside.

We left 65 degree days and green trees and abundant flowers and are back to 40 degrees, greyness, and rain. No sign of BBC1 on my TV. Not in a good mood at all.

So here's some Robert Browning to increase my pouting.


HOME-THOUGHTS, FROM ABROAD

Oh to be in England
Now that April's there,
And whoever wakes in England
Sees, some morning, unaware,
That the lowest boughs and the brushwood sheaf
Round the elm-tree bole are in tiny leaf,
While the chaffinch sings on the orchard bough
In England - now!

And after April, when May follows,
And the whitethroat builds, and all the swallows!
Hark! where my blossomed pear-tree in the hedge
Leans to the field and scatters on the clover
Blossoms and dewdrops - at the bent spray's edge -
That's the wise thrush; he sings each song twice over,
Lest you should think he never could recapture
The first fine careless rapture!
And though the fields look rough with hoary dew,
All will be gay when noontide wakes anew
The buttercups, the little children's dower
- Far brighter than this gaudy melon-flower

With five days left here, I've started to sort, pitch, and pack. Since we're going on to the cottage rental from here, I don't feel pressure to get rid of everything, but do need to sort out all my teaching materials. Too bad I have so many books. And my winter coat. And rain boots.

I've already made a donation pile, but I do need to be ruthless with other stuff. Again this year I have a student who refuses to deal with British change. He had a huge Ziploc bag with him Thursday and asked me if I'd deal with it. Uhm, he's 21. I sent him to the change machine at Tesco. My colleague said to him, "Not much of a problem solver, are you?" I had to turn away so he couldn't see me laughing.

Now my absolute wonder at the continued escalation of London property prices. Neighborhoods that I wouldn't venture into after dark ten years ago are now far out of my budget's range. The latest thing I read said prices here have gone up, are you ready for this, 18 percent THIS YEAR. It's absolutely ridiculous, and I'm not sure if I hope it's a bubble or am afraid it's a bubble. Either way, it's difficult on many people. But I'm hooked on the property shows and love to look at the decorating. Great stuff to grade by.

I meant to make it to the Plague Pits today (what's the likelihood of ever writing that sentence again?), but I've had several student crises today, and it didn't happen. Hopefully I'll manage the PP tomorrow, but man, it is busy here.

DH reports my car tire at home has a sidewall bulge. I've told him where the receipts are. I think they're still under warranty. I've made DH and DD packing lists. I've made myself some sample menus to try to eat all my food here before we go and to minimize waste. I've made a list of a few more things I want to see.

While emotionally I'm not ready to leave London, I am very eager for the semester to be over. It's a much more intense relationship with students than a standard semester. I see the same 20 or so students three or four days a week,often for five hours at a time. I suspect they're pretty darn sick of me too. But we are bonded in a way that is so different from any kind of relationship I ever have with a student at home, it's very cool. And we need a break from each other.


One financial detail. I spent a grand total of 40p today on reduced price baps (rolls) for my sandwiches. In our lecture today a student told me he eats lunch out every single day, spending about 6 pounds a lunch. That's roughly $10. Just for lunch, every day. I had a cheese sandwich and a clementine from home, supplemented by a granola bar during the field trip, also from home. That means he spent 300/ month for three months or about $1000 since January. Sheesh, they sure spend.

The university has asked me to do the program again next year. I'm pondering; I'm pondering.

I have ten days left in my London semester. I haven't started kicking and screaming about leaving yet, but I will. My students are becoming very sad about leaving too, but many of them are traveling for a while later.

I've done moderately well with my spending. Because of last year's super cold weather, I have lots of sweaters with me, but we've had some lovely warm weather, and really, I'm very tired of those grey and black cardigans. I did a little shopping over the weekend at a charity shop near where I live. They vary in quality, but I really like this one, run for the benefit of the air ambulance. The staff has painted it to look like a beach shack, and the fitting rooms are very cute. I bought three summery tops and two books for a whooping total of 10.15pds

If I didn't have to eat here, I could go home with money from my stipend, but I do spend a fair amount on food. Yet compared to my spendthrift students, I'm Scrooge. I never eat more than one meal a week out, even lunch, unless I was with guests.

Last night I saw the X Factor musical. X Factor is the Brit version of American Idol with Simon Cowell. As part of the faculty package, I get free tickets, and I enjoyed it very much. It was silly, but cute. Unfortunately one of my colleagues dropped her Oyster (transportation) card with a pre-loaded cash card. We searched for quite some time, but she'll need to cancel everything. We had a stand-up Chinese meal in the street that set me back 6 pds and a beer later for another 3.50, but it was a great evening.

We have a few more things going on, Stonehenge on Friday, curry night on Monday, and a farewell party the following Wednesday, but these are all paid.

Here's one for the morbid amongst us. Tomorrow, I'm going over to have a peek at the Plague Pits recently unearthed by the Barbican. What free fun!

It's been another rewarding and satisfying day. I took 17 American students to Churchill's Cabinet War Rooms today, one of my favorite activities. Just the journey there makes me happy. It's all become automatic: which tube there, what to point out to them along the way, which streets to take, and where to escape for coffee afterwards.

I wonder what we teach high school students about WW2? Virtually none of mine had ever heard of "The Blitz," none knew Churchill had an American mother, and many, unbelievably, never knew that the war in Europe started before Pearl Harbor.
But now they do, so I guess they get there eventually.

After their tour and the museum visit, they went back to their later classes, and I took a walk through St James Park which was in full flower, swans swimming and all that. What could be better? I had lunch at the Farmers' Market behind the University of London Union, then spent an hour catching up on school chores, checked out the half price books but reminded myself how full my suitcases will be and how much books weigh.

I got groceries and went home for an afternoon nap to try to kick my week-long cough, and will now grade my online class for a bit.

I've got two weeks left in London and want to spend a few days just walking around, both to favorite places and a few news ones. Or I might just not go.

I'm still here in Londontown. Since I've last checked in DH and DD have been here and gone, I've been to Prague with students and to (glorious) Nice with a friend. I will never ever complain again. It's been grand and glorious and wonderful.

And the weather this spring has been glorious. I've been very very busy, trying to juggle four classes, four preps, and my freelance project evaluation.

So, I'm off to do some grocery shopping.
London prices are still just staggering, and truth be told, I've sort of abandoned the idea of living in London itself. Even diehard Londoners are cringing at the price of property. But a smaller city might still work for us.

I've got a friend joining me here for a week starting tomorrow, so I expect my expenses will go up a bit this week. Except for France, I've been very frugal, packing lunches and bringing coffee most days. DH and DD will be back in four weeks. They are faring well as is his job. But I miss them a lot.

But it's been glorious--so much art, so much walking, some many quirky wonderful things. More later on interesting and depressing shows on food insecurity (not mine!) here in the land of London billionaires.

Hooray! DH's interview went well, and they offered him the contract. He's happy to be going downtown again as it's a shorter commute, and he loves to take the bus. Good all around.

I headed out early, scoping out a route from my flat to the Eurostar Station at St Pancras. A friend is coming over the end of the month and we're going to France, so I wanted to see the most direct route. No problem at all, a very easy bus ride to a tube station on the Picadilly Line. I'll also go that way next week to get DH and DD at Heathrow.

It was fun being at St Pancras. It's a beautiful station, and I enjoyed seeing people rushing off to catch their train to France and watching folks come in. It was so much fun, I bought a coffee and just sat for a while.

Then off to the Tate Britain. Last year many of the Pre-Raphaelite paintings I like were down as the Tate was being remodeled, but I spent a lovely day there and also saw a great photography exhibit.

This may seem silly, but I'm missing my bird feeder at home. We have magnificent backyard birds, frequently 4 or 5 cardinals at once, and sometimes even hawks. So today I bought a small bird feeder and some seed. I have a small patio out the back and thought it might be fun. I can always bring the feeder home if I want. It'll be interesting to see what kinds of birds might appear.

Some quick grocery shopping on the way home, then back here for dinner. This will be a very busy week, so I need to get some work done tonight.

I'm happily snuggled up here on my Friday off, but will go out and about later if the rain holds off. But things are not so hot (both literally and metaphorically) back at home.

DH's contract was extended, then amidst all sorts of flurries and apologies, was not. So his last day is February 7. He does have an interview this morning, so we're hopeful. That job would be at his current company's downtown location rather than the suburban one which, because of the shorter commute, would be much nicer. I'm a little worried, especially since I'm on 3/4 pay while here. But we have no debt, so only our regular expenses, but still.

There isn't much I can do from here (or there, actually), so I'm just holding down expenses, teaching my classes here and my online class, enjoying all the lovely free things I can do.

I've been back in London about 10 days now at the same flat in Muswell Hill. I've brought nine students and am teaching two classes plus the British Life and Culture class. I have students from the two other universities here too.

So far, I think they've had a great time, and we're starting to get in the swing of classes. My additional "cultural events" that students pay a small fee for are included in my package, so Friday went to Stratford and Saturday to a fun retro tea with way too many cakes. My classes went to see some Stanley Spencer paintings last week, and I spent a wonderful 90 minutes listening to a lecture on Jane Morris.

I've again been bowled over by grocery prices and am working hard to keep costs down. My landlady has bought some additional housewares and was pleased to see me. I did a pretty good job of bringing the right clothes, and it's been a much milder winter than last year. I haven't bought much but groceries, and had a credit from last year that I used for one of my grocery shopping expeditions.

My university still only pays me for two classes while I'm here, but I've taken on an additional class on line to help pay for things. DH had yet another crisis that came to nothing about his contract, and he's been renewed until June. He and DD are arriving in 11 days for 11 days here. We've been skyping every night which helps us all.

I do have some plans after they leave: The students are going to Prague, and I'm going too at the end of February. My friend who moved to Germany will join me there. I'm thrilled to be able to see her.

I've got a few other things up my sleeve, but that's enough for now. And I can see that I've got to update my goals.

Hello my friends,
I'm back in London and it's been (aargh) two months since I've posted. But it's time to start up. It's been a very busy two months, partly for some sad reasons. I think I posted back in November that a dear friend had been diagnosed with cancer. Indeed, she was my best friend for many many years. Less than six weeks after diagnosis, she lost the fight, and it's been a very hard emotional coming to terms with it for me. My DH says I'm worse than when I lost my mom, but my mom was 91, and my friend was 49. Strangely, or perhaps not so strangely knowing this friend, I'm convinced she's haunting me, or at least hanging out with me. But that's a story for another time.

So, here I am back in one of the world's most expensive cities, but it's glorious to be back. It's getting late, but I'll post again tomorrow about the trials and tribulations of the academic budget in the Big Smoke.

Hi to you all; I'm glad to be back.

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!

Yesterday was all about London and London students. I spent a total of 12 hours with the rep, meeting students, talking about the program, and finally a great dinner with the rep. I came home and almost fell down with exhaustion about 9 p.m.

Several of my former students came by, and I was thrilled to see them. The students were generally good, except for my two no-shows. Because this is LONG mandatory meeting with three hours of information, I'm not sure what will happen with them. Frankly, I'd like to boot them out now. I don't need problem children with me for months. I also had to tell one to stop texting. Sigh.

But lots of enthusiasm and lots of ideas. Now, back to real life.

I feel like the worst of the semester is behind me. All my students are working on big projects, and only need feedback from me. Nothing new or too major to assign, and only three weeks to go.

Tomorrow my London contact arrives to do the meeting with this year's students. Unbelievably, there are three I still haven't met, so finally I'll see everyone tomorrow.

I've been pretty frugal, and I've also been trying to diet a bit. I've kept up with Swagbucks up to now, but imagine if we're traveling over Thanksgiving, I'll abandon the monthly goal. My Nectar Adpoints are very slowly adding up to help with my London grocery bill. I've done some Pinecone surveys and some Christmas shopping at the church bazaar. Now I just need a few days to tie up loose ends and do an analysis of things that need to be done for the semester, the London trip, home, and Christmas.

My dear friend with cancer is home, but the prognosis is not good. She's a very stubborn soul, so I'm hoping she'll let me help while I can.

It's going to get very cold here, and I've made yet another pot of turkey broth from the turkeys I roasted for the shelter. It smells heavenly here. Nothing like a big pot of homemade soup.