About sixteen years ago, I met him for the first time. My trainwreck sibling brought home this adorable puppy he had no business adopting because he had not one thing in his life that wasn’t a mess. I was furious at my sibling – he didn’t even take care of himself, how could he drag
If you’d like to join me in helping Lakota families and/or rural libraries this year, please read this post. Over 6 weeks in 2019, we raised $2669.94 for the Lakota families, touching 27 lives. What can we do in 2020?
Current total: Lakota, $640.74; Rural libraries, $321.62.
1. I have put in the last orders for refills on all of Seamus’s meds so that we’re good for about 2 months on his medications and food. It’s so much money, and I’m so grateful that we are able to foot the bill, but we are digging a bit into savings.
2. I had my first brain appointment and we dug deep into some painful issues right away. Damn if it wasn’t also really good for me. I felt light for the first time in … I do not remember. It lasted a few days. It also left me with about a thousand more questions than I have answers to but that wasn’t entirely unanticipated.
3. I’m grateful that I decided to skip lump sum investing this year and to make a small weekly purchase on a set day of the week. With the stock market doing the dance its dance, I would be struggling to figure out what to do and when to buy and how much to buy. But a set schedule that I just execute? I can handle that.
Challenges this week: The spread of COVID-19, and the terrible way the US government is handling it, is really unsettling.
4. I’m working on focusing on the things I can control, like food. I’m looking at planning for treats and meals in case of self quarantine or actual illness. Like these keto sugar free donuts. There’s also my list of a mix of new and old recipes that I need to make in large batches for eating now AND for freezing for later. I’m hoping we can stage just one big grocery run this week and not have to go again for another couple weeks to reduce our social exposure.
5. We’re also talking about when to pull JB from regular activities (daycare, swim). There aren’t many cases here, many parents who have help have already pulled their kids and reduced the exposure for the remaining kids, so now we are working to make plans to keep JB engaged and learning at home when it’s our turn to take them out.
6. After 3 rounds of medications and 4 lab tests at $200 a pop, Seamus is FINALLY cleared of infection!!! HUZZAH.
7. I’ve got some hoarded Target gift cards for our essentials that I just dug into to send a big box of supplies to my baby relative working their butt off as a healthcare provider. They are in one of the frontline roles of treating people and I wanted to ease their day to day burden a little since they’re on their own and working all hours of the day and night. Thank goodness for hoarding gift cards.
8. I got to thinking about kids in school and college right now. If this pandemic had hit when I was a kid or in college like this one is hitting now, we couldn’t have made rent, paid for gas, groceries, or utilities. We were once so incredibly precarious. It’s a minor miracle that I made it through college without more than a major medical mystery hanging over my head. I wish there was a way to see the students who are scrambling to survive because of this and give them a helping hand.
:: I hope if you’re reading this, you’re healthy and will stay that way, but what precautions are you taking?
If you’d like to join me in helping Lakota families and/or rural libraries this year, please read this post. Over 6 weeks in 2019, we raised $2669.94 for the Lakota families, touching 27 lives. What can we do in 2020?
Current total: Lakota, $640.74; Rural libraries, $321.62.
I adore Gina Torres and I love this bit from this interview with her. I’m so disappointed that I didn’t know about Pearson on USA because we haven’t had cable TV for so long. “What would you say to your younger self now?: The messaging is the same, which is: What is yours is yours. It doesn’t matter the road you choose to get there, you’re going to get there. You can get there quick, or you can take the scenic route, and that’s all about choice. I firmly believe your blessings are yours, and we get them when we’re ready. We get them when we’re supposed to.”
As an immunocompromised person, I’m very much irritated by people choosing to do all their normal things and not caring if they are disease vectors because “I’m healthy so I’ll be fine.”
Tanja (ONL) over at MarketWatch cautions us to maintain our cash as we watch the market do its thing with regard to coronavirus. I fully admit that I’m inclined to buy this dip but I’m sticking to my plan for this year’s investing: small weekly purchases. I’m also seeing the sense of the advice. I’m already spending a big wad of cash upfront to stock up our supplies. We’re buying the household supplies we need and a little more like we usually do, but I am stocking up a few months out on Seamus’s meds, and that costs a LOT. I would have had to do it anyway but it’s a little earlier than usual and in one lump rather than spaced out across a couple months.
Angela’s Prepper FI post. I wish Life Straws were around when I first started getting our prepper kit together ten years ago. Back then, I picked out some gravity filtration bags, but Life Straws seem a lot more convenient. It just seems wasteful to add Life Straws to the packs when we already have (unwieldy) filtration options and still need other supplies. We also have a bunch of Mountain House meals but none of them are really good for me, nor are some of the other foods that I’ve laid in. I have been thinking of stock up and activities in case of a precautionary self quarantine, I foresee spending a fair bit of time baking with JB to use up the wheat flour that I can’t have. We should be able to share baked goodies by dropping off boxes of uncontaminated baked goods with the neighbors that we like. But now that that is mostly covered, I am thinking about preparing for a quarantine where one or more of us are actually sick. First and foremost, I am starting a list of recipes to make ahead and freeze that I would be happy eating if I were sick because I won’t be cooking then: curry, soup, stew.
If you’d like to join me in helping Lakota families and/or rural libraries this year, please read this post. Over 6 weeks in 2019, we raised $2669.94 for the Lakota families, touching 27 lives. What can we do in 2020?
Current total: Lakota, $640.74; Rural libraries, $321.62.
Seamus
This pupper continues to be our beloved buddy of many veterinary woes. He’s suffering from moderate arthritis, chronic eye problems, incontinence, and his usual dietary and/or environmental allergies. He’s on a mini-pharmacy of medications to keep him as comfortable as we can: 6 medications.
We’re washing his bedding 2-3 times a week some weeks because his bladder is so unpredictable, so we have to add yet another medication to his pharmacy.
His attitude has backslid quite a bit. He’s so grouchy when he doesn’t get his way now! He’s also restless randomly at night sometimes, waking us up at 2 or 3 am to go out for a pee. I’m constantly watching him like a hawk for any stumbles, he has taken us by surprise a few times falling on his face or falling over sideways without warning.
Sera
Training her has been a roller coaster of many stomach-twisting drops.
It took us several months just to find a treat that she gave half a hoot about (Beggin Strips of all things) after several months of trying to find anything that she cared enough about to even notice when she saw other dogs. I thought we were on the upswing and then she had an incident where she totally misread the situation thinking a dog was a threat and freaked out.
From that point, she was so reactive, so upset at the mere sight or sound of other dogs that I was straining with my entire body and soul to keep her restrained on our walks. I was a walking stress case, constantly worrying. It didn’t matter if they were barking at her or just running past, she was fearful and that made her aggressive. Her manners were all shot to hell again, too. She’d meet small humans and leap at them in her excitement. (more…)
If you’d like to join me in helping Lakota families and/or rural libraries this year, please read this post. Over 6 weeks in 2019, we raised $2669.94 for the Lakota families, touching 27 lives. What can we do in 2020?
Total collected: Lakota, $640.74; Rural libraries, $321.62.
1. The work on our taxes should start this week. In about two weeks, I should be able to stop holding my breath for the tax hit. Ending that particular anticipation will be nice.
2. I finally got a few outstanding health appointments on the calendar. I need to find out what I’m allergic to because I am sick of randomly itching and random rashes sprouting. Cross your fingers for .. good grief, I don’t even know what to hope for other than an answer that’s palatable.
Challenges this week: My fatigue has been … well, overwhelming. I hate it. I hate it so much. I hate feeling useless because there are 30 things to do in a weekend but I can only do three of them and then I have to lay down for 3 hours. Hate. It. And there’s only so much existential dread I can take over the state of our nation politically, the state of our world medically with COVID-19, and the very serious goings-ons in dear friends’ lives.
3. We had a warm day! I set Ronnie Robot Vacuum loose to do its thing and opened all the windows for fresh air and aired out the house. It’s astonishing how different the airflow feels in every room at the same point in time. The combination of reasonably clean floors and fresh air and warmth was invigorating. Moments like these I miss the SoCal life. Not enough to go back and live in that traffic. But a little.
4. I’m also highly amused every time I watch Ronnie work, or know that Ronnie’s moseying through the house and cleaning the floors. It’s like having a less sentient Mo from WALL-E, except Ronnie gets stuck in random rooms sometimes and can’t tell me which one.
5. It feels like my sunrise alarm clock has been helpful in the dark winter mornings. I’m glad I found one half off but also glad that I bought it at all. (more…)
If you’d like to join me in helping Lakota families and/or rural libraries this year, please read this post. Over 6 weeks in 2019, we raised $2669.94 for the Lakota families, touching 27 lives. What can we do in 2020?
Current total: Lakota, $521.62; Rural libraries, $321.62.
I have hardly anything this week because it’s been a heck of a week on top of the COVID-19 outbreak worries for people it’s affecting and the uncertainty. I feel like I haven’t read anything of note but here’s John Oliver on coronavirus.
If you’d like to join me in helping Lakota families and/or rural libraries this year, please read this post. Over 6 weeks in 2019, we raised $2669.94 for the Lakota families, touching 27 lives. What can we do in 2020?
Current total: Lakota, $521.62; Rural libraries, $321.62.
Our long term goal is to replace our day job income with passive income before my health prevents me from working. I know from my Mom’s experience that qualifying for or relying on disability is incredibly tough or near impossible here in CA. Aside from that, I aim to do my best to make the most of what we have today.
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Dividend income. We received $545.98 in dividends in February. This was an unusual month.
Ko-Fi! Awwww, another kind reader! I so appreciate the support. Thank you! <3
W-2 income. We’re making a little more money this year. This was just about enough cover our increased costs of living with inflation plus a trickle to savings but thanks to my new health spending category below, that’s gone. Drat. Every bit counts. Especially with PiC’s increasing unhappiness with his job, and the peculiarities of his company’s financial stability, I am banking and investing as much as I can. We’re earning well right now but I also know that can go away very quickly. Maybe this is me being pessimistic but I don’t think so – he’s been unhappy for two years and they’ve been through five layoffs. Also I AM admittedly pessismistic because I feel physically terrible all the time. How long can I keep going?
If you’d like to join me in helping Lakota families and/or rural libraries this year, please read this post. Over 6 weeks in 2019, we raised $2669.94 for the Lakota families, touching 27 lives. What can we do in 2020?
Current total: Lakota, $521.62; Rural libraries, $321.62.
1. There’s something immensely satisfying about setting Ronnie the Robot Vacuum to take care of one room while I clean another area and start the laundry. Ronnie’s taking care of the other room! (This seems less satisfying when I get an alert that Ronnie needs help because its left wheel is stuck but I have no idea where it IS because it left the room and to another one. It’s been 5 minutes and the robot’s already gone a bit rogue. I was not wrong to worry about Cylons.)
2. I KNOW it’s not tax efficient but I still get a little zip of happy when my original stock portfolio notifies me of two dividend payments on a Saturday morning. I reinvest all of that money but it feels like a micro payday. Plus I haven’t decided if there is a good tax efficient way to move that portfolio in our index funds portfolio yet. At least not right now.
3. If I hadto be wrecked, at least it was on a weekend when I could try to rest.
Challenges: Even though I did everything “right” with my diet – no sugar, low carbs, no gluten – AND even got what seemed like a full night of sleep, an hour after waking up on Sunday, I felt crushed. Zero energy, brain clouded, short of breath. Ugh.
4. Our emergency fund is held in CDs and a bit of cash. I have 2 CDs expiring in two weeks and 2 more expiring in March. The renewal interest rate options are paltry so after kicking around some ideas on Twitter, I think I have a plan of action. I’ll cash the first two out at maturity and deploy the cash into a new savings account for a good bank bonus. When that’s paid, I’ll rinse and repeat in PiC’s name. It’ll be more work for me but it should bring in better returns over the year than the 2% or less APY.
5. I finally got all our tax documentation together and thoroughly vetted our spreadsheet with all the details! *little dance* I sent it off and now I have to try veryvery hard to be patient. And to remember to breathe while I’m waiting to see if my estimates were right. Right here right now, I’m banishing that stupid guilt I always feel for not doing the final lap on my own, every year.
