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
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March 8, 2009
Shouldn’t be bloggin’, I know, it’s just boring waiting for Shutterfly to upload the darned pictures.
The shower went off swimmingly, I think, but I couldn’t tell from the vantage point of organizing and decorating and shuttling gifts.
She got some really cool stuff, like two Boppy pillows. She can stack them for sleeping “on” her stomach, or tall folks can stack ’em when they hold the baby.
I’m so glad a girlfriend prebaked a batch of cupcakes, everyone decorated a few and ate most of the rest. There won’t be any left for the dudes who’ll be coming back from their Man Expedition, but that’s just too bad!
I hope everyone else had a great Sunday! I’m ready for a nap.
March 6, 2009
So@24’s post from a while back about family cracked me up.
I don’t know if your family is the same way, but mine takes all kinds of liberties when it comes to the subject of family and marriage. By that I mean, every possible bit of advice and nosiness that can be mustered is brought into play like a cannonade of good intentions. The latest?
Eldest Auntie: R, how old are you this year?
R: …. 26…..
EA: What? 27? 28?
R: [just opening my mouth to respond]
EA: Yes yes, ok, that’s old enough, you can get married now. Don’t wait until you’re 30, you’re old enough now! Don’t wait until you’re 30, y’hear?
R: ……. But ……. I ……. *sigh* [shake head in defeat] Yes, auntie.
Because really, what can you honestly say? And besides that, what’s the point? My family, like Dalmatians, can just go selectively deaf. There’s no point in responding.
March 5, 2009
Planning
~
What’s your Plan B? asks Free Money Finance. I continue to job hunt, though I’m taking breaks in between resumes now. Going gangbusters is good for staying in motion, but it’s also quite exhausting on top of stressful work and family environments.
~ Play my “How long can you go?” version of limbo: continue to save every penny (Just found this motivational article by PT Money about Saving Like a Madman. I don’t need the extra incentive, but it’s funny.)
~ Use my free plane ticket to treat myself to a short break for the sake of sanity. Anyone want me to come visit? 🙂 I think it has to be within the 48 contiguous.
March 4, 2009
Clearing up the insurance details:
Auto insurance refunds:
$115, check received
$153, check requested
Policy Premium increase:
$142, lovely
Still to be determined:
Car payout, less the $500 deductible, less any assessed decrease in value, less the remaining loan amount.
The check should be arriving sometime this week, and we can begin car hunting in earnest. Sharing is caring, but sharing a car all the time makes for crazy.
These are the flowers my friend should be receiving this afternoon, and I thought I’d share a little of their gorgeous cheer.
March 3, 2009
In the last hour, I’ve:
~ organized my schedule for the week, and pulled together some information for my conference call
~ called aunt/uncle to update and clarify baby shower plans
~ called friend to wish her Happy Birthday, clarified baby shower plans
~ emailed friend to ask her about hunting down her brother, also baby shower related
~ emailed co-conspirator about baby advice book for, yep, baby shower
~ spoke to expectant grandparents about baby shower and baby book
~ locked myself out of my timekeeping system
~ called for help with timekeeping system, no luck
~ called WAMU Investments for my final balance: 778.49 Eeesh.
~ ordered flowers for grieving friend. She just lost her father last week, and her husband was diagnosed with kidney cancer in the same week. There has to be something more I can do for her.
There are still a million things to be done:
~ shopping for the baby shower
~ setting up the templates for the baby advice/photobook
~ collecting everyone’s parenting advice (if anyone has anything to share with a very nervous, expectant mother, I would love to include it!)
~ shopping for the mommy-to-be so she has something that’s for just her, and not All About Baby (I’m thinking of a Sephora gift card, but that’s about all I can come up with unless I can locate a spa near here. Thoughts, anyone?)
~ my educational project needs to be researched and worked on
~ have a meeting with my new tutor one evening this week
~ a class to attend tomorrow, so almost all my work for tomorrow has to be completed today
While still employed
~ Complete as many Professional Development classes as possible. I might, if I stay employed through April and get off the wait list for one set of classes, manage to get enough classes in before the layoff to complete my Certificate in Management. *cross your fingers for me!*
~ If there’s space, or I get de-waitlisted, I’d like to take Excel and Illustrator classes. We’ll see about approval.
~ A friend’s fiance is a freelance web designer who is willing to teach me web design and programming skills. Whoo! I’m calling it an “apprenticeship” for now, I’ll do work for him, he’ll teach me how, and maybe when I get good, he’ll hire me on! We’ll see. For now, I want to learn some basics since I’m pretty clueless. It’ll come in handy here and professionally.
~ In other good news, when they changed our retirement plan last July, we were automatically vested. So whenever the axe falls, I get to roll whatever little money accrued from my first two years into my existing retirement plan. Since I didn’t contribute anything, it should be qualified for a relatively hassle free rollover. It’s good for a few hundred, I figure. I just hope that it can also be sent into my 403(b) as well. (Hope hope hope).
~ Do the math. Well-Heeled reminded me that if I do that math, unemployment will cover a good amount of my household expenses, even with 3.5 people. So I can breathe a little easier knowing that my e-fund will last longer than previously anticipated. (Now I have to do the math to see how much longer that means.)
~ Need to settle the final details and applications for: renter’s insurance, long term care insurance, life insurance, safety deposit box, my will. Whatever I can get employer rates on (LTC, for one) and is portable is a priority.
