1.
Work - I moved desks! I
went from an interior desk that was pretty much in the center of my department
- a good command center, to a desk along the wall that has a window and a nice
view out to the brick building across the street and even a little bit of the sky. I did get a little nostalgic about leaving my
first desk.
2.
Downsizing - I’ve been slowly going through everything I own and if
I’m not using it, trying to get rid of it.
I still haven’t been able to let go of the first sweater I knit that I haven’t
worn in years. Ironic since I’ve been
able to help others let go of things they don’t use when I help them
organize. I have a ton of stuff I want
to hang up on the walls and have been finding room for most things without it
getting to crazy. But there have been a
few nice pieces that I just don’t have a space for but that I don’t want to get
rid of. Solution - bring them into work to
personalize my new desk. Win-win!
3.
Reading minds - yes, apparently I can read minds. I was talking with one of my staff about his
soon to be son and what name he should name him. Apparently he and his wife have already
picked out a name but didn’t want to share it.
I threw out “Howard” as a joke initially and we all had a chuckle. Then I sat and thought about it a little, and
suggested another name. I then went on
about why it would be a good name, the alliteration, the nick-name, the
strength in the name and guess what - that’s the name. He was quite surprised that I got it. And so was I.
Who know I had this special power?!
Looks like it only is available in a blue moon though.
4.
House projects - I have this rule that I can only have two renovation
projects going on at the same time.
Right now it is the loft floor and the clothes closet - installing the custom
shoe rack. Guess what the two projects
were 6 months ago - yup, same two. And 9
months ago, probably the same two. I
have some many things I want to work on but I hate it when I get stuck but I
also don’t want to live in a place with a million unfinished projects. So this last weekend, I purposely kept the
calendar blank so that I could tackle one of the two projects. Guess what, I didn’t touch either. I figured I should work on cleaning first
since someone is coming by Tuesday. And
I underestimated how long it takes to clean, yet again. Ugh. I’ve
blocked out the first weekend in February to work on the loft and am planning on
cleaning a little every night. There
must be a way to make this work without paying for a cleaning person. I mean my place is only so big.
5.
Assessment - I noticed that my real estate taxes are based on a
higher number than what I bought my place for.
I looked into this 9 months ago and apparently you can only dispute the
assessment at the beginning of the year.
I waited and remembered and sent in the paperwork at the beginning of
the month showing what I bought my place for and the assessed value that was
done by the banks to determine mortgage amount (which was lower by the way). I thought I had a good case and then last
week I got a call to make an appointment for the assessor to come by and assess
my property. They’re scheduled to come
by tomorrow. They can’t assess it at an
even higher price can they? I think they
can and I’m starting to rethink what I did.
Maybe I should have just kept my mouth shut. Oh well, taxes are good right? Investment in all the services that make my
town awesome.
6.
Moths - so it’s been awhile, quite a long while since I’ve found
any traces of moths - living or dead. I’m
starting to think that I got them all and I can start unpacking all the stuff
in bags and have my life get back to normal.
And then last week, I had left a magazine on the empty kitchen counter
and there it is - a dead moth. Just
laying on the cover. I can’t tell if it’s
dead body just floated down from something and it had been dead for a long
time. Or that it had been flying around
laying eggs before it died on my magazine.
And in the kitchen where there really isn’t anything. And yes, it’s definitely a cloth moth and not
a food moth - I checked and there is no evidence of them anywhere else. The problem is that my moths seem to live on
dander so if I have dust or anything they seem to be able to subside even after
I’ve packed away all the wools and other traditional food sources. I think they are starting to play with
me. That and I need to move out all the
appliances and do a really thorough cleaning of the fridge/stove/dishwasher. Ugh.
7.
Savings - On an upside, I’ve been updating my savings/retirement
plan and earlier this year I was not sure if I could swing buying both an IRA
and paying back some of my personal loans I had taken for my down payment on
the house the year before. Good news is
that with the stringent budget I’ve been adhering to, I saved extra and can buy
the IRA and even have a little bit extra.
I love feeling good about money.
Having spent years in grad school, and the time when my house in
Michigan wasn’t selling, being in the black is so nice. My target is to retire with $2 million -
figure that’s about what I’ll need in the future with increased costs of healthcare,
inflation, etc. And this last year, I
was able to shift my retirement age down a year to 64. I guess that is one advantage of being stuck
on the same house project for almost a year - less money spent on supplies!
2 comments:
Love it!!!
Fri. 2/24
Need to know, how did the assessment go? Or do you know yet?
Crossed fingers.
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