First Day of Pause

ok well the second since Friday was the first day. Close enough

It only took til noon until I started to feel guilty not connecting with my kids' and their families. We were told to take the week and try to think of ways to keep interest in learning online, but mostly the week is for us.

So I unpacked some books, put a few more things away and started to make a list of things I could do so I wouldn't go crazy.

I am still trying to keep the bills straight between the houses, and the dates they are due.

I spent some time adjusting my budget to reflect 2 power bills, 2 water bills etc.  At some point we will get the boys to kick in but let's wait and see.  It shouldn't be so hard to keep it organized but it feels like a mess for me. Hopefully it will get better.


DS2 is up with his gf and experiencing that same pause. Except for her, she's only been teaching less than 3 months so she doesn't have that wealth of experiences and materials to draw upon.

DS1 is surviving and finding himself sneezing a lot from the cat hair. We've cleaned a lot but it's still there. I suspect the furnace vents all need cleaning.

I definitely need to figure out a rhythm for the days ahead.

Garage Sale Success

I would have to say the sale was a success in all sorts of ways.

Clutter - we got rid of a TON of  items that were big and taking up space in the garage or the shed. Things we haven't used in forever. That's a win for those spaces, who now have some elbow room.

Family time - I got to spend some good family time with the boys while they helped me run in

Money - We made over $400 on just clearing out clutter. It went immediately to a lump sum payment on the College Line of Credit.

I am glad to get this task off my Summer to do list

Summer To Do List

Summer is definitely a time to rest and relax.

It's also a time to do all the things that have been pushed off all school year and need to get done.

Here's my list. Only a little has to do with money to be honest.

• Rest
• Read
• Walk
• Weight Watchers (hoping for 12 pounds over the summer)
• Spend  a LOT of time with dad
• $400 snowflakes
• Passport - my passport expires in Oct but who has time in October to do that? So I will do it over the summer. Which meant I needed to do my pics and documents at the end of June so that my witnesses/references were actually around
• Infusion x 3 (regularly scheduled)
• Specialist appointment in the city
• Get DS to the accountant to figure out what we will need to do for Tax season for 2018 year when he moves /is employed in Europe
• Get DS to bank to decide what to do with his account here and get advice for Credit Card and Banking in  Europe
• Book DS's flight
• Dentist - cleaning
• Mammogram - weird things happening and I want to find out if there is anything to worry about
• Mole excision - That's how mom's cancer started. I want my two guys gone (and checked)
• Garage Sale
• Meet at Bank to do this year's RRSP contribution
• Meet at Bank to add this year's TSFA contribution
• Call cemetery to be sure the spots we have for mom's ashes (and dad's when it's time) is still there
• Do mom's memorial for the newspaper since no one else stepped up
• Monitor the price of Euros (I think we're screwed)
• Come up with a new budget. Our district is moving to pay twice a month after 24 years of once a month. I am not thrilled. I have a great rhythm going with once a month
• Find a new binge on Netflix for my down moments
• Clean out mom's things when dad is ready
• At least 20 large garbage bags out of my house (donate/garage sale/recycle/toss)
• Head to toe house cleaning
• 'spring' clean mom's house. She would be twitching at the dust and windows
• Lunch with High School friends
• Bake, bake, bake. I seem to have taken over mom's role there for the family. I am nowhere near as good as she was
• Gather mom's recipes together in a word document to share with the family. 
• Decide on a tattoo. One of my friends at work had something in her grandmother's writing tattoed on her arm and I think that's what I am going for. Now to see what I have in mom's writing.
• Pedicure x 2 (I have 2 gift certificates so why not)
• Perm - yeah I'm one of those who needs that for her sad sad flat hair.
• Skin Care Routine - colleagues gave me a 3 month supply of a lovely smelling product line. Might as well use it.
• Memory book - I haven't ever done one of those online photo albums. I want to do one for DS for all his college hockey time as a gift for him. Not sure how to get newspaper articles in there. I don't have any fancy software programs
• Cancel DS1's vehicle package policy since the vehicle will be parked while he is gone.

I will undoubtedly add to this list as things come to me. Nothing thus far is school related. woo hoo.