She's making a list(s)...

As August moves towards a close (I can't believe the summer is almost over), my home is filled with lists. Things get busy with me heading back to work, DS1 heading back to the US and DS2 moving home for good (for now) after 2 years away while he figures out work for the winter season.

DS1's list  is important because he's a long ways away if he forgets, like last year when he forgot his beard trimmer and his CAA card. Life at border crossing would be very difficult without his I-20 document that lets him in.

For school I have a list of 'desk' items....things I use throughout my work day. Included: motrin, icy hot (for when my neck goes out..and it does. often), immodium (pretty much on daily use now), sugar free gum and candies, coffee for the Keurig.

For home my list has a cleaning list and a cook ahead list and a stock the cupboard list. I may need to buy a couple things for back to school clothes too.

Lists truly do help me bring order to the chaos. It makes me feel in control. Empowered :-)

A summer of connections

I allowed myself to play on Ancestry this summer and found quite a few new interesting details.

An uncle of my GG grandmother murdered his wife and was hung. A brother of a G grandmother had a suspicious death after the govt claimed they had mineral rights on his oil rich land in Nebraska. I can trace my ancestors on my dad's side to Bern, Switzerland to the late 1200s.  Things like that.

More personal though, were the connections.

• Several distant relatives returned my messages on ancestry and we filled gaps in the tree for each other.
• The granddaughter of my dad's first cousin popped up from the US to visit the old family stomping grounds. We had never met her. 
• I discovered that my mom had a half brother who died at two. Didn't know he had existed. His grave is unmarked (died in 1924) but we wer ea
• My mom's nephew (from her oldest half brother) came for a visit. I had found him on Facebook about 2 years ago and we have messaged now and again. He knows very little about this side of the family and it was so good to have the chance to sit down and answer his questions. He looks so much like my uncle. My mom cried when she met him and hugged him
• On DH's side, we had a family reunion for his mom's sisters. Some of the cousins we haven't seen since my inlaws died several years ago. One, my husband hadn't seen since he was about 8. I was the youngest there, with the exception of the brief pit stop DS1 and GF did on their way to HER family reunion.

On my bucket list I definitely have a trip to upstate NY and the region below Ottawa to see more of where one of my branches lived.  I would love to do the Bern trip too but I am not sure that my health will permit it. (and my wallet :-)

Where the money stands

as of August 5th

Debt
Mortgage - $12 387.55
College LOC - $22 443.51

Total Debt - $34 831.06



Savings/Planned Spending
TFSA/EF - $8200 
RRSP -$13 851
Back to School 2017 - $500
XMAS 2017 - $700
Plates 2017 - $1000
Summer - $500

I still have not taken the $1500 in to add to the RRSP. My advisor has been on holiday. I have not used any summer money. Go nowhere = spend nothing = dull = economical = still dull

August Goals

While July might be the ahhhhhhh relaxation month, August is the appreciation of summer month. It always goes lightning fast and the whole 'school starts soon' pops up as soon as the calendar flips.

• Continue on Ancestry. One more month subscription will help me continue the explorations I have started. It's been lots of fun and I have learned several new things.
• Continue walking. It is beneficial in so many ways
• Read - this month will mostly be novels my students can read. It's hard to recommend books when you don't have a stack of ones you have read
• Appreciate outside. Whether it's walking or having coffee outside or reading.....once September hits I am going 7 days a week and suddenly the almost winter weather is here. Darker in the morning. Leaves changing. 
• Write my sanity list. It's a list of all the things I need to do in that last couple weeks before school starts so that I feel ready to go. A few tidy things at home. Going through clothes. Pantry stocked up. Menus made 
• Medical appointments. One with the specialist. The dentist. My general practitioner. Optometrist
• Weight. Lose another 3 pounds
• RRSP - Meet with my agent and add $1500 to my rrsp
• Vehicles - Mine needs an oil change. DS1's (which is technically my vehicle needs a windshield replacement and an oil change before he goes back to the States

Review of July goals

I will be the first to admit that in essence, my July was boring.

I got to relax and read, walk and tidy, but if someone were to ask me what fun things I did in July, I would have zippo for an answer. I recognize that my health limits a lot but I don't want this to be the rest of my life. Not sure how much power I have to change it.

So as for my goals.....I did ok ish. I had great zip and zoom for the first two weeks of July, as usual. After that the unrelenting heat here really affects my mood and  health. I know our heat is nothing compared to what many folk are getting. It's just more than my body can handle. On the couple cooler days we had, I felt SO much more alive and productive.

Goals:
1) clean out 'the paperwork' bin.   A
It felt good to get the excess out and to know where everything I need, is

2) Read Read Read Read.  B minus
I always could have done more, but I enjoyed curling up to escape in a book.

3) Walk Walk Walk. B
Super strong the first two weeks then as the heat cont I got lazier. Still everyday, but not multiple times.

4) Fitbit 10, 000 Steps. B
I misplaced it for a week. Harder to count when it was awol.

5) My computer room. F
I started but then DH shoved a bunch of things in there as he was looking for things for his family reunion. Until he clears them out again it's just wall to wall debris.

6) Make a tentative money plan for the rest of 2017.  A
I have made a couple versions of things depending on how things go. Of  course Murphy may have other plans. He usually does :-)

7) Lose 6 lbs. B
I lost 4. I wish I could keep the momentum going when I start something.

8) Delve into Ancestry. A found some great pictures and artifacts that I only could access with  the international  plan. We have one of our branches back to the late 1200s in Switzerland. Pretty cool. DS2 spent a few hours exploring with me. I have a first cousin coming to visit tomorrow that I have never met. My mom is so excited to meet this nephew of hers.


And, that was July. Not spectacular. Not too shabby either.