What I am reading

I found another book by Karen Harper that appealed to me and dove in. The setting is Sandringham during the end of the Reign of Queen Victoria through George VI becoming a young man.

It was a time period I really hadn't read a lot about before and I quite enjoyed it.

Where the money stands

Debt

Mortgage - $4 876.39

College LOC - $11 299

Total Debt - $16 175.39

Planned Savings

TFSA - $9350

RRSP - $14 262

TFSA 2019 - $100

Plates 2019 - $100 (used for jeep plates)

Back to School - $400
RRSP 2019 - $1580

Summer 2019 - $1000

Christmas 2019 - $0

I haven't made a lot of progress anywhere. I seem to have fallen off the rails in terms of drive to push on these things.

I hope that summer brings a resurgence of energy and drive and purpose.

What I am reading

Piggy backing off my last book on Consuela Vanderbilt, I headed to my library for the first time in well over a year.

A quick search found this book for me, about her mother, Alva Smith.  I was surprised at how much the tone of the first book made me going into this one with preconceived notions about her mother.

I definitely enjoyed this one as well and it gave me more insight into this particular time period in New York history.

Any suggestions on others??

I read ( I know!!!)

A couple weeks ago when I was in the city I went to a bookstore. I find such peace there. Such comfort.

And I bought a book. I am very much quick to choose or discard. I had wandered for about 20 minutes and found this as it caught my eye.

what's even better is, this weekend  at dad's I had downtime AND enough brain energy to read it. 

It's about Consuelo Vanderbilt Marlborough. I confess to knowing very little about the Vanderbilts beyond 'famous name' and was pleased at how much I enjoyed the book.

The love of reading was very much inspired by my mom and I haven't really read since she got sick. I hope this is a sign of a positive change in my world. It's a book mom would have loved too.

What's more, I went to the library and found another fiction book about this family and started it.

What a joy to be able to read again.

Catching up - My health

I have to say that since I started a new oral pill last September, things have been much better colitis-wise in my world. I am still hyper vigilant about what could happen when I am out and about but I have actually been able to go eat at a couple restaurants without having to drive home in a mad dash to get to the bathroom.

I hope this trend continues. It would be so nice to live a more normal life and not have the burden of this disease the major factor in all my trips outside of the house.

The time spent with dad however uses up all my free time. I am feeling overwhelmed and like I don't have a life of my own anymore. I try to frame it as positive as I can but it  isn't easy.

I am behind  at school because I can't be there after schools or weekends to get caught up or, gasp, plan ahead.

It uses up all my brain energy so that when I get home from dad's I am often in a zombie state, without the ability to make big decisions, or organize, or remember where I put things.

My second mammogram shows the abnormalities are still there but haven't changed in size or shape. They don't feel it is something to be concerned about but I still think I should get a biopsy. Maybe paranoid, but I don't want to be surprised and find out that it is too late.

My filling in January broke in mid Feb. I had it refilled and it broke again a few days later.

I ended up having to go get the tooth pulled. I felt instantly old, with this weird gap on my lower jaw. A bridge or a crown were not viable possibilities. Add to that the tooth was a hot mess and roots were crooked and I had to pay $700 for sedation and it was NOT covered by any health plan. Boo!!