May change

It was a fairly stable change month. This coinage comes from when I shop for groceries, gas etc with cash. Any coin goes into the jar.  The pennies came from a baggie I found in DS1's room. Most of them are US ones he dumped there the last time he was home.

• 1 roll toonies - $50
• 1 roll loonies - $25
• 2 rolls quarters - $20
• 1 roll dimes - $5
• 2 rolls of nickels - $4
• 2 rolls of pennies - $1

Total of $100.

This will go towards gas as DS1 makes the 17 hour drive home from the US this coming weekend. He will put it on his CC and I will pay it off with the coins.

Grateful for...

It's May long here in Canada. Not too many years ago I would have been at the lake with the boys enjoying family time. May long weather is mercurial at best. One weekend alone we had  30 degree temps, a small tornado and then snow the next day.

Alas my world is different now. DS1 is still away in the US at college, taking spring session. DS2 is up volunteering at his scout camp, organizing activities for a few dozen lil scouters.  DH went with DS2 as an advisor.

So it's just me this weekend - well and the cat too.

This is our last long weekend before the last 6 week push til the end of the school year so I promised myself I would make it as positive and productive as possible.


And to be grateful for the time I have.

So, I started yesterday by getting a  pedicure after school. DS1 had given me a gift certificate at Christmas so this was my first pair of pretty feet since late last summer.  I am grateful for smooth feet with a pretty polish for no cost but the tip.

I didn't do a whole lot after that. We pulled a frozen pizza out and made a salad for supper and then I pretty much crashed after that, exhausted from the week. I was grateful for nothing scheduled so I could sleep, guilt free.

My cat woke me up at 7:02 this morning. She was worried I didn't know my husband had left for the lake at 7:00. So up I was, early, on a Saturday morning. I had coffee outside on my little patio. There was a soft breeze. Birds were singing. My cat was happy to have me outside with her.  I am grateful for not losing out on the peacefulness of early morning.

While I am still in rotten health, I was able to get my front and back lawn cut. I was grateful for the breeze blowing while I was cutting, to keep me from overheating (which seems to be a condition I am experiencing a lot lately)

My mom and dad are out at the farm and asked that I let their dog out a couple times today. My dad is going to be 80 and while he still works his ass off, cutting the grass really tires him out fast. I managed to get their lawn cut for them (as I did last weekend). I am grateful for enough strength to be able to surprise them.

For both lawn cuttings I was grateful I could do some activity but be close to the house for the multiple trips in to the washroom. Thanks colitis.

We have been waiting and waiting for any kind of rain. There has been virtually nothing this year. Fire bans are everywhere and it's super dry.  There are clouds in the sky and rain is predicted but we shall see if it comes.

With the wind it was a good day to do laundry and hang things on the line. I am grateful for my laundry line to dry things without using up energy in the dryer.

I did a quick run to the pharmacy to pick up my 2 prescriptions and DS2's prescription.  Before health coverage it came to $357.77. I only paid $ 19.05 .  I am grateful to the health insurance program I pay into which covers these meds.

The wind picked up and my eyes got blinky. I am grateful for a lazy Saturday afternoon to have a nap.

We had a tiny bit of rain. We need more. I would be ever so grateful for that.

Where the money stands

as of May 4th

Debt
Mortgage - $17 256.95
College LOC - $12 094.91

Total Debt - $29 351.86



Savings/Planned Spending
TFSA/EF - $7100
RESP - $5 500
RRSP - $10 946
Summer 2016 - $1000
Back to School - $500
RRSP 2016 - $1000
XMAS 2016 - $160
TSFA 2016 - $706 (through snowflakes)
Plates - $500

RRSP Update

When last we met, my RRSP had taken a bit of a hit with the plummeting Canadian dollar. It was sitting at $10 946.62 after a drop of $30 and a drop before that.


I haven't changed what I have invested. Still Canadian Bonds and Canadian Equities.

It was good to see that it was up to $11 438 - a gain of just under $500, at $492.

I really hope to be able to add to this in 2016, but things are tough. Neither DS has been able to find a summer job yet. DS1 can't until he is home in June and most summer jobs are gone then. DS2 is supposed to get one in his field as part of his course. The flood of people coming back from Alberta due to job loss have eaten up most of the jobs in his field. I am not sure what we will do. 

Times are tough around here.

Fort Mac

This is one of the most haunting photos I have seen of the hundreds posted online. I do not know who to give credit to as original source.

We are several hours from Fort Mac, but everyone I talk to has some connection with the city being devoured by flames right now.  Family living there. Friends working (or used to) and the camps north of the city.

The father of one of my students lives there. His house is gone.

We share stories in class or the staff room about developments we have read about and see the evac from so many different points of view.

People help in the ways that are meaningful to them. 

I read online yesterday of a list of places in Edmonton offering their help and it made me think of ways to help that I hadn't thought of before. There were the usual much needed offerings like food, shelter, water, and clothes. But I saw things like a pharmacy offering to fill prescriptions for families. Or optometrists offering glasses and contacts. Rec centers offering free admission to pools and gym and play centers. Pet stores offering food and toys.  Computer stores setting up stations in the larger shelters with free wifi.  Landlords offering houses and condos to stay in. 

So many ways people are helping.

Yesterday we had our first refuge come and register at our school. 

Word spread quickly and I heard students talking in the hall.

"I texted my mom. She said we can take him shopping for some clothes."

"I wonder if he longboards? I just got a new one and he can have my old one"

"I hope he gets put in my class. It sounds like the place he is staying is a couple blocks from me. He could use a friend"

A girl from one of the communities near ours has started a facebook page and is gathering grad dresses for the displaced class of 2016.

We had a BBQ  at work with all proceeds going to the Red Cross.

The disaster is far from being over. I can't even begin to imagine what all those people and first responders are feeling.

AWOL

It all started with report cards...that magical mystical time where I disappear to the school for hours marking things, most of which I had to beg to get handed in.  Then we had 2 nights of parent teacher interviews. Then I turtled for a whole weekend, exhausted and slept and slept with small doses of Netflix.

In the meantime.... my VISA was hacked.  I had been about to log in to check the balance. DH had taken my vehicle in to the shop for some very expensive repairs that had something to do with the spark plug kit and all it's wires. Honestly, my SUV had heard that my tax refund was in and thought it would spend a little of it. But I digress.... So I am about to log in when the house phone rings. It is one of those robot calls along the lines of "This is VISA's security department". I hung up before they finished. I get one of those a week from 'BMO'.

I log in and my balance is exactly what it should be. It isn't until I expand the details when I see that there is an interesting charge for $1.79 US at some service station in Barlow, Ohio. The change was made and then immediately voided. A test charge.

Well I'll be darned, that might have been an actual call from VISA. I phone and go through all the motions of getting the card cancelled. I had two charges that had been put on it and I wanted to be sure they would go through if I cancelled it.  I had also prepaid the vehicle repairs on it and wanted to be sure that payment would go through. They assured me they would.  That was on the 25th. I am still waiting for my new VISA to come. I assume that when it does and I activate it, I will see all those things go through when I check in online.

I use this VISA for very few things. The same things each month, pretty much. Netflix. WW when I was on it. Amazon if I shop there. The shop where I got my repairs done (not each month but a trusted source) They all get immediately paid off. It makes me wonder at what point it was compromised, if they were all known places.

I had to explain to my  husband what a test charge was. He thought that since it was refunded at the vendor that my card wasn't really hacked.