Things looking better
Despite the darker, colder, cloudier and rainier days we are having, I feel pretty good about life at the moment.
I do worry about work and feel very tenuous about the future of the world, but hold on to hope that some sanity will prevail and continue to do my best in whatever must be done.
My best, while never as good as I would like, is helping move some things in the right direction.
This past 4-day Thanksgiving Weekend says something about that.
I decided that this weekend would be devoted to a good Thanksgiving and preparing for Christmas. Nothing more extravagant yet, within its simplicity, fulfilling a long time goal of not letting holiday tasks slip away until too late.
We worked together on Thanksgiving Day dinner with Tofurkey, mushroom gravy, real mashed potatoes, sweet potato muffins, mushrooms & beans with onion topping, and cranberry sauce. We also gradually cleaned up the kitchen.
I fetched most of the Christmas supplies from the basement, assembled the tree and wrapped lights around, purchased a new topper and rigged it to the top. Grabbed the address list from last year (I knew exactly where to find it!) and wrote 5 Christmas cards.
Also, once I worked out our finances, I paid for some gifts.
When I looked out at the blustery weather I could still admire our retaining wall and fence.
The budget is pretty solid. I managed to keep expenses low enough to squeak out another $1000 for the slush fund at the end of the year. It wasn't as low as I wanted (probably $1000 more than I had hoped) but small enough with the Social Security bonus that we might finish the year well.
Spending controls should still stay tight. I am watching my credit card use by tallying the amounts. However, I am trying to include things like going out to eat or entertainment.
Medical expenses do bother me.
* Delbert is not gaining weight, although we are trying to feed him higher protein cat food as often as we can. He seems healthier (less prone to throwing up and relieving himself indoors), but we need to stay on top of flea medicine and continue feeding him.
* Marisa has had some sort of throat irritation for weeks now and the medicos are no closer to finding the cause let alone a cure. Tomorrow she goes in for allergy tests. I continue to worry there is something about the house, yet I am not affected, so I don't know. Not knowing is the worst thing.
However, all we can do is continue to go to the doctor, take the drugs as prescribed and, in general, do the best we can to take care of ourselves. We are doing all we can do!
So, I can look ahead to 2014 and see us paying off all our outstanding credit and going to the Turner Classic Movies Festival in April...and have work done on our house by contractors later in the year.
I hang three pictures today and now can look down our 2nd floor hallway and see it in good enough shape that I would not be ashamed for anyone to look at it. It is clean, organized and nothing out of place...and completely us!
I do worry about work and feel very tenuous about the future of the world, but hold on to hope that some sanity will prevail and continue to do my best in whatever must be done.
My best, while never as good as I would like, is helping move some things in the right direction.
This past 4-day Thanksgiving Weekend says something about that.
I decided that this weekend would be devoted to a good Thanksgiving and preparing for Christmas. Nothing more extravagant yet, within its simplicity, fulfilling a long time goal of not letting holiday tasks slip away until too late.
We worked together on Thanksgiving Day dinner with Tofurkey, mushroom gravy, real mashed potatoes, sweet potato muffins, mushrooms & beans with onion topping, and cranberry sauce. We also gradually cleaned up the kitchen.
I fetched most of the Christmas supplies from the basement, assembled the tree and wrapped lights around, purchased a new topper and rigged it to the top. Grabbed the address list from last year (I knew exactly where to find it!) and wrote 5 Christmas cards.
Also, once I worked out our finances, I paid for some gifts.
When I looked out at the blustery weather I could still admire our retaining wall and fence.
The budget is pretty solid. I managed to keep expenses low enough to squeak out another $1000 for the slush fund at the end of the year. It wasn't as low as I wanted (probably $1000 more than I had hoped) but small enough with the Social Security bonus that we might finish the year well.
Spending controls should still stay tight. I am watching my credit card use by tallying the amounts. However, I am trying to include things like going out to eat or entertainment.
Medical expenses do bother me.
* Delbert is not gaining weight, although we are trying to feed him higher protein cat food as often as we can. He seems healthier (less prone to throwing up and relieving himself indoors), but we need to stay on top of flea medicine and continue feeding him.
* Marisa has had some sort of throat irritation for weeks now and the medicos are no closer to finding the cause let alone a cure. Tomorrow she goes in for allergy tests. I continue to worry there is something about the house, yet I am not affected, so I don't know. Not knowing is the worst thing.
However, all we can do is continue to go to the doctor, take the drugs as prescribed and, in general, do the best we can to take care of ourselves. We are doing all we can do!
So, I can look ahead to 2014 and see us paying off all our outstanding credit and going to the Turner Classic Movies Festival in April...and have work done on our house by contractors later in the year.
I hang three pictures today and now can look down our 2nd floor hallway and see it in good enough shape that I would not be ashamed for anyone to look at it. It is clean, organized and nothing out of place...and completely us!