The Bitch Stirs

I don't know what else to call it/her/that side. ShadowSelf, maybe? Heh, wouldn't that be interesting - I need to go and do some more reading on the shadowself.

Anyhow. I'm - murrph. I don't know. I think I'm sick of people. *lol* It's so 'high and mighty' and hoity-toity, but - gods! It's just - *sigh* - personal perceptions are always different, ain't they? And emotions are never logical. And maybe if I freaked/flipped out more, I would be a better rounded person.

But bloody hell, does it ever get on ones nerves!

I want a cigarette - and we all know that means I'm stretched a wee bit thinner than I should be - patience/tolerance-wise.

We are looking into re-financing the house, to try and take advantage of the lower interest rates - working with the fellow who did the first loan, and we might be able to drop a whole point, which would be utterly fabulous!

I still haven't done our budget. I think - I think maybe I'll at least start pulling stuff tonight - I ran our credit reports today, so that will be a place to start - I think I have pretty impressive credit - and THANKFULLY the little 'lates' on the HD card (the whores, shifting bloody payment dates!) aren't showing up, as that would ding me, quite nicely. DH's credit is - thin. Both figuratively and literally - all three of his reports is barely as thick as one of mine. Something semi-scary I realized - MOST of the debt we have is in my name. I haven't yet determined if that's wise - of course, most of our debt is also wrapped up in the house, so - I don't know. And if the re-fi goes well, DH will be on the mortgage too, so - that should be - okay, I guess.

The amount of revolving credit we have scares the shit out of me though - we have WAY too much of that - WAY too much. Okay, true, true, that includes a lawnmower, a treadmill, a dishwasher, new countertops, and two vacations - but STILL. It's a good chunk more than I am comfy with - we are definitely past our '9 month payoff' level - we've exceeded our personal credit level.

Speaking of which - we had a 'discussion' last night. DH had Forbes, and had it open to the 2008 blahblahskippy BMW, and said 'See, this is why I wanted to get this magazine, so that I will know what's out there to want' - basically. I - well, I had issues with that statement, asking him why he wanted an 60K car, and he said he didn't really want the car, he wanted the lifestyle the car represented. I then replied that the 'true' millionaires don't drive cars like that, and what that car really represents is a high disregard for the actual value of money - bloody 80 grand on a depreciating asset! WTF?
Anyhow, he got all stuffy and accused me of refusing to acknowledge goals that I don't agree with - whereas my intentions were to clarify exactly what sort of 'lifestyle' the car represented. To me, the 'lifestyle' that would allow you to have 60K even semi-liquid is NOT the 'lifestyle' of the average person who actually drives that car.

But then, maybe that more reflects our love of credit than anything else.

She's ALIVE!!!!

Yes, I haven't suffered an untimely demise.

In fact, I'm just fine.

Work, is workly.

House, is WUNDERBAR. Here, this is a bit of what we've been up to. This transformation took about, oh, 8 MONTHS, but still - it looks quite nice, if I do say so myself.

And can I say that BigLots is my personal home decor store of choice? That place ROCKS.

The garden is going along - all that stuff (when I update) is on the dirtydirty MySpace blog - link to that is on the front page.

Urm.

I've realized that I write VERY few FO entries, and my favorites list is crazy long, so I think I'm going to have to pare it down... that's one of the reasons that I come here so rarely - I'm scared of all them there updates.

But really I don't read em all.

Um.

I think that's it.

I might redecorate later.

I havent' been chatty journal wise, cuz I've been SO chatty forumwise. I *heart* my forums.

Oh, yeah - my little experiment. So far? My worst has been 37 miles per gallon. Right now, I'm shooting for 40, I think - I've got half a tank left, and 220 miles on the trip meter. Mwuahahahaaaaa! Take that, Prius!

The Fast & The Frugal - Memphis Drift

So, I'm trying an experiment, and I figured I'd share with the rest of OD, and see if anyone else is doing the same thing.

I drive a stick (o, how I love the stick) and one of the cooler things that I've always 'heard' but never done was drift/coast in the car - to save on gas.

So. What I started doing last week was drifting. As much as I could - slipping the car into neutral, and letting the inertia carry me down the hill/to the stoplight/off the exit ramp/etc..... just doing it off an on, for a week, upped my MPG from 32 to 34. I know, I know, a measley two miles per gallon, but still - considering gas (when I filled my tank last night) has crept up to the lovely price of 2.79 (member year before last when gas didn't get this expenisve until AFTER Katrina took out the oil refineries in LA? WTF, ya'll? ) I figure that anything I can do to save fuel is - wise, on so MANY different levels.

So far - I've gotten 37 miles, and the needle hasn't even shifted from 'over-full'. I usually only got 25 miles before it started drifting into the actual gauge range.

I keep safety in mind - I simply CANNOT do this on the highway - drifting doesn't give me enough power to go safely fast enough to stay in the flow - and we don't have many hills on the route I drive home/to work. On the city streets - every hill is an opportunity, every stoplight/stopsign is DEFINITELY an opportunity - if I HAVE to brake, I'm in neutral - period. I can switch lanes easily, and I can pop right back into 3rd/4th if need be.

*evilgrin* It's like having a hybrid, without the plug. *LOL*

Here, there, everywhere.

Okay, so, I'm still alive, I've just been balls to the wall busy - or distracted by other internet pretties - the only thing better than internet is NEW internet, ya know??

So - in the last - however long it's been since I've posted I've

1) Doula'd for my first client - who ended up with a section because she entered labor a) exhausted and b) dehydrated. *sigh* But - her little one has joined us, and it was a rocking experience (despite not getting my birth high) but it has me questioning whether I really WANT to get certified.....

2) Finally - FINALLY - got my Car. I haven't taken any picture yet, as it's been too damn bloody cold to stand outside and take pictures, but I have her, and she is wonderful.

3) Spent an unGODLY amount of money for C's birthday (and got a little something for myself too)

4) Spent far more time than was REALLY needed in my lovely bed. The pictures simply don't do it justice.

I've been trying to keep up - but I know I've been slacking. I miss ya'll! I think I'm almost out of the honeymoon with my new timespending sites, so I'll be around MUCH more often.

Heh.

*smooches*

Argh. Argh. Arrrrrrrrrrrggggggggghhhhha!

Had a fraJABulous birthday, if I do say so myself. I'm not big on the YUUGGGEE celebrations - a queit night at home, with hubby, and music, and the gifts of the sparkly (matching sapphire and diamond earrings and necklace - LOVELY) , is really all a gal needs. See - I'm acting like an old married lady all READY....

The immeadiate aftermath of the day of Birth - not QUITE so much fun. So, right? I'm the money person in the house - C actually DOES hand over his checks to me, and we like it. Anyhow, being with the whole shared account & online banking & me hopelessly nosy bit, I told C that I would stay out of our account for 10 days - from the 3rd to the 13th, to give him a chance to get (and SUPRISE) me with a gift.
Now. He had mentioned, idly, earlier in the week, that we were scraping the bottom of the barrell, moneywise, and he had transferred some money. I figured his paycheck just hadn't cleared yet, and thought nothing more of it.
Sunday though (the day after me b-day) I was chomping at the bit to go and take a peek at the account.....and we are almost at zero - again. Huh?

So - I start reviewing entries, and I'm reading, and I'm getting upset/excited/puzzled. Cuz see, either C had gone ALL out for my Bday, and only the jewelry had gotten here, or C had lost his everloving mind and went on a shopping spree, or someone was hacking our account. 

"Love - did you get me anything else for my birthday?" 

"No babe....." 

" Darling, have you been paying other peoples phone bills and shopping at buy.com and setting up singles profiles for yourself??"

"Uh - no, babe....why?"

AIUAPIUWS!!!!???ODHU!)&#)*&#(ITOUER*&)W#*ODHEJSH!!!!!!!!!HKJDHF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!IUEDIORU! (that would be me, freaking the fuck out over the fact that someone had siphoned 1200.00 out of our account, and it was Sunday, and the next day was a holiday and the BANKS. WERE. CLOSED.)

So, between Saturday Night, and the time I woke up this morning (6:00am, as a certain human entity other than myself decided that he NEEDED to be at work at 6:30) and got back home, and sat down in front of the PC - they had CONTINUED their spending spree, and at this point, were up to SEVENTEEN HUNDRED DOLLARS. (this is me, pissing myself!) Mind you - the thing is - we almost NEVER have that much money in the account. The only reason we HAD that much is because we just paid off those bills, and C had just gotten paid.

So, I spent the majority of today either online with the bank, on the phone with the bank, or physically IN the freaking bank signing affidavits, repeating my social security number for the UMPTEENTH time, and slowly convincing these people that no matter WHAT their little PC screen said, there was no way in HELL someone used my PIN to make a bill payment to AT&T - I even talked to AT&T and CONFIRMED that they don't need a PIN in order to pay a bill.

The bank guy thinks that there is still MORE stuff waiting to be posted to our account (there are a LOT of entries for 1.00 - which means that the ACTUAL cost of whatever the bleepbleepingtyblip they brought hasn't come through yet) but, as my card is now 'Hot' (and cut into wee pieces) they should catch it before it runs through the little bit of money left in our account, and starts causing bouncing and overdrafts and other horrors that I would rather not consider. 

The REALLY creepy part? I still have my card. I didn't LOSE my card. I didn't LEAVE my card someplace (I'm fucking anal about that damn card.) I rarely use it online. So. What is REALLY freaking me out is that - some business - some LOCAL business - that I patronize, and give my money too, STOLE A COPY OF MY DEBIT CARD. And the REALLY messed up part is - I'm almost certain I know WHAT store - as they would have had a chance to not only get a copy of my credit card, they ALSO would have my home address (for delivery) which is my billing address. That - that is the part that REALLY pisses me off. And it was funny, because this store - I made a large purchase - a piece of furniture. And while I was there - paying - I saw a woman come up and buy a roughly 700 dollar set - with cash. And I though - Hmm.. I wonder what would make me pay cash for something that big - I wouldn't want to carry THAT much cash on me, ya know? I always said that it was running more of a risk to give your credit card to your waitress than it was to steal a number online - humph. I guess I was right. 

And I'm still - steaming. Hot. HOT. I know I'm not liable for any of it - but STILL. I'm crazy bout mah money. I swear - if I knew - for sure - it would be ON.       

Answer #1: How I Became Rich......

In my 'Ask me anything' entry, BlessedBeauty left me a note, asking how I became rich.  Really, I've always been rich, and I simply wasn't aware of the fact.  

I first watched that video - oh, a few months ago now,  and it really - brought home to me, in a way that nothing else ever has, how wealthy I - and most people who are able to read this entry - are.  And yeah, it's kinda sappy, in a 'We are the World' sort of way - but it's also been VERY personally peaceful for me.

I was ALWAYS the one fretting about money - will we have enough? why don't we have more? Oh, only if I had X dollars I would be able to do W, and Y, and maybe even G! - and honestly, it stressed me. It wore me down. It drove my husband BATTY.  I was always so 'forward-focused', and so busy looking at all the stuff OTHER people had, and wondering why I didn't have quite as much stuff, and wondering if I would EVER have quite as much stuff. 

Then, I really started thinking about it - about how I deal with money, and how it works (or doesn't work, as the case may be) with what I claim is my worldview - that money is energy & time, condensed into a form that can be given and taken away. That money, really is, a means to an end, and simply because the money isn't there, doesn't mean that the end won't ever be reached - it might be harder, it might take more effort and time and energy - but if it's worthy, if it's truly WORTH it - it'll happen. It'll get done. 

And then, I really started thinking about all the grandiose PLANS I had for the 'money' that I didn't have, and I realized that most of them were actually experiences - things I wanted to learn/try/do - and that  the MONEY aspect of it was really all around me getting more 'stuff' to be able to do something. Did I REALLY need a 250 dollar sewing machine to start sewing? Nope - a 3 dollar one from the thrift store is all I really need - and most women, across the WORLD, make do with even less.  Do I really need the full set of gardening tools to get my ass outside and digging in some dirt?  Nope - all I REALLY need is my hands and a hoe - what most people in the world use to feed themselves when they don't have enough 'money' to pay someone else to feed them. 

It's really been a seachange in how I deal with money, and how I percieve wealth. I have my health, I have a roof over my head, I have enough clothing to last me for years, I have a college education, I have a computer (of my own!) and can afford the electricity to run it, I have a fridge and a deep freezer and a car, and dammit, I'm rich!! And to even consider myself anything less than rich is denying the reality of exisitence of most of the population of the world, and only focusing on the microgasm of the world that is represented as Amercian Culture (built half on debt, and half on denial) and comparing myself - with my very different goals and plans and lifepaths - to that.

So yeah - that's how I became rich.  

aMrregh.

Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god!

So. I've firmly told my husband that I will NOT (not, not, N.O.T.) thank him for wrecking my car - but this is what we will get out of it.

1) A new car - suitably slightly larger for the planned family expansion, as well as KICK ASS mileage, as well as big enough to cart shit home from Home Depot and the Thrift store and the like without having to pay for delivery. Urm - a Toyota Matrix, as I haven't mentioned that yet. All I'm waiting for is MY car. I figure it this way - Dammit, if I'm going to buy a NEW car, I'm going to get every.single.thing I want on it. A 5 speed with ABS and a moonroof and side impact airbags and the rear seat heat? In the pretty, pale, almost silver Cosmic Blue?  Oh, yes, thank you! What? You'll have to tell the factory to make it? Oh, that's fine - it's only fair for me losing a couple of grand in worth AS SOON AS I DRIVE IT OFF THE LOT. *pants briefly* Yes, I hate buying new cars. *wanders off muttering about depreciation and replacement costs* 

2) We get to pay off: Sallie Mae (the last of C's student loans), PLUS (the last of my student loans) CitiBank (the remmants of the WEDDING credit card) and Chase (the remmants of the REST of the wedding that was shifted to a 0% rate card). Which! Which! Besides, ya know, the new house, and the new car, and the store cards (Sears, Home Depot, Department Stores) means we are OUT. OF. DEBT. And dude - those cards are small enough that - I'm not even SWEATING them! And - the car, it'll only be a wee bit more than the old car....so - still! 

*side note* C just asked me what I was doing, and I told him I was writing a journal entry.... he told me to include (and I quote) "Make sure you say that your husband told you that he falls in love with you again every time you smile at him....."  *fans self* *sqqqquuuuue* don't I just have the most SUGARY sweet man ever? (And he's hot).  *end side note* 

So  *silly grin still firmly in place* while, I DID love that car, and while I HATE the fact that he wrecked it - we really did know that if we planned on roadtripping/camping with a wee one (ie. carseat) we would need a bigger car. And seriously, I'm cheap (and stubborn) enough, that if he hadn't wrecked the car, I would have DRRRRAaaaaaggggeeed my feet on getting a new one, and lived with all sorts of irrtation and discomfort.  

And see, I'm telling YA'LL this, as I would never tell him this, cuz then he might start to feel SLIGHTLY less bad about wrecking my car. And sweet, hot, loving man aside - Dammit! I mean, DAMN! What is it with HIM and my CARS!!!  Last time, I said he wasn't driving my car anymore - but I mean really? 14 hour roadtrip? Husband? Yeah, right. *sighs* And it's not like it's just MY car - he's (we've) gone through 3 cars in the six years we've known each other - all totaled by him!! ARRGGHHHH! And I've driven for FEWER years than him.....I mean, WTF?  *deep breath*

Annnndddd.....we are also getting (after! after! those bills are paid off) a NEW BED SET. It's actually going to be here on Wednesday. I'm talking a BED. and....and... a DRESSER. and.... and... an CHEST....annddd *holds back the tears* Nightstands! With - little shelves on them! TWO! So we don't have to share! 

Seriously ya'll, this is like the NICEST bedset I've ever owned. I've tried to find pictures online, but haven't found anything close - cuz - it's LOVELY. And seriously? I haven't owned a PROPER set of drawers since - since I left my mothers house, I think. I faked it for a while with a set of cardboard drawers, and for even longer with milk crates, used as drawers, and lately, with underbed storage containers heaped in closets, used as drawers..in other words ya'll, we have been faking the funk, and I keep my carpets very clean, because otherwise my clothes would get dirty. And sometimes, in the middle of the afternoon, when I think about what I THINK that I 'should' have - I'm rather shamed of how little I DO have. Then, I look at what I DO have, and realize, with some pride, that I tried to buy as little of it with debt as possible, and I'm proud and comfortable, and - maybe not quite content, but definitely pleased and satisfied with what I DO have. It is enough, for among the world, I am still very wealthy.... 

We still have to buy a mattress (because I refused to let the sales guy talk me into buying a mattress then and there - it was out of character ENOUGH for us to buy FURNITURE without doing reasearch (but we loved this set!!), so there was no way in HECK I was going to buy a mattress without at least doing SOME reading up on it!) but, I figure that we will go to Sears, and take a look (and a lay) at the mattresses there. I'm also going to get a dual heated matress pad, so that we can turn down the heat at night and still be comfy, and - *sighs* and, some Brand. new. sheets. I haven't brought a new set of sheets in - YEARS. Since college, most likely, as we are still sleeping on the same size futon - and as for the sheets that I got for the waterbed - one set came WITH the waterbed, the other two sets I got off of Freecycle.  I'm even seriously considering getting REALLY wild and crazy, and buying NEW pillows. *fans self* It'll be like a hotel bed - but AT HOME. And - we already have a huge king size comforter that we got years ago from Pottery Barn Outlet that I just need to make a duvet cover(cuz I refuse to spend 80 bucks on a damn duvet cover) for - which, the sewing machine, and the mondo cheap kingsize sheets I'm going to dig up will make most convienent.

This is a long entry for me, but - I get giddy about money things turning out well. I feel like this - even though it came from something horrid and something that could have changed (or ended) my life - is actually going to further plans that were already in place! I feel - rewarded, I guess - for being so. damn. cheap. And so anal about paying bills off early. This, you see, is my staunchly Puritanical side coming out (money is about the only thing I'm conservative about).

And babymaking? I haven't mentioned babymaking yet, have I? Technically, we are still in an holding pattern - we do not, I repeat, do NOT, have a go on babymaking.  But - make sure the runway is clear all the same.

Um, yes. In slightly clearer words, due to the above mentioned Puritanical streak, it has been decided (agreed) that babymaking should not commence in earnest before March (just in case the best thing EVER happens, and I get knocked up on the first try). But - all the same - in order to try to get conception as CLOSE to that time as possible (only 5 cycles tween now and then) I went and brought a Basal Thermometer today. I realized, despite planning on making my carrer in BIRTH, I really didn't know all that much about the process of the OTHER side of that coin, conception, and am halfway through the 20 lesson online course offered by FertilityFriend.com  - and that convinced me that the best thing I could do right now to prep for right then is to start charting my temps.  I'm honestly in a total state of denial, and chose to believe that we will get pregnant in the first six months or so. If it doesn't happen, then I will handle that then - because I'm NOT going to drive myself crazy by worrying about it NOW. I'm doing all that I can to prepare for that (having these charts, and historical records of my cycles will help - IF I need to go to a fertility specialist) but at the same time, it's helping to insure that hopefully - we WON'T have to go that route.

Speaking of future fertility boosters, my ass is starting to widen again, because I haven't been to the gym in TWO WEEKS. Really, two and a half, because I didn't go so much the week BEFORE Thanksgiving either. Last week, I was sick, and just plain refused to go to the gym and potentially imfect everyone there. I fianlly stopped coughing the bloody crud on Friday, and when I woke up today, I leaned over to push myself up out of the futon, and nearly screamed as I put weight on my right wrist. Something is wrong with my wrist - I have no clue what (I'm hoping I just slept on it wrong)  - but it hurts like HELL - sometimes. Only when I twist it just right, or tilt it justtt so. And when I went to see Dexter tonight - I could see in the way that he looked at me that I had "LAWSUIT" flashing in bright red letters over my head.  After babbling at me about 'hairline fracture" and "carpal tunnel" and "bolts in your wrist" he strongly DISCOURAGED me from even working out, then, after me pouting at him for a while, he gave me a short list of things that I could do that shouldn't impact my wrist.    

It wasn't til I sat there watching Jane (the delightful 80 year old redhead who shares these classes with me) workout that I realized - oh. my. god. I MISSED this. I WANTED to do this. Dammit, I was NOT going home without lifting some weight. I did three exercises out of the six he suggested - I couldn't get a good, non-ouchy grip with the other three. I got a sprint, and have iced my wrist, and I figure if it's still sore on the morrow - I'll set up an appointment to have things checked out.  I don't think I've gained any weight (I've stayed OFF the scale) but my lack of crunches is starting to show itself. If nothing else, I will do those tomorrow. 

*pause* 

My WORD, but I'm chatty tonight, aren't I? Typing, thankfully, does NOT make my wrist twinge. 

It's been a while since I've written, I suppose. I have a whole REAM of words floating around in my head that needs to be spilled in my LJ..... and I think that I will wind up now, and go there before the flood ends..... 

Good night, and if you ACTUALLY read this entire diatribe, Gods Bless....    

Foodlove

So, I want to start putting together at least a rough menu for the month, so that we can start eating healthier. I figured that a good place to start would be to list out what we usually eat, and then just - organize it.

I started doing that, and realized that really, the problem is a bit bigger than that. I am sitting here, racking my brains for recipes/edibles - and I realized that even when we cook at home - it's all about the fast food. Sandwiches, soups, barbeque, pasta - it's all 'fast' cooked - and really, there ain't that much - wiggleroom, I guess. The funny part is that, really - I would like to make 'real' meals - but I just don't know WHAT to make. I mean - there is a wide, wide world of food out there, and I feel a bit - challenged by all the choices. And the fact that I'm married to a chef really doesn't help - it's a slightly different world in a professional kitchen vs. a personal one.

What sort of food would I LIKE to cook? Healthy stuff - not lowfat/lowcalorie - but more, fresh veggies and fresh meats, and nothing much out of a box. Less bread, less pasta (because that's usually our fallback position - spaghetti or a sandwich). More fish - which I love, but haven't had at home in - ages! But not super expensive, either - we are trying to stick to a certian amount of monet being spent on groceries a week. I love lebanese, indian, asian, thai, greek, morrocan food - but they all require some pretty specific ingredients. During the summer time - cool stuff. Salads, yes, but - filling salads. Stuff that I can have leftovers to take to work with me the next day. Stuff that is satisfying, yummy, and healthy. And, really at this point in time, I'm saying screw lowcarb. If I can find a lowcarb version (like Dreamfields pasta) okay - but if not - *nods* I want my brown rice, dammit!

I honestly don't know where to start. *laughs* It seems like the first thing to do, really - is collect recipes. But - I'm drawing a blank! *lol* I need to 'jumpstart' my brain and check out some recipe websites.

*sigh* More later, I'm sure.

---

Later....

Well - I just started brainstorming, and this is the list of food I've come up with - not saying it's going on a menu, just - THINKING about it. *shakes head* I know that I'm being far, far too limited - but my brain isn't very strechy, foodwise. Hm...I'll definitely have to get help from C.

Indian Yogurt Rice
Stuffed Grape Leaves
Hot Eggs and Noodles
Couccous
Falafel
Hummus
Feta
Parsely Salad
Barbequed Ribs
Baked Beans
Spaghetti
Fried Rice
Grilled Pork Chops
Creamed Spinach
Chicken Ceaser Salad
Hot Wings
Cheesy Cauliflower
Enchiladas
Grilled Cheese Sandwich
Meatloaf
Lasagna
Avacados
Tuna Salad
Salmon Cakes
Noodley Stirfry
Something Soup
Hamburgers
Quiche
Pesto Pasta
Pasta Carbonara
Hot Dogs
Sandwiches
Garlic Spinach
Pita Bread
Greens
Beef Stroganoff

The other thing is - it's HOT. And we don't have central air. Which means, really, I'm not trying to bake a lot (no bread days) and would rather not boil much (though I can just suck the steam up via the vent fan), and honestly - I'm not big on really - HEAVY stuff. But the light stuff ain't quick, and usually needs a bit of 'steeping' time. Not complaining, just thinking outloud and wandering about in my head.

And I don't have nearly enough good, ethnic food. *laughs* I've got an old copy of Back to Eden, and I'm seriously considering going through that and pulling out recipes - maybe two or three nights a week, making something from there.

I'm tired of bieng in a food rut!!

Well, isn't that nice!

So....hopefully, hopefully, hopefully - we will get a riding lawnmower soon!! There's been an - delightful convergence of events that makes that possible.

First, I found a riding lawnmower (3yrs old, Craftsman) for 400 on craigslist. Now, 400 bucks is still 400 bucks - and we don't really HAVE 400 bucks to spend. So, I noted that it was still available, but kinda brushed it off.
Yesterday, I get home and have a letter from the mortgage company. Open it up - and *gasp!astonishment!* inside is a check for 570odd dollars - from overpayment of the escrow account!!! Supercalifreakingwonderous!! So - I was kicking about in my head what should we do with it, what should we do with it - and then a light bulb came on. *ding* Lawnmower it is.
Now, I'm jsut waiting to hear if it's STILL available, and if it is, whether they can drop it off for us. We could always rent a pickup for a day, but still - it would be nice if they could deliver. So! That's (hopefully) that.

In other fun news, I'm going to Nashville this weekend to hang out with some friends in the woods!! I do a lotta woodshanging with these chicks - but it's supremely fun. I need to bring a dessert (and I'm SUCH not a big dessert person - any good ideas for something that travels well and serves easily??) and practice putting up the tent. Also need to make a list of stuff that needs to be brought with me. :)

So - I've been thinking about (after the last few days of dismally drifting through the kitchen, wondering what the hell was for dinner) to try and start making monthly menus again. Since I usually grocery shop monthly, it makes sense to have a monthly menu. Also, having a menu will help with the 6pm brainracking as to what to cook, AND it'll help me/us eat a heck of a lot healthier - a little planning goes a long way.  Besides, I'm going to encourage C to cook as well - test out new menu ideas on us - at least the REASONABLE ones. I need to find another Asian/Indian store around here - the one I used to go to stopped carrying the spicy stuff that we use in a lot of dishes.

Hmm....my legs are still sore, but my arms are better. I don't know bout the berries - some are looking good, and others are looking kinda rough. The mulch is keeping the moisture in nicely, though. Giovanni is also participating with the garden work - he deposited a lovely little mouse/vole/mole body on the front porch today. *squicks*

Ohh!! I need to buy some paper bags to make fake wasps nests, so the little buggers will stop trying to build nests - in our carport, and under the deck, and in the corner of the pole barn, and - dangone near everywhere there is a convienent overhang.
Also - are there bats in Tennessee?? And if so - how do you encourage them to come and kick it at your house? No joks about bats in the belfry now!

Stuff and others

So, it's the end of the week (Yaaay!!) and we just got paid (YAYYY!!) and I'm merrily plotting on what to do with the 'loose' money (within reason, of course!)

So. Let's start with making more money. I've got a 401(k) that I can use to 'play' with stocks. I know, insanity right? But - as I withdrew my previous 401(k) (and got bent over by taxes, sheeeesh) this one is still - rather small, and I'm comfy - exploring the world of investing. I've only got 2.5K to play with, but still - it will be a definite learning process. Heh. I'mma be a half assed day trader.

So - I also want to get a trailer for my car. It can tow 2500 lbs, and we AREN'T buying a pickup/SUV (the MPG, the MPG!!) but - we are going to need SOMETHING to haul around ish that is too big to fit into the trunk. And of course, we actually have someplace to PUT it now. The only thing is, actually finding one. We plan on going to HD this weekend, and they might have some for sale - it'll be interesting seeing what they have to offer.  I already have a hitch on the car, as we rented one of the U-Haul car trailer jimmyjons when we moved to Memphis - so, rah!

I'm going to start posting Plant ID mysteries, if anyone wants to join in. I'm going to take pictures of the odd and unameable plants in our yard, and post pics for help. I'll most likely also post to one of my garden YahooGroups, and see how much can be identified.
Still wobbling on the lawnmower thing - we might go out and price some at HD this weekend as well - we shall see.

Gah! I so slllleeeepppppy. And hungry. Hmmm. Foood.

Wunderbar Weekend

bah - back to work already????!!??

So - the weekend was wonderful!! I think this may have been the FIRST holiday weekend (in six years) that me & C actually both had off from work without using any extra days. We really didn't do much - Saturday, we exercised our brains and figured out timing and coloring for the redecorating process. Our goal is to stick to a set amount per month, and we had to figure out what we could do when - and what made more SENSE to do when - and check that against our rough numbers.  Him having this new job is really going to be a blessing.  Have a mentioned that I plan on quitting in two years? If all goes well - July of 2008 - I'll be quitting AND hopefully will be a mum too. Heh. Mum.

So - Sunday, we did jack all. *laughs* laid around the house, drank, played cards, TALKED (while we were both actually relaxed and awake). Sheesh, considering I LIVE with the man, it's amazing how much we miss each other.

Monday, we actually did active stuff - tore down 99% of the wallpaper in the library (there are a few sticky spots that are going to require personal attention) cleaned the house a bit, grilled out, but otherwise chilled. 6 hours of my day was dedicated to doing my hair (considering it ain't THAT long, I really don't understand the time factor - I mena, I know I have a lot of hair, but DAMN!). I also started looking into loc techniques again. *sigh* The only problem is, most of em ain't free. Though - there is a training session for one (that can actually be translated into a business) in August - but it's almost 2K! *sigh* But  - if we happened to have an exta 2K laying around by then (hey, Powerball, what's up??) then I might go.

Speaking of out of the ordinary/at home jobs - I was talking to both hubby and a friend over the weekend, and they both suggested that I would make a good personal money manager. Not - stocks and bonds and savings and the like - but just the normal day to day stuff for people who are trying to get out of debt. Kinda like a debt conselour, who not only pays the bills for you, but also creates your budget, and all that jazz. A money trainer, rather than a fitnes trainer.  I told them both that sounded like a swift route to being sued, but - it would be fun. I LOVE putting together money - on paper - in ways that let us (at least) continue to - LIVE - without sacrificing EVERYTHING.

That was part of what we talked about - Our budget/debt payoff plan - I always put them together, and run them by him, and tweak as needed. This time, I really think we might have it set - barring any major blowups in the next 6 months. *crosses fingers*

Um. Soooooo don wan be at work today. But - hey! at least it's a short week, AND I get paid tonight.

Whoohoo!

Wonderful Weekend....

Soo... let's see - this weekend was QUITE productive - and I ended up with only two 'ouchies' which is remarkable for me - and only one produced blood!

Started out in the yard on Saturday - dug up a bunch of money grass (monKey grass, monKey grass - but hey, if it brings money, I'se happy with that!!!) by the front porch so that I could plant the herbs MsBella gave us (cuz I'm not even going to TRY your new name, missy!) and by yesterday they already looked better. *grins* We're cilantro freaks, so I had to firmly instruct C to NOT take the last little bit so that I would actually have something to plant.
And can I say, a birth ball is the PERFECT garden bench?? I was just close enough to the ground, and it let me scooch all over the place.
Ummm - I also ripped up all the carpet, the nasty decomposing padding, the scary tack rails, and the padding staples from the floor in the library. The backs of my thighs are rather vigorously commenting on my activities, but I'm telling them to suck it up!
I've got pictures, but haven't uploaded them to Flickr yet. I'll edit later with piccies.

Edited: Okay - couldn't get any good piccies of the herbs - they so small and green, and the room pictures with all the ick gone looks about the same as the first picture of the room I took so - no picces.

And - and! In some absolutely KICKING news - C got a new job!! He's officially the new Exec Sous Chef of the Hilton Memphis. Eeee!! He's making - oh man, almost 1.5 times more than he was at the Crescent Club, and he starts on the 5th. Doesn't that TOTALLY rock?? I'm so excited for him - and for our budget. I've done the calculations, and even including house repair costs, we should be TOTALLY out of debt by May. Isn't that just - *shakes head* I'm so happy/excited/gleeful it's scary.

We're moving at work, to a much nicer building, so the team room is kinda empty, and it's getting COLDER, dammit. I really hate working in the cold. I've got a bigass sweater, but I think I packed it. *slaps forehead* Durrrr.

I *heart* Freecycle. Really I do - I gave away a buttload of stuff, and am trying to give away the monkey grass I dug up. I just scooped up a bunch of old school/country living magazines, and I'm sure I'll get entertainment/pictures/good ideas/compost material out of them - one way or another, they are going to be used.

I'm back on the road to losing weight. I'm actually *gasp* going to try the EASY way, and limit calories (wine, wine, how I love thee, but why must you have so many calories??) and exercise. Stunning, right? *laughs at self* Anyhow, I'm FitDay'ing it, and eating whatever the hell I want to eat - I just have to stop eating after a certain point. It's the cheap version of WeightWatchers, yes? I'm planning on six week blocks, where I try to lose ten pounds every six weeks.

I've been doing well with my lists, and my studying, and such. I really need to get a whiteboard calendar, so that I can keep track of stuf without having to log into OD.

Umm, what else, what else?? I unpacked my compost this weekend too, since it was getting anty (eeww!) because of being too dry, so I dumped it in the area that the garden is going to be, and put somemore dirt on top, and then some plastic bags so that it can bake nicely. There was actually STILL earthworms in it, looking all plump and happy, so I'm thrilled with that. Also, in general, we've got some GOOD dirt. It gets a little claylike abut 8 inches down, but after a couple of seasons of mulching and compost it should be just LOVELY.

Can you transplant bushes?? We have a bunch of bushes that I LIKE (and don't ask me what they are, I haven't gotten my plant ID books yet) but I'd like to have someplace ELSE. I suppose the worst that could happen is I dig them up, and replant them, and they keel over and die. I'm assuming that should be done in the early spring ANYHOW, just before they start 'waking up' for the season again, so I've got a while to think about it/research it.

I got a hit from my doula webpage from a lady who just moved here, isn't pregnant yet, but had her first baby with a doula, and wanted to get in touch with a doula. She also wanted a list of natural birth friendly doctors - I asked A for a list, but she hasn't gotten back to me yet, and I'm trying to think of where else I could find the list. Ohh!! There was a really cool doula type chick at DotM - I need to find her email and ask her! She was - ah! she was apprenticing with one of the local midwives, and so I'm SURE they have a list of 'good' doctors...

Hm, hm, hmmmm what else?

Ahhh, Friday.

I so do love Fridays. First, I allow myself to lounge about in bed (long enough that The Boy asked if I was going to work) and stroll into work at a lovely 9am on the dot. Then, I relax through the rest of the day. Nothing really bugs me, nothing really bites my bottom, and I'm wearing a cute skirt.

Remember the House I fell in Love with?? And yes, the capitialization is important. Despite the whingy bitchiness of the previous entry, I'm actually CONSIDERING going to look at it tomorrow. Note - just considering. I doubt that I'll actually do it because of the whole damned if you do/damned if you don't aspect of it, and also because I want to see if they drop the price again, and also because we don't have a big enough downpayment (and yes, I know, you don't NEED a DP - it jsut makes me feel better) and well, I'm mildy neurotic about money. Because the owners address of residence (yes, I've looked up the tax information/parcel pictures the whole nine) is out of town, I'm wondering if the house is even occupied. It might be a case of older parents and kids trying to sell the house. Gahhhhh!
But still.... it's SOOO purty. At least from the picture.
In other housing news - the house cattycorner to us is on sale for 225K - 3bd/3bth, but it's on less than a half acre, so I'm really not even interested. I'm considering slumming through for the open house on Sunday (simply because I'm SOOOO nosy - we couldn't afford that house by any stretch of the ARM) but is that rude as a neighbor to come and poke through a house that you KNOW you aren't going to buy? Yes, I would think so. I wonder how many crooks case places during open houses?

Other than those two plans, my weekend should be pretty calm. I need to pack up some craft supplies and return them cuz the elastic I got is WAY too thick, and maybe work on a couple of designs.
The client hasn't popped yet - she isn't actually due until next week (and knows when she concieved) so I suspect I won't get a call until late next week or early the week after that.

Can you BELIEVE it's the middle of March?? Next Tuesday will be my one YEAR anniversary here, which really has no significance besides the fact that it means I can quit and not have to pay them back for moving me here.  I realized that I won't be vested for THREE freaking years - HAH! I guess I'll be walking away from another unvested account. Not that I plan on quitting on the 22nd or anything - but dude - THREE years? Sheesh.

It's also St. Patty's Day! The closest thing I am to Irish is the fact that my birth name ws McFarland, and I loike BEER!! I will however, be staying away from the drunken crazies this weekend. I got wrestling tickets for hubby last month, and the show is on Monday, so I figure I'll have to deal with enough crazies there. God, I MUST love that man.

Okay. That's all for this morning. It's Friday, so I suspect there is a survey in my future.

Schemes, and other things.

So.

*laughs* I scared the holy hell out of C last night. I got home before he did, and I was sitting at the computer in my lounge wear. He gave me this look, then said "You DID go to work today, right??" I just looked at him and said "I think I'm gonna quit." *laughs* The expression on his face was PRICELESS. It was funny, if it wasn't so damn serious.

The original plan was to stay around here until our debt was paid off (Sept of 2007) which is like what - another year and a half? *rolls around laughing and crying* Um no, that is SOOO not going to happen at the rate things are going now. But - the thing is you see, is that once our debt is paid off, we can live on about 2000.00 a month - which would make me being a doula/midwife in training so much less stressful, as C's income alone can cover that nicely, and any money I made from clients could be split between household expenses and going back into the business. Anyhow.

Where I think I'm going with all of this is that what I NEED to be focused on is paying off the debt - more so than I already AM, of course. Since it's debt, not expenses, we can't trim them down - we just have to pay more on them. And that means another semi-steady source of income, and that means a *gasp* nother job for one (or both) of us. Now, C has already made it perfectly clear that he does NOT want to get a second job, and ya know, I really can't blame him. Second jobs suck - especially when they aren't REALLY required - which at this point, it isn't. But - I'm willing to get one (something I can do at home!!!) and dump any income from there onto the debtload. The more money I can make (doing - whatever!) the faster the debt can get paid off, and the faster the debt gets paid off, the faster I can escape this mindnumbing, soulsucking, energysink of a job.

Good heavens, I'm SOO bloody spoiled. Spoiled ROTTEN in fact. But - I know what I want, and I know it ain't this, and despite the fact that this ain't really all that bad - it sucks for me. And so, I'mma fix it - or at least try.

Wish me luck.

Can money buy you happiness??

Can money buy you happiness??

Ya know, I was going to start out with a blanket 'Duh! Of course not!' but I realized - ya know, it depends on your interpetation of the question. What do YOU think would make you happy? How consistently happy do you have to be in order to say that it makes you happy? I mean - no matter how much money you have, you CAN'T be 'happy' 24/7, no more than you could be mad 24/7 because you were broke. There are going to be times when there is only .02 in the bank account and you are still quite happy. Then, there can be times where the account reads 2,000,000,000.00 and you are so sad you might briefly consider suicide.
So really, the question should be - do you think that money can provide everything you need to be more happy than sad? And that STILL depends on what you 'think' you need in order to be generally happy - and how much money we are talking about. The amount of happiness that 1.00 could 'get' most people, and the amount of happiness that 100,000.00 could 'buy' most people are very different. So, I'm going to abuse the question again, and say 'Do you think that having 10,000.00 added to your bank account daily (after taxes) would provide everything you need to be more happy than sad ?'
Now, for me personally, that would have me clicking my damn heels alllllll kinds of up and down the yellow brick road for a good long time. Will I be perfectly happy? No, I'm sure I won't - life isn't set up to be perfectly anything - happy or sad. Will I be happier on a daily basis than I am now? I still can't quite say yes - I think that my life would be more like how I would want it to be, which SHOULD make me happier - but then I'd just have to face a different set of incidents that would make me unhappy. Instead of having to deal with political crap at work, I'd have to deal with one of the kids crapping all over themselves at home. Instead of trying to figure out what to do to prevent me from being bored at work, I'd have to figure out how to keep myself from being bored at home.
Damn. I suppose the answer is STILL no, no matter how you put it. Which, really ya know, most likely should have been pretty damn obvious, simply because STUFF in and of itself can't make you happy. Happiness, when you really get down to the nitty-grittiness of it, is all in your head. The only way that money could 'buy' you happiness is if you brought enough psychotropic drugs to convince your brain that you were ALWAYS happy, and even then, I'm thinking there's a limit to how much you can fool Mother Nature. 

So yeah, after that vigrous round of mental fondling *ooohhhh - what a pretty brain you have... ;) ;)* I'm still going to have to stick with my original answer - Nah, it can't make you happier. It came make life easier, it can give you more stuff (and more drugs) but in the end *cue sappy music* only YOU can make you happy.

Yaaaaaaaaaaawwwn

Fall back gives you an extra hour my tail - I just wanted to fall BACK into bed this morning. But - bleh. Somehow I managed to drag myself up, had the hubby scare the living crap out of me by still being home (he had an unexpected day off) and somehow ended up at work 1/2 hour early (which is virtually unheard of for me!!)
So now of course, I'm sitting here yawning my head off, but at least I only have another 30 minutes or so. Going swimming tonight (YAYY!! me!) and brought a sweat suit to change into.... I'm debating if I should change at work, or if I should jsut go to the gym, swim, then put the sweatsuit on. Benefits of changing at work? I can leave one outfit in the car. Benefits of changing at the gym? I don't have to come back into work to change. Sadly enough, I think that might win out - once I am out of this building, I really don't want to come back in until TOMMOROW morning.

I say FIE upon Access by the way - I don't WANT the users to see the database when they use the form, and it seems like there needs to be some sort of heavt VBA shite going on to do that - and ya know, it's SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO not that crucial, eh? But - most of the form is done. I need to put in some validation stuff, and bang out a report or two - but still this was the 'famed' 3 month long project. If this validation takes me two months to do - I'll.....I'll - I'll eat something REALLY gross.

Speaking of eating gross stuff - the habeneros have almost ALL turned orange from being in the house. I need to grab a cutting before the poor plants die from the frost...and I need to slice up the peppers and 'flash' freeze them so that we will have lovely spicy goodness all winter long. Speaking of all winter long - can I say just how BADLY we sucked in our first month of budgeting?? Hmm?? Suckworthy, we were. It's funny though, C is almost more on board than I am - example? I put together a 'grading scale' for us based on how much we spent over our base budget amount. I thought that 50.00 was a good scale - he wants it to be 25.00. :) heh, well excuse me Frugal Fred!! Anyhow - there were a few 'unexpected' items. We STILL managed to save ALMOST as much as we were supposed to (I think we saved like 50 less than we were supposed to) largely due to his overtime - but really, we could have don'e MUCH better. So - we got an 'F' this month - we'll see how we do next month.

I'm rambling on, as it is FAR too late in the day to meddle about with Access anymore...and my toes hurt...and I'm sleepy - which I think I mentioned all ready.

*taptaptap*

 

Control.....

So, still searching for worthwhile birth control. In other words, nah, not getting the IUD put back in. I have been rummaging about online, looking for a more - flexible, I guess natural family planning method - and I stumbled across the Billings Method. It uses your cervical mucus to track the different points of your cycle. It's rather interesting, as I always noticed differences through the month, and I had already tied some changes to my fertile periods, but it's VERY cool to actually have something that lays it out in detail. I'm digging it - and I especially love the fact that all it requires is tracking. The main reason I always brushed the type of NFP I had heard about off is becuase it requires you to wake up at roughly the same time and take your temps. *snort*  I value my late lazy saturday mornings (okay, okay afternoons!)  way too much for that.
There is even an intereactive online 'learning' session that you can use, where you get to interact with a trainer over the net, and you chart your stuff. Seems pretty sweet and rather simple.

And what's up with opendiary.com?? Did Brucy boy forget to pay the bill?? I snuck in through freeopendiary.com, but dang bruh!!

It's FRIDAY!!!! Yay!!!!! I'm going to bake some bread tonight, and make a starter for sourdough - that should be interesting. And um - there was something else.....the garden doesn't need to be touched....hmm... I'll find something to occupy meself this weekend.

Ah yes!! That's what is was - I'm - puzzled - honestly, by the general tone of the notes that I've gotten around the whole house thing. Is there something that I'm missing? What, exactly, is the downside to saving money before getting the mortgage, thereby reducing the mortgage, thereby reducing the monthly payments, thereby reducing the amount of interest that we'd pay - no matter WHAT the interest rate is? Taking into account of course, that our house's primary purpose will be shelter, and anything else ('investment'/tax break) is simply a nice perk - and we'd buy a house anyway even if those two things were not there. Or, put in another way - why in god's good name would I WANT to get a 0% down mortgage (which tends to come with a higher interest rate, more points, and obviously, a higher monthly payment since it's a bigger loan) rather than actually having a wee bit of patience, and saving money for a downpayment?  I've been turning this over and over in my head, and I can't see a single 'pro' to NOT having a downpayment. *shakes head* Not having a downpayment on a house makes about as much sense to me as those horrid interest-only loans. If you can't actually AFFORD the payments- interest AND principal - it's too much damn house. *shakes head*  Esp. with the bankruptcy laws tightening the noose the way that they are - we want to be living well UNDER our means - it's not only smart, it's safe. 
Can somebody break it down for me?

Edited:

*blinks* Okay. There's no way the monthly payments for a 80K mortgage are going to be the same as the monthly payments for a 110K mortgage...assuming that you have a 30K downpayment. Using a mortgage calculator, I get:
80K @ 5.75 for 15 years = 632.00  per month.
110K @ 5.75 for 15 years = 913.00 per month
That's a 281.00 difference. Assuming that you actually paid the higher amount (913.00) as a monthly payment, you would pay off the loan in 10 years instead of 15.

Using a slightly lower downpayment- assuming the 'usual' 20% is - 22K.
110K @ 5.75 for 15 years = 913.00 per month
88K @ 5.75 for 15 years = 703.00 per month
Which is a 183.00 difference a month - not thousands of dollars difference a month - but it's still a significant savings - and I didn't even take into account the fact that with no downpayment, your monthly payment is actually going to be HIGHER than the base rate of the principal price of the house because of the PMI charges that would be lumped into your mortgage.

Is there an error in my math?

Ah!! Maybe that's what's missing. We aren't talking about saving 5K for a downpayment - Phhft - that's non-significant. We plan on having between 30 and 38K for a downpayment saved - now THAT's going to make a difference....

Also, yeah - once we buy a house, we plan on staying in that house for the rest of our lives - or at least until the mortgage is paid off. The whole 'building equity' thing is - nice and all - but once again - house to us = shelter. The house will NOT be used as an ATM, and if prices go up around us after we buy/rennovate - well, isn't that nice. Still doesn't mean that we would sell, or refi unless you could refi for a lower interest rate. I think I'd rather LIKE living rent/mortgage free - rather how I'm looking forward to finally being free of a car note with great glee. As far as house prices going up by another 100K - it seems like the more expensive the house is, the more you would want to have a big downpayment.

Thanks for talking me through this....

Progression of a Homebuyer...

Ahh yes - there's something I can speak on.

I've always wanted to own a house - a place of MY own, but my deep gut resistance of getting into enourmous quantities of debt always held me back.  Several people told me to look at it as an 'investment' - something you buy to live in, with the assumption that you are going to sell it a few years later and make a crapload more money off of it than you initially spent on it. Hm. Okay - that makes sense, but something in my enternal bullshit-o-meter was still pinging. As I started looking into the housing market, I realized what it was - every bubble has GOT to pop sometime. No constant growth rate is sustainable - at some point, the growth has to stop - and the dying has to start. So - I am deeply uncomfortable with the concept of buying a house for an 'investment'. With that out of the way however, oddly enough, I became MORE enamoured about buying a house - because by discarding the concept that I HAD to buy for an investment - ie, had to buy something that would be easily resellable - I could EMBRACE the concept that I could buy something suited to my own particular peccadillos, and NOT have to worry about flipping it at some point. A long term mortgage became more attractive - when I started looking at it like rent - the simple fee that you have to pay to have a roof over your head, and not as a tax write-off, or a future investment. I could look at houses as if I'm going to live (and hopefully die) in the same house.

Of course, first I had to find a city that I could actually SEE myself living and dying in - and so far, I'm feeling Memphis. Next - comes the price calculation. Based on the money we are bringing home right now, we could most likely close on a 265K house (if we found one that we liked) by - oh, say February. The mortgage would be a stranglehold on us, and if one of us lost our job, we would be screwed in a matter of months. After looking at houses, I realized, that I don't WANT a house that's over 200K - after a certain point, house prices go up because of all the stuff that's in them - the marble foyer and the granite countertops and the burnished oak banister and the in ground pool and - blah, blah, blah. I don't NEED - nor really WANT all of that crap. If I wanted to sell the house to someone else, it MIGHT be a good investment. If I plan on keeping the house - *shrugs* even my chef of a husband doesn't drool over a granite countertop. So - looking around - at the current market in Memphis - I realized that we want a house in the 100K-120K range.  And, after looking at amortization rates, I realized that a 30 yr loan is - insanity.  For a ten year mortgage, with a 5.75% interest rate you end up paying the principal, plus 30% for interest.  For a 15 year mortage, it's principal plus 50%. For the 'classic' 30yr mortgage - ASSUMING (as it seems few people do) that you will actually pay OFF the mortgage - you will end up paying DOUBLE the 'selling' price of the house before you own it.  Say WHAATTTTT????  Um, no? Of course, if you also assume that the housing market is going to continue to go up, up, up - it might not be such a bad tradeoff, right? But if the market stagnates, or heaven forbid, the bubble actually pops - you're screwed in a house that you owe more on than ANYONE in their right mind would buy. Humph.
So - our goal is a 120K house, 15 year mortgage. The more of a downpayment that you have - the less the mortage is. The less the mortage is, the less interest you have to pay on the property - and the faster you can pay it off. I'm actually hoping that we can get a house for around 90K, and considering our requirements, I think it will take just a bit of 'right-timing' to get it......

1. It's GOT to be on at least 1.5 acres of land - the more, the better. Real land, not development hell (like those McMansions in Germantown - sweet JESUS save me!)


2. It needs to have a good roof...


3. a good foundation...


4. good plumbing...


5. and mostly decent wiring.


6. At least 3 bedrooms (I think 4 would be best, though I wouldn't frown over 5)


7. At least 1.5 baths


8. No housing association


9. A basement would be nice - unfinished is fine.


10. And a gas stove, for my beloved husband.


11. Needs to be within 30 minutes of our jobs (we'd take 40 for a REALLY good deal, but nothing further out)


12. Trees. Gotta have trees. Lots and lots of trees.

And that's about it. We plan on putting a LOT of sweat-equity in the house - I really don't care if the carpet is ugly, and the cabinets are from the 70's, and the wallpaper looks like something from hell - *shrugs* elbow grease, and actually having enough liquid money that ISN'T tied up in a mortgage will make it a much - simpler process to create OUR 'perfect' house than trying to buy the 'perfect' house up front.

And since I still plan on quitting my job at SOME point - the mortgage that we have HAS to be small enough for a single income household - and the bigger the downpayment is, the easier that will be. And - if all goes well - by mid 2007, we will have about 40K for a downpayment/closing/inspection/moving and all the other up front money that is needed for a house.

So yeah. That's why we aren't rushing into buying a house.....I don't want to have to regret it.

Well...

Let's see - how many times have I restarted this entry? First, I came in here to talk about money, and my beloved husbands apparent belief that it grows on trees - no wonder we were always tight at the end of the month! Then, I was going to talk about the insanity that is me looking at house listings, knowing QUITE damn well that we won't have enough of a downpayment until mid 2007 at the earliest (barring an enourmous amount of luck with the little white balls at some point between now and then). Then, I realized, that was about money too, and really - I don't have anything else to talk about. I've vented all the spleen I have about work for about the next - three or four months unless someone REALLY pisses me off. The compost is coming along nicely - but when the heck do the leaves start to fall off of the trees? I think I might be becoming addicted to freecycle - and I had a great score at the thrift store last night - I found a 'mini' greenhouse, and some of those little peat pot things that you can germinate seeds in and then just plant the whole dang thing in the ground. I also got one of the catalouges I requested last night - and it was all flowers. I have a bit more of an appreciation for flower gardens now - suxh BEAUTY!! I mean, we ain't talking regular ole flowers here - and that made me want to look at house listings even MORE. ARRRGHHH!!
I - *shakes head* I get so damn obsessed with that which is in the future, and neglect to focus on what is today. I've got SEVERAL 'short-term' projects that I need to be implementing/obsessing about rather than the longer term stuff but, well, my brain goes *PPPHHFFTTTT* Lil heifer.

Hm. Need to find a fabric store. *thinks* *thinks* There is one..........up on Winchester, I think. Hm. Hm. I think that tonight, I will go home, and clean out the pantry closet and see what I can get rid of. And also, jsut maybe, root through the 600 gallon plastic bin that's in the upstairs closet and see what we can get rid of from there. Then assign stuff to go in the attic. *nods* That'll occupy my time.

It's - sad, really. I've realized that I've just got CRAPLOADS of free time - really. I come home, and zombie out for 5-6 hours. And a goal of mine is to make better USE of that time  - to actually DO something. *thinks* Hmmm. Yes. Get up, get out and GET something.

I'm trying to putter away a bit of time - I've got a meeting at 4pm, and - it's only a few minutes away. See - this is a point where previously I would go and smoke a cigarette or two. But instead, I blabber on and talk and talk and talk....

Preoccupated

Is that a word? Preoccupated? I know that preoccupied is a word, but is preoccupated the past tense?? Anyhow.

Howdy Ya'll!!!! I've been drifting through diaries occasionally, leaving the very infrequent note - largely because I've been preoccupated - preoccupied. Whatever. Um.

Went to Atlanta, for the book conference - was very odd, as 95% of the attendees were authors, and I felt soooo outside of their little cliques - esp. considering I don't read most of them. I'm not into 'drama' books - I'm allergic to drama, and therefore it isn't very entertaining to me. Umph. Let's see - what else? Met a couple of friends while I was there, got utterly stanking drunk one night (just the MEMORY makes my head hurt) but generally had a shiteload of fun.

Umm....went to a Pagan Pride Festival a weekend or two ago, sprained the dogshit out of my ankle there, still had a buttload of fun.

(Why does all of my fun involve ass somehow?)

So, anyhow - the preoccupation. Nope, not pregnant - just. *sigh* I - don't know how to put it into words that anyone else would understand. Well.... that everyone else would understand I suppose is really how I want to say it. I've - I've always been a little out of step with the world, ya know, and it's always been right. And - I don't trust my deep gut feeling of utterly paranoid worry enough to worry others - but at the same time, I trust it enough that I feel like I would be totally - totally - unlike me to keep it to myself. So....I'll break it down for ya'll the same way I broke it down for my husband.......and give ya'll some links.

Hey, I might be crazy. It might never happen....but so much of what is going on today would make sense, if it WAS going to happen.

 

 

All finite resources follow a bell curve path of availability.  When they are first discovered, only a little is able to be accessed - and as time goes on, it becomes easier and easier to access the resource, so that every year - you are getting more and more of it. But - it's a bell curve, so at a certain point, you'll reach a peak - you're getting as much of it, as you will EVER get. The resource is still there, it's just harder to get, it's more expensive, and there is less of it available.
Oil - is approaching its peak. *smiles* Even the petroleum industry has acknowledged that we have gone through about half of the oil that is expected to be found on earth - and the demand for oil is rising at it's fastest rate ever, helped by our friends in the Indo-Asian part of the world, at the same time that the supply is diminishing.
So what, you might say? Gas prices will go up - I'll just drive less.
I wish it was that simple.  EVERYTHING that you do, EVERYDAY uses oil somehow. Think about the trucks that got it to you, the machines that built it, the packaging it was wrapped in, the car you drove to get it, the utilities at the store that sold it to you - EVERYTHING we do, from food to fucking, involves oil.
It's not that the world is running OUT of oil - nah, we've got a couple of decades before that happens - but the world is running out of CHEAP oil. The world is running out of oil that can be easily refined. The world is running out of oil that can be easily pumped.
And without a net worth around Bill Gates - if you live in the 'standard' American world, you'll be affected. It's not that there won't BE any gas, it'll just be unaffordable - at least if you want to pay your rent and keep the lights on too. It's not that there won't be ANY food (did you know it takes 10 calories of oil to produce ONE calorie of food?) it'll just be outrageously expensive. It's not that utilities will stop working - they'll just charge exorbiant amounts.
So - that's been what's been preoccupying me. I was dirt poor once, and I have no intentions of going there again. So - I've been making plans. We've been making plans - the previous entry about our budget was about as close as I could get to - talking about it. *sigh*  We're actually looking to buy a house - someplace near the city, but with enough dirt under/around it that we can grow/produce a good bit of our own food. We're saving gigamounts of money so that we can buy a house and have it PAID off, as fast as possible. Everything I do - suddenly has a single focus - is it sustainable? Will it help me prepare for my future? Is it really needed? And nah - this single minded focus won't last forever - just until we are 'stable'. Just until we AREN'T living from paycheck to paycheck. Just until we can actually depend mostly on ourselves, and don't HAVE to have a huge amount of money to just LIVE.

Gah. I might be UTTERLY crazy. This might be another Y2K. But - it makes way too much sense - esp. considering what is going on ALL around us - to simply brush off.

Wolf At the Door
LATOC

 

 

 

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In Other, More Cheerful News:

It's officially been a month since I quit smoking. I've smoked *thinks* twice? since then - once in Atlanta (I think that is why I got so damn sick) and I smoked a clove at the Pagan Pride Festival. Both times, Bleh. It was like - and WHY the hell did I used to do this daily, multiple times a day? It's actually been easier than I thought it would be - I do still crave a cig occasionally - but that's all it is. A hmm - I'd love to have a smoke, but *shrugs* oh well.

It's still odd to only have one cat. G has become MUCH more affectionate and talkative, and I think he's finally accepted the fact that Nikki is gone. *sigh* I still the occasionally free kitten offer, and I consider it, but rather like the cig, I decide against it.

My job is duller than a box of rocks, and most of the time is twice as slow, and my coworkers - well, they are different. But, ya know what? I'm making good money, doing what I'm good at - I've got time to write, I've got time to look at houses, and I'm doing well. Life ain't never perfect, right?

C is still enjoying his job - though he is running into some personality conflicts as well. I swear, I WILL break down in tears if he loses yet another job. Seriously.

Haven't come to a conclusion on Birth control - we owe the doctors money somehow (weird ass health insurance) and I reufse to go back until I've paid her. But in the meantime, I want to talk to C about the Billings method, where you keep an eye on your cervical mucus. Seems - interesting, and easy, and doesn't reuqire you to wake up at the same time every day.

I've fallen in love with my DayTimer plamner thingy. My life is in there - seriously . I keep track of all KINDS of stuff - and it's roomy enough that I've got more than enough room to write - but small enough that it cuddles into my pocketbook nicely.

I'm starting to do budget grocery shopping using a pricebook, but I want/need an electronic one that can be held on my palmpilot. I stopped using it a while ago - shortly after the last diet debacle if I remember right, and - I'm trying to charge it now, and hoping that the thing isn't TOTALLY dead. Ah! Just came on - must have needed a certain level of charge.

But, speaking of dead technolgy, my personal damn laptop has died AGAIN.  This time, I think the backlight of the screen has gone out. What I might do is what I threatened to do last time, and just get a damn monitor to hook up to it, and detach the screen alltogether. I don't know. I haven't decided yet.

I think I'll be around a little more, now that I've gotten that off of my chest. Gah, I've got a shitload of catching up to do.

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