life update

 hi, friends -

it's been awhile. i've been keeping myself busy with dodging work and attending social events in my new town. yay!

i wouldn't say life is 'worth living', but i certainly don't feel the intense urge to die. double yay.

i feel stressed with work, primarily because i don't know what i'm doing.

things move so fast because i have a neighbor who likes to hang out. no complaints there, but i don't have as much solo downtime to meander in my thoughts.

i made a wall poster of all i have coming up over the next 2 years because by hook or by crook, there is a very real possibility that i'll make it to my next FI goal in 2026. 

my goal is so BIG and AUDACIOUS i'm scared of saying it outloud. not for fear of it not 'coming true.' it's not a wish after all. just the full realization of it is not something i'm prepared to wade in right now. i don't want to be angsty or disappointed if the markets take a different turn.

but for now, i'm leading with the idea of being done in march 2026. so that's only 2 years, and with my funny math, it practically feels like a year. 

in the middle of the night, i started thinking about taking a 6 month sabbatical and because i couldn't sleep, i looked up my work's unpaid absence policy. i can only take 1 month off. but with FMLA, I could take 3 months.

i started to wonder if my counselor would write me a note to certify some sort of mental health leave. 

but for some reason i was thinking i'd do it sep 2026 to mar 2027. then last night i realized i don't want to work until march 2027 if i don't have to. it seemed pretty clear at the time, that this was not something i wanted to pursue.

the thing is i wanted to celebrate my FI milestone with a trip to zanzibar but march is apparently a really miserable time to go so i fast forwarded to september...

but now i'm thinking september of 2025 would be better...it'll mark 10 years since i started working in my career. i love those kinds of milestones. so there's that.

but what of taking a career break? 

i guess that's early retirement.

i did like the idea of taking some time off as a pre-retirement check, but i love the idea of leaving work sooner even more!

so my mind is occupied with way too much future planning, and i'd like to find a balance of readiness but also enjoying the present! 

i guess for now, if i find i'm still working past march 2026 for financial reasons, then maybe pursue the 3 months FMLA

i guess there's nothing saying i couldn't do it in 2025-2026, but i'm counting on making allll the money before i reach my goal...

so maybe 1 month of unpaid leave after mar 2026 to make sure it's a good fit..or can i use negative vacation...i don't know

ok, that's all for now. 

2 money milestones!

 Yay, best day ever!

made it back from Dubai in one piece and i had a grand old time!!

fretted way too much about taxes only to realize... it's the same money situation i was in last year, which was quite tenable.

anyway, as of 8a this morning, I am 80% of the way to my next money goal! woot! it feels awesome, let me tell you!!

And I maxed out my 401k with my Mar 15 paycheck.

i often get comments from others of what's the point...well for me..it's the momentum..when you're stuck in the 'boring middle'...you need some things to spice up the journey. this is it for me! i just feel so great knowing, i've hit my savings goal for the year...well at least one of them...well this is the big one...cuz reaching 36k is kind of a baby stretch goal. so yeah, it feels good to hit my savings goal and i don't have to worry. which helps me to spend more to 'enhance my rich life.'

so yeah, i thought i'd share! 

and to top it all off.... i got approved for the chase marriott card!! so if all goes well, i'm on my way to 5 free nights!! woot...and because when i tally the full trip even with credit card fees, i'm still wayyyy under the cash price of the trip!! i can't believe this all just worked out!!

onward!

good news, good news

 My mind wants me to stressed because of current life events but the medication is actively fighting on my behalf. So many more good things happened today.

Yeah, my submission lead gave me a bit of 'we expect this from our internal staff' speech, but what do I care. I can relish in the fact that she's stressed about the submission as the lead. 

Then I thought about another project that is running that looked like it had a small fire early this a.m. But the early meeting was just to say ....no fire yet, but the silence is ominous.

Oh well. I hope I can shake this all off before my trip tomorrow. 

I don't really agree with my lead but grrr. I'm trying not to be stressed. In the end, the solution will just be a copy and paste. 

In better news...

- I got a massage... I don't really see the point. I would've been mad if I'd spent $150 of my own money on that. Luckily, it was a gift card. I think cookies make me happier. Just have to remember.

- I had a nice day yesterday.

Chase is still stressing me out but to counter that, I'm going to go ahead and book my Sydney hotel today. I'm kind of over them. I could almost taste those 5 free night certificates. But no-anxiety monster...there will be other awards.

So ends my card chasing for this year. I always seem to start the year off hot, get burned, then cool down. 

I realized I was churning so many direct deposits, I ran out of room on my payroll. Whoops! Good indicator this needs to stop.

I'm not looking forward to work drama upon my return, but at least it'll keep me busy for the rest of the project time. 

I think the team is taking this long time frame too carelessly and just having review after review. Trying not to take things personally. Glad I waited to start my document when the document before was closer to be done because they were still making changes when I started. 

But I totally lowballed my bonus so it was a nice surprise to get more than I thought! Yippee!!!

I got a 3% raise and I don't have to worry anymore about work performance. 

And technically this is anxiety lessening news - Progressive randomly left me a voicemail that we're accepting 100% responsibility for the accident. Since I was getting tired of paying my car note, I was rethinking getting a lawyer. Now that does not seem like a worthy hill to climb. If I can't even handle the run-around for a credit card bonus.

Feelings. 

But other than that it feels like a pretty good day. I'm sooo close to getting to my number I can taste it. Oh well.

I need to plan for Mt. Rushmore too. Will try not to travel hack and just use any earned bonus churning money. 

Yay, belated Bonus Day! Yay, birthday. Wow, this is my life. :)

Cloudy Day - What's making me anxious today?

 It's a cloudy start to the day but I don't feel too gloomy. I'm glad I got a lot of my work done yesterday so I can lounge the day away. I have some minor angst about a few things that I'd like to get out of my mind. 

In freeform...

- Not sure how program lead is going to respond to request for back-up.

- Wanting to not wait for respond and request new cell phone; but I can wait, my collective data points support this despite what humans say; my team has been very particular about budgeting. Yay me for sticking with my instincts.

- General nervousness for Day 3 of no real socialisation. 

- My connection is a little short for my upcoming trip on Tuesday. I just hope they'll be able to re-route me, so maybe I shall stay unconcerned. Yay. 

- A bit nervous about waiting to hear from a credit card I applied for. Been having trouble with verification.

- General excitement about some upcoming spends I have to meet. Trying to incorporate a friend. She was not as excited about my hack and I feed off people's energy. 

- Again, all this downtime, hoping I can find a way to entertain myself. 

phew....30 minutes later... my program lead responded...so that bit is gone. 

I hate signing on Teams when I'm trying to have an off-day. You know what, I'm going to sign back off. I have too much going on through my head for this. My mental health first. Phew, thank goodness for choices.

I totally lost track of what I was thinking...

In other news...

- I reached all time highs in my net worth...I'm 76% of the way to my Big Goal! Woot! In a fit yesterday, I was thinking, man wouldn't it be great to get there in 2 years instead of 3. I'm trying to fight that feeling and just enjoy my float. 

Oh I remember what else I'm anxious about - a stupid $10 check I fought for and then deposited in Varo. I forgot it has so many restrictions. I'm skeptical of whether it will be cashed and they had me write their name on it.

It would've been easier to just go with a bank that is less scammy, but here we are. I tried to Zelle, but I needed a direct deposit. I actually thought I'd closed the account but apparently I hadn't. You know what, I'm going to close it. It's not all that useful. 

I've been worried about not having anymore unexpired ID with my old name on it. Yikes! So I'm thinking of keeping my passport card. That seems prudent. But that means I have to redo my renewal form that I already printed and made a money order for. I guess that's just what I'll have to do. I have to leave the house tomorrow anyway. Yep, writing it out definitely separates the angst from sense. Phew!

- Oh the other angsty thing....getting food for my neighbor? I might now, especially if its gloomy outside. I might try to call though. I like this plan. 

- oh and my short connection when I fly out...but I rationalized...oh well. I don't want to spend all day at the airport, and ideally they'll probably rebook me, so there's that. 

- That being said I am feeling antsy to go ahead and just get rid of my TD account with old name and rollover my 401k that has an old name. I just want to be rid of those remnants once and for all. 

- So much for taking it easy today...looks like I'll be in things. 

- I guess for now, I'll keep my churner and one brick and mortar account in old name. And I'll stay busy since my playpal is out sick. So that might work. 

- I'll wait for the my other playpal to message me so I don't pester them too much. That was making me anxious as well. 

Alright I guess I'll keep busy from the bed.