Friday check-in

 I can't even remember if I blogged this morning. Sometimes I come up with blogposts in my head that never make it to the page.

Well today, I struggled through a few work tasks from bed. I was quite groggy and managed to lie around until 12:45p. Then got ready to go to PT. 

She worked my arm muscles a lot. I was happy to see that two weights exercises I'd started before were done this time around.

I am really out of shape!

I'm blaming the heat. But I have no stamina. So this will be good to start small.

I got a little overly ambitious with my plans to walk outside this weekend. But maybe I'll just sweat through these 3 walks and then remember it's July in The South.

Now that I see how weak my arms are... I do want to build up my stamina.

I went to Trader Joe's today and I guess everyone is out early for the upcoming holiday weekend because it was very busy. Luckily, I found a close parking spot without looking and I didn't have to pay or get validated. Phew.

It was very busy and there were two near misses in the intersection. Luckily, not involving me, but it made me want to get off the road as soon as possible.

So I made the executive decision to go to the local grocery store near Interim Apartment and just suck it up for the higher prices. No bargain hunting while I'm here. Just want to keep my self safe and carefree.

I went ahead and got the Pepcid. I was already thinking of starting with the low dose even though the doctor recommended the higher dose. I figure, I'd rather just start small. But the smaller dose box was $10 and the higher dose was $7.49. Go figure! So it made me almost want to get the higher dose.

Actually, I took the pill over an hour ago, and I still feel a little burn. Yikes. 

I did drink a full glass of water which made me almost snort water through my nose. 

Yeah, that's definitely some burning.

I'm not even going to play around with this.

If I'm coughing or uncomfortable tonight, then tomorrow when I go out, I'm going to pick up the higher dose. I also need to go to Moneygram.

If it were not blazing hot, I would walk there now.

I want to be outside. I feel really good, but it is really hot. And I have a few bites up my leg. There was a swarm of insects last night when I went out.

For the walk tomorrow, the organizer already sent out a heat warning email. So I was hesitant to go, but I think I'll still go. I'm looking forward to taking a hot shower. And I'm going to wear sunscreen.

I'm glad I went ahead and organized my big suitcase when I moved in because it makes it really easy to pick out clothes. I was going to wear pants and a t-shirt. But with all this heat advisory talk, I might do a tanktop and shorts. 

I got some yummy snacks for the weekend including a sparkling strawberry juice that I'm excited to try. 

I mostly want to take a nap.

6 weeks until moving day!

 I think having socialized the idea with myself...I'm getting used to the idea of moving in mid-August.

Which makes it 6 weeks from now!!!

Yikes!

I was right to try to capitalize on the back to school train! I feel like everything I'm doing now is prepping for back to school.

Getting doctor's appointments out of the way. Trying to get some relaxing time, summer reading (aka work), and some social activities in.

Now that there's a bit of a timeline, it feels more real and also a bit more exciting!

I also just love looking at my balance sheet.

I got one work task done this week so that also feels good.

And I think the next work task can be done by mid-week.

Which if nothing else lands on my plate, means my week on site can be focused on the workshop.

There is some uncertainty with whether I get bumped or not. I might just let the company know that I'll be out of town, so they'll need to adjust their available dates. 

Still suffering from insomnia and heartburn. It feels 100% due to my new medication. I messaged the doctor about the heartburn and he recommended pepcid. So instead of putting up a fight, I'm just going to try it. I'm in go-mode. No time for hemming and hawing. I just have to decide... do I just rely on that or do I still need to take the pills with a full meal. You have to take pepcid with a full glass of water. Which is making me feel bloated just thinking about it. 

I also want to try just taking the pill with a full glass of water and food, to see if that helps.

I was going to try to leave around noon to stop at Trader Joe's first, so that I can come straight home after physical therapy. But I'm still in bed. 

Friends, I can't believe I'm going to be moving in 6 weeks!!! Whoaaaaaaaaaa! It's really happening!

I love, love catching up on my finances yesterday. I have some financial confidence if my spending is a little inflated the rest of the year because I already met my reach savings goal. Yay! It all helps!

It's like this life is a concert of decisions. Each little move can create a beautiful piece of music. Or not.

So I'm excited about my snacks. And TV shows. And I found some nature events on Meetup that I might attend. So that will definitely help pass the time.

The other thing I was thinking about last night is...

My International Trip in December. 

I decided I definitely want to go, and just need to wrap my mind around spending 3500 with ease. 

But what I'm undecided on is if I want to do a month long short term rental in Warm City. That effects where I book my International Trip from. 

The plan to spend December in Warm City was hatched when I was still feeling low and living in Pandemic House.  Part of it was to break up the monotony and spend a ton of time away from home. And...be somewhere warm.

But with the adventure of New Town, I don't know that spending a ton of time away from home is as much of a priority because I will have just moved. I will still want to be warm, but International Trip sort of ticks off that portion a bit. Other elements were to be somewhere else for the holidays, so I wasn't stuck in Sad House. But again will being in Newtown be enough? 

We shall see. I'll need to put a reminder to book my tickets in September, that's at least 3 months notice.

I do still want to take that full month of December off from work though. Plus the extra week in January for funsies.

Taking two week long trips in December sounds tiring though. That was the alternative to spending the month of December in Warm City. 

So yeah, I still need to mull that over. 

As I'm reading this over... it occurred to me...what exactly is the issue of planning to be in Warm City - what I'll have too much fun?! Heaven forfend, I have toooo much fun! How crazy a thought. Ok, well that was easy. So here I was trying to ration fun... what a weird thought. Is this scarcity mindset. I think the cost was probably one thing... but also... Warm City felt like a salve for something...and I wasn't sure I would be 'sick' enough to need it. But also...time in Warm City could also just be really fun!

I feel freeeeeeeeeeeeeee

 I don't know what it is, but I just feel really good. Even with my throat burning! I finally went to Panera after reading lots of posts of people experiencing the burn when taking these pills.

My gosh!

I really was craving bread last night...and now I know why...to give my stomach acid something to burn through. But the bagel did nothing for my throat! And now I just feel bloated.

I can't be eating steak and potatoes every night. Especially not in the summer. I wonder if I can find a way to take it with a big gulp of water so that it doesn't touch my mucosa. 

I know I did something that gave me no heartburn for a full day. I just don't know what. Someone mentioned splitting the tablets might make it worse. I kind believe it, especially if the tablet is coated. 

So we shall see. I'll try to give it the four weeks. I think I'm at week 2. Yep, it's only been 2 weeks. Oh well. 

So today was payday. 

I updated my income and expenses spreadsheet.

My balances look really good. Large sums of money make me happy!

It was nice to be reminded that I reached Lean FIRE last year.

Overall, I am feeling excited about my move in this moment.

I almost requested my 3 weeks off in December from work. I'm just ready for the second half of the year to come!

Next week I have to buckle down and get some work done.

Then I hope to be able to have that week on site free from any project work.

Then wait around for 2 weeks.

Then I go visit Newtown. And then move.

I wasn't sure I wanted to move in August, but I'm getting more onboard with the idea. 

Thursday morning check-in

 So I'm sitting outside and I love it! I woke up looking forward to it. I even used an extension cord because I was out of battery. 

I feel like the people on House Hunters who are always talking about having their coffee out on their porch our outdoor area. Yay! This is a part of my day that I enjoy.  I want outdoor space and furniture in Newtown.

I noticed, duh, some parts of the day are cooler than others. So the mornings, I'm in the shade and in the evening, the shade comes back.

Last night was another fitful night of sleep. There was a lot of coughing. It's either my pills or eating apples and peanut butter 2 hours before bed. It was not great.

I think I had 1 good day of no heartburn symptoms this week.

I have real work tasks to do but I'm pretending I don't. For a moment yesterday, I started to daydream about having a life outside of work. Like being retired. Part of me keeps thinking I need to work because I at least need the distraction. But now I'm starting to wonder, if things will be different once work is removed completely. 

Will my mindset shift? I don't know. 

Real retirement has been hard to simulate because the time off feels finite so you want to use it a different way. 

Anyway, that little blip of 'what-if' was interesting.

In other news, I'm observing more and more how I don't ask for what I want and still grappling with what I want to do about it. 

The more I hear other people lament their change in circumstance when their partner is absent, the more I want to scream - WHAT ABOUT ME!!! That's my reality 24/7. No support on any front!

It's amazing. But for the first time in awhile, I was watching couple-y stuff and didn't long for it. There's something about eliminating that unknown that feels calming. 

I think it's just an adjustment after that intense need that came out of nowhere. 

Something has bitten my back but I refuse to go indoors!

Okay, the house sale money has caused a bit of a conundrum. I know I want to buy brokered CDs, cuz the plan is to keep it liquid until I retire and/or find a reasonable housing budget. And also earn at least 5% interest.

However, for tracking purposes, I also wanted to be able to nickname my account so I don't forget. But Broker 1 doesn't allow that. And it also wouldn't let me schedule the transfer, so it has to be manual.

Broker 2 does allow nicknames and would let me schedule a transfer. But I would need to open yet another account, which I really didn't want to do. 

I mostly want to move these funds out of regular circulation and I need them to stop showing up as cash on my budget app so that I can have a better idea of how much Cash I have in regular circulation. Note- it's only meant to be 10k.  So now, I'm rethinking my plan. For now, maybe I'll just do a 6 month CD and see how this year plays out. 

Plan for today

- Therapy

- Might go get some bread

- Do my PT exercises

If I come out again, I might do some work.

Wed p.m. check-in

 Feeling good. I remembered to take my magic beans this morning with my morning waffles. I just got really hungry/ low blood sugar. So I toasted some waffles. No syrup as I don't have any.

Ate outside.

Brushed my teeth.

Changed my shirt and even did my hair for my video interview.

I wonder what's next. I have a high level of confidence I'll move to the next step. But I think there will be a delay because the hiring manager is out of the office next week, and I'm traveling the week after.

Oh well. Somehow, I am already counting the dollars in my head.

I am thinking though, if I do get serious again about pursuing a second job, I'd probably have better luck in this field. 

I don't actually want to be a Widget Wicker though. I want a more background role.

Oh well.

For some reason I feel good like I just got hired.

I had a nice nervous trip to the restroom, so that's probably why I feel so light.

I've really been wanting some good bread. I finally had the good sense to look up Panera Bread. Duh! And yes, they do sell bread! So I might go get some sometime this week. Then on Friday when I have therapy, I plan to go pick up some treats for the weekend.

I realize I still have trouble asking for what I want, even little stuff - like getting the sink fixed. Something about it just turns me off. 

While I was waiting this morning, I sat outside and updated my financial spreadsheet.

I'm at about $20k spend for the year, an that includes a $4k medical bill. I hemmed and hawed a bit over where to put some of the incidental purchases related to the move. So for now, I'm at least categorizing the cost of this apartment as housing - Part 2. 

So, in case you were wondering, for the 6 months in Pandemic House this year, my costs were < $5k. Wow, right!

Considering July is a couple days away, I've all but given up on a getaway. I think July is just for staying out of the sun. Maybe I'll go to the pool? Probably not.

I think for future years, maybe starting in 2024, since there's not major cuts or trims I need to make to my expenses, I will not be tracking as minutely. I'll keep bigger categories to match my budget app. 

I was a little concerned that I kind of forgot about the CD/securities I bought this year. So, I'm not that good at tracking anymore. I spend a lot of time planning and plotting up until the run-up. Then once I make the transaction, I just forget about it.

That's why I'm so glad I have the tracking app. It would really be too much to manage otherwise!

On a good note, I did save $36k for this year already, so that goal is done and dusted. I can theoretically spend the rest of what I make for 2023. Which is still 6 more months of salary. But even without changing anything, I have about $3600/mon for the rest of the year, and that's with still saving a bunch of money. So I'll probably leave that for now. Who knows how the rest of the year is going to go. It makes it easy to plan a trip to Africa for December, at least financially. I'm still not sure how much I want to spend. 

On a more serious note - a committee member was going on again about my bra-less ness. It reminded me of when we first met in The South. Just that general theme of not really being accepted for who I am always made to feel different. It started with comments like that. Something I've been doing my whole life that's never been an issue, but somehow really bothered her. 

I don't know...it just was an interesting reminder why it's time to leave and that sometimes I do wonder if I never should have moved to The South. I didn't trust the algorithm. But that's big picture stuff. Too big for my little brain.

Other than that...my house-sale check finally cleared. So it's still 2 more moves before it reaches its final destination. 

I'm expecting a few more refunds related to home ownership expenses. I think to make it easier, I'll just add it to the cell of the house-sale proceeds vs trying to itemize them.

I think that's it. Between now and next week, I need to do my work task. Groan.