I've been really busy with Passover preparations and then Passover and just haven't felt up to writing any posts (though I've done some commenting here and there). Today I started to comment over on The Simple Dollar but I could see it was turning into a novel and decided it would be better here! I mean, if I'm going to write something of a significant length I may as well make it a post, right?
Trent asked his readers to give their snap response to 4 questions. The questions were:
What is a wedding supposed to cost?
What is an automobile supposed to cost?
What is a home supposed to cost?
What is a three week vacation for a family of four supposed to cost?
Then he went into how these "mental anchors" determine how much you think you should pay for these kinds of things. Basically, it was all about keeping up with the Joneses and how you should just think for yourself. There were only a few responses but so far, they were all along the lines of how great a post it was.
What is it with me that I'm disagreeing with Trent so often these days?
FWIW, my answers were:
$25,000
$25,000
$550,000
$12,000
Why did I answer the way I did and does that mean I want to or need to spend that much on those things?
For the wedding, the range that gets tossed around the most in the articles I've read is $25 to $35k. And I actually know a bunch of people who spent more. I happen to think that's a ridiculous amount to spend for one day. I've been married twice. The first time I got married at home, with 25 of us present (including the bride and groom!). We each had one attendant and my dress cost $250 from Sears (1977 prices). My parents sent out announcements instead of invites. It probably cost about $1,500 or less even though we served roast beef!
My 2nd wedding was considerably bigger. We had the ceremony outside at my rabbi's house, with the reception in our synagogue (which at the time was being rebuilt, so it was really in the gym of the day school!) but we only invited about 60 to the meal. The rest of the community was invited to the ceremony and for dessert and dancing (taped music). I actually wore the same dress (yes, the one from 1977)! We spent about $4k.
I've spent about $22,000 to $25,000 a couple of times on new cars (Buick Century both times, and one of them saved my life thank-you-very-much) and I'm comfortable with that as a price for a new car, although my preference is either to buy a year old car or a lease return or a demo at the end of the sales year. Actually, that's what we did when we bought my hubby's dream car, a PT Cruiser, shortly after we got married. Of course, the car cost more than $25,000 (about $32,000 in the end) but we did still pay it off early. And I'm not planning on us buying a car to replace it for several more years!
As for the house price, that's about $50 to $100k over the cost of the cheapest teardown in a bad neighbourhood here! What can I say? House prices in Vancouver are high. My old studio and den condo cost $96,900 (about a dozen years ago, before prices took off) and I sold it at the height of the market for $176,000 (and it was pretty much the cheapest condo for sale in the city at that point). I used about half my profits from the sale to buy (outright) an older home in the rural area where we plan to retire. And I put the other half into the house my Eldest Daughter and her partner bought here in the city (where we live with them).
As for the vacation, I figure it costs about $500/day for a family of 4 to take what I would consider a "nice" vacation including transportation, accomodation, food and souvenirs. I know I could go camping for a lot less but I don't like camping. Not everybody does. My idea of a vacation is a hotel where they provide everything and clean up after us. Or, better yet, a cruise! I've done a lot of travelling in the past (my dad worked for an airline and we flew for free) and there's a lot of places I'd like to go back to but flying is really, really expensive when you have to pay for 3 people! Not to mention, the fact that we keep kosher also limits where we can stay and where we can eat! And eating in kosher restaurants is very expensive. So, we don't travel much. And when we do, it's usually driving down to stay with friends in Seattle or something like that. We haven't even gone to Israel so all our relatives can meet our Dear Child (she has lots of cousins there) even though it would be very cheap once we got there, what with staying with family and all, because the flight would cost between $1,500 and $1,800 each and $5k is a LOT of money just for the airfare!
So, what does it all mean? First, there is no real connection between my answers to those questions and what I actually pay for those items.
Second, sometimes you do want to pay more for a certain kind of experience. And that's not wrong! If the vacation I really want is in Israel or Italy, then camping in a tent in a national park is a complete and total waste of money for me no matter how little it costs compared to the other vacation!
Third, Trent really does have a good point when he says: "The value is what you get out of it. Does it make you happy? Does it meet your needs? Those are the things that matter, not matching what someone else is doing."
Where he was wrong was in trying to correlate the first figure that jumps into your head with what you would tend to turn around and actually pay for the item.
Now, does anybody else want to jump in and answer those questions (and then say what you'd really pay)?
Oh yeah and for anybody who didn't get the title of the post, there's a point in the Passover seder where the youngest child asks the 4 Questions. It's sung in Hebrew and starts "Mah nishtana ha layla hazeh mikol halaylot?" [Why is this night different from all other nights?]
Showing posts with label vacations. Show all posts
Showing posts with label vacations. Show all posts
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Friday, December 4, 2009
Miscellaneous Day Here at the Blog
Wow, has it really been over a week since I posted? I've been commenting here and there on other people's blogs but I keep falling asleep about the time I usually start writing my own posts. I also had a flareup of a chronic back problem on Tuesday. I ended up taking a T3 around 11 pm, which meant there was definitely no blogging that night! I'm the sort of person that, if drowsiness is a possible side effect of a drug, I'll be out cold. It was still acting up in the morning, so I took 2 Advil at that point. Luckily, it's better now.
I do have a variety of things to mention. First of all, another one of my comments was featured in this week's Monday Mailbag on The Simple Dollar!
I've won a Starbucks card from Betty at Bouncing Back from Bankruptcy and I'm thrilled about that! I can already taste my decaf white chocolate mocha with extra whip!
And I commented on Give Me Back My Five Bucks that Krystal should do one of her December Goals (to come up with her goals for 2010) as one of her famous challenges since all of us PF bloggers are probably planning a similar post sometime between now and New Years. She said it was a great idea and that the post would go up soon but the post that appeared was her 2010 goals! Now she's off to Vegas and I'm not sure if she's planning to do a challenge post or if I should do one. I certainly can't post my goals for next year yet because I'm still working on them.
The next little while is going to be very busy. I have lots of evenings coming up with parties or other events I need to attend. I don't normally go out much in the evenings, unless I have to go back to the office or occasionally to attend a class for an hour or so, once a week. And, a couple of times when I'm not going out, I'll be babysitting my granddaughters because Eldest Daughter also has parties to go to.
We have to seriously think about whether we're going to go to the house during winter break but we have to co-ordinate dates with ED, S-in-L and the girls too. They'll be away or off part of the time but there are also days when people have to work. Plus, going is contingent on getting 2 new winter tires because winter tires (and carrying chains) is mandatory through the Hope-Princeton all winter. I'm still not quite sure how all the money is working out. We did get the fuel oil delivered yesterday and I paid them via telephone banking this morning, once I'd confirmed the exact amount. So, that's a relief. I've also called and left a message for my next-door neighbour, asking him to check to make sure the furnace is going on. If we had already run dry the reset button has to be hit in order to get the furnace running again. And it would probably also mean another clogged sensor (with the gunk from the bottom of the tank) and another furnace servicing. I really hope it's okay but I'm trying to focus on the fact that we have a year's supply of fuel oil now. If we have to service the furnace I'll cross that bridge when we come to it.
Actually, in the last couple of days I've started to worry about the car again. It's been making a kind of groaning noise when you back out of a parking spot and it's progressed to sometimes making a noise as you start or stop. It sort of sounds like a transmission issue and I'm so not dying to have to drop more money on the car at this point. I'm still pretty touchy about the $2,600 or so we've spent over the past couple of months. Son-in-Law will probably take it in to the place he goes to one of the days that he drives it next week.
Too tired to write any more now. Goodnight!
I do have a variety of things to mention. First of all, another one of my comments was featured in this week's Monday Mailbag on The Simple Dollar!
I've won a Starbucks card from Betty at Bouncing Back from Bankruptcy and I'm thrilled about that! I can already taste my decaf white chocolate mocha with extra whip!
And I commented on Give Me Back My Five Bucks that Krystal should do one of her December Goals (to come up with her goals for 2010) as one of her famous challenges since all of us PF bloggers are probably planning a similar post sometime between now and New Years. She said it was a great idea and that the post would go up soon but the post that appeared was her 2010 goals! Now she's off to Vegas and I'm not sure if she's planning to do a challenge post or if I should do one. I certainly can't post my goals for next year yet because I'm still working on them.
The next little while is going to be very busy. I have lots of evenings coming up with parties or other events I need to attend. I don't normally go out much in the evenings, unless I have to go back to the office or occasionally to attend a class for an hour or so, once a week. And, a couple of times when I'm not going out, I'll be babysitting my granddaughters because Eldest Daughter also has parties to go to.
We have to seriously think about whether we're going to go to the house during winter break but we have to co-ordinate dates with ED, S-in-L and the girls too. They'll be away or off part of the time but there are also days when people have to work. Plus, going is contingent on getting 2 new winter tires because winter tires (and carrying chains) is mandatory through the Hope-Princeton all winter. I'm still not quite sure how all the money is working out. We did get the fuel oil delivered yesterday and I paid them via telephone banking this morning, once I'd confirmed the exact amount. So, that's a relief. I've also called and left a message for my next-door neighbour, asking him to check to make sure the furnace is going on. If we had already run dry the reset button has to be hit in order to get the furnace running again. And it would probably also mean another clogged sensor (with the gunk from the bottom of the tank) and another furnace servicing. I really hope it's okay but I'm trying to focus on the fact that we have a year's supply of fuel oil now. If we have to service the furnace I'll cross that bridge when we come to it.
Actually, in the last couple of days I've started to worry about the car again. It's been making a kind of groaning noise when you back out of a parking spot and it's progressed to sometimes making a noise as you start or stop. It sort of sounds like a transmission issue and I'm so not dying to have to drop more money on the car at this point. I'm still pretty touchy about the $2,600 or so we've spent over the past couple of months. Son-in-Law will probably take it in to the place he goes to one of the days that he drives it next week.
Too tired to write any more now. Goodnight!
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Wednesday and Posting Works
Okay, I'm opening this in Firefox again on a different computer and it works. I guess I'm going to have to try putting Firefox on my laptop (I normally use Internet Explorer) and see if it works consistently. Right now I have a sample of 2 attempts, 2 successes. Interesting, but not statistically significant.
Today is Wednesday and I just got paid. I've been working a bunch of extra hours because my co-worker has been taking vacation so why don't I have very much money? I got my vacation pay for the year on my last cheque and didn't transfer it right away into ING (bad girl). I wanted to do that today, but that will only leave me with just under $600 and all my bill payments and end of month/beginning of month expenses that come out automatically total more than that! Plus, it might be nice to be able to buy groceries and gas for the next two weeks and I'm planning to go to the house for the BC Day long weekend just prior to when I get paid again. Translation? I've been spending my vacation pay and I'm not going to be able to fix it until after the next payday (which will also be for more hours than normal). What I really should do at that point is to transfer the money as fast as I can, because what's sitting in ING can't be frittered away.
I'm actually going to pay the bills from my laptop later (because I then save a print screen of the confirmations) but here's a list of what I'm planning to pay today (although not the exact amounts because I don't have them with me).
MasterCard $90, my usual every 2 weeks payment
Shaw internet ~$45
Bell cell ~$90
H2O ~$40
IKEA ~$45, the full balance owing from my trip there a couple of weeks ago
In other words, just over $300 worth of payments. And I want to get to my credit union so I can deposit my BC Benefit and another small cheque into my rural credit union account to cover my monthly service charge and the electric bill that will be coming out shortly. I think that's pretty good for today.
EDIT: Okay, I didn't get to the credit union (truthfully, I forgot all about it) but I did pay a total of $334.91 on those 5 bills and the 2 cheques to be deposited are sitting in my purse. I've been looking at my MasterCard statements and I see that sometimes (more often than I had realized) I only pay once, which really just takes care of the interest. I've made reducing my MasterCard debt by at least $100/month one of my mini goals now and I'll be keeping a closer eye on it. I actually want to get that card down below $5,000 before the end of the year. That would mean I'd have to pay off a little less than $900 in 6 months time ($150/month). We'll see how that goes.
Today is Wednesday and I just got paid. I've been working a bunch of extra hours because my co-worker has been taking vacation so why don't I have very much money? I got my vacation pay for the year on my last cheque and didn't transfer it right away into ING (bad girl). I wanted to do that today, but that will only leave me with just under $600 and all my bill payments and end of month/beginning of month expenses that come out automatically total more than that! Plus, it might be nice to be able to buy groceries and gas for the next two weeks and I'm planning to go to the house for the BC Day long weekend just prior to when I get paid again. Translation? I've been spending my vacation pay and I'm not going to be able to fix it until after the next payday (which will also be for more hours than normal). What I really should do at that point is to transfer the money as fast as I can, because what's sitting in ING can't be frittered away.
I'm actually going to pay the bills from my laptop later (because I then save a print screen of the confirmations) but here's a list of what I'm planning to pay today (although not the exact amounts because I don't have them with me).
MasterCard $90, my usual every 2 weeks payment
Shaw internet ~$45
Bell cell ~$90
H2O ~$40
IKEA ~$45, the full balance owing from my trip there a couple of weeks ago
In other words, just over $300 worth of payments. And I want to get to my credit union so I can deposit my BC Benefit and another small cheque into my rural credit union account to cover my monthly service charge and the electric bill that will be coming out shortly. I think that's pretty good for today.
EDIT: Okay, I didn't get to the credit union (truthfully, I forgot all about it) but I did pay a total of $334.91 on those 5 bills and the 2 cheques to be deposited are sitting in my purse. I've been looking at my MasterCard statements and I see that sometimes (more often than I had realized) I only pay once, which really just takes care of the interest. I've made reducing my MasterCard debt by at least $100/month one of my mini goals now and I'll be keeping a closer eye on it. I actually want to get that card down below $5,000 before the end of the year. That would mean I'd have to pay off a little less than $900 in 6 months time ($150/month). We'll see how that goes.
Monday, July 6, 2009
I'm Back and I Can See!
Dear Child, Dog and I had a great time at our rural home for 5 whole days!
Dear Child went swimming with her friends at an outdoor pool, where they do Swim Club a couple of times per week.
We had a Canada Day picnic at a local event and stayed until 9:30 pm because DC was enjoying herself so much.
We went to the beach and had a picnic dinner there, and made a sand castle.
We went back to the beach Friday, played in the sand, waded in the lake up to her waist (my hips) and shared a large popsicle. Then we came home and made pizzas for Shabbos dinner.
We took long walks around our little unincorporated place with Dog, exploring streets we've never been down before. I think we hit pretty much every street in town.
We found a new (local) video store and rented movies. DC had her friend from next door over to watch a couple of them.
DC also played with her friends whenever they were home, doing art on the computer, playing board games and running through the sprinkler.
My old school friend came out from town, had lunch and played 2 games of Scrabble with us.
We looked at the second piece of property I'm interested in with my realtor and I'm still interested in it! To date, there have only been 2 other properties that passed the visit to the site test and they were both significantly more money than this one. There's some stuff to research and all but the listing realtor isn't terribly interested in the property so it's not like it's likely to sell tomorrow. Heck, I've been pushing for info on it and to be able to see it for the past 3 months (since the week it came on the market) and she finally faxed the info on the weekend. We'll see.
Oh yeah, and I completed several hours more of backbreaking work in the garden. At least it looks fairly decent now. My grapevine is alive and has 3 leaves. The rosemary plants died, but the lavender is fine. Two of the three are budding. The peppermint is hanging on but the apple mint is spreading all over the place (it's in the front and I pulled some out from the back end of the far side of the house). The lilac is also healthy, although it doesn't look like it flowered.
And my biggest news? I picked up my new glasses today! They look nice, I can see and I'm happy with them.
Dear Child went swimming with her friends at an outdoor pool, where they do Swim Club a couple of times per week.
We had a Canada Day picnic at a local event and stayed until 9:30 pm because DC was enjoying herself so much.
We went to the beach and had a picnic dinner there, and made a sand castle.
We went back to the beach Friday, played in the sand, waded in the lake up to her waist (my hips) and shared a large popsicle. Then we came home and made pizzas for Shabbos dinner.
We took long walks around our little unincorporated place with Dog, exploring streets we've never been down before. I think we hit pretty much every street in town.
We found a new (local) video store and rented movies. DC had her friend from next door over to watch a couple of them.
DC also played with her friends whenever they were home, doing art on the computer, playing board games and running through the sprinkler.
My old school friend came out from town, had lunch and played 2 games of Scrabble with us.
We looked at the second piece of property I'm interested in with my realtor and I'm still interested in it! To date, there have only been 2 other properties that passed the visit to the site test and they were both significantly more money than this one. There's some stuff to research and all but the listing realtor isn't terribly interested in the property so it's not like it's likely to sell tomorrow. Heck, I've been pushing for info on it and to be able to see it for the past 3 months (since the week it came on the market) and she finally faxed the info on the weekend. We'll see.
Oh yeah, and I completed several hours more of backbreaking work in the garden. At least it looks fairly decent now. My grapevine is alive and has 3 leaves. The rosemary plants died, but the lavender is fine. Two of the three are budding. The peppermint is hanging on but the apple mint is spreading all over the place (it's in the front and I pulled some out from the back end of the far side of the house). The lilac is also healthy, although it doesn't look like it flowered.
And my biggest news? I picked up my new glasses today! They look nice, I can see and I'm happy with them.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Busy, Busy Week
Things have been crazy busy and they're continuing in that vein. Busy at work, with Dear Child's school as it draws to a close, with family, with fundraising and with preparing to go to the house this weekend for the first time in over six months!
I was short parent participation hours so I've been doing things like thank you cards for the teachers, buying food for various events and so on.
And I haven't been sleeping particularly well.
Tomorrow and Friday are the capstones of the week. Tomorrow, among other things, I need to ferry everybody around, work most of the day, go for lunch with my Executive Director (who is leaving), go to the doctor for my test results (finally), go to the school for an assembly and a BBQ, and possibly get together with my oldest son.
Friday I'm only working a couple of hours, instead of all day. Dear Child graduates from Kindergarten in the middle of the day and then she and I are going to go to our rural home for the first time in over six months! Hubby has other obligations, so it should be interesting.
I have to arrive there with enough time before Shabbos that I can mow at least the front yard (and preferably all of it) because I got a phone call earlier this week, complaining about the appearance of my yard. One of my neighbours is trying to sell and it seems the jungle is putting buyers off! Since I can't do yard work on the Sabbath, I need to arrive with a few hours to spare on Friday so I can make it look decent before their next open house.
I'm going to make a bit of a list of what else needs to be done once I get there because DC and I are going back for a few days from Canada Day on. That's really when I'll be able to do a couple of things as well as kick back and have some fun with DC! We can go swimming in the lake and take Dog for walks up into the hills. I also have 2 properties I want to look at.
I was short parent participation hours so I've been doing things like thank you cards for the teachers, buying food for various events and so on.
And I haven't been sleeping particularly well.
Tomorrow and Friday are the capstones of the week. Tomorrow, among other things, I need to ferry everybody around, work most of the day, go for lunch with my Executive Director (who is leaving), go to the doctor for my test results (finally), go to the school for an assembly and a BBQ, and possibly get together with my oldest son.
Friday I'm only working a couple of hours, instead of all day. Dear Child graduates from Kindergarten in the middle of the day and then she and I are going to go to our rural home for the first time in over six months! Hubby has other obligations, so it should be interesting.
I have to arrive there with enough time before Shabbos that I can mow at least the front yard (and preferably all of it) because I got a phone call earlier this week, complaining about the appearance of my yard. One of my neighbours is trying to sell and it seems the jungle is putting buyers off! Since I can't do yard work on the Sabbath, I need to arrive with a few hours to spare on Friday so I can make it look decent before their next open house.
I'm going to make a bit of a list of what else needs to be done once I get there because DC and I are going back for a few days from Canada Day on. That's really when I'll be able to do a couple of things as well as kick back and have some fun with DC! We can go swimming in the lake and take Dog for walks up into the hills. I also have 2 properties I want to look at.
Friday, October 24, 2008
Gas Prices Still Too High
Gas prices have been coming down but they haven't dropped to the levels most people would expect, given the current price of crude oil.
Over the past year or so, gas prices rose about 50%, while the cost of a barrel of oil rose about 50%. Now, oil has dropped 50% and gas prices have only dropped by about 20%. Also, it seems just a little interesting that the price stayed high (around $1.50 per litre) through the summer when people are more likely to be taking car trips and only drops now that everybody is back to their normal commute.
And how about the way the price fluctuates depending on what time it is? Wednesday morning I saw gas advertised at $1.159. Later it was $1.139 and then $1.109. Well after dark I saw it advertised at $1.099. This morning it was $1.170 during the morning rush hour. This isn't an unusual pattern, at least in the Lower Mainland. You can't tell me that gas stations are reacting to the changing price for crude oil on an almost hourly basis. If they were truly that sensitive to the market, the price of gas would be back down below $1.00 per litre, down around $0.75 or so.
Over the past year or so, gas prices rose about 50%, while the cost of a barrel of oil rose about 50%. Now, oil has dropped 50% and gas prices have only dropped by about 20%. Also, it seems just a little interesting that the price stayed high (around $1.50 per litre) through the summer when people are more likely to be taking car trips and only drops now that everybody is back to their normal commute.
And how about the way the price fluctuates depending on what time it is? Wednesday morning I saw gas advertised at $1.159. Later it was $1.139 and then $1.109. Well after dark I saw it advertised at $1.099. This morning it was $1.170 during the morning rush hour. This isn't an unusual pattern, at least in the Lower Mainland. You can't tell me that gas stations are reacting to the changing price for crude oil on an almost hourly basis. If they were truly that sensitive to the market, the price of gas would be back down below $1.00 per litre, down around $0.75 or so.
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Tiny Change in Plan
We're actually leaving in the morning. If we'd left tonight we'd be getting there about now. Instead, I've read all the blogs I follow, made some comments, tried to make a change on my blog that isn't working and am now posting.
I did set up a furnace guy for Friday and left a message for the plumber, who didn't call me back. I got food at the deli but they were really out of cheese (for the 2nd time recently) and I don't have the mozzarella I wanted to make lasagne with. Again. last time I ended up using cheddar. This time there wasn't even any cheddar. It'll be in some time next week (i.e. Thursday or Friday, the only days they'll be open) but that's too late for me.
The big thing I missed doing on Friday (partly because I ended up working until 3:30 pm and partly because I forgot) was to pick up the lulav and etrog. Since I didn't want to wait until noon tomorrow to be able to leave I arranged to get it tonight after Shabbat. I can't believe I almost messed up such an essential thing. Brain freeze. Senior moments. They're getting the better of me and I don't like it.
Anyway, we still have to get the sukkah up tomorrow and we may have to mow the lawn first, so I hope we really do get an early start.
I did set up a furnace guy for Friday and left a message for the plumber, who didn't call me back. I got food at the deli but they were really out of cheese (for the 2nd time recently) and I don't have the mozzarella I wanted to make lasagne with. Again. last time I ended up using cheddar. This time there wasn't even any cheddar. It'll be in some time next week (i.e. Thursday or Friday, the only days they'll be open) but that's too late for me.
The big thing I missed doing on Friday (partly because I ended up working until 3:30 pm and partly because I forgot) was to pick up the lulav and etrog. Since I didn't want to wait until noon tomorrow to be able to leave I arranged to get it tonight after Shabbat. I can't believe I almost messed up such an essential thing. Brain freeze. Senior moments. They're getting the better of me and I don't like it.
Anyway, we still have to get the sukkah up tomorrow and we may have to mow the lawn first, so I hope we really do get an early start.
Thursday, September 4, 2008
The Good, The Bad & The Ugly
Let me tell you about my weekend.
There were some good parts, including some very good parts. We had my birthday dinner on Sunday night and it was great. I love lamb chops but we don't get lamb very often because it's so expensive and not always available. Grill the lamb on the cast iron grill plate over a fire in our fire pit and I'm in heaven. We had onions and mushrooms sauteed in olive oil with a splash of red wine and red potatoes with it. I meant to make green peas too, but somehow that never happened. To drink there was an Israeli Cabernet Sauvignon. It was a great meal and everybody liked it.
The next morning the little girls got up, DC signed the cards for herself and her nieces and they sang Happy Birthday to me before giving me the cards. Then I got my present from Hubby, a long black skirt with ruffles, eyelet and lace, and a black top with sequins at the neckline.
We went to the beach with the kids and I took pictures of them enjoing themselves (usually I forget and the camera just sits in my purse). The weather was nice. Sunny but not nearly as hot as normal for the Okanagan. Over the course of the weekend we got a lot of yard work done and seeded the side yard.
But there were bad things too. On Friday when I was walking from the office to the deli to pick up the meat and challah I slipped on a little mud in a depression in the sidewalk. I caught myself without doing a face plant but I jammed my big toe straight down into the bricks and I think I broke it. It's all bruised and for the first 2 or 3 days it ached all the time and sent sharp shooting pains when I moved my foot in certain ways. I've been wearing flip flops continuously and it has helped. The pain is mostly gone but I still can't clench all my toes on that foot. The big toe and the one beside it just don't bend when I try to tell them to.
The baby barfed on the drive to the house. I've discovered that you cannot mix her, a bottle of milk and a car trip with any kind of curves. She also had a screaming fit for about half an hour in the middle of the first night. Nothing was right, she wouldn't be comforted. Finally, she lay down like a newborn (on her tummy with her butt in the air) and fell asleep in about 2 seconds.
I spent all of Shabbos day suffering from serious stomach cramps that seemed to come out of nowhere, to the extent that I practically didn't eat.
We drove home fairly late on Monday (arriving back in the city at 11:30 pm) and when I woke up Tuesday morning my left arm was hurting and itching. I looked at it and was shocked. My arm is swollen and red from my armpit to my elbow. It appears to be a spider bite and I know we have black widows at the house because I've seen and killed them, so I'm kind of worried that it may be a black widow bite! My arm is warm to the touch, itches horribly and aches in a way that reminds me of when your leg falls asleep and you hesitate to move it because you know it's going to hurt in a sharp, aching way before the pins and needles sensation starts. It feels heavy and a little on the weak side, although I can still use it normally.
And then there was the ugly. We were driving merrily along on the freeway (on our way to the Okanagan) when everything came to a screaming halt. The highway was actually closed from Bridal Falls to Hope. I think it had something to do with the road flooding, but we never saw it. We had to take Highway 9 across the river and come at Hope the back way. You take a 3 lane freeway and put all that traffic on a single lane highway on a holiday weekend and it's ugly.
So, there it is. My weekend. Now I'm going to go to bed because my arm is killing me. (Yes, I'm planning to go to the doctor tomorrow.)
There were some good parts, including some very good parts. We had my birthday dinner on Sunday night and it was great. I love lamb chops but we don't get lamb very often because it's so expensive and not always available. Grill the lamb on the cast iron grill plate over a fire in our fire pit and I'm in heaven. We had onions and mushrooms sauteed in olive oil with a splash of red wine and red potatoes with it. I meant to make green peas too, but somehow that never happened. To drink there was an Israeli Cabernet Sauvignon. It was a great meal and everybody liked it.
The next morning the little girls got up, DC signed the cards for herself and her nieces and they sang Happy Birthday to me before giving me the cards. Then I got my present from Hubby, a long black skirt with ruffles, eyelet and lace, and a black top with sequins at the neckline.
We went to the beach with the kids and I took pictures of them enjoing themselves (usually I forget and the camera just sits in my purse). The weather was nice. Sunny but not nearly as hot as normal for the Okanagan. Over the course of the weekend we got a lot of yard work done and seeded the side yard.
But there were bad things too. On Friday when I was walking from the office to the deli to pick up the meat and challah I slipped on a little mud in a depression in the sidewalk. I caught myself without doing a face plant but I jammed my big toe straight down into the bricks and I think I broke it. It's all bruised and for the first 2 or 3 days it ached all the time and sent sharp shooting pains when I moved my foot in certain ways. I've been wearing flip flops continuously and it has helped. The pain is mostly gone but I still can't clench all my toes on that foot. The big toe and the one beside it just don't bend when I try to tell them to.
The baby barfed on the drive to the house. I've discovered that you cannot mix her, a bottle of milk and a car trip with any kind of curves. She also had a screaming fit for about half an hour in the middle of the first night. Nothing was right, she wouldn't be comforted. Finally, she lay down like a newborn (on her tummy with her butt in the air) and fell asleep in about 2 seconds.
I spent all of Shabbos day suffering from serious stomach cramps that seemed to come out of nowhere, to the extent that I practically didn't eat.
We drove home fairly late on Monday (arriving back in the city at 11:30 pm) and when I woke up Tuesday morning my left arm was hurting and itching. I looked at it and was shocked. My arm is swollen and red from my armpit to my elbow. It appears to be a spider bite and I know we have black widows at the house because I've seen and killed them, so I'm kind of worried that it may be a black widow bite! My arm is warm to the touch, itches horribly and aches in a way that reminds me of when your leg falls asleep and you hesitate to move it because you know it's going to hurt in a sharp, aching way before the pins and needles sensation starts. It feels heavy and a little on the weak side, although I can still use it normally.
And then there was the ugly. We were driving merrily along on the freeway (on our way to the Okanagan) when everything came to a screaming halt. The highway was actually closed from Bridal Falls to Hope. I think it had something to do with the road flooding, but we never saw it. We had to take Highway 9 across the river and come at Hope the back way. You take a 3 lane freeway and put all that traffic on a single lane highway on a holiday weekend and it's ugly.
So, there it is. My weekend. Now I'm going to go to bed because my arm is killing me. (Yes, I'm planning to go to the doctor tomorrow.)
Sunday, August 31, 2008
3 Kids, No Time
I wanted to write a post, but I can't. Taking 3 little kids to Safeway and expecting them to sit while I check blogs and write a post and while Hubby does some work-related email Does. Not. Work.
They were happy to log on to Webkinz but the baby kept trying to run off and nobody wants to watch me type. I can't imagine why. At least Hubby got his work done. I want to say my stuff is just as important but, until I'm pulling in the bucks blogging, it's just not true.
We spent Shabbat quietly, if you can say that while 3 kids and one neighbour child run in circles from the living room through the kitchen, down the hall, through the master bedroom and back through the living room screaming at the top of their lungs. We were quiet; they weren't.
Today we did a ton of yard work. I can tell how unseasonably rainy it has been here because both front and back yards were green, actually greener than our front yard in Vancouver! But that also meant everything had grown really high.
We're going to drive back to the city some time tomorrow, but right now we're heading home to have my birthday dinner of lamb chops with mushrooms, potatoes and peas, with a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon.
They were happy to log on to Webkinz but the baby kept trying to run off and nobody wants to watch me type. I can't imagine why. At least Hubby got his work done. I want to say my stuff is just as important but, until I'm pulling in the bucks blogging, it's just not true.
We spent Shabbat quietly, if you can say that while 3 kids and one neighbour child run in circles from the living room through the kitchen, down the hall, through the master bedroom and back through the living room screaming at the top of their lungs. We were quiet; they weren't.
Today we did a ton of yard work. I can tell how unseasonably rainy it has been here because both front and back yards were green, actually greener than our front yard in Vancouver! But that also meant everything had grown really high.
We're going to drive back to the city some time tomorrow, but right now we're heading home to have my birthday dinner of lamb chops with mushrooms, potatoes and peas, with a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Spending Money, Making Memories
We had a really nice time in Seattle this weekend although the border crossing was horrendous. I got to the sign that shows wait times and it said both Peace Arch and Pacific Truck Crossing were a 90 minute wait. I chose Peace Arch (somewhat more direct) and it was two and a half hours!
We would sit for several minutes at a time and then move ahead a few car lengths. Sit and move. Sit and move. I turned off the engine every time we stopped and just started up when the guy 2 or 3 cars ahead actually moved. It was a warm day so we had the 2 front windows down and the back side vents open but it's hard to get good air flow through a van when you're stopped.
Luckily the 2 younger ones slept for at least an hour and a half of the border wait and there wasn't much in the way of fussing or whining. Getting through the border was quick once we got to the front of the line even though I was driving my kids' car and had my child and 2 grandkids with me.
We headed right in to Blaine and filled up on gas (just under $100 to fill the tank) and got some crackers and drinks. The rest of the trip was a breeze, except for the part where Boo Boo (the 17 month old) barfed just outside of Bellingham. Luckily it was one of the few areas with a really wide shoulder area, so I pulled off, cleaned her up with baby wipes and got back on the road. She fell asleep again shortly afterwards and was fine for the rest of the trip.
It was fun staying at my friend's house. All but one of her kids was home from school, etc. so it was a really good visit. I got to see her eldest daughter and son-in-law and their baby, who is at the point of wanting to stand and bouncing because he wants to walk (a large part of the motivation for the trip). And my friend's youngest is a girl just over a year older than my Dear Child, so all 4 little girls had a riot together. The 3 bigger ones spent an inordinate amount of time on the trampoline (a fully enclosed one with about 6 foot high screening). They jumped and did drop sits and also just laid around on it talking and playing. The baby kept wanting to try it for the first day but every time she got on she remembered that she couldn't keep her balance with the others on it and wanted right back off. Then she'd go cruise around the house.
Shabbat was great. Good food, good company. We all went to shul in the morning and Boo Boo walked all the way (6 blocks, a couple of them long and hilly)! I was a little worried she'd stage a sit down and strand me somewhere in the middle but we made it there with absolutely no problem. (We don't carry on the Sabbath in an area that doesn't have a special type of enclosure called an eruv, including not carrying babies or pushing strollers. It can mean a long trip if a child gets partway and doesn't want to continue. Some parts of Seattle have an eruv but not where we were, although it's in the works.) She and her sister, along with my DC went to a special children's program and had a good time. Then they came upstairs to the women's section just in time to hear the 10 Commandments during the Torah reading.
There was a great lunch downstairs and they all ate plenty. Boo Boo did really well on the way home too, although the last block uphill was tough and she was putting her arms up to be picked up. She made it though, and we were clapping and cheering for her as she climbed the steps to the house! What a big girl! It was a hot afternoon and she and I (and another friend of mine) all sacked out on the huge sectional at one point for a couple of hours.
Sunday was a big fun outing to Pacific Science Center with my friend, her 2 youngest, the 3 little girls and my Eldest Daughter (who was in Seattle at a trade show but got the morning off). We spent a long time enjoying all the hands on activities. The oddest and freakiest thing we did was pet a giant cockroach as long as the Science Center employee's hand! It was totally tame, just sitting there for people to see and touch. I can tell you, if I saw him in my kitchen I sure wouldn't be petting him, but I'd probably need a hammer or something like that to take him out! If I tried to step on him, he'd probably carry me off!
We had the best time in the butterfly house. It's absolutely beautiful and my friend took some great pictures of the various butterflies. (If she can email me some of the photos I'll edit this to add them.) It has double entry and exit doors, manned by staff, and you have to twirl around and check yourself in a mirror just to make sure none of the butterflies escape. The gift shop was also popular with DC and my older granddaughter getting stuffed butterfly keychains to remember the butterfly house. The baby got a placemat and a screaming monkey toy that had us in hysterics. My girlfriend also bought a screaming monkey for her house!
Afterwards we went for lunch at one of Seattle's two kosher Chinese food places. You order stuff like sweet and sour chicken, but it's really all tofu based. There's no meat, but it tastes totally real. Then we had to drop Eldest Daughter back at the Convention Center and headed back to the house. I had read Nickel and Dimed over Shabbos and wanted to do a review while I could still refer back to the book. Then it was time to pack up and head home. We didn't leave until after rush hour because the drive from Seattle to Everett can be brutal then. This time the trip back took 3 hours, including about 20 minutes at the Truck Crossing. Again, no problem crossing, especially since we'd been down 2 days and only came back with $20 worth of stuff from the Science Center and a few (very cool) dresses my friend's daughter had outgrown.
I spent about $100 on gas, $25 on miscellaneous food (including a 1/2 gallon of milk for the baby), $10 for parking at the Science Center and $54 for lunch out for 3 adults and kids ages 12, 6, 5, 3 and 17 mos. Eldest Daughter paid the admission to the Science Center and for the stuff from the gift shop. So, the trip cost roughly $200, most of which went on the credit card because I'll both get paid and get all the government money I'm expecting on Wednesday. But we had tons of fun, got to see lots of friends and had a chance to do something with Eldest Daughter while she was away! Oh yes, and there's still 1/2 a tank of gas in the van, about a 1/4 tank more than I started with. Was it worth it? Absolutely!
We would sit for several minutes at a time and then move ahead a few car lengths. Sit and move. Sit and move. I turned off the engine every time we stopped and just started up when the guy 2 or 3 cars ahead actually moved. It was a warm day so we had the 2 front windows down and the back side vents open but it's hard to get good air flow through a van when you're stopped.
Luckily the 2 younger ones slept for at least an hour and a half of the border wait and there wasn't much in the way of fussing or whining. Getting through the border was quick once we got to the front of the line even though I was driving my kids' car and had my child and 2 grandkids with me.
We headed right in to Blaine and filled up on gas (just under $100 to fill the tank) and got some crackers and drinks. The rest of the trip was a breeze, except for the part where Boo Boo (the 17 month old) barfed just outside of Bellingham. Luckily it was one of the few areas with a really wide shoulder area, so I pulled off, cleaned her up with baby wipes and got back on the road. She fell asleep again shortly afterwards and was fine for the rest of the trip.
It was fun staying at my friend's house. All but one of her kids was home from school, etc. so it was a really good visit. I got to see her eldest daughter and son-in-law and their baby, who is at the point of wanting to stand and bouncing because he wants to walk (a large part of the motivation for the trip). And my friend's youngest is a girl just over a year older than my Dear Child, so all 4 little girls had a riot together. The 3 bigger ones spent an inordinate amount of time on the trampoline (a fully enclosed one with about 6 foot high screening). They jumped and did drop sits and also just laid around on it talking and playing. The baby kept wanting to try it for the first day but every time she got on she remembered that she couldn't keep her balance with the others on it and wanted right back off. Then she'd go cruise around the house.
Shabbat was great. Good food, good company. We all went to shul in the morning and Boo Boo walked all the way (6 blocks, a couple of them long and hilly)! I was a little worried she'd stage a sit down and strand me somewhere in the middle but we made it there with absolutely no problem. (We don't carry on the Sabbath in an area that doesn't have a special type of enclosure called an eruv, including not carrying babies or pushing strollers. It can mean a long trip if a child gets partway and doesn't want to continue. Some parts of Seattle have an eruv but not where we were, although it's in the works.) She and her sister, along with my DC went to a special children's program and had a good time. Then they came upstairs to the women's section just in time to hear the 10 Commandments during the Torah reading.
There was a great lunch downstairs and they all ate plenty. Boo Boo did really well on the way home too, although the last block uphill was tough and she was putting her arms up to be picked up. She made it though, and we were clapping and cheering for her as she climbed the steps to the house! What a big girl! It was a hot afternoon and she and I (and another friend of mine) all sacked out on the huge sectional at one point for a couple of hours.
Sunday was a big fun outing to Pacific Science Center with my friend, her 2 youngest, the 3 little girls and my Eldest Daughter (who was in Seattle at a trade show but got the morning off). We spent a long time enjoying all the hands on activities. The oddest and freakiest thing we did was pet a giant cockroach as long as the Science Center employee's hand! It was totally tame, just sitting there for people to see and touch. I can tell you, if I saw him in my kitchen I sure wouldn't be petting him, but I'd probably need a hammer or something like that to take him out! If I tried to step on him, he'd probably carry me off!
We had the best time in the butterfly house. It's absolutely beautiful and my friend took some great pictures of the various butterflies. (If she can email me some of the photos I'll edit this to add them.) It has double entry and exit doors, manned by staff, and you have to twirl around and check yourself in a mirror just to make sure none of the butterflies escape. The gift shop was also popular with DC and my older granddaughter getting stuffed butterfly keychains to remember the butterfly house. The baby got a placemat and a screaming monkey toy that had us in hysterics. My girlfriend also bought a screaming monkey for her house!
Afterwards we went for lunch at one of Seattle's two kosher Chinese food places. You order stuff like sweet and sour chicken, but it's really all tofu based. There's no meat, but it tastes totally real. Then we had to drop Eldest Daughter back at the Convention Center and headed back to the house. I had read Nickel and Dimed over Shabbos and wanted to do a review while I could still refer back to the book. Then it was time to pack up and head home. We didn't leave until after rush hour because the drive from Seattle to Everett can be brutal then. This time the trip back took 3 hours, including about 20 minutes at the Truck Crossing. Again, no problem crossing, especially since we'd been down 2 days and only came back with $20 worth of stuff from the Science Center and a few (very cool) dresses my friend's daughter had outgrown.
I spent about $100 on gas, $25 on miscellaneous food (including a 1/2 gallon of milk for the baby), $10 for parking at the Science Center and $54 for lunch out for 3 adults and kids ages 12, 6, 5, 3 and 17 mos. Eldest Daughter paid the admission to the Science Center and for the stuff from the gift shop. So, the trip cost roughly $200, most of which went on the credit card because I'll both get paid and get all the government money I'm expecting on Wednesday. But we had tons of fun, got to see lots of friends and had a chance to do something with Eldest Daughter while she was away! Oh yes, and there's still 1/2 a tank of gas in the van, about a 1/4 tank more than I started with. Was it worth it? Absolutely!
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Back at the House
Well, we left the city today and we're back at our rural home from today until Monday. The grass wasn't nearly as bad as last time but our lilac is almost dead and I'm not sure if it will recover. My Munstead lavender, on the other hand, is blossoming again even though I removed all the buds previously and it got a little mowed over last time we were here. We set the sprinkler before coming to town to buy groceries.
But first we stopped at Walmart to buy more line for the weedeater thing and before you know it I'd spent close to $100. No, the line wasn't that expensive. We saw the thing we've been looking for to zap all the mosquitoes. It cost about $46 but it attracts all the bugs, electrocutes them and works over a whole acre. And it came with a 3 year warranty. Given that last time we were here we were almost eaten alive every time we stepped out the door it is totally worth it. And I bought a kickboard for DC who did quite well with her swimming lessons.
I also bought wasp spray because they've taken up residence just inside the roof above the front door. Thanks to Kacie for her post about wasps today and for her telling me how dangerous it would be to try to just seal them up.
And we spent more on groceries than I've spent each of the past couple of weeks. Part of that is because we were out of some bigger items like water (it's dark yellow out of the tap, thank you very much) and instant coffee, as well as all the renewable kind of thing (milk, cream, butter, eggs, hummus, you name it).
Tomorrow we're also coming to town for part of the day and then we're going home to grill the 2 honking rib steaks I bought at the deli this morning before we left the city. This is not something we normally do, but this is our anniversary weekend and this is our celebration. I'll do them just before Shabbos comes in because we don't cook on the Sabbath. Shabbos lunch we have sliced roast beef, nice and pink.
Okay, going home now to eat something because talking about food is making me hungry!
But first we stopped at Walmart to buy more line for the weedeater thing and before you know it I'd spent close to $100. No, the line wasn't that expensive. We saw the thing we've been looking for to zap all the mosquitoes. It cost about $46 but it attracts all the bugs, electrocutes them and works over a whole acre. And it came with a 3 year warranty. Given that last time we were here we were almost eaten alive every time we stepped out the door it is totally worth it. And I bought a kickboard for DC who did quite well with her swimming lessons.
I also bought wasp spray because they've taken up residence just inside the roof above the front door. Thanks to Kacie for her post about wasps today and for her telling me how dangerous it would be to try to just seal them up.
And we spent more on groceries than I've spent each of the past couple of weeks. Part of that is because we were out of some bigger items like water (it's dark yellow out of the tap, thank you very much) and instant coffee, as well as all the renewable kind of thing (milk, cream, butter, eggs, hummus, you name it).
Tomorrow we're also coming to town for part of the day and then we're going home to grill the 2 honking rib steaks I bought at the deli this morning before we left the city. This is not something we normally do, but this is our anniversary weekend and this is our celebration. I'll do them just before Shabbos comes in because we don't cook on the Sabbath. Shabbos lunch we have sliced roast beef, nice and pink.
Okay, going home now to eat something because talking about food is making me hungry!
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Taking Care of Business
I finally took care of some business with my bank that's been driving me crazy this past month. I have a small amount of overdraft protection (that costs $3 or $3.50 per month) and this month I've exceeded it twice.
I get paid every second Wednesday but I have a lot of things that come out of my account on fixed dates (the majority of which are clustered near the beginning and end of the month). So, as my pay dates cycle around on the calendar they gradually fall more and more out of sync with the pre-authorized dates. This is why I have overdraft protection and it usually works fine. So, what happened?
Partly I overspent a tiny bit while we were at the house, plus we spent a lot on gas. I thought everything that normally comes out at the beginning of the month had come out, but one thing that comes from the States didn't make it before the 4th of July, so it came out on the 7th. Then, after it came out ING took the $12 I transfer to my Emergency Fund every week. I didn't get paid until the 9th. Both the US debit and ING were sent back NSF on the 8th. And, to top it off, the NSF fees just went up, so I got dinged $42.50 for each one!
It gets better. I got shorted on my paycheque. It was missing 3 days that I took as vacation because my vacation pay was already paid out for the year, 3.5 hours I'd worked (on days I'm technically scheduled to work fewer hours) and 4 hours for Canada Day. The 3.5 hours weren't really a problem. The accountant said she'd pay them on my next cheque but she hadn't paid me for the statutory holiday because I had taken the 30th of June as a vacation day and she said I didn't qualify for it unless I worked both the day before and the day after the stat. This is what happens when your head office is in a different province from the one you work in. I emailed her the link to the BC Employment Standards Act that clearly states an employee qualifies if he or she has been employed for at least 30 days and has worked at least 15 out of the 30 days prior to the statutory holiday.
So, after deductions and after I put the cheque in the bank I was back in the black to the tune of $66. That's $66 to last for 2 entire weeks when I pay for all the food, more than half the gas, have pre-authorized stuff coming out, etc. Hubby transferred $75 to me and I could have, should have transferred $150 from my ING Vacation Pay fund ($50 for each vacation day I took). But I didn't. I'm still not so comfortable with moving stuff from here to there and back again, so I just never got around to doing it.
I spent barely any money these past 2 weeks. The absolute minimum on food and gas. My big splurge was the $5.66 I spent last week for a hard cover book. The pre-authorized stuff came out, my life insurance and ING. Would you believe I missed it by that much? By $6 to be exact.
So, I went to the bank this morning before work and had a little meeting with them. I basically said, "This is what I want or I walk and take my RRSPs with me". When the dust cleared I was assured the payment to ING would not go back, there would be no $42.50 fee (although there will probably be a $5 one), they took the earlier ING NSF fee off and increased my overdraft by $100. I also deposited the $56 benefit cheque to reduce the overdraft.
What have I learned from this? First of all, this wouldn't have happened if I had kept a closer watch on the bank account. I've been trying to get back into the routine of entering all the money we spend but I've been having a tough time doing it. I have to try harder. Second, I wouldn't have had any problem whatsoever if we weren't living paycheque to paycheque!
We don't have a big enough buffer and I'm not comfortable enough moving money between my main bank and ING. It's ironic, but if I hadn't moved the vacation pay I got a few weeks ago out of my bank and into ING I wouldn't have been in overdraft at all, let alone exceeded it. But I'm trying to learn new skills so, just like a kid with the training wheels removed, I'm having a few falls. I have to keep trying. I have to keep adding to my Emergency Fund (yes, I know it will take only slightly less than forever at $12/week, but that's what I can do) and I have to start doing set-aside accounts (escrow, Freedom, whatever you want to call it) in order to have money ready for irregular expenses.
After I did all of that I called Fortis BC to ask if I had another electric bill due for our rural house. Yes, there's a payment of just under $69 scheduled to come out on the 25th. So, tomorrow I need to go to a Credit Union and deposit money into my account in the Okanagan. And, while I was on the phone with them I signed up to receive my future bills via email. That way it won't matter whether we've been to the house or not. I'll still know how much I owe and when it's due!
I get paid every second Wednesday but I have a lot of things that come out of my account on fixed dates (the majority of which are clustered near the beginning and end of the month). So, as my pay dates cycle around on the calendar they gradually fall more and more out of sync with the pre-authorized dates. This is why I have overdraft protection and it usually works fine. So, what happened?
Partly I overspent a tiny bit while we were at the house, plus we spent a lot on gas. I thought everything that normally comes out at the beginning of the month had come out, but one thing that comes from the States didn't make it before the 4th of July, so it came out on the 7th. Then, after it came out ING took the $12 I transfer to my Emergency Fund every week. I didn't get paid until the 9th. Both the US debit and ING were sent back NSF on the 8th. And, to top it off, the NSF fees just went up, so I got dinged $42.50 for each one!
It gets better. I got shorted on my paycheque. It was missing 3 days that I took as vacation because my vacation pay was already paid out for the year, 3.5 hours I'd worked (on days I'm technically scheduled to work fewer hours) and 4 hours for Canada Day. The 3.5 hours weren't really a problem. The accountant said she'd pay them on my next cheque but she hadn't paid me for the statutory holiday because I had taken the 30th of June as a vacation day and she said I didn't qualify for it unless I worked both the day before and the day after the stat. This is what happens when your head office is in a different province from the one you work in. I emailed her the link to the BC Employment Standards Act that clearly states an employee qualifies if he or she has been employed for at least 30 days and has worked at least 15 out of the 30 days prior to the statutory holiday.
So, after deductions and after I put the cheque in the bank I was back in the black to the tune of $66. That's $66 to last for 2 entire weeks when I pay for all the food, more than half the gas, have pre-authorized stuff coming out, etc. Hubby transferred $75 to me and I could have, should have transferred $150 from my ING Vacation Pay fund ($50 for each vacation day I took). But I didn't. I'm still not so comfortable with moving stuff from here to there and back again, so I just never got around to doing it.
I spent barely any money these past 2 weeks. The absolute minimum on food and gas. My big splurge was the $5.66 I spent last week for a hard cover book. The pre-authorized stuff came out, my life insurance and ING. Would you believe I missed it by that much? By $6 to be exact.
So, I went to the bank this morning before work and had a little meeting with them. I basically said, "This is what I want or I walk and take my RRSPs with me". When the dust cleared I was assured the payment to ING would not go back, there would be no $42.50 fee (although there will probably be a $5 one), they took the earlier ING NSF fee off and increased my overdraft by $100. I also deposited the $56 benefit cheque to reduce the overdraft.
What have I learned from this? First of all, this wouldn't have happened if I had kept a closer watch on the bank account. I've been trying to get back into the routine of entering all the money we spend but I've been having a tough time doing it. I have to try harder. Second, I wouldn't have had any problem whatsoever if we weren't living paycheque to paycheque!
We don't have a big enough buffer and I'm not comfortable enough moving money between my main bank and ING. It's ironic, but if I hadn't moved the vacation pay I got a few weeks ago out of my bank and into ING I wouldn't have been in overdraft at all, let alone exceeded it. But I'm trying to learn new skills so, just like a kid with the training wheels removed, I'm having a few falls. I have to keep trying. I have to keep adding to my Emergency Fund (yes, I know it will take only slightly less than forever at $12/week, but that's what I can do) and I have to start doing set-aside accounts (escrow, Freedom, whatever you want to call it) in order to have money ready for irregular expenses.
After I did all of that I called Fortis BC to ask if I had another electric bill due for our rural house. Yes, there's a payment of just under $69 scheduled to come out on the 25th. So, tomorrow I need to go to a Credit Union and deposit money into my account in the Okanagan. And, while I was on the phone with them I signed up to receive my future bills via email. That way it won't matter whether we've been to the house or not. I'll still know how much I owe and when it's due!
Thursday, July 3, 2008
The Value of Travelling with Children
This is not the post I was planning, but on the Four Pillars site yesterday Mike asked for advice about converting euros back to dollars. Almost as an aside in the comments he mentioned his intention not to travel again with kids. I asked him why and basically he found it hard to travel with a 2 year old. Frankly, getting through the day at home with a 2 year old can be challenging, so I don't think it matters whether you go away or not. I admit the long flight can be tough, but that's what late night flights are for.
He also said, "At that age I’m pretty certain that he won’t remember anything and if he does it will be the various playgrounds we went to… ", which brings me to the reason for this post. It's possible that he's correct. My own grown kids don't remember their first trip to Disneyland (when they were 5 and 2 1/2). However, I have incredible memories of places I visited when I was very small. Those memories have had a huge effect on me, on things I was interested in when I was in high school, artists I like, my interest in Palladian architecture, books I've read, etc. etc. And the earliest of those memories date back to when I was 2 years old!
I've been to Hawaii several times but the only time my grandmother was with us was when I was 2 years old. My mother won the trip and went with her mother and me. We stayed at the Princess Kaiulani at Waikiki Beach (the only time we stayed at that particular hotel) and my memories of that trip include my grandmother warning me about falling into the swimming pool and falling off the lanai (balcony). She always thought I was going to fall off something. She took me on a ferry the summer that I was either 3 or 4 and kept grabbing me because I was getting "too close" to the rail.
I also had a bizarre memory that the seats on the plane were bright orange and circular and thought for years that I had just imagined it. Then I was sitting in the boarding area of another airport many years later, wondering why it seemed so familiar, and suddenly realized the orange seats had been in the airport!
Without question the trip that made the biggest impression on me was going to Italy when I was four. While some of my memories, such as going to Madurodam (a miniature town near Den Hague) could have taken place then, they could also have been during one or two other trips to Europe since we always flew KLM into Amsterdam and then went on from there. Italy, however, was a country that we never returned to (much to my dismay).
My memories from there include:
He also said, "At that age I’m pretty certain that he won’t remember anything and if he does it will be the various playgrounds we went to… ", which brings me to the reason for this post. It's possible that he's correct. My own grown kids don't remember their first trip to Disneyland (when they were 5 and 2 1/2). However, I have incredible memories of places I visited when I was very small. Those memories have had a huge effect on me, on things I was interested in when I was in high school, artists I like, my interest in Palladian architecture, books I've read, etc. etc. And the earliest of those memories date back to when I was 2 years old!
I've been to Hawaii several times but the only time my grandmother was with us was when I was 2 years old. My mother won the trip and went with her mother and me. We stayed at the Princess Kaiulani at Waikiki Beach (the only time we stayed at that particular hotel) and my memories of that trip include my grandmother warning me about falling into the swimming pool and falling off the lanai (balcony). She always thought I was going to fall off something. She took me on a ferry the summer that I was either 3 or 4 and kept grabbing me because I was getting "too close" to the rail.
I also had a bizarre memory that the seats on the plane were bright orange and circular and thought for years that I had just imagined it. Then I was sitting in the boarding area of another airport many years later, wondering why it seemed so familiar, and suddenly realized the orange seats had been in the airport!
Without question the trip that made the biggest impression on me was going to Italy when I was four. While some of my memories, such as going to Madurodam (a miniature town near Den Hague) could have taken place then, they could also have been during one or two other trips to Europe since we always flew KLM into Amsterdam and then went on from there. Italy, however, was a country that we never returned to (much to my dismay).
My memories from there include:
- Climbing the Leaning Tower of Pisa with my father and the high spiral steps that tired out my little legs.
- The gondolier in Venice letting me try to pole the gondola (I couldn't budge it).
- Taking a tour of a glass factory and being given the little glass animal they made right in front of me (I still have it).
- Getting a beautiful white dress and white leather dress shoes.
- My mother picking scarves in a little shop.
- Being in a car accident when a truck loaded with Coca Cola dumped part of its load on our rental car. I don't remember us going to the police station afterwards (my mother told me she had to deal with it in French and German since she didn't speak more than a few phrases of Italian) but I sure remember those bottles of Coke coming towards me!
- The big rocks imbedded in the street in Pompeii where I jumped from one to another.
- Scaring the pigeons in the Square.
- Reaching for my father's hand, looking up and realizing it was a strange Italian man! (I'd been playing with my new Dutch doll that said "Mama" and had lagged behind. I'd reached for the first male wearing a Harris Tweed jacket and holding a cigarette. My dad was only about 5 or 10 feet away, but it was a scary moment.)
So a truly memorable trip can certainly make a permanent impression on even a young child. And I don't remember a single playground. Just my .02!
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