Getting out of Debt

I've mentioned in the past that I'm making continuous efforts to save money and live within my means, but I haven't shared my latest and greatest ventures in penny pinching in a while.  I think it's worth sharing one very important thing:

Since August 2011 I am credit card free!!

How did I get the credit cards to a zero balance?  That's another part of the story.  See, I had felt like I was living within my means, but there were costs coming up that I couldn't always foresee, such as car repairs and vet bills and LIFE.  Instead of planning for those and budgeting carefully, I was just using a credit card to make up the difference.  Slowly but surely, I accumulated more debt than I ever imagined I would, and I was drowning in worry every month.

Finally, last summer, I decided to take action.  First, I got hold of my finances, figured out where I was, and put together a full workbook of spreadsheets to balance my budget and give myself a clear picture of where my money was going.

Without great detail, because I'm cautious that way, let's just say I had access to a sum of money that would pay off the credit cards and give me just one thing to pay back with lower interest each month.  I was able to pay both cards in full, which felt great, and haven't used them since.

Now the fun part -- KEEPING myself from using them.

Actually that's not so hard, but it does require me to watch every penny, as well as account for where the money is all going before the next paycheck.  Each month I typically have to "borrow" from savings to make the house payment, but within 2 days I always pay it back and am able to maintain an emergency fund in my savings account.  (Per Dave Ramsey's advice -- I love that guy!)  Granted it's not always fun to be down to the bare bones, and sometimes the kids and I daydream about being able to take a trip or go out to dinner at a great place, but for the most part we're making it work.  In the midst of paying the bills and paying off the loan, we manage to enjoy a few meals out at less expensive places, and I've still been able to buy them winter clothes, too.  Nobodies starving or freezing!

I admit there are times when I catch myself thinking I could use a card "just this once."  But I always slap myself out of it and haven't made that mistake once.  If I can't pay cash for it, I don't need it! 

One thing to note: I do pretty well financially, and all of my money concerns point at one thing -- childcare.  I've done the math, and nearly a quarter of my after tax income goes to childcare for my wonderful kids.  And that's okay!  It's totally worth it!  But it's nice to know that they'll get older, and eventually that part of my budget will change, and I won't have quite the worries that I do now.  There is a light at the end of the poor tunnel!

What I look forward to is the day I can call Dave Ramsey on Debt Free Friday and yell, "I'M DEBT FREE!!"

Happy Hollandaise

Happy New Year!

The holidays aren't worth reliving, so I'm just jumping into 2012.  I'm just happy to say we all survived, and so far, everyone is healthy.

My update on the kidney front is that I've been ousted as a possible donor for my mother.  Heartbreaking and unfair, in my humble opinion, but with my cysts and our family history they don't think that "cutting my kidney function in half" is a good idea.  So there you have it.  I continue to be of no use to anyone!

On to last night...
I don't think I've mentioned this, but Noelle and I are absolutely in love with the movie "Julie & Julia."  Partly for the adorable Amy Adams.  Partly for the incredible Stanley Tucci.  Partly because Meryl absolutely brings Julia to LIFE.  Partly because I love that Julia was tall.  And MOSTLY because the food in that movie makes us hungry every single time we watch it!

So far we'd only attempted the bruchetta that Julie and her husband devour one evening -- just watching them enjoy it made us want it that much more!  We weren't able to get the right kinds of tomatoes, and in the end our bread didn't seem nearly as delectable, but we did use fresh tomatoes and fresh basil, and we did thoroughly enjoy the meal.  So much so that my son is still asking when we're going to make it again!  I call that a success.

Last night I attempted something I've never made: Hollandaise sauce!  Not that it was oh so hard, nor was it anything nobodies ever made, but it was my first time and I had fun with it.  Granted, anything that includes an entire stick of butter can't be all that bad, right?

We wanted to make it for the artichokes that Noelle's been dying for me to buy.  (She finally tried one at a friend's house and now she "loooves them!"  Never mind that I have made them before...)

The sauce was delicious, and I loved the flavor of the two together.  I was in heaven.  Meanwhile, Noelle took one taste and decided on ranch for her dipping.  Fine by me!  I was only too happy to enjoy it by myself, since Charlie wouldn't have anything to do with it, either.  Tonight I swung by Trader Joe's and picked up a little broccolini, which I steamed and then drowned in the last of the hollandaise.  It was just as wonderful warmed up, and I had to stop myself from licking the bowl afterwards. 

I've been scouring my local antique shops for a copy of Julia's Mastering the Art of French Cooking, but I think perhaps there are a few other people out there who, like me, have seen the movie and wanted to pick up a copy.  Thanks to the Internet, I'm sure I can find most recipes I'm looking for.  Just Google "Julie & Julia" and you'll be amazed at what you'll find.

I'm off to sleep now, to dream of rich, creamy sauces.  Yum.

Five Things

Mama Kat's Writer's Workshop to the inspirational rescue!

List 5 things we don't know about you
1. My signature scent is the original Vanilla from The Body Shop -- I've been wearing it for years and years.  If they ever stop making it, I'm going to clean out every store on the west coast.  When I'm not wearing the vanilla, my favorite backup is Joop!

2. I was born on my actual due date of 11/11, which coincidentally was 9 months and 2 days after my father returned from a year of service in Korea.  I'll bet they're glad I wasn't early!

3. I own every single book LaVyrle Spencer ever wrote, and I re-read each of them every several years.  My favorites are Years, Sweet Memories and Separate Beds.  I don't care much for any other romance writers, but she's from Minnesota and often sets the book in the 1800's or early 1900's.  I love that.

4. I've been keeping a journal since high school, and I now have a drawer full of them from over the years.  Mostly I'm embarrassed to know me when I read through them, so I've started a journal of simple stories from my life that my children can read later.  Hopefully it will give them a bit of insight of who I was.

5. Nothing makes me laugh harder then texts from Autocorrect.com or Whenparentstext.com.  NOTHING.  I literally cry.  If you haven't been there, drop everything and start reading.

ME: Mom, did I see you last night? Sorry I came home a little hammered…

MOM: Um, yes. You did.

ME: Uh oh. What happened?

MOM: I reminded you to change your clocks and you burst into tears. I’ll remember it’s a sensitive subject from now on.

************

Dad: What are you doing?

Me: I’m at Grandma’s house. What do you need?

Dad: I want cookies. Chocolate chip. Get them for me. I will pay.

Me: Ask mom.

Dad: I did. She won’t. Says no. Get cookies please.

Me: I will on my way home.

(10 minutes later)

Dad: Nevermind. Mom found texts. NO COOKIES! ABORT MISSION!

************

DAD: big poppa is back!!

ME: who’s big poppa?

DAD: the big turkey in the backyard, i named him big pappa.

(5 minutes later)

DAD: THROW YOUR HANDS IN THE AYEA IF YOUSE A TRUE PLAYA!

List 5 things you're knowledgeable about
1. Anne of Green Gables.  I've read every book, some of them more than 20 times, and I absolutely love Ann (with an e) Shirley.  My favorite book is Anne of Ingleside, which is mostly about her children.  Their antics and adventures make me laugh or smile endlessly.  I can't wait for Noelle to read them.

2. Marie Antoinette.  I was obsessed a couple of years ago and read many books about her life.  FYI, it's not a happy ending.

3. Mormonism.  I happened to have studied it a lot a few years back, and I have a few too many books on the subject. 

4. Baking.  Thanks to my mom I feel like I can tackle just about anything in the baking world and have a clue about what I'm doing.  She was a wonderful teacher when I was growing up -- very patient and consistent.  I hear her in myself when I'm baking with Noelle.

5. Amy Grant's music.  I tried not to mention her, but let's be honest -- there's little about her and her life and her history that I don't know.  What can I say?  She intrigues me!


List 5 things you know nothing about
1. Playing an instrument.  I can still do scales on my flute, but that's the extent of it.  I've always been interested in the piano and guitar, but who has the time?  Or a piano?

2. How to keep any sort of reptile alive.  I live in fear of the kids getting a turtle or lizard some day. 

3. Changing the oil in my car.  I could save a lot of money if I knew, but I take it to a shop and tell someone what I want and then browse at a store nearby while they mysteriously change my oil.

4. I love Indian food, but I don't have a clue as to how it's made or even the name of most dishes.  In most restaurants I am lucky enough to be with someone who has a clue, or I go to my usual little place where they know me and the food is exactly the same every time.  Otherwise I'm completely intimidated.  This is something I would like to rectify.  I do not feel that way about the reptiles.

5. How to color hair.  I've never had mine colored, though the grey that's popping up has me thinking about buying a box.  But I'm totally intimidated and will probably make a friend or my mom do it on the first attempt.  Good luck to them.


List 5 things you believe
1. I believe there is love in store for me again -- I just don't have any idea of when it will be.  Soon or many years from now.  No matter what, I refuse to give up on the idea of romance in my future!

2. I believe people who stir up problems for other people deliberately (and with pleasure) should all be sent to an island to live together so that the rest of us can live in peace.

3. I believe I came from a family filled with strong women, and I hope they look down on me and feel that I measure up.  There are so many of them that I want to make proud.

4. I believe the last 15 minutes of "You've Got Mail" make me feel good, no matter what life is handing me.  That's probably where #1 stems from.

5. I believe I am the luckiest girl in the world to have the parents that I have.  Just imagine -- two people who think I'm wonderful and are there for me whenever I need them.  And I've needed them a lot the last few years!  I only hope I can someday do anything for them that comes even close to what they've done for me.  Plus, it turns out my dad is a great garage organizer, so there's that!  (I love you, Dad.)

It's a Thanksgiving Miracle

Still no word from the doctor -- is that good or bad?  I'm trying not to analyze it to death.

Thanksgiving was a smashing success, which I'm still a little surprised to be saying.  Remember me?  The girl who hates Thanksgiving?  I know, I know.

Our Packers were on at 9:30am, during which we prepped the turkey and got it in the oven.  I'm embarrassed to tell you that this was my first time EVER getting a turkey ready for stuffing.  I cleaned it, pulled out the goodies and salted it.  I should be too ashamed to tell you that, but it's true.  In 36 years, I think it's safe to say this was the first time I was actually a help to my mother in the kitchen.  (On Thanksgiving, that is.)

While the Packers literally kicked the Lions' butts, I got a lot of help from Noelle with the peeling of potatoes and buttering of the cooking turkey.  It's looking good that she'll be a better daughter than me in the years to come.

After the Packers proved themselves to be the greatest team ever, once again, I threw together the green bean casserole with onions that a million people have made before me but I never have.  Remember, I'm a hater.

When the meal was ready we all settled into my dining room -- Noelle with sparkling cider and Charlie with chocolate milk -- and feasted on the most delicious Thanksgiving dinner in the history of the world.

Okay, maybe not, but how about in the history of my 36 years?  Maybe it's because I cooked more of the meal than I ever have.  Maybe it's because I'm appreciating having my mom around more than ever.  Or maybe I just finally grew up and got over myself.  Whatever the reason, I'm happy.  And I'll take happy over grumpy any day of the week.

November recap!

Where have I been?

EVERYWHERE!

At least that's what it feels like.  Not one, but two trips to San Francisco later, I have had every test under the sun and had 19 vials of blood taken to see if I'm a potential kidney donor for my mom.  First there were the "is she a match" tests, and after those there were the "hey what's that thing on your kidney" tests.  Yes, a bit of a scare there with the surgeon calling to say he saw "something" that could be a cyst but might not be a cyst.  22 days later I'm still waiting for the official phone call from him letting me know the final decision.

The hardest part about waiting is that we do know one very key thing.

I am a MATCH!  I am, as it turns out, a perfect kidney donor for the woman I call Mom. 

Isn't that amazing?  Yet there could be bad news on the other end of the phone when the surgeon calls me, which according to the nurse, should be any time now.  There could be some utterly annoying reason that could stop them from letting me give her my perfect kidney.  And that will KILL me.  To sit by and watch my mom start dialysis and know that I can't prevent it.  Kills me.

On another November note...
I had a birthday.  And it was a cool one.  11/11/11.  How often does that happen??  (Okay, every 100 years, but the odds are not looking good for me seeing 11/11/2111.)

I turned a very uninteresting 36 that Friday.  But there were highlights.  On my way to work, I told the Starbucks barista that it was my birthday, and she gave me my mocha for free -- sweet!  This was me celebrating on the drive with my very first cake pop.

That day my co-worker Pete, who is a wonderful guy, brought me flowers and put up a sign and even brought it the yummiest tiramasu cake you've ever tasted.  Pete made my day!

That evening I celebrated with my best friends who came over for much dinner and laughter and fun.  We stayed up way too late and then played musical beds with everyone sleeping somewhere random.  At least everyone finally slept!  Noelle was the first to fall asleep, but we didn't put her underwear in the freezer.  We just moved her to the floor in a sleeping bag.  Nice, right?

This week is Thanksgiving, and despite my previous complaints about this holiday, I'm really looking forward to having my family here.  Tonight the 'rents arrive, tomorrow I get off of work early, Thursday we cook and eat way too much good food while our Packers win, and Friday we visit some family in Monterey.  I think it's going to be a good week.

If only the phone would ring, and it would be good news....

This just made me happy this morning. Welcome back, Peppermint Mocha. You were missed.

Halloween At Sleepless Mornings 2011

I promised my favorite mom that I'd post some pictures of the kids on Halloween.  This year we're in super-ultra-tight budget mode, so I was grateful to Charlie for wanting to do a Harry Potter sequel with all the goodies I spent too much money on last year.  He was in a much better mood for pictures and hammed it up happily.  (Maybe he really is my child!)

Noelle, on the other hand, had the more frightening costume/make-up, and kept creeping me out with her zombie-like qualities.  Here, for your viewing pleasure, are my kids.

A tale of two kidneys

I'm on a rather interesting trek right now that could lead to an even more interesting journey.  I'm excited and nervous and emotional about it, and I think writing about it will be good.  Sharing it with the blog universe, and anyone else out there who enjoys keeping up with me and my little life.

Last summer we found out that my mother had a kidney disease and was at the beginning stages of what would eventually be kidney failure.  Our family has a history with this unfortunate ordeal -- my maternal grandmother and my mother's brother both died of kidney failure, though both for different reasons.  We've been through the world of dialysis and we know how not fun it can be.

Fast forward to this summer when my mother started having to look at dialysis options.  It was incredible to find out that she had options beyond what we knew 12 years ago.  Her dialysis of choice will actually not involve blood, and will be something she can do at home every single night -- while she sleeps!  This is a great example of why technology moving forward is good.

Of course the best option for someone in need of a healthy kidney is to receive one from a living donor.  They really pump that idea into the patients, wanting them to reach out and see if anyone they know (or anyone those people know) would like to be a donor.  Despite some interest and lovely thoughts, so far nobody has been the proper blood type for mom, which is a key factor.

Until now.

I guess it's silly that at 35 I never knew what type I was, but I honestly had no clue.  Without mentioning it to my family, I got my blood tested and waited impatiently for results last week.  When the call came in, the poor nurse had no idea that she was giving me good news, and I hollered in her ear a bit.  As it turns out, I not only got my mother's voice, hair and face, I also got her blood type.

I could tell my mom wasn't sure what to do with that news -- she'd been telling me all along that she didn't want me to be a donor because I have kids, etc.  But I also have a mom, and I happen to like her a lot, and if something like this is meant to be, then who am I to argue with it?  Being the same blood type is only a small step in the process -- I now have to have a whirlwind of tests to find out if I not only match her in many other ways, but if my kidneys are even good enough for her.  (With our family history, it will be interesting to find out.)

In a month I spend a day and a half in San Francisco finding all this out, before which I have to do a few tests of my own.  (I'll just say it -- I'm not excited about the 24 hour collection of urine.  How does that sound like fun for anyone?  Could make for an interesting post!)

So there you are -- my little trek is beginning, and it will be an adventure to find out where it will end.  Follow along!

Rivers and Berries and Camping - Oh my!

As you may know, every year my favorite August tradition is to spend a weekend at my parent's place in the country.  We go to the river, barbeque, pick berries and make jam.  I cherish these times and am glad I can continue to enjoy them for as long as my parents will live there.

And when they don't, perhaps I'll go up there anyway and pick berries until someome throws me off the property.  Some traditions are meant to be kept!

This year the kids and I brought along one of my oldest and dearest friends, Michael.  (He's not old -- I've just known him for 20 years.)  He's one of my most favorite people in the world to be around -- he brings a sense of peace and joy that I don't usually have, so I try to have him around as much as possible.  Amazingly, he hasn't run for his life yet.

My camera battery died after just a few shots, so thanks to Michael and his camera, there are some wonderful pictures to be seen from our weekend.  Here are my favorites!

Swimming at the river -- the kids never got out except to eat and sustain their energy.  They were WIPED OUT that night!

Mom and I managed to find a bit of shade to hide in.  Thanks to Michael hanging out with the kids, we were able to get a nice visit in -- just the two of us.

I love this of me and my crew heading back from the water.

That night we celebrated Charlie's 10th birthday with some yummy cupcakes and ice cream sundaes.  Nobody was more pleased than this guy.

 
The next morning it was time to turn all the berries we picked into jam.  The kids enjoyed helping -- especially the part where we have to "shmoosh" the berries.

Halfway through our trip we took off for the Malakoff Diggins State Park up near Nevada City for an overnight camping trip.

Best. Time. Ever.

Here was our no-frills cabin that was absolutely perfect.

We couldn't have picked a better weekend.  The weather was just right -- not too warm or too cold.  We hiked around a bit, and the three of them even explored some of the mining tunnels that still exist.  The views were spectacular and absolutely worth seeing in person.

For dinner the kids and I made our favorite taco salad, which was promptly followed by s'mores.  After we got the kids to sleep that night, we managed to enjoy my favorite bottle of Hollywood Red (thanks Jen!) and a fire under the full moon.  It was a perfect night of talking and enjoying being with one of my best friends. 

Insert picture of said best friends.

Malakoff Diggins may shut down after this coming Labor day due to lack of state funding, which just kills us.  Our hope is that it will stay open and we can go back again and again to enjoy all that it has to offer.

Mahvelous!

Something I’ve always loved about my immediate family is how much we all love a good laugh.

When I was growing up we spent a lot of time in the car on road trips, often going to visit family, or just on an outing to see some part of the world around us. While we were in the car, we managed to find things to keep us entertained as a family.

Two favorite artists that kept us in stitches were Billy Crystal and Ray Stevens.

One Christmas, somewhere around 1985, my brother received this comedy album as a gift.

As a family, we listened to it so many times that we memorized most of it. Billy’s humor is wide reaching, with some things that I got, and some that went right over my 10 year old head. Like when he suggests he could feel liver spots bursting right out on his hands when his daughter asked him, “Dad, is it true Paul McCartney was in another band before Wings?”  That one took me a few more years.

My favorites, however, are when we can insert a simple couple of words into conversation that nobody else understands, but gives any one of us a chuckle at any moment. The best example I will share here today – if you know who Howard Cosell was, you’ll appreciate his “interview” with various famous boxers of the past. And you’ll also understand why any one of us will laugh out loud if you say the words

I like eggs.