UGH!!!!

It was just about 90 degrees yesterday.

I am bare foot and wearing a light shirt. It's around 73 in the house. Just feels weird. Early April? Summer weather? We get this in May. But early April, kind of weird.

I mailed off my check to the IRS yesterday. Say la vive.

Yesterday was actually a relaxing day. I went in to work a couple of hours and then came home to watch the kids. Dad's cousin is getting married; dh is doing their wedding video. Pro bono work I guess. They don't have any money (both on disability right now - and sweetest people you ever met). He has been trying to strike a delicate balance there as he doesn't want to do a full blown professional video (retails more like $2k-$3k) as it is a lot of work. But he was willing to do a one-camera shoot and do some nice things for them for free. I mean he's not going to charge for materials or anything. But yeah I guess talking to the bride she wanted all this stuff that he is delicately trying to tell her does not come with the free shoot. (If nothing else, he's not editing down 2 camera angles and no one to hold the second camera for free - no one who knows what they are doing anyway. But I think the editing is the part he just isn't going to do). Plus he's been sick and he spent a good 10 hours there yesterday. Ugh. In the 90 degree heat - yes. Guy deserves a medal. But of course, who could have predicted this weather???

My mom couldn't take the heat and visited with us much of the day. Actually she was s'posed to watch the kids so I could work. But then she didn't want our germs. But then it was hotter than Hades and she came over anyway. so made for a nice relaxing day. I Was worried we'd have to turn on the A/C for her comfort, but the ceiling fan was fine for most of the day.

I am going to go into work for a bit today, but more to get a head start on April 30th deadlines, and make up for my missed sick day(s). Not that I Feel any real immediate pressure. Busy, yes, The rest of the month will FLY. Not particularly stressed. Phew...

I am thinking ahead to May and how quickly our Disney vacation is approaching. Woohoo.

We also have our 4 days/3 nights almost squared away for Yosemite - maybe late June.

I am dividing one week of vacation between that and Thanksgiving week.

So leaves me one more week of vacation for the year. I am kind of pondering. Considering divvying it up 3 hours a week for 13 weeks of summer. Cutting out early fridays. It's rather tempting...

Then again, we had talked about going to North Carolina to visit my sister. I would take a long weekend to do so, but may need a couple of days.

A few 3-day weekend is always nice too.

Likewise, I have toyed with the idea of taking a week of in late summer just to laze around the house.

I think my most fondest memories of recent years is my second maternity leave. Was dh and I both home with the kids a good 5 months or so. Very special times. Sure we were busy with the baby, yes. But it was a really nice time. You know the first time I was miserable while pregnant and we had no idea what we were doing, and the return to work was way too soon. But BM was so lucky that second time. He had just turned 2 and he got all that special time with us. It was a much more calm & relaxed affair, and I had an extra 12 weeks off that time (California's paid family leave). Which was really just more bonding time, but very precious.

So yeah, a week sounds QUITE paltry in comparison. But a week to laze around the house sounds rather nice.

On the flip side I can see us taking it much easier next year. Maybe a week for camping and 2 weeks to laze around the house. Well, perhaps...

Those kind of lazy vacations home are hard to plan. Our parents want to take us so many places. Which is very appreciated, but leaves me longing for some quiet down time. 3 weeks vacation is nice, but not enough I guess. This is only my second year of 3-weeks of vacation, but it barely feels like enough. Funny enough.

Well, this year is an improvement. Our Disney vacation will be rather relaxed. & camping sounds pretty nice too. More our style.

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Anyway, in other news, my FICO score is BAD. Actually I don't really have a pulse if it is bad or good, but I just saw it dropped from around 760 to 700. Egads! (IT dropped to 685 briefly with my ID theft. So this is pretty bad to me).

Anyway, my credit monitoring service has not reported any activity. WAMU send me my score for free so how I saw.

I tried to order my Transunion report to see for myself what was going on. BUT with my ID theft I can't see that one online (Gah!). So I will have to order it by mail. I will. Just annoyed I can't see it now. They're trying to help, but the problem is time is of the essence when it comes to ID theft. !!

I took out a large balance transfer in December and was rather surprised it had little affect on my score. I know my utilization ratio is bad.

I also applied for a refi in late January.

In late February my score was fine. Apparently last month it dropped like a rock. I have to figure it is the Balance Transfer. Or maybe that coupled with the hard credit pull. But certainly there is a lag there, if that is the case. Which is all I could figure. No inquiries or new credit - that's what my triple monitoring says.

But I will check directly with TU to be sure. Huge red flag.

I would say no biggie (particularly after I check my report with that particular Bureau) BUT then I remember we are trying to refi.

!!

700 probably isn't horrid. But I am tempted to just pay back my balance transfer that was due in June anyway. We are trying to save $100-$200/month on our mortgage. Screw the balance transfer.

Then again, if this does ruin our refi possibilities, well, oh well. It is what it is. Our mortgage rate is not bad.

But yeah, I don't think I mentioned, my credit union is suddenly courting me. They wouldn't let me sit on the sidelines and wait for a rate so I went elsewhere. They told me my application would expire in 30 days. 60 days later they called me about trying to lock me in. "Interesting," I thought. Seems they changed their tune.

Someone called me and offered a 0.25% discount rate if I acted by April 15th.

I can't say I took the deadline very seriously, at this point.

Rates have been hovering to the point where we could get 5.5%. For quite a few days. It is only worth it to refi for 5.25% or less. So close, but not there. Only 2 days before my deadline... I wouldn't be surprised if they offered the same deal again though.

So yeah, I don't know. Meanwhile, my CU has called me 100 times and my other broker I haven't heard hide nor hare from. Of course, my CU keeps trying to sell me rates higher than I already have. LOL. But they just seem very desperate all of a sudden. I really wouldn't mind going with them though. So I am rather pleased with the turn of events. & I respect that since rates aren't where we need to be to jump that the other guy hasn't bothered us.

I wouldn't be surprised if we don't refi either. But rates have been so incredibly volatile, you literally have hours to lock in the good rates when they appear. So if they appear again, even for a short while, we're all ready to grab them.

I hope my score doesn't screw it up.

For the long run, my old balance transfer is due in July; we will pay it in June. I think that will help my score considerably, and in the grand scheme of things I can survive with a 700 score in the meantime.

But these are all the gory details...

My gut tells me it's my bad utilization ratio, and there is a lag. But this stuff makes me extremely nervous. You can hardly be too vigilant.