On the plus side, I got my car back at noon - really nothing wrong with it.

Mechanic called me at 11:45 to say the EGR valve(?) had been stuck, but seems fine now. Plus is usually covered for warranty an extraordinarily long time.

Charged $100, but that's okay. I was holding my breath to more car repairs on both cars. Now they both have a clean bill of health for $100. So not bad. Feeling very relieved. (Likewise, my co-worker just said the Ford dealership quoted her $160 just to diagnose her "check engine" light. What a rip! So though I thought $100 was a bit much, I guess I shouldn't complain. (Family friend mechanic though not as awesome as the one we had back home. But trustworthy at least).

I called dh and asked if he wanted to meet me for lunch and get the car, but he had just heated up spaghetti. I was trying to talk him into it, when I remembered that the fancy Indian place was rather near the car shop (downtown). I didn't have to ask twice. HE said, "I'll be right there to pick you up!"

We decided to go to lunch first and then I could drop him off at the mechanic and let him deal with the time to pick it up.

So we parked a couple of blocks down and realized lunch downtown maybe wasn't the smartest idea. Nowhere to park! We found an empty spot and paid $1.25 in the meter.

We walk to the place and the door is LOCKED. Of course there was a sign, under new management and starting TODAY, closed Mondays. Boy, we felt great about that (not).

So then I just feel jinxed! we were trying to go over there when dh's car died. LOL. I get the feeling that for some reason we are NOT supposed to eat there. Hehe.

But I am super bummed that we didn't make it one last time under old management. Before we had the old chef from the San Francisco location (where we got hooked). Sounds like he had moved on.

So yes, we are crazy and we will try again.

I just don't know when.

Anyway, we walked over to a MExican restaurant and had a so-so meal for $16. What a let down. $16 less for our gourmet Indian meal next month.

We should have cut our losses and left. I had lunch at work and dh had his spaghetti at home. Oh well! It was nice to have a quiet lunch - but we wasted most of our July lunch budget (we usually aim for 2-for-1 coupons and spend $10 on our date lunches.

--------------

I didn't think much about it (since the paper sUnday showed what seemed like a million out of control fires still burning) but when I got out of work today I suddenly realized the sky was BLUE! We had been holed up indoors for almost a week, so I am thrilled.

I don't think the fire situation is grand (not sure) but the wind has blown the smoke elsewhere, for now.

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As promised, our grocery bill. Dh spent $55 picking up some stuff. Got stuff for spaghetti, taco salad, refried bean enchiladas, and some chicken dinner.

We got the husked corn for our spaghetti dinner as well. LOVING the stuff. Our luxury for now.

We needed some bread and cat food, and stocked up on chicken.

I am trying to put a finger on why our grocery bill seems rather unchanged. I think our particular store is slow to change prices.

So I just had to share for opinions. I think for one, prices are usually higher here. So that we are used to. But on the other hand, they don't seem to be rising much.

I don't know how much is regional, store, or if dh is just getting better at meal planning (maybe all of the above).

I did notice we mostly had a lot on hand already for most of the meals we made this week. Which means are regular bills seem to be getting lower, but there is still the occasional monster bill when we stock up on things.



Anything strike you as a good deal? Anything strike you as insanely expensive? Just curious on regional perspectives...

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One more thing. Dh is driving me nuts because he drained all of our wallet cash to buy some more games. They are up on ebay and will be sold by Thursday. So this is okay. But he still has 2 unsold Wiis.

I told him I needed ALL the profits back (he owes $400 to the checking account) plus the proceeds from his projector to pay some one-time bills (like private swimming lessons for BM, etc.).

I am thinking once I get all that back and I will just pull $500 cash from savings and give it to him to wheel and deal. He is driving me nuts. Just messing up my system. Plus I have like 20 cents in my wallet now. I don't use cash, but I like to at least carry a $20.

Anyway, he worried about interest. I told him the 3% interest on $500 amounts to $15 annually. HE can pay me a $1/month fee (profits) and I will be fine.

I of course want the $500 back eventually, as well. But will give him some seed money.

I think we may clear $400 this month, though a lot of that is in credit at the "used" store and a lot of that is just in more crap. LOL. But I told dh if he could make $400/month and max out his IRA, it will be a long time before I bug him to get a job.

I think he wants to do more than buy and sell stuff - it does take a lot of time. But in the interim, every little bit helps.

(I do remember July being a slow sell time last year on Craigslist. So we are sort of feeling it. But he sold that Wii last week in a FLASH - so there is hope). For now still holding out for $100 profit/each.

I just added it all up and we have $800 of stuff listed on craigslist. Not that I expect $800. I always start high and am amazed how many people take full price. But I expect less for most of the stuff listed.

But I have been trying to sell some old crib bedding and stuff with no luck. Ebay would probably be better except the crib bumper is just so bulky. But I am starting to rethink it.

So I am hoping this stuff has better luck. We'll see...

& anyway, this is not pure profit. Dh spent $200 on a Wii/accessories he is trying to unload (for $300).

He has another one to list after this one. We took a listing break with vacation.

With my MLM stuff, and the second Wii to sell I guess we might clear $1k profit. We have a few other little things.

Feels like a small start to a BIG process.

I have a pile of a few ebay things, and I am sure I will find more. I also have a pile going for goodwill. We don't bother selling anything unless we can easily clear $20. Maybe a few larger things if we can get $10+.

Anyway, I have up 5 listings, and dh has 3. We'll see how it goes.

I am thinking to next weekend, and we need to prepare for the kids' birthday parties. & we have lots of July plans. So we are hitting it hard this weekend while we have some time.

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I dropped my camera twice last week - once in the dirt. The zoom is giving me problems today. We bought it around 2002 or 2003, and I don't even remember how much we paid.

I mentioned it offhand to dh, and he said maybe it was time for a new one.

I was like, "No way!" and then I asked how much it would be (having no idea). HE said we could get twice the mega pixels for $100.

I think ours is 4 megapixel (don't quote me on that one though) and it was totally awesome at the time.

You could sell me on $100 for a new one with a major upgrade. Surprised dh hadn't asked sooner. LOL.

But yeah, I Was just going to say we can sell the old one too, but not for very much since it has issues, now that I think about it.

Anyway, I am completely shocked with how cheap a lot of these things have gotten over time. When I think of all of our electronic gadgets, I don't think much as far as price, since we tend to buy a little behind and keep things forever.

But as far as the camera, $100 for a major upgrade seems pretty reasonable. We can even keep the old one for the kids. Could be a good compromise since I know BM would love a real camera but we haven't wanted to shell out the bucks quite yet. He's a little rowdy. I mean look what I did just being a clumsy mess on our trip. We didn't exactly have any problems with the camera and would have kept a few more years really... I guess we'll keep an eye on it.

I mentioned offhand we saw a rattle snake on one of our hikes.

Of course, the kids, seeing the warnings of all these dangerous animals, were convinced we'd see all of them (bears, mountain lions, etc.)

So we started on a hike one day and BM stops to exclaim- "Rattle snake." I spotted the dude but wasn't too wary until my dad said, "IT actually is, it's a rattle snake." So we proceeded past it quite cautiously. IT was taking a nap with his head awfully close to the trail, if not on it.

Just had to share though. Don't look if you don't like snakes!

Thankfully BM spotted it (& we didn't step too close to it) and it was in a good mood as long as we kept our distance.

That was our adventure.

Thankfully, it ended well...

& of course my dad had to snap some pics. He has an incredible zoom - trust me - we didn't get very close.

I think I should start scanning my grocery receipts and see what you all think.

We seriously have noticed NO change in our grocery bills, doing nothing different. We might hit $350 this month (a new low actually) and that includes a splurge on sushi the other night (quite unusual).

I do admit we have been eating out a bit more. (All the deals/coupons). Then again, I have been eating out a lot less (for lunch).

Well, I just get the feeling it is largely regional. & little things like our milk price has not gone up since we are charged the same for 2 gallons at a time, as one gallon, now. So since I can't exactly put my finger on it, I am curious how our food prices compare to what you see... (Now I wish I had kept a price book all along. I wrote it off as WAY too time consuming, but now curiosity wishes I had wasted all that time - hehe).

Well, dh made some greek chicken and potato dinner in the crockpot. Also, some spicy hummus. The hummus was okay. (We need to add more spice next time). & the crock pot dish, well, it was pretty good.

YUM!

Reminds me we are getting a new Indian restaurant. I was told it was in the style of our favorite greek restaurant here (more of a cafe I guess). So we are keeping our fingers crossed that it is GOOD!

We have another one, but we aren't a big fan of it. We only went once...

Oh, and dh may sign up for some Indian cooking classes. Forgot about that too. I give you, the Asian cultures know how to cook veggies. I may eat them a little more if dh can master Indian cooking.

Beyond that, we are going to try "monkey munch" today. Oh, it is terrible for you - lots of butter and sugar and chocolate. I saw it on "Jon & Kate Plus 8" last night and of course the recipe was online (just googled it). So, since we are stuck indoors (smoky air) we will have to just make some monkey munch instead...

Since I am stuck indoors I may de-clutter a bit as well. I had all sorts of outdoor plans, so bah!

If you see my weather thing to the left, yeah, that's smoke... Not clouds, but smoke.

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The man and the kids are now addicted to garage sales. LM really wanted to go so dh took him this morning. Every time he comes back with a toy, of course.

I think we will hit a $2k credit card bill for the 3rd month in a row. Woohoo. I say, woohoo, because we earn an extra $30 in cash rewards as a result.

April was my professional dues (reimbursed by employer anyway) and our camping deposit which got us there. (We usually budget around $1300 credit card which includes pretty much ALL our bills - whatever we can card, of course we card - for rewards). May our Disneyland trip got us there in a flash. I expected to get there this month with medical bills or the rest of our camping expenses. But camping remainder was due May and the medical bill never arrived (put off another month...). So, I thought about it and realized I had more professional dues, due soon. I'll just pay them today and hope it clears the card before the month closes.

We also paid $130 to get dh's car fixed yesterday. New battery and new wires and cables and all that. Rather reasonable in the end. We'll drop off my car Monday and that will certainly ensure we hit the $2k. Think we are there already. This month we bought shoes, camping supplies, and dh's receiver. So, it was just spendy.

& no, I don't expect anywhere near $2k bills next month or going forward. Though I may get a $1k medical bill one of these days. They sure take their sweet time, which is fine with me.

I am hitting Craigslist today. I signed BM up for swim lessons and dh is talking about these cooking classes. It all adds up. I have enough baby stuff to sell and cover it though, so cracking at it. I am afraid that my car repairs will probably need to come either short-term or mid-term savings. Bummer. But trying not to touch savings for anything else.

BM also got his school teacher assignment yesterday. Along with a request for $25 for supplies, and $60 for field trips. They just have you prepay everything for simplicity. I don't think it's so bad. There is an option to pay the $60 in 5 installments. I kind of giggled when I saw that. You have to understand we live in a rather upscale community and so, yeah, struck me as strange. Though I guess on some level, it isn't surprising.

I must admit since I never deal in cash, that this is really throwing me off. Suddenly I have to come up with $200 cash between that and LM's private swim lessons. (Awesome deal, I just got that squared away, after months. His lessons are in July). So, hmmmm, yes, stuff to sell. Sell sell sell, deposit the cash, and pay the cash bills. I don't have any cash otherwise, and am loathe to touch savings. Though that really is what some of it is there for. Just a last resort for me.

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A friend just told me she couldn't afford the $1k to fix the A/C on her truck, so she would just live without. (I swear everyone I know has had A/C problems of late. I am thinking this is a perk to an older car - no A/C problems. These are all newer cars - and problems galore).

But then started talking about a new $20k truck she wanted. On and on and on.

Ugh, this stuff just drives me nuts. It's not worth the $1k to fix, so will shell out $20k instead.

& then they wonder how we can afford our lifestyle on half the income, while all the while wondering why we drive OLD cars. I've had one too many people tell me old cars are a financial drain. Yeah, the $130 I just spent to fix dh's car with 90k miles (paid off when we bought it in 2001) is killing us. NOT!

In fact, our newer minivan is so awful, I am sorely tempted to trade it in for an old Toyota. We'll see what the repair bill is this round. The minivan has awful repair bills, which I did not expect in a newer vehicle. So I guess it all depends on the car. But I will take a $1k bill over a $20k bill any day. I know, it's the debt mentality. Get a $300 payment or something and that is better than shelling out $1k. That is the thinking.

I know they will think I have lost my mind when I trade in the van for an older car. But probably what we will end up doing, to get our gas bill and repairs bill down.

I am not sure if I will enjoy doing a net worth update as of 6/30. I am afraid I won't have much to show. But I guess we shall see...

I guess we have a general idea of what our vacation plans will be for next year. Though who knows, anything can happen. My dad told me he was hoping to spend next year visiting family, though I guess I may tag along on some of those. We have talked of flying to Denver for a weekend so the kids could meet my Grandma. Maybe pop in on my sister in NC for a weekend (the airfare is generally cheap, but I don't know these days). My parents would probably foot the bill if I tag along though. Would just be me for NC. But yes, the kids for Denver.

Now that the kids are of booster seat size, air travel is back on the table. We have just had the most horrid experience trying to rent decent car seats on vacation. We traveled with both kids when they were just 1, and at that point vowed never again. I don't know how it went in Florida for dh and the kids last October. But, ugh. He was a brave soul to try that again. LOL.

So anyway, there is discussion of family stuff, and I have no idea what dh's parents have in mind. But we are thinking 4-5 days at Family Camp/Yosemite again, next year. & we have also talked about getting season passes to the amusement park by our home town. I guess it's somewhat nostalgic for us (we spent so much time there as kids/teens) and is in fact where dh and I met, as we both worked there many years. So, they have added a water park and parking is included in the season passes. For today they sell 4 season passes for $260. I am SOLD. We spend so much time in the area that we can make a few half day trips and avoid the large expenses like food. The place is a 5-minute drive from my parent's house, so we can even drop off all the valuables there and go enjoy our time without locker rentals and such. The water park is a REALLY nice touch. Plus if we are willing to pay $320 instead (or just $60 more), we get season passes to another great park in the area. Probably well worth it.

I think that about eats up our $1200 vacation budget, but I think is perfect. We leave plenty of wiggle room in the budget for "daycaytions" as is, which is generally more our speed.

Which reminds me, with all the fires, the air quality here is really horrid around here for now. I am afraid we will be locked indoors all weekend. Kind of a bummer because the weather has been rather pleasant. !! It's just TAUNTING me. This is the mildest June we I can recollect since moving here about 6 years ago. We've barely turned on our air. We left it on around 86 degrees for the cat when we were camping, but I don't think the air turned on at all. Our house has settle at a nice 80 degrees. No air conditioning needed.

But yes, dreading July/August. It's going to be a shock. Likewise, I hope this does not mean horrid hot weather prolongs into September. That is what I am afraid of.

We have been experimenting with changing our water sprinkler set up and have cut the watering time about in half (if not more). I think it is only working because of the mild weather. We may have to go back to watering every day come July. But our gardener set it to go off twice a day, year round. HE tweaks it each season, but I am pretty certain it always goes off at least once every day. So now that we are switched to metered water, we are experimenting with it.

I know, it's terrible. We should have done this before. We are from drought country, so the water habits of people here appall me. We conserve much water inside the house. But never having had a lawn before, we just did what the gardener said. I think we can get by with much less water most of the year. & anyway, we can cut it way back in the backyard. The front yard is another story. We get very mixed messages. Don't use any chemicals (They flow to the lake) but we'll fine you if your yard isn't sparkling green, even in the 110-degree summers. YEah, whatevah! We do what we can in the front, I think we might just let the backyard go. I'd love to rip it out and just put in tanbark and a play structure. Maybe some astro turf like a friend of mine did. This watering thing is ridiculous. All for some ideal that is completely unattainable in the climate. The rest of the year is fine, so no one resorts to desert landscaping. But I am sorely tempted. I know it's probably not "allowed" in the front yard, but we have changes in mind for our backyard. Also considering a garden and some fruit trees, etc.

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Financially speaking...

**Paid off balance transfer #2. Woohoo.

I am keeping this card open until my free FICO score checks dry up. I think I only have one more month. So will just close the card.

LEaves one transfer open. IT's earning 5.7% and will through the end of the year.

**Paid the July bills (all but one or 2) and wrote the last check to preschool, for BM. Plus they were on vacation - unpaid - for a week. & so on and so on.

HAllelujah!

IT will be more exciting next month when I pay $280 (instead of $630, for 2). IT's a "short" month. I will celebrate even more then.

Anyway, beyond that, I had enough cash to pay all the bills for June, which was good, because it was a pretty spendy month.

I expect July to be rather spendy with birthdays and such, but then again, I look forward to plumping up the kids' savings with the gifts they will no doubt receive.

**I was kind of waiting to see how the month panned out because it has been so "unusual" in a sense to see if I had any leftover for a donation.

I think I will earmark $100 of my MLM supply/going out of business sale - for the food bank. If I make more I will probably put the rest in our savings.

I told dh he could buy and sell more Wiis if he's like, to buy a Wii. I caved. Was just feeling nice I guess.

I guess I shouldn't get too excited. Dh's car is in the shop today and mine will probably go Monday. I should probably get those bills before I get too generous.

I also need to keep in mind that BM will need some school supplies and uniforms as well. I think Grandma has a lot of that covered (phew) but we'll see. I wanted to earmark $200/month to our car/house savings, now that he is out of pricey preschool. But I may need to earmark the first month for supplies. We'll see...

**I can't remember if I posted this, but with my stimulus check, my short-term savings is out of the red (pulled into the red by my 4/15 tax bill. Funny how that worked out). AND my mid-term saving fund surpassed $3k. My mid-term goal is $5k for the year and I am rather confident on that. I just wish I had more to add. Going forward, $5k annually is probably plenty. I just wish $10k cash would fall out of the sky and make up for the last few years where we have saved very little. Just a lot more catching up to do...

But yeah, dh bought his receiver and we bought a lot of camping supplies this month, etc. We went on a rather luxurious date (for us) and it was just kind of spendy. We were no doubt helped greatly by all the gas reimbursements dh's parents kept raining on him. I think $200 between all of them. Funny enough, they have BM and we are meeting them mid way to pick him up on Sunday. So yeah, I wouldn't count on more gas cash, but who knows. They must think we get TERRIBLE gas mileage. (His mom have him $60 to drive 120 miles - LOL. & his dad slipped him $40 for driving 220 miles. I guess with his "super car" (40 mpg) we are coming out way ahead. My dad slipped me $80 for Yosemite (to be fair we paid for his entire vacation otherwise) which was actually about right. IF it had been dh's parents they would have slipped us $200 for gas or something - LOL.

I had worried that we could not justify so much driving to see family. Now I am thinking we need to do it more...

In real life I have gotten many questions about this camp. So wanted to share more.

http://www.friendsofsanjosefamilycamp.org/

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"There are over 60 wood frame and canvas covered tent-cabins scattered among the pines and oaks throughout camp. Each cabin contains cots with mattresses (no bedding), benches, a table and bookshelf and can comfortably sleep up to six campers. All cabins have decks for outdoor relaxation. Electrical outlets are available at an extra cost in some cabins.

Fully equipped restrooms are just a short walk from any cabin. All restrooms have hot showers, toilets, washbasins and changing areas for infants. There are electrical outlets in all restrooms.

The Dining Hall complex is in the heart of the camp. Here you will find the dining room, kitchen, store, recreation room, camp office, and the medical aid station. A broad, shaded patio overlooking the Tuolumne River provides the perfect spot for reading, socializing, napping, or playing ping-pong. The Dinning Hall deck is the setting for many of the summer's social activities.

Upstream from the Dining Hall a small dam which creates a swimming area in the river. Lifeguards are on duty during all scheduled swimming hours and there is a roped-off, shallow area for small children and beginning swimmers. For sun lovers there are beach and lawn areas for recreation or lounging.

Across the river from the Dining Hall complex is Miners Island and Fort Tuolumne. Both are favorites with the younger campers. Miners Island is an island where young campers can play and where the kiddie campfire is held. At the Fort Tuolumne playground (not a licensed daycare) you�ll find supervised childcare and special activities for the young campers.

In other areas of the camp you will find a volleyball court, baseball diamond, basketball court, fish cleaning station, amphitheater and of course, the river. The river provides shaded beaches, cool dark trout pools, exciting raft rides, and the relaxing sound of its water tumbling over the rocks as it flows through camp. "
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I really enjoyed the pace we found there.

We spent our time

swimming
wading in the river
hiking
watching wildlife
watching the stars at night
napping
reading
playing cards
Campfire/roasting marshmallows
BBQ Picnic in the meadow
Dropped BM off at the playground, periodically
Scavenger Hunt
"Mission Impossible" Game one night (BM's favorite part!!)
Carnival & Cake Walk (100 people - FUN!)
Ping Pong

They also had stuff like arts and crafts, archery, mini-olympics, and a lot of games we didn't compete in, mostly because the kids were too young. But I think we found a pretty good mix of relaxing and keeping it slow, while enjoying a few of the activities with the kids.

Every day they had pretty jam packed with activities, from 9am - 10pm. They also had a few organized hikes and the teens had a sleepover in the rec room, etc. Oh yes, and movie night.

It was nice to drop off the kids with our parents, periodically, as well. Just nice to have an extra set of hands and eyes. Grandma, for one, took great glee helping the kids get food in the cafeteria, which put a load off of us. So made the whole thing rather pleasant... I think dh expected his parents to take the kids more. I was pleased with the help. The kids also had a blast running between our tents and exploring the area around the tent.

Sacramento does have a family camp, but it would have cost us about the same (just more expensive, even for residents) and it was in Tahoe. We were kind of like, eh, Tahoe, we can go there any time. Our family has a cabin near there, and it is a mere 2 hour drive. (Which reminds me, they have owned the cabin 50 years and their insurer they have had for the last 50 years just dropped them due to fire danger. Don't even get me started...)

I did realize throughout the weekend that the place we stayed was really much like Tahoe anyway. Of course, we REALLY enjoyed the proximity to Yosemite. We have discussed trying both camps next year though and seeing which we preferred. Of course this could spur an addiction to family camp. There are so many in the state to try.

Beyond all that, I think we are motivated to both make it to Yosemite a little more often (more than once a decade) and to go camping a little more often (just over night/weekend trips). We have great camping areas within 1/2 hour and camping on the beach is only a couple of hours away. We realized we can easily/cheaply pull off more small camping trips. Heck, the summer is young. When I thought of camping before I was just overwhelmed by the thought of trying to cook and all that. But one night, I think we can swing once in a while.

Likewise, the kids are getting to an age where we could do weekends in the cabin a little more. Even better... IT's a rather simple one hour drive from here. I don't necessarily enjoy the drive all the way to Tahoe or Yosemite - a little treacherous.... But I realized we should take advantage a little more. IT is technically owned by dh's grandma but it is ours to use whenever. We just haven't really had the urge to use it with wee little ones in tow. It will be nice if we can organize more family things there. & even bring a tent for the kids. The 3-bedroom place was perfect for the last generation, but ours is getting a little LARGE.

Just got back and had a few pics to share, below.

We went to San Jose Family Camp, which is owned and run by the city of San Jose. We don't live there, but are from there and I guess if you are willing to pay a premium you can generally go to any family camp. I HIGHLY recommend if you have kids, and a local family camp. We just had a blast!!!!

We went with my dh's parents and my dad (my mom is just not a travel or camping type).

We had 2 tent cabins right next to each other.

What PRIME real estate!! We were a 20 mile drive from the west entrance into Yosemite. I don't think we could have stayed anywhere else so close for half the cost, so we were very pleased in that regard as well.

So MANY activities for the kids (moreso BM than LM unfortunately, but will be right up his alley next year).

The food was hit and miss, but there was PLENTY.

We paid around $600 for the 5 of us (paid for my dad) and that was about it. We needed about one tank of gas and we treated everyone to ice cream in Yosemite. Otherwise all the meals were provided. I think I spent $2 on sodas. It was a very "frugal" vacation in that regards. We were penalized because we were non-residents, so did pay more. But without my dad we would have paid less than $500, for the 3 nights. So not bad. Included, food, tent, activities, everything.

Oh yes, entrance fee to Yosemite was $20, but someone else paid. We all took one vehicle. & the shuttle there was awesome (free). So $20 to get in 7 people was NOT bad. The ice cream was very reasonable - came to $12 or something for the 7 of us as well.

Anyway, for now, I leave you with pictures... I have about 10 loads of laundry to do (dirt dirt dirt) and I return to work tomorrow.

P.S. We did get our stimulus and do I added $1800 to my savings on the left columns. $1k of it washed out the taxes I owed 4/15 and $800 went directly to our mid-term savings. May pull some out for car repairs.

Taking dh's car to the shop Friday - we could not fix ourselves since the battery (& connecting wires, etc.) were so corroded - will get some help.

Wouldn't you know, just as we packed up and started driving out to Yosemite, my car had a "check engine" light pop up. It was some other light we looked up and it said in the handbook "probably does not need towing - is a simple thing that needs fixing. Service soon." (in so many words, anyway). When we got to camp (made it - phew!) the electronic door locks stopped working AGAIN so that was all we could figure. So we have car issues to straighten out this week and next... Should have the van checked as well to make sure it is nothing more than the locks. Just glad we made it back without a tow. Both our vehicles are in limbo for today...

Anyway, the pics as promised...

Here was most of the view from our camp. Just in love with the place...



Looking down on swimming hole with water fall. This was a 20-minute trek from camp (complete with rattle snakes!!). But might as well have been Hawaii - was gorgeous.



BTW - I was the only adult to brave the cold water. Yes, it is melted snow. No, it really isn't any colder than the Pacific Ocean (more north by us anyway). So I didn't find it to be so bad. IT was hot so the water was refreshing. The rest of my group were wusses.

& Yosemite. There are no words...

I had gone once as a teen (maybe 15 years ago?)

Just WOW!

I had LM duty, and wasn't exactly feeling up to a big hike, so we took an easy "hike" to the lower falls. Was gorgeous, regardless.



& Half Dome:



All this, 4 hours from our driveway...

BM and grandpa, and dh did the Vernal Falls hike, which is the lower part of the Half Dome trek. (3 hours but BM is a major hiker - he tired out about the last 15 minutes so that one was exactly his speed).

I didn't get any pictures of the Vernal Falls (they hiked to the top of the waterfall) since I had LM and the camera. But having grandpa is like having a professional photographer wherever you go. I will no doubt have some breathtaking shots to share once I get copies of his pictures. As such, I Really didn't take many pictures this trip.

We figure we will make this an annual tradition for our family. In fact, I have said many times we aren't big vacation people. Though these last few years have been rather odd in that regard for us (vacation vacation vacation - with retiring parents who like to travel). But for now we have no plans for next year and I would just love to do a half week there again. (I don't think I am tough enough to camp much longer than 3 or 4 nights - hehe. Glad to be home and have a real shower...) But we should sign up for next year as early as possible, and hit early June when the waterfalls are still strong and the weather isn't so hot.

I think if we never vacationed anywhere else, I would be content.

But, for now it's back to reality...

Stocked up on some snacks for camping. Dh got granola bars at Target (sale).

I found Raley's a much better/cheaper place to buy water toys. I stopped by Walgreens on the way, but less selection and more expensive. Well, okay then.

Stopped at Raley's for trail mix and crackers. I hadn't walked into that store in years. For one, since I don't do the shopping. But we have a very nice Bel Air right down the street now, so rules out the need to go to Raley's, like ever. So it was weird going in.

I found out that our neighbors are really snobby about the self checkout lines at these stores, BTW. LOL. They have got the be kidding.

"Self checkout lines are so ghetto."

Whatevah. I guess I value my time more.

I waited in line (longer than I've ever seen there - the customer service used to be 1000% - never wait in a line). Because I had quite a few items and was just lazy. The self checkout always gives me problems. But I usually only run in for a couple of items, which is my perspective I guess. I usually LOVE to just run in and out with no human contact.

I know Bel Air has the reputation for upscale groceries, but it's a pretty big misnomer. The store is NICE and the customer service can't be beat, but they went through and shifted a big part of their inventory to "low price leaders" a few backs. I mean come on, who would shop their otherwise? We don't live in Bel Air. LOL.

-------------------

I picked up a book at the library to peruse on my vacation. If I have time...

Bobos in Paradise. David Brooks

A slightly older book, but the title caught my attention. I just love the word "bobo." Thinking to the Peter Sellers movie - "The Bobo." Or my favorite monkey, the bonobo.

Anyway, but it looks quite interesting, beyond the title. (Bobo = Bourgeois Bohemians).

-----
"It used to be pretty easy to distinguish between the bourgeois world of capitalism and the bohemian counterculture. The bourgeois worked for corporations, wore gray, and went to church. The bohemians were artists and intellectuals. Bohemians championed the values of the liberated 1960s; the bourgeois were the enterprising yuppies of the 1980s. But now the bohemian and the bourgeois are all mixed up, as David Brooks explains in this brilliant description of upscale culture in America. It is hard to tell an espresso-sipping professor from a cappuccino-gulping banker. Laugh and sob as you read about the information age economy's new dominant class. Marvel at their attitudes toward morality, sex, work, and lifestyle, and at how the members of this new elite have combined the values of the countercultural sixties with those of the achieving eighties. These are the people who set the tone for society today, for you. They are bourgeois bohemians: Bobos. Are you a Bobo? Do you believe that spending $15,000 on a media center is vulgar, but that spending $15,000 on a slate shower stall is a sign that you are at one with the Zenlike rhythms of nature? Does your newly renovated kitchen look like an aircraft hangar with plumbing? Did you select your new refrigerator on the grounds that mere freezing isn't cold enough? Would you spend a little more for socially conscious toothpaste -- the kind that doesn't actually kill germs, it just asks them to leave? Do you work for one of those hip, visionary software companies where everybody comes to work in hiking boots and glacier glasses, as if a 400-foot wall of ice were about to come sliding through the parking lot? Do you think your educational credentials are just as good as those of the shimmering couples on the New York Times weddings page? If you answered yes to any of those questions, you are probably a member of today's new upper class. Even if you didn't, you'd still better pay attention, because these Bobos define our age. Their hybrid culture is the atmosphere we breathe. Their status codes govern social life, and their moral codes govern ethics and influence our politics. Bobos in Paradise is a witty and serious look at the cultural consequences of the information age and a penetrating description of how we live now."
--------

Anyway, this really caught my attention. I can't say I know many people in the upper class, but am entrenched in the upper middle class culture of silicon valley.

I started reading the first chapter and the author really seemed to be talking much of the upper middle class as well (kind of blurring the 2, though I personally see a LARGE difference between the 2). The upper middle class are a dime a dozen where I am from. If my spouse worked we'd be upper middle class in a second. For now I feel we kind of are on the verge.

But when I think upper class, I think of maybe one or 2 clients (income $500k - $1 mil). I think of my BIL who reigns from one of the richest families in San Francisco. & they are in a completely different realm. $200k income doesn't buy much here, but you can't argue $1 million income can buy a pretty significant lifestyle. & I really know few in that boat.

Anyway, most of my friends from high school (on the intellectual side) have spent their 20s gathering degrees and traveling the world. I am surprised how firmly they wear this as a badge of honor. & how looked down I often feel upon my own traditional route, marriage, children, accountant.

(In reality my parents weren't going to support me in my 20s or buy me a useless degree, so I had little choice but to be a lot more practical. LOL).

It REALLY cracks me up though because I have friends who work at BIG corporations and make BIG bucks as engineers and such. & yet I get the sense they kind of turn up their nose at me for selling out to the Corporations.

Oh please, I make $50k a year for a small mom and pop outfit helping small mom and pop businesses. (I actually personally have NO interest in big business). & we moved two hours away for a MUCH simpler lifestyle). & yet I get the sense my friends who work for Intel and Google thing I am a corporate sell out. I am always confused how someone with twice the income can look down upon me being such a money grubber. LOL.

{I do make more money now, but this is exactly where we were at when we moved here, and when I started to notice this divide. I still make less than my big Corporate friends, obviously.}

So when I saw this book description I thought - "Bingo!" I had to read that. I didn't get far into the book before the author started expounding on EXACTLY what I have been thinking. A lot of the big corporations have done a great job appealing to the intellectual/artistic types. & yes, it's cool to villify the lawyers and accountants of the world. The new upper class is filled with engineers and artists. & they look down upon the old paradigm.

So anyway, I think this book looks fascinating and may shed some light on my old experiences. Wish I had seen it sooner...

I'll try to take less offense next time I am called a greedy accountant. My friends will go on about the greedy accountants. But look at me and say, "Well, we didn't mean you." At least I am getting a little more insight where this whole thing comes from. Hard to take it personally when you understand this whole paradigm shift in class.

I just find this stuff interesting, regardless.

I mentioned earlier dh listed his old projector on Craigslist.

I'd frankly take $100. Original estimate was $500 in 2005 (not too much less than original price). But being that it is 3 years later and dh is more attached to his baby than he would admit at the time yeah, I'll take anything.

Anyway, Some guy offered $250 but was driving in a solid 1.5 hours.

Dh said if he could pick it up today, it was his.

I was estatic!!

Guy found projector closer to home, so backed out at the last minute.

Bummer. Would have been perfect to pay for our new receiver.

But anyway, he had an interest of 2 or 3 people thus far, at the $300 listing. About 2 or 3 more than usual.

I am optimistic we will sell it soon. Woohoo.

Today wasn't very exciting. Preparing for camping and cleaning the house a bit.

I think dh and I have ran like 10 separate errands in the van. It is just never ending today.

I went to get a hair cut. The heat made we want a MAJOR chop. Wouldn't you know it I got there when it was closing. (Huh???). I would have gone sooner but dh needed the car all day. I remember in the past them being open later on Saturdays.

I thought to try another place on the way home, after I got ice cream. Doh. I just wasn't motivated to make ANOTHER trip out. Dh just got back from Target. We needed granola bars.

Anyway, he mentioned the Super Cuts (my arch enemy) by Wal Mart (in the worst shopping center ever - horrible parking lot). I said, eh, I don't need a hair cut that bad. LOL.

I usually go to Great Clips. I know, but I just had a horrible experience (or 2 or 3 or 4) at Super Cuts. So I just refuse to go. The Great Clips by my house, on the other hand, is awesome. I have gotten so many awesome cuts there, and pretty much no bad ones (knock on wood). Probably can be attributed to this particular franchisee. Does a good job. So, anyway. I would have been willing to stop about anywhere else, but for the ice cream. Will have to wait...

I will have to pack lots of hair scrunchies and the like. Oh I so looked forward to camping in the heat with a lighter head of hair.

If it's cold at night I guess I will appreciate my long locks. I'll look on the bright side.

Particularly since mass transit is so sub par in California, we LOVE our cars.

Anyway, I told dh once we could live with only one car and I might as well told him aliens invaded. LOL.

Life is decidedly easier and more luxurious with the second car.

Well, anyway, I had to hail the second car because it saved our date night last night.

Yesterday it was something like 100 degrees. We were going on our date night. It was going to be very expensive actually. Indian food at our favorite (albeit quite upscale) restaurant. Would be $50. Sketch comedy show for $20. Childcare - about $50.

Yes, this is why we don't go out so much. PArticularly for so long.

It was an experiment and I was worried about LM. The place tehcnically has a 13:1 ratio or something with the crowds, and I still think it is a bit much for LM. We love the place for weekdays and last minute things, but was wary about a Friday night.

BUT it's the best babysitting option we got. I know he'll be fine, just still on the young side all the same. I look forward to the worry factor notching down with time. (BM? Didn't worry about him a bit, for example).

So we dropped off the kids and I can't say I had ever seen the place so empty. IT was 6:00 though - people tend to go out later.

So we pop back in dh's car (of course - the van is sidelined for bad gas mileage).

& the thing won't start. At all.

LOL.

Dh and I just look at each other. "You have got to be kidding me."

He's like, "should I go get the kids?" Keenly aware we are paying $12.50/hour.

I look at the clock and I say we should ask for a jump, go home, and get the van.

You know, people are weird about jumps these days. We noticed this because we were stranded in the middle of nowhere once and people looked at us like we were asking them to perfom sex acts when we asked for a jump. & that was like almost a decade ago. (I seriously think people thought a "jump" was a sex act. I kid you not).

So dh says no, he is going to call AAA. I know the memories are coming back and he won't ask anyone for a jump for nothing. LOL. Plus he probably had a point, we could be there all day before we found someone brave enough to help us.

So we called AAA and this place is in a weird commercial area. IT is a REALLY weird location. So luckily dh is smart and sees a mexican restaurant across the way. We go to see what else is around, and are happy to get out of the heat.

We find an Indian pizza place. Seriously. Go figure.

We argued what to order and the cashier was a little strange (deal on a 2-topping pizza but she wouldn't let us have the topping we wanted, so we went a little round and round. LOL).

Ordered 2 mini pizzas and the tow truck guy got there with lightning speed. (Last time on the side of the FREEWAY I waited an entire hour). No doubt hurrying because of the heat, but can't figure we were high priority in front of a bunch of air conditioned establishments.

So the pizza was ready right then and we took it to go. Rushed home a couple of miles and ate our food and watched some "Last Comic Standing" on the TIVO.

Dh got Tandoori chicken pizza which was okay. No upscale food, but we got a taste of Indian. We now have leftovers for the weekend. Dinner cost $15 instead of $50.

We luckily were able to make it to the comedy show we had already paid for. Phew. It was pretty good actually. The comedy troupe is from here and dh knows the main guy/director. They tried a lot of new material I guess. Since this is their home. So it was an interesting experience for that. Anyway the show was: http://coexistcomedy.com/

The whole thing is they have a Hindu, Buddhist, Athesit, Chistian and Muslim. & it's kind of like poking fun at themselves as well as a very "Why can't we just all get along?" kind of thing.

But I had to say I was pleasantly surprised. BEfore it started dh said we had seen some of them perform before, another sketch comedy. I didn't remember in the least, but I eventually remembered we had gone because I remembered the opening act (this quirky little band that was hilarious). I said, well, they were entirely forgettable, so I Was starting to think I shouldn't expect much. Their opening act outshined them last time. LOL.

So yeah, it was pretty funny.

Oh, I was going to say, wouldn't you know we had hindus, buddhists, atheists (Expected), AND muslims in our 20-person audience. It was just really interesting. No Christians so they said the Christian guy ripped on the Christians a little more than usual. Lucky us. LOL.

It was just funny.

-------------

Anyway, in other news, dh bought a $200 receiver yesterday. For our surround sound.

I am happy as a clam. HE had been bugging me for a $500 or so HD TIVO and we completely averted that by switching and renting a DVR. Not a big fan of renting equipment, but for now it averts a big purchase. We have no other choice since our TIVO is not compatible with satellite and everything else costs WAY more. We'll rent the DVR.

BUT he has been saving up his allowance money for a fancy $500 receiver.

So he was out yesterday and was looking for rice cookers. My mom gave me hers but it only worked once. BRand new, she didn't like the size (HUGE) and gave it to us. We used once, and then it broke. Seriously.

So back to the drawing board. We decided we'd prefer smaller anyway.

Dh said he went a few places like Target, Walmart, Bed Bath Beyond and they really didn't have much.

He remembered Fry's (the electronic store, mind you) had cookware. We got our crock pot there at a steal. He said they seriously had 20 rice cookers there. I would have never even known to look for cookware there. Seriously? LOL. So he picked one up for $20.

But while he was there he had to of course check receiver prices. New upgrades coming up and prices are coming down. He was planning to save his pennies all year for one. So he finds one in an open box for something like $189. He called me and I think he felt bad about it. I said, "Can you return it if it doesn't work?" He says, "yes." I say, "just buy the flipping thing."

I think he was feeling some guilt, but this is something he had been planning to buy for months if not years, and all of a sudden it is $300 off. Just buy the stinking thing!

So yeah, it works fine and was not missing anything. What a STEAL!

He said he perused online and the best he saw was $260 refurbished.

It was silver and he would have preferred black. He said, I'd pay a $10 premium for black, but oh well. Not $80." !!

So I am happy as a clam. For $200 spent, suddenly dh does not want to buy $1k in equipment. Phew!!!!!!

Anyway, he told me he would offer his old receiver to family/friends first. If not we could maybe get $50 for it. (At least offer our dads who gave us a lot of free equipment last weekend).

& he has some really fancy new receiver for the theater room. They are rolling out the new upgraded models for $500 but dh said there was nothing on the new models he wanted. So it goes. That's how we buy our electronics. He had been waiting for prices to come down. LAst year would have been $500 for the same thing.

I told dh, not so fast though. I asked him how old his old receiver was. Bought in 2000...

Okay, well, we have one for our stereo that I bought as a teen. I am like, "Are you sure you don't want to upgrade that one? Could be 20 years old."

Dh said- "That thing? Your receiver is WAY better than this piece of crap. They don't make them like that any more."

Thus, we are getting rid of the 8-year-old one and keeping the 20-year-old one.

This is why we don't spend that much for all the electronics we have. We tend to keep most of the stuff forever. As this new one is better for the sound and has better HD stuff (way over my head, but from what I gather) I would hope it lasts a LONG while as well...

---------

Oh anyway, on the car. IT's a 2001 Ford with about 90k miles. We have never replaced much but the tires. I had a 1982 Toyota for many years with a million miles, and little things always needed replacing. So I don't *get* this car in the least. We take it in frequently for a look over, and I am always amazed that we have like never replaced anything but the tires.

So if the battery is old, so be it. I guess they just make them so they last forever these days. That is still foreign to me since we drove old cars so long.

We think the contacts on the battery are just corroded, and my dad is visiting tomorrow so he will help us diagnose and fix. It figured the car died at 6pm on a Friday, when our repair shop is closed for the weekend. But my dad will save the day. Phew!!! Hoping it is just the battery - that will be easy enough to fix.

we were going to drive the compact to Yosemite, and had decided against it. Well, now I think we have no choice. LOL. Van it is... We'll worry about the Ford when we get back.

& yeah, if we have to jump the car with the van, then so be it. To get it to the mechanic - I think we have it covered.

Hail to the second car, life goes on...

Tomorrow I have TWO dates. Woohoo!

I am meeting a friend for lunch.

Dh and I have been trying to schedule a date for a very small comedy tour. Final weekend this weekend. We keep forgetting things (like we were planning last Friday but didn't put 2 and 2 together he was going to be out of town - doh).

So today we went for a walk in the evening and on the way home I remembered. I said - "Isn't tomorrow our date night?" Dh said, "Indian food and everything???" He is so excited. Going to our favorite fancy restaurant (don't remember the last time) and then to the play. Almost forgot... We'll see if I remember.

Ugh. Just so busy busy busy. But that is one thing we just need to do, or else before you know it June is over, and no date!

------------

Dh has been busy selling Wiis. His profit thus far (gas considered) is around $200. Unfortunately, it's not all cash. A lot of it is just more stuff.

But he's a happy camper.

For this month I am using it to pay the satellite and whatnot. Mostly will be double billed this month as we change things over. Canceling the cable tomorrow, and hoping for a pro-rated bill.

But satellite charged 2 months up front.

ATT charged $50 for the modem.

So I figure we'll cover all this.

I know it will straighten out in the next couple of months - no satellite or cable bill next month. But it is driving me nuts. My budget and set up is "just so" and I don't like it when things rock the boat. I have plenty of cash, but I just don't want to mess with the SYSTEM! Likewise, dh took $400 cash from checking to buy and sell crap. He was all ready to put back $500 yesterday, but he went and bought another Wii. So he is driving me nuts too.

With the stimulus check I may just give him seed money. Problem with that is if I am not a nazi over the money, it tends to disappear. For now he knows I need that $400 back to pay the bills 6/30. I think it's good for him to have a deadline and a dollar amount over his head. Or else before I know it our house is going to be filled with more video game systems and games, in trade. It's already started...

On the flip side, dh is happy as a lamb, and less pressure on me.

For now it's putting pressure off of me, and helping the weird June budget a bit. For the long term we need a real system. x% of profits go to retirement or something. He wants more electronic crap (his big sacrifice of late). I want more retirement savings (my big sacrifice of late). Whenever we talk we are on the same page, but yesterday he told me he was tempted to keep one Wii. So I have to keep a sharp eye on that boy.

I admit he enjoys the freedom of making his own money, and I don't fault him for that. (I admit I am a bit of a control freak too). But since 100% of my income goes to the household, I do have issue with extras going to benefit just him. But this is always a bone of contention with us. I don't want a lot of "stuff" so I can live without, and he struggles more with it.

We'll find a compromise. I think it will mean more in future months when things settle down and the big one is out of preschool. For now I have vacation bills, medical bills, birthdays and camping coming up. Our date will be a bit of a splurge. For now it's just going to the household and us. But August - November is a pretty slow spend time of year for us, so if he can sell some more during that time I really do hope to plump the savings more.

We've also been talking about donating a little more to charity. So, we'll see.

Dh did wedding videos to buy his fancy video camera way back when and has done a lot of editing work to pay for his editing system. It seems fitting he would buy and sell Wiis in order to buy a Wii. This is why I usually have little complaint about his electronic haven. What percentage of our working income pays for this stuff? Not much. IT comes from the gravy. BUT sometimes I do admit I wish he had the same passion for our retirement fund. LOL. He's a saver, but since we have had kids, it's the electronics that motivate him way more. I guess in a sense he is retired. So what does he care?

-------------

Ugh. Changing over my e-mail is turning into a week-long project.

I got most of it done, but told dh he could call and cancel the cable tomorrow.

My old e-mail does not work on the "send" anymore anyway. very frustrating.

I think I seriously need to keep a log of where I keep e-mails. For future changes. I am sure I forgot much. I feel like I changed it with 50 businesses/organizations.

Anyway, to top it off, I saw today yahoo rolled out "ymail." I didn't see it until late in the day, but I was able to come up with a much more acceptable "professional" e-mail close to my name. So though I had already e-mailed all my family and friends, I change it again on them. Yup.

I'll have to go back to all the financial institutions eventually too.

Just tired of it all for now. Whatevah!

My work mentioned the other day changing our e-mails to fight the spam - just so out of control. I don't think I could take it. I need one stable e-mail address!

Though the idea of a spamless ymail sounds pretty divine about now. I guess I could get used to it for a while.

-----------

I actually cooked dinner tonight. Sloppy joes and corn on the cob with onion/butter rub. YUMMY! Corn is just not something we usually have, but I have been bugging dh. HE said the corn (husked) was about $4 for the 4 of us. I told him we need corn once a week from now on. I am not a big veggie person, but corn on the cob is just the best. When I like veggies, I must partake in them more. Maybe once every other week...

I think our grocery bill will seriously be under $300 this month. Don't ask me how...

It's $150 to date. We're all eating out tomorrow. Going to a party Sunday to eat. We're going camping for a few days. I doubt we will even hit $300, since will probably only hit the store once or twice more before July.

I feel less bad for buying so much food at that Tastefully Simple party. It hasn't arrived yet, but will probably lower the july grocery bill a bit since I did get so much food.

It's just bizarro.

Our gas bill, on the other hand, will be insane. Dh drove 80 miles today, round trip, to pick up a Wii. We're driving to Yosemite in a few days. San Jose? Twice.

But dh's parents already gave him $100 for gas and since we paid for my dad's entire camping trip, he decided to ride up with us and pay our gas. We will have to take the van, but will probably be nice to have it.

So it's been a good month overall, financially. Though everything is topsy turvy. Funny how it all works out...

I told dh if he could keep up that kind of grocery bill every month, he could spend the difference on whatever his heart desires. LOL. I said he deserved a gold star.

I think it is just the kind of thing where sometimes we really stock up on stuff on sale, and other months means less to buy. But I think this month will be a record low for us.

We haven't been eating out either, so it's just weird.

I do admit LM has had little appetite lately. Since he can usually eat like a grown man, could be much of it.

Then again, BM tried to eat us out of house and home today (1.5 ears of corn, 2 servings of sloppy joes, and a sandwhich and some fruit and pickles. Dinner. EGADS!) He was sick Tuesday so we just figured he was catching up.

Then again, I think last Thursday they told me he had 6 servings of lunch at preschool. Seriously.

Since the food is included, we should get our money's worth at camp. Between him and my dad. & dh really. Yeesh. My stomach is small so buffets are wasted on me. But the boys in the family will get their money's worth...

----------------

Dh made some kind of meat-stuffed zucchini last night. IT wasn't horrid. I could force down half of one.

His mom makes this lasagna that I believe is zucchini, in place of pasta. I can't stand the stuff, though most people like it. So I was very skeptical. But I tried it and it wasn't so bad.

I think Saturday we are having a greek dinner (new recipes form our Best of Home magazine).

I feel quite spoiled on the food front. Well except for that zucchini. LOL.

We had chicken soup and dumplings the other day.

But yes, Indian Food, Greek, and BBQ. Oh, what a divine weekend...

& how could I forget? Japanese buffet for lunch. Got my coupon. Hadn't been in a while...

---------

My stimulus is to be mailed by tomorrow.

I am betting on Monday. In the mail box Monday...

We'll see.

Timing is good because I am paying off a $4k balance transfer 6/30. That stimulus check will replace half of it, so I shouldn't take such an interest hit.

I still have my big momma transfer with the awesome CD rate until December or so... So I should get that interest boost through the end of the year. Of course it would be nice to keep it, but now that we feel more on track financially, it will be less needed to going forward. Phew.

The balance transfers were a tad outside of my comfort zone. But at this point I could say that was the easiest money I have made in the last couple of years. I am glad I reached outside my comfort zone...

Didn't even really ding my FICO like I expected. All I learned is there is no apparent rhyme or reason to FICO. It has bounced around between 700 and 770 the whole time I had the transfers. I haven't found a pattern. Last month I had the highest balance and worst utilization and my score was 730. The month before it was 701 and I have no idea why. But 6 months in between it was mostly up to 750-760. Eh. So you know, obviously something really dinged my score that one month. I have no idea what. I was dreading the following month with my $1500 vacation expenses on our regular card, in addition to all the rest and usual, and then my score went up 30 points that month.

So, yeah, I have always said that if you have a good score you don't have to freak out about every little thing. I will now go as far as to say I wouldn't even worry about a balance transfer. (or many transfers).

Logically my score should jump up with these balance transfers paid off. I am just not holding my breath. IT doesn't really matter anyway...

But yeah - I expect to replace the $4k by the end of the year (money saved).

The $10k (big momma) will be a while to replace in savings, but in the next year or 2 I expect to have that much in the bank without the transfers. Maybe interest rates will improve a bit. They have been pretty in the toilet for the last decade though... But certain years have been better. For the long run I want to grow much of our savings with interest.

I am in e-mail hell.

Our internet is not working so well (our new DSL) and we have a tech coming out today to take a look. My dh is pretty tech savvy, but this is over his head.

A shame, because it is the cheapest service we have found. I guess if you have any internet suggestions, let me know. But we like it FAST. (Not resorting to dial up - hehe).

If it cost more than $10 it cost more than our old setup though. *sigh* I think this is $25 monthly. $20 or $25.

For now we are trying ATT.

Anyway, so I told dh I would just switch all my a-mails to my yahoo account. If I need a more firm address I at least I have my work e-mail. Dh will be out of luck.

Anyway, I am very overwhelmed with this change.

Dh has this habit of never deleting old e-mails. So all his "real" e-mails for the last few years sit in hi in-box.

It drives me nuts because I check my e-mail in the same place.

I now realize this is genius. I need to weed through my PILES of junk mail to refresh my memory who all has my old e-mail so I can notify them of the change.

UGH!

I was trying to remember why I only remember doing this once.

Oh yes, I had an aol account for the first 10 years I had e-mail. Eventually I switched over to our cable e-mail accounts because I was sick of junk mail.

I welcome the change, but will be sorry to gunk up my yahoo with potential junk too.

I have a gmail account with a faux name for communities where I prefer to remain anonymous. So for here, nothing will change.

But anyway, yes, I remember on my maternity leave with BM, that I switched my e-mail over. I remember writing down a list of like 20 entities to make sure I changed my e-mail with.

Today, I wouldn't even know where to begin. The last 5 years we have come such an e-mail society.

I wouldn't be surprised if I am on 100 mailing lists of sorts.

Also, I am noticing that if you change your e-mail they want to confirm with your old e-mail account. Oy vey.

I will try to knock out as much as possible this week. I really want to cancel our old cable and e-mail. Seems like they should give you a grace period to check e-mail and work this stuff out. Maybe they do... I don't know.

But I am overwhelmed with this project. Particularly since I would prefer to move everything over to our new internet account eventually.

!!

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I have been terrible on the exercise front.

I thought maybe I would try to go to aerobics last night, but the freeway is closed again and as I guessed it was a traffic nightmare.

I started heading that way, and quickly gave up.

I hadn't brought my gym stuff though - I should have known.

I took LM for a walk instead. Will try the gym tonight.

I got my new shoes from zappos.com. 3rd pair I tried. I have been new shoe shopping for MONTHS.

You don't know how much I wish now I had bought a 2nd pair of my old shoes. They just don't make them any more. At almost 3 years, they are giving up the ghost.

Anyway, these shoes fit, but it's about all the good I can say about them. *sigh* I am giving them a try, and if they by some miracle become extremely comfortable, I night buy another pair or 2 for the future. Certainly I will if I ever find such a PERFECT pair of shoes again, as my last ones.

Yeah, it took months just to find a pair of shoes that FIT. My experience with zappos.com was much better last time (more helpful reviews on the site). BUT I would literally order shoes at 7pm and they would arrive the next morning (no shipping charges). They also make it easy to return at no charge. I have 2 to return and one pair that actually fit and for now I am breaking them in... So zappos itself is great. But their review system doesn't seem to be as helpful as it was in the past.

I see part of the problem. Someone gave these shoes 5 stars in every category though in their review they state that the shoes are "just okay."

There should be a law. LOL. Don't give things 5 stars if they are just okay. Yeesh.

But mostly I am fed up that 19 of 20 reviewers would say shoes are true to size, when they aren't.

I mean seriously, are my feet growing or something??? I have been a solid 9-9.5. But I ended up with 10s. I don't usually have to get wides in tennies, but I guess now I do. I seriously feel like the shoes are getting smaller. I guess it could be me...

Anyway, when I found zappos, it was the first time I could order a shoe and it was perfect on the first try. I guess I had a fair amount of luck my last couple of purchases... So this round is rather frustrating.

I even hit a few stores in an effort to save money.

YEah, so much for that! Never again... Shoes online - only online. Thank goodness for zappos.com They do make it easy.

I am really enjoying the weather. !!

I know, July/August will be hell.

But in the few years we have lived here, often May and June have been rather unbearable.

I checked yesterday's weather out of curiosity.

It was 90 during the day & 50 overnight (Fahrenheit).

90 isn't the most fun during the day, but there's also just been a nice 24/7 cooler breeze.

Anyway, we haven't bothered to turn on the A/C until dinner time (start to feel hot while cooking). IT's on very briefly.

We have been flipping on the A/C upstairs, just before bed. Just on long enough to cool the upstairs from 85 or so, to 80. I keep going to bed feeling rather warm, and waking up rather chilly (with the cat sleeping on all my covers - figures). It's been a "chilly" 78 when I wake up - meaning, it feels a little cooler than that. Quite a difference from a stuffy 80 degrees.

It's been just cool enough to make the house bearable most of the day, without any air.

We could probably make do without the A/C if we just opened the windows in the evening...

Likewise, we're going to be gone for a few days camping, so I don't expect much of an electric bill for June. The month is half over and only one more week to pay for electricity...

Yay!

That is the one thing I just have had the hardest time since we moved. We come from "70 year round" weather. There is just no comparison. *sigh*

But this year is on the milder side of our experience here. So I am really much happier this year.

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With our cable all up in the air, I haven't been able to update anything in Quicken for quite a few days. (Something got disconnected when the satellite guy was here - I don't keep the data on my laptop) and dh was gone for a day, and well, he just got it all hooked back up again yesterday.

So this morning I updated all my balances and kept an eye on everything.

I don't like getting so behind. I generally check my credit card balances every couple of days, before I start forgetting what older charges were...

There weren't many charges the last few days, and nothing I had to think too hard about, so phew...

What I was surprised by was our grocery bills for the month though. We have only spent $70 in June thus far.

I said last month it seemed a little high considering how much we had eaten out, and all that.

I figured this month might be a "normal" month and we would see what was really going on.

Well, never mind on that. Nothing normal about only spending $70 for the first 2 weeks of the month.

I admit dh was going to shop today, but we will be gone a few days camping (all food already prepaid).

So, um, yeah, I think it will be a low grocery month.

All I can figure was we overbought last month... Food to spare. But that is mostly dh's department, so I don't really know.

I hope dh spent $100 today though, so I can get my 25 cent gas coupon on the next van fill up. I could probably drive it quite a few more weeks without a fill up (or I Should say, I could probably not drive it much) but we are considering driving it up top Yosemite.

We'll see...

Dh has mastered the $50 grocery bill. Which is fine. Every time we fill up one of our cars we at least have a 10 cent coupon. But hitting $100 once a month is perfect for the van. I assumed he must have hit $100 today - since we have like no June groceries!!

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Work work work

I am just in vacation mode at work.

Today feels like the first time in FOREVER that I could just relax at work and take a breather.

Imagine that?

On the flip side, I did a lot of grunt work yesterday and today cleaned out my office a bit.

I just found piles of old stuff that fell by the way side in the craziness of 2007. 2007 was just some super crazy year.

So this kind of bums me out. Though I am feeling a little more relaxed and caught up, I feel overwhelmed by my long-term To Do List.

Then again, if it has waited this long...

So I am in this weird spot where things are good, but I have a TON to do. STILL catching up from 2007 tax season from hell...

You know, the funny thing is, as I started to catch up, I started to wonder, just what would I do all summer?

The thought right now just makes me giggle.

I have enough chargeable work to fill up the summer. I have a new employee to help train (lots of time). & I have a couple of years of side projects left by the wayside.

I don't think I will lack for much to do.

Anyway, July is a deadline month, I have vacation coming up, and I have some nasty August projects.

I honestly feel like I could work some overtime.

I may attempt some week day overtime. But I am enjoying my weekends WAY too much.

I do get paid overtime so I should probably take some early mornings and take advantage. I'll think on it...

Problem is whenever I do that, I get antsy on Friday and leave early. LOL. I am just not so motivated to push the 40-hour envelope.

It's also no fun to be the only one here before 8 and after 5. At least during tax season I have lots of company.

But yeah, haven't updated on work much. IT's just been pretty busy, but I Feel like I turned a corner this week. I have a few client things to work on rest of June, but all the big & important stuff is done. Woohoo!

Tales from Foreclosure-ville...

Our immediate neighbor's house foreclosed a couple of months ago (will have to peruse my blog for the exact date).

Anyway, was notable because was the first "personal" foreclosure. Certainly the BEST neighbor ever, and were sad, and shocked, to see him disappear into the night.

Likewise, was also an original neighbor whose house foreclosed for way more than the current value. Was notable as a large percent of foreclosures seem to be people who used their homes as ATMs as opposed to the few who bought too high. This is the first one of note in our immediate neighborhood. (EVERY single home that was bought for more than $600k is now bank owned. So those are expected).

Anyway, this morning I noticed a car in front of the house, and looked closer noting the "for sale" sign was gone (hmmmm, I think it had been gone for a while though I just didn't notice). The key lock box was gone from the front door.

On my return home from work there was a new neighbor putting fertilizer on the dead yard.

Well, that is a nice start.

Didn't see them move in, but was 2 cars tonight. I assume they are in process.

Dying to know the sales price.

As I perused the web in hopes the sale was old and on record (no luck) I noticed quite a few of the same model homes still for sale. Some of the other ones have been listed for YEARS. I noticed three that were asking upwards of $375k. For the smallest model. Don't ask me the size, but 3 bedrooms and the small ones of the neighborhood.

This one was asking $280k or so. It will be interesting to see what it sold for.

Since we owe $209k for a house twice the size, I am not shaking in my boots yet.

We're also still just glad we didn't have to pay $500k+ for a starter home (back home). so the value of our house really means little to us. The payment is quite reasonable. That is what matters!!

But it is still nice to know we have some decent equity, all the same...

(I am just recapping for new readers - I am aware I am a broken record. )

So, anyway, I am very happy with our brush with Foreclosureville. There are a few houses sitting around, but so far that is the only one on our street and I am glad the bank had the sense to price it well and turn it around FAST.

Yay!!!!!!!

Some neighbors mowed the lawns a couple of times, but otherwise it wasn't much problem.

I worry that there will be more. I did a search on something like realtytrac.com (not sure exactly where). I put in my zip code and there were just THOUSANDS of homes - REO. I zoomed in on our little community and it was something like 10% home bank owned and 10% pre-foreclosure.

Seriously.

The good thing is our immediate neighborhood is holding out well.

Then again, even in our community, looking at the map, I saw a couple of streets with whole ROWS of homes in foreclosure. Egads.

I think some of our immediate neighborhood is faring on the better side because we were the BOTTOM phase. Meaning we were one of the first few to move in, in 2001. I forget a lot of the houses around here weren't even finished until much closer to the peak in home prices. Those neighborhoods are going down in flames.

Ouch!

So we are lucky a large percentage of our neighbors bought before house prices went too crazy.

It remains to be seen how many didn't borrow more or take on more than they could handle.

I have the feeling there will be much more to come.

Looking at that map, I am thankful our street is hanging on though. I don't want to live on a street with a bunch of foreclosures in a row. I won't rule out the possibility though. Unfortunately.

ETA: Our neighbor foreclosed about 60 days ago. Found the original entry in my blog.

Not bad.

Still feeling relaxed...

I think we have been a little distracted with having a "baby" in the house. We saw a couple of BM's younger friends swimming like fish this weekend. Another one knows how to ride a bike (well he is a couple of months older).

BM is getting pretty confident in the water though, and swim lessons will be icing on the cake.

I told dh he should work on his bike riding with him.

To be fair, my parents gave up on me. It took me like 5 years to learn how to ride a bike. LOL. It's funny. I usually pick up things pretty fast, but biking was not my thing. So in my head I am thinking you are like 10 when you learn to ride a bike.

These are single children. It's all I could figure. I wonder how we got so terribly behind (or are we?).

Well I think it would be quite an accomplishment if BM could swim and ride a bike by end of summer. Things to work on.

I thought once you got potty training out of the way, things would be simple. There is still much to learn. LOL.

Anyway, speaking of potty training, things are going swimmingly with BM. We take a VERY relaxed approach with potty training. People keep asking what we are doing, or MIL, why aren't we doing more. Everyone's got their charts and stickers.

We don't really push it. There isn't much to our "method." It is the "when you are ready" method.

So anyway, BM was trained 24/7 before the time he was 3.

& surprisingly, LM is rapidly approaching that same end. He was a lot more slow and timid on the potty, so I didn't expect much. But peer pressure is kicking in I guess.

Warning - TMI:

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Anyway, I bring it up, because both our kids were #1 on the potty well before 3 - got it down. But they both refused to #2 on the potty. This is the problem with our method. LM takes it a step farther because he refuses to #2 with anyone around. It means he has worn underwear for a long time because he only #2s at night in his diapers. Phew. BUT he refused to #2 the entire time we were in Disneyland because he was sharing a bed with BM. Egads. (Our conclusion...)

Anyway, he couldn't have had better timing, but yesterday he asked to go #2 on the potty. We had told him for a LONG time we would take him out for ice cream when he did. Dh exclaimed this was the best Father's Day present ever (gross, but you know, means the end of diapers is very near - he really only uses them for #2). So anyway, it was nap time, and we had all just unwound from our busy day, and so we all threw on our clothes and got dressed back up to go get ICE CREAM. As promised!

We had offered him fancy ice cream and I had even found a $2 Baskin Robins gift certificate over the weekend. BUT he just wanted to go to thrifty for their 99 cent ice cream (which is DIVINE). Good choice.

So, woohoo!

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Anyway, yes, so dh got the best gift ever. LOL.

Well, Saturday night when the fam got home the kids played outside with sidewalk chalk and ran in the sprinklers. It is becoming a nightly ritual really - let them run around outside. I don't think our yard was great for smaller kids, but I am pleased how it is evolving into a great play place for them. I Can actually sit at the kitchen table with a laptop and relax and keep an eye on them. But the shade in the evening is great (it usually bugs me you can't go outside without melting during the day, but I realize soon enough they will be in school and all that anyway. I guess the shade in the evening is what matters).

The weather has been DIVINE. This is not the June Sacramento weather I am used to. Warm, but nice cool breezes. Unusually cool for June, I think. LOVING it. I was just telling dh if this was how summer was, I could deal.

I took the kids to Fairytale Town yesterday in the a.m., to get out of dh's hair. The freeway is closed again for major repair (a few more weeks off and on) so we had to take a bit of a detour and wasted gas. It's usually such a quick drive. But oh well!!

We were going to see this puppet show there, but the show was rather late. Decided to head home instead.

The weather was PERFECT. Wearing shorts, nice breeze, not cold, not hot. Was just right.

We came home and got dressed for the pool and headed to a community BBQ. ("Free" Food!!!).

I worried it wasn't quite enough to swim, and then sweltered on the walk over there. With a newer neighborhood we just have NO shade. It was HOT on the walk.

They had a bounce house and the kids just had a blast. Ate and got in the pool. Not sure I ever saw it so CROWDED. (We usually go in the mornings and there is no one there). But yeah, just packed, but it was still fun.

I told dh I could see hanging out there and really enjoying if there was ANY shade. We just need more shade. Life would be good with shade.

Who builds a luxury community in SACRAMENTO with no shade? LOL. It will decades before the trees mature to create REAL shade.

Came home, went to ice cream.

Oh yes, and I made dinner. Tried a new recipe called "Spicy Bronzed Chicken" and it was DIVINE. Was about 10 spices mixed up. Dip the chicken in butter (yes, BUTTER) and sprinkle with spice. I rounded it out with pasta roni (because we had some and I am terrible at planning ahead).

Not Bad.

I also did 4 loads of laundry. The first one came out with all this "gunk" and I was at a loss to what it was. Oh, hindsight 20/20. I threw it in the dryer - I didn't see much. Well, when I pulled it out I found the culprit. A DIAPER!!!!!!!!!! We were lucky it did little damage. Dh decided MIL had thrown it in with the dirty clothes (like underwear). Ugh.

I tried to do most of dh's work yesterday, and I have to say, I came out exhausted. Admittedly, he was behind on laundry. LOL. HE has been so distracted by our cable situation (spent all day working on our new internet - having issues). & so the dishes and laundry were way behind. I didn't even attempt dishes. HE has today to catch up a bit.

But I told him I did his work all day and was exhausted. Sometimes a day like that is good to extra appreciate all he does.

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I spent a good chuck of the weekend clearing the house of crap. BUT the house looks like HELL!!!!!!!!

LOL.

It just looks awful.

I got some clutter to clear now.

We have been ordering a lot of stuff for our camping trip and such, so just lots of boxes and stuff everywhere. I have so been enjoying the time to do deep cleaning, the surface stuff has gotten wildly out of control.

For that, I still feel overwhelmed.

I feel like we will never catch up! But we'll keep at it. A little at a time...

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My Craigslist sales are up to $30 today. (Sold some prints).

I was trying to sell them with some crib bedding/decor. I think it is adorable, but it is pretty unique. I know if I find that right buyer I can get a good price for it. But I might have to just give it away.

Too bulky to ship ebay. Though it might be a better venue... *sigh*

I'll just leave it up on Craigslist for a month or something. There's got to be someone out there with my taste in baby room decor. LOL. I will probably steadily decrease the price too. I am the point where I just need to get rid of stuff. !!!!! Though this was something we paid much for and is really nice. So it sucks to give it up for nothing. Bah.

I imagine this is how many people feel much of the time. Most of our baby stuff we bought used and sold for what we paid for it. So, I think this is why this is so extra disheartening. My NICE stuff is useless???? LOL. Yeah, that's why we usually don't buy baby stuff we can't turn around fast.

If dh gets to selling all the strollers we may clear $100 this week. We paid $20 or so for each of them, used, so I think we can clear $20 each too. Will help make up for the crib stuff not selling...

We've already turned around a few strollers because we bought a few to try them out until we settled on what we kept. Just kept buying/selling. Once they are used they keep their resale value pretty well.

I am still feeling a little overwhelmed.

Dh took the kids to San Jose to surprise his mom. She is now officially RETIRED. His dad will work a few more years to secure his pension.

So they went up to surprise her and take her to dinner last night.

So I am feeling very relaxed.

I am getting better at nights alone. I lived her a good year pretty much alone and really, before marriage and kids, I was quite happy to be alone.

BUT I find since having kids, the whole thing about being alone is very WEIRD.

I just remember like a year ago they went to San Jose without me (a very rare deal) and I looked very forward to my quiet night. Instead, I was so lonely I almost drove down late at night to join them. !!!

So even now I still find myself about the same. Looking forward to my time alone, and certainly planning to enjoy, and then it not being near as enjoyable as I imagined.

Today was a little better.

Last night I just vegged out. Got a really good night sleep too. But felt lonely.

I woke up and was feeling rather lazy so watched a movie. I then turned the TV off and got into gear.

I've had a few days alone, even an entire week, and I have found myself entirely unproductive. Just exhausted I guess. I generally collapse in a heap of laziness.

Today I was feeling much more motivated.

In my quest to clean the house, I decided to hit the theater room. Dh has a lot of crap in there, that I wouldn't know where to start, and that he would be angry if I went through. So I didn't know how useful this task would be, but the room has been bugging me.

I went through and found a lot of empty boxes and trash and stuff. So I cleaned up, vacuumed, and dusted in there. Not a lot to the room, and still cluttered with all his crap, but look SO MUCH better.

In the family room I also deep cleaned. Not a lot to it in here. Dh peeves me because he piles so much stuff on top of the entertainment center. So I went through and re-arranged some things. Left a few things and toys up there, but it looks much nicer.

I went through all the drawers in the kitchen and made a half-hearted attempt to clean out some old crap. I need a solid DAY to do a good job. But it was a start.

Found some interesting stuff...

So ended up with a large bag to donate and a large bag of trash (not to mention 2-3 bags of recycled paper. Yikes).

I feel overwhelmed, because this was the kind of work that felt good, and really needed to be done. BUT there is little to show for it. It looks slightly better, but not "worked for 3 hours straight" better. Bah.

Likewise, I am thinking about all the work I want to do in the kids rooms and everywhere else in the house. Just feeling overwhelmed.

Most of this stuff has taken a huge backseat with the kids. With