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Home > Archive: May, 2018

Archive for May, 2018

Upcoming Vacations

May 30th, 2018 at 05:14 pm

**I mentioned in my last post that I am taking a staycation of sorts this week. I guess since everyone else in my house has so much fun stuff planned (later), and I am long overdue for a break, I am just focusing on some small splurges this week. I picked up a few treats at the grocery store. I will probably go out to lunch today, etc.

**On Monday we dropped MM(14) off with my parents. He is going on a long river rafting trip with my dad.

He finished school last week. He usually has school well into June. So they might have gone on this trip last year, but when I pointed out how much earlier he gets out this year (public high school), they decided to wait. Is already pushing it as far as crazy hot weather in the Grand Canyon, but May beats June or July.

We spent $200 getting supplies for the trip, as I expected. & some of the items, like sunglasses and swim trunks, he can use beyond just the one trip. He's otherwise roughly the same size as MH. That makes it easier to buy higher end sporting gear, if I know we might use it again in the future. Mostly, he just needed proper shoes and some high quality rain gear. He needed a sweatshirt for this trip and I just gave him one of mine.

**MH just booked a June trip to LA to try and get a script sold. He was able to get a free timeshare stay (even though it was rather last minute) and will just drive, so is just a small blip on my financial radar.

**DL(13) is cashing in his raincheck for his 10th birthday trip. MIL took all her grandkids "anywhere in the world" on their 10th birthday. DL decided he was only 10 and wasn't interested. MH's family has been very melodramatic about this. OMG. I am just like, "He's 10." Or, "He's 11." I was quite sure he would come around with a little age and maturity. & trust me, we've told him not to pass up an opportunity like this. But MIL is one of those people that pushes and pushes and pushes, which usually has the complete opposite effect on people. So I was trying to buffer that as much as possible, because otherwise he would never go.

In the end, maybe because he is a bit older, he choose the most exotic destination of all the kids: Finland. They are planning for that trip in the fall. He's just always wanted to live there. & we've probably told him 100 times to use this opportunity to see if he actually likes it there. It's in the past few months that he has decided that he is ready.

I just dug out passports over the weekend because MM was was flying to Arizona. (He's a minor, but he looks 20. I figured it was best to have some proper ID on him). The kids' passports (just) expired and of course we have to renew in person. UGH! It was the most painful experience last time. I will just renew them both together (again), and then we never have to do that again.

Time Off

May 29th, 2018 at 05:04 pm

With MH being so busy, I am completely exhausted. What a month!

I have this week off, but haven't had any time to process that. So, I feel rather "meh" about it. Work was surprisingly quiet last week, which I guess is some of it. Almost any other week this year I probably would have been in more, "Get me out of here" mode. I planned this as just a mental health break. Is unpaid time off (spurred by change in business ownership).

Anyway, we shipped MM off yesterday, for his river rafting trip with my dad. We spent most of yesterday stuck in a horrible traffic jam. UGH.

I am also kind of bummed that everyone in my house is so busy. But I decided to go to the coastline by myself for one or two days this week. That sounds DIVINE! I have no idea what I will end up doing, but I am jotting down notes to drag MH with me on some weekend when he is done with work for the summer. (I've crossed off a couple of things I'd rather wait for MH to do).

I am starting to think I may just go to San Francisco for the day. At the least, will go to the beach and my favorite restaurant (in SF). Which by itself is probably all I need. But while there, I am thinking about going to the zoo or the art museum. Is just going to depend on my mood that day. I am definitely just going to wing it.

The other thing I realized I need to make sure to make time for is some pool/sun time. Is really my only goal for today. I am going to get some gas (cheap/small gas station; will go while it's not busy). I am going to buy some groceries (we need a few things and MH didn't have time, but I also want to buy some treats. It will be a very small grocery run). I will check gas buddy because it just depends on the day which gas station is cheaper. I think the grocery store may be the same price (gas) today, and in that case might as well not drive around so much.

It's going to be pretty hot today, so I won't go to the pool until late afternoon.

That's about it for my plans today. As I get more into vacation mode, I will probably look up some books to check out from the library (I would love any recommendations) and I may work on my knitting. All of the above is usually stuff I have/make time for. I am viewing this week as a chance to hit the reset button. This year has just not been very "balanced" with us both being so busy/stressed on the work front.

Oh, and I forgot one more thing. MH mentioned some podcast (Unspooled) where they watch and discuss the AFI's Top 100 movies. A lot of classics that he has never seen. I told him in theory that sounds nice, but I am never able to keep up with all the movies he watches. & I don't generally like what a time suck movies are. (I am not a movie person, and he is THE movie person. I do like movies. But I am just generally good with like once per month, whereas MH will watch a movie every single day). But... it's summer and whatever, I can give it a go. So we are going to watch #1 Citizen Kane tonight. I think we decided that we will watch the movies together and just do the podcasts on our own time. He wants to keep up and watch one movie every week. Will see... I am not very optimistic about my long-term participation.

I'll ask him later how he acquired Citizen Kane. I don't remember. But I wouldn't be surprised if he owns like half the movies already. & we are generally able to watch movies for free because he has credits to rent (through Amazon/Vudu, etc.). & for more difficult movies to find, I know he's bought used and sold back in the past. So, as we go along I will try to remember to share how we participate frugally.

Edited to add: Most these movies are at our library.