GreatLakesGirl

I meant to write that the pest company heated my in-laws house to 400 degrees to get rid of the bugs. Ick all around!

My brother-in-law did an overnight sleep study and brought home bedbugs. His wife is DH’s sister and she told me she was ready to burn down their house. They had to evacuate and take oil paintings and candles with them (so they didn’t melt) and stay in a hotel, because the pest people heated the interior of the house to 104 degrees or so to kill all the bugs. Makes my skin crawl to think about it.

Who are you asking?

Phew, glad Murphy moved on since he was camped at our house in March. But I'm sorry he's taken up residence with you.

p.s. last week we received a new, clear title to DH’s car from the DMV—just a couple weeks after paying off the balance 19 months early!

Exactly! It wasn’t until I created a budget on an Excel spreadsheet with columns for budget & actual for each month that we made real headway. I could enter our expenditures every day and play with debt payments to see how quickly I could pay them off. (I put the debt totals at the bottom and linked them to the payments in the budget.)

Congratulations!

How's your progress on the painting and decluttering going?

I'm sure it is events like this that make you happy you have an emergency fund for your rental properties.

Mom, thanks for the great update. I'm very happy for both of you.

Congratulations!

That's why I update our budget every single day. It's easy to go astray.

A part-time job in retirement would be great for your husband. Does he have a hobby that he could make money at? Golfer--work at a golf store in a golf course's pro shop is one example.

DH and I have never done a road trip unless you count us driving from Portland to the Oregon coast and then up to Seattle. But after he retires--when we're not bound by work vacations--this is just the kind of trip I'd like to take. I loved reading about your adventures. Thanks for sharing.

My mom was a stay-at-home mom and we didn't go to school under kindergarten (granted this was in the '50s and '60s). She always said being home with us when we were young was the happiest time of her life. It is wonderful to hear how you moms still love that life.