“Do the next thing”

…and another son has signed up for the Maine Army National Guard. We are so proud! He ships off to Basic Training at Fort Jackson in May.

We all made it down there to see him swear in!

Simmler Christmas Greeting (PDF)

Well, every so often I think Christmas and remember that it is coming.  I think it’s the decorated tree in our living room that reminds me.  Or, the repeated times that I’ve found myself at Walmart this week and the parking lot is filled and the lines are long.  Oh, yeah, it’s Christmastime.  Besides that, here, “Christmas” amounts to that tree I mentioned, and a black plastic garbage bag in my bedroom labeled, “Christmas.”  It’s labeled as such so that after the pest guy comes and goes and I wait 48 hours, vacuum the whole house, thoroughly of course, I can find it quickly as I begin to open the 50+ black and white trash bags and put our lives back in order.  Depending on how things go, I may just open that bag.  Or not.  It doesn’t have enough in it.  Ok, it has my little family covered, and Julie’s as well.  That’s it.  I missed the craft fair where I was going to pick up the cute little thank you gifts for all the special, faithful people who do little or big things that we benefit from.  Then there were going to be cute new cool things that I was sure to find at that annual event for my wonderful aunts, Gram, Mom, Dad.  Yeah.  Right.  That didn’t happen.  Coming out of the fog of recovery from falling my down the stairs on the morning of the craft fair, I was well on my way to finding those boot straps and planning a walk down Front Street in Bath.  Of course, whatever day I chose for that it was going to snow soft big flakes and the quaint shops would have yielded all the types of things that I didn’t get to look for at the craft fair.  Well, my week has gone, and that hasn’t happened.  Who knew that my Christmas gifts and White Elephant tradition might morph into one as I’ve been forced into this clean sweep.  Goodwill is happy.  The Bath landfill will receive it’s share, too.  Last night I commented to Fran that we’re all set for the movers to come.  No, of course we aren’t moving, but it is reminiscent around here of moving prep.  The difference is that our life has been packed into black and white trash bags rather than banana boxes.  So, while doing this big purge, to the sound of the washer and dryer turning non-stop, and one visit so far to the 24-hour laundromat, I’ve found a few things I think I’ll wrap as gifts for at least one of those whom I’ve done no shopping for.

So, what’s going on at the Simmlers’ anyway.  I’m laying it all out there to tell you we have been fighting the blight that has embarrassed and humiliated me.  Bed Bugs.  Seems our frequent travels south and stays in hotel rooms yielded more than we paid for.  After a two year long battle that we thought we had licked, we’ve finally called in reinforcements, (read $$$,) and they will be here at 11:00 today to treat the house.  Then they will be back quarterly for a year.  I write this to tell you that if you ever think you have them, don’t try to fight them yourself with concoctions from the internet.  Call in the professionals right away.

It was Saturday morning, (yesterday,) at 7:00am, BC, (Before Coffee.)

My heel slipped, and next thing I knew my feet kicked out from under me, arms were flailing and about the 6th step down my hands/arms finally found and atached themselves to the balusters of our stairs.  Too late, my tail bone is probably fractured.  Fran was at National Guard Drill, Micah was on the way out the door to a building job, and Anna was expecting a ride from me to her table at the craft fair.  I had a million plans for the commencement of Christmas prep.

Micah transported Anna, and the other ladies at the fair were there for her. Adam, fortunately, got his learners permit on Wednesday, so after confirming that the chiropractor was indeed coming to town on errands, he agreed to see me.  He didn’t adjust, but ordered xrays.  Adam drove me from place to place with me coaching him as it was his first time driving the van!  (Funny, he couldn’t drop me off at the door because he can’t drive alone on a permit!) The chiro later called to say he’d viewed the xrays and that unfortunately it wasn’t a dislocation that he could treat; he saw nothing out of place.  He would call me when the tech had read the images to confirm his suspicion that it is a hairline fracture.  I’m now waiting.

Once I sit, I stay a long time because its the transition of sitting or standing that hurts.  Once I’m in place I’m ok.  Bending to pick things up HURTS.  So, I don’t do it.

Anna has assured me that I don’t have to advertise for elves to set up Christmas here…she said she’ll take care of it.  She’s almost 13….can you believe it?

Diane

I found YNAB in late December of 2006.  We were well on our way in the process of paying down our debt. I knew we needed a plan to make the job of tracking our spending easier and faster.  I dreaded those days of flipping paper pages balancing accounts.  A Google search brought me to You Need A Budget.  Well, I already knew that, in fact I already had one.  It was just a bear to manage.

This software is more than software; it teaches and guides you through the murky turbulent waters that often occur in our financial lives.  The reality is that life happens.  No budget can be a cookie cutter copy each month.  What worked in December might not work in January.  This is a reality that I knew, but just couldn’t fully embrace because my budgeting system didn’t allow it.  This one did!

Two years later I still mention YNAB to whomever I can.  The stress of running the checkbook down to pennies each month until the next paycheck is gone.  The guilt from overspending the budgeted figure on clothing or food here or there is gone.  Not only did Jesse’s plan help me fine tune my goals, it provided navigational tools that helped me making adjustments when life throws you financial challenges.

A great part of the plan is that it takes you from where you are, no matter how bad your money situation seems, and encourages you into believing that conquering your debt is a possible task!  Our debt is down from six digits to a low four digit number and there is a light at the end of the tunnel!  I can’t wait to try YNAB 3 to see how much more work Jesse and his team have done to make it even more user friendly!