Rambling

After having a nice trip out of town (Walmart), a relaxing lunch, and listening to a couple of lectures for my current online class, I decided it was time to sit down and write my blog for today. Not that I really have a topic in mind – but it's a wonderful excuse to put off balancing the checkbook!

After working so hard last year to develop and stay on a budget, this past month has been a complete budget buster. It's okay – we were in agreement on the move. But for the time being we had to pay up front a security deposit and partial month's rent to live here. We still own the house, so the utilities are still on there and we're paying those bills. We've already paid our first full month's rent. And there have been the inevitable small purchases necessitated by being in a new spot – new small trash cans, a shower rod to hang in the bathroom so we have a spot to hang up laundry that needs to dry. And the larger purchases, like the new sofa and recliner.

I've tried to keep my head from spinning when I think of balancing the checkbook. I don't, after all, want to look like Linda Blair in “The Exorcist”. But trying to keep track of everything that falls within our normal budget, then separately keep track of the extra moving expenses, and still keeping everything balanced and up to date.......I almost feel like I need an accounting degree! But, as they say, this too shall pass.....it just won't be behind me until the middle of May. I can do it – I CAN hang in there!

One of the projects I have in my future is planning a trip to Medford, Oregon, in the latter half of August. Hubby's parents live there, and his mom will be celebrating her 90^th birthday. It's been five years since we visited Medford last, and we're looking forward to another trip. Hubby's sister and her husband have now retired to Ashland, Oregon. We're looking forward to seeing their new spot while we're there.

Hubby's brother will fly in from Knoxville, Tennessee, for the celebration as well. Hopefully some of his family will be able to come, but as the next generation become adults and are scattered around the U.S., I'm not sure how many of them will be available. The main focus, I think, is having the three kids there to celebrate with their mom.

One of the determining factors on the date of the celebration has been my brother-in-law's youngest daughter. She's starting her first year of college in the fall, so we had to work around her “move-in” weekend. I thought she was all set to attend the University of Michigan, like her older sister. But in a last-minute switch, she's going to the University of California in Berkeley.

I shouldn't chuckle over that choice, but I can't help it. My father-in-law, sister-in-law, her hubby and both kids, my brother-in-law and his wife are all proud graduates of Stanford University. And the big Bay Area college rivalry..........the Big Game every football season..........is Stanford vs. Cal. It's as fierce a rivalry as any Midwest teams. And little niece, the baby grandchild, has chosen to be a Cal Bear. I'm anxious to know if brother-in-law will wear a Stanford hat or t-shirt while moving her to school. It would be like a Mizzou grad wearing a Tiger shirt or hat while moving a child into the dorms as a K.U. Jayhawk!

Younger daughter gets to start a new job on the 16^th. She's very excited about the opportunity. And she was able to schedule herself a mini vacation between Last Day and Starting Day. They're taking a quick three-day Caribbean cruise, so she can decompress before switching career gears. I couldn't help teasing her a little when she told me – this gal got a lot of my “planning genes”.......and I couldn't help asking her how she would be able to do this vacation without all her usual planning time and list-making time. I knew she was ready for the few days away when she told me that she didn't care, that she was happy to just throw whatever she could in a suitcase and get on the plane.