and we have been married 22 years today! It's funny how a lot of significant days turn up with the same weather, year after year, even with all the global warming pomp and circumstance. September 11 is such a day, and so is the 15th. Halloween in New Jersey is often a nice clear crisp day, warm enough for no coats. Of course there are exceptions but in general this is how I remember all of these days.
So we will celebrate with a trip to the usual favorite restaurant, despite their sadly unsatisfying crab cakes the last time we went, because I always give them another chance and because they send us $15 gift certificates for every major milestone.
But our biggest news is the mortgage refinance, which will save us $1800 a month beginning in five years ($1200 a month immediately - this is because we had to take a 401k loan to pay down the principal so the ratio would allow us to qualify - that loan will be paid back in five years). Of course, Kevin will use this opportunity to buy himself the new car he's been lusting over for several months - probably a Jeep Wrangler. It's nice to finally be free of Wells Fargo, who did all they could to keep squeezing an extra 3% a month out of us, and refused to refinance because we had a home equity line as a secondary loan - although it was also with them. Now they get nothing! Although in a twist of irony, it looks like they will end up with the processing of the new mortgage anyway. But at least they're not going to be sucking the blood out of us for another 24 years like they had hoped.
Our car status has been just pathetic lately. First, the Explorer cost $300 one day and $500 the next. Then the truck cost $440. Brian's friend's car broke down at school and even my new boss needed an expensive brake job on her car. I'm afraid to touch a car at all! Mine had a light come on the other night, but thankfully it only needed air in the tires. For now.
Anyway, as it's been a long and exhausting week, I am very much looking forward to spending some time at home. I do have to get my newsletter done, but that's become more routine and I can do it in a couple of days of sitting down for a few blocks of time here and there. Kevin is traveling to Sweden for a few days, and of course B is supposed to be studying away. Tennis starts today, and its his first year of being able to drive himself. And the deer are terrible! The other night one was just standing in the shadows, right in the middle of the road, around a curve! Luckily, he was on the other side from where I was driving, but the next time he might not be. It's very creepy.
Not much to report on M, as we don't hear too much detail from her. She went to the Yankee/Red Sox game the other night with a friend of my friend's daughters. She's still awaiting delivery of a couch, and I assume still struggling to regain her physics brain so she can tackle that class. She did say she enjoyed her audiology class this year more than last, so hopefully the physics brain will come back to her soon! Audiology is a longer school commitment, as the terminal degree is a PhD; for speech (at least for now) you can get a job with a MS, which she can get in five years if she does everything right. Of course, the audiology path could be more lucrative, but only time will tell what will be. It also will cost a lot more!
B has managed to survive his first week of senior year, barely. First, he lost the parking tag before he even got home on the day he got it. Then, on the third day of school, I got a call at 9:05 that he wasn't there. Although I had spoken to him several times before I left the house at 7:20, and probably should have feared a horrible wreck, I understood him more likely to still be snoring away in bed, and indeed he was. This promises to be an ongoing challenge, and one which he'd better get under control if he expects to be sent to a residential college! We aren't paying tuition for him to sleep through classes!
And in other news, we will soon kick up the college search. Lots of schools are starting to send invitations to their open houses, which of course are all on Saturdays (same as tennis) or are far away and end late on Sundays. I have tried to step back and let B manage this to some degree but I also have a sense that it won't get done. His high school is very structured and insists on all applications being in by the Monday after Thanksgiving, even for regular decision. Early applications are due much earlier than that. So that takes the pressure off, a little. Even thought there will be pressure, it's their own and no actual deadlines are in danger of being missed. But with B and his organizational challenges, it promises to be an adventure.
Saturday, September 15, 2012
Saturday, September 8, 2012
bring on the rain
It sure is hot! Of all days to have this weather, I finally got my hair cut after three months, and had some bad gray streaks mitigated (for now). As I went to leave home, the skies opened up. Fortunately, when I left the salon, they had cleared, but humidity and heat are now up and the trees are dancing, a harbinger of storms to come. I guess we will see.
Kevin and I were out way too late last night (for me) and although it was a fun night, as I nursed a glass of wine, the hosts announced a DWI checkpoint on our route home. Three hours later, with me totally sober but exhausted and paranoid, we took a detour and came the long way home. By the time I got to sleep, it was close to 1. My entire body aches when I do this these days! It didn't help that I had been up since 6.
So - M is back to school. She has to take physics, which is causing her some anxiety since it's been two years since she last had anything requiring mathematical thinking. But she enjoys her audiology class this time (last year I think it was very dry) and also loves her social psychology teacher (sort of a given, I would hope, or at least a requirement for one to attain such a position, that the personality should befit the subject matter and be entertaining). Her apartment is probably her biggest source of excitement over being back, and she has already started swim training for the season. She can walk to Whole Foods in less time than it takes me to drive to the one here. The bad news is that Abby is pining for her long-lost pal.
B started school yesterday. As always, he is determined to perform well this year. He too has physics, and he has precalc. It isn't going to be an easy year, and it's an important one for college. He should be able to manage it, but he will have to learn to control his lack of focus.
Having just passed his driver's test two weeks ago, he has taken to the roads in M's Explorer, which we knew was in need of some sort of repair (turned out to be a rusted wheel bearing, and$300 later, that is all fixed ). Meanwhile, the other day, the battery light and warning sign came on, and the garage (during the wheel repair) said it was fine. Sure enough, half an hour later it came back on, refused to go off, and the battery charge drained down to 'E'. This morning we had to take it in to a different place, and drop an additional $500 on an alternator.
Other than that and the college applications, B is status quo. Oh, he did have his MRIs last month but we have heard nothing back. I may call, but since it ties my stomach up in such knots, I'll probably end up waiting until our November appointment.
As for my job, it is much, much improved. I like my new boss and appreciate her honed administrative skills, which the organization was really lacking prior to her arrival. Of course it's too soon to tell if this will prove to be symbiotic or cause rebellion, but I have not seen her make any move other than one that was unarguably the right one. I rarely sit and stare with nothing to do anymore, and I feel almost as if my brain is awakening from a long sleep. Of course, nothing is perfect and without knowing the future, I do still keep an eye out just in case; the commute and the salary both have room for major improvement. But for now, I am happy to be where I am.
And in other news, we may have actually managed to secure a refinancing. Kevin is waiting impatiently as the underwriters do their thing, but everything up till now seems to be in order. If we ever manage to close, we will save about $1100 a month, which is nothing to sneeze about. It sure will help when we have to pay two tuitions next year! Of course, Kevin plans to use the money to buy himself a Jeep.
Kevin and I were out way too late last night (for me) and although it was a fun night, as I nursed a glass of wine, the hosts announced a DWI checkpoint on our route home. Three hours later, with me totally sober but exhausted and paranoid, we took a detour and came the long way home. By the time I got to sleep, it was close to 1. My entire body aches when I do this these days! It didn't help that I had been up since 6.
So - M is back to school. She has to take physics, which is causing her some anxiety since it's been two years since she last had anything requiring mathematical thinking. But she enjoys her audiology class this time (last year I think it was very dry) and also loves her social psychology teacher (sort of a given, I would hope, or at least a requirement for one to attain such a position, that the personality should befit the subject matter and be entertaining). Her apartment is probably her biggest source of excitement over being back, and she has already started swim training for the season. She can walk to Whole Foods in less time than it takes me to drive to the one here. The bad news is that Abby is pining for her long-lost pal.
B started school yesterday. As always, he is determined to perform well this year. He too has physics, and he has precalc. It isn't going to be an easy year, and it's an important one for college. He should be able to manage it, but he will have to learn to control his lack of focus.
Having just passed his driver's test two weeks ago, he has taken to the roads in M's Explorer, which we knew was in need of some sort of repair (turned out to be a rusted wheel bearing, and$300 later, that is all fixed ). Meanwhile, the other day, the battery light and warning sign came on, and the garage (during the wheel repair) said it was fine. Sure enough, half an hour later it came back on, refused to go off, and the battery charge drained down to 'E'. This morning we had to take it in to a different place, and drop an additional $500 on an alternator.
Other than that and the college applications, B is status quo. Oh, he did have his MRIs last month but we have heard nothing back. I may call, but since it ties my stomach up in such knots, I'll probably end up waiting until our November appointment.
As for my job, it is much, much improved. I like my new boss and appreciate her honed administrative skills, which the organization was really lacking prior to her arrival. Of course it's too soon to tell if this will prove to be symbiotic or cause rebellion, but I have not seen her make any move other than one that was unarguably the right one. I rarely sit and stare with nothing to do anymore, and I feel almost as if my brain is awakening from a long sleep. Of course, nothing is perfect and without knowing the future, I do still keep an eye out just in case; the commute and the salary both have room for major improvement. But for now, I am happy to be where I am.
And in other news, we may have actually managed to secure a refinancing. Kevin is waiting impatiently as the underwriters do their thing, but everything up till now seems to be in order. If we ever manage to close, we will save about $1100 a month, which is nothing to sneeze about. It sure will help when we have to pay two tuitions next year! Of course, Kevin plans to use the money to buy himself a Jeep.
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