tcu2003
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Post by tcu2003 on Jan 24, 2022 23:33:05 GMT -5
This was posted in a FB group I'm in. As a doctoral student I empathize with how hard it is to find such specific people to fit in your study. If you know of anyone who might participate, please feel free to send this to them. Is she looking for people who have done this within the last year or some other timeframe?
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tcu2003
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Post by tcu2003 on Jan 23, 2022 1:11:23 GMT -5
That one worked!
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tcu2003
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Post by tcu2003 on Jan 21, 2022 21:16:40 GMT -5
I missed it. It took me to a page that said the tweet had been deleted.
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tcu2003
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Post by tcu2003 on Jan 18, 2022 21:20:30 GMT -5
My 2022 finished books include:
The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict Multipliers: How the Best Leaders Make Everyone Smarter by Liz Wiseman The Last Chance Library by Freya Sampson The Apostle (Scot Harvath #8) by Brad Thor
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tcu2003
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Post by tcu2003 on Jan 16, 2022 23:41:57 GMT -5
Got in a couple of walks this past week (even turned a zoom touchpoint with one of my employees to a walking one around her neighborhood as she’s relatively close to me - bonus!). We got snow overnight right Friday night/Saturday morning, so we did a slow 0.5 mile walk (and back) with the kids to the sledding hill yesterday and today. The snow will likely be gone tomorrow, so I’m hoping the sidewalks are clear enough to walk in my tennis shoes.
Eating was so-so. Im so tired of figuring out meals. It doesn’t help that my kids are not picky about the same things. One loves soup, one hates it. One will do some occasional pasta, the other hates it. Blergh. I think I’m just in a cooking funk so hopefully I figure it out soon.
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tcu2003
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Post by tcu2003 on Jan 14, 2022 23:28:29 GMT -5
They're also working with Place for Mom which is turning out to be very helpful they are the ones that figured out the facility filed the wrong paperwork. Random, but my sister works there and it seems like a good company. And when the time comes, if my mom ever needs to go to a nursing home, sis will be able to help us figure out where.
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tcu2003
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Post by tcu2003 on Jan 10, 2022 22:06:59 GMT -5
Hugs, Rae. So scary.
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tcu2003
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Post by tcu2003 on Jan 10, 2022 13:41:03 GMT -5
I asked dd what games she liked at school parties and they must not be memorable because she had no idea. Then I was thinking the simple science experiments but they're all food stuff. At the bigger school parties the selfie station is popular. Printing them would get expensive but if they could be put on a slideshow for the kids during the party it could be fun. LOL, I'm with your daughter - I don't know that any of them are ever memorable. But I do like the "selfie" station, but do it as a photo booth instead. One of the parents could take everything on their phone and send to the teacher, or we could use the teacher's iPad if she was okay with that. Thanks!
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tcu2003
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Post by tcu2003 on Jan 10, 2022 13:28:50 GMT -5
Last week wasn't great, but did get a shorter walk in on Tuesday and longer walks yesterday and today. But yikes, when I did, my step count was low. I need to work on that. I was WFH M/T/W because the kids didn't go back to school until Thursday, and if I don't go out for a walk, I have a hard time getting in steps. On a related note, anyone in a colder climate have any recommendations for warmer pants/leggings/activewear? My jeans were definitely not cutting it yesterday and today on my longer walks. I have snow pants, but as they're about a half size too small and we don't actually have any snow on the ground, I don't want to wear those for walks. Sometimes I'll wear leggings under my sweatpants. I've been on the coast for the last decade, so it just doesn't get that cold here. I'll be back inland next winter, so I'll need a different plan! I do wear running gloves if I'm outside though. That definitely helps. This reminded me I've been meaning to ask. I've seen you note several times you guys are moving - is your DH switching school districts? retiring? moving closer to kids/grandkids?
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tcu2003
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Post by tcu2003 on Jan 10, 2022 2:24:17 GMT -5
Drew Barrymore Rebel Homemaker and Nigella Lawson At My Table. Ottolenghi test kitchen I found at the library. It's middle eastern recipes. The first one knocked it out of the park so I'm going to buy a copy. I did not like Nigellas sweet potato tacos but that's because I don't care for sweet potatoes outside of one soup recipe. Was hoping this would change my mind. The flavors were otherwise good so I'm thinking of marrying it to my other taco recipe that uses russets. Thanks!! I’ll check those out.
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tcu2003
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Post by tcu2003 on Jan 10, 2022 1:29:09 GMT -5
I’ve been wearing gloves (and a hat and a scarf and coat), so my upper half is staying toasty warm, but not the bottom half.
I’ll check my local sams club to see if they have anything. And I will also try wearing leggings under some jogger type pants.
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tcu2003
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Post by tcu2003 on Jan 9, 2022 22:16:28 GMT -5
I have boys, so the only thing I can think of is shooting at a target with suction cup arrows. I saw something kind of like that with plastic straws and Q-tips as the arrows, but then couldn’t decide if I wanted to deal with the cleanup that was going to require. 😂🤣 Doh! Realized the straw & q-tipo idea is a no go. Our elementary schools still require masks, so that idea definitely won't be approved.
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tcu2003
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Post by tcu2003 on Jan 9, 2022 22:14:51 GMT -5
Hello everyone. Happy New Year! I'm finally getting around to posting my New Year's Day numbers. I know that next month I will owe more for Student Loans. Hopefully my assets will appreciate to offset the increased debt and my Net Worth continues to increase. Time will tell. -movinonup Assets | 12/02/2021 | 01/01/2022 | House | $466,800.00
| $466,700.00 | Liabilities |
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| Mortgage | $535,441.42 | $534,522.57 |
Out of curiosity, if you're willing to share, is there a story behind why your mortgage is more than the value of your house?
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tcu2003
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Post by tcu2003 on Jan 9, 2022 22:10:34 GMT -5
Last week wasn't great, but did get a shorter walk in on Tuesday and longer walks yesterday and today. But yikes, when I didn’t get a walk in, my step count was low. I need to work on that. I was WFH M/T/W because the kids didn't go back to school until Thursday, and if I don't go out for a walk, I have a hard time getting in steps.
On a related note, anyone in a colder climate have any recommendations for warmer pants/leggings/activewear? My jeans were definitely not cutting it yesterday and today on my longer walks. I have snow pants, but as they're about a half size too small and we don't actually have any snow on the ground, I don't want to wear those for walks.
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tcu2003
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Post by tcu2003 on Jan 8, 2022 12:24:07 GMT -5
I have boys, so the only thing I can think of is shooting at a target with suction cup arrows. I saw something kind of like that with plastic straws and Q-tips as the arrows, but then couldn’t decide if I wanted to deal with the cleanup that was going to require. 😂🤣
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tcu2003
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Post by tcu2003 on Jan 8, 2022 1:05:46 GMT -5
I got a couple new cookbooks for Christmas that gave me some inspiration and I am revisiting recipes I earmarked in others but never got around to trying like the loaded nacho soup. What are the new cookbooks?
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tcu2003
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Post by tcu2003 on Jan 8, 2022 1:01:20 GMT -5
Crowdsourcing - anyone have any fun Valentine’s Day party game/activity ideas for 4th graders? They can’t involve food of any sort (the kids will get special party snacks, but we’re not allowed any food as part of games/activities). I’m the party coordinator parent for C’s class, and I’m struggling for ideas that the kids will like. I reached out to the other 4th grade class party coordinator parents but also wanted to check with this awesome group.
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tcu2003
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Post by tcu2003 on Jan 8, 2022 0:59:12 GMT -5
We just got our calendar for the rest of the year and the kids get out of school 5/20. That seems so early, but they went back early too. They have spring break and 5 other holiday/non student days. That’s so odd to me that you didn’t already have your calendar for the rest of the year. And interesting how every district does things so differently. Our last day of school is 5/25, and the kids have spring break plus 8 other non-student days (technically 9 for M as kindergartners don’t have school on kindergarten roundup day). At this point, I’m waiting to see our 2022-2023 schedule so I can get an idea of next years breaks. It’s usually posted sometime in the spring semester , but I can’t remember when.
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tcu2003
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Post by tcu2003 on Jan 7, 2022 13:56:05 GMT -5
First world problems, but annoyed with our 401k provider website. We changed DH's 401k contributions to 100% in December to get as close as we could to the max of $10k in the post-tax funds (his 401k was already maxed, but didn't max until end of November when he received his bonus - don't worry, he still gets the max match - our company doesn't deposit the 401k match until February of the following year). Anyway, I've been trying for over a week to revise it before the first 2022 paycheck hits next Friday so that his 401k contributions aren't at 0%, and move the post-tax % down to 0. I get an error every time. I involved our CFO a few days ago, and it's supposedly fixed (they were able to go through the provider rep we have), but it's still showing up as 100% to post-tax account and 0% to the 401k. Annoying. I just confirmed with our payroll person, and she said she'll make sure it's fixed so fingers crossing that's all it takes.
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tcu2003
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Post by tcu2003 on Jan 5, 2022 0:56:53 GMT -5
In a funny, not funny, C has been asking to go to a movie over the winter break. He has a gift card from his birthday he wants to use, and the new Spider-Man movie is out. DH has been checking the screens/seats sold, and bought tickets for the 4pm show today because no other tickets had been purchased (around 1 today is when he purchased them), so lower risk of potential Covid exposure. He checks maybe 20 minutes before they leave and notices it now shows sold out. It doesn’t occur to him at all to check the email he used to buy tickets - nope, not at all. They get to the theater and the entire theater is shut down due to some issue with the fire alarm system, and DH had gotten an email notification with a refund at least an hour earlier.
Assuming the issue is fixed, they’ll try again tomorrow, but we definitely had a disappointed kid.
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tcu2003
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Post by tcu2003 on Jan 4, 2022 22:23:20 GMT -5
I also posted some kid games, books, and stencils my kids don’t use anymore on my local Buy Nothing group, and got those out of the house today, so that was a win.
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tcu2003
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Post by tcu2003 on Jan 4, 2022 22:22:26 GMT -5
I’m back for 2022. My overall goal is to keep decluttering and getting rid of things we don’t need and use. The other one is to get the basement completely finished /decorated / storage areas in order. We have an unfinished basement that DH is finishing, so when he’s done with the construction part, I want to get it in complete working and organized order. We’re in the home stretch, but I know it’ll still take longer than I think to wrap everything up. DH is putting in flooring now, but still need to do trim, kitchen cabinets and fixtures, bathroom fixtures and cabinet, etc.
I think I’m also going to try to make smaller monthly or quarterly goals to help keep me motivated and on track. For January, my goal is the master bedroom closet.
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tcu2003
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Post by tcu2003 on Jan 4, 2022 22:09:13 GMT -5
Hugs, Steph. I feel you on this. DH does most of the cleaning and housework, and any repairs/handyman type stuff, but nearly all the kid stuff falls to me, especially the mental load side of it. C is playing basketball - I’m the one who signed him up, made the calendar appointments for practices and games for DH and me, etc. DH will take him to practices (we all usually go to games), but that’s the easy part, in my mind. Same for every other kid activity. Same for regular, well check doctor, dentist, eye appointments. It gets old.
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tcu2003
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Post by tcu2003 on Jan 3, 2022 23:33:39 GMT -5
We had an extra kid for a few hours today and it went well, all things considered. The mom of one of M's friends from daycare/preK days called this morning and said she had a big favor to ask - she had an appointment at 1130 and didn't want to take her son, but her plan for care fell through (he's in a different school district than M, but he doesn't start back until tomorrow). DH is technically off today, so I said yes, bring him over. M was excited to have her friend over, and the only kids fighting were my two.
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tcu2003
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Post by tcu2003 on Jan 3, 2022 14:28:39 GMT -5
mpl's post inspired me to go compare our 12/31/2020 numbers to the 12/31/2021 numbers.
12/2020: $2,254,715 12/2021: $2,877,989
That's an increase of over 27% in one year - hello, market gains! Also my big increase in company stock before I had to sell for the ESOP, and I updated our house value for the first time since we purchased 7 year ago (I went with what the county appraised it at, which should be slightly less but close to what it would sell for, if we decided to sell).
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tcu2003
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Post by tcu2003 on Jan 2, 2022 23:30:15 GMT -5
Okay, I will probably edit these, but here is a start to 2022 goals:
Home: Finish the basement (not just the construction part that DH is doing, but furniture and any decorations we want) Either make my flower beds look good, or plant a vegetable garden (or both, but not holding my breath on that) Replace dining room rug Declutter my closet Paint the exterior of the house
Financial:
Max 401k accounts for DH and me Max backdoor Roth IRAs for DH and me by end of January Max mega/post-tax 401k option (or whatever it is called) for DH and me (this is $10k each at our employer) Fund kids’ 529 accounts to amount we get a state income tax deduction for Set up wills/trust Set up a brokerage account for DH and me Increase our charitable giving (and get the kids more involved in this)
Personal:
Read at least 36 books Try something new each month (recipe, restaurant, class, etc - anything as long as it's something new)
Family: Visit all of our city’s parks Vacation/explore someplace new Be intentional about getting outside more (not sure if I'm going to track hours for the kids a la the 1000 Hours Outside Challenge or not, but at least be mindful about it)
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tcu2003
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Post by tcu2003 on Jan 2, 2022 23:29:44 GMT -5
That seems really short! We've always gotten 2 weeks and 1 or 2 days for teacher in service. Yours seems long to me. We’ve always gotten just over a week or so off. There’s no teacher in service days included either as the marking period ends later in January. Also, I think you go back earlier than we do. We started August 30th this year. This is longer than we've had previously (to be fair, my oldest is a 4th grader, so only my 5th time through this...we also got a week at Thanksgiving when we've never had more than W/Th/F before). The last day of our 2nd quarter was the last day before the break started, but grades have all been submitted, so the in service days on T/W are for professional development, I think, not marking.
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tcu2003
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Post by tcu2003 on Jan 2, 2022 23:27:22 GMT -5
Our breaks were at least two weeks in the past. But this year our governor signed a law stating kids can't go back more than 10 days before Labor Day, or something like that. Because $$ is clearly the priority and not our children 😡 I forgot about that...one more reason the MO governor is a douchecanoe.
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tcu2003
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Post by tcu2003 on Jan 2, 2022 18:28:35 GMT -5
I went outside with the kids yesterday and shoveled some snow. And today a slow walk today with them in the 15F weather with lots of stops to look at frozen pinecones and whatever else caught their fancy. But I was outside and moving, so I’m going to call it a win.
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tcu2003
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Post by tcu2003 on Jan 2, 2022 18:25:27 GMT -5
Do you have a number in mind that you would retire at? Are you planning on retiring early? Around what age? No set number in mind. DH is 45 and I am 40, and our kids are in 4th grade and kindergarten. DH wants to retire at 60, and I want the option to retire when he does, though I’m guessing I at least work another year after him. We’re both engineers, and don’t have physically demanding jobs, so as long as I’m still enjoying my job, I’ll probably keep working, at least part-time (which would be an option at my current employer). We actually just met a few weeks ago with a financial planner that is a benefit of the 401k company that work uses. He ran a bunch of modeling based on projections out from where we are now, what we’re continuing to add to 401k and IRAs (plus kids 529 - he also modeled the funding the kids’ college tuition), and except for a few of the worst case scenarios, we should be fine. The kicker for us is healthcare - that was going to cost way more than I thought (though to be fair, I haven’t really thought about it).
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