Overexcited

Dear Friends and Family,

Yay! My interface is fixed!

Last night was not a good night for P. We had lots of nos and squeals and shouted responses and time outs. I'm hoping it was because she was overexcited from her Christmas party and not because she's picking up some bad habits.

One more day and then we have some time off. I cleared my inbox yesterday. Today, I need to clear my whiteboard and my desk. And, I need to clean my desk. Then, it's time off to spend with family and with the house and the prepare for the new year.

Let's hope P is better tonight. Then, I'll be in a mood to wrap presents tonight for her to open tomorrow. If not, then we may hold off until after the holidays.


Cheers!
mouse

Only Marginally Guilty

Dear Friends and Family,

We're planning on taking P to school for a couple of days next week even if Mr. mouse and I are off from work. At first, I felt super guilty about sending P to school while we were off from work. But, in truth, I'm super excited about having two days free to get the house back in order. Yes, two days off, and that's what I am excited about.

I'm torn between diving deep into one large project (aka the basement) or spending my time across many rooms on little things that I would never have the time to do. I think, maybe, what I'll do is work in 15 minute chunks - and after each chunk of time switch rooms letting my whimsy choose the next room. It's amazing what you can do in 15 minutes to help a room.

I'm inspired by P's book. Little Miss Neat. She lives in Two Pin Cottage and everything is as neat as can be. I would like to be Little Miss Neat and live in Two Pin Cottage. I would.

My list of rooms? The living room, the play room, the kitchen, the laundry room, the half bathroom, the basement, the garage, P's room, our room, P's bathroom, our bathroom.

So excited.


Cheers!
mouse

Fun Week

Dear Friends and Family,

Something still wrong with my blogger interface this morning. I wonder if this is their way of trying to get us to upgrade to the new interface? Or, do they really think the week of Christmas preparation madness is the moment we want to attempt to learn something new? Or, is someone asleep at the wheel?

Tonight, I have the enviable task of taking P Christmas shopping for Mr. mouse's present. I waited until the last minute so she'd have less temptation to spill the beans. I also have the somewhat humorous task of helping her pick out Mr. mouse's gift. (Last night, on the way home, she proclaimed she wanted to get him a spoon. Yes, a spoon. Could it be because she was looking at her spoon at the moment? Perhaps.)

Then, tomorrow is Wednesday. And, we have P's holiday party. And, the day after is Thursday. And, then we're off from work on Friday. Yay!


Cheers!
mouse

Top 10 Needs

Dear Friends and Family,

Well, this is new. Something is wrong with my blogger interface this morning. Hello, Monday.

Over the weekend, I found a local charity and their top 10 needs align so closely with our top 10 needs that I'm hoping to take advantage of the situation and drop off some stuff with them. Is that bad?

For instance, they need toiletries. We have boxes of hotel shampoo and soap. They need new or used children's books. We have several books we never read because P doesn't like them. They need job interview clothing. I kid you not, I have my suits that I was just looking at thinking that they needed to go. They need gently used coats. Seriously? Because we just cleared out the coat closet. They need non-perishable food. We don't have a ton, but we're always looking for an excuse to get rid of something in the pantry.

Is this bad? We have this stuff lying around and I'm dying to get it out of the house because I feel like our house is overflowing with stuff. I feel like I'm taking advantage of them. We have this stuff. Would you be so kind to take it off of our hands?


Cheers!
mouse

The Toddler Christmas List

Dear Friends and Family,

In the spirit of keeping my sanity, I decided P did not need me to buy her a little bit of everything. Yes, I could make a VERY long list, patiently browse all of the sites, buy a combination of things that make me feel like I too can climb Mount Everest. And, then, do the crazy package tracking. All, in the spirit of what?

Instead, P is going to get a simplified list of things...

1. two books
2. paint plus paint brush set
3. a couple of small pieces for her Duplo collection
4. one board game
5. one set of ribbons to wave while dancing

And,

1. three pajamas (she's outgrown her current)
2. two pairs of pants (see above)
3. two tops
4. one snowsuit (also outgrown)

Still a mountain of boxes to wrap and unwrap, but within the bounds of sanity compared to the exercise I went through last Christmas and for her birthday.


Cheers!
mouse

Christmas Frenzy

Dear Friends and Family,

Not to switch gears on you, but I will. The Christmas frenzy has begun in earnest.

Tomorrow, we need to bring in P's gifts for her teachers. It's been an absolute NIGHTMARE traffic-wise this week, so we haven't had a chance to make the cards yet.

Then, sometime between today and tomorrow (um, sounds like tonight) we need to order all of our gifts or sign ourselves up for some weekend shopping. And, there's still the Christmas cards. And, the photo books. And,...

Ugh.

Honestly, I wish Christmas was about skipping all of this craziness and spending time with P. And, buying a couple of fun things for P. And, calling it a day.


Cheers!
mouse

Faith

Dear Friends and Family,

After sleeping on it, and given a chance to change his mind, Mr. mouse says he is committed to making our marriage work.

I am ecstatic.

I think he is more reflective. I know there's stuff he's struggling with. And, I'm sure there is stuff I will struggle with. But, for now, I'm glad we had the talk. I'm glad we came to an agreement. I'm glad I get to look forward to a future filled with memories together as a family.

I'm glad.

I'm also trying to figure out... How much do I try to help? How much do I just give him the space to do what he needs to do on his own?

I think I'd like to use a part of our Christmas vacation to drop P off at school and use a day by ourselves. I feel bad about sending P to school when we're both off. But, in the long run, I don't think it'll do her too much harm.


Cheers!
mouse

Alarm Clock Ringing

Dear Friends and Family,

The alarm clock has been ringing for the past 20 minutes, but Mr. mouse seems to be deep asleep so I'll let it continue to ring. Oh. There. It just stopped.

We were up late last night, talking, about stuff. The stuff from the weekend stuff. And, it was close to two before we fell asleep.

I got a lot off of my chest. But, I can't say I feel a lot better about it all. I feel like, in this one, there's no right or wrong. There's his opinion and there's my opinion. Neither is right or wrong, they're just opinions after all. I told him if he feels strongly about it, he should look for someone who agrees with him. But, he doesn't want to. The topic isn't important enough to break up a family over. Instead, he would prefer it if I changed my mind. But, try as I might, I can't or rather I won't.

I'm entitled to my opinion. I am strong enough to say, if this isn't right for you than we need to both be grown up about it and find alternative solutions which work for both of us. I'm scared to death of the thought of not being together. We've been together for the past 16 years. But, I owe it to myself to be honest with myself. I need to remind myself, this isn't about me. But, in the end, I keep coming back to questioning myself. Is this about me? And, is the topic important enough to break up a family over?

It's not easy. But, life isn't easy. And, I've overcome. And, I've persevered. And, I've always tried to stay true to who I am. I'm not easy. But, life isn't easy.


Cheers!
mouse

12.12.11: Things Done

Dear Friends and Family,

While it's not easy playing second fiddle, it is nice having Mr. mouse back home. He fixed the leak in the ceiling by replacing all of the rubber parts on the toilet in the master bedroom. He fixed the broken sockets in the kitchen by replacing the GFI outlet by the sink. And, he took out all of the trash and did all of the laundry. See?

We did have a dust up over some stuff, but I won't go into it now.

And, now, it's Monday and while we didn't finish our Christmas shopping - in fact, I don't think we've even begun our Christmas shopping in earnest, we did get a bunch of stuff done over the weekend, so I can't complain.


Cheers!
mouse

Options, Options, Options, Options

Dear Friends and Family,

Well, short of a nice Santa rally on Wall Street, 2011 isn't going to be a banner year for me to write about.

So, in thinking about this more, I think I've got a couple of options. I can wait it out since really much of it is beyond my control. Or, I can do the things within my control to change the trajectory of our retirement portfolio.

Decisions I can make? I can decide what to invest in. I can invest more aggressively. I can invest more of our portfolio. I'm going to veto both of those options simply because I don't believe it has much upside for us and it does have bucket-loads of downside for us.

Other decisions I can make? I can decide to save more. And, I think this is a viable one. We're comfortable with our budget now. Perhaps we can budget a little more carefully and send the balance in to our retirement portfolio. I'm willing to try it for a couple of months if Mr. mouse is.

Then, come January, that'll be a nice add to our sad retirement portfolio. My goal is to make my entire paycheck discretionary. We'll see how that goes.


Cheers!
mouse

Quiet Evening with P II

Dear Friends and Family,

Yes. Mr. mouse was busy again last night so P and I had the night to ourselves.

Traffic was a bear so we went out for dinner, putting a hold to our plans for a picnic for dinner. P ate lots of noodles and lots of unagi rice and was generally happy to be out at conveyor belt sushi.

We got home, did our flag puzzle, colored, and then went upstairs for hydrolysis. We read four books and then I pretended to sleep so that she would fall asleep. Except, as it always happens, I really did fall asleep for a couple of minutes. When I got up, P was asleep. I carried her into her room, went briefly into the basement for White Elephant inspiration, and fell asleep for the night.

This morning will be a little bit of an ad-hoc exercise in getting out the door. And, tonight will be a little bit of an ad-hoc exercise in getting everyone to bed. But, Mr. mouse has promised me the work craziness will be done tonight. So, tomorrow morning life will return to some semblance of normalcy - just in time for the holidays.


Cheers!
mouse

Quiet Evening with P

Dear Friends and Family,

Mr. mouse was busy last night, so I had the joy of a full evening with P.

We went out to eat pancakes for dinner. Then, we changed out of syrup-covered clothes. We hung the rest of our Christmas ornaments. We made a Lego pizza oven with a monkey on top and baked giant slices of pizza for miniature Duplo friends. We watched two songs on Mr. mouse's computer. We tied a string to a car and pulled it around the house. We read lots of books and drank lots of milk. Then, P leaned forward and collapsed on our bed and I let her sleep for 10 minutes before carrying her into her room.

I had fun. I hope she did as well.


Cheers!
mouse

Plan B

Dear Friends and Family,

I realized a very simple Plan B if my idea doesn't work. It's not a very sophisticated plan at all which makes me think it's viable as a backup plan. If my idea doesn't work, I will wait until P enters kindergarten and... wait for it... I will find a new job.

Yes. It's that simple. P will enter kindergarten in the fall of 2014 which means if I don't want to disrupt her current program, I don't have to.

Now, there's always the possibility that I can lose my job or my job can go away. Plan C, so to speak. In that scenario, P has to change schools anyway. In that scenario, I'd probably either focus on my idea or switch gears and find a new job.

Somehow, it made me feel better to realize I have options. I don't have to work in my current job until I retire. I can make a move and try something new. That might not be a bad thing.


Cheers!
mouse

12.05.11: Dentist Visit

Dear Friends and Family,

P went to the dentist and it was a partial success. She let the hygienist count her teeth and brush her teeth with a toothbrush. She let the dentist look inside her mouth. But, she had no interest whatsoever in the metal picks or the powered tooth cleaner. Still, it was a big improvement over last time when she didn't let much of anything happen beyond putting on the bib and sunglasses.

The other thing we spent a lot of time talking about this weekend is Santa. Apparently, she's learned about Santa at school and about presents and Christmas. Huh?!?! Well, I've had the first of what I'm sure will be many talks with her about it. She picked up the phone at the hotel (which we unplug the moment we step into a room) and called Santa. "Hello? Santa. I would like a car for Christmas. Bye." Yes, that is was our child says to the phone. Fortunately, she means a matchbox car, not a real one, but still.

And, last but not least, the toilet training thing may be on hold for the week. P has the nastiest of rashes on her butt and it a little overwhelmed with all of the stuff going on down there.

On one thing, she has been consistent over the past week. We're done with breastfeeding. I made it the whole weekend without the pump. I think we are officially weaned.


Cheers!
mouse

The Lost Year

Dear Friends and Family,

Well, it's not as bad as the lost decade, but, it's certainly not a good feeling.

We're on track, barring a nasty December, to break even on our retirement portfolio this year. Really, the plan is to make money, not break even, but given the environment we're in, I guess breaking even is better than losing money.

I had high hopes for November, given October's performance, but November didn't continue the trend.

Still, we are fortunate. Mr. mouse has a job that he enjoys and I have a job that if I don't enjoy at least keeps me satisfied for the moment. And, if we can turn the ship around even modestly, we should be in decent shape come somewhere between April 2019 and February 2023 which is MUCH later than December 2016 which was our original goal. But, we've done what we can. Now, we just need time.

I just keep telling myself that at some point we'll start getting out-sized gains instead of out-sized losses, but it's tough to believe that when the out-sized losses keep coming.

One thing all of this makes me realize, well a couple of things really. One, most people probably haven't even done the math. There's too much happiness which makes me assume there's a lot of bliss out there. There's too many nice cars and expensive shoes and bags to make sense otherwise. Two, most people are going to be pressed to retire anytime in their lifetime. If we, with our ability and disciple to maintain a diligent savings rate and good fortune are barely able to see retirement in future, how does the average person manage it? I can't see how the math works out.

So, even if the past year was a lost year, I'm optimistic that I'm doing what is within my control to secure our future.


Cheers!
mouse