Shhhhh, I have a secret plan

Why is it that when you decide to pay something off let's say a car or a Sears bill that something invariably goes wrong.

Our goal is to pay off our bills except our house (even though I am very open to that) and sock away a bunch of $$ so we are ready for any opportunities that may arise in the next few years.

So I kept it quiet that I was paying off a car early because you know what happens when you do. Well sure enough on the same day I got a payoff quote my husband called and said the car wouldn't start. Of course it didn't. Well luckily it ended up being the battery but was it a warning? Don't pay off that car or the car loan Gods will be angry?

Now common sense tells you that the car is getting older and things are going to start to go wrong but can I have a month with no car payment! Just one month!!

I am not telling anybody, even myself about the next bill we will pay off. Maybe I will just close my eyes point and pick something and click "pay entire balance". I wouldn't even know which one it was. Then maybe since I'm not sending anything out into the universe to any other random Gods out there then everything will be fine. Pretty please!???

 

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Dream house

My guess is if you are like me the dream house in your 20s and 30s looks way different than your dream house when you are in your 50s.

I used to long for houses with tons of square footage, huge rooms, wood fireplaces, sprawling yards and lots of flower beds. But then you realize that with that comes tons of cleaning, mowing, weeding and bills.

Now my dream house has a deck for some flower pots, maybe a very small yard for our dog, an open floor plan with a kitchen/family room. A master bedroom, an office and a room for Hattie. A smaller house that's cozy, maybe exposed brick and a nice kitchen. A gas fireplace as I just want to turn on a switch and not drag in logs. A cute porch out front.

I love designing my dream house in my head and wonder if this is one of those things that by thinking it, I will attract it. I can even picture the door! I need to figure out Pinterest so I can "pin" all the things I see and love. The great thing is even if we never do this it sure is fun to think about.

Home sweet cozy home.

 

 

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The journey continues or starts

The great thing about being in your fifties is that you have the time to look at your life and see if you like what you are seeing.

Years ago I was a member of a weight loss support group and there was a woman whose children were grown, she was financially set, she had a beautiful house on the lake and she was absolutely miserable. She was in a very unhappy marriage that she saw no way out of.

I have carried that woman's story through the years in my heart and have always been determined to not end up in a place of being miserable with my life. We can't let the attitude of "well that's just how it is" determine where our life leads us.

Starting this blog has given me an amazing opportunity to look at the journey I am on and decide if it needs a shake up. I often wonder why I didn't make different decisions when I was in my 20s but maybe in our 20s we aren't ready for enlightenment as we are too busy doing life and not living it.

I have an amazing life with a great husband and kids, a nice home, a good job and now a new Granddaughter but it is exciting to think about maybe living somewhere else, having time to take some classes, have days free to have Hattie come over for the day and maybe bake some cookies and watch a movie together.

It is so thrilling to open the book that is my life and have the opportunity to add some chapters. Or maybe start a whole new book. What would your book look like?

 

 

 

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Attitude adjustment Part Deux

I am realizing that people that do amazing things in life probably do not walk around carrying a lot of negative thoughts in their heads.

My nephew is an accomplished musician and entrepreneur and my guess is this guy only has thoughts of opportunity and not obstacles running through his brain. My guess is not only does he have a ten year plan, he can also tell you exactly how he will get there.

So part of my plan is to not only turn negative thoughts into positive ones but also to take action steps to get there. In other words if we hope to move to Maryland one day I not only have to believe it will happen I have to take steps to make it happen.

So yesterday I decided I wanted to create more money in my life. I started looking through bills which led me to call the cable company and after spending five minutes (well more like 30) I had cut my bill by $50 a month just by asking. Now I could get truly annoyed by thinking why weren't they charging me $50 less all along but I won't go there. Then I glanced at my mortgage statement and realized that my payment is dropping $60 a month. Yes that's right, dropping not increasing. This folks is a miracle in itself.

So maybe just maybe all the answers are inside of us and we need to believe that. And maybe if I shift my thinking I will shift my life. Can it really be that easy?

 

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Attitude adjustment

I have come to the realization that I will need to work full time for at least 2-3 more years. But as I stated before, I'm sort of worn out by this work thing. I really do like my job but I am one of those people that is "in their head" way too much.

See I'm pretty much a cup half empty person and always have been. How does that happen? Was I laying in my crib thinking about how my bottle was going to be too cold and I bet my mother won't remember to change my diaper on time? But I swear for as long as I remember I am always thinking about how badly everything will go. (except vacations which I aways think will be great and are!)

So I watched a motivational speaker on youtube last night speaking about this very thing and how to take thoughts and flip them around instantly. So instead of thinking in the morning "we are three people short, we will be super busy, I am going to get five emails that I won't know how to answer and I have a list of 100 things on my to do list" I will think this is going to be the best day ever! Now just typing that made me laugh out loud with complete doubt but maybe I need to keep saying it. Maybe by always thinking how crazy my day will be I fulfill that prophecy in my head.

Do we really attract to ourselves the thoughts and beliefs in our heads? Supposedly studies show that we do so maybe I need to try a mental shift as soon as these thoughts pop into my head. I will try it. I will let you know how it goes. Of course that is only if my IPad doesn't break, or my Internet doesn't go out or I don't get malaria in the next few days.

***So here is an update. I wrote this post yesterday and tried this at work and overall it worked really well. There were a few times those thoughts started sinking in but I was able to turn them around. It must just take practice. So I had a great Friday and then when I checked my phone after work there was this picture of Hattie. Life really is great and I guess it's all how you look at it.

 

 

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Packing for a new life

I am realizing that one of the benefits of blogging is saving a ton of money on therapy.

I had started this blog post talking about our intention to move out east at some point and that we have accumulated a bunch of "stuff" that I would gladly part with. I went on to state how most of our things would be donated or trashed except for a few things that mean a lot to us.

So I saved the post, took a shower, was getting ready for work and thought "why have I surrounded myself with a bunch of stuff that I don't care about"?

But it occurred to me that since we moved every few years in the military and odds are when they packed up your stuff and threw it on the moving truck that many of these things you treasured were bound to be lost or broken when you arrived at your new location. So, I never got attached to things and our family has always been what has made our house a home.

Around 19 years ago my husband retired from the army and we settled down in Minnesota. Our kids grew up, moved away and now I am left with the "stuff" when what I really miss is what always made our house a home, my kids. I see my daughter, son in law and Hattie as much as possible and we see our son often but it is always a few hours here and there. I of course love my husband and love our life now but our home feels somewhat empty since we have gone from four to two.

So now the appeal of living near Hattie and my daughter and son in law and having them come over and fill the house with noise and love is so strong. I also want my son there too so I am hoping that the same thing that has occurred to me occurs to him.

I want a real home again.

 

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Fur ball #3

We adopted Lexi a few years back when we had to put our sweetheart CC down.

We went to an adoption day specifically looking for an adult cat that just seemed like a laid back, loving and easy going cat that would fit in our family. Luckily that was exactly what we found in Lexi.

She had been found by animal control missing part of her tail and ear due to frostbite and was adopted by a family who later on had to move and couldn't take her with them. So again up for adoption she went and after a long wait for a new family we found her. She was just beautiful and I immediately said to my husband "what about this one". Well the rest is history and we have never looked back.

Her favorite things are:

• People. She loves and adores everyone. She would lay on top of you all day and just purr if you let her.
• Leaving surprises around the house if her litter box is even a little dirty. This is her one bad quality but it is kind of a big one. We tolerate it because we just love her to pieces.
• Greeting us at the front door. No matter where she is at in the house if she hears you unlocking the door she will run to greet you.
• Our dog and cat Bella. She loves our dog even though he is way too rough with her and also loves our cat Bella even though she is too rough with her too.

So here is Lexi and we just think she's the cat's meow. BTW, I looked up what "the cat's meow" means and it said extraordinary, special and loved.

Exactly!

 

 

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