Fun and Frolic With Long-Term Love

[YouAreHere]

Hugs, BB...

My ex was like that as well. We used to joke about his memory, since that was easier than believing that he was just gaslighting. Of course, when I couldn't remember, I would doubt and second-guess myself.

It has taken me a while to trust my intuition and memory again. I run into areas where I'm really not remembering something correctly, and fall into the self-doubt path, which sucks, but I think the time away from Gasbag has helped. Hopefully, your time apart will start to help you trust yourself again so you can get righteously indignant ("Of COURSE I told you mid-October!") as opposed to doubting yourself.

 

[Bluebird]

Well my plan today was to get up and go to the doctor's drop in sick clinic. Only, I woke up when it was over. :/ I have a dental appointment tomorrow morning so I'll actually set an alarm then so I can make it to the doctor before that. Sigh.All I know was that I was so physically exhausted yesterday - I hated myself. It was just the couch draining me so completely. Hopefully today will be better! I need to teach in an hour and a half, so I need to get in the shower now.

 

[Bluebird]

I've been up since 4 am, for no reason. I just woke up and ugh. I did actually go to bed around 8 pm though - again, the coughing has me exhausted! That said, it was noticeably less yesterday, and I fell asleep easily. I've discovered that having my guys read aloud to me has me out in no time at all. DarkKnight has read the first 4 pages of HG Wells' The Time Machine to me now, like 3 times. lol PunkRock read a Cthulhu choose-your-own-adventure sort of book to me and I didn't make it through 3 choices! It's sweet that they are willing to do this.

OMG guys, I haven't had sex in a week! It's interesting because I haven't had any drive for it either. Or if I have some stirrings, they are immediately overwhelmed by the need to sleep. I am thinking of going upstairs and having sex with PunkRock later, but as I was just typing that sentence, I yawned. See? Gah!

Yesterday evening was pretty great - I had an impromptu dinner out with DarkKnight at Karu Peru and everything was amazingly delicious. The last two days I've been working hard on sticking to my diet plans - I've cut out all drinks except for water, no diet soda, no chai, no juice, and I only eat the smallest bit when I am hungry, and nothing but water after 7 pm. I actually think this is why my coughing has improved, as these changes would definitely have an affect on my acid reflux.

Anyway, we got awesome news while at dinner - DarkKnight got an email alert from one of the credit reporting agencies that one of the disputes I sent in had been resolved, and yep, two of the baddies had been completely deleted. I am very excited about that, as it should increase his credit score significantly. With that agency, anyway! There are 3, so I gotta get this to happen on all of them! It was certainly a great update though. Things are progressing! His debt-to-income ratio remains perfect, so really right now we're just letting time go by while I do these improvements to his credit score. I am super hyped about buying our house and look online at new properties daily.

We're still vacillating about what it is we want exactly, but 3 bedrooms/1 bath is a must, really want at least 4 bedrooms/2 bath, or a place for DarkKnight's office. Must have a separate area for a game room and paint studio. Overall, it must have a private backyard/outdoor space. If I wanna be naked outside, it needs to happen without any arrests. Lol I think I want a wooded lot. DarkKnight needs uninterrupted Verizon data service because of his job, so that will come into play, for sure. Must be no more than 30 minutes from a city center where they have a community theater program. Oh, and cost less than $100K, because I am 100% determined to have a 15 year mortgage and have it paid off earlier. Online calculators say we can afford and secure a mortgage for much more than this, but I really want to go as low as possible. Being financially free from a mortgage in a short time is a major goal of mine for our family - we currently pay over $1600 a month for rent and I am determined to have a mortgage for at least half that. And y'all, I have several houses saved right now that seem to fit my specs. So it's exciting.

 

[Dagferi]

Wow we pay $225 a month on a 15 yr mortage on one house (I pay 450 a month so it will be paid off in 5yrs, 2 yrs left), and the other is $300. And that one has 2 years left since Murf has always paid more than that per month.

We have community theatre here. 3 or 4 groups to be exact and high speed internet.

 

[Bluebird]

We need to stay in Maryland. My youngest is going to stay here, and I am my son's disability rep payee. We looked all over, but in the end, Maryland is where we need to be. I was really keen on Martinsburg, WV for a short bit, but even that was going to prove to be a problem. Maryland is where we'll be planted.

Though, if we ever decide to head North, we will definitely check out were you are!

 

[Bluebird]

Dental office selfie! Yeah, another appointment this morning - this time to cement my fake tooth in better, since it pops out at least once a day! I was shaking in the middle of things, but now that it's over, I'm coping quite well.

 

[Bluebird]

Horrible night of acid reflux last night - seriously, it was awful. I didn't finally pass out until after 3 am, as my hacking was just over-the-top terrible. PunkRock left me at 2 am to go on a trek to find a place that was open that had relief for sale, and thankfully, Gaviscon actually helped. I absolutely know what triggered me - my dinner had raw onions in it, and I didn't clue myself into that fact until the meal was almost done. I was like, fuck!!!! And paid for it all night.

So starts my day of exhaustion.

Actually, I am hoping to have time to day to start really knocking out the paint job on my Tempest Blazers, otherwise known as My Little Murder Ponies. I have a little over a week to finish 3 of them, as the league painting contest will be judged on the 9th.

I talked to a good friend for a while yesterday, and I think I might join the Journeyman League in Waynesboro at the end of October. It depends on my schedule. PunkRock and I may join the Iron Kingdoms RPG at our game store, as a friend has started it back up, and all of my V is really excited to start a Call of Cthulhu campaign in the future. We need to talk more about that over the next month. So I don't know if I'll have time for another Journeyman League! I guess it also depends what the next step is in our local game store - I think we might have a few Steamrollers or other tournaments start up, which would be hella fun!

 

[Bluebird]

Excited - more positive news with DarkKnight's credit report - got a letter today that the one credit report agency deleted a medical collection off. This was from when he hurt his knee in the supermarket, and the bills were supposed to be paid for by the store's insurance. I was really happy to see this, even though it was unexpected - I hadn't asked them to delete it, just to give me more info. Now I just need to have this happen 2 more times for the other agencies, and life will be good. I really want to shell out some cash and check his credit scores - between the two deletions I got this week, we should see a significant jump! But, I can get a free score on November 1, so I am going to wait and see what the rest of the month brings. I just spent an hour knocking out 3 different letters to 3 different agencies. If they all do what they should, DarkKnight's credit will be shiny and clean on all of them, and we could actually move forward with buying property immediately, if I wanted. That said, though I am hoping for immediate deletions again, it isn't guaranteed, and in fact I was really surprised by this happening, so I think my original timeline of next year will stand. It's super exciting to think that we could start earlier though!

 

[Bluebird]

I didn't fall asleep until after 2 am last night, and I was awoken by my cough at 5. I slammed 3 Gaviscon chewables, fell asleep again, only to wake up again at 6:44 am. Another Gaviscon, but I am up. I woke Dan from the coughing, so I slunk downstairs so he could go back to dreamland. I feel like such a shit when I wake up my loves.

At times like these, I really wish I had made it in to the sick clinic. I wonder if I do have an actual illness, because I've not had acid this bad in like 5 years. I can feel the heartburn, and wow, the Gaviscon has worked at times, but then at other points, not so much. I believe some of my throat irritation is from my sinuses draining, but whether that is being caused by an illness or acid, I dunno. Leaky sinuses have definitely been a side effect of my acid reflux on previous occasions. And, it's not like I'm blowing my nose nonstop other times. The cough is pretty terrible though.

I am doing really well, not eating anything after 7 pm. I haven't slipped up on that all week. You'd think that'd have an impact, but so far I am still coughing when I lay down later. I've been perfect with no carbonated drinks, and I've had nothing but water all week too. I think I have done a good job at no snacking between meals as well. I hope these changes have a better effect on my weight than they have on my coughing!

 

[Bluebird]

Well, some DayQuil quieted my cough a bit, so DarkKnight and I went out to catch a 2 hour theater show at the county art museum - An Evening with Poe. Holy smokes guys, this show was wonderful! Edgar Allen was there himself and he was full of humor. He did a few readings and scenes of some of his poems - including the Tell-Tale Heart and yes, The Raven. There were also two short plays of The Black Cat and The House of Usher. It was really well done and the music really set the mood - definitely spooky! I want to do some Halloween-themed things this month, so this was a good kickoff to October. It was also fun to get dressed up and have a nice date with DarkKnight. We came home to a home cooked crockpot beef stew with some King's Hawaiian rolls - oh so yummy!

 

[Bluebird]

Heading over to start the last week of the WarMachine Journeyman league. I actually need to really concentrate on painting today, rather than playing, but I am sure I will get a game in at some point. A friend is picking me up since my daughter stole the car to go to a sex ed class.

I need to color my hair soon - I want it to look good for when I go to NY. I am feeling pretty good about myself still, except for my weight. Overall, I'm happy.

 

[Bluebird]

Sweet! I won the WarMachine narrative league for my team this month at the game store. To be fair, I was the only one consistently playing on my team, but I am happy about it. All I get is bragging rights, and it isn't much to crow about, but yay me! nonetheless.

I also wanna say that PunkRockAwesomesauce is, well, awesome. I love him so very, very much! We went out to dinner tonight and afterward we were just laying on the bed together, being snuggley, and I was just overcome with squee. He was giving me sweet little kisses and I just wanted to hug him forever. <3

 

[Bluebird]

Today so far has been full of me making plans about trips to NY. I am going up next Friday and coming home the very next day, to drop off two of our foster kittens. They are getting fixed and their rabies shots on Monday and microchipped the Thursday after, so they will be completely adoptable right after that. It'll be a super quick trip and it is already packed full of must-do activities. I will be driving up by myself, which will be agonizing for me, but it'll work out.

Basically, my plan is to leave around 5:30 am on Friday morning, and then arrive around noonish. I will need to run paperwork and such and drop off the kittens to their new homes. Then I will spend the afternoon with my mom, since she is having a for-sure meltdown over her Medicare/Medicaid options and coordinating with her social security vs the survivor social security she gets from my dad's death. I haven't looked at any of it, but she constantly calls and asks for me to help her decide what to do. I told her to put it all in a folder and that I would get it worked out when I arrive. I just know it is going to be a headache and a half, but there is no one else.

My sister wants to hang out Friday night, and then I will go back to my mom's to crash. I'll have breakfast Saturday morning with my oldest daughter, and then drive home.

Whirlwind visit for sure! I am trying to coordinate DarkKnight taking the remaining kittens to PetCo or PetSmart that Saturday to the adoption events held there, but since PunKRock works that morning, I am not sure how to get the transportation settled. I might message my son and check his schedule. It would be great to have all the kittens gone next weekend! We will empty and deep clean their room on that sunday then, and we will be able to take another batch right away. I don't want kittens over the holidays though, so i think we are going to get older ones next.

My oldest daughter is definitely coming here again for Thanksgiving. We talked for a long time yesterday and got the timing worked out. She is going to drive up the day after Thanksgiving and we'll have dinner on that Saturday. She'll return to NY on Sunday. We discussed her current boyfriend - he will be coming as well - and she was concerned that I didn't like him. I was actually surprised because I have like, zero opinion of him. DarkKnight and I had dinner with them at a Chinese place last December and he was really quiet. My daughter thought that I didn't believe he was good enough for her because he's a mechanic, like her dad. Though my ex husband and I are not good, I have never looked down on his profession! I told her that, and that if she was happy, then I am good. Silly girl. That said, all of her relationships implode after one year, so I tend to not get heavily invested in any of her boyfriends because of that. We'll see how this one works out.

My son came over this morning, having just had another crown cemented in. I had to pay $140 yesterday for it, and so wanted to talk to him about other dental work, his finances and the Christmas trip to NY. He definitely wants to go to NY with my youngest daughter and I. (DarkKnight and PunKRock can't get the time off again.) So we talked about coordinating visits with his birth family, his dad (my ex) and all of my family. Once we figured out the dates - Dec 15-18 - I then had to email my oldest daughter, my sister, my ex and then talk to DarkKnight, PunkRock and my youngest daughter. My son is going to talk to his grandmother (birthdad's side of the family). Anyway, coordinating shit makes me tense.

Things are working out though. My sister replied right away and we had a good chat. She is fine with hosting a family Christmas party that saturday, and is welcoming my youngest to stay overnight the whole time to hang with her kids. She actually asked me what my two husbands would like for Christmas! I about fell off the couch! So anyway, she was the main issue - making sure the dates worked. Everyone else will just fill in as things progress. My ex didn't answer and I will probably have to message him again later this week. I am sure he will give me fits, because no time ever works for him. I told my oldest to call me today and I am sure she will at some point. I should probably call my mom too.

 

[Bluebird]

Yesterday ended up feeling very overwhelming, and today my anxiety is sky high!

After getting my planning done for the 3 trips - well, my two trips and then Thanksgiving plans - I started a to do list that kept growing larger by the minute. It was seriously crazy! I did manage to knock out cleaning my fridge and organizing the freezer in the garage, so I did end the day with some positive, visible results. However, each of my other chores each spawned more opportunities for busy-ness!

After talking to my mom, I got to add genealogy research back onto my plate. I had completely wiped my mind of the fact, but I need to get re-established on ancestry.com and produce a scrapbook for my grandma's side of the family. Last year I did one for my grandpa, and my extended family is expecting one at Christmas for my grandma. I have no idea how this fact slipped out of my mind, but now I am freaking out. I am going to spend some time this morning making a separate list for this project, with a firm timeline of working through the steps of getting it finished. I am excited but also overwhelmed at the moment, just thinking about it!

I had let a day or so lapse with working on our State of the Union paperwork & planning, so I worked on this for about an hour or so yesterday. More info is needed, but I did have some good news at the end of the evening. The last time I updated some numbers was about a month ago, so I asked DarkKnight to check the balances on our accounts for me. The total we currently have available for our mortgage downpayment was $2,000 more than I expected! If it continues to trend this way, we will be in a VERY good position next spring when shopping for a mortgage!

That said, working on this planning paperwork just underscored all the appointments I need to set up and discuss with my guys - we need a mortgage broker, an insurance salesman, a financial planner and a lawyer. Fuck. Just reading that list is daunting. Again though, making a timeline will help me get through it, so I am hoping to focus on this stuff Friday morning.

My diet is kind of all over the place. One thing I have managed to hang on to and be strong about is no food after 7 pm. Unfortunately, yesterday I was distracted and didn't eat very many calories and by the time I realized I was starving, it was too late. I chugged a bottle of water and held firm. I am not sure if adhering to this strict time will actually have an effect on my bottom line, but whenever I usually eat after 7, I get terrible reflux, but even more than that, it's always junk food. So, I am trying to change this habit and just stick firm to this new rule I have set for myself.

What else yesterday...oh! I am trying to get the rest of the month budgeted out with activities as well as trips. I want to do more fun things in regard to Halloween, so I now have a list of ideas for that. This Saturday, my daughter, me, and my two husbands are going to go to a pumpkin patch and a corn maze. I am thrilled about that - I haven't done that sort of thing in years! We are going to carve the pumpkins together later this month. I am also going to schedule a couple of board game nights for the 4 of us, but those are something we do every year - Atmosphere and Betrayal at House on the Hill. Perfect for Halloween! I need to make a trip out to Sam's Club specifically for Halloween soon as well - I only give out full-size candy bars, and since it looks like we will be home on the 31st, I want to be prepared. I do also want to schedule some scary movies, but I am a little overwhelmed with finding time to do that!

I have some short trips with my guys to set up this month too! PunkRock's cousin is getting married on the 29th, so we are going to go to Baltimore for that. It's a late evening affair, so we're going to get a hotel room overnight. He actually just messaged me from work this morning to tell me he had been approved for both days off - the 29th & 30th - so I can actually book the hotel now. I also need to get them a card and myself something new to wear.

DarkKnight's old college friend is having a 40th birthday party at the very beginning of November, so we are trying to swing a trip up to Jersey to go to that. We'd spend 4 days up north, and get a whole day in NYC. DarkKnight has never been there, so I am excited about that. Financially, we really are stretching to fit this into the budget, but DarkKnight is working overtime a lot lately, with this trip in mind. I think we will be able to juuuuussssst squeeze it in.

My stress for today - before I stop writing here - is crazy. Last night, out of absolutely no where, my dental implant came loose again. It has lost pretty much all suction and won't stay in AT ALL. I am livid, terrified and very upset. I am freaking out about going to the dentist AGAIN and so have no idea why they can't seem to get this right. I deliberately kept my retainer in overnight so the damn tooth wouldn't fall out and choke me while I was sleeping.

Right now I am waiting for it to be 8 am so i can call the dentist and see if they can cram me in this morning. I have to teach at 12:30 today, so I don't have much time. Tonight I need to go to the monthly foster meeting at 6 pm with PunkRock as well, but I suppose I could also squeeze in a dental visit after class. But holy fuck - will this never end?!

 

[Bluebird]

So the dentist made me an appointment tomorrow at 11, which is just peachy keen because our washing machine stopped working, and now the landlord is coming over at 10 am. Ugh.

My class today went fine, but I discovered that next week, both classes are going to be half the size because the kids are all attending this bushcraft camp. So I just canceled everything next week and we'll pick up the following. Fuck trying to get half of two classes all caught up at the same time. Ugh.

In the morning, I decided to sign up again for Ancestry.com, since my mom put it back in my mind. They offered me a great price of $99 for 6 months. The last time I was subscribed, I paid $49 a month, so I couldn't turn this down. Since then, every spare second I have been on there, tracking down leads. It's addicting. One story that I followed WAY too long was a 4th great uncle, Henry, who the census said was married to a woman named Sherlock. No, you deaf motherfucker, it was Charlotte. lol Whoever wrote that was cray cray! Anyway, it caught my eye so I did more research, and the very next census, 10 years later, Charlotte was listed as living with her mother, and Henry had custody of their son. Interesting. I dug deeper, and it turns out they had a 5 year old daughter die, and then Charlotte left. She was NOT living with her mother, but in fact, hooked up with a cad by the name of John Augustus Svahn. He knocked her up and they had a bastard child. Henry finally filed for divorce a few years later, and asked for the 2 pounds a month he was paying as allowance to his estranged wife, to be returned. He won! I found this fascinating. Apparently they had another child - a middle daughter, but I never found any trace of her. Her mother didn't take her and Henry didn't have her - wtf? I stopped that line though, as it's not a direct ancestor line and won't help me when making this scrapbook. However, I like knowing all the dirt.

 

[Bluebird]

I posted it on Facebook, but I need to say it here as well: my husband DarkKnight was absolutely amazing yesterday. When I came home, horribly distraught and out-of-sorts after my traumatic dental visit, he just grabbed me up on the couch and held me for the longest time. Then he went and made me some tea, to soothe and restore my spirit. I am so very lucky to have his strong support every day of my life, and through tough times as well.

Holy fuck, y'all. Yesterday was terrible.

I got a call about an hour before my appointment, with the receptionist telling me that if I was at all anxious, I absolutely should be. I'm like, uh, thanks? She said that they wanted her to call and tell me that it would be about an hour visit, with laser work being done, and that I was going to definitely be getting shots of Novocaine into my gum line. So, if I had any anti-anxiety medication, I should probably take it. BYE!

Yeah, that was a bunch of bullshit right there. I went from being nervous to shaking non-stop before leaving. I have never taken anti-anxiety meds, but I was sure needing them after that nonsense!

Anyway, I arrived a half hour early and they called me back immediately. I was there being worked on, non-stop, for two and a half hours. They gave me an ibuprofen 800 as I was leaving, which did stop the pain pretty quick,but I am actually still a bit shaken up, to be honest.

First, the dentist went down inside the hole in my mouth and blasted out all of the cement she put in there from the other day. Apparently, it didn't stick to the side walls and was instead all pooled at the very bottom. After a bit of sandblasting and scraping, it was all clear.

Then, she used a laser to cut away my gums surrounding the hole. Once that was done, she roughed up the sides of the hole and the post. Unfortunately, after putting everything back in, she didn't think it looked right, so she did some google image searches to check her work.

After a bit, she took pics with a special camera and messaged them to the original oral surgeon, who is in South America. They had some back and forth over text, and then she called him. The work was perfectly fine.

To make sure that I now have zero movement, she bonded the back side of the post to the teeth on either side of it. I was worried about this messing with how I floss, but she showed me that it would work fine.

They actually had to numb me up twice because I was there for so very long.

Everyone was really nice, but I was pretty much crying the entire time. Just tears running down my face, just stoically sitting there and just hoping it would be over soon.

Well, now it is, thank goodness. I don't want to think about this latest fix not working. Fuck that.

So yeah. After that, it was so great to come home and just have DarkKnight hold me.

But, that was yesterday. Today, I hope, will be much better! I just finished watching season 1 of a show called Skin Wars, which is a competition between body painters. I wanted to post on Facebook about how I was body painted on the one time, but then people would want photos, and nope. lol It was at a play party event at a sex club in the next town over, and the two guys I had invited to come BOTH showed up, so I had them each paint one of my boobs to look like a galaxy. I had sex with the winner. lol That wasn't WHY I slept with him, as he was the guy I was seeing at the time, but it was still a fun experience. I think I posted about it here, then. Anyway, the body painting on the TV show was way better.

This morning I am awaiting delivery of our new washing machine, as the other was removed yesterday for being broken as all hell. I am then planning on going to lunch downtown with one of my besties - I think I posted about how she came out as both poly and bisexual to me last year. Anyway, I haven't hung out with her in a while and I miss her face! We are going to have lunch at my favorite downtown restaurant, go to the bead store and then back to my place to make bracelets. I can't wait!

PunkRock is going to Glen Burnie after work today, and he invited me to go along with him. I am not sure if I will. It depends on a couple of things - the first being whether or not I am done making bracelets with my friend! We are meeting at noon for lunch, and PunkRock will be ready to go around 3:30. So it could work out ok, or maybe not. It will depend on how long everything takes, and I am not going to rush my girl time!

Also, to be honest, I am feeling sort of hurt and out of sorts with PunkRock. He was not very loving to me yesterday when I was back from the dentist - he came home from work, sat on the couch next to me, asked for an update, and then went upstairs to nap. I had to ask him for a hug. When I went to wake him at 7pm, he came downstairs, grabbed his dinner, and then I didn't see him again until right before I went to bed - and then I had to search him out for a kiss goodnight. I felt pretty low about that. Again, thank goodness for DarkKnight - he was really there for me, and I NEEDED the physical reassurance of hugs and arm rubs.

Plus, I have to say, I don't really love PunkRock's friend in Glen Burnie. This is the chick that he didn't date in the past, but who was really into him, and who I believe still is. She always makes comments to him - AND ME - about how PunkRock deserves someone that loves only him, and that can concentrate fully on how wonderful he is. It always gets my hackles up. When we went to her condo the last time, she was happy to hear about my breakup with WarMan, and said "oh! Now you can give PunkRock the undivided attention he deserves! No more dating anyone else! He needs you to be just with him." I was like, uh, ok. But I'm poly, and have another husband. And more than likely I will date someone else in the future. But yes, I plan on not having any new partners for a while.

Yeah. Plus, this chick is dating the guy that PunkRock used to work for, who lost him his $20,000 investment in the game store up that way. He's definitely not my favorite person.

So, for all of those reasons, I'm kind of eh, about whether or not I go to Glen Bernie today. Plus, you know, it is nice for PunkRock to have some time away from me now and then, other than work! He started playing infinity at our local game store on Saturdays, and he's been encouraging me to join, but I really don't have the time and I want him to have space away from me. He just says he doesn't need the space and he wants me to try it. lol So far I have resisted! But yeah, I don't feel an overwhelming urge to go today.

Well, the Lowes delivery crew just called and they will be here with my new washer in like 10 minutes, so that's enough update here for now!

 

[opalescent]

Sedation dentistry might be your friend. It's where they put you totally out, instead of using novocaine or other 'twilight' kind of stuff. You might it way less traumatizing.

I'm sorry. That sounded awful.

 

[Bluebird]

Yeah, if the tooth comes out again, they are definitely knocking me out because i just can't deal any more! So far, so good though!

I used my new washer this morning, and it's a high-efficiency model. I didn't know that. lol It's so weird to look inside and not see an agitator. I had to read the directions a couple of times to make sure I was using the correct amount of detergent. I felt pretty dumb for a short bit, but it's working now. Let's hope my clothes turn out clean.

Yesterday was a good day. I had a wonderful lunch with my friend, and spent more than I should have on beads. I remade a pair of earrings and one of my favorite bracelets and she finished a bracelet before PunkRock came home. I did end up going with him to Glen Burnie. Before we left, I did tell him how I felt a little bit ignored and abandoned by him after my dental appointment and that got worked out.

Today my husbands and I were going to take my daughter to a local corn maze and pumpkin patch, so of course it is raining. I am pretty bummed, because we won't have any other weekend to reschedule. Oh well. We now need to decide if we are going to just go to the store to get carving pumpkins and do that today, or play one of our Halloween board games. (Betrayal at House on the Hill or Atmosphere) Honestly, I want to save the board games for at night, but we will see what the others want to do. I am up to do either choice.

I still need to shower, but I am going to wait a bit until my laundry stops before jumping into the bathroom. I've been working on and off all morning on our state of the union paperwork, and I am really frustrated with it. Basically EVERYTHING will be changing next year, so that is going to necessitate another meeting in February, I think, after hooking up with a financial planner, a lawyer and a mortgage broker. Oh, and the insurance guy. But, I have a plan and we need to discuss it all now, like every year. Definitely my guys could come up with something that changes everything - they have done it before. Still, I need to finish this up so we can get the meeting scheduled for sometime next week, I think.

Financially we are actually in a good position, especially with DarkKnight's investments doing so well. And PunkRock's retirement is off to a great start - when I met him he had no savings, no insurance (life or medical), no 401(k) and now he has a nice little nest egg growing and is in a much better position. That said, the set up for all of our long term plans has us living little better than paycheck to paycheck, so that is always sort of scary. I am happy that costs will be coming down on a lot of things next year, so our position will improve there. Though, when I think about it, I have always been about budgeting everything, so the future will be covered. If we have $300 left, I make sure that then gets written into savings, so then we look broke and the joint checking is empty. But I guess we are really not, since I told someone to transfer it out, or not send me that amount because I want it elsewhere.

Sigh. I am tired of looking at numbers and coordinating all of this! That said, it's pretty empowering to know that by taking my time and planning everything out, my life and my guys' future is going to be amazing.

But, I also have two open enrollment periods happening in the next couple of weeks, for medical insurance. ALL of that is changing. DarkKnight has been putting the maximum in his flexible spending account for two years, at a tune of almost $100 per pay period, and now that my teeth are all finished, we can slap that back into his take home pay. Unfortunately, we're going to have to up PunkRock's flex account balance, since he is getting a vasectomy and carpal tunnel surgery on both arms next year! I am happy though, that we can afford to do the things we need to do.

 

[Bluebird]

It was a good day! Fun good morning sex with DarkKnight today, and I had lunch out with PunkRock, since he was home from work. Then I went got in a final game for the Journeyman League I've been playing in for 13 weeks - and though I lost that game, I took 2nd overall in the league! I was pretty excited. I do feel like I have improved my game a lot because of this league, so I am glad I stuck with it. I received a $35 gift card as my winnings, so that was awesome. Oh, and get this - my unit of trenchers was up for the painting award, and I WON. This means I get a special patch for my bag, which is hella cool. To be honest, PunkRock didn't enter, or else I would not have even been in the ballpark.

There's talk now of what happens next and it sounds like we're going to have some one-off tournaments. Like, a jerkface janky competition, where players bring the most unbalanced and unfair army lists to pit against each other for the day. Stuff like that just sounds super fun. There is also another league starting up in Waynesboro in November, which I am uncertain about. It's like a 20 minute drive, which isn't terrible, but there's also a $35 buy-in, which is really steep. That said, right off the bat you get to pick a new battlebox OR get $22 store credit. So I like the sound of that. I guess I will have to see. November is also a new narrative league at our local game store, and since I participated in the September narrative, I have a coin that gives an advantage in this next one. I am unsure if I want to do both leagues at the same time - it's just a little much.

Especially with the holidays coming up, and all my trips this month! And this Ancestry stuff, and if you guys remember, I'm still involved with a Christmas charity in New York, so I will be shopping and organizing all the donations for that. And the house stuff, you know, planning a purchase and moving! Plus I'm still teaching and all that entails! And the foster kittens. Yeesh!

A guy at the game store was trying to sweet talk me for like 30 minutes to start playing a game called infinity. PunkRock has brought it up too, as he plays with this guy and some others every other Saturday night. I have resisted so far, because there is a limit to how many things I can become involved with! Plus I like that PunkRock has a gaming outlet that doesn't involve me. I feel like he needs a break from me! He has said he really doesn't mind, but I kinda do. So I don't know at this point. I told this guy I would think about it.

PunkRock has tomorrow off, but I probably won't hang out with him much as I have to prepare for our State of the Union tomorrow night. DarkKnight, PunkRock and I are going to go out to dinner together tomorrow night and discuss our plans and finances for the upcoming year. I don't have a ton more to do, but it involves math, so it might take me a while!

 

[Bluebird]

Ugh. Up early because I have to take the foster kits to the vet. I didn't remember til late last night. I am exhausted, so this is pretty shitty. Lol They are going to be spayed/neutered today, and get their rabies shots. I won't need to pick them up until tomorrow. I am actually starting to feel a little sad - hopefully they will all find homes this weekend, but I will definitely miss these little buggers!

Oh man, I really hope I can get back to bed when I come home. Usually I have trouble falling back to sleep!