Goals and why they are rarely written by me

 Writing goals is not something that is normal for me.

Been "flying by the seat of my pants" for many years. The last of "real" goal setting was in 1980.

 I was camping at Bryce Canyon with a young man whom had just proposed that he should propose to me. My guy was a student in International Bank Management and had just received a job offer from Melon Bank in New York. The catch was that my guy would not "formally propose" until he had the job and a house well secured. 

Getting married was the next step in life. As a "good Catholic girl" this was the goal. Right? Be a nun, be a nurse, be a teacher or get married. That had been my 1980 goal- secure that marriage. My guy was a nice person, a "good catch" according to mom. My guy would do anything for me, except commit. 

My guy agreed for both of us that we could wait it out. 

That evening a phone call came into the nearby hotel and my parents told me to call them ASAP. Really? Camping at Bryce and they found me? Someone must have died.

No, they had received an envelope and wanted to open it. Voices shaking, they announced that a position in Germany was mine to be had. Teaching first grade. On a military base. My mother had NO idea exactly where the assignment was, but she wanted us to return immediately and respond to the proposal.

No hesitation, I told Mom to forge my signature and accept. My guy was sort of silent standing next to me while I chatted into the payphone. Whatever @@ he wanted to wait, I would wait someplace exciting.

By late August, Flying Tigers winged me on a horrendous flight to Wuerzburg Germany. I dove into the fun of teaching in a completely new environment. Decent pay, good travel, fun friends....

My wanderlust was at full tilt. My guy would call weekly (sort of like those calls we all used to make to our moms first time far away from home) and reaffirm things were going well for our journey together. There was lots of "sure" and head nodding at my end.

My guy chose to take some time and wing over to visit from New York in mid October. I thought---finally. But alas, no deal. No ring. Just more words. My guy left October 31st. We parted at the plane. No fanfare. My guy said, "We can still wait a bit longer?" Sigh.

Sitting over a beer at the Officers' Club 6 November, the person who has sponsored me wandered over to my table with a muddy soldier. They had been "in the field" and were in for the night. We shared a few beers. Ohhhhh- those blue eyes. Melting was on my mind. 

20 November Lt Blue Eyes called my guy and announced that my guy blew it. I was going to be married soon- to him. Lt Blue Eyes hadn't asked me. Hummm. Interesting conversation in which I did not participate. Lt Blue Eyes took me to Garmish soon after and asked me what I thought. 

December 1st Blue eyes was promoted a rank and gave me a ring.  We were married in June, thirty eight years ago.

That is when I knew that I am best when flying by instinct.

Saying all of that

Here are my thoughts on what should happen this year.

Emotionally:

Find a Church setting that fits both my faith and social justice needs.

Work harder on our marriage bond

Figure out how to be a good, long distance Nana.

Health:

Lose some weight.

Get out of the house more often. Begin the 1,000 mile challenge of walking.

Financially:

Move all of my money from USAA.  It is time to let that part of our lives go. 

Establish a face to face relationship with my local credit union branch in Idaho.

Continue to weigh the pros and cons of beginning my Social Security in 2021. I am only 63.

Talents:

Relearn how to fish.

Work on my recent fear of water (I fell into the lake in Kansas and almost drown- that put the fear into me). 

Think about art more, try different forms

Figure out zone five gardening. Start both my garden and a community garden across from my house. 

The house and move are not in my goals. 

They will happen. They are no longer "decisions to be made".

They are totally fly by the seat of my pants now.....and my wings are moving 1,000 mph!

PS- I am sorry there are no pictures of My guy or that trip to Bryce. In fact, I don't think we ever took one picture together at all.....

Are you good with color? I am not.

My daughter in law thinks nothing of painting rooms in their house at the drop of a hat.

After renting for the entire first half of our marriage, we seem to live what ever color we start with.

The one exception was a house we bought, soon after retirement, painted with pinks and greens. Whew! We neutralized that house and made $20,000 when we sold it 16 months later!

We have spent many hours thinking of the colors we want to live with in Idaho.

There are some challenges. I love the sea colors- blues and grey and whites. 

But, when you live in Idaho, those are cold colors. 

Burrrrrrr.

The outside of the house is going to be the darker Blue with white trims.

The inside, I am just not sure.

Open floor living areas, office space, bedrooms, mudroom, entry.

Should I go many colors or just one?

My first choice was all over :

Now I am thinking?

Zones? 

You would think at this age I would know how to work with color.

I do know the movie rooms will be forest green with ??? trim.

Any ideas would be welcome! 

Here are the three things I know will hang in the house....

Master  quilt for wall

Living area painting

6'x6'

and 

Kitchen granite

The Budget: Jan- June 2021

Oh my! Our house, that was supposed to be going up in late spring of 2021, is up. It is framed and ready for the next steps. The snow has started to fly. It is REALLY cold up there.

 

What is not ready is the budget. 

 I am the budgeter in my family and have been for thirty years. 

He made the majority of the money. 

My job was to work/run the money :) and the house and the kids. 

 We are not credit people. 

We haven't carried a balance on anything in many, many moons. 

 We have a card or two- for planes- but not much else

 We have used 2/3 of the planned money. 

 Cash (for the project) is gone. 

The rest is supposed to be available when we sell our current house 

 Which is not going on line until mid March.

 Hummmm 

We have offers from sibs to lend money---no thank you. 

That can open a can of worms that is impossible to fix.

 That, in turn, means that the new house will have to be cold and wait. 

And so will the worker bees. 

We have paid for windows and doors and 

possibly the heater but not much more for a few months. 

Our current budget will be cut closely to help the future budget. 

Here are the things in the current budget.

 In savings "envelopes for future need" 

Moving and closing fees                     11% 

Taxes (house/car/income)-family gift18%

 travel                                                   6% 

Dogs                                                     4% 

Car                                                       6% 

His and Her Allowances.                  12%

 Insurance                                           4% 

Those compromise a bit over 60% of the monthly money.

 I like to be ahead of bills instead of worrying where the money comes from. 

This is the rest of the money. 

Health care  (yes, very low)      4%

 Groceries (food and all)         14% 

eating out                                   6% 

utilities                                       4%

 Cable (phone/tv/internet)         4% 

gasoline/oil changes                  3% 

tolls (yes, I live in the East)      2%

 Kindle/movies                          2% 

Costco                                       2% 

Family business                        4% 

That still leaves 1/4 of our income ( not counted in this amount)

for the new house. 

There is always something. 

And then there is the wait for the sale of our current house.

Boy, I hope the hot market continues 

with the low interest rates.

It is a GREAT house!

Just in the wrong region of the country.

I cannot wait for this to be over! 

We have not been on a real budget for such a long time. 

And I know, this is not tight for most people.

This is a good exercise for me. 

If my husband passes before me,

 I know exactly where I can cut to get me

 to half the amount we are currently living on. 

Which is what I will be living on without using savings. 

Getting old is not for the faint of heart. 

Building a house while getting old-- Bah Hum Bug!

Organization

 Is taking over my life.

Like most people my age COVID has not hit my pocketbook, but has given me lots of time to get my act together. 

We are down to six book shelves of books...down from nine. Library never did reopen for books so I put them on Craig's list and they were swooped up in short order. We decided to keep a few great books for the lending library we will begin in the park across from our new house. 

Our clothes are sorted by color and time of year. Closets have been emptied of old prom dresses, cadet uniforms, infant clothes and baby toys (all the grands are over two). There were some very fun contactless pick ups for those.

Boxes and bins separate shoes, socks, towels and "fun" soaps. Cleaning out under the sinks---done! Extras are long gone to the homeless shelter. 

We sorted Christmas wrap and ornaments a few weeks ago. Again, front porch give aways were fun!

Down to two sets of dishes and three sets of glasses (two goblet and one every day). They all fit in one cabinet. Rehab (Habitat's store) was delighted to get some great extras. 

Extra furniture is mostly gone. We hired an out of work furniture team to recover some pieces. Some pieces were painted for the new house colors. Family heirlooms have been passed on.

Games have been sorted, gone through, given away. Settlers of Catan (youth and adult versions) has become a steady. Have you tried Sushi GO? We have learned Canasta (and I am terrible). Battleship, Monopoly and others have found their way to the Y. They have "day care/school" for essential worker children. Funny how 200 of those kids can gather and not get sick, isn't it?

Although I have avoided supporting Amazon, my Black Friday buying at Walmart (shop and pick up/ support the local economy) landed me with new containers for my pantry. My stocking up, not prepping, is pretty well done. It is all packed away for the movers. 

This is my vision of my stocking up area

The Murphy bed is framed in the second bedroom. A bed in the closet- leaves a room for movies. 

I have learned the power in tiny samples of paint. The current bathroom is completely touched up. The tub has received a coat of repair. A less organized me would have brought in a contractor for the work.

My fall chores are completed already (usually done by spring). Heater and Air con checked, roof completed, railings on porches done, garden mulched ( still picking broccoli), bulbs pulled, raspberries cut back, dogs nails trimmed, propane filled, light bulbs traded, smoke alarms checked, flash lights checked and placed,  carpet for master ordered (laid in Jan after the rush), ceilings painted. Whew! 

My grands are still not in school, so I do some writing workshops and math tutoring on call. My organization and downsizing of my old teaching materials has been right on schedule. 

So sad that they are missing out some important developmental steps in trust and relationships, but anything to keep the old people unafraid of death! 

We were planning on having to hire a moving company to take our last load to Idaho. I think we may be driving it out ourselves. A big win for organization and staying in. 

Now, If I can survive the long dark winter, all will be better on the other end. Eight more weeks of shut in- what can I organize now?