2 Drp optional cash purchase slips, insurance invoice (regarding the chiropractor), light bill, a Schedule K-1 from dad's estate. No taxes owed.

I have to tell you that my heart gave a little jump when I saw the letter from the executors - I thought that the bid from the second property came in (early) and I would have to eat crow from my sister. I'm pretty sure that the bid would come in in late October - November.

Light bill was 61.67, a bit smaller than last year

Wrote a 35$ check to one drip, 40$ to another.

Watershed moment at work today, which was again crazy. On my white board I wrote the best advice I ever received about my job:

"No one dies if it doesn't get done today."

Don't get my wrong. I work hard and I'm sprightly about my timelines. Its just that if you let your co workers jerk you around, well, I can get jerked around very, very hard. The things that have to get done "today" usually mean that you are helping someone else get their work done "today". Have got to prevent that!

Gym: Held a plank position (very tough on the side abs) for 50 sec. Twice. Last night I came up with an excellent idea for a Halloween costume, which I ran by my trainer. I would go as a trainer. They have a specific uniform, and I asked her whether it would be possible to borrow a top. She laughed and thought it was a fun idea - bonus points for the self referential aspect of it - and for another irony. Halloween falls on a training session, so I would have to remove my trainer costume and put on my gym clothes to train, then put the trainer costume back on. The only snag in this is that tops are hard to come by. I'll have to think about the name tag, too.

Saturday morning, DH and I mixed it up and had dim sum at the Hakka Chinese place. (25$) Good, but not celestial. Anyway, this is what I got in my fortune cookie--

"Next month will be your most profitable month of the year."

I'm taking that as a sign that there will be movement on the second property.

I've always gotten great fortune cookie fortunes, no matter the situation. Eating by myself, eating in large parties where you pick the cookie that points to you. I've never gotten confusing ones, or evil ones, and I never needed the "in bed" phrase to make one of those slips entertaining. One of those karmic quirks, I guess.

Bought a couple of months worth of canned cat food for my now-19 year old cat. 23$. We used the self-checkout line; the checkout voice noting "cat food" drove DH insane. And yet I must be even more optimistic this year than last.

72$ for groceries - I bought a cartload this time, and we also got meat and cold medicine which always hikes things up a bit. There was a great deal on frozen corn, peas, and green beans - .78/lb.

Last night I got out of the bath and as I ran through the skin care ritual (slapping on a fair amount of body lotion), I took a look at myself in the mirror.

Actual, genuine booty.

It was a bit like seeing an old friend at a college reunion, aged a tad from celluite, but you could see the resemblance and "she" brought back great memories.

Moved 300$ to my ING account.
Bought a 100$ I-bond. I can hardly wait until November 1...I'm pretty sick of 2.41%, and it looks like the next 6 months will have a much better rate.
Banked 47$ from the tip box.

Lunch with the usual foursome - me, lawyer friend, his partner, and perhaps soon-to-be screenwriter friend. Lawyer friend figures that sister is going to ask me to help hold the farmmette (house, barn, sheds, 7 acres). And really, he said, its all right. Its an asset that we got as a freebie. We can hold to sell during better times. (I'm still not thrilled.)

Talked with the DJ Myng, my DJ friend/co worker. Not only did he totally love what I had written for his soon to be internet radio station, he used bits and pieces of my stuff for his myspace site. He's in my Sites I Frequent list, so if you want to take a look, feel free. Just remember that my original had paragraphs. I asked him and he is going to throw me some more business.

Got word from the DJ friend - totally loved the write-up. Whew!

Got an email from sister. She figured that she'll be on vacation (10/2 - 10/16) when the offer comes in on the second property. I assured her that it was unlikely - it feels like it'll be November to me - but that if it did, I'll contact her and stall, stall, stall. And heck, both the heirs have to agree to a decision.

A branded piece of heavy equipment I saw downtown on the street Friday as the bus pulled away from the stop. It made me laugh out loud. Even funnier, check out the worldwide entities too.

Went to Uwajimaya - here's my favorite frugal purchase. Black sesame seeds, dried & finely ground orange peel, chili powder. So much addictive goodness all for $1.65. I put it on popcorn, myself.

So let the waiting begin.

Today DH drove me to work...just because. Because this is the first rain of the fall, the drivers were crazy and it took us 45 minutes to get into downtown Seattle. Hwy 99 was packed, the Fremont Bridge was packed. The only route that wasn't packed was 15th Ave NW, it was just slow.

And since it was cool and cloudy, everybody got the same idea for lunch: curry. Big line for the curry special. Found out from the curry place owner that he uses corn oil, so not so bad.

Talked with the trainer about the possiblity of splitting with my friend (yesterday's lunch partner). She told me that it was up to me and they have done it in the past. The "bad" news after the corn oil good news is that she told me my daily caloric intake was supposed to be 1400 calories, not the 1600-1700 that I was aiming for. Hmmm, it might be amazing that I've lost the few pounds that I did.

I'm still psyched about the size 14 jeans. I've been joking and laughing at work and I just seem ... brighter and a bit more extroverted. Best 18.99$ I've spent this year.

Talked with the lawyer friend about the possible sale of the second property with the WiDNR. He told me that usually the government price is market value + 10% or so, and thought that right now they would give us probably the best price. Here's hoping, but not hoping too hard.

Put 5$ in the tip box.

Got an update letter from the executor (US Bank, in case you forgot) regarding the second piece of land, the house, and barn. It's in a holding pattern. Sister and I are waiting for the formal appraisal from the Wisconsin DNR (WiDNR) which should happen in 4-6 weeks, and the formal offer a month later. I'm getting from the tone of the letter that everything from the WiDNR is happening too slowly for even the executors. But its hard to know - the WiDNR considerations are different, perhaps more scientific and observational. Flight of fancy here - how good is the water quality, how many chemicals are in the soil, how many and what type of bird uses the creek and wetland as a migratory stop... To the WiDNR, finding a rare bird or rare critter might be part of the assessment. The cynic in me is thinking that the WiDNR is simply waiting for land prices to drop to their price.

And the executors are asking whether we should winterize the house. Wonder how sister's garden on the place is coming along?

On a more shallow front, I hit Ross today and bought new clothes. 2 size 14s jeans, 1 size 16 (in case of a couple big meals and monthly bloat) jeans, and a black DKNY turtleneck - $70.86. Increase in self esteem - priceless. No thin spots in the crotch - also priceless.

Eventually she'll get into the 21st century. She's buying a Dell laptop (hold the flaming battery) with WiFi and that will be delivered next week. Her 6 month CD is maturing, as is mine, so she's been asking me for advice for what else to do with the bucks. At least its advice on how to save money, not on how to spend it.

Off and on, as long as I've had my ING account, I've sent her several ING invites to try to get her to try out Internet banking, to get that immediate 9% return. Now that I'm down to my last invite, and I know of a couple of people who will bite, I'm thinking that its now or never. Of course I've said that several times. I just know that if she sees the advantages of one, she'd get mad at me if I could have offered it to her but didn't.

My latest argument is that since she's going on vacation in mid-October, if she needs emergency money, she can tap an Internet bank anywhere she can find a secure connection.

My other argument is that my little fiscal empire is dependent on me being able to move money easily to other places. Its a lot easier to buy a T-bill or move dollars to Vanguard electronically. But electronically moving dollars requires a bit of faith the first few times one does it. I know that a couple of other bloggers much prefer the paper/in the hand method. A week of cleaning and trying to find assets in a two story undefended, barely padlocked farm house taught me the problems with that. All it would have taken for some of the assets to disappear was gasoline and a match. (Plenty of items outside the house walked away.) Even now there's the story of the homeless guy who found savings bonds in a jacket bought at the thrift store. I'm half expecting that some of our assets could have been found that way.

No really good buys at Larry's when I went for what I figured to be the last time, but I did get a couple of good deals on pork, chicken drumsticks (DH can perfect his fried chicken recipe), and ramen. Sometimes I have a hankering for ramen! It's sad seeing empty spaces and knowing that the stock is going. Shopping at Larry's in North Seattle was a real Saturday routine and I got to know all the cashiers and grocers. Next week we'll be at a loss.

On day 3 - I took down the boxes that I shoved on top of the bookcases "for just a little while" back in February 2000. It was quite a productive box - I found 2 copies of my birth certificate, a copyright form from my dissertation, and reviews of my last paper (unpublished).

Its funny - I remember the review being so awful that it was the last straw of my scientific career. When I reread it today, one reviewer liked it, the other didn't but the consensus was fix this and we'll publish.

I wasn't able to fix it (I was 2000 miles away from plants, genes, and equipment), sure, but my 40+ year old self is kicking my 30+ year old self ...why so sensitive - one person was positive, so what if the other's negative? Look at the glass as half full. It wasn't so bad.

Oh for a time machine! As if I would have listened.

And so it goes. I really feel much more optimistic and happy in my 40s than I ever did in my 30s. Just in case any of you 20+s and 30+s are reading and blogging. It might well be the level of savings above the debt gets you to sleep at night. Life is always better after you wake up from a sound sleep.

Anyway, I finished cleaning and dusting all the books. We still have slightly more book than bookcase, but less than a shelf.

Day 4 - Picked up a paper rope basket for 50% off at Cost Plus (think Pier 1, but cheaper and less kitchy) and put all of the blank office supplies in it. They fit nicely and it looks good on the floor. Fingers crossed that it'll be a good self-nagger, and we'll want to use what's inside. $13.

Got a call from sister about getting a Dell laptop. I was positive - I blog using a Dell laptop, although mine's a bit older with an older battery and the recall didn't affect me. Still going strong after 2.5 yrs.

No word on anyone interested in the second property. I consider the breather to be a blessing. I'm learning a lot on how to invest 30K and that is proving to be intense. I can't imagine handling 10X that amount all at once. Sister was interested in my 4 week T-bill buying, although I sensed that she didn't quite understand it. T-bills would work even better for her - she pays state and local taxes on interest (state of WA has no state income tax) and she would not pay that on a T-bill.

Put 40$ into one DRP and 35$ into another.

One year ago today I got the surprising, shocking word that my dad had died. He had died in his sleep on the farm with plans of breakfast with his nephew, our cousin.

I wish he could have spent his money and enjoyed himself. Perhaps he did, or perhaps lots of money didn't matter to him. We were so different. I wanted to leave the farm as soon as possible and I did, not even thinking about the fresh air, the quiet, green nature, the satisfaction that comes when you are the agent of physical change. He was a shy man, not into working with a lot of people, and enjoyed the city for an afternoon...no longer. He also made a decision and stuck with it - the will we found was dated 1968. He sure wasn't like grandpa; his will came with a couple of codicils and tweeks.

Anyhow, the situation is still that one piece of property was sold, along with the insides of the house and barn, along with the farm equipment, and mom's insurance and 401K has been divided up between us. We still have the second piece of property and the buildings.

Two thirds of the proceeds are in a money market fund. Sister and I each have gotten $45K. I've put the money in CDs and ING to give me a little time to earn interest and to pace myself, but right now it seems like the fixed income places are more compelling.

I read this while I ate my Friday curry special. Nearly put me off my food. Kudos for the anarchists not being black hooded and smashing up stores, but I think it takes group frugality just a tad too far. And actually, group frugality and those rules just make that shared house seem like a joyless experience. Guys, the revolution has to be attractive, because to the average American, living well is the best revenge.

Put another 3$ in the tip box. Did the gym and the chiropractor. I'm getting my routine going and it feels good.

Word from sister: Sister and I are still waiting for the WiDNR final proposal. I have to remember that this is a government entity. Its not like they can just hop on an opportunity in a matter of days.

Only spent $4.50 today. $2 for a coffee and $2.50 for 1/2 a good tuna sandwich. Saved the first half of today's lunch from yesterday.

Put 40$ in the 3M drp. After 2 years, I now have 27 shares. Put $35 in a WEC drp two weeks ago, I now have 18 shares of that. Put $50 electronically in KO last week, I now have 72 shares of that. Dividends for this quarter are: $22.28 (KO) + $12.05 (MMM) + $3.95 (WEC) + $2.98 (MI) = $41.26. It's not a bad deal - I put in money in quantities that I don't miss and it generates reinvested money that I also don't miss.

Haven't heard boo on the 2nd property.

The trainer has raised the resistance weight on most of the machines. Where it was 20 lbs, its now 30 lbs. We are now being to do "future" exercises. She had me try to do several real man-style pushups. I could still only bend my elbows and dip a couple of inches or two. For the future, the trainer said. I surprised both of us by holding a decent full plank position for 45 seconds.

All about sister today.

Memorial Day weekend is coming up, and for the last four years I've sent sister a salmon. One of the biggest salmon runs in Alaska happens on the Copper River around the middle of May. Once upon a time that salmon run was so plentiful and cheap the salmon caught were turned into cat food. Today salmon were priced @ the Pike Market for $15.99/lb. Gasp.

I've bought from the fishmonger for years, and as the anti-fish flinger he had the best, best prices and knew the most. He was sympathetic, assured me that more of the run will come in Wednesday and the price will drop. We struck a deal for me to buy in the future for about $11/lb. Just like a stock future, only with a fish.

Sister will get the fish on Thursday.

I walked away, remembering what a great uncle of mine said. "Remember they've got to make some money too." Make friends with your seller; otherwise you pay the tourist prices.

For non-fish reasons, sister called a couple of hours later. WiDNR 73; farmette 7. Turns out we might have an interested party for the farmette - a horse owner. Fingers crossed.

Collected my tip jar, added the crumbs from my wallet - $53 in savings this month.

Second property recap:

Two days ago I got a quick, fairly frantic phone call from sister. According to sister's phone call, she thought that the Wisconsin Dept of Nat Resources (WiDNR) only wanted 7 acres, leaving 73 acres for the farmette. From her end: eeek. A little surprising to me - 7 acres would be just the creek and the banks, maybe, why not the whole watershed? - but I hadn't gotten any written proposal. I took the wait and see approach.

Sister emailed me last night. Just the opposite. WiDNR is interested in 73 acres, leaving 7 acres for the farmette. Again, I see no written proposal. Still have to take the wait-and-see approach.

Would love to see the pieces of paper but I have to be sanguine about it. The most important thing I learned from last November was that as the other heir, sister and the executors are going to have consult with me and show me the proposal sometime.

Sister called today. The Wisconsin DNR (WiDNR) is interested in quite a bit of it, but of course not really interested in the farm and the buildings. Sister's thought is to again split it, use a realtor, and try to sell the house, barn and 5-20 acres as a farmette, leaving the back 50 wetland acres to sell to WiDNR. The thought (maybe) would be that WIDNR would begin to restore the wetlands, making the farmette potentially appealing for a buyer interested in what a wetland would offer - a hunter, fisherman or birder. But real estate is chilly right now, so who knows?

The executors were trying to get a renter for the land this year. The month of May is not the time. It should have happened in January/February, but I suspect that they had hoped that the second piece would have sold by then and they would be done. City slickers!

Ah the weekend. Not that work is bad right now (not like the nightmare of late March), its just that on Fridays I have a low tolerance for ijits. You know the type, the ones that call or stop by to give you one of their projects that they've procrastinated on for the week, and then they have to gall to tell you to hurry up with your tasks so they can "supposedly" do theirs. Ahem, stop wasting my time then!

Gym was yesterday, lower body and abs. I'm still marveling at the fact that I can touch my toes and walk my hands to out to get into a push up position. The personal trainer tells me that the goal is to touch toes, walk my hands out to push up position, hold, do a pushup, walk back, straighten up again, then do a squat. Its nearly a full workout on a yoga mat. I'm supposed to drink even more water than I am, which I have to work on. I did change my walking route home. My normal route is to go up a moderate hill, but one block closer to home is far, far steeper hill, so I took that. I felt like a mountain climber.

More measurements next week. And I'm marveling in the fact that I can wear any piece of clothing that I own.
"New item?"
"Yes - from the house of chez baselle."

Another 4$ in the tip box, $35 in a DRP.

Nice lunch today with a couple of my friends, including lawyer friend who had helped me tremendously during probate. Talk turned to word on how probate was going for me and I let it slip the amount of my two advances.

Semi-big mistake.

"Gee you should be buying us lunch," and during the drive back in front of a car dealership and a next-door scooter shop "how many of those could you buy?"

All idle kidding but with a bit of an edge. They are all my friends (who all make more than I do - hah!) and if I get this from good friends, imagine what I get from my contacts at large.

I learned my lesson: vague is good.

Sounds like either an oxymoron or a cause of death, doesn't it?
What happened to him?
Frugal sushi.
Oh.

That really holds true with the all-you-can-eat, fixed price buffet style sushi. There's a pretty infamous place in Seattle that a couple of friends got excited about, ate there, and swore about in the bathroom 6 hours later.

I had sushi for lunch today, so I thought about the concept as I ate. With rolls, you get a small amount of raw fish sometimes gooped up with condiments (spicy tuna is raw tuna smashed in a paste with hot pepper) rolled with rice. If you like raw fish its really not the way to go. Nigiri is the style with the little pad of sushi rice under the thinly sliced fish, what most people associate with sushi - okay, but when the fish is sliced so thin that you can see the rice under it...well, that isn't the way to go either. Sashimi is the sliced raw fish, the best stuff, and you will pay.

For lunch today I had the third way which I have been finding is the most frugal style of sushi: chirashi, strewn sushi, where slices of sashimi lay over a plate sized pad of sushi rice. And I got quite a lot sashimi for my buck. For 11$ I got 2 pc of egg, 1 shrimp, 2 lg pieces of clam, 1 pc octopus, 2 pc squid, 1 tsp of roe, 1 large hunk of salmon, 1 pc tuna, 1 pc herring, 1 pc yellowtail, 1 pc red snapper, 2 scallops. And the sashimi pieces themselves were about twice the size of what you would get if you got them as nigiri pieces. Nice.

Or maybe it was a reward from the sushi chef for not celebrating Cinco de Mayo.

Saving log - $3 in tip box.

Received the second advance of dad's estate. DH will research what it would cost to get the car fixed.

End of the third week and still no fix for the weird vest calculations on the 403B.

Sister asked for another $15,000 advance; sister's partner's brother (call him brother in law - BIL) is asking her to loan him a bit so he can fix up and help sell BIL's mother's house. Hmmm. Not something I'd do.

To even things up, the executors will be giving me $15,000 also. Now I have to figure out what to do with the second advance.

So many of us save and save and save to get out of debt, and as we do it we dream about what to do with [insert windfall here]. I'm sure right now you're thinking - boo hoo, I sure wish I had your $15,000 "problem". Strange, really, that it's way, way more fun to save small amounts of money and watch as those 1$s and 5$s and pocket change grow and collect interest, than it is to get a fat whopping check.

Suddenly that fat whopping check makes you second guess all your money moves. Am I that stupid to put it ... there? Not to mention that because someone died you got this. And then the fat whopping check has the nerve to make all your saving look puny.

Savings log - 3$ tip box.

Yip, yip, yah! (crack of the whip)

DH told me that our scanner works just fine and it was ready to go on the desktop. And today, I loaned him my bus pass so he could go to his gym, so it was just me at home for a few hours.

Just a few things I've scanned and put on my password-protected financial USB drive:
SSN card
health insurance card (both sides)
eyeglass prescription
original lease from 2000
lease riders we signed in 2000
2005 1 yr lease
(gotta get the signed 2006 lease)
2005 1099's (-DIVs and -Rs)
2005 W2
Dad's will
Dad's death certificate
group insurance certificate
CD certificate

All I've got to do is find my out-dated passport (scan the old one and renew to a new one) and find my birth certificate. I know sister has one - we dug it out on the second day.

That reminds me - sister is in negotiation with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WiDNR) - for the second piece of property. 25% of it is untillable wetland, and the WiDNR is interested.

Wall to wall crazy. Me: trying to get at least one of my horror projects (one involving 1.02M, the other involving 31M) done before the end of the week so I can, in good conscience, enjoy my week off. Everyone else: can you fix this 200$ discrepancy? Here's an envelope for you! This isn't working! or the ever-popular favorite...Hi! I had to chase lawyer friend out my office because everyone else put me in a foul, foul mood. Neither the DND (do not disturb) button nor a shut door deterred anyone today. I did manage to get the 1.02M project done. Tomorrow comes the 31M.

On the bus back home, it got me thinking that it would be so ... restful... to be irresponsible and dumb. To ask questions of someone else. To just be in the moment with what was set in front of me. I must really, really, really need next week.

On the financial front(s):
1. TIAA CREF money is heading toward Vanguard.
2. Voted my proxy on two stocks. KO had the more interesting things to vote for/against - disclosing charitable contributions, report of KO's involvement in India's water problem, report of KO involvement in abuses in Columbia. WEC only had the Board of Directors and which of the big-4 accountants would run the audit.
3. Got copies of the probate filings for dad's estate. Nothing for me to do, they were just an FYI.
4. Sent in 40$ for the MMM Drp.
5. 30K into a bank CD, 6 months at 4.35%. I figure it will generate about 3.57$/day

30K check is on the table, along with the form to sign and date. Now it really begins.

My thought is to again hold the money for about six months in a place where I can't get at it and they pay me the best rates for the pleasure. It turns out the best 6 month CD rate for a brick and mortar bank is my current bank, even better than ING. HSBC is mighty, mighty tempting, but somehow with this much money, I want a place I can visit!

Somehow that 40$ from this month's tip jar seems a little...thin.

The platform on the waterbed slipped on my side. Why my side? I'm the thinner one! It didn't bust, but to fix the platform means that we have to drain the bed bag, rebuild the platform, then refill.

But I found a dime on my side of the liner. Woo hoo!

Seriously, I like the waterbed. It is its own heating and cooling system at night. In Seattle we have the heater on, in Tucson and in North Carolina we turned the heater off. I wonder if a waterbed supports bedbugs? Hopefully not!

The last of the corned beef is going for fire sale prices (Seattle, remember) at 1.19$/lb. Yum!

Sister already got her first disbursment of the estate, so I expect a check sometime this week. The first check in her words was "more than I make in a year." She asked me for advice. Mine was the Roth and to hold it in a short maturity CD to give her time to research and keep her from making an uninformed decision. Her first thoughts are to save it - but I reminded her that inflation and taxes will eat away at interest. We both have enough money to do something, but not enough to do nothing.

Breathed in and out and connected with the one or two oxygen atoms that were in Julius Caesar's last breath.

Another celebratory lunch (dim sum, yum!) for another coworker who is going away. Walking back to the office, I mentioned to my lawyer friend that it feels like the end. He concurred; the executors wouldn't offer an advance if the creditors hadn't come forward and been paid.

I'll take the executors offer and ask for 30K, put it in a short-term CD and spend the next 6 months to plan.

Got paid today. My helper had exciting personal news - he's within a couple of months of paying off his student loans. He asked me for advice, now that he will free up about 200$/month. Should I hike up my 403B - I already get the match? Go for a Roth, I said.

Worked out yesterday by myself. I think it worked okay - I had trouble figuring out a cardio move in the set, and I didn't remind myself to drink water as much as the trainer would, but I got warm and sweaty nonetheless.

Spending log (3/15) - 1.65$ coffee + 14$ dim sum
Saving log (3/15) - 0$

Spending log (3/14) - 1.65$ coffee + 4.50$ lunch
Saving log (3/14) - 9$ tip box

Lots happened today.

I got this in my fortune cookie at lunch. "You will hear good news today."

Thirty minutes later I talked with the executors. They described the situation with the 80 acres and it was exactly the same as I wrote a couple of entries ago. The consensus was to: get the property re-assessed (it was first assessed split between house/ five acres and the rest, then the pieces added together), then put the property on the real estate market. The property itself is 80 acres, but only 61 acres is tillable - the rest is creek and wetland. Sister wants what's left of the furnishing, for $2500; I will get $2500 more cash than sister. Nut apparently got $1500, and he went away. No hospital or the state of Wisconsin came forward asking for payment for mom's cancer treatment. So when the second piece of property is sold, and dad's last tax return has been filed, and the money has been distributed, the executors job will be done.

Since 300K is sitting in a money market fund (@4% or 12,000/year!), the executors mentioned if I wanted an advance - "$25,000 or $30,000", just let us know and we'll send you the forms. Now I'm starting to feel it. Finis.

Got the forms from TIAA CREF and I filled them out.

Spending log - 1.65 coffee + 7$ lunch (fortune cookie was priceless)
Saving log - 9$ tip box

Word from sister is that she asked the executors to call me because the buyer on the second piece of property (70 acres, house, barn, sheds) is coming in at about 80-100K less than it was assessed. The decision is to either accept the offer or to put it out onto the open real estate market.

The buyer is the corporate farm next door, which dad hated. Sister wants to put it on the RE market, and I agree. I'm not hot for the money nor am I bugged by the lower price. Sister, however, I get the feeling is going to be bugged if another buyer offers an even lower price, and we are paying a realtor's cut for the privilege. I mentioned that possibility to her - as long as she's fine with it, really fine with it, it'll work.

Now I just have to figure out whether she's really fine with it.

Mailed off Vanguard's rollover paperwork (form, 4Q statement, screenshot from a couple days ago) to Vanguard this afternoon, and sent it certified mail. That way I get a receipt and a confirmation number. Still no TIAA CREF paperwork; it might take a more few days for that. In the Vanguard packet I wrote a little note regarding my phone call to them and the situation.

I see the chiropractor twice a week now. I talked with the trainer. For the rest of this month I'm scheduled for twice a week, rather than three times a week. On Tuesdays I workout by myself. We'll see how that fits.

Work has been crazy; the phone was driving me nuts. As a result of hitting the Do Not Disturb button on the phone, I missed a call from the executor. On the voicemail he claimed that he will be briefing me on what has been happening, dad's estate wise. I wonder what he's really calling about. Time to get the scoop from sister this weekend.

Spending log - 1.65$ coffee + 9$ lunch
Saving log - 40$ Drp + 3$ tipbox

Got word from sister, who had gotten word from the cousin who does grandma's finances. No more divesting of assets in March or ever; by law grandma has to have 5 years worth now. 20% of my greedy grubby self is bummed (naughty!); the other 80% is breathing a sigh of relief. I've been trying to figure out what to do with what's left of her money now since November. Won't have to worry about that.

Took the fateful step of rolling over my TIAA CREF money into Vanguard. Its never, ever as easy as the ads make it out to be. You usually have to alert both sides of the transaction what you want to do - Vanguard to set up the IRA that it'll roll into and TIAA Cref to alert them that I want to withdraw it. Worse, it could be that I'll have to call U of Arizona (my original employer). I just know that there's going to be an icky step where I'm going to have get a signature guarantee from my bank. But if a meth-addled identity thief can do it, so can I.

Anyway, I printed out all the Vanguard forms and my TIAA CREF current position, and my TIAA CREF Q4 statement, too. Then I'll call TIAA CREF Monday and set the wheels in motion.

Lunch today was weird. I just wanted to go to a quick quiet place. Unfortunately since this is the first nice, blue-sky, warm Friday of the year, it seemed like everyone and their unemployed uncle was out and about. Every place I wanted to go to and eat had a line and today I was not thrilled about a line. Found a quick sandwich and salad (6$) and saved myself some bucks. It was just plan c.

In gym I learned about the roman chair and doing upside down situps. Lunges yesterday. Geez its hard work to get thin!

My retirement account at work (different than my 403B) rose in value about $2000 last week. Pleasant but I want to know why, and why I'm still at 80% vested. I think that its because savings and data get deposited only a couple of times throughout the year.

I don't set any goals for a particular month, but I do have some expectations:

1. Grandma is gifting sister and I in 2006 (she gifted each of us in November 2005 for 2005). Since word up is is that she is selling stock, I have no idea how much the gift is, only that I'll put it in ING and let it cook for a few months.

2. Chiropractic appointments will slow a bit so my co-pays will drop by about 40-60%.

3. I will finish scanning and putting financial and medical documents on my little USB drive.

4. I will finish paying off my credit card and again set what I have been paying on the credit card onto savings, bonds, and drips. I so missed that!

I took a gander at the net worth, and luckily it has been increasing quickly. When the stocks drop, the interest earned from savings and bonds keeps going up, along with the IRS refund, the vesting, and the addition injection of money consoles me a bit.

I'm on track in April to have a net worth of about $79,000, or an exactly $50,000 increase from July 2004. Less than two years! Its a big secret, but the whole trick to this is to convert your debt snowball into a savings snowball.

Haven't heard from sister in two weeks, nothing about dad's estate in over four weeks. Something will happen - the lion is coming.

Got word from sister that Nut is a creditor because he wants us to fix the tractors. I'm confused. Are they the tractors he stole (well, duh, who steals broken items??!) or what he bought at the auction? What part of as-is do you not understand? Or is as-is, son of isis, living in denial, the main river of Egypt?

Nut is aiming for about $3000-$4000. Sister's lawyer is countering with $1500 if Nut goes away. If he goes away... of course as soon as dad's money hits our accounts its game over.

The nougat part is the ritual trading of chocolate for Valentines Day. We both got and dug into our chocolates before the day even began. The chocolates were a bit pricey - 20$/box - but you eat them and then when you run out (quickly) you stop eating them.

Implemented the walk. The new bus route is interesting at early evening, and its also interesting that different buses have different personalities. My more direct bus is definitely commuter bus; new one is a bit more hip. It only took me 20 minutes of hard, fast walking to get home. In another month when it stays lighter, I'll take another bus route and get dropped off even farther.

and its six weeks more probate.

Got word from sister that Nut has filed as a creditor. Wonder what he thinks we owe him. I've got to be sanguine about this; as DH put it "everyone back there knows he's a nut - the sympathy is with your dad." Now its sister's lawyer's turn to do his stuff.

And I wasn't the only one to get bad news. My lawyer friend got his ATM password skimmed. He found out when he apparently bought something at my neighborhood Fred Meyer. "Geez," I said, "if you were that close, you shoulda stopped by."

I got my butt handed to me again in gym by the rubber bands with handles, aka the exercise cords. And now I can do the same things at home - my very own set of rubber bands with handles came in the mail last night.

Checked on my refund at the irs website. I should expect it to hit the savings account on Valentine's Day.

Spending log - $1.65 coffee + $5.51 lunch + $17.81 exercise cords (it was $9 with $8 shipping)

Saving log - moved $100 to ING + $50 to regular savings + 7$ tip box (tip box stands at $22)

Lots of little financial bits - bit of everything:

1. Put 5$ in the Super Bowl pool. Unfortunately, I signed before my luck magnet did; plenty of spots but no guidance. I'm flying blind. -$5.

2. Got a little e-note from the website that I filed my taxes with. Filing accepted. I should get my $540 refund in my savings account in 2 weeks.

3. Congratulations all around that I made it 6 years at my job and I'm vested in the retirement program. (who would have thunk?) Difference between 80% and 100% vested is about $1500.

4. The executors gave my sister a mystery call. She asked me whether I got one. Nope. Wonder what it is - creditors slipped under the wire, or the sale of the second piece of property?