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Annie G

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Everything posted by Annie G

  1. I did ours by hand until dh retired. Now it’s easier to use software. The first year he retired we had some complicated issues and hired a CPA to do the taxes. When we picked them up, he didn;t go over them with us and that irritated me. When I got home I went through the one for our new state and discovered he had way overestimated how much we owed- like by a couple thousand. I called him and he said he knew he had and that the state would figure out how much we owed and refund it to us. Yeah, we paid like $800 for tax prep that year and it made me pretty mad. He didn’t even try! I’m sure we just found a crappy tax prep guy, but it’s easier to do them myself than to risk paying for another crap job.
  2. Some celebrities stage photo ops in hopes that the paps will leave them alone otherwise. I’ve heard that is more common when paps want pics of celeb kids. But yeah, there are others who tip off paps all the time and are doing it to increase their exposure. Justin and Hailey Bieber are often criticized for tipping off the paps but he appears to be genuinely bothered that they are constantly outside where he lives. That has to be hard. Catherine clearly works hard for her family and charities and it has to be awful to have constant scrutiny.
  3. I am grandma, and our grands have two other grandmas that they also call Grandma. When they need clarification, we’re Grandma Last Name (like when we’re all together). The added kicker is they also called their great grandmas ‘grandma’. Super creative, right? I would have liked to have been called Oma which is what I called mine, but I was in my 40’s when I became a grandma and Oma seemed like an old lady name.
  4. I wonder if the Dec 28 ambulance trip was Kate having a medical issue related to, say, crohns. And once they got that crisis handled they scheduled surgery for mid January. That’s almost exactly what happened to our son in law. Took him several months to recover. And before surgery he was losing weight like crazy and people thought he had an eating disorder, which he doesn’t. So that’s what I’m going with, though I do wish it was something less serious like Kate is growing out bangs. The decades long policy of ‘don’t complain, don’t explain’ only works if you stick to both parts. Releasing a doctored image and trying to pass it off as a recent photo only hurt the situation.
  5. We got our first lockers in 7th grade and our home room teacher showed us how to work the combination locks. The paper they gave us also showed it. Two people shared a locker and between the class instruction and our friends, we figured it out. Some faster than others, of course. Nobody really expected us to master it on the first try and I know teachers had to help kids for weeks. I’m almost 63 and still friends with my 7th grade locker buddy. I loved sharing a locker, and we often stashed things in friends’ lockers that were close to a class. 5 minutes between classes, but we had ten minute breaks twice a day so that worked out well for locker visits. I think it taught me a lot about thinking ahead- which books I needed to bring to which class, which books I needed to take home to study, etc.
  6. Our grandkids in high school have no lockers. They were removed. It’s super annoying to have to drag around everything all day, especially clothes for after school sports practice.
  7. Thanks for that info! I live in Georgia and the leaves are just starting to come out in my area so I assumed (incorrectly) that the climate there was weeks behind us.
  8. I can believe she edited it, but did she edit the grass and leaves also? It reads more like an early fall photo than an early spring one.
  9. Dh uses Ally and there are no fees. My household account is a credit Union and because we’re over 55 there’s no minimum, no fees, and we get free checks. Bonus: every year they distribute dividends to members and it’s been at least $800/year for the past 5 years.
  10. Gosh I didn’t know that was a thing! It is ridiculous.
  11. I don’t generally enjoy surprises and I really dislike the expectation that I should come up with surprises. A few weeks ago I thought dh would enjoy seeing The Doo Wop Project. I saw they were performing nearby and good tickets were reasonably priced. I asked if he wanted to go. He did and we enjoyed it, but on the way out said it would have been better if I’d surprised him with it. WHY??? We’re in our 60’s, dude. Not a lot of surprises left in this old lady. To be fair, I have a lot of burnout from decades of mental load, so I’m more crabby about this kind of thing than I should be.
  12. Definitely do the math on the meal plan. Two of our kids went to schools where the meal plan worked out to be MORE expensive than buying three meals a day without a plan. But do have a discussion on how much you’ll pay for food- will you cover coffee and snacks at the on campus Starbucks? A kid might say hey I’m not getting lunch in the dining hall for $10 so I can buy a coffee and cake pop for the same price. Stuff like that adds up quickly and is worth discussing in advance. I love that you’re already planning to refresh a self defense course. I live where recently within a week there were two campus incidents against women- one was a girl held at gunpoint for her phone and the other girl was murdered while out for a run. Campus security is so important.
  13. With such different styles, I’d probably take it in phases. probably start with how you did it with your ex- a joint account for joint bills, then individual accounts for each of you. How will both of you feel if he decides he wants to buy and finance a new car? That kind of spending has to be negotiated even if you ‘handle the finances’. Agreeing w the others that it sounds like a minefield to take on being in charge of finances when he’s done his own for decades. At the very least, can you both go through a budgeting/financial planning seminar or book or something? Talking through a course or book is easier than dealing with your own actual financial decisions…it’s good practice to try out those challenges in advance and hopefully identify speed bumps.
  14. Before dh retired we lived apart for several months while I renovated our retirement home. I ate better quality, cooked far less often, and it still cost considerably less than half what dh and I spend together. I was able to cook twice a week- roast veggies, grill chicken and salmon, cook beans and rice. Then ate those things for 3-5 days. Breakfast was fresh berries and a fried egg. Lunch was either roasted veg w protein or salad. Dinner was some combo of veg/protein/beans/rice. I treated myself w a square of dark chocolate after a long day of renovating. Dh grew up w meat and 3 veg style meals, and he likes starchy veggies. He likes snacks and has a sweet tea habit.
  15. Dd and her husband lived in Santa Barbara without a car and it worked well mostly because the weather is usually good. now they live in Madison, Wi and for the first year they didn’t have a car. They bought one because the harsh winters made buying groceries, etc. no fun in winter. Niece lived in NYC and raised her kids there with no car. She now lives in France (no car) and her adult kids still live in NYC but their biggest issue is that they never learned to drive so traveling is sometimes hard since they can’t drive a rental car once getting somewhere.
  16. Large Boos block that lives on the counter, a small bamboo cutting board, and a dense plastic Pampered Chef one from many years ago. I have had cheap plastic ones but seeing all the gouges and marks after just a few months made me wonder if all that plastic was ending up in our food. So while I still have the Pampered Chef one it’s mostly used as a base to pound and slice chicken or other raw meat. The small bamboo one is what I usually use for garlic and onions and other pungent things.
  17. On the plus side, teenage granddaughters are DELIGHTFUL. All the fun texts and conversations without any of the angst or eye rolling.
  18. Our kids know I struggle to shop for awesome gifts and have adapted to us sending checks instead of gifts. They’re thoughtful about it, and we really enjoy hearing how they spent the money. Our youngest Dd and her husband recently spent their Christmas money during a trip to San Francisco, where they FaceTimed us from Alcatraz. They’d finished their tour and had time to walk around before the boat left and they shared w us what they saw…how fun to share the enthusiasm in the moment! So yeah, even though they have good jobs, everyone enjoys a little splurge money. If a kid wants a particular gift, we’ll buy that instead. I don’t mind buying gifts, I’m just not really good at thinking of things. I don’t think any of our kids talks to siblings about how much we financially help them, so we don’t worry about keeping that even. Sometimes a kid needs a hand, ya know? But they don’t talk to each other about it.
  19. Dh was taught to use his legs to get up and sit down after bypass surgery, not to use arms. That’s not to say an evaluated seat won’t make it easier, but unless the person already had mobility issues I wouldn’t think they’d need additional aids. Is the person’s favorite chair/ couch easy to get up from? Some are too slouchy or saggy to be easy to rise only using legs. Some hospitals give patients a heart shaped pillow to hold against their chest when getting up to keep them from using their arms.
  20. When my oldest was a teen, I was so angry that everyone talked about surviving ‘terrible twos’ -implying that parenting was going to get easier. I was so naive!
  21. Can you turn it over to a collection agency? We used to do that w judgements and we usually received the full amount-the agency added their fees to the amount owed and that way it didn’t ‘cost’ us anything. But that kind of arrangement might have been one that was specifically written into the judgement. Glad you won, but sorry you’ll have to jump through hoops to collect.
  22. I think once it starts you’ll hit your stride and be fine. I mean, you represented yourself at your own divorce! Clearly you rock.
  23. How frustrating for you! Hope it goes well. We’ve done small claims to evict tenants and to sue a contractor. Both were much more casual than ‘regular’ court. So that made it feel less intimidating. It also helped to hear a few cases go before ours to give us a feel for what to expect. Sending good thoughts for a good outcome tomorrow.
  24. I hope she continues to improve! Our youngest granddaughter had a bug about a month ago that lingered for 5 or 6 days. Stomach cramps, vomiting, feeling listless…it was bad. After a couple of days Dd took her to the doc and they said it was a virus going around, and said the cases they were seeing took days to resolve. It was so odd because kids usually bounce back so fast.
  25. Interesting! Thanks for sharing the link- I hadn’t heard this story yet.
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