5623 day countdown

15 years, 4 months, and 22 days from today I will be eligible to retire from my current job and receive a small pension and have Medicare as my health insurance. It doesn't seem so long, really. I work with good people and like what I do.

A little less than two years later, I will be able to start receiving Social Security.

Well, according to today's rules... but as this White House has taught us, rules have been made to be abolished.

Additionally, I contribute to a 403b through payroll deduction- unfortunately we do not get a match, but you can't have everything. I am on schedule to have my house paid off before I retire- how much before remains to be seen- I would LOVE to get it done in the next 8 years, but will settle for 10 if I have to... Time will tell.

I look forward to exploring places and not having to rush home. See friends and family around the globe. Walk on the Great Wall, see the Pyramids, visit Petra, take in Bethlehem, pray at the Wailing Wall, dance in Buenos Aires.... so many adventures await.

Baby step Two

So in 2011 I tried a spending fast that didn't really go that well. I got debt free that go round. And then I financed a car and started paying for braces and shopping on credit to fill the gaps. BIG MISTAKE!!! I regret not making a proper budget then. Live and learn I guess.

I tried again to get my finances in check in 2014- I have not used a credit card since that time but have STILL not paid off what I owe in consumer debt. Amazing how quickly those balances can climb.

Progress since then has been steady and I have been working hard since September of 2016, but I had to finance a new furnace at the end of 2016. Bah-Humbug! More debt added to the pile. But the old furnace was over 30 years old. It was time.

Now my car is paid off.

I paid the last installment on my son's braces.

I finished paying off the hospital for my surgery last summer.

I refinanced my mortgage to a 15 year at a lower rate.

I am working outside the hospital for additional income and will try to earn a promotion this year.

I keep reminding myself it took me years to build up this debt. That I need to be patient.

I am impatient. I want to be there. I want to be done.

Getting out of debt is so much harder than getting in. When I get free this time I am staying that way. Period- end of story.

Death and Dying in Prime Time

Warning: If you have unwatched stuff on your DVR this post will include DEVASTATING spoilers...

It started with Max Keenan on "Bones", Temperance Brennan's sweet dad, played by Ryan O'Neal. Max was protecting his grandchildren at a safe house and was shot saving the life of an agent on the protection detail.

Did I mention Max, in a previous life was a thief, a murderer and the dad who abandoned his children without a word, to protect them from the folks who later killed Brennan's mom?

Max had to work to become a meaningful part of Brennan's life and to get Booth to trust him. He proved over and over his family was first and in the end gave his life for those babies. He died in the hospital as I wept along with Brennan.

And then her tribute to him at his funeral... I just can't...

Then "This is Us", a newcomer this season, had Randall and his biological dad, William, roadtrip to Memphis to visit where William started his life. We learn that William's dad was in the military and was killed before William was born. We meet William's mom, see more of William's story with Randall's mom, and how the death of William's mother is what pushed him down the  rabbit hole... where the drugs take over.

We all know William has end stage cancer. We all know he is dying. I started crying when he wants to see the place where some of Jack's ashes were scattered. Jack is Randall's adoptive dad who would calm his panic attacks by gently cradling Randall's face in his hands... William thanks Jack for the amazing job he did raising their son... "Thank you for doing what I couldn’t, for raising him to be the man he is".... Tissue anyone?

When the end is near and William is so afraid, Randall gently cradles William's face in his hands.... tells him to breathe... And I am COMPLETELY a mess. I will need to prepare for the funeral.

Now I was behind on "Nashville" so I watched 3 episodes back to back. Nothing prepared me for Rayna... The stalker, the crash...

But when she saw her mom, I knew for sure she was dying. I wanted to be wrong... And then they moved her to ICU.

Her kids and husband sang "A Life That's Good" as her heart stopped and I was shredded. Heartbroken...

Again...

What a hell of a week in Primetime.

Deacon Claybourne, Mattie, Daphne and the rest of the Nashville crowd will move on, but I am calling it quits. I see no point if Rayna is gone- she was the foundation of the show- so many story lines just ended with her death.

I am done. I don't want to see her funeral or the custody battle... I am done.

Taxes

The only sure things in life- Death and Taxes.

I already got my return and spent the vast majority on debt repayment. Old Geri would have spent it on wants... a vacation, a new computer, stuff. But Dave Ramsey's Geri is focused on being permanently debt free. So I paid off two medical bills and paid a big chunk on one of my last two consumer debts.

If all goes according to plan, I will be finished my snowball in a little more than a year.

I am doing date night babysitting for two families and interviewing with a third. I am cleaning a house every Saturday till the older couple sells their home. And I am doing my full-time nursing job.

It will not be forever.

And then I will be free!

Baby Step One is DONE!!!

I have been halfway working the Dave Ramsey steps for a while on  a winding journey to becoming debt free. What does that look like? I have not used a credit card since September of 2014. 

Oh my- that seems like such a long time ago.

In the fall of 2016, I decided I needed to do more- so I started reading Dave's books and working on saving $1000 in an emergency fund. Today, it is in there. All $1000 dollars. All my January bills are paid, I have grocery and gas money, and a baby emergency fund.

I finally have some breathing room in my budget.

I finished paying off braces and my Honda- a huge increase in my cash flow for a minute, but in going to the recommended 15 year mortgage, I have a larger payment. Over time I will save a huge amount by cutting off the 8 years- I am focused on that.

The other fly in the ointment was the new furnace/air conditioner. After 30 years, it was way past time, and having a QUIET furnace is kind of amazing. Merry Christmas to me, but I hate that I had to take on the debt. It is "no interest" but I hate it.

On the plus side, my TWO Dave jobs are bringing in much needed income. I am spending less time at home watching TV in the evenings and on the weekends, but I have a goal. A debt free life. The hard work is so worth it.

Additionally, I keep reminding myself that it won't be like this forever.

On to the debt snowball!

Dale Jr.

Andy Petree, in a guest spot on NASCAR Race Hub, was the first one I heard say it out loud.

He does not think Dale Junior will be back in a race car next season, or ever... As the crew chief for Dale Earnhardt when he won his 6th and 7th championships, he knows NASCAR. And he said what I have been thinking since Junior got out of the car with symptoms similar to what is seen in a concussion following a wreck at Michigan on June 12 and two wrecks in the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona on July 2.

I just don't think he is coming back to racing. I just don't see how he can risk it.

He will still be involved as an owner for sure, but he doesn't sound good in the interviews. His voice has a different quality to it. Neurologically, he does not seem intact.

If he was a champion quality driver, it might be worth the risk, but he has been around racing long enough to know for him, it is not. He isn't going to win a championship (Sorry Junior Nation, he is not his father) and he has a good life out of the car, so he does not NEED to race.

And when he retires, NASCAR will have real troubles. This article talks about the troubles of losing Sprint and decreasing viewers and low attendance- all of which will make NASCAR a harder sell after Junior is gone.

Random thoughts

I haven't posted in a while- not that I don't have things to say, but because I am not sure how much I want to say in the public arena but this is a brief update:

I won't vote for Trump. I won't vote for Clinton. I hate that they are our choices because I find both morally unsuitable for the office they pursue. So talking politics is out...

Finally, I finished "Reading Lolita in Tehran" and feel like I have completed an Advanced course in English literature as well as a compelling story about a world I will never fully understand.

There is a  family wedding in June- I have the dress and have already warned the bride that I intend to not dress or act my age. She would not have it any other way.

My children will be heading out soon- my youngest to spend time with Dad for the summer, the oldest heading to Colorado to join UP WITH PEOPLE for a six-month stint.

I am having a procedure at the end of June and will be on leave for six weeks... Six LONG weeks...

School is finished- both my Genetics class and my Holistic class. It is odd now to have no assignments pending.

After borrowing the book "Manhunt", I am completely engrossed. The story of the hunt for John Wilkes Booth is a page turner I can hardly put down

And this week I started writing again. It will be a good stretch for me.

Additionally,  I offered shelter to a friend in need and I really think both of us will benefit from it.