Quick Check In

Things are cruising along here.  Work has calmed a little and my company is making plans for re-entry.  Still won't be before Labor Day and could be as late as next year for some as they will have 3 phases of employees returning to work depending on their function.  Hoping I'm the last phase but lobbying for permanent work from home status.

Kids and BFs came over last Sunday and will be here again for Father's day.  They are so much fun to be around.  Young adults give me life.  They are bright, funny, and so engaged in what is going on in our world socially, environmentally and politically.  I implore everyone to sit and have conversations with the young adults in your lives.  Listen to them.  Try to see things from their perspective.  And if you don't have any young adults in your life go find some.  I will happily spend time with people in the 15-29 year old range over any other age.  They keep my perspective on life and the current world fresh and open to new thoughts and ideas.  Of course they also drink all of our beer. LOL!

So I picked our first non-greens harvest this morning.  A chubby zucchini, 3 padron peppers and the last of the first wave of purple sugar snaps.

First real garden haul

It has been so cool here this spring, only a few days in the 80s and evenings in the low 60s so the garden is getting a slow start.  Great sleeping weather though and the lettuces are loving it.  I'll update you on the gardening progress soon.  Still not finished cleaning them all up and had to make some changes as my gourds never sprouted and something mowed down pretty much ALL of my sunflower sprouts.  😞

Pot O' Lettuces

I'll be cutting back that lettuce for salads tonight and tomorrow.  Father's day will consist of a small 5lb pork shoulder cooked in a crockpot and pulled for sandwiches, macaroni and cheese with tomatoes, cole slaw and green salad.  I'm also going to make a berry white wine sangria to see if I can distract the kids from the beer. I make fall flavored sangrias for football tailgating but I don't know why I never make it for other events. I think I may make coffee blondies for desert. If anyone is interested I'll happily share the recipe.  Really good and different.

I hope all you Dads out there have a fabulous Father's Day!

What a Month!!!!

This has been a tough month for me, emotionally and mentally.  I cry from sadness and anger every morning thinking about this world we live in and the fact that this is NOT the world I thought my children would be living in.   But I also cry about some of the beautiful things I read, hear and see that continue to give me hope and faith in humanity.

First and foremost - Black Lives Matter!  Period.  This is not to say your life or any other race, creed or color doesn't matter.  But right now, in this moment BLACK LIVES MATTER MORE!!  It is time to stop thinking that People of Color should just suck it up and make the best of their lives, just like White People do.  Their lives are nothing like White People's lives.  It is time for us all to demand equal treatment in the justice system, to demilitarize and reform our police, and most importantly to also admit that in order for things to be equal in our society we need to help black people to catch up from 400 years of oppression.  Period.

If I've offended you with these statements then you can kiss my big white ass.  If you agree with these statements then please DO SOMETHING!   DONATE, ACTIVATE, EDUCATE, VOTE!!  RIP George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and every black person before them who has lost their life just because of their skin color.  Now is the time for REAL change.

For those who are still reading: Thank you for tolerating my PSA.  Now onto more mundane things.

I think I said in a prior post that I am now working at home until at least Labor Day and likely longer.  Honestly I'd be one of the first (and already have) to raise my hand to do this work from home thing permanently.  But we shall see.

My state just started opening up, but I will continue as I have been.  So far I've left my home now only 4 times since March 16th.  Last weekend we were low on veggies so the LoML and I went to our local farmer's market (masks and proper distancing were enforced) and then we went out to a local farm stand to get what we couldn't find at the market.  It was a beautiful day and we drove around the countryside with the windows and sunroof open and it was glorious!!!!

On to the financial info.

Retirement Savings Update:
As of the end of May our retirement accounts have bounced back to $881,415 which translates to an increase from last month of about $65,000.  About $1000 short of the number right before COVID hit and definitely short of my contributions since then, but it is rebounding a bit and I am glad for that.  I continue to contribute a little more then the max plus max catch-up for the month so I can try and take advantage of the rebound of the market.   This of course means I will max out sooner than the end of the year but that is fine. 

Mortgage Pay-Down Update:
With my June mortgage payment I paid an extra 3 principal payments:

January Balance:        $96,555.69 - 3.5 principal payments
February Balance:      $94,242.49 - 4.75 principal payments
March Balance:          $92,429.89 - 3.6 principal payments
April Balance:            $90,429.93 - 4 principal payments
May Balance:             $88,397.84 - 4 principal payments
June Balance:             $86,326.50 - 4 principal payments

If I keep up this average extra payment amount I should have this paid off by September of 2023. That is awesome!  But I have to say, with the way the world is right now and the more time I have to reflect due to working from home, I'd love to retire sooner than later so I can do more to help affect change.

How did your May go emotionally, mentally and financially?  Lets all move forward as best we can to make our world, and therefore everyone's lives better.