Missing Me?

Wow has summer been brutal on us! Yes, SK and JC, BRUTAL!

Let's see, what have I been up to...

There was the family reunion with TONS of people in attendance.

Dad would be shocked at the First Annual DL Memorial Golf Tournament was put on by us, his golf-idiot family, this past Sunday. But hopefully he would not be shocked by the fact that we were somewhat successful at it. Really, we just know the right people to ask for help.

Immediately after the golf tournament, RAGBRAI went through. (Sorry, if you don't know what RAGBRAI is, I'm not explaining it to you here.) Pool Boy, with his addiction to volunteering his time, was a busy busy man.

This weekend Pool Boy's sister is getting married. Family is arriving tomorrow at our house and staying until Sunday. We are hosting a get-together at our house tomorrow night, which means we spent all last night and tonight cleaning.

I'll be back soon!

DR for Dummies

I don't know how Dave Ramsey can take these calls day after day without freaking out. Last week a lady called in with this scenario:

Annual Salary - $75,000
Mortgage - $325,000
Car Payments - $1000 (monthly)

She was scared out of her mind because she was falling behind on payments. Really? You don't need Dave Ramsey to know that these numbers don't calculate out.

Another one for you: A caller had a vehicle that got bad gas mileage. She wanted to sell it to purchase a car with better gas mileage, but the new car would cost her an additional $5,000. Total miles driven each year was about 4,000. Dave told her, "It makes absolutely no sense to go buy that car!" She sheepishly said, "Oh. It doesn't?"

I can't believe some of these people have even heard of Dave Ramsey with the stupid questions they ask.

Family Reunion Hangover

I woke up at 10:00 this morning and was suffering from a major family reunion hangover. It had nothing to do with alcohol because I didn't have a drop. But still, I felt like crap. For the past 3 days I've eaten more brownies, cake, ice cream, chips, pop, and potato salad than any body should be subject to. I haven't exercised for at least a week. I haven't had a glass of milk since last Wednesday. I was severely short on sleep (hence the 10:00 wake-up time).

All that means I had a darn great time and am so happy to be part of such a great family!

The Elephant Plug-In

Buster the dog has been very busy stinking. I mean, BAD. He likes to roll in smelly stuff and apparently he found the mother load. Sincere apologies to anyone who ventures near my house this weekend...

which is ok because I won't be here anyway. Remember? The family thing. Tomorrow there are teams, challenges, and I think athletic ability is required. That means everyone will probably be fighting to have me on their team. For those of you who don't know me IRL, you can be assured that it is TOTALLY true. I'm sporty.

I don't know what my official relationship is to the children of my cousins. Anyone? Are we second cousins or is there some removal business going on? Dang those kids are cute. Everytime a little one walked by, I caught myself saying, "He/She is soooo cute!" Then Green walked by, and I yelled, "Oh...that one is REALLY cute!" I received a roll of the eyes on that one, but it's so true.

Have you noticed that I've used CAPITAL letters a lot in this post? I'm bothered by them, yet I have to use them so you will read the sentences EXACTLY the same as they sound in my head.

Is anyone going to leave me a comment, or you are mad at me because you are jealous of the awesome design of my blog?

I have to throw in a money note here. I've got $1855.00 set aside for air conditioner/furnace purchase should the need arise. I can hear the heloc yelling from uptown, "GIVE ME THAT MONEY!" (see? more caps!), but no. I'm pretty sure the need will be arising any day now so I need to get prepared.

Enough randomness.

These Tapes Are Ready to Roll

Hey there. Slacker blogger here. Remember back when I said this blog had become less and less important on my to-do list? Apparently I really meant it.

So let's see...what's been going on...

I love the new show Wipeout. Or maybe I just love the commentary that goes along with the show.

I've lost a CD I borrowed from the library. And I'm afraid to tell them so the fines keep racking up.

Pool Boy just told me he almost took the boys to Hooters for lunch, but Three was too scared. Thank God I'm around to help raise my boys.

We came very close to losing our friend due to sudden health problems. He's deployed to Colombia. That's the COUNTRY. Like in SOUTH AMERICA. He's out of the woods, but still on a respirator and unconscious. They've taken 80% of his small intenstine. I have no idea what that means, but it can't be good.

I have an uncle, my dad's brother, who is very ill. Dad would have hated to watch this happen. Wait...maybe he is watching, but from the other side?

This weekend we have a huge family reunion. HUGE. There will be boating, games, fireworks and festivities.

I love having post titles that don't mean a damn thing.

Directions

I'm proof that you need to be in control of your money

Here is a list of reasons why it’s important to have an emergency fund set aside as well as a handle on your monthly budget.

1. Dog surgery - $1400
2. Truck repair - $800
3. Tree cracks in half and has to be taken down - $300
4. Need to buy a chainsaw so you can cut the tree up rather than pay them to do it - $150
5. New glasses, which insurance won’t cover because I bought contacts - $300

Total unexpected expenses for June = $2,950

The bright side of the story? Because of our emergency fund and our monthly budget, I was able to pay cash for all of these items without dipping into savings or using a credit card! Do you have YOUR emergency fund set aside? Do you do a monthly budget...and follow it?