Prudie Day

short+sassy · January 2021

I remembered that @mrsconn23 bestowed upon me the revered WW responsibility of posting Prudie today, lol! I will do that shortly.

I am so glad and grateful that Inauguration Day appeared to go by without any violence. I was actually a little more worried about state capitols that may not have been as heavily guarded as DC.

After my miserable day yesterday that I am still having trouble coming to terms with, I ended up getting at least some unexpected good news when I got home. I realize that life insurance (no one died) is not the category that most people would classify good news in, but it really is for me. I have searched extensively over the years for life insurance but, because I have Type I Diabetes, either companies won't sell it to me at all or they want an outrageously exorbitant price for a tiny amount of coverage, ie $270/month for $30K. Never mind that I'm perfectly healthy other than that and it has always been in good control. Over the last 25 years, I've spent exactly one night in the hospital for my diabetes and that was the day I was diagnosed.

I belong to the Navy Federal Credit Union and they sent me an advertisement about special rates with Tru-Life, blah, blah. It even had the exact amounts, based on age/coverage. I almost didn't even bother calling, but I did. I am still in utter shock but, even knowing I have diabetes, they not only approved me, but still gave me the exact same rate that was advertised! For $30/month, I now have $50K in life insurance. I can up it, up to $100K and might do that in the near future. While I was at it, I also added a Family AD&D (covers myself and my H) plan for $100K, for $15/month. I finally have some piece of mind that, if anything were to happen to me, my H would have extra financial help.

MissKittyDanger · January 2021

Tuesday night I felt icky and sore, but chalked it up to being tired.
Overnight my stomach got crampy and I felt just miserable - cold and sore.

If BK didn't share a wall with our bathroom, I probably would have taken a shower.
I was suppose to WFH, but I just chilled all day. I could couldn't muster up the energy to function.
Like, M got home from dropping BK at daycare and I went back to bed, and slept for nearly 3hrs.
I convinced myself to eat cereal, and ended up napping again in the afternoon.

My stomach still doesn't feel great but eating helped. My body hurts still but at least advil is working so that helps. I told M I may take a bath tomorrow to help. Maybe I slept wrong? Maybe I got a minor virus that just required extra sleep?

2 weeks until my exam. I'm kinda half freaking out but half confident? Idk. It's weird.

Idk if anyone has heard of this, but we're doing "1000 hours" - which I've amended to 500 for us because between weather and working during the week, 1000 may be too much.
Basis is to ensure kids get 1000 hours in a calendar year outside.
I know BK gets outdoor time during mild days at daycare, so I'm really only counting times with us. In summer we're out more - even just playing chalk out front before lunch. Right now we only have 20mins, and I know tonight will be mild so we may let BK play in front a bit before coming inside.

https://www.1000hoursoutside.com/

If anyone is curious. We're just doing in the 100 hour mandalas

CharmedPam · January 2021

Fantastic news @short+sassy. I’m kinda in your boat too. I’m type II and relatively healthy and live a healthy lifestyle. But I have that label now and always will. Yaknow?

Just waiting out the rest of the week. SSDD. Short work week, but like all short work weeks, it won’t feel like it.

MissKittyDanger · January 2021

@short+sassy hopefully today is better than whatever happened yesterday

But yay for Life Insurance

kvruns · January 2021

great news S+S! Also, while it doesn't help now, usually when you start a new job and they offer life insurance you can get guarantee coverage as long as you sign up when first eligible so it's a good way for someone who normally can't get coverage or has really expensive coverage. Granted it only stays with you when you work there (well there can be ways to transfer it if you stop working) but a good option for some.

I hope you feel better soon MKD. I need to do better about outside time for B in the winter. They're supposed to go out at daycare but I feel like they don't a lot of the time. in the evenings he gets home and its cold and already getting dark so I don't want to deal with it. Even in the summer he only gets about 20-30 min outside at home after school tops bc of going to bed so early.

Casadena · January 2021

I have been in a serious funk lately - just really down and overwhelmed and impatient. It's definitely not my normal self and i don't know how to snap myself out of it. I'm feeling a LOT of guilt around sending the babe back to school/daycare. We don't HAVE to do it, it's just going to be way easier for H and I if we do. But the fact that if one of us has to be taking a risk - that it's the baby is really weighing on me. Even though his school has had no positive cases at all and have lots of protocols and protections in place. Just a tough decision.

On the positive side, it's gorgeous here today. Sunny and cold with lots of snow still on the ground so i'm going to go for a walk sometime this afternoon!

kvruns · January 2021

I've been shopping at Aldi a lot more, mostly for snack type stuff, I don't do a full weekly shop there or anything. Curious what others like to buy from there. For me its:

Bagged popcorn
Pretzel thins
Protein yogurt
Heavy whipping cream
Frozen california medly veggies
Apples
shredded cheese
bacon (regular and turkey)

Thing I haven't liked:
bananas (always seem to be bad/bruised)
ice cream (except the Christmas ice cream bars were good)

I haven't bought meat there bc we usually buy in bulk so the prices never seem that great.

short+sassy · January 2021

CharmedPam said:

Fantastic news @short+sassy. I’m kinda in your boat too. I’m type II and relatively healthy and live a healthy lifestyle. But I have that label now and always will. Yaknow?

Just waiting out the rest of the week. SSDD. Short work week, but like all short work weeks, it won’t feel like it.

If you'd like (or anyone else), I can PM you the name and phone number for this life insurance company. I heard about them through Navy Federal and supposedly got a special rate because of that. But this company will sell a policy to anyone who qualifies and I suspect my "special rate" wasn't much, if anything. Definitely seemed more like a marketing tactic, lol. Which is fine.

@kvruns, thanks! I always buy whatever extra life insurance I can at the companies I've worked for, including my current employer. But sometimes they're just AD&D policies and, right, they're gone on my last day of employment. I am really fortunate that my parents bought one of those Gerber Life whole life insurance policies when I was a baby. So I've always had some life insurance with that. But, especially with all the mortgages we have, I've felt "under-insured".

Funny story on that Gerber policy. My mom got in touch with me a few months after my FORTIETH birthday. She reminded me I had it and that she'd been paying the premiums for all this time. She asked if it would be okay if I took over the premiums. Of course that's fine to expect me to pay for my own life insurance premiums! I actually felt bad she even had to bring it up because it had never occurred to me to ask her about it.

MissKittyDanger · January 2021

Casadena said:

I have been in a serious funk lately - just really down and overwhelmed and impatient. It's definitely not my normal self and i don't know how to snap myself out of it.

Guilt aside, it sounds like you may have some mental health issues. I suggest this because I was like this for awhile. For me, meds was a help and my dr suggested in the winter doing Vitamin D drops {double check because you're pregnant}
Tis the season for it.

I would definitely talk to the dr about it, but also be gentle with yourself. It's a rough time.

Side note; don't feel guilty about sending tot to daycare. You're wfh, it's hard to work and have tot around!

charlotte989875 · January 2021

Work. Busy. Almost Friday.

Promotion/ raises & bonus letters are going out today. Not expecting anything given I was out for 3 months so it’s a little whomp, whomp for me today.

ei34 · January 2021

*hugs* @Casadena for what it’s worth, it’s hard to even compare you and your H to the baby, bc his chance of contracting the virus is statistically lower and his symptoms, statistically, would be more mild than you or H’s. Just FWIW. He will enjoy being around babies his own age too. I don’t mean to minimize your feelings in any way, and I totally get the feeling of guilt. These are really hard decisions you have to make.

@short+sassy congrats on the life insurance! And I’m sorry about the awful stretch you’ve had as a landlord. I’d never want to be one, in my area (seems like lots of areas) landlords have few rights or protection.

@kvruns I don’t have Aldi by me but that sounds like a good list!

My throat hurts from reading midterm exams to students who receive extended time all morning. My head hurts too, due to usual PMS-related splitting headache. So wishing extra hard that today was Friday.

Casadena · January 2021

ei34 said:

*hugs* @Casadena for what it’s worth, it’s hard to even compare you and your H to the baby, bc his chance of contracting the virus is statistically lower and his symptoms, statistically, would be more mild than you or H’s. Just FWIW. He will enjoy being around babies his own age too. I don’t mean to minimize your feelings in any way, and I totally get the feeling of guilt. These are really hard decisions you have to make.

Thanks! Rationally, I know his chances are far lower and cases are milder just the black and white view of it is definitely making me feel guilty. I'm sooo excited for him to be around other kiddos though. There are 3 other boys with birthdays within a couple weeks of his plus a couple of littler babies in his room. I think it will be awesome to have similar age kids plus exposure to babies in a controlled setting before our new baby gets here too! Overall, we're making the right choice, but you're right, it's hard!

kvruns · January 2021

short+sassy said:

CharmedPam said:

Fantastic news @short+sassy. I’m kinda in your boat too. I’m type II and relatively healthy and live a healthy lifestyle. But I have that label now and always will. Yaknow?

Just waiting out the rest of the week. SSDD. Short work week, but like all short work weeks, it won’t feel like it.

If you'd like (or anyone else), I can PM you the name and phone number for this life insurance company. I heard about them through Navy Federal and supposedly got a special rate because of that. But this company will sell a policy to anyone who qualifies and I suspect my "special rate" wasn't much, if anything. Definitely seemed more like a marketing tactic, lol. Which is fine.

@kvruns, thanks! I always buy whatever extra life insurance I can at the companies I've worked for, including my current employer. But sometimes they're just AD&D policies and, right, they're gone on my last day of employment. I am really fortunate that my parents bought one of those Gerber Life whole life insurance policies when I was a baby. So I've always had some life insurance with that. But, especially with all the mortgages we have, I've felt "under-insured".

Funny story on that Gerber policy. My mom got in touch with me a few months after my FORTIETH birthday. She reminded me I had it and that she'd been paying the premiums for all this time. She asked if it would be okay if I took over the premiums. Of course that's fine to expect me to pay for my own life insurance premiums! I actually felt bad she even had to bring it up because it had never occurred to me to ask her about it.

I had a similar experience in my late 20s. My mom found mine - I think she forgot about it and had been paying all that time even though they cancelled my brothers' policies. I tried to cash it out bc it was only like $1000 but I forget if that was even possible or whtever happened. I just remember I was like please stop paying the premiums.

kvruns · January 2021

I hope you end up with a surprise raise @charlotte989875

short+sassy · January 2021

kvruns said:

short+sassy said:

I had a similar experience in my late 20s. My mom found mine - I think she forgot about it and had been paying all that time even though they cancelled my brothers' policies. I tried to cash it out bc it was only like $1000 but I forget if that was even possible or whtever happened. I just remember I was like please stop paying the premiums.

Now that you mention it, my Gerber life insurance actually came in useful when I was doing my two refinances at the end of last year. My lender required so much money in "reserves". Since I have a HELOC which I can always access as easily as cash, I don't really keep much in my typical checking/savings account. In the very beginning, I explained that to my loan officer, but also how much money I could add to those accounts in the coming weeks and that I could take money out of my HELOC to "bulk" those accounts up, if needed.

In that discussion, he also started mentioning other types of accounts they consider. Like a whole life insurance policy with a cash value

. Me (lightbulb), "Oh! I have one of those! I think it has a cash value of $X." I had to go find my statement, which are only sent to me twice a year, and I was crossing my fingers it included the cash value. I found it and it did (even a few thousand higher than I thought it was). I also had a small 401K I don't usually think about. Both of those types of accounts only counted for "half value", as far as the reserves were concerned. But it helped push me over the edge and was that much less I had to pull from my HELOC, just so that money could sit in my checking account for a couple months while I'm paying interest on it.

OliveOilsMom · January 2021

Casadena - You need to do what is best for you! Your baby will love to be around others! And please don't let the rest of my day effect you either!

Kvruns - For Aldi we love the cinnamon bread and the chocolate chip brioche bread. The first makes great toast and the second makes great french toast. I really like their veggie chips too, though I haven't gotten them recently. The fresh pizzas are pretty good for a take and bake. They have a bacon cheddar dip that is really good. I also recently got their horseradish cheddar cheese spread that is good also. I found macarons in the freezer section! They were delicious, but I think it was a Christmas specialty item, so I don't think they will be found all the time. There is a FB group called Aldi Nerds, it can be an overwhelming group from time to time, due to the volume of posts, but the people there always talk about the best items to get from Aldi.

So we found out DD's daycare had at least one other case, so they are closing the whole school until Fed 1st. So DD will be with us for the next two weeks. Since she wasn't in school, she won't need to continue to quarantine past her Day 14 at least! Some local places allow the kids back with a Negative test after a certain amount of exposure days.

Fingers crossed and positive house selling vibes for my parents. They are finally showing the house to the guy who showed interest in Nov/Dec. Its not until next week though. Things will become so much better for them, if they can unload that house.

Jstump2 · January 2021

@OliveOilsMom I never know what to get at Aldi since it's not in my normal path and I rarely go but those suggestions sound amazing! I need Chocolate chip Brioche bread in my life!

Jen4948 · January 2021

The honeymoon is over at my job because it never had a chance to start.

My onboarding took place a few days before Christmas, and my boss wanted to launch our website with 30 articles, 20 of which he and his assistant promised to write. I got 2 from his assistant and none from him. And he wants articles about every damn company event in the website within a few days, but I'm the only writer and editor, and he's trying to introduce me to outsiders who are supposed to contribute. They're asking me what the guidelines are and I've had no chance to even formulate them because my boss is in such a hurry for content to go up on the website that I had to come up with my ten ASAP with no time for anything else.

Then he schedules a mandatory staff meeting every morning and an "Annual Retreat" during January of every year during which he talks for three hours every morning about corporate issues like mission statement, SWOT analyses, etc. But he makes everyone do a DISC (and he made me do this during my interview process) and every person in the company has to read their results - including me. And those meetings are 75% shits, giggles and one-liner wisecracks. Maybe some of this stuff could be valuable to a newbie, but not in the initial weeks when they are trying to meet tight time-driven deadlines.

I just started and I have tight deadlines to meet, and so much of my time is being squandered in these stupid meetings that I am working what amounts to a tax season schedule, but my attendance at those damn meetings is "mandatory." I cannot for the fucking life of me figure out the reasoning on this.

short+sassy · January 2021

@Jen4948, I'm sorry your new job has turned out to be so stressful! I know you don't want to make waves as the newbie. But would your boss be receptive to putting down some parameters, as far as work/life balance?

For example, "Look, Boss, I have been giving it my all to ensure the timely and successful release of this website. But I cannot control when others are not contributing what they are supposed to. I have been putting in (insert long hours) every week and I cannot keep that up. Going forward, I will work up to 50 hours (or insert your number) per week until this milestone is met. Once I hit 50, I'm done until the next week. One way I can use my time more efficiently is less meetings. I will go to whichever meetings you would like, just keep in mind it will be subtracted from the 50 hours/week I am willing to work."

Jen4948 · January 2021

short+sassy said:

@Jen4948, I'm sorry your new job has turned out to be so stressful! I know you don't want to make waves as the newbie. But would your boss be receptive to putting down some parameters, as far as work/life balance?

For example, "Look, Boss, I have been giving it my all to ensure the timely and successful release of this website. But I cannot control when others are not contributing what they are supposed to. I have been putting in (insert long hours) every week and I cannot keep that up. Going forward, I will work up to 50 hours (or insert your number) per week until this milestone is met. Once I hit 50, I'm done until the next week. One way I can use my time more efficiently is less meetings. I will go to whichever meetings you would like, just keep in mind it will be subtracted from the 50 hours/week I am willing to work."

Thanks @short+sassy. I have been setting some parameters with varying degrees of success and at least he has acknowledged that the onboarding sucked. (He and his assistant kept throwing around the word "scrappy," but I finally told them that the word has become a comic meme (which is true, some of the others were posting memes in the chats that were supposed to be "funny") and they agreed to drop the word. He and I have a meeting scheduled for this week and we'll set some more parameters.

Prudie Day

Re: Prudie Day

Choose Another Board

Search Boards