My net worth hit a new milestone (increment of 100k) this week. What with 2022's down market, it took a couple of years to get there. In a good market year like 2021, it currently takes just about a year to increase my net worth by 100k.
Debt is currently a bit higher due to Buffy's 3-month battle with cancer. I reshufffled around some of the debts this weekend and still expect to be able to reach my year-end goal barring (knock on wood) any big surprises.
One pleasant surprise was that I brought my car in for a repair 2 weeks ago, which I anticipated would cost me about $300, and it turned out to be covered under warranty. So I only had to pay for the oil change and tire rotation.
After getting my car fixed, I spent last weekend (Friday afternoon through Sunday morning) at a bed & breakfast that I like that sits along the Delaware River. It sits on "Scenic Drive," and there is a restaurant about half a mile away along the same road. There are also two small museums, the Zane Grey Museum and an exhibit about the Roebling Bridge, which was in some ways a prototype for the Brooklyn Bridge, which is also along this road. Scenic Drive is about a mile or so long, and at one end there is Veteran's Park, which has a jogging loop. So I walked and jogged, visited the two small museums, and did a lot of porch sitting (or sitting inside the dining room at a table with a view of the river when it was too cold to sit outside). I had dinner both nights at the nearby restaurant, and the B&B had a microwave and mini-fridge available for guests, so lunchs were freeze-dried reconstituted meals and fruit. This was a lovely period of decompression after the stress of the past few months, but I could use longer!
Then the middle of this week was marred by the horrid smoke-filled skies from the fires in Canada. For about two hours on Wednesday, my town had the questionable distinction of having the worst air in the country. I monitored airnow.gov until we temporarily got back to "good" air; now we are back to "moderate." Living in a valley, our area tends to collect smoke and allergens. I also ordered two new air purifiers, one for each story of my house. I figure bad weather events are just going to get more common in the future, and with my asthma, my lungs are a weak spot.
I've started on my decluttering project. At the beginning of the year, I had stated this as one of my goals for the year, but Buffy's illness put that on hold. This weekend I started by taking two big tote bags of cat food and two cat carriers (the ones that Buffy and Bridget arrived in in 2016) over to one of the local shelters to donate. I'm really going to try to focus on getting things cleared out over the next two months. I know that I'll only make limited progress, but hopefully I'll do more than the usual mere clearing off of surfaces and actually get some of the excess out of the house this year. The last time I took any photos of my house was in 2016, when my old college boyfriend stopped by for a visit. That was just before I started my current job, which has kept me busier than my last one, and the clutter has increased since then. This is my year to get things back to where I feel like I can have visitors again.
June 12th, 2023 at 12:14 pm 1686572083
June 13th, 2023 at 02:04 pm 1686665065
Did you notice any signs of the bad air quality from the fires in your home? Was there soot?
Congrats on the net worth milestone! We’ve certainly had to be patient these past 18 months or so, but it looks we’re finally having a bright spot in the markets.
June 13th, 2023 at 02:24 pm 1686666260
I'm rooting for you on the decluttering! Doing a purge & organization make my mind feel clearer almost immediately.
June 13th, 2023 at 07:40 pm 1686685231
No visible signs of the bad air quality indoors last week, but you could smell it. Not quite like when I was growing up in Los Angeles and you could see cinders floating in the air when there was a wildfire in the mountains. And it was certainly hazy outdoors.
I've decided that my big motivator/incentive for the decluttering (other than knowing that it will make me feel good) is that I am planning to make my acquisition of the next cats contingent upon doing it. New kitties will be my reward for good progress.
June 18th, 2023 at 06:56 pm 1687114587
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