In my last entry, I mentioned that I was planning to take 2 weeks off the end of the month.  I've just finished the first week off (note, I wrote this on 7/26 but published it belatedly).  However, I did have a client meeting in the middle of it, which meant that I did spend at least a full day (three partial days) in the office in preparation for it.  My firm has an unlimited PTO policy, with the rule being that, for my position (since I am an associate, not a lead, advisor) that I don't actually have to attend the meetings, though I usually do, but I do have to have the financial planning prep work for each meeting done.  Some clients' meeting prep I can do in 2-3 hours, but other clients are more complex, and this was one of the latter.

Otherwise, the week was mostly devoted to errands/chores:  got my car repaired, bought a new iphone, have been working on stuff for my estate planning, and the mundane grocery/gas/laundry that gets done routinely.

I also went to a play Tuesday night, and tonight (Sunday night--I won't post this until I am home on Monday), I am heading to an inn on the Delaware River 45 minutes away just so I have a sense of having a "real" vacation.

Next week, I have two mandatory trainings at work for new software that will take part of Tues & Wed, as well as more time on the estate planning, plus applying for a passport, plus an eye doctor appointment.  

I'm also trying to catch up on my social life.  I had a great catch-up call yesterday with a friend who just turned 70.  We realize that, although we've been in touch virtually the entire time, we actually haven't seen each other in 30 years.  She lives in Atlanta, which I've never been to, and she's never been to Bethlehem, so we determined that we will be doing some visiting in the next year or two.

I also had a long call with my friend who usually visits me each summer to go to a play at the Shakespeare festival.  I was too tired this winter to think about decluttering so I never contacted her, plus her husband was continuing to spiral down into dementia, so she didn't contact me about the annual trip--which wouldn't have occurred in any case, given her husband's condition.  I was thinking about her yesterday, since this is the time of year she usually visits.  I googled her name and found her husband's obituary--he just died on Friday.  I called her immediately and we ended up spending an hour on the phone.  It worked out that his children, who live in Florida and Hawaii, respectively, were already either there in upstate NY or already on the way, and she's otherwise had good support through the last couple of weeks, which were traumatic (he fell two weeks ago, broke his back, had surgery, then was released back to his memory care facility on hospice).  She already had scheduled a week-long retreat for herself in mid-August at a retreat center she has been visiting regularly for the past decade, and two of her siblings will be flying out soon to see her.  So I know that, although this time is hard, she will get through it with good support.

I also made this time week to see my friend Kim, who owns a Korean restaurant.  Kim's partner also had dementia; he passed in January 2025.  She has recovered well and now has a new relationship and plans in place to go to Iceland next month and Costa Rica in February, trying to take advantage of the "go-go" years, as she turns 70 in December (as does my Shakespeare friend).

Plus I spent some time with a couple of neighborhood friends.  Tonight, I will text two of my friends who I haven't seen in a while, hoping to be able to schedule some time together with them this week.  I actually have 5 local friends I want to catch up with, but I'm also hoping to get some decluttering done, so I won't completely book my schedule.

I have a busier August than usual, but I'm hoping that September and October will be a bit less busy, so that I could catch up with my other friends then.

Finally, I need to schedule my blood test for this week--the 160-marker direct-to-consumer package that I bought through Vitals Vault.  I also did some research on low ferritin and learned that many people who haven't had good luck bringing their ferritin up just with iron supplementation have had better luck pairing it with lactoferrin, so I have lactoferrin on order, as well as vitamin C and plans to separate out taking my iron from drinking my coffee, in the hopes that these additional moves will improve both my ferritin levels and my fatigue.

Why such grim thoughts on a holiday day?  Mostly because I have a bit more time on a long weekend and working on my estate plan is one of my goals for this year.  

Also, I lost two clients in the past month, and a third client was appointed the Executor of his sister-in-law's estate, so I have been responding to questions from him.

This third client is actually the one who led me to EstateExec, an online service with a one-time cost of $199 which allows you to set out your estate information in advance and will walk your executor through the process when it's time.

They give you a 10-day free trial in which you can input the information about your assets, debts, beneficiaries, etc, and print reports.  As long as you pay the license fee within the first 10 days, you are set and can update the information as needed and eventually share with the person you have appointed as your Executor.

I spent yesterday and this morning working on entering my information, and I will purchase the license next week.

I still have to get my documents in place, but I intend to do that this year.

The main reason I haven't done this to date (even though, hypocritically, I am always preaching about the importance of doing so to clients) is the difficulty of finding an Executor as a single, childless person. 

I finally got up the nerve to talk to two of my co-workers, who are about 15-20 years younger than I am (and who are sisters) and asked them if they would be willing to serve as my executors.  Since they also work for the firm that I work for, I am fine with their billing the firm for this work.  While I do have a younger sister, she would, for a variety of reasons, including the fact that she lives in CA and I live in PA, not be appropriate.  She is, however, my Primary Beneficiary.  Since the sisters agreed, and a doctor friend agreed to be my Health Care Power of Attorney (POA), I have identified the primary parties I need in order to get my documents in order.

The sisters did make me promise to get my information easily accessible to them as a condition of agreeing to servce, and as I complete the EstateExec process, I am doing that.

That's one of my age-65 tasks in progress.  

A second task for this year is getting my passport.  I am taking the last two weeks of the month off and will apply then.  I was very relieved to hear that, even though the "branded" version of the passport with the current president's likeness will be available, I won't be required to get that edition.  They are printing 40,000 and you have to request it to have his likeness.

The third age-65 task is also in progress.  I have mentioned in the past that I am struggling with fatigue.  Two months ago, I discovered that my ferritin levels dropped rather precipitously in the past year and I put myself on a new supplement.  I took a follow-up test this past week and it has only increased by one point.  The supplement I took promised your money back if you didn't see a satisfactory increase within 60 days, and I am pleased that they honored that.  The original purchase was 3 months worth for the price of 2, and I still have the last month to go through, which I will, but then I will change supplements, assuming no increase in levels in the next month.

I have long been looking at these direct-to-consumer blood tests, and have used these services in the past to order thyroid bloodwork, since the doctor only orders TSH annually, and I want to monitor my antibody levels.  Function came out as a major player 3 or 4 years ago, but there are now several other competitors that are cheaper and/or have more features, including Superpower, Empirical Health, and Vitals Vault.  I ended up purchasing the top package on Vitals Vault, which cost more than I could have gotten Function for during Prime Days, but Vitals Vault (and Empirical Health) do not charge an annual subscription fee, while Function and Superpower both do.  Vitals Vault is better if you are looking to customize your tests more for particular health conditions, which is why I chose it.  If I weren't focused on that, I would have chosen Empirical Health, which is the only one that links up with your "wearable" data (FitBit, Apple Watch, etc).  I'll go for the test during my two weeks off later this month.

I also connected this weekend with a friend and former mentor of mine.  She was my advisor when I was an accounting major at the college where I was also on the faculty teaching psychology.  We became friends and have stayed in touch during the 17 years since I left the college.  We will be getting together in October to go on a fall foliage train ride.  There is a historic railroad in her town that has rides.  I have been thinking about going down since I learned about it two years ago, and it turns out that she has been trying to get someone to go on the excursion with her for the past two years, so that works out.  So that it something to look forward to.

I am going to take two weeks off this time in the hopes that I will *finally* get something done on my decluttering.  I've realized that one week off just doesn't cut it.  One week gives me time for R&R and a bit of socializing, but I only got one of my tasks (clearing and cleaning out most of the kitchen shelves) done back in May when I took the week off.  I didn't get any progress on clearing out some of the paperwork or on actually getting stuff OUT of the house, so hopefully I will make some progress later this month.