11 Years

Tomorrow hubby and I will celebrate our 11 year wedding anniversary. At first we thought we’d save some money by going to a restaurant called Elephant Bar, which got some good reviews.

But I knew hubby had his heart set on Flemings and getting a filet mignon. When he got home today, I said that we celebrate our anniversary once a year, and spending a hundred bucks on an anniversary dinner would be OK, we can still afford it. Hubby said that while he was at the gym, Mr. Fabu asked him about our anniversary meal plans, and Mr. Fabu didn’t seem that excited about Elephant Bar as a special place; he said that it was kind of like Red Lobsters. I realize that for some people, Red Lobsters would qualify as a special place! But we got used to spoiling ourselves with fancy steak on special occasions like birthdays and anniversaries, and we had the lousiest birthdays ever this year (think: JAPANESE FOOD COURT in a supermarket)!

Tomorrow, Flemings Steakhouse.

Tax Refund

I received and deposited both federal and state tax refund checks, which in my previous post, I mentioned about getting.

It was kind of cool to deposit money from the government instead of paying additional money to the government. Of course I immediately turned around and wrote a check in almost the same amount to my SEP-IRA (self employed individual retirement account), in order to be in proper financial standing to receive the tax refund.

I’m still regretting not buying a ton of gold when prices were in the low 700’s late last year. By “a ton”, I’m being figurative of course.

Transitions

Bebe’s now 16 months old and he’s been teething the last few days. He’s running all over the place but still not sure-footed just yet. He’s done a few face-plants and gave his forehead and nose some nasty bruises and scrapes. Just the other day he fell down and somehow split his lip (probably bit down while falling). Poor guy. He’s enunciating “d” sounds and finally is interested in having me read to him, although at most for 10 minutes before he’s off to get into new mischief.

I’ve been axing Fridays off my calendar in my effort to work less and get used to being mom full time on Fridays. This transition’s been kind of tough, especially when I have gotten used to my mom caring for Bebe during the days at least until his noon nap time. Recently I took a business trip to the East coast and while I enjoyed it, I missed Bebe terribly. I stared at his picture every chance I got during the business trip – even when I was on the plane. I was gone 2 nights. The additional money is helpful for us to pay off as much mortgage as we can.

I’ve been spending a lot of time on LinkedIn, in discussion groups about leadership lately. Maybe I’ll build something there for the future.

I went to Barnes and Nobles the other day and bought Dr. Laura’s In Praise of Stay at Home Moms. She actually wanted to name the book “at home moms” instead of “stay at home moms” because it gives the impression that moms are prisoners of their own homes (usually only by choice). I know some people can’t stand Dr. Laura but I view her as a role model. When I was in my mid-20’s and doing my grad work, I listened to her radio show one day while driving to lab, when a 40-something woman called in asking Dr. Laura how to deal with her mother. That call changed my life, because it made me see my relationship with my own mother a different way. No time to get into that now, though.

Even though I don’t listen to Dr. Laura consistently in the past, lately I’ve tried to listen to a short bit every day, because I need the courage to stick out my decision to once again be Bebe’s primary caretaker.

Well, I can write more, but I need to go watch TV because that’s “hubby and me (with bebe sleeping next to us) time”! The main reason why I’m updating is because Mr. Fabu said I haven’t updated in 3 weeks! I can’t believe he still reads this blog!

*p.s. I am officially stopping the use of the category “The Nanny Years” from henceforth because we aren’t getting a nanny.