Retire@50

I went to King Soopers this morning and picked up 3 more prescriptions. I paid $7.05 and got $75 back on my card. $25 for each prescription. Unreal. I got my groceries and spent almost $21 using the prescription bonus from last week. I also got 200 gas points for the 4 prescriptions or .20/gal.

My dad got the tree planted yesterday, he's one of those people who can't stand to leave something undone, has to do it immediately. Nice for my mom, means that things always get done quickly around the house.

I got a local coupon book in the mail yesterday and I see they are starting the restaurant bonuses early at Texas Roadhouse this year. Buy $30 and get a $5 bonus card. I'll have to get some of these for dad for xmas and some for me too.

Yesterday when we went to the outlet mall I got paring knife for .99 cents. How in the world can they did the metal, transport it, smelt it, make it into a knife and sell it for less that a $1. Amazing.

I finished reading my book The Tomorrow Log by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller. Sci/Fi - excellent.

My mom's bday is in December. I recently asked her if she knew of anything she wanted for her bday and/or xmas. She said she wanted a tree that had orange leaves in the fall, but the only way to know that would be to go looking now and see what color the leaves were. I told her if she found what she wanted I would buy it for her now. She had up to $150 to spend on it. $50 for her bday and $100 for xmas.

So today we went to a nearby town that has a big outlet mall and a nursery. We shopped at the mall first, went to lunch and then went to the nursery. She found a tree that had exactly the color leaves she wanted. It's a box elder which is a type of maple I guess. It was $220, but we got it at 40% off. So I spent $142. I hope her and dad were able to get it out of the back of the pickup when they got home. It weighed about a 100 lbs. It will eventually grow to 35' high and about that wide. So dad gets the privilege of planting it, I'm sure that makes him happy, but I know she is happy with her early Christmas tree.

I finished reading the library book No Mercy by Sherrilyn Kenyon. Paranormal - excellent.

I was reading an article on ways to save money. One of them was to rent an extra room or space in your garage or basement. There are 2 websites you can go to and list the space and price you want.

sparefoot.com and [storeatmyhouse.com[/url]

I finished reading my book Scout's Progress by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller. Sci/Fi - excellent.

It's not too early to start planning for xmas shopping. November and December are some of the best bargain shopping months of the year, but in order to take advantage of those bargains you need to have cash put aside. Here's some of the bargains that have happened in past years and that I hope to happen again.

Swagbucks - they usually have a sale on their rewards. I'm saving up my rewards until then. Last year they had their Amazon gift cards on sale for 400 points vs the normal 450 and I was able to get 2. I'm hoping for 3 this year.

Restaurants - several restaurants offer $5 bonus gift cards when you buy $25 gift cards. This is a $20 savings. Last year I know of the following restaurants that did this - Chili's, Texas Roadhouse, Applebee's, Red Robin, Elephant Bar, and Ruby Tuesday's. You usually have to use the $5 bonus by Feb/Mar of the next year, but you can also give them as gifts. I buy the gift cards with credit cards giving 5% back on restaurant purchases saving even more.

Coinstar - If you cash in $40 worth of coins at a Coinstar machine and opt for a gift card you can get an extra $10 gift card for that same store. You don't get the $10 bonus until Jan, but still it's free money. I got 2 from Amazon last year. They have iTunes and Lowes and other options. I save my coins all year in a jar. If you don't have coins saved go to the bank and get $40 in quarters.

Of course the best way to save money is not to spend it in the first place, but if you are going to spend on something, get the best value you can for your money and getting something you need/want for free is the very best way to save money.

Excellent article on the effect of higher taxes on earnings

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/I-Can-Afford-Higher-Taxes-But-...

I finished reading the library book Dawn on a Distant Shore by Sara Donati. Historical fiction - excellent

I met with my kidney surgery dr today in town. My surgery is set up for Nov 10. My poor mom, it seems like all my dr things are really messing with her schedule. She had to give up several things she wanted to do now to go with me or be there when I was in the hospital. For the dr visits, I don't care if she goes or not, it makes her feel better so I let her come into the appts with me. I feel kind of funny though - an almost 50 year old woman who has her mom with her in the dr's office . Anyways, mom was supposed to have company on the 9th and 10th. I told her it was ok with me if she doesn't make it to the hospital until late on the 10th, but she wants to be there. I guess I'll just leave it up to her to decide what her priorities are after letting her know I won't be offended if she's not there.

I got a prescription filled at King Soopers today. It cost .80 for the month and I had a coupon to get $25 in free groceries if I got my prescription filled at King Soopers. So lots of free groceries coming up. I have one more of those coupons to use up before the end of the month.

Since I was in town again stopped at Borders and got 2 books for my neice and a $10 gift card for the daughter of a friend of mine for xmas. I used a 40% of coupon plus 5 Border's bucks. A lot of my xmas this year is going to be gift cards. My neice wants Target gift cards since she works there and is always buying stuff. She gets 10% off as an employee. Since I get 5% off on grocery stores with one of my credit cards I will buy them from King Soopers in December and save $5 and get double gas points or .20 off per gallon.

I also went to Alberstons again and got 2 bags of No Yolks noodles for .59 each. 3 free Bliss candy bars. 4 free Mentos gums. 2 Mars simply caramel bars - BOGO. The gum goes to neices.

I sent a list of discounted gift cards to my dad last night to see if he wanted any of them. I went to Card Pool and purchased Chili's and Elephant Bar gift cards at 11% discount for him. I went to Plastic Jungle and got JC Penny cards at 14% off for him and I got a Staples gift card at 8% off for me. This is just like buying money at a discount plus I save another 1% putting them on my credit card.

I read another book in my sci/fi series - Local Custom by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller - excellent.

I had a really good talk with my oldest neice on the phone last night. She's a psychology major at college in her second year. We discussed a lot of things, religion, multi-culturalism, what she wants out of life. I always ask her what's she learning right now. She started telling me that she thinks grandma, (my mom) has a worry disorder. She had a fancy name for it, but that's basically what it is. She says she can't help her behavior and that it's genetic. I found that really funny that she starts telling me this out of the blue, when I've been discussing that here. My neice has been having panic attacks because she stresses out too much over school and work. She's worried she caught the worried disorder from my grandma and my mom. She plans to take a class at school that's supposed to help her control her panic attacks.

Mostly she needs to realize it's not the end of the world even when something does go wrong. Most everything can be fixed and other people rarely put as much emphasis on the things that you worry about as you think they do. Most people are pretty self-absorbed and don't even see the things in your house, meal, performance that you think they do and even when they do see those things, they don't put value judgements on them. If I go to someone else's house, even if I do see dust or something, I don't really think about it, it's like noticing the couch is brown. It's just a fleeting thought and I don't think she must be a slob or something like that.

I got several samples in the mail yesterday. 2 Wisk, 1 Life energy bar and Cascade. The Cascade had 4 tablets, which is nice. Both Wisk's and the energy bar will go to my neice.

Still reading my series. Finished Agent of Change and I Dare by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller. Sci/Fi - excellent.

This is an interesting article called "The Short List: The Most Effective Actions U.S. Households Can Take to Curb Climate Change". I don't necessarily believe in climate change, but I do believe in saving energy thru small changes. I especially liked the tables in this article that show in black and white how much you can save for individual changes.

http://www.environmentmagazine.org/Archives/Back%20Issues/Se...

I signed up for a couple more birthday freebies today.

Get $5 at Jason's deli on your bday when you sign up for their email list

http://www.jasonsdeli.com/subscription

Get $10 gift card to a mall near you on your bday if you sign up for newsletter

http://www.ggp.com/GiftCards/CIMLocations.aspx

I finished another one of my books in the series I'm rereading - Plan B by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller. Sci/Fi - excellent.

I went to the kidney dr yesterday as a follow up on my kidney stone removal. He said the kidney stone was calcium based and I need to restrict my calcium to no more than 1000 mg a day or approx. 2 glass of milk. I had read that calcium was good for diabetes control and that dairy was good for weight loss, so in June I started drinking 2 glasses of milk a day, plus taking 1000 mg of calcium supplements. I was taking twice as much calcium a day as I should have been.

I have several bottles of calcium supplements that I got for free or cheap. I'll see if my mom or sister wants them and if not will donate to the food pantry. They still have the original packaging so they should be able to take them.

I need to go back Monday to the surgery dr to sign the consent forms. They are looking at Nov 3 or 4 for the surgery.

Since I was in town, I ran errands. I got one free book at Borders using my reward cards and a 40% off coupon.

I went to Albertson's since I was a couple miles away. I almost never shop there since it is too far from where I live. The had the large containers of Quacker oats on sale for $2.00 and I had 5 $1 coupons, so I got 5 boxes. These will go to the food pantry. I also got 3 6 packs of Hansen soda for $1.50 each after 3 .50 coupons that doubled.

I went to Target and got 4 apples at $1.19 and 1 loaf of french bread. I had 2 $1.00 off produce coupons and 1 $1.00 of a bakery item. The bread was .50 after coupons and the apples were .64.

I stopped at King Soopers on the way home and got several free items. I picked up a prescription and while I was back there I saw they had the brand of ear plugs I use on closeout. 10 pairs for $1.24 - normally almost $4. I got 6 packages.

I got a free 20 oz Coke Zero for playing the Kroger sweepstakes game.

I got 2 free cookie dough Luna Bars $1.00 - .50 coupons doubled. Goes to my neice.

I got 1 free Joint Juice - goes to my grandma

I got 2 cans Progresso soup for .25 each.

I got a bag of Snickers candy bars for $2.00 to give my neice. I'm supposed to go visit her next week and I have 2 bags of groceries so far. We'll see what else goes on sale before then.

I finished reading my book Carpe Diem by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller. Sci/Fi - excellent. Since reading the latest book in this series the other day, I've been rereading all of them. I love when I get inspired by a series and then can sit down and reread the whole thing from book one.

I got a haircut today at Great Clips and I paid full price for the first time in what feels like forever. I kept putting it off hoping they would send out a coupon, but it's been driving me crazy so I got it done this morning. It feels so much better. Spent $14 with tip.

Went to Kohl's with mom, but didn't find anything I wanted to use my $10 off $20 card on. She got several things so I gave it to her to use, but since you had to use your Discover card to get the deal I paid for it and then she gave me the cash back.

I keep getting my neighbors mail. Today I got 2 things from different banks and 1 from Anthem. Since it happens so often anymore I've started looking at the address before opening things. It's scary how often this happens. I wonder if any of my investment/bank stuff is going to my neighbors. I'm old fashioned and still like get hard copies in the mail on a lot of things. I just hand their mail to them, but they never give me anything so I don't know if they get mail for me or not.

I finished reading the library book The Last Twilight by Marjorie M. Liu. Paranormal - ok

Awile back I wrote about a guy who blogged about how he wasn't really rich even though he earned more than $250K/year. I was fasinated by the comments more than the article. The Wall Street Journal has put out another article discussing this guy, which is also interesting and is more geared to the psychology of feeling rich or poor.

http://finance.yahoo.com/career-work/article/110876/why-the-...

Even though the article is pretty good I don't care for the ending:

"But frankly, that discussion is offensive, particularly in this economy, when for millions of people the choice is not travel or private school versus real estate, but utilities versus food, or rent versus car payments."

Why is it, that so many people think that if you have money you don't have other problems? Or that it's wrong for you to enjoy what you have earned as long as there is someone else in the world who has less than you do - for whatever reason? There will always be people who have more money than others in society. Are they less because of that? Should they mourn the good things in their life because someone else somewhere does not have those things? Should they not want more for themselves and their family? It's not like they are taking food away from someone else when they work and then spend what they've earned on their families. In fact this particular man employs 2 other people to help with his family life, so he is providing food to others and he can do that because he makes good money.

I guess what others want is instead of him employing these 2 people, he should instead send that money to Washington in the form of higher taxes and then after they waste 5 - 10% of it off the top and another % for administration, tax preparers etc, they can return it to the people he previously employeed in the form of unemployment checks, food stamps, etc. Which they can then spend hours standing in line for and filling out forms.

I finished reading the library book Mouse and Dragon by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller. Sci/Fi - excellent. I love this Liaden universe series. I like space opera anyways and they are one of the best.

I did a big grocery run today and spent over $25, which is a lot for me, but I haven't been eating much recently and finally got to the point where I needed to restock and get back into eating good meals.

I got a lot of basics like milk, eggs, bread, apples, bananas, lettuce, celery, tomatoes and potatoes. I went to both King Soopers and Safeway. I went back to Safeway to stock up on the apples. They had the Gala apples for .77/lb and I got some Saturday to try out. They are really good, sweet and small, just the right size. So I got 30 more today. I also got 7 baking potatoes at .79/lb and 5 tomatoes at 1.28/lb.

At King Soopers the Eggsland Best extra large eggs were .40 cents cheaper/doz than the large eggs, so I got a doz after coupon for 1.19. I got one free Star Kist tuna pouch, 2 free chocolate cherry Luna bars and 3 free Joint Juice. The Luna bars go to my niece and the Joint Juice goes to my grandma.

I finished reading my book Dragondrums by Anne McCaffrey. Sci/Fi - very good.

As I ran errands this morning I noticed several small businesses are closed or are closing around here. The Carl's Junior, Cold Stone, another ice cream place, a sandwich place, and 2 Curves are combining into one, so technically one of them is closed. After 2 years I guess they couldn't hold out any longer hoping for better times.

I went to the library, Safeway and Subway this morning. Safeway had Gala apples for .77/lb. I got a few and if I like them, I will go back on Monday and stock up. Apples last for months in the refrigerator, but some of them have a strange mouth feel, so I want to taste before stocking up.

For xmas last year I got 2 $25 Subway gift cards. I used the last of the first one today and started on the second. So lunch and dinner are free today since I got a foot long turkey sub on their new 9-grain bread. I haven't tried the bread yet, hope it's good and not grainy like some.

I got a free sample of Wisk in the mail today. Love samples. I also got the bill from the gall bladder dr - $812.40. I also got a $10 off $20 coupon for Kohl's from my Discover card. I'll probably give it to my mom since I'm not a big Kohl's shopper.

I finished reading the library book Love in the Time of Dragons by Katie Macalister. Paranormal - cute and funny, but it's part of a new series and the story left off in the middle, which I don't like.

I did my quarterly networth last night and so far this year I've made $8,000 more than I've spent. I expect I'll need another $10 - $12K before the end of the year for xmas and medical bills and general living expenses. I've spent just over $14k so far this year. The lowest level of expectation is to meet my expenses each year. The hoped for is to meet expenses and earn 3 - 4% or inflation on my investments. And the optimimum is to make double my expenses. This year I think I'll meet my expenses but don't know how much more.

Paid both credit cards, home insurance and the cleaners today - big chunk of change gone Discover is giving 5% back on restaurants and fashion for the next quarter and MC is giving 5% on groceries, department stores and movies.

I finished reading the library book Mission of Honor by David Weber. Sci/Fi - very good.

Yesterday was my parents anniversary. I found a really cute card. 2 little kids dressed up in wedding clothes. The little girl has her tounge sticking out and the little boy is shrugging his shoulders and rolling his eyes. The card says "Marriage takes Respect, Love and Commitment... Making faces behind the back of whoever's acting childish helps too."

I gave them $30 in Red Lobster gift cards and $20 in Subway gift cards for their anniversary. I also gave them a $50 gift card to Shell in thanks for all the taxi services they've provided in the last couple of months.

Target had a 26" LCD/DVD combo HDTV on sale this week for $298 which is a very good price. I had planned to buy myself a new HDTV for xmas, but since this was such a deal I decided that Christmas was going to be early this year. So yesterday we took my parents car to town to pick it up. Before we went I went to King Soopers and bought $300 in Target gift cards using my credit card. I get $3 from the credit card at 1% back and I also get double gas points, so .60/gal in gas. If I get 20 gallons that will save me $12. By planning ahead I will save $15.

Besides the TV I got 2 free trial sizes of Tide for free and 3 Snickers candy bars.

We also went to Bed, Bath and Beyond, Hobby Lobby, and Home Goods. Mom bought lots of stuff, but I didn't get anything else.

We went to Red Lobster for lunch and I had my favorite popcorn shrimp. Their prices have gone up again to $8.25 for the lunch. I spent $9.69

This morning dad came over to setup the TV. Everything is working great. This is the first I've had local channels in over a year, since they switched everything to HD. My old TV didn't have that capability and the converter boxes didn't work with it. I can watch the Amazing Race now. That's one of my favorite shows.

I went to King Soopers and got a free 2 liter bottle of Sierra Mist today. I won it playing the King Soopers Cart Buster game. It will go the food pantry.

I finished reading my book Kindred in Death by J. D. Robb. Mystery - excellent.

My kidney stone procedure went very smoothly. They put me to sleep, crushed the stone and removed it and the stent. They woke me up and I was awake and aware in 10 minutes. No after effects from the anethesia at all. This is the way it should have been the first time around. And as a bonus the back pain I've had for the last couple of weeks is gone. I feel great. Just one more operation to go.

Thanks alot for all the well wishes during this time.

I finished reading my book The Shield between the Worlds by Kiana L. Paxson and Adrienne Martine-Barnes. Sci/Fi - ok

I had a very good weekend. A friend of mine came over and we watched movies, talked and ate pizza. I got a large pizza from Papa Murphy's for $8 after a $3 coupon. I used 2 codes from the Redbox website to get 2 movies for free.

We watched Killers, which was cute and funny. We also watched Cop Out, which was funny in places, but was mostly stupid. Bruce Willis is such a good actor, that even when the movie is stupid, he shines.

I got a $50 GC to Shell using one of my credit cards. Both cards are giving 5% back on gas this quarter on up to $200 in purchases. I've spent a little over a hundred so I'm going to buy gift cards before the end of the month to make the savings strech to the months when I won't be getting 5% back.

My kidney stone removal is tomorrow and I need to have someone be with me for 24 hours afterwards so I'll be spending the night at my parents again. I'll be glad when it's done and one more step to putting this behind me.

I read several books this weekend

My book DragonSinger by Anne McCaffrey. Sci/Fi - very good

Library book By Schism Rent Asunder by David Weber. Sci/Fi - very good

Library book Darkness Calls by Marjorie M. Liu. Paranormal - very good.

I'm still hit or miss on meals so not buying a lot of groceries right now. Living on simple stuff like peanut butter sandwichs, beans, eggs, baked potatoes and Boost.

Went to Safeway and got carrots, bananas, bread and a couple potatoes. Also got

4.00 - 4 cans Select Harvest chicken noodle soup
-4.00 - 4 $1 q's
-----
FREE - goes to the food pantry

8.00 - 4 18 oz jars of JIF peanut butter
-2.04 - SW q
-----
5.94 - 1.49/each - excellent price for JIF

I went to see my primary dr today about my blood pressure - it's still high. 142/92. She gave me a new drug to try. She got my reports from the hospital and she seemed amazed I made it through the experience. She mentioned that my kidney functions were excellent - better than hers. That's two dr's who've said that now.

I finished reading the library book Soul Song by Marjorie M. Liu. Paranormal - very good.

This was an interesting blog from a guy who politicians call the 'Super Rich' - making more than $250,000 a year. Even more interesting is the comments section.

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:kpzaEp0...

It definitly shows the diversity of thinking about taxes and the rich.

Here's the WSJ's response to the post

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405274870412920457550...

I finished reading my book Bone Crossed by Patricia Briggs. Paranormal - very good.

I had my consultation with the surgery dr today and he is 95% sure he can just take the mass and a small slice of my kidney. He says kidney cancer is almost always curable. That is such good news. First I have to get the kidney stone and stent removed. That is scheduled for next Tuesday. I will be in and out of the hospital. I don't have to stay overnight.

Prior to getting the stone removed I had to get another blood test and an EKG today. When I was registering for that the lady told me she could see my bill and I asked her what the amount was - just under $130,000.00 for the total bill while I was in the hospital @$10,000/day. However because I was in network it was discount by almost half and $71,000 is the amount going to the insurance company. Of that I will pay my $2000 deductible. I expect the total for everything after all the surgeries will be close to $200,000. Thank God for insurance.

After I heal from the kidney stone removal I will schedule for the kidney mass surgery. This will probably just be an overnight stay in the hospital.

While we were in the hospital my mom went xmas shopping. They were selling books and knick-knacks in the lobby. Strange place to buy xmas gifts.

I got to hear more horror stories today. It turns out while I was in the hospital some neice of someone they know from church was in the hospital at the same time as me and while putting in her IV port they knicked her lung and it collapsed. Since I had an IV port that could have happened to me - according to my mom. Sigh!

I finished reding my book Sins and Shadows by Lyn Benedict. Paranormal - pretty good. This is a new author for me. I've put her other books in the series on hold at the library.

My mom must have hundreds of stories about horrible things that have happened to people in hospitals. She knows or has heard of people who have died from almost everything. And she feels like she has to tell me about all of them. I know she's scared, but I just don't see the point in always thinking about the worst thing that could happen. She is like that about everything, she thinks about the worst thing that will happen before she thinks about the positive. She says she's trying not to do that about the operations I need, but every conversation is What if _____? (fill in the blank with something bad).

She had company coming over and it was, "What if they see I have weeds in my yard?" "What if there's a speck of dust in the room?" What if there isn't enough food, or if there's too much food, or if the food doesn't taste right, or if the napkins don't match the tablecloth?" It's exhausting - no wonder she's so frantic and tired all the time. When she tells me these things I try to make a joke. Well if they see a weed in the yard, they'll condemn you and never come to your house again, and you won't have to worry about it anymore."

My viewpoint is so different. To me the glass is half full and I'm happy to have that half. You can't let your fears of what might happen paralyze you from moving forward and enjoying whatever bits of happiness you can. You need to grab onto those bits and then savor them. I can't waste my energy and depress myself by thinking of all the hundreds of things that could go wrong and I don't know why someone would want to. Even if I knew I was going to die in a month, I can't think of anything I would change in my current lifestyle. I love my life. I have exactly the kind of life I want for myself. I worked for years to get here and I enjoy every day.

I would like to help her with her fears but she is 70 and is not likely to change her thinking patterns now, I just wish she would keep some of these thoughts from leaking over onto me. I keep telling her, these people are experts at what they do. They've done hundred of the same types of surgeries, there is no reason to think that something will go wrong this time. I believe in being prepared for bad things - like having money saved and insurance and having a will etc, but I don't dwell on it. I wish she wouldn't either.

I finished reading the library book An Unforgettable Lady by Jessica Bird (aka J. R. Ward). Romance - pretty good. This is one of the her earlier books and she is a much better writer now. I love her Black Dagger Brotherhood series.

Since my experience in the hospital one of the things I wanted to do prior to having any more surgeries is get my will updated. I'm not sure if my neices were even born when I wrote the last one. I went to LegalZoom and got it done today. I was really impressed with their website. It was so easy to use. I completed it in less than a half hour and it cost less than half what I paid years ago. It cost $69 + 2.95 for the shipping. Before checking out I did a search on Legal Zoom promo code and found one to take another $5 off using code LZSAVE. So final cost $66.95 and I have a month to make updates to the will in case I see something I messed up or want changed.

I finished reading the library book Magic Bleeds by Ilona Andrews. Paranormal - very good. This author is as good as Patricia Briggs or Laurel K. Hamilton.

My kidney dr called yesterday and he had been confering with the dr who will perform the surgery on my kidney. That dr thinks he can just shave the cancer off the kidney and I will get to keep my kidney. Woohoo!! I am supposed to meet with both of them next Tuesday to discuss it. I really hope that is the case. This will mean I need two procedures - one to deal with the kidney stone and stent and one to deal with the cancer.

I went to Safeway and got some groceries

1.98 - 2 bags Mahatma yellow saffron rice
-1.98 - 2 .50 cent q's doubled
-----
FREE - these go to the food pantry

3.75 - 3 Yakisoba noodles
-3.00 - 3 .50 cent q's doubled
-----
.75 - food pantry

10.00 - 8 cans Campbells chunky soup
-8.00 - 8 .50 q's doubled
-----
2.00 - food pantry

2.00 - 2 cans Rosarita refried beans
.00 - 1 10 ct Mission tortialls free wyb 2 Rosarita
- .99 - 1.00 Mission q price adjusted
------
1.01 - the 2 beans are for the food pantry and I kept the tortillas

2.97 - 3 packages Bumble Bee tuna
-2.97 - 3 .55 cent q's doubled
-----
FREE

2.59 - 1 doz Egglands eggs
-1.00 - q
-----
1.59

1.08 - 5 bananas

The food pantry gets the following items

2 packages rice
3 Yakisoba noodles
8 cans soup
2 cans refried beans

I finished reading the library book Nowhere to Run by Suzanne Brockmann - Mystery/romance - ok. These were some of her earlier works. She writes much better now. The stories were very cliched.

I finished reading my book Dragonsong by Anne McCaffrey. Sci/Fi - good.

Thanks for the well wishes everyone.

My mom called last night and asked if I was ok. I was a little surprised and said "yes, why wouldn't I be?" She said sometimes bad news hits people hard later. I will admit I had a few catch your breath moments when I went to bed, but they were short. I guess I come accross as very calm and accepting and I am - mostly. I've had almost a month to think about the fact that I might have cancer and while I hoped the whole time it wasn't so, I knew it probably was.

I could react in several ways to the news. I could just ignore it and hope the cancer goes away on it's own. But most likely it will just get worse and probably spread to other organs.

I could fret and worry over the situation. What if they take the wrong kidney in the operation? What if something else goes wrong in the operation, like the last time? What if I have kidney problems in the future? This is one of my biggest worries. Since I have diabetes. Right now the dr said my kidney function is perfect, better than his. So if I control my diabetes I shouldn't have to worry. However, if I have another kidney stone, I have to get to a hospital immediately since I will be in kidney failure.

I could become depressed and cry about it. Why me? What did I do to deserve this? This isn't fair.

Instead I realize that this is something where I have no control. And since I have no control, then I am going to do what the dr's suggest and assume everything will turn out fine. I just have to get through the process and then I'll be healthy again and can get on with my life. I'll try not to worry about it and have a positive attitude - like going to the dentist - I don't like it, I wish it was different but I have to do it. I'm not going to drive myself nuts with worrying and fretting. I'm grateful it's not worse.

I got my townhome insurance bill yesterday. It went up $22+ over 16%. That's a big increase. I don't know how the government justifies there inflation numbers. They say there is virtually no inflation or only 2 - 3% and yet most of my bills go up 5 - 15%. Plus the cost of food, gas and other items goes up regularly also.

I finished reading my book Lion's Heat by Lora Leigh. Paranormal - very good.

I saw the kidney dr and I do have kidney cancer. They are going to remove the right kidney sometime in Oct. It is only in stage 1 still but close to going to stage 2. It's 7 centimeters and according to the dr, they usually grow about 1/2 centimeter a year, so I could have started this 14 years ago. The cancer hasn't spread to any other part of my body.

The surgery will be done with telescopes so only a small incision and 1 - 2 days in the hospital and approximately a week to recuperate. It wasn't what I wanted to hear, but it was what I expected.

Since I was in town I ran some errands. I got 2 books at Border's using 40% off coupons and free gift cards from Discover.

I went to Target and got 12 cans of Spaghetti-O's for .50 each. I had 4 .50/2 coupons and 2 .40/2 coupons so final cost was $3.20 or .27/each. They will all go to the food pantry.

I also got gas while in town at 2.69/gal. It is .10 cheaper than my little town and I had .30 cents off from King Soopers gas points and I will get 5% back from Discover saving another .12/gal. Total saved per gal is .52. I filled up my 2 5-gal gas cans and spent $50.62. The first time I've ever spent more than $50 on gas.

I went to the used book store and traded in some more books. I have more than $500 in credit now. I'll never use it all, since I get most of my books free w/gift cards or from the library now. Occassionally I take my nieces there and tell them to pick out whatever they want and use my credit for that.

I finished reading the library book The Overton Window by Glenn Beck. Thriller - ok

I finished reading a library book called Thrify Living the Frugal Life With Style by Marjorie Harris. A huge yawn, boring, nothing new, plain vanilla ideas. However, I did really like one quote from the first page.

"Money is partly the subject of this book. But it's more about what smart people do with it: how they use it wisely and make very little go a long way. It's about finding pleasure in small economies and the large ideas that can come to fruition with attention to details."

Even though I continue to read new financial books as I hear about them, I haven't read a really good one in a long time. In my opinion the best book on saving money for actual ideas and philosophy of saving money is The Complete Tightwad Gazette by Amy Dacyczyn. The best book on thinking about money and work is Your Money or Your Life by Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robins. And the best book about early retirement is Stop Working, Start Living by Diane Nahirny.

I finished reading my book Master of Earth and Water by Diana L. Paxson and Adrienne Martine-Barnes. Sci/Fi - Ok.

I went to Walmart and got 3 6 packs of Ensure today.

20.91
-9.00 - 3 $3 coupons
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11.91 or $3.97 each

I also picked up the rest of my prescriptions at King Soopers. 3 prescriptions for 30 days each and I only spent $7.05.

I finished reading the library book Claimed by Shadow by Karen Chance. Paranormal - pretty good.

I had my CT scan today. It took more than twice as long as they told me it would. There was no one else waiting to be scanned so don't know why it was so long. I rescheduled my appt with the kidney dr for this Thursday. No reason to wait till next week since I got the scan today. I have no new information about what they saw though.

The pills I took to make me sleepy (prednisone and benedryl) actually reved me up so I didn't sleep at all last night and didn't really need a driver today. I didn't have any problems drinking the barium drink. I thought I might have trouble keeping it down. I'm supposed to drink a ton of water in the next day to flush all the barium out of my kidneys.

While at the CT place they asked for the other hospital I was to send them all the previous scans they took while I was in the coma. They sent 13 pages. I've been getting more radiology bills from my insurance company. It's up to almost $200 I owe now. I haven't recieved any real bills yet.

Mom and I walked our entire route today and we were only slower by 5 or 10 minutes so that was good progress.

I finished reading the library book Blood Born by Linda Howard and Linda Jones. Paranormal - very good.

My niece had a cupcake cake made of white cake. I made a comment about being surprised it wasn't chocolate which has always been her favorite. She said she decided not to like chocolate. I didn't know you could decide something like that

After the party I took her to her Powder Puff practice and she told me some stuff about her school. Since she went to Honduras on her mission trip she said she thinks school is a priviledge. After seeing how most of the people she met had only a 3rd grade education, if that, she realizes that their lack of education keeps them poor and she's lucky to have the opportunity to learn. It's a very good thing that she is thinking that way.

However, I wonder about some of the stuff she tells me she is learning. She says they learned how aliens helped build the pyramids. She also doesn't believe that man made it to the moon - that is was a hoax. Next thing I know she will tell me the holocaust didn't happen.

I think there is a pattern in our culture anymore that puts down man's achievments. We are portrayed as greedy, war-mongoring, environment destroying, and brutal as a species. We are rarely given credit for the amazing accomplishments mankind has made over the centuries. For example with the pyramids, the story of aliens helping build them is put out there because man couldn't have possibly done something so amazing by himself, he had to have had help. Like back in the 1800's when explorers found fantastic ruins in Africa, they never gave local people credit for building them, it always had to be some lost white tribe who must have done these marvelous things.

When they teach about the founding founders they seem to emphasize their personal flaws rather than emphasizing the truly revolutionary things they accomplished. They created an entirely new country with a system to make men free to grow, to be rich, to worship and to be free from government abuses. Most of the countries in the world still don't have these privileges. In America we have the right and opportunity to develop from having nothing to being multi-millionaires just through our own efforts. The founders gave us the system for doing that. Yet we are told they were slave owners and philanderers etc. They were, but this wasn't immoral by the standard of their times. And I think the things they accomplished should be emphasized more than the other parts.

We don't seem to want to give credit to man for being great. We always try to find the flaw in a person, and everyone has flaws, and emphasize that to demphasize the great things people do. For example, my sister loved Rock Hudson movies, until she found out he was gay, then she hated them. The movies didn't change, the acting didn't change, just her perception of the actor. What a stupid reason to decide not to like something. But we seem to do it all the time with great historical figures.

Christopher Columbus was a hero when I was growing up. Now he's portrayed as a genocidal conqueror. What he did was heroic. He set out across an ocean in flimsy boats to find a new path to China. He didn't set out to bring disease to a group of people, he didn't set out to conquer a land, he set out to discover something new. That was very brave considering the conditions of the time. But we can't give him credit for that, because of the results.

I don't mind the kids learning both sides, but put the emphasize on the achievements, on the ideas, on the mores of the time in which the people lived. Judging someone from hundreds of years ago based on modern values is wrong. And dismissing their accomplishments based on modern values of their personalities is also wrong.

We should celebrate the greatest of human beings instead of constantly looking to tear them down. I don't know what schools expect to achieve by demphasizing man's greatness.

I finished reading the library book Silent Truth by Sherrilyn Kenyon and Diana Love. Mystery/Romance - pretty good. Not as good as her Dark Hunter series.

I went to my sister's this morning to celebrate my youngest neice's 16th bday which is tomorrow. We did it this morning because my older neice drove down from college last night after her last class and she has to be back to go to work at 3:45 this afternoon. It's a 2 hour drive. But it was the only time she could work it in. I can't believe the youngest is 16 already she was just 3 not very long ago - how did this happen? She is so beautiful - tall and lean and tanned and fit. I didn't have energy to shop for her this time so I just gave her $100 to spend as she wants.

We had pizza and my neice had a cake made out of cupcakes. That's the richest food I've eaten since the hospital and it gave me a huge stomach ache. I only had 2 small pieces of pizza and the one cupcake with most of the frosting off.

I got the medicine for my CT this morning - prednisone combined with benedryl. I already had the benedryl. The prednisone cost $1.51 for 6 tablets. I get 50 fuel points with each prescription so I could get over 200 this month with just prescriptions, that gives me .20 cents off each gallon of gas. Plus if I buy groceries I may get as much as .40/gal this month.

I finished reading my book With Every Breath by Lynn Kurland. Romance - very good.

I was watching a financial program the other day and they were talking about what does it mean to be rich. According to politicians you are rich if you make over $250,000. But one commentator defined rich as "being able to live comfortable without having to work". That's me. I don't have anywhere close to a million dollars and I live on less than $20,000 a year, but I live comfortable and have everything I want without having to work - therefore I am rich

I went to Safeway today and picked up a few groceries.

5.94 - 6 cans Del Monte green beans
-2.40 - SW q
-----
2.54 - these go to the food pantry

2.00 - 2 cans Old El Paso refried beans
-2.00 - 2 .55 q's doubled
- .60 - ecoupon
-----
.60 moneymaker - these go to the food pantry

4.58 - 2 bags Mission tortilla chips
-2.00 - SW q
-2.00 - 2 .50 q's doubled
-1.10 - 2 .55 ecoupons
-----
.52 moneymaker - 1 bag goes to my niece

3.00 - Welchs grape juice
-1.01 - SW q
-1.50 - q
-----
.49 - my ecoupon didn't come off or it would have been a moneymaker

3.98 - 2 fried chicken breasts
2.17 - 2 potatoes

I also went to Walgreens and got 2 6 packs of Boost buy 1 get 1 at 50% off. I had 2 $1.50 coupons and spent $7.93. I've been drinking a lot of this since I got out of the hospital. Still not very hungry. I have a lot more energy though and mom and I are walking about 80% of what we used to do although slower. Should be up to 100% in a few days but probably still slower for a while. I drove for the first time today and it was fine. I couldn't trust my reaction time before now.

I have my cat scan set up for Monday. Hopefully it will show all is well. Thanks for all the good thoughts.

I finished reading the library book From Hell with Love by Simon Green. Sci/Fi - very good.