So Mark and I married each other, officially, formally, culturally, happily in front of everyone we know. It was not a traditional affair in many senses, but it hewed somewhat to what various ancestors may have done. The wedding was a three day affair in Cancun, Mexico from October 23 – October 26th, 2025 at… Read More »
Poor Mark. I was in a bad mood for weeks. Sad and anxious. Mostly anxious. But oh so very anxious. I was actively dreading my scuba lessons. I haven’t actively dreaded something since I quit working. It’s an unpleasant feeling that I don’t miss. Water is my Everest. Swimming is terrifying. I’ve been trying to… Read More »
In my book, I have various expenses that deplete your net worth. One of those expenses was owning a timeshare. I don’t think they’re worth buying and I think they’ll delay your retirement goals in a negative way. Every once in a while, though, I like to test my truths. Is a timeshare presentation a… Read More »
I’m updating my chart for the last time for y’all! We’re married and merging finances and Mark doesn’t want his business all over the interwebs for the world to see and know and discuss. Which, fair. In 2024, I spent substantially more than in the past few years. It was on a lot of things.… Read More »
I recently got a temporary job as an election supervisor for the city of Denver. It was a lot of hours. 11 to 16 hours a day for eight out of nine days until the election. I helped administer state-wide ballots for those who weren’t in the correct county, oversaw the registration judges, support judges,… Read More »
So, we’re married! At least in the eyes of my parents’ gods. Not witnessed by anyone besides our parents. And the pandit. We took the marriage as a sign to take a mini honeymoon. Our idea: a 100-person destination wedding in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. We’ve both never been, so this was a chance to… Read More »
My fiance and I are throwing a grand celebration soon. We’re in love and hope to remain that way for the rest of our lives and we’d like to profess that belief in front of everyone we know. What should I wear? Now that I kind of know how to sew, I understand why wedding… Read More »
It’s hard to decide which cities to visit in central Asia because I’ve never heard of any of these places. Tashkent versus Samarkand versus Bukhara in Uzbekistan. Almaty versus Askana versus Chuy Valley in Kazakhstan. Central Asia isn’t as part of the zeitgeist as, say, Europe. The only movie I found about central Asia was… Read More »
Does the anxiety ever go away? I asked my fiance*, Mark, one morning before swimming lessons, more than a year into my journey to learn to swim. The year of swimming. It sounded good. It took longer than a year. I initially crossed off life bucket list item #2, learn to swim in 2015 because… Read More »
Boyfriend is super generous and doesn’t charge me rent to live with him, so I feel like I have a large amount of disposable income. Here are a few things I’ve splurged on recently that I never would have bought before I retired. 1. Expensive contact lenses I’ve never been able to figure out a… Read More »