Sad News, and Some Friday Things

Update:  Although my father-in-law has been taken off life support, he is stubbornly hanging on, and the doctors think it could be mid week before he goes to be with my mother-in-law. Meanwhile, his kids are taking turns spending time with him.

This afternoon my sister-in-law rang me just as I was preparing to walk into Safeway-asking me to return her call as soon as I got a chance.  Knowing that this did not bode well, I gave her a call right back. It seems that in the middle of the night, my father in law got out of bed without waiting for assistance at his assisted living home (he is truly the most stubborn person on the planet). He fell and hit his head. When the sister who lives closest to him arrived, he was conversing with her, but he went downhill quickly. A scan showed his brain was bleeding. Since he was a "no extra measures" guy, the home intubated him only until his kids could come and say goodbye-and this afternoon the tube will be removed. I expect that we will hear final news soon thereafter.

Jim was ninety, and while his physical health was fairly good overall, he has had some strokes and some dementia (not Alzheimer). The last time I visited he told me ten times in about an hour that he still did the New York Times puzzle every day (true), and yet corrected my spelling and pronunciation on the street he lived on when he was a boy. Some of you remember this missive about my mother in law. I'm honestly surprised that he did so well after her death, and we will all miss him. There is not an immediate funeral but a memorial service after his cremation, so I don't have to head to Texas this evening.

This is, however, on my mind, and as such I'll save my next blog post on advocacy and care giving for spouses/partners until after the weekend and instead share a few frugal and semi frugal wins of the week:

1. I placed an order through Boxed. Boxed is a bulk order store, that is an alternative to Amazon and comes to your door. They advertise themselves as online bulk shopping at better than Walmart prices. I've decided that if I'm going to buy in bulk or get heavy things, it serves me better to do so online so that things come to my door. This particular order was grocery related-and mainly snacks, but the next one will be paper goods. Since I have the room, I'm willing to order 20 rolls of toilet paper in order to not have it on my list-and Boxed will remind me when it's time to re-order. To make this super frugal as well as a time saver, I received $20 from Swagbucks and $20 from the Drop app. Making my final cost a whopping $10.00

2. I finished my "Uber frugal  month" list serve that I was on for January. Rather than a "non spend month", it was a series of missives and conversations about  systems and attitudes, and I'll share much more about this later. I took said class because my goal is to save for travel and some other things while stepping back from some of my online earning activities-and it was inspiring in many way.

3.  I did my taxes. The bad news (not really of course) is that I have less out of pocket medical deductions than I did pre-medicare. The good news? I qualify for free filing and my total owed this year was a whopping $150 (which could have been less except that I've decided not to deduct charity and church donations-it's a personal thing). Overall? Really happy camper. ETA: I do deduct some things, such as clothing donations. But when it comes to cash, things I do like crafts for my homeless women and the like, at some point I decided not to track these things in Quicken. In my head there's something that says I should not be broadcasting what I do for others, even to the IRS, it should be between me, God and those I help.

4. I don't have a coat. Both my dress coat and my casual coat died last year. Since beautiful Colorado has been really warm this year, it honestly escaped my mind until mid-January. When, of course, almost every decent coat was gone (if it was one I liked and on sale, it was out of stock). I'm still on the lookout for a thrifted coat, but I'm not buying a new coat unless I love it. Meanwhile, my six foot six inch son has two really heavy jackets. The kind with heavy lining that is waterproof but has a flannel shirt look on the outside. When the blizzard comes (which it will, at least once, even in Colorado). I'll wear that. Or just stay at home.

5. I pulled all the fabric out of my closet, and realized I have.........not very much left. Which means it will be time to get some more. First though, I'm gonna do something with all those leftover pieces for the next month and see what  can use up, without buying too much more. Think coasters and napkins and such. And if any of the pieces work, I'll put them aside for my landscape quilt, my next project. I'm using the two below for inspiration. Both found on Pinterest.

6. And last but not least, today I had a railing built on the front step.  A necessity after my fall from hell (read about it here).  After discussing with the landlord (my brother) we decided on a good railing on the front porch and a small ramp in the garage (which will be narrow and fit next to the car). The railing looks fantastic and improves the house. Right now it's on one side, but I expect we'll do one on the other side after everything else is done. Frugal because-falls. Painful, expensive and painful.

Have a lovely weekend, everyone!