My mortgage company refunded me $3,140 in escrow surplus. Right now I've just deposited it into my checking account. I will use it to pay off all my medical bills & vacation expenses.

I have always paid off all my debt monthly since I paid off my credit cards in 2020. Last month was the first time since then that I wasn't able to do so. I have been spending a lot and have another vacation planned next month. That will probably be my last big vacation for the year until I bounce back from all these expenses:

Italy vacation (February)

Boston vacation (March)

Surgery (April)

Auto repairs (May)

London vacation (June)

My deductible for my surgery was over $5k. I'll get some reimbursed through my tax free contributions to my FSA account, but the yearly maximum is only $3,300. I did contribute the maximum as I knew I would be spending on medical needs this year. 

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

My raise for the year was $1.02 per hour or $2,121.60 annually. My TSP contribution increased $500 and I'm increasing my contribution to my FSA by $700. That is $1,200 for the year before taxes. I don't see where I can contribute or save more at this time. My savings & checking account are at their lowest point and I'm hoping to build them back up, but I also have a lot of fun planned for the year. Expensive fun, too. 

I took one trip to Maryland last month when my sister had surgery. Not fun, but I did at least one fun thing while I was there - dancing! 💃🏾 

This month I'm going to Italy: Venice, Bologna, and Florence. 🇮🇹 

In March I head to Boston. 🦞 

In April I will have an elective procedure which will keep me home for only a week. 🤕

In June I head to England. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 🇬🇧 

In the fall I am hoping to take a cruise to Canada. 🇨🇦 

And in between that all I hope to keep dancing & maybe travel to some dance events. 💃🏾 

My mom ended up spending 11 nights in the hospital, including 3 nights prior to her surgery. She was then transferred to a neuromedical center for rehab for 2 weeks. She has another week remaining here. My mom is very ready to go home. She is a homebody & this has been hard for her.

My mom had a rough time after the surgery. It was expected that she would go home after one night. Her age & maybe the Parkinson's has made the recovery slower. Also her back condition had deteriorated so much that the surgery took longer than usual. She was in a lot pain & not herself at all. She can't remember much of what happened, which is probably a good thing.

Thank you for asking about my mom & sending your well wishes.

My dad texted me & my sisters Saturday around noon to say he had taken my mom to the ED and asking me to come. I left work immediately, went home & packed a bag with more clothes than I thought necessary at the time, then hit the road. Turns out I'm going to use all those clothes & more. They admitted her that night & yesterday (Tuesday) she had back surgery.  We won't be going home today, maybe tomorrow. And maybe not straight home, but in an inpatient rehab program. I'm glad that I could be here. I've spent every night at the hospital with her, only leaving to go to my parents' home to shower. She was in a lot of pain & I'm so thankful that this surgery will alleviate that.

I'm also glad that I didn't accept the $25,000 she offered to help with the down payment on my new home build. She will probably need that money for medical bills.

Our colonoscopies went fine. My mom's prep was difficult with her limited mobility, but we made it through. The procedure itself was so quick! They really function like a well-oiled machine. In & out!

My mom had no polyps (had polyps at previous colonoscopies) and I had one tiny one which the doctor wasn't entirely sure if it was a polyp. But of course, she took it anyway. A big relief to have both of them done. My mom will need another one in 5 years, while I will get another one in 7 years. She'll push me back to 10 years of the tiny polyp turns out to not be an actual polyp.

June 20th makes two years in my current position. I know I've said it a lot, but this promotion was the best thing for me both professionally & personally. And while I worry a lot with my mother's Parkinson's struggles, I don't have the stress at work that I did which makes it easier to shoulder the personal struggles.

It was definitely a situation where I just kept my head down & did the work and I ended up reaping the benefits. In addition to getting to work in a less stressful though busier environment, I get to work with really great people. I've had several raises & cash awards. While I won't get a step increase on this anniversary, I got one last year & will get another next year. Depending on when I retire I should be at or near the top of the salary scale. I'm so thankful everyday for this opportunity.

In health news, I have my first colonoscopy on Monday. I took the screening test, which was positive, so I now need the colonoscopy as follow-up. My mom has her colonoscopy on Wednesday. I will stay to be there for my mom. I pray it goes well for both of us. My dad definitely doesn't need anymore put on his shoulders. I am reading how some of you are dealing with your own health struggles, whether it be yourselves or your loved ones. I pray for better times ahead for you as well.

I don't know if I'll post again before z Christmas, so I'm wishing you all a Merry Christmas today. My sisters both flew in Wednesday. One to New Orleans and my other sister & her family to Baton Roufe. Currently in the car writing this as my sister drives us to BR for the day.

I think I'm all done with shoppibn. I may pick up a restaurant gift gift card for my parents. I always try to give those to save them some cooking. I used to get a great Black Friday deal at an upscale Italian restaurant, but my dad let slip that my mom doesn't like much on the menu so I didn't get it this year. The deal was good, but a $100 gift card and get a bonus card for $50, but it's not a great deal if they don't find much they like on the menu.

I also want to confess that I have spent way too much at the Kate Spade sale site. In addition to the first 4 purses, I bought a couple more purses, wallets, card holders, and wristlets. My New Year resolution is to stay away! I am gifting the wallets that I bought this year to my mom, sisters, and niece. My niece will be 13 in March so she is getting to the age that I can gift her things like wallets. I used to carry around a purse when I was much younger than her & my relatives would be so tickled by it. She is much more into soccer than purses, but everyone needs a wallet, right?

Today I got my last paychecks of the year. With a $500 contribution to my TSP I have maxed it out for the year. This is the 15th year in my 15 years of federal service that I have maxed my TSP. I hope to keep it up until I retire. I have 12-15 more years before I can retire.  I have not seen anything about President Biden signing the budget which sets our pay raise for next year. Last year he signed it on the 23rd.

Not surprisingly, I did not switch anything with my health insurance. When I tend to waffle with a decision I usually just stick with the known. I did up my FSA to $1300 for the year. If I stay on Ozempic I'll have no issue using the money.

My birthday was on the 5th and I had a very low-key day. I accompanied my mom to a doctor's appointment, we had a nice brunch, went grocery shopping, then my dad & I decorated their Christmas tree. 🎄

That weekend I also had attended a sweets Christmas event at church as well as saw the musical Six, which I loved. It's an interesting musical as it is only 80 minutes with no intermission. But it was entertaining & fun, with great songs & costumes. 👑 

I ended up not changing anything with my health insurance. I stuck to the same plan & increased my FSA contribution. I also didn't opt back in to vision coverage which I had thought about doing since I am considering getting LASIKS again.I'm not a fan of glasses, especially when I have to wear them all the time now. 🤓 

I did increase my TSP contribution to $875 per paycheck for the new year. I really wanted to go to $900, but that would have me top off at paycheck 25 and I would miss out on my match for the last paycheck. Maybe the following year I can move to $900 per paycheck. 

I will resume monthly IRA contributions as well. Doing a lump sum contribution felt like a bad move this year what with the market falling afterwards. I'll contribute $500 monthly then another $500 to max out.

I almost forgot! I got notification of my performance award which is $1,050 this year. A nice little year end bonus. Plus we can expect a raise of around 4% in the New Year.

I'm looking forward to family being home for the holidays. Even without having kids of my own gift-giving & the holidays can feel stressful, so I'm just trying to focus on time spent together. 🎁