Later That Day...

Okay, I'm in a better mood. I'm not sure why.

I did just spend some time updating Quicken with our year end totals for 401K and such, and that was a cheerful exercise. It's actually overstated a bit, because it assumes that I will work till June, 2008, but contribute to the 401K till December of that year -- difficult to do! But thats not a big deal, because, either way, its a very healthy number. That's comforting. We could both quit if we really wanted to. Because we're financially conservative, we likely will not -- but we could.

Part of it is that I spent some time reading. That usually calms me down. Its light reading - very light - but whatever works. I still don't think I'll go to the thing tonight, but I'm not glum any more, which is something.

And talking things over with my wife helped. When we were at our friend's party (and I still envy his ability to have parties like that; neither of us is gifted that way), we met his parents, who had recently retired. I told them of our plans, and they advised that we take a 'test' to evaluate our compatibility for long-term in-your-face togetherness. We're not worried. We like spending lots and lots of time together, talking, even when, as in this case, it's a serious conversation like today, ranging from corporate behavior -- she said that someone in the superstructure of her company, Incredibobbly Big Computers, said 'Are you IBCers? Or are you just IBC employees?' and she thought 'I used to be the first, but when you people gave up on me, I gave up on you. Now I'm just the second.' The bad part is, they neither know nor care. (What an idealist I am. I still think 'Ah, but if Fidel only knew....' when I know better.) -- to financial planning -- we were on a bit of a high, noting where we are relative to our Ultimate Financial Goal (usual caveats on that), when suddenly we switched to: my mother. Apparently, she's starting to be just a little more nervous than normal. She's never liked surprises, likes them less as she gets older, but now, if she can't find something -- an old purse, a magazine she was reading -- she goes into panic mode alpha (to the point where, on a weekend, she called her caregiver, asking if she knew where the purse in question was, and was so panicky that the woman came over on her day off, just to calm her down). So we looked at each other, both thinking the same dread thought: Nursing Home. And what does that do to your little dream of financial security, mwah-hah-hah!!!!!

We have a saying: we will save each other. I rely on that. She does, too.