Staying Focused

I am trying to accomplish things and stay focused this week, difficult when life is pulling me in 18 directions.

- My husband's 92-year-old Aunt passed away.  She was a lovely woman who lived a long life.   He has several elderly aunts in the same age bracket right now so this is to be expected.  We had talked a while back about us traveling to Alberta for the next family funeral.  Unfortunately, this week is the exact week when we don't have dog sitting (we were supposed to be in Mexico this week but changed it to the end of March due to that).  Instead Hubby is flying out on Sunday for the funeral by himself.  Ukrainian funerals are 2-day affairs with a prayer service the evening before, the funeral and internment and then lunch afterward.  Due to the high cost of the ticket, we decided this will be a company expense and hubby is combining it with doing business for 2 days afterward.  Yes, the money still comes from our pocket in a different way, but it accomplishes more than if he just flew out and straight back.  The costs would have been higher but unexpectedly a relative offered a spare room for one of the nights.  This is the Ukrainian Orthodox side (his Mom's, his Dad's side is Ukrainian Catholic) so he gets to see the family Church that is a tiny but beautiful church in the middle of nowhere that his grandparents are buried at.  His Aunt's son is a Ukrainian Orthodox priest so it is very much a family affair.  You may wonder why we don't stay with the kids - one lives with his Mother while he is upgrading to go back to University a 2nd time, the other lives in a tiny basement suite and my Stepdaughter now lives in a town 1.5 hours away so none of them is an option.  We usually just get hotels. 


- Mom fell getting into the shower - I was in the next room.  Fortunately, this did not involve a trip to the hospital but it took us about 20 minutes to get her upright due to the fact that after 2 knee replacement surgeries she really can't bend her knees very well.  They work great for walking but getting up after you fall is an issue and Mom is a big woman, I can't pick her up.  She scootched to the carpet where she had more room and I got a chair for her.  She is bruised but ok, thank goodness.  We added yet another bar to the bathroom and instead of just being in the apartment I will now watch her as she gets in and out to make sure she is ok.  Her legs are 2 different lengths (about 2-3 inches difference) due to these 2 surgeries being many years apart, so at the best of times, her balance is off.  She is 77, and we are hoping she can live alone for several more years.  The shower seems to currently be the only issue so I have been going over every time she takes a shower since her last fall. 

- With hubby traveling I can now clean my oven, which has been in sore need of a clean for some time.  Self-cleaning ovens are a joke, I shall do it the old fashioned way.  He has asthma and cannot stand the chemicals nor odors even if I used the self-cleaning feature. 

- I will also scrub the rest of the house and likely do some more painting.  I get a lot accomplished when he is gone, no meal planning.  I'll likely be eating cheerios and hot dogs :)

-I also hope to get our corporate year-end off to the accountant.  It is almost finished, I just have a couple of final things to get sorted. 

- I did most of our taxes so we can see if we need to deposit money before the end of February for an RRSP to ensure we don't pay extra tax.  I am unable to finalize our taxes until mid April when our investment slips come in - but I can usually guestimate them without that slip.  Due to the fact that when we downsized we put half of our house money into our retirement accounts and used the other half to purchase our house we don't actively put more money into retirement than we absolutely need to.  We also have corporate pension plans which instead of leaving with past employers we took the funds and put them in a LIRA which is a self-managed pension plan that can't be touched until we get to65. This is because we intend to use our resources without withdrawing that money for at least another 10 years.  Ours is quite a different retirement plan than most and we know that which is why I don't share all the details here.

- I used to do Mom's taxes but would prefer not to.  Last year I found a free service for low-income seniors where retired tax professionals are given free training by the government so they can prepare returns for free - they volunteer to do this.  There is the option of a small donation that goes to a local charity - Mom donated $20 last year.  I love this service and last year she got a man who was an auditor for the government for 30 years before he retired.   He managed to get her a refund after years of her paying extra at tax time.  Now I just need to watch for that free service as they usually advertise it in our local paper (also free).

-I need to list more items to sell.  I sold a few in January but want to keep the momentum going with selling every month for a small slush money income.

-Hubby almost never wears suits anymore - last year we ended up with zero funds spent on drycleaning as a result.  We wash/iron dress shirts but suits are another story.  Today I have to pick up his suit from the dry cleaner as Ukrainian funerals family is expected to wear a proper suit and tie.  $35 spent there.

-One of the knobs on our 3-year-old GE stove broke - yes, it was made of plastic.  Apparently, we cook too much at home?  We found a replacement online after checking locally with zero luck - another $35.  Remember when things like stoves were totally made of metal?  Not anymore

That's all I've got - just trying to stay sane juggling a bunch of things.