Day 20-all CA students must be vaccinated

This book was assigned for my self-help book club…I finished it today…

10/20/21. Wednesday

6:00 – L. leaves for her 18-hour day at Otis.

7:30 – 7:45 - My alarm goes off. I still need to check course content and the Discussion Board prompt before class starts at 8:30 so I’m off to the races. Downstairs and the dog is asleep.  Recently, I asked L. if she has been taking the dog out before she leaves for school on Mondays and Wednesdays. L. told me that she comes downstairs at 6:00 a.m. and the dog doesn’t stir – it’s just too early for her.  Funny-L. says the dog doesn’t even bother to wag her tail. 

Today…something must have happened between 6:00 and 7:30 this morning because the dog pooped  right next to the front door, then went back to sleep on the couch. This is so irritating, especially when I’m in a time crunch. I sit next to the dog and she rolls over on her back so I can rub her tummy, but I can’t indulge her like I usually do…no time. I give her a stuffed animal and cue her to go outside. As she stands by the door, I break away quickly to start my Keurig so my coffee can brew while she goes potty. Outside we go and I note that she also pooped on the patio.  Why does the dog insist on crapping on the cement instead of the Astroturf? Return inside and cheese for her.  I clean up the dog shit, then grab my coffee and go to work. 

7:45-8:30 – I have 45 minutes to review course content, create a Discussion Board prompt, and make corrections to the lesson plan, if needed. Today, we’re covering Chapter 8 - Lecture Part II, with the accompanying Google slides, and the Chapter 8 Review Quiz. 

8:30-10:05 – It’s a light day for my highschoolers so I switch to the College No. 2 students and take Attendance for my Asynchronous class, then send stern emails to the students who failed the video quiz and/or the chapter review quiz for last week’s Module. I listen to The Daily. 

At some point during this time block, B. texts me that he has Krispy Kreme donuts. Unfortunately, I don’t see the text until this afternoon… 

Class rolls on so I log onto my personal email and spend the rest of the morning going back and forth with “Kellie” regarding the garage doors that I’m still trying to order. I text “John”, the door installer, and ask if he minds looking over the contract/invoice one last time…I’m still not sure if the “swing” is correct.  John says he’ll review the contract/invoice again while Kellie and I continue finalizing it. 

10:00-Class dismissed.

 10:00-11:00 – I check the Discussion Board then email the highschoolers who did not sign in and inform them that they were marked absent and will receive 0s on today’s assignments.  

-Kellie emails me the final contract and I docu-sign it and send it back. According to Kellie, Elite Builders only takes checks and she needs a 50% down payment before she can place the order. I write a check for $1500 and put it in the mail. The doors are officially ordered! And now I’m officially broke. I listen to What a Day. 

11:00-12:00 – I unfreeze two pieces of L.’s lemon cake and finish reading You Need a Budget [how ironic] outside, on the patio. I joined a “self-help” book club at my local library as part of my socialization project and they meet once a month, on Monday nights, at 6:00 p.m.  This is the assigned book and we’re meeting in five days so I definitely wanted to finish it in time.  

This book was written by Jesse Mecham and features tips and tricks developed by he and his Mormon family to “break the paycheck-to-paycheck cycle and get out of debt.”  Apparently it worked, because they were able to pay off their first mortgage after a few years.  YNAB  has developed a cult following and I feel comfortable referring to it as a “franchise” – Jesse has “merch.” The author cracks a lot of jokes in the book and has a chatty writer’s voice so that he’s very relatable, not judgmental.  

Did I learn anything from the book?  Not really.  Did I like the book?  Yes! In my experience, all of these financial self-help books say largely the same thing: Plan a budget, track your spending, and stay out of debt. But, it’s how the author writes this age-old advice that can make or break a financial book. Something strange, though…Jesse is absolutely against saving for his children’s college education and says this several times throughout the book, which is the opposite of any financial self-help book I’ve ever read.  Maybe he feels this way because he has six kids… 

The one section of the book that really resonated with me occurs when he discusses how his wife kept exceeding the weekly food budget that Jesse established. Turns out that his wife was frequently forced to shop for groceries with 3 little ones in tow, all under the age of 5, and just wanted to get the hell out of the store. When Jesse brought up the fact that she was consistently over-budget on her grocery purchases, his wife said, “I don’t care what a can of corn costs.”  :)  Jesse told her “Fair enough” and they never discussed their food budget again. Very funny. 

12:00-12:15 – I finally see B.’s Krispy Kreme text and ask if he still wants to come over. He confirms that he will be here shortly. 

12:30-1:45 – Shower. Lotion. Covid-19 uniform. Light make-up. 

1:45-2:30 – B. arrives with a box of glazed Krispy Kreme donuts!  We talk politics and I have two KKs. B. leaves. 

2:30-5:00 – Gardening. I sweep the patio, clean the beds, water my plants, and listen to Full Body Chills; then 

5:00-6:00 – I eat my Presto Pasta leftovers and start a new book called Digital Minimalism. 

6:00-6:45 – I take the dog for a walk and listen to Frontline. 

7:00-8:00– Blog post. 

8:00-9:00 – Kitchen duty. I do some meal prep, pack my lunch bag for tomorrow, and ready my coffee. 

9:00-9:30 – I pull down my suitcase and pack a few things in preparation for my trip this weekend. 

9:30-10:30 – I color my hair and listen to True Crime Garage; then 

10:30-11:00 – jump in the shower to rinse out the excess color (more True Crime Garage); next 

11:00-12:00 – I braid my hair while I listen to my Chapter 10 audio lecture scheduled for tomorrow night.

-L. texts that she and her Otis friend, M., are going to the hayride at the Griffith Park Observatory.  

12:00-2:00 – I go to work.  Report to my office and I finish listening to the Chapter 10 lecture while I print out the extra credit essay assignments from the students in my Core Class at College No. 1. Although the audio lecture is only a year old, there are a few outdated references that L. will have to splice so I make a note of it.

-1:00 – L. returns from the hayride. She and M. had a great time. I schedule an appointment with L. for tomorrow so she can edit my lecture.

 I check my Google slides, then record a short Public Service Announcement (PSA) explaining to the students why a 3-minute section of lecture no longer applies. 

2:00-2:45 – I do a 30-minute, Insanity Max – Tabata Strength workout. 

2:45-3:45 – Nighttime routine. Bed. I set my alarm for 8:00 a.m.