I'm working from home today on account of the snowstorm. It was snowing when i got up this morning at 6:30 a.m. and it hasn't stopped yet.


This is from a nor 'easter 2 years ago, but it's getting to that point today...


I've asked my mortgage banker to send me a new amortization table that reflect monthly prepayments of $425, not the $400 i'm doing now. Plus i asked for the running balance for my mortgage, showing payments, etc., for the last 3 years. I do this every once in a while as i read once that it's not unusual for banks to make mistakes in calculating your mortgage payments. With something as iomportant as that, I'll find time to review it. I've done it twice before, though i can't remember exactly when i last did it, so i figured asking for the last 3 years should cover it.

Yes, I'm a little obssessed with paying off the mortgage, and then once that's done, hopefully before age 60 when i plan to semi-retire, i'll plow the same amount of money into savings, not the mortgage. I figure when i get down to the last $5,000 of it, i'll just make a lump sum payment and be done with it.

Obtaning and reviewing an amortization table is actually quite informative. For instance, i can clearly see by scanning mine that these days, in my 12th year of my mortgage, I'm paying about $400 a month just in interest. Inanother 4 years, I'll be paying about $240 a month in interest, so this motivates me to make more prepayments NOW rather than LATER becus i'll save much more in interest. In the last year of my payments, interest will only account for $50 or less in interest each month, so any extra payments then doesn't count for much.

I tallied up my February expenses a week early, just to see where i stood. I was surprised to see I was only $94 in the red, becus i had to shell out so much in federal and state taxes ($1,800). But most of my remaining expenses this month were "essentials." Still, i have a week to go, so will try not to spend anything.

(Temptations abound. I keep thinking of a $35 sailboat model i saw a few weeks ago. It would look good here. I'm an hour from the ocean but i have a sailboat fetish and i love America's Cup b/w prints. I have a large sepia-colored America's Cup print hanging over my bed that i found at Home Goods, very reasonable price.)

these days, my commute is costing me about $100 a week. You heard that right. $100 a week. That sucks. It used to be about $45 a month. I used to feel smug and immune to rising gas prices, but I can't do that anymore.

Looking forward to giving the handy dandy snow thrower a whirl later this afternoon. It's a nice light powdery snow so it should do a swell job.

Work is going very well. We're working toward launching a new website this spring, and before then, the 3 of us have to write about 150 stories for it. Yup, we're mighty busy. The cool thing is that our stories will have bylines (author's name), plus the site will list our bios. So i guess to preserve my anonymity, i won't be able to share with you guys here the website....unless you just come across it, i guess.

I like the job a lot and i get along well with everyone. There are 3 women, all writers like myself, that i'm getting to know and become friends with. Once the weather breaks, i hope for us to be walking regularly during the lunch hour.

And in May, i think, we have summer hours, which means instead of working 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. as we do now, we'll work 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday thru Thursday and then get out of work Friday at 1 p.m.!! (I think there's a few free hours thrown in there, cus the extra 1/2 hour only totals 2 hours, so technically, we shouldn't get out Friday til 3:30 pm, but who's counting??)

I am SO ready for spring, i can't tell you. Of course, spring is the start of my yard demanding my time whether i like it or not, and carpenter ants finding their way to the kitchen. Oh, and worrying about ticks. (I had erlichiosis already, a cousin of Lyme disease.) But I am boyfriendless now, so i am sort of looking forward to seeing how spiffy i can make my yard by devoting some part of most every weekend to it. I've always liked yardwork, but what stressed me out about it in the past was having to do it when i don't have time. I've neglected it greatly in past years, depending on the state of my love life.

I have a little stomach-ache today, and i left my ginger at the office. Seems like everyone is sick these days, especially at the office. I had it once already and when i see someone else getting sick, i give them wide berth. I really hate being sick, it takes at least a week for it to work its way thru my system, and dragging myself to work in the meantime is just so tiring. You can only take so much time off.

Otherwise, life goes on.

Enjoy your weekends!!!!