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Archive for September, 2008

$60 Cashback from Discover

October 1st, 2008 at 12:09 am

I just redeemed $40 on my account and $20 on my wife's account for our Discover cards. We use them pretty much only to take advantage of the 5% cashback bonus offers. The past 3 months, that included gas stations so 5% back was helpful. I also signed up for the 4th quarter which is restaurants, grocery stores and movies. We won't use the movies but we'll definitely use the other two. Just have to remind DW to use the Discover card for those purchases.

9/29 Home Equity Loan Update

September 29th, 2008 at 03:23 pm

As of today, our home equity loan balance is $4802.44.

That is down $1,409 from one month ago. The plan is to pay it off by the end of the year.

NOTE: Edited 9/30 to correct amounts.

My daughter's Bat Mitzvah is tomorrow!!

September 27th, 2008 at 04:46 am

I've mentioned it in various posts and we've been planning it for ages. Tomorrow is the day. Our daughter will celebrate her Bat Mitzvah tomorrow evening, 9/27. We've done so much to prepare. It will be great to finally get to enjoy the result of all the hard work. Also will be great to see all our friends and family.

I've logged scores of hours on the computer as we made the invitations, placecards, centerpieces, sign-in board and programs. My wife also did chocolate molds for favors.

When all of this is done, I'm going to try and post photos of everything we made for folks to see. I didn't want to do it in advance just in case anyone we knew checked the site. Didn't want to spoil any surprises.

I can't believe our little girl will be 13 on Sunday and I'll officially be the parent of a teenager.

Exercise log 9/14-9/17

September 18th, 2008 at 12:50 am

I haven't posted but that doesn't mean I haven't exercised. The weekend was very hectic but I did do 10 minutes on the Wii Fit on 9/14.

I never exercise on Mondays because I work a 12-hour day.

Yesterday, it was so beautiful here I did a nice brisk 30 minute walk last night.

And I just did 16 pretty vigorous minutes on Wii Fit with a mix of aerobics, yoga, balance and strength training. I actually completed the push-ups and side planks!

Exercise log 9/12/08

September 13th, 2008 at 12:39 am

Miserable rainy day today so no outside walk. I did 19 minutes on Wii Fit. I'm making it a point to do a couple of each type of exercise each time and not do the same ones either. I unlocked a new balance exercise, Bubble Balance, and did that a couple of times. Also did strength, aerobic and yoga.

I could have hopped on the treadmill (and still might) but right now I'm taking a break to do some work for the Bat Mitzvah. I have a lot of graphics and printing work to do and trying to do some every day so I'm not scrambling to finish it all the week before.

Exercise log 9/11/08

September 12th, 2008 at 01:31 am

Today was a Wii Fit day. DW and I each did 16 minutes of exercises. I did an assortment of yoga, strength training, aerobics and balance. I gave my wife quite the laughing fit watching me attempt the push up/side plank strength training. I suck at push ups to begin with and trying to coordinate my movements with the on-screen trainer is tough. When you are in a push up position, you can't exactly see the TV, so I had my wife calling out when I should change positions. Then, the routine called for 6 reps. Well, I was shot after 3 and took my hands off the board. That prompted the computer to say, "Are you still there?" which my wife found quite hysterical.

We had to go out tonite so no walk got done today.

Exercise log 9/10/08

September 11th, 2008 at 12:19 am

I'm starting a new category in my blog. No, it isn't money related directly but I do feel exercise is vitally important to your well being all around. You can have a vault full of money but if you aren't healthy enough to enjoy it, what's the point.

What really prompted this was my thread about us getting the Wii Fit unit this past Sunday. Someone suggested that in a month, it might be collecting dust like many others. I'm hoping that won't happen and figure that by posting here, I'm helping to make myself accountable to someone.

My wife and I started walking for 30 minutes almost every night about 2 weeks ago. Her reason, of course, had nothing to do with health. She just wanted to make sure she looked good for our daughter's Bat Mitzvah at the end of this month. I was happy to walk with her and we've only missed 3 or 4 days in the 2 weeks when we simply weren't home all day.

We got the Wii on Sunday 9/7 and I used it then, 9/8 and 9/9. I have not yet used it today. Not sure if I will or not. DW and DD are out tonight so I took the opportunity to take a solo bike ride, something I haven't done in ages. I did about a 45 minute ride, which was much farther, faster and harder than the rides I normally take with DD. She is an ok rider but doesn't yet have the confidence or endurance to do the kind of ride I did today. So if I don't get on the Wii tonight, I won't feel bad. Heck, I'll consider myself lucky if I can walk when I get up tomorrow.

So that's it for today. I'll keep you posted.

August survey total

September 3rd, 2008 at 06:22 pm

For the newbies, I'm a physician and have the opportunity to do various online surveys. These surveys are not available to the general public.

As expected (see last month's entry), August was a very slow month for survey income because I slacked off on doing them. No good reason. I just got tired of it.

So my total survey income for August was $243. Considering I earned almost $500 more than that in July, it is disappointing, but it is my own darned fault. I'm still not back in the groove of doing them. I really need to get off my butt and start doing them again. It is easy money and I'm just letting it fly out the window.