The memorable month that was August- the good and the not so good

So many odd, different, unique, record breaking, momentous things to name a few- happened in August. Some of these things were good, some were bad and some just were in between but noteworthy anyway...

• We became empty nesters. Enough said! This post gets wordier but for this bullet point, nah. The thing speaks, er writes, for itself.

• Donnie celebrated a big birthday, his 50th, in August- Fifty is nifty or so they say. He came down with unexplained back pain about a day after he turned fifty. What a welcome to the decade... I am a cougar so, yes, I have already reached this milestone.

• We went out of town three times. They all three were short trips but they were out of town, nonetheless. One was to Florida and the other two were to Indiana. I wrote about all of them so I won't beleaguer the point. Just pointing out that it is strange for us to go out of town, even for very short trips, three times in one month.

• We bought a car in August. This was unplanned.  But we felt it was necessary. It's always fun to get a new (used) car but parting with the money was not fun at all.

• Speaking of money, oh my, we probably spent more money this month than any month ever. Our credit card bill was the highest it's ever been by several thousand dollars. What did we all buy? We bought items for our outdoor project including a TV, a grill, cabinets, a fireplace insert, speakers, and other things. We bought many items for Alyssa's dorm and other college essentials. Donnie bought a laptop for work. We bought a new kitchen table and chairs. Oh, and we bought a fairly pricey warranty for the new/used car. The warranty is for piece of mind for sure, for a while anyway, that if the car we got is a lemon, we won't have astronomical repair bills. We were able to put the warranty on our credit card (we put everything we can on our credit card since we get 2% cash back). Please note that I am not trying to brag about our purchases (I find it off putting when people brag about their material possessions and I don’t want to convey information in a bragg-y way.  I am sharing some of what we purchased here as part of a larger story of how this month was so money spending heavy. We live below our means 99% of the time to make these 1% times where we don’t possible…

• Not on the credit card but by good old fashioned checks, we gave both the contractor and landscaper for the outdoor project a down payment.

• Not on the credit card, not by good old fashioned checks, but by e-check, we once again made two bursar payments and one semester's worth of dorm costs for two kids' colleges expenses. We had money for this in the girls' 529 plans so we were able to reimburse the money from our bank account from the 529 plans. It had been two years since we had two kids in college! There will only be one college year overlap with the girls.

• And finally one last financial happening- in August, I received a hospital bill for the first time for my surgery back on April 1st. When it rains, it pours, right?? (Though in keeping the meteorology metaphor honest, most of those rain showers were brought on by us!) A few weeks after my surgery, my insurance sent me a letter stating they were denying coverage because the procedure was not medically necessary. Well, that was a bunch of baloney!! I didn't get a face lift for heaven's sake. I contacted someone from the hospital to apprise them of what the insurance company was saying. A lady that I talked to assured me that surgery had been necessary and that the hospital would work to straighten it out with insurance. About a month later, I received a letter from my insurance company stating that I owed NO money, the insurance company was paying nothing and the hospital was on the hook for the entire (large) amount. That didn't sound right but I liked the part about me paying nothing! I called the insurance company about the letter and was told that the hospital had failed to code or file something correctly which was why insurance was saying that the hospital was stuck with the full bill. The lady whom I spoke with told me that the hospital would refile correctly and then I would be sent a bill from the hospital.

        Dare I admit that when I didn't hear anything from anyone- the insurance or the hospital- for months, I  held on to hope that somehow I would not receive a bill from the hospital? Like it had somehow gotten  lost in the shuffle? It was a long shot to wish for and it did not come true. In August, I received a bill  from the hospital with insurance paying its portion and me responsible for the rest. It was a pretty large  amount but it could have been worse. And no, I didn’t pay this off at once. We use an HSA account to         pay for medical expenses and we didn’t have enough in the account to pay for it. (There is a finite  amount of money that one can add to an HSA yearly.) No interest accrues on making payments for the hospital bill so spreading it out makes the most sense financially. 

• In August my older brother moved to Ohio! He's now about 2 1/2 hour away from me as opposed to seven. So that's good. He is now my closest living closest relative if that makes sense. Another way of saying that is that he’s the closest of my siblings to me :). He has never lived in Ohio before. So far, so good for him :). I have seen him just once since he moved but we have plans to see each other again fairly soon.

        

• Late August was the first time that I had seen my sister in 2024. We were supposed to have met in Indiana in April but that plan fell through when I couldn't drive for three months post surgery. It was great to see her even though it was for a very short duration. Thankfully, I do have plans to see her again soon.

• In August, we got to see the pastor of our church for the first time in sixteen months. Not only did we get to see him, but he preached the sermon the first Sunday that he was back in church. It was great to have him back and his recovery has been a huge answer to prayer.

• Lastly, in the last couple of days in July, a small rash appeared on my back and within a few days, it grew much larger.  For the entirety of the month of August, the rash was on my back- an odd physical manifestation of an odd month. I dramatically imagined myself suddenly allergic to wheat or sugar or nuts or cotton. But, no, as August began its exit so, too, did the rash begin its exit from my back. No allergies just a rash with no explanation. It was on brand for the uniqueness of the month :). 

A few pics from the month-

Most of us in Florida in the beginning of the month

So many boxes...

Babies, kids, high schoolers- none of them keep

Abby and Alyssa do a photo recreation here on the day that Alyssa left for college

Seeing leaves and vegetables grow in the garden during the entire summer but especially in August when many of the plants were at peak growth, provided a nice reprieve from some of the emotionally heavy events of the month and a reminder that no matter what happens or is going on, the life cycle of seed to plant to harvest remains true and steady.

Partying with this ¨Mary¨ little face in Indiana was the perfect way to spend our first weekend as empty nesters. 

And Donnie had a sweet time at Sweetwater