I have been thinking about Georgia Gal lately and wondering how she is doing. I thought I would leave her a little message on her most recent blog post. Since it has been awhile, I expected that I would need to find her in the retired blogs.

Guess what? The retired blogs are gone.

I signed up with Bill Fixers today. All I had to do was give them my name, e-mail address, and upload a copy of my internet bill.

They have already responded. They let me know that they "are experiencing a big surge of sign-ups" and assured me they will get to me as soon as possible, but I should please be patient.

I will report how it goes.

I added a page called "Emergency Fund Progress" where I am tracking...my emergency fund progress. So I don't know that I will mention it much, but if you are the nosy type (like yours truly), the details are all there.

GE Capital Bank went and changed their name to Goldman Sachs Bank. (Well, I suppose they merged or were bought or some such, but I didn't feel I could spare much attention over the matter). They are still paying 1.05% on savings, at least for the time being.

SB is gearing up to start a new small business. He intends to offer to paint people's house number on their curb, door to door. He has already been down to the City to get a license and declare his area. (The City will allow only one operator in any given area at any given time. If you want to move on to another area, you must give up the one you have). He has ordered paint and glass beads (very tiny, to be embedded in the paint, which is why it is reflective) which meet the City's specifications. Now he is just waiting for his paperwork to arrive in the mail. So, he will see how that goes.

I am hoping to get my house number painted on my curb at a discount.

This past weekend, SB and I went "glamping" with some friends. "Glamping" is "glamorous camping". I definitely like glamping.

This was our tent:



The bed was so comfy!



The door on the left lead to our bathroom; the door on the right lead outside. Our friends were in the tent in the very next spot.

And this was the view from our tent's balcony:



We enjoyed our morning coffee and continental breakfast on the balcony. We spied ostriches, wildebeests, and various birds over breakfast. See how we are up in the treetops? Birds were landing in branches just inches from where we sat. That made for great viewing.

The location was Safari Park West in Santa Rosa, Ca. While there, we also enjoyed a safari. It was a fun place which I heartily recommend, should you ever have the opportunity.

It was a relaxing weekend and I thoroughly enjoyed it. We arrived home last night, and this Tuesday morning I am back at work.

Have you Saving Advice peeps heard about this?

I have just had a very nice weekend.

On Friday evening, SB met me at my office at 5:30. We walked to a nearby restaurant which is one of our faves. It is very casual and eclectic, and serves gourmet food tapa style so you can try various things. We had bacon wrapped prunes, a salad with fava beans, green beans, roasted carrots, onions, and feta cheese over mixed greens, and halibut in a lemon sauce served over asparagus. Delicious! Afterwards, we walked a few doors down to our local independent movie house to see "I Saw The Light", a biography of Hank Williams. My mother loves Hank Williams, so I was familiar with his music in my very early childhood. It's sad, but quite good.

On Saturday SB and I went to my mother's house. A friend of hers came over, and the 4 of us played cards all afternoon and into the evening.

Today SB and I went up to his timber property. He needed to check on things and he took pictures of some repairs which need to be made. I took some pictures, too.



The timber property has several ponds on it. This one is the largest. The level is low right now because of the drought. This view is right out the back door of one of the simple cabin homes on the property. How horrible to have to walk outside and see this every day. I don't know how some people manage.

This is the next big thing SB has to tackle. There are a lot of decisions to be made regarding this property.

Oh, and as we were driving up there today, SB remarked to me that my friend Emily, whom he works with, is planning a birthday lunch this Tuesday at his office and wants to know if I can make it. I said "Oh, who's birthday is it?" SB just looked at me. Gradually it dawned on me that Tuesday is his birthday! Whoops.

Not too shabby.

My mortgage payment has posted. This month I paid an additional $22.19. Wells Fargo Home Rewards Visa automatically applied $25.00 of rewards. My new balance is $165,950.00.

Chips to date: $1,962.97

Interest savings this month: $7.18

Interest savings to date: $153.83

Eventually, the interest savings on the chips I have already made will compound to $4,211.46, provided I own this house until the mortgage is paid in full. Which I probably won't.

Cash is up.
Debt is down.
Investments are up.
Home value estimate is down.