One of the things I look forward to most in the coming months is the ability to travel!

Last night, hubby asked me to put together my quilt travel bucket list. I had an absolute ball researching and compiling info on various events. Mind you, quilt shows are back in person in 2022, but much of the niche quilty destination travel has yet to be announced. Quilters who have been unable to attend events for nearly two years are clamoring to get back out there. Be aware that specialized quilty travel tends to sell out fast. Like everything else, the cost of travel has risen, too!

Most of my quilty travel plans for 2022 involve regional events within a six hour drive of Atlanta. I’m still in full-time worker bee mode through June, so events like Road to California, Sewing & Stitchery Expo in WA, Quilt Week in Branson, MO, Houston Quilt Festival – all have to wait. If the Garden of Quilts at Thanksgiving Pointe is scheduled for September 2022, I’ll be heading to Salt Lake City for a few days.

Personally, I like to attend events and retreats that involve classes or are project based. Weekend or 4 day/3 night schedules are preferred. I like to have my own room. I prefer to drive when I can, but my little Elna STAR or FW is ready to fly whenever I am.

Right now, I look forward to one quilty event each month in 2022. Four of those events are out-of-town and require a road-trip! Woo-hoo!

Today, I had a 5th grade student throw bookmarks, the bookmark basket and just about everything on the circulation desk at me today. Thankfully, his teacher got the scissors out of his hand in time.

Why? Because he couldn’t check out the new Diary of Wimpy Kid book. He had to go on the wait list.

I’ve had students throw things in my two decades of library work, but never directly at me.

I am so done. 😤

May can’t get here fast enough.

Between Trader Joe’s and Publix, I spent almost $300 on groceries this week! That’s the average of what I spent for the two of us per month before inflation hit. Yikes!

Once the shock wore off, I looked at my receipts:

1) 25% was spent stocking up on meat that was on sale.
2) 25% was spent on a special dinner for some close friends.
3) The remainder was spent on regular groceries.

Mind you, I do a big shop once a month and fill in with perishables (milk, eggs, bread, fruit, veg) as we need them. We do eat out 2x per week (Friday date night and Sunday afternoon lunch). We typically eat the rest of our meals at home or brownbag lunch/snacks with us to work and our Saturday events. Our average monthly spend now on groceries is between $400-$425.

Why is this important? Now that we’re a little over six months away from leaving full-time employment, I wanted to (1) make sure my earlier budgeted monthly cash needs were on track and (2) see if we need to reduce retirement contributions in order to accumulate extra cash with the remaining paychecks. Looks like the grocery budget is good and I’ll reduce my 403(b) contributions since there is no employer match.

Being able to step away from full-time employment earlier than planned is possible because we worked our asses off over the past 30 years, lived below our means and saved/invested like crazy. The health insurance piece is now covered and we’re reworking everything else to meet the goal of living well without having to tap the nest egg for a certain period of time. It did mean foregoing the RV purchase (sorry, not sorry) and delaying the purchase of some high ticket toys (like a new sewing machine for me), but we both think it’s well worth the freedom gained by not having to work full-time. Living my best life means spending time with hubby/family/friends, playing with Sadie, volunteering, travel, quilting, sewing biz, hiking, biking, etc. – not spending my days as an information waitress.