Everything's Coming Up....Expenses

There's a pandemic of expenses going around.  It seems everyone I know is being hit with financial issues these last few weeks.  Longer if truth be told (and it is).  Praying for some financial relief for everyone involved.

The Good Stuff:

• Had a nice visit with the kids this weekend.  The grandkids were doing their own thing -- one away at college; the other working, so we got to spend quality time with daughter and her husband.  Managed to briefly see both granddaughters between stints at work, meeting older granddaughter at the mall before she had to go to work (and making faces at her through the window after she actually started work -- apparently this is a family tradition since pre-school).
• Got the grass mowed at the store this morning
• Just a couple of things decluttered -- better than none, I suppose.
• I cut up cucumbers and red peppers to take to Dallas and snacked on them when we were in the room.  Much better choice than getting chips and pop.
• Learned to use BillPay (I don't need it for my bills, but it's coming in handy for another purpose -- did you know you can use it to send money to anyone if you have the account number, the address, and the phone number of the institution?).

The Not So Good Stuff:

• Virtually no writing work this week.  A very little on the Sweet Spot map and a few idea generation exercises, but that's it.
• We came home from Dallas to a note on the door from the store neighbors -- the water pipe broke again. Thankfully, they turned the water off at the meter and saved us a lot on the water bill (will probably still be jacked up, depending upon how long before they realized it needed to be taken care of).
• We didn't get to the ranch (that was Mr. L's timeline and not mine, so it's not a huge issue for me, but it does need to be done, and we're not getting much done around the house this year -- he's spending a lot of time at the shop and getting transmission, transfer case, and PTO rebuilt for my Jeep, so he's not completely unproductive).

The Week Ahead:

• I'm supposed to go to SA with Mr. L so I can water, but they're getting rains from Ingrid all week (a good think except for the flash flood risk).  I am committed to bringing something to an acquaintance down there, so I guess we'll be making the trip.  Besides, he may need a driver to take him to and from his medical appointment (the reason for the trip), because he's having an in-office surgical procedure performed.  I don't mind making the trip, but if I didn't have to go, the cats wouldn't have to make the trip.  They like being in SA, even if they don't like the three hour ride to get there.
• See what I can do with writing.  For now, I can't claim to be anything more than a writing hobbyist, which is why I can't justify the expense of the Product Launch thing from Jeff Walker.  I can see it would work well for launching self-pubbed books, though and I'm watching the process with interest.  
• See if any of my SA Twitter peeps will take me up on my offer to meet on Saturday.