Hi fellow '29'ers!!! We at the Mouser Household have a big summer ahead. Here's July plans:
- We are taking a fourth (you read that right) trip to Ohio to visit family. Three of these were just one parent + kiddo, the last one will be all three of us.
- After our trip we are officially housemate free indefinitely. SO and I have continually lived with housemates for 10 years, with the last 5 years of it being us renting out to people who become good friends. It's really accelerated our FIRE timeline compared to where we would be if we took the typical route (no housemates after getting married let alone having a baby). Paid off a huge chunk of our mortgage(s) this way and saved on utilities. Alas, we take up much more space these days with a full-fledged toddler- and not just physical space. It's time to move forward and become the dreaded traditional single family in a single house. No regrets about any of it but we are overdue for this transition.
- Camping trip planned with one of our best friends at the Uwharrie National Forest.
- We FINALLY get to return our nearly 3yo to full time child care. This is a massive pandemic milestone and it's going to be incredible for the whole family.
The remainder of the summer will be spent trying to rekindle friendships that went quiet during 2020-present, and connecting with our community more.
I am also hoping that SO and I take this time to align on whether and how we will have a second kid. We are in different spaces with that decision and it's been painful, honestly. I think we both respect and understand intellectually where the other one is on the topic, but it doesn't make it much easier. And I suppose that would alter my FIRE timeline, though at this rate we are doing great I think financially and I'm happy working (see below). SO has good points, it's a huge deal and would take a lot of our time/money to raise a second kid, not to mention his fears about where the world is heading (climate change, growing wealth disparities, you name it). It's hard to argue with any of that but I still feel there has got to be a way that we can make it work and alleviate his concerns. But... it's not fair to try to CONVINCE someone they should have another kid with you. So, yeah, lots of ping pong in my head and relationship.
I am *loving* the day to day at my work and feel like I'm in a great career space. I have what I think is pretty perfect work-life balance, flexibility, learning opportunities, and space to exercise my skills. If I can stay this happy at my job for another 9 years I'll probably not want to RE. I am still planning on contingencies, you never know with work- one big change can topple an organization's culture. Being in the FIRE community makes me feel much more in control should things become not-so-fun at work.
So life is good, overall! Here's to a great 2021 summer.