The Key – M Ward
So I’m losing my marbles
One marble at a time, it’s true.
When I’m stuck between what we have done and what we’re gonna do.
There’s a key on my piano that I play for you.
Today we head to Fayetteville, Arkansas to help my daughter move to college.
Here’s how this works:
She’s super excited.
Cheryl and I are super depressed.
Her twin brother is fulfilling his brotherly responsibility by appearing ambivalent about the whole thing (he leaves for Texas next week).
It’s hard to believe that 18 years comes down to this moment.
Life is all about goodbyes, isn’t it? In any relationship we know that at some point it’s going to end. We know ahead of time that there will be a last stop. We hope it won’t end with a slammed door, in a courtroom, or in a hospital, but we know it might. It may be to head off to college, to a new opportunity, or with a kiss and a tear, but every relationship will someday terminate.
Actually that morbid-ass thought process propels me through this week and next. In this instance I get the opportunity to say a happy farewell coupled with a “See you soon.” I know that my children have achieved some absolutely awesome results which have landed them these generous opportunities. I get to say goodbye in the best way possible….with their future intact and all of their dreams still ahead of them.
Excuse my language here, but: Mission Fucking Accomplished.
The Stack
It’s another short stack this week as I catch up from vacation activities AND take time off to drive just about everywhere in the Midwest and South. I should be on tour.
Money Beagle takes the top of my stack of great reads this week with his post There’s No Time For Those Who Don’t Have Time For You. It’s another goodbye piece, but this one is far more perplexing than what’s happening at my house.
I’m excited when our podcast generates huge discussion threads. Check out Should You Pay Cash For a Car at AffordAnything where Paula and Will (and everyone in the comments) tackle whether Will should pay cash for his new ride.
Sometimes it’s all in the title. Krantcents hooked me with 5 Things To Do Now To Save $10,000+ Later. How could I not open that post? Luckily, the meat is as good as the title. Good read.
…and speaking of headlines, Emily at Evolving Personal Finance hosts an interesting discussion around the topic Would Someone Date You After Seeing Your Taxes? I can’t imagine being on a date and saying, “So, I’m not sure I could date someone who doesn’t itemize. I’m sorry. We’re not meant for each other.” Ha!
Matt at Mom and Dad Money tackles the Mythical $12,000 Baby. He asks the question whether this oft-quoted figure discourages people from having a baby. My thought? If the 2.5 kid average doesn’t bother you (I don’t want to have the half baby…..), why should this?
If you’re an entrepreneur, check out a great hack from Carrie Smith at CarefulCents to lower your PayPal invoicing fees.
The first thing to that needs to change when you want something different out of life is your mindset, and Laurie at the Frugal Farmer nails that topic this week with Paying off Debt: How to Rewire Your Financial Mindset.
Kurt at My Money Counselor has a question, peeps, if you can pop over and read Evicted by E*Trade. Anyone know of a good international bank that’ll take accounts of US citizens without a US address?
In a case of “great minds,” yesterday Jake at iHeartBudgets and I both tackled a reader mail post. Now if we could just show up at FinCon wearing the same shirt….how awesome would that be? Check out: Reader Question: I Rock At Saving Money, But Now What?
I have to say, if I totally rock at anything, it’s humility. I mean, when I look in the mirror, I always tell myself, “You know, for an amazingly handsome dude, you sure could do better.” Isn’t that humble? Check out Fearless Men and their piece: Become a Better Man: Humility Is a Strength and Trait of a Real Man. If I weren’t so damned humble I’d tell you how I already knew that….
This Week’s Video That’s Crackin’ Me Up
I’ve seen this dumb video 100 times and still laugh my head off:
Plutus Awards
Thank you for everyone who nominated me for a Plutus Award this week. If you haven’t yet nominated anyone, please consider me for the Multimedia category (our podcast) and the Humor category. In an earlier post I asked that you also consider me for the Best New Blog category, but I’m going to rescind that request now that I’ve seen the criteria. If your blog has been around since 2012 you’re eligible. I know some great new established bloggers who deserve that honor. We’ll try to put together a great 12 months and compete for that title next year……
If you haven’t been to the Plutus Awards Nomination Page yet, here is the link.
In an already PMSsy week for me, you brought more tears to my eyes as you talked about sending your babies off to college. Well done, Joe and Cheryl. Mission indeed accomplished! Thanks for the mention, Joe, and have a wonderful trip. 🙂
Huge huge HUGE congrats are due for getting your kids off to college! I know it is bittersweet for you, but it sounds like you did an awesome job. And didn’t they get scholarships? That has to make your stack just a little bit bigger, right?
In all seriousness though, I’m sure you raised them right so you don’t have anything to major to worry about. That, and FinCon is right around the corner!
Congrats on getting your kids off to college! I bet you are a super duper proud dad =) Do you guys have an empty nest now?
Don’t worry. They will still be back plenty of times with dirty laundry! That’s just how college students work. No matter how far away they live, they will always have laundry they want cleaned when they visit. My wife’s uncle is 35, married, and when he visits his mother, he brings his dirty laundry!
Big congrats Joe on getting your kids off to college! And yes, mission accomplished! Our oldest turns six next month and I just can’t believe it and I know that I am going to blink my eyes and she is going to be ready for college as well.
Thanks for the links, I am in good company.
Thanks Joe for helping spread my request for banking suggestions…
Aww, Joe you have some lucky kids, that’s for darned sure. They sound like they won the lottery ending up with you guys as parents. =)
Good luck on the move this weekend. I’m sure that feeling of dropping your kids off at college is kind of surreal. It all goes so fast. It looks like you’ve done a great job and set your children up for success which is huge!
Oh man, Mission Accomplished!!! Are you going to drive up to see your daughter every single weekend?? Hahaha.
I’m going to read Careful Cents article RIGHT NOW.
I agree with Laurie…that got me pretty weepy too. Congrats Mama & Papa. You must be so proud!
Wow, college. My kid is just a baby so that is hard to process. That is going to break my heart someday, I’m sure.
Congratulations on your kids’ graduation and kudos for doing a good job raising them. Like you said, mission accomplished. I don’t have kids yet but hope to send them off to college, too, if that’s where they want to go.
Congrats Joe! Sounds like you guys have raised some awesome kids. Now hopefully all that hard work pays off and they strike it rich and you can start living off them, haha. Best of luck! And thanks for the shout out. Much appreciated.
Thanks for mentioning my article! I’ve never participated in Shark Week but that commercial made me laugh. It was fake, right? Ha!
Good luck with this weekend. I can imagine how hard it will be but you should be so proud to have smart responsible children. All the luck to them and to you!
What a bittersweet month for you guys! I’m glad you’re focusing on the sweet.
Thanks for including my post! Would you please fix the link though? 🙂
Congratulations on reaching such an important milestone in your children’s lives! Here’s to enjoying the many more “mini-missions” that lie ahead!