Let's review the goals I set for September and see how I did:

1. Continue to work out - Mostly accomplished - I was doing great up until my wisdom tooth surgery.  I haven't gotten back into it yet, just because my recovery has taken a bit longer than expected, but I am gearing up to get back into it full swing next week pending doctor approval.
   
2. Recover from wisdom tooth surgery - Mostly accomplished - My surgery for extracting teeth was rather complicated, and as an update to my post, I had a further complication last week when a small hole appeared between my sinuses and one of the extraction sites.  The surgeon was fairly confident that this would heal on it's own.  I'll find out more next week.  So far it seems to be doing well, and I'm back to eating all but really crunch foods.
   
3. Figure out what to do with my MY money - Somewhat accomplished - As I mentioned, I bought a pair of running shoes with money that my parents gave me for my birthday to spend on myself.  I still have some left, but am in no hurry as I don't want to spend just for the sake of spending, but would rather wait until something truly important comes along.  In any case, the money is earmarked accordingly.
   
4. Sell a car / buy a car - Not accomplished - Again, I'll blame the wisdom teeth. I have a few small things I need to get straightened out, as well as do a thorough cleaning.  I'm moving this to October.
   
5. Do good in my fantasy sports leagues - Accomplished - I had dropped from first to fourth in my baseball league, but am now at second.  Either second or third is likely for me, and that will ensure me some prize money.  I also started off 2-1 in my football league, so I can't complain.  This week might be brutal, though, as I've got a double whammy of injuries and bye week players that are leaving me no choice but to field a bunch of scrubs. 
   
6. Get caught up on insurance co-pays - Accomplished - Everything is finally caught up with the bills from Baby Beagle's delivery.  I also had an issue to work out with regard to coverage for Baby Beagle's immunizations that was straightened out.  Even the oral surgery bills are pretty much finished off, except for one claim that I'm expecting to run through any day.  

October Goals

1. Get back on the treadmill - By the end of the month I should be fully back into the workout routine unless something really creates a setback with the wisdom teeth removal.
2. Sell a car / buy a car - I'm moving this one up a month and see no reason that it can't happen.
3. Winterize around the house - Some of the windows need re-caulking and I'd like to have the furnace tuned up to make sure everything is running efficiently.  
4. Donate - I have stuff that needs to be donated that has been with us for way too long.  Getting rid of those piles in the basement and the garage will help get those areas clean, and hopefully help others that can use the items.  
5. Figure out our Netflix plan - Right now, we're on the $4.99 minimum plan where you get two movies per month.  We've actually now gotten into a habit where we like to watch a movie on Saturday night.  So, this leaves us two or three movies short per month.  I am convinced that our library has a decent enough selection where we could supplement our Netflix rentals with free library rentals, but my wife is skeptical.  We need to go check it out and determine if we can stick to our current Netflix plan or if we will need to bump back up to the next highest plan ($8.99) that would allow us to watch a movie a week.

Happy autumn!

  

I had three of my four wisdom teeth removed last week.  I had been in discussions with my dentist about my wisdom teeth for years.  Probably 15-18 years ago, he pointed out that my wisdom teeth were in bad locations and were not ideal candidates for 'automatic' removal, which is the path that many dentists / oral surgeons seem to be leaning towards.  The idea behind that is that getting them out in your late teen's or early 20's is the most ideal time, as your body can adapt and heal the quickest.

The main reason that he recommended holding off is because my bottom wisdom teeth were in very close proximity to a nerve, and he thought the likelihood of damage outweighed the benefit of taking them out without cause.

So, I was fine for years and years, but then a few months ago, the area around one of the teeth started to hurt.  I went to the dentist, and was told that I had an infection and that once a wisdom tooth started getting infections, it should come out.  We gambled on leaving them in, but unfortunately it didn't pay off.

I was referred to an oral surgeon. Upon exam, he actually recommended taking three of my four teeth.  He recommended the one on the bottom that was getting infected as well as the two on the top, which had shown progression that would lead to decay of other teeth within a few years. He actually pointed out that the surgery would not be easy.  The bottom teeth, in addition to being close to the nerve, were embedded in my jaw.  The upper teeth would need to be cut out, cracked, and removed in pieces to avoid damaging the roots of the nearby teeth.

He recommended that I get knocked out during the surgery.  I stopped him and said that I wanted to get knocked out just for hearing any more details about the extraction!

The day of the surgery came and things went well. The knocking out portion was the easiest.  They hooked up an IV, and I asked "Did you guys start the medicine yet?"  The nurse answered, "Yes, we just did."  I said, "That's what I thought because things started...."

And next thing I know, they were waking me up having extracted all three teeth.

All three of the removals were as complex as could possibly be.  The bottom removal required a bone graft in my jaw.  While they didn't know if any nerve damage occurred, the graft would reduce the chances of any damage being permanent, as well as reduce the time for the bone to heal, which would minimize my chances for future infections.  The upper teeth both were discovered to be extremely close to my sinus walls.  In some cases, the removal actually breaches the sinus wall, in which case secondary surgery is often necessary to close the sinus cavity.  Luckily, mine wasn't breached, but because the hole from the tooth was so close, I have to take extra medicine and additional precautions to minimize the risk of blowing open my sinus cavity during the healing process.  This meant trying to avoid any sinus pressure, so I was on medicine to reduce that, as well as not holding in sneezes.

So far, my recovery has had it's ups and downs.  I am still not eating solid foods.  The fact that they had to do so many cuts and go up so deep into my tissue has made it difficult than a simple yank.  I was also concerned that I was still getting occasional bleeding as late as yesterday (4 days after the surgery) but was told that this is normal given the complexity.

On a positive note, the complications seem to *knock on wood* have been minimal.  If I'd had nerve damage, I would have spots on or around my lips where I would have little or no feeling.  So far, I think I'm in the clear.  I also haven't had any problems with my sinuses, where if I'd have had any bloody noses or undue pressure, there could have been complications.

If I can get away with the short term pain and not being able to eat solids for a week or so, I'll take that as long as I don't have any major complications.

The other fun part will be in dealing with the insurance and financial aspect.  I actually went to a different oral surgeon than my dentist referred me to, for the reason that I wanted to go to an in-network facility.  They were great with working with me, and even had me pre-pay a certain amount knowing my dental coverage.  There will be a little bit extra cost on the dental side because my maximum claim limit for the calendar year was exhausted.  That I'm cool with.  What I also expect to be fun is the bone graft side of it.  That gets billed to my medical insurance.

I had previously called my medical insurance provider to make sure that they covered it, and that the oral surgeon was in network.  Both were confirmed.  The submitted claim price for this was $900, so if everything went according to the way it should work, the most I should have to pay is $90, since my insurance covers 90% of such procedures.  It could be less if they have a 'negotiated' price on services, which would be nice.

However, things with the insurance company are never easy, so I expect it will not be as easy as just writing a check for $90 to cover that.  It never is.

All in all, I'm on the mend.  Today is the first day that I've felt halfway normal, and I'm hoping to be eating somewhat solid foods by the weekend.  It's so nice to have goals!

I've taken up running on the treadmill in the morning's before work.  Actually, I run three days, do a high incline walk one day, and a simple walk another day.  I take the weekends off.

One thing I quickly realized that I needed was a pair of shoes to fit the habit.

I actually waited several weeks to make sure that I was going to committ to the routine.  So far, so good.

So, at the recommendation of a friend, I started looking around for some Asics running shoes.  My friend runs about 20 miles per week, and has used Asics for a good portion of the time he's been running.

I looked online and determined some of the 'better' reviewed types.  Armed with that information, I went to my favorite store for shoes:

Kohl's.

Although I didn't get the help to properly size them, I felt it was pretty easy.  The 8-1/2's felt too small and the 9-1/2s were way too big, and the 9's fit perfect.  So, pretty easy choice.

The local store had a pair that I wanted on sale from $89.99 to $64.99.  On top of that, I had a printable 15% off coupon that I used over the Labor Day weekend.  All told, including taxes, they were slightly over $58.

And, after using them for a week and a half, I love them!  They feel like I'm running on air.

In an earlier post, I mentioned that my parents gave me some cash for my birthday to spend on myself.  I'm happy to say that a portion of their money went towards these shoes, and I couldn't be happier with them!

Here is a snapshot of our net worth for the last month.



Basically, things were moving in the right direction with the exception of Property.  Let's just say that the housing market sucks and leave it at that.  Looking at prices around the neighborhood, I'd say it's gone from 'maybe' to 'certainly' that we're underwater; in other words, we would not get what we currently owe.

Luckily, there are two things that make that easier to swallow.  First, we're not planning on moving anytime soon, and second, the thought has never crossed our mind to do anything but continue paying and wait for things to improve.  We love our house, we haven't had a devastating job loss, and we're not societal deadweights that think it's OK to abandon a house because it's worth less than what you could get for it.

Anyways, on a more positive note, we saw gains elsewhere that are very encouraging.

Actually, our net worth excluding our house is nearly at a record high, as is our retirement.  The fact that these two are approaching this milestone at the same time is pretty much expected, since retirement is the biggest chunk of our net worth at this time.

That shows that we're doing some things right: We're investing, we're paying off debt, and we're saving.  That sounds pretty good to me.

Here are some personal and fiinancial goals for the month.

1. Continue to work out - I'm in my fourth week of getting up five days a week (before work) and exercising on the treadmill.  I need exercise.  I love exercise.  I love working out on the treadmill, but working out in the afternoon / evenings wasn't getting it done because there was never opportunity to get into a groove.  Just too much going on.  So, I had to overcome the fact that I hated getting up in the mornings to workout and actually do it.  After about the second week, I stopped hating the alarm going off, so I think I may be over the hump.  
2. Recover from wisdom tooth surgery - OK, so I haven't had it yet, but it's scheduled for later in the month.  
3. Figure out what to do with my MY money - I just had a birthday and my parents gave me a little bit of cash, with the stipulation that I spend it on myself and something I enjoy.  I think sometimes I get so caught up in saving money or applying any extra money to a particular 'goal' that I forget what it's like to go out and do something nice for myself.  So, I am putting the money aside and thinking of what to buy with it.  
4. Sell a car / buy a car - With Baby Beagle, the two cars we have aren't ideal.  My parents have agreed to sell us a slightly larger vehicle, so now I have to get that in motion.  Get my car ready to sell (mostly cleaning), sell it, and then go through the purchase of the car with my parents, as well as all the plate transfers.  I would love to have this all done by the end of the month.
5. Do good in my fantasy sports leagues - I'm currently in a dead heat for first place in my baseball league.  I should, barring anything crazy happening, finish in the top two (first would be nice as I am the defending champ), which will net at least $100 in winnings, so I just need to monitor that.  In addition, some of my buddies and I had our fantasy football draft last night, and I'm hoping to get things going on the right foot there, as well. 
6. Get caught up on insurance co-pays - We are still getting bills for things associated with the birth of Baby Beagle, which took place back in May.  Every time I think that we're done, it seems another bill finds our mailbox.  For most of the summer, it seems not a day would go by that we wouldn't get either an Explanation of Benefit statement or a bill.  We only have one bill outstanding, which I need to call on to get an understanding of what it's for (since I thought we had already paid up), so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that we can cross off everything to do with paying for the delivery from the list.

None of this seems outrageous, so I'm hopeful I can get everything done.