My baby girl!

[Spiky Bugger]

About seven years ago, she bit the bullet, left her fun job hanging with Presidents and movie stars and took a pay cut to get a different kind of job because she saw that her parents…while middle class but certainly not wealthy…were able to make ends meet in retirement because of their “Defined Benefit Retirement Plans,” the kind with COLA increases. (And she saw other folks our ages scrambling to shuffle assets around and keep their fingers crossed.)

She’s had several, and today she got yet another promotion. She’s already making about twice her entry level pay. This promotion…if she never takes another position after this…will top out (in a few years) at close to TRIPLE her entry level wage. She now earns more than I ever did (that makes mamas proud) and is moving in on her dad’s earning history.

I think she CAN retire in 12 years, but will earn a lot more if she goes for 17 more. But it is comforting to me to know that if MrSue and I keel over tomorrow, between what she is earning and will have in retirement…plus the always-falling-apart Cracker Jack Box house (my mother used that term) we’re leaving her and the rolls of pennies in that drawer, she PROBABLY won’t be eating cat food. That’s something I worry about because she’s a single, only child with no children. IOW, mostly alone. And even a Cracker Jack Box hovel, rolls of pennies and a modest retirement check are reassuring.

 

[Susan in Tennessee]

She’s done exceedingly well and you parents should be very proud!

Did she split from her significant other, or were you just meaning they aren’t married. Come to think of it I haven’t heard you mention the little girl for a while.

 

[JackieOnLine]

I so glad she is doing well!

 

[southernlady]

She’s making her mama and daddy proud.

 

[Spiky Bugger]

She’s done exceedingly well and you parents should be very proud!

Did she split from her significant other, or were you just meaning they aren’t married. Come to think of it I haven’t heard you mention the little girl for a while.

No split. It’s been over ten years, I think. They are not planning on getting married YET. If they wed or become registered domestic partners for 366 days or more before her retirement, she can add him to her pension plan, at least as far as medical insurance.

I remember one pre-move-in conversation when I said something like, “You won’t be living with just HIM. Every other week, there will be a Resident Two-Year-Old.”

Her know-it-all response was something like, “She’s not going to be two forever.”

And my know-even-more response was a snickering, “You are correct. Two won’t last forever.” (That baby will be 13 in about two weeks.)

MiniSue is protecting us into isolation. She doesn’t want us exposed to what “the walking Petri dish“ brings home from school. So we‘ve lost our before-and after-school child care gigs. Bummer. (But so far, no COVID, so there’s that.). They DID visit last week and afterwards, her dad said, “It made me happy and sad to see them together. Happy because they were obviously really enjoying each other and sad because they have not been able to do this and you can SEE they’ve missed each other.”

 

[Spiky Bugger]

I so glad she is doing well!

Me, too. So she can support us later on!?!

 

[Spiky Bugger]

She’s making her mama and daddy proud.

You know, she has a LONG history of doing just that.

Granted, she’s genetically predisposed to being a pain in the ass. But she does it better than I ever did. She doesn’t DECIMATE the opponent, she just GENTLY implies that she COULD. And in many areas she is VERY ORGANIZED AND LOGICAL.

One day, I asked MrSue what he thought her Military MOS would be if she enlisted in the armed forces and got the IDEAL job for her. (I had already written my answer on a folded piece of paper.) He immediately said, “Aircraft Loadmaster.”
That’s what my piece of paper said, too. Lol

(For the innocent, the loadmaster is the person who DOESN’T put the giant tank in last if it’s going to be unloaded at the last stop.

 

[southernlady]

A long ago friend of mine was a loadmaster. He did that to get out of being a missle sitter in the Midwest. He was in the Airforce. I worked with his wife in retail, and stayed friends once I went into the Army. They were stationed at Lackenheath when I was stationed at Schinnen, The Netherlands.

 

[Larra]

Sounds like you and Mr. Sue must have done a lot of somethings right. Be proud, you've earned it.

 

[hilary1617]

Wonderful! So happy for this proud moment for you.

 

[Spiky Bugger]

Sounds like you and Mr. Sue must have done a lot of somethings right. Be proud, you've earned it.

As I recall, many threats were involved! LOL

Truth be told, she and I were discussing her growing up years just this week.
She wrote: I don’t remember you guys coming down on me for a failed test or assignment…just term grades seemed to matter.
I responded: Mostly, it was work that you did and it went INTO that damned TrapperKeeper, and from there, to some other dimension.


These days, it’s computerized grade reporting causing chaos. Teachers enter an assignment into the program and how many points are possible. But until the work is submitted and graded and that grade entered (sometimes when your teacher returns from jury duty)…until THEN…the kids get ZERO points out of however many Points Possible. Just a few of those assignments can really lower your average grade. And then the kid’s actual mother overreacts and grounds her—no phone, no computer, no friends, just soccer practice—BECAUSE A TEACHER WAS ON JURY DUTY.

Sobbing After a Phone Call From a Screaming Mother, Kid: I love going to soccer practice, but MOMMY’s gonna yell all the way there and all the way back and she’s making me crazy, so I’d rather not go.

Dad (MiniSue’s Partner): Well, your grade is still low, isn’t it?

Sobbing Kid: Yes, but…

Interrupting Dad: Wait! If your grade is low, I can ground you, too, you know. How about I ground you from soccer practice?

Paused & Then Suddenly Stopped Sobbing Kid: And I’d only be grounded from this one practice and I wouldn’t REALLY be in trouble with you?

Dad: Once I figure out that your grade is so low because your teacher isn’t there to enter your grades so the computer thinks it’s all ZERO grades…I might be able to forgive you.

Smiling Kid: Thank you, Daddy. I love you Daddy!


(Poor Daddy. His daughter just experienced her first period; his ex-wife and his 10-year partner are approaching age 50. He lives in Estrogen Hell.)