NT came home with pretty good news last night, though I won't celebrate unless it becomes official. His boss is proposing a $5K raise, $2K more in his year-end bonus, and the prospect of more once he gets more experience in his new position. He asked for $10K and I'm glad he did; if he'd asked for $5K she probably would have offered $2.5K. We know how her mind works!

NT still has to talk to her about making it retroactive to January, and she has to get it approved by the other partners. But it's the first concrete number she's put out there, so it's encouraging.

AS has gotten many job prospects in the past week or two, but not many definites. But she doesn't really need them right now; she's still finishing up work she already booked, and she's already funded net pay, taxes, retirement and healthcare through mid-February.

No news on the condo. Pins and needles!

I finally finished paying off the Roomba I splurged on before Xmas. It has made life so much better! We have it programmed to run once a day on the main level. Now I just need to vacuum the upper level and the various landings and stairs, but the main level gets the most traffic and use, so I'm glad to have that chore off my plate.

Now I'm working on paying off my dad's bday present, but that should be done soon. Only about $12 left on that.

I'm thinking about splurging a bit for the kids on Valentine's Day. I don't know why; I've just been remembering how much I enjoyed getting a toy, candy and a big fancy card from my parents. I might see if I can find any good deals at Marshalls or Target. I should get some cheap cards, toys or candy treats for them to hand out at daycare anyway.

But, I also will need to start paying for my domain registration soon, so I need to keep that in mind. We'll see what I decide.

AS and I went out last night, but we had a very cheap night. The trivia host needed a scorer, so I scored for him and he bought my drinks. And AS and the rest of my friends' team won second place, which is a $15 gift card!

I've been calorie counting already in preparation for Dietbet, and with the hope that I'll lose a little weight before it even starts. I've gone over my target both days so far, but at first it's hard to plan the meals; you're estimating, or counting after you eat and discovering it was too much. That's why I wanted to get into the swing of it before the bet started.

Soon it'll be six months since we closed on the new home. That's the time frame for when we can seek a refinance. I'm not sure if we're in a good enough place to qualify for a really good rate, but my broker was extremely helpful, knowledgeable and motivated last time, so I'm sure he'll give me a fair prediction if I tell him what my concerns are (lower credit scores, AS now self-employed, more CC and student loan debt than before, more open lines of credit, haven't sold the condo). I'm wondering if we'll have to wait to refi. But we don't want to wait too long, because rates are most likely going to go up sometime this year.

My work announced a belated holiday party. It'll be fun, I'm sure, but I'm mostly excited because that's usually when they give out bonuses! We only get a couple hundred bucks on a gift card, most times, but that would be very welcome. It's been hard to move the needle on saving up for selling the condo and getting out of the duplex seller's debt. We've basically been stuck in the same place for about a month.

I haven't heard from the duplex seller in a while. I send the check out really early now (the one for Feb. 1 went out yesterday), but he always seems to cash them on the 5th or 6th of the month. Hard to tell if he's getting them late or if it just takes him a while to get to the bank. I don't want to ask because he's so abrasive and obnoxious in his emails. As long as he doesn't complain I'm not going to start sending any earlier. I still can't wait to get out from under his unpleasant shadow though!