The Shadows on My Wall Don't Sleep

I realized I forgot to mention that I have a new job! I am working in accounts receivable at a pediatric dentistry nonprofit, whose mission is to get dental care to all children in Minnesota. I started mid-October and spent my first two weeks mostly doing call center and scheduling work because A) cross-training is a good idea and B) there was a temporary staff shortage. But last week I finally got started on my real job and so far I am enjoying it. Lots of things to put in order!

Once I got the job, I began seriously looking for an apartment, and last Thursday I signed a lease with a November 15 start date for a 2-bedroom in a northwest suburb of Minneapolis. I am still waiting to hear if I can use the building's parking lot for my U-Haul U-Boxes, or if I'll have to finagle street parking, but that is a relatively minor detail.

My next step is to find a doctor, and also to decide if I want to get health insurance through this job for 2026, whether to buy another plan through the MNsure website, or whether to buy insurance directly from my current insurer.

Also my new job comes with a 403(b) plan, which I think I have set up to do Roth contributions. There are many valid reasons to go with a traditional tax-deferred retirement plan, but I have always preferred Roth accounts for myself, ever since I opened an IRA back in high school.

Also also, I am sure I forgot to mention that I was hired back by Not the IRS. The re-hiring was never really in question -- the issue was which office I'd be working in. That played a role in my apartment search, along with my main job, my parents' location, and Vicky's location. I have completed my required continuing education and renewed my PTIN, so things are going fine on that front.

And lastly, unrelated to any practical concerns, I signed up for a one-afternoon online seminar about medieval high German literature through Medievalists.net, which will run from 11am-2pm CST this coming Saturday. I just received the course documents today, and I am looking forward to it a lot!