Fridge leaks! Fun! We've been hearing a funny noise from the fridge all week (?!) and the Master of the World had some quiet time at 6 a.m. to check it out. Yep, the hose to the icemaker had sprung a leak (how long ago????). There was a huge puddle under the fridge and a very large expanse of wet ceiling in the basement. Some wet carpeting, too, where it had actually been dripping. Nice.
Fixing my aching neck! Fun! Starting the day (after the leak, that is) with a trip to the chiropractor to fix my neck that I injured (sleeping!) on Monday night. I made an emergency trip to see him Tuesday because I couldn't turn my head. Got to go back first thing after blogging to get him to finish the job. It was so bad he couldn't get it all in one visit.
Finding time for Friday Funday between blowdrying the carpet and drywall. Fun! I'd like to squeeze in some schoolwork, but I'm pretty sure we'll be dealing with the wetness in the basement before co-op.
Finding my voice! Fun! The Little Princess came down with a bad cold on Saturday and it's working it's way through the family. I can hardly talk now. I feel much better after 2 good nights sleep (thank you, Nyquil), and 2 naps yesterday, but no voice. The kids are happy about that, though. We haven't gotten a ton of work done this week.
Friday Co-op! Fun! Well, maybe a little. I'm not teaching. Praise the Lord! And the kids get to go to the mobile lab today, so it might actually be Fun!
Football game! Fun! Home football game tonight and I don't have to work the concession stand! That should actually be fun, too.
So, it looks like the day is going to get progressively better, despite the fun start. And I keep reminding myself that I'm not recovering from having a huge tumor removed from my brain, like one of my dear friends. I'm not facing my mortality and the fear of leaving my family. I'm reminding myself to offer up these minor annoyances for someone who is having way less fun than I am and she's doing it with incredible grace, faith, and joy!
Friday, October 10, 2008
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Sixth Folder, Sixth Picture
Fawndear tagged me for this game which I'm thankful for because I was searching my brain for something to blog about!
Here are the instructions:
Go to the 6th folder of your photos and go to the 6th picture. Then post it.
Doesn't sound too scary, does it? But you never know what you might find. Honestly, I was afraid it would be the folder with my sweet mother at the funeral home. Thank heavens it was a pretty boring picture:
Fawndear said she had no recollection of taking her photo and challenged her "tagees" to see if they remembered. I have it easy. The folder this one came from is labeled "Birthdays '08". And only one of my children, that I know of, turned twelve in '08. That would be TMax. Logically, I must conclude that it is his birthday cake.
Whew! That was scary! Now, I tag:
Maybe they'll have something more exciting to show us!
Here are the instructions:
Go to the 6th folder of your photos and go to the 6th picture. Then post it.
Doesn't sound too scary, does it? But you never know what you might find. Honestly, I was afraid it would be the folder with my sweet mother at the funeral home. Thank heavens it was a pretty boring picture:
Fawndear said she had no recollection of taking her photo and challenged her "tagees" to see if they remembered. I have it easy. The folder this one came from is labeled "Birthdays '08". And only one of my children, that I know of, turned twelve in '08. That would be TMax. Logically, I must conclude that it is his birthday cake.
Whew! That was scary! Now, I tag:
Maybe they'll have something more exciting to show us!
Friday, October 3, 2008
Month of Nothing Wrap-Up
I would have gotten this out a few days ago, but our brand-new modem blew up for some reason and we've been living without internet for the past few days. It's like the end-times here: no gas at the pumps and no internet. Just hunkered down in our cave doing things like reading, jumping rope, and playing with tangrams.
But AT&T miraculously came through again and overnighted a new modem to us AND there is gas again! Not everywhere, but the places that have gas don't have huge lines anymore. Maybe Atlantans have taken the hint and finally stopped driving, or maybe the shortage is just easing up slowly. So we can go on our field trip today to Mayfield Dairy and pick up KT who is coming to the homecoming football game tonight.
Anyway...A month of nothing wasn't soooo bad. And since we started late, it was only 21 days.
We managed to come in right on budget in the grocery area. That's not only another near-miracle, but a savings of $100 or more, since we normally go way over. It was not only a monetary savings, but a time savings as well since I stopped shopping all the time and we just did without when something ran out. The kids actually survived for a few days without milk! Most of the over-budget stuff is just from over-shopping and "stocking up". All the time. The kids open the fridge or the pantry now and say there is no food because they can see the shelves. Well, there was no food before, just more of it! Maybe I don't really need a giant sub-zero fridge.
At the end of September I made the decision to go with the cash/envelope system for groceries. It's too easy for little trips to the store to crop up and eat away at the funds. This month I budgeted $400 for Costco and divided up the rest of the funds evenly----only I subtracted $200 from the overall food budget. Yes, I'm looking to trim another $200 from the budget. It actually wasn't hard to stay under $150 per week as long as I planned my menus and kept track as I was shopping.
That $200 per month will come in handy since Hitch desperately wants to go to Rome with the senior class in May and he wasn't able to get a summer job to pay for it. So if we can save this money it will cover a good chunk of his trip, but he needs to get a seasonal job to cover the rest of it. Maybe we can shave some more out of the budget, but that probably won't be until after Christmas.
It was great to go into Target for the occasional necessity this month and get out for under $12! Like others, I kept thinking that I was just building up a huge list of stuff to purchase at the beginning of October. To some degree that's true. But I'm also thinking of ways to do things on a simpler level, do without, or just be more creative.
One of the kids pointed out that while the country is having a financial crisis, we're not, and we don't have to go without stuff forever. Well, the only reason we're not having as serious a financial crisis as the U.S. is because we've tried to be sensible all these years. Ever since KT was 3 months old and it came time to start paying back my student loans, we have kept a budget. Not just a budget, but actually writing down everything we spend. 19 years of keeping track. Not always staying in bounds, especially these past few years with private school and college costs, but staying out of debt. And, yes, we actually have retirement accounts! And we had enough sense not to buy more house than we could afford for no money down even though we have desperately wanted to be closer to The School and dh's office.
I'm learning to be more thankful for my blessings and let the other stuff go. When I see the devastation around me----friends who are struggling with diseases and terminal illnesses---I'm happy to just hunker down and enjoy my family. I'm happy if my biggest cross to bear is that we can't afford Disney World or another Wii game. We'll have to spend more $$$ than I care to this month on Cub Scouts and American Heritage Girls, but I'm looking forward to another month of (almost) nothing.
But AT&T miraculously came through again and overnighted a new modem to us AND there is gas again! Not everywhere, but the places that have gas don't have huge lines anymore. Maybe Atlantans have taken the hint and finally stopped driving, or maybe the shortage is just easing up slowly. So we can go on our field trip today to Mayfield Dairy and pick up KT who is coming to the homecoming football game tonight.
Anyway...A month of nothing wasn't soooo bad. And since we started late, it was only 21 days.
We managed to come in right on budget in the grocery area. That's not only another near-miracle, but a savings of $100 or more, since we normally go way over. It was not only a monetary savings, but a time savings as well since I stopped shopping all the time and we just did without when something ran out. The kids actually survived for a few days without milk! Most of the over-budget stuff is just from over-shopping and "stocking up". All the time. The kids open the fridge or the pantry now and say there is no food because they can see the shelves. Well, there was no food before, just more of it! Maybe I don't really need a giant sub-zero fridge.
At the end of September I made the decision to go with the cash/envelope system for groceries. It's too easy for little trips to the store to crop up and eat away at the funds. This month I budgeted $400 for Costco and divided up the rest of the funds evenly----only I subtracted $200 from the overall food budget. Yes, I'm looking to trim another $200 from the budget. It actually wasn't hard to stay under $150 per week as long as I planned my menus and kept track as I was shopping.
That $200 per month will come in handy since Hitch desperately wants to go to Rome with the senior class in May and he wasn't able to get a summer job to pay for it. So if we can save this money it will cover a good chunk of his trip, but he needs to get a seasonal job to cover the rest of it. Maybe we can shave some more out of the budget, but that probably won't be until after Christmas.
It was great to go into Target for the occasional necessity this month and get out for under $12! Like others, I kept thinking that I was just building up a huge list of stuff to purchase at the beginning of October. To some degree that's true. But I'm also thinking of ways to do things on a simpler level, do without, or just be more creative.
One of the kids pointed out that while the country is having a financial crisis, we're not, and we don't have to go without stuff forever. Well, the only reason we're not having as serious a financial crisis as the U.S. is because we've tried to be sensible all these years. Ever since KT was 3 months old and it came time to start paying back my student loans, we have kept a budget. Not just a budget, but actually writing down everything we spend. 19 years of keeping track. Not always staying in bounds, especially these past few years with private school and college costs, but staying out of debt. And, yes, we actually have retirement accounts! And we had enough sense not to buy more house than we could afford for no money down even though we have desperately wanted to be closer to The School and dh's office.
I'm learning to be more thankful for my blessings and let the other stuff go. When I see the devastation around me----friends who are struggling with diseases and terminal illnesses---I'm happy to just hunker down and enjoy my family. I'm happy if my biggest cross to bear is that we can't afford Disney World or another Wii game. We'll have to spend more $$$ than I care to this month on Cub Scouts and American Heritage Girls, but I'm looking forward to another month of (almost) nothing.
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