One week left!!!! :(

So, the summer is almost over for me. I have one week left before I go back to work. The kids have another week. It will be like they have to go back, because we will all be getting up and the kids will be taken to different places while I work. I wish they would not have us go back until the last week of August or the first week of September. I remember not going back to school until closer to Labor Day, possibly even after. The government is so concerned with test scores and grades, not the kids. They've changed everything and are involved with all aspects of school. You know, my friends and I all turned out just fine without the government interfering in school. We went to school from late August to mid May. We had spring break and a couple days and Thanksgiving and Christmas. We all turned out fine. We didn't have to have all these standardized tests and so forth. Anyway, that is not the direction I was going with this so I'll get back to my thoughts.

Let's see. Last week we went to Alabama Adventure with my mother-in-law and sister-in-law and her two kids. We had a good time. It was cloudy and overcast but we got some sun, especially me. For some reason, I didn't put sunscreen on. Dummy! We enjoyed the Lazy River, the kiddie area and Connor and I rode one of the slides. He had a blast. He was scared to death, quite unlike Connor. He didn't say much going up the stairs to the entrance. But oh my, when we got to the end, you couldn't get a word in. He really enjoyed it.

We decorated the church for VBS which was this week. I am in charge of crafts. I ordered some neat crafts I think. We had canvas bags to color with fabric markers, picture frame, binoculars (they really work) and a water globe. The kids seemed to really enjoy them. The "big kids" liked the binoculars. Over and over I heard, "these really work". Well duh. I wouldn't get something so cheesy! Anyway, it's been a great week. I didn't realize I would be so tired at the end of the night from crafts!!!??? Crafts, really? I told someone last night I picked crafts because I thought it was the easiest things to do. Then someone said "are you kidding, crafts is the hardest thing". Why didn't someone tell me this before hand? Oh well, it's been fun and I truly enjoyed every minute of it. Seriously, I did.

I went to the doctor yesterday because of my not very fun mood and fatigue. I was diagnosed with clinical depression and put on some "happy" meds. I took them for the first time yesterday morning. Wow! I felt like I had taken benadryl and nyquil at the same time. I had that "sleepy" feeling but with some major energy. I don't know how you have both of those at the same time but I did. I was so sleepy but I was a busy little bee all day long. I cleaned out the garage and took the garbage to the dump. I dusted, vacuumed, mopped, cleaned mirrors, washed clothes. I tried to stop at one point but just had the urge to keep on. I didn't like the weird feeling too much, but I liked the energy part of it. So we will see how it works.

The kids, mom and I are going back to the beach Monday and are staying until Wednesday. I just need a little beach time. We are staying across the street but hopefully we will get to see some sand at least once. There's something different about the pool at the beach and the pool here at home. There's no breeze off of the coast, no sand or smells of that yummy seafood. It's just plain ole hot here. No breeze. No sand. No wonderful aromas. Just hot.

So when we return, I will have 4 days before starting back to work. Bummer. I wish I was able to work at the same school as my kids. There must be a reason, I just wish I knew what it was or why. I'll just enjoy it as much as I can.

Money....or the lack of Part 2

So you know how I was complaining about money and always having to spend money on something. Well, I'm not gonna do that anymore. You see this week alone, we have had to pay for someone to come look at our refrigerator, go buy a new refrigerator, pay someone to come look at our air conditioning and spend $187 to fix the air conditioning. Man, this is getting old. REALLY FAST!

Hopefully, next week we will spend a whole lot less and actually be able to save a little. I hope so anyway.

Money....or the lack of

Why is it when you are trying so hard to save a little money something always falls apart, or someone gets sick, or a tire goes out or something happens to cause you to spend the money you were planning to save? I don't remember having this much trouble with money issues before. The last two years have been very stressful regarding money, or the lack of. Brandon and I both have really good paying jobs so where's it all going?

He knows how I feel about his truck. It's a money sucker every month. Don't get me wrong, it's a nice truck. He's never had a new vehicle. We got a really good deal on it. The crappy part is that we pay for it every month plus insurance and it's only driven on the weekends and maybe once during the week. That's a lot of money sitting in the garage. I told him I would sell my car and just drive his truck. He didn't really like that idea.

Seriously, is anyone else having these issues or had these issues? We went through Dave Ramsey. We were better off financially before Dave than after. What's up with that? We don't just spend money to be spending it. We only eat out on Saturday and Sunday most of the time. (Except this week our refrigerator died and we've had to eat out) Has anyone noticed how much you spend buying groceries? It's almost as much as going out to eat. I know I shouldn't be complaining because there are people out there who don't have a job. I don't see how anybody could support a family on minimum wage or even if you make $10 and hour. It's hard. For everybody I guess. Well, hopefully this will make me feel better for letting it out.

I looked into work from home jobs. I'm skeptical. I don't mind doing the work, I just hate that you can't trust anyone any more. I thought if I could do something like that, I could bring in money to put in the savings account. I'm a nurse. There's not much you can do in your home in the nursing field. Any ideas on how to better save money? I've prayed about this several times. I guess I should continually pray about it. God has already shown me that He will provide. Not once have we been in the negative area in our checking account. We've always paid our bills on time. We always "get by". I'm tired of just getting by. I want to feel secure and feel that I'm on top of things.

nothing accomplished this week!

Considering we only have a few more weeks left before school starts, I didn't accomplish anything this past week. We went to Birmingham 4 times. The house is a disaster. It seems as though everything is quitting. My refrigerator has quit. My cell phone has quit. We are trying to refinance the house. In doing that, we decided we should trade my car in for a car with a smaller payment since our house payment will go up (going from 30 to 15 years). So the only thing I did accomplish this week is getting a new car with a lower payment. Yay me. I got a Ford Fusion. I feel like I'm a Flintstone. It's been an adjustment from seeing everything up high and now feeling like I'm driving right off the ground. I keep thinking I should have a hole in the floor of the car for my feet to "drive" the car because it is so low to the ground compared to my Explorer. Anyway, it's nice. We've had to eat out a lot since the refrigerator has quit. Fast food, or any food for that matter, is expensive $$$$$$!!!!!!

The Ford Fusion


Oh yeah, one more thing. My lovely father-in-law bought Connor and Karlea a go cart. I try not to be too overbearing and try not to be all over the kids but oh my goodness. Connor is use to driving a four-wheeler so I'm use to it a little. Karlea absolutely loves it. SCARY! I had to drag her off of it.

Wonderful Go-Cart