Money, Love, and Change

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I don’t know if it is the change in the weather, or if I just have bad luck, but last week was tough to get through!  I was just so tired, and managed to do the bare minimum to get by.  That’s not really like me…

It’s time to get back on track.  I’ve been doing some serious bargain hunting - I managed to find some great deals online at The Children’s Place, and got the kid a winter jacket and 5 shirts (I even splurged and got him a flannel for holiday pictures!) for $30 with shipping.  He outgrew almost everything from last year, and many of the second-hand shops in the area didn’t have anything for his size.

We’ve done a pretty good job tackling the potty training - we are down to a pull-up for nap time, and a nighttime diaper.  That’s some money saved!  Also, the kid will be 3 in January, so I’m pretty comfortable with the timetable that we are currently on.

I am still working a lot.  I am going to tutor as much as possible before the holidays to try to pay off some debt.  We’ll see how that works, since we are going on a trip to Arizona in November!

Other than that, I have learned how to knit.  I’m making a scarf for the kid right now.  I made him a “bunny” - it might pass for road kill, so I decided to take it down a notch to something more simple.

That’s all for now!  I promise to get back on the train this week.  Take it easy!

I should be back to a regular schedule in another couple of days.  I’m still working 35 hours a week, taking care of the kid during the day, and I’ve been feeling a little under the weather.  But I’m starting to feel a little better now, and am pretty sure that we can handle our latest financial setback without dipping into the emergency fund again.

I’m also feeling the need for a change in the layout of this blog, so please be patient if you see some weird experimental changes over the next week.  I hope everyone who is reading this is doing well.  Take it easy!

OK, I dropped the ball after being bamboozled.  I had one heck of a headache yesterday, and took a day off from everything internet.  I did the same thing for most of today.  It was a nice break.

Why was it so good to get away?  Perhaps it has something to do with watching the Olympics at night.  It might also have something to do with the nice weather - the kid and I have been outside all day today (as well as yesterday).  I also took some time to finish reading Tolle’s “A New Earth” (would recommend getting it out at the library - a bit verbose, but the concepts are interesting).

But now I’m back, I think.  Stay tuned

It was a hard toddler head that inadvertendly hit my nose.  There was no nosebleed (although I kept checking, since my entire nose was numb), but I have one heck of a headache despite two tylenol.  I’m just hoping to make it through tutoring tonight, and will sleep this one off.

Until tomorrow…

We’ve been working hard on the “please” and “thank you” concept with the kid.  He’s doing pretty well.

He’s also at the stage where he imitates everything we say.  For example, when we run out of something, like milk or dog food, he’ll say, “Milk all gone”.  I respond with the usual, “Yep, we’ll have to go to the store to get more milk” (or more dog food, or whatever).  This is almost always followed by, “Oh boy (I have no idea where he picked this up!).  Go bye bye car.  Go store, get more milk.”  It’s pretty cute.

Anyhow, tonight when I put the kid to bed, I remarked how his scab (aka boo-boo) had finally come off.  Here’s our dialog:

Me:  “Look, sweetie!  Your boo-boo is all gone!”

Kid examines his knee up close (cause 2-year-olds can put their eye up to their knee without giving it a second thought).

Kid (very serious):  “Ma-ma.  Go to store.  Get new boo-boo knee.”

Me: “Ummm…Well, honey, they don’t sell boo-boos at the store.  And it’s a good thing your boo-boo is gone.  It means you’re all better.”

Kid:  “Ma-maaa.  Go to store.  Get new boo-boo knee.  Peas (which is please).”

Well, at least he said please…

Have a nice weekend everyone!

We’re back from a weekend camping trip. It was a lot of fun, even though we got rained on for a whole night and part of a day. Trying to keep a 2-year-old contained in a tent while waiting for a storm to pass was challenging, but somewhat manageable. I have made a mental note to bring more books/toys in the event of rain (we try to keep it simple, but in this case having more than a dump truck and 2 books would have made life better)!

In general, I love camping because it is so simple, and there is a lot of time for reflection. One of the things I spent a lot of time thinking about is that we’ve actually done a good job over the past couple of years making life less complicated. Now when we’re camping, it’s nice to get away from the computer and phone for awhile, and cooking over an open fire, and sleeping on the ground. Other than that, camping is really not as different from home as it used to be.  My husband and I get to spend more quality time together now, and we’ve prioritized things so that we both spend a lot of time with the kid.

Camping this weekend did strengthen my resolve to working harder to become debt free. I would love to have freedom to camp and travel more often, but with my husbands limited vacation time, that’s not possible. We’ll see what happens…

What about you? Do you like camping? Why or why not?

After traveling last weekend, everyone was ready to take it easy.  We wanted to get out and enjoy nature this weekend, and were thinking about taking a short trip (less than 2 hours) to a state park.  However, on Friday evening, we pulled out our atlas, and found a nature center that was only 15 miles away!

We decided to head over there on Saturday morning, and had a lot of fun.  If it hadn’t been for the humidity, we would have stayed longer (our bassett hound is a trooper, but she doesn’t do well in high heat combined with humidity).  We plan on going back soon, since there is another trail that we can take the kid on.

While we were at the nature center, I picked up a brochure for a local self-sustaining farm.  We’re big on local and organic foods - come to find out, we’ve been living about 12 miles away from this farm, complete with a store, that sells in bulk!  I checked out this place over the weekend, and was really impressed.  The prices for the bulk food are really affordable, and some items that have been treats for our family, such as quinoa, are now going to become more of a staple.  I also like the idea of supporting a local establishment.

We also met up with some friends this weekend, and our kids had the chance to play together.  They get along really well, and it was nice catching up.  On Sunday, my husband met up with a friend to play disc golf.  He took the kid, so I got to sleep in.  It was awesome!

Other than groceries, we didn’t spend any money this weekend. We had a great time, though!  What about you?

We got back earlier today from our travels.  I am glad to be back!

On the way home, both my husband and I were really tired.  At a rest stop on the turnpike, I purchased a really big (I’m not sure what it is called in Starbucks language, but I said “really big”, and the girl knew what I meant) coffee to wake me up for my leg of the trip.  I haven’t purchased a Starbucks coffee in almost 10 years (my last one was when I was driving my old car to graduate school in 1999).

It was really good.  And, more importantly, it woke me up.  I drove for 4 hours straight, and I don’t think I blinked the entire time.

Despite being frugal, I am going to endorse Starbucks.  But only when you are on the turnpike, really tired, and no other coffee options are available.

Are you a Starbucks addict?   Can you justify the amount you spend on coffee?

We’re going out-of-state this weekend to visit my husband’s family.  While I enjoy being there, I dread the 6-7 hour drive.  Our close friends from Arizona will be in town with their son, so it will be extra special!

I can’t promise that I will be able to keep up with Entrecard drops or posting, but I’ll be sure to drop cards on everyone early next week.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

If you’ve been following some of my previous posts, you know that a recent source of stress in our lives has been finding a program for the kid for the next school year.  It seems like some good karma has come our way, and we found something that is a great fit.

My kid is only 2, so we’re trying to find something that doesn’t last all day, but gives him the chance to interact with other kids.  We always go to the free story time at our local library (as well as visit the library at least once a week), so I was hoping for something for 2 other days.

We found a program at a local farm that is two mornings a week.  The kids get to bake, hang out with the animals, and play.  It’s also a parent-child program, so I get to moo with the cows too, which I haven’t done since I was a small child.  How cool is that?

To top it all off, it’s affordable, and our money will be supporting an organic self-sustaining farm.

It’s still going to stretch our budget, though.  I need to get serious about finding a good source of work-at-home income.   But for tonight, I’m just going to be thankful that we found something!

If you’ve got young kids, what do you think of a program like this?  I know that it’s not traditional, but our son loves to be outside and running around; I think it’s a great fit for us.