Seven Months Later

It's been a little over seven months since DH and I set a new 'course.' He brought it up the other day and so I thought I'd take stock of our progress.

Mentally, I feel like I've made some headway. I'm much more thoughtful when it comes to 'stuff,' both in terms of getting rid of excess possessions and the acquisition of new ones. Yes, I bought four pair of stretchy pants at Target two weeks ago, but that's because I read jeans are bad for your alignment (and, therefore, overall well-being). They also look pretty good and are comfortable as hell for sitting in the floor (also better for you than chairs), playing blocks or trains or reading with my 2-year-old.

I forgot to mention that DD turned two, two weeks ago. That's for another post but I'll just say that "play witt me" are my favorite three words right now.

26#, 9.9oz. of T.R.O.U.B.L.E

I made her an 'Easter bunny' cake. I dyed coconut and then put a chocolate bunny and a couple of peeps to hold the candles on top. It was adorable, as was the look on her face.

Anyway, now that we've moved back home (and twice in 4 months), we've definitely gotten rid of a lot of excess stuff. There's still more but we're down to the potentially interesting/valuable stuff and will sort through and try to sell whatever we decide we can't display. We do have some room in the attic to store stuff but it really needs to be reigned in, as well. If we can keep it to seasonal and necessary, as opposed to mountains of yarn and fabric I'll never make into anything or boxes of old and never 'might need it' computer parts, we'll be able to breathe easier.

Did you notice my new kitchen in the cake photo above?!?

It's so nice to have something, well, nice. It's just a house but hopefully one we'll really get to enjoy, as long as we're here. Then, if and when the time comes to sell, hopefully it will be one that will make a nice return on our investment.

We've talked about some sailing classes but I'm back working part-time and we're just trying to get through the final bit of unpacking and returning to 'normal.'

Working part-time means my parents keep DD and DS, part-time. DS has taken his time getting used to taking a bottle (although he does fine for me and for DH), so it's been a little stressful for my folks. This is only the fourth week, though, so I'm sure things will settle down. DS has the best smile, not to mention the dimples! His eyes are still just barely hazel but are heading toward brown. They're the biggest, brightest, smiling-est eyes. We even had to trim his hair to keep it out of them. He's working on rolling over and makes the most interesting noises. He's a big fan of his hands and feet and he thinks his sister is pretty cool, too.

As my Nana used to say...

It is H.O.T. hot outside!

Close to 100 forecast for the next three days. Now that DH started a 60-day contract job (YAY! more on that later) a 20-minute drive from home, I'm back to the old routine of going home to walk the dogs around the 'hood at lunch... no matter what the weather. Because we're tough... which is what I told them when I resolved to walk the third block of the 'loop' of our neighborhood... it works out to about a mile.

Oh, so almost two weeks ago now I realized I had a voice mail from my friend and coworker, Allison, saying that her husband's firm was looking for contract help on a project. DH called the guy in charge of hiring, he put DH in touch with the staffing firm they use who set up an interview the next day... and the next day called DH back to say they wanted him to start ASAP! So he worked 4 days last week, had a 4-day weekend...

(Happy Independence Day!)

...and then has another 4-day week. Such a relief, on many levels! We're hopeful that they'll like him enough to keep him around once the project phase is completed and/or his contract is up. YAY!

My walk with the bad dogs got my blood pumping in the heat, so I'm only in the mood for fruit today... enjoying some tomato and cucumber salad (from my garden, which has gone berserk), with a little Ranch dressing that showed up unexpectedly out of the office fridge. The highlight of my day (I know, sad) will be one of my all-time favorite snacks... sliced apple with peanut butter.

Sometimes you just need to throw things

A recent post by Dana at Mamalogues has been on my mind... and I'm using her example of the Trebuchet to get something off my chest, so to speak.

This week marks one year since DH was laid off and, despite several extensions, the end of his unemployment benefits looms in our minds. As far as we can figure, anyway, we need to make it work strictly on my salary... and for a while.

These frustrations and limitations include the fact that we had to put DH on my insurance policy... which was inexpensive enough to do. Due to some past health problems other folks have had, the only way my firm can afford to offer benefits is to offer a catastrophic policy and we contribute to our own HSAs. Our current financial situation means I can't contribute very much and, since adding DH, the deductible for a 'family' is much higher than for an individual. So we can't really afford to use it except for basic stuff because we can't afford the total deductible. Which means we have to put off things we want to do and maybe, potentially, preventative care we need to do. I read as much of the House health care reform bill as I could stand and I'm not optimistic that even a combined version or whatever the Senate has proposed will make the situation any better. Without addressing the true problems of the pricing games the insurance companies and hospitals play, nothing is free and we'll all pay more in the end. If the mandatory basic coverage has to increase and the company can't afford it without us paying more or my salary going down... well that dog won't hunt.

So, now back to Dana's Trebuchet. Pile up the problems that make me want to scream and fling them far away. My 'fling' list is short... after making a longer list, I realized all the things that bug me come down to one simple problem. Then, count my blessings, the things not to fling.

To fling:

A lack of empathy. I don't want to be in the middle of other people's drama or problems unnecessarily, but I (hopefully) have the heart and patience to listen if someone really has something to say. Even if it doesn't apply to my life, I try to feel for what other people are dealing with on a daily basis. Basically I don't feel like I have many people to turn to when I'm having a particularly rough one. Then again, many of those closest to me have it as bad or worse... who am I to complain. Ugh.

Not to fling:



Snuggle-y dogs on a very cold night. We've had lots of cold nights lately and, although there are only the two of them, I'm certain the very-bad-dogs snuggle enough for at least three dogs.










A laugh shared with a friend. My best friend, DH, in particular, but any friend or even the person in front of me in line at Harris Teeter. Laughing with children is extra credit.

'Can'structing Wall-E

My firm participated in the local CANstruction competition this past Saturday. There are only four of us and the rules allow for a team of five, so with some shift help from Allison's hubby, DH (he brought us lunch) and brother K, we spent about eight hours building Wall-E for the "cartoon heroes" theme. The local newspaper, the News & Observer, has a few photos up from the build day, including one of my boss and me building Wall-E's arm.

Nathan, my boss, took a few photos once we were finished and had cleaned up the rolls of tape and empty cartons of Ghirardelli chocolates we used for his treads! The entries will be judged Tuesday and the exhibit officially opens on Saturday, January 23, 2010. It will remain up until February 14, and all the food will be donated to the Food Bank of Central & Eastern North Carolina.

Yeah, so, been kinda busy...

Last I posted it was the end of the year, almost Christmas, and I had lots of fun ideas for the new year. I had a big work deadline mid-January and, after that, my plan was to live it up and get stuff done. We are definitely working on some of those items, but I guess you could say we had a monkey wrench thrown into the general works...

The day after my work deadline, my darling husband was laid off from his job. It was not a total surprise, as the firm had already had three rounds since summer of 2008. Basically, every two months they'd look at the numbers and realize it just wasn't working. I, personally feel like a lot of the money-saving measures were too little, too late, but hopefully everybody learns from these experiences.

So, what do we do when we go from two salaries to one? We make do and mend and all that fun stuff our grandparents taught us! We did the math and realized that we could make it by on my salary... not 'well' but well enough. We also met our goal of setting aside an emergency fund, which is happily earning interest in a high-interest savings account. The interest rate has dropped significantly since it started out, but it is still better than most CDs, and it is available. I take a calculator with me to the grocery store on most of my weekly trips now. I've always taken my lunch to work, at least most days, and DH has attempted to cut back his soda consumption. We make a mean jug of sweet tea! It gets a little tricky, as he has high metabolism and munches even more now out of sheer boredom. He *is* getting lots of projects done around the house and yard, though. We're re-glazing and painting windows, working on the garage and we re-graded the back yard and put down (free!) sod. The garden is coming along nicely, too.

I've taken one ARE exam and have another scheduled for April 27. My next big project deadline is the 24th, so I'll have the weekend to cram! There will be some more work and travel for this project and then DH and I are both taking the LEED exam on May 11. Oh, and my birthday is April 29!