Posted in Around the House

Good morning!  I trust this finds you all had a wonderful weekend and are easing into your week confidently and contentedly.  My weekend was a mixture of joy and... what do you call that feeling you get when you poke yourself in the eye with a red-hot poker?... ummmm.... crap.  Yep, that's the word.  Crap.  Why the two extremes?  Well, because my children were at their aunt and uncle's overnight (joy... alone time with hubby) AND because we spent all day Sunday doing a financial review (aahhhh, you get it now, but for the sake of consistency, I'll say it:  Crap.). 

Finances.  What to say about them?  If you get emotionally involved, you're screwed.  No point in trying to pretty it up.  You're screwed.  Totally.  Because then every bill, every dollar, every decision becomes personal.  If your finances are tight (as ours are), then you begin to feel inferior, or just plain miserable.  Unless.... you don't.  What??  You don't.  You don't take every bill, every dollar, every decision personally.  You decide going into it that YOU are in control.  YOU got yourselves into this mess, and YOU are going to get yourselves out.  Without that second job, without a loan, without tears. 

And so we did.  I am very proud and happy to say that, for now, on paper, barring a complete catastrophic financial disaster, we did it.  We assessed our finances, crunched some numbers, and took a realistic but miserly approach to paying off our debt, and it all seems doable.  So now we can breathe.  Because the not-knowing and the sticking-our-heads-in-the-sand thing are worse than the sit-your-bottom-in-that-chair-and-don't-move-until-you-face-your-finances thing.  Having said this, do we have money for a vacation? (snort) Hardly.  I think we can fit one three-day weekend in around October/November, but any actual vacation will have to wait until October 2008, when our trip to Europe is scheduled.  Do we have money for sightseeing around town?  Only if we can walk, take our own lunches, and there's no admittance fee (who wants to go for another walk in the desert? lol).  Do we have money for dining out?  Only if dining out means taking a picnic to the nearest park (which happens to be across the street from our house).  Money for movies?  PBS anyone?  About the biggest excitement we'll be able to muster up is for the boys' birthdays coming up within the next two months.

However, we are happy.  Hubby has learned that mutual decision-making is phenomenally helpful (I was doing it by myself for YEARS until he took it over last June - solo.  We're now doing it together.), and that he doesn't need that second job he was panicked he was going to have to get even though we hadn't yet assessed our financial future.  I am happy because I'm learning a lot about managing a home through all this.  Huh?  Managing a home?  Yep.  No stuttering here.  Financial stress and woes have taught me to be more self-reliant, more creative, and a much better homemaker.  I'm forced to think about meals now, something that I never much did.  We no longer have any processed meals in our home (for both financial and health reasons); everything is made from scratch.  Just this morning I made two loaves of bread, homemade yogurt, homemade noodles (for the chicken soup for dinner), pie, and homemade blueberry pancakes for the boys for breakfast.  I spend 2-3 full mornings in the kitchen (I get up about 5) each week, and while I always make bread, the other items may vary.  Maybe I make a double/triple batch of red sauce to freeze for future use, or maybe I make something special for tea later on.  Whatever it is, it's much cheaper (I've been spending less than $100/wk on groceries for my family of four, and we eat three meals a day plus tea from our kitchen) and healthier than anything I could buy.  If you enjoy being in your kitchen, think about trying a couple of weeks from scratch. 

As for the education, well, we are apparently in a more relaxed frame of mind, which has caused me to rethink the whole more-regimented-than-I'd-like approach we've been taking.  I'm going to spend this afternoon poring over a more relaxed approach.  I've come to the conclusion that we are classical home educators, with a distinctly Charlotte Mason approach, but I want learning here at home to be a relaxed, flowing daily adventure.  I have a goal, and that's more than half the problem most of the time, so I just need to follow my instincts. 

Well.  I had no idea when I got on here over four hours ago that I would be this long-winded, lol!!  I hope this has been.... what, entertaining? informational? inspiring?  Anything other than boring, I suppose! :)

Have a wonderful week, and enjoy your children!!