The Good Things........

Just time for a quick update. Nothing much in the past few days except I'm SO TIRED! I swear I'm getting old. And menopausal. Wow. Hayley has been super busy with ASB stuff and registration today for jr. year. That cost me over $200 for ASB sticker, planner, yearbook, spirit gear, and pictures. Yikes. I checked the bank statement. Taking out the mortgage we'd have about $300 left over but, oops, we have $322 worth of bills to pay, plus we need a few groceries for camping (and never mind we have to EAT till the next paychecks come), and we have to pay the dogsitter for this weekend while we're camping! UGH! I am so sick of being broke. Oh well, story of our lives, right? Us and a zillion other people. Time to appreciate what we have. And go for experiences rather than things! I'm already thinking about "homemade" Christmas ideas.

Arlie came back tonight after two weeks away. She is so missed when she's gone and so happily received back into the fold of the family. The kids are glued to her side (well, Hannah and Harrison are, Hayley is glued to the TV!). It's so cute to see how sweet they are for at least a while after she comes back. Everyone is happy and no one is fighting. I love that immensely!! That's a good thing.

Kids gave me a fashion show tonight trying on clothes. That was a good thing, too. I ordered everything online from Old Navy, spent about $100 per kid (which was amazing for all we got) and most everything fit and was cute. They were happy and I didn't have to spend one minute at the mall with bored kids! Yay for online shopping. What a good thing! And love Old Navy.

We're going camping tomorrow! I'm really looking forward to it because we're going with our great neighbors, Amy, Jason and Abbie and Carla and Mike. They are our best friends in the neighborhood and we've been planning this trip for a while. We're staying in some new yurts so it should be a fun experience! Plus, we are on the Stillaguamish river (my favorite!) and we're going to try our hands at fishing in the river. So, that's a good thing too!

Harrison and I baked snickerdoodles and cocoa-oatmeal fudge together tonight. He really loves to cook and bake and it was nice to pull him away from the TV for some cooking instruction, with delicious results!

Ok, I feel better now that I've layed out some "good things" on my blog. Today had some major stresses and I got pretty bogged down but I'm feeling a lot better now! Gonna go have a snickerdoodle and some milk!

Refund = $90

Remember that horrendously expensive school supply shopping trip? Well, wouldn't you know it, I happened to open the paper yesterday (usually I just recycle it!) and there was an ad for the same store (Fred Meyer) that I bought all the supplies and almost everything I bought was on sale!!! I couldn't believe it. So, this morning I took my receipt in and asked them to adjust all the prices. The clerk had to ring everything separately and refund it, then charge it back, so it took FOREVER, but in the end, I got $90 back in my account! Totally worth the trip back to the store. I had anxiety all week about the huge expenditure and now, at least, I got some of the money back. It was still insanely expensive but now it comes to about $100 per kid. I spent about $100 each for their school clothes so now my credit card needs a breather! And we all thought public education was free! HA!

The $500 Dollar Shopping Excursion.......

I cannot believe how much it cost to get the kids ready for school this year! They each needed a new backpack ($30-40 a pop for one big enough for their ridiculously large binders), plus the regular supplies, plus Hannah needed a $90 calculator, and Harrison and Arlie needed $10 calculators. Then, there were the notebooks, pens, pencils, scissors, pencil sharpeners, rulers, etc. Last year I didn't buy much and we "shopped" from our inventory around the house. It worked out fine, but this year things were just falling apart and/or depleted, so we had to go all new. And I cannot believe how much it cost. I just don't understand how things could cost that much to get ready for school. I need to start a checking account just for school related expenses because they really are exhorbitant. This was JUST for backpacks and supplies, not clothes or shoes or anything. I spent $200 on clothes for Harrison and Arlie online, and spent another $40 or so on supplies at Costco, plus I still need to buy clothes for the older girls, probably shoes for everyone, and planners, yearbooks, ASB stickers, etc. for Hayley and Hannah that come to $50-$100 each. I'm about to pull them all out of school, make them wear thrift store clothes exclusively and move to a farm where we can grow our own food! We've already been SO tight on money for the past several months, and that's not looking up as my kids' dad is paying $600 less per month in child support now. I'm trying to work extra hours to get a little more money coming in. It's really stressful and I feel like I'm smothering under the weight of all the financial stress. I know it's not just us - millions of other people are in this or worse situations due to the economy, job cuts, etc. We've dealt with job loss, increased mortgage, decreased child support, and all the downfall of a poor economy and sometimes it's just too much. It could really bring a person down. But we've had so much fun, camping, going places (free!), making the most of our summer. Life is still good and it will get better! I just wish these "necessary" expenditures weren't so necessary! :(

Back to School!

Another school year is upon us. Ah, the promise of fall and the first day of school. Remember the waxy smell of new Crayola crayons? Those bright pointed tips just waiting in anticipation for a blank slate of white paper on which to spread their color? Remember the new pink pearl eraser? So unblemished and angled just perfectly? The bright yellow pencils, smelling of graphite and wood, with perfect erasers? And the paste? Remember paste? All that white, creamy goodness that smelled of peppermint? You just had to taste it. And it tasted good! Alas, we've moved on to mechanical pencils and glue sticks, but the lure of new school supplies is the same. I kind of wish I got new supplies every year. I'm tempted to go out and buy myself a crisp notebook and some newly sharpened pencils (they actually come pre-sharpened now!) "just because".

So, the kids set off on Tuesday, Sept. 2. Hayley to the high school, in 10th grade this year, Hannah back to the jr. high in 8th grade, Arlie and Harrison to the elementary in 5th and 4th grades respectively. (I will attempt to attach a photo of each of them - I've never done four photos before, so we'll see!). Everyone agreed they had good teachers and the year was filled with promise.

Cut to day two. Arlie stayed home sick with a fever, stomachache, headache, sore throat - the whole package. Turns out she has an ear infection and left the dr. office with antibiotics and an inhaler for her asthma symptoms. Me? I called in "sick" to my sub job and stayed home. Day three - all four kids are home with various ailments. Luckily I didn't have to work today, but I am missing yoga, coffee and lunch with friends (can I get some sympathy?). No soccer practice this afternoon and no opening day football this evening, either. Oh well, some days are like that.