3.23.2009

How do I love thee

My posting has been a bit lax as of late. I had no way of knowing how much “having a family” would interfere with my procrastinating.

We are settling into a family routine and I must say I LOVE IT!

My husband has been working with his brother every day since losing his job. Which is good and bad. The good…he’s working. YAY! The bad…he’s racking up miles on his truck and we’ve already had a $408 repair bill for a new water pump...which is a whole other story.

Anyway, he is done early enough to pick the boy up on his way home. I’m on morning drop off duty, which I don’t love, but it beats having to do drop off AND pick up.

We all arrive home around the same time each night. I typically cook dinner and leave the 2 of them to eat and play while I scurry off to the gym. I love having the opportunity to go to the gym every day. When I return, I scarf down dinner and have nearly an hour of play time with the boy before bedtime. I love this new schedule.

On the weekends we have been doing things as a family, as well as giving each other a break to do whatever we want. Last Saturday we went to the Ann Arbor Hands on Museum. The boy and I have been several times, but this was the first time Daddy was able to join us. Daddy loved it! I purchased a membership since we still have money flowing in. We had a great time and also hooked up with an old friend (thanks FB) for lunch. The boy really took to her. Sunday, I took the boy to the zoo and to lunch so Daddy could have some time to do things around the house...our electrical was jacked up, our back door was falling off the frame, etc.

This past Saturday we met friends at a park and caught up while the boys played (their boy is 5 1/2 years o ld and only about an inch taller than our boy...ut oh), then we all went to dinner. We tried a new Mexican restaurant called El Nuevo Vallarta . You know how snobbish I am about Mexican restaurants…I admit that this place was pretty good. I’m convinced, however, that it’s somehow related to El Camino .

Sunday morning the boy and I headed to the grocery store – one of his favorite places, my least favorite. We did see 4 Toledo Firemen shopping and stopped to talk to them. They liked the boys frog boots. One of the firemen asked if he was going to turn into a frog, to which my son replied "no, a tadpole first". That's my boy. Thanks Curious George.

Later in the day Sunday, daddy and the boy played outside and gave me some time. I have been dying for new living room furniture, and did manage to get a new tv stand, but since we can’t afford a whole room of new stuff right now, I settled for re-arranging and cleaning everything. This sure helped! I have felt lately like clutter is taking over my house and I'm determined to beat it.

My back hurts a bit from rearranging furniture, but I’m confident that it’s only temporary and my injections are still working.

I'm thrilled by how much happier I feel. I have a family, I have a bit of freedom, I’m getting exercise, I see my husband more...there's so much RIGHT right now. It seems almost surreal that I would be so happy given our situation.

We’re still living off severance, so we haven’t felt the true effect of living on one income plus unemployment yet, but I feel confident that we will be ok. Especially if his brother's company remains busy. We do have a bit of a nest egg built up, and we can manage on one income plus unemployment wages, we just have to be frugal (WTF is that?) and live on a budget. It can and will be done.

I actually feel sort of like a new person. I am really really loving life right now.

3.12.2009

Linkback Contest

I'm absolutely dying for new livingroom furniture and really want/need 2 mission style end tables, a coffee table and a tv stand. I found this awesome online store...and love love love this! Now if I can only afford it!


Good news is, they're having a linkback contest. I could win a Mission Tiffany style lamp or a Mission bookcase. What fun!

Clutter

I'm not a fan of it. But it seems to haunt me.

A friend of mine will be welcoming a grandson in May. Her son and daugher-in-law are in a financial pickle (who isn't?) and so she asked if we had any boy items we would like to sell or give to them.

I had already donated most of his clothes from the past 2 years and kept a bag full of sentimental-ish clothing that some day I will have made into a quilt, so I really have no clothes for them. I recently sold all of his baby Robeez on eBay. And even most of his toddler/walker shoes, too.

So, I took inventory of the things we still have that would be useful for a newborn: we have 2 Diaper Champs and 2 changing table pads and 4 changing table covers. Yet, our son has been out of diapers for 3 months. We have a pack-n-play and a pack-n-play sport (for outdoor use) - we have never used the Sport, and haven't used the other since October of last year and even then it was not a success. We have a booster chair that hasn't been used since before he turned 2. We have a floor activity gym (the panda) that was given to us by a friend - probably my sons favorite thing when he was an itty-bitty - but hasn't been used in more than 2 years. We have a snap-n-go stroller frame (that you snap the carseat into and it becomes a stroller), that was probably used 10 times - and certainly not since he was about 3 months old!

All of these things are NO LONGER IN MY HOUSE! It's an incredible feeling.

I was up at 4:15am this morning (due to going to sleep at 7pm last night, thanks to 2 valium and another shot in the spine) and was very excited to have my half bath back. No changing table pad on the counter, and no diaper champ on the floor. I promptly put all the other stuff that was in a basket on the counter, in a drawer (creams, lotions, bandaids, hand sanitizer, thermometer, etc). I put the basket on the back of the toilet and put bath spray, and the books my son likes to read while he poops in it. WOW. What a difference. No more chaos in the half bath.

I wasn't able to do anything with the changing table in his room this morning. My husband built a shelf in the closet and that's what was used as the changing table in his room. It was very handy and very inconspicious. Until I can get that shelf taken out, it will probably just sit there with nothing on it and that's fine by me.

I'm going to try to tackle some other clutter areas of the house. Next stop: the Living Room.

3.08.2009

Pig pen



He picks up toys at the sitter.  He's a sweet boy when we have play dates and is always very helpful and eager to please when others are around.  

This is a photo of his playroom after the weekend.  He refuses to pick up any of it.  He dumped every single toy from every bin.  

I am not cleaning this room.  Forget it.  

3.02.2009

Hey, whassup?

Wow.  It's March already.  I posted two whole times in February.  Clearly, I am an overachiever.

So, a lot has happened...I bought a car.  A '09 Scion xB.  I absolutely love it.  I do think this car would still have been in my top 4 if we weren't working on a tight (unemployment) budget...I probably would have added a few extras though.  But, it's super de duper fun to drive.  I love the way it looks.  The boy loves it and tells me so everytime he rides in it.  It's just plain fun.  And I needed a little fun.  Photo of the boy in the car, saying cheese and chewing on his coat.  He started chewing on his coat when we "lost" the ninny's.  



My husband's last day was the 26th of February.  I am afraid and anxious about what our future holds.  My husband isn't the type to just sit around and collect unemployment.  He is meeting with an advisor next week to talk about furthering his education.  His brother has told him to plan on working with him every day until he says otherwise.  So, that's awesome.  As long as he is working steady with his brother, the financial shock of $452 minus taxes per week won't hurt so bad.  Plus, he's getting severance pay for the next 8 weeks, so we'll bank the money he earns with his brother.  Thank goodness.

I had a Lumbar Epidural Steroid Injection in my lower back.  The procedure was completely painless and I have been pain free for 2 weeks.  It's amazing.  I am so used to living with this pain that I often find myself doing simple tasks, that used to cause pain, with the same delicate manuvering I was so used to.  I catch myself and then realize...Hey, this doesn't hurt!  I still have neck/shoulder pain, but it's manageable, and my visits with my massage therapist are helping!  It's stress...I carry stress in my shoulders and neck.  Always have.

The boy had the first ear infection of his life.  He was up nearly the entire night - the night of my back injection.  Thankfully my husband was "off", so he was able to stay up/comfort him since I was not supposed to lift more than 5 lbs for 12 hours.  I stayed home from work the next day and snuggled him back to health.  

About 2 days later, I ended up with the crud.  And then a couple days after that my husband got it.  We have been a sick germy household for 2 weeks.

This is the first time any of us have been sick all season.  It was a real bummer.  

We're as busy as can be at work.  I'm putting in some OT, and I sorta dig it.  It's job security.  And now that my husband isn't working that stupid schedule, I can actually put in extra hours if need be.  I always felt guilty for not being able to stay late on any given day.  Plus, the OT $ will come in handy.

The boy is potty trained.  We put sleep underpants (a pull-up) on at nap time and night time.  He is often dry after his nap, but still wets quite a bit at night.  I presume the nighttime thing will just work itself out.  During the day he is in underpants and always tells us (or whoever is "watching" him) that he has to go potty.  He likes to stand up and pee and often steps up on his stool and pee's without any supervision.  We haven't had any pee accidents since about the first 3 or 4 days and haven't had a poop accident in at least a month.  

I started back to the gym again after 2 weeks of the crud.  And now that I don't have to deal with my husbands stupid schedule, I can go every night if I want.  And...I think I want to, which is very exciting.  I still dream of running, and now that my back doesn't hurt, the only hurdle left is the fear of image.  I will get over it.  I so want to lose this weight.  I don't know this fat chic.

We're settling into a family routine which is really nice.  I quite like this new gig.  Being a family.