Not counting chickens before they are hatched

Or, don't spend the money before you earn it.

I've always been pretty good about being financially conservative.  It is especially important now, as I have a job where I don't get paid if I don't go to work.  There are no vacation days or any other "paid days off".  I either show up and get a paycheck or I don't get paid.  I'm not upset or complaining, just making sure we all understand the reality.

Our first snow day in the middle of January I was supposed to work.  A day of pay gone.  At the end of January, I was scheduled for 1-1/2 of the three days we were off.  More pay lost.  Last Wednesday was another snow day, and another day of not being paid.  I was disappointed when I had a job for last Friday that was cancelled, but I was extremely grateful that I was able to pick up another job for that day.  I just received notification that a job for next week has been cancelled as well.  I was only scheduled for three days, and I'm disappointed that one of them would be cancelled.  As always though, there is absolutely nothing I can do about it, and if I have a few days off, hopefully I will get some things accomplished.

This is why it is super important that I don't spend money before I have actually earned it!

Our academic girl

Last night was the winter sports awards.  I am not a fan of awards ceremonies generally speaking, but I do appreciate that our students' achievements should be celebrated.  Part of the ceremony recognizes those students that earned a GPA of at least 3.5 during the season.  They receive a certificate for being on the Conference All-Academic roster.  Andrew and I were so very proud that Catherine was recognized for this achievement!  In many ways, she may have the least natural talent of all three of our kids, but there has never been any doubt she works the hardest.  She is amazing!

The days are long

We all know the saying about how "The days are long but the years are short."  It's a well known adage.  Here we are at the end of February, which means the first two months of the year have absolutely flown by.  At warp speed, as far as I'm concerned.  Counting today, there are only 54 days of school left this year.  I'm not ready to be facing Catherine's senior year.  I'm just not.

The days though?  Wow, some of these days are crazy long.  Tuesday, I left for work at 6:30, had a doctor appointment after school, then went straight to the church to work some more.  I finally walked in the door at 6:00 that evening.  Andrew had baseball practice until 7, and Catherine had been studying with a friend until 6, so we ate a late family dinner about 7:30.  I'm grateful we ate together though.  Yesterday, Andrew left for work at 6:30 and it was 8:30 (14 hours later) when he finally walked in the door again, and that's when we finally all ate dinner.  Definitely some long days.

I know this is the phase of our life, and I wouldn't take away any of the opportunities for my kids.  our weekend is going to be equally crazy, but I'm glad that Thomas is working on the set crew for the school musical, and I'm grateful that Catherine enjoys her job.  I'm grateful that I have the opportunity to earn income at both school and my church job, and I'm grateful that I enjoy them both.  I'm grateful that Andrew can make a difference with kids in all that he does.  At the same time, these years are flying by with all of this craziness!

I kind of wish I had chosen to stay home

Today I am working in elementary.  I had known for quite some time, that due to the high school schedule today, there would be no jobs available there.  When a fifth grade job popped up from a teacher who likes me in her room, I took it.  I didn't want to give up an entire day of pay if I didn't need to.

As it turns out, I wish I had stayed home.  Not because I'm having a miserable day here, but because Catherine has been home for over an hour.  Thomas and Andrew are on a freshman class field trip, but Catherine's grade was testing today.  They were allowed to leave after the testing was finished, and she is home all afternoon.  In retrospect, while we need the money, I wish I had allowed myself to spend the afternoon with her.  There just aren't going to be many of these days left!

Some sadness

Today is the day, nine years ago, that our friends lost their six-month-old son.  He died suddenly in his sleep.  I didn't learn until the next morning, but I'll never forget finding out, or fighting tears the entire day.  It was awful.

We also received word last night that a friend lost his step-father in a car accident.  He wasn't very old, and although a step-parent, our friend was close to him.  His twin six-year-old daughters are taking the news particularly hard.

There was also a young lady from the area who was at a cheerleading competition, started feeling poorly, and died.  No one really knows what happened, but she was only thirteen.  These things just aren't supposed to happen.

I try to remember to count my blessings and be so grateful that these things aren't happening to me.  Instead, I often feel sadness for those to whom it is happening, and then absolute terror that something like this will happen to those I love.

Sending up many prayers today!

Spring break reservations are made

Andrew and I decided that we wanted to take a small trip with his parents over spring break.  Realistically, we are down to only two spring breaks left with Catherine, and if Thomas chooses to attend the career school he may not have the same week off either.  And of course, Andrew's parents are not getting any younger.  The hard part was finding something entertaining to everyone, but with a level of relaxation for us, along with something that wasn't too physically taxing to his parents.  Not an easy task to accomplish!  We thought we had a plan, but then I decided that I wasn't sure it was really something that would work for his parents.  And of course it needed to be something fairly close to Andrew's hometown because we didn't want to be gone for the entire week.

I had a brain storm one afternoon...we could to the Pro Football Hall of Fame!  It is only a couple of hours from my in-laws house, and our family definitely loves football!  And as Steelers fans, there should be plenty of Steelers history to see.  We found a good deal on one of the apartment style hotel rooms with two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a kitchen and living room.  Catherine and Thomas can sleep on the pull out couch.  Honestly, I am so excited about just having the opportunity to get away.  We found out the hotel is also dog friendly, so even our sweet pooch can go along!  I think we are all looking forward to this!

A very selfish weekend

I'll be honest, this weekend was full of complete selfishness for me.  I guess, I shouldn't look at it that way, but honestly, I didn't do much except things I wanted to do.  I did cook dinner on Sunday and do some grocery shopping on my way home from lunch with my mom and grandmothers, but that was about it.  It was a weekend I very much needed.  I was able to get some scrapbooking done (I am still over nine years behind though) and I pretty much ate what I wanted and watched on TV what I wanted.

After Catherine got off work on Saturday, she and I hung out and watched a movie.  I loved my time with her.  She is becoming an absolutely fabulous young lady.  The thought of her finishing school and leaving home one day brings tears to my eyes.  I am so proud of the lady she is becoming, but I sure do miss my little girl.  I admire her in ways I can't even describe.

I am so grateful for my little family, and for each day we get to spend together.  I'm grateful for me time too though.  We are so blessed!

A Saturday just for me

I went to bed before 10:30 last night, and set my alarm for 9:30 this morning.  I didn't think I would sleep that long, but I was going to let myself if I did!  Catherine needed to be at work at 11 and had things to do before going, so I needed to be up by 9:30 or I wouldn't have even set the alarm at all.  I woke up at 7:30 and realized I'd had nine wonderful hours of sleep.  I wasn't sure I'd be able to fall back to sleep, but really didn't want to be up before 8 so I decided to close my eyes again and see what would happen.  I woke up just ten minutes before my alarm was to go off.  It was absolutely wonderful!

My day has been exactly what I had hoped it would be.  I was able to accomplish 22 pages for scrapbooking.  I'm still well over nine years behind, but at least I made progress.  I was pleased with how I did, and I am so enjoying the memories.  The last page I did was Thomas's last day of preschool...the last day of preschool in this house.  Talk about tearing at the heart strings!  It was absolutely wonderful.

Catherine will be off work soon and will be bringing dinner home with her.  She and I are just going to hang out and possibly watch a movie or some TV together.  I am looking forward to hanging out with her a bit. 

While I have thoroughly enjoyed the quiet alone time of today, I'm grateful it isn't always like this.  I think about my mother and grandmothers who spend probably 75%, or more, or their days this way, and I'm not in any hurry to join them in that statistic.  I am grateful for today, and even more grateful for the days I get to spend with my family!

This weekend

Andrew and Thomas have arrived safely at his parents' house.  Baseball is going to be all consuming for the next 9+ weeks, and Thomas will have marathon set construction weekends for the next six weeks.  I decided this was the weekend for them to make a trip.  Catherine has to work, so she and I are here.  I'll be honest, I am really looking forward to this.  I ran some quick errands this evening, and then was home around 6:30.  Catherine was home from a service project around 9, and she works all day tomorrow.  I don't have to leave the house at all tomorrow...nothing except letting the the dog out.  I am hoping to do some scrapbooking, and really just hang out and not necessarily do much.  Sunday I am heading to my mom's house to see her and my grandmothers, and Catherine works again all day.  I suspect Andrew and Thomas will be home late afternoon or early evening.  Then of course, things are going to get totally crazy again on Monday.  However, I plan to enjoy the next 36 hours of total self indulgence!

Not a long week

This was NOT a long week.  After all, there was no school Monday, and then we had a snow day Wednesday.  I did work all three school days though, and baseball coaching for Andrew is very time consuming.  It's just the beginning of that though.

I am grateful to be here at the weekend.  If I really wanted to, I could sleep twelve hours tonight.  I don't expect tot do that, but honestly I might very well sleep about ten hours.  I could do it again tomorrow night if I wanted to.  Since I only get 6-1/2 to 7 hours of sleep on weeknights, that is like getting an extra night!  I know it isn't good to be inconsistent, but reality is that I can't get more during the week, especially with Andrew being at baseball so late (they are assigned the "late slot" for practices).  If I didn't spend some time "making up sleep" on the weekends, I wouldn't be functioning!

Another "no school" day

It seems a little ridiculous to call today a snow day, but that is what it is.  It snowed overnight, although it turned over to rain before school.  The rain came down and froze though, and after Andrew took a walk with the dog he assured me it was slippery outside.

It means I've lost another day of pay as well.  That is the one downside to this job.  There is nothing I can do about it though, and I try to remind myself it will all work out.  I am working on keeping the Faith!

Our long weekend in February

We had a four day weekend this past weekend.  I remember years when it felt like the weekend was so relaxing, and full of so much down time, that it would never end.  That was not the case this year.  In fact, the first thing Andrew said when the alarm went off this morning was, "That went fast."  While I think he specifically meant the overnight hours, it really could apply to the entire weekend.

After school Thursday I ran to the grocery with Thomas.  Andrew had a parent meeting for coaching baseball and that was followed by practice.  Catherine had a school overnight trip, and needed to be dropped off around 9:30 and picked up at 6AM.  I was able to go back to sleep after getting her, and then Thomas and I attended a district swim meet in town.  Some friends from my home town had qualified to swim and we wanted to see them.  The kids played in the pep band that evening, and Andrew and I also wanted to attend the game.  The tough part about our day was that our crawl space flooded AGAIN, and it meant that Andrew had to spend the day pumping water out.  I was grateful we were all home by 9:30 Friday, and for the most part we got to sleep in Saturday.

Upon getting up though, it was busy.  Catherine had to work all day, and Thomas had to time at the district swim meet both in the morning and in the evening.  I also had to work the late afternoon/evening shift.  Andrew spent the day continuing to work on the water situation, and we all tumbled into bed very tired.

Catherine had to work again all day Sunday, and Andrew and I had to attend a church meeting after the service.  I realized during the morning that I clearly was not feeling well, because absolutely everything annoyed me.  We had plans to visit friends that evening, but there was no way I was going to be able to make it.  I stayed home and did absolutely nothing all evening, except try not to use any energy.

I was glad that I woke up feeling much better yesterday.  I went to work at my church job so I could get that out of the way for the week.  Catherine had to work again, but Andrew made everyone a really nice breakfast before everyone left.  We even squeezed in a quick dinner at the table together before Andrew had to run to baseball practice.  It was late before he got home, and I was ready for bed again soon after.

It's another crazy week, and the weekend didn't help much to get us feeling relaxed.  That is the phase of our life though, and I know one day I will miss this.  I mentioned to Andrew this morning that there are only 61 days of school left, and he was pleased.  I told him though, that I don't want to wish away these days.  After all, next year is Catherine's senior year, and then our school days with her are finished.  Oh goodness, even the thought of that can bring me to tears already!

RIP Carl

We received word that our former neighbor and friend, Carl, passed away this morning.  His granddaughter wanted to make sure we knew because she knew how much we loved her grandparents.  Although we knew this day was coming, I just can't imagine a world without Carl in it.  He and his wife came to our house this summer to celebrate Robert's graduation and enlistment, and we are so grateful we got to see him then.  He and his wife were married for 60+ years, and I just can't imagine what she will do without him.  We are sending prayers to his family.

This is the second friend-of-the family passing this week.  Earlier in the week, we received word about a generous community member in my hometown.  Jim, along with his wife June who passed away last April, mentored Andrew and I in our pre-marital sessions.  As my mom said, he was a man who reminded us greatly of my maternal grandfather.  We send prayers to his family as well.

Both of these men were in their 80's, and neither of their passing is a tragedy.  Both had been fighting health issues, especially recently, and there is gratitude that their suffering has ended.  At the same time, it doesn't make it any less sad.

A Thursday that feels like Friday

It is only Thursday, but it feels like Friday...in a good way!  No school tomorrow!  I am looking forward to this break.  We have Monday off also, so no school again until Tuesday.  It is going to be wonderful to have a couple of days off.  The down side is that after this weekend, we don't have any school days off until Good Friday on April 19.  That is going to be a long, long stretch.

Our first week without swim was still a pretty busy week.  Monday was the one evening we really didn't have much going on.  Tuesday was conferences and the kids had pep band, and last evening Catherine had to work and I had a band meeting.  This evening Andrew has a parent meeting for baseball, and Catherine has an overnighter at the school.  She has to be picked up at 6AM tomorrow morning, and I expect to be back in bed by 6:20. 😊

The rest of our weekend is pretty busy with things, but I am hoping we all get to hang out together as a family, and I'm hoping we all get to catch up on our sleep!

It felt good to cut the cord

We finally got rid of cable...and wow did it feel good!  I'll be honest, I've been tied to cable for several reasons, but mostly because I am a sports fanatic and needed my live sports.  Honestly,  switching also seemed to be such a hassle.  It was what we had, and it seemed to just work.  However, the latest bill increase was ridiculous....absolutely crazy.  Overall our bill (it does include internet and telephone) had increased 44% in five years...well beyond the rate of inflation!  I'm sure we were being offered more, but that doesn't make it better.  We finally found a streaming service that was heavy on sports and also carried all of our local channels.  We signed up for the seven day free trial, and we are SOLD!  We were going to carry a minimal cable package to fill in a few of the channels we like that we couldn't get on our streaming package, but the quality was abysmal.  Of course, the cable company tried to tell us that we needed to upgrade our internet, but the streaming service we are using comes in just fine and we are thrilled.  It felt amazingly freeing to cut the cord to cable for good last evening!

The rest of my Saturday

After I last wrote, I headed to church to get some work done.  With the end of the year/beginning of the year, I got pretty behind.  I think I'm finally all caught up though.

This afternoon, Andrew, Thomas and I headed to the high school for the girls' game.  It was senior day, and I wanted to be there to support the kids.  There are three senior basketball girls, and they are lovely young ladies.  Our girls have only won one game this season, but they were playing a team with a similar record.  In fact, we had lost to them by only one point at their place earlier in the season.  It was a very close game, and we ended up winning on a foul shot with five seconds left.  Honestly, I was way too emotional about it and thought I would cry for these girls if they didn't win...but they did!

I am hoping I can get some sleep and regain my emotional equilibrium!   Andrew is having dinner with friends, and I am waiting for Catherine to get home from her swim meet.  A quiet evening at home is exactly what I need.

I'm sitting here crying first thing Saturday morning

It's been an emotional morning, and it's only 9AM.  Last night, I was exhausted, and went to bed early.  Between Andrew's snoring this week from having a cold, and the dog snoring because she wants to sleep with us, I haven't slept well all week.  I went to bed early last night, because Catherine had to be up at 7 to get out the door for her swim meet today.  Thomas's meet was last night, and we knew it would be nearly Midnight before he got home.  I went to bed so I could get up with Catherine, and with assurances from Andrew that he would get Thomas.  Except of course when I got up this morning I found texts between them that Andrew hadn't even left the house when Thomas was at the high school.  Yes, Thomas should have given Andrew a heads up, but Andrew should've been checking in and/or following along on our locational app.  The frustrating part is that this happens often.  Andrew is more than happy to abdicate responsibility to me when it comes to kids' schedules, and it has always been that way.

I'm also feeling emotional about the lightning speed of this school year.  This time next year we will be just a few months from Catherine's high school graduation, and while I am grateful for each day, it makes me so sad that we are so close to that day.  She absolutely amazes me every day.  My heart hurt a little as she left this morning to drive herself to the school, and mentioned it was her last meet of the year and next year was the last year of swim.  Tough on my heart.

And then, I just received word about our former neighbor from his granddaughter.  This man was more like a grandfather to all of us.  They were so excited when we became parents, and there was sign on our door from them welcoming us home when we first came home.  They were the very first visitors we had, and while I was at the grocery on the very first day, they were at home with Andrew helping to keep us all sane.  When I had a sick kid but needed to run an errand for something, they were there.  When I was taken to the hospital in an ambulance, they were with our kids for hours.  When our family expanded, he was the man who built a leaf for our table.  When we needed extra storage, he helped Andrew design and build our loft in our garage.  I could go on, and on, and on.  The word came from Erin this morning that he is in ICU with a severe brain injury.  They don't know if he fell and hit his head and then had a stroke, or the other way around, but he's in his 80's and it just isn't good.  It pushed me over the edge, and I've been sitting here crying on this Saturday morning.

Today is another anniversary

Today, we have completed another year of marriage.  In so many ways, while not all that long ago, our wedding day does feel as though it was an entire lifetime ago.  I am very blessed to be able to share each and every day with my husband, and for now, with our kiddos.  We make a pretty good team overall.  Since it is Friday, we are heading out to dinner at a place that actually required reservations!  It's kind of a busy weekend, but I'm very grateful for all of it.

I like the "before"

I think I'm getting old.  There are many indicators of this, but the one that seems to smack me in the face is the "before".  I subscribe to several house magazines.  They aren't all specific to decor, but most of them have several articles on house hold decorating.  I've been noticing more and more lately, that I often prefer the "before" pictures.  I remember being younger myself, and walking into a house and immediately being able to tell it was an older person who lived there.  Those were always the houses that needed "updating".  I couldn't imagine being that person who would ever want my house to look so outdated, and I wondered why the owners weren't interested in being updated.  I'm beginning to understand though.  I realize it may not be that they don't realize...they may just like their decor as it is.  I am becoming that person!  I know that my kitchen could probably use a major update (which we couldn't afford anyway), but I actually love it the way it is (with the exception of our worn out counter top).  I look at these pictures in the magazines, and not only and I not particularly impressed with the "after" pics, I actually prefer the "before".

Ready for swim to end

Last evening Andrew had to work at a basketball game.  Our children are currently grounded, which means no driving, so I needed to transport them to and from swim practice.  Inconvenient, but parenting often is.  Regardless, it meant I had a couple of hours to myself between drop off and pick up.  Honestly, I miss my kids.  Even though they are home more than they were a couple of weeks ago when there were still work outs three times a week, I am missing having them home in the evening.  I know that might sound ridiculous, but it's true...I miss having my kids around each evening.  Tonight is Thomas' finals swim practice of his freshman year, and tomorrow will be Catherine's final practice.  Final meets are this weekend, and we still have some volunteer responsibilities on the following weekend, but we will get some evenings together.  I'm really looking forward to that.  And of course, the decreased laundry load doesn't make me sad either!

Extreme weather

Last week we were bitterly cold, hence the reason our school was closed.   The Sunday came along, we were in the mid-60's.  In case you are bad at math, that is literally a sixty degree temperature change in four days.  Not something that happens every day.  We are staying mild this week, but then heading into colder weather at the end of the week again.  Now we are having a ridiculous amount of rain.  Pounding, torrential rain.  In fact, our front sidewalk was flooded this morning, and our ditch was about to flow over our drive way.  I'm not cut out for this crazy weather!

Some new things on the horizon

Some changes are happening around our house.  Nothing major, but different.

For one thing, our church Treasurer "retired" after serving for 30 years.  It is an unpaid position.  She and I worked together on various budgetary things.  She attended all the monthly and quarterly council and committee meetings, and I handled the week-to-week duties as well as prepared the monthly financial statements.  She had asked this summer if I would be willing to take on her responsibilities.  I agreed, as long as I could continue doing the work for which I am currently paid.  I officially took over after our annual congregational meeting in January.  I consider it a way to give to our church without impacting our finances, and I am one of the few who are qualified to take on the task.  Not sure I will do it for 30 years, but I am pleased to contribute now.

It also appears as though Andrew might be coaching baseball at the high school this spring.  He has been wanting to bow out of football for awhile, and although that he isn't necessarily giving it up this year, there is an opportunity to become involved in baseball.  The interim head coach works closely with Andrew, and asked this week if he might be interested.  Andrew already has some commitments for the spring that would prevent him from being involved full time, but he is interested in helping out as he can.  At first he was hesitant to pursue this as just a volunteer, but I encouraged him to do so, at least for this year.  As I explained to him, I care about our school's teenagers also, and they are hurting after the death of their coach.  Andrew knows the students, and I think it is something we can do to help.

It's also a good time for him to take this on, because another change in our house is that there aren't going to be any spring sports happening.  This seems so very, very odd.  For the last five years we've had a track schedule (and some years there were two separate schedules), and before that we had eight years of at least one (and more often multiple) baseball schedules.    However, this year no one wants to run track, and although we thought Thomas might like tennis, he decided against it.  He is planning to work on the set for the high school musical instead.  We are pleased, and think he will really enjoy that.

Lastly, my mom now has two dogs.  This isn't really new info, but things have evolved and changed with that as well.  Her second dog, is the dog that Robert brought at Christmas.  He has realized that it isn't realistic to think this dog will be able to live with him (or even get to him) easily.  Robert is disappointed, but realized it is what is best for the dog.  Fortunately, my mother had mentioned a few weeks ago that if Robert needed her to, she would just keep the dog.  Not only do I think this is best for the dog, I think it is best for both my mom and Robert as well.

That's the thing about life...change always happens!

This time last week I was still asleep

Last evening we had a "parenting of teens issue".  That meant that there were some tears and some unhappiness...it's called life.  Everyone got through it though, and all will be fine.

Last week though, we knew Tuesday morning that there would be no school Wednesday, so we got to hang out as a family and just enjoy ourselves.  And of course, there ended up being no school on Thursday or Friday either.  About 9:00 last evening, I looked at my husband and told him I was kind of wishing it was last week...it certainly was more fun than we were having last night.

Right now I've been up for over three hours.  But this time last week?  I was still asleep for another hour.  Yep, certainly enjoyed last week more than this one!

Days like this are rare

I am not working today.  I'm scheduled the rest of the week, so I'm trying not to overreact to this to the fact that I haven't worked a lot lately.

Originally, I was planning to go into the church office this afternoon.  However, I decided that I am not going to do so.  Our monthly meeting is twelve days away, so I have plenty of time to finish the January statements.  And more importantly, if I don't go into the office today, I don't have to leave my house.  Days like this are rare, and I'm grateful for the few that come along.  Catherine has a meeting after school, and Andrew will bring her home when that is done.  Thomas will come home as scheduled on the bus, and then the kids have swim practice this evening.  I went to the grocery yesterday, and ran a bunch of errands early last week before the weather tanked, so there is absolutely nothing I have to leave the house for today...so I'm not going to!

Swim season is winding down

This past weekend was the league swim meet.  It's always a long evening at the pool, but it is always fun because our teams are usually pretty dominant.  As I said to Andrew though, I do miss watching Robert swim because he was our competitive one.  Last year he placed in all of his events, and even received a medal for one.

Not so much happening that way for our family this year.  Catherine was in two events, and finished both of them in last place.  Not just in her heat, but overall.  In fact, she in one event she finished nearly a minute behind next-to-last place and was over 20 seconds over her best time of the season.  We aren't really sure what happened.  Even spectators in the stands were sympathetic towards her in that event, but of course she did finish!

Thomas only swam in one event, but he did manage to cut 2 seconds off his PR for that event.  It's been challenging with him this year.  He isn't really into practicing, and he isn't an overly coachable kid.  It's frustrating, but I'm not sure what we can do about it.

Both teams won the league title for the 13th year in a row!  I'm grateful they can be a part of a winning team, although I do wish they were able to contribute more.  The girls score was closer than many years past, but the boys won by over 250 points.  It is fun to watch such domination!

This is the last week for practices, and things are beginning to wind down.  Andrew and I are appreciating that we can eat family dinners again, and I'm looking forward to fewer swim towels to wash making for less laundry!  It's really hard to believe how quickly this year is flying by!

This morning felt really early

I am working today (thankfully!), which meant a 5AM wake up time.  Since we had three days off last week, and I didn't work the Monday or Tuesday before, this morning felt super early.  I hadn't been up before 8AM since Tuesday, and I had actually allowed myself to go back to sleep that morning after the others left for school.

Speaking of super, we of course watched the Super Bowl last night.  While I didn't necessarily care a lot, I never, ever, root for the Patriots.  In fact, I would root for ANY of the other 31 teams against them.  I'm not necessarily a Rams fan, but the head coach is a graduate of my Alma Mater so that definitely makes it easy to root for them...and of course added to rooting against the other team.  I don't think Catherine watched any of the game at all, and Thomas had a youth group party at church so he said he didn't watch much of the game either.  Andrew and I had it on, but honestly, my heart just wasn't really into it.  And the lack of excitement in the game didn't help to keep my attention either.

Unfortunately, after the game, we caught Thomas in some of the same behaviors we experienced with Robert.  On the upside, as soon as Thomas is caught he admits his actions and becomes apologetic and remorseful.  Robert would never admit anything regardless of the evidence, and then would become belligerent and combative in his behavior.  I am grateful that Thomas's response is different, but I do not want to even think about going down that road again.

It was definitely a late evening, before this really early morning, and I'll be honest, I'm a little ready for a nap!

Beginning my Christmas shopping

That's right!  Today I am beginning my Christmas shopping for next year.  I know it sounds ridiculous, but not only does it make December much less stressful, it helps to spread the budget out over the year.  I already have a few ideas for my mom and my sister, and I am planning to order them today.  I also have an idea for my in-laws, but probably will wait a little.  I don't mean to sound morbid, but I won't be buying for my grandmothers quite yet.  After all, at 88 and almost 90, life is not guaranteed.  Honestly, it isn't guaranteed for any of us, and I try to remember to count my blessings every day!

Third day in a row at home

Yep, we are home again!  This time it is because we received 3+" of snow overnight.  I was pretty sure we were going to be home again.  While I am grateful it is only 1/2 day of pay lost, it is still more lost pay.  Don't mean to focus on that, but that plumbing bill is pricey!  I'm so grateful Andrew has made awesome breakfasts all three days, and it has been delightful to sleep in.  And of course now we are at the weekend.  We have the league meet tomorrow evening, but Sunday isn't too bad.  I also plan to hit the church office tomorrow.  I need to write another post about that sometime...but not right now.

My plans for today are to not leave the house.  It is a Friday, and if I go to the office tomorrow, I have absolutely no where I have to be.  The kids have swim practice and a team dinner this evening, and Andrew has some guy plans.  I don't have to leave the house though, and I've decided that is EXACTLY what I am going to do.  I might be able to get a bit of scrapbooking done, but regardless, I am just going to enjoy my day and not think about any stressful responsibilities...at least once the swim towels are dried!