Update

OK...yes...I am still among the living. Quite boring, but among the living nonetheless. Didn't realize it had been nearly a month since my last post; things here have been pretty much status quo for the past month. We closed on our land up in the mountains last week. Getting ready to wind down the school year; only 10 more student days, 14 more work days. This time next month I will be lying on the beach with no worries in the world.

Staying strong in FPU; very difficult, but very worth it. I have never been much of a "bill" person. I like creating the bills, but not paying them once they arrive in the mail. I like using "plastic money" because it's not "real" money. Sitting down with Dear Husband to pay bills has been enough to cause more than one full-fledged panic attack. When I heard President Bush was going to give me $1,800 just for living, breathing and taking up space (and, of course, filing my tax return) I immediately went to work deciding how I could spend "my" money. See, with our last rebate check way back when, DH bought a trailer. One we could put dirt bikes or lawn mowers or stuff on and pull it behind the truck. So it was only fair that I should get to spend this one. I decided to buy wood blinds for my whole house. I had them picked out and priced, knew exactly which ones I wanted. Then, the more I got into FPU, the guiltier I felt. Then, when I actually saw the money sitting in my bank account, I couldn't do it. I could either buy the blinds or pay three bills off. So as of Monday, we will have paid off four credit cards since February; started the envelope system for buying groceries and fun monies (ask Oldest Child how much she likes Dave Ramsey...she'll be happy to tell you..NOT!) Plus we thought long and hard about whether to buy the land up in the mountains before we actually signed the papers. But it's hard to go wrong with something that appreciates in value as soon as the ink dries. So we had to say yes. Now saving money has turned into a game for me. Like paying cash for groceries and getting $7 in change back. Or taking a "thingy" back to Home Depot and getting a store credit worth more than the Mother's Day present I want from there costs. And our teacher gives chocolate to those who bring credit cards to cut up each week. I haven't been able to do that yet, because way back when, DH and I cut up our credit cards; all I have now are the gas cards and my emergency Mastercard and my American Express card. But Wednesday night I get to take a credit card to cut up because as I was going through the bill book this morning, I found a Kohl's card. I will proudly be walking up, cutting that sucker into itsy, bitsy, teensy, tiny pieces and enjoying every bit of chocolate in that candy bar (who cares if my beach vacation is less than a month away and I will look like a beached whale...)

Fun with Friends

DH is having a great time in Daytona; they are staying at a hotel that is right across the street from a police station...not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing. The weather is holding out for the most part and he is making the most of his much-deserved time off.

Youngest Child and I went to the teacher work day at my school; I actually got to work and didn't have to attend one single meeting. Got bunches and bunches accomplished; now I'm almost caught up! Then my girlfriend called to see if we wanted to meet them for dinner. Far be it from me to say no and sorely disappoint them!

I let them decide where to eat because they have four kids; YC and I were just happy to be dining out. They decided the babies would do good at the local Japanese resturant. Have I mentioned that I absolutely love the local Japanese resturant? And it was so much fun! We ended up sitting at a table with a family from their subdivision, so Austin sat by his "best friend" and Cassie had her pick of which baby she wanted to tend to ('scuse me, I meant to say "sat beside"). The babies loved it! They ate, they clapped, the laughed, and then they ate some more.

The best part of the whole evening? Clif told our waitress to put everything on one check. What an unexpected surprise! Now I can actually tell DH I went out to eat Japanese and his heart won't have palpatations because we didn't figure it in the budget.

Speaking of budget, on Wednesday night, we started Financial Peace University at our church. Even though it was DH's idea, I am very much on board and want to see how much money we can pay off/save by doing this program. So as I was digging through my kit on Wednesday, I found the little "card protectors" that you slip over credit card to protect the magnetic strip. Only on the outside they contain warnings about how using them can cause harm to your financial situation. Being the go-getter that I am, I immediately slipped my two credit cards in the sleeves. I did, afterall, want to show DH how determined I am to make this successful. So last night when I went grocery shopping (within the budget, nonetheless), I went to pull out my debit card and it was nowhere to be found. I immediately started thinking where it could be, when was the last time I used it, is it in a pants pocket at home somewhere, etc., etc. I then went to pull out my AmEx card...wasn't there! I am now almost in full-fledged panic mode. The Dude is at work; DH is in Daytona; the checkbook is at home.

Then the light bulb goes off. When I put the protectors on the cards, they wouldn't fit where I normally put them...I had to move them to a different place in my wallet. There they were, safe and sound, in their pocket protectors, right where I left them. I might be successful at this FPU thing afterall!