Tales From Another Planet

This is the last week of our "super low" food budget because we officially got paid today! Getting used to once per month paychecks instead of every two weeks is quite a change. Here's our breakdown for the week. Kroger Total: $43.61 Purchased: two loaves of bread, 8 2-liter diet sodas, cereal, mini muffins, Cheez Its, goldfish, mac & cheese (2), fruit snack (2 boxes), cookies, hot pockets (2 boxes), 2 lbs apples, hot dogs, tortillas, 2 avocados, lunch meat, sausage pancake sticks, Kroger brand mac and beef in a can. Aldi's Total: $19.51 Purchased: orange juice, mini muffins (these are for the soccer team I coach), baby carrots, vanilla yogurt, navel oranges (also for soccer team), baked beans (for a pot luck), salad dressing x 2 (for book club salad bar), juice boxes (soccer team), gum, peanut butter cheese crackers (soccer team), and brown sugar. I'm thinking i overbought for the soccer team, but it's a Friday night game at 6pm, so I thought th...

Time goes by too fast baby When you’re in my arms And I feel so slow lately With you so far away And there’s nothing left to do And I’ve nothing left to say Cause you’ve already got Everything there is to take You’ve got my heart, you’ve got my mind I’ve given you everything I could find You’ve got my dreams, you’ve got my cares And there’s something about the way you wear Your heart on your sleeve and I can’t compare Anyone else with the way you are with me.  In my dreams today I see Something new to learn The way you looked tonight to me And the way I feel inside And I can’t hold my breath Cause you’ve taken it away And I can’t think without you And everything you say   Racking my brain, I find it empty Testing my heart, the water’s deep Searching my thoughts, I find you and me And inside my heart, there’s nothing but we. Cause you’ve done what you came to do Opened my heart brought me closer to you You’ve done...

So, here's the thing. This life is temporary, and what I have is not "mine". I need to hold onto it with hand wide open. So, why do I measure our net worth? First, net worth is completely arbitrary. On the whims of the stock market, certain necessary but painful purchases, and many other factors, our net worth could change drastically at any moment. So, why bother at all? Why not just trust that God can provide for us, or bury my head in the sand and ignore the current financial situation? Yes, God will provide. Which is why, when I see our net worth, I don't pat myself on the back or relax that I have big, new, full barns (because this very night my life could be taken). However, I also don't want to be the person that literally buries money in the ground either. If you're not up on your Bible references, check out Luke 12:13-34 and Matthew 25:14-30. So, if you don't want to bury your head in the sand, and you also don't want to be greedy, what ...

While I was binge watching Continuum on Netflix the other night, one of the main characters, Carlos, said, "social media is actually rooting for Liber8". What struck me by that was how sadly true that comment was for the real world. "Social media" is no longer just people's opinions but it has become it's own entity. Because almost everyone has access to social media, the "trending" topics and ideas make us feel as if our opinions are powerful enough to be judge and jury. I won't pick a particular situation to talk about this today, but let's think about what we are actually doing when we make "social media" the litmus test of public opinion. We're making ourselves feel that our personal beliefs and opinions are the only correct opinions and should be powerful enough to influence the rest of society. In all honesty, most of us need a reality check. Who cares what you think about X or Y situation? Is Connie Chung calling y...

When I was a debt counselor, I was always frustrated by the people who seemed to have a privileged life, but weren't willing to work hard to fix their problems. Believe it or not, the poor "working" class was often more willing to do what they needed to in order to make their budget work. Probably because they never had the luxury of credit cards or wealthy relatives to fall back on. I remember clearly the day I was talking with one stay at home wife. Her kids were all at least 16 years old, and she was hoping I would have advice because her mother-in-law had finally "cut them off" after she paid off their last multi-thousand dollar debt and she wanted to make sure they wouldn't get in that situation again. After reviewing her budget, I told her that it looked like they could make it work if they kept to their basic expenses, but if they were still having trouble, she should probably look at getting a job. She told me she couldn't do that because she...

I'm not entirely sure what remembering fallen troops has to do with furniture sales, but I guess they use every holiday they can. Needless to say, we went furniture shopping this Memorial Day weekend. We had gotten rid of a futon and a sleeper sofa when we were "staging" our house to sell, and didn't have anywhere to put it. So, we are looking to replace the sleeper sofa. We found two good options and both were on sale this weekend. Of course, by the time we called to order the one we liked best, it was no longer in stock, so now we run the risk of sleeping on an air mattress for a few days if it happens not to come in on time. In other Memorial Day news, our flag is out, our house in being cleaned, and the pool is being put to good use. My husband had a brief conversation with our oldest son about what Memorial Day means, and the truly American hot dogs will be consumed for lunch. Have a safe and satisfying Memorial Day weekend, and as you drive by cemeteri...

Only two shopping trips this week, so the budget should be pretty easy. I did go a little over budget this week, but shouldn't be by much more than I "saved" the past couple of weeks. Kroger Spent: $84.61 Bought:  Stouffer's Lasagna (2 person size), Banquet pot pie (2), ice cream sandwiches (12), Yoplait yogurt (2), Kroger cheese (16 oz x 2), Breyer's ice cream, Private selection coffee K-cups (12 ct), goldfish (2), 1 avocado, 18 ct eggs (1.77), Red Leaf lettuce, Belvita biscuits (2 boxes, 1 box used for snacks for soccer team), peanuts, 2 free candy items from Free Fridays, yellow bell pepper, chicken nuggets (refrigerated on clearance for $1.59 for enough for the whole family), bottle of wine, 2 bananas, generic brand cereal (x 2), canned peas, 3 gallons of milk, 1/2 gallon of orange juice, 4 diet 2-liter sodas, 18-pack of beer, 4 x 12-pack cans of soda (if my husband doesn't bring cans of soda to work he ends up buying bottles for $1.35 each from the...

So, this is an extra post to make up for not posting on Thursday. Why did I not post on Thursday? Well, let me see... Usually I set up my posts by the night before at the latest. However, this Wednesday night, shortly after my husband got home, our 4-year old started complaining of sudden and severe shoulder pain. He had been sitting on the couch watching TV, so I couldn't think of anything that could have caused it. I had noticed that his cough had been lasting for awhile (about 5 days). When the pain didn't go away after about an hour (including him trying to lay down and rest and watching TV), my husband volunteered to take him to the urgent care. While there, his pain did get suddenly better, but an X-ray showed possible pneumonia. So, we spend most of Thursday at the doctor's office. Our toddler already had an appointment at 9:15 for his 2-year old well checkup. That took about an hour and a half including driving (my father-in-law was fortunately able to wat...

I can feel Jesus' arms around me now And my fears all rush away Like the dark and scary night does At the start of every day So turn my eyes from things that cause Fear and lust, like princely frogs And turn my feet, so when I run I will end up at Your throne I can feel Jesus' eyes upon me now And the hate is gone today Like the chaff within the wheat That the wind just blows away So turn my lips towards Your own Let Your love, like a river flow And turn Your hands, so I can see What my sins have done to thee I can hear the angels songs right now And the love has reached me here Like a wild catapulting wind Blowing me to heaven where You'll turn my eyes from things that cause Fear and lust, like princely frogs And turn my feet, so when I run I'll end up at heaven's throne Turn my lips towards Your own Let Your love, like a river flow And turn Your hands so I can see What my sins have done to thee. So open up my black and dirty heart...

I've been thinking lately about my oldest son's imagination. He will turn 5 in August this summer. He would technically start Kindergarten in the fall. He's been in a year and a half of preschool when we lived in Louisville, KY. He also has had a younger brother for 2 years. He is just now starting to verbalize his pretend play, and he hasn't been "in school" for over 4 months. I wonder sometimes if our "school" environments do the opposite of what we want them to do. Around here, there are a few people who take their preschool very seriously. You have to prepare these kids for Kindergarten. They have to write and test and read and do multiplication by age 6. But what about creativity and musicality and imagination? We have special STEM schools (science, technology, engineering and math). But what if all they really needed were Lego's and Minecraft? We have Early College programs, but what if what we really need is getting back to a true Ki...

One of my favorite blogs posted an article called Is it really worth it to sign up for free samples? Although I generally like the blog, I did want to point out one caveat she may not have thought of. If you tend to have sensitive skin or allergies to certain chemicals, please stick with what you know regarding products you put on your hair, face, or skin. For instance, I am the queen of free samples and trials. Usually, my skin doesn't react to anything other than occasional hormonal acne. However, this winter, I experienced the worst back acne I have ever had. Want to guess what the culprit was? A trial deodorant (full-size free sample). I used it for over a month (because it was free, so why not?) until I finally realized that the only thing I had changed about my skin care regimen was the deodorant, and I had never had back acne before. Well, now my skin has finally cleared up, but I have some lovely scars to show off this pool season. So, was it worth it? Nope. And I w...

I definitely think my kids are going to be water babies this summer. Our pool opened this weekend, and we tried it out on Sunday after we got back from the air show. I think the pool was a much bigger hit than the air show. My oldest is the more hesitant swimmer, and he hadn't eaten or drunk much all day. He ate one peanut butter cheese cracker during his "swim break" and then said he wanted to get back in. We wouldn't let him since he really needed to get back to the house and eat supper, but he was having so much fun playing with his friends. It's priceless to have a neighborhood like this, with friends his own age, and a pool he can swim at all summer. My just turned 2 year old was almost too brave, so I'm not sure that I'll be able to take them by myself to the pool. He was "swimming" all over the pool. Specifically towards the deep end. He's not "drown proofed" and I don't particularly believe in drown proofing childr...

Just so you know, diet is not a bad word to me. I've never gone "on a diet". Diet literally just means what you eat on a daily basis. So you can have a healthy diet, or an unhealthy diet. Lately, I have a couple more pounds than I normally do, which hasn't bothered me too much. I'm at a healthy weight, although not at my "ideal" weight, but I have been wondering why it hasn't gone anywhere. Another caveat, usually I lose weight without really trying, if I exercise or try to eat healthier I often gain weight. However, I have been buying and trying to eat more produce lately, so as I was sitting down to a pre-lunch cup of homemade hot chocolate (milk, cocoa powder, and sugar) with marshmallows, I wondered if maybe there is something in my diet that I need to cut back on. Hehehehe, I know you are all thinking it's the pre-lunch hot chocolate. In actuality, that was just the one time, and I'm not really sure if it's anything specific. I t...

So, we were out of town the weekend of this week's food budget update, so we actually have several shopping trips that we made in the evenings after we got back. Obviously we are much more disorganized when we don't go on the weekend. Our first shopping trip was for our "main" food items. Food Lion # 1: $62.10 total for: 2 packs of Hot Pockets, 4 Yoplait yogurts, 1 gallon of milk, Jimmy Dean's maple sausage biscuits, ice cream sandwiches, 2 packs of Goldfish, 2 packs of Cheez Its, peanut butter cheese crackers, cookies, Little Bite muffins, store brand cheerios, canned peas, crunchy peanut butter, lunch meat, Neese's sausage, BBQ, and my husband's soda. So, reviewing this list, hardly anything was for me.... Then, we stopped at Little Caesar's on the way home because our evenings were so crazy this week (I had one evening I was busy and my husband had two busy evenings and had to mow the yard). $5.39 with tax. I include this in our food budget as...

Is there anything more I can do Than cry myself to sleep at night Is there anything more I can ask As I pray and hold my body tight As the tremors fill my hands And my legs can barely stand And I scream Is the sky bleeding purple now Like my heart bleeding crystal clear With the tears screaming silent threats At angry enemies Is the wind blowing men astray While I stand stagnant in the heat And my fears gather round my neck You whisper, "I am here" So why am I waiting still Why can't you answer me I've shouted all my life Why can't You see

From time to time, co-workers, friends or family, have asked my husband and I for advice on budgeting. Since I do my budgeting on a spreadsheet, I have a template lined up that I can send without sending our actual numbers. Since it's been awhile from my last budgeting post, I decided to pass along my budget, along with some useful budgeting advice. The template includes my actual budgeting categories and then are color coded to sample budget categories. The "actual" percentages I use are based on our previous income, so I should probably work on updating that to our new income and new expenses (my guess will be that food will be a lower percentage and housing will be a higher percentage). Sample Budget and Percentages Basic budgeting 101 advice: Before you even start budgeting, take some time to think and write down what you want your priorities to be spending-wise. Do you value clothing spending over food? Do you just want to increase your savings by $50 a ...

I've found myself wondering lately about what makes community. I worried that I wouldn't be able to find a close community in our new town, because it took 4 years in our old house before we were starting to feel like we had close community. Now, we've been moved in for just over a month, and I feel close to my new neighbors already. We are involved in our church, I see people I know at the library or the grocery store. It is a really nice feeling to have. So what makes a place have community? Is it the size of the town? Is it the location of nearby amenities or other factors such as limited transportation? Or is just the people in that community? The one thing we were hesitant about in leaving our old neighborhood was missing the neighbors who we knew looked out for each other. In our new neighborhood, we hang out in the cul de sac with our kids when the weather is nice, and the neighbors know which car goes with which house, and keep track of anything strange or u...

First, let me preface this by saying that I don't believe in evolution on a general (millions and billions of years away from single-cell living). However, I do believe in natural selection (to some extent) and humans being able to effect their own environment. I also do not see myself as a "crunchy" mom, or a medical expert in any way. These are just my own thoughts on a difficult subject. Have you ever wondered whether we could bottle up the energy of a 5 year old boy? Guess what, this magical elixir does exist! For people with ADHD, every day they deal with this over-abundance of energy. So, why exactly is that a problem? I understand that it does cause difficulty when it comes to sitting still and listening to a lecture or working an "office job", but people with ADHD are often very intelligent. Our world full of billions of people has so much diversity and beauty, so why do we feel the need to medicate such a huge percentage of that diversity? What ca...

So, there was a "tear-jerker" video at the church we went to on Mother's Day about "being a mom". It was pretty well done, but it did get me thinking about what being a mom meant. Of course, the video had some humorous spots like dealing with the stomach bug and kids walking in the house after curfew, but it did get me thinking about what being a mom is like. Being a mom is when you get bad news at the ultrasound, but can't imagine yet how much your life will change. Being a mom is wiping noses and holding out your hand for your child to spit out half-chewed fruit snacks or pieces of grass. Being a mom is listening to your child scream in the car when you have another hour of driving to go and you can't fix anything. Being a mom is letting go and holding tight. It's tears in the darkness and laughing through them the next day. Being a mom is praying for that plus sign for years, and then praying at the lawyer's office that the adoption goes t...

We had a much better week from a budget stand point with our groceries. Mainly because we are going out of town for a long weekend, so we are trying to avoid buying anything that would go bad while we're gone. The total budget (one trip to Kroger) this week ended up coming in at $47.62 including tax. Technically, I returned the peanut butter because I got too big of a size to fit in our pantry and didn't realize until I got to the car, but the refund I got went to a stranger in the parking lot who asked for $2 or $3 so he could buy enough gas to get him to work in North Raleigh. Since he asked for only $2 or $3 and I had just gotten $2 as a refund, I handed it straight over. Who am I to argue with a divine appointment, even if he doesn't use it for what he said, my job is not to judge the intentions of his heart. So what did we buy for less than $50 for our family of 4? Bananas (2 for about 50 cents), strawberries ($1.50), whole wheat buns (0.49), eggs ($1.79), Bird's...

I wish I could paint that In the sky there With the trees in the fog and the sun shining down on it all I wish I could say things Make You smile And be happy and carefree and know everything is all right I know that the sun's made by You I know that my heart's been made true But I don't always know the right things to do So wake me with Your love Stir me with Your touch Show me with Your eyes what you want for me Touch me with Your soul Heal me with Your scars Help me to always do the things You want me to I wish I could fill up All the hollows Of the hearts that I see, the empty souls all around I know that You say that In my heart You Have given me power to do what You want me to do I know that the sun's made by You I know that my heart's been made true But I don't always know the right things to do So wake me with Your love Stir me with Your touch Show me with Your eyes what you want for me Touch me with Your soul Heal me with...

First, let me say that my mother-in-law is a preschool teacher, and my son has been through 1.5 years of preschool. So, my intention is not to discourage mom's who take advantage of preschool, mommies day out, or daycare programs. Now, the answer to the question, what is preschool: "Kindergarten!" I was at a homeschool co-op meeting the other day, and chatting with a mom who was there trying to figure out what to do with her 2.5 year old. Here's the thing though, you don't have to "do" anything with a 2.5 year old. After spending several years teaching 0-3 year olds basic introduction to water/swimming skills, the one thing I can truly say to parents is that it doesn't matter how much they learn "in class" because if it's not reinforced at home they will forget within a time span of 3-6 months. Why do they forget so easily? Isn't this "preschool" time one of the most rapid times of brain growth development and we all...

My life can get very hectic, and I tend to do things at the last minute. Organization is definitely not my strong suit. So, today, I have a few things hanging over my head that haven't been done yet since we've moved. Some of them are rather important things. And I have to sort through the immeasurable amount of "junk" and paper to find a few important things that I need in order to complete those tasks. I have to look for things like immunization records and medical files. Things like car registration and the calendar which has gotten buried under a paper pile yet again. I am dreading the process, because what I really need to do is get rid of all these papers and start subscribing to the "touch it once" philosophy, but that's really hard for me to do. I am definitely a procrastinator, although usually not when it comes to my kids medical appointments. However, it is really hard moving to a new city and we weren't even sure what area of town we ...

Just the past few weeks, my 4.5 year old has unofficially declared himself one of the "big boys". Although he does still want an adult around and comes to check in frequently, he wants to go off and play with the "big boys". Sometimes that means eating outside at the church potluck, while Mom and Dad are inside. Sometimes it means playing in the "fort" in the woods with the older boys, while Mom is a few dozen yards away chatting with the adults. I am equal parts incredibly proud of him, and absolutely terrified that he's not old enough for this new freedom yet. I'm generally not much of a worrier when it comes to my kids. I don't have a baby gate on my stairs (although I'm pretty sure my two year old would just climb over it), we haven't really put many plug protectors in our new house, I let them play in the backyard by themselves as long as I'm outside, or play in the cul de sac or road as long as I'm keeping a watch out....

After talking with a local school teacher and neighbor of mine, I've been thinking more and more about what the best solution is for our education system. I think charter schools are a great step in the right direction. The problem is, whether it's a charter school, public school, private school, or homeschool, there are children that get left behind. So, what's the solution? How do we ensure children aren't left behind? Obviously testing is not the answer. The "failing" schools are now making even less of an effort to give kids a well-rounded education and instead spend all their time teaching to the test or dumbing down the work. I think the real solution is to create communities again. People who want to go back to the "one room schoolhouse" philosophy forget that school used to me more than just something teachers did 5 days a week. Families would take turns hosting the teacher at their house for dinner (imagine how many cases of child abuse ...

So, to keep up with the more strict food budget we have for the next few weeks, I'm committing to a weekly "wrap up" of my food spending over the last 7 days (Friday to Friday). I actually have two Aldi's trips this week, although one primarily to purchase a $9 garden hose (with a 10 year warranty) than for food. Also, we didn't do a "regular" grocery trip this week. Rather, I had one trip to Kroger mainly for baking supplies for my father-in-law's birthday, and one Food Lion trip. We rarely buy all our groceries at Food Lion, but it was easier to make just one trip and my husband went while the kids were napping. Here's a quick breakdown of what we spent... Kroger - $19.76 total. $10.61 for baking supplies and a gift for my father-in-law. $1 for some laundry detergent that I plan to give to charity, and the rest was typical food purchases. I bought hamburger buns for 0.49, microwave popcorn for $2.49 for an 8 pack, $3,89 for raisins (turns out...

Every so often, I get on a political kick. As a forewarning, I'm generally a free-market libertarian. Mainly, I feel that the church and community should be the one providing most "government" services and that our (federal) government should keep their nose out of most everything other than protecting our country from war (i.e. they should not be legislating marriage, abortion, protected classes, education) and should allow the states freedom to choose on those topics. So, although I have my opinions on things like gay marriage, welfare, abortion, and so forth, I try not to force those opinions on others. I strongly believe that the Word of God does not return void, and I also believe that those who don't claim to be Christians should not be forced into morality. If we want to change the way things are in our community, we need to take physical action and not political action. For example, the First Choice Pregnancy Solutions organization, which rather than picketi...