Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Sadly..still no laptop

I just had a rare and lovely nap so I'm feelin' up to giving an update!

I'll spare the long story and drama that has played out with our laptop but there is a silver lining, I believe.
Long story short, the man Darryl hired to fix our laptop dropped it, broke it and then called us with an astronomical price to fix the computer because he figured(we believe) that we would just agree that the laptop wasn't worth that and we'd just buy another new one. (Darryl had told him beforehand if the cost was alot to fix we just wouldn't do it so we believe he took that information and used it to his advantage).  Well, Darryl found someone else to fix the laptop and when he went to pick it up the laptop was completely torn apart and broken.  We, unfortunately couldn't prove what he did and he was out on a bike ride when Darryl showed up(his wife was there and called him on his cell) and he wouldn't come home to address the situation and left his wife to deal with it(I'm so glad my husband isn't dishonest like that)...Anyway, the new computer guy has put our laptop back together but is still working on it...it has only cost us $35 so far so I'm grateful we went with the new guy...

So, hopefully we are well on our way to a fixed(albeit not pretty it's all banged up from being dropped) laptop.

We are having a good week, a bit stressed due to Darryl's work schedule and It wouldn't be right if I didn't express how bad of a wife I was yesterday.  I was just so frustrated with the last two months and his work schedule.  Thankfully, he is such an understanding and forgiving husband and after I got out my anger we reconciled quickly. 

We were blessed with a free piano..did I post that? Oh my gosh, how could I forget! 
I've been searching for a good, inexpensive piano for the boys so that we could do our lessons here at home when baby comes.  Well, I've been searching for months!  I found a beautiful piano in great shape on Craigslist and it was free!  The owner and I had a wonderful conversation on the phone and he decided to not only hold it for me but offered to help deliver it and bring it in!!!  It's perfect!  After I get the laptop fixed I'll take a picture and post the boys enjoying their new piano!

Baby is still rockin' and rollin' in my tummy.  He's been busy at night...
I've started making him a baby blanket and just finished converting a pair of old jeans into maternity pants...So, easy-there is noooo reason to spend oodles of money on maternity clothes...

We ordered seeds on Monday night and it was so fun picking out all the different veggies.  We bought purple cauliflower!  I'm so excited to see how those will taste and turn out. 

The weather is beyond awesome the last couple of days...I've been sneaking outside while the boys finish lessons just to soak up the sun!   I'll be so happy when it's warm enough to sit on the front porch again.  I love to sit there with a cup of coffee in the mornings during my quiet/prayer time before the boys wake up.
God has been so good to me lately...or I should say God has always been good to me I've just failed to notice his blessings from time to time.  As I wade through this uncertain time of figuring out where I belong, he's been right there.  It has been a long struggle for me and I'm not going to make this decision lightly.  I feel like the last couple of months my relationship with God has suffered in my attempt to follow a different path...I'll share about that later when I feel led to do so...but rest assured..he has welcomed me back and assured me he's always been there....

Many blessings to you and your family today!

Saturday, February 5, 2011

O.k. seriously...is this normal?

I woke up 3 times last night...3 times with 3 different bad dreams....I mean one was so bad and vivid that I thought about it all day today and can't get it out of my mind.  It was truely scary and gruesome....I don't watch scary movies or anything like that and I don't have any bad thoughts ever like these dreams but seriously...I'm scared to go to sleep...is this normal in pregnancy?  I forget it's been awhile...

Friday, February 4, 2011

Some sorta sick joke...

And I'm not laughing...

Now  my laptop needs over $300 in repairs....(cue Debbie Downer..wha..wha...)

(In case you never watch SNL and don't know who Debbie Downer is here is a little clip:
http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/debbie_downer_thanksgiving_dinner/1179438)

Ughhh...

So, our pretty new(3 years) old washing machine has been on the fritz for a while....since December...early December.  I have hated this thing since we bought it and secretly have been hoping it would die so we could buy a new one, but on the other hand knowing how close we are to being debt free, I was hoping it would last for a bit longer(seeing that it's only 3 years old).  I know some people LOVE their front loaders but I personally hate it..especially mine.  So, we've had some leaking problems and problems with it stopping mid load, draining issues, etc.  Darryl has been super busy every night with a project for work with a looming deadline, so I hate to bring it up to him..especially since I'm already harping on him about our garden beds and chicken coop.  So, finally after much frustration, we called a repairman yesterday.  He said it would be $100 to fix the bellow and it should be good....
So, I go out with some friends for a nice dinner knowing that Darryl was home with this repair guy taking care of the situation.  I get a call about 2 hours in to our lovely dinner informing me that there was alot more wrong with the washer and the bill was over $400!!!! It was orginally $600 but Darryl talked with the guy and got him to lower it to $428....what a way to sour my dinner )-:
Ugghhh...it's the beginning of the month and we've already had to shell this out.  On the plus side, it has a warranty for 2 years so I get to use it for another 2 years...yeah!!!(insert sarcasmn here)....
Well,....at least we had the money to pay for it and I do get to catch up on laundry now...still hoping for debt payoff by the end of this month.  I'm going to have to get super creative with the budget and really eat from our pantry instead of grocery shopping.  I did go yesterday and noticed Aldi's prices went up quite a bit from just a few weeks ago.  Apples were .20 more a bag, butter had gone up quite a bit and several other items.  We really need to focus on those gardens and chickens because I fear, no not fear..I feel the need to prepare..for the rising grocery costs and I believe it do dilegence in that respect.  Plus, who doesn't LOVE a homegrown tomato? 

Gotta go now.  We are having a pajama school day today since it's rainy and cold.  I'm also going to try and convert several pairs of pants I don't wear anymore into maternity pants....

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Quick update

Darryl is dropping off the laptop today to get fixed(hopefully).  If it's too much then unfortunately, we'll have to suck it up and by another one.  I can't stand not being able to post pictures and I hate to get behind on uploading pictures to Snapfish because then I have like 500 pictures at a time! 

Last night was the first night in over two weeks that I didn't have bad dreams.  My dreams were still vivid and crazy, but not scary and bad.  I was so thankful, I woke up around 3:30(to go potty of course) and thanked God for helping me sleep better. 

I'm having a hard time with church...AGAIN...I had a major issue with one priest at a parish I thought for sure would be a fit.  I know, I know they are human, but the comment he made to me just really solidified the fact that I did not, under any circumstances, bring my family to his church...so off I trek to find another parish.  I emailed the priest about confession hours because frankly, I wanted to go to confession before taking communion...and he basically blew me off.  In a nutshell, he told me it was useless to hear my confession if I wasn't an *active* (meaning tithing in my mind) member of his parish.  Why wouldn't he see me for confession?  Why wouldn't he try to get to know me so that I could become an active member?  His email was very rude and when I emailed him back asking what I could do to become active..well,...he never emailed me back...I know I can be sensitive during this time but I had Darryl read them and he felt the same way.  Darryl can be very objective and give the benefit of the doubt, but he even felt that the email was cold and rude....so here we are again...pray for me if you feel inclined.  I'm at a crazy crossroad again and really have no more options unless we drive over an hour to church(which I know that Darryl would not be o.k. with)..this is his decision too....I believe I know where he feels most comfortable but I keep going back to what I believe is the truth...I'm sick of it to be honest and I just want to be at peace with it all....

On a different note, I read the most wonderful quote on a blog the other day and I've been meditating on it for several days:

Wisdom is the reward you get for a lifetime of listening when you’d have preferred to talk.


~Larson
 
I like it, I see relevance it in regarding so many areas of my life right now...I think this will be my motto for 2011...
 
We are closing in on our deadline to be debt free!!  I just sent another huge check to the student loans and I asked Darryl last night what he thought the balance was..he was over by $1000!.  We were both so excited on how close we are and I think if I'm super diligent this month, we'll make it!  Please pray that no incedentals come up that would hinder us paying this off...I'd really appreciate it!
 
Baby is kickin' and kickin'...I go for another doctor's appointment next week.  We haven't talked about names yet but I have one in mind that just seems to stick every time I think about it but we'll have to see what Darryl thinks.
 
That's it for now...Oh!  Congrats to my brother for getting accepted to two colleges so far!  I'm so proud of him!