Snapshot of now

Every once in a while, I like to do a kind of diary entry. So here goes.

1. I'm pregnant. I will be for six more months, God willing. The progesterone levels are staying good, so maybe if they are excellent next Wed. I'll experiment with getting off. If they drop, I get back on. The dr. said I can run it myself, and so I shall. At least I have last time's data to go on.

2. We are three weeks away from the end of the homeschooling year. Yay us! Brandon is technically done with kindergarten, but I try to play with his brain anyway. Gabe is slogging through the end of fourth grade. He'll be nine years old tomorrow. Yes, I know the age and grade do not match, but that's where we are at. He is doing a lot of whining today, but I reminded him that if he gets it done today, tomorrow he can enjoy his birthday. Noooooooooo....! Yeah, get on with it, kid. I think I'll start Grace on real kindergarten next year. I'd like to let her try an actual preschool next year, while she still can, outside the home, but I will have to see if we have two cars then, because I can't bet on having a car if we're still sharing, due to shift changes every three months. She says she wants to go to "little girl school". Hilarious.

3. My DH came up with something just wonderful. We took the entire Financial Peace University course with Dave Ramsey (thank you Ray and Elizabeth!), and I was really struggling to make mvelopes.com work, and I couldn't really make a paper budget work either, but finally, my amazing, smart, awesome husband came up with an Excel spreadsheet of the Dave Ramsey allocated spending plan. THANK GOD! Because now, guess what?? I don't have to do MATH! I can totally enter numbers, so long as I don't have to crunch them! So I just enter the numbers, and three months of budget changes magically!! We have May, June and July, and we added things like going to a wedding, soccer camp, and computer parts, so we know ahead of time if it's going to work or not, instead of crossing our fingers. Also, what we both like best is that we aren't going to fight about it. I used to say, "Honey, there is NO MONEY for what you want to buy, no matter how much we need it!" and he'd say, "Oh, come one, there has to be!", and being really lame with numbers, I couldn't really show him why, but I was sure of it. Now, he can look for himself, re-crunch the numbers if necessary, and happily prioritize what we'll buy during what month. For instance, running shoes are needed, but won't be bought til well into June. Yay us! Thank goodness my husband is not just like me. This is an excellent invention. Right now he's trying to tweak it so that I can enter what I've actually spent, day by day, vs. the goal for that paycheck. We'll see how that turns out, but right now I'm super happy with this the way it is!

4. I really need to get the oil changed and the wheels done at Toyota of Kirkland. Do I want to go down there with all the kids today, or shall I put it off til next week? I'm thinking next week, but the oil change needs to happen today. We're 2000 miles over, and that makes me uncomfy as we are rapidly approaching the 100K mark on this wonderful 2001 Toyota Sienna XLE. I love my car. Too bad it's the commuter car for now, til we can buy a real commuter car. We used to use the bus, but it's impossible now for my husband to do, so we're kind of stuck sharing again. At least we are good at it. This must change, though, before the baby comes. And it very likely will. We have plans.

5. Summer is almost here. My garden is growing, it's supposed to be beautiful tomorrow, and park days for homeschoolers have started as of yesterday. I love summer around here. There is sooooo much we can do.

6. My friend Jennifer Wagner Estes passed away from cancer after six years' fight last week. I am sad, but glad for her that it's over. I think some of her closer friends are having a harder time than I am, and I pray for them. It is hard. She was such a beautiful person.

7. I'd like to ask prayers for a friend of mine whose marriage is already rather shaky, her housing is a bit shaky, and her fourth child is probably going to be diagnosed with autism. She has to wait three months for a full eval. This is going to be very hard on them, I think. Having rather extensive experience with autism and the effect on families as a whole, it's going to really be quite a cross for this family in particular. I kind of thought so after babysitting the child in question last fall, and I'm really glad they are getting help while he's still about 3 years old. God bless them!

8. I'd just like to say a prayer for families whose families of origin can't or won't agree to be on friendly terms. We have issues in our families just like everyone else, but I wish they were better. Sometimes I read amazing stories of families getting better, of a horrible father finally realizing his problem and becoming a great dad after 10 or 20 years, things like that. And I realize I'm not supposed to give up on anyone. But how can I hope when some people are completely unreasonable, and over the last ten years it has only gotten worse, to the point where we barely communicate and don't want to expose our children to the brainwashing craziness? It's really hard to want your kids to know a family member, but to think it mentally unsafe to strengthen that shaky bond. Where do you decide to break the cycle, and where do decide to forgive and forget over and over and over? I guess there's nothing really to do except pray.

9. My husband has bad cholesterol, and so that diet post from last time is something we're working on. My numbers are fantastic, but his are not, and a lot of it is genetic. He really got the short end of the stick in his family genetic code. Diet and exercise are of course a start, so we're working harder on both, and those Microsoft benefits are awesome. He gets a nutritionist! Yay! It's not like we eat out already, but if there are changes to be made, we'll make them. I made a heck of a Trader Joe's run yesterday.

10. Our will arrived at the front door yesterday. If you need a will, I recommend our college friend Jeremy Yates at Ascension Law in Seattle. He is a good guy and did a great job. We have a paper copy and a CD of everything. Thanks, Jeremy! And for our friends who might get our kids if anything happens, don't worry, we intend to stay alive. Doubling your family size overnight is not a nice thing for us to do to you! :)

Ok, all done now. Now, extra coffee, or no more, you're cut off.... that is the question.