Sleepless Nights

Don't you hate it when you can't sleep at night? I have these times when I wake up in the middle of the night and cannot go back to sleep, no matter what I do, or how hard I try. Tonight is one of those nights. I have a bit of a cold/allergy/sinus thing going on this week. To top it off, it has been a much more stressful than normal week. I woke up at 2 a.m. and my mind started racing and the worrying began. I tossed and turned and looked at the clock. Then I tossed and turned some more. I finally gave in to the restlessness and got up. It will take me an hour or so to work through this worry before I will be able to go back to sleep. Of course that is going to make tomorrow a very long and exhausting day. Oh how I long for the days of youth when I slept like a log and never worried about so much.

Mother' Day

In a tragic twist on Mother's Day, a full term infant was found in a duffel bag floating in a pond in a nearby town on Mother's Day. While most people I know were celebrating a beautiful Missouri day with family and friends, a much darker side of life was being exposed only a few miles from our house. Law Enforcement has made an arrest and the details are sketchie, but any way you look at it, it is a tragedy.

A Mini Marathon for Mother's Day!

It was a beautiful morning to walk a 5K! The event was held to raise money for breastcancer prevention and awareness. Over 700 people walked. I walked in memory of my mother who died of breastcancer at the age of 52. Amanda ran most of the race, and Maddie and I walked, we weren't the last to finish, which was my goal!

The Frugal Blogger

I have been distressed lately with the rising cost of. . . well. . . of everything. Every time I get gasoline or go to the store, the prices have climbed. We are spending in excess of $450 a month in gas. And we really don't go anywhere! My husband drives a truck to work daily which is a 75 mile round trip commute and I have about 10 miles round trip a day. Once in awhile we will go to Columbia (30 miles away) for a meal or a little shopping. This past year our homeowners insurance went up, as did our propane costs and income tax (I am not sure what happened there!). All in all, it is enough to make one really worry about the state of their finances. Don't get me wrong, we are blessed to both have good jobs with generous benefits. I can't imagine how the unemployed or underemployed people are surviving. My heart goes out to them.
So, what I am doing about these increases? I decided to take a close look at what we are spending every month. That is really not difficult since I do so much banking on line and the information is at my fingertips.
After a careful study of the budget I have made some changes. Today I terminated my gym membership. I really haven't used it much this year, and we have beautiful walking trails in our town. Then I terminated an online subscription that I wasn't using. Netflix may be the next thing to go, because we just don't access it much. These changes may equal a fill up once during the month (my car, NOT the truck). I know it isn't much, but I think if we make some changes slowly and spend wisely, we won't feel the pinch of the rising prices so severely. And we have decided to proceed with a landscaping project (begun last weekend). We are going to do it ourselves and save $1000 or more. It is hard work, and it may not be as aestheticly pleasing, but at least we will be able to say that we did it ourselves. I know that not everyone has room in their budget to make these kind of adjustments. Many people I know are just barely making it. My son and daughter-in-law shut off their cable tv last month. They have small children, so it is a dual benefit of saving money and avoiding the TV as a babysitter trap. Our daughter and son in law are also making adjustments. They just sold a camper and are planning on camping with their tent instead. It is obvious to me that we have gotten used to a lifestyle that we may no longer be able to afford. Are you making any changes in your lifestyle to survive the "economic downturn"?

Oh my goodness. Mason wanted me to take his picture because he looked "so handsome in my jacket". And it goes without saying that Maddison lost her first top tooth. What a gap that left! She is very proud of her new look, and that the tooth didn't bleed, or hurt when it came out. My how fast they grow up!

The Tooth

On Monday I took Maddison to the dentist for a regular check up and cleaning. I was excited to do this, knowing that the front tooth that had been loose for about 2 months would finally come out. Over the weekend, Maddison kept fooling with this tooth, which was literally holding on by the smallest thread imaginable. In fact, she would push the tooth over her bottom lip and give a "Nanny McPhee" smile. All the adults in her life tried to convince her to pull this tooth out, or let one of us do it. She would have nothing to do with this. Finally on Monday, the dental hygienist convinced her to let the tooth be pulled. There were no tears, no blood, no pain. And now she has a large, gapping hole in her mouth. I will post a picture soon. She talks in that whispy voice that one has when teeth are missing. Another milestone has passed. In a few weeks she will leave kindergarten and move on to first grade. I can only sit back and watch with joy the process of this young lady growing up. I can only whistfully remember when she was born. The agony and ecstasy of life. . .

Keep on Digging!

I should have taken pictures. Yesterday we sort of "fell" into a major project that has needed to be done for about 15 years (how long we have lived in our home). It all began when I had a wild hair to pull some weeds in front of our house. The forecast for the weekend was rain, rain, and more rain. Randy usually sprays for weeds, but for that to be effective, it can't rain for 24 hours after spraying. There was a tall, ugly patch of weeds right in front of our house. This is an area that is in desperate need of a landscaping make over. I began pulling weeds there and one thing led to another. What started out as a small project, turned into an all day activity. Randy ended up climbing on the skid loader and hauling multiple loads of dirt into this area. Since the kids were with us, and their Dad promised them some evening fishing, we doubled duties and looked for worms and grubs for bait. Each load of dirt Randy brought was like an adventure in science. With garden shovels, the kids dug and dug in the dirt looking for bait. As they dug and Randy hauled dirt, I separated unwanted materials out of the soil (roots, bark, sticks) and spread the dirt in the project area. We worked all day on this. The fill was scavenged from other areas of our farm and was rich and black. The final step after leveling was to spread straw over the area to prevent erosion if it rained. The kids had a blast. Each new discovery in the dirt brought exclamations of excitement. The kids learned about grubs, centipedes, regeneration, erosion and earthworm's usefulness to the earth. I learned that I am too old and out of shape to be doing that kind of labor all day. Randy learned that his "crew" was less than skilled at this type of work. All in all, it was a great, dirty day. The only sad note was the fishing did not go so well. In spite of the "fresh" bait, no fish were caught from the pond. It is a day I am sure the kids will remember for a long time. I only wish I had taken the time to get some pictures! I will photograph the end result when it is done.