July (holy cow!) 17th

Some stuff:

- Second of 3 weddings to be attended this summer tomorrow. Congratulations Darcy and Sam!

- My girlie cannot decide where she wants to crawl or walk. Her newest thing is holding on to the furniture and then totally letting go - standing there for a while with no hands and then grabbing on to the furniture again and clapping while braced with her elbows. She's oh-so-proud of herself.

- Activia is a rip-off! They say to take the 14-day challenge but only sell sets of 12 and 24. So you HAVE to buy more! I love it though... I didn't realize what a good-tasting yogurt it was. But still!

- We're having a little bit of trouble keeping up with the yardwork with our schedules. Kurt actually phoned the neighbors last night to ask if he could cut his grass after 9pm. They were fine with it - but that was the soonest he could get out there. Sigh.

- I actually like the colder weather. I know the crops are having a hard time... but I feel a lot better when it's mild.

- I've been working more than the previously decided on 1-day per week - but by God's grace it hasn't been too bad. I have willing babysitters, and I work super-close to home so I've been able to go home and nurse Peyton at lunch a lot of days. And my manager and coworkers have been really great about letting me do some half-days... so I can still go in and help with the heavy hours and have either the morning or afternoon off. And Kurt is happy because there is a little bit more money coming in.

- Speaking of money: Does anyone watch "Til Debt Do Us Part"? Well, watching it with Kurt dramatically changed my life. This is typed tongue-in-cheek and kinda whiny.
We are now on a cash-only budget. To say I was reluctant would be an understatement. I love Visa. Don't get me wrong - I'm careful with it and we always pay it off... but what are a few more dollars at WalMart on a Visa, right? Right. And besides - we get points!
But NOW I look at my dwindling cash-stash and think: "Hmmm... maybe I don't need that recipe book today." or "Maybe I should wait until next month to buy some more flower pots." or "I guess I could live without Party Lite for a few months." *Sigh* (the last one is a kicker...)
We haven't cut up our credit or debit cards - it's an honor system and I'm glad Kurt trusts me to not be sneaky. Besides - he gave me the bulk of our 'disposable' cash and only kept a fraction for himself... so that makes up for the crazy idea, I guess. ;)

- I should go walk now - Peyton is sleeping and I've got to redeem the time. The best thing I've done in a long time was start to listen to the bible on CD while exercising. Treadmill time isn't exactly heavy-duty mental work... so I'm get about a half-hour of uninterupted time in the bible - it's just that instead of me reading it it's being read to me. I've noticed a huge change in my prayer life and my appreciation of Jesus grows daily - and as a side-effect my butt is getting smaller! Sweet, right? I know. :-D

Thanks for reading!