One foot in front of the other.

"I breathe in, I breathe out. Put one foot in front of the other"

They're just song lyrics, right? Well, they're pretty much my motto at present. I've got a beautiful wife & daughter, a great house, and steady income. What's not to like? Well, a lot apparently b/c we are just turning into perpetual whiners over on Arlington.

Lolly is not exactly in love with her job and is looking, although the couple of leads she thought she had seem to not be the best leads, but one is still a very good option. That's where we're leaning until we hear otherwise. Meanwhile, back at my job....well, let's just say it's still the same job, for pretty much the same pay, for more work. Don't get me wrong, I don't want to make a bajillion $$$ or anything, I'd just kill to be comfortable and happy. To be able to pay the bills and have enough extra to take a DECENT vacation once a year, do a few projects around the house, and have a nice dinner out here and there. Sure, we do little things, but I feel like Mr. Frugle and I'm pretty sure most of our friends see me that way. No, we can't do this, we dont have the money. NO, we can't buy that, its extra and not a necessity and we can't afford it. I feel like Bebe in that every other word out of my mouth some days is NO. I'm sure it's frustrating to hear, just as much as it is for me to say it. There's nothing more I'd love than to be able to say YES when asked if we can afford extra makeup, a fun gadget, or even just to buy new tires for the car this month. Ain't happening anytime soon. The funny thing is, the only frivolous bill we have at present is the cable/internet bill. And maybe the security system. But these are pretty much necessary these days anyway. Other than that, all we have are the necessary utilities, mortgate, car note, daycare, groceries, and various types of insurance and retirement accounts. Bleeding. Us. Dry. Dave Ramsey, where are you???? I think I need to just re-read his book and take Chris Cagle's advice.

Breathe in. Breathe out. Put one foot in front of the other. Jeez I hope I can will myself enough discipline to do this until we can figure out what to do to make a change!

(sorry to be such a Debbie Downer)

Rainy Day Babble

Boy, the rain outside is madness. Madness I tell ya! I didn't quite expect this kind of deluge today, but it's welcome with the deficit we have had thus for in 2010. I know my garden is going to go crazy! Speaking of crazy...our 3 chickens are now down to only 2. Evelyn/Whitey died suddenly yesterday and we're not sure why.... Bird flu? Maybe from just being so damn mean? God, who knows. Eh, we'll have eggs from the other 2 girls Betsy & Milley in just over a month, so that'll be cool!

My absence lately is due, in large part, to the fact that work has been crazy busy and home life has been just the same. Our weekends have been booked like an artist on tour for the last few months. Now that summer has arrived, our weekends are noticeably more open. This is great news to my ears. Open weekends make impromptu hikes and small outings much more doable, and often are the most relaxing times. This weekend's agenda: N O T H I N G. Doesn't that sound great?

Since we're talking about filling up time with things, we've decided to put a little more on our plate. Instead of renovating the existing laundry room to squeeze in a 1/2 bath, we've decided to add 6' onto the back of the entire house to make room for a full bathroom (stand-up shower) and have a stackable washer/dryer combo. This little renovation hinges on us finding a stackable set and a tankless water heater (to be mounted on the outside of the house) at a decent, affordable price. It can be done! What else do we get out of this? A 6' deep by 15' long back porch the length of the rest of the house. This will encourage us to finally close in the remnant of the old back porch and make that into our 'mud room' with plenty of extra storage! I've gotta sit down with a friend of mine who does house plans to figure out what this little ditty will likely cost us, then work out a plan for phasing the project in. More than likely, the porch and foundation for the additional room will be done first, and the rest will be phased in. This will require additional plumbing, ventilation, drainage, electrical, and more roof. Big project, tiny budget. Again: It can be done!

Well, that's all the babble I have for now. Time to get back to work.

You stay classy