April Budget

Here's the first half of April's budget.  It looks like we've blown the budget, but really we haven't!

Income			Payments
G.	3227.68		Garbage
Moi	80		School	650
Moi	1841.76		Credit Card	500
Moi			Gym	57.5
Total Income	5149.44		Car Insurance	502.84
			Swimming	45
			Mortgage	1429.6
			Elec/Water	288.63
			Cell	169.22
			Cable/Intenet	175.97
			Parking	25
			Groceries	568.28
			Various	1725.19
			HELOC	136.25
Running Balance:	-1124.04

As you can see, my second check is not accounted for yet.  I've also got about a thousand dollars of expenses (school, tax prep and home improvement) that are being paid out of other accounts.  But in the interest of seeing how well we can live off of just our salaries, I'm putting them in the budget.

Here's the breakdown for "various" so far this month:

I probably went over board on Kidlette's Easter basket, but I had fun, and she'll enjoy it.  I also included a couple of things for G., for his Easter as well.

How's your budget shaping up for the month?

The importance of Aunt L.

I come from a very small family.  My mother was an only child.  For all intents and purposes I don't have a dad.  I have one sibling.  I'm estranged from both my mom and my brother.  So, when it comes to my side of the family, Kidlette is kind of out of luck.

G. has two awesome brothers, who both adore Kidlette.  He also has a great mom and dad, who are very involved and caring grandparents.  There she lucked out.

What I have is a great friend.  She is like the sister I never had.  She is a great listener.  She is very caring.  She is the only person who cried when told I was pregnant with Kidlette.

We call her Aunt L.  She did a terrific job raising her daughter, and I've taken a lot of cues from her.  She is my daughter's guardian.  She is an important part of our lives.

I believe that a child can never have too many caring adults in her life.  My goal with Aunt L. is to give Kidlette someone outside of our family structure who she trusts and who will listen and who loves her.  Right now Aunt L. is someone who will let her stay up late and eat ketchup sandwiches.  At 13 Aunt L. will be someone to talk to when she can't talk to me.  At 18 Aunt L. will be someone to trust, if she can't trust me.  At 20, 23, 30... I hope and believe that Aunt L. will be as important in Kidlette's life as she has been in mine.

I didn't have anyone like Aunt L. in my life as a child, and there were times when I could have really used a sane adult.  This is my gift to my child.  And this is my gift to my friend - I love you and trust you with my child.

Do you have an Aunt L. in your life?

Final March Budget

So here is how March ended up.

Income			Payments
G	3216.49		Garbage	53.08
Phone	80		Daycare	650
Moi	1843.34		Credit Card	200
Moi	1816.99		Gym	57.5
Total Income	6956.82		Car Insurance	200
			Swimming	45
			Mortgage	1429.6
			Elec/Water	316.94
			Phone	270.08
			Cable/Internet	175.97
			Parking	25
			Groceries	1124.04
			Various	2038.39
			HELOC Interest	123.07
Running Balance:	248.15

Here is a breakdown of the "Various" category:

I think that carpooling is really paying off.  It will be interesting to track that over the year.

I'll give you an update on April after the 10th.  However, due to tax prep fees and the application fee for Kidlette's school next year, we are already over... good thing we are expecting a nice tax return soon!

How was March for you?

The thousand mile hike

On Saturday we went for a hike.

We chose Ledbetter Point State Park and the Willapa National Wildlife Refuge, near Long Beach.  It was a beautiful day.  We were prepared for the forecast-ed rain, and it ended up being sunny and warm and gorgeous.  The hike we chose was three miles (or 2.9, according to some sources).  It started out in the dunes.  We saw TONS of birds.

 

This heron greeted us, as we first stepped out of the forest, and onto the dunes.  We walked along the dunes for about a mile.  We saw heron, sand pipers, geese, American wigeon, canvasbacks, scaup, buffleheads grebes, and this guy.

 

He just watched us walk by.  Maybe he was wondering if we'd make a good snack?  At the point of the trail when we could have left the dunes, I decided we needed to add another loop to the hike.  The extra loop added 1.1 miles.  I thought a four mile hike would be good for us.  Kidlette would sleep well!  Ashley would be a happy dog.  G. would get his exercise.  I was doing a good thing!

 
So we walked another 1/2 mile up the dunes, then turned into the forest, for the last 2.5 miles of the hike, that would loop around and bring us back to our car.
 
I love how you just never know what you will run into on a hike.  I wonder how long this guy had been sitting there?

So there we were.  G., Aunt L., Kidlette, Ashley and Moi.  We had less than .5 miles to go.  We were very proud of ourselves.  We were hungry and planning on where to go for lunch.  And then we ran into this.

 

That is a flooded trail.  As far as we could see in all directions.  How did we miss this?  (From the website... "Be prepared to hike in water if you plan to enjoy Leadbetter during the annual winter flood season.", and on the big sign in the parking lot, and and and...)

We were not prepared to hike in water.  So we turned around.  And walked back around the loop.  Another  three miles. All in all the hike ended up between 6 and 7 miles.  Or as Kidlette proclaimed, one thousand miles.

And we all slept really well.

Weight Update

I'm still struggling with how to get past my current plateau.  I weighed in this morning at 250.  That is down from last weeks high of 254...  but I'm still above my current low of 241. 

I was doing really well last week - sugar is down, wine consumption has halted, portion control is good... I think this week I've been over indulging in cream in my coffee.  I have to scale back to 2%. 

It seems like every time I tackle one area, another one pops up.  And I know that this is all MY behavior... and supposedly I have control!  URGH!

I had coffee with my mom on Monday.  First time I've talked to her in over a year.  I'm not angry any more.  I've mostly forgiven her.  But I don't trust her.  It is what it is...  but the good news is that I didn't go eat a bunch of junk food or drink a bottle of wine after seeing her.  Yay for me!

It's Wednesday and the weathers fine.  How's your week going?

Weekend Update 2

What a nice weekend.  We got all of our chores out of the way on Saturday morning, and Saturday afternoon we went to a family dance party at the local library.  They were kicking off the annual family read aloud campaign and had an hour long event.  G. is still sick, so Kidlette and I made our way down there and had a blast!  She was REALLY shy for the first couple of minutes.  Then she noticed the bubble machine...  and by the end of the hour she was jumping around, chatting with all the librarians, and having the time of her life.  We both got a good workout and had a lot of fun.  Events like these are great reminders that we should all support our local libraries!

Sunday we (Kidlette, Ashley and moi) headed out for a nice long walk.  We walked four miles and had a great time!  Kidlette was wonderful, and Ashley was in doggy heaven.  After, we hit Red Robin for a tasty burger and then went home and had a nap.  Last night I made chicken cordon blue, steamed artichokes, asparagus, salad and garlic bread for dinner.  Yum!  I was feeling like some decadent dessert, so made this awesome chocolate cobbler from the Tasty Kitchen.  Wow...  I also made Applesauce Bread for Kidlette's class snack today.  Hope the kids enjoy it!  A day spent outdoors with my family, and indoors baking... the best of both worlds!

Timeline

Dinner:  "Mom, my tummy hurts"
7:30p: Bedtime
9:00p: Wake up, cry, back to bed
11:30p: Wake up, cry, G. -can you take her back to bed?
2:30a: Wake up, cry, I give up, come get in bed with us.
2:35a: I need my blankey.  Ok, go get it.
2:35:15a:  Puke all over the stair landing, wall, entry way and banister.
2:36a: Bath
2:45a: Tucked back in bed.
2:46 - 4:00a: Clean floor.  Clean landing.  Clean walls.  Clean banister.  Pull up carpet runner on stairs (wood floors).  Clean stairs.  Start laundry.  Steam clean everything.  Kidlette asleep.
4:00a: Give up.  Put on sweats and go do treadmill for an hour.
5:00a: Call in sick.  Get in the shower.  Feed the animals.
6:00a: G. off to work.  Sit on couch.
6:30a: Wake up with Kidlette standing in front of you.
6:30a - 4:00p:  Doze and cuddle on couch with Kidlette, who is clearly not 100%.
7:30:  Bedtime.

G. has been sick all week.  Kidlette was down for about 2 days.  She's doing much better today, and is back at school.  I am soooo glad this week is almost over.  I hate it when my family is sick.  Get better guys!