Why so long?

I can't believe it has been so long since I posted. So doesn't feel like it. Guess that is just a symptom of my life going at warp speed.

Last week was busy. Caleb got up REALLY early a couple mornings but seems to be back on track now. I hope. One morning we even found him UNDER our bed at 5:30 am! Why he was under there, I don't have a clue, but he apparently thought is would be funny. Scott saw him there only after realizing he wasn't in his bed and then when he came rushing back into our room happened to see the dust ruffle move. We may have to get rid of the dust ruffle! :) Didn't get much done at home, didn't get much done at work. Why do I feel like I have a lot of wasted effort here? Hmmmm.....

The weekend was nice. It was chilly but at least there wasn't much wind so we were able to play outside quite a bit. The playground in our neighborhood was even dry and it wasn't overrun with kids so we were able to use it. Caleb is even big enough to walk there and back himself so we don't even have to worry about the stroller. Which is good since at 2.5 he thinks he is too big for it anyway. He refuses to sit in it ever! So much for spending all that money. Oh well, at least now they can go into storage for the next child and won't be taking up space in the garage OR the back of my truck.

Financially we are struggling. This is just a really weird time right now. We are waiting for our state tax refund so that we can send all of it plus $350 to the feds. Yeah. Also, my reimbursement for daycare flex spending has been delayed for some unknown reason, which means I can't pay a few bills as soon as I would like. This weekend we didn't do very well at sticking to our budget either. I spent too much at Barnes and Noble and then we over spent on groceries. And, horror of horrors, we went out to eat on Friday! GASP! We broke our streak of not eating out, but there was just nothing we could do about it. Unfortunately, we could have chosen a CHEAPER place to eat, like Culvers or Noodles, but we didn't. And I COULD have chosen not to have the 3 margaritas, but I didn't. Other than that though, we didn't do any unnecessary spending, which is good for us. We managed to make it all the way through Sunday without spending any money. Even though we haven't been doing things as well as I had hoped, I am chalking it up to a learning experience at this point. We have never lived under this strict of a budget before and we will continue to adjust things in the near future.

Friday night I had one of the greatest experiences of my life. I got to meet my favorite author in the whole world, Jodi Picoult, at Barnes & Noble. She was there to do a reading from her new book and do a book signing. I was simply blown away. WOW! She is the most outgoing and put together person I have met and the things that come out of her head and onto a page just astound me. I bought the new book and 2 of her older books, which led me to overspend significantly (see above) but I only feel slightly guilty. I know I will make it up by not buying anything for scrapbooking or crafts this month alone. We got there over an hour early and almost didn't get a seat. There were easily 300 people there many of whom had driven from 3-6 hours to attend this signing. I was impressed to say the least. The best part of it all was being able to experience it all with my mom, who got me hooked on the books in the first place.