The Frugal Life

Well ... the world came crashing in a little earlier this week. Wednesday my husband informed me he quit his job. And it was the kind of quit where he decided they didn't deserve two weeks notice. He notified HR and then left. Now ... how do you react to this? If I weren't mid-way through my pregnancy, I probably would have yelled, screamed and shouted at the top of my lungs. But knowing that wasn't the healthy option, I stayed calm. We had to talk this through. Was it the smartest option ... no ... is our family growing in January ... yes. Of course, we had already talked about D staying home once baby number two arrived due to the fact that his paycheck would have just been covering the cost of daycare (yes, daycare is the equivalent of our mortgage payment) but I was not planning on a six-month acceleration of the plan.

We had things to do in these next six months where his income would have been nice. Like first, getting used to the fact that we now actually have to live by budget, no more random, not feeling like cooking and just ordering takeout, no more $100 poker nights with the boys, no more spending money without having to really think about can we pay all our bills this month. We've just lowered our household income by a 1/3.

Of course, this means we are now taking a hard look at what we spend. And it had me using my Saturday morning planning out our meals for the week as smartly as possible, looking at the SuperTarget ad to see what was on sale and downloading coupons. We did spend less than $70 at the grocery store this week, which I have to say is probably the least we've ever spent. So, we'll see how well we can stick to this and what other frugal choices we'll be making to see if we can sustain a one-working parent household.

If anyone has some great money saving advice, please share it with me!

Much Needed Escape

This weekend we trekked up to Northern Minnesota to the city of Duluth. Our intentions were to just get a way and not be bogged down with the traditional routines. I think D saw it as the big hurrah before digging into getting the deck done and for me, it is definitely a small break before what I anticipate to be some changes at work.

We didn't have a set agenda and spent the first day walking down canal park, and spending time on the shoreline. K loved climbing the rocks and throwing rocks into the water. His excitement and energy were so contagious. (I'll have to upload pictures later when we get home.) Just his delight in being in a new place made D and I realize how much fun it is to see things through the innocent eyes of a three-year-old.

When we checked into the hotel, you would have thought we were at Disney World. K was so running around, climbing on the bed, checking everything out. Blissed out of his mind on this experience. We had dinner at Angie's Cantina - food - good, service- oh so very bad. D and I normally are generous tippers. But the service was so bad, that we did feel like we had to make sure the tip reflected it. I'm sorry waitress. But it was just that bad.

The next day we went to the local aquarium and my son proved that he may be adventurous when it comes to injury-prone rock climbing, but not when it comes to putting his hands in the touch tanks to feel sting rays and sturgeon. We capped off the day by driving farther North to Gooseberry Falls. Again, K demonstrated his no fear attitude when it came to climbing up rocks. In my pregnant state, I took more balance-safe paths, but tried to humor him whenever possible.

Dinner Saturday was a different story, we ate at a little Italian place called Va Bene -- I had a citrus-glazed salmon that melted in my mouth, succulent green beans (yes, they can be succulent) and a potato gellate. It was so yummy, I actually cleaned my plate, which hasn't happened in a while.

Now, it's Sunday morning and my son is rearin' to get going some more. Alas, D and I both know that over the course of the next few hours, we'll be slowly making our re-entry into the real world. I have lots of work to do in preparation for Monday. Blech.

Four Months Down

Hit the four month mark officially yesterday ... and I don't know why, but right now this pregnancy feels like it is taking forever. It seemed to just sweep by with K. I know of course that as soon as I hit the 20-week mark, I'll enter panic mode and wonder where the time went by. I think part of it is that I sometimes look pregnant ... and I sometimes just look really, really fat. (one two many bites at lunch, huh?)

The bambino in the oven isn't the only project going on in our household, either. We are desperately trying to get a deck up before our permit expires (early September) and we are not moving very quickly. And then, this weekend it had to go and rain and storm yesterday, so we didn't really want to dig the holes for the footings. (Didn't think it was the brightest idea.) But I just so desperately want to get it done! It will be the first piece of us plotting out the rest of the landscaping for our backyard -- which so desperately needs it. We'll admit it, our yard is not the best. When it comes to green thumbs, I have two black ones.

Anyone have any tips on building a deck? (other than hiring someone else :))

The First Day of August

It's the first day of August. The last month of summer. And what can I say? I'm thrilled! True, for the most part it's been a very mild summer without too much overbearing heat ... but alas, anyone who knows me really well know that my favorite time of year is just a post-State Fair batch of cheese curds away. There is nothing I love more than autumn/fall -- whatever you call it, I call it where I would like to spend all of my days.

It's the food, it's the aromas, it's the sweaters coming out of hiding. It is perfection. God takes his paintbrush and makes the world full of beautiful tones and crisp winds. I cannot wait.

On the baby news front ... I've developed what I think is pregnancy carpal tunnel. Two words: not fun. I'll have to remember to talk to my doctor about it, because I think she can show me techniques to alleviate the tingling and pain and I'll probably breakdown and get an arm brace. Didn't have this fun sensation with K, so I'm not to excited about it this time. Maybe the trade-off will be that I won't have to go through diabetes again. We'll see.

And, I've officially realized how much I really miss wine. Not that I ever really drank it that frequently to begin with, but I think it was the fact that if I wanted it ... well, I could just go and get some. I also think it was the idea of just exploring in the wine shop all the interesting varietals that existed and drinking in visually all the choices. I know that this is just a short-term ban on the vino, and it's very much worth the ban, so I am not going to whine too much for my wine.