Nanamom's thoughts Blog

I tried to put a picture on my blog but it isn't working. Or at least it didn't work on th eold entries. This is a trial entry to see if it works on future ones. My picture is of me with my oldest who is in Iraq. As I type my youngest son is also typing. Here is his work, letter for letter.
yanai and honey both kissed me at the same time.
and they noced me down.
and the cat is tacen uwae until we get bac.
Translation is Yanai and Honey (our big dogs) both kissed me at the same time. and they knocked me down. and the cat is taken away until we get back. Not bad for a 4 year old. I helped with the ow in down and encouraged the use of the space bar. The cat went to a friend for the duration of the trip.

Didn't blog when the Federal taxes were deposited (I was too busy sending them to bills) but it took less than 2 weeks for us to get our money. It is of course gone but that's ok, we owe less now. On the other side we had a plumber in so the money I had saved for DS2 bed is now gone but that's ok. His new bed is a bunk and he slept in it for the first time last night and loves it. It looks like an army bunk complete with toy box engine. I'll try to attach a picture. WE live next to the owner of th estore so we got a big discount. It is so cool. I figure it will last him a lifetime, cause if he ever gets too old for army cloth that can come off and he'll have a hunter green set of bunks.

I logged onto my bank account and almost fell over. It was about 3 hundred more than I expected. That is too much for a raise and too little for his bonus (both of which are due soon)so I asked him what was up. He said he changed the deductible since we are adopting in the morning. this way Uncle Sam won't get a big loan from us. I am going to try to "lose the extra" by hiding it in another account like the emergency fund when we get back. I am really trying t make sure we don't over spend on this trip East the way we usually do even though it is longer. When we get back we will have the "gift" from Uncle Sam to look forward to and his raise plus a couple other things in our mail. It might be enough to pay off the credit cards completely. That would make me extremely happy!

It has been busy around here getting ready for our two grandchildren to spend the next 9 months. Their Mom will be going to Iraq as a civilian to work on vehicles. They are hoping this will get them out of debt. An extreme way to do but it works. We are excited to have the youngest children here. They are 4 and 2 and my two are 4 and 3. It will rock around the clock here I am sure! We have been making plans for fun things to do, homeschooling materials, and trips to take. We are going to keep them too busy to miss their parents too badly (yeah right) We're at least going to try. We are also getting ready to finalize our second adoption. 9 more days to go. till the finalization and th etrip down to get the kids. We are stopping off on the way to see my family in PA and our daughter in NC and her family. We are waiting to see when their Dad gets leave so he can come see them. Hopefully their Mom will get leave at the same time and they can both come here.

I just bought the math program I am going to go with for the next year or so. i will have two 4s (turn to 5s in late summer) and i think it will be a good program to make concepts memorable. I also like that the songs come in two versions, Bible based and kids songs. I am sometime challenged to use the Bible in Math (you can count only so many arks) and am delighted that they did it this way. The 2 and 3 yr old will learn the songs and be further ahead too. This system goes into Algebra, geometry and precalc. They also have a stewardship program that i think is really important. Hopefully it will be a good system for us.

I was amazed to find my state taxes were already deposited into our account. That's less than a week.!

We debated on how to do taxes this year. Fro the last two years we have use a service because we had a special deduction that has now run out. So we considered how to file this year. Thought about snail mail for about 10 seconds. Didn't qualify for free file through the site.Looked at the HR Block online file and actually went through most of it until they tried to tell me I owed 500 more for the state than I had found when I did it on paper. I used their nifty live help and the girl asked me if I had called the state. Why would I the paper tax tables said one thing it was her program that was faulty. I left the site very disatisfied and bought Turbo tax. I was disgusted to find that after I paid 45 for the program I still had to pay another fee to file state and federal. Ah well I paid and hope to get my tax money in the next week or so. Just in time to clear some of the debt before we head south. I am hoping to get the tax rebate later as well. That will be another 1500 towards the debt. I have high hopes that we will be once again debt free by summer. This time I intend to stay that way.

We filed paperwork with the court today and a date for finalization has been set. Our DD2 will be official on my birthday.

My DIL is going to Iraq. She told the kids (who will come to live with me) that i twas to help their Dad and they agreed that they couldn't leave Daddy over their without any help. The 4 year old made her promise that when he is old enough he can go over and get rid of the "bad guys" once and for all so nobody else's Mommy or Daddy have to leave them. She has a civilian job for a year. It isn't the easiest way to get out of debt, 12 hours a day 7 days a week but it will do it for them and then they can hopefully buy a house. In the meantime Nana and Morfar get to have two more little ones. The older ones are staying with friends in the area. The plan is to keep them so busy they don't miss Mom and Dad too much (yeah right)

We are all sick, but the kids seem to be hit the lightest Thank God. DH is short of breath and weak even with the meds. He is also congested and coughing. I am weak, congested and coughing. I am keeping on because I have to with the kids. I am even doing some declutter in light of the company we are expecting later. First i have to make it to the store today, wish we had a drivethru grocery store!!

I can't risk collapse with two little ones around that count on me. I was so weak I could hardly carry them upstairs and I don't think it was just the fever. So I gave up the raw diet and went to my own. I am down 11 lbs so far so I don't think I did too bad. I am still eating healthy. I am still eating very little, so I guess it will do OK. I hope so anyway. I'm not very hungry with this cough thing going on so that helps.

But I'm not, I lost 2 more pounds which brings the total up to 9 #s. Had kids sick for the last 2 days, running fevers and stuffy. now I feel lousy and i'm not sure it was from that or from the crash diet I'm on. DH has lost 13 Lbs.

Looked at doing taxes last night. I believe we will get a couple K back which will pay for our trip east coming up later this month. If my DH gets a bonus we have a chance of once again becoming debt free. Then we will build up the EF again. It was frustrating to be so far ahead and then lose it but we needed to help out. No regrets except that we didn't start soon enough to have an EF large enough to handle it. Then we would have saved the interest. Next years taxes will be better. DH is going to change the deduction so we don't owe anything and pay very little, then all we get back is the credits we will be entitled too and the IRS doesn't get a free loan.

I didn't lose any weight yesterday. That is a problem with getting weighed everyday. On the off day you know it. I ate less yesterday. No justice in an old body! Oh well I will stick to the diet and see what happens tomorrow.

We have several appointments today including doing paperwork for finalizing the adoption so would normally be a great day to celebrate (read eat sugary stuff) but we aren't. We even went to Perkins last night and only had salad. It is kids eat free night and they love going so we went and had dry salad. I enjoyed it but my DH didn't so guess we won't be going back for awhile. Weight loss total is up to 7 # for me and 17.5 for him. That is a definite motivator.

They say the third day of a diet is the worst. I haven't found that to be true of this one. For breakfast I had half a grapefruit and some vitamins, then for lunch I had 2 dates, carrot and .25 cup of walnuts. We went out for dinner (kids eat free and they enjoy it) I had a dry salad with no cheese or egg or meat. i expect to have an orange and some nuts later when I take more vitamins. Not bad, hope i lost weight. i may stay on this after I lose the 50 pounds.

Today hasn't been too bad. Diet wise that is. I haven't been craving or super hungry but I haven't forgotten that sugar exists either. It didn't help that my DS2 wanted oatmeal for an afternoon snack (growth spurt, hollow leg time) and it is one of my favorites. I actually had less than we had planned food wise today. My kids are in the habit of eating off of my plate as well as there own and if what they are eating is fresh fruit and veggies, I tend to be very lenient as long as they had eaten their food too. Today for lunch I had half an apple and some nuts. I had most o f2 dates later. I had a salad and nuts for dinner of which they ate a good bit. My DS 2 has developed a taste for sprouts. Later tonight I am looking forward to an orange. If we eat them after 8 o clock I will get the whole thing. I get some more nuts too! Wow who could ask for anything more!!

OK so if this keeps up I will be inspired. I lost 3.5 # and he lost 7. Hope this keeps up. As to maintenance, when we have lost we will add in foods that are healthy, whole grains, brown rice (my personal favorite) and stuff like that a small amount at a time to see what happens.

How do you top the other 2 "meals" I had today? How about with a cucumber and .25 cup of walnuts. Add two dates and it is .. ...........................................
NOT ENOUGH!!!! Oh well, there is always tomorrow,
Not for food of course but for the hope that my stomach will shrink and that much food will actually make a difference in what I feel!
WE figure that DH wants to lose 100 # and I want to lose 50. I am doing a reward every time he loses 20 and I lose 10. Now all I have to do is figure out what would make a good reward.

My DH and I both need to lose weight and eat healthier. I had the inspiration of our becoming vegetarians. I don't miss meat much although salmon has gotten a couple of longing looks over the last months. His addition is to take it a bit further. He has decided on a raw food diet. OK, I looked into it and it is interesting. Without a very expensive dehydrator, blender, and food processor however it is rather hard. We aren't in a position to invest right now so we decided to make our own up. We started today and believe me while I hungry but none of my choices look good! For breakfast I had half a grapefruit and .25 cup of almonds. For lunch a salad and .25 cup of brazil nuts. Dinner is looming but I'm not sure I care! I believe it is .25 cup of walnuts and more raw veggies. Snack as we watch a movie is .25 cup of pecans and an apple. That is the basic, and advanced menu for the next oh 3 months or so. I BETTER lose weight!!!! We are making a log and I am going to insist on a reward every either pounds or percentage of the total we want to lose is gone. The real kicker to this is I don't want to go back to the way we were eating (ok, yes I do but...)Now all I need is to figure what will be the best reward.

When we moved to Wisconsin I made several comments as to the absolutely impossibility of my ever ever ever doing what the natives did and walking on the lake or river. No I don't live among intensely faithful, we're not up to Peter's caliber here, it freezes pretty solid in the winter as I am sure it does other places. I have never lived anywhere that people could walk on the ice on a regular basis and not need 911. I have been in awe of the trucks, 4 wheelers, and people sitting on upturned buckets every winter, not to mention the ice houses with smoke coming from the chimney. Even if I were crazy enough to walk on the ice, I wouldn't sit with it heated around me! Today i was reading the paper and found that they were cutting ice for the local historic farm and that we could watch. They were also having an ice fishing contest. The first challenge was finding stuff to keep the kids warm since they had been out "swimming" in the snow and everything was soaked. After I hurdled that challenge my DH pointed out that to see them cut ice you had walk out to where they were cutting the ice. I hadn't thought of that and what I said wasn't very nice but I was committed then because I had gotten the kids excited about doing it. We drove out to the Lake and I had to concentrate on keeping my 4 year old upright as well as myself and didn't realize where I was until DH said, "Look kids, we're walking on the Lake" Thanks Hon!We walked out and saw them cut. It was really cool. DS2 and DD2 got to try to saw a block (not near the water, Mom wasn't that secure) and we brought home a small piece of ice to show. We're going to try to find some sawdust and pack it away till next summer.

Ok, the vote is in,
The furnace repair guy I used will be lauded whenever someone asks what i think from now on. his bill came and it is just over $100.00 for weekend work. What a relief. Considering everything that went wrong today that is great.

I just bought something on ebay. It was new but cheaper than in the stores. I took off the shrink wrap and checked it out. I was not happy to discover that it was too easy for my DD2 (age 3). I would have known if I could have seen it for 5 minutes or if I could have talked or emailed to someone who had one. Then I never would have bought it. Nor would I have had to resell it. I have been thinking that we need a community of people who can tell us about products we are considering. Not reviews but answers specific questions that might not be covered on a general box description. I have been looking at a video game system for young children but am afraid to sink the $30 into it because it may be too easy for my two, or I may not be able to get more advanced games that don't feature tv characters I don't allow my kids to watch. I would love to spend 5 minutes playing it or even asking those specific questions not covered on the box. So like I said, the world needs a group of people who can give each other info. It isn't just children's toys either, how about info on appliances, or games, or .........

I am so disgusted with someone. I don't know who of course, have to protect the people who don't have anything better to do than complain about others. We have 2 large dogs, a shepherd and a golden. They love to be outside in the snow and we have runs for them where they can reach each other. They are never out when we aren't home. Today my DH put them out in the morning before work. Usually we don't do that but he had to be home 3 hours later. 3 hours is not a long time for those two. They were happily playing and watching the world go by with occasional barking while I homeschooled my two. I kept an eye on them through the schoolroom window because if they lay down for too long then they need to come in. At 10:15 a policeman knocked on my door and told me they were out too long. I explained that it wasnt even 3 hours and he said they have no food water or shelter. OK< they eat at night and if I put out water they knock it over and play in it. Shelter they don't need if I am keeping an eye on them. He said in order to make sure they don't get any more calls I have to not put them out. We used to put them out after DH got home for a couple hours and that was it besides quick trips. We take good care of our animals. I checked when I brought them in and their skin was warm and dry. For that matter the fur wasn't wet or cold either. I want a privacy fence!! Actually I want to move!! I have no idea who did this to us and now don't know who to trust. GRRRRR.

Not outside, inside. My DH noticed it a few hours after I did and asked me why. I explained that the furnace seemed to be taking a break. He went in and felt the register and flipped. It seems they were blowing cold air (I knew that) I told him it was the weekend and people who fix that stuff charge ALOT more on weekends. He didnt seem to care. He asked me to call a friend and see if he knew anything about furnaces. The friend suggested the usual things, pilot (we don't have one) and thermo coupler (too difficult for my DH to consider) and I finally gave in and looked up a furnace place in the yellow pages. I was so relieved when I recognized one of the addresses as my Usborne book dealer. At least I knew he was honest. I called him and he came right away and replace the electric igniter. I haven't seen the bill yet but I'm sure it will be outstanding. I hate getting people to come do stuff like that. I have to call a plumber and I am putting that off as long as possible.

I rarely put a link in my blog but this is too good to pass up. Hope it works
I homeschool as I know several others do and I got this from one of the Mom's in my playgroup.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VM6uqj0_jQc

It was official a couple weeks ago, another company bought out the one my DH works for. Yesterday they had a meeting and found out that benefits will stay the same for a year and then who knows. I get the impression that the new parent company hasn't been as generous as the old one. They are also going to have each IT person fill out a form telling them what they want and are looking for those who want to be broadened. Needless to say we are all in favor of being broadened especially if it involves moving around to the different plants this one has. Many of them are closer to the kids and grandkids. I told him it was ok for us to become migrant IT workers but not if I had to be a "IT widow"! We'll see what happens. I just hope taking some family leave doesn't interfere with anything.

In February we should finish up court proceedings and our DD2's adoption should be finalized. We are hoping that DH can take some family leave at the time and we can visit East. We have quite a trip planned. Starting in Wisconsin, going to Michigan, then Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Georgia then home to Wisconsin again. Even if he gets 2 weeks we will only have a couple days to spend at each place. Michigan isn't family so we won't be spending alot of time there but we want to see three different families in 3 different towns. There is only one real stop in Pennsylvania because I hope my family will all get together to meet DD2 at one house. If we time it right my niece may give birth around the time we are there and we can meet our two new nieces or rather grand nieces. Then on to North Carolina to see DD and her family and then to DIL and the family in GA. We will be celebrating Christmas with the kids and family since we couldn't get there before this. i can't even begin to figure out what to pack for this and as to cost, I am putting my head in the sand because I think this will drown us!! Actually I think I have two thirds of the cost saved in spite of having some credit card debt from when I went in Nov to help with the surgery aftermath. We won't be traveling much until June when the next grandchild will be putting in a much anticipated appearance and then in August when DS comes home on leave from Iraq and we'll see after that. Travel is a bit daunting now that it includes two kids, two dogs and us.

New Years used to be a big deal when I was little, we got to eat junk food! We got to have pop! Dad paid attention to us! I remember him going out the day before and coming home with a case of pop and a bunch of snack stuff. It might have been cheese curls, chips, crackers, cheese in a can, and occasionally crackers. There was also this loaf of bread that was called party rye. Each piece was maybe 2 inches by 2 inches square and I loved it. On the 31st we went up under the eaves and found the roulette wheel and board or the bingo game. My Dad was the caller and we had junk and played what ever game we picked for that year. Usually it was roulette, in fact I only remember Bingo being played once. I was so young that I was in a high chair at my Mom's side. Then we little ones were sent to bed around 10 or so. OK, maybe it was only me! About 11:30 we stopped to listen to the music and watch the ball drop. Always it was Guy Lombardo. Around midnight the phone would ring and his friend from years ago would call. It was the only time they were in touch. I remember the year Dad died in October and when that phone rang (we didn't watch Guy that year either or play roulette) we all froze. NO one wanted to answer the phone. Anyway most of the memories were good so I want to make something similiar for my two youngest. I am not married to a guy who likes to go out (except to eat) so we are home (and usually in bed by midnight) but I remember how important traditions are so am going to build some. This year we are playing games like Bingo, Topple, Lotto and memory from dinner time till bedtime (and that will be all of 9 instead of 8) and eating cheeses curls, chips, and cheese on party rye bread.

For several reasons I have been very introspective lately. I have neglected this blog among other things. I need to get "on the stick" and do several things and I guess this is as good a time as any. So I guess I will redo my goals.
1) Eliminate credit card debt (already did this but built it back when DIL got hurt)
2) Choose a new stock for Sharebuilder
3) Lose weight (still and again)
4) Karate classes more consistently (due to ill spouse I havent been for a month and it bugs me)
5) Clear out the clutter and reduce our possessions to a reasonable amount (to make move south easier if God provides a job)
6) Get the kids outside more
7) Find a way of making money at home
8) Emergency fund (we need to redo it DIL cleared it out too)
9) Plan vacations (as in cash for them) to see family (Feb-adoption finalized, June-new one due, and Aug-son visiting from Iraq)
10)Pay off the doctors bills.