Dustin sent me flowers last Friday. Just because. No anniversary. No birthday. No special event. No make ups to be done (worst reason for flowers and it must be known that Dustin has never sent make up flowers...I don't think there has ever been a reason to make up)
The note said this...."You AMAZE me! You just bought your first house, got your biggest bonus, been successful at Everything you touch and are still head over heels in love with me? That's AMAZING!"
I am still head over heels in love with him. In a couple of weeks we will have been married 9 years.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Sweet Suds
In my 9 years of marriage, the only place that we lived that had a dishwasher was Fireside apartments and that was just for one year. Now I own a house that has a dishwasher. I actually own a dishwasher that has a house!
Bring on the dirty dishes!
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
the cost of humility....$100 in cash
So this morning I learned a valuable lesson at the expense of everyone in my house...sorry AB, Dustin and Zuzka.
A few months ago, Dustin and I were given $200 cash by someone because they said that God told them to give it to us. That money could not have come at a better time. We were trying to save up the earnest money for our house and Dustin had put us on a spending freeze. It was a couple of days before we were going to be paid and we just needed something to hold us over for the 3 basics…diapers, wipes and milk. That money was a true God-send. On the outside of the envelope I wrote two things. “God will provide” and “He makes a way.” I want those two truths to be remembered always by anyone who opens the envelope! It always makes me pause and thank Him for coming through.
From that day forward, we decided to make a rule…we will always keep $200 cash on hand and if we need to use something…for a necessity…NOT for bagel money or something else frivolous…we will replace it the next payday so that we will always have the $200 base.
Fast forward to yesterday….we are trying to pay the tuition for Zuzka and other new homeowner expenses that just pop up and Dustin put us on a spending freeze again and we would just rely on the emergency fund till Friday. He had to use about $100 for new locks and keys for the new house and some caulk to seal up some air leaks. He told me that there was $100 left and I could use it for groceries.
This is where my lesson begins…He said that he handed me the envelope. I remember him not handing it to me but rather placing it on top of the yellow dresser. So this morning, on my way out the door, I went to grab the cash so that I could stop on the way home. Grocery shopping is so much easier with out a baby. I looked everywhere and I couldn’t find the envelope. I asked Dustin and he insisted that he handed it to me and I insisted that he didn’t. I looked on top of the yellow dresser, in his coat pockets, his jeans pockets, my pants pockets, my purse and the diaper bag. The envelope was NO WHERE to be found.
Poor Zuzka sat on the couch as I made snide remarks like, “Anna we will get you some more milk as soon as mommy finds the grocery money” and Dustin calmly told me I need to work on my memory which made me say more snide remarks like, “IF I find the money, I will admit I am wrong and apologize for this…implying that if HE found the money he had better do the same”! It was way too much conversation for 7:45 in the morning, even if the words weren’t stressed or tense words, it was just way too much.
I was really stressed. If I didn’t get that $100 back then there wouldn’t be any groceries until Friday and Anna only had one and a half sippy cups worth of milk left.
As I got in the car, I prayed that the Holy Spirit would show me where the envelope was.
Immediately, my mind went to last night’s leadership and logistics meeting. Usually they are at our house but due to the move, this one was at Fidelis’ house. Anna was way out of character and was just being busy and cranky. She had emptied her diaper bag and I put everything back in, but maybe I missed something, so I text Fidelis and asked him when he got home from work if he could just look under his couch for a small white envelope with some writing on the outside and $100 cash inside. He called me back within 5 minutes. I thought he was already at work so was thrilled when he told me he was at home. I was on the phone with him as he began looking for the envelope. The next thing that happened was he leaned down and said he had found something and on the outside of it there was writing that said “God will provide” and “He makes a way.” Just to hear someone say those two truths out loud made my heart sink. #1 God will provide and make a way but #2 how could I be so stress and so ugly about such a small issue that DUH! God will provide and make away! I quickly thanked him for finding it and arranged the time I would pick it up and called Dustin to apologize. Of course he didn’t answer. I wouldn’t have answered me either. I called Zuzka and she answered. I apologized to her and then asked if she could give the phone to Dustin. I apologized to him as well.
I really need to find a way to deal with this stress that I am experiencing. I really need to find a way to channel my frustrations. Tomorrow is a new day and a fresh start. I just hope I can still salvage today.
A few months ago, Dustin and I were given $200 cash by someone because they said that God told them to give it to us. That money could not have come at a better time. We were trying to save up the earnest money for our house and Dustin had put us on a spending freeze. It was a couple of days before we were going to be paid and we just needed something to hold us over for the 3 basics…diapers, wipes and milk. That money was a true God-send. On the outside of the envelope I wrote two things. “God will provide” and “He makes a way.” I want those two truths to be remembered always by anyone who opens the envelope! It always makes me pause and thank Him for coming through.
From that day forward, we decided to make a rule…we will always keep $200 cash on hand and if we need to use something…for a necessity…NOT for bagel money or something else frivolous…we will replace it the next payday so that we will always have the $200 base.
Fast forward to yesterday….we are trying to pay the tuition for Zuzka and other new homeowner expenses that just pop up and Dustin put us on a spending freeze again and we would just rely on the emergency fund till Friday. He had to use about $100 for new locks and keys for the new house and some caulk to seal up some air leaks. He told me that there was $100 left and I could use it for groceries.
This is where my lesson begins…He said that he handed me the envelope. I remember him not handing it to me but rather placing it on top of the yellow dresser. So this morning, on my way out the door, I went to grab the cash so that I could stop on the way home. Grocery shopping is so much easier with out a baby. I looked everywhere and I couldn’t find the envelope. I asked Dustin and he insisted that he handed it to me and I insisted that he didn’t. I looked on top of the yellow dresser, in his coat pockets, his jeans pockets, my pants pockets, my purse and the diaper bag. The envelope was NO WHERE to be found.
Poor Zuzka sat on the couch as I made snide remarks like, “Anna we will get you some more milk as soon as mommy finds the grocery money” and Dustin calmly told me I need to work on my memory which made me say more snide remarks like, “IF I find the money, I will admit I am wrong and apologize for this…implying that if HE found the money he had better do the same”! It was way too much conversation for 7:45 in the morning, even if the words weren’t stressed or tense words, it was just way too much.
I was really stressed. If I didn’t get that $100 back then there wouldn’t be any groceries until Friday and Anna only had one and a half sippy cups worth of milk left.
As I got in the car, I prayed that the Holy Spirit would show me where the envelope was.
Immediately, my mind went to last night’s leadership and logistics meeting. Usually they are at our house but due to the move, this one was at Fidelis’ house. Anna was way out of character and was just being busy and cranky. She had emptied her diaper bag and I put everything back in, but maybe I missed something, so I text Fidelis and asked him when he got home from work if he could just look under his couch for a small white envelope with some writing on the outside and $100 cash inside. He called me back within 5 minutes. I thought he was already at work so was thrilled when he told me he was at home. I was on the phone with him as he began looking for the envelope. The next thing that happened was he leaned down and said he had found something and on the outside of it there was writing that said “God will provide” and “He makes a way.” Just to hear someone say those two truths out loud made my heart sink. #1 God will provide and make a way but #2 how could I be so stress and so ugly about such a small issue that DUH! God will provide and make away! I quickly thanked him for finding it and arranged the time I would pick it up and called Dustin to apologize. Of course he didn’t answer. I wouldn’t have answered me either. I called Zuzka and she answered. I apologized to her and then asked if she could give the phone to Dustin. I apologized to him as well.
I really need to find a way to deal with this stress that I am experiencing. I really need to find a way to channel my frustrations. Tomorrow is a new day and a fresh start. I just hope I can still salvage today.
Monday, January 12, 2009
40 minutes looking for socks and the joys of owning a home
It's a new year and a fresh start...at least that is what my pastor keeps saying. I am ready for a fresh start. We bought a house on January 5th and moved in on the 10th. My life has been nonstop high speed crazy since then.
Thursday I had the cleaners out to give the empty house a good scrub. We also had the exterminator come out that afternoon as well. Dustin and I have a rule about bugs...whoever finds it kills it unless we can convince the dog to take a shot at it. He hates bugs more than I and I don't like them too much myself. Might as well have a fresh start for $125 and avoid bugs all together. Friday was the next round of service people. We had the air ducts cleared for the sake of Dustin's allergies and because I made the mistake of watching the TV show How Clean is Your House, we got the carpet cleaned too.
While we were moving (HUGE thanks to the almost 20 Terrific Tapestry people that came out to help in the rain and hail) Dustin fell and cracked his rib...during the first part of the morning.
I am beginning to learn a lot about home-ownership. We paid $195 for the cleaners to clean an empty house...they left old lipstick kisses on windows untouched, cob webs in the bed room, grease on the stove, dead bugs on the window seal...and so on. The bug guy tried to get us locked into a quarterly agreement. The air duct person didn't put the HVAC unit back together properly and now it won't cut off and and our bedroom is 85 degrees and the carpet people broke the valve on our outside faucet and left the water running and we did not discover it until last night.
On top of that....AB hates the new house. She hates her new room. She screams if we put her on the floor to walk around. I tried to unpack a couple of boxes into a closet and she kept closing the door every time I would walk away to grab the next box. Last night when we pulled into the driveway, AB recognized the house and screamed NOOOOoooooooo! and started crying. We then called BopBaw who sang Diamonds on the Souls of Her Shoes which seemed to calm her down.
Moose doesn't know which way is up and yesterday when I put him in his crate he was hesitant and when I got home from church I found out why...he had gotten sick all in his crate. Poor dog.
This morning I was 40 minutes late for work looking for a pair of socks. Needless to say, I ended up at work late with no socks. I am trying to stay positive and trying to find a way to channel my frustrations...for AB it is screaming, moose is choosing diarrhea, I might just choose blogging. I will let you know how that works...you will just have to keep checking back!
This is a photo of us the day we closed on the house. it's not my favortie photo but life is too short to worry about what you look like. This is what it looked like and that is that.
Thursday I had the cleaners out to give the empty house a good scrub. We also had the exterminator come out that afternoon as well. Dustin and I have a rule about bugs...whoever finds it kills it unless we can convince the dog to take a shot at it. He hates bugs more than I and I don't like them too much myself. Might as well have a fresh start for $125 and avoid bugs all together. Friday was the next round of service people. We had the air ducts cleared for the sake of Dustin's allergies and because I made the mistake of watching the TV show How Clean is Your House, we got the carpet cleaned too.
While we were moving (HUGE thanks to the almost 20 Terrific Tapestry people that came out to help in the rain and hail) Dustin fell and cracked his rib...during the first part of the morning.
I am beginning to learn a lot about home-ownership. We paid $195 for the cleaners to clean an empty house...they left old lipstick kisses on windows untouched, cob webs in the bed room, grease on the stove, dead bugs on the window seal...and so on. The bug guy tried to get us locked into a quarterly agreement. The air duct person didn't put the HVAC unit back together properly and now it won't cut off and and our bedroom is 85 degrees and the carpet people broke the valve on our outside faucet and left the water running and we did not discover it until last night.
On top of that....AB hates the new house. She hates her new room. She screams if we put her on the floor to walk around. I tried to unpack a couple of boxes into a closet and she kept closing the door every time I would walk away to grab the next box. Last night when we pulled into the driveway, AB recognized the house and screamed NOOOOoooooooo! and started crying. We then called BopBaw who sang Diamonds on the Souls of Her Shoes which seemed to calm her down.
Moose doesn't know which way is up and yesterday when I put him in his crate he was hesitant and when I got home from church I found out why...he had gotten sick all in his crate. Poor dog.
This morning I was 40 minutes late for work looking for a pair of socks. Needless to say, I ended up at work late with no socks. I am trying to stay positive and trying to find a way to channel my frustrations...for AB it is screaming, moose is choosing diarrhea, I might just choose blogging. I will let you know how that works...you will just have to keep checking back!
This is a photo of us the day we closed on the house. it's not my favortie photo but life is too short to worry about what you look like. This is what it looked like and that is that.
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