Fridge is Fixed?!

Hopefully the fridge is fixed now. The repairman ordered a defrost timer and put it in today. Wasn't real expensive and I'm really hoping it fixes it. Will be nice not to be using that little dorm fridge, although I am incredibly grateful that we were able to borrow it! What a blessing!

Life's Curveballs

Well, as usual, in our household, when it rains, it pours. Our fridge is on the fritz. A guy came and looked at it on Friday, cleaned the coils, etc., declared it fixed, and left. All weekend, it was up and down. It would be zero in the freezer, then 40, 40 in the fridge, then 50 or 55. So I called him again yesterday. His response? "Well I can look at it, but that should have fixed it". Well Hello! It didn't! Anyway, he came and looked at it again and now it's the defrost timer. So we'll see. He ordered one, hoped it might be in today. Then my ex's mother passed away Saturday. We got the call as we were leaving our great-niece's birthday party. That funeral is tomorrow. Plus, I am on pins and needles everyday waiting for the evaluator to show up for my Environmental Rating Scale. And the cherry on top? I've been having trouble lately with a couple of child care clients (checks that wasn't good and other drama).

My mantra? God is in control!

The Path Life Takes

Have you ever thought about the path your life has taken? And how different people along the way have changed it or affected it? That's been on my mind lately with my ex's mother not expected to make it. I think about that part of my life, when I first met them. Last month would have been my 25th wedding anniversary, had we stayed married. This month is the 20th anniversary of him walking out of our life (mine and the kids). I always wanted the kids to have a relationship with their grandparents, no matter what choices their son had made. So even though it was hard for me emotionally at times, we stayed in touch with them. In time, they "adopted" Natasha and treated her just like one of their own grandkids. And treated Tom & I like one of the family. I am sad for the path that their son chose to take, but I am happy that I stayed involved with them and stayed close to their family. He doesn't know what he missed out on-knowing two great kids who have grown into wonderful adults. Everyday, I thank God for sending me Tom to be a part of their lives and mine. I am not sorry for taking the path where I married him because if I hadn't, I wouldn't have Josh & Serenity, nor would I have Tom and Natasha.

Please continue praying for the family. My ex-mother-in-law is still hanging in there.

Not like I planned

Well, the weekend didn't go as I had planned. I was feeling awful for most of it. Still not sure if it was allergies or a cold, but I am feeling quite a bit better. Still amazes me to have this stuff going on and still be able to breathe fairly well, or at least not be gasping for breath! Anyway, that being said, I didn't get much done around the house like I had hoped.

Please keep my ex's family in prayer. His mom isn't doing well and isn't expected to live much longer.

Three Day Weekend!

I am so excited about a 3 day weekend, even if I need to spend most of it working on stuff around the house! But I also get to go on a shopping date with my husband tonight and do lunch (for my birthday last weekend) with our friends on Monday!

Went to do some shopping last night and got some good deals:

Jumbo's:

Van Camp Pork & Beans, on sale 2/$1, had coupons for $1 off of 4, so got 8 cans for 25 cents each.

Hunt's Ketchup, on sale for 89 cents each, had coupons for $1 off of two, got 4 of them for 39 cents each.

Walgreen's:

Gain laundry detergent, on sale with a Walgreen's coupon for 4.99, had other coupons for $1 off Gain products making them 3.99 each, got two (the limit) on them. Hoping to get a couple of more and that should stock me up on laundry soap for the summer.

Walgreen's also had a buy $25 worth of products, get $10 in Register Rewards, so I got 2 packages of razors and 2 bottles of sunscreen (and used coupons on both razors and one of the sunscreens). I found some more sunscreen coupons and some coupons for some of the other stuff on the sale so I am going to try to get some more tonight.

Wal-Mart:
Used $1 off Gain product coupons on 40 count dryer sheets, got 2 of them for 87 cents each.

Used $1 off White Cloud toilet paper coupons. Got a 4 roll pack for $1 and a 12 roll pack for $4.97 (one of the coupons wasn't good on 4 packs)

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Moving Forward

Well, the last few weeks have gone by in a blur. My youngest daughter graduated from high school last Friday, as valedictorian of her class. We are so proud of her, but it doesn't seem like she should be going off to college in a couple of months. Pretty soon, we may have an empty nest. It's one of those sad, but also exciting times.

In other news, I have been debating whether to share this or not, but it's a testimony so I feel like I should share it. A few weeks ago, Tom and I made the decision to actually tithe (give 10%) of our income. We've been giving for quite a while, but hadn't ever actually got up to 10%. We decided to step out in faith and do it. Since then: As you already know, both of the parties that are suing us agreed to work with us. Plus, 18 years ago when we moved to town, we had to put $150 deposit down to get a phone. We had never got the deposit back. I forget what the guidelines were for being able to get it, but obviously, we'd never met them. LOL. Anyway, we got our phone bill last week and it was $10. They finally returned that money! So that gives us a little bit extra to put towards some of those little nagging bills. Please continue to pray for us as we try to work out payment arrangements with some of the bigger bills.

Thanks!

This Week in Review

So, Tuesday, we went to court for the hospital bill (this was from Tom's surgery last year). I had sent them a letter asking for a payment plan of $50 a month, they called me back on Monday and said they could take $100 a month. I talked to Tom and we agreed to it. I asked the girl to fax me a copy of the agreement and she did. We decided it would still be wise to go Tuesday morning, so we went. When we got there, the lawyer that was there didn't even know that we had made an agreement so if we hadn't gone, it would have just looked like we didn't show up. Anyway, it's all worked out now, so please just pray that we are able to make those payments with no problem.

Thursday evening, I went in and did some coupon shopping.

At K-Mart, I spent $4.71 and got:

Four 3 packs of Ivory bar soap (on sale for $1 a pack and with $1 off coupon for each one).
6 bags of Easter eggs at 90% off, should be enough for my daycare egg hunt next year.
Some other clearance Easter stuff

At Walgreen's, I got another one of the Profusion razor kits. It was on sale for 9.89 with a $5 Register Reward and I had a $4 off coupon.

At United I got 3 boxes of Wheat Thin Crunch Stix crackers for 74 cents a box (they were on sale for 1.74, I had $1 off coupons)

At Jumbo's I got:
18 boxes of Hamburger, Tuna, and Chicken Helper. On sale for 99 cents a box with 75 cents off 3 coupons for 74 cents each, final price.
4 packages of Taco Bell fajita seasoning, $1.26 total, they were 69 cents each, I had 75 cents off two coupons
I also got some roast that was on sale and some pork chops that were marked down

Last night, I did my regular bi-weekly shopping and at Wal-Mart I got
2 more bottles of free Nivea body was
Degree men's deodorant for 78 cents (they were out of the trial size so I couldn't get free)
Used a $1 coupon on my regular laundry detergent