Soooooo, the weekend was planned. Chad's parents were going to come in Thursday night, his sister was arriving Friday, as was my mom. We had lodging and food set up for the whole weekend.
The week was extremely slow, and Chad felt under the weather both Monday and Tuesday so he didn't work. When do they decide to call him "up north," as we call it (Dickinson up to Canada, basically)? Thursday morning. It was supposed to be a quick trip, then home. But that would be convenient and logical! When his parents arrived, I got word from him that everything that could go wrong DID go wrong, and he was on his way home--two and a half hours--to pick up a piece of equipment, sit for half hour to eat, then go back--another two and a half hours--to finish the job Friday.
Friday comes, and things go well, Chad's parents and I have a pleasant lazy day, hangin' around town. Chad is expected home by midnight. Mom is expected around six. She calls from Bismarck, scared to continue driving in the blizzarding weather, and I convince her to keep on truckin'. I go in to work, and a few hours later, she comes in to the bar (I'm working) and sits down for dinner. I go to get a menu, and in come MICHAEL, my brother from Sacramento!!! THEY SURPRISED ME AGAIN!! Probably the best Easter gift ever.
Chad arrives at 3 in the a.m. and we all go to bed.
Saturday, Tara (Chad's sister), Matthew, the kids and Sandra (his other, pregnant sister) come over, and we have lots of fun dying eggs and prepping for the barbeque next door, which included lots of runs to the the grocery store and various other places around town. We, the closest guests, are late to the barbeque (no big deal; it's a Williams thing) and we have a blast. My brother, as always, is a big kick, the life of the party.
We sleep. We wake early, start fixing the roast, and head off to Easter Sunday church, to the first church I've set foot in in Baker. We finish the roast and stuff, family arrive again, and we eat. Good times. Lots of stories, some fun banter, fantastic food, wonderful weather, and great company from family (it was actually pleasant!).
Today I drove all the way to Bismarck with Michael, caravanning with Mom; ate at Ruby Tuesday, and said "goodbye." Everyone is back home, and the wheels have slowed considerably, yet I am still energized (could be the Frappe i had).
Now I'm home, waiting for Chad to get here so we can do yoga and go to bed. Lots of cleaning to be done, but it is TOTALLY worth it.
Gotta love surprise visits, and shifts in plans. And regardless of my anal-retentive need to be in control, I had a fabulous time with the ENTIRE family this time, and I am happy it went the way it did.
Happy Easter, people, and Happy Spring.
Monday, April 25, 2011
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
New Leaf
Since I haven't blogged since April 1st, I thought it would be a good thing to try and get back into. It's been a while since I've had the time and the attention span to blog, or even just spend any more than about 3 minutes on Facebook every few days lately.
Well, since I last posted I officially started a new job. I now work at Heiser's Bar and Casino in addition to Bright Beginnings Early Learning Center. So in a sense, I'm a babysitter for children by day, and a babysitter for adults by night/weekend. Teehee.
My days, evenings and weekends are now pretty much booked, and as of this coming Friday night I will have worked for 14 days straight, no days off. WooHoo, what a trip.
This is going to be a busy, stressful, yet exhilarating spring/summer. I will be working two jobs, Chad and I will be working on the house (basement, foundation, windows, garage, etc.), trying to travel and enjoy ourselves, AND spending a good part of the money we're making to reduce our debt, all at the same time as training for the Baker Triathlon in July.
At this point in our lives I am SO very happy and consider ourselves blessed that Chad and I do NOT have children right now. That is not to say that we don't like or want kids, but not having kids at this point in our lives has allowed us to do so much more than we would be able to with little ones.
Another thing I consider a serious blessing is Dave Ramsey. He and his program have also allowed us to do fantastical things with our money that, without him, we never would have thought to do. If he hadn't been introduced to us, we still would have most of our student loans and other debt. I am telling you that if you haven't, you MUST check him out, regardless of your religious or political views, and regardless of where you are financially.
Either way, April has been a busy busy month, and will continue to be till May. Hopefully amidst all of it, I will attempt to keep up on my blogging.....and my working out, at which I have failed massively this month. But tomorrow is another day, and another chance to get on the ball.
Well, since I last posted I officially started a new job. I now work at Heiser's Bar and Casino in addition to Bright Beginnings Early Learning Center. So in a sense, I'm a babysitter for children by day, and a babysitter for adults by night/weekend. Teehee.
My days, evenings and weekends are now pretty much booked, and as of this coming Friday night I will have worked for 14 days straight, no days off. WooHoo, what a trip.
This is going to be a busy, stressful, yet exhilarating spring/summer. I will be working two jobs, Chad and I will be working on the house (basement, foundation, windows, garage, etc.), trying to travel and enjoy ourselves, AND spending a good part of the money we're making to reduce our debt, all at the same time as training for the Baker Triathlon in July.
At this point in our lives I am SO very happy and consider ourselves blessed that Chad and I do NOT have children right now. That is not to say that we don't like or want kids, but not having kids at this point in our lives has allowed us to do so much more than we would be able to with little ones.
Another thing I consider a serious blessing is Dave Ramsey. He and his program have also allowed us to do fantastical things with our money that, without him, we never would have thought to do. If he hadn't been introduced to us, we still would have most of our student loans and other debt. I am telling you that if you haven't, you MUST check him out, regardless of your religious or political views, and regardless of where you are financially.
Either way, April has been a busy busy month, and will continue to be till May. Hopefully amidst all of it, I will attempt to keep up on my blogging.....and my working out, at which I have failed massively this month. But tomorrow is another day, and another chance to get on the ball.
Friday, April 1, 2011
April Fools
Happy April Fool's Day. You know that feeling when you had a great idea that you thought would make a big splash, and no one even turns their head to see? That was this morning.
It's kind of a bummer to have that experience first thing in the morning. Oh well.
New month, newly funded budget, new ridiculous expenses, yet nothing has really changed. I just hope this month goes well. I am feeling optimistic, yet slightly let down for some reason.
This month, we need to get the basement completely emptied, and the walls torn down to the studs and the foundation. That way we can have a contractor come in and tell us how much money it's going to cost us to fix it, in addition to the foundation at the back of the house, and the new basement windows we want to install this summer.
Not only that, but Chad wants to buy a furnace and install it in the attic, basically giving our house forced air (sort of). Lots and LOTS of money. But it's as exciting as it is stressful.
I sure am optimistic that things will get done; we'll do our spring cleaning and do all the construction stuff done and get fit in the process.
~~~
Since Dave Ramsey sort of came into our lives and we started doing a budget, we really did feel like we got something of a raise....it also helps that Chad did actually get one....but either way, it's been nice. It also helps that we live totally on his income and mine goes straight into our savings funds for our vacation in November and our household repairs. We've already saved up enough to pay to repair the foundation in CASH which is totally awesome, and we'll be paying for our vacation in CASH as well. It's very comforting to know that we are actually capable of staying with a program and committing to the principles of it all.
The one thing I have issues with is, it seems like no matter who we tell about this program we're doing, Financial Peace University, everyone seems to blow it off like it's a stupid idea. I am honestly stunned. I guess that makes me naive, but I really thought people would be more excited for us and more open to a slightly different way of thinking than the mainstream that big financial institutions have brainwashed into believing. Even the evidence of us paying off such a ridiculous amount of debt in such a short amount of time doesn't seem to phase people much. It's really frustrating. But Dave did tell us that was going to happen. I just didn't think it would happen to me. ... Now that sounded naive.
It's kind of a bummer to have that experience first thing in the morning. Oh well.
New month, newly funded budget, new ridiculous expenses, yet nothing has really changed. I just hope this month goes well. I am feeling optimistic, yet slightly let down for some reason.
This month, we need to get the basement completely emptied, and the walls torn down to the studs and the foundation. That way we can have a contractor come in and tell us how much money it's going to cost us to fix it, in addition to the foundation at the back of the house, and the new basement windows we want to install this summer.
Not only that, but Chad wants to buy a furnace and install it in the attic, basically giving our house forced air (sort of). Lots and LOTS of money. But it's as exciting as it is stressful.
I sure am optimistic that things will get done; we'll do our spring cleaning and do all the construction stuff done and get fit in the process.
~~~
Since Dave Ramsey sort of came into our lives and we started doing a budget, we really did feel like we got something of a raise....it also helps that Chad did actually get one....but either way, it's been nice. It also helps that we live totally on his income and mine goes straight into our savings funds for our vacation in November and our household repairs. We've already saved up enough to pay to repair the foundation in CASH which is totally awesome, and we'll be paying for our vacation in CASH as well. It's very comforting to know that we are actually capable of staying with a program and committing to the principles of it all.
The one thing I have issues with is, it seems like no matter who we tell about this program we're doing, Financial Peace University, everyone seems to blow it off like it's a stupid idea. I am honestly stunned. I guess that makes me naive, but I really thought people would be more excited for us and more open to a slightly different way of thinking than the mainstream that big financial institutions have brainwashed into believing. Even the evidence of us paying off such a ridiculous amount of debt in such a short amount of time doesn't seem to phase people much. It's really frustrating. But Dave did tell us that was going to happen. I just didn't think it would happen to me. ... Now that sounded naive.
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