I am too young to be so scared of figuring out how to pay my bills online! I have them auto drafted, I can now look at my bank account online, but I am still scared of online billpay. I dunno what is wrong with me, I am acting like a non computer person!

On another note I am dealing with my ear infection the old fashioned way, peroxide, it is weird! but it worked when I was a teen (not that long ago) so I hope it will work now, not that we have no insurance, just that I hate the time and trouble to go see a dr!

The cold I have had for a week is turning into an ear infection. The drilling pain thru my brain about drove my crazy last night. So I decided I do NOT want to wake up early today, DD had other plans...

DH got his 'end of year bonus' which comes at the begining of the year, and we decided to buy a new mattress with some then put the rest torwarnd the house. I am soooo happy, I really am looking forward to a bed I do not hate! My husband was going to suprise me with a bed for my birthdya, but I messed that up by asking for it early. Well that and asking him to build me a bench for my birthday.

We had pancakes for dinner which the kids love and DH tolerates, but the trouble is...no lunch for DH. He always packs leftovers for lunch but he couldn't today, poor guy. I can't remember the last time he bought lunch....but I bet he can recall the last time he had to pack ramen noodles (again)

i need to make something to put in the freezer, that can be a lunch for him when we do the goofy dinners.

I made them again last night, still a mess, but also good. I rolled them the other way to make the rolls thicker and have less, it worked better. I had frozen the leftover icing and found out it thaws VERY quickly! but was very good.

Last night I also tried to make 'Wookie' cookies, which is a brown sugar and cinnamon chocolate chip cookie. but I found out I had no eggs, after I already creamed the butter of course, I decided to just mix anyway, then I remembered I had no chocolate chips!!!!

I had to use a bit of milk to make it mix, but we cooked them and it tastes like...err well odd, but good. Though I will not be repeating the test, until the next time I go to make cookies and discover I am out of eggs!

Edit to add: They taste better after sitting in the fridge overnight!

Since the CC will be paid off, as soon as the check clears and I figure out how to pay it with no bill. DH and I have to figure out what to do with the surplus, there is sooo much we want to do, but

A. The 'surplus' is not an exact amount.
B. It will never be enough to do everything we want!

So while it is su[pposed to be a good thing to have 'extra money' it is turnning out ot be almost as much stress as the CC bill was!!

AND I am finding it hard to do some 'ugh' things to save money (line dry, cloth diapers) when I do not have a CC bill looming over my head! I almost think the best use (after Washington trip) would be to convince myself I HAVE to pay off the mortgage, but that is 100,000! THat would take FOREVER! So it is a 'out there goal' meaning really hard for me to commit too. (the car is 0% interest, making it not really a big deal to pay or not...)

Or February, depending on how you look at it.

I balanced the checkbook, found my 3$ error, and came up with no money left, but that is normal.

We also filed our taxes! And we are getting money back, enough to pay off the CC bill..and some left over .

We have no money comming out of the check for federal taxes, for normal hours, but they tax bonuses and overtime like crazy, then since we are dirt poor they give it all back .

Now I get to starty planning our trip to Washington DC! (DS has been begging to go!)

I wonder what happens if you forget to put the lid on the little containers of yogurt?

I did last night, I capped them this morning and put them in the fridge, but I am not sure if it worked, guess I will find out tonight.

I really am not that good at cooking, I sometimes think without modern conveniences, my family would never get a decent meal! And apparently with them I still fail...

Edit to add..It worked fine

We made it! and aside from a fortune in gas dinner was only 15$ (only, I so could have cooked it for a fraction, but no stove in the car!)

We also got out of PB sandwiches for lunch, we arrived before lunch and my Father bought oriantle, it was wonderful. Remind me to thank him and send his birthday card.

Now why didn't we use those PB sandwiches for dinner if we didn't have to use them for lunch? because a guy who has to drive 5 hours to see his wifes family (and miss football) deserves a reward, and with my cold a burger is all he is getting!

BTW the Steelers won, but Panthers lost, so I was right, DH missed seeing the last game of the year for one of his favorite teams (well just the hometown team, he actually likes the steelers)

Ever feel totally out of place talking to people? Yesterday at 'sunday school' We were talking with the group, and one person mentioned the new rewind thing you can do with the digital cable, nothing wrong with that, very cool thing, but totally not in the buidget to get cable much less rent a recorder.

Then they were talking about Christmas, one parent has a kid with 14 build a bears! 14? at 30 ish dollars a piece? No way I have the money nor would I be happily encouraging my kid to get something that will not last with it if I had it! (nothing wrong with a couple, each of my kids has one made for them while I was pregnant with them)

Speaking of build-a-bears, they talked of Girlscout cookies, guess what they did with the money they earned? Bears! People bought cookies in support of a girl scouts prolly thinking of badge earning or enrichment, and the girls got a pizza party and bears!?! I must be totally out of it, I thought the money was spent on something useful, like a learning experience.

The whole time DH and I were feeling completly out of place, we live around middle class people, but we are not middle class, we totally do not fit.

But then I was talking about a friend of ours, she has a kid staying with her whose parents left him, at 17, they up and left? Then there is the friend of hers who is pregnant for the 4th time and wants someone to adopt the kid, for the 4th time. 4 times you get pregnant and don't want the kid? I don't know anyone who wants to really give away their kid, or anyone who would run away from home or leave their kid, or any of that! I don't understand that. I live around middle class people with middle class problems, but I totally don't understand any of them either.

I let the kids come outside while I hung a load of laundry, I figured a little mud never hurt anyone,...well A LOT of mud does hurt the carpet, and the bathroom, and the mirror, and how do you get mud off a furry girlly pink coat! I really don't want to deprive DD of her girly stuff, and I don't want her to think messy fun is bad, but no one will comment on DSs dirty coat 'boys will be boys' everyone will wonder why I let DD get dirty in her pretty coat (cause it is the only one warm enough!)

This is terrible! I meed my laptop!! Err make that want, I want to be comfy on the couch for nursing DS, but... I can't, and I can't see the screen right on my desktop cause of the sun (which I am greatful for, I need it to dry my clothes and heat my house!). I may have to think about moving my desk so the sun isn't a problem, wonder where though?

Dh completly took apart the laptop, but he still can't get the fan running and he thinks the reason it won't work is that it overheats with no fan. We are not buying anything and we don't have spare laptop parts. So I doubt I will ever get the laptop back.

On a diaper note, we had two poop blowouts uesterday, so I had no covers left, we had one disposable diaper blow out last night and another this morning! this kid is a super pooper! I can't wait for solid formed poop! (though the smell will be worse then)

I would like to tithe, but DH hates organized religion, and that is where the money would go. Plus we have about 200 a month to fail or send to the CC, I really need to send it to the CC, but God does say to 'fill his house' and all that. This is something I have been struggling with for most of our marriage, and especially now that we have kids. What am I saying when I don't give money to church, that our 'stuff' is more important than God?

Last night I sent off the money for my newest birth. 350 for the hospital co pay, and 19 for misc tests, very reasonable compared to DDs 5k birth!

Today we took the kids to the DR and squared away $81 in previous bills. Todays visit should be covered completly under the new insurance.

And we managed to only eat what we packed, no splurging on lunch! We did splurge on gas and went to the nature center though.

I got a yogurt maker for christmas, it works and the kids like it though DS prefers it sweeter than just with fruit, I think we will try adding powdered milk to thicken and sweeten it.

but last night we broke the thermometer, so we guessed and ruined a batch of yogurt . no fun and right now instead of saving me money this yogurt maker is costing me money! We have to go buy yogurt for DH for work, and for starter, and we have to buy a thermometer, this time I want a candy thermometer so it covers all the temps and is muti purpose.

DS is puking (the 3.5yo) no fun, expensive clean up, and hard to get clothes on the line while ferrying drinks and puke bukets!

Did I mentuon we HAVE to use cloth diapers? so extra diaper laundry, extra puked on laundry, less time, not cool!

I paid bills and balanced the checkbook, corrected a few math errors and it worked out right, unfortunatly since DHs pay check didn't come yet (due the first) I paid only 100 on the CC bill, it isn't due for two weeks, meaning I could have tried to remember to pay it after the 1st but...... I don't trust myself!

I also always mark what comes out automatically early, so the mortgage and first half of the months bills are aready taken out (which is all but the car and one I forget) so tecnically we arn't doing as bad as it looks. The paycheck is auto too, but I don't mark it early. I figure Murpheys law if I do it will get 'lost' or someting when I am counting on it.

Anyway sum total in the checking act is 20$, but we have cash for grocerys, 325$ which I am hoping to make last till february.

We have a generous family, on DS's side cash is a traditional gift. We will be using the cash for groceries and putting a large amount on the CC bill this month. .

For the kids loot, our youngest is getting a bond to match the other twos birth band (is what we always do with baby money, or some of it) any leftover cash will go toward getting an ing account for him, we want to wait till he has the $250 to get his bonus though. (the older two already have accounts.)

DD wants to buy some hair barretts, and DS wants to buy a bathrobe, then the rest of their money will go to the ing accounts.

DS is saving for Washington DC, DD is just saving, I figure she will use some for Washington, but she isn't to particular.

ACK! I couldn't get on for all of yesterday! End of the world!

I was so happy it worked this morning .

This is Sunday and we are being lazy at home, prolly a trip to the pool, but thats it .

Remind me to make sure that DS and DD (and future BBY3) get hobbies that can be profitable, instead of pure money stealers, not that there is anything wrong with a hobby, just that DH and I were talking about warhammer and a newer cheaper game of the same type, you honestly cannot upgrade your people without spending REAL money! that is rediculous to me! I play fantasy role playing games because with a toss of the dioce I can get rich, not to spend my real money!

I just think it is odd something so integral to our american society is so ignored. I don't want to do that anymore, but I still find my self trying to 'get it out of the way' so I can move on, not that I want to dwell on it, to depressing! But I do think ignoring it is the opposite extream.

Wll we had a lot of fun, and aside from grilled cheese for company (I know what a hostess!) we didn't spend anything. I love free entertainment (though tecnically the extra electricity counts, still cheap)

Unfortunatly the kids are tired,a nd so are we! thats why we only do it once a month, we need the rest!

k so the car is hotter in the AM when DH leaves for work now that it is in the garage? that can't be good, maybe we should not use the garage till winter, but then why did I clean it out! and is better to not get rained on? it is certainly better for the kittens can't run over a cat hiding if the cat can't hide, but all the kittens are gone and I have high hopes fire isn't getting any new ones till next spring.

Now I just have to convince DH to keep it up, today the kids were up when he left so I was and shut the door for him, but I need to find stuff showing that it is better to have the car there even in the summer to keep it up. It has to be a bit of a pain to open the door and all that all the time, so it needs to be worth it.

On the expense side, we turned the air on, DD couldn't sleep thru the firecrackers, and well I am now used to the nice cool but more importantly dryer air, at 80. Might not seem like much but try walking around in a hot humid 80- by lunch house for a month. 80 is nice!

On the saving side, air on means I can dry clothes again, clothes don'tdry in the house when it is so muggy, they take 3 days and smell funny , so now I can dry them. Coure the electric bill will still be going up due to air, but a small amount cancels out.

pregnant people are dangerous around computers!

On the airplane rocker thingie. One more session of 'paint' and it will be gone so happy about that.

DS yesterday told DH about having the car in the garage, DH asked why he wants the car in the garage, DS said 'cause mommy wants it there'

So I either have to get them, or forget them, but having them on my mind all the time is a pain in the arse. And boy do I feel like an idiot for having this problem over 40$ worth of shelving!

So you would think gettting a car in the garage should be easy, especially after so much decluttering!

But nope still not there, thoguh last night DH dumped a coat of stuff on the plane rocker that is for the kids and needs protected to go outside. Then we have another shelf to put up and some rearanging and then finally I think we will get the car in, I hope I so want it done this summer. Ok I wanted it done last fall, and the summer before that, and the fall before that, and you get the picture

Well the two teeth are gone and I have a gaping bleeding hole in my mouth, that cost me 72$ for the nitrous that I didn't breath (silly pegnant women don't like taking drugs, even when everyone says they are safe)

And DH went to BJs bough ice cream making stuff to be nice, which means he went over budget, . But he sure is sweet.

I feel like an idiot but I really really really want some shelves, 4 in my bedroom and 4 in the living room to hopefully store the books that I am not getting rid of, but that would run around 60$ and really shouldn't I want to send 60 if I had it to the CC, not for some shelves?

But I don't I want my shelves, I want my living room to have a clean uncluttered look, and I can't get that while I still have the stuff stacked to the ceiling, and no I can't toss DHs CDs, or the computer stuff, nor can I find another spot for computer paper, and so on. But 4 shelves over the couch would be perfect.

In the bedroom I want to move my ceder chest away from the window, specially since we still havn't turned the air on so the window is open all night, and I don't want my ceder chest ruined by rain, not that it hasn't seen it's fair share or wear and tear, but I would like to reduce the risk. Only the only spot availible for it is where the bookcase is, and I want the bookcase gone, replaced by shelves, that would be so nice and high out of BBY3s reach! (by the time BBY3 is here, I am sure DD could climb that high, if she can't already, but she knows not to touch the shelves in easy reach so I figure a transfer would be easy.)