Life

Lately life has been getting in the way of blogging. With the hubby still at home with his poor back and my mom in the hospital for a week in Hawaii, it has been crazy at my house. Mom is now out of the hospital but still dealing with a few health issues. It is hard as heck to be so far away from home and not being able to drive over there and just do what needs to be done. The hubby has tried traditional medicine (pain pills) and PT 2x a week and massage so now we're trying alternative stuff. He has visited the chiropractor and today, the acupuncture/Chinese medicine specialist. Hey, his health insurance pays for it so we might as well utilize it. I figured at this point, anything will help instead of hurt. It is frustrating to be not be able to help him ease the pain. I hope things will get healed soon. In the meantime, I'm hauling laundry downstairs, garbage duty and mowing the lawn in addition to the other usual housework stuff. Then our lovely van decided to die on me at work on Tuesday. We figured it might be the battery, so tried to jump it and it still wouldn't start. So I had it towed to Skyline Ford in Salem and lo and behold, hmmm..it was the stinkin' battery. So after $322 which included the towing, I have the van back. Pissed? Hell yeah. But since we have our silly extended warranty that we bought (before we met Dave Ramsey) I figured I would rather have them cover the cost if it was something major. But no, I had to pay for my $99 battery, towing and labor. Thank goodness for the emergency fund 'cause Murphy is knocking! Before Dave Ramsey, we would've put it on the credit card and not even think about it. Now, I don't use credit cards period. In fact, I'm in the process of canceling each one.

Stampin' UP! is now getting on board for on-line ordering for customers. About darn time, I say! Now my customers will be able to order on-line whenever they want. They select me as the demonstrator and get the same prices as if they were submitting a paper order form to me. If they don't select me and use the general website, they'll have to pay a higher price for merchandise. After 20 years, the price of shipping went up to a minimum of $6.95 or the usual 10% of the total order. Not complaining since they still ship UPS Ground to us out here and UPS Air to Hawaii for that price. Lots of fun new things to share soon. The catalog will go live on-line on August 11. If you are looking for a paper catalog let me know, I've ordered some and can get one to you.

Hoping to go blueberry picking tomorrow. Emma and I went last Saturday to Fitchett's patch and the blueberry bushes were nice and tall so I didn't have to bend down much at all. They were nice and low enough for Emma to reach as well. I invited a friend from work and her 2 year old girl, so it should be fun. The weather is actually going to be cool enough unlike last Saturday! I'm not complaining; I like 77 degree weather!

Still on our Total Money Makeover....I can see the light at the end of the tunnel and it's stinkin' bright. Ever since we started doing our monthly spending plan, I am actually having lots of money at the end of the month. I think it's a psychological thing...I don't think I'm going to the store often to just "spend" money and I think about it a lot more before I actually leave the house. We tried to get the priest at our church to agree to do Financial Peace University (FPU) but he thinks its not the right time, probably because of the holiday season approaching. I think it's the perfect time since people tend to spend even more during the holidays and then kick themselves in January. But oh, well. I'm trying to stay motivated. Dave Ramsey will be in Portland in November and we're going to the event. It'll be fun to see him in person.

Well off to go and put the kiddo to bed!