1 girlfriend and 1 new friend

Yikes, it's been a while again. 

Today's the big day!  My li'l boy is 9!  We had a great party with family last night.  The best part was when he blew out his birthday candles and oops, there was one candle left!  Ohhhh--one girlfriend!  He even named her.  HA!

Yesterday was an 'ah-ha' day for me.  You know how you are out and about in the community and see a family and say, "Yes, them, they have it all together...I want to be like that!"  Well, I had a family picked out at church about whom I thought this. 

She, the mom, approached me yesterday after services to talk about some things she saw regarding the kettlebell trainings I do.  As we got to talking, she opened up about how this was their first year on one income and how it's been really tough.  I was so wrong about them, as I thought she was a stay-at-home-mom all along and I envied her ability to spend time with her kiddos doing all the things moms should have time to do.  I was 100% surprised when she told me she'd been working all these years and that this was her 1st year as a SAHM. They are struggling to make ends meet.

But her words of encouragement were what I needed to hear.  The Lord provides.  Always. He gives you the means to work out the kinks and in the end, this will be a wonderful decision for the family.  And now I have a connection with someone I had put on a pedestal and thought unapproachable; maybe even made a new friend.  It made me feel better to know we aren't the only ones, I guess, and to know there's someone else who does understand. 

A short, but honest post

I'm in a very good mood.  Not struggling emotionally at all with this transition to being a stay-at-home-mom. But I'm feeling a little frustrated 'cause I'm going to have to draw money out of savings to cover the bills this month. There, I admitted it.  My weekly income has been cut by just over 75% for the past 2 weeks.  Now, to be fair, I am paying off some store credit cards that I usually hold a small balance on and I have not yet cut our monthly bills as they are still tax deductions until I'm officially done with child care. 

I just have to give myself permission to be patient with me without getting lazy and never making the changes I need to make. 

But in the light of the events yesterday, I'm thankful to be alive, to have a healthy body not ravaged by a maniac's garbage can bombing tyraid, to have family safe and close-by and to know that my Lord and Savior is in charge of this all!

Brine, baste, belt and ball

Ah, the 3rd day of April already!  One month from today is the day my business officially closes.

Trying to be budget conscious, I purchased my first whole chicken at a wallet friendly $0.89/lb this week.  Ok, I'll be honest, I've roasted a full turkey in the past (many times), but never have tried a chicken.  I don't really know why!  But at that price I surely had to find a way to put this into a regular family meal rotation. For muscle and brain building, it's important to me as a mom and a personal trainer to continue with our higher protein dietary intake.  Since proteins take a big bite out of the family grocery budget, this was the challenge I took hold of today!  From brine to baste; the family gave me the "Mom, it's a do-again" 2-thumbs up response.

What Lutheran household would be complete without a 3 year old sitting in the laundry basket, hymnal in hand, belting out "A Mighty Fortress."  And what 60 degree day would be complete without a little outside fun: the little one mastered the dog ball thrower while the older two dueled at basketball.

No longer an equal partner

March 30, 2013

I awoke way too early this morning, a morning that I could actually sleep in until 6:30am!  Oh well.  I'm up.  And I'm thinking.

The most difficult part of this transition to working only part-time and being a stay-at-home-mom will be the idea that I'm no longer an equal earning partner in our family.  I've always run my own business successfully.  I've always contributed equally (and some years more than) in partnership with my husband. 

Therefore, I've never felt guilty for spending money on myself (not big things but hair cuts, clothes, etc) and now I'm going to feel like I need permission to do those things.  What I partly intend to chronicle here in this blog is the money.  How it is (because I'm being optimistic!) possible for a family of 5 to subsist on one middle-class income.  We can do this.  I can make this work.  This will be my full-time job.  I will plan, budget and we will be happy as a family.

I know money shouldn't define happiness, but it sure has been a blessing the years when my income was enough where we did not have to fret over every little expense.  Because we've been there, there were difficult years and months where the tiniest extra bill would throw me into an anxious tizzy because I didn't know how we were going to pay for it.  I've always been the financial keeper in the family, but now I am taking that (to borrow a phrase) to the next level. 

Okay, enough of that.  What's on tap for today?  First a personal training session, then my husband, son (8) and I are going to run a 5K in support of our local National Guard Troops.  After that I'm set to bake, cook and prep for Easter.  Very excited for a Saturday afternoon at home in the kitchen with the family.  The last few months my Saturdays and Sundays have been plum full with training sessions and I'm glad for the reprieve this weekend.