So much to be thankful for...

Okay, I need to do a gratitude post. A little while ago I checked the bank account and realized that we're going to be about $65 short covering what we already have out there. And Nick just got paid, so I'm struggling a little. This time of year is always rough, but this was the worst check of 2012 so far (and hopefully at all!) due to a number of factors that don't really matter. So we were already putting some things ahead that we really needed to pay this week, and we still came up short. But I do know that God is looking out for us, and He has done so many good things for us this week. I need to focus on that and get my attitude in gear. 

I can be thankful for:

One biggie is that I discovered the shortage before it actually overdrew us and caused overdraft fees. I will probably have to borrow the money from my mom for a few days (which I HATE to do), but one great thing is that I booked a couple of photography sessions for this coming weekend, which should give me at least $90 in sitting fees that day. So at least I should be able to give the money back to her within 4 days.

Another awesome thing to be thankful for - today we got a new dog. It's become pretty evident that Pancho is gone for good (sob!). Last week a girl that I went to school with mentioned that a mutual friend (another former classmate) was looking for a home for her dog Lucy. Normally in that situation I think, okay, what's wrong with the dog? But in this case she loved the dog, but their family situation was less than ideal for it. She actually belonged to my friend's 12 year old son, who just refused to do all the doggy related chores (walking, feeding, bathing, etc.) My friend ended up doing all the caring for the dog herself, and she'd been threatening to give her away for a year if her son didn't start taking responsibility. They also live in a condo, so there's no real room for the dog to run around outside. Anyway, today we went to pick Lucy up. She's a mutt, but a fairly small one, although she's bigger than Pancho. She's very well housebroken, great around kids, and loves to cuddle. We brought her home and she's settled right in. And she was free! And if God should see fit to bring Pancho home after all, we'll happily have two dogs.

A few days ago I discovered via Pinterest that you can bake cinnamon rolls using a waffle iron. They bake up really fast, and the best part is that the waffle grid means that when you pour the icing on it doesn't go sliding off the side! I had a can of orange sweet rolls in the fridge (my favorite), and I was starving, so I'm eating some as I write. Yum!

A few days ago we got a card from Kate with Kit's newest volleyball picture and a nice note in it. I gave her a call just to catch up, and we had a wonderful long conversation that I really enjoyed. 

Morgan got to go to a Fall Festival with her friend across the street tonight. She came home with a cake, a box of cupcakes, and this big vase full of Skittles that she won by guessing closest to the right number inside. Not that we need more sweets in the house (hello, Halloween!), but it makes me happy that she won something, just because I know that was fun for her.

I was running low on diapers for Jack, but yesterday we stopped at the Goodwill (although I wouldn't have if I'd known how short we were!) to replace my ironing board that broke recently (I know, who breaks an ironing board?) Not only did I get an even better ironing board (with a place to hold my iron!) for $3.00, but I also picked up a pack of diapers for Jack for the same price. Now before anybody fusses at me for buying thrift store diapers, the pack was brand new. It's my guess somebody got them in their shower and their baby outgrew them before they could use them. They're a size 1, which will juuuuuust fit him. We actually buy size 2's now, but these will do in a pinch, and they'll certainly get us through the week.

We were also out of formula, but fortunately I had a backup. When Daisy was a baby, just as she outgrew formula, I made a great find at a local discount grocery store. They were selling 3 1/2 pound cans of Nestle Nido Kinder, which is basically formula for the 1 year + crowd, for $9.99, half of what we were paying for a 3 pound can of formula at Sam's. I was able to find it there for just long enough to carry her through the stage of needing stuff with more nutrients than cow's milk, and I hadn't seen it since. A few weeks ago I found it again, only this time the cans were 4.85 pounds for $9.99! One of the cans was pretty badly damaged, so I left it, but I bought the other three, bringing home over 14 1/2 pounds of it for less than $30. Jack won't be a year old for another 8 weeks (EIGHT WEEKS?!?! How did that happen?), but I'm just making sure he gets plenty of solid food, and the Nido is working great for satisfying his bottle needs. 

We have plenty of food in the house to see us through.

Yesterday I was able to pick up a couple of free 8x10 photo collages from Walgreens. I had a code that worked on both my account and Nick's, so I got to surprise my mom and Nick's stepmom with collages of all their respective grandkids.

I got a Redbox code via text that let me rent What to Expect When You're Expecting tonight for free, and we really enjoyed it - very funny!

Morgan missed the bus this morning, which turned out to be a blessing in disguise. She was actually out there 10 minutes before it was due to run, but for some strange reason they had already come and gone a few minutes earlier, this according to the girl at the bus stop waiting for a different bus. Jack's been up really, really late the last couple of weeks, and when she came up to tell me she'd missed it, I wasn't fit to drive. I told her I was going to need a few more minutes sleep before I would feel safe getting behind the wheel, so she went back down to let me sleep. When she woke me up it was after 10:30. She'd only missed one day this year, so I decided to just let her stay home. She helped watch Jack and Daisy all day, and I got a TON of work done on our bedroom, something Nick was very happy about...

...as evidenced by the mostly lovely encounter we had just before he went to bed (only mostly, because Jack wouldn't go to sleep, so we put him down in the (newly clean) floor to play where he couldn't see us. We were almost done when he managed to pull himself up to my night table, knock my clock off in the floor, and turn on the very loud radio function, scaring himself into a wailing fit). But interrupted or not, it was very nice to just connect that way, something we really need to make it a point to just make happen more often, kids, work, and chores or not!

I'm going to be part of a sort of craft/home business fair on Black Friday. There will be 10 of us with home businesses (ie. Mary Kay, Pampered Chef, Arbonne, my Etsy shop, etc). I plan to sell some leather and vinyl bow cuffs, which I'm also making for Christmas, as well as some hair accessories and felt Christmas trees. Those last are just big felt Christmas tree shapes with various ornament shapes cut out of different colored felt. You hang the tree on the wall and let your resident toddler decorate and redecorate to his or her heart's content (and hopefully leave YOUR tree alone!). I made one for Daisy, and she loves it. I also plan on sending one to Maddox as well as my cousin's little boy a few weeks before Christmas. If I can come up with the $10 to buy more seed corn, I'm also going to make some hot/cold packs. I'm going to try to get Nick to paint some ornaments too, something he did last year for gifts. 

Anyway, hopefully I can earn a little money and get a little local exposure for my shop in the process.

It's been well over a year since I last got new contacts. In fact, I'm thinking it might be more like three years, because I've not had vision insurance since I quit my job. Anyway, we're those terrible people who wear our disposable 30 day contacts way longer than we're supposed to. No lectures please, needs must and all. But I was down to my last pair, and I was really milking them. I'd had them in for probably 6 months or more, just trying to make it through till we can afford the copay to get new ones. I have glasses, but I got them when I was pregnant with Morgan, and the prescription isn't quite right anymore, so I only wear them when I have to. When I was cleaning out our bathroom the other day I found a brand new pair of contacts! So you can bet I put those suckers in!

I have just about everything on hand that I need to make Christmas gifts. I do need to buy some candy to send to Will (last year's was a huge hit), and I need to order some photo prints and get a few picture frames. I also need some plastic canvas to make a fabric barn for Maddox, and some dollar store farm animals to go in it. But I think I've got everything else.

Anyway, I'm off to bed. Good night all!