There have been a few large ticket items that have come up since I have stopped working that really blew through my stay-at-home fund. First, the laptop died a violent death and needed replacing, then the fence suffered a mortal wound. Just those 2 things alone sucked up 1/3 of our funds! So, Rob and I were brainstorming about how I could get some money into this house.
Could I take in a kid to watch during the day? No. Salty is a bad dog and bites people. Which leads me to another point that causes melancholy in our lives: Salty is going to have to go. I don't think we're going to be able to find him another place. All the rescue people I talk to aren't willing to take him in. They are either too full, or don't want the liability of a dog that bites. One rescue group told me to look up Cocker Rage and it seems to just about nail down the kind of behavior Salty exhibits. I'm sad because I think we are going to have to put him down. I just am afraid of what could happen if he goes after the baby. He's too unpredictable. It's so sad because the rest of the time, he is a loving dog and is well-behaved. But it's those times that he bites--with quite a vicious intent--that I can't have around. I was bit by a dog when I was 9. The dog was in a family with 2 small children. Nineteen stitches later, I was fine, but the dog was gone for the safety of those 2 children. Note to self.
Our other money making idea was for me to start cleaning homes. I thought that could work. I could at least bring the baby with me, set up a playpen, and clean while she played in the pen. Then she started to get separation anxiety. She won't even go to Rob unless I'm sitting right there. Even then, she can only handle about 5 minutes with him before she is crying for me to hold her again. I'm trying desperately to acclimate her to her crib so that she can start sleeping there at night. However, every time I put her in the crib, she wakes up within 10 minutes of being put there. She does NOT like it! So, to help her a little more about being away from Mommy's body, I have started putting her in the exersaucer. She tolerates that a lot more. She sat in it for 20 minutes yesterday without fuss. Yes, she stared at me almost the entire time, almost to make sure I wasn't going anywhere, but she tolerated it and I consider that a huge win! I decided cleaning houses probably wasn't going to work unless I just let Ellie cry the entire time I was cleaning somebody's house--which would take upwards of 4 hours, depending on the size and cleanliness of the home. The thought of going back to work and putting my separation anxiety baby into a daycare was causing me anxiety.
And then the miracle I had been praying desperately for since before the baby was even born happened!!! I won't go into all the details, but we were given a car. Praise the Lord, He deserves all the glory! The idea from the giver was that we could sell the car and put the money toward keeping me home longer. Rob came up with a better, God-inspired idea: Sell the van!!!
We have been making $500/mo car payments since we were married, due to a car buying mistake that was made before our nuptials. We only had 18 months left to pay off the van, but that was the same amount I made every month after all the costs of going to work and paying for childcare, etc. So, I figured up how much we owed on the van and decided how much we needed to sell it for. It helped that we had an extended warranty on the van good through Oct 2012 or 72,000 mi. (the van only had 57,000 mi. on it). Miracle of all miracles, the van sold in 6 days!!!
No more van payments. However, the car we currently have needs a little bit of work. Nothing too expensive, though. But, it requires scouring junk yards and going to dealerships and hounding ebay for the proper parts. It's exhausting trying to find a certain part within a certain budget. It's kind of what I live for, though. I love to barter for services and prices; there's such a sense of victory when you get them down to your price. Within a few short months, we should have this car all decked out to be our family car for the next couple years.
Now, let's talk about GLEE!!!! I love this show! The songs are such a trip. When they pull out songs like "Bootylicious" and others from MY teenage years, I just about jump off the couch and join in! No video cameras, please! When Mr. Shuester (sp?) broke out with "Ice, Ice Baby" and "Funky Cold Medina" in a few of the episodes, I about died!!! I think I have officially become a 'Gleek'! There is a lot of teen sexuality and Rob is really uncomfortable about that. Especially since we have children who are getting closer and closer to the teen years. I kind of agree with him, but that's the world we live in. We are called to teach our children what God says about sexuality and pray they choose to live that way. But, if they don't, we are going to love them through it. Of all the consequences of pre-marital sex, a baby is the best. I mean, why does television always portray babies as the only consequence? What happened to AIDS or any other of the STD's out there--or what about self-esteem issues involved with having sex too young? And, why is it that when a teen finds herself pregnant on TV, her parents always kick her out? I find it appalling that the show chose to portray Quinn's parents as Christians. I mean, yes she was in the celibacy club and she prayed in an episode. But, when they portrayed her parents, they were idiotic drunkards. Not only that, but when her pregnancy was exposed, they offered her nothing. This was their grandbaby on the way! No, her parents were definitely not Christians. Now, I've only seen season 1 and the remaining seasons are not on Netflix streaming--yet. I am hoping beyond all hope that her parents redeem themselves. Don't spoil anything for me, though.
Things are on the up-slope here for us. I'm almost afraid to admit that, though. Almost as though putting it out there makes us more vulnerable for an attack.
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