Summer's Coming

Oh boy is it gonna be a busy one. Brian tore up the back half of the yard and put down seed and fertilizer. "It's all in God's hands now" he told me. It will take an act of God to keep those dogs out of the fenced off area, that's for sure. It looks like one of my tomato plants isn't going to make it. It's the Beefeater though, so I don't care too much, the Heirloom is looking good. I still need to plant my sugar snap peas and herbs. That's all I'm doing this year. We don't have much are for a garden and with all the big trees, no area in the yard that gets enough extended sunlight. So I'm planting in pots on top of the dog house.

I have this old china hutch that my mom gave me. You've probably seen it in pictures. I love it cause it holds so much, but it looks pretty dated, and not in a good way. So I have a plan. A rather ambitious one. I want to remove the glass and replace it. That part will be easy, it comes right out. But I want to find a specialty glass place that will make me new panes, maybe with something cool like a sparrow etched on it. Then I want to replace all the knows. Again, very easy. Here's the hard part. I want to sand it all down and refinish it. I want to stain it really dark, like a mahogany or something. I know it will take a lot of time, but I can work on it at night while Brian is at work. I've never done anything like this so we'll see how it goes. I'll fumble through it, like I do everything else grand that I attempt, I'm sure. Like that time I tried to sew Ashley an Easter dress. Never again, folks, never again. But anyway, when it's done, it will be stellar. And much more usable. And my mother-in-law gave me her china set and it's a really nice simple cream colored set. I want to display it in the hutch, but not the way it is now. And I need to get rid of all that bar glassware that I have. But I kinda like having martini glasses, margarita glasses, highballs, rocks glasses, champagne flutes, red wine glasses, white wine glasses, about fifty shot glasses, traditional Japanese sake set, traditional Japanese teas set, two french presses, two shakers, a jigger, kids, I got it all. And I don't use any of it anymore. But I like having it. We'll see. I just need to rearrange.

Also, I need to start on my church cookbook.

And I need to start on my cookbook.

I have a lot to do.

I went through an did up a budget for us. It turns out we have about $900 a month unaccounted for. That means, not going to pay any bills. That is unbelievable! We are hemorrhaging money! I've got to find it. So I sat down and made a list of every week for the rest of the year and who gets paid when and were. Then for the month of May I wrote down what gets paid each week, where all the money needs to go. So we'll see how this goes. It seems like we're always struggling at the beginning of each month, the middle is okay, but then in anticipation of the beginning of the next month, we're broke again at the end of the month. I really want to even things out and get everything under control. I want to know where our money is! And the problem isn't Brian, I know it's me. It's just, with double incomes, we have a lot more money, but we have double the bills too! So I'm getting used to managing all of this. I mean we have to budget dog bills, dog food, clothes for Ash, gas, car repairs, even the food I like to cook to take to our friends houses, hair product! Makeup! Color for my hair, color for Brian's hair! And I need to stop eating at Dean and Deluca a couple times a week. And he needs to knock off Chipotle. We can do this. I'll let you know how it goes at the end of May.

Today is my two year anniversary at Mario's.

Tattoo Number ?

Mmmm, I'm not even sure anymore. It's funny I was talking to a friend today after my latest acquisition and remarking about how to most of my friends, and certainly to my clients, I am the 'tattooed girl', but until today, I haven't really felt like the tattooed girl. Now I think I am on my way. I mean, I have all these little ones, only one big one. And truly, a lot of those early ones, I barely even count. So today I started on my first project tattoo. It will eventually be a 3/4 sleeve. We outlined the top portion of it and I have an appointment in two weeks to get the lilies colored. And that will have to do for now cause he's going on tour to japan for two months and I'm gonna really start working on that whole baby thing. But I'll feel pretty good to get that much done for now. I'd say I probably have four or five more sessions to finish it all the way below my elbow. But you can see the potential and envision where it will eventually go.

So anyway. Other than the part that pretty much went into my armpit, this tattoo was such a breeze compared to my other recent ones. Even my back hurt more, I think. I mean, I barely feel it right now. When I got the inside of my arm done, that burned for hours. It was pink and puffy for days.

So anyway, since I only have one day off this week and spent half the day at the tattoo shop, I have lots of stuff to do. Laundry, clean the kitchen. Clean up from our mohawk session. Shower. You know, the usual.

Oh, yeah, Keira may be meeting her adoptive family tomorrow. I'm a little sad to see her go. She is so sweet. But, that's one less being to clean up after around here. As if one dog, two cats, a kid and a husband weren't enough, right?

And that picture of my sitting on the couch? Ashley took that. She turning into quite the little photgrapher :)

Rage and Grace

So wow, I feel like I haven't blogged in forever. It has been a couple of weeks and that's so odd for me. So anyway, what's new? I got a root canal and the filling did NOT fall out, regardless of what I thought late one night. In fact, it seems to be doing quite well. Ashley is home from her two week hiatus to Mpls and I am reminded of why I cherish her so much. And am reminded to cherish her. She is such an incredible blessing in my life. Speaking of blessings...I am not pregnant. As of today. I was talking to a friend today who is finally pregnant after years of trying, about how it's such a disappointment, every month. How for so many women, when they're late, it's that terrible sinking feeling, that oh, crap what am I going to do? And for others, when they're late, it's hope and rejoicing and excitement. It's so interesting that something so mundane can really cause so many different reactions. So anyway. Not pregnant. Kinda sad, but that's okay, we haven't been trying for long.

On another topic, I am starting a total money makeover for our family. I just made the finally payment on the surgery for Brian's arm yesterday. Now I am in the process of figuring out what we owe who. My goal is to have us completely debt free in two years. With enough money in savings to cover three months of expenses, from mortgage to daycare to groceries. That means no more credit cards ( we don't owe a lot, relatively speaking, but I still want it gone). I want my school loans paid off and any other random stuff too. I still have seven years left on my school loans, but if we really focus, I think w can do it. So lucky for all of you, you're along for the rid. I plan on journaling our progress. it occurs to me that I am 28 and have very little to show for it and if I really sit down and figure it out, we owe more than we are worth. That's not the legacy I want to leave for my children. I want to live free and not have to worry about money of interest rates of emergencies. I don't exactly live paycheck to paycheck, but close enough. I want a cushion in the bank. Money is a dumb thing to worry about and I'm doing what I cant to remove that from my life. Imagine! Living debt free, completely cash based except for our mortgage! We'll see. The first thing I need to do is cut up my credit cards, which I am avoiding by writing this blog. I'll do it tonight, I promise!