Bill Binder

A year or so ago I felt overwhelmed by our bills and all that I have to try to keep up with, so I created a Bill Binder. I took an ordinary 3 ring binder and put dividers in it. I have 5 sections:

• Living Expenses
• Medical (Joe, Jenn, & Bayley)
• Z (because we are required to pay half of all incurred expenses)
• Credit Cards
• Misc

I keep the original of all bills and write on them what I've paid, when, and how (check, bill pay, etc). I keep this in there and staple the newest bill on top and repeat the process until something is paid off (this applies to the big bills like hospital, etc). It goes to the back pocket when it's paid off. I keep that for a few months then retire it to a folder called "Paid/Completed Debts" that I keep in my desk drawer.

Even if I can only afford to pay $10 on a bill, it's nice to have it marked as paid and it shows me that I'm closer to paying something off. Keeps me motivated to get it paid off.

I have neglected my binder for a few months and am now back on track. It feels good.

Blahs and Shoes.

I'm kinda down lately. Financial struggles are exhausting me. The bad news is that our big tax return is gone and we were going to use part of it to build a new deck. That will have to wait now. We've wanted to tear down our old one and build a new one to enjoy our backyard more. Right now we don't ever really go out there much.

The silver lining to some of the struggles is that some major bills will be paid off by the end of April if all goes well and our house payment may go down by $200 a month because of a loan modification. I'm trying to see the silver lining of it all.

I started my period yesterday so we're not pregnant - again. My best friend pointed out to me what I was already thinking but didn't want to say out loud: it's probably for the best that I'm not pregnant right now because of the financial struggles. Yes, very true. I just hope for a positive pregnancy test within the next few months. In the meantime, I need to focus on school, finances, and losing some weight.

The shoes I mentioned in my previous post are, by far, the most comfortable shoes I've ever owned. They make me want to walk and jog. Last night I took Bayley to Target (retail therapy for my blues) and it was cold so I ran and pushed the cart into the store. Then after waiting to buy her a smoothie for a few minutes, I realized I had left my wallet in the car so I RAN back out there to get it and RAN back in. Bayley thought it was exciting and fun to be whizzing across the parking lot in the cart, but it felt good to run. The best part? No shin splints or hurting feet. I realized I had gotten a decent mini workout (I had parked pretty far out) because I felt it in my lungs. It was a good feeling.

I haven't watched the dvd that comes with the shoes nor have I watched any videos on youtube or anything about them, so not sure what I'm supposed to do. I just wear them and am LOVING them. I just wish they had some dark brown ones too. I am wearing my black shoes with brown pants and a sweater with pink and brown. Shhh... don't tell! My pants cover them up pretty well, but I hope no one notices. I just didn't want to go back to my regular shoes.

So... my review so far...is that they are EXTREMELY comfortable and I bet running in them would be awesome. With my mini jog, they were fabulous. I hope to try them out for real (like really jogging in my neighborhood) this weekend.

Tightening my booty and calves one step at a time.

I bought a new pair of shoes last night that I've had my eye on for a while. They are the Sketchers shoe that promotes weight loss, better posture, higher IQ, and wealth beyond imagine.

The above pair is the one I got and I am wearing them with my slacks and blouse at work today. We'll see how it goes.

Has anyone tried these? I figured I need all the help I can get, so I am going to make myself get up and walk around the hospital every couple of hours today. So far it feels like I'm walking on marshmallows.

My main motivation to lose weight is obviously for me, but we've been trying to get pregnant for several months now and I hope that dropping some weight will help speed things along. And if I am blessed with another pregnancy, I hope to find some marshmallowy shoes to keep walking on.

What happened to adjustable waistbands in kid clothes??

I'm mad at Old Navy and their jeans. Bayley has outgrown the 12-18 month pants in length. She needs an adjustable waistband; however, Old Navy no longer offers adjustable waist band jeans until they are a size 2T, which is way too long for her right now. She needs the 18-24 month size. WTH? I'm mad at Old Navy for this. So Bayley is now wearing dresses and tights until she can grow even MORE. Ordinarily I'd be thrilled to have her in cute dresses with tshirts underneath, but I just spent $300 on dresses, tights, and a couple of jackets and sweaters for her to wear in the meantime. Yes, she can wear the dresses this spring and summer, but that's not my point.

BRING BACK PANTS WITH ADJUSTABLE WAISTBANDS FOR LITTLE KIDS!!!!

Yadda Yadda Yah.

Not much news as we've been iced in for the past few days and today is my first day back at work. I have a whiny, screaming toddler who wants to go "potty ni ni" every few minutes. She has peed in her potty twice, though, so that's good.

Bayley and Z played like crazy yesterday since we got him for several hours before he had to go back to his mother's house. She took away all of our "extra" visitation back in October so that has been really upsetting for Z and Bayley both. Yesterday they had so much fun and Bayley looks up to Z so much. He loves doting on her. It's really cute.

I'd post photos, but I'm too lazy to figure out how to get them off my phone to my computer.

Joe is prepared for Valentine's Day this year. He told me he already ordered my gift and it may not be here in time, but he is excited. Part of me thinks it's a stand for my bike so I can ride it as a stationary bike in the garage, but I'm not sure.

I guess I need to decide on what to do for him. He's really easy to buy for and I'm a great gift giver, so I'm not too worried.

What I AM worried about, however, is Bayley's 2nd birthday is in 6 weeks and I have no idea what I'm going to do. I want to rent somewhere that has a big place for Joe's family and mine to come, but I don't want to shell out $400. Her 1st birthday party was too crowded, as we were in our house and I didn't expect many people to show up. Joe's entire family showed up and he has a BIG family. EVERY.SINGLE.PERSON showed up. And then some neighbors, some of my family, and a few friends showed up. Holy cow. My little house broke some fire codes that day, I'm pretty sure.

I think I am going to use the Elmo theme (or as she says "Memo!" ) and go with that. I'm just too tired to think today. Gonna hit up another cup of coffee then drink a gallon of sweet tea. :)

New Relationships.

I have reconnected with a friend of mine from high school that found me a couple of years ago on MySpace. He emailed me this HUGE email and talked about what he's been up to, told me about his wife and kids, and recounted some memories of our high school days. I was so enthralled in the email that I just stopped working the rest of the day and emailed him back. Since then, we have kept in touch via texting, email, and one phone call. Then we friended each other on FaceBook and had a lot of laughs.

Recently I thought it may be appropriate to make an effort to get to know his wife. I mean, it just seems weird to me that I am all chatty with my friend but don't really know his wife. I knew of her back in high school (she went to a different one than us) but that is it. Guess I'm old fashioned, but I believe that boundaries change for opposite sex friends once one of you gets married. Nothing ever happened between my friend and me, nor was there ever a hint of it. He was like my big brother and was very protective of me.

She and I kind of talked on FB by making fun of her husband, but never really had our own conversation. I asked my friend if I could get her cell number and if it was okay for me to text her. He was pretty psyched about it so I texted her immediately. It has only been a few days, but she and I already have established a really good friendship so far. The day after we first texted, she sent me the sweetest email saying how she enjoyed our chat and was looking forward to getting to know me.

We live in neighboring states, about 8 hours of a drive away, so we won't get to hang out in person. They won't be moving because he has a fabulous job with a Big Company and my husband hates that state because they don't have whitewater for kayaking. Guess our visits will be limited to when they come to visit family or if we win the lotto and can go visit them.

All in all, I am excited about my new friend.

Jiff's Jibber Jabber.

Joe and I have been enjoying our time off from school. Classes begin Monday the 11th and I'm registered for 5 classes, all but one are online. Joe is taking 4 classes and then he'll graduate this May. YAY!! We just have to find him a job in his field now. That will be a challenge.

BMD (Baby Mamma Drama) has been happening, although we're waiting for the real poostorm to hit. Just a matter of time. I think the court system is a joke and don't expect any help there. Fathers are given a bum deal and egg donors aren't necessarily mothers and don't deserve automatic custody with no rights for the father. Just sayin'. Some egg donors just want their monthly paycheck and blow it on their unemployed "husband."

Does anyone have an explanation for why Bayley seems to think that she's Miss ToughGirl and has been in her Terrible Twos since around 12-13 months old? Ugh. She wears me out. She says, "NO, Mommy! Mean Mommy! Nooooo!" when I suction her very snotty nose. She hits and pushes like nobody's business. She doesn't even turn 2 until the end of March, and I hear it's worse when she's 3... I'm just gonna die now.

I'm taking Joe to see Avatar at the IMAX theatre in 3D on Saturday as our Date Day. My mom is going to watch the kiddos and we're going to an early lunch and then to see the movie. $25.50 for TWO tickets for a matinee. This movie better rock my socks off.

I started menu planning. Last night I gave Joe several recipes and told him to pick 4. He did, so I made a grocery list right then of what we needed and then we went to the grocery store and bought only those ingredients and then sandwich meat, bread, and fruit. Tonight will be my first night of cooking from the menu. I think it made Joe feel good to choose his dinners and go grocery shopping with me.

We're starting out easy on the menu plan:
Chicken fajitas
Beef pepper steak
Chicken enchiladas
Baked ziti

Sunday we'll do the process over again, but with 7 meals. We'll have enough to take leftovers for lunch the next day and anything left after that will go to the neighbors. I've removed all the candy from our house and our "snacks" are fruit. We still have less than healthy stuff in our house, but we're just slowly making changes.