(no subject)

[mommydama]

I have about 6 loads of laundry to put away. How does this happen to me?

We had brunch at IHOP today. It was fun.

I need to start my ebay shopping for Mari's fall/winter wardrobe. But first I must go through the fall clothes from last year and figure out if anything still fits and who it will fit. Luci may need some new fall/winter clothes too. And they all three need coats as we lived in San Antonio for the last three years and never needed coats. Trying to decide if I should just spend the money on good stuff (like Land's end coats) since at least Zoe's and Mari's will get passed down and used for several years, or go for cheap. We are needing to cut some expenses a bit to pay off some debt we accumulated over the last six months (cruise, moving, buying furniture...) and I'm feeling stingy. But I would hate to buy crap and end up needing to buy the same stuff all over again effectively not saving a dime, ya know?

I received a post card from an LJ friend. It made my day (our street name is bizarre, isn't it?)

Our front and backyard are literally covered in leaves and small branches from the two days of Ernesto rain and wind. The sun is out now, so hopefully things will dry enough for us to clean it up. It looks really sad out there. The girls, however, are in heaven. Zoe found mushrooms, and the different shapes and colors of leaves and pinecones and acorns are making them all three dizzy with excitement. It is too funny to listen to them.

Comments

[kizmet-42.livejournal.com]

How was church today?

I'd look for Land's End, personally. I can't imagine you'll need much coverage in VA, but getting quality means you can resell down the line if you move to, say, Hawaii.

[mommydama.livejournal.com]

How do you do that?! Today is the first Sunday since we moved here that we haven't gone to church. And we nothing like a good excuse. Brad said he was so tired last night that he didn't think he'd be able to get up, but he says that every Saturday night, and then I get up in the morning and he does too. When the alarm went off neither of us moved. He moaned and I didn't push. *sigh* How do you know exactly when to ask exactly the right question just to give me a horrible stab of guilt?

[mercyorbemoaned.livejournal.com]

Hey I hardly go to church at all on account of my dread disease, don't feel so bad!

[mommydama.livejournal.com]

But I don't have a disease (unless you count being a woman at certain times of the month a disease, and quite frankly,I do), so I do not have a good excuse. I was just lazy. Completely and utterly tired and lazy.

I've seen you refer to a dread disease several times. Is it too nosey of me to ask what disease it is?

[mercyorbemoaned.livejournal.com]

It's probably early CFIDS.

[mommydama.livejournal.com]

Ugh. That is a dreadful disease.

[kizmet-42.livejournal.com]

We didn't go to church either. I have a bad case of Ernesto-itis, aka the weather and weeds are killing me. I think we slept the clock around.

I have absolutely no interest in making you feel guilty at all!

I asked because I can't remember if you found a church yet. I figured my bad memory might be tweaked if I found out something like "Oh, didn't mind the [foreign language liturgy] at all, it was so lovely."

So much for subtlty.

[mommydama.livejournal.com]

Hehe! We do have a church and we like it a lot! Protection of the Holy Mother of God Orthodox Church (St. Mary's is what everyone calls it, part of the Romanian archdiocese, under the OCA). Lots and lots of kids and young parents, but it is a healthy smallish church with all ages and kinds of people. A brand new, young, kind of fiery young priest who reminds me eerily of my BIL. They are "dedicated to the use of English in all services" (quote from their website), so no foriegn language liturgies. The first time we walked in the church, before we even made it up the stairs to the narthex, I could hear the sounds of small children. I almost cried when we walked in and the whole room was moving, kids squirming, toddlers wandering, parents following, the sounds of shushing and whispering, the occasional screech and quick removal...I thought "we will fit right in" and...we do!!

[kizmet-42.livejournal.com]

That is just excellent news! Glory to God!

I'm running over to the OCA site to check this out.

[mercyorbemoaned.livejournal.com]

It's the name of a real thing! And there isn't any in Virginia!

[mommydama.livejournal.com]

I know! Well, to be honest, I didn't know until I got your postcard and I wondered what in the world you were talking about and looked it up. Now I know. Maybe it was someone's last name or something...

[sistersunshine.livejournal.com]

Do you ever shop in cosignment/thrift shops? I used to buy everything new, but lately I've gotten some good deals when trying to save a little money! But it reall is hit or miss shopping that way! :)

[mommydama.livejournal.com]

I do actually. I haven't found any good ones here though. I just haven't found time to look. Good reminder!

[sarakate.livejournal.com]

I was going to say the same thing! I buy almost all my daughter's clothes (my son's too, when I can, but he's older so it's harder to find stuff) at consignment stores, because you can get the quality stuff so much more cheaply, and the one kid who's worn it already hasn't come close to wearing it out.

[altarflame.livejournal.com]

Sometimes it blows my mind how no matter how much money people have, they still manage to spend it all and have money problems. I mean aside from the millionaires, it really doesn't seem to matter what kind of salary a person makes - you move up your standard of living until you're still in trouble and having to budget. Grant is making more than he ever has before, and I swear we're having more problems BECAUSE of it - we've kind of gotten used to being able to spend frivolously here and there, and so we're just throwing money away.

Re:Clothes - I say go for value. I'm done with cheapy kids' clothes. Reselling or handing down more than make up for the added cost, in my opinion.

Do I have your new adress? I have some mermaids here that have been packaged up for you FOREVER!

[mommydama.livejournal.com]

It is sick isn't it? I mean really sick. We always spend up to and over our limit and Brad just got a HUGE raise. The cruise was the big one. It was NOT a cheap cruise and we knew it would take us awhile to pay it off and moving, even though the Army reimburses us for a lot of expense, is never cheap. You eat out more for instance. Anyway...we just need to be carefully. We aren't hurting terribly, we just need to get rid of these credit card balances we are carrying. We've always been very careful not to do that, until we adopted the girls and went into debt to do it and then I think we just got into the "habit" of carrying some. Bad habit. Must stop.

I tried to be cheap for Mari's summer clothes because we were getting ready for the cruise and move and I knew it was going to be tight for a few months. BIG mistake. Virtually none of her clothes are going to be in good enough shape to pass down. I bought less and I bought cheap and she has worn them out. Most have some holes or rips and lots of stains (who knew cheaper clothes held stains worse!) and are just faded and worn so badly I wouldn't even give them to a charity. Sadly, most of them will be going in the trash. So...I think I've learned my lesson. I'm sticking with the brands I know will hold up through three kids and beyond (lots of cousins and friends out there) from now on!

[mommydama.livejournal.com]

Oh...new address...I'll e-mail it to you.