Halloween cop-out and other ramblings

OK--so we had great plans to make the Saturn costume with Simon, but high levels of exhaustion from trying to find a darn balloon or ball large enough, to the fact that Halloween is FRIDAY led us to talk Simon into just being a power ranger (especially since he already bought the costume a month ago). This reminds me of last year when all 4 of us were going to be Star Wars characters, but lack of funding resulted in only Simon and Gwen having costumes...ah, someday I will buy a sewing machine and start making things--one of these days.

I wish I could get a good routine or rhythm going this semester. I feel like I am trying too hard to do too much all the time, hence, I completely crash on Sundays...to the point where I am so exhausted I feel like I have the flu and could sleep 24 hours straight until work starts again on Monday.

Hawksbill's and my schedule doesn't help. I work from about 7:30 am - 3:30 pm, come home and he walks out the door to return anywhere from 8-10:30 pm. Somewhere in there one or both of us works with Simon with his studies (well, mostly we just tell him he has to do one of his lessons and he does it himself and shows us when he is finished) but still...or I feel obligated to take the kids somewhere to make sure we are getting out of the house before the snow comes. We might just drive to the mall, drive around to look at the leaves, or all the way up to my parents' house, but just SOMETHING so we are not watching tv while I am half-passed out from exhaustion on the couch.

Take tonight...I really wanted to go out to buy things for our Halloween potluck at work tomorrow, but instead I am sitting here typing a blog entry trying to think of the least expensive place I can pick up something pre-made so I don't have to think about it anymore. So much for cooking from scratch!!! Ha!

My found money project seems to taken a huge backseat lately....I am hardly trying to find money...I think I still pick up a penny or two a day, but my penny walks are over since I can't find a way to leave my office to take a break for 15 minutes.

We have been having fun collecting free things, lately. I would not normally call myself a packrat, but I can't seem to turn down free stuff lately, no matter how weird or useless if might seem. I am not too proud to drive through the neighborhood on garbage day (hey-admit it, you have seen good *trash* and picked it up, too) like when someone throws out a perfectly good Step-2 slide or toy that just needs a good washing rather than paying $50 at the store for it--it also helps that my neighbors seem to have good trash :) I have been rummaging through my dad's garage, too, taking whatever we can just because...my dad said a few more trips to his house we'll have cleaned him out. But he is the ultimate Sears shopper--always buying everything off the clearance racks or shelves, so I found a battery powered radio, camping stove with propane canisters, decent pencil sharpener, used binders, and the list goes on and on. He also has this weird habit of buying lots of toothpaste he will never use "because it only cost a penny after all the coupons" so I don't think I have actually purchased a tube of toothpaste in over a year now. Why not? It never hurts to have extra things on hand for an emergency and if it is free--even better :)

This weekend I babysat my sister's three children along with Simon and Gwen at her house overnight. The funny part of the night was when her next door neighbor was looking at my minivan asking if it had a DVD system. I told him we didn't have one, and our CD player broke over a year ago when Gwen stuck a dime in it. Well, wouldn't you know, my sister's neighbor is an electrical engineer who installs DVD and radio systems for my make of car, and he just happens to have a replacement radio in his garage that he swapped out for my broken player for free--how nice is that?

I don't really know what the point of this blog entry is right now except to say, as exhausted as we all are right now, I am happy to report we are happy and getting by each day. I love my family and I am thankful for my husband, children, friends, family and everything. I feel very fortunate that we are all healthy, are still working, and are meeting new and interesting people every day. I am happy about the choices we have made, and am looking forward to the years to come, even if things are still tight, might get tighter, might be different, but I am, indeed, very happy right now. :)