Long Winded

Can it be fall yet? Can it ever be fall here in south Texas? Can summer be over yet? I've had a bit of the summer blues lately. A lot has happened with our family in the last few months, most of it being lacking in the fun/excitement department, which is the reason for my lack of interesting blogs lately. You see, things have been happening, but most of them are negative or stressful, and I just didn't want my blog to turn into a Debby Downer blog... much like my house has been lately.

I have been working on some things, trying to get a fresh start, new beginnings, my life back in order, my family back in order, and hoping that maybe if I do all this, the fall season will start to show itself. I'll share a bit of why I've been so blah lately.

• I've been doing some serious finance re-re-re.... hmmm... I don't know what you'd call it, but I've been working our finances to the death, trying to save money here and there, and working to pay off huge mounds of debt. No, I do not use Dave Ramsey's plan. I went to his website and he wanted you to pay money to receive the information on his advice on how to pay off debt. Giving money to pay off debt equals a big no no in my book. Anyway, this has been going on for quite some time, but to keep it up, I have to constantly re-evaluate every little penny in our budget, which can be rather time consuming.
• Working on the budget always makes me depressed.
• The hubby's been super depressed ever since the first week of July when he had to come home from his deployment early.
• Depression is contagious, and his depression has caused me to be more depressed than I already was.
• Our depression causes Hayden to be cranky and irritable.
• We've been (once again) getting rid of Hayden's pacifier... again.
• No pacifier equals super crankiness, hardly any naps, and apparently a fear of the dark and extreme whininess (it's a word. I said so).
• Hayden's lack of sleep causes irritability and crankiness among me and the hubby (are you seeing a pattern here?
• Crankiness, irritability, and stress make me super sleepy.... oh wait... I think my life makes me super sleepy... regardless, I've been super sleepy lately.
• Being super sleepy results in lack of motivation... (If you're still reading, I promise I really am getting to my point)

Alright... so this is a big giant circle... I've left out a few details, like how I waited for 3 yrs, dying to go to the country's best water park, only to find out it sucks... or how I waited all summer long in anticipation for some free Tim McGraw concert tickets, only to find out that there are lots of dishonest loser soldiers out there so we didn't get any...etc, etc..

Anyway, to get back into the swing of things, I've been trying to make meal plans and actually cook dinner again. I don't cook in the summer. or the spring... or any part of the year where my mind isn't in fall/winter mode. Then in the nice seasons, I go gung-ho crazy cooking up all kinds of yummy stuff and having dinner parties. There is such a strong mis-balance in my cooking throughout the year, that even the hubby's office notices. They have a running joke "it must be summer, because Neill's eating ramen and not some left over delish dish"... okay, they're not that funny, but they think they are, and they don't really talk like that either, but you get the gist of it. Anyway, I feel like cooking again, and have been gathering ideas and menu plans. Yay! yum!

I created this super simple and not so perfect little menu planner for my fridge, with some scrap paper, a piece of plastic which was just laying around, some magnets, and a hot glue gun.

I've also been doing a bit of painting. A few months back I found a sewing machine table which is identical to the sewing machine table I currently use as my end table in my living room. I love this table and have always told the hubby I wished I had two. I stumbled upon one (minus the sewing machine) in a thrift shop and snatched it up for $12. Now I have two!! Unfortunately the thrift shop find was a bit beat up and would only be home worthy with a nice coat of paint. Fortunately for me, I'm going through a black furniture phase, and have no problem painting my original one black so they'll both match! yay! I've also been painting Hayden's new bed (yes he got another new one... I'll tell you about it later... because I get all excited about telling you about my toddler's new beds...), and my kitchen cart, along with various other odds and ends which have been attacked by spray paint.

I've been attempting to make my first ever quilt... a real quilt, not just a sew some squares togetherd quilt.. (not dissing those, I love those, just saying... ) I've actually had to use my brain while measuring and cutting.. and I'm planning on seeing if my little sewing machine that could will be good enough to actually do the "quilting" part all on it's own. I'm planning on this being our outside/picnic quilt. It's not quite the colors I would normally choose for something like this, but it's what I had on hand, and if I use what I already have, I won't have to spend money now, but I'll get to spend money later when I need more fabric for a different project! See, it all works out. :)

I'm making this quilt, last minute, because........................................................

The hubby worked miracles this week and scored us some of the non-existant-completely gone- NEVER to be seen again Tim McGraw tickets!!!!!!!!! Okay, so he didn't really work miracles, he just knows PEOPLE... you know, the good ones to know. And of course I NEED a nice new quilt to sit on during the concert, because I really don't have anything to use, and heaven forbid we sit on the crunchy brown grass. Did I mention the tickets were FREE! sweet. My favorite kind.

Oh hunka-Tim, I'll be seeing you next week... please bring your lovely wife along :)