Well, we are now temporarily a one income household. A week ago Friday, Jonathan was laid off from his job. It was something we knew was inevitable this year but weren't real sure when it would happen. Now we begin the long wait for an unemployment check. We are hoping and praying that by the time the Government gets around to sending us his first check, that Jonathan could be back to work. We don't know though. So far the only thing we have is that work could pick up mid spring.
On Monday, I gave Jonathan a weeks worth of Honey do's (straighten the garage up) and he also had his own list of things. When I came home Monday evening, he had managed to complete both lists. I said "my goodness babe, what are ya gonna do for the rest of the week?" So now, Jonathan has quite a bit of free time. A guy at church today says he might have some work for him to do maybe next week. So, if anyone needs some help right now, just let Jonathan know. If anything, just for something to do. I fear he might get a bit restless being at home all the time.
With me working, we are trying to get by with spending as little as possible from our savings. It's a lot of number crunching. We looked pretty silly at the grocery this week trying to shop on our shoestring budget. It's very hard to shop cheap when you are trying to still eat healthy. I tell ya, Aldi is the greatest thing since sliced bread!!! I asked the clerk that checked us out, "So has business been up?" she says, "Like you wouldn't believe". She said "we used to be the best kept secret". I suddenly didn't feel so silly with my calculator. When I looked up, I saw several others in the corners doing the same thing.
I called the satellite company on Saturday to cancel our cable, because there rates have recently gone up. They were so nice when I told them that we just couldn't afford there service any longer. The guy I talked to asked if I would be interested in cutting back to there "welcome package". 21 channels along with local channels for 14.99. He also decided to waive 2 of the silly fees that totaled $10. As he was reading off all the channels that we would now have, he then asked "so are there any channel's that you are looking for?" I asked, "is TLC on this package, it's my favorite?" ( I love watching the Duggar family) he says "no it's not". and that was that. We agreed to the new channels and the new rate and hung up. About 15 minutes later as we were flipping through our channels, we noticed the change had been made. I was a bit sad when I saw how few were left, until I saw that TLC had been added to our package. I was suddenly so happy I could have cried. I never asked for it, I was just curious if it was already included. The guy was listening and added it for free to our package. Now that I have my favorite channel, I couldn't care less about the others.
I refuse to see us as being victims of the economy. Instead, I am saying that like everything else, things happen for a reason. I believe God has thrown us this curve to make us evaluate our priorities in life. In the end, God and family are the only things that matter.
To lighten my spirits, I have posted this picture below of my Mom and Max. I thought this was just too cute. If you look closely, you can see his first tooth coming in on the bottom.
Those cheeks could never have too many kisses!!!!!!!!!!! :)
Finally, my Irises came up.
Here is the Birthday boy, Morgan. Since he loves DoodleBops right now, Grandma got him an outfit to make him look like MO from DoodleBops. Grandma is taking him to the bathroom to look in the big mirror. I think he might have scared himself!
Here, Sherri, Noah and Morgan are chasing the bubbles on the new bubble blower.It's the coolest thing. It blows 4000 bubbles in about a minute. There were bubbles blowing everywhere.
April (Morgans mom) brought long balloons and a pump to make balloon toys. Jonathan got ahold of the biggest balloon in the bucket. It's a 5 foot long balloon once it is fulling blown/pumped up. In the background are the kids watching anxiously. He pumped and pumped until he finally had to take it out side to let it go. The thing shot like a rocket across the yard and thankfully didn't land in a tree.
This is miss Abby, striking a pose.
This is Abby with her balloon whale.
This past weekend, I made my first batch of homemade Pecan Sticky Buns. I thought they turned out pretty good- especially the bread. The sticky part did get pretty sticky though. This is definitely something I want to keep pursuing. Bread making is a great skill to have and a good way to make people happy. Who doesn't love a fresh loaf of homemade bread?
A few weeks ago we ordered a pantry cabinet from a guy at our church. He is young and has a God given talent of working with wood. I saw a picture album of some of the work he has done and I couldn't believe it. He can completely redo your kitchen, build you a Hutch or entertainment center among just a few. He also built our Bathroom Vanity when we were first fixing up the house. If you want his name or number, just let us know.
Jonathan's Philly Flank Steak along with his second Peach smoothie. His meal was really good. The steak was actually bigger then what the picture shows. It has a really great sauce along with a fancy bread underneath the steak collecting all the juices of the sauce and steak.
I had a combination platter of Herb Crusted Salmon, Madeira Chicken and a massive serving of mashed potatoes. All of this was wonderful but my favorite part of this dish were the sauces and the asparagus. I wish I knew how to cook my asparagus as perfect as there's was.
And these are the flowers Jonathan got me on Friday along with the cheesecake that came home with us.. Jonathan had the Peanut butter cookie dough Cheesecake and I had the Peanut butter Fudge Ripple Cheesecake. Both were awesome!!