Parental Global Ends

Ainsley goes to this wonderful school called Cornerstone Learning Community. As far as I am concerned it is an educational utopia and I love every aspect of it. Recently, one of the administrators at Cornerstone has asked parents via the weekly newsletter to create a global ends statement. From what I understand, a global ends statement is essentially overarching goals for my children that help shape my decisions as a parent. So, without necessarily consulting Josh (who's parental goals generally align with mine anyway) or spending a lot of time trying to over think it, here is my global ends statement:

I want my children to be compassionate and thoughtful. I want them to be problem solvers and rather than tell me about a problem, offer a solution. I want them to have manners, which I know sounds so fundamental, but I have seen children without manners and it is painful and bothers me to no end. I want my children to feel that they can defy stereotypes. I want them to believe that they can do and be anything they want to be. I want them to have financial smarts too, avoiding the mistakes their father and I made with credit cards and student loan debt. I want my children to see a broader picture than just their little world. I want them to understand that people are different and that we should celebrate differences and not ostracize others. I want them to respect other cultures.

I could probably go on and on, and this probably not nearly specific enough but I have to end somewhere. The thing about this is that it will be ever-evolving as my children grow and as I grow as a parent.

Finally Writing... Again

So think of me what you will, but I actually liked Twilight. I just got done with the audio book and I was pretty much hooked from the start. However, it seems to have reignited something in me that I really thought was lost. The sappiness, the melodrama, the romance... I was writing this book when I was a teenager, sans sparkly vampires. I thought that once I started experiencing love and realized that that was not in fact the way love worked, that I couldn't write that anymore. And that may be true. But it does have me really wanting to try.

So I picked up a composition book I had laying around and started writing. I know this is extremely old school, and it's going very slowly, but it's a start. We may in the future get another laptop so I may be able to do some writing on that. In the meantime, I have started two stories. I have scrapped the first one (metaphorically anyway, it's still in the composition book), and started another one, and I think this one may actually be going somewhere. It seems as though a fantasy is going to be the way for me to go, since that is mostly what I read these days. We're going to see how it pans out, but in the meantime I am really enjoying my time putting the pen to the paper.

Oh, and for what it's worth, I am drawing some inspiration from cheese. But you'll just have to wait to read the manuscript to see what I'm talking about.

Rockin the Mini Van!

Well we took the plunge. We became a two car family. We've had only one car since about 2005 when we decided that since we lived so far from town it was worth it for us gas-wise to share a car. And then we moved to New Jersey and took the trains everywhere. And that was before I worked hours like 2-11 and 11-8 which make it extremely difficult to juggle one car.

We saw a post on Craigslist and I called and spoke to a very nice guy and we made plans to go see the car on Sunday. It was actually two hours away, so we headed out to see it on Sunday morning.

This is not my dream car. It's a '97 Chrysler Town & Country with 110,000+ miles on it, the leather seats are torn, the lining on the roof is coming down. The sensor to the door in the back says it's always open even though you know it's closed. But it drives really well and it's going to make our lives so much easier.

We paid $2800 for it (talked down from $3100). And we paid cash. This is something that 8 months ago we could not have done and would not considered. If we needed a car we would have gone into debt to get it. Since we started on our budget and our debt snowball via the Dave Ramsey way, we have vowed not to obtain any more debt (unless it's a house we're putting an obscene amount of money down on). We had a buffer that has allowed us to pay cash out of pocket for a vehicle that will hopefully get us through a couple years. And we can take more people than just the kids somewhere. And I won't have to hang around from 8am until 2pm when I have to work 2-11. That's fantastic.

It is so exciting for both of us to not only have another vehicle, but to have paid for it ourselves. We just look at each other and say, "This is ours." There's no lien on it, we don't make payments, it's ours. It's such a novel concept to us that we're just in awe.

Breakfast Bonanza

I have been trying to do more OAMC or Once a Month Cooking. For those who don't know what that is, it's where you prepare a whole bunch of meals at one time, freeze them, and then don't cook again for a month. Sounds great, right? The only problem I have is severe lack of time. However, I have managed to do some bulk cooking and I think it's the greatest thing ever. I recently purchased The Everything Meals for a Month Cookbook. I had looked at another OAMC cookbook and didn't really care for it, but I really really like this one. I think the biggest selling point was that, not only does it have recipes for serving one meal or three, but it has breakfast recipes! Our toughest part of the morning is getting out of the house with a decent breakfast. Josh was especially excited about the breakfast recipes, too. We're breakfast people, what can I say?

So far, I've made 3 lasagnas, 3 Chicken Tucson, 3 Thai Peanut Fish, and 44 breakfast burritos. Another thing I like about this book is that the recipes are simple and don't use a bunch of ingredients I've never heard of or are hard to get. And it's great to come home, put a pan of lasagna in the oven and then play Skip-Bo with Ainsley or play outside with both the kids.

For my next batch cooking, I plan on making breakfast, breakfast, breakfast. Last week I managed to get 10 packages of Thomas English Muffins for free at Publix. Now I just have to buy the other ingredients, such as 48+ eggs, 3lbs of sausage, etc. Also, once I use up all the meat I have in my freezer, as I buy meat I will buy it for planning meals.

This is all very exciting for me. Since we live 35-40 minutes from town, it sucks to get home around 7pm and then have to try to rush around and put dinner together. I'd much rather throw something that was already prepared in the oven and then just hang out with the kids until it's ready. And hopefully, this will help me stay on budget with groceries.

The Time Has Come...

For me to finally start posting on a blog. I have no idea how long/often I'll be able to keep up with this but I'm going to try. I am the world's worst communicator/emailer/caller. I just can't keep up it seems, so if it's been a while since you've heard from me, that's why, not because I like you any less than before ;) . I'm going to try to keep family and friends updated here, so I'm just going to jump right in.

This past weekend I had off from work and it was a busy weekend. First, Ainsley was invested into her Daisy Troop in the Girl Scouts. She is the tiniest girl in the troop! Basically, she's in a year early because she doesn't get to start kindergarten until Fall 2010 because she missed the school cut off by ONE DAY. I'm not bitter about that or anything. Luckily the Girl Scouts didn't care and so here we are.

Ainsley is waiting for the ceremony to begin.

The Girl Scout Promise

Getting her pin.

Excited about her certificate!

In addition to having the Girl Scout ceremony on Saturday, on Sunday we went to Panama City Beach for Mother's Day. It's kind of a tradition for us to go to the beach on Mother's Day. Just to do something fun for us. We had a great time. We were only at the beach for two hours but it really wore the kids (and us) out. The kids love playing in the sand with Daddy. I love watching them play in the sand with Daddy.

As for me, I am staying busy. I work a lot, try to keep up with my bargain hunting as much as I can. Balancing work and kids with anything else is extremely hard to do. I wish I had someone to come organize my life. Maybe one day. The next few months will be busy for us. In June, not only is it father's day but also my 10 year reunion. Go Bucs! In July we're going to Universal Studios for a long weekend AND my cousin is getting married. August my brother is getting married (the day before my wedding anniversary. Weird!). And a whole bunch of other things.

Well, here's to hoping I can keep this updated so people know what's going on with me.