We finally meet, H1N1 that is.

Life has been so hectic the last couple of weeks. I had to go to Atlanta for a funeral, my work hours have increased (I am NOT complaining about that one), my kids seem busier (okay a little complaint on that one) and H1N1 has paid my home a visit. My middle child, Hannah, has brought this beast into our home, uninvited, I might add.

In the spring when this flu hit, Hannah was so worried about getting sick. She was convinced that if she got it, she would be one of it's casualties. Luck would have it that she was the first in our family to get it and so far the only victim. While she has been miserable, it has been no worse nor better than the regular seasonal flu. To be honest, I am shocked! With all the media coverage focused on this particular illness, I was expecting so much more fear and drama from Hannah and myself. Instead, she sleeps a lot, watches a lot of TV, has read 5 books (she is bookworm) and refrains from participating in sibling rivalry. Last night after 4 days and 4 nights of lethargy, she perked up and suggested we all play charades. We declined, we are not really a charades kind of family. Especially when we are watching our recorded episode of Top Chef, the only show we watch every week, as a family. So, I sit here and write my blog, wondering if I can send her to school today. She still has a cough, it is a bad one. Her fever has only been "broken" for 12 hours. But she wants to go back to school. This is one of those decisions that I feel will be wrong either way. If I send her to school, I am not following the "guidelines" put into place by our district on H1N1. If I have her stay home, I run the risk of having to play charades on my day off from work. Decisions, decisions. Stay tuned, she is not up yet.

Off the track a little bit now. Last week I received an email from Ticketmaster offering tickets to the Kelly Clarkson concert for $25 per ticket. Let me start our by stating, I do not like Kelly Clarkson as an entertainer, she seems very sweet, but not my type of music. I do not watch American Idol, it bores me. But, I have a 10 year old daughter who is part of the Kelly Clarkson demographic. Tween, female, girly girl, dreams of being a singer/actress, the list goes on and on. I happened to receive this email during a generous mood. So, during my break at work I walked to the Ticketmaster outlet at our mall to find out if this is in fact an accurate price, turns out that it is. Of course, the $25 did not include the convenience fee, I always for get about that charge. So, this Friday, my daughter and I will be attending the Kelly Clarkson concert. I look forward to the time with my little girl, alone. It will be great bonding time. While we are at the concert, my 11 year old is having a "Halloween" party with some friends. My husband is in charge of that. Little Maeghan will probably have her choice of Barbie movies that evening, sadly, she has not been included either activity.

Today, I need to go to the grocery store. We are running low on fruit and dairy. I am going to attempt to keep my purchases limited to those two departments, attempting to skip the middle of the grocery store. No mans land, the area of processed junk food.

Have a great day!

I apologize for not posting for 2 weeks. Things have been crazy in my house. Some personal things have come up. Not the type of things that would keep me from the computer. But, the kind of things that have my mind else where. To be honest, I have completely forgotten about my blog for the last couple of weeks. But, as of this week, things seem to be better, I am more optimistic, ready to get back to blogging.

This weekend I need to fly to Atlanta for the weekend. An unexpected death in the family finds me taking an unexpected trip out of town. For this trip, I got back to my frugal roots. I found the cheapest flight I could, grand total with insurance is $175 for a round trip ticket. I will be sharing a hotel room with family and renting a car with the same family members when we get there. I have decided to dig out an old outfit from the depths of my closet to wear to the funeral. It is times like these that I hate being frugal. But, this weekend we have to have a tree removed from our yard. To remove the 100 year old tree from our yard, we have to pay $2200. That's right over $2000!!!! Not frugal is it?

Because of these unexpected expenses, I am clipping more coupons, staying in more, driving less and buying gifts for the upcoming holiday season on sale. I feel like we can't seem to get totally ahead, no matter how much we save. So, I will write the check out for the tree removal and focus my attention on replenishing our savings as fast as possible, knowing that in all likelihood we will have another emergency come up that requires us to dip into our emergency fund.

Tomorrow I have to go to the grocery store. I am going to walk into the store with a $100 budget, I will stick with that budget no matter what!

I need ideas from people. How do I get back on track? I need ideas, tips and motivation. Help this Frugal Midwest Mom get back to normal.

Friday

Tonight is a big deal in this house. It is my son's first school dance. I can't believe it! Of course, it is a middle school dance. It is 2 hours long and the cost of the ticket was $5.00. We were not required to buy him a new outfit, instead he will be wearing shorts to ward off the heat of an overflowing middle school cafeteria. Alec is very excited, he is going with his group of friends after having pizza at one of their homes.

My daughter, Hannah, will be at a birthday party tonight. It is not a sleepover, but will keep her busy during the active hours of a Friday evening. So, I find myself a bit excited at the prospect of having one child at home on a Friday while my others are out, socializing and having fun with their friends. I am excited, until I realize that I will have to leave my cozy home at 9:00 to pick up a group of sweaty, excited middle school boys at the same time the rest of our communities parents will be picking their own children up. Should be fun:)

Happy Friday!

Increased work hours

I have started to work more hours. I am grateful for the extra hours and time away from home. I have been a stay at home mom for 12 years. I started to work part time 2 years ago, working about 10 hours a week. I am now working 20 hours a week. This increased work schedule, thankfully, gets me out of the house from 10-4:30 three days a week.

I am so grateful for the extra hours. I am getting to the point of being completely bored at home. My kids do not need as much from me and a toilet can only be cleaned so much before it has been cleaned too much. For the most part, my household chores are caught up daily. My children are helping more and volunteering at the school now bores me. Work is good. I like the adult conversation. I like the extra money. Finally, I like having a reason to get out of my house every day. I am happy.

Why I will never move!

My husband and I have a very modest, older, ranch home in the suburbs. Our home, needs a lot of work. It is sad to say that, because we have already put a lot of work into it. Our home is a work in progress, I know that it will never be done. Molding will always need replacing, wood work will need staining, floors sanded, painting, bathrooms. The list goes on and on. I make it sound like our home is in shambles. It is not in fact. I find it very nice, lived in and comfortable. The cosmetic work that needs to be done is probably only noticed by me, but of course I am going to be our homes worst critic.

We bought this house in October of 2000. On Halloween, we moved our toddlers into our new house, vowing that we were going to make this structure our home. Almost 2 years later we brought our last baby home, establishing this as her first and only childhood home. A decision I have never regretted.

I know that in the day and age that we live in, families move. Job transfers often require a cross country move that uproots and entire family. When this happens, obviously a family has no choice but pack up and move on. Sometimes that is a good choice, sometimes it is not. We are fortunate. My husband has a very stable job that will in all likelihood keep him here in Milwaukee. Unless something terrible happens, he is set. Given that he is in the financial industry and he weathered last year's storm. I think we are safe.

So, why do I insist on staying where we are? We could move to a different suburb, build a new house, find a house that doesn't require so much work or find something that is more practical. It is simple. I want my children to have a place to call home, forever. When they talk about their "home" as adults, I want them to remember our house and community as that home. I envy the fact that when they graduate from high school they will be graduating with people they have known since they were 4 and 5 years old. When they go to high school reunions as adults, those reunions will mean more to them because they will be able reminisce about events and memories from childhood. They are establishing bonds with their peers that will likely last a lifetime. Even if after they graduate they don't see those people ever again, they will remember them. By doing this, I believe I am giving my children roots. They will know where they came from. That they were raised in a home where family was what was most important. With friends and community coming in closely behind.

Maybe I am naive. But, I hope I am not. There was a time when family, extended included was took precedence to everything else. When grandparents, aunt, uncles, cousins and siblings were active in the raising of children, giving us pride in where we came from. I think it is sad that so many of us have moved away from that tradition. Myself included. But, maybe by taking one small step, like having my children live in one home for their childhood, I can help my family move more toward tradition.

Well, I hope to be back. The last 2 weeks have been incredibly busy. The kids started school, in addition to soccer, cross country and swimming lessons. To top that off, I have started working about 20 hours a week. My days are filled and I find myself falling into bed at night exhausted and often times very crabby. I know that once we establish a rhythm to this crazy routine, all will be well. Until then, well, it is any one's guess how well we all handle it.

Since my last post, we ended our post card project. We ended with 97 cards. So close, and yet so far. I am very sad that we did not accomplish our goal of 100 cards. Maybe we can try again next year. My guess though is that the kids will not be interested in doing this next year.

I started working more hours. The extra money is going to be nice. More money coming in, less time to spend it. Seems like a win win situation for everyone.

Alec started middle school. He decided to join the cross country team. It is an excellent way to maintain fitness. It does take up a lot of his time. He has practice everyday 2:45 to 4:30, in addition to his extra homework, it is proving to be a bit difficult for him. Thankfully, it ends on October 8th, which really isn't all that far away.

We hemorrhaged money in August. School registration, school clothes, sports fees, my husbands birthday and the last minute outings I wanted to take my kids on added up, fast! Eric and I both agreed that September and October have to be especially frugal. I guess I better clip more coupons and scan more sales. Time to get our finances under control again.

Finally, 9/11 always makes me so sad. I remember that day so vividly, as we all do. My 3 year old son (now 11) was getting ready for his first day of preschool. I was so scared to drop him off, but felt that it would be best to keep things normal for him. I even remember what I was wearing that day, down to the shoes. I can't even remember what I wore yesterday, but an outfit 8 years ago has left a lasting impact on me. Every year on 9/11, I have that sad day on mind the whole day. It is never far my thoughts. I guess that is how it should be.

Well, off to bed. My days start early, so I try to get to bed at a reasonable hour.

I will be back to normal blogging Thursday

I want to just post a short note that I will be back to normal blogging on Thursday. The new school schedule, in addition to my increased work hours and additional activities has left me a bit frazzled. I think that by week's end I will be back to normal and ready to blog.