Hello again

School has started
The past 2 school years, I've gone home after the first day and thought to myself, "oh boy." As in, this is going to be a rough year. This year, I didn't say that. My class is needy (I have 4 in special education programs, including 2 autistic students), but super sweet.

MN State Fair
I went to the MN state fair with my mom, her friends Noelle and Jennifer, and Noelle's daughter Hailey last weekend. We had a grand ol' time walking around, checking out the wares. I ate some fried pickles (the best I've ever had), some ice cream, and--I don't even want to say it because I would've rather had corn on the cob but I didn't care at the time but now I do--a cheeseburger. But that's only because we saw Tim McGraw at the grandstand and that was pretty much my only choice inside the grandstand aside from a hot dog.

Colin
started his new day care and is doing well. He tags along with the other kids and "is a good eater" (which is pretty much what he's known for 'round these parts). He naps on the mat on the floor WITHOUT his pacifier. Sandy's plan was to just pretend she didn't have a pacifier and see how that went. It went well :) Today was the first day of no-nukkie-at-naptime-at-home, and it didn't go as well. I lay him down in his crib at naptime, and he cried for 45 minutes. So I let him play, and tried again an hour later, and he still screamed. So we went for a walk and he was asleep within 10 min in his stroller, and I transferred him into his crib--without his pacifier. Bedtime is a whole other issue. Last night when I lay him in his crib for bedtime, he looked at me and said, "nana" and pointed to his mouth as if to say, "don't you forget." Maybe after a few weeks of not having it at naptime he'll forget he wants it at bedtime too.

Couch to 5K
I was having ankle issues which have been resolved because I bought some new kicks with the curriculum money I earned over the summer.

Then I was having stomach issues--this sharp pain that wouldn't go away. I saw the doctor. He thought it might be my gall bladder. Got an ultrasound of all my digestive organs and it came back normal. I think I ate bad chicken. The weather has been rainy.

The stomach and the rainy weather (and the fact I don't have anywhere to run inside--no treadmill--no gym membership anymore b/c we're cutting expenses) = I didn't run for 4 days. I felt so disappointed! 6 weeks ago, I couldn't have cared less. Now...I care a lot. So last night I ran week 5 again, and I'm going to do it one more time before moving on to week 6. It's hard to get the momentum going again. But it's going!

Debt
We've made two payments to our debt management program and we're seeing the balances slowly creeping downward. Our credit cards have been canceled, so they can't go up! And it feels good. I hope to never have a credit card again. For reals.

Kevin and I started Dave Ramsay's Financial Peace University online. The first baby step is to get $1,000 into an emergency fund. We're working on it.

The lease is up on our Escape in 3 short weeks. We're going to pay cash for something. So don't be surprised if the next time you see me, I'm driving a run down Taurus. [[whimper whimper, it's only temporary, it's only temporary]]

Labor Day weekend plans
Today Kevin worked while Colin and I headed over to Stillwater to buy a wedding gift for Kevin's cousin. I came in under budget. Colin is also lacking some sweatshirts for this chilly weather we're having, so I printed off a Kohl's coupon and got him 2 sweatshirts and a Thanksgiving shirt for $15. The total of the original prices was $40. Then we came home and fought naptime. Later today (when naptime was underway and Kevin was home) I went grocery shopping using my e-mealz list. I continue to buy a week's worth of groceries for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for under $100. And it's not a bunch of junk. We're liking e-mealz, but the recent meals have only been mediocre. I'm waiting for something fabulous to come along again.

Tomorrow the 3 of us are going to Spooner to meet up with Justin and Jen at Jen's family's cabin. It'll most likely be too cold to go in the lake, but there's always the boat and just hanging out.

Monday is the wedding. Hopefully we can do something that's a little fun in the morning too.

Enjoy the rest of your Labor Day weekend!