Landlines and Cellphones

What a racket this is! Budgeting cutting efforts again here. Rich and I realized that between the two we were paying WAY too much per year on phones.

So, we called Bellsouth, cut off the caller ID, call waiting, and something else I can't remember. But it cut the bill down by $35 a month....This is just exciting news in this house.

Then, we got to Sprint, to see about that bill....Come to find out we can't reduce our bill. In fact, when our service runs out we will be forced into a 'bundle package' that will increase our bill. "Bundling" is suppose to SAVE money!!!!! Our only option is to get rid of Rich's Trio and get him a regular phone. Problem being my super busy, sole-income making husband deserves his geeky gadget and uses it very well.

The kicker is we'd look for a new phone company when our contract ran out, but my entire family is on Sprint - we get to talk for free. I talk to my mom almost every day, can't imagine the bill if we had to count minutes!

Decisions will be made next year I suppose......

Next time - work ramblings...

Wasted

A side affect of becoming part-time working mom is the obvious household budget cuts. I must admit that in the past we didn't pay much attention to spoiled food getting thrown out or spending a little more on items. Now that money is "tight" things are a little different.

Silly, but I am giddy when we finish leftovers or the extra sauce from pizza doesn't start talking to me from the fridge, 6 weeks later....

Challenges. The cost of groceries is HIGH these days. Despite my best coupon clipping efforts finding deals some months is just tough. We are desperately trying to keep the grocery budget, including formula and diapers at $650/mth. Strategies we've employed are using 'Angel Food Ministries' to get some basic meat packages each month and I recently checked out the ALDI grocery across from the gym. I would call this a 'basics' store. Definitely useful for a quick egg, bread, and banana pickup after the gym...not my everyday store.

Next time maybe I'll discuss the financial ridiculousness of having cellphones and landlines!

She SPEAKS!

Nora has words....3 of them

"keedee" - kitty, it was her first
"dada" - of course the daddy gets all the love
"Bur" - her version of 'bird'...in reference to a stuffed parrot in her room

We are just SO amazed at how fast she's learning......

So, I joined the gym.....

The gym membership was an effort to balance my life, health , and mental state!

After having Nora the post-partem weight loss was GREAT and then it came to a halt. Many of you know that I was diagnosed with PCOS(Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome) back in Aug. '06. It's an evil infertility disease that doesn't let me ovulate on my own or lose weight easily. There was hope that the pregnancy would correct this hormone imbalance but NO it did not. In fact, my insulin issues came back worse. (Sigh) Back to the Dr. for drugs and blood tests.....back on Metformin + a lot more exercise to better control my sugar levels.

I was finding myself just mentally frazzled at the end of the day. After becoming a pseudo stay at home mom, I realized how much of my character and self-worth I placed in my job, salary, and career goals. Easy enough - start my own business. Somewhere between being a sister, daughter, mom , wife, and entrepreneur I lost my mind! Perfectionist by nature I should be able to do it ALL. Wrong!

Unexpected benefits of the gym....I get 'me' time and a glorious uninterrupted shower! Ok, some days the shower is the best part since Nora's not screaming on the other side of the glass shower door. Best quote I saw recently was in a book I'm reading, "I was a better mom, Before I had Kids" This book is so TRUE. It's all about the things women don't tell each other about motherhood and being a wife afterwards. How it's hard to balance everything and feel like YOURSELF at the end of the day.

So I pound away at the treadmill, elliptical, or free weights and contemplate life, dinner, our next trip, the shopping list, visualize clients yards, or just daydream. I run to take care of me, so I can be there for my family. Can't say I've seen any true physical results yet but I already feel like a better mom and wife. And I think that may be better than fitting back into my size 8 jeans.

Maybe....

In the past I just havent' been able to keep up with these things but MAYBE this time it will get addictive.

Rich and I have long since talked about starting a blog with this title. This was a popular saying in the household when Nora first arrived..."I heard scary sounds from the underpants" It's been shortened to 'pants' these days but still brings a smile or laughter from both of us.

Of course, I don't anticipate this whole blog being about Nora and her adventures...as we have many of our own.