Buying stuff...or not

I'm planning to do as much of a "no spend" October as possible.  By "no spend", I mean not spending on anything unnecessary.  I will still buy groceries and gas.  We will make one trip to our favorite restaurant an hour and a half away (this is a mental health expenditure as much as a food one...we'd have to be on the verge of bankruptcy to give it up and, fortunately, we're not.)

But, as I'm planning this, I see things coming to derail me.  The little girl is selling stuff for girl scouts and school.  The girls want halloween costumes.  I'm sure some other school stuff will come up.  Birthday party invites.  Stuff like that.  It's amazing how easy it is to get derailed.

Right now, I'll just enjoy the fact that both dogs are asleep on the floor.

Walking

I have been majorly stressed and on edge lately for a variety of reasons.  I know something needs to change for me to improve things for all of us because it's not fair for the girls to have to tolerate my bad moods.  I'm going to try to start walking again.

When we moved back into our home, my parents gave me their treadmill since my dad can't use it anymore.  I used it for a bit right after we moved in and then life got in the way.  I've decided that I really need to figure out a way to make time for it if I want to maintain any sense of sanity.

Life is not quite normal these last two weeks because my parents have been out of town.  As a result, I've left work earlier two days a week and we've been home much earlier since we're not eating at my parents' house.  I like getting home earlier but I'm not so thrilled about not being fed and having to cook myself.  Fortunately, I have the help of the big girl and I do a lot on Sunday to prepare for the week and minimize cooking time on week nights.

Anyway, last night while the girls were eating after tutoring, I came and walked for 30 minutes.  Also, last night, I charge up my fitbit and put it back on my arm.  Today, I walked again for 30 minutes and then, after dinner, we all took the dogs for a walk.  (Romeo needs to be worn out so we can all sleep.)  So far today I've walked 7,907 steps.  I may get a few more but my day is essentially over at this point.

Still, I've felt much calmer this afternoon.  I'm trying to implement a couple of other things to help with the stress - mostly things I'm learning in a series of parenting classes I'm taking - and the little girl and I talked about it this afternoon.  Of course, right now it's all new and fun to practice but hopefully that practice will carry over into the time when it's not so new and fun.

I know I won't have time to walk in the afternoon since we're going to get my parents at the airport after work but I am going to try to walk at lunch.  It's so nice here right now, I think I can just take my tennis shoes and get outside without getting too sweaty and stinky.

We'll see how it keeps going!

Going crazy...must blog

I've got to get back into the habit of journaling or blogging.  I feel like I'm losing my mind and need to deal with life's craziness.

The house is getting better and better.  The girls' bedrooms are completely done.  My bedroom is mostly done.  I haven't found any artwork but there's no rush for that.  The kitchen is completely done.  The living room and dining room are mostly done.  I need a tv for occassional family movies and some artwork.  Also, 3 chairs for the dining table and get the artwork hung.  The sunroom is completely done.  There are a few things in the garage to put away still but very few.  All of this is so much easier when you don't have much stuff.

The girls are in school and it's going great and so-so, depending on the child in question. The little girl had a birthday recently and turned 8.  The big girl will be 14 soon.  We added a new family member at the beginning of September.  His name is Romeo and he's a 1-year-old chug.  I'm not thrilled with his presence currently and he's been much more work than the big girl expected but I know it will get better with time and we will love him to bits.  It has been weird having a dog who can hear!

As I try not to bring more stuff than we really need back into the house, how did we handle the little girl's birthday?  Well, we didn't have a party.  That was for reasons other than minimalism but it helps with that too.  From me and the big girl, she got a dress and a bracelet.  From the grandparents, she got two books and an Elsa hat with a long blond braid.  That's it!  These are all things that 1) don't take up much space, 2) that she will use, and 3) that she loves.

Now I must contemplate the big girl's birthday.  It's coming soon and she never asks for anything so she's much harder to shop for.