Jan 29, 2014

Man, I've had a lot of thoughts running through my head lately. Some of it's been getting our house organized (or namely, our kitchen table cleaned off - that's where EVERYthing seems to accumulate), some of it's been how to spend our money (I was pretty okay with our plan to pay off student debt before I realized exactly how much interest sucks), and so forth and so one, and some of it's been wrestling with deep theological/personal issues.

I mean, this goes right along with how to spend money.  One of my friends recently posed the question "is it okay for Christians to be wealthy?"  (or how much money is it okay for Christians to have, I forget exactly how she worded it.) Now, in a broad sense, when you put it like that, I know my answer.  But when it comes down to how I use my money?  well, then it starts to get a little fuzzier.

A perfect example (and the one that I've been struggling with lately).  Around...I dunno, October maybe? I decided I wanted a tablet, so I set up a way for me to get one.  Then, just after Thanksgiving, I found a good deal on one, so I just went ahead got one a little preemptively (I thought it was on sale, but it wasn't.  But it WAS a really good deal, and I'm really happy I bought one, so it kinda works out.)

But, around the time that happened, my husband decided he needed a new computer (his computer kept shocking him).  So, he got a really nice new computer, which, to be fair, he probably needed more than I know or will admit.  But, when he started complaining about his computer, I started disliking mine.  I found a pretty cheap solution to mine, decided to try it, and it started working really well.  :)  And yet, I still wanted to get a new computer.

And then the shame set in - all of the nice things we have, not wanting for food, for clothes, not shivering in the middle of the night....and yet I'm upset because my computer's running too slow.  Do I really want to spend $300 or $400 on a new computer, when mine still works pretty well?  Am I really that spoiled?  Is a new computer really worth it, especially compared to all of the people world-wide who NEED that $300 for food?  I'm just not sure.

See the tape?

And then, shortly after Christmas - things got a bit more complicated.  While cleaning up our kitchen, I accidentally knocked my laptop off the kitchen table.  When that happened, the battery popped out, and some little pieces broke off (the battery won't stay in on it's own).  To which I thought, "oh, well.  I guess that makes my decision for me - now that my computer's actually broken."  Of course, not long later, I realized that this was actually pretty easily fixed - I can either use my computer on a flat surface, where the battery can't fall out, or leave it plugged in all the time.  OR, true to how I was raised, I could tape it in place, which has worked pretty well.  

And so it's back to square one - should I, or should I not, get a new computer?  Is that really how I should be spending my money?  and I just don't know.

January 23, 2014

Well, that's just a silly picture to go with this post.  We've had an interesting week:  mood swings and tantrums with the boys, shuffling schedules around at the last minute, and some guests to our cottage.  That last bit worked out really well for me; I ended up not having to cook the last two days we were on duty this week!  And, in the extra time I had with not cooking, I got to do some other stuff that's been needing doing, looks putting up curtains in all the boys' rooms.

And now it's our weekend off.  We took an extra day, so we could make the drive up to our college and see a lot of our friends before they graduate and stuff.  Last time we came up here, the weather was horrendous.  The rain was so thick, it was hard to see the road for at least half of our drive.  This time, visibility was MUCH better.  But, it's also VERY cold.  It's currently like 1 degree, and I think the high for about the whole time we're planning on being here is something like 12 degrees.  (I'm also very thankful for the gloves and ice-grippers I got for Christmas! :-)  ).

And another thing that I've been thinking about lately.  How can we show that we're Christians in everything we do.  I mean, the "church answers" would be stuff like pray often, speak kindly, don't let yourself get into compromising situations (or, have integrity).  But like really...in EVERYthing...how do you do that?  How do you bring glory to Him while making dinner?  Or while setting up your budget (or just paying bills, or anything else having to do with family finances?) Or any of the other things we do every day, where we tend to really just check out and do what's expected, or what we need to? 

Anyways, hopefully I'll be back in a few days to tell you how our trip was.  If I don't, maybe I just froze to death ;-) .  God bless, and stay warm!

January 11, 2014

Hello everyone,

 I think it might have been a bit over a week since last time, but, much closer to it than a few months.  So, I'm working on it.

But the past week or so has been a good one.  We had another snow storm, not nearly as bad as the last one we had, just after Thanksgiving, but still enough to get our boys out of school for a whole week.  and more remarkably, they dealt with it really well - they got along pretty well, an didn't seem to be sick of each other by the end of the week, so there's not a whole lot more we could have asked for.

And in the past few days, it was my birthday.   We didn't do anything on my birthday, since we were working and snowed in and everything.  But, last night, we went out to dinner and to go see The Secret Life of Walter Mitty ...which was REALLY REALLY good.  (Nathan said he hadn't thought it looked that good, but he was thoroughly impressed.

And in the next few days (or hopefully today)...we'll be pulling down our Christmas tree and getting all the clutter around our house picked up.  That won't be too much fun, but it will be nice to have it done.  :)

Anyways, that's about as much as I've got to say for now.  Hope to be back up here in a week or so!