A November to Remember

As you all may recall-I left my longtime job as a public accountant/financial statement auditor in September to join the private world of accounting and try my legs as a controller for a local construction company. Well - my legs did not fair well. Last Wednesday was my last day in this role and I am a little embarrassed to say, I am unemployed (I like home engineer a little better!). The embarrassment comes not from being unemployed or losing this particular job - it is merely strange for a person like me, who has worked so many hours and put forth so much effort into her career to wake up one day and not have one anymore.

Nick and I fully intended on having me stay home when we had kids, so it is not like we had planned on me working forever, but we weren't really expecting for me to stay home before the kids came into the picture. So with that, I guess I have finally come out and said it - I have joined the ranks of the statistical unemployed.

Now, before you start feeling too horrible for me - know that while I wasn't planning on leaving the new job that I started quite this soon, I did plan on leaving it eventually. Quite frankly, the environment was not good for me. There was no training and while I am usually a self starter, I had never done 90% of what I was supposed to be doing, so I spent much of my time being very frustrated trying to figure out what I was expected to be doing and learning what to do but having no direction to know what I was supposed to be learning in the first place - confused? Me too. I didn't particularly bond or connect with the people I was working with, a stark contrast to my previous job where I made and have remained friends with many of my fellow co-workers. I tend to describe the environment that I just left as toxic. It had a deep effect on me, my husband and our happy home life. I spent my days in this toxic, confusing and frustrating environment and inadvertently brought the frustration home with me. These past few months were and interesting anomaly and blip in our otherwise happy life together.


Deep breath - I finally came out and said it, albeit a week late - but there - I am currently a domestic engineer. Between sending in applications (which by the way, there are no jobs out there right now) and cleaning our house / taking care of our family, I have stayed very busy. The first thing I did when I lost my job was sit down and make a budget. I have never really set up a serious budget for us, I never really had to - and yea, I know, and accountant with out a budget *gasp* but whatever, I like to live on the edge.

Thankfully, we had taken a look at our finances a few months back when we decided it was time to start trying for a family. We were able to identify places to make improvements to so that eventually, I could stay home. Thankfully the second - we have always lived rather under our means and been very serious savers/pay down our debt types. And thankfully the third, with my increase in income that my (now gone) job brought, we were very focused on paying things off. In those 2 months, we eradicated our credit card debt, paid off my very last student loan, massively paid down my car, massively paid down our house and airstream trailer and re-financed our house. All I can say is, thankfully, we did all of this! It makes the loss of my income a whole lot easier to swallow and a whole lot easier to deal with!

Dogs are Carefree

My dog could teach me (and others) a thing or two about life, optomism and happiness.

• He is always excited to see his "people"
• He asks for very little (food, attention, exercise and being let out when he needs to go)
• He is an amazing cuddler and is a.o.k if we move him around to make ourselves more comfortable
• We neutered him and doesn't seem to care that he is missing important "man parts"
• From a dead sleep, he is ready to go at a moments notice
• He never complains about car trips, no matter how long
• Even after we leave him in the car, he is still just happy that we came back

Sometimes it is hard not to allow myself to get down about the things that aren't going right in my life. I should only have to look as far as my puppy to see that you don't really need much to be happy. There are things that I want that aren't happening as quickly as I would like - expanding our family and finishing our house - and I admit, I get really down about these things, namely, the expanding our family part - but what I should do is look to my puppy and realize that while there are things that I want that aren't panning out for me, I have a lot to be really happy about.

Challenge

I am issuing myself a challenge - and perhaps, by committing it to writing, I will stick to it. The summer and these last couple of months were very expensive between weddings, parties, booking travel arrangements for various trips, maintenence on my 150,000 mile having car and other misc expenses. It is time to get on the saving band wagon or as The Coach's Wife says - It is time to be a mighty budgeteer!

In the month of November I will not:

1. Buy things I don't absolutely need
2. Purchase any articles of clothing, shoes or other such non-necessities
3. Purchase new household items

In the month of November I will:

1. Continue to pay things off quickly
2. Inquire about refinancing to the lower rates that are out there right now
3. Focus on the things I have at home for decorating and put the time into finishing long overdue projects

Piles of Leaves

I love my maple trees. I have 2 japanese maples and 6 regular sized maples. They act as amazing privacy screens with their greens during the spring and summer and thier bright orange and yellows in the fall. I love those trees. Until they drop their leaves. I feel like I am drowning under a pile of leaves with nowhere to put them. Our garbage company gives us a bin to put organic compostable items in. This took care of less than 1/8th of the leaf pile. And then there is the problem of privacy lost. We are waiting for our inscense cedar trees to mature and fill in so that they offer a more complete privacy screen between us and the house next door. When the maples are bare, it becomes more obvious that our inscense cedars have a ways to go.

Last night, I started on my first "crafty" project. I really wish that I could just fill my house with pottery barn and resoration hardware - but I will have to wait to be independently wealthy for that. When we re-did our kitchen, we put the kitchen cabinets in the garage for a workspace for Nick. I used one of the left over doors and painted chalkboard paint on part and mahogany stain on the frame part. Then Nick and I wiped some of the stain to give a weathered look. We need to go to home depot and get some brackets and some hardware to hang it. I am not sure where it will go yet, but it should be a really neat sign when it is done.

I have been stalking blogs of DIY home improvement buffs and I have to say, I am semi adicted. People are so creative! Among things that I want to do - A door table or barnwood table, my own picture frames and an entryway table (only longer). I will be sure to take pictures as these projects get complete.

Example of a long table that I just love

Door Table. It is delightful and so beautiful!

Correction

Oh English- "The air was like soup" is a simile - silly me!

I have started to Christmas shop a little. Ok, so I purchased on thing for one person - but still, it is a start. I have been thinking more and more about christmas decorations. We haven't decorated our house for Christmas ever because we generally go to McCall. This year, whether we go to McCall or not, I would love to put some Christmas spirit into our home. I have been browsing for ideas - however, I have made the mistake of looking at Pottery Barn for ideas. Big mistake. I need to learn how to be either crafty or better at shopping in a thrifty way (and have some imagination) or I will go broke in my attempt to decorate.

Example A (see stocking pic above): I priced out 3 stockings with monograms. 1 for me, 1 for Nick and 1 for Trooper - $101.00. What?? For some fabric with a name? Add the stocking holders and you are now up to $170. Sigh. That's a lot of money just for stockings and holders. Never you mind the amount that would need to be spent to make a complete pottery barn look. I can only imagine just 1 of their tree's all decked out would be in the neigborhood of $2,000. Yes, thrifty is what I need to learn to be. Or maybe just crafty.

I think a girls night/craft night is in order. Each girl should have some christmas decoration idea that they can share...maybe we do it all in 1 night, maybe in multiple nights...but I am in sore need of some guidance. I would love to open my home to all - so girls? Who is with me?

Mmmmm. Flannel

It is the time of year when drinks are warm, food is rich and comforting and the summer bedding is replaced with flannel. Cozy, soft, comforting. I love flannel. I especially love when it gets to be worn and has that soft, almost silky feel.

Nick and I just returned from a 12 day trip and it was everything a 12 day trip should be - relaxing. But more on the actual trip later.

We read a book (well, I read a book out loud to Nick) while we were traveling. We have never done this before, but let me tell you - it sure passes the time. The book was a good thriller, and action book called The Killing Floor. Not the best writing by any stretch, but a good read for anyone if they are looking for mindless entertainment. The author used a metaphor that I can't seem to get out of my head. "The air was like soup."

Hmmmm. I feel like this should be included in funny metaphors that teachers encounter - It was certainly out of place in the book. I am not sure I would ever want to go to a place where the air felt like soup - sounds distasteful, to say the least.

Moving on.

I learned that you can substitute greek yogurt for recipies that call for oil. We made brownies this way. The recipe called for 1 egg, oil and water. Sub the oil out and use greek yogurt. It has more protein, is healthier, fluffier and has a moist texture. I will never use oil in baking again - trust me - give it a try. I used Fage plain greek yogurt. Seriously. Give it a try.

The one problem with vacation is the pile of work you have when you return. My desk is piled high with all kinds of projects. Our yard is full of leaves (thankfully, the trees have shed all the leaves!), the grass is long, etc. Last night, I mopped, vacumed, unpacked, cleaned the sink and counters, did a load of laundry, picked up, dusted....and there is oh so much more to do. I will save the rest for another day.