Taxes afforded us the opportunity to pay off the small balance on one of our cars! We have been married 16 years this August, and have never been able to do this. With this car, we have a plan...Emily will be 16 in 3 1/2 years, which sounds like a long time, but it isn't really. We hope to keep the car in shape so she can use it for her first car. Paying it off is the first step in this process, so we are all very excited. Without me working, money has been tight, but again, taxes afforded us the opportunity to get needed items such as contacts, glasses, extra curricular activities for the kids, vacuum parts (instead of buying a new vacuum), Stacey's government card (which the government didn't cover from the move), oil changes, etc. You get the point...all those things that were just kind of hanging out there, we were able to take care of most of them.
Stacey was FINALLY promoted to sergeant effective February 1st. We go to the promotion ceremony this afternoon....we are all very excited and very proud of him for hanging in there! The kids have a plan if they get to "pin" him...I'm sure it will be very dramatic. I hope to get some video and some pictures and will share them tonight.
Emily has been doing well in basketball. Thanks for all the advice...she took it to heart and her game really improved. After a slight...um...well...set of strong words to the coach, Emily got to play a bit more. Their 7th grade varsity team is undefeated with just one game left to go. I'm so proud of her! Next is track, which I think she will do well at to spite the duck feet! :o) It will open her up to a whole new world and THAT she is excited about.
To get Spencer out of the house and off the X-Box, we're signing him up for bowling on Saturdays (it runs in the family and he'll get face to face contact with people) and Swimming on Mondays and Wednesdays. He has been doing a lot more reading since the new "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" came out. I enjoy seeing him read voluntarily as it is not something he would normally do.
Medically, our family is all jacked up! Stacey went in last month for some steroid shots in his spine because he has 2 compressed discs and bone spurs on one of his vertebrae. This pain management technique worked on one side but not the other, so he goes in on the 15th to talk about the next step. His knee isn't bothering him as much, but that's because he has a profile, so he isn't running and doesn't have to wear his heavy vest...he does want to improve on his marksmanship, but since he can't wear the gear, that has been difficult.
Spencer is doing better. He is doing really well at his school (which makes me sad because he has to move to junior high next year). His 5th grade team is VERY supportive and they communicate with me well when something is going on. He saw a psychiatrist that now says he DOES NOT have Asperger's syndrome. So, when we went to his psychologist, he told me about a nationally recognized neurophsychologist that will do a work up and he takes Tricare. I was very excited about this, so we are just waiting for the word back. We found a great
psychologist who believes in fixing the problem, not just carrying on with therapy to get the money. I have seen several therapists over the years and not one has ever brought up, "the end" of therapy. So this could be good for Spencer. Both Emily and Spencer get really excited for letters when they come, but especially Spencer needs the encouragement to help him....so if you have time to write a short note....I'm sure it would help more than you know. Oh, and he lost another tooth....phew....he would have killed me if I didn't mention that!My medical problems are always there. As many of you know, I am bi-polar. Because this topic often comes up when explaining my traffic violation back in 2006, I am having a hard time finding work. Besides that, I am taking ALOT of medication for everything from Bi-Polar disorder, to the sinus infection that I have. I have had several abnormal liver function tests, which the doctors were sure was because of the amount of medications I'm taking. Well, it turns out to be gall stones from my high cholesterol (which is from the Lithium I take). I am waiting for a call back from general surgery, but it looks like I'll be having surgery to remove my gall bladder. Add this to my severe anemia, vitamin D deficiency, psoriatic arthritis and my sinus infection, it's probably good I'm not working because I feel so sick all the time.
Emily has been really sick this week. Generally when you get the flu, you get 2 or 3 of the symptoms. I think she had 6 or 7 of the symptoms. So, she got to miss school on Monday. Then, they were off school Tuesday and Wednesday for weather. They went back to school today.....I almost kept her out becuase of her coughing. The cold air is kind of making things worse. But, she has a humidifier now, two cats that are empathetic for her, and she loves to drink tea. So, she's getting better, slowly but surely!
Other than all that, the weather has been crazy! School was closed for the last couple of days, not because of snow on the roads, but because it was so cold. It was -11F to -20F and then the wind chill was at -40F. The kids had fun.....I still had to run chores....BBbbbbbrrrrrrrrrrr! We feel SO blessed to have such a nice and WARM home!
Well, that's about it.....like the title indicates, we're just dotting the i's and crossing the t's as we get settled in. Things are starting to fall in to place and we are getting in to a routine.
Happy Valentine's day to everyone! Stay tuned for pictures of Stacey's promotion....I'm sure your well wishes will make him feel so much more like a big boy! :o)
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