This ‘N’ That

Hmmm. I haven’t so much been in a posting mood as of late. I’m mostly just distracted by other things. I’m by no means giving this blog up. I just don’t feel a need to post daily.

On that note, here is what I have to say.

Tax return. We got one. Today. 7k. That’s a lot of money for someone who brings in a measly 13K a year. I mean half of my net income in one lump sum. Boggles the mind.

I’m a spender. I can’t save. Now, to my defense we struggle to make ends meet so when we do actually have money, there is always something that needs to be bought. Aside from my 20$ a week allowance, I don’t ever have money that is for pure fun. And even then shit like shampoo or batteries for the kids have been known to come out of my allowance.

So yeah, 7,000$. Saving it was out of the question. First and foremost we are only allowed 2k in assets before Pat loses disability SSI. Cars count. So does money in the bank. So it had to be withdrawn right away. And money in the hand is money spent. So what did we do?

Almost 2K went to bills and various debts. We paid off the last of the credit cards. It’s from a long time ago and has just kinda been sitting there. Occasional payments made, but otherwise frozen in time. It’s now gone. We paid our basic utilities and cable for the month. Car insurance. Things of that nature.

About 100$ went towards things like diapers, shampoo, razors and blades, basic things like that. We bought in some bulk while we had the cash.

We each got 1K to do what we please with. Pat is paying Jesse (who financed me missing 2 weeks of work so I could be in the hospital last spring) back. I’m paying Stacy back. I forked over 200 to Pat for the car project (more on that in a minute).

When all that was said and done I had 700$ left to do whatever I want with. And that’s where Pat gets nervous. See I’m a spender. Remember me saying that up above? More specifically thanks to BPD (bet you thought I couldn’t work that in here) I’m an impulse shopper. I have very little self control when it comes to money. It literally burns a hole in my pocket. So me having 700$ is a little, insanity inspiring. So what to do, what to do. It’s simple. First off I’ve known for 2 weeks how much I was getting so I’ve had time to plan. Second, I paid a lot of attention to my impulse control list over there in the left column. It’s where I list everything I want in the world that costs money. If it’s on that list it’s something I want and or need and have wanted it or needed it for awhile. So should 700$ fall in my lap and I buy things from that list, it’s not an impulse, it’s planned spending. So I’m sticking to my list. Mostly. There are a few recent development that I’m purchasing that I never bother to put on that list. Like a camera bag. My current bag simply refuses to be big enough to carry 2 SLR’s (really big cameras, one film one digital) 2 lenses, a flash, and all the various wires and chargers and filters and this and that and yo momma. Seriously, a have a fuck ton of camera equipment and my bag doesn’t hold it all. I was fine until I got my flash. So I’m buying a bigger bag. A 300$ bag that I get for 150$ to be exact. It’s nice. It’s HUGE. It’s so going to be mine. I’m so excited. I’m also getting books. I’m getting the books that are on that list but I’m also getting books that aren’t on it. Specifically I’m getting books that deal with the Tudor era of English history. It’s my current obsession. But they are books. And I make no apologies impulse purchase or not. I’m also getting a new computer keyboard and a mic. I don’t believe either one of those are on my list, but I’ve been needing them both. So they too aren’t impulses. Frankly, I’m getting a lot of crap. I’ll list the rest of it later.

Car. We set aside 3,000$ for the car project. It ended up being more like 3,500 when all was said and done. The extra 500$ came out of our fun money. For the past 2 weeks we’ve been tossing a turning in our minds over what to do with the car situation. The Nissan is on it’s last leg. It can be fixed, but we are looking at 2-3K to do so. So do we want to put 3K into fixing it, or do we want to put 3k into a new car. Both had perks. Both had set backs. We didn’t know until literally the last minute what we were going to do. We had planned to take the Nissan to the dealership on Monday to get it fixed unless something else jumped out at us over the weekend. That something else took the shape of a year 2000 Chrysler Voyager. 150,000 miles, some dings and scratches, but in otherwise really decent shape. 3k plus tax and title. It’s exactly what we wanted at the exact price we can afford. We couldn’t pass it up. It’s sitting out back. Bought and paid for with cash 3 hours ago. As for the Nissan, it’s going to sit and look pretty until we can afford to fix it up bit by bit. First it needs new rims and tires. Then we’ll take a look at the brakes, master cylinder, etc etc etc. It’ll get my back and forward to and from therapy, but not much else. I’m not allowed to drive the mini-van. Ever. I’m ok with that.

Ok, enough about money and shopping. Moving on.

Luke had his 2 year check up today. Little man is healthy as can be. He’s 34 inches tall and weighs 34 pounds (yes he is as fat as he is tall). This puts him in the 90th percentile for weight and the 40th percentile for height. For those of you who are going huh… 90th percentile for weight means he’s fatter by 40% of where the kids his age should be. 40th percentile for height means he is shorter by 10% of where the kids his age should be.

He had his lead tested which means they stuck his finger and then squeezed it hard to get enough blood out. He was very brave. Then he got 2 shots today. He didn’t even cry for any of it. He made a face and protested the shots but he calmed down quickly. I was very proud of him. I think it helps that I held him through the shots instead of lying him down on the table. He always seems to do better when I hold him.

I’m slowly but surely working my way back onto the Geodon. I’m back up to 80MG a day. The process has been smooth sailing. No side effects or anything. I’m not sure that I was expecting any. It hasn’t been that long since I was on it at 200mg. But you never know.

I’m done rambling for now.

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