The year got off to a bang and ZOOOOM we were out of the gate! Snow was the big deal this month, with piles of it still around in some places weeks after the fact. Public schools were closed a full week, but not Northfield, we plowed right through pre-Algebra and by the end of February, will be well into Algebra 1. I have started leaving assignments on the board and giving the kids the option of choosing when they get done, within a certain time frame. We do math and science and history all together twice a week for each subject, then drawings, extra stuff and any other practice including handwriting, math practice and essay work are all done on their own and due by Friday. So far, it's working well.
They mainly do independent studies, and I have started requiring a summary each week-I know Ben can spend 30 hours designing roller coasters, I want to know what he's learning from that time. Or more, what he is getting from it, I don't expect a list of accomplishments so much as hope for some insight into why he's so willing to work SO hard on something that lives in a computer. Same for Jake and Chan, though Chan writes and is teaching herself piano and works on a half dozen other things in a day.
Weight- I have lost the few pounds I had gained over the holiday plus a handful more. I am currently sitting in a holding pattern, but things are in play. 1, I am getting more exercise than I was and that has to account for muscle growth and increased metabolism-both factors that won't really release a torrent of weight until I have done them long enough to stabilize, then BOTH should be a factor in dropping pounds. 2, I have revamped and changed our diet over the last month considerably. I was planning a slower transition, but decided it wasn't like getting used to the water or working my way from a slow jog to a sprint, it's FOOD. Our bodies crave healthy, whole foods and since changing over, everyone in the house has been in a much better mood, even Jake, who loves pizza and fried things, is eating steamed veggies and does not seem the worse for it, he's grown more this month than last year.
We are waking up earlier, actually getting the day started instead of sitting there bleary-eyed for the first hour or two. It's a change, one I am glad we have made. Even if groceries are costing more now, I have to temper that with the total halt in buying soda, chips, pre-packaged foods, drink mixes, junk food, treats and so on. I do think that over time, we will eat less as our bodies adjust to not having to process so much food in order to get the nutrients it needs.
Money-I am on track with my savings goals for the year, even a tiny bit ahead! Matt's check, after insurance and tax break adjustments, is $38 a check more. That's going straight into savings as if I had never heard of it. The first credit card is paid off, so half of that payment is now going toward the second card, the other half in savings. We will be able to pay for our Disney tickets and campsite as soon as we get the dates! Also, I renewed with AAA, which will save us 20% on the campsite, or $140. Not bad for a $58 investment that will also come to the rescue if either vehicle breaks down. I managed to skip a month on Jake's braces somehow. So I am a month behind on that and so won't be done until May. I opted to put extra on the credit card instead of paying off his braces sooner because the braces are interest-free and the credit card is not.
Money-I am on track with my savings goals for the year, even a tiny bit ahead! Matt's check, after insurance and tax break adjustments, is $38 a check more. That's going straight into savings as if I had never heard of it. The first credit card is paid off, so half of that payment is now going toward the second card, the other half in savings. We will be able to pay for our Disney tickets and campsite as soon as we get the dates! Also, I renewed with AAA, which will save us 20% on the campsite, or $140. Not bad for a $58 investment that will also come to the rescue if either vehicle breaks down. I managed to skip a month on Jake's braces somehow. So I am a month behind on that and so won't be done until May. I opted to put extra on the credit card instead of paying off his braces sooner because the braces are interest-free and the credit card is not.
Travel-Between dental check-ups, personal events, birthday and the play, February is totally blocked in already, we don't have 2 free days and nights together to go do anything! March will have to do as our first chance to get out, in the meantime, the camper has been checked end-to-end and found to be in good shape. I have a few cosmetic things I want to do-replace the floor covering and remove and replace the sealant on the outside. I caulk it every year and every year, it cracks around the trim (from the twist and sway when it's being hauled) and when I put on more, the extra that gets smeared around the edges turns a nasty gray from road dirt.
I bought a tool to remove all of the sealant and a spray cleaner that will dissolve the rest of it off the body. I plan to use a flexible, clear silicone gel that's rated for sun and rain exposure instead. I also want to buy a screen tent and an outside rug this year. I am thinking about one of those shower enclosure tents that you can use for either a port-a-potty or to hang a solar shower in. I want to put it in the corner of the screen tent to house the Rubbermaid bins that hold the power cords and tarps and the jacks and all that-body boards, inner tubes, sand toys. I just stack them up under the bunk end now, and that works great-until it rains and they get filthy from the gravel and dirt splashing up on them and if the rain is hard enough, they also get wet. It would just be one less thing to mess with. I don't enjoy camping in the rain and flat won't go if it's going to rain most of the time I had planned to be out, but I can't avoid it all the time. It usually rains once or twice a trip, no matter what the weather says.
So that's it, the year is going really well. My only complaint, as it is, is that a couple nights ago, someone came by in a truck and stopped and got out and started looking over my camper! Jake chased them off before he even told me someone was out there. I heard the dogs going NUTS and heard Jake go out, so I did not rush out there. When I went out to check, we could hear them pulled just a little ways down the drive way and they were talking, but I could not make out the words. Since then, the camper has been moved further back into the yard and I have put a good padlock in place of the kingpin-so no one can lift the clip to put it on a receiver ball.
The police said small campers and even just utility trailers were being stolen all around, probably for use at deer camps and as meth labs. : ( We are going to buy a good chain and chain the axle to a tree, Poppy is so light, I don't think she'd HAVE to be on a ball to be hauled, they could lash her to the bumper.
She's insured, for more than we paid, plus extra for any cargo she has in her at the time, which even 'empty' is still 2 heaters, 2 fans, her chocks and jacks, extension cords, memory foam mattresses, a microwave, fridge and a $40 carbon monoxide alarm. It's not the money, it's that she's OURS and we love her and we have great memories and plan to make many, many more with her as our happy little home in the background. I don't want someone to just take her and then use her for such bad things. I honestly wish the punishment for manufacturing or use of meth was death by firing squad.
