I have been so busy with wasting my time that I haven't updated, sorry about that :)
So instead of trying to fill in all the blanks I'll just tell you a few of the highlights.
Last week Alisabeth finished her first swim lessons. Day 1: Get in, loving that fact, flips out when we try to do anything, especially in regards to her face getting near water.
Day 8: She went underwater 3 times, somewhat voluntarily, and absolutely loves to crab-walk around the pool wall. She is also getting to like the idea of swimming, though her attempts at paddling wouldn't get her very far if mommy wasn't helping. All in all, a huge success.
Also on the agenda for the last few weeks is getting our place ready to move into. We are doing so on Tuesday. :)
We went Saturday and finally were able to do some work on the place. We put in new baseboard where the old ones were broken or rotted. Apparently the last tenants were nephews or relatives of some sort and therefore felt that it was unnecessary to take proper care of the place. A lot of the lower drywall had to be replaced and I think we should probably fix the rest of the baseboards, but we didn't have supplies enough for the, so we focused on the important parts. We still need to paint and caulk them, and there are a few more minor things that need doing.
On Wednesday my mom is going to come over and install the new water heater if our landlord hasn't had the time by then. We also need to put the vent grates and the outlet covers back, but all of that is minor. I am glad that our landlord is willing to exchange work for rent on this place, it was one of the major deciding factors, because it helps lower our bills significantly, and it also helps me keep busy. I love projects.
Next, another project, I don't know if I told you I bought the material for the windows, Jason liked the idea of a Roman Shade, so that's what we're doing. Basically it's material that pulls up similar to blinds. It folds in on itself. Pretty neat. I don't know the difficulty level, but I'll let you know. :)
We were also blessed because Jason's aunt Tricia was doing some spring cleaning and was getting ready to donate her drapes. Luckily she posted something about it on Facebook and I caught her. She was more than happy to ship them to us and now I have the finishing parts for the windows so that they will actually look nice. It's a beautiful deep red material and will go nicely with the cream of the Roman Shades. It will also blend well with the red cement floors. I'll send pictures with the final look when it's all finished.
Other than the house and the swimming lessons for the chunky monkey we aren't doing much around here. Today will be a giant cleaning spree to prepare for the move. 4 loads of laundry, clean up and separate Alisabeth's toys from my moms, pack what I can, clear out our freezer so we can load that up tomorrow. . . lots of fun stuff.
Oh, also on the docket is that I decided to start tutoring again. I'm limiting myself to three clients at a time so that I'm not overwhelmed, but hopefully the little bit of extra cash will pay for most of our food bill. It's really nice to be able to help people again. I'm charging a maximum of $12, which seems like a lot for me, but apparently isn't. The first guy I tutored told me that Econ tutors through the college here charge about $50 an hour. I was shocked, by the time you get done with tutoring for a whole semester you've almost doubled your tuition! Anyway, my goal is not to get rich, but to help people understand. I wouldn't charge anything if we didn't need a little extra to survive on. It is sad to me that tutors would charge such a high rate. I know that most people believe it is right to charge as much as the client will pay, but that mentality is so foreign for me, especially in fields like tutoring. Isn't the goal to help people succeed, but when the financial obligation forces them to strain and stress how is that helping them succeed?
Anyway, needless to say I am glad to be back in the tutoring saddle.
The last exciting thing started last week: Jason and I decided to make foster care a reality and signed ourselves up to begin the 4-6 month process. We went to the orientation on Wednesday evening and filled out the follow-up paperwork. I think the only part that could hold us up would be our financial situation, we're making it, but it's a close thing, and one of the major requirements is to be self-sufficient. We'll see how it goes. I am excited though.
Jason also surprised me, because I know he was adamant about not taking anyone older than Alisabeth's age, but the real need they have is for sibling groups of two or more children and usually one is older and one is younger. After the woman who was doing the introductory class finished he told me he wanted to open our home for any age and especially for sibling groups.
We don't have much room, so they'll take that into account I'm sure, but I felt so strongly that we were meant to be there. It was a very cool experience. Not only that but the miracle of the night was that we didn't have a baby-sitter (because we had only received the email about the orientation that morning), so we took Alisabeth with us. Now, for those of you who know her, I'm sure you matched my cringe at that thought, but she was amazing. She sat quietly and colored for the entire hour and a half. the only time she disrupted at all was when I reached over to tickle her just a little bit. She firmly told me, "Don't! mommy, don't tickle me." The teacher stopped for a second and told us a little about her two year old and then went on. It was so neat to watch her concentrate on coloring every square inch of her papers!
I think that's the extent of our cool stuff. I'll try to keep better postings, but we don't have internet in the new place, so this may be the last one for a while.
