My last day of "freedom"

One would think I would have had something more fun planned for today than housework and hanging out with my kids, but I'm a mom!  That's what we did today.

Tomorrow, I start my first online class and I have a phone call with my new student mentor.  And I also apparently have an appointment with a different internet provider -- The Rock wants something faster.  Ok then.

VOD (a.k.a. Runner Girl) is at school from 8 to 4:30 every day.  She's having fun with volleyball but she's worn out.  Then she comes home around 5, practices, eats dinner, does homework, and off to bed.  It's busy.

The littles are just all over the place.  Much playing, yelling, tackling, tickling, jabbering, laughing, and I wish more napping.  Ha.

This has been a hard week because The Rock's financial aid hasn't come in yet and we have rent and car payment due.  And my financial aid won't come through until mid October.  The Rock is stressing over it but things are better now that he has most of his books and online access to his math class.  He's turned in his first assignments and is feeling more confident that things will be OK.

As I've been couponing, I've tried to stock up on basics and everything else.  We got a bunch of pasta for free (sale+coupon) a while ago, but a lot of it was tricolor and we found out The Rock is allergic to spinach.  So it's a no go. And we used up the rest of what I got.  But I haven't seen a fabulous sale and can't go get any pasta or anything right now.  We have been eating a lot of rice lately but I wanted something different and we can't do potatoes. 

I started rummaging through my pantry tonight trying to find something to do for dinner and a big bucket in the back caught my eye.  I have a few -- flour, sugar, rice, and this one, which I knew was there but couldn't remember what I'd put in it.  Something told me just to open it and look.  I found spaghetti, macaroni, and various dry beans.  I've been cooking a pound of dry beans every week, and we just make bean/rice/protein bowls for quick lunches or whatever.  And now I have a few more to choose from.

I'm very grateful that I listened to that little voice that told me to look there, and that I've been catching sales here and there on this sort of stuff.  I've felt drawn to starting school but also to striving to save money and make things work on a limited income.  Even though things aren't as smooth sailing as I'd like with school and The Rock's bipolar, little blessings like this let me know that we are going to be OK through it all and that God is watching over us.  He is guiding even seemingly small choices like buying a couple of extra packages of pasta and stashing them for a rainy day.

So my last day of "freedom" has been a good one after all.  And for that, I'm thankful.