MY BOGGY BLOG: find your way through the murk

I've Created A Monster

Actually, it's a few monsters, Coffee-drinking Monsters! My 15 year old son and daughter wake up in the morning and "coffee" is one of the first words out of their mouths. It's strange; a year ago, neither of them liked coffee at all. And now if I make a 9-cup pot of coffee in the morning, I have to strategize so that I can have a second cup!

DS was lured in by the exquisite espresso machine we had for 5 weeks during our stay in Germany last summer. I tried to look it up online and couldn't tell if it was the $1500 model or the $4000 model, but oh, it was good! By pushing one or two buttons and putting the cup in the right place you could have a steaming latte in 60 seconds. We used this machine so much, I'd say we had a Relationship with it-- using it, figuring out how to fill it and clean it (very interesting when all the commands it gave one its digital screen were in German), kissing it goodnight. Sigh! It didn't take long for DS to join us in a morning cuppa joe-- as a groggy teenager in the morning, I think he liked the easy push-button aspect. Of course, he was being utterly spoiled in starting up his coffee-affection there. Who wouldn't love it?

Then we came home to our crummy 4-cup coffee maker that we'd gotten free somewhere, soon to be replaced by a 12-cup programmable Mr. Coffee. We also have a French press-pot that makes good coffee. No push-button lattes here! (And even though I love that machine, I probably wouldn't buy one because I love going to cafes too much.) DS would have a cup of coffee here or there, but gradually over the months he has come to request it in the morning, to desire it, to stagger in the kitchen to make a pot himself (had to teach him). He uses cream and a little sugar, but I've seen him drink it straight, too.

His twin started up a few months later, too bad she missed out on the German coffee! She too requests it in the morning and learned to make it on her own. She uses LOTS of sugar though.

DH, luckily, drinks only decaf and makes his own coffee, so there's one less person I have to fight off to get a cup. We're going through a lot more coffee lately, too. I may have to find a cheaper kind (or maybe save the good stuff for myself!).

All this reminds me of when I started drinking coffee. I think I was 16. I was a reader and loved reading historical stuff about England, Jane Austen and Charlotte Bronte. They were always drinking tea, and so I decided that I wanted to start drinking tea. My parents really only drank coffee, never tea, so I requested that my mom buy some for me to try. It was Lipton tea bags, and so in the mornings before school I'd brew myself a cup. Following the instructions, I'd steep the tea for 5 minutes like it said, and the tea was always very strong and bitter (nowadays, when I make black tea I brew it only a minute or two, since I don't like it that strong). I can't say I liked the taste but I liked the idea of drinking tea so I would choke it down every morning. Then one morning I was running late... no time to brew the tea but I wanted the hot beverage and caffeine, so I tried a cup of coffee. My mom and dad didn't drink very strong coffee, and I found that it tasted better than the bitter tea, so I started drinking coffee. I love it for the pep but also the warm comforting taste and feel.

It's funny to me now that my parents never drank tea. My mom said she didn't like it, but there are thousands of kinds of tea out there and one would be hard pressed not to find any kinds one would like. We are now big-time tea drinkers too, and our kids have drunk tea since they were little. And did I mention hot-cocoa?

Just making sure our membership in the Hot Beverages of the World Club is still in good standing. And now it's time for me to meet a friend at a cafe!

Back to the Drawing Board

Ah, I remember this place. It almost feels like home, it is so familiar, and yet there's always an uncomfortable edge about it. We're broke again (I know DH will love it that I'm announcing it to the world). We're not totally destitute or anything, but we're at the place where we have to strategically plan how we'll get through the month financially. I'm counting the pennies and saying no (mostly to myself) about buying anything not absolutely necessary. Oddly enough, the familiarity of Being Broke makes it not so bad. We've been here, we've done that, and we've survived.

This comes after a year or two of having a cushion of money since DH was working a more lucrative contract. We didn't have to worry about spending in general, and we made some big plans with the money--- our usual plan to get out of debt, along with, last year, a home remodel project AND a trip to Germany. And we spent a bit too much at Christmas, but then our plan was to get back on track and pay down debt for the new year.

Until DH suddenly lost the lucrative contract in January.

Oh. That was like a slap of reality in the face. We right away went into paying finer attention to the monthly spending and managed to weather the storm of looking for work, having no income for 2 months, and then the delay in getting his first pay check from the new contract. A not-lucrative contract this time. And then we were hit with a $7,000 tax expense a few weeks ago, something we'd not planned on because we have an accountant who we keep in touch with all year. We counted on her (as we had counted on our previous accountant, who did the same thing) to keep track over the year so this wouldn't happen. Frustrating sigh!

So, everything is in flux financially right now. We're trying to figure out how to come up with a budget that will work, how we can pay $1,000 by the end of April for our twins to go to Boston with the church group in June (they've been fundraising for this all year, but this is the amount we still have to pay). How to find a new accountant to can keep our tax payments current. How to get me started doing writing for businesses so that I can bring in money as well. And how to start paying down debt.

Luckily, some part of me rises to the challenge of living frugally. It brings me back to when DD and DS were babies and DH worked at the U of M for $30K and we didn't have two nickels to rub together. DH likes to tell his "badge of honor" stories about me making us use cloth diapers and washing them ourselves. We did all that, and I tried different things like cooking from scratch, baking my own bread, making my own yogurt. It was the 90's and the Tightwad Gazette was very in.

And so... here we are again. Luckily, we haven't had diapers around here in many years! That in itself makes things easier. For now, I'll just have to keep a tight rein on spending and see where the dust falls after we talk to a financial planner. And I'll make soup for lentl soup for dinner... tasty, frugal and healthy. We'll be fine.

Football Injury?

I never thought anyone would utter "football injury" and my name in the same sentence, but it's happened. We went to Easter Sunday brunch at my sister's house, our traditional Polish feast with ham and the good Polish sausage from Kramarczuk's and horseradish and babka and Easter eggs and egg bakes and potatoes and on and on to Grandma's cheesecake which I always have to make for any holiday I'm attending with my family. I learned to make it from her before she died and now it's my job. TG I have a foodprocessor and stand mixer, instead of having to use the meat grinder Grandma would attach to her counter to grind up the graham crackers and cheese. It's pretty easy to make now!

After eating and digesting a bit, BIL was trying to get the kids outside to play touch football. His father and my brother were playing too, and I know my kids, children of sedentary nerds, don't know anything about football. But it was sunny and cool and my kids were just sitting on the couch, so I got them to go, against their will, and join in. I followed them out to cheer them on. Within five minutes they had roped me into the game (I only know a little more about football than my kids), and gradually the game grew to more little kids, DH joined in and my sister too. BIL, who has trained as a sports coach, was good at talking us through the game and we all ended up having a blast! I'm such a large gal and I haven't run in more than 5 years probably, and so my knees were sore even as I played. And then DH dove for a ball and rolled and rolled over his shoulder, giving him an injury too. But I think just about everyone scored a touchdown at some point, and my kids were surprised to learn that they can get out and have fun playing a backyard game, even at their jaded age of 15.

DH and I are groaning and taking ibuprofen and hobbling around even 2 days later. But it was worth it! It reminds me of how I felt after riding the moterbike on our stay in Germany-- it was something I was a bit scared about trying, thought I was probably too fat to do it, but then it was exhilerating to push past those fears and actually do it.

And after that rousing game, we had to go onto my MIL's house for another feast, Easter dinner with lamb and asparagus. So the exercise was a good thing on a 2-feast day!