The wheels keep on turnin'

It's been an odd week of ups and downs.  But it all works out in the end.

Firstly, the kids & I had a possible opportunity to move into a 3BR unit in the same apartment complex we've lived in for almost 4 years.  It would make me immensely happy to be able to give both kids privacy of their own as they get older.  But there were some obstacles to be overcome, and, while I think they could still be dealt with, I've come to the conclusion that we are probably better off waiting until the next 3BR unit comes available - which may be as soon as July.  There are multiple benefits to waiting: The opportunity to truly get back on our financial feet before rent goes up with the bigger place; NOT having to pay to replace the carpets we'd pulled up a couple of years ago; AND, the unit we will likely be able to get into in July has an additional 1/2-bath, so it will ultimately be more useful for us.

Getting to that place of being ok with not moving was a struggle though.  I fought hard all week to try and overcome the obstacles that were in our way - spent a lot of time on my budget, at school finding out specifics about upcoming loan disbursements, attempted to get loans for money we were going to be short, did the taxes, advertised our current unit, SHOWED the unit to a bunch of different people, and just generally fretted quite a bit.  But in the end there's been a kind of peace to at least knowing where we're going to be for the next good bit.

There've also been other interesting things brewing:  An interview for an organization I would LOVE to work for - and could see myself being a part of for a very long time to come (hoping for a second interview and ultimately for getting the job itself); Even newly revealed responsibilities in my current job that are closer to what I was originally hired to do in the first place!

I have to say also that it's been a wonderful thing to have my weekends back.  For the nearly 4 years I was solely working from home doing legal transcription there was really never a day I could take off and not be worrying about doing enough typing to earn enough money.  It was tough when that job ended, but it's been SO wonderful in some ways to be once again working in a job that generally allows me to take most of my weekends off.  I may not actually TAKE all my weekends off, but having that freedom to do so definitely makes my time with the kids all that much better.

And speaking of time with the kids, my current struggle is helping my daughter with her ever-increasing 4th grade homework load.  Add to that the fact that she's struggling so badly in math that her teacher is considering recommending that we hold her back next year, and we've got ourselves a pretty heavy load.  She does NOT want to be held back, and I don't believe that ultimately she SHOULD be held back.  But with the addition of extra math practice every day, which takes away from her free time to play with her friends, we have quite a few emotional standoffs every day.

But ultimately, I have to say that this last week has been a vast improvement over the previous first couple of weeks of the year and I truly believe that 2011 will end up being an excellent year for our little family!