I’d like to say that I’ve been super busy and that’s why I haven’t updated this as often as I had originally planned but that’s not entirely true. Part of it is that I didn’t want to deal with the hassle of moving pictures from my Iphone (that can’t keep a working charger to save it’s life) of the projects that I’d made, recipes I’ve used, and kick ass shopping trips I’d taken, and part of it is that I consciously chose to do something else. I had it in my head that no one would want to read what I had to say unless it had tons of awesome pictures to prove my point and it seemed like an awful lot of effort to hold my 6th lightning cord that month in a certain way so it would charge my phone. So I could take the pictures. That may or may not make someone want to read what I have to say. Crap logic, huh?
A lot of changes have been happening in the (almost) Dillon household. First and foremost a change in our schedules. Alex got a job working 3rd shift right around the time that I volunteered for 3rd shift for a bit at work. I was feeling incredibly overwhelmed by everything going on and I figured third shift would help alleviate that feeling. Alex chose thirds so that our schedules would, more or less, match up. I still have tons of extra time since I’m working 13 hour “days” 3 nights a week and Alex is gone for 7-8 hours every night I have off. Which is awesome for our budget!
You see what I did there? Seriously though, the change in scheduling was awesome and it allowed us to lower our utilities payments a bit as well. I’m sure this may not be big news but certain utility rates work the same as the “Night and Weekend” minutes on cell phone plans. Our electricity costs us less at night. Which is when we’re both up using it. I’m sure it won’t be incredibly drastic but every bit helps. Plus, it ties in nicely to those who call us using home phones where night/weekend long distance is less expensive.
I used the difference in Alex’s take home pay to pay the $40 upgrade fee and switched my Iphone 5 to a Droid Maxx since I have gone through so many chargers recently the clerks at the Dollar General know what I’m there for as soon as I walk in the door. The phone itself is an old enough model that it didn’t cost me anything other than the upgrade fee and, since we don’t have a home phone, it’s important to have a phone that is reliable. Speaking of importance of a phone…definitely washed Alex’s phone (through the entire cycle) and it doesn’t work anymore. He’s still on a family plan with his family and, although he’s eligible for an upgrade, he needs to meet with them first to go over his options and there are a bagillion things going on more important right now. In the meantime, he’s lucky enough to have access to wifi at work and at home so he’s just using my old phone as an ipod.
Alex’s family is struggling a bit right now as his step grandfather (and my favorite person in his family) was diagnosed with cancer in March, right after coming to visit us. He was feeling dizzy and suffering blurry vision and went to an optometrist to see if he needed a different Rx. His optometrist figured out what was wrong and called his wife (Alex’s grandma) to tell her that she either needed to come pick him up and take him to the ER or they were calling an ambulance. They found cancer on his spine, at the base of his brain and in his lungs. Since his diagnosis things have gone just about as far downhill as possible. This is especially hard since both Alex and I are close and Alex and I joke that this particular grandfather likes me more than him because we’re both “assholes with a heart of gold.” Hospice was called in almost a month ago so it’s only a matter of time.
We’re using the bit of extra money from Alex choosing overnights over first shift to make sure that we’re stocked up on things that we need and progress with our “get out of debt” plan. Right now, without Alex helping to contribute, I can have my emergency credit card paid off by September and be able to start paying off the rest of my car after that. With Alex’s extra help, it can be paid off by mid-August and we’ll still be able to get some of the more expensive stuff we need. You know, that stuff that you don’t REALLY need but at some point you have to bite the bullet and purchase. For instance,
Alex needs new shoes for work since his are dress shoes (definitely not made for hot factory work) and he’s lost so much weight since he wore jeans he looks like one of those REALLY old diaper-wearing men. You know the ones, with their rear all poofy but their waist and legs anything but. Basically, he looks really unprofessional for work, even for factory work. Max needs a trip to the vet in a month or so for her shots to be updated and I would really like to have work clothes in the correct size but it’s less dire than Alex’s need for clothes. Hopefully, by December we’ll be able to purchase a couch! Right now we’ve got a 2 person ottoman and a chair in the living room. Both nice and super comfy but there isn’t enough seating for guests.
More entries will (fingers crossed) be happening in the awkward hours of the night when everyone is sleeping and I’ve finished what I have to do for the night but the posts probably won’t have pictures for awhile. Unless it’s food 🙂
dillonfamilyvalues 