Good morning ladies. I started a post yesterday but it never got posted...ooops!!
So, I am such a spaz. I ran out of Crazy Clara meds a couple of weeks ago. So, obviously I did an online refill request. Really, I did. Then I just kept forgetting to pick them up. Then I used all of our money up so then I couldn't get them. Lame, I know. So I have been crazy Clara for a couple of weeks which equals unmotivated and very irritated by hubby. (Although just to say duck season would annoy me no matter how many meds I were on. I think I could be unconscious and it would annoy me. LOL). So, I finally went back to Walgreens.com and found out that if you order them online there is no shipping. How about that? So, I went ahead and reordered everything. Tricare has awesome med coverage. Well, awesome for me anyway. The cover for the provider horribly. Most meds are covered at way less than 50% which I would feel bad about except that they charge so freaking much. There is just no way any of the meds I take, which are pretty standard meds should cost whet they cost even if they are not generic. What is up with me that I can't take regular generic meds anyway? No, I have to take meds that don't come generic. Can I take Allegra? Nope...I have to take Allegra-D with a little bit of sudafed in it. And the Crazy Clara pills?? Nope they aren't generic either. But my parents have really good health insurance and they have to pay so much more than I do so no complaints.
So, did I tell you guys that I restarted the Financial Peace University program? It is taught by Dave Ramsey. It is an awesome program. It is Christian based but has universal principals. I would recommend it to anyone who wants to get their finasnces under control. His book "Total Money Makeover" is always a good place to start. Anyway, we just had the 3rd class and one of the things we had to do was write down our total debt. Now I have been telling Derek for years that we have a lot of debt. I have a student loan, we've always had a car payment or two and don't even get me started on credit cards. We finally have no credit cards. They are cut up and no longer a part of our spending habits but we still have the debt of them. So we had to write down our total debt not including our mortgage ion the class. So, I wrote it down and handed it to Derek. He saw the number and was just in shock. He had just never put it together that we could owe that much money. Keep in mind the average family debt is $20K and we are a bit above that, quite a bit. His spending has always made me crazy and like most couples we fight about money more than anything else, spending habits in particular. Well, it seems that was a turning point. It seems he may have finally got it. He may finally understand why it is that I get so upset everytime he comes home with a silly thing we don't need that he got a really good deal on at the Goodwill. Don't get me wrong, I'm all about a bargain on something we need. BUt it is only a bargain if you needed it. Otherwise you still spent money you wouldn't have otherwise. We have a garage full of good deals. So, I was very excited that he got it. So, you guys know me...why let someone get something when I can be obnoxious, right? So after we wrote down the number and put our anonymous total in a bag to add up and put in a group total I wrote the number down again and handed it to him again. I'm so sweet.

But, you know what he did? He put it in his wallet. Then I was talking to my neighbor last night and found out that he was talking to them about it. So, I know it really go to him. So tonight we are having our first real budget meeting. So today I have to get everything written down that we owe, everything we need to save for (Cozumel), all of our bills, etc. Not to mention I've gone into panic mode about my kids school recently and want to put them into private schools if we stay here or home school if we move someplace with the military. So, we've got to figure things out, and get them figured out aggressively. It is really scary...BUT I am actually really excited that we are for the first time EVER on the same page. That is awesome. That is jump up and do back flips awesome. I have a lot of work to do today. Eeeek!! So, that is why I thought I'd check in this morning.
So, how about those Olympics?? I sure hope it snows soon. I can't believe there is snow everywhere but the West coast. You know I am only a few hours south of Vancouver. I found out some interesting things when I was in Europe. We did a tour of Innsbruck where they did the winter Olympics twice. One year they didn't have snow. Well, the snow for the olympics has to be natural./ They can't use manufactured snow. Just think how nice that would be to put a snow machine on a hill and create snow. No problems, right? Yeah...illegal at the Olympics. So instead they have to go to where there is snow load it onto trucks and ship it in. Can you imagine that being your job? "Yeah I'm in the snow shipping business." Craziness. Now it isn't even cold. There's snow at Whistler I believe but I don't know if they are doing any Olympic events there. Not quite sure where that is in relation to Vancouver. I've been to Vancouver many times but never Whistler. I'm not a skiier.
Well, a little love before I go off to work...
Chris, I thought you were walking to NC getting Linda and then you were headed to FL. I'll bring a suitcase and you guys can hop in.

You know, I have tried to get ahold of Cynthia many times and she never wrote back. I don't know what is going on with her. It is all good though. We had planned on using the resort as a meetup place but we may do something else or maybe we still will. Any suggestions? I think we are going to go to the zipline park. It is a long stop there. I was hoping to find out where the good shopping there is, good food, etc. Also if it would be better to do an excursion to the zipline park or to find our own transportation. Thoughts??
Linda - I hope you have a fun weekend getaway. That is nice of you to shovel the driveway. I'd look at my husband like he was crazy, then start laughing. Maybe there is a neighbor kid who will do it for you??
Andrea - look at you getting all motivated. There is something to that eating healthy = more energy thing. Not eating sugar has def given me more energy. Can you believe I haven't had any sugar in over a month. I even made brownies and didn't even lick the spatula. UnAmerican, I know. LOL!!
Okay guys...I'm outta here and off to work.