For businesses, the fiscal year is a big deal. Some run January to December, others run oddly from an autumn month to another. A Stay at Home Mother's fiscal year runs August to June. My job has gotten easier over the years. I used to work 24 hours a day/7 days a week/365 (366) days a year. Now I am "on call" for some of those hours. "On call" is a fun place to be. It's a change I with which I am on board.
Donned in new clothing, and school supplies secured, the girls walked across the road to carpool with the neighbor to school for the first day of seventh grade. Unbelievable that my little girls are seventh graders! The drama of the morning was deciding what to take for classroom use on the first day of school. Pencils, pens, highlighters, eraser, pencil sharpener, scissors, paper, spiral notebook, binder...to backpack or not to backpack, that was the question. It was finally decided to backpack, along with a bag of gym clothes and band instruments. When it was all said and done, I was guilty of waking them up too early because they had to sit around for 20 minutes and wait to leave for school. I am in deed a terrible mother.
For the first time since 2000, I am not a member of the PTA, and that means I am not In Charge! PTA didn't take that much of my time, but there was always planning to be done. This year, there is still a lot of planning to be done, but it is all about me! We moved into this house in December. For three months, I spent two hours a day driving the girls to and from their old school 21 miles away. The last two months of school, the girls attended school in town, but I was busy finishing out the PTA school year at their old school, and just trying to keep up at home. I had grand plans to complete several projects over the summer, but the average temperature outside from June to today has been at least 100 degrees. It was too hot to even think about getting very much done. But, this is my year! Again, this a change I am behind.
I have a list a mile long, but I am very excited about it. First, I am going to inventory the refrigerators, freezers, and pantry to see what I actually need to use up, throw away, or stock up. Then, I am going to CLEAN this house from top to bottom. The previous homeowners were not the cleanest people and I really need to scrub some areas, like the baseboards. Then, I am going to clean out closets and the 3rd car garage, and donate everything we are not using. Then...I can start completing all of the projects. One of the first will be to paint the girls' bedrooms and the bathrooms. I think that will make them really feel like they are home.
It took us a little while to find a church home, but we feel that we have found it. This week we started attending a Sunday School class to, not only spend more time learning more from the bible but, meet more people at church. There are probably over 1300 people that attend that church, and a lot of them come from our neighborhood. My biggest commitment begins on Wednesday when I start going to choir practice. The choir sings every other Sunday for at least two of the three services. I have been putting off joining the choir because of the commitment, but it is time for this change, too.
I have enjoyed our swimming pool during this extremely HOT summer. We have three years to pay it off. We want to see that happen sooner. My husband is concerned about paying it off and attempting to pay off the mortgage ahead of time, too. He must retire from his current position in 10 years. This mandatory change does not in any way secure another position for him. He doesn't doubt that he will find another job, but he can't be sure of what it will pay or the absolute security of the position. He wants me to get a job to help pay off the house. I don't want to go back into engineering. I can't think of anything else I want to do, or am qualified to do, that pays as well. My biggest project this fall is to go over our household budget with a finetoothed comb, and then stick to it. I will explore my money-making options as I work to save as much money as possible. I need to change my "I want it and we have the money for it" attitude. That is the bottom line!
So, my fiscal year begins today. Change is good. My little girls are growing up. I have been poor and broke, so I know how to save money. I will be working on real projects by September 1.
Yee-haw, load 'em up, move 'em out.
