Tuesday, February 02, 2010
A Futon and $85
It's been over a month since I last wrote, which is unacceptable. Life has been busy ,though.
I started school (again) in December of last year, and I've been diligently staying ahead on my school work. I am glad to say that I am finding school remarkably easy at this point, though I am sure it will become more difficult as time progresses. This term, which is nearly over, has been a nice way to ease into life as a college student again. This is my first "tour of duty" since becoming a mother, and I appreciate the time to make the transition. I am sure that next term will be more challenging, and I feel prepared for it now.
Shortly after the new year, Jaden decided he didn't want to share a room with me anymore. It all came about quite by accident. Over New Year's weekend, I fell asleep on the couch while watching a marathon of "The Twilight Zone". I was so comfortable, I decided to sleep there all night. It turned out that Jaden and I each slept through just about the whole night, with Jaden getting up only one time. One time, as opposed to his usual three or four. The following night, I slept on the couch again, wanting another full night of sleep. The night after that, I thought I'd give sleeping in my bed a try, and I wasn't in the bedroom for five minutes before Jaden was up and crying.
Thus began my nightly routine of sleeping on the couch, allowing Jaden to sleep peacefully in the bedroom by himself. Initially, sleeping on the couch wasn't so bad. However, before too long, my body let me know in a multitude of ways that sleeping on the couch was not a long-term option. I began searching for affordable options, finally finding a solution about a month later. Last night, my dad and I went to pick up a futon I found on craigslist. I slept on it for the first time last night, and while I definitely need to buy a thicker mattress (which I will do tomorrow), it felt remarkably better than sleeping on the couch. AND, I had room to move around. It was wonderful!
I filed my taxes last week through H&R Block, and I anticipate getting my refund soon. I get paid tomorrow, which is going to help me buy the new futon mattress and a few other things. However, in the meantime, Jaden and I have been going without a few things, because it seems there was more month than money this time. We don't regularly get child support, having had no payments since we received $43 last October. That makes things difficult from time to time. We were running low on some essentials, though, so I started digging through my wallet to see what I could find.
I decided to check my balance on my prepaid Discover card, thinking I might have at least a few dollars there that we could use to buy a few things. Imagine my surprise when I found I had $85 available! As it turned out, I had put money on the card last month, and forgot about it. I am sure I put it on the card with the anticipation of using it to pay for something specific, but had a change of plans. However, with my mind bouncing between school, motherhood, and so on, I forgot that I didn't use the Discover card as intended, and the money was just sitting there. It was a very happy discovery, and Jaden and I quickly went out to Dollar General to buy the things we've needed. Our kitchen cupboards are now full, I was able to buy a few personal things, and the wait for payday tomorrow suddenly became much easier.
All of these things remind me once again that God always provides for us, whether or not we get child support, whether or not the economy sucks, whether or not we are living on an extraordinarily limited budget. Jaden and I live on an income that is about six thousand dollars a year BELOW the federal poverty level, yet, we lack for nothing. Sure, we don't have a fancy car to drive, but our 1995 Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera gets us where we need to go without any problems. We don't live in a posh house, but our apartment is cozy and our landlord has become our friend. We have our family close by, allowing Jaden to know his grandparents and his aunt and his cousin, which is something I wasn't able to do growing up because we lived so far away from everyone. We live in a great community, and we are loved. In my book, Jaden and I are very wealthy.
We are living an amazingly blessed existence.
I started school (again) in December of last year, and I've been diligently staying ahead on my school work. I am glad to say that I am finding school remarkably easy at this point, though I am sure it will become more difficult as time progresses. This term, which is nearly over, has been a nice way to ease into life as a college student again. This is my first "tour of duty" since becoming a mother, and I appreciate the time to make the transition. I am sure that next term will be more challenging, and I feel prepared for it now.
Shortly after the new year, Jaden decided he didn't want to share a room with me anymore. It all came about quite by accident. Over New Year's weekend, I fell asleep on the couch while watching a marathon of "The Twilight Zone". I was so comfortable, I decided to sleep there all night. It turned out that Jaden and I each slept through just about the whole night, with Jaden getting up only one time. One time, as opposed to his usual three or four. The following night, I slept on the couch again, wanting another full night of sleep. The night after that, I thought I'd give sleeping in my bed a try, and I wasn't in the bedroom for five minutes before Jaden was up and crying.
Thus began my nightly routine of sleeping on the couch, allowing Jaden to sleep peacefully in the bedroom by himself. Initially, sleeping on the couch wasn't so bad. However, before too long, my body let me know in a multitude of ways that sleeping on the couch was not a long-term option. I began searching for affordable options, finally finding a solution about a month later. Last night, my dad and I went to pick up a futon I found on craigslist. I slept on it for the first time last night, and while I definitely need to buy a thicker mattress (which I will do tomorrow), it felt remarkably better than sleeping on the couch. AND, I had room to move around. It was wonderful!
I filed my taxes last week through H&R Block, and I anticipate getting my refund soon. I get paid tomorrow, which is going to help me buy the new futon mattress and a few other things. However, in the meantime, Jaden and I have been going without a few things, because it seems there was more month than money this time. We don't regularly get child support, having had no payments since we received $43 last October. That makes things difficult from time to time. We were running low on some essentials, though, so I started digging through my wallet to see what I could find.
I decided to check my balance on my prepaid Discover card, thinking I might have at least a few dollars there that we could use to buy a few things. Imagine my surprise when I found I had $85 available! As it turned out, I had put money on the card last month, and forgot about it. I am sure I put it on the card with the anticipation of using it to pay for something specific, but had a change of plans. However, with my mind bouncing between school, motherhood, and so on, I forgot that I didn't use the Discover card as intended, and the money was just sitting there. It was a very happy discovery, and Jaden and I quickly went out to Dollar General to buy the things we've needed. Our kitchen cupboards are now full, I was able to buy a few personal things, and the wait for payday tomorrow suddenly became much easier.
All of these things remind me once again that God always provides for us, whether or not we get child support, whether or not the economy sucks, whether or not we are living on an extraordinarily limited budget. Jaden and I live on an income that is about six thousand dollars a year BELOW the federal poverty level, yet, we lack for nothing. Sure, we don't have a fancy car to drive, but our 1995 Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera gets us where we need to go without any problems. We don't live in a posh house, but our apartment is cozy and our landlord has become our friend. We have our family close by, allowing Jaden to know his grandparents and his aunt and his cousin, which is something I wasn't able to do growing up because we lived so far away from everyone. We live in a great community, and we are loved. In my book, Jaden and I are very wealthy.
We are living an amazingly blessed existence.
// posted by Jaden's Mom @ 2/02/2010 09:39:00 PM 
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