I had a great nights sleep. After only having 4.5 hours the night before and having a full day on top of that, I needed the 7 hours I got last night. Sleep does a body good. It was not overly comfortable sleep, due to the back brace, but I only have to wear it 2 more nights. Then I am out of the brace so I can move freely again. Thank you dear God for taking care of me and giving me a good recovery.
My wife and I are under a bit of stress due to some recent financial issues. I have a full time job that pays the NORMAL expenses. My wife has a part time job that augments that, but we are getting dangerously close to living paycheck to paycheck. We are not doing badly, but we have some debt I wish we did not have. Recently we moved one bill (our home improvements) to another bank that offered us a much lower rate and no transfer fees. That should allow us to pay off the debt sooner, however, we are still dealing with the bigger problem: the increase in our cost of living. Food, utilities, and gasoline have all gone up. Our property taxes went up but our auto insurance has gone down (just a bit). My overall pay has gone up a bit and we are able to save a bit more, but dog expenses have gone up and with the summer months ahead, it is going to get expensive with our new rate on electricity if we have a hot summer. We had been locked in to a very low rate (7.9 cents per kilowatt hour) for three years, but that contract expired last month. During that time, the electricity rates have DOUBLED, meaning that if we have a summer like we did last year, our average summer electricity bill will be $300. Our highest last year was $180. I can only ask God to provide for us. The likelihood of our rates going down are slim, so I am hoping new financial opportunities open up.
My employer has recently posted a profit of $1.2 billion this quarter. That is fantastic news for my company. The bad news is that my division, which usually makes a profit, lost money. Needless to say, no raises this year. This is my third year and we only have had one raise, and it was not enough to cover the cost of living. I realize this is for the greater good. I can only ask (and expect) God to provide. I have been asking for direction on what he wants me to do, and I felt led last November to switch departments. My carnal self is questioning that move, but my spiritual side is telling me to hold on. The good news about all of this is that if we have at least 2 more good quarters, we stand to get a bonus in December. We did last year, and it was not bad. It allowed us to have a 100% cash Christmas and buy a couple of expensive (but needed) items, one been new tires for my truck.
Our tax refund should be enough to buy a new couch to replace the old ratty looking one we have now. While we need a lot of things, I promised my wife we would get this as soon as we got our tax refund. I keep my promises. I really would like to buy her a laptop with part of it, but that is not "needed" right now. It would be nice (oh boy, would it), but we really do not need to PC's right now.
All in all, God has been pretty good to us. He has not opened many doors for PC work (for profit that is), but either the time is coming, or I should not be doing it. I cut grass for my neighbor in the summer, and that helps out. With my wife working 15 hours a week, that helps as well, but you must replace what wears out and to be honest, some of our clothes are looking a bit thread bare.
My mango plant is looking pretty good. The weather has been nice the past few days, but since the plant is still fragile and it has been windy, I do not want to place it outside to be damaged. I will be content with leaving it in the window where it will get a lot of sun. It has a new grown coming in on the top, most likely a cluster of 3 leaves. I need to put it in a better pot, either clay or ceramic. I do not like the plastic on it is in.
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