Almost fall

It's been chilly the last two days, and even though it's supposed to warm up a bit next week, I can feel fall on the way. The cool weather is nice, but at the same time I don't want to let go of summer quite yet. I don't want to wear long pants and real shoes is what it really is. Capri pants and sandals, as long as I can!

Boos feel the same way, I think. This morning when I went in to wake them up they were both snuggled in their beds, warm throws wrapped around their bodies which were also encased in long winter pajamas. But when I asked them whether they wanted to wear long pants to school the answer was "No! My legs don't get cold!" and other nonsense. So it was shorts, short-sleeved shirts, and Crocs for everyone, despite it being about 50 degrees outside.

The picture shows the boos tonight, getting ready for bed. It looks as though Rocket Boy is going to bed with them, but in fact he is just lying down while I sit on the loveseat and read stories. Usually my reading is punctuated by his snores. And yes, those are still their toddler beds. The goal this fall is to get them into twin beds, which will require moving them into the room that is currently our office (and moving the office into their little room, which will be the real challenge). I'm lucky they're still such little guys, but seriously, eight years old and sleeping in toddler beds? We have to work on this.

Our financial problems are solved -- we have renters next door! Even better, they are friends of ours, so we can still go over and work in the yard or just visit. I've mostly kept my distance since they moved in, maybe as a way of preserving my OWN privacy as well as theirs, but Rocket Boy is over there almost every day (fixing things -- it'll be a while before the house is truly in working order), and the twins go over almost as often to play with the youngest boy. I have really not liked having that house empty these past two years, and not only because of the lack of income. It's made me uncomfortable, especially when Rocket Boy was gone for any reason. There's another neighbor to the west of that house, and of course we have neighbors to the east of us, but beyond their house are two daycare/preschool buildings. So on dark evenings I've been very conscious of there being only 3 occupied houses in a row of 6. Now there are 4, and that makes a big difference to me. I simply feel safer. (Safe from what? I don't know. Just safer.)

Of course this doesn't mean we're rich, especially since we lowered the rent in order to accommodate our low-income friends. But next summer when I don't get paid for four months we won't have zero income. We'll live, very frugally, on the rent money.

I'm still very nervous about money. I don't get paid for another two weeks, and it won't be a full paycheck, so I'm afraid of spending the rental income sitting in our checking account. I haven't done anything about replacing the broken printer, for instance. I haven't reloaded my grocery store gift card (that gives the kids' school a little money each time I do). I try not to get cash from the ATM.

I went ahead and re-applied for free/reduced cost lunch for the kids back in August and we qualified for FREE lunch this time (last spring it was reduced-cost, because Rocket Boy was getting unemployment insurance). But of course now we have the rental income, so of course I feel guilty about getting free lunch. I try to remind myself that we just survived the scariest summer (financially speaking) I've ever had, and it's going to take a few months before I can pay down my credit card. Also, I need to keep being very frugal because otherwise we won't be able to afford next year's property taxes and insurance. We aren't rich. But next year when I apply again we should only get reduced-cost lunch (yes, even with the rental income we are still below the poverty line -- how's that for crazy?), and then I shouldn't feel guilty.

Well, enough about money -- but can you tell I spend a lot of time thinking about it?

School continues to go pretty well, for everyone. My anxiety about teaching is less this semester than any one so far, though it is not completely gone. One area where it remains is grading. I have a pile of papers that I've been avoiding all week. Tomorrow Rocket Boy is going to take the kids to Denver for a few hours and I have promised myself that I will spend the whole time grading. As far as the boys' school goes, Kid A is doing better in reading, but is still struggling. Basically, if he were in 1st grade he'd be doing GREAT! -- but he's in 3rd grade, so he's not. I'm waiting to hear about what we do next. Kid B has Kid A's old 1st-grade teacher this year, and I'm quite pleased about that. Some of the parents aren't happy that she's teaching 3rd grade (she doesn't believe in homework, for starters), but her strength is that she's really tuned in to kids socially and emotionally. And of course Kid B's problems are social and emotional. She's already said some insightful things to me about him, and I'm hoping this will be a good year for him because of her. Fingers crossed.

It's late, so I'll sign off. Just wanted to keep the ol' blog updated. I'm toying with the idea of shutting it down at some point, maybe at the end of the year? But I don't know. I'd definitely miss it. We'll see. And now to bed -- how I love Friday nights. My sleep is pure and sweet.