HOT TOPIC: Do you/did you sleep with your kids?

OK, so I’m more than a little hesitant to open the discussion toward parenting topics that tend to bring-out the nasty in people.  There are several topics that, while valuable to think about and discuss, tend to polarize parents (well, let’s be honest—moms!) who pick a side and desperately cling to it as “the ONLY and BEST way to raise children.”  In my short almost-two years as a parent, I’ve noticed the rather distinct and opposing parenting camps that indoctrinate their followers with the advice of a guru while demonizing families who swing the other way. As so eloquently posted by Andrea,

But I wonder if, as mothers, we are so rash to jump to conclusions that we alienate far more than we join up. As women, we can be so powerful! We are the central force in our childrens’ lives. So what if we parent differently. Ultimately, for the sake of our children, doesn’t it make more sense to lend sympathy, not judgment, to each other?

SO, on that note.  Rather than debating whether co-sleeping with your kids is a right or wrong issue (because that would be absolutely ridiculous, there is nothing morally right or wrong about it, despite what some would say), I’m curious about how many people out there are closet co-sleepers!!!  Especially the ones that swore you’d never in a million years allow your child in the bed with you!  I know some families intentionally sleep with their kids from Day 1, and for them it’s an expression of love and the willingness to always be available to their child.  And it seems like there are also lots of families that accidentally find themselves in the middle of a crowded bed with no idea how it got that way.  I’m sure in both situations there are those who LOVE it and those who HATE it, afterall, no parent and no child is the same, even in our sleeping preferences.  So, what has your experience been with the co-sleeping option?

For us, it hasn’t ever really happened.  I think when Evelyne was an infant I was so overly paranoid that somehow she’d end-up at the bottom of the bed under the covers (I really had nightmares about it!) that I never allowed myself to bring her into bed with me.  (other than a handful of times in the morning when she was a newborn… my arm has never been more painfully cramped in my life from holding her so carefully!)  In retrospect, I think that was pretty dumb of me to not at least nurse her in the bed in the middle of the night.  What was I thinking?!  But when it came to sleep, she was always pretty fussy and it took lots of rocking/swinging/bouncing and nursing to get her to fall asleep, and I don’t know if she would have fallen asleep just by lying down with us.  I think I did try it once or twice in desperation and she was just distracted.  When she got older, I knew it would never work, she would never fall asleep and stay asleep with us.  Now that she’s a toddler, I wonder if she might be able to drift-off next to us, but I still think that she’d probably be so distracted and want to stand-up and jump on the bed that I don’t even want to try.

Theoretically, I’m ok with it if that’s what happens with this next baby, but realistically, I probably won’t start it beyond nursing at night.  Clay has a really hard time sleeping well much of the time, and I know he wouldn’t get a wink of sleep if he knew a baby was in the bed with us.  Not to mention, I don’t think I could sleep on my side around the baby all night long, I’m always flipping and twisting around, usually ending-up on my back with my leg in the air.  (No, really.  Apparently it’s something I’ve done since I was little!)  I think I’d get way less sleep and just be sore and cranky in the morning.  So while I have no problem with the idea of it, I don’t know if it’s something I could do regularly.

That said, there have been so many nights that Clay and I lie awake and joke to each other that we should go get Evelyne from her crib and bring her into bed with us just so we could get a few extra cuddles!  I think when we move her into a big-girl bed and she comes to us in the middle of the night wanting to get in bed with us (which I’m sure is inevitable), we might be the only parents who have ever flung-back the covers and said, “Hop-in, baby!”  (And then go on to get no sleep that night and never want to do it again!)

So what does your family do?  Do you sleep together because you like it, your kids like it, or because it’s the only way anyone ever gets any sleep?  Or do you fiercely protect your sleeping space from all tiny intruders?

*Despite some SIDS warnings, there is some evidence pointing toward co-sleeping as actually lowering the risk of a baby dying of SIDS as long as the parents take smart precautions.  (firm sleeping surface, no blankets, baby sleeping on his back, etc…)  So no finger-pointing about co-sleeping parents endangering their babies or making a dangerous decision.

Money money money money

Clay and I have always been frugal and made every effort to stay within our monthly budget, but it hasn’t always been easy, mainly because there was no organization to it.  I did my best to write-down every purchase and bill in our check register, but even that didn’t give me enough information.  For example, our monthly food budget has been $200.  (we just upped it to $250 since things are more expensive here)  I grocery shop about once a week, so if we were three weeks into the month, I could look at our checking register and see that we have $150 left for the month until we get paid again, but I had no idea how much of that belonged to the grocery budget and how much of that would be taken-up by the cable bill we were about to be charged.  (unless I did the long process of tallying-up every purchase)  We did a pretty ok job of maintaining the budget since neither one of us are big spenders, but it just wasn’t organized and it was difficult to really get a good picture of what we were spending each month.

And now… everything has changed!  We signed-up with www.mint.com, a FREE online service that streamlines all of your accounts and helps you organize your budget.  First, we established our budget and assigned a certain dollar amount for each category (rent, car insurance, phone, etc…).  Mint is linked with our online credit cards and bank accounts, so each time we make a purchase or bill payment, it’s updated within the proper category.  I don’t even keep my check register anymore, all I do is periodically check the front page of my Mint account where it shows me a running bar graph for every category within our budget.  I can easily look and see that out of our $250 grocery budget, I’ve spent $126 this month, so I have $124 left.  If we spend over our budget, they email us to let us know that we’ve gone over. They also can show you your spending trends over time, how one month’s spending compares to previous months, a pie graph of where all your money is going, and other cool organizing things.

It also makes it incredibly easy to see where we’ve come in under budget at the end of the month.  Since gas prices are going down (FINALLY!  Glory Hallelujah!), I imagine that we’ll start going under our gas budget a bit each month.  Since I can very easily see that, say, we’ve saved $15 this month on gas, it makes it super-easy to actually DO something with that $15 instead of letting it get lost in our checking account somewhere.  Our goal is to start “snowflaking,” transfer all the small dollar amounts that we’ve saved in each month over to our savings account.  Since before we never were able to know exactly how much we’ve saved in each budget category, we never did anything with that extra money, it just got spent somewhere along the way.  Now we can see where every single dollar is going in a very visual way, not just a random list of numbers. OR, if we wanted to buy something that wasn’t in the budget, it’s very easy to see exactly how much extra money we have at the end of the month so we can just use that.

I’m sure most of y’all are way ahead of us on this, and I know there are other great money organizing programs out there like Quicken, but Mint.com is FREE and EASY to use, and it’s totally working for us.  For once I don’t feel in the least bit stressed-out as it’s approaching the end of the month because I know where every single dollar has gone and exactly how many we have left in each budget category for the rest of the week.  Obviously, I’m no financial genius, but if you aren’t already using a financial organization system like this, I highly recommend checking-out www.Mint.com.

Any other tips to share about how you keep your monthly budget organized???

Change of plans

Soooo….  as I’ve mentioned before, we have been planning to do the whole natural childbirth thing with this baby and deliver in a free-standing birthing center.  Change of plans.  (sort of)  We are currently uninsured (long story) and our new insurance from Clay’s job should kick-in November 1st.   The problem is, our deductible is really high since we have a health-savings account.  And even after that we’re only covered 80%, so we’re going to end-up paying lots of money that we don’t currently have in order to get this baby out.  Delivering in the birth center is an extra $2500, $500 of which we would have to pay.  That just ain’t worth it.

So, the new plan is—homebirth.  We live less than a mile from the birthing center, which is only a few blocks from the hospital.  Medically speaking, there is no advantage to delivering at the birthing center over our house.  The midwives will bring all of the equipment they use for every birth, and since we live so close to the hospital, if for some reason we had to transfer, it wouldn’t really take any more time.  I was leaning toward the BC originally because mentally it’s hard to wrap my mind around having a baby in my living room when my only previous experience was a hospital birth…. and because they have these awesome jacuzzi tubs that I could use during labor.  And I wouldn’t have to prepare anything.  But, for $500, I’ll take a pass on the jacuzzi tub.  Another positive is the Evelyne factor.  Since she sleeps 11 hours at night, theoretically I could go through my entire labor and delivery while she stays asleep in her bed and we wouldn’t have to worry about finding someone to watch her if my mom isn’t here.  At least, worst-case scenario, if we couldn’t find anyone to watch her if I went into labor during the day, she could just stay here the whole time.  (although ideally I’d rather not watch Sesame Street while in labor)

Soooo…. it looks like homebirth it is! I keep looking around my house and wondering where the baby will actually pop-out…that’s a weird thought to get used to!

Super-cheap steak burgers from Omaha Steaks!

So, thanks to MoneySavingMom, I found this amazing deal that I’m still reeling from!  I just placed an order with Omaha Steaks and will be receiving TWENTY 4-5 oz. steak burgers delivered to my door for a total of $1.98.  Catherine has the steps written-out on her blog about how to get this deal, but I’m just going to copy them below since I know my dear readers aren’t fans of links.  It looks really complicated, but I did this in about five minutes (other than waiting for the email, that took a couple of hours), and it really wasn’t hard.  I believe this works-out to being about $.36 per pound for some high-quality steak burgers.  I consider that a pretty great deal!  Here’s the scoop:

1) Go to this link to sign up for the Geico website. You do NOT have to have Geico, you do NOT have to switch any of your insurance. It just gives you a username for their website, and they will email you within an hour or so with a link to a gift card code. Check your spam folder if you don’t get the email after two hours or so. The gift card number is really long, so double check when you write it down.

2) Go to this link and type in your email address. They will send you an email confirmation right away, and there is a link within the email to start shopping. After you get your gift card code from step one, use that link to order the hamburgers (described below) and it will automatically give you 12 free 4 ounce burgers. The 12 free won’t show up in your cart until you check out, so don’t panic.

(Update: link from step 2 should be fixed now)

3) When you get your gift card code and go to the link through the step two link, you’ll be at the Omaha Steaks website. In the left hand sidebar, click on the link for “burgers/brats” etc. Scroll down until you see the option for “eight 5 ounce steak burgers” for 12.99. Add that to your cart, then checkout. (Note: apparently the $12.99 option doesn’t work for everyone, if you get through the next step and it doesn’t work, go back and get the $14.99 option. It will cost you $2 more out of pocket, but you’ll get that much more meat.)

4) At checkout, you enter your address etc and you should see the 12.99 burgers, plus the 12 free burgers you got from doing step 2 above. At the point where they ask for payment, you’ll see that they add in about $13 for shipping – don’t worry, your gift card code will cover that. Before you enter your credit card (or paypal – one of the payment options is “pay by paypal” if that is easier for you), enter your gift card code and hit “apply” or whatever the button says next to that. That should take your total down to roughly $1.98. Then enter your actual payment method and you will only be charged $1.98 (it may be a few cents more or less depending on your address, it was $1.98 for me)

5) Complete the transaction. In a few days you’ll be getting a cooler shipment of 5.5 pounds of Steak burgers, which works out to ONLY 36 CENTS A POUND!

All the mavericks in the house, put your hands up!

Definitely my favorite one so far, Clay and I were both laughing out loud during the whole thing!  Palin is such a great sport!

The funniest Sarah Palin skit ever

It’s official: I’m terrified to have this baby

This morning I am anyway.  I kinda bounce back and forth between thinking, “Hey, this won’t be so bad, I can totally handle this” and “OH MY GOSH, DEATH AND DESTRUCTION WILL BEFALL US!”  Usually,  my outlook is almost 100% affected by how Evelyne is acting at that very moment.  On the times that she’s happily playing by herself and being cute, it’s easy for me to think that this new baby thing will be a piece of cake.  BUT.  When I’m cooking dinner and she’s having a tantrum and pulling on my leg and I’m screaming in my head, “SHUT-UP, FOR GOD’S SAKE, SHUT-UP!,” I get a little scared.  Or the times recently when she wakes-up in the middle of the night or early in the morning, that’s when I get really scared.

Evelyne was not a great sleeper as a baby, but now that she’s almost 2, we’ve been spoiled for quite awhile with her sleeping through the night and taking consistent naps.  She’ll almost always go to sleep with no fuss at 8 p.m. and sleep until 7-7:30 a.m.  Lately, though, she’s been waking-up at night, I think maybe because she’s cutting a tooth.  It usually just takes a little rocking or sitting next to her crib for a few minutes to get her back to sleep, but when you’re used to sleeping a solid 7-8 hours at night, it’s not so wonderful to begin to get-up again.  And this morning she woke-up saying, “I want Mommy!  I want Mommy!” at 6:15.  6:15, people!  The nerve.

Now, a year ago I would’ve considered 6:15 to be sleeping-in for her, and I would’ve been thrilled to have a break from the daily 5:30 wake-ups.  But I’m spoiled now.  Every once in awhile she’ll get-up at 6:45, but usually after 7, and both Clay and I were like, “Are you KIDDING ME?!” this morning when we heard her.  Now, realistically, an hour early every once in awhile is probably a pretty great record.  Not that big of a deal.  But I’m so spoiled.  I’m terrified of those mornings where I know I’ll be saying good-bye to Clay in my pajamas, having been awake all night with the baby and starting my day with Evelyne already… wanting to throw myself at his feet and scream, “DON’T LEAVE ME HERE ALONE!!!  I WON’T BE ALIVE WHEN YOU GET HOME TONIGHT!!!”

There’s something about being so sleepy that brings-out the selfish in me.  It’s that I’m not looking forward to experiencing again.  This morning as I was rocking Evelyne for 45 minutes (every time I put her down she would wake-up saying, “I want to rock! I want to rock!”, so I figured rocking in the dark for awhile was better than officially getting-up for the day.) I was going over in my head every agonizing night we’ve had with her as a baby when she wouldn’t sleep, all the mornings that I just wanted to cry at the prospect of doing it all again.  That crushing exhaustion of having a newborn and nursing every few hours around the clock and knowing that you won’t sleep for longer than 2 hours anytime in the foreseeable future…  Yeah, I’m not looking forward to that.  At least when Evelyne was a newborn and staying awake all night I could sleep-in the next morning when she had her best times of sleep…. it won’t be like that with this baby since I’ll have to still get-up at 7:00 with Ev!  I know the idea is to get them napping at the same time, but Evelyne only sleeps around an hour and a half in the afternoon, and really, that just doesn’t sound like enough time to get any kind of restorative rest for me to compensate for an all-night marathon.

So, moms of many, is it better or worse than I’m imagining?  Of course, I know the answer to that, it all depends on your kids and their personality.  Any tips besides lots of coffee?

I had the weirdest dream

So I had a dream that Clay was trying to decide whether or not to kill me with a homemade gun made from the keyless entry thing on my keychain that goes to my car.  I spent all night trying to stay in his good graces so he wouldn’t get mad and shoot me.  When he finally decided that he wouldn’t, I grabbed the keychain thingy and tried to shoot-out the bullet so it wouldn’t be dangerous anymore.  Well, unfortunately for me, at that very moment who in the world but Kimora Lee Simmons popped-up in front of me, and I accidentally shot her.  I was so apalled at myself that I immediately ran to the grocery store to hide from the police.  For some reason, that involved pretending that I was handicapped and riding in a wheelchair all around the store.  Kimora’s friends were everywhere, mourning her injury, and I just kept scooting in my wheelchair and acting like I was unable to walk, dodging suspicious questions.   Eventually I found-out that she wasn’t dead, just in the hospital.  I breathed a great sigh of relief.  THE END.

HOT TOPIC: Is it a sin to be a stay-at-home dad?

OK, depending on your religious affiliation, some of y’all might be totally laughing at the absurdity of that question, but apparently this is quite the issue in some circles.  Recently, Seattle pastor Mark Driscoll (for those of my friends who are curious, this is not the church we’ve been attending since moving to Seattle) and his wife made some statements in response to a question about stay-at-home dads which pretty much said that it’s a sin and one worthy of church discipline.  The blogosphere is hopping about this one, so I figured I’d join-in and make it this week’s HOT TOPIC question.

First, watch this video:

And then, I highly encourage you to read what others are saying about this.  I’ll give you my brief opinion, but seriously, others are saying it way better than me, so I’m not gonna pretend to have an original thought about it. Make sure to check-out the comments sections on these blogs, that’s where the real conversations are happening.

Bob Hyatt: “Driscoll on Stay-at-Home Dads”

iMonk: “Is it a sin to be a stay-at-home dad?”

Jared Wilson: “Is being a stay-at-home dad a sin?”  Part 1 Part 2

72-27:  “When Gender Roles Become Straight-jackets”

So here’s what I think:

I think this is ridiculous.  Driscoll totally misinterprets the verses he uses to support his position.  Contextually, there is absolutely no relation between a man who refuses to work and allows his family’s needs to remain unmet because of laziness and a man who makes a joint decision with his wife to be the one who works from the home because of what is financially and/or relationally healthy for their family at that time.  Not only are the Driscolls misinterpreting Scripture, they’re using it in an incredibly legalistic way.  (despite their disclaimer that that’s not what they’re doing–sorry, saying it doesn’t change it)  There is no biblical mandate against stay-at-home dads, and a father who does the necessary work of raising children and taking care of the home full-time IS taking care of his family.  Just because he may not be bringing home a paycheck (or maybe he is working part-time and is bringing home a smaller paycheck) doesn’t mean that he isn’t working or doing his part in contributing to the health of his family.  As a stay-at-home mom, I’m a little offended at the implication that a man doing my job is considered to be lazy and not contributing to the family.

What about the mom who has a well-paying job with great healthcare who is married to the dad who is a student?  Or has a lower-paying job like a part-time minister?  What about the mom who is incredibly passionate about her job and is doing great work in the world and the dad who really hasn’t figured-out his long-term career path yet or is working at a job he hates?  Is it really wrong if that couple decides together that for this season in their lives the dad will stay home with the kids and the mom will work full-time?  Of course all kinds of questions about mother/child attachment and the idea that women are “better suited” for child-rearing come-up, and those are valid questions…. but is it a sin? If a man refuses to work and decides to stay home without agreeing upon it with his wife, then yes, that’s a sin.  If he does it out of laziness, then that’s a sin.  But it would be a sin if the wife did those things, too.

Every family is different, and every family’s financial situation is different.  You can’t just slap a one-size-fits-all label on it and then say that anyone whose family doesn’t look like yours is sinning.  And I’m a little apalled at the idea of a church choosing to discipline a family who prayerfully makes this decision because it is what they feel like is best for them…..especially since the church is standing on some pretty shaky biblical ground when it comes to their reasoning.  Does Driscoll really think it would be a better option to put the kids in full-time daycare when one parent is eager and willing to stay home with them just so the dad can make a little money and “be a man?”

So what do you think?  Whether or not you think that women are more well-suited for staying home (a very debatable point), is it a SIN worthy of church discipline?  Maybe you can’t see it being a good decision for your family, but if it makes relational and financial sense for a family who has prayerfully searched their options, are we really in a position to judge them as wrong?

Get yourself to Rite-Aid: TONS of free stuff!

This is your lucky week if you live near a Rite-Aid.  This week they’re offering around 30 free-after-rebate products.  They’re pretty much all cold/flu products, and they’re all FREE!!!  Now I know when most people hear the word “rebate,” they completely stop listening and assume that it’s some long drawn-out process that isn’t worth their time.  That just isn’t so.  Yesterday I got $72 worth of stuff for free, and I MADE $8 on top of it.  You heard me, I walked-out of the store having made a profit.

Thanks to MoneySavingMom, here is a list of what is available from October 12-18:

NeilMed Nasalflo Neti Pot–$10.99
There’s a $3/1 printable here
Free plus possible overage if your store accepts printable coupons

Simply Saline Sinus Kit–$6.99
There’s a $1/1 printable here
Free plus possible overage if your store accepts printable coupons

Children’s Advil 4 oz. Liquid–$3.99
There’s a $1/1 printable here
Free plus possible overage if your store accepts printable coupons

Theraflu 8.3 oz.–$3.99
There’s a $1/1 printable here
Free plus possible overage if your store accepts printable coupons

Excedrin Express Gels 20-ct.–$3.99
There’s a $2/1 printable here
Free plus possible overage if your store accepts printable coupons

Triaminic Syrup 4 oz., Spray 6.7 oz., Strips 14-ct., Chews 18-ct., Fan 1-ct.–$3.99
There’s a $2/1 coupon here
Free plus possible overage if your store accepts printable coupons

Simply Saline 1.5 oz.–$3.99
There’s a $1/1 printable here
Free plus possible overage if your store accepts printable coupons

Simply Saline 3 oz.–$4.99
There’s a $1/1 printable here
Free plus possible overage if your store accepts printable coupons

Nexcare Cold Sore Treatment–$8.99
There’s a $2/1 printable here
Free plus possible overage if your store accepts printable coupons

Ayr Saline Rinse Kit–$6.99
Free after rebate

MeilMed Sinus Rinse Starter–$4.99
Free after rebate

Children’s Throat Cooler Pops 6-ct–$2.99
Free after rebate

Mentholatum Cherry Chest Rub–$2.99
Free after rebate

Little Colds/Noses 1.7 oz. mist or 1 oz. liquid–$3.99
Free after rebate

Hyland’s 125-ct. or 4 oz. liquid–$3.99
Free after rebate

Breathe Again 3.3 oz.–$7.99 (Limit 2)
Free after rebate

Comtrex 20 ct.–$3.99
Free after rebate

Bee MD Drops 21-ct.–$2.49
Free after rebate

Buckley’s 4 oz.–$3.99
Free after rebate

4 Way Spray .5 oz.–$3.99
Free after rebate

Chloraseptic 1 oz. or lozenges 15-ct.–$2.99
Free after rebate

Sucrets 18-ct.–$2.99
Free after rebate

Zucol 18-ct.–$5.99
Free after rebate

Sambucol 30-ct. or syrup 4 oz.–$7.99
Free after rebate

Novitra .25 oz.–$8.99
Free after rebate

Orajel Cold Sore Brush or Patch–$6.99
Free after rebate

Softlips 1 or 2 pk.–$2.99
Free after rebate

Chapstick True Shimmer–$1.99
Free after rebate

Lizard Lips–$0.99
Free after rebate

Lypsyl 1-ct.–$1.99
Free after rebate

So this is what you do:  Print-out this list because it’ll probably help you be organized about it.  Print-out as many of the linked coupons as you can.  (I did $8 worth)  Go to Rite-Aid, and it’s all organized together on the same cold/flu aisle.  In fact, my store had all these products grouped together on an aisle endcap in the front of the store in order to make it super-easy.  Pick-up a sales ad flyer when you walk-in and you’ll see pictures of these products.  Put all the products you want in your basket and check-out.  (You’ll want to use the pictures to make sure you got the exact right type and size so you get your rebate.)  My cashier gave me a flier with rebate information on it when I checked-out, so make sure to ask for that just in case.  When you get home, go to the Rite-Aid website, create an account and enter-in the information from your receipt.  In 2-3 weeks you should receive a check in the mail for the full cost of what you paid.  (I don’t think it includes tax, though.)  If you use coupons, you still will receive all of that money as a profit.

If you look over this list you’ll notice that it’s pretty darn good, especially if you have kids.  We’re totally stocked for the winter sick season ahead.  Hurry to Rite-Aid before they’re all sold-out of the good stuff!!!

Back in the Swing of Things

Last week was a pretty slow week for blogging (I promise I wasn’t just trying to ignore all your HOT TOPIC comments!) because we had a last-minute visit from my family!  My brother, sister-in-law, niece, and mom all came-in last week and this weekend to visit us for my birthday.  They didn’t even book flights until last weekend, so this was a great surprise and very welcome trip.  We had so much fun watching Evelyne and my niece Hannah play together again (they’re only 2 months apart in age), visited several great local parks, walked around downtown Kirkland, and went to Pike Place Market in Seattle.  Since moving here in August Clay and I haven’t really done anything Seattle-ish, so it was our first time being tourists.

My favorite part of the market was definitely all the free samples!!!!  Free food is pretty much one of my favorite things in the world, so I was pretty excited about all the samples we were being offered–Clay kept telling me how happy I looked, he even said I was glowing at one point!  haha!  I guess free food will do that to me!

It was great to show my family where we live and take my mom to our new church here.  Evelyne had the best time ever being surrounded by family and having a temporary live-in playmate.  Now that everyone’s gone I can definitely tell that she’s missing them.  Since I’ll be too pregnant to travel, we won’t get to go back home to Memphis for any of the holidays this year, so the next time I see everyone will be next Spring, and I’ll have a newborn with me!  (That’s a weird thought.)

I haven’t mentioned it much on the blog, but yes, I’m definitely still pregnant, almost 28 weeks.  The belly has majorly popped out there, and I’m finding it hard to believe that it’s just going to keep getting bigger and bigger!  (You’d think I’d never done this before)  Clay and I still don’t have a boy name (we think it’s a boy, and we already have a girl name just in case), so any suggestions or ideas would be welcome.

That’s about it for now, thankfully we have a busy schedule this week so Evelyne will stay entertained when it’s just her and me and no family around. Clay has another weekend class all next weekend, so it’s sure to be a loooong week with no good breaks for me.  OK, I’m off to eat my leftovers from last night’s dinner at the Cheesecake Factory….mmmmmmm!!!!!