I Have Decided...

to stress a lot less.  Yeah, there will be stress but I shall "be the duck."  I refuse to let monetary issues cause me more stress than they should.  We're broke (not totally but enough to put a damper on things) but ya know what, we aren't starving...there's a roof over our heads...the kids are alright...and those growing ever useless dollars are still coming in.

I let the stress of money issues get to me entirely too much over the past month and haven't at all been myself completely.  Bills will wait while we get back on track.  We'll live through it.  We have before, we will again.

Since I've decided to let it go and just roll with it, I've been way happier.  Back to planning the garden for this fall and next spring.  Back to picking out chicken breeds and debating cows with Tanker.  Back to pointing out that MY plans for a combined single building (chicken coop, cattle barn, greenhouse) is way more cost efficient and practical than HIS plans for individual buildings.  I'm right.  I know it and you can't change my mind.  ;P

Life is clipping along right now...Tanker goes tomorrow for his final NARSUM (military speak for this is what happened to cause this/that/those injuries so don't go saying that the fella had it beforehand) and according to the new MEB (Medical Evaluation Board) policy it SHOULD be back in 45 days (at least the regs say so, but we all know how that goes).  So we're looking for the final percentage from the Army to come back sometime in September (I see ya doing the math...yes, that's more than 45 days; see above comment about how it really goes).  Good timing as we are set to move in to the new place then.  Works for me.

And now I'm off to attempt a little sleep.  Two days off of work and fighting the urge to call in and quit have wiped me out.

Every Little Bit...

supposedly helps; I've been told.

I don't see it right now...feels like the light at the end of the tunnel is a train coming on.  Work is work; 4 and 5 hour shifts that I usually get sent home from about halfway through because they are overmanned.  I swear, if this 1st paycheck breaks $100 I'll be surprised.  Using gas, buying "approved" work shoes...welp, there went that check.

And we're still reeling from being "overpaid" during our move from Germany.  It only took a month for them to get the pay straightened out to begin with while we were forking over tons of cash on things that were supposed to be reimbursed but are now not eligible (Danke, very much).  Then we get the bombshell of "hey, we just realized that we overpaid you almost $700 when we finally paid you all that other back pay and moving expenses stuff and you were supposed to realize it even though we never gave you an exact amount of what to expect to be paid"...yup.  So we dig ourselves out of a debt hole over the past year just to be dumped right back in one...all because of military pay issues.

We'd apply for help from some of these charities that assist military families and Veterans, BUT that route is dangerous.  We can't get a loan from our preferred loan place because Tanker doesn't have enough time left on his contract.  We can't get aide from a lot of the other organizations anyway because 1.) Tanker isn't "hurt enough", 2.) he's still Active Duty, 3.) he has no official VA rating (there is one, we just are not yet allowed to know what it is) or 4.) the debt need isn't "valid" because we've paid the bills that needed paying and the problem lies in a negative bank balance.  So we do what we do best and soldier on.  Man, it's stressful.

The upside is that we saved enough to be able to send in and secure the house and land.  It's not everything that is needed, but it takes it off the market and allows us to have the stress of whether or not it would be sold out from under us gone.  Now to scrape the barrel bottom for the next 2 months and gather the rest while attempting to straighten out the mess we've been handed.  Nothing new...which is kinda sad.

Positive of the day:  The tomatoes, peppers and cukes in the "pot garden" are thriving.  My rescued apple tree and raspberries are finally sprouting new growth.  AND I've not yet killed the carrots.

Such is Life at the Nut House.

Oh Me Oh My...

I've once again joined the working ranks...part-time, minimum wage...but it's more than I was bringing to the game (aka NADA).  Hopefully what little I bring in will allow us to speed up our game on debt pay-off and getting the homestead going.  Still going to be pinching those pennies though!  I've also added a little linkage to the side over there ---------> to my Etsy shop.  Not much in it right now except some of my photography, but hopefully this fall there will be some warm woolen knits for you to ogle.

Soldier's medical goo has taken on yet another life of its own by being completely restarted.  Good thing the house we found is not too far for daily drives to Post.  Looks like the Army will be paying him full pay for another year while they try to figure out how to reward him for his stint in Afghanistan.  Okay, fine.  In the meantime he's hoping to land a small arms repair internship so he's not just hanging around all day doing nothing.  He's also planning on taking some classes this fall (construction type) while I take my "already paid for thanks to a great scholarship" courses (EMT).

Looks like we're going to be a bit busy until spring...classes, work, clearing out junk/overgrown flowers/fields, moving...yep, busy.

Oh Mercy!

Don't you just love how things never go as planned?

We found us a place...here...in the Ozarks.  Handing the land in Nevada back over to the original seller because that payment can be put to use here.  It's a nice little house, hanging out on 5 fenced acres, not too far from post.  All that it's lacking is solar, lol.

Soldier is beyond happy as am I, even though we'll spend the next 2-3 months scrimping and saving and squeezing every penny until we're comfortably in place.  We debated asking the in-laws for help, but as Soldier is not 1.) female and 2.) far from being the favorite we've learned over the last 16+ years to ask them for little to nothing.  Of course, it tears him up KNOWING that my broke ass parents would jump in feet first to help us out before his parents would...but it's been tearing him up for most his life (i.e. once he was old enough to recognize #1 and #2 above...so about 8 years old or so).

Sorry family...no visiting from us until probably next year sometime...gotta make sure we're fine first.