How we're doing

A few updates are in order, I suppose.

The cat is very catty. We took her to the vet 2 weeks ago for shots, and they found ear mites, so we have to give her ear drops every couple of days. And we have the scars to prove it. She isn't very cuddly, but she does have a routine of sitting on my legs at night while we play on our computers. She still loves to chase pipe cleaners across the house, and when she wears herself out she sleeps on Taryn's bed (Taryn being the one person who shows an allergic reaction to cats). She hasn't caught a mouse yet, but she does show interest when they scuttle across the ceiling. Last week she went into heat, and made us all miserable. She peed on our bed 3 times, prowled around making strange sounds all day, stopping only to stick her rear in the air.

I still haven't seen a doctor or midwife. I am beginning to think I feel movement, but nothing definitive yet.

We have been on our diet for over 2 weeks, but we haven't been 100% purist about it. Our plan was to avoid all processed sugar, pork, and restaurants. Well, we did go out to eat twice; once to McD's and once (today) to Applebee's to use our Christmas gift card. I have relented on sugar a teeny bit - we use regular ketchup, peanut butter, homemade pickles, and chocolate pomegranate. We only have a couple of bites of any of those in a day, so I still say we're doing okay. Also, I wasn't thinking when I picked out some supplements, and they are in gelatin capsules. We weigh in occasionally with Wii Fit, and it looks like Bob and I have each dropped a couple of pounds. A couple of days ago we checked the budget, comparing January to February so far. If Feb continues as it began, we will have saved $180 in one month on food and gas. But January included a trip to my parents' house, and we ate out a LOT. So we are disappointed that the savings aren't greater. I feel better physically, but Bob doesn't yet. Taryn's allergies have dropped considerably, and the children do seem a little less excitable. So we're keeping at it as much as possible.

Bob is back in school, and while I help edit his writing, I am not taking over anything. Both of his teachers this semester are very hard-nosed, expecting perfection the first time. So right now we are mainly trying to keep on top of schoolwork without losing sight of housework.

Speaking of school, we have also stepped up the lessons with the children, focusing on Math and Reading until after the state tests in April. Then we'll be free to explore other topics. Cedwryck is just behind Naysha on reading, and they and Riah all work together on Math. With the move we had ditched the textbooks and just used flashcards and the whiteboard, but I got the books back out recently. They were very glad to see them, and are whizzing through. I think we will be working third grade math within a week or two.

That ought to do for now.