I’m here for an oil and air filter change, and could you check to see why the car’s overheating so fast?

24 hours later, we’re $1,031.30 poorer with a new water pump and timing belt. Maybe I’ll revisit those sinking funds to adjust what we’re putting into our Maintenance and Repairs budget. Ugh. It was only May 2!! Did we not just buy brand new tires two weeks ago?!

No, Daddy, put the blue water back in it. ~ Augustus

The pool has taken on an extra-bright green lagoon appearance in recent weeks. Despite a week of trying to chemically alter the color, Clint decided to drain it, scrub it and start over. He siphoned, wet-dry vacuumed, hand-bailed and swept water & gunk for days after work. Our water bill to fill the pool will increase by about $60 next month. We probably saved that much at least on chemicals we didn’t have to use, so we’re just going to call it a wash this year, but at the end of this season, we’ll be more conscientious about preparing the pool for winter.

Sometime during the winter, some leftover water in the lines had busted a hose and damaged the pump for our swimming pool.  We cashed in a Christmas gift card to the Wal-Mart and purchased a new pool pump that we will take better care of in the coming years. No outgoing money from the budget, but that’s a hundred bucks we won’t be spending on fun stuff.

Lesson totally learned: Prepare the Pool Properly for the Off-Season.

On the last day of pre-K for Sterling, I took off work to hang out with him, and all he wanted to do was go swimming in the pool. The water was freezing, but he was so excited that chattering teeth were no obstacle for him. I made it almost an hour before I had to get out, so I totally earned mom points.

Our huge heavy solar blanket for the pool arrived that same afternoon and promised a ten degree difference in pool temperature, but before we unboxed it, the weather turned steamy and we have been able to swim comfortably without it. So now, the thing just sits in the middle of the main drag of the house and makes me feel guilty for spending the money. I’m sure it will be of some use when the nights start cooling off in September.

Following last month’s pantry and freezer challenge,

I set a grocery budget of $300 this month

…but then I didn’t really work real hard on meal plans or grocery lists. Might have been feeling a little bummed about the $1500 we blew in car repairs in a twenty day span. We spent $472.51 on food this month but caught a couple of sales to re-stock the coffee ($24.90 for 10 bags), Capri Suns for games (13.00 for ten 10-packs), gummies & fruit roll ups for game snacks ($10.70 for ten boxes), pasta noodles ($6.80 for ten) and peanut butter ($14.00 for ten jars).

I’m not mad at us.

Life:

The boys’ t-ball and baseball game schedule was pretty hectic despite all the rain this month. Between the two of them, we had two practices and two or three nights of games every week! Many of the weekday games fell at 7:30pm, so we would scramble home to wolf down dinner and then head to a ballgame that would ensure my children didn’t get into bed until AT LEAST an hour after bedtime on a school night.

I’m sure it was totally random that nearly all of our team’s games fell at 7:30pm. So random, Hartselle Dixie Youth Baseball. I totally believe you.

Anyway, something about being at the ballfield inspires the boys to desire a stadium hot dog  (even after dinner at home), so at $2.00 each, plus whatever Gatorade or Ring Pop they had to have, that stacked up to about ten bucks for the average game.

By the end of the season, I finally got smart and started chilling Gatorades and Ring Pops from the store for half the price. Maybe next season, I’ll figure out how to bring in some steamed hot dogs for them. Seriously, I could make hot dogs for, like, a quarter.

Being fully aware of my diabetes diagnosis earlier this year, the thought of my kids wolfing down all this junk food makes me ill,

but I have to remember that baseball is temporary and there are other meal opportunities throughout the day to win.

Last month, we spent $100 on groceries and tried to cook mostly from our freezers and pantry. This month, I’m still trying to cook mostly from the pantry, but also trying really hard to reduce the amount of carbs I’m personally consuming to try* to kick this last 30-40 pounds. Naturally, the family is eating fewer of those non-nutritious carbs as well. We tried this Lazy Cabbage Roll Casserole recipe from Wholesome Yum and it was a hit. Augustus had two plates! Ok, it was like cabbage rolls smothered in mozzarella, but at least it wasn’t a bunch of sugar. Baby steps, right?

For lunches, I made lunch-on-a-stick that went over well with the boys. I skewered pepperoni, olives and sliced mozzarella sticks and nothing came home. Salty, yeah, but it’s less sugar and more protein, so I consider it a win.

Cue another list-making opportunity: what else can I put on a stick for lunches?

*Quick note about “trying to” do something: Laziness (“Not now; I’m tired…”) gets you nowhere. Where am I on my 2018 Goals list? What about my Level 10 life? The Vision Board doesn’t work unless I do. Tony Robbins says you’ve got to have RESULTS, PURPOSE, and MASSIVE ACTION. If I’m being lazy, I’m certainly not taking massive action, am I? 

Speaking of an area where I haven’t taken massive action…

Garden:

Every year, I say I’m going to plant my garden earlier, like at the end-of-April, but end up getting the garden planted around Mother’s Day.  Last year, it wasn’t until the first of June and I swore I wouldn’t wait that long again. This year, I wasn’t about to put all that planting effort in without a sturdy fence to keep the dog out, but Clint’s been so busy working that he didn’t have time until the last day of May. Hopefully, the rain will let up enough this weekend for me to get it done.

I’ve sown and re-sown seeds to get them started after damping off some, and failing to water others. The Boer pumpkins are so thick and beautiful; they’re seriously overgrowing their little starter pods. These white cucumbers are killing me (third time’s the charm?), but will be so worth it because they’re so crisp and delicious!!

The only plants currently in the garden are the peas I planted in the children’s hut. Last time I checked, they were about three inches tall. That was about a week ago. Maybe they haven’t floated away in all the torrential rains we’ve had this week.

I’m all over the place today! (But I’m trying…here’s another massive action fail…)

Here’s the May 2018 debt & net worth update:

I have three paychecks coming in for June. Obviously, a third of it will come out to pay the biweekly mortgage  payment, but this still leaves a nice chunk that needs to be earmarked. Clint and I are a few days late on our June Budget meeting, so that is to be determined.

Water you doing to move the needle this month?

See you around.

Erica