Being out of school and (temporarily) physically limited leaves me a lot of time to sit around and think during the day. My brain is pretty good at quickly bouncing around on many ideas. Lately, I've been thinking about a lot of family-centric topics: baby's impending arrival and the changes it will bring, finances, fitness, the holidays, food, housework, craft projects... the list goes on. I started this blog to help me explore some of these wanderings in a more coherent way and so far, it's been very useful to me in that regard. As a bonus, it's also garnered some great feedback from friends. So here's some glimpses of my latest brain-musings... let me know what you think.
- How DH and I have changed over the years: We've been married for just over 5 years and together for 7. 5 years ago we were way over our heads in debt, with very different views of housework & daily living; neither one of us was good with credit cards and we definitely weren't ready for kids. Today we've got a handle on our financial situation (which is steadily improving) with a more open communication about daily life and our expectations. Along the way, we've found a lot of common ground and compromise (e.g. having friends over for dinner satisfies my introverted needs and his extraverted ones at the same time). I don't know if we're truly ready for kids (is anyone?) but we're definitely ready to take on the challenge in a way we couldn't have 5 years ago. I'm grateful that we've learned and grown together.
- Recommitting to our financial goals: We haven't strayed off our plan too far this year; we're even ahead a bit in some regards. However, we've been very lax about a few areas and somewhat indulgent of convenience over savings as the pregnancy has progressed. I'm hoping that post-pregnancy I'll have a little better self-control and that when we do our financial review in January, we'll find a few ways to speed up our debt repayment. Baby will probably affect this in both directions: more motivation to do better but also less available cash.
- Our health: Maybe it's having a child that's pushing this issue but DH and I have talked a lot about improving our physical fitness recently. Besides eating well, I can't do much in that department for a few more weeks, so I'm starting to mentally plan out my "return to fitness", beginning in November. So far, it mostly includes daily weigh ins on the Wii Fit, more home cooking and less convenience foods, walks with the whole family (including the dogs), working up to working out on the Wii Fit at home, and trying to restart Zumba classes after the holidays.
- Housecleaning: Yup, nesting and OCD combine to create a mental image of a house that desperately needs some TLC. We're steadily working on this. Baby's room is 95% done (and 100% clean) and I cleaned the desk (i.e. major disaster area) last week. DH even cleaned the whole kitchen, stove included, over the weekend... with no prompting from me (this may be the most amazing moment ever in our domicile-maintaining relationship). There's still plenty to be done though, including the dreaded bathrooms. What perk of working do I miss most? Paying someone else to clean my house.
That's enough thinking for now, off to take care of dinner. What's percolating through your brain lately?
time flies! congrats on 5 years married! here's to 50 more!
ReplyDeleteno, no one is every really ready for a baby. but it sounds like you've got a great supporter (George) and a great outlook. when Tom and i were trying to get preggers, i said many times, "i'm not sure if we're ready, but i think we're as ready as we'll ever be."
having a child REALLY INCREASES the monetary self-control! you will stop wanting to buy things for you, but you will want to buy EVERYTHING for your child! that will pass though, and soon you'll be back to a fairly balanced spending cycle that's got some self-control and some extravagance.
props to you! i was totally looking forward to running, but babies aren't supposed to be jostled much until 6 mo or so; so i haven't gotten into a running routine yet. but, it's also been too bloody hot for that anyways, so i don't feel so bad. as long as you breast feed, you should lose weight and get back to your pre-baby weight decently fast. i'm not as muscled as i used to be, but i DO fit into most of my pre-baby clothes, so that's a plus! and even if you dislike running, i DO recommend the "couch to 5k" program. totally awesome!
also, the healthy eating thing will come in really handy. not only does cooking from home cost less than convenience, but it's better for you (and therefore baby if you BF) and it'll make baby's transition to solids easier as well! you've got a while before you need to worry about that though.
i dont' know why, but i've never minded cleaning bathrooms. even when i worked in the toy store and had to deal with taking out trash filled with stinky diapers and occasionally clean up after a kid who had a potty accident, come closing time i'd always rather clean bathrooms than vacuum the store.
the perk i miss from having a second engineering income: financial freedom. i didn't go nuts with the spending, but i had the option to buy something nice for myself now and then. lately, since i'm not bringing in any money, i don't feel like i'm allowed to spend anything on myself. oh well. i'll need a bunch more pieces of work-appropriate clothing if i get another engineering job anyways; i guess that'll have to count. just gotta try to get that new engineering job!
sorry for the super long comment! i jsut wanted to comment on everything!
I love the super long comment!
ReplyDeleteIt's funny but I actually used that "ready as we'll ever be" comment for both getting married and pregnant! There just comes a point where waiting to see what might happen is outweighed by what you have now. That's a good place to be, even if such drastic life changes are always scary!
I hate cleaning bathrooms. No idea why, I just do. I also hate washing pots. I would rather do anything else housecleaning-wise than clean bathrooms or cookware.
Financial freedom is actually my #1 "miss it" item. We had a lot more flexibility 2 years ago. Even though most of my income went to early student loan payments, at least that was our choice. I'm looking forward to having those choice again in the near future; hope your job search turns up something great for you!