since OD in one

feeling like an update.. which is so weird, but i’ll go with it.

here’s what’s been up since OD (you know, when i used to write)

we are three weeks away from having our third child. this will be the last one. it took a lot of convincing to get that third and i dont think i’d make a very good mom to any more kids than that. i dont want to have to divide my attention among any more children, especially where we intend to homeschool them. we’re having a girl.

if you read me on OD, you know what a source of misery jeff’s job was. horrible hours and horrible pay. he finally got a new job in september and it’s been the greatest thing ever. it pays much better, they share profits and give raises based on merit, they actually meet with you to discuss goals and growth, they care about their employees. he gets insurance and he likes what he does. the age of him working at the hotel feels like such a dark time compared to how well work is treating him now.

last summer we looked into a lower income housing building project, but we were so low income we didnt qualify. i’ve been in to meet with them again and we are nearly qualified - just some debts we need to rectify and we can join. they just bought land in the town we already live in. i took a picture of the awesome view just a block or two away from their land a month or so before we knew they were going to build there. it just seems like it’s meant to be.

you build in groups of 8 families or so. the schedule is kind of rough - 8 - 12 months of building, wed, thurs, and friday from 4 to 9:30 and a 12 hr shift on saturdays. we have to log 35 hours on site as a family each week. my dad is moving back to being self employed this fall and has already volunteered to come help. the hardest part will be figuring out what to do with the kids since we have to overlap sometimes. but supposedly you can log hours by babysitting other kids from the group, too.

anyway, i feel like life is actually moving forward rather than being a trap we are stuck in, like i did for so long during the last 4 or so years.