August is like the Sunday of Summer

It's been a great summer, and far too long since I've updated!  It makes me sad to notice that it's getting darker earlier and that the kids' school stuff has claimed residency all over my dining room.  It's hard to believe that summer is nearly over.  It seemed to last an eternity when I was a kid!

It's still in the 90s here and far too humid to be outside.  The upstairs of my house is too warm to make sleeping comfortable, but we're thankful for the ceiling fan!  I think the area where I live has some of the most extreme weather in the country.  Thankfully, we didn't break 100 degrees this year, even though we typically do.  Winters drop down below zero by 20-25 degrees.  I'm trying to enjoy the heat while it lasts!

Steak, Lobster, Escargot, & Ice Cream!

Even though it wasn't in our budget, we found a way to take the kids on a family vacation this year!  We technically hadn't been on a real vacation in 3 years.  (I do not count driving to New Orleans for a wedding a vacation!)  I knew the only way we could go was to go on a cruise.  Trying to feed and entertain this family for a week, after paying for flights and hotel accommodations, was definitely something we couldn't afford.

We chose a 5-day cruise on Royal Caribbean out of Miami.  We stopped at Grand Cayman Island and Key West.  I'd never been to either port before and really enjoyed both!  The ship was a little disappointing as far as things to do, but I still had a great time.  Big Sis was caught right between the little kids and the teens.  I wish there had been more for her.  She's a trouper though.  Baby Girl had a blast in the little kids club!  The boys didn't do much aside from eating.  They were disappointed there wasn't basketball or putt-putt golf.  The teen club fell a little short too.  You get what you pay for and the smallest boat in the fleet was all we could afford.  I read several books and had lots of fun!

She was voted
Queen of the Night!

Right before we left for the trip, I quit Hubby's side job.  We had talked about quitting part of it because it was getting unreasonable.  We had been cleaning an apartment job for 3 years and never got an increase of wages.  One of the owners did nothing but complain about our work, which was very degrading to us.  He kept demanding more and more out of us and was never happy.  For what we were getting paid, it was ludicrous.  We cleaned the laundry rooms and parking lot areas once a week.  It took the Hubby and I and both girls 1 to 1 1/2 hours to finish the job well.  Afterward, we always went to our favorite pizza joint.  What we got paid was $3 short of even paying for our dinner.  Yeah, not worth it.

Anyhow, when Hubby got home, I nervously proclaimed, "I quit your job."  He asked, "Which one?"  (He knew we were only talking about cleaning and mowing the apartments.)  "All of them," I answered.  He wasn't too happy.  He was hung up on the money and didn't see how we could afford to quit.  It turned out to be the best decision ever.  He ended up being so relaxed on vacation and mentioned time after time that it was perfect timing.  Whew!!!

We got home on a Sunday and he started his part-time job with the police department on Tuesday!  His training officer is an army vet who we suspect to be part robot!  He's amazing and a perfect fit for Hubby!  He loves this job so much and is finally living out his dream!!!  He's realized, even though pay is very minimal as a part-time officer, that he's making very close to the same as the jobs I just quit, doing something he loves!!  I am so thankful, I can't even put it into words!  And you should see him in his full uniform!  He's quite dashing!!!

THEN- since there weren't enough changes in our lives yet.  I went out and got me one of them there jobs!  I signed up to be on the sub list as a teacher's aide at our home school district.  The woman who interviewed me laughed and said that I had quite an impressive resume'.  Most people applying for this job don't have teaching degrees.  I explained that this is exactly what I want right now.  I haven't worked outside the home in almost 18 years.  To go back full time could possibly kill me.  I still have all those responsibilities, kids, and side jobs at home to manage.  Most teacher aide positions here are 4-5 hours a day.  I think that's great.  The pay is absolutely insulting (minimum wage) but it's more than I'm making now!  I would enjoy staying on as a sub for a while, but they let me know that I would likely get hired right away.  She said she may call as early as the first day of school and will probably call most days.  Yikes...makes me kind of nervous!  I'm a little rusty...

So, school starts in 4 days.  I need to get my act together in case I have to go to work!!!