I am the type of person who has learned over the years that it's part of life to make mistakes. Mistakes are to be learned from, sometimes you may have to repeat the lesson, but for me I try and learn the first time. Mark and I gave up on our trucking business a year ago this past June. We are so blessed to have the jobs we have and have worked very hard to go above and behind the norm to get rid of our past debt. We sold our truck in June, which was huge. My main goals have been to take each bill and work my way from there. We try hard not to spend money needlessly, I've learned that through hard work comes rewards. Mark's job is seasonal, they usually stop work in January until March, last year he had to take a tempory job in February,. The company often had him drive illegal, he worked way too many hours, down dangerous highways, where it was not uncommon for a trucker to fall asleep at the wheel and plow into unsuspecting other drivers. We really don't want him to take this job this year. The money just isn't worth it. Besides, he does qualify for unemployment this year. I have been trying super hard to get the important bills like my house, my utitilties, my cars ahead, extra work at my job, Mark not having any rain days (which mean no pay) have really helped out. I've really tried to stay in an attitude of being grateful, being thankful and just plan being positive. Things have been going merrily along...then on Wednesday of this week I get a nice yellow envelope in the mail. It's from the state, and I can tell it's a check...usually these checks are money collect on my behalf from back child support, my daughter's father has never willing paid a cent, my order is form 1989 and for only $45/week, at one time he was $10,000.00 behind. Anyway, this check was not little it was quite large and put it this way...we will be ok this winter. I still want my husband to find something to do over the winter as he will drive me nuts if he's home, but we will now be able to stay ahead of the bill paying. My daughter also has a choir trip to Florida over spring break that needs to be paid for, she will need clothes and spending money. I have to remember that it is her father's responsiblity to contribute to the household, not just to her fun. Anyway, I am excited about the holidays now,my grandkids will be old enough to understand Santa, the lights, and the snow. I already did some shopping yesterday, the Osh Gosh store at the Mall is closing and I got each grandson a flannel shirt and lined pants. They were half price and are just so darn cute! I love the fact that I have kids now that will be thrilled with the magic of the Holiday season. Wow! Thanksgiving is starting to sneak up too! On that note, I am going to do some housework. Have an awesome weekend!