Rain, dogs, and the Duggars

Yeah I know strange blog title but really that is all thats on my mind today...Rain, rain, and more rain. Thank goodness the roof got fixed cause it has rained all night and all day. My backyard is a glorified mud lake. We have no grass, just dirt and there are slumps throughout the dirt so where there is a slump there is a lake ha! I was supposed to have the pest control come tomorrow to just spray the house and yard (i mean dirt) but now that there are ponds throughout it doesn't look like that will be happening. I went to Wal-Mart today to see if they had any more spider glue traps but they did not...I'm hoping if the rain calms down I can go see if my other Wal-Mart has one. Yes you heard me right..the other Wal-Mart. Honey in my neck of the woods we have 4 Wal-Marts and they are all open 24/7. I go everyday. It feels weird if I don't go one day and what feels more weird is if I don't make it to Target at least once a week. Pathetic I know when I actually look forward to going but hey that is just me.

Now moving on to dogs..(Michelle that is so funny that that pic of KiKi is a great dane/mastiff mix. 2 breeds in 1 that I love). I'm still not sure of what we will get. We used to have 2 beautiful huskies that we had to give away when we moved years ago. My kids would love another husky but I'm thinking more along the lines of lab or golden retriever. I would love a great dane but they are truly big and really they don't sell them around here. I have to admit after watching Marlee and Me I have grown to love labs. Marlee was so sweet even though she was a mess. I dunno. We shall see. I'm a big believer in when the time is right the right dog will find us.

Finally, the Duggars. I checked out their new book at the library and have just been inhaling it. What a breath of fresh air to finally read of a family keeping it real and true. Their morals and values are so inspiring. The way they have chosen to lead and live their lives is something to be admired. I found myself nodding in agreement while reading about their trials and tribulations. They tell stories of trying to get out of the house by a certain time only to finally be ready to leave an hour past their desired time. That is so us. I was so upset last Sunday as we were so late to Mass. I'm talking 20 minutes late. For some reason we just could not get out of the house on time. The whole, "i can't find my other shoe..I got to go potty...wait I forgot something..do you have my snack?" So we were late and with my head hanging down to my knees we slipped into the cry room ha! but we still went and I think that accounts for something.

One thing that I really admire of the duggars is their financial security. They are very savvy when it comes to money and how to handle it. I think today we as a society are so quick to spend, spend, spend and never save for the rainy days like our grandparents and great grandparents did. I think they learned how to save during the Great Depression but for our generation having not lived it we have not learned that lesson. However I must say given our current economy I think some are starting to learn those principles. The principle of making do with what you have. Fixing something rather than buying to replace something. Bartering for a repair or material good rather than paying. My husband and I are personally doing this now. How do you think we got the roof fixed? My husband bartered some drafting services in exchange for a roof repair. He is also about to barter his drafting for transmission work on his truck. We could just go get a loan and buy a new truck but why do that when we can get it worked on and have it for a couple more years till we have cash to pay for a new one out right. That is what we are slowly learning or rather quickly I guess...that is why we don't have a fence yet..we are waiting to save up enough cash to pay out right for it so as not to accrue more debt. We are seeing this time as time to spend thinking and researching what kind of fence we want to put in and later what kind of dog will be running around inside it. That is the best part..our future dog. We even named it: Jade for a girl and Max for a boy. We are patiently waiting for our future addition and boy how will enjoy him or her immensely.