Miscellany

I can't sleep, thanks to this wonderful time change! While Ethan actually took it really well (he can't read a clock anyhow), I am just so used to being up until 1 or so that I am now up till a ridiculous time. I have a billion things running through my head. I think I often can't sleep at night because once I stop doing things, I can't get my thoughts in order. Normally writing things down helps, so here we go:

Thought #1: Austine's School Loans -  They are evil. While I appreciate that they have given him the opportunity to get this great job, I'm coming to the realization that we are probably going to be paying them for 10-20 years. This is really disheartening. We haven't paid Sallie Mae in about 3 months, which is awful. We need to start paying RIGHT NOW, but there are so many other things that need to be paid attention to! I have to have Austine call tomorrow when he gets home to see our options. I know we can't afford to pay the 800ish dollars we owe them.

 Thought#2: When are we going to pay for my car-  Ugh, I really do want my car back but it is so low on the priorities list it's ridiculous. While driving the Buick has been working for us, we will be saving gas if Austine uses my car. We also owe Toyota money, but not half as badly as we owe Sallie Mae. Fortunately I have a plan to start catching up with them. Either way, just to get my car registered is about 350 bucks, plus car payments, plus insurance (which I haven't been paying because I'm not using it).

Thought #3: If we could just pay off credit cards, we'd have a lot more money-  Ugh this is a big one. I'm starting off small and working my way up, which I probably shouldn't be but it is so nice to say, YES that card is gone. So far we have paid of one card, out of too many. It's hard to get the priorities straight, really. Which one should I pay first? Should I wait on this now, or do it later?

Thought #4: I want to cloth diaper, but I'm scared I'll hate it-  I just got an offer from a friend to buy her 15 Tiny Tush Elite diapers from her, they've barely been used! While I really have been seriously thinking about cloth diapering, I'm still not 100% sure it's for me. 200 bucks is quite an investment, and I know I'll want more than 15 when it comes around to it (that would mean laundry every two days, holy cow!), I'm pretty sure I'm going to do it for the cost alone, it will save us major major cash.      

Thought #5:  How much I want to fix up this house/make it nicer-  This is a big one. Since Austine has been unemployed so long, we've been living with the bare minimums for quite a while. In the very beginning we didn't even have curtains! We've slowly added to the house and it's finally starting to feel like home. There is still a lot we want to do/get. We don't have a dining table worth anything, and the one we have is starting to fall apart (thank you cheap apartment furniture). We've never had any nightstands which is such a pain in the butt, we've been putting things on the floor when our bed is super super tall. I would also love a dishwasher, since I grew up with one and always loathed doing dishes. But we also have a horrible front yard full of weeds, a house that needs to be painted, a backyard that needs fencing all around. It's kinda ridiculous.

Seems like I'm all thought-out. Probably time to try sleep again!