Diametral Pitch

Meet Dashwood. Also known as “Dash”

Pemberley is quite fond of him. So are we.

by sarah.

We adopted Knightley about six months ago. Today we had to say goodbye. On my mind have been these common arguments against adopting an older dog:

1. You can’t have as much fun with an older dog.

my response:

2. Older dogs are grumpy. They might hurt my kids.

my response:

3. Puppies are cuter.

4. I don’t want my kids to suffer through losing a dog so quickly.

Maesie’s response, after learning Knightley was very sick, was to suggest that next time we adopt a dog we should get the one who is most in danger of being put down at the shelter. Cowboy’s response was that he wanted to give lots more dogs a good home, and to someday build a hotel for homeless dogs.

(yeah, that’s 2 adults, 4 kids and 2 dogs in 1 minivan)

5. It hurts to lose a dog.

It does. It really, really does.

Goodbye Knightley. We love you so very, very much.

So much going on, I don’t even know where to start.  I’ll have to leave most of it out – just too much for one blog post.

Biggest news?  Maesise is 7 today.  Wow.  Just amazing.

There are some possible answers on the financial horizon.  Good advice from a friend led me to talk to the companies holding our mortgages.  There are some good programs out there and I think it may help to reduce the payments for both of the loans on the Lincoln house, as well as the one on this house.  Some paper work to do, but well worth it.

I also need to get a budget on paper.  We kept a very strict one a few years ago and it was very helpful.  I don’t think we need such a rigorous one now, but I do think some structure will be really helpful in getting things back on track.

Crazy news on the work front, in terms of the kinds of projects I’m getting involved with.  Huge blessings there, and way too detailed to try to fit into this tired blog post.

For now, let me direct you to one of the oddest, yet most fascinating web sites out there.  This one has been around for years, apparently, though I only came across it some time last year.

Zombo

What a refreshing day.  Church, home – nothing else.  Ahhh.

We needed it too.  I spent all day Friday and Saturday down in Sacramento taking my Civil Engineering PE Exam.  Friday was 2 4-hour sessions.  Saturday was 2 2-1/2 hour sessions.  Less time, but more intense because there just was not enough time to do all of the problems.   I have no idea if I passed any part.  I’ll find out in 13 weeks.  Why it takes 13 weeks to score a Scantron test is beyond me, but there it is.

But I’m not here to write about that.  I actually have felt a nudging for quite some time to write about money.  Specifically our money situation.  I’ve held off because I’m afraid that it’s impossible to do it right.  You talk about this kind of thing and you’re either judged or seen as prideful or seen as asking for help or just complaining.  While I am sure I’m guilty of all of those things to some extent, I hope this won’t be seen as that.

What it comes down to is this:  We are in a world of hurt financially.  Have been for a while.

God has been incredibly faithful in providing for us in the midst of it, and I haven’t blogged about any of it really.  I believe that God will bring us through this time and I think He should get glory for that.  The only way He will get that glory is if I share what He is doing, as He does it.

So here goes…

A few years ago, we were living in Lincoln in a smaller home.  We had lots of equity.  We had a decently sized 401k through HP.  We put away money from every tax rebate into college accounts for the kids.  I had a bunch of options from HP that were going up and up in value.  Our credit score was good and we didn’t have a lot of debt.   Yes – I was proud of all of it.

At the same time, we felt a lot of discontent with where we were living.  A stirring that maybe it was finally time to try to get into the country.  We had dreamed of it for 10 years of marriage and always held off, but it felt like it was maybe time to finally act.  We agonized over whether to move to Modesto, or Colfax or stay near Lincoln.  We spent hours discussing and weighing and coming up empty.  Finally, we prayed and told God that we would go wherever He led, because we were completely stumped about where would be best.  Shortly after praying that, we came out to look at this land.  Call it what you will – we felt led by God.  I believe we were.

So here we are, a few years later.  House is built and I love it.  I love the land and the wildlife and the quiet.  I love the school our kids get to go to.  I love our church.

But through a combination of the Lincoln house’s value tanking, my engineering work slowing way down and – I’m certain – dozens of bad financial decisions on my part, we are in a very different financial situation.  Big mortgage.  Mortgages on the Lincoln house that are significantly more than we were making for rent.   Renters who will move out in a week, and a market that demands that we lower the rent another $200 per month if we expect to compete.  Credit cards with high balances.  401k completely drained.  Kids college funds completely drained (as of this past week).   Taxes just completed that will require us to make payments to cover.

I have a day job now that is really amazing.  I’m doing some consulting at night – as much as I can get and squeeze into the evening hours.   But I’m still below what I was earning when we bought the land.  Crazy, because I’m working so much harder than I’ve ever worked in my life.

—

So there it is.  I hesitate to post this because it’s a tough thing to share.  But here’s the thing – I believe that God is going to provide.  I don’t know how.  We’ve been in this situation for a while though, and I’m am continually amazed by how God provides.  Without fail, it’s in ways that I’m not expecting, and that I can take no credit for.

I’ve thought a lot this past year about how God fed the Israelites manna.  It came daily and spoiled if they tried to collect enough for more than one day.   What I want is a week’s worth of providence.  What I’m getting is daily, which is requiring me to rely on God daily.  My pride – even still – rebels against that.  But I’m learning.

As I said, I’m sharing this hesitantly.  I am not wanting sympathy, or advice, or anything.  I want to put it out there so that when God provides, you can be amazed along with me.

I’ll keep you posted.

Yeesh.  I’m a horrible blogger.  Too much in my head these days – it’s hard to find some place for the blog.  I miss it though – and miss the frequency that everyone used to blog with.  Probably a lot of that is going into Facebook, but since I gave up on Facebook a few months ago, I don’t see any of it.  Bummer!  Blog again people.

I do have to share this one thing…  We have 12 chickens now, out in a coop, getting bigger and preparing to make us lots of eggs.  As we were reading about the different breeds, Sarah discovered an interesting little product for people  who want to have their birds inside.

Yes.  That is indeed a chicken diaper.

People put diapers on their chickens so that they can be household pets.

Wow.

Sarah’s been taking some great pictures lately.  Thought I’d share.  They’ll serve to fill you in on the current state of life around here as well as anything I can write…

My brother and my son can be eerily similar some times.

This is a post card quiz that Kham sent to the Cowboy, whose responses are written in place. Don’t worry, I’ll translate.

• What was his uncle’s name? – Uncle Be
• What is his job when not fighting villains? – Taking photos
• Who was the first bad guy he ever fought? – The criminal that killed Uncle Ben
• What nickname does he often use when talking to villains? – He uses different names for different villains
• (Note: pretty sure Kham was looking for “chuckles”, but not sure)
• Who is the Green Goblin (his real name)? – Harry Osborne (1) Norman Osborne (2)
• What kind of shirt does the sandman always wear? – A green striped shirt
• What place does Spider Man like to go when thinking about stuff? – Mary Jane’s House
• (Note: I’m thinking Kham was looking for the gargoyle up on the building…)
• What villain wears animal furs? – Kraven the Hunter
• Who is his boss at work? – J. Jonah Jameson
• What is Peter Parker’s favorite subject in school? – Science
• Can Spider Man be caught in his own web? – No
• What is the Spider Man Motto? – With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility

13 Years today. 

Amazing and wonderful.

Beale has been a real blessing. The work is satisfying – making an important Air Force building safer and more reliable – and the drive out there is just gorgeous. Took this last week with my phone:

Also, I got to stand right next to a Global Hawk on Thursday. That’s one of the most advanced planes around. It actually flies itself. No really!

Happy Epoch Day!

“What is that?” you ask – and then immediately regret it.

Unix systems have a system of time that is based on the number of seconds since Jan 1, 1970 – counting leap seconds.  It’s just a way computers (the good kind) use to keep track of time.

Today, at around 3:30 PST, that number was 1234567890.  Geeks everywhere celebrated.  No really!

I know what you’re thinking…

“No posts for weeks and then this?”

Yes.  I’m sorry.