I am on vacation today and Monday. The hub and I are flying to Vegas tonight for a mini get away. Other than local jaunts around Oregon, we havent been on a trip in quite a while. Neither of us are big gamblers, I just found a great deal on flights/hotel and there are so many other things to do there for a couple of days. (I had hoped to watch Green Bay play on the mega screen this weekend, but *sniff* they lost last weekend to the Giants. However, the 49er/Giants game should be a good one....)

The hub is home until Wednesday, then he heads back to Alaska for 4 more weeks. The $$ from the extra week in the rotation is nice, but this is just temporary for the ice roads..in March or April, he will go back to 3/3. I have made sure to work the budget so that the extra goes to debt reduction or savings and is NOT part of the normal budget.

Three weeks into the job, and I am enjoying having the reduced stress level. I decided to take this term off from school and just relax. Since the hub has been home the last couple weeks, it has been REALLY nice not to have to worry about studying and deadlines.

The kids are all doing well. My DIL found a good job and so she and my son are FINALLY financially independent from mom. I actually got paid back a little this month!! SO proud of them. I am going down to visit them President's weekend next month...and am so excited to see them all!

My DD1 is moved into the new house and SILs grandparents are there with them. Grandma was released from the hospital to hospice and only has days to weeks. I am SO PROUD of my daughter for taking on this responsibility and making grandmas final days comfortable and giving grandpa a soft place to fall when she goes.

DD2 still has the foster baby. He turned ONE last weekend and there were no phone calls to check on him from any of his family. SO SAD...but again, I am uber proud of DD2 for taking this lil guy into her family. He has been with us for 8 out of his 12 months...I hope he stays permanently. He is a sweet, sweet lil guy.

I went to a CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocate) luncheon this week. Basically, a CASA is an advocate for a child who is in foster care. The CASA is court appointed to make sure the childs best interests are a priority while they are in the system- it is a minimum 2-3 year commitment and more preferably a commitment to that lil person until they are 18 (and beyond). There is such a need for volunteers in our community. I am seriously looking into becoming one. I am going to another meeting to find out more about the details.

I have gone back to having my hair done in a salon. The reason is that my friend who lost her son (22)to cancer this past year is the owner of the salon and her business has been struggling- she struggles to find the strength to get out of bed each day and to put one foot in front of the other. Her heart is so broke. The first couple months it wasnt unusual to find her curled on the couch in the waiting area, not having served a client all day. Her customer base dropped and she almost closed. But last night when I got there, she had a plan, a little hope and seemed to have turned a corner. She is staying busy and finding additional ways to draw customers in. She surprised me with a manicure using gels while my hair was processing. I love the look this morning and am considering regular manicures now. Helping my friend this way is so worth it.

Welp..time to get packing...a fun weekend awaits!!!