Grocery Shopping...the final frontier

I am a stay at home mom. I love that, and I will do anything I can to never have that change. That being said, Josh is a school teacher and so our funds are not as plump as we would like (I am not complaining, it is just a fact of life).

Today is my shopping day. I only enter the store once a week (if at all possible) so that there are no chances for additional impulse buying. We have a strict budget and so I have to go over the shopping list several times adjusting and trimming to get things to add up correctly. Honestly, I don't hate that part. I LOOOOOOOVE a challenge, and that is what grocery shopping is for me. It is like the store is screaming "I DARE YOU TO BUY ADORABLE BABY/KID CLOTHES OR UNNECESSARY TOYS OR AMAZING GADGETS THAT WILL IMPROVE YOUR LIFE IMMEASURABLY UNTIL THEY BREAK IN NINE DAYS....MWAHAHAHA!!!" But I get to look at the receipt as I leave and smile smugly to myself as I have managed to make it out again under the budgeted amount (mostly, once in a while I end up scolding myself when I end up a few dollars over because "did we really NEED that" or whatever).

God knew what he was doing when he handed out the attitude allotments before we came here. I got myself a nice, big helping of stubbornness and, although it can cause annoyance sometimes for my husband, it has come in really handy because I don't give up easily. I tend to take on a "you can't beat me" sort of feeling and it really helps me through.

I guess mostly what I am saying is that although money is tight (understatement of the world...ok things could be a lot worse) I feel really blessed with the life that I have and I really wouldn't change it for anything. It is like that tale you hear every now and then where if all the people in the room dumped their problems into a pile to pick new ones, most of us would see everyone elses and happily pick up the ones we came in with.

There are some really good reasons that I don't mind being scrimping and struggling to make ends meet. Six of them in particular. A half dozen reasons to smile and count my blessings every single day. I get to share in the life of these amazing people and my job is to watch them learn and grow and do my best to help them become the most incredible people they can. What more could I ask for?

Oh, and I get to teach them to blow raspberries. Super fun!!!