The next couple of months are going to be very busy. Lee has decided to stick with his full-time job until the end of the year. That way we do not have to cover living expenses for three months while he is training for the Primerica job. Plus his work will reimburse him for tuition at Xavier this past quarter. But because of this, he is now working at a full-time job, training two days a week for the new part-time job, attending night classes two nights a week in college, and spending all this extra time cleaning up his dad's house so we can settle the estate. I feel like I'm never going to see him again. At least not for the next couple months.

With some life-insurance money we splurged and bought a iMac. It currently is sitting on Lee's desk and is very hard for me use. From what I've seen, it looks very nice, and has a lot more capabilities than our current PC. I am especially anxious to start using the video editing software. But I need to wait until we put the Mac on my computer desk so I can reach it. I'm also hoping that I can somehow transfer my voice dictation sound files over to the Mac to use with ViaVoice on Mac.

I had the bizarre experience yesterday of writing checks to pay off all our unsecured debt, besides the mortgages on the two houses. Never have I 'spent' that much money in one day. It's still too early to determine how I feel about our newfound financial freedom. In a way, it's unsettling because I know our old lifestyle of indebtedness has died. Now I'm going to be extra spastic not to get into debt again. If anything, I think I'll be even more frugal than I was! Plus I'm still not 100% convinced about Lee's new career path as a financial advisor. I need to trust him!

I spent most of the day vegging out in front of the TV, watching all the shows I had hoaded up on video tape for later viewing. I watched 48 Hours, Cold Case, and Law & Order. (Last night I watched Joan of Arcadia, which I think is my new favorite show of the season.) And at 3, I watched Dr. Phil. For my strenuous efforts, we were awarded by getting the bank account book for the life insurance claim. I'm not sure what to think of it. It actually made me feel rather nauseated and unworthy. Of course, I usually feel nauseated and unworthy.

Once again, the kids' school is having another fund raiser. They are selling wrapping paper and candy.

So click here and buy some stuff. Of course the more stuff they sell, the cooler prizes they get.

We just returned yesterday from our yearly pilgrimage to Buck Creek State Park near Springfield, Ohio. Every year Lee's mom's family has a huge three-day family reunion there. We rent cabins, build huge campfires, and drink a lot of booze. This year was fun as usual. On Sunday we attended Liturgy at St. Gregory of Nyssa Church in Columbus, Ohio, and then visited our good friend Dave, who is in graduate school at Ohio State. We also ate our traditional lunch at Tee-Jayes, our favorite countryfried restaurant in Columbus.

This whole inheritance thing is weird. There is a good chance our mounds and mounds of debt could be completely eradicated. Lee and I have been discussing options that we never thought would be possible, like him getting a part time job and going back to school full time. Maybe we will gear up the eBay business again. And Lee is thinking about resurrecting his Dr. Silicon computer repair and consulting business. All this means that Lee would probably be home more during the week. We will be able to do things together, like going to auctions and estate sales. It's weird to think that all my personal needs during the day might actually get taken care of, instead of me being home alone all day while the kids are at school.

My short story, Beauty and the Beast II: One Year Later, won first place in September's ACW Club's writing contest! Now I need to either focus on coming up with something for this month's story, entitled Never Forget, or think of something else to center my creative energies on. Maybe I'll read more about the Gimp.

We didn't get to go to St. Tikhon's on our trip though. Sniff...