For those of you who like to download music...

iTunes has just recently passed the 1 Billion mark! Yes that's billion as in 1,000,000,000 legally downloaded songs in only three years. Who would have thought people would pay to get their music on the internet. Steve Jobs... a man with great foresight and an incredible company.

Changed My Music

I changed my music to "Beautiful One" by Jeremy Camp.
Hope y'all like the change. Any pop-up trouble?

Tuition Blues

I found out a couple of days ago that the school where our kids go is increasing tuition. Dramatically! Like to the tune of $10,000 a year for our family! I know it's still reasonable as far as private school tuition goes, but that's a huge increase in one year.

We aren't going to be able to afford it, so some of the kids won't be going there next year. In fact, only three will be there. That's all we can afford to send. The rest will be homeschooled until we can come up with another plan or more money.

I'm more than a little put out by this news. They waited to send out the re-enrollment packages until it was almost too late to apply to other schools. I don't think that was entirely intentional, but...

So the wife and I struggled with crunching numbers for a couple of days and I finally came up with a plan that should work. It involves selling both of my convertibles, though. I think I may still be able to buy the Solstice GXP (turbo charged) when it comes out in the summer if I work my butt off, but that remains to be seen. For now, I need to sell the cars to get the cash to pay the tuition in full in August. This will give us a 5% discount that we can put toward curriculum for home schooling. It will also eliminate the car and insurance payments that I am currently making.

We get one trip in the Solstice before I sell it. I know that will be fun and rewarding, but will also give me heartache once I fully enjoy all the features of this car that I have loved for so many years (since it was a concept car in 2002).

So if any of you know of someone that wants a used Honda S2000 or a Pontiac Solstice with VERY low miles, let me know. The prices will reflect market value, but be reasonable.

Skiing!

Had a great trip yesterday with the wife and 4 of the boys. We went to Jack Frost/Big Boulder Ski Resort and spent the day enjoying temperatures in the 50's and decent (manmade) snow on the slopes.

It was my 4th son and wife's first time skiing. They did fairly well considering.
Two of my boys went snowboarding at the start, but one of them had too many falls and switched to skis after a while.

I may post a picture or two later tonight when I get back home.

I videotaped just about everyone (while skiing). It was a lot of fun!

*yes, I did take them out of school for a fun day*

Well, that was fun!

I'm happy to report that there were no casualties last night while the wife and I enjoyed a nice dinner.
Thanks to my second daughter for a job well done. The kids were under control and didn't cause total chaos while we were gone.
Dinner was very pleasant. We talked about so many different things that it's hard to remember it all. It's been so long since we were able to sit next to each other and converse without interruption.
She had a Cobb salad followed by New York Strip steak. I had salmon. Both were excellent! We shared a killer dessert that probably had about a million calories called Double Chocolate Hill. Definately too much for one!

We ate here
They have an excellent head chef who creates some wonderful dishes. Portion size is moderate but filling. Prices are not bad, either.

I need to get ready to go to daughter #3's basketball game, so I will finish this post here.

Happy Valentine's Day!

If you are so inclined to do anything today, I hope you have fun. As I said before, I'm not much of a romantic. I was able to finally get my wife to commit to going out to dinner and I made last minute reservations last night. Glad I was able to get a table. The older girls have committed to watching the younger ones as a present to Mom and Dad. Pray that there are no deaths or injuries tonight during the 2 hours or so that we are gone... ;-)

For my single readers... I know this day isn't necessarily your favorite. I don't have any words that would help, I'm sure, but I do know that the Lord loves you more than any earthly partner ever could. So Happy Valentine's Day from me to you as a brother in the Lord. I love you all very much! *hugs & kisses*

It just occurred to me that I really should get something for the other ladies in my life... that's right... my daughters. What should I get them? Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. I'm really not very good at this.

I'll let you all know how it turns out.

BTW, the boys earned over $140 the other day in shovelling money. They also let their customers know that they are starting a business that includes grass cutting and leaf raking. Many of their customers said they would gladly have them back. Personal service is alive and well. I've pledged to help them be successful and I think they are well on their way.

SNOW!!!!

Finally!!
I love snow! Even though I usually have to shovel a lot of it, I love to see it and play in it. I think I'm still a kid that way.
I'm at work and I go outside as often as I can to see the flakes falling and accumulating. I also go out to check on the crew to make sure they are keeping the sidewalks and parking lots clean enough for the other folks in the building to come and go as needed.
Tomorrow, I will be shovelling driveways and sidewalks with the boys so that they can raise more money for the things they want to buy and do. They want to start a business amongst the 4 brothers (I'm sure they will let their other siblings work with them too). I've given them a little advice about some of the things they will need to do to make it happen. They saved up enough money from the last snow storm to buy new shovels (4 of them) and they are excited to be able to use them for this storm. I want them to be sure to tithe and then put 50% of what's left back into the business (for future purchases of a snow thrower, snow plow, etc for the winter and lawn and garden equipment for the other seasons). They get to spend the rest however they want. They seem to be doing well with this. Hopefully they will continue to work well together.
We are going skiing on Thursday. They paid for that with their work money too! I'm so proud of them for working so hard.
It's almost Valentine's Day. I'm not much of a romantic and my wife is used to it, but I do want to at least take her out to dinner. The hardest thing is finding someone to watch the younger kids and keep the older ones from fighting. Hope we can find help this time so that we don't have to cancel like we did the last time.
Pray for us!

Taxes part way done

For some reason TaxCut is not loading State returns. I can't procede at this time to finish. It's frustrating, cause I would have finished today.

Everyone stayed out of my way and I was able to input all the data. Now I just have to figure out what's going on with the program.

frustrating... frustrating... frustrating!

I went out to the kids school and watched my son wrestle tonight. He did better this time than the last, but was still pinned. His opponent was 6" taller and 10# heavier, so he did well. Lasted over a minute and a half - most of it in an "almost" pinned position... Actually, that required more strength than I imagined. He did well, and will continue to improve.

I got to drive both convertibles today! That was fun, even with the top up. Those cars are so different. But I love driving them both. I guess when I get the Solstice GXP, I'll have the best of both. Time to prepare to sell two cars so I can buy one. Anyone interested in an 01-S2K or an 06 Solstice? Both are in excellent shape, with low miles.

Gonna watch a little tv and then off to bed.

What a combination!

I'm listening to Michael Card and doing my taxes this noontime. Kind of a funny combination, but it's working for me. Hoping to get a big refund... we'll see.

My oldest son has a wrestling match tonight. I'm looking forward to seeing him get his aggression out in a way that is constructive for a change. I'm hoping he does well. He's still way under weight to actually compete fairly against the rest of the boys. But he has heart!

More later. Maybe.