The Saturday 7

1. Good news, everyone!! February is over!! We did it. We survived the worst month. Now, not to be a Debbie Downer, but I have bad news for you . . . March is the 2nd worse month. So much false hope. So much playing with my emotions. But there are 50s in the ten day forecast, so I'm holding on to hope.

2. Lucy had her follow up with the pediatric orthopedist on Wednesday and was given a clean bill of health. Her foot has healed and she was given the go-ahead to remove the boot she's been wearing for a month. However, the doctor cautioned her to be careful, and suggested that she should avoid gym class for another 10ish days. If you know Lucy, you know that decision made her day. Lol. When she gave the doctor's note to her P.E. teacher, the teacher said, "Could you at least pretend you're upset about this?" Lol. Lucy couldn't stop smiling. #theappledoesntfallfar

3. Justin and I completed our second month of budgeting with YNAB. At first, I didn't understand why everyone considers it so superior to other budgeting apps, but I really am liking it. It's almost like a game, making sure everything is categorized correctly, and being creative to make the money stretch. (Yeah, I'm into lame games.) That said, this month was kind of depressing. February is the shortest month, but I had a really hard time making the money last. I budget an obscene amount of money for groceries each month, but that was all spent by Monday of this week. I had to shuffle a few things around and steal some money from my "medical expenses" fund to buy enough for my kids to have lunches at school this week. How on earth do we spend so much on groceries?!

4. The budget also took a hit thanks to Levi's birthday. Our kids don't get a party every year, but Levi has never had one and he desperately wanted to. So I let him pick two kids from his class to come over after school for a couple hours. Then we met up with Nash at the bowling alley for the official "party." Boys are hard for me. I just hate rough-housing and potty talk, and that's pretty much all they do. But Levi was in his glories, so I made myself grit my teeth through it for one day. Haha.

5. I started a new book this week - Home With God: Our Union with Christ by Kyle Worley. Union with Christ is a concept that I don't think we focus enough on, and I'm excited to dive deeper into it. But I started it on audio, and I just can't concentrate well enough for it to sink in, so I need to switch to a different format. Stay tuned.

6. I don't know if it's the change in weather or some kind of new allergy, but I have been so itchy all week. I always have dry, itchy skin on my legs. But this week it has escalated to another level and spread over every inch of my body. My arms, hands, feet, back, neck, chest, scalp. You name it, it itches. I have scratched myself to a bloody pulp despite copious amounts of prescription strength hydrocortisone cream, and I don't know what else to do! I had PUPPS when I was pregnant with Lucy, and they warned me to keep an eye out for cholestasis - apparently it's a liver disease that can come on during pregnancy and the number one symptom is intense itching. Well, I'm not pregnant, but I'm pretty sure that's my problem. My liver must be failing after almost 30 years of filtering too much Dr Pepper for any one person. According to Dr. Google, I don't need to be concerned unless I start turning yellow, so if you think I'm starting to resemble an Oompa-Loompa or a minion, let me know. Until then, I guess I'll just keep scratching.

7. A few pics. One meme.