Couponing

Over the last month I have been perfecting my couponing skills.   I have to say that I was one of those people that made fun of the people walking around in the store with a book or file folder bulging with coupons.  

With me not working I thought maybe I could save some money and try the coupon thing out.  Going into it right off the bat I was very skeptical to say the least.  I started by clipping some coupons out of the Sunday papers.   My very 1^st shopping trip using them was really disappointing, I did save a little but it really brought my attention to the fact that I needed to really study up on the rules that the store had on the coupons.  I think that I may have saved 10% or so.    With a little reading up on how each store handles the coupons I have doing a lot better 4 weeks later.   This week I dropped our food cost to a 3^rd of what we normally spend.   What really shocked me is that what I was buying name brand products as well.  I am truly starting to be a believer in couponing!    As a beginner I still have so much to learn so I will be interested to see how much I will be able to save down the line.  

  

One step away.... Ouch

For a while I have wanted to see what was in our attic.   I have been looking at the trap door in the ceiling sense we have moved in this house.  Well the other day I decided to take a look.   I pulled one of our kitchen chairs into the hall way and reached up and unlocked the trap door.   I cautiously pulled on the chain and the trap door came down.   It hand the steps neatly folded up, I unfolded then and slowly started up to see what was up there.  I got to the top and took a quick glance hoping that I didn't see a set of eyes staring back at me. I was in luck to not see anything and proceeded up to the top.   I am not really sure what I was expecting to find, there was some old furniture and empty boxes and this huge, cheesy looking painting with a plastic frame that would fill up a wall.  With my curiosity fulfilled I decided to head back down the stairs.   I was half way down and Brenna said watch out and it was too late.   There was a missing step and I found it.  The next thing I knew I was down at the bottom of the stairs tangles up in them.   It took me a while to figure out what happened.   I was so lucky to not break my leg, it was wedged in-between 2 steps pretty good.  I ended up with some bruises to my legs and a little to my ego as well.  

I tell you this story because it reminds me of how close we are to financial ruin with not having insurance.  With the loss of my job we lost our insurance.  We have a choice to paying the COBRA payments to keep it but it is $1675 a month.   Tina just started a job and it has insurance it you can call it that.   It will cost about $650 a month and it will have a co pay of $2500 per person and a $5000 co pay for the family before it will start to pay the 80/20 benefits.

    

Tina and I would say we are like most families out there.   But there is no way we can pay 12,000 out of pocket to have insurance L   I guess we are lucky that it isn’t next year or we would be having to decide to either pay the penalty for not taking insurance or paying half of Tina’s wages into insurance with the new health care act coming into play.

I really don’t think there is a easy solution to fixing the health care system here in the U.S.  but I hope that someday our government leaders will get it figured out.

Reassurance

Reassurance is something we all need from time to time I think.  For me it seems that when there are changes in life I always feel the need for reassurance.  Some of the bigger changes in life I have been so lucky to have Tina there with me by my side.   She has been so great in giving me the reassurances that I have needed.   For over a year and half I have been carrying around this coin that Tina gave to me when I was in the hospital for a week.  

I have kept in my purse, and a lot of the time it was in the car where I could see it all the time when I was driving a lot.   Now that I’m not traveling I have been keeping it in my pocket.    I am pretty sure that Tina doesn’t know how much this little coin means to me.  When I am feeling down or needing some reassurance I pull the coin and remember the time when Tina gave it to me.    I sometimes like to look and the coin and remember where I have come from and it gives me hope to where I am going a well.

Poems of change

Tina and I went to a writing seminar by Ray McGinnis on writing through grief at Holy Covenant UCC.  We have only attended 3 services so far be we feel very at home there.  I have attended many churches but by far this is the most friendly one I have every attended.

Tina, myself and Brenna thought that it would be a cool thing to do together as well as a way to meet people at the church.  I also thought I might be able to take away some ideas to help me write a little better.

One of the exercises that we had to do was do a alphabet poem.

I found it interesting that Tina and I would have chose the same topic to write about.  
We shared  them in small groups, and one of the ladies said that what we wrote was reminded her of wedding vows for each other.

This is what we wrote:

The Alphabet of Changes

By Brynne Soukup

 A few changes I have made from

Brian to Brynne the

Changes have been hard and

Difficult

Eventually I have

Found the

Great Joy in my

Heart of who

I am now. The

Journey almost

Killed our

Long

Marriage.

Now

Our relationship though is stronger than ever!

People often

Question why Tina would stay in the

Relationship.  I know

She

Truly loves me and is dedicated to me

Until death do us part.  I

Very much

Want her to know

eXactly how much I love her the same way too!

Yesterdays love and hurt is gone, but there is future love to come!  Our lives may be

 craZy at times but we have our love to share ALWAYS.

Alphabet  Poem

By Tina Soukup

Although it’s

Been 2 years since the transition I still mourn the loss of my Brian.  We met and fell in love at

College in 1991 and then in 1992

Decided to get married.  Actually, we

Eloped.  That really blew the minds of

Family members!  I never would have

Guessed at the time that Brian was transgender.

He was always the “manly man”; hiking, fishing, working

In his uncles tire shop.  I

Just sometimes feel betrayed. I married a man.  I wanted someone to have children with and

Keep us safe.  I still love the person I married.  But the

Loss of

My husband still saddens me.   I can

Now understand and see how I missed the

Obvious signs early in our relationship.  Some

People don’t understand why I stay.  I’ve never

Questioned my love for the person inside.  I

Respect and

Stand beside my soul mate.  We have

Two beautiful daughters to show for devotion to each other.   But I don’t think I’ll ever

Understand why Brian didn’t

Voice his true feelings to me

When we got serious as a couple.  I would like to

examine those thoughts and

whY Brian didn’t feel secure enough to tell me.  It should be black and white like a

Zebra’s stripes.