February? Already?

Man is time flying! I can't believe it is February and we are already halfway through the Steinman birthdays. Skyler's was Jan 13 and Traci's was Wednesday. Next up is Courtney's in a couple of weeks. However, first comes Valentine's Day in just over a week. It'll be kind of weird because it falls on a Sunday this year. Oh well.

In the midst of all the normal February birthday festivities, Courtney is starting her rookie season in softball with Whittier Girls Softball. I'm looking forward to seeing her play. Unfortunately I can't make it to any of the practices as they start at 5:00 on Mondays and Wednesdays. I'll get home about the time they end. At least when they have weekend games, I can make it to those. I'm so excited to see her play. I've had fun teaching her and Skyler how to play. I knew I would have fun teaching them, but I don't think I realized how much I would enjoy it. I wish I could do that everyday, but I don't get home until it's dark during the week. We just need to take advantage of the weekends when we can. It'll rain most of this weekend, but we might be able to practice a little on Sunday before the Super Bowl. Monday represents her first practice and I really wish I could be there. I'm sure she will have fun and make even more friends.

I'm really excited about how well Traci is doing with her weight loss. She has now dropped 45 pounds overall. She has passed what I lost with Weight Watchers a while back (40 pounds...although it's all come back). It's exciting to see her do so well and remain so motivated. I don't think I've seen her this determined with something before. It's pretty cool!

Something I'm proud of is that since I made my return to work on December 8, I have not missed a day! I keep thinking that it would be cool if I actually had perfect attendance this year since I've never had perfect attendance with anything before. Then again, I have two kids who are both in school and a wife who seems close to becoming a sub at the preschool. My chances are slim to none. Guess I better enjoy it while I can.

Also, today was my first meeting with members of the RLT (Refinery Leadership Team), aka the big wigs. Ok, so actually only one was there as well as a few of my colleagues and bosses. it went really well though. I'm glad to get that first one over with.; especially since I get to do it again next month.

I'm getting excited about this time of the year. Although our finances remain extremely tight and we somehow manage to make it paycheck to paycheck, it is just about time for us to get our breathing room. I'll be receiving my bonus in exactly one month, which as of right now is 11% of my salary. There is one more element to be calculated in and I have a feeling it will bring it down slightly. I'm not worried about that since I get a bonus at all in these time. It's also tax time which we'll get around to doing later this month. I'm not sure how much to expect back, but it will be nice no matter how much.

Our family is now down to 2 Disneyland passes since mine expired in November and Skyler's expired on her birthday. Courtney's comes due next month so we'll be covering those three with my bonus/taxes or at least that's the plan right now. We made a list of things we need and would like with our extra money upcoming. Property taxes top the list since that's a necessity. The passes are on there as I mentioned, and we also are planning to get a camera since we haven't had one since Christmas morning. I think we'll be upgrading slightly from what we had, but not spending a ton.

I guess I should head to bed since it's almost 2:00AM. After all, we need to get up at 6:30 to get the girls ready for school. Naptime!