Yes, we are that crazy family with 3 dogs and a cat!

I just crossed today's item off my check list. I finally called and made a vet appointment for Callie for her annual check up. She's a little overdue. The hardest part about having 3 dogs and a cat (he's just going to have to go on next month's list!) is definitely the expense! Of course they are all 3 due around the same time every year for their annual exams and they are all 9 years old now so of course they always want to do bloodwork, etc. and I can never afford it so I always say I'll set up a separate appointment for that... and then never do. I have a monthly amount in our budget for pet expenses, but I never actually set that money aside every month. That is really what I need to be doing. We have an account already that I could use for that. Maybe I need to set up an automatic transfer or something - even weekly if that makes it easier - so that I won't spend that money on other things.

I had two dogs when I met my husband and then he got one shortly after we started dating. Of course I love them all dearly, but I know we won't ever have 3 dogs again. It's difficult when we travel as well, paying for care for them all and dealing with the dog hair from a house that hasn't been vacuumed since we left!

Last night and today I've been feeling very overwhelmed with all that I feel like I need to do to get caught up on my own life. I keep feeling like if I can work a little bit each day on simplifying my life, I will eventually get to the point where it becomes easier to just maintain. It's been harder than normal for some reason though to remind myself of that lately. I think that part of it might be that I am frustrated with myself for letting things go for so long and it just seems like too much to focus on. I know I am doing the right thing by tackling one thing a day, and I certainly feel a sense of accomplishment just making it 7 days so far (and p.s. I STILL haven't had any Coke... go me!! ... even when faced with temptation) but some days are still hard. So, today I picked a little thing on my list, so that I could focus the rest of my time on catching up on cleaning and laundry. Oh, and I baked a chocolate cake :-) That made me feel much better! ha ha