Whew, glad I got that out of my system.  Once of my favorite desserts is chocolate oatmeal cookies.  They are not Jimmy’s favorite, so I rarely make them now that the kids are on their own.  But I’ve been thinking about them–their fudginess, peanuttiness, just the right crunch with the oats–heaven with a big glass of milk.  And how bad could they be–oats and milk, with just a coating of fudge.  Yes, I’ve been thinking of them and decided that I would treat myself Friday night.  I made a half recipe, and yes, I ate half last night while watching Chariots of Fire, and finished them off today.  I think I am done with chocolate oatmeal cookies for awhile.

All day today I kept thinking about leaving the house.  I could visit Mom and Dad, go to the bank, grocery, for a walk, Starbucks.  But then I thought:  I can meet Mom and Dad for lunch after church on Sunday, don’t need to go to the grocery just yet, don’t need to spend gas money just to go to the bank and Starbucks.  And I could walk here.  So I stayed at home.  Thoroughly cleaned the kitchen including the oven, piddled, read, watched five Duck Dynasty’sand about that many Jeopardy’s, and in between everything on the Food Network–every kind of “chop” imaginable.  I am over halfway done with my 1000-piece puzzle, and then after all that stayed up until the wee hours working on our budget.  I track all of our expenses for tax purposes, so I have a handy analysis, which is especially handy since we have had such a change in income.  Now I have to remind myself that this financial setback is just that, a financial setback.  God will provide, but we need to do our part.  We need to be very intentional not to waste any money, and I mean any money!  We have it to spend on what we really want, but we should be sure we really want it.  This will take some real effort on my part to have the right attitude.  I don’t want to constantly be thinking about what I can’t do, but more about how blessed we are and how God provides.