The Numbers Game

It has been a while since I sat down to write. The last few weeks have been a big blur. I’m not really sure on what, other than just life. It seems that week after week we feel inundated and overwhelmed with ‘life’. Some of it is good stuff...like dinner last night where the four of us were able to actually sit down and eat at the same time. Usually when this happens, we spend a fair amount of our time laughing about something. Last night was no exception. Then, the meal was over, Dean was off to yet another meeting, Kirsten retreated to her room to tackle the mountain of homework, I cleaned the kitchen, made a few phone calls and then sat down with Annika to view our latest guilty pleasure, Law & Order SVU

This morning as I caught up on checkbook entries (that is NOT a good thing to do these days), I was sucked into the vortex of numbers. There have been a lot of them swirling around in my head the past few weeks. I wanted to share a few:

75,000: The amount in dollars that the gross tuition, room & board bill will be for both Josh and Kirsten to attend Seattle Pacific University next year. I know I keep harping on this number to some of you, but it BLOWS.MY.MIND. While the kids both have received scholarships and grants and student loans, the fact remains that the cost of college has gotten COMPLETELY out of hand. While SPU is a private university it is middle of the road in relation to other schools. For comparison, if Josh and Kirsten were to both go to a state university this fall the cost would be about $40,000 for both of them.

23,000: On a related matter, the amount that the federal government feels Dean and I can come up with to pay for Josh and Kirsten’s education. Uh-huh, no problem, let me just write you a check.

1: The number of houses we own that will be going on the market within the next month. Yup, we made a HUGE decision. We are in the process of putting our house on the market. We keep reminding ourselves it is just a house. Now we hope that it actually sells for what need it to so that we can have a little breathing room.

15: The number of hours a week I am supposed to work at church on a weekly basis. I am finding that more and more I am unable to get the increased workload done in this amount of time. While that is ok, I didn’t realize how chaotic it would be trying to work two part-time jobs. I work less hours, earn less $$ than I did on my previous work schedule but it seems like I have even less time AND it feels like I am always behind and not finishing something. I need to figure this one out before it completely drives me bonkers.

2: The number of times the last two weeks that I have ‘slept’ at the ‘Sleep Clinic’. I really feel this is a misnomer. ‘Sleeping’ in a room where there is a ‘hidden’ camera mounted from the ceiling directly over your bed, does NOT induce a peaceful sleep environment. I kept wondering if the camera covered the bathroom. As a bonus, I am expecting my very own C-Pap machine any day now. Won’t I be the envy of the block? Or at least of my family?

5: The number of nights that I was able to schedule for our family vacation this summer. I keep my fingers crossed that the time we have reserved will work for Josh and Evy,. Kirsten’s schedule was the one constant that I could count on, so we winged it and rented a house on the water a couple hours from home. It isn’t much time, but we are looking forward to it just the same.

29: The number of days left until Kirsten graduates from high school. We are slowly checking off her ‘final’ events of her high school career. Junior Senior Banquet night is done. [check]. AP Calc exam is finished [check]. The last game of the regular softball season was supposed to be today, but was rained out, hopefully tomorrow [check]. Over the next couple of weeks we will also be able to check off the final orchestra concert, senior presentation, national honors trip, senior skip day, district softball, tri-district softball, state softball??, and numerous papers and final projects and of course a few finals. The constant activity and stress level is KILLING me...I can only imagine what it is doing to Kirsten.

31: The number of days left until we have Kirsten’s graduation party. Now, all I have to do is get the invitations out in a timely manner. NO problem. Oh and did I mention that last night Kirsten decided that she really should get some spring senior picture shots....uh huh, no problem, I will get right on that. Monday? You would like them Monday? Ok then.

Well you get the idea.