My puppets sit silent. This bug has ravaged my throat and I am lucky to be able to speak. Today, Saturday, on the Epiphany of the Lord, I will not make Mass, and certainly will not sing. I will strum on my autoharp and try a few new songs. I will hope to be well enough to get to dance class on Monday. I will pray the antibiotic works.

This really SAD picture is of my pile of soft puppets, in a heap, waiting for me to recover enough to get back to them. I haven’t dared to pick them up and straighten them out because I don’t want to contaminate them. Goody hasn’t been out of his box since before the whole “cold” started.

Today I will help the Little Beekeeper to finish her letter to her 2018 pen pal. I do hope we do better than last year when she began to fight me about doing the letters in August. Still, she dictated a letter to her 2017 pen pal, catching her up and hoping she might still keep in touch with her and the new Pen Pal is another person to get to know.

I will cuddle the Littlest Helper who is suffering a cold. I will seek out the middle child for attention and listen to what he says.

In spite of the voicelessness, 2018 is starting out on a good foot. I put the budget on a zero sum shape, so every penny is going where the plan sends it. Debt is nearly retired, and the budget is realistic, enough is in each pot that needs should be covered correctly. I spent all of 2017 making and re-making my budgets, evaluating where each month went wrong and determining the ACTUAL amount of money used in each category.

So far I am on day 2 of not buying ANYTHING off Amazon. No shopping, not for anything! The biggest budget buster for me is books. I am not even going to amazon to LOOK at anything until after Easter–and day two is looking good!

I think everyone struggles with managing their money. I am convinced that it is possible for us to do better. I want to be truly and confidently in control of my cash. I want to, as a friend said the other day, drive my own bus. There is a book along those lines, which was one of the last purchases I made before I realized that part of SILENCE is to quiet the noise of over-consumption. To decrease the power of advertising by refusing to buy anything. I increased the food budget, and removed the book budget. Credit cards are zeroing out, and their only use is convenience and only on what is budgeted!

I am not making resolutions. I am implementing steps toward goals.

Dear Lord, please help me to stay the course, to control the budget and refuse to allow it to be violated by unplanned purchases. Help me to listen to the children and meet them where they are. Help me to get well and get to dance. Help me get well and return to working on my puppetry +Amen.