1.

My husband got a job!  It pays nearly what he was making before, but he is scheduled for 40 hours of overtime.  He’s hourly, so that means time and a half!  Everyone who has been praying for us, thank you so much!  God has answered your prayers with abundance.

2.

The downside?  We were planning to visit my family in Colorado at Christmas.  Four of my children have no clear memory of “home”; many of my brothers and sisters live there and have never met Mr X or Baby A (including her godparents).  Our trip is cancelled, now, since husband only gets 2 days off for Christmas.

3.

Our food stamp benefits came through (yeah, the day my husband interviewed for a job!  Ironic.)  With it came a bumper of back benefits.  I valiantly went to the store yesterday, the big fancy one with yogurt pretzels in bulk bins, fully intending to spend my brains out.

I choked.  Wild salmon was $12.99 a pound, and I just. couldn’t. do it.  Old habits die hard.  I laughed at myself when I passed over the .99 onions because I knew at my corner grocery store, they are .39.  And I still ended up with a fair amount of generics in my cart.  (Why waste money on packaging and branding?)

4.

I did buy real maple syrup.  I have been wanting to make some more diet changes, and this coming year I want to eliminate as much high fructose corn syrup as possible.  One year we got rid of food colors and MSG, last year I worked on reducing our consumption of partially hydrogenated oils.  Yes, it’s something I work on for a whole year!  Baby steps, baby steps!

But holy schmoly, it’s expensive!  I don’t know if I’ve ever had real maple syrup in my entire life.

5.

Other firsts for me: bought asparagus out of season.  Bought Bagel Bites for the kids.  Bought pumpkin pie ice cream and frozen taquitos, which are one of my comfort/treat foods.

I found a brand of eggnog that we can all have (Promised Land) for a holiday treat.   I bought kefir and I bought kumquats – I’ve never tried them before!  It’s good to try something new once in a while.

I bought tarragon and dill for my spice cupboard.  I’ve never stocked those, and usually just – ahem- skip it in recipes.  And, when husband asked me how much the tarragon cost, I didn’t know.

*** UPDATE***Kumquats are, um, an acquired taste.  Mr S took a nibble, smiled, said he liked it, then left the rest of it on the table.  Most of the other kids did the same thing. One bite and they were done!  LOL

6.

Yeah, still fixated on the food.  Philosophical note, this time.  As I was walking through the grocery store, I was lamenting, just a little bit, the fact that I have never bought bagel bites or pizza rolls, that cold cereal with cartoon characters is a special treat just for birthdays, and that they don’t get their own yogurt cups with their own flavors.  Poor, poor kids.

But, if the only deprivation the children have ever known is BagelBites, I have to marvel at the extraordinary providence God has shown our family.  There has always been food.  Always been heat (or air conditioning).  We’ve never rationed toilet paper.  There has always been medicine for fevers and for colds.  We are blessed beyond belief with material goods.  God even cares about the little things – we got a Kolkraft Train Table for Mr X’s Christmas gift off of Freecycle!  No cost to us, the one thing X will enjoy the most.

God is good.

7.

Okay, so this is the JOY edition of 7 Quick Takes.

One year, the Duggars talked about their JOY policy.  Jesus first, Others next, Yourself last.  I like that.  It’s a new saying around here.

Incidentally, Michelle Duggar is pregnant but was hospitalized recently for gallbladder problems.  Please keep a safe delivery for her in your prayers!  The doctors don’t want to remove her gallbladder until after the baby is born, sometime in the spring.

*** UPDATE *** Baby Josie Duggar was delivered by emergency C-section and weighs less than 2 pounds.

Also please keep my bloggy friend Julie and her family in your prayers.  Last week her 12 year old daughter very suddenly underwent surgery for a brain tumor.  Surgery went well, but recovery will be long and difficult.  Julie is a homeschooling mom of 10 children.