After eating gluten-free for a week, I couldn't help myself and ate some of the brownies that I made for the church picnic on Sunday ... guess what? Yep, my hands started itching again and all of my typical "itchy spots" fired up again, too. My heartburn returned as well as the bloating and gas. So, I'm declaring myself gluten intolerant and will now work to be sure I eat totally, 100% gluten-free. My husband wants me to switch everybody over to that way of eating and I probably will after the pantry and freezer are empty of items containing gluten.

I've been working on a special project for The Old Schoolhouse and I couldn't say anything about it until TODAY !! My friend Heidi and I have been working very hard (and are still working!) to produce the "Cadillac" of all homeschool and household planners ... you can read more information about how you can get a "sneak peek" at my other blog. I am so excited about this product ... we asked for input from our TOS readers and worked to incorporate as many of the suggestions as we could. I hope that people are pleased with the product which will be available for purchase in early June. There are going to be monthly supplements available, too, so watch for more info about that - I'll post it as soon as I know all of the specific details.

After reading about people getting their gov't stimulus checks and the fact that many are tithing on that, I had an idea for our church. We our struggling financially right now, but if the majority of the families in our church gave a minimum of 10% of their check to the general fund, it would really, REALLY help us out. So, my dh emailed our pastor the idea and he thought it was great so they'll be announcing that on Sunday. Giving $180 may delay our car payoff until July, but the Bible says to give our first fruits to Him and that's what we intend to do in my home. God has really blessed us over the last year that we have been faithful to tithe on ALL income and I know that we'll continue to always have plenty by tithing with happiness in our hearts. Several of our bills have gone up this month, our electric bill went up $17 and our cable/phone/internet bill went up around $30 and, of course, gas and food prices are higher. But even amidst all of this, God is still taking care of us.

Not much else going on right now ... just the same old, same old stuff. I still have some closets to clear out b/c I didn't make it through all of them last week. I couldn't make myself get rid of some of my "skinny" clothes because I truly still hope to get about 20 lbs. off. I think I'm going to try to run today with my dh and kids and see how my joints feel. Running is the easiest way to burn lots of calories fast. If I could stick with it for about a month, I'd be hooked just like I was last year. I really miss it!

Well, time to get back to my 'to-do' list and get some things DONE!