Burdens, Blessings, Bills and Budgets and such

For those of you that don't know -- I am married to an accountant.  He is the son of an accountant. He is the twin to an accountant.  He is the big brother to an accountant.  He is one-zillion percent an accountant.

Here is the official definition of accountant:
ac·count·ant

əˈkount(ə)nt/

noun

1. a person whose job is to keep or inspect financial accounts.

Yep, it's his job to keep and/or inspect financial accounts and he takes that job very seriously.  All. The. Time. 

I am an educator.  I am the daughter of an educator.  I am a little sister to a brother who is an educator (sort of -- if being a PhD holding super smart college business professor counts).   I am also the sister to a lot of siblings who decided to make enough money to need an accountant and didn't become educators.  

Here is the official definition of educator: 

ed·u·ca·tor

ˈejəˌkādər/

noun

1. a person who provides instruction or education; a teacher.

Yep, it is my job to provide education and teach. I take my job very seriously All. The. Time. 

Eric and I are pretty different in our roles.  This has taken some adjusting in our marriage.  I would like to teach him things, all the time, and he constantly wants to keep our financial accounts in line. 

Remember how I have always been an educator -- and a budget was not so much what I lived by when I was single (well into my 30s).  So, when I married Eric I learned how to use a spreadsheet to track expenses and live within our means and so on and so forth.  It was sorta a steep learning curve.  Don't get me wrong, I was raised to live within your means and pay cash for cars (that's another story, but when I bought my first car at the age of 27 I was worried that I only had $15,000 of the $20,000+  saved for the car I was looking at and had no idea that you could get a loan for a car) 

The point is, I am really grateful that Eric is who he is and takes his role seriously.  He keeps really great track of all of our financial accounts.  It has turned into a great blessing that he is an accountant, and knows how to manage and save money.  

Having cancer could potentially be kind of a budget nightmare.  Pretty sure our monthly budget wouldn't even be enough to cover simple prescriptions.  In fact, anyone want to make any guesses at how much just one round of chemo cost? 

Yep, if you add those dollar amounts up you are at a grand total of $13,445

So, a a rough estimate for how much this will all cost after 12 weeks of this (which is the plan right now) and we are at a grand total of $161,340.  Pocket change.  

See, here I am doing my job again you guys. 

 Teaching you something -- Cancer is expensive.  Being sick is expensive.  

Given the fact that these things can get costly, and we are seeing first hand just how quickly medical bills can potentially pile up (and how grateful we have always been and are insured), we understand why many of you have inquired at if we need help. It could be quite the burden to bear to handle all of this.

The short answer is: "No." 

The long answer is:  "No, we have been blessed and helped beyond our wildest expectations."  

The blessings and help may not have come in the form of large amounts of money,  

They have come in forms much more generous than that. 

They have come in the form of gifts and packages sent to the girls to provide comfort and consistency.
They have come in the form of school supplies purchased.
They have come in the form of  required volunteer hours being fulfilled in our behalf.
They have come in the form of meals being brought, consistently, to our home.
They have come in the form of laps for Tess to sit on, read stories and play.
They have come in the form of fresh flowers delivered to our door, filling our home and brightening my day time and time again.
They have come in the form of friends for the girls to spend time with and just be kids.
They have come in the form of text messages and laughter shared through technology.
It has come in the form of items being picked up for us at the store so that the girls have had food for their lunches and snacks afterschool.  (seriously, I took my first trip to the grocery store this week after not going grocery shopping for like over a month).
They have come in the form of shoulders to cry on and hands to hold.
They have come in the form of packages filled with my favorite things sent from my favorite people.
They have come in the form of visitors coming from long distances and willing to help us with anything we need.
They have come in the form of new fall decorations left on the front porch.
They have come in the form of the girls being driven to their rehearsals, practices and school functions -- and me never filling a tank of gas.
They have come in the form of neighbors willing to do anything for us at anytime.
They have come in the form of our lawns being mowed and our home being cleaned -- all without Eric or myself giving of any of our time or money.
They have come in the form of beautifully sewn quilts and warm blankets.
They have come in the form of teachers who are patient and understanding with two fragile little girls in their care most of the day.
They have come in the form of oreos and peanut butter treats (those are erics).
They have come in the form of clothes being sent to myself and the girls -- sometimes from people we don't even know (we all wear lularoe leggings around here lately -- well not Eric -- remember he's an accountant.  Accountants don't wear leggings).
They have  come in the form of art supplies and stickers to keep the girls occupied.
They have come in the form of cards, so beautifully written and heartfelt and numerous I have run out of space to keep them all. (don't worry -- I am keeping them and have full intentions of responding and writing thank you cards back. soon).

They have come in the form of prayers.  So many prayers. 

They have come from all of you. 

They have come from all of you, listening to the promptings you receive and acting on them. 

So, when you wonder and worry about how we are doing.....don't.  

We are being so well taken care of, by all of you.  

We are truly blessed.  

This isn't about our budget or our bills. 

It is about our blessings and our burdens being lightened.  

We will never be able to repay you all for the help you have provided. 
You have eased our burdens through your service and love. 
 It would far exceed $161,340 to try and give back what we have been given.  

So here is my feeble attempt at trying to express gratitude for all that has been done for us these last 2 months. 

Thank you 161, 340 times! 

Thank you for being blessings in our lives! 

Thank you. 

 (well and also to teach you about the budgeting and bills which we still have to think about. I am an educator, it is my job to educate, remember and Eric really wants everyone to be responsible with their money, so we have done our jobs and will rest well tonight)