Hey friends! I have great news, and not so great news.

What is, of course, the most important news is that Brand made it out of his open heart surgery. In fact, he's recovering so well that even his surgeon was impressed in the subsequent follow-up appointment!

Brand and I, we pay the bills together and are relient on one another to make ends meet. He's been out of work for about a month and a half now, and we're expecting him to continue to stay home and recover for at least another 3 months.

He'll have access to FMLA benefits on his one year work anniversary, which thankfully is in a few days. It will be SOME financial help, but it won't be enough compared to his usual wage, and it will barely help me make up for the month and a half we've been relient on just my income alone.

To make matters worse, we now have engine problems with Brand's car that will put a much larger dent in our finances.

Overall, the deficit up to now is estimated to be about 3k. In the coming months, I'm expecting a projection of about 5k or so.

At any rate, it's safe to say that we're struggling big time. If you have the ability to help us, it would mean everything to us. We'll bounce back towards the end of spring and have all sorts of adventures to make up for all this nonsense.