Last night I registered for my 3 Spring Classes. $2,167 for 9 credits. I'm going to have to make the first official transfer out of my six-month emergency fund to pay for it. Up till now I've only used my other savings.

This summer I'll take a 4 credit class, and then next fall I'll take 9 credits, and in the Spring 2011 I'll take a 3 credit class + the Capstone (1 week "course" where you write 3 1800- 2500 word essays - pass/fail). So, it looks good right now that I'll be able to graduate by May of 2011.

----
Monday night I got home to find my landlady had acquired another dog! If you've seen the Legally Blonde movies, or Beverly Hills Chihuahua, then you'll have a good idea what the dog looked like -- except much, much skinnier/bonier. An old friend of hers showed up unannounced and told her that she couldn't take care of the dog anymore -she'd found it in a Wal-mart parking lot - and she wanted my landlady to take it.

So ... she took it. It was a very sweet and affectionate and extremely needy (male) dog - probably about six-years old and possibly used as a breeding dog (ahem..certain er.. actions constantly repeated around the female (spayed)dog Nikki ...)

Landlady put an ad on Craigslist on Tuesday, and today someone followed through and came and picked him up. His name was Bruno the Bruiser, but I thought a more appropriate name for him would be Shadow. (as in wherever the main human went he went, or wherever Nikki went, he went (until she growled at him))

---
Not much else going on really. Classes are winding down. I'm still working on putting together my barefoot running paper, and have two assignments left in another class, and then a practice exam in a third class. I'm getting a few extra hours at work tomorrow, and again on Wednesday - which will be helpful since Thursday and Friday we'll be closed.

Just over a month till I see my brother again! I am really, really, really looking forward to that!

---
This weekend I'm planning on putting some more hours in at the animal shelter. On Sunday I want to finish a rough draft of my running paper so my mom can help me proof it over Thanksgiving.

Yesterday afternoon I went to the no-kill animal shelter. I spent about 2 1/2 hours walking/interacting with 5 dogs. The last dog I took out was a 1 yr old large Chihuahua named Penny. She was so funny/sweet. As soon as I got her outside, she started running towards this garden area and jumped up on a bench and sat down. So, I sat down next to her, and she jumped up on my lap. We sat there for the next 45 minutes. Finally, I had to get up and take her back inside. I think she'd have been perfectly happy to have stayed much longer.

After Penny, I went into the cat room and petted cats for about 30 minutes.

I might go back on Wednesday, depending on how much I get done on my running paper.

----
I stopped at the library today to pick up two James Patterson books on CD which were on hold. One is "Alex Cross's Trial" and the other is "Swimsuit." I've loaded the first into iTunes, and am working on the second one.

I also put my name on the hold list for another James Patterson book, "I, Alex Cross" which isn't out in stores yet. (I came across a free excerpt of it in iTunes - didn't even know he had a new one!)

--
Heading towards the library it had been looking a little dark, which I'd thought was weird because it was only 3:30 or so. When coming out of the library, I found out why it'd been getting dark. It was pouring rain! I was completely soaked from head to toe on my way to my car.

Fun! Luckily I'd taken the dogs for their walk already.

---

I stopped at Dollar General to pick up some body wash's and spray deodorant for the gym. Unfortunately I couldn't get them, because their card machine was down and they could only take cash. I hope E actually got the supplies I told him we were out of!

So E asked me to open the gym today. He's put the time clock from the location that's closing here. Blech!

J, the lady who reccommended me for the job came in a bit ago. As I figured when I didn't get a call yesterday nor an email- didn't get the job. The lady they hired started yesterday. Apparently. shed been laid off for a year and could start right away.

She probably had more exp. and the fact she didn't need to give a notice ....

Oh well. It wouldve been nice if they had let me know yesterday. Guess it tells me I'm better off not getting the job. With only 5 cannidates it isn't that hard to at least send an email.

So tonight I'm going to go ahead and register for the 3 classes. I think I'm also going to look more into the ideas of tutoring or working with housebound kids.

I kind of wish I hadn't even tried for this.

It's life, right?

Tonight I attended the orientation meeting at the local no-kill shelter. There were about 12 women varying from 14 to 60's in the group. We were taken on a tour of the facilities, and got to go in the kitty room and the cat room, as well as the small dog and large dog rooms.

There was a couple Siamese cats that were just adorable. And there was a 10 year old Maltese who just looked so sad. Can you imagine a 10 year old dog in a shelter? How likely is it he'll ever be adopted? I'm almost tempted ... just so he'll have a home, even if only for a few years.

You don't have to sign up for particular times, just show up when you have time and they're open.

I need to volunteer at least 8 hours, and then I can take another training session to learn how to train the dogs to do various tricks and commands. Or, I can also take another class to work with the big dogs.

The shelter is about a 20 minute drive, so it's not something I could go to on a whim, but maybe once a week would be doable.

I'm really looking forward to spending time with the animals there.

----
Today B, one of my co-workers at the gym told me he tried to cash his paycheck today (the one that was over a week late) and he couldn't. His check was about the same as mine. I deposited mine yesterday.

Oh joy. I wonder how long it'll be till I find out how far it bounced? At least I found out the great possibility *before* I started moving money out of the account!

Last Monday the gym manager E asked me what I was doing this weekend. I told him I didn't have any plans. He then told me that they were closing one of our three locations due to the building that location is in wanting to start charging rent. (Apparently their business model includes not paying rent, but just managing a fitness center for the building.) Then he said that they would need help moving. I told him I would be willing to help.

I forgot to ask which day he was planning on this move. Ooops. It turned out that it was Saturday. He knows that I go to church on Saturday, so when he got back to me with the day, he asked me if I could come by 2:30.

Because I had already said I would help, I didn't want to back out on my word. So, I agreed to be there by 2:30.

I've mentioned before that I'm a Seventh-day Adventist. Our beliefs on the day of worship is similar to Jews, in that Sabbath is from Friday sundown to Saturday sundown. Working for money, watching t.v. etc., is not part of that time.

So, I decided to consider this an "ox in the ditch" situation, and also not accept any pay for the time I put in. (He was going to pay me my regular hourly wage.)

Well, when I got there at 2:25 there was NO ONE else there, except for him. Earlier that day one of the male "sometimes worker" and his son had come for a few hours and helped him load the heavy equipment, but everyone else had not been willing to come help. His dad, the owner, was at home "supervising" some contract work being done on their house.

So, about 2:30 I started loading up all the boxes of books (the dad/owner had co-written a book a number of years ago - there were LOTS of copies still left unsold.) About 4:30 his dad came and started to pack his office down. By about 5:15 I had finished bringing all the boxes in the gym out to the truck where E had been loading them. About that same time another helper M showed up. He helped E take down and load one last piece of equipment.

About 6:30 we finally got in the truck and headed out to the storage facility (after stopping at Taco Bell for food and drink.) A 10 minute trip took about 45 minutes because of a semi overturned in the ditch.

We finally get to the storage place, and unload everything that was to go in the "dry" building (non-climate controlled.)
About 7:30 S, E's now maybe ex-girlfriend (long story) showed up to help.

Then we started to look for the climate controlled unit. After 20 minutes of fruitless searching, we figure out that E had mixed up the numbers! He called the storage place's manager and worked it out.

About 8:00 we started unloading the book boxes into the climate controlled unit. About 9:30 M left. We closed the door of the storage unit, and the rental truck a little bit after 11 p.m.

----
It was a LONG day, but the weather was perfect for it, and I feel good that I decided to help. If I hadn't shown up to help, he probably would not have finished before 5 or 6 this morning! Every muscle in my body aches, and I slept really, really well last night.

E joked that he'd have to be sure to hire all Seventh-day Adventists because they wouldn't accept pay for working on Saturday's. I told him that might be a good idea, except that it'd be hard to find one who'd work on a Saturday in the first place. (unless unusual circumstances)

I did tell him though that he can be expecting a phone call from me around May to help me move wherever I end up going then.

--
Oh, I also finally got my paycheck yesterday. (One week late with a $20 bonus for it's lateness.)

Above is a picture of me in my new suit just before heading off to my interview. K, the person who took over at the gym took the picture.

Overall the interview went pretty well. I answered the questions fairly easily, and the interviewer seemed to like me.

Near the end she told me that one thing they were looking for is someone who can look her in the eye and say they'll be there two years. I told her that I could say that with confidence, because my master's program will take that long (especially if I'm working a real full-time job.)

She then told me that if I was truly interested, that she had a test she wanted me to take. A test only given to candidates she feels are a good possibility.

oh, she also asked me if I thought I'd get bored up there, having a degree, etc. I told her that I had done a similar job at TO, and hadn't been bored.

Ok, now the test. Ugh!

First 20 questions were pretty normal ..
Gave me a list of 4 words and I had to mark the word in each set that least/most described me. Ok, no problem.

THEN there were FIVE Analogies!!!! Errghhh!!!!

white is to black: blue is to ____

5 - 66: 7 - ___

Then there were Five questions about completing patterns.

One example: 298, 209, 129, 58, -4, ___

Another: A, F, Z, U, G, L, T

My eyes were bugging out!

Then to complete my fun ... 10 statements which I had to say if I Strongly Agreed, Mildly Agreed, Agreed, Mildly Disagreed, Disagreed, and Strongly Disagreed.

One statement said: I never miss an event in a series I've subscribed to.

At first I was like, what in the world?!
Then I realized they probably meant like a symphony series or a playhouse series where you can "subscribe" for a season. Well... if I could afford to subscribe to a series, darn right I'd not miss any that I'd paid for!!! But I figured out they were looking for attitudes of rigidity or judgmentalness, so I put "mildy disagreed."

When I was finished, she told me that there are four other people they are looking at, and they should make a decision by next Wednesday or so.

Oh, forgot.. benefits

Paid health insurance
Paid long term disability
Paid 15k life insurance
401k 50% of every dollar to 5% :bug eyes:
8 pd holidays including Good Friday

I didn't bring up about my upcoming vacation. I couldn't find a good way to bring it up. If the offer the job to me, then I'll tell them. Maybe something like "I'm interested in the job, however, I have a trip over the holidays which has been planned and paid for since early October. Is that going to be a problem?"

We didn't discuss salary, so I'm not sure what that'll be. Though I imagine it will be more than min wage!

Thanks everyone for your well wishes and encouragement. Ya'll are awesome.

I have an interview scheduled for Friday at 1:30!

It would be awesome to get this - no more late or bounced paychecks! ( still no paycheck for the 2nd - supposedly will get it tomorrow. )

Monday night I stopped at Ross and bought a suit, a business casual outfit, and a new pair of dressy shoes. Total: $60

I needed the suit because none of mine fit right now. It was only $15. The outfit I'll need if I get the job - if I don't get it, I'll take it back. The shoes - my only pair of dress heels have part of the sole coming off -so not a good thing to wear to an interview.

---
I finally heard back from the no-kill shelter I applied to volunteer at. I'll be going to an orientation meeting on Tuesday night. I'm looking forward to that!

---
I also heard back from the receptionist job I sent a resume in for on Monday night. The contact asked me to fill out an attached application - only there was no attachment! So I replied to her, and she sent me the attachment yesterday.

I printed it out today and typed it out at the library. They didn't have a fax or a scanner. I attempted to find a Kinko's, but after fruitlessly driving around for 30 minutes, decided to wait till tomorrow and fax it from work.

Tonight I got an email asking me for an interview tomorrow at 1:30. I had to say I couldn't do it - I work from 9 to 6:30 tomorrow, and 1:30 is potentially a busy time period at the gym.

Hopefully she'll take the 1:30 slot on Friday I said I could do (would have to get K to come in early, but she usually has no problem doing that.)

---
Today was my brother's 29th birthday! I called him and sang Happy Birthday. Then he told me that he'd just been showing a friend of his my video text I'd sent him a couple weeks ago, when the phone rang. Spooky.

I told him about dad buying the Wii for Grandma. He was pretty impressed too.

---
I made macaroni and cheese for supper tonight. I'd thought about it before, but hadn't wanted to open up a Rice Dream (milk sub). Tonight though I really wanted some, so I opened up a box. I'd never tried it without real milk - it was yummy. (For added protein I nuked a Bocca Veggie Chicken Patty and tore it up.)

--

The gym I work at is closing one of our three locations. E asked me on Monday if I had plans this weekend. When I told him I didn't, he said he might need some help with moving. I thought that he meant *he* would be moving. But I found out later that it was moving their stuff out of the closing gym location.

I'm not sure how much help I'll be - but I'll be on the clock, so the extra bit will be nice.

(in March they're supposed to be opening a brand new facility -- should be interesting)

---
paychecks were late this week because E and his parents (check signers) were out of town. To make up for it, they've added $20. I'll have to see my check tomorrow to see if the money actually was added.

---

I was accused of being rich on Monday - by the lady who takes the 3 - 7 shift. I had said something about the paychecks being late being more of an annoyance than a hardship. I had a real good laugh about being accused of being rich.

(It was kind of one of those under the breath things - not really directed towards her - just commenting out loud {I think I spend too much time alone sometimes} - she's not really someone I like all that much, though I suspect the feelings mutual -- K on the other hand who comes in on Tuesdays and Fridays, is a sweetheart {frugal} and we get along really well)

---
This was my first Halloween since I've been out on my own that I've had a chance to see a lot of kids/costumes. Usually where I've lived there were very few trick or treaters that came by.

Here, we probably had close to 70!! My landlady had to go out and buy more candy because she'd made candy packs for 35 kids.

I'm not sure why, but she pretty much let me be the one to answer the door and hand out the candy. I didn't mind, because it was cool seeing the variety of costumes (and ages!), but I thought it was kind of weird.

--
I'm really trying to get back into the mindset of making my food and not just nuking it. It's just so easy to nuke the burrito or the Lean Cuisine - little cleanup and little fuss. But that mindset isn't helping my food budget much. So, the past couple nights I've been actually *cooking* supper! I made quinoa M and T, and then of course tonight, mac and cheese.

I'm going to try to keep the frozen meals just for lunches, and do actual cooking for suppers. Maybe eventually I'll cut out the frozens for lunch as well ... I got back into some bad habits....

Thursday evening I got home from work and started to take the dogs for a walk. Before we'd gotten very far, my landlady drove by and stopped me. She told me she had found something that morning and wanted to show it to me.

Here's what she found:



She asked me if I'd be willing to let it sleep with me that night. She guessed that it was only 4 or 5 weeks old. I agreed.

We named him Felix. Such a sweet little fella. We also agreed that with her two dogs and two cats, there were more than enough animals in the house. So, he'd only sleep with me until we could find someone trustworthy to take in the little fella.

Felix got some sleep Thursday night, a good bit more than I did!

When I got home from work today, there was a note telling me that my landlady had found a home for Felix - someone we could be sure wouldn't use him for *Halloween* purposes.

I was a little sad that he was gone already, but happy he found a good home so quickly (and that I'll get a good nights sleep tonight!)

---
My mom's gall bladder surgery went well. They were able to go in laprascopically (sp??) so she should recover in a two week time or so. However, my stepdad and she forgot to mention to me that he had a doctor's appointment on Thursday morning and would need someone to stay with my mom.

I got a call Wednesday night asking if I could sit with her in the morning. I had to make a few phone calls (begging) to find someone to cover my morning hours, but I was able to find someone.

I drove over Wednesday night so I wouldn't have to fight morning traffic.

No problems. Stepdad got home about 10:40, and I left.

Problem: Blinding Pouring Rain the ENTIRE way! It took me about 80 minutes to do a 45 minute drive.

----

I have not heard back from the animal shelter I applied to volunteer at, nor the job I applied for yet.

---
I am looking forward to this weekend - sleep and More Sleep! (oh yeah, laundry too.)

This morning the woman who works out at the gym every morning told me that there is a receptionist job open at her company. She said I could use her as a reference. We talk a lot and are sort of Quasi friends.

Although being a receptionist doesn't excite me, having health insurance again and more income defintely does!

If I were to get this, I'd probably have to slow down on school - maybe take an extra semester or two. But if I'm making enough to live on, go to school, AND save .... I think the extra time would be ok.

Tonight I need to get my resume polished and put together a cover letter. Then tomorrow I'll stop at the library, print them out, and fax them in. (she told me to fax it. )

So if it works out, then sometime next year I'll have insurance again!

I've kind of gotten spoiled though, only working 4 days a week and pretty much having nothing to do at work. It sounds like the phones are pretty busy, and there might be some typing letters and other projects to keep a person busy. Their current person is being promoted in the company.

@ My mom had an outpatient procedure on Friday - they injected something into her back to calm a swollen nerve -- seems to be helping so far, but she may need the injection a couple more times

@ I spent all day Saturday at a library science seminar, and then met with classmates. It was really funny - one lady I had a lot in common with - we were chatting away and I mentioned about my barefoot running - she reacted like she'd met a celebrity! Lol! I'd mentioned it in my intro and she'd remembered it ever since - said her husband would be jazzed. Too bad she lives in Houston , I think we'd have fun together.

@ my dad sent me a check for the monthly iPhone charges + a little extra -for clothes! I thought that was really sweet and hood timing since I had just bought some new pants!

@ Saturday morning I did my official monthly no- s weigh in. Since July 23 when I started ( including two weeks where I wasn't doing great) I have lost 8 pounds!!

@ I don't get what's going on with E ( gym manager). When I went to the south gym on wednesday there were no clean, dry towels. There was a load washed - luckily I arrived 40 minutes earlier than I was supposed to ( wasn't sure about traffic) and barely managed to have a dry towel ready for the first gym visitor. I off handily said something about it to E, and he was like "I don't know why you guys complain about doing the laundry" I wasn't complaining about doing the laundry - I was annoyed that HE hadn't done any the day(s) before, which left me with no clean towels to start the day. According to the person who normally is there on Wed's this is a normal occurrence.

Then on Friday I went to the south gym again after E had supposedly opened it - I found out when I was closing for the day that he hadn't turned on any of the machines!!! Seriously , how does he wonder why people aren't renewing?? Not to mention all 3 locations constantly running out of one supply or another. (like the ladies bathroom on wed having no papertowels!)

I think he's as bored as I am with doing this but he is rebelling against his parents (owners of gym) by doing the bare minimum - and even less!

I have been quite busy the past few days, and am just now having a few moments to sit down and check in with ya'll.

Midnight Parties:

Friday night about 12:15 p.m. my downstairs neighbors decided that was a perfect time to have a party. Music with a steady beat vibrating my floor, and of course, the best place to congregate was in the foyer. The foyer which is tiled. And in which sound carries easily up the stairs.

After about 20 minutes of this, I finally called the police. About 40 minutes later the music was somewhat turned down, but of course they continued their constant drunken chatter in the foyer. (I could hear the lids of of their bottles clink on the floor.) I finally managed to get to sleep, and was able to sleep in.

Saturday I spent from about 6 pm till midnight packing. I realized I still needed at least a few more hours to be ready, so set my alarm for 5:45 a.m.

At 12:15 p.m. the music started again, although at a lower volume, and the chit chat group began again. About 1:30 I had enough, so I went out and said, "Senors, por favor, ustedes hablamos en el apartmento." (Sirs, please talk in the apartment.) They looked at me like I was loony. Then they responded in rapid fire Spanish. Uh... yeah. Didn't get that, sorry. Pretty much exhausted my knowledge of Spanish just now.

So, I went back to my apartment and had the pleasure of listening to them continue to talk loudly in the foyer until 3 a.m. Then I finally was able to go to sleep.

Needless to say when I woke up Sunday morning, I was dead tired. So, of course I needed some good music with a loud beat to wake me up. :snerk: (I made sure my music could not be heard outside my door - but I do have a subwoofer - so lets just hope the downstairs neighbors weren't light sleepers.)

---
The Move:

Somehow, even with all the stuff I gave away recently, I still have WAY TOO MUCH stuff! It took me way longer to pack then I thought it would - and I even had to ask my mom and stepdad to help me - and we still didn't get everything before the movers arrived. (And the movers arrived an hour late!!)

I've gotta say, it was really, really, nice to not have to carry any boxes down or load up the truck. The three guys got everything taken care of boom, boom, boom!

On the way to my new home, I got us lost. I knew exactly how to go, but somehow I managed to get this idea in my head that we had to take the left exit instead of the right exit!! Luckily I figured it out right away, so it only added maybe 15 minutes (by the time we got turned around.)

My mom and stepdad arrived at the destination well before we did. Mom told me she likes my landlady, and is satisfied with the neighborhood. (She *hated* the apartment complex where I'd been living.)

The movers got everything moved in pretty quickly. The one that I paid at the end was extremely honest. I accidentally gave him an extra $100. He came back and asked me if I'd meant to give him that much. Whooh! I'd meant to give him a $40 tip (they really did a great job.)

I just love the dogs and cats. They are so sweet. Maybe tomorrow I can get pictures of them. (My landlady keeps the lights off pretty much all the time - and doesn't seem to use the a/c either.)

Here is a picture of my room. What you can't see in the picture is my dresser. But I think this gives a pretty good idea of the size of the room.



My drive to work is virtually the same distance and time as before. So, that is good news to me.

Tomorrow I don't work, so I'll be going back to my apartment to try and get the remainder of my stuff and start working on cleaning it. I still need a box large enough for my pictures, so will have to go back again probably on Friday after work. Hopefully at that time, I will be able to turn my keys in.

Ok, I better get going. I still have classwork I need to get done before tomorrow night.

Remember when BK had the slogan "We Do It Your Way"? Well, apparently they don't adhere to that anymore.

Tonight I stopped by BK because I was wanting a veggieburger, but since I'm moving in a few days, I didn't want to add to my freezer contents. (by buying a box of them)

Well, they have the Mushroom and Swiss steakburger. I LOVE Mushroom and Swiss. When I was in highschool in Minnesota at a boarding academy I would walk into town twice a month to Hardee's and get their Mushroom and Swiss - hold the burger. Texas doesn't have Hardee's.

Anyway. I ordered a BK Veggie Burger and asked them to put mushrooms and swiss on it. I was told they couldn't do that. So I said, well then, could you give me the steakburger, but just switch out the veggieburger for the steakburger? Nope, can't do that.

Arghh!!! Seriously, how hard is it to add mushrooms and swiss to a different sandwich??

So at any rate, I've made some progress on my getting ready for Sunday's move. My freezer is completely defrosted, and all my books are packed up. I've tossed some clothing that needed badly to be tossed. Next I need to get my kitchen all packed up.

Tomorrow I'll be working from 6 to 11, and then I have to do a library observation from 3 to 5 (for one of my classes) so I'm going to have to pack fast. Most likely I'll end up leaving some of it to be packed Saturday night and early Sunday morning before the movers get here.

Today I got a phone call from the place I'm going to be donating a bunch of stuff to. I'd wanted them to come next Wednesday so it'd be closer to my actual move date. But the lady told me that their driver (male) who could handle furniture would be on vacation as of the 11th.

So .. he's coming over tomorrow afternoon to pick up the furniture and whatever else I have ready to go. (I can have their other driver come again next week to pick up non-furniture items I don't have ready.)

Today Mr B who was my teacher's assistant years ago drove me home from work - the second time this week. (He's probably going to pick me up on Thursday night as well.) I wanted to do something for him to thank him. So I asked if he'd be interested in my vcr/dvd combo or my rolling office chair. He was very interested in both - so they are now gone!

Tomorrow evening my apartment is really going to start looking empty.

Sunday afternoon after my bed is removed, it will look even more emptier.

It really hit me today that a week from this Sunday I will no longer live in an apartment, nor will I be living alone anymore. Weird feeling.

----
So, a car update. Le sigh. Screaming my head off and throwing random objects. (Okay, okay. Not reality - just a fantasy.)

Anyway. S, the original mechanic, checked out my car today. After being told over and over and over again that it is NOT the alternator --- it IS the alternator.
Oy vey!

I expressed to him my great frustration with everything car related and money outgo. I asked him if there was anyway to tell what damage was done by Saturday's explosion. Nope - not until the alternator is fixed.

So ... I told him to go ahead and fix it. He's also going to keep the car for a few days for testing - make sure it is running right before handing it back to me.

Thankfully I don't work tomorrow, so I don't have to come up with rides to and from work. Thursday, E has said he'll pick me up again (6 a.m.) and Mr. B will bring me back home. Friday morning ... I'm not sure yet how I'll get there - maybe E again (5:40 am.) Then hopefully after work my mom or stepdad can take me to get my car.

One thing I can be very thankful for right now is that I'm taking my classes all online. Otherwise I'd have to worry about how to get to and from classes as well as work.

I have to be on campus from Aug 22 - 25 for two of my classes. I've already reserved a hotel room, at $63/night + taxes. It was the going rate for everything I checked (one of the cheaper rates actually.)

Well, I don't know how smart this is ... but I decided to see if I could save a good bit of money by posting an ad asking for a couch to sleep on during that same time period. $70 - 100 (Couch &70; Room $100). If I get any responses, what would you all suggest I should ask? Should I ask for a reference? I suppose I could always get there and access the situation - then if it doesn't feel right, head to a hotel...

I also responded to 3 different ads for rooms to rent. One person responded back - $290/month, single mom with two teens. She basicaly wanted to know if I had an income, because I guess previous renters had trouble paying the rent. I told her that I do have an income, but if anything happened to it,that I have my emergency fund + promise of financial backing from a parent. I also offered to pay 3 months up front (with some kind of legal document to protect both of us.) and/or provide her with several references.

This may be a possibility.

Then, I responded to a job listing. I am WAY overqualified for it, but it pays at least $10/hr, so even at 20 hours a week, it would be more than the gym job. It basically is teaching computer classes to little ones - they provide the curriculum, and you work with trained classroom Master teachers. I think this would be a lot of fun, and I could learn a lot (plus maybe make some good contacts for librarian jobs in schools.)

Well ... we'll see what happens!

Ok - got a response to the need a bed listing ... what do ya'll think?

I may have a deal for you. I am about 20 mins from . I am needing a person to look after my house. I am thinking about taking a new job, but the job require for me to travel. so here the deal i have a 17 year old daughter, she does not need to be look after, but i want to make sure my house does not become a party zone. If this sounds like something you would be interested in please let me know. rent is free.

John

Some of you who have followed this blog for a long time may recall that I was a teacher. In fact, when I started this blog, I had just started the last semester of my 8th year.

Well, this morning after my running in the 5k race, I went home and got ready for church. I managed to actually arrive about 10 minutes before the second service was to start.

In the lobby was the person who accounts for 70% of the reason I left teaching. I had taught both of his children, in two successive years. His oldest, I had tutored after school 3x a week for free. His youngest - well, I had NO energy left after dealing with her all day.

My third year at this school (8th year teaching) I had the privilege of having his youngest daughter in my classroom for a second year, thanks to the school combining grades. The first day of school did not go well. I had a little boy "M" in first grade and then his daughter who were like two peas in a pod - feeding off of each other.

Long story short, the second day of school the father came into my classroom before school started and told me he was taking his daughter out of school. That she'd told him I'd left her in the hallway by herself crying. He would not listen to me when I tried to explain to him what had actually happened.

Later, he went to the school board and told them I was a horrible teacher, and didn't have any classroom management skills.

After being told about this, I ended up going before the board and giving my side of the story. (I didn't want to do it. I hate public speaking - especially when I know I'm going to get emotional. But I realized that I had to do if for myself. )But my decision had already been made - that would be my last year.

I spent a lot of time that year trying to come to a place where I could forgive him. I even remember near the end of the year at a school concert, him passing by me in the gymnasium, and my stomach just twisting up in knots. Then, I attended Pathways, and amongst a lot of other things, I was finally able to let go my hurt and anger towards him. I realized that my feelings towards him were only hurting me, and having no affect on him.

So, that brings us to today.

He approached me and told me that he would like to apologize for what happened so long ago. That he'd been wrong.

After pulling his daughter out and putting her in another school, she had just as many problems with her new teachers, if not more. He'd realized that the common denominator was his daughter.

I told him that I accepted his apology, and that he would have no idea how much it meant to me. That 4 years ago I would not have been able to accept it. He seemed to get that.

We then kept on talking and he told me of the struggles he and his wife had had with their daughter. (Adopted from Russia, as was their son.) In a way, I felt vindicated that he admitted that it hadn't been me that caused the problems, but mostly I felt sad that his daughter still was having those same difficulties.

I had given her my all the year I had her, and felt like we'd made a lot of progress. She had a good heart and was so intelligent, but just could not manage her behavior. Whenever she sees me at church she comes up and gives me a hug. So I always knew that she at least knew that I had truly cared about her and tried to help her. To know that her dad has also realized this ... I can't even begin to express how happy this makes me.

Enough to go back in the classroom? Nope. I may have been able to let go of this, but I don't see myself ever being able to take the chance of putting that much time and effort into a child/ren to have the "perfect child" syndrome strike again.

---

In other news .. I ran a 5k race this morning. There were over 820 racers, and I ended up being about 2/3rds of the way back from the starting line.

At race time, the temp was already over 80 degrees. I was sweating and hadn't even walked.

In the end, I finished with a time of just over 47 minutes, but I think my actual time was closer to 44. The first two miles went well, but the third one I was really having to push myself to keep going.

I'll be writing up a more detailed race report for my blog (Run Laura Run) soon - but maybe not today. I need a nap, and I'm going over to my mom's soon for fireworks.

---

Happy 4th everyone!

Well folks, I do believe I have seen the Writing On the Wall.

This morning when I got to work, E was there. We were chit chatting about this and that, when he mentioned that paychecks would be available tomorrow. *Then* he mentioned that they had opened a new check writing account at a different bank which only has branches in a town about 20 miles North.

So, what this means is that there will not be the opportunity to take the paycheck directly to their bank and cash it. (Unless I want to drive 20+ miles on my day off hoping that the money will be there.) So, the only way to get the money is to deposit the check.

We know how well that goes. Not.

E assured me there'd be enough money for all our checks. I just kind of gave him a look, and told him that I certainly hoped so, because I did NOT want to have to deal with NSF or Returned Check fees.

So, feeling really upset about this all day. I came to the decision that the first time a check bounces, I will be putting in my notice.

I simply refuse to deal with this anymore. It was annoying enough to have to go back to their bank multiple times to be able to cash my checks, but at least the embarrassment factor was solely in their court. Bouncing checks that I deposit in MY checking account puts the embarrassment factor on me as well.

Next question is how am I going to pay for school and living expenses without this job?

Well... I think I'll probably have to take my grandma up on her offer of financial help. I'm thinking of asking her to pay my tuition as I go, and then while I'm still in school, I'll pay 5% interest on whatever the total amount is each month. Then, once I'm out of school and have a librarian job, we can work out the repayment terms.

I also am working on applying for a number of scholarships I've found - but none of them would work until 2010.

With tuition covered, then all I would need to worry about is living expenses.

If I didn't make another dime, I could live on my savings for 13 months - supposing no emergencies or car repairs.

So, obviously I'll need to reduce my expenses + find odd jobs or maybe a part-time job.

To meet my goal of finishing within 18 months, I need at least 30 - 40 hours a week of study/homework time. The gym job is so perfect for that. Ugh.

I haven't heard from my brother yet about him moving here, so that *might* be a possibility. But I kind of doubt it.

I think it may be getting close enough to September for me to talk to my Pastor about any families he knows of that may be willing to exchange childcare/tutoring for partial rent.

I will know probably by a week from tomorrow whether or not this check has cleared. I really hope it does, so it'll give me another two weeks before saying sayonara. But, I think the smart thing to do is to start planning as though it WILL bounce.

I sure will miss working out with the lady who works out in the mornings -- and easy access to treadmills.

Le Sigh.

-----
Well, when my prescription is ready to be refilled, I have a coupon for CVS to get a $25 gift card. I need to see if I can find my Walgreen's one and check its expiration date. If it's in August, then I'll have my next two refills basically paid for.

Woo Hoo! My first class starts in less than 4 weeks!

It's a class about youth graphic novels and comics. It looks like it is going to be quite a doozy - one assignment is to read a graphic novel such as Spiderman 3 and then watch the movie.

But really, it does look like a lot of reading. The graphic novels won't be a problem for me, but the comic books will sure be a different form of reading than I'm used to!

I'm going to have to buy MS Office. To get the discount, I'll have to go on campus and get a student id made. I'm not sure when I'll have a chance to do that.

My Fall semester classes will start Aug 22. Two of them are what they call Web Institutes where you go on campus for a few days and attend class from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. then have some social events. Then for the remainder of the semester, you do your coursework online.

I'll also be taking a 3rd class, which is the first one in the School Librarian certification lineup.

----

I am going to need to come up with a way to access the internet at the gym, sooner rather than later.

I checked the cost of the At&T usb plan, and it costs $60/month for 5 gb. (It works wherever there is cell phone service.)

I'm not sure if 5gb would be enough for a month, especially if I eliminate my home internet (to save $20/mo.)

I'm hoping to be able to find a less expensive alternative.

------

Today my mom and I did some major spring cleaning. She left with more than she came with. I gave her the Macy's gift card to thank her for her help, along with a couple other things. We only managed to finish the kitchen and the bathroom. (Of course, we took a few "breaks".)

She's going to come again next week to help me with my bedroom (i.e. clothes!! and boxes of stuff she unloaded on me when she married stepdad that I still haven't unpacked.)

---
I played around with TurboTax last night attempting to figure out what 2009 taxes are going to be like. Umm... I think I might have to figure out how to do estimated taxes/quarterly payments.

My tax bill - even with Lifetime Learning Credit and making about $900/mo from April - Dec, is going to be close to $900!!!! 2010 will be even worse, and that will be with making less than $12k the whole year + the LLCredit - that tax bill will be closer to $1600!!

I guess EIC doesn't work for self-employed/independent contractor income.

The sooner I can cut my housing costs the better!

Woo Hoo!!

I checked my email this afternoon, and what did I find at the top??

"Welcome to the Graduate Program for Library Sciences"

I'm gonna be a librarian, I'm gonna be a librarian!!!!

Yahoo!

So this morning around 4 am, after an already fitful night of little sleep, I was thoroughly and soundly woken by the start of a wicked lightning show. I laid in bed listening to it cracking away, and wondering just how long it would last. It just seemed to keep going and going.

I really don't recall ever experiencing quite a lightning show like this one. It *finally* started to calm down a little after 7, although it still was pouring down rain.

Oh, and the best part? Yesterday I had slightly cracked my car windows while at the dollar theater. A fact I totally forgot about -- until this morning when I got out to my car. Talk about WET! Even better, I had a bunch of library books on the front seat that were ready to be returned. Luckily they seemed to dry out fairly well today, but the car sure is one Musty ol' car.

----
Now, why did I have such a fitful sleep before the storm hit last night?

I was reading some different threads on sparkpeople, and saw someone mention a cool youtube exercise video. So, I checked the video out. While there, I saw another video in the related section - demonstrating a move with resistance bands.

Eventually that led me to visiting the Bodyelastics.com website. Even though I kept telling myself to go to bed, I was just so interested I kept on going.

Bodyelastics are resistance bands. But they're not you're normal run of the mill bands. Two of the really neat features (that I was impressed with at least) was how you add the weighted bands to the handles - you just clip them on! I also like how they have each band clearly labeled for how many pounds.

A set runs $45+. Yes, I know I probably could get an adequate set for $20 or so. These just captured my imagination.

What if I could get E to purchase 5 sets of them? Then, what if I could get people to sign up to use them in classes? Maybe do 3 classes a day 4 times a week? I could go over to G3 location where we have the mirrored cardio room. Maybe charge a $25 equipment fee and then $3/class. do a 50/50 split with the gym on class fees.

Eh.. I doubt it would work. Liability issues with my not being a certified trainer probably would prohibit it in the first place. But it was kind of fun to dream and scheme - although it wasn't so fun to not get much if any shut-eye.

---
Ooohh! I just got a call from a job posting I responded to on Sitter City. It's two days a week for a total of about 16 hours taking care of a 1 and 3 year old - $11 - 13/hr! If I got this, then I'd reduce my gym time to 20 - 25 hours a week, and still end up making more than I'm making now - plus have fun with kidlets!

Unfortunately I think I sounded kind of like an idiot on the phone. I've always babysat for people who already knew me. I had to admit that I thought I could do pretty well keeping the 3 year old busy, but would probably need to do some research to figure out how to keep the 1 year old busy.

Then she asked me what I was looking for in a family. Ack! I started rambling about how I was looking for something that would last through next August or so because I'm going to be getting my Masters in Library Science.

Ugh! I don't do well with unexpected phone interviews.

But, she did set up a time to meet me -- next Friday afternoon. Hopefully I can make a better impression in person.

Any ideas on how to keep both a 1 yr old and 3 yr old busy at the same time?????

When I first decided to go ahead and go full time working at the gym, I *thought* I had it figured out that I would be able to make enough on 36 hours of min wage per week to cover expenses, with the exception of Cobra. However, I must have miscalculated something somewhere, because even without Cobra, I am still coming out at least $80 behind.

I chose to not pay for Cobra, because in September the discounted rate would end, and I'd be out $1500 and still be without insurance (when it went to the 100% rate of $425/month.) So, really, what would be the point?

So I have been watching the gym losing more members than they are gaining. I've seen the last two income reports. It doesn't look good. I'm seriously wondering how much longer E's mom will be willing to throw away $2-3K+/month on gym payroll when it's mostly coming from her inheritance - even if they do consider the gyms to be a "mission."

Yesterday when I got to the gym, E was interviewing a new person. He's also hired on someone just for the summer. Personally, if I was E, I'd be scared to death to hire anyone new. How does he know that these new people would be willing to put up with bouncing paychecks, or having to hold on to a check for two - four weeks before it finally cashes? Stuff like that is liable to tick someone off in a not good way.

So, even before going to the bank three times this week, after being assured the money was there to cash my check, and still coming out with no money, I started to seriously consider what other options may be available.

The pros of this job: Lots of free time for studying once I start classes, one weekday off each week - so only work 4 days a week, ability to exercise a lot.

The cons of this job - overwhelming stifling boredom, minimum wage, never knowing if check is going to cash or not, inability to just deposit check due to knowing it may bounce, Boredom, gym closes for any and every holiday which equals loss of any pay for those days

Like I've said before, I like E. He is a good person, and he really tries to make everybody happy. This fact has made it somewhat easier to deal with the paycheck problem. Today though, after stopping by the bank once again, hoping to come out with money in my hands, only to come out empty handed, I was very very aggravated.

So, I'm really not sure what to do. Should I just stay until my lease is up on my apartment and hope the business is still around until then? That way very little will be going out of savings each month. Then I can quit there, and move into a room wherever I find the least expensive option and live off of savings + whatever odd jobs/temp jobs I can come up with?

Or should I try to find something else entirely?But if I somehow manage to find something else, then what would happen with school????

Ugh. Ugh. Ugh. This job is just such a perfect thing for when I start school - it would allow me to go full-steam ahead because I could fill my working hours with studying. But is the aggravation over the money worth it?

I wonder if I switched my day off from Wednesday to Friday, and then signed up with temp agencies. Mondays and Friday's seemed to be the two most assigned days. That way I'd at least have one check I could count on, and could have it direct deposited. Of course,that's assuming that there are any temp day jobs even available right now - unemployment hitting 9.4% I heard today.

Before today, I had been trying to think of what I could do to just bring in an extra $100/month - to fill the gap between the gym income and my outgo. I have some things I could sell via Ebay or Craigslist, but not more than maybe a few hundred dollars worth (if that.)

This is my budget for June:

Rent: 665 (lease ends in Sept.)
Cell: 48
Internet: 20
Gas: 40+
Tolls: 25
Food: 60
Roth: 50 (Can't stop because its under 3k)
Meds: 25

Total: 933
Income: 854

I can't cancel my cell phone because its under contract and its my only phone.

I do manage to make *some* money via the internet (blogs, youdata, surveys, etc) plus its my main means of communication with other people.

Gas and Food ... I'm trying to keep them in those ranges, but with the way gas is going up, I don't know if it is a reasonable amount. Food .. as long as I leave my cards at home except for planned grocery days, I can do that amount.

My July budget looks even grimmer. My first paycheck (once cashed) is minus a normal 12 hours pay due to Memorial Day. Then I have to get my registration renewed for my car. Oh yeah, starting this coming Monday, I will have one hour less a week due to ending my Mondays at the South gym which closes earlier than the #2 gym.

My mom asked me if I was having money troubles. Technically, the answer is no, because I have plenty of savings to fall back on. But realistically, I am living way above my means - with really nowhere to cut.

Yesterday E, the gym manager, asked me if I would open the #2 location, and then go over to the South location until closing. I agreed to do that (usually I stay at #2 until closing.)

My lunch was a couple of frozen items and I was going to be at #2 for a couple hours, so I brought them in and put them in the fridge. When my replacement got there we started talking and I got distracted.

20 minutes down the road I remembered that I had left my lunch at #2.

Normally I could just stop at Taco Bell or something like that and pick something else up. But in order to help myself fight the temptation to buy food I don't need when overtired, I have been leaving all money at home, except for days I know I'll need to get gas or will be going grocery shopping.

I had $1.60 in change which I was planning on using to pay to print some things out at the library. The library that is on my way home from the #2 location, but out of the way for the South location.

So, I decided that I could probably get two things from the vending machine. Not a great meal, nor very healthy, but better than nothing. I bought the first item (pop tarts) and then put the money in for the second item - it stuck!

So, all I had was the first item and no more money.

I called E to ask him if he knew who I should call to get my money back. It went to voicemail. A couple hours later he called me back. When I told him what had happened, he insisted on buying me lunch. At first I resisted, but finally I accepted - cuz, well, I was *hungry*. So he gave me his credit card number.

The pizza was SO good.

It's stuff like this that makes me not get too upset about paychecks taking forever to cash.

---

Now I have a question. I feel like I should pay him back. Should I? Or should I just accept it as a nice thing he did for me and move on?

---
I had such a fun afternoon today. I spent it at my best friend T's house with her and the kids. We made waffles and had a picnic lunch in their living room while watching "Beverly Hills Chihuahua."

Then the kids were sent outside to play, and T and I watched "Maid of Honor." What was so funny was the kids kept coming in and out, so we had to keep pausing the movie. It ended up taking almost twice as long to watch it.

Wednesday was my day off from the gym. I had lots of ideas of things I'd get done ... but then I opened up my freezer and realized that it really had gotten bad.

My freezer is a hand me down from my parents. It is well over 20 years old and is HUGE. It also has a bum leg which has to be propped up in order to keep the freezer stable and the door sealed tightly.

Last week apartment management came by and did their "inspect electrical plugs" tour. I had unplugged everything I reasonably could - with the exception of the freezer. There was no way I was going to try to move that behemoth and unplug it - especially with not knowing when ..or if .. they'd actually come.

I arrived home one day last week to find a note letting me know they'd been through. They had obviously unplugged both my fridge and my freezer, because both were noticeably out of place.

I noticed that the freezer wasn't totally frozen, but just checked the door. After a few days I realized that when they pulled it out to unplug it, they had pulled the unstable leg off the deck of notecards used to stabilize it.

I procrastinated about doing anything about it.

Then yesterday morning I opened it up and saw that nearly the entire first shelf was full of ice. Ooops.

So I spent the next 7 hours defrosting the monster. It never did get totally defrosted - the roof and first shelf still had bits of ice on it - and that was after taking cups of hot water and a blowdryer to it. But it was close to my bedtime, and I decided it was good enough.

Unfortunately, I did end up having to throw out a good bit of food. Some of it was food in packages that tore while I force freed them from their icy tombs, and other packages were frozen fruit which had um... melted and refroze and melted again.

Somehow everything that was left just barely fit into my upper freezer on my fridge.

It's a good thing I don't have to pay for electricity, because I'd really hate to find out how much kilowatts the freezer is using.

---
I *finally* submitted my application for grad school last week and got busy with having all my transcripts sent. Today I received an email telling me that the first glance through my application was complete, and that I met the basic requirements for the main grad school. It now is being sent on to the Library Sciences department.

Now I just have to print out my essay and mail it in along with my Library Sciences application. Then wait and see.

Last month when I transferred my prescription to Tom Thumb to get the $30 gift card, I received a $25 check from Walgreens which would be good if I transferred a prescription to them. So this past weekend I transferred the same prescription back to them and had the check validated.

I debated about using it today or tomorrow, and came **very close to waiting. But, I didn't.

What did I find in my email box when I got home? An email from Walgreen's saying that on Wednesday or Thursday if you spend $25, you get $5 off (using the coupon included in the email.) Argh!!!

I couldn't have used it anyway, since my printer still isn't working. It's just the thought though - if I'd waited one more day and my printer was working, I could have saved another $5, so I'd have gotten $30 worth of merchandise for free.

---
Ok, another video from one of my favorite pick me up blogs. And funnily enough, it relates to one of my favorite children's stories, Make Way For Ducklings by Robert McClouskey.

Enjoy!

The Banker and the Ducklings

-----
Thanks to my book blog, I have received a free children's book! It arrived in my mailbox this weekend, and I read it while I was waiting to go in to my friend's daughters ballet recital. Adorable!

(My friend's daughter is graduating from Kindergarten on Wednesday night. I remember feeding her with a bottle when she was just a few days old! Time flies!)

I'll be reviewing it on my Children's book blog - it should be posted in the next hour or so.

If you recall, when I came back from my California trip in January, my Toll Tag was missing. I'd looked and looked for it, but it was nowhere to be found. So, finally I gave up and got another Toll Tag, which I had to pay a $25 replacement fee for.

So on Monday I was to open up at the gym. The gym key wasn't in my purse where I normally put it. A search of my apartment and subsequently my car did not turn it up. In the end, I had to call security to let me in. (Subsequently, I found it in my makeup bag!)

While searching for the gym key, lo and behold I found the Toll Tag! It was in an area of my car that I was *sure* I'd checked carefully before.

So, today on my one weekday away from the gym, I trouped over to the Toll Tag place and turned it in. They in turn gave me a $25 credit on my account, which is roughly 4 weeks of tolls.

Yay!

----- *Warning - The following is a bit of a ramble, bit of whiny, bit of long.

------
I think I mentioned a few weeks ago how one of the gym regulars gave me a job posting for an admin asst who also needed to be able to translate Spanish/English. I let him know of course, that that wasn't in my skill zone.

Well, yesterday he came by at least 4 times, as well as calling me a couple times -- with two new job postings. One was in the insurance part of his company (needing someone with math and analytical skills... cough...cough...) and the other was in the engineer part.

I'm torn. Should I attempt to go for either of these positons or not? The money, no question about it, would be significantly better - and I can only guess about the benefits. But.. both of these are full-time/permanent positions.

If, on the off chance I was offered either one, then I would have to do school one-class at a time. Which means it would take two or more years to complete my degree. And, at some point I would have to quit the job in order to do my practicum.

On the other hand, my job at the gym offers the sole benefit of plenty of time for studying, and if needed, I could just cut back on my hours a little, or rearrange my schedule when it's time for the practicum.

The other thing is, that it may be that I won't be able to start school until January. I *may* have missed the deadline for applying for the Fall semester, let alone the summer sessions. (The deadline, as far as I can tell, was March 1.)

So, what I'm trying to figure out is, should I tell him thanks for looking out for me on these job opps, but I'm ok with where I'm at for now. Or, should I go ahead and see what happens ... then if I get the job, it'd take me that much longer to finish school, or maybe I'd just not go back to school at all....

I think the main reason I'm having a conundrum about this is the fact that this person is personally recommending me.

As far at the gym job and payment issues .. E told me that as a result of his mom's inheritance (parents dying recently) his parents are infusing the business with enough to ensure payroll for a long, long time.

It probably is a moot issue anyway. The one position wants someone with math skills, and the other wants someone with *advanced* powerpoint skills. I don't fit well into either needed skill set. Yes, I could learn powerpoint, but with the economy and how many are out there looking, they probably will have 100 people who already have everything they're looking for already - no learning curve needed.

But then my next thought is, what if I do all the schooling to be a librarian, and can't get a job as one? ARggh!

---
Like BA posted the other day, about feeling blah. I think that's kind of what I'm feeling too. It's so hard to get myself motivated to do anything. And the few things I manage to make myself do, seem pretty futile.

Prime example -- The last three weeks I've ran on the treadmill 2 x a week. But, I have also now gone slightly past my highest weight ever.

It's really, really hard for me to find enough motivation to post to my new blogs. I was in the middle of a series on my frugalton blog when the whole she-bang with today .. com went down which caused me to essentially stop posting on the today blogs. But now on my new ones, I'm finding it really hard to pick up the rhythm again - especially on the frugal blog. I'd like to pick back up on my series, but feel like I need to backtrack a bit. But most of the people who'd follow me there will have already read what I said previously, so even with a good bit of rewriting, it'll be a rehash.

Part of me just wants to quit on both of those blogs. Maybe if I had a good internet connection at the gym, so had more internet connected time to work on them... because the past few weeks, the only time I have to work on them is Wednesdays, the evenings, and the weekends - and its taking a lot of that time.


I think part of it may be that I'm feeling really, really alone. And I'm really, really missing an ex. Have even thought about emailing him just to say hi.

Recently a different ex contacted me and made me an offer ("friends") - which I refused at the time -- but I sometimes sort of wonder if it wouldn't be such a horrible thing after all.

The one really good thing about maybe getting an office job would be being around people most of the day again. But, then again, it isn't necessarily a good thing.
---
Anyway, if you've managed to sludge through the above ... I interviewed the author of Sate of Wilderness and State of Quarries (two books I reviewed recently) and that interview is up on Children's books for storytime.

On the frugal blog I posted on some ideas for mother's day.

Last night I talked to my dad for awhile. He told me I really should check my mail. Unfortunately, it was raining cats and dogs with a good bit of lightning thrown in for good measure. So, I didn't get to the mailbox till this morning.

In the mail was a letter from my dad, and an envelope from my grandma. In the letter from my dad was a check for $100 -- for FUN not Savings -- was clearly specified on it. Heh, he knows me so well. It was totally unexpected and so sweet of him.

In the envelope from my grandma was a dvd of Les Meserables (the one with Liam Neeson.) Nice! She and I saw the traveling broadway production of it in San Antonio in 1996??

---

I spent a good portion of my evening yesterday trying to figure out how to get comment luv off my other blog. Comment luv is this add on that is supposed to make it so that when a person leaves a comment along with the url to their own blog, then a link to their latest post shows up. Well, not only have I not been able to get it to function like that, I also can't figure out what feed the comments are on --- this is a problem because my recent comments widget and my top posts/most popular posts widget can't work either!

Never did figure out how to get it off, but did end up switching to a totally new template/design. I also made my own header for it. Not completely sure I like it just yet. I may need to do a bit more tweaking of the header.

I posted about my Tom Thumb shopping trip on Living Frugal and Simple.

And on Children's Books for Storytime I posted a review of Mandie and the Secret Tunnel. A great children's mystery book (Christian fiction.)

----
I feel bad for E, the gym manager. Three weeks ago his grandfather died. Then on Friday his grandmother died. He asked me to call all the gym workers and let them know that the paychecks wouldn't be ready until Wednesday. One person I called and told this to was so callous - saying 'it's always something.'

While that may be true, the poor guy has lost both of his grandparents in less than a months time!

This same person told me that he refuses to do anything other than sit and watch the gym, do towels, etc. If E wanted him to make phone calls to people regarding invoices due, or call other gym workers on various issues, or update the waiver file, he'd have to pay him extra.

Me on the other hand, sees how much E has to do and how overloaded he is. I see how much free time I have while at the gym, and for two reasons: 1. To help E out; and 2. Hope to help E be more ...errr.. organized -- have volunteered to do anything I can to help lighten his load. (which he has taken me up on -- and I still have plenty of time on my hands!)

I checked my unemployment account last night, and was VERY happy. It shows that I've been sent a payment for each of the weeks that I made a claim, and that I should receive my debit card by April 23.

Woo Hoo!

I'll be even happier once I have the debit card and transfer the funds to my checking account - because then NO MoRE dealings with UI!
---

I'm torn. The company where I have my two blogs at has demoted a majority of the bloggers from pay per post to just pay per unique visit (me included.) A lot of people posted on the forum expressing their disappointment. A good number expressed that they may not post as often on their blog. From what I have gathered so far, everyone who expressed even a hint of taking a bit of a break from posting, or cutting back on how often they'll post, has been locked out from their accounts.

This means that they no longer are able to use their blogs nor earn money from visitors.

I feel strongly that this was very very very wrong, and don't know that I wish to continue with my blogs there. But ... I've put a lot of time and energy into both the frugal and storytime blogs and really don't relish the idea of starting over somewhere else.

The other thing is, is that I have two referrals - people who clicked on a 'paid to blog' ad from my site. If I leave before they become qualified referrals (30 posts) then I lose the one-time referral fees.

I'm just not sure what to do.

Leave and start over somewhere else - which means losing at least $10 plus having to figure out a new system.

or

Stay and keep my mouth shut about what I think about how they treated their loyal bloggers, and maybe get the $5-10 eventually, and not have to learn a new system.

Well, it seems as though the lady I spoke with on Friday actually did send an expedite email. Today I got a call from a different lady, who I assume is an investigator, and she asked me some questions to verify information. From what she said, it sounds as though she's going to be approving my claim. Now I just have to wait 7 - 10 business days to get my debit card, and I'll finally have my money!!

Just in time for me to stop making any claims. (Technically, as long as I'm working less than 40 hours at min wage, I can still make claims - but it really isn't worth the hassle IMO.)

---
I think one of the perks of working at the gym may have gone away -- having internet available. On Monday when I got back from my interview, I couldn't log on, then again yesterday, and yet again today. There are a good number of the locked networks, but the unlocked ones are having a really small signal strength or none at all.

E mentioned that there is some kind of singal booster thing I can buy for around $30. If this keeps up, I may have to look into that, because as much as I love to read, I do like to keep informed of what's going on in the world during the day. (i.e. check email and surf net.)

---
Had a real funny today when I was driving home from the gym. I passed through two different "tea party" groups. As I was passing through the first one, I had to do a double take --- one of the participants was my old manager! (He is pretty um... distinctive/hard to miss even in a crowd.) I guess I shouldn't be too surprised, because his income is well above the level where the taxes are supposed to increase.

It was just really weird to actually recognize someone in a protest. I wonder if he participated in the protest marches of the 60's too? Too bad I can't ask him, that could've been a fun conversation.

--
I cut out a few coupons that are useful - mostly for convenience items, but with the coupons they should be cheap enough to get. I was planning on planning out my Tom Thumb shopping trip today ($30 gift card; $5/$50 coupon) but didn't have the updated sales flier, and of course didn't have access to the internet.

I did get a flier today though -- it said "get a $10 coupon off your next order for every $30 you spend on participating products." Hmm.... So, if I finagle it right, I'll be able to pay $15 for $50+ of groceries, plus get a $10 coupon for my next visit. Now I just need to get a list of the participating products to see if it is worthwhile for me to try.

Yep. I had an interview yesterday afternoon. All I had was an address for the company - no phone number. I looked it up on mapquest and it looked fairly simple to get to ... What mapquest didn't tell me, was that the road this place was located on was one of those business park roads -- the kind with very little signage if you're coming from the opposite direction.

So .. I finally found it, 30 minutes late. I figured since I'd found it, may as well see what happens. I had to wait another 30 minutes because the interviewer(s) were with someone else. The ladies (3) were all very nice and understanding -- but it was pretty obvious they were just talking to me as a courtesy.

Oh well. I'm not sure I would've liked that job anyway.

--
Still waiting to hear if there's been any movement on the unemployment since I finally heard from someone there on Friday. Supposedly the lady was going to mark an "urgent" email to whomever was in charge. We'll see.

---
Go me! I actually ran a mile on the treadmill yesterday! The first real exercise I've done since .... er... February?

---
I posted a recipe on the frugal blog about Danish Aebleskiver's If you're looking for a fun family treat, you might want to check it out.

(Sunday's post was on Aebleskiver's, but there's been more posts since then.)

=---
Not much else to report really.

Well, the third time must have been the charm, because I got a phone call today from the UI people!! The lady I spoke with said it was *still* stuck in the investigation mode, and she wasn't sure why. She told me she'd put a bee in their bonnet to get it taken care of ASAP. So . . we'll see where it goes from here.

---

I got another phone call today! From a Craigslist job posting I responded to several weeks ago for a data entry job. It'd be full-time w/benefits and about $2.50/hr less than my former job. But . . it is closer driving distance -- and, well, it's a job! with medical paid! I just might be able to put a little in savings again!

So, I have an interview with them on Monday - it's a group interview. Not sure if that means they'll be interviewing several people at once, or if there'll be more than one interviewer in the room.

I wish I still had the job posting description for it.

---
Today I wrote a post about More Ways To Reduce Your Debt

----
Yesterday the lady who is leaving the gym asked me if I'd come in a couple hours earlier than I was supposed to, so she could take off early on her last day. I told her no problem. So, I showed up a bit before 1p.m. and found the gym locked up and dark. What?! I opened it up and went inside, and found everything like I'd left it last night.

So, I called E and asked him if we were closed for Good Friday - the only thing I could think of. He said that we were, and he was sorry he hadn't let me know. To make up for my time and gas, he told me to put $25 on my time card. Pretty fair I thought.

I also asked him if there was anything I could do to help ease his hectic schedule (which is part of the reason he's so confounded forgetful about so many things!) He told me that he has a binder of over 600 waivers that need to be gone through and checked - to see if any of those people are still around and if there's anyway to talk them in to coming back for a membership. If the job on Monday doesn't work out, then I'll start calling those people from the waivers - if any of them join back up, then I'll get a referral fee from them.

---
I bought some groceries at Walmart today -- I didn't go to Tom Thumb yet because I want to plan that trip out carefully. While at Walmart I picked up last Sunday's paper with the bunches of coupon inserts. I'm hoping there'll be a few that'll be useful.

The Sunday paper is now up to $3!!! I was quite taken aback - it used to be you could get a double edition (early edition + normal edition) for $2. I really hope there's at least $3 worth of coupons I can use in the paper.