Just a few more hours til NE gets here.

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I had an interesting morning. I knew my car was giving me fits starting, and so planned to take it to the mechanic this morning. But when I went out there and scraped the snow off, it wouldn't start. So, I called the mechanic and asked them to send their tow truck over - wasn't sure if the problem was the battery or the alternator. They couldn't right then, and told me they'd call me back. Three hours later they hadn't called (during that time I got a lot of housework done!) So I called them again - the guy who took my message had lost the paper with my number.

Twenty minutes later the tow truck driver came and jump started my battery and I got over to the mechanics. $40 for the service call (am going to see if I can get reimbursed by my car insurance roadside plan) and then $110 for the battery.

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I got some snowflakes today - $10 from GymPact and $6 from Pinecone. I've decided to put all Pinecone and GymPact money into my Health category. I think I want to get a suspension trainer - maybe a Jungle Gym. It's $80. I bought the book Body By You, and it should be here by Wednesday (I used reward points to pay for half of it, and gift cards for the rest.)

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Oh!! This morning I met and surpassed my 3% weight loss goal for round 1 of my diet*bet!!! Now I just have to maintain or lose more in the next 9 days. (Round 1 weigh out is Dec 5/6.)

I'm now down a total of nearly 13 lbs from my highest weight.

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I bought an inflatable couch/sleeper because my aero bed was deflating on me last time every night. I opened it up today to get it set up, and for the life of me I could not find a cord to plug it in to pump it up. Maybe NE will be able to find it. It was $70 - I was kind of thinking that it would be good for when I have company here, but also once I move to NE, I'm going to need something to sleep on. So if it proved to be comfy and not deflate too quickly, it might make a good solution. If we can't find a way to pump it up, I'll have to take it back. (I have a full size bed, which barely fit my mom and I when she was here visiting - and my mom is skinny.)

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When I was at the mechanics today I was looking at their soda cooler. I had a strong temptation to get one .... but resisted. I'd much rather have a candy bar as a treat than a soda - especially since I know that I tend to go back down that road pretty quickly if I let myself have "just one."

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I had bought a restaurant com voucher for a place in NE, but we hadn't had a chance to use it yet. Yesterday I got an email telling me that the place is no longer participating in rest . com so I needed to use the money for something else. So I looked to see if there was anything in the big G ... and to my utter delight, one of my favorite places here is participating. So tomorrow NE and I will be using one of the two certificates I "bought." (I bought it a LONG time ago - maybe 5 years? and the places keep stopping participating before I use it .. I think this is the third time I've exchanged for something else.)
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Well, I better get going. I probably won't be on much this next few days.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

It seems as though I'm mostly having a chance to do an actual blog post on Saturdays. I've gotten into so many other things/forums, etc. that am just keeping up.

So anyway ..

I'm at about 2 1/2% lost of my starting weight for the 6 month diet bet. Round 1 weigh in is on Thursday, December 5, so unless I really mess up the week NE is here, I think I'm going to make it. That means I'll get back at least 12.50 (bet is $25/month - half put towards rounds 1 - 5, and half put towards round 6.)

I have been spending a lot of money on food ... but the vast majority of it has been healthy food. I've bought from Amazon chia seeds, ground flaxseed, pea protein powder and am thinking about buying green tea too (I keep forgetting to get it at the store.)

This past week I actually had two and half days where I was feeling almost 80% .. so close to normal! I don't know if it is because of the increase in fruits//veggies and reduction of junky/processed foods, or is a placebo effect. But it was good while it lasted. (Thursday morning I woke up with a sore throat and was exhausted all day Th/Fri.) -- I don't know if the sore throat has any connection with the 45 minute walk I took Wed afternoon in the cold wind or not.

I plan to start a new exercise routine tomorrow - 3 days of ~30 minutes of interval cardio training, and 3 days of bodyweight strength training. (I apologize if some of my words are missing letters - I think I need to replace the batteries in my keyboard.) For the strength training I'm looking at a couple of resources - nerdfitness, Al Kavadlo, and another one I can't remember. I also took a look at You Are Your Own Gym and Convict Conditioning - both of them require a pullup bar, which I don't have, nor do I feel safe putting one up on any of my doors in here. Maybe when NE is here I can get his opinion.

Anyway, all these people advocate strongly that it isn't necessary to workout for umpteen hours a week to lose weight/ get fit - 3 hours a week is good enough as long as it includes 90 minutes of strength training AND a healthy diet (defined slightly differently by different people - but mostly either "clean" or "paleo.") Being vegetarian, neither clean or paleo quite work for me, but what I'm taking away from both ideas is the idea of limiting processed foods as much as I can, and reducing intake of foods with added sugars. (Also, of course increasing fruits/veggies.) That I can do (mostly.)

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After church today I stopped by Walmart. I was halfway there (parking lot) when I remembered the toaster oven in my trunk. So I found a cart and went back to my car and put it in. I was a bit worried at first from the reaction of the guy at customer service that they weren't going to take it back for a refund/store credit -- but they did! $34.93

I bought: bananas, apples, spinach, Welch's sparkling grape juice (for Thanksgiving dinner), frozen veggies, frozen berry medley (large pkg), sweet potatoes, Kellog's Nourish Oatmeal (surprisingly not that bad for a processed food!), Sunbelt Granola bars (box), lightbulbs, vitamin B complex, vitamin d3, a measuring tape, a set of measuring utensils, a jump rope and ... junk alert ... Terry's Chocolate Orange and SnapPea Crisps. (I might be missing a few things) All this for $70.94 - a $.60 coupon and the $34 gift card. (I need to wean myself off the Sunbelt bars ... they are so good though, and it's a way to get in a little chocolate every day along with fiber/protein .. am thinking of maybe getting chocolate covered almonds - have one serving of those when I need a pick me up right after work ..) (Haven't been able to find my measuring tape, and I want to have a measure other than the scale and a few items of clothing to mark my progress.)

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I had our first Technology Club for this year on Tuesday. I'd planned on having the kids work on the Tynker computer programming lessons. Of course, our computer filters did not like that the lessons were downloads. Ugh. I'd asked about how much the premium program (with 16 guided lessons instead of the 5 free ones) would cost - $25/student. Yeah .... no.

So I'm looking at another option - getting a couple copies of the beginner's book for Google Sketch UP and have students work through it. I haven't checked to see if they are available on amazon yet or not (so I could use my gift card money.) I don't have another Tech Club until after Thanksgiving, so have a little time to figure it out.

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I'm excited/little bit nervous about this coming Wednesday. We are having an author visit - my first ever that I planned (and my second ever in my life - first time I met a real published author was my Sophomore year in college - Kay Rizzo - that was TOO cool! (I loved her books.) The author sounds like a really nice, down to earth person (he'd have to be to be willing to change the date of his visit!) I think the kids are starting to get excited as well, although none of them have actually read any of his books (mainly because only one of his books is available on Amazon in a non ebook format - and the one that is available is only available used - so I bought one copy.) I'm buying two sets of his children's series (Wind*claw*chronicles) for the library (and for him to sign!)

Only 5 more school days til Vacation break, and only 9 more days til NE arrives!!! (Can you tell I'm just a little bit excited? )

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My lightbulbs in my office burned out Friday afternoon which is why I bought some today. I didn't know what size/style to get, and ended up getting ones that are too big for the light fixture. They fit in the sockets and work - but I can't put the light fixture back on over them. Oops. At least I can see in here again.

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Last night I was talking to NE about how much I miss the Dallas Summer Musicals (got into my head because of a post by a friend talking about how Ghosts (patrick swayze) is being made into a DSM production.) Then I segwayed into how much fun it was to see Kenny G and Jim Brickman in concert, etc. I haven't been to a DSM or any other concert since I was laid off at my oil and gas job five? years ago. He made the comment that I'm not *that* far from a good sized city (about 90 minutes depending on traffic and where you go.) That made me remember that when my family lived there when I was in elementary school that we went to a playhouse that did a production of Oklahoma! and I think that's where we saw a production of Steel Magnolias too.

So this morning I opened my Groupon app just to clear the big red number, and scrolled down a little bit. Guess what I saw????!!! Jim Brickman will be in concert here on Dec 18!!!!!!! Tickets are $17. I am SO tempted. I really would not want to drive there and back by myself (honestly, wouldn't want to go by myself anyway), so if I do this, I need to figure out someone here to ask if they'd go with me. I'd probably offer to cover their ticket if they'd be willing to drive on the way back (am NOT great driving late at night.) The only caveat is that it is on a Wednesday, which is one of my 3 weekly Skype dates with NE. I'd really hate to miss one of those .. but then again we'd be seeing each other in person a week later .. If I did go, it would be something like my 4th Jim Brickman concert, so if I didn't go, it wouldn't be like I was missing out on a new experience. I am conflicted, and need to make a decision by Monday (when the deal runs out.) The total cost of this would be about $30 in gas, and $34 in tickets (if paying for guest.)(plus I'd be really tired Th/Fri .. but this is worth that cost to me)

What do y'all think?

Well for the most part I've been doing pretty well with the 6 month diet**bet. It's mostly kept me away from junky foods and got me out exercising more. I'll be doing my first official mid-bet weigh in on Tuesday morning - that will qualify me to be in a drawing for what they call "consistency" prizes.

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I received $20 in AGC from Swagbucks, and am now just waiting for the last $5 card.

I also got my credit for the last bill cycle - only two days after the payment posted. I guess they heard enough complaints about how long the last one took to credit? Either way, I'll take it. I now have more than enough SBs for my December $25 AGCs and am now working on extras.

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After work on Friday I stopped at the public library to pick up a book for one of my 6th graders - she asked me if we had The Great Gatsby. We (being an elementary library) of course didn't have it. I didn't tell her it wasn't really a book most 6th graders would want to read/be able to understand -- remembering that when I was 13 I read both War and Peace and Ana Karenina - and did book reports on them! It was a lot smaller than I remembered.

I also picked up groceries - somehow I managed to spend $80!! All but $5 of it was for healthy foods. And here I was planning on trying to eat down my pantry and freezer before buying more stuff ... Ooops. Next week I'll definitely just stick to bananas and maybe orange juice.

I did buy a strawberry/bannana smoothie from McDonald's that is in Walmart. I was pretty hungry and thirsty, and figure that a smoothie was better than a soda!

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So .. about the sigh... I had my doctor appointment Friday morning. I had already eliminated the possibility I was *really* hoping for before going. So after explaining to her how I've been feeling and my other health concerns, she told me that it could just be chronic fatigue syndrome and/or peri-menopause. Ugh. I'm 37. Not the words I wanted to hear coming out of my doctor's mouth, even though my Internet research told me that was one possibility. She's testing various hormones to see if this might be the direction I'm headed. I wanted to go home and curl up in a ball for the rest of the day, but I had to get to work. Work was a good distraction.

What really frustrated me though was that she told me that about the only thing I could do that would help my energy/health would be to do 20 minutes a day of activity/exercise. When I told her that I'd been pretty consistent for over 4 months of 5+ days a week of 40+ minutes of exercise (summer)and it had done NOTHING for how I was feeling, all she said was "it takes time." Arghh!

This is when I really wished I lived in a bigger city and had more choices of doctors - or wish I could be back in Dallas and back with my doctor there. I really liked that doctor - she was my doctor for ten years!

Oh yeah, on Monday night I had a sweet potato and asparagus about 6:30 p.m. Tuesday morning when I woke up and rolled to my back, I had my very first experience with acid reflux. When I told my doctor about this, all she said was "make sure you eat 3 hours before you go to bed." Ummmm....thanks.

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My mom keeps asking me if I'm depressed, and I keep telling her that no, I'm not. I'm just so frustrated with my health. 10 months ago I did not feel like I do now. I felt good/healthy much more often than I didn't. Now I feel lucky on days where most of the day I feel half-way decent.

My former principal as we were walking out of Mass on Thursday said to me, "You've been sick a lot this year." I was a bit taken aback, and told her, "Well, I *have* been sick a lot this year, but I have only taken two sick days." She seemed kind of surprised to hear that and later on said something about me being too young to have health issues. I wish.

Her statement to me does make me wonder about what is being said about me around the school. If most of them knew what a struggle it is for me some mornings to NOT call in sick ... and how I spend most of my weekends trying to make sure I rest enough in order to make it through the work week ...

On Friday I printed off 5 coupons from Swagbucks - 2 for $2 off Lindt chocolate, 2 for $1 off Rice Dream and a $.50 Crest coupon. I didn't get into town until Saturday.

So after church I stopped by the library to pick up some additional books on spiders (2nd and 3rd are doing spider research.) Then I stopped at Albertson's (usually shop at Walmart, but Albertson's is right next to Walgreen's, which was my final stop.) Albertson's had Rice Dream on sale 2 for $5, and Lindt bars 2 for $5. Crest was also on sale. Sweet! Going in I had no idea of the sales - I just lucked out. The $1 (after coupons) isn't really saved money, because I didn't *need* Lindt ... but it sure was nice. The other coupons though were for things I needed/use, so are a definite savings.

Oh, I did stop at Taco Bell, so broke my streak of no fast food. I think it's my last time stopping there though. So frustrating. First, they raised the price of the 7 layer burrito to $2.99. Second, what happens too many times happened again -- I asked for NO guacomole or tomatoes. Guess what my burrito had? Ugh.

I spent $16 at the grocery store, $6.37 at Taco Bell, and $24.xx at Walgreen's (prescription.)

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I was down to my last bar of gas on Friday, so I filled up in T for $3.23. ($32.47). I was really annoyed when I got into G on Saturday because I saw gas as low as $2.94!! I really should have just gotten a gallon in T - enough to get me into G and around. Will do that if it happens again.

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So if you remember, I started a diet **bet about a month ago - betting that I'd lose 4% of my starting weight. Well, that didn't happen, but I did lose about 3%. I also saved a bunch of money on not buying as much junk as I had been starting to do, AND am almost ready to cashout again on GymPact, and am *really* close to cashing out on Achievemint. So, even though I'm out the $20 of the bet, I think I more than made up for it in other savings.

Well, I'm about to start another diet***bet - this one though lasts for six months. The goal is to lose 10% of your starting weight by month five, and then maintain it for a month. You can either do $25/month * 6, or pay $125 up front and get one month free. I went ahead and did the $125 up front, plus paid $20 for "weigh-in tokens" which makes it so you can compete for weekly/monthly prizes. I think I'm much more likely to be successful at a more long-term bet than trying to lose 4% in one month.

As of now, I'm back on NOT eating at fast food places, and limiting junk food purchases to one item a week. This will both save me money, and save me calories. I downloaded two apps which I think will also be helpful - My Fitness Pal (free), and a Couch to 5k program ($.99.) I'm probably going to repeat each week of the the 5k program 3 times to really take it slowly.

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We are supposed to get a snowstorm here on Tuesday - no idea if it's going to be enough to cause a snow day. That would be nice if it did though. Then we'd have two 4 day weeks in a row. (Veteran's Day)

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I signed up for Bing Rewards - mainly because I wanted to earn free months of Hulu+ so I could watch Once Upon a Time. But then I've since figured out that you can already watch OUAT for free on Hulu. Then today I discovered that you can redeem your Bing points for Amazon cards! If you're not already a Bing Rewards member and would like to do it, please consider letting using my referral link (check sidebar links) - I get 50 credits once you reach Silver level. I use the AGCs to buy books and other supplies for the school library I work at. (In fact, I am probably going to need to purchase some headphones for the computer lab very soon - ours are breaking rapidly or going missing - am thinking of getting the kind like you have for iPhones so they'll have a built in microphone.)

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Ugh. I was going to cancel Amazon Prime and Netflix. Unfortunately I didn't set reminders to do that, and just remembered I was going to do that ... Checked - and they both already renewed. $79 for Amazon and $8.53 for Netflix. I haven't really been using Netflix much lately, so thought I'd cancel it for awhile. Amazon Prime is nice, but too much at $79 (I had a Student Prime account the past 4 years, but since I'm not taking classes this year ...)

Despite my despair over having at least 30% less product than the previous two years, we still managed to make a similar amount to last year's profits! Of course, Schl is I guess trying to cut corners - which I found out when filling out the financial forms. The past two years I received Schl dollars for Principal Involvement, having a Middle School Crew, attending a Webinar, and having a Parent Event. This totaled around $150. This year I didn't read through the promotional materials because I thought I knew what I was doing (and was kind of distracted ...) so assumed I'd be able to earn for those things again. Nope. I only got $25 for attending a Webinar.

Since I used $35 Schl$ to pay my student crew (7 kids who helped me out on Tuesday - P/T Conference day), as well as spending $200 Schl$ on books from the fair ... this meant that I had to take some of our profits as Schl$. Thankfully it only reduced our cash profit by about $100. One of our teachers has said that he plans on using the Online link to purchase some items as well, so if that really happens, then we'll see a little bit more from that too.

It was an exhausting and stressful week (and Friday morning was the busiest four hours of the whole week for the third year in a row,) but in the end it was a successful run. One of my 8th graders who helped me with the clean up commented, "I miss the book fair already."

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A few weeks ago NE told me about this website he stumbled across called go*fund*me * org. I didn't really have a chance to look into it until today. I had been thinking about maybe setting up a page to get donations to fund 20 new computers for our lab, but thought that might be overly ambitious. So what I did do today was set up a donation page to fund the purchase of 5 new digital cameras/cards. I found out yesterday that instead of my usual 5 or 6 Journalism kids, I'm going to have 8. We have 5 digital cameras right now (actually 4 ... one seems to have gone missing, but I just purchased one mostly using funds earned through Swagbucks, to replace it,) however, it can get kind of tricky when I need the cameras for my students to use AND teachers are asking to borrow a camera for taking pictures of various activities. If we had ten cameras, then there'd be enough for all 8 students, as well as two extra for teacher/staff use.

(I'd post a link to my page here, but it required me to use my real name/location and link to my FB account. It also seems to post the full name/location of donors - although I don't know if there is an anonymous option.) Tonight I might post a link to it on my FB page.

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I don't know why, but I seem to really enjoy time travel stories set in medevil(sp?) times. I remember this one book I read maybe 12 years ago that was like that, then a few years later when my car was broken into and I needed a distraction - lo and behold there was a movie based on that book in the dollar theater! (wish I could remember the name of it!!)

So anyway, a few weeks ago I came across a free ebook with the same idea - time travel/medevil(sp?) time period. It's called "Daughter of Time." I really, really enjoyed. So much so, that I spent $7 to buy the next two books in the series. (ebooks) That's the first time I've spent money on books for myself in I don't know how long.

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The dog I'm watching seems to have finally settled down. I've been letting her roam free both at night and during the day, and for the most part that has been without problems. (although yesterday I found out she'd had a #2 accident in my living room - yuck!) Her owners should be picking her up either Thursday or Friday. This has shown me that maybe it would be possible to have a dog - even with my schedule. I'd just have to get it in the summertime when I could make sure it was well trained before my school schedule started. Something to ponder for two summers from now (this coming summer will be too crazy with moving and job hunting to even think about adding dog training!)

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On Thursday I had a visit from a representative of a book donation organization I found out about a few years ago. I was able to show him where many of the books they've donated to us have been put, and let him know how much use they've gotten. (lots!) He told me that there should be another shipment coming for us in a few weeks. Cool! Hopefully there'll be lots of non-fiction titles!!

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I have gone almost three weeks now without soda or fast food visits! Yesterday I was in big G doing my grocery shopping and almost stopped at TB, but resisted. As NE says - I could live for several months off of what I have in my cupboards ...

Last night NE actually brought up how much he could save if he cooked more at home. He spends a lot at fast food places, and a considerable amount at restaurants. I've never said anything to him about it, but it certainly was something I'd thought. So I'm glad he's thinking about it at least. -- I mentioned that cooking at home could also be more healthy - that kind of got NE off on a tangent though about healthy food not being less expensive .. which wasn't really what I was talking about. If he and I end up getting married eventually, it'll be really interesting figuring out how to merge our two eating lifestyles. I'm a hoarder when it comes to food (grew up with a dad who believed that having a full pantry/fridge/freezer was of upmost importance) and NE is someone who only buys enough for one days meals (if he's going to eat at home..) For him though, it isn't because he doesn't believe in having food supplies, its more that he has a bit of a food addiction - if it's there, he'll eat it. I have that problem with chocolate, but not really anything else. His is more encompassing.

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Question -- About five weeks ago I impulse purchased a toaster oven from Walmart. I have since misplaced the receipt. Is there any chance they'd take it back and refund my money? I've not even taken it in from the car ...

So yesterday was our preview day. Overall it went pretty well, especially considering how tired and yucky I was feeling - and the first part of the morning, very hungry as well. (explain later)

The kids all seemed to be pretty excited about what we had - although they kept asking me about books they'd seen in the flyer or in the video ... which we did not have.

About mid-morning I had 20 minutes between groups, so I called my representative and expressed to her my frustration and disapointment. She listened, and figured out that I had been sent a "Standard" book fair instead of a "Premium" book fair. This is based on sales - I told her that I didn't understand, since for the past two years we'd made close to $3k and that was way more than the previous librarian. She wasn't totally sure of the reason, but told me to call the restock number right away for any of the books that I knew the kids would want. She also told me that she'd let the branch director know of the missing items (sales bags/signage).

Next I called the restock number with a large list of books the kids had been asking about (or exclaiming about.) They should all (except for one book which I guess is totally out of stock) be here by Tuesday.

In talking with various teachers/staff and a parent, I heavily promoted the online bookfair. Most of them acted like it was news to them - one even said "Why didn't you tell us about this?" Ugh. But .. it does sound like some of them might actually use that option. So, if that happens, then we might just have a chance of making the $2k mark.

I did make my first sale yesterday - one of our students is going to be out all next week. So he got his dad to come by and buy a book for him before leaving. Luckily I'd gotten my change money earlier that day from our principal.

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This dog I'm dogsitting for is ... interesting. She certainly has added an element to my life. Such as yesterday morning ... I hadn't had a good nights sleep at all, so when my alarm went off I snoozed it a couple times. Until ... I remembered I had to take the dog for a morning "walk" before heading to school. So I rushed around throwing clothes on and took her out. When I got back in I put my breakfast together and sat down at the table - then looked at the time. 7:43!! Yikes! So, I threw my cereal back in the fridge, ate a piece of string cheese and drank my orange juice - brushed my teeth and threw my hair in a ponytail and rushed to school. 8 minutes late and hungry.

Last night after my Skype date with NE, I took her out for a walk. She seemed to be pretty full of energy, so we ended up being out there for a good 20 minutes - there were a few times where she was going fast enough I had to jog a bit to keep up. Thursday night she slept in her kennel all night with no problem. Last night though about 1:30 a.m. she started whining and whimpering and sounding like she was having a panic attack. Ugh.
This morning I took her on a walk, and she was slower than molasses the whole time.

I need to find out what/if any commands she actually knows.

Kari isn't hissing at her anymore, so that is some progress.

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Thursday night I woke up around 1:30 a.m. with one side of my nose/sinus totally plugged up which caused one of my teeth to throb in pain. So I eventually got up and took an Oregano capsule AND a mucus relief pill. Yikes was that bad thinking ... not 5 minutes later my stomach felt like it was on fire. Once that calmed down, then I spent the next 40 minutes feeling like I was going to lose my supper. Finally by about 3 a.m. I was able to go back to sleep. Ugh. Ugh. Ugh.

So, at any rate I'm pretty much taking this weekend off to get as much rest as I can before the crazy week that will be coming.

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Oh, I got a call last night from the head elder of my church. Apparently the nominating committee wants me to be a deaconess and the asst. communication director. I told him I couldn't be a deaconess (thankfully!!) due to my membership still being in TX! I did however accept the assistant position with the caveat that I'll be moving by June! All I can say is they must be feeling pretty hard up for deaconesses to ask me ... considering how sporadic my church attendance has been. Or maybe they were doing it to get me to come more often?

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I took a survey for a bank - part of it was where you download a study on your iPhone and complete tasks. It was super easy and I'll be getting a $20 Amazon gift card for it in about a month. Sweet.

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I did grocery shopping yesterday afternoon. I spent $63 on groceries/clothing/household items, and another $23 on snack food for my helpers on Tuesday. I'm going to see if I can get the $23 reimbursed from the library fund though.

I stayed home today from work - just haven't been feeling all that well and today was the best day of any to stay home (least classes.)

I had a great time in NE, although I did end up staying at a hotel Thursday night due to the weather here. It was really wet and cold here in T, and I was worried about it being icy at 4 a.m. Turns out it was a good thing I did that - because it was very icy here even at 7a.m.

So other than my airfare, I spent $67 on the hotel, $33 on a mani/pedi (in ABQ), $16 on snack foods at Walmart, and $7 at the airport. On the way back home I stopped at Walmart again and spent $49 on groceries ($6 of it was candy for the Halloween party.)

Our book fair starts on Friday, and the first day of sales will be on Tuesday. I'll need to pick up some snack foods for my helpers (6th and 7th graders)

I have arranged my first ever author visit! It'll happen on November 20. We had at first set it for the 13th, but the group of teachers putting together the family literacy evening had to change to the 20th. That made me a bit annoyed because my church is having a cooking class with a semi-famous tv chef on the 20th that I was thinking about going to. Oh well.

I finally received my SBs for my credit card today. I promptly cashed out for $40 in AGCs - leaving me with enough for my November 5 $5 AGCs plus some. I also received the email from AASL (school librarian org.) with my code for $100 in books from Capstone. I need to figure out what I'm going to use that money for - last year I bought a set of super hero comics which have gotten pretty good use.

Tomorrow one of my church members is bringing over their family dog. I'm going to be dogsitting it through the end of October. She mentioned something about paying me for it, but I'm okay with not getting anything for it. I have people look in on Kari all the time when I'm gone, and they never ask for/accept any kind of payment. The dog is pretty old and apparently isn't one for walks and sleeps most of the time. Will be interesting to see how he and Kari get along.

Only six days til I leave on a jet plane for a quick NE trip. Here's hoping it won't snow this coming weekend!

I have decided to not get a hotel room Thursday night. It's the time of the balloon festival, and hotel rooms are NOT cheap (when available!)

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So I've been trying to figure out how to get myself remotivated to exercise and eat better (and cut out the fast food / cut back on junk food.) On Monday I came across this website called diet bet. Essentially you make a bet (anywhere from $10++) that you will lose 4% of your starting weight in 28 days. I decided to join one of the groups - the start date was Friday, and the end date is Nov 2. My bet was $20. I figured that whether or not I lose the 4% and get my money back (and possibly more - the pot is almost at $20k now!) I'll still save at least that much by not buying so much junk food and not eating at fast food places. So, either way, it's a win-win.

So far I've been doing pretty well! I'm making money also through GymPact and am only 5k points away from my first $25 check from Achievement.

The big test will be this weekend - leaving early Friday morning for the airport, then spending the day with NE - he wants to eat at this mom and pop diner on the way to his house. Then Saturday night I'll be riding with him all night on his delivery shifts - so, that will probably mean stops at fast food places ..

I'm thinking of bringing along some bags of baby carrots and almonds to snack on - any other ideas of things that are non-meat and not too processed that would travel well?

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Other spending this last week:

Toll charges from summer NE trip: $17.40
Renewed professional memberships: $150
Groceries - $6.61 local shop; $40 - Walmart
Health - Bet - $20; Pilates equipment - $20
Gas ($3.07!!!) - $32
Misc. - $5 (bought a cupcake from a little girl peddling them - threw it away after she was gone. I only had a $5 ...)

Upcoming spending:
$65 - doctor (Must get by there this week!!)
??? - NE weekend
$10 - cupcakes for cakewalk
$5 - candy for Halloween party (debating about going this year...)

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I cashed in SBs for my 5 $5 AGC's. I almost have enough for November's 5 5's (definitely will once the monthly bonuses credit and my SBs from the credit card.)

I have a Pinecone survey to complete today, so that will be another $3 fairly soon.

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I have been updating YNAB *every* time I make a transaction. Hopefully I'll keep this up!

So today I finally got around to doing yet another fresh start in YNAB. Ugh. While my networth has gone up thanks to a particular electric car, everything else is not going in the right direction. In fact, between all of my credit cards, the amount is more than my next 1 1/2 paychecks. (I get paid every 2 weeks.) I have the money to pay them in full, it's just some of that money is being pulled from other places.

Included on the CC statment is the cost of the tickets for my upcoming trip to NE. I have not yet purchased my Christmas tickets - going to CA and then to NE and then back here. October is a 3 paycheck month, so that will cover that with no problem. I do think I'm going to have to resign myself to the fact that I probably am not going to be able to make the trip to TX for my friend's sons graduation. Right around that time I'm going to need any extra money to pay for moving expenses .. not for a trip.

I decided to cancel hulu+ and only keep Netflix. I almost canceled Netflix too, but there are times I really want to watch a movie or watch a bunch of episodes in a row ... I'm also deleting the HayDay app from my phone/iPad so that I won't be tempted to buy more in-app stuff ... or waste numerous hours playing it. It just isn't worth it (using my fun money for this game.)

I think I've figured out what I'm going to do for Christmas gifts - make insect repellant soap! I can get the supplies to make quite a few of them for about $30. I just need to figure out a nice way to package them. (If you want a link to the recipe, let me know.) This is also something that I can kind of make my "signature gift" because everyone can use something like this, and it is always needed (during certain seasons at least.) It'll also travel well once I figure out good packaging for it.)

I'm not sure if that by itself is "enough" though... what might be something good/easy/cheap to pair with it??

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My goals for October:

1. Update YNAB every time I make a purchase.
2. Stay within grocery budget ($150)
3. No unnecessary spending outside of fun money
-- fun money will probably be spent on a mani/pedi and whatever I need while out in NE.
4. Have more non-spending days (not including bills) than spending days.
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I was debating on whether or not I should stay in a hotel the night before my trip, or just leave early enough from here to make it to the airport. My flight leaves at 7 a.m. and it takes approximately 90 minutes to get to the airport. I'd want to be there by no later than 5:45, so that would mean leaving here around 4 a.m. It would be so much more relaxing to be up there Thursday night ... but is it $60 worth of more relaxing? I can always sleep on the plane ... right?

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Oh, funny thing. As I was checking my various credit cards I found out that I had overpaid on my gas card (I had it set on auto pay, but prepaid some of it one month for some reason.) So it had a credit of $85.15. Guess what my gas budget is for October? This is what happens when you're not paying attention...

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I have about $2200 left on my car loan. At $300/month, that means it will be paid off by about April (I may make a $400 payment to get it finished.)

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Question ... if your networth has gone above the $100k mark (mainly due to one stock) - should you increase your car insurance coverage to the max? Before this stock, I didn't have anything really in the way of assets ... but now?? Should I think about an umbrella policy, or am I still low enough in assets to not worry about that? If I were in an accident (at-fault) can they go after retirement accounts, or are they protected from lawsuits? (If so, then my non-retirement assets are closer to $40k - mostly in the one stock. So if that goes south ... then my networth quickly goes south as well.)

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Upcoming expenses -
$20 - Tolls from summer NE trip
$65 - medical (after insurance from two visits)
$24 - refill prescription
$30 - soap making supplies for gifts
$30 - mani/pedi (fun money)
$11 - Kari's nails trimmed (Kari's budget line)
$12 - cupcakes for Halloween Festival cake walk
$6 - candy for Halloween (all staff put together candy to hand out to neighborhood kids - usually 200+ kids)
$10 - snacks for book fair volunteers (I AM NOT buying books from the book fair this year!!!!)
$150 - Renew ALA and AASL professional membership

$20? - treat for meal in NE (grocery budget or maybe vacation budget?)

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I need to check to see if the local library has season 2 of Person of Interest. If not .. then I'm going to have to start setting aside some money to buy it. It's $27 for the whole season on Amazon Instant, or $43 for the DVDs. If I get the DVDs I can sell them to Second Spin for $14.25. Hmm.. It would almost end up costing the same, so probably the Instant is the way to go - less hassle and can watch on my iPad in bed snuggled up and warm. That is .. if the library doesn't have it. Maybe I can set aside whatever I earn from Pinecone towards it, or ... one of every five AGCs I earn could be put towards it rather than books for the library... If only it was on Hulu+ or Netflix. This is the one downside to not owning a tv - certain stations that put the first six full episodes of a show up on their website for free and get you hooked, and then stop - and don't let any of the regular sites air them.
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I just got an email notification that my $15 AGC from Swagbucks had credited to my account. That was fast - I think I ordered it on Wednesday?!

Only 3 more weeks til I make my trip to NE. I can hardly wait (even though it will be only for 2 1/2 days - better than nothing!)

As soon as I get back from my trip, it will be time to start preparing for the book fair. This year since we have an in-service on the Monday of book fair week, we will be having our pre-view day on the Friday before (Oct 18 I think.) I feel bad for the kids in my Friday classes - 3 Fridays in a row with no real class. But what can I do?

This Monday we have an in-service day. The local Diocesan changed the policy that everyone has to do the 3 hour training on s*x predators *every* year, instead of just once every five years. Ugh. So looking forward to it. (would be okay if they have different videos, but I highly, highly, doubt that.)

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I'm feeling pretty dissapointed about something right now. I knew the likeliness of it was extremely minimal, but certain things led me to hope that just *maybe.* Sigh. Maybe another time. Probably never. If it had happened, it sure would have turned my world upside down financially/emotionally - but it would've been worth it. Completely worth it.

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My mom turned 62 this last week, and my grandma 92. I think it's kind of funny that they're almost exactly 30 years apart - but really do not like each other. (well, the not liking part is sad, not funny) My grandma is going to be going on a Panama Canal cruise with my aunt in a bit more than a week from now. She is getting pretty excited about it. I hope when I'm 92 I'm as active and with-it as she is.

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I need to get Kari in to get her nails trimmed this week. I would have done it this past Thursday but I ended up going into ABQ to meet up with a high-school friend and her family. I hadn't seen her in 20 years!! (Which is impossible right, since we both are 29 .. again and again and again. ) She has two boys - a 3rd and 6th grader. Polite and well-behaved. Her husband seemed like a nice guy. It was good to catch up. I really paid for the trip though - doing a 3 hour round trip after work, and then having a full, busy day at work the next day... Can you say exhausted?

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I heard from one of my walking buddies yesterday. She asked me if I was still doing GymPact ... Um.... I was embarrassed to have to tell her that I really haven't walked much since school started. Between the rainy afternoons and not having anyone to walk with... it's hard to get out there. It seems like the rain has become less frequent the past few days, so I really just need to get myself out there and do it. No excuses! My clothes sure tell the difference between walking and not walking ...

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I can't think of anything too much on the financial front right now. Bought some groceries and prizes for a trivia contest on Friday (prize drawing will be on the 30th - but Wal-mart had a ton of stuff on clearance.) ~$100

Payday was on Thursday.

Besides my trips with/to/for NE this year, I have at least two other trips I'd like to take. One is to TX for my best friends son's 8th grade graduation. I held him when he was a week old, saw him graduate from pre-school and kindergarten, and saw him baptized. If at all possible, I don't want to miss his 8th grade graduation. It will depend on several factors - one being when our 8th grade graduation is here and if I can do both. The other is to NC to visit my former walking buddy.

So ... seeing how I have a lot in the way of trips that I want to do, I really need to pull the reigns in on my spending. I'm still paying my cards off every month in full, contributing to my ROTH, and doing double car payments ... but otherwise my savings is at a standstill.

Groceries/Walmart seems to be my biggest money drain. So .. I am seriously (again) considering going to a cash basis for groceries. Still considering how to best do that here.
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I have around $18 in checks from Pinecone that I need to deposit. Just need to do it - easy peasy taking a picture of it. That money will go to my travel budget.

We've had quite a bit of rain here in the desert the past few weeks, but especially the past few days. On Saturday we even had pebble-sized hail - two bouts of about ten minutes of it. The recent deluge caused concern about a dam above a town about 30 miles from here (and a valley away) where about 20% of our student population is bused in from. So, the decision was made to close school today.

Friday we had our yearly Diocesan in-service. The best part of it was meeting the librarian from one of the other schools. She's been here for 2 years (on her 3rd) - wish we could have met the first year. Oh well, better late than never, right?

I've bought tickets for my next plane trip .. heading out on Oct. 11 and getting back on the 13th. Short trip, lotta money, but well worth it. NE

NE and I were talking about possibly spending part of Thanksgiving in CO .. unfortunately I think that area isn't going to be in any shape for tourists by then. (We weren't looking at CO Springs, but more the area that's closer to Littleton I think. NE bought some car stereo mags from a guy in that area and fell absolutely in love with the scenery - wanted to fish in some of the streams.)

I got an email from Ting today telling me someone used my referral link .. Thanks to whoever that was. Someday when I go back to Ting, I'll start out with a credit! (I loved the service, just couldn't stand the Android phone I had to use. They get the iPhone .. I'm in!)

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I've decided to not stress about paying my car loan off by December. I had planned on making one lump sum payment to finish it off (probably around $900) but I've realized it's either travel expenses or paying the car off by December. It can't really be both. It'll still be paid off early - probably by March, or April at the latest.

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This past week I received about $70 in SB AGCs - and spent it all. Books for the library of course. They should be here by Wednesday (all but 1.)

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I'm seriously addicted to this farm game on the iOS system. HD. I need to find iTunes cards at a discount to feed my addiction a little more cheaply. (Or figure out how to shut off the ability to buy virtual currency ... and have it locked to where I can't unlock it intentionally or not ..) For now, I've set a limit to what I can spend. One purchase a month only. (The small "little" purchases were adding up ...)

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I'm starting to think about what I'm going to do for Christmas gifts. NE and I have already agreed that our travel expenses we're incurring this year seeing each other is more than enough and no need for anything else. The rest of my family (other than my brother, who I've already exchanged gifts with this summer) I'll need to do something for.

I will be going to San Jose again this year for Christmas (NE can't come, so I'll stay in SJ for a while and then go to NE.)

Any ideas? My aunt is very health conscious and very classy/high end. My uncle has everything under the sun and is becoming more health conscious. My grandma is 92 (as of yesterday!) and really doesn't need anything. I was thinking maybe treating the three of us to a mani/pedi - but then not sure of my uncle. Or maybe treat everyone to a meal out ... though that could get pretty expensive with some of the places they eat at there ... Hmmm... If my other aunt/uncle are there too, then I'll need to figure out something for them as well.

My aunt's friend who's always there always gives homemade fudge (Yum!!) If I could figure out something like that, which would travel well and not be too difficult to make/do ... (One year I gave them all reusable tote bags that I'd personalized with their names using fabric paint and a silicone microwave liner. Not sure how well that went over ...)

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Well, am going to catch up on the blogs a bit if I can pull myself away from HD long enough ...

Ahh... what can I say. The kids were pretty well behaved on the three days I was at school, and NE ... sweet, sweet, sweet.

NE got in *early* Tuesday morning (about 2 a.m.) I stayed up long enough to show him around and then headed to bed. Tuesday evening we went into big G and ate at a place called Grandpa's. NE was quite impressed by their cheese steak. Wednesday I took off of work. We went to a local park/lake that I hadn't realized how just how nice it was .. and went lizard hunting. We probably hiked around for a good two miles in this one really rocky/hilly area. In all, we found four lizards - NE got some really good pictures of them. Then we were off to ABQ where I showed him the elementary school I attended from 3rd - 8th grade, and we found two of the three places I'd lived. Thursday after I got off work we ate at a fairly famous sports bar - I love their sweet potato fries, and I thought he might like the sports memorabilia. He wasn't too impressed with their food. He headed back to NE early this morning - probably will be getting there in a few hours from now.

All in all, it was a truly great week.

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One downer though...my friend/co-worker who's had lung cancer twice in the past year .. She told me on Thursday that she'd been coughing up blood. She went into ABQ this morning for some more testing. I just have a bad feeling. The school nurse thinks that her knee issues (my friends) may be cancer related - as in metastasized.

I hope my friend doesn't get mad at me ... she hadn't told anyone other than me about the coughing up blood. This morning when I got into the cafeteria though, the nurse asked me point blank if I knew anything about AL's health. I tried to avoid really answering, but she figured it out mostly. She then told our principal (AL had called our principal at 6 this morning to let her know she'd be out today.) All of us are just worried about her - I just hope she understands that I didn't just go blabbing what she told me, but it got pulled out of me under duress.

Sigh.

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In other news . .. I got my 1,000 Swagbuck bonus yesterday, as well as another 328 SBs for spending. Today I cashed out for a $25 AGC. Within the next week or so, I should have around $65 in AGC from SBs coming.

I also got another Pinecone check in the mail, as well as completing another survey.

OH! I also got a $5 AGC from a mobile survey thing I put on my iPad. (similar to Nielson, which I have on my iPhone - they collect data, anonymously.)

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I'm going to go catch up on the blogs now. Haven't had much Internet time this week.

It's been a busy and tiring couple of weeks. For the most part, all of my classes are going pretty well. I have one section of 5th graders comprised of 9 boys and 3 girls ... I feel sorry for the girls.... The first week we started with ten boys and 3 girls, then decided to move one of the boys to see if it would help. Sort of helped.

Anyone know of a place where a private school could get a grant or some kind of funding to purchase 40+ new computers??? We desperately need new computers in the lab, and 4th grade up classrooms need new computers as well. It's getting pretty ridiculous - especially knowing that the Common Core testing ... on computers .. will be starting this year.

I'm down to maybe 14 or 15 somewhat usable computers out of 23 in the computer lab ... 9 of which are fairly consistently working. Makes for fun times when you have a group of 17 who are trying to use the lab at the same time.

Anyway...enough of my computer woes..

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I've pretty much spent all of my library budget I was given for this year. But I'm pretty darn happy with what I was able to get for it. I bought ten back jack chairs (chairs you can use on the floor), lots of shelving organizational materials, and some books too. We have five of the chairs already here and in use (a sixth one is here, but was defective - the company is sending a replacement, the other four are on order now.)

I wish I could post pictures of the kids - on Thursday I had 11 first graders. I showed them the chairs and explained how they worked. Excitedly they all came to get one - but of course there wasn't enough for all of them. Instead of fussing and arguing, they came up with a priceless solution - one child sat on the side with the cushion, and another child sat on the side w/o the cushion. The 11th child sat on my rocking chair. All were very happy and read quietly with their stuffed animal/object for a good 15 minutes. It was just too precious.

One other note from the library, then I'll move on.
I gave the 5th and 6th graders their list of possible book projects for the Reading Bingo game I'm doing. (They get a Bingo i.e. read 5 books in 5 different categories - they get a choice of a poster from the book fair or a $5 gift cert for the book fair.) One of the projects is for the poetry category - to complete that category, they must choose 3 substantial poems to memorize from their chosen book. I had at least three students choose and memorize a poem before class was even over. At one point, there were six different students with a book of poetry reading and working on memorizing - including someone reading from Emily Dickinson.

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I am looking forward to Monday night with great anticipation. NE will be arriving! He'll be here through Friday morning. I'm taking Wednesday off so we can do things in the area - maybe go to ABQ and I can show him my elementary school and some of the houses we lived in.

It looks like he has a sixth cat ... About a month ago he picked up two stray cats that from their behavior did not seem like they had any street smarts (in other words, not cats used to being outside.) He posted found ads on Craigslist. The girl cat's owners responded within a few days, but the male cat has had no response. NE took the male cat to the vet on Wednesday to get him scanned (microchip) and tested. Negative and negative. He's going to give the Craigslist ad another two weeks before calling it official ... that he has a sixth cat.

If we do eventually end up getting married someday ... we sure will have a houseful of cats!

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Financially ... I've been doing okay I guess. I have managed to almost cut out my fast food spending the last two weeks (helps not going into town!) Yesterday I did go into town for groceries, as well as to get a mani/pedi.

I made the daily goal every day for the month of August for Swagbucks. Just yesterday I cashed in for a $15 AGC, and I have more than enough for the 5 $5 AGCs for September. I know I won't make the daily goal for the month of September, but I'm not going to worry about it.

It's hard to believe what my networth is right now ... that electric car stock ... wow. I keep seeing reports saying that it's going to tank - that it's overvalued. But then it just keeps going higher and higher - even when the general stock market is going down. I was telling NE last night that I wish I'd bought 100 more of the stock back when it was only $22/28. I just didn't want to put too much money into something my uncle was raving about .. too many eggs in one basket. In hindsight, this would've been one of those times where it would have worked out well (I've already sold enough stock to recoup my initial investment - back when it was at around $100. It's now nearly $170.)

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Oh, almost forgot one piece of library news. We might be having an author visit!! If so, it'll be the first one I've personally arranged - or at least set into motion. It is a native american author who lives in AZ and wrote a series (3) of books based on Navajo culture for middle school kids. Please cross your fingers and toes that funding will come through for this - he's giving us a big discount on his usual fees, but it'll still cost some. It would be SO exciting - especially if we can arrange for him to be here the week of the book fair.

I know it is still Saturday, but I'm just so not ready for my library classes to begin on Monday. I'm still feeling so run down and on Thursday started feeling like I was coming down with something. So today I stayed home from church and am trying to rest. Ugh.

Talking to NE last night was good. Started out feeling like carp warmed over, but felt better as the conversation went. He's good for me like that.

This last week /summer my spending/eating has really gotten out of hand. I'm not quite in the territory of spending 100% of what I make, but after the $500/mo that goes towards IRA/car payment, I think most of it is going towards paying my credit cards in full. At least I'm not hitting my savings - other than not adding any to it...

I'm now back up to my highest weight ever. I'm so sick of this cycle - losing weight, gaining, losing, gaining ..

I started my new higher dose of synthroid today. Maybe that'll help eventually. What would probably help even more is if I cut out fast food entirely from my spending and cut way back on buying junk food. (Between Plink points for spending a certain amount at certain restaurants and BK adding sweet potato fries to their menu ... ugh.)

A few months ago when I was walking with my former walking partner, I told her that I wondered if the only thing helping me not gain weight back faster was all the walking I was doing. I got my answer this week - an emphatic yes. Didn't walk once this week and have ate horribly ... four pounds up. It probably would've been even worse if I hadn't at least been semi-active each day at work.

I really must get myself back on track financially and food wise. It's just so hard to do when you feel so utterly exhausted. I have to do it though because I just can't keep this up like this.

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Tomorrow I must go in to the school and put up the posters in the computer lab, put together the orientation presentations and figure out how I'm going to keep ten Kinders occupied for 45 minutes without putting them on the computers (per teacher request.) At least I have another week to figure out what I'm doing lesson wise for the quarter.

Tomorrow is the first day of classes (not for me, but for the regular classes.) I'm so not ready for school to be starting again, but it is what it is.

We did the scheduling today, and I did end up getting a little bit of what I wanted - extra time for both kinder and first and a little bit of a time buffer between my Kinder and third classes on Mondays. I also worked out with the new 4th grade teacher a 25 minute time period for keyboarding for the entire year! First semester will be all about learning the keys and increasing accuracy, and then second semester will be more practical uses of keyboarding (along with continuing to focus on speed/accuracy.) The really cool thing about the 4th grade teacher is that he is a Navajo man who two years ago had no interest in teaching, but started volunteering at our cafeteria and was pulled in to the 6th grade teacher assistant position. He loved it so much that he went back to school and got his teaching certificate! (He's the coworker I went with to Baltimore last year.)

I kind of let my principal know that this is my last year today ... didn't mean to let it slip out, but it did. I'm not sure if she totally caught it or not. Oh well, would have told her sooner than later anyway.

I've had at least two people tell me about people who would hire me this year (one was a lady at my church who told me their librarian had resigned on Friday and I should apply.) Hopefully stuff like this will pop up next year.

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My mom was here this past week. I picked her up on Thursday. That night she helped me get my back bedroom cleaned out and reorganized. I put a lot of stuff out by my trashcan which was gone by mid-morning on Friday. I can now actually USE the back bedroom (need to ask about a mattress - have a frame and boxspring, but no mattress.) Then on Friday we worked in the library and got started on the huge job of sorting out the fiction books by genre (which my wonderful assistant and I finished up today.)

Saturday we went to church .. the head elder preached. Usually he does pretty good sermons, but this one had about a five minute diatribe about how terrible it is for us to associate with those who don't believe the same ... Um... Why is our church not growing? ....(he ensconced it in the idea of someone choosing to go to a neighborhood party instead of a church social .. my mom called it spiritual bigotry and I have to say that I agreed with her.)

Anyway, we went to ABQ Saturday afternoon and spent the night at a nice hotel mom paid for with points. We ate at an Asian restaraunt and then saw the movie "The Way Way Back." Um ... Steve Carrel played someone really out of his norm - a real a**hole of a guy. Great movie though.

Sunday we slept in, then I read while my mom worked on her speech for toastmasters (she got first place!) Then she wanted to get her hair done, so she paid for me to get my hair cut. Then we shopped at Dillards -- I was really needing a new pair of black dress pants. I ended up finding one pair of black pants (~$26) and my mom bought me two tops for about the same amount. I offered to pay for meals and for the movie, etc. but she wouldn't let me.

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Today and yesterday were work days. Most of my morning was spent helping the homeroom teachers work out their schedules and fixing computer/printer problems. Good thing my classes don't start til Monday.

I got my Swagbucks CC in the mail today and made my first purchase. (I was really craving some ice cream...)

I've received all $25 of my AGCs from Swagbucks for August now, and have enough for the first two September ones. So far I've hit the Daily Goal 13/13 days.

I'm going to work on getting the items I have charged to my Discover card switched over to the SBs card and then probably close the Discover card.

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Almost forgot. A week ago Monday I went to the doctor about how fatiqued, etc. I've been feeling since about March. She ended up doing an Epstein Bar Virus test along with a TSH test. On Monday she called me with the results - apparently sometime in the past I have had mono. So she's thinking that possibly I have Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Looking at the symptoms ... I wouldn't be surprised. She also is upping my synthroid dose. Nothing to do really about the CFS if that is what this is - except live with it I guess.

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Well I better start getting ready for bed. The alarm will be going off at an unwanted hour tomorrow ... (and the next two days...)

I managed to catch up on all the blogs I've missed the last week or so.

g'nite

This morning I was about 14 minutes into my walk when I started to pass by my principal's backyard. I usually say hi to her two dogs as I go by, but this time her Maltese came out and greeted me! I found the hole it had dug under the fencing, and then called my principal to let her know. In all, I spent about ten minutes making sure the dog didn't get hit by a car or go to far away. I was glad I was there to help!

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The SD card I ordered came with some books I'd ordered - seriously fast! If I remember when I ordered the card, I'd say this was almost one-day delivery! As soon as I put the card in my phone, the Entertain app started working. So far, about 30SBs.

Between the paltry monthly bonus I earned for July, generous Jun videos and a few other small offers - I managed to get enough to cash out for my last $5 AGC for August today.

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I got over to the library today for a few hours. I didn't really accomplish much ... although I did manage to get the entrance / class table area cleared out (of course most of the stuff was just transferred to the work room table. That is an ongoing area that needs to be cleared .. it gets close to being cleared off once in a while ...)

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Tomorrow I'm taking Kari in to get her nails trimmed and pick up my prescription (synthroid.)

My goal for today (before I go to bed) is to finish putting away my clothes from my closet reorganization project (I ran out of proper hangers and had to go buy some more .. by the time I got back I'd kind of lost the zeal ...) I also want to sweep the house - esp. Kari's bathroom.

Tomorrow I need to do a trash run (and break down the pile of boxes in the corner); scrub counters and mirrors; and wash the sheets so they'll be clean for my mom.

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Last night NE told me he thinks he'll come here Labor Day weekend. (yay!) So today I double checked with my principal about where he can stay. I found out that I had had a miscommunication with her previously - he can stay with me in my house, as long as it is for a short visit (less than 7 days.) Woo hoo! That'll make life so much easier (than trying to find a guest trailer that's available or staying in a hotel 30+ miles away.) Now I just need to make sure my air mattress is in good working order (for both my mom's visit and NEs visit!)

Today I went to the doctor. I think I may have mentioned on here a few times how I have not felt completely recovered since the bout of bronchitis I had back in March. So anyway, my next appt was supposed to be at the end of August, but my level of fatigue/insominia/bouts of light-headedness/brain fuzziness/nausea, etc., etc., etc., was just getting too much so I decided to see her again sooner than later. I'd told her the same symptoms back in June, and she told me to try taking the new dose of syntrhoid for a few months and see if that improved anything. Obviously, it didn't.

So I saw her today, and she suggested that maybe it is either related to mono or chronic fatigue syndrome. I looked up the symptoms for both, and can relate to LOTS of the symptoms ... I had my blood tested for Epstein Bar virus and my thyroid rechecked. My blood pressure was high again too .. so of course I get the little paper telling me to not add salt to my food (never do!); eat more fruit (more than my normal 5+ servings?); and fill half my plate with veggies (ok, could do better on this one.)

So anyway, with the copay and the balance from my June visit (my share of the bloodwork after insurance paid) - I paid $49.xx

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After the doctor I headed over to the auto shop and got my oil changed. (it needed it badly - it was almost time before I headed to NE, but adding another 2500 miles definitely put it in the MUST DO category.) That was $38.xx

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I got pulled back into a farm game app on my phone that I had deleted because it was becoming a time s*ck. And ... I spent $12 within it to buy "diamonds" to make things a little easier. Gah, can't believe I did that. I really need to delete that app again.

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I still have the Android phone I bought for my Ting experiment. (I had no problem with Ting, I just couldn't stand the phone for real phone use.) So Swagbucks has an app that only works for Android right now. I finally found the charging cord for my phone, and installed the app. Of course when I tried to open it, it says "can't find SD card." Ugh. So I found a 8gb SD card for my phone --- $7.32 prime. I would've gone for a 2 gb card instead, but once you added shipping (no prime for it) it cost more than the 8gb card. It will take a lot of days using this app to equal out the cost of the card. But there is some kind of adapter thing that it comes with, so I'm guessing maybe I can use the card for other things too if I want - so it might be useful for more than one purpose (I hope.)

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My mom is coming on Thursday and my house is a mess. I've managed to pick up some, do laundry and dishes, do several trash runs, etc., but there's still so much more to do. But I also have tons I need to do at school. Guess how much I've gotten done there? Yeah. not much. So we'll have to see how much my mom will really be able to tolerate ... hopefully I can get the gumption to do a bit more cleaning before she gets here - at the very least make sure the sheets are fresh on the bed. (I'll sleep on the couch so she can have my bed - or maybe see if my air mattress still works.)

If it wouldn't be so embarrassing (and make me worry that others would think I make too much money or something) I would dearly love to hire some local person to clean my place every couple months or so ... I did that my last few years of teaching .. hired someone about once a month (generally right before I had planned on guests ...) that made life so much easier. (and only cost around $40!)

My former walking partner told me that her teacher assistant had "gossiped" to her about all the bits of paper I had around my computer in the library and how she wondered how I found anything. My former walking partner has been in my house ... so I asked her - what do you think I work harder at keeping organized and neat - my house or the media center? She said the media center! (very true) So pity the teacher assistant if she ever saw my house!

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Oh! I received my check from Pinecone today for $3. That was fast!

I also inexplicably received a refund from my health insurance company for premiums. I've heard about that (something about 80/20 or such thing) but what made it weird is that ... I don't pay for the premiums! I figured that if there was a refund due, it would go to my employer who pays it. It is only $9.xx but I guess I can ask my principal tomorrow what she thinks.

Yesterday I had to go to Walmart to pick up some hangars which I'd meant to pick up on Monday, but forgot.

After getting the hangars, I was of course near the kitchen section. I've been thinking about getting a new toaster oven for awhile, and have been really annoyed with the lid on my blender not getting clean (after having been through the dishwashing cycle multiple times..) I toyed with the idea of buying a $15 one serving blender and a new toaster oven. The only thing wrong with my current toaster oven is that it desperately needs to be cleaned and has been in my back room for the last two years.... (It's okay, you can call me lazy.)

I did talk myself out of both of the purchases. The blender because well ... I have a perfectly wonderful blender (a Ninja!) and all the lid probably really needs is some actual elbow grease and it will be fine. I just have to get motivated enough to want to make my smoothies again to actually put the elbow grease in! As far as the toaster oven ... I haven't used the one I have in two years (more really ... I think the last time it was out and in use was five years ago???) So if I haven't seen fit to use it in two years++ AND the only thing wrong with it is needing to be cleaned??

So I guess I saved money by talking myself out of those purchases. Now just to get to the cleaning of the items I already own!!

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NE and I talked a long time last night, and I think we've worked through what we needed to. It is weird how sometimes things seem so much more serious in the written form than when talked about face to face.

I was doing some searching for online couples counseling and came across a couple interesting links. One is called power of two marriage - I did the free three day trial. It has some really good information/lessons on communication (along with a lot of other stuff too.) I worked my way through most of the communication videos/activities.

The other thing I found was a VH1 program called Couples Therapy where they take 5 celebrity couples who are having Issues (to say the least) and take them through counseling. I watched a few full episodes ... even though it is made for entertainment value mostly, it still seems to offer *some* valuable insights.

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Yesterday I just managed to make the daily goal on Swagbucks. I think I got 4 of the codes? I made it today too. Thanks to the hotel com offer, between my two hotel stays I'll have enough SBs for two AGCs, otherwise I'd really be behind the 8 ball for August (more so than I am already.)

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Today will be a no spend day. The first I think I've had in a lonnnnngggg time.

I plan on doing a refresh on my YNAB budget and attempt to get my spending back under control. I just have spent way too much this summer.

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Almost forgot. I messed up with my internet provider. I'd had them send me a new modem because my old one kept dropping my Skype calls. I kept forgetting to send the old one back... so they charged me for it. $119. Ugh. No way to send it back and get refunded after 30 days. It still was good I called though, because my 6 month promotional period had ended and my bill was going up to $45 + taxes. Got it back to $25 + taxes.

This is going to be short - I had written it actually yesterday and without thinking, hit Save and Publish. You guessed it ... off it went into the ether-sphere.

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Short background - before heading off to my NE adventures, I had two things happen involving my front door. One was that it was sticking and not shutting or opening very easily. When the guys were here turning on my swamp cooler, they "fixed" that issue. Then a day before leaving for NE I noticed that my door would open even if it was locked properly with a bit of pressure. I put in a work order before leaving.

My walking partner (for a few more days anyway...) called the maintenance man to make sure he had gotten around to looking at my door. He didn't seem to know about the work order, but said he'd get on it.

Fast forward to Saturday - my walking partner stopped by my house and checked my door. Said it seemed fine to her.

Now to Sunday around 4 p.m. I pull into my driveway and see ... my front door wide open!

I made a few phone calls, and Monday morning a couple guys came by and my door is now fixed. (Nothing was missing or messed with - but I have found a few erstwhile flies.)

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NE and I have hit a bit of a bump in the road. We're working through it, but at the moment it has kind of derailed some of my thought processes I was going to mention here. Ugh. Emotional eating stinks.

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About the only thing I've really accomplished since arriving back here is getting my front door fixed, getting completely unpacked, and doing a clothes purge (and taking to Goodwill.)

Tomorrow I really need to get by the school and see what shape the library is in, and how full my mailbox is.

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I received my summer school paycheck (finally.) I figured out that before taxes were taken out, it equaled to about $200 less than I make in a month. So .. 65 hours of summer school equals about 130 hours of regular school year pay. (And that was with the summer school rate being reduced $9/hr from last year.)

My one remaining walking partner has found a different job. She called me today to let me know that the place she's going to is looking for a librarian ... I thanked her, but told her I wasn't interested. In six months I will start looking seriously for the next school year, but I am committed to here for this year.

I am so thankful I upgraded my phone. The GymPact app is a great motivator, but now with it looking like I more than likely won't have a walking partner, I am going to have to rely more on my indoor exercise. Not as fun or as enjoyable .. but will get the job done.

What a summer it has been. Summer school, CA trip, and finally a long sojourn in NE. Now about three weeks til the first day to report back to work.

I have so much to catch up on, I'm not really even sure where to begin.

Finances - Oh boy. I really am not sure how much I spent between CA and NE, but to put it mildly ... it was way too much. Gas and lodging I have hard numbers for the NE trip -gas $237.xx; 2 hotel stays - $105.xx. I averaged 35.8 mpg (that's including around town driving in the average - otherwise it would probably be closer to 37mpg.)

I went a little nuts with the close proximity of fast food places and other shopping places. Seriously, a little nuts. NE treated for most of the meals we ate together - but that was just one meal a day. I bought groceries for myself to supplement, and ... the fast food ... Less than a block from his apartment - McDonald's (smoothie anyone???) and Pizza Hut (personal pan pizza???) Amazingly I seem to have only gained a pound (maybe it was due to all the walking I did as well?)

Then of course there was the Adventist Book Center (or ABC as Adventists know it.) I restrained myself on books (only 2! both on sale) but the veggie foods?? Total spent $71. I also checked out a Goodwill store and came away with 20+ books for the library (one, a brand new hardcover 2006 Guinness World Record book!!! Score!!) as well as a few other items (such as a pretty casserole dish, a pannini maker and a glass container for NEs change.) All for ... $28.xx!! (less than the cost of the WR book alone brand new!) I also went to the mall ... it was SO hot ... and I wanted to see if my gym pact anywhere function really worked ... It did. I also managed to spend money at JC Penny's (super clearance sale!) and then at Dress Barn (lace skirt/white blouse for $30.)

I messed up with one of my credit cards. I thought I had them all on auto pay full bill - but I left one out. Ooops. Thankfully when I got the notice that my payment was late, I was able to call them and get the finance charge and late payment fee dismissed. Thanks to my history of no late payments and always paying in full.
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As I mentioned, I did a lot of walking. NEs place is less than 3/4 of a mile from Wilderness Park. There are some really fantastic walking/biking trails there. Most nights when NE was working, I did 3 - 5 mile walks (usually 4 miles.) It was SO beautiful! (and HOT!)

Other things NE and I did together - spent a lot of time at various area lakes with him showing me some of his favorite fishing spots as he was growing up. We also went out to Tuttle Creek where he caught a lizard, took a picture of it, and then let it go. We saw Man of Steel - loved it! Went out to eat at a lot of fast food places - mostly that are only NE/Lincoln places (Runza, Gregs, Tastee's --- all for Cheese Frenchies! Yum!!) I ate more fried foods in the three weeks I was there than I usually do in a year! We did eat at a few sit-down restaurants - IHOP, Olive Garden and a local place Beacon Hill Bar and Grill. I treated for IHOP.

NEs aunt died while I was still out in CA, and the TN family held the memorial service for her without inviting NE or his sister ... so we didn't do any big road trips.

Kari and the five cats ... Kari eventually settled down enough to where she was comfortable being out and about in the apartment -but not without hissing and batting at the other cats. The five cats just kind of tolerated her I think... Kari knocked down a 5 gallon aquarium (empty thankfully!) which shattered all over the place. She also took a great liking to a pair of expensive speakers as a scratching post ... Ugh. I hope when NE comes here to visit, that he and Kari will be able to like each other without the other 5 cats running over every time .. NE just barely got to the point of being able to touch her without being hissed at.

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I attempted to hook my computer up to NEs modem, but could not get it to work. Until tonight I was slightly worried that I had jostled the modem or something in it during the trip to NE - but it is working perfectly. So, I was pretty much without a computer (although NE did let me use his laptop .. I didn't do too much on it because of its small size.) I really did not accomplish much at all - other than reading several books, watching stuff on Hulu and Netflix (and getting a warning notice from aTT that I'd gone over the 3 GB limit and my service will be slow next month ... ummmm thought I had unlimited data??) I forgot some books I needed to do stuff for my elective classes (from the six=month class.) Still, all in all, I kept pretty busy/occupied while NE was at work.

I am happy that I went. The time there definitely helped me see some things more clearly, and see some things that need to be addressed. He really tried to be thoughtful and do things he thought I would like. One thing that was clear is that I won't have to worry about him complaining about my housekeeping ... We did a lot of talking about different things - from current events, past events, views on issues, to possible future scenarios. It was definitely a good thing.

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So ... in other news... my great Uncle (my grandma's sister's husband) died this past week. I wasn't close to him or anything, but I did like him from the times we'd interacted. Then in other big, but not really surprising news (sadly) ... my mom and the man she married in December are getting divorced - his idea. Basically he decided that he couldn't handle her health issues (more later), that she drove him nuts always wanting to go do things instead of sitting and meditating for eons of hours, etc. She is coming out of this pretty badly ... gave most of her furniture away when she moved in with him, gave up her tutoring students/business, gave up Buddy her dog, etc.

Her health issues --- about 15+ years ago she had a pituitary tumor which was removed by them going through her nasal cavity. It has returned, bigger than ever with the addition of lesions. She's going to need surgery to get rid of it, but due to the larger size and the legions, they are having to figure out the best course of action. She is staying at an extended stay place right now, and last week slipped and fell hard on her back/neck. She has had multiple back and neck surgeries ... So far it doesn't appear to have caused any more damages, but still not good.

Oh the REALLY big news?? My brother called my mom today!! (He had cut off contact with her in June after our dad died due to a number of reasons.) He told me he decided that it was time to let go and get past it. I was completely ecstatic!!

In mixed news ... I am now without any walking partners. Both of the co-workers I walked with this past year have gotten different jobs. One of the former teaching assts is taking one of the positions, another vacant position is being taken by someone who I don't think will be living here, and I don't know what's going to happen with the third one. The third one is my only hope for a new walking partner...

I have more I am thinking about, but this is already way too long. Tomorrow - what I found when I arrived home ... and lifestyle/diet thoughts/plans/thinking.

Ugh. Please remind me to not sign up for any "reward" from a credit card that is offered as "statement credits" over a period of time. Back in September (I think) I signed up for the Citi offer giving you up to $9.95 statement credit for Netflix up to a year. It worked great for the first few months, and then I got an email telling me that I had an overdue balance. Say what?? So, I check it out - two months of Netflix had been charged within one statement period. I called Citi and they gave me a credit which fixed it.

Fast forward to yesterday. I again get an email telling me I have an overdue balance. Same thing had happened - two monthly charges on one statement. Again, I called and hashed it out with them. It took a lot longer this time, but they wiped out the balance due. I also asked that they make a note on my account so that I don't have to go through this yet again in October. (The problem is when there is a month with less than 31 days. Such as February or April.)

I will very happily be canceling this card as soon as the free year of Netflix is over. (I came close to just going ahead and cancelling the card as it was ... even though I'd lose out on $40 of free Netflix.)

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I redeemed Chase points today for a $51 statement credit.

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I also booked my hotel for my trip to NE using hotels com through Swagbucks. I'll be getting 6 SBs per dollar ($53!) I was going to book at a somewhat cheaper place, but they only allow dogs in their rooms. When I asked why no cats, the front desk guy was pretty rude. Now I wouldn't book there even if I didn't have Kari with me!

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NE sent me a link to a house/property near him that is $12k - 1900 sq ft/5 acres. The kitchen reminds me a little of my mom's parent's kitchen. The bathroom made me laugh though - normal toilet and sink, but a miniature do it yourself type shower. Best of all though it's close enough to a city where you can get city Internet (instead of having to do Satellite.) He's not ready to buy anything yet, but this goes to show that there are some good options available. (He wants a country house with acreage to raise turtle/dig a pond, etc., with few neighbors nearby. Sounds good to me. )

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I got laundry and dishes done yesterday, and so far nothing really done today. Ooops. Tomorrow I have to pack for CA and NE trips and try to leave the house in somewhat presentable shape.

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My walking partner and I went to town yesterday. I bought some more clothes at Walmart. I need to reign in the clothing spending here ...

After stepping on the scale this a.m., I also decided to quit the soda. I hate to think what the scale would look like if I wasn't walking most days...

Despite the heat yesterday I did manage to get one task accomplished .. or at least the beginning of it. I have a 403b from when I was teaching that has just been sitting at a particular company. So finally yesterday I made the call to the company I want to move it to, and the financial guy walked me through the process of moving it over. Now I just have to wait for the forms and mail them in. Once this move is over, I'll have my taxable/tax-deferred accounts at 3 institutions rather than 6 (like back in January.) I don't know yet if I'll consolidate further or not yet.

Only 3 days of summer school left! As much as I'm eager for it to be over, I am actually enjoying myself. I still have no desire however to repeat it next summer! We'll be getting our paychecks for summer school on the 25th - I've asked for mine to be mailed to NE so I don't have to worry about making it in to big G before leaving town. Thanks to the smartphone app, I can easily deposit it.

I found a Bill Nye video on pollution which I'm going to play for the kids on Friday (thanks Youtube!)

This afternoon we had the grand opening of our neighborhood playground which was built this past weekend. It was quite fun seeing 70+ K - 8th grade students, plus 20+ neighborhood kids running around and enjoying the new equipment.

I stopped at Family Dollar today and bought a blackout panel which I've now nailed above my office window. I'm hoping that this will help both with privacy and with heat. I also bought two six packs of bubbles which I'm going to let the kids use tomorrow as a bit of a treat for good behavior during Mass the last two days. (We're having Mass everyday this week except Friday.) They also had a bunch of deodorants in the clearance bin - $.80 each.

I am *hoping* that the swamp coolers will be turned on tomorrow ... I just can't get motivated to do much of anything with it so hot. There is so much I should be doing too ...

Ugh. Today I spent about 9 hours at the school trying to get ready for tomorrow. That makes a total of about 25 hours (not including time before school got out when I was doing research for ideas.) I do NOT feel ready at all. I have three assistants, but they won't be getting there until the same time the kids do in the morning - so no way for me to prep them and make sure they know what all we're doing. I met with them on Friday for an hour, but that was barely enough time to sort out and group the kids ..

I had two classrooms to set up the desks and put down chairs. No decorations whatsoever in either room - just not energy, time or able to get to resources (free ones at least..) Couldn't find any math manipulatives, the toner on the copier was running low, and the computers need Adobe Flash updated to use the Math website I want the kids to use ... Ugh.

I really need to do dishes and laundry, but will only manage to get a shower in before I zonk out tonight I think.

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CCF - thanks for pointing me to the job possibility. I checked it out and even started an application. But the more I thought about it today, I really don't think I'd feel good about leaving after I'd already signed my contract here.

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Yesterday I finally took the plunge I've been thinking and debating about for a long time. I upgraded my phone to the 4S. With the new cover, it cost $121.xx for the 16 GB. One thing I hadn't realized is that ATT has 4G coverage in this area - I guess my 3GS phone couldn't pick that up. I'm very happy with it so far.

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So far in June I've redeemed $20 in AGC from SBs. Tomorrow I'll redeem another $5 one. I'm pretty close to my next $5 AGC with Irazoo. I'm really hoping tomorrow's daily goal on SBs isn't too ridiculous - otherwise I probably won't be able to make it.

So yesterday I had my babysitting job. It went well - about 5 hours for $40. It was worth more than the cash to me though - I really enjoy taking care of the girls. Of course, by the time I got home and got something to eat, it was just about time for my Monday phone date with NE. So I didn't get much done on Monday other than a walk with my co-workers, babysitting gig and a 5 hour phone date. Not that I'm complaining. At all.

After another walk with my co-workers this morning, I decided that instead of going into town and spending money (which I'd been contemplating) that I'd sit down with YNAB and do a fresh start and see where I'm at money wise.

In November after buying my car, my Net Worth was around $48k. Today, mostly thanks to one particular stock (hit $110 today!!) my NW is grasping at $95k!! That number is seriously hard for me to comprehend that I've actually got that kind of money available to me. (Of the individual stock I own, approximately 90% of them were inherited. So, unless they drop down to $30/share, I'm not messing with them.)

Tomorrow I need to start preparing for summer school in earnest. It starts on Monday.

Good friend/co-worker is leaving on Saturday. A couple of us are taking her out to eat Thursday night (3rd payday of the month - dinner out is being timed for the payday ... my 3rd payday will mostly be going into savings - such a different mindset.) She has a possible job offer in the area she'd like to relocate to, so that is good news. I'm still really sad to see her go though.

(I had a lot more to this post, but had to restart it due to a browser hiccup before I had a chance to save ...)

Haven't done much this weekend. Yesterday I went to church in the morning, but was so tired that I went straight home (didn't stay for potluck.) I slept pretty hard for a few hours, and then gave J a call (the lady I lived with for a few months two years ago.) She's a month out from her second knee surgery and is recovering pretty well from it. She was happy to hear about NE and I. Then it was time for my weekly call to grandma. Pretty much same conversation per usual.

I slept a bit more, then got up and caught up on about frugal forums (hadn't read in over a month!) Did some laundry too.

** Oh, I had to fill up before heading to church. I was on fumes again. Last tank was 34.4 mpg, even with the fast driving. $37.39 for 10.489 gallons

This morning I was supposed to go walking, but both people wimped out on me. I was going to make ableskebers for my two sometimes walking partners this morning, but shortly before heading over to Ns place to make them, I realized I didn't have buttermilk, good butter (all my tubs were dried out ...), salt or sugar!! So I had to go to the expensive mom and pop store and pick that stuff up (no buttermilk, but did get lemon juice --- didn't quite achieve the right results using rice milk ...)About $10. Ouch.

The first two batches didn't turn out great, but luckily by the third batch they were working out better. The ladies told me that it was my practice run for making them for NE. (I hadn't made them in practically 3 years .. so was a little rusty.)

I redeemed swagbucks for a $15 AGC yesterday. Now have enough for my June 5 $5's.

Tomorrow I have a babysitting gig. The mom wrote me to let me know that her dh won't be going on the trip he was thinking about doing, but they'd like to spend some quality time together tomorrow.

I can't seem to shake this tiredness, no matter how much I'm sleeping/lazing. I will be seeing my doctor again on Friday for retesting bloodwork (thyroid.) I'm hoping she can offer me some ideas on what is going on. Tired of being tired.

Almost forgot - got a call this pm from one of my walking partners about the loose neighborhood dog who always comes with us on our walks. She (the dog) has been accused of biting a child. Witnesses (all kids under ten ..) say that it was actually the child's dog that bit her after being sat on by the child ... but the child claims it was neighborhood dog. Only consequence right now is that nd is going to have to be tied up all the time (which her owners have tried to do, but she constantly gets off the tie out.) The owner asked if we'd write a note to animal control stating that nd is NOT aggressive. She isn't - so I will be doing that.

Sorry I've been a bit MIA recently. Been busy with school, getting ready for my trip, and doing a lot of talking on the phone.

Wednesday after work I went to the hair salon that a co-worker recommended to me. I hadn't thought to ask about the price beforehand ... So when I found the place and saw it, I worried that it was going to be one of those $50 haircut places. Thankfully I was completely wrong. The lady did a great and quick job, and only charged $15!! The lady who did my manicure also did a nice job, and also charged $15 (fairly reasonable, although I've had better ones for less.)

Tuesday afternoon we had our annual Faculty vs. Mid-School Volleyball game. I played ... made three out of 7? serves actually over the net. Also provided some good chuckles for everyone when the ball sailed onto the roof (and came back down) as well as when it sailed way to the left of the net (twice!) Anyway, we won. Better yet, we had fun.

The yearbooks finally arrived this afternoon!! I didn't get a chance to look at the whole yearbook, but the first few pages looked good. My assistant and the journalism kids will be presenting it on Monday. I hate to not be there, but ... well .. plans already in place take precedence. I'm just so relieved it arrived before the 8th graders leave. (Monday is their last official day of school, then they graduate on Wednesday night.)

I'm all packed for my trip except for a few toiletries, etc. Kind of been driving AL crazy this week at school. Glad she's willing to put up with me.

Ooo boy! Have I been liking the electric car stock news this week. I teased my brother that I was going to sell so many shares and pay off my car. He of course came back with, "be patient! It's only the start!!"

Not really looking forward to the 8+ hour drive tomorrow after I'm released from the in-service day(may be less or more w/traffic.) So glad for a working radio w/CD player (must remember to bring CDs!) Am really looking forward to the end result. NE observed that it kind of feels like we're meeting each other again in person for the first time, just with a lot of history/knowledge to go with the meeting. He's right, it does feel like that.

Within just the first 9 days of May, I already am within 300 SBs of my June 5 $5 AGCs. Made goal all 9 days, so will get at least the 7 day bonus, and perhaps the 14 day bonus when I get back.

Ok, going to try to catch up on the blogs so I don't have a ton to read on Monday to catch up.

This morning I went to brunch at the 3rd grade teachers home, along with several other of my coworkers. While there I learned that on Saturday morning the 29 yo mom of one of our 4th grade girls was killed in a car accident. I had just helped this little girl on Friday create a Mother's Day card and can vividly remember what she wrote in her note - it showed such a special relationship.

You just never know.

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This afternoon I volunteered at the photos for smiles event at my church. It was pretty slow. We only had around 60 groups show up. Although I think if we'd had as many as we had been expecting, it would not have been good. We really didn't have enough waiting area space and two hairstylist/makeup people would not have been enough. People seemed to appreciate it though. I am glad I put in a few hours helping out.

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After I finished there, I went to Walmart and did some clothes shopping. I got several pairs of capris, a pair of sandals, a dress and a couple other items. I also replaced my two water bottles. It was over $100, but I so rarely spend money on clothes and I was needing some newer items for the summer .. If I could find items at Goodwill or the thrift shop in my size, I'd check there first, but it usually is like looking for a needle in haystack - especially if looking for something in good shape AND cute.

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Five days.

Wow, lost my post and it wasn't even a long one (which is why I didn't do the ctrl-a/save .. doh!)

Anyway .. lots of drama at school. Mostly due I think to end of year tiredness. Found out that the person at school that irks me is retiring, and the person that irks the IT person the most is leaving also.

Car has Maintenance needed light on - only broached 50k miles and just had oil changed. Not sure why the light is on - running fine.

Cashed out for a $15 AGC on SBs today. Need about 300 more for my May 5 $5 AGCs.

Phone is working well again ... think it heard me contemplating replacing it.

Have decided to not go to TX this summer, just CA. Esp. considering I'll go to TX 2014 summer for TCs son's 8th grade graduation. Mom will just have to live with it.

Tiring weekend - children's story at church tomorrow (telling story of Hannah); then babysitting on Sunday.

Ok, that was the jist of my post ...

This week is National Library Week .. nothing happened during it last year, and I wasn't expecting anything this year either. But I think the first grade teacher came up with the idea to do something for it .. the Kinder and First classes made a poster where they chose their favorite book and drew a picture from it. So cute! Then yesterday (National Librarian's Day) the K and 1 classes all came to the library and said thank you to me and gave me a "hip, hip, hooray." Then we had cookies that the first grade teacher had made. (This is the same teacher who'd complained to the principal about how many classes her kids had missed.)

It was really sweet.

I've been watching Heroes on Netflix the last couple weeks, plus been busy with other stuff .. so kind of been neglecting to blog here.

I'm really liking the balance in my savings account after the tax refunds ... so I've decided that I'm just going to keep paying $300/mo on my car. Then when November hits, I'll pay off whatever the balance is. Doing that might cost me an extra $20 in finance charges (rather than getting it paid off by July), but having a healthy balance in my accounts gives me peace of mind worth a lot more than $20.

I don't remember if I mentioned this or not, but I have had it confirmed that I am teaching summer school - I'll have grades 2nd - 4th. It'll go for two weeks, and I'll make approximately $1300. Practically what I make in a regular month..... I'm going to be very careful about what I spend of my own money for this (especially considering how much I spent last year and then ended up not teaching, so no money ...) Our theme is the environment, and I've found some good resources that are free and cheap. Art materials can pretty much be free too - just have kids bring in recyclables. I had planned on doing an Earth Day unit/activities in the library, but won't be now (the K teacher who's doing Kinder/First for summer school told me she's doing the same thing! )

We've had snow in the middle of the week now two weeks a row with temps in the high 60s surrounding snow days... The wind the past few days has been really bad - so bad on Monday and Tuesday that there was NO way we were going to walk in it - the dust made it impossible (unless we had face masks and goggles ...)

Fan girl .... looking forward to Ironman 3. Just sayin'

I was going to take the afternoon off today to do some household chores since I didn't have any classes this afternoon (special surprise assembly for 4th+ nixed my afternoon class.) But then the lady from the Americ@rps division we're associated with decided to hold our meeting during church music. So I decided it wasn't worth it to take a 1/2 personal day for 2 hours!! So I cataloged books and worked on finding resources for summer school instead.

In April I had a total of $160 in AGCs! $60 from signing up for the Amazon cc, $50 from the Nielsen thing I have on my phone, and the other $50 from Swagubucks. All but about $5 of it is spent - got the last package of books today. I think I'll have some very happy 4th and 5th graders on Friday, and a happy 8th grader on Monday. I have enough SBs now for May's $25, so am going to work towards maybe a $15 one by the end of this month.

Today's preschool storytime on Earth Day reminded me that I needed to beef up our selection of appropriate books for 3 and 4 year olds! I really wonder what the previous librarians did for the storytimes because we have so few books that really are good for that age level (at least on the topics their teachers are working on.)

I can't remember if I mentioned this either or not. During Spring Break I went to the doctor and had my TSH levels (thyroid) checked, along with a few other things. My levels were out of whack, so the doctor upped my medication level. She told me she thought that my thyroid might be why I was getting the leg tingles. I've been taking the new dosage for nearly two weeks now, and the tingles are happening MORE than they were before! (Well, at least that was true for the first week or so, this week they have seemed to die down finally.) I also have been having a good bit of trouble both getting to sleep and staying asleep, which has been very frustrating. I don't know if the new dosage is to blame or not though, because around the same time I started taking it, I also started taking the generic of Allegra D 24 hr.

I need to call my Aunt for her birthday, so I better be going. (Wasn't planning to be so verbose!) I will try to check in a bit more frequently so my posts aren't so long.

So today I received my $25 AGC from SBs and put it into my gift card balance on Amazon. While I was there, I noticed that the sign up bonus for the Amazon credit card was $60! That is the most I've ever seen it at. So ... I succumbed and applied. I was approved (although I had to give my physical address - need to figure out how to let them know my mailing address - don't get mail at my house.)

Guess how long it took me to spend the $60 credit? I'll have some cool new books for the kids on Monday.

I had a dentist appointment on Tuesday and told them about my tooth pain from Baltimore (February trip.) The DA and dentist looked at it, and took an xray. It looks like I will be needing a root canal. The only place to have that done is in ABQ, so I will be trying to get an appointment for the last week of May (after school is out.) Good thing I didn't spend my tax refund yet I guess (might mean my car doesn't get paid off by June, but it still will be paid off no later than December!!)

I also had a doctors appointment this week. I had her do the thyroid bloodwork, but also asked her to check my Vitamin D levels. She also added in checking magnesium levels (I think because of the leg tingles?) I got a call today asking me to come in for a follow up appointment - so she must have seen something in my bloodwork. I *think* the follow up appointment is included in the office visit fee from Monday - at least I hope it is!

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I received my payment from Second Spin for Person of Interest - $11.00. (They didn't reimburse shipping - I thought they did that??) Of course I promptly turned around and gave in to the temptation to purchase the first ten episodes of Warehouse 13 S4 on Amazon... (have 3 episodes left to watch now)

I have not gotten much accomplished at all over Spring Break. Not really all that surprised ... am good at making plans and having ideas of what all I want to accomplish, and then end up not getting ten percent of it done. I still have 3 days though, right?

My cough is much, much better. Not gone completely, but so much better. I'm still using generic Vicks at night, and taking generic Allegra D. Between the two, it seems to be helping.

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I called Vangaurd today to check on the status of my rolling over the IRA from the bank CD. They processed the paperwork today, and it should be taken care of within a week to ten days. Yay! Now maybe that money will actually earn its keep.

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I have done very poorly in March (and now April) at keeping track of my spending. I am thinking of doing a fresh start in YNAB (budgeting program.) I will have to say though, that this has been one of the longer consistent stints of tracking my finances - nearly 8 months. So, I guess I should pat myself on the back for that. Maybe this next stint will last longer. One can always hope.

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After my doctors appt tomorrow, I plan on going into the school for a few hours. I *have* to do this because I *have* to finish putting together my information for certification in NM!!! Sometimes I am such a bad procrastinator ... I'm pretty sure I have everything I need to send in for it, and have had it for a couple of weeks!! Mailing anything though nowadays is just not something that sticks out in my mind as a to do ...

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A friend of mine was talking/emailing me about some of their experiences on a dating site. It made me wonder how long it had been since I'd put my profile on hold on that site ... checked into it, and it was 2007!! Um... a few years. I decided to unhold it and put together an updated profile. Not surprisingly, no interest yet. (I was honest about my weight - a question they ask for the profile - so ...) It probably doesn't help either that my life isn't all that terribly interesting (unless you get into family drama stuff, then maybe it's a little *too* interesting, as in run off screaming fast as possible interesting....)

So anyway ... instead of cleaning like I should be doing, I'm going to go finish watching the last 3 episodes of Warehouse 13. Maybe I'll get to cleaning after that....