I went to the doctor today and got my blood work done - it was a $25 copay. Not too bad I guess.

I also got my mom's Christmas gift mailed off (late I know!!) - only $5 postage - should get there by Tuesday. Oops.

Yesterday afternoon one of my coworkers came by and asked if I wanted to go into town with her and another teacher for dinner. I couldn't resist. Dinner - $8.65, and then we went to Walmart. I needed to pickup a bat of cat food because I was nearly out, but ended up buying a couple of CDs from the $5 bin. One of them will make a good addition to my dad's Christmas gift ... but I really should've skipped the others -- $23.36 (I also got a Terry's Chocolate Orange).

Guess what started again while I was at the doctors? Snow!! We've had probably another inch fall this morning. I plan on taking it slow on the way in to ABQ because around here the roads were getting kind of slick.

I stopped over at the school library and picked up a few books to read. Although I have plenty of books on my phone, there are times where you can't use electronic devices on the planes, so I like to have a hard copy book -- the last few times I ended up buying a book in the airport -- highway robbery. So this time I am prepared!! Plus I'll be able to book talk these books when I get back.

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After I got back from dinner last night, I preceded to spend the $200 donation. I bought about $70 worth of graphic novels, $60 worth of mid-school specific books, and the rest were more primary level books. I actually ended up spending an extra $15. In all, I got 47 books - from Ebay and Amazon. Only 6 of them were full price (the newer, more popular ones.)

I used my Beezag money that was in Paypal for the books from Ebay.

They should mostly be here by Jan 7. The kids are going to be so excited.

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I'm 15 points away from redeeming my next AGC from Swagbucks. Yay!

I could redeem points for a $25 AGC from Mypoints right now, but I'm only 3,000 away from a $50 AGC. I'll wait - it'll save 400 points that way.

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Ok, I better go pack. It's gonna be hard getting up though cuz Kari is sound asleep on my lap.

This morning I received my 7th payment from Beezag. That makes $56 now for 2011. I was looking at my payment history from them and realized I'd really slacked off July - November. That doesn't surprise me, because I know how busy/exhausted,e tc. I was then.

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I updated both my Frugal Living blog and my Children's Books blog. It had been quite a while for both of them. One goal I'm adding for 2012 is to update at least the book blog 2x a month. It really should be easy to do considering how many books I read to my students each week.

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A few weeks ago I went to the local clinic here for a sinus infection, and I was hoping to get a new prescription for my thyroid medicine. However, I found out that I had to have my medical records before they'd do anything more than treat my sinus infection.

So today I called to find out whether they'd gotten them or not. They hadn't gotten all of them yet, but apparently enough to feel comfortable making an appointment for me to get blood work done. Unfortunately the time they wanted me to come in (so I could get on with the new doctor) was Friday, January 6. I told the person that Fridays were the worst possible day for me as a librarian - we have so many Fridays off that the kids already get shortchanged. She was just like ... well the teachers will understand if you give them enough notice.

In my head I'm thinking, yeah right lady.

So about 30 minutes later she calls me back. I now have an appointment for tomorrow morning with the current doctor! Starting in March I'll have to use the new doc and go on Fridays, but hopefully I can schedule those appointments for when we're off anyway.

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Just as I was in the middle of writing this post, I got a knock at my door. Fed Ex!!! It was a donation check from the same man my mom dated who pd for my Thanksgiving tickets and gave me $100 towards books. A donation of $200!!! His daughter asked that instead of him giving her her usual Christmas gift, that he donate it to my school's library. Isn't that just the most unselfish and sweetest thing you've heard??

Above and beyond the gift itself, I am most surprised that FedEx will deliver straight to my door. I know UPS won't, because I have to get all my packages at the post office. But this morning I got a call from a woman at FedEx asking me where a particular address was located. I told her that I think the address she was looking for was xxxxx instead, but that there'd be no one there. So she asked me for my home address -- I was very surprised and didn't believe it till the guy knocked on my door!

This is good to know - very good to know.

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What do you think would be a good way for me (or the students) to show appreciation for the gift?

MM - he wrote the check to me, but included a letter to the school stating what it was for. Will he be able to write that off on his taxes? Or should I have him rewrite the check to the school/mission???

I'm not sure that he is doing it for a write off, but included the letter to give me a little extra "props" with the mission (that I have people donating money to the school, hence keep me around.)

Now I'm going to have to figure out the best way to use this money. Believe me, I could spend it 4 or 5 x over quite easily. Maybe allocate $100 towards mid-school level books and $100 towards primary level books??

Last night I made new posts to both of my blogger blogs. One I hadn't made a new post to since ... March? and the other since September. I think that is going to be one of my goals for this coming year -- to post to at least the Children's books blog at least 2 x a month. I should've held off a bit longer on my frugal blog post --- this morning I got my December payment from Beezag. So that makes 7 payments this year (or $56.)

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This morning I called the local clinic to find out if they had received my medical records yet. They refused to see me for anything more than a cold until they had my records.

They must have gotten some of them in at least, because the person I spoke with was willing to make an appointment for me to meet with the new doc on Friday, January 6. I expressed to her that Fridays were the *worst* day for me to have an appointment (we get so many Fridays off that the kids I have on Friday don't have many classes.)

She called me back about half an hour later and told me that she could set me up with an appointment for tomorrow morning with the current doctor, but in March I'd have to switch over to the new doc. No problem with me!!

So tomorrow I'll be getting my bloodwork done and get set up probably for the other medical checkup stuff I need to take care of (seeing as though it's been 3 years since I've had anything more than a thyroid bloodwork done ...and I am now 36 ...)

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I was sitting here debating about whether or not to go into school when I got a phone call from someone in Fedex. They were trying to deliver a package to me from my mom's man friend (the one who paid for my Thanksgiving tickets and gave me $100 towards books.) He'd gotten the name of the street the school is on mixed up with the name of the tribe. I told the lady who called me that there probably wasn't anyone there to sign for it. So she asked me what my home address was. I asked her if she was sure they could deliver to the mobile home park, and she said that I'd be surprised at the places they deliver.

So ... two hours later I'm still waiting with great anticipation to see if Fedex will actually deliver here!!! I'm also really curious to see what is in the box ... J had asked me how many students we had and what the tribe was a few weeks ago .... Hmmm...

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Oh! I actually got on my elliptical today for ...drum roll please ... one minute! Kari ran out of the room like a bat out of he**. LOL! I'm going to have to work myself back up to doing the elliptical, and hopefully Kari will continue to stay out of its way.

Wow! What an interesting day. It started for me around 4 a.m. I woke up and just *could not* go back to sleep. So finally around 4:30 I got up and looked outside -- and took a picture. At that time I was still able to open my door all the way.

About 5:15 I got the call letting me know school was canceled. I went back to bed and managed to sleep off and on til about 7 when I just couldn't stay any longer.

Then I got up and started haunting the Swagbucks facebook page for the code extravaganza. That is pretty much all I did today. Between the codes, search wins, videos, sbtv, etc., I earned about 150 SBs - about what it would normally take me a few weeks to earn. I also read a couple of books.

It didn't stop snowing ALL DAY long. By about 1 pm this is what my front porch looked like --- I couldn't open it any wider!



I took a handful of snow and put it under Kari's nose -- she sniffed at it a bit, then turned and walked away. She didn't want anything to do with it!

Around 4, one of my co-workers came by with a shovel and shoveled off my front porch and around my car!! I thought that was so sweet -- since I don't have a shovel!! (or boots - both things I guess I'm going to need to rectify if I'm going to stay here very long.)

Around 6 I saw one of my coworkers post that school had been canceled for tomorrow too -- so I guess today started our Christmas vacation! I feel bad for the kids missing out on their parties/gifts (and I was looking forward to revealing myself to my giftee and finding out who my Secret Santa was ... oh well.)

We also missed out on the Christmas program tonight - the kids had worked so hard on it. I was told we'll probably do it when we get back in January - but it won't be quite the same.

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I haven't seen this much snow since I was a young teenager living in Minnesota! Even then, I don't remember getting this *much* snow all at once.

We had at least 5 instances of short power outages. I'm hoping and praying that that is all we'll have -- short bursts of power outage. I do have a gas stove I could *gasp* heat stuff on the old fashioned way if I absolutely *had* to. Just in case, I'm keeping my phone plugged in so it is charged 100% all the time. (not the smartest to do long term, but in the short term I don't think it will hurt it too much.)

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I was going over my posted goals in my head last night and realized that they (financially) are probably unrealistic. So I'm thinking I'll do them in steps... Step 1: Travel Funds and EF; Step 2: Car fund; Step 3: Extra ROTH money and then if I manage all those ... go back to Step 1 and add to EF money.

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I don't know how much my car repairs are going to cost. I was going to go to the mechanic today .. but well obviously that didn't work out. My dad is insisting that I get it looking new again - i.e. take care of the cosmetics even if it doesn't affect the function. I didn't bother wasting my breath trying to explain that on my income, cosmetics take a *really* low spot on the priority list. Esp. on an almost 15 year old car. If it was 5 years old or less ... than that might be different. I personally only care that my car can get me from A to B, and hopefully keep me warm or cool while doing it. Other than that ... phooey.

I got quite a bit done today which I'd been putting off for a long time due to tiredness and laziness. I swept my whole place, took out two loads of garbage, put things away, did all my laundry, and did most of my dishes. Kari wasn't quite sure what to make of my cleaning frenzy.

SrN called today and told me that they'd talked about me yesterday at the Christmas dinner (rear ending). She told me that since I don't have much in the way of classes tomorrow (due to dress rehearsals for Christmas program) that if I could make an appointment for my car at the mechanic, to do so.

I thought that was pretty sweet.

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Preliminary 2012 goals:

Physical Health:

* 2 x a week lift weights (10+ minutes)
* 2 x a week do 15 min+ elliptical
* Restart NoS program
* Eliminate soda
* Bought frozen foods used only on S days
* Meals on non-S days must be cooked by self - not bought frozen foods (i.e. use rice cooker, food steamer, etc.)

Spiritual Health:

* Daily 20 minutes focused prayer time
* Daily Bible w/Brian Hardin podcast
* Stay for potluck after church - try to connect with someone, anyone
* No more than 3 missed Sabbaths (unless out of town)
* Plan a focused Bible study/prayer time for Friday nights -- make Friday nights special - candles, special meal ... not just vegged out on net
* Contribute tithe/offerings consistently 2x a month (after payday)

Emotional Health:

* Call and/or write to a non-family member/non-coworker 1x a week
* Play piano 60 minutes per month
* Work on cross stitch project 60 minutes per month
* Read 1 book *not* for students per week
* Read minimum 1 book for students per week

Financial Health:

* Grocery budget
----Create a priority list. When shopping, buy from top down and keep running total. Stop when budget is reached.
-----Grocery shop no more than 2 x a month. (Exception - buying bananas at local small grocer in between big town grocery shops.)
--- Grocery budget --- $120/month -- including Kari's food/litter. So ... $50 per trip to allow for incidentals.

* ROTH - Send $1500 (Currently $100/mo)

* Emergency Fund - Save $5,000

* Car Repairs/Replace - Save to $5,000

* Vacation/Travel --- Save $1000 (Spring Break trip, plus summer travel)

* Moving Fund --- Save $1000

* Library spending -- limit to $30/month non-gift card funded spending

* Increase extra funds:

---- Check into being part of summer school program

---- Do Swagbucks daily points *daily*, at least once a week check for extra videos/offers
----- Do Beezag *daily*
----- Check Mypoints email at least once a week

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Edited -- My savings goals are roughly 60% of my gross yearly income ... But considering that my only expenses are food, gas and internet/phone ... I really *should* be able to do this. It's just keeping the food/gas, miscellaneous expenses in check.

This morning I got up at a decent hour (for a Sunday) and actually got going! I swept, picked up trash, dusted, put stuff away, cleaned mirrors, did laundry, and did most of my dishes!! My place is almost as clean as it was when my mom left back in August. Kari didn't quite know what to make of my cleaning frenzy - she's seen me do dishes before, and half-heartedly sweep ... but doing as much as I did today?? Never.

In the midst of my cleaning frenzy, SrN called me. Apparently I was being talked about yesterday at the Christmas dinner. (I'd called TC to let her know I wouldn't be coming, and why.) So SrN told me not to wait til Tuesday to get an appointment with the mechanic - that if I could get one tomorrow, to do it. The kids will basically be at dress rehearsal most of the day, so I won't really have any classes.

Sweet, isn't?

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We may have a snowstorm blowing in tonight (if the forecasts are accurate, we'll have "blizzard" conditions. Will believe it when I see it.)

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Preliminary 2012 Goals (will revise later ..)

Physical Health:

*Use weights 2x a week for 15 minutes
*Use elliptical 2x a week for 20 minutes

(Starting with small, manageable goals. If achieved with consistency, will increase later.)

*Eliminate soda

*Restart and DO the NoS plan (S's i.e. sweets/snacks/seconds only on S days)

* Cooked ahead meals - not prepared frozen meals - except on S days.

Emotional/Spiritual/Social Health:

* Revitalize prayer life - set aside 20 minutes a day to concentrate on praying for myself, family, friends, those around me, etc.

* Restart listening to Bible daily (daily Bible with Brian Harding podcast - an easy listen during breakfast!!)

* Call/write to one friend each week (non-family member!!)

* Play piano 60 minutes a week

* Sweep entire house 1x a week

* Do the dishes at least 1 x a week

* Read 1 book a week for *yourself*
* Read 1 book a week for *students* (minimum)

* Learn how to cut Kari's claws (or see if I can hire SE to do it for me cheaply ...)

Financial Health:

* Pay tithe and offering consistently (2 x a month)

* Limit non-gift card spending on Library to $30/month.

* Limit grocery spending to $100/month - go to Walmart only 2 x a month --- for any reason. Make a prioritized list and stick to it. Make do if you run out.

* Save $400 for Spring Break trip (have $160 saved so far.) (2 day camping/horseback trip into a canyon in AZ - a home of Navajo culture, etc.)

* Save $500 for summer travel expenses ($0 balance)

* Save $5,000 for car repairs/car replacement ($0 balance right now.)

* Save $4,000 towards EF ($500 bal right now, give or take (probably take depending on car repairs ...)

* Send $1500 to ROTH (Currently doing $100/month.)

* Save $1000 towards moving fund (good to be prepared)

* Increase Extra Funds by:
---- Visiting Swagbucks daily for the easy points, and at least weekly doing any videos/offers possible
------ Do Beezag daily
------ Check Mypoints email at least once a week

* Discuss doing summer school program

Overall/Big Goals:

* Declutter and organize home office
* Organize guest bedroom so if I actually *have* a guest, they have a place to stay!!
* Get main shower fixed so you can use it!!! (this will take lots of bugging of maintenance people)
*Get my yard weeded and cleaned ... maybe look into putting in a garden (would I really keep up with something like that though??? If I'm here long-term, a garden would really be a good thing... hmmm...)


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My monthly income will go down quite a bit in July - not because of a pay decrease, but because my yearly salary will be divided into 26 payments rather than 22 payments. (My pay year started in August, so that cut 4 payments.) I'm really hoping that I can do a summer computer program here as part of the summer school. It would both be a chance for me to teach the kids something I won't have time to do during the school year, and also give my income a bit of a boost.

First though I need to be asked back ...

Thanks everyone for your birthday wishes. I had a good birthday yesterday - even with a bit of a getting lost episode.

I ate at a restaurant I'd eaten at before - mainly because I knew I could get cheesecake and a virgin daiquiri there - two things I like to have on my birthday. All in all, it was kind of disappointing. The cheesecake wasn't that great, the daiquiri wasn't iced (maybe I made a mistake and said margarita instead??) and the veggie burger ... wasn't anything to write home about. Overall a quite expensive meal for not much -- $20.38 plus tip. However, I did bring half of the meal home for tonight - so maybe it'll be better reheated.

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Today was interesting. I didn't have any students until about 10:50 because my one class I usually have at 9:45 was practicing for the Christmas program. I did have them come in for about ten minutes so they could check out books.

During this time I had no students, I worked on getting the newspaper ready to distribute. Early in the morning, three of my journalisim students came and folded the 210 copies I'd made on Wednesday. As I was counting copies to the different classes, I realized we needed another 15 just for the students. So I made 25 more copies and folded them. As I was just about to head over to the main office to put them in the teachers boxes, I noticed a typo. The lead story had been changed from present tense to past tense, and I had missed an "is." So ... I debated on fixing it and reprinting 235 copies and then folding them myself ... or just taking a pen and making an "ink splot" on 235 copies ... I chose to do the ink splot. With 5 minutes to go before my 6th grade AM group arrived, AL (the computer tech) agreed to finish the last few copies and take them to the office for me. Phew!

After school today I received several compliments on the paper - especially on how it was free of spelling errors and bad grammar, as well as how it definitely sounded like "kid writing." That was my goal - to be as hands off as possible - while still making sure it was good writing. (I had the Language arts teacher proofread it for me as a double check -- I have a tendency to use way to many commas, etc.)

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Now on to the fiasco ....

The 6th graders finishing their computer mid-term (on plagiarism.) Of 17 students, at least two (maybe three) tests had completely vanished. Two, possibly three tests corrupted and the students had to start from scratch. Although I assured each student that was having technical difficulties that it would not be held against them, I had one student who was *really* upset at having to start over. So much so that she ended up visiting the school counselor. I just felt sick at having upset a student so.

I do not plan on basing any more tests on the computer. What I had done was I made the test in Word, and then posted the original in each grades folder. Then the students opened the test, and saved it under their own name. For the majority of students this worked just fine .. however 6 6th graders and 1 7th grader (who's test also vanished) ... it didn't work out so well. The 8th graders finish on Monday ... I fervently hope that we won't experience the same problems!!!

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I am so glad for the Sabbath and the needed rest/break. I really hope our regular pastor is speaking tomorrow, and not one of the elders.

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One week from now I'll be in California!! It more than likely will be much warmer than here!! (Highs in the mid-30's versus highs in the mid to high 60's... )

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I cashed out for $8 on Beezag (I think on Tuesday??) and am already up to 1000 points. There were 7! videos tonight. I also have enough Mypoints for a $25 AGC, but will wait til I have enough for a $50 because that saves 400 points. I also cashed out for a $5 AGC from Swagbucks on either Tuesday or Wednesday (can't remember now.)

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We have snow predicted for Sunday night ... SrN is worried about our Christmas program Monday night. It'd have to be pretty bad to cancel ... considering how much snow we had for the Community Christmas Dinner!!

Well, I did go to church yesterday, then I came home wrote an email back to a friend, talked to my dad ... and then took a nap. I pretty much didn't get up again til this morning around 8!!

I watched POI this morning after I got up, and then I spent about five hours working on library stuff that I could do from the comfort of my home. (cleaning up late fines from previous years, putting together late fine notices for this year ...) Then I spent a couple hours dreaming (about books of course!)

I did manage to get a couple loads of laundry done, and I'm going to try to motivate myself to do some dishes here soon ...

Tomorrow after I take Kari to the vet, I'm going to eat breakfast at Burger King. Not exactly healthy I know, but not something I get the chance to do very often. (the vet is within a few blocks of a BK, and I'll be dropping Kari off at 7:30 ... so ...)

I did get my refill of Synthroid yesterday, and I hope it will start kicking back in here within a few days.

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Oh get this! On my way back from church yesterday, I noticed a 2 inch+ crack on the lower left hand side of my windshield. I must have had a rock hit my windshield within the past few days, or the freezing and unfreezing of the windshield cracked it ... I just hope I can put off doing anything about it til January. I've had enough car stuff this month already.

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With payday this Thursday, I'll have my December budget flush. So then the next two paychecks will go straight to January -- which means I'll *finally* be back on the YNAB method -- i.e. living a month behind (with a one-month buffer.) With that accomplished, and if I can keep control of myself in spending (keep away from Amazon til you have giftcards to spend ... keep away ...)then I can start thinking about my 2012 goals. I've been thinking some on them, and will post soon with some of my thoughts -- maybe a little closer to 2012 though.

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I am close to earning my next $5 AGC from Swagbucks (will definitely have it after getting my birthday Swag on Thursday.) I am also within 400 points of cashing out again on Beezag ($8 cash.) I haven't been as consistent with either of them as I'd like -- probably will make that one of my goals. Free, easy money -- right?

I had a nice time at my mom's for Thanksgiving. It was a little weird being around her and her current bf (especially after she told me she is trying to get the courage up to leave him ...)

I attended two different churches on Saturday - the one I attended the prior two years, and the one I attended when I taught at my last school. On Wednesday afternoon I'd called my friend T and found out that her daughter was being baptized -- there was NO WAY I could miss that with being in TX!! My mom went with me - she wasn't so sure she wanted to, but in the end she was really glad she did.

I talked to one of the mom's whose son I tutored right before moving to NM. I'd helped him on a big summer time essay about mythology/greek Gods based on the Percy Jackson books. A subject I knew about as much as you can fit on the tip of a pin head. He got a 95% on it. His teachers were really impressed, and now this year are expecting much more out of him -- and he's meeting their expectations. Good for the ol' ego.

Towards the end of the day my mom and I went to see her former bf who wanted to give me some money towards books for school. He also gave us both a red rose with one of those water things on the end of the stem. We couldn't take them home, so were discussing whether to throw them away or not. I suggested finding a couple of women in a parking lot or something, and giving them the roses. Pretty much that is what we did - we stopped at a gas station and gave one to the attendant and one to a customer. It seemed to brighten both their days.

I shopped at Half-Price Books on Friday afternoon -- $175!! Mom's friend gave me $100. So ... after taking the money given to me off, I came under budget. Umm... yeah.

I updated YNAB tonight. Absolutely NO more buying books - unless I have a gift card. (I got a $50 Amazon card in the mail today from Mypoints, and a $5 Amazon gc from Swagbucks yesterday.)

I added up how much I've spent *just* in October and November on books for the library ... roughly $1000!!! Seriously cannot continue this way - I need to keep in mind my numerous savings goals.

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I still had a Target gift card from graduation which I hadn't spent. While I was at mom's, I got to use her nifty blender/food chopper. The one I have has been leaking. So I stopped by Target (heh - was about 8 miles out of my way)on the way home Sunday. I picked up a Ninga blender/food chopper and a combination food steamer/rice cooker plus a bunch of groceries.

I'm really hoping that I can cut down on my food expenses as well. I've been spending *way* too much on food. Lots of junkfood - not good for belt or wallet.

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This Saturday we are having a community Christmas dinner. Anyone in the community can come for a free hot meal (turkey, stuffing, potatoes, etc), clothing, blankets, and toys. It starts at 10:30, but people usually start lining up around 8 a.m.

Snow is predicted for both Friday and Saturday - but one way or the other, the dinner will proceed.

I had signed up to be a server, but today was asked if I'd like to be Mrs. Clause instead. The person who asked me said they thought I'd make a good one because of how I smile all the time and am so friendly and good with the little ones. It was funny when he was asking me what size costume I would need - he sounded so uncomfortable asking.

I think this should be fun.

I typed up a nice long post and forgot my typical advice to copy it to a clipboard before posting ... just in case. And of course I'd gotten logged out because in the middle of typing I got into a text convo, so it took awhile. So nice long post -- gone.

Short of it -- Long, busy week at school. End of first quarter, major hiccups with online grading program that computer tech person and I got to handle. Look to be worked out now. (cross fingers!) Parent teacher conferences on Tuesday - hope to finish book inventory and get started on processing new books. Must put a moratorium on my buying books for the library. MUST.

Co-worker who found out she was pregnant, miscarried last Thursday night. No support from family - taken to hospital by brother, then he left. I didn't find out til Monday morning.

Really missing my Texas church family. I do like my life here, my job, my home, etc. Just if we could transport my Lew****** church family to here ... then it would be perfect. If I wanted the stress of it ... I'd offer (make a strong suggestion) to be worship leader/coordinator. Today they mentioned Nov 5 is supposed to be "community church" day - where we invite coworkers/friends. HAH! I'd be seriously embarrassed right now to invite anyone. Not that they aren't good people - because they are good people. But they are seriously organizationally challenged. It makes it *really* difficult for me to talk myself into going to church each Sabbath - let alone invite someone who knows nothing about our church (other than what they might see in me.)

Last night before going to bed, I took one Vicodin at about ten p.m. My dad called me about ten minutes later and I was the definition of Loopy. I slept soundly til about 4 a.m. when the pain woke me up. I considered taking another one, but (thankfully) decided against it. I finally got up around 8 a.m. and was standing talking to JJ when I got *really* light headed and felt like I was going to faint or be sick. I sat down and JJ got me some water. The light headed/nauseous feeling didn't really subside til nearly 11 a.m. - just before I had to leave. Before I left I gave myself the "sobriety" tests - walking a straight line, touch fingers to nose, etc.

*knock on wood* but I didn't have any major pain attacks today! Tonight I even managed to eat food which required minimal chewing motions (refried beans and overcooked macaroni) -- but it was REAL food and not Ensure or Equate.

I'm feeling somewhat hopeful that this may have passed. Who knows if it is the allergy medicine or the antibiotics .. who really cares at this point. If it will just go away!!!

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One of my tutoring students texted me yesterday as I was almost home asking if we were tutoring on Wednesday (that day). I told her no, and that I was at least an hour away from her. She said she had a final essay due today (Thursday). I told her to email whatever she came up with, and I'd correct it. Never heard from her. She owes me $75. I'm not holding my breath on getting that from her.

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Tomorrow after I'm done tutoring one of my two remaining students, I plan to go over to the church school and start working on the Cum files and possibly the library. It's very, very sad. Unless a huge miracle happens (as in they double their student body before June 1 for next school year), the school will be closing its doors. One effect of this is that YA, the principal/main teacher's last contract day is May 31. The kids last day is May 27. YA has to have *everything* ready for the school closing on the 31st. If the school wasn't closing, she'd have until the 2nd or maybe 3rd.

I'm also planning on helping on Sunday afternoon after the Kindergarten graduation. Last year it took me 4 afternoons just to put the library back in order ... I don't know if I'll have that much time this year. Although after Thursday neither of my two remaining tutoring students will be using me ... so I could spend all day Friday helping - as well as Sunday and Monday. Maybe I can get my mom to come spend a day too ...

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My dad and grandma got an iPad2 a couple weeks ago. I was pretty impressed that they did that. Both my brother and I think it is funny that they were willing to try the iPad, but not the iPhone. The iPad is virtually a bigger iPhone w/o the phone capabilities. So far they seem to be liking it and getting the hang of it. His sister and her best friend will be staying at dad/grandma's in a few weeks - so I bet they will help them figure more out with it.

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I've been doing really badly tracking money lately - both income and expenses. I need to get back on the ball and do it. Especially since after next week there may not be much in the way of income. :*(

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I cashed out again for Beezag. Hopefully it'll come in the next few days. I'm almost 200 points away from finally cashing out at Zoombucks, and am waiting on the 4th card from Irazoo before ordering a 5th one. Yesterday I cashed out for my second AGC at Swagbucks in May. They're going MUCH slower now that I'm not on as much and only am doing videos when I have extra time.

This afternoon I went with my mom to see Water for Elephants to use up the two Groupons I bought a few months ago. It was simply fantastic. It is a movie I might want to own. Wow.

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Saturday after church while J and L and I were counting the money, I mentioned about the work at home job opportunity. After a little bit of discussion, we figured out that it is the same company that L is working for (as her second job) and that she knows the person who I had called on Thursday!! So I know that it isn't a scam, and I also have a pretty good in to the company.

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I still haven't heard from the oil and gas company my mom's now ex-bf works at. I'm honestly not all that worried anymore. Different job possibilities seem to be popping up all over the place ... eventually one of them will work out.

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I finished watching all the streaming episodes available for Secret Life of the American Teenager. Wow. It's one of those types of shows that are so bad you just can't stop watching it till it's over (or till you run out of streaming only episodes ...)

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Right now I have a 76% in my last class. I only need an 80% to graduate, and there still is at least one big assignment yet to be graded. I could practically just stop doing any work in it right now and have a B. But of course I won't do that.

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One of my teeth is bothering me. I'm hoping if I ignore it long enough that it will go away... really don't want to go to the dentist anytime soon.

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Weird weather we're having here. It was so windy last night the power went out 4 or 5 times for short spurts. The wind is picking up again right now, and it is dark and ominous. Buddy was very nervous with all the noises last night, and right now is getting nervous again.

We need the rain here, badly.

An old boyfriend of mine who I happened to run across on a dating website a few months ago messaged me on Facebook about a week ago wanting to make sure I was okay. He lives in PA and had heard about the wildfires sweeping TX, and especially the ones nearby Fort Worth. I thought that was really sweet of him, but told him that we couldn't even smell smoke in the air where we are. I'm hoping that the rain we've had the past few days have helped the fire situation.

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I got an email from Irazoo a few days ago with my $10 in Amazon Gift Cards. I'm a little over 1600 points on Zoombucks, so probably another 6 weeks or so to get my first card from there. (SLOW!) I only managed to redeem one $5 AGC from Swagbucks in April, but may get a second one - just need about 30 more points. I supposed I could sit down and do that with SwagTV if I really wanted to ...

Hi everyone. Sorry I've been missing in action for a bit here. I got busy doing a milion and one things... and then got sucked back into Netflix the past few days. Namely watching streaming episodes of The Secret Life of the Teenager - I'm up to number 20. I'd put my account on hold a few months back, and have to put it back off for a month so I don't lose my quee.

Anyway, one reason I wanted to check in here was to let any Beezaggers know that they seem to be running an Easter promotion starting today. When I logged on this a.m. there were two 250 point videos as well as several other ones.

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This morning I have an interview with a lady who may be able to direct a few more tutoring clients my way. I'd be getting paid less per hour than I am now, but it'd be worth it to not have to be the one looking for students! Especially this summer ...

Tomorrow I have an appointment with a life coach to work on interviewing skills. This is my moms graduation gift to me. Should be interesting, and I hope it turns out to be actually helpful - either in the short term or the long term.

No news yet on the oil and gas company my mom's friend works at. If anything happens, the wheels of a big company turn slowly.

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I am moving out on May 1. It isn't really what I want, but it is what it is. The lady's house I'm moving into is quite far from all my tutoring students - at least an hour in good traffic. So ... I'll be consolidating as much as possible, and getting the chance to listen to lots of audiobooks and maybe work on my Spanish a little.

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I hope to have time to catch up on everyone's blogs here soon. TTYL!

Wow, did I ever have a hard time getting going this morning ...

I had this assignment that is due tomorrow which I'd been putting off all week. I'd promised myself that I'd get it done today. Well ... I didn't actually get started on it til about 2 p.m. today. Luckily it didn't take long to do.

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I'd posted on a librarian listserve about wanting ideas on how to put together a good program with outdated resources and minimal funds. A couple people responded - but one of them sent me probably 20 different emails/resources. One of which was a link to a jobs website which I hadn't previously found.

Going through all those resources took a good bit of time - great stuff! Then of course I had to check out the jobs website.

There were quite a few jobs on there I hadn't seen before. One of them (which I sent an application for!) is a Catholic Mission School on a Navajo reservation in New Mexico. It is low pay, BUT it offers free housing and two free meals a day (although I probably wouldn't be able to eat most of it, being vegetarian ...) AND health insurance!! Better yet though, it would be a way of being a missionary right here in the US AND getting (paid!) experience. My family lived in Albuquerque when I was in elementary school, so I know a little bit about what the area is like.

I also applied for a courthouse researcher position on Craigslist - the hours are in the morning, so I could continue with the tutoring. One of the guys mom is dating works for a fairly good size oil and gas company and suggested I check their website for jobs - and that he'd put a good word in for me. I did, and there were two jobs that sounded quite similar to what I did before. So, I went ahead and applied to them as well.

Who knows if anything will come of any of this ... but it doesn't hurt to keep on trying.

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One of the things I did while procrastinating this morning was exploring this website I found out about through inbox dollars. Abcmouse.com

What a fantastic learning resource for kids age 2 - 7!! In fact, I'm thinking of signing up for it to use with my 5 year old I tutor.

It teaches the alphabet, phonics, music, shapes, numbers, and on and on. Currently they have it divided into three age levels (3-4;Pre-k,K) and each of those divided into skill levels. I was reading on their Facebook page that they are planning on expanding to higher grade levels.

I'd like to get this for the church school - they offer it free to public schools right now, but I need to see if they'd do the same for a private school.

For parents though, it is $7.95/mo or $79.99/yr for up to 3 children. It is really, really worth it though.

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I was going to use one of my groupons tonight that I bought a few months ago. It expires on the 30th. It is for a first-run movie at a Movie Tavern and a large popcorn. With the groupon dollars I had, I bought two of them for $2. I just couldn't get myself out the door to go and use it. Ugh!

I was thinking about maybe seeing The Lincoln Lawyer. Anyone see that one?

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I now have 7 people in my Beezag network! That is so cool! Beezag is such a fun way to earn a little extra money. So far I have cashed out a total of 4 times (the money is in my Paypal account!)

On the other hand, I will not be doing Sidetick anymore. They keep changing the rules on how you can earn money. I'm so glad I managed to get to my first cash out before all the changes!!

Yesterday I was able to redeem more of my Mypoints for a $25 Amazon gift card. That makes $50 in AGC from Mypoints this month (once they arrive of course!) I'm now down to a measly 471 points. So, I think it will be awhile before I can redeem again.

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I'm within 600 points of being able to redeem for my next $8 cash in Beezag. This March Madness deal (where all the videos are worth 250 points) has been fantastic!

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I've donated 770 Swagbucks so far this month to the Japan donation thing. I'm at 21 Swagbucks now. I'll wait till I get back up to 100 to donate again, or March 30. Whichever comes first.

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So I was supposed to pick up Buddy yesterday afternoon on my way back from my friends house. But when I called to find out if my mom wanted me to pick him up, she wasn't home yet. So today she calls me while I'm in my tutoring session and asks me if I can come pick him up because she was going to be gone from 1 pm to after 11 pm, and couldn't take him with her. So of course I said I would. I got there about 4:30. His leash was nowhere to be found. UGH! I texted her to find out where it was - and she didn't know where it was either.

When I took him out to the car, I had to improvise a leash - because when I set him down on the grass, he ran after another dog .... I found one of those tie down straps. Worked perfectly. A normally 30 minute trip took 1 1/2 hours thanks to traffic. Not fun!

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Mom's lease is up at the end of April. So she also today was asking me if she should get a two-bedroom apartment so I'd have a room to stay in. I told her I really had no idea at this point - I may need a place to stay, and I may not. Of course, considering how many responses I've received from my school librarian job apps ... more than likely I will need it.

So, I think she decided to go with the two bedroom, with the understanding that I'd be renting the "guest bedroom" from her and that it most likely would be temporary. She at first was wanting $300/mo for it - but when I asked if I could bring all my stuff from storage so that I could save that expense ... she agreed to $200/mo. If we decide to make it a more permanent arrangement, then she wants me to pay half. Half of what we didn't discuss ...

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I sent inquiries about a couple more jobs. One of them is similar to what Whitestripe has been doing. If it works out, I could do it for 15 - 25 hours a week at $10/hr +gas allowance. It is putting out fliers for a window washing company in various neighborhoods. I'd be doing a lot of walking - which is something that would be *very* good.

I figure I could do that from 8 - 11/12 every day, get home and shower, and then start my tutoring appointments at 1 or 2. That would put my income in the range of $1400 - 1600! I don't know what I'd do with all that money! Save as much as possible of course

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I bought some groceries today: $8.61 (yogurt, bananas, cheese)

So I have $11.49 remaining for March.

Last night I was reading through some of the postings on the Beezag Facebook wall, and I realized something. The reason I've been getting a lot of videos worth 250 points lately, is because they are doing a promotion -- March Madness - where ALL videos are worth 250 points!

If you are a Beezager already, this is the time to check daily for new videos. The points add up really fast when all videos are worth 250! If you've been on the fence about Beezag, really, now is a great time to start!

I've already cashed out two times since starting with them in December, and am over halfway to being able to cash out again! It is fun and easy. Just watch videos and then enter the two numbers that flash on the screen.

If you decide to sign up, and want to help me out, my referral link is under "Sites I Enjoy". Otherwise, you can just go to beezag.com or check with a number of other bloggers here who do Beezag for their links.

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Yesterday as I was driving to my evening tutoring appointment I was thinking about what I would do if I don't find a school library job soon (or at all.) I decided that maybe what I need to do is find a part-time W-2 job where I can make at least $600/mo steadily. That would give me enough steady income for a small studio apartment. Then, I would continue to tutor part-time. It wouldn't make me rich, but it would give me enough income to live on. I also then would not be *as* dependent on my tutoring income being steady. Right now I have at least 3 students who will most likely continue with me through the summer, and possibly 4 who would continue with me next year. So, this is a feasible idea.

In that vein, I started looking at Craigslist last night. Lo and behold, I came across a posting looking for an Administrative and Project Assistant for a small family-owned oil and gas company -- here, in my city! Where did I work for 3 years??? At a small family-owned oil and gas company in a nearby city!
While not a part-time job, and obviously not a school librarian job, it is something I know how to do, and did enjoy for the most part (at least when I was busy).

So I applied for it this morning. If miracles happen and I actually GET this job, then I plan to continue my tutoring in the evenings. I might lose one or two of my students, but I know at least three of them would be fine with evenings. I would be able to afford a small apartment, AND SOCK the money away!!
Even better, this company works on a 9/80 work week. From what I've been able to research about this, it may mean that I'd have every other Friday off! I could use those Friday's to volunteer at my local church school's library - especially since I wouldn't have to worry so much about gas money.

I'd be one busy person, but I'd also be very happy because I'd have benefits again, I'd be rebuilding my savings and restarting my retirement, AND I'd have time to volunteer using my degree!

I may totally be getting ahead of myself here, because I may never even hear back from them. They probably have been inundated with resumes. But ... it is nice to dream a little.

I am planning on calling my former company and see if they know which company this is, and if so, if they can put in a word or two for me. (It was a blind ad on Craigslist, no company name listed.)

Prayers please - if this is right for me ....!

My 1,650 points for making 3 "purchases" (all were from gift cards) through MyPoints finally credited today. Thankfully they didn't credit as "pending." So I debated about redeeming for a $25 Amazon, Walmart or Paypal gift card. The AGC was the cheapest (in points) and since that is where the vast chunk of my extra income money is located, I figured I should stick with that route.

I have enough points left for another $25 Amazon card, but 2,700 of them are "pending." So, by the end of March I'll be able to redeem another card.

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I'm almost up to 4,000 points on Beezag. If this keeps up, I may be able to do a second cash out in March - way cool! There have been a lot of 250 point videos, along with the sweepstakes videos recently. Very nice.

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So far in March I have cashed out and/or received:
$25 Paypal - from Sidetick.com
$5 Amazon - from Irazoo.com
$8 Paypal - from Beezag
$20 Amazon - from Swagbucks (received)
$5 Amazon - from Swagbucks (waiting)
$10 Amazon - Irazoo (waiting)
$25 Amazon - Mypoints (waiting)

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I have almost enough Swagbucks for my first card in April, but if they open up a charity option again (for Japan) I will probably donate most, if not all of what I have right now. The last time they had the charity thing, someone donated all the Swagbucks they made through Swagbucks TV. Maybe what I could do is donate all the swagbucks I make through the little videos on the various walls.

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I really need to stop going to CNN. Some of those videos are just ... heartbreaking. I may think sometimes that I have it bad, but at least (for now anyway) I have plenty offood to eat and clean water to drink, a roof over my head, my family is all alive and I know where they are, and I have more stuff than I really need (even after unloading a lot of it in the last couple moves.)

Beezag took less than a week to hit my Paypal account with $8! Sweet! My second cash out since December. Such an easy and fun way to earn money - watching videos.

I also *finally* received my $25.00 from sidetick. I requested payment over a month ago. I'm trying to decide if it is worth it or not to keep doing this site. All I have to do to earn .50/day is comment on a blog post. The problem is that sometimes the blogs aren't posted til after ten a.m. I try to get most of my paid to do stuff sites out of the way between 8 and 9 a.m. So this means I have to remember to go to this site later during the day. Still though, for something that takes maybe 5 minutes a day ... I'm leaning more towards going back and continuing to do it now that I *finally* got paid!

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I recently found the website pixelofink. So far I have downloaded ten free ebooks onto my iPhone. I don't think I'll ever run out of reading material (although most of them I wouldn't say are exactly ... quality).

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I like what SB's has done with their tv! It is now part of the toolbar, so you can surf the internet while the videos are playing. Such as right now, I have the videos playing off the toolbar. So instead of typing this on my iPhone and having numerous mistakes, I can type it on my full keyboard and have a few less mistakes.

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I'm trying to complete an application for a PA school library job. One thing they want is your fingerprints. There is no protocol for out of state applicants. I'm hoping I can just go somewhere here locally and they'll forward on my fingerprints. I wish BA was around, he'd be able to tell me (he was a police officer at one time, if I remember correctly.)

Filling out all these applications is so frustrating. There is a system called REAP which supposedly is the *one* application you fill out for numerous states. But after spending 3 1/2 hours filling it out (including writing 10 Professional Statements and an essay!) you see what jobs are available. I selected several ... only to find out that they want you to go to their districts website and ... fill out another application!!! Argh!!!

So far I have actually completed and submitted two applications - one for Missouri, and one for MA. I started one for PA and another one for South Carolina.

My dad is miffed that I haven't filled out any applications for CA, or nearby. Unfortunately, there are NO school library jobs IN California (unless you want a library clerk job ... expecting you to do the job of a certified librarian for half the pay.) Nor have I even seen any openings for WA, or OR, etc.

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So my confidence level right now is pretty low. All three of my "parents" (mom, dad, ex-stepdad) seem to have assumed that I'm not going to find a job by May.{sarcasm}
This is really helpful to me, seeing as how I myself am really worried about finding a school library job.{/end sarcasm}

My exstepdad seems to think that I should be applying for any and all jobs right now, and not focus on just school library jobs. I hate to give up on that ... but then again, what if there is a job right now that I can get, and I never can get a school library job (or at least not one for next year?)

How long do I wait to give up looking for what I really want (or at least focusing on it) and branch out to look for anything and everything?

My mom is talking with another tutor about having some kind of a summer school program, and including me as the technology person. This would be good for me, even if I *did* end up getting a librarian job, because I still would need some income before August. I also have several students who've already asked if I will keep working with them through the summer.

I really don't know what to do. One way or the other I will have to have another place to live by the middle or end of May. If ex-stepdads fiance had her way, I'd be OUT now. Considering my income (especially come summer, unless this summer school thing actually works) I will barely be able to afford the $200/month I'm paying now for rent. So my only option would be to bunk with my mom in her apt. That would not last very long very well. The other option would be to move out to CA and rent a room at my dad/grandma's. Of course, by doing that I would then have no way of knowing how I'd bring in any income, and it would be a lot of expense to move out there which may make it more difficult to move somewhere else where there is a job.

Please tell me if I'm being bull headed about this. It is a problem I know I have, being narrowly-minded focused on a goal and not seeing the big picture. The other thing I know is that I need to get more aggressive about looking for school library jobs and getting the applications filled out. It's just that every application (for each state) I fill out sends all my references an email ... I'd imagine that gets quite annoying to those references!

Also, I feel like I've committed to my current tutoring students through the end of May. Some of them would be fine if I wasn't working with them ... a couple of them need every bit of help I give them plus some. So, looking for just a job, any job, which may start before May, really doesn't appeal.

Sorry, I've been all over the place. That's kind of where my head is too -- all over the place. If you managed to follow all this and have any words of wisdom, I'd appreciate it!

Yesterday I received my $5 Amazon gift card from Irazoo that I ordered on 1/17. Took a little while ... I am 1,000 away from having enough to order two more, so am going to wait until then.

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I can't quite do a no spending month in March, but I would like to attempt a minimum spending month.

The two main spending times I foresee are a spring break trip to Houston - only cost gas and snacks most likely .. and a celebration dinner (hopefully!) when I get the Capstone results.

So ... these are my goals (with the above exceptions):

1. No more than $15/week on groceries (not including reimbursable type items for SS or tutoring materials)

2. No more than one fast food stop (plan ahead!)

3. No spending money to "make" money

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I need to call my friend in Houston and make sure the dates I can come down are good for her and her family. I haven't seen her since her 7 year old son was 8 months old. My SD is going to be gone the first half of SB, so I'll have to go the second half. I may see if my SS asst. will do class for me that Sabbath.

i got an email on Tuesday telling me that someone had purchased a groupon through my referral link. So that meant I had a $10 credit. . Then Wednesday morning I had an email for a groupon for a local movie/dinner theater - ticket + lg popcorn for $6. So I went through Swagbucks and bought two. Total cost - $2! Plus got 315 Swag. I was going to tell SD about it, but it sold out! So now I can go to a first run movie for less than the dollar theater!!

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I am only 2 1/2 parts done with my Capstone essays. I can't even begin to say how stressful this week has been. I am so thankful it is Friday night and I can take a guilt free break till Sat night. (my Sabbath is from Fri sundown to Sat sundown$.

Yesterday I received the $5 in Paypal money I'd redeemed on Swagbucks, and tonight I received the $25 in Amazon Gift Cards I'd also redeemed on Swagbucks. So I've now earned $205 since late October through Swagbucks! Nice!

This morning I also finally reached the cash out amount of $25 for Sidetick. All I do on that site is open one email on their site every day and post a comment on the daily blog. That earns me $.50/day. The verification email says it will take up to 15 days to receive it. The clock is ticking!!

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Yesterday I had a full day of tutoring! Yay! One of the two boys I normally tutor on Wednesday afternoons had a bunch of makeup work from being out with asthma, and then again with flu. So his mom asked me to come back again today. Normally I won't do Friday after 4 pm tutoring, but since the sun wasn't setting til after 6, I decided to go ahead and do it.

I also will be tutoring the Junior student on Sunday morning for a couple hours. He's decided that he wants to test out on a course he'd taken via correspondence but failed. So we'll be studying for the test over the next 4 or 5 Sundays.

My income for February will still be quite bleak, but not quite as bleak as I was fearing.

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Tonight I was on FB and the husband of one of my good friends whom I haven't been in contact with since mid-September messaged me. It wasn't really to say hi or to connect back with me, but to tell me about a business opportunity. I'm mighty skeptical, but I really don't think he'd take me down a bad path. I told him I can't really think too much about it right now, but after the 20th when I'm done with Capstone, I may have time to look into it. It's something about tax-free income and retirement ...

I told him that the first thing that comes to my mind when I see "tax-free" income is SCAM. So he then tells me that he did his due diligence on this whole thing and truly believes its legit. Will have to see it for myself I guess.

I finally did the deed of putting Netflix on hold yesterday. It would have charged me for another month today. I felt really conflicted about it because I do get so much use out of it - not just personal use, but use as a tutoring tool as well. (At least twice I used it with one tutoring student to watch television programs for an assignment.)

But I got to looking at my money situation again - especially considering that in February I'm going to be WAY short on tutoring income thanks to illness of students and weather - and my heart started pounding faster. Not that $10/month is really going to make that much difference ... but it is something.

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One of the things that had me worried is that my scholarship money had not credited yet - and the uni site was not showing account information. Thankfully late yesterday evening I got an email telling me that my scholarship had credited, and my account was paid in full.

I was seriously contemplating taking money out of my ROTH. I may still have to end up doing that ... but I'm going to wait till I'm down to my last $500. Gulp.

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I'm thinking that from now on I'm going to be getting paypal credits for Swagbucks instead of the Amazon cards. If my computer starts really getting finicky, I probably can give it more life with a reformat. I had to do that a few years ago, and it perked it up.

I can't do paypal for all the sites I work on, but for those I do, I think cash probably would be better than Amazon credits right now. Although I can use the AGC for quinoa/lentils, etc.

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School was canceled once again today. Mom called me and told me the roads were fine and she doesn't understand why the schools were closed. She talked me into doing my tutoring with the family we do together - just a few hours earlier than normal on a Wednesday. I hope she's right. I really could use that $50.

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I'm doing awful on the 100 day challenge - to put it mildly. Sigh.

This is my monthly update on what extra money I make via websites, selling things, etc. My goal is to earn $800 by Nov 11 and use that for a new computer (at least part of it).

Swagbucks -
$25 in Amazon Gift cards
Cashed in for a $50 about a week ago, and have enough Swagbucks for my February $25.

Beezag -
Received $8 cash.
Have almost 3,000 points towards next cashout.

Mypoints -
Received $50 Amazon Gift card. Have nearly 3000 points towards next goal.

Inbox Dollars - at $10.29 Need another $15 for cashout.

Sidetick - At $20. Need $5 for cashout

Irazoo - cashed out for $5 Amazon Gift Card. Need 1500 more points for next card.

Zoombucks - SLOW going. Have 619 points of 2000 needed for first cashout ($20 Amazon Gift card)

Half -
Sold two textbooks
Profit of about $77

Hmm ... I think that's it. I decided to drop several sites I was doing.

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This weekend was my certification test. I don't think I did very well. There were several areas that had not been covered in classes or any practice materials. Oh well, if I have to take it again I now know what areas to study.

I stayed at a hotel that was five minutes away. That was awesome. What was not awesome though was leaving my iPhone headphones there.

I replaced them today for $33.
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It sounds like the bad weather has started. I wonder how much snow we'll get?

right now I'm on video number 20! Check and see if you have it too. Some people reported up to 31 videos! Easy peasy swagbucks.

Will return to do a post on Ceejays thought.

This afternoon I got a lovely email letting me know that my $8 from Beezag had been deposited in my account. I checked it out, and wala, there it was!

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Right now I'm still waiting on my $50 Amazon card from Mypoints and Swagbucks, and a $5 Amazon card from irazoo.

I'll do a summary post probably on Monday for all my extra money earnings for January.

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Remember the hassle I went through with getting my Driver's License renewed in December? Well, as of yesterday (Day #46) it had still not shown up. My temporary was to expire on the 29th. I had started to get quite worried, because I didn't really relish the idea of driving around with an expired license! Thankfully it showed up in today's mail. Whew!

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I told my mom about my 100 day challenge idea last night. She decided to run with it ... her goal is going to be doing 15 minutes or more of some form of exercise everyday. She already started on it today - go Mom!

As of now it is just three days until I take my certification test to be a school librarian. The closer it gets the more nervous I become. All I have to get is an 80 - but judging from some of the questions on the practice tests, some of the questions will come from out of the left field.

All I can do is prepare as much as I can, get a good nights sleep, and then do my best!

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Today I took a deep breath and redeemed 5900 Swagbucks for a $50 Amazon gift code. That leaves me with 1800+ SB's. I'll need to earn another 450 SBs to have enough for my February 5 $5 cards.

I bought a deal off of Living Social - $50 for a haircut and highlights at a nice salon here in the DFW area. It's good till the end of July. Considering the fact that my haircut/highlights in CA (Christmas gift) cost $110+ tip at a Fantastic Sams .... My stepdad forgave me January's rent for my birthday/Christmas gift, and wants me to use it for interviewing expenses. That's what this will be for - keeping my hairstyle/highlights looking professional. I'll probably use it near the end of March, or perhaps a little earlier depending on when I have interviews/state of my hair.

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I'm thinking about starting a 100 day challenge beginning on Sunday, January 31 and ending on Sunday May 8. The challenge will involve one - two goals you want to set, along with any exceptions (up to 3 total. ) For example, one goal might be not buying any sweets. An exception might be that you can buy brown sugar to use in your oatmeal. Points would be counted as 1 per day where the challenge is met. If you do two goals, then it would be .5 point per day per goal. Maybe have anyone participating report in by Monday 8 a.m each week. We could have three places - Gold (90 - 100 points); Silver (80-89) and Bronze (70 - 79.)

So ... does this sound like something anyone might like to participate in? Any suggestions?

This weekend

Beezag is doing a special where every video is worth 500 points! I just needed 2000 more points to do my first cash out, and cashed out a few minutes ago. I had it sent to my paypal account - it says it should take about a week. $8 here I come!

*Full disclosure: The Beezag link is my referral link. If you'd prefer to check it out and sign up some other way, just go to beezag . com. Beezag is a site where your view short videos and input two numbers that are flashed during the video. 8000 points equals $8.00.

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This morning I went to a baby shower. I wasn't really all that thrilled about going because 1. it meant I had to buy a gift; 2. I had been planning on doing an intensive day of school work and preparing for my certification test, and 3. it meant I had to drive to the church a second day in a row (45 minutes one way.)

I bought a box of wipes, a 4-pk of baby washcloths, and a 6-9 mo onesie for a total of $10. This is actually this particular mom's second baby girl, but she tragically lost the first one to SIDS about 18 months ago at about 3 months old.

I'm glad I went, even though it turned out that it was part Women's Ministry meeting and part baby shower. I left after the opening of gifts and the first two games - I'd been there two-hours already.

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I'm currently reading "Don't Blink" a murder mystery by James Patterson. It's due at the library tomorrow ... so far I think it is one of Patterson's better ones. Although I usually enjoy his books.

While I was waiting for my Junior tutoring student today, I got two email messages letting me know I had sold both of the textbooks I'd put up on half . com! That'll be roughly $80 towards my extra funds goal when the money is transferred. Nice!

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This morning I finally made it up to the student health center. After I got up there I found out that since I wasn't going during one of the "lab specials" time period, that I *had* to see the doctor first! Miracle of miracles, I was able to get an appointment right away. I told the doctor I'd been out for four days, so she just went ahead and wrote me a prescription for two months. That way I can come back and have the blood work done during a lab special. Even better, when I went to checkout, I didn't have to pay anything! I thought I was going to have to pay a $15 copay ... but there was no charge!

I'm glad to finally have this at least partially taken care of, so inexpensively.

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Today in the mail I received my box of books from Barnes & Nobles. My brother gave me a $25 gift card for my birthday - I bought 5 books with it. Gotta love them sales!

I also received a package from my dad and grandma. They were walking around Macy's last week waiting for something, and found two tops that "had my name on them." I really like one of them, but am not too sure about the other one. Still, that was pretty sweet of them.

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My new class started this morning. Whoo boy! It sure looks like it is going to be a doozie of a class for 3 credits.

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My procrastination in getting gas yesterday cost me $.13/gallon. After finishing at the health center, I was completely out of gas. Gas cost $2.95/gallon. I could have gotten it at Walmart for $2.82/gallon.
Hopefully, lesson learned.

This afternoon I went to the dollar theater with the lady I help count money at church. We went to see Burlesque (excellent!). I was telling her about my adventures with my mom yesterday attempting to see Social Experiment ... when the movie stopped! It had just finished the previews and was doing the screen asking you to silence your phones. We sat there for at least five minutes and the screen didn't move. Finally, I got up and told one of the workers. As I was coming back in, a couple other people were getting up to do the same thing. A few minutes later our movie started - thankfully perfect sound quality!

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I just realized that today is my Blogaversary! Six years! Wow!! When I met up with MonkeyMama in CA, we talked a little about some of the SA bloggers we've seen come and go, and those we'd so love to meet for different reasons. (It would be so great to have a whole SA bloggers get together some day!)

I don't think there's very many people still blogging here that were around when I started. Miclason was here ... Ima I think started a little after I did ... I'm not really sure who else! (Could be my Swiss Cheese Memory at work here.)

Of course, Jeffrey and Nate were around back then The blogs and the site have definitely evolved in the passing years.

I for one am very thankful that I stumbled across SA, where I have found such a wonderfully caring group of people.
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I'm considering doing something that may or may not be fruitful or smart. I am considering joining Match . Com for one month as kind of an experiment. My profile headline would be something like "Busy Graduate Student Wants a Break from Studies." I'd be point blank blunt about what I want (friendship/fun) and what I don't want (fwb!). Since I very well may be moving in the next six months, I'm not interested in a relationship ... unless of course I met someone who was completely over the top right for me.

I'd also include my definition of respect: When I say that I don't drink, smoke, eat meat, etc., respect means that you accept that and don't try to "change my mind" or "trick" me into it. I'd also be blunt about the fact that I can't afford to pay for anything more expensive than Taco Bell and the dollar theater. So, if they want to do free or inexpensive activities (like hiking/picnics,playing board games, watching videos, or hey, come help me out at Sabbath School) - great! If they want to do things like musicals, first-run movies, plays, rollercoasters! etc., -- great! as long as they're treating me with the only expectation/reward being the pleasure of my company. And more along those lines.

I'm curious if I were to post a profile like that, how many responses would I get, and if I got any, how many of them would have actually read and comprehended AND understood what I'm saying ... and then still contact me?

Most likely would be a waste of time and breath ... Maybe if I was 140lbs one or two might bite (but then even less likely that they'd read the profile ... )

--- My mom has a profile on Match, and she told me that she has an income criterion of $150k/yr+. She has at least 6 guys she's corresponding with right now.

When I was in college, I met a wonderful man on Match who I ended up dating for about a year. My longest relationship. (Sad, I know for a 35 year old.) So I do know that there are possibly quality men on these sites. But my mom's ability as a multiple-divorcee to attract the interest of these supposedly well-off men, makes me wonder ...

I'm at the age where I realize I'm probably not going to have a flesh and blood child. I'm not totally okay with that idea yet, but the realization has also made me think ... why the hey not - put on a profile what you really think and want. If someone actually reads, comprehends and understands it AND contacts you ... he may be someone you actually want to get to know better. If not, oh well. Keep on living life like always.

Well, I'll probably not do it for real. Just some of the thought processes going through my head tonight stuck in traffic coming back from the movie. See, it's dangerous to have no radio in your car (especially if your phone is about dead, so you can't play music from it either!)

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On a completely different note.

I downloaded two new aps last night on my phone - one for Ebay, and one for Half-com. I then preceded to list two of my textbooks on Half, using the nifty barcode scanner, and an unused gift card I'd redeemed from Mypoints a few years ago (I think I'd meant it to be a gift for my brother's then wife ...) was put up on Ebay.

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The school health center wasn't open today. So I'm going to have to go in the morning. I really can't keep putting this off. I wish I could've done it today, because tomorrow is going to be hectic trying to get everything done.

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I figured out how to use the scholarship money today. It had been sitting in my refund account since October because I couldn't figure out how to transfer it to ING. I didn't want to have to withdraw sums of money over several days from an ATM. So I figured out today that I could link the account on the Chase CC website to pay the CC! Perfect! So I went ahead and paid my balance three weeks early.

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Tomorrow is the first day of the new semester. I'm curious and nervous about what all this one class I'm taking will entail. I'm just SO glad its the LAST class!

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Something else I'm considering is getting a hotel room the night before my certification test near the test site. From where I live, it would be about a 40 minute drive - which is not bad, but it could be an extra 40 minutes of sleep ... The test is at 8:00 a.m., and I have to be there by 7:30. So I'd have to leave the house by 6:30 a.m. Whereas if I got a hotel 5 minutes away ... I've already posted to see if there's anyone who might be willing to split a hotel room.

When I logged in to my MyPoints account today, there was a popup saying that I was preapproved for a MyPoints Visa card!! I had a MP Visa when Washington Mutual was still solvent, and earned many, many gift cards that way. (thanks mostly to being able to put my rent on my card each month - paid off in full each month of course!) So now, I don't have the opportunity to put a large amount on it each month, but it still will be much more lucrative than either Chase or Citi rewards points. This quarter Chase is doing the extra rewards for groceries and convenience stores - which is similar to Citi and MP - except Citi is also fast food. So for this quarter at least, Citi will be in my wallet all the time, and Chase for two weeks, then (once it gets here) MP for two weeks. Spread the love. --- I may end up canceling Citi actually. I'm having a difficult time figuring out how to get an acceptable copy of my grades - it'd be worth 2000 points for this past semester (and hopefully this coming semester as well ...) And the grade rewards points is one of the big reasons I went ahead with this card ... (plus the 25 rewards points for paying on time :roll eyes
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My 5th Amazon card came in from Swagbucks today. So I'm now up to $75 in my Amazon account. I also have enough Swagbucks for my 5 cards in February, and 3 in March (close to the 4th one.)

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This is a true 4-day holiday for me this weekend. I'm not even losing tutoring money! How does that work?? Well ... I worked with my one student this past Sunday, which will count towards tomorrow's normal session. Then today, I worked with him an extra two-hours which will count towards our normal Monday session. Extra work this past week, but makes for a nice PAID break.

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Tuesday night I got a phone call - blast from the past. Guy I dated for about five months or so back in 2008. I hadn't heard from him in about eight months, give or take. He wanted me to come over to his place and "hang out." He was of course "in-between" relationships and was lonely. I told him that I wasn't interested. He asked me if I'd been on any dates lately. I laughed and told him "where exactly would I meet anyone?? -- church? with maybe 300 members where I spend half my time there in a sabbath school classroom or in a back room counting money ... my various tutoring jobs??? maybe at the main school I tutor at, but not very likely ... grocery store/gas stations/library ... been "hit on" at those places, but not by people I'd even consider giving my number to ... so he asked me why didn't I try online dating sites ... LOL! sure, where can I have a free profile and respond to people for free, and have people who actually read the profile information to see if it matches them AND are honest in ALL their responses?
(and no, I didn't say all that to him)