Today I had my first tutoring session with Korean boy for the new year. We didn't really do any tutoring - just went around and met his teachers, exchanged email addresses, and then I followed Ms. G home (where we'll be doing our sessions.) By that time it was about 5 p.m. So ... $125.

Ms. G asked me if I'd be willing to work with her daughter a couple nights a week on Algebra 2 after finishing with Korean boy. (Korean boy, along with three other Korean students are staying with Ms. G.) After making sure she understood that I'd probably have to be refreshing my memory at the same time ... I said I'd charge just $15/hr instead of the $25, which she felt was fair. The library has a TON of Algebra learning books which I will be acquiring for myself shortly. An extra $30/week is worth it.

We had the one of the hottest days so far today -- 108 degrees. But we also just had a short thunderstorm - hopefully that cooled things down a bit.

Tomorrow I'll be depositing:

$125 - Korean tutoring money
$25 - Last week 6th grade boy tutoring
$20 - cash from mom for gas for her car
$89.89 - Primary SS reimbursement

My bank account is going to stroke out having that much money go in there at once.

Yesterday I met my mom's "friend". He's nice and all ...

I stayed with them, and then this morning took them to the airport. They're going to FL and then to Detroit. I get to drive my mom's car while they're gone -- soooo nice to listen to the radio again while I drive. Oh, not to mention ... cruise control! It's going to be hard going back to my car ....

On Friday I met with the Korean boy I tutored last year. At the end of the year I was under the impression that his parents wanted to cut back the number of sessions, and wanted a reduced price. So, I was going in there prepared to offer a lower price for 4 days a week. Thankfully they seem to have changed their mind!! 5 days a week at the same rate as last year.

However, his schedule doesn't offer an 1 1/2 hour block this semester. So, three days a week I'll be picking him up from school and going to his house. The other two days we'll be working through his lunch period and study hall. We had to do it this way due to my already having another student one afternoon a week, and not wanting to tutor on Friday afternoons.

He was diagnosed with Narcolepsy in Korea, and now takes a pill. He says that it has made a HUGE difference. I'm actually looking forward to working with him without the struggle to keep him awake and focused.

On Thursday this week I'll be meeting with two of my mom's tutoring students who may become mine.

So, I may possibly have 4 tutoring students on a regular basis this semester. Perhaps 5 -- if the student I meet with on Wednesday afternoons finds someone else who'd like me to work with them on the same afternoon (I offered a discount for both parents if they found someone for the same afternoon). That will make my schedule completely full. Due to taking 9 hours of graduate classes + completing the practicum requirements (and the classes all seem to have multiple research papers and other large projects) I don't think I could handle more and keep my grades to the level I expect of myself.

Classes start on Thursday, so I'll know more about what I have ahead of me over the next few months.

I mentioned previously that I upgraded to the lowest level of Netflix unlimited service. (Previously I was grandfathered in to the 1 disc/2x month plan.) Gotta say that I am loving it! I have been making much use of the streaming video (so has my stepdad - via the Wii). Anytime I think about maybe wanting to go see a movie in the theater - even at the $1 theater, I just remind myself that I already have an arsenal of movies at my service - and there are a TON that I haven't seen yet.

The best one so far I've seen recently was "Up." It was just so adorable! I'm thinking of seeing "The Boy with the Striped Pajamas" ... but am wanting to make sure I see it when I'm feeling good....

For the most part I am really enjoying teaching Sabbath School (same thing as Sunday School, just on Saturday). The one most irksome thing is never knowing exactly how many are going to be there - and the second most irksome thing is kids arriving at all different times - some even with 20 minutes left. For example, last week we had 8 kids. The most so far, and two of our regulars were missing. So, this week I was prepared for ten, but had materials enough for 12. We had 5 show up.

Oh well. The kids that do come regularly seem to really enjoy class -- I've had a number of the parents tell me that their child loves it. The ones that come regularly are also starting to get more into the song service part. At first I think they weren't sure about it - because the people who taught a combined Primary/Juniors class didn't do song service ... Two of the girls love the song "When He Cometh" almost as much as I do. And yesterday one of the children observed that most of the songs in our handmade songbook (thanks to not being able to afford multiple copies of the real songbook) have some kind of motions to go with them. That was totally on purpose. (It currently has 16 songs in it -- but I'll be adding a few more this week. One that one of the students requested yesterday, but I wasn't sure on the words. I'm using book rings to hold them together so it's easy to add new songs.)

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Oh, almost forgot!

I posted three more textbooks on half.com last week, and two of them sold within an hour of my posting them!!

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On Tuesday I have a dentist appointment for a cleaning, exam and x-rays. I have the feeling that I'll be quickly making an appointment for a crown -- the one tooth has been really bothering me lately. I wish I didn't have to repay for the x-rays, but the dentist I went to previously only did half my mouth, and that was quite a while ago, so the situation may have changed/worsened since then.

This morning I told B that tomorrow would be my last day doing the Craigslist postings. What I told him was that with school starting up next week (for the high-school boy I tutor) I wanted to be sure to NOT be tired when working with him. (he's the one with narcolepsy - if he's falling asleep, and I'm nodding off ... not good!) But the really truly reason is that I just am not at all comfortable with what he was asking me to do. It wasn't anything illegal, just not very ethical. He really is a nice person, and I know that what he was having me do was just a way of trying to drum up business ... but money or no money, I couldn't keep doing it and feel right.

This afternoon I had my first appointment with a tutoring student who came about because of the flier's I left at the high-school last May. Really sweet kid. I'll be working with him mostly on writing process and some on grammar. Getting him better at doing timed essay writing's is really the main thing his mom wants me to focus on.

On arriving home, I checked my email and found out that I had made another sale at half.com. The last of the six textbooks I had posted on there in April. I was really somewhat surprised that it sold, because it was an older edition than the required textbook for the course. Nonetheless, I am quite pleased. Now the only textbooks I have are for my summer class and Fall classes. Which reminds me, I should list my summer class text.

I decided to bump up my Netflix subscription to the current basic plan. Previously, I had still been grandfathered in to the $4.99/mo plan 1 disc 2x month. What finally convinced me to go the few dollars extra a month, was the Starz Channel. Besides the normal streaming videos/tv programs, the Starz Channel has a number of fairly recent movies. Including "Letters to God" which I was number 89 on the wait list at the library for, and was not available as a DVD on Netflix itself. I could have purchased it for $15 at Mardel's ...

So, like I said, I upgraded to the very basic unlimited 1 at a time plan. That also meant I could get the Wii Disc to stream the movies onto the TV where the Wii is hooked up. I received that disc today (free) and have it set up. Very cool.

Last night I ate at Ci Ci's Pizza with my sign language class. Our instructor had invited two of the Deaf members. Wow! Was I ever rusty??!! I was trying to sign "My brother went skydiving this morning" and I couldn't remember the sign for brother! (And yes, my ever loving brother DID go skydiving on Tuesday ... in Las Vegas. He and a friend flew to Vegas Tuesday morning, skydived, then flew back to CA Wed. morning.)

Our instructor is having knee surgery on Monday, but is planning on starting an intermediate sign language class in late October or early November. That means I need to refresh my sign language knowledge quite a bit. I hope I'll have time to go by then ... will just have to make sure I do!

Buddy had his fourth set of shots on Tuesday. At first (before I left to go to the SL mtg) it wasn't affecting him too much. But then by the time I got home, he was a zombie. My mom had come by to sit with him while stepdad went to a meeting. She, and my stepdad, both tried to take him outside to do his business and he just sat there. Then he yipped when they tried to pick him up. When I got home I was able to pick him up (without yipping) and got him to do his business outside. Lovely little command word "Hurry Hurry!" He was pretty much zonked though till about 6 a.m. this morning. But when he woke up, he had all his usual vim and vigor back, plus a bit extra.

I ran through a full tank of gas in less than a week. The two extra trips to L**********e probably didn't help any. (One was helping the school's principal/teacher get ready for school, and the other was the sign language meeting.) I have another trip to L planned tomorrow to help the principal/teacher, and then hopefully my gas usage will go down to a more normal amount.

Starting with the good:

1. This morning before I had even finished my shift, one of the ads posted resulted in a phone call (possible sale!).

2. I got paid for yesterday and today. First income since May!

3. I sold another textbook on half.com!

4. I was watching one of the It's Me or the Dog episodes tonight where Victoria teaches the command "stop" to these 3 Maltese dogs when they start barking. I thought that was a great idea, because Buddy has taken to barking at phantoms since mom and stepdad have been gone. So I managed to teach him that cue. It's actually kind of cute -- he'll do a kind of quiet gruff, gruff, then turn his head towards me to see if I'm watching. I don't mind him doing the quiet gruff gruff, or even one or two short barks - it's just the constant barking I don't want him to get in the habit of.

Not so good:

Going down the stairs while holding Buddy (I do this when he seems desperate to go outside, otherwise there's a good chance of an accident happening on the stairs), I slipped *again*! Thankfully I didn't land squarely on my tailbone, but I sure got a good bounce and shake. Thankfully also I didn't lose my hold on Buddy and drop him.

Unfortunately it seems as though my back (and my left ankle) are saying "enough abuse already!" I was just about healed up from being knocked down by that dog last week. Now my back is NOT feeling good at all. And my ankle is not feeling all that great either.

UGH!!

* I received another scholarship! This one is one that is possible to renew for the spring semester!

* We now have the Bitter Apple spray which seems to be helping Buddy stop chewing on his leash. Yay!

* Buddy has now learned: sit, down, shake, sit pretty, take it, drop it, and is getting there with spot (go to your spot) and leave it. I also think he hasn't had a potty accident since Friday (which was my fault for not taking him out in a timely manner).

* I have a number of clicker training books on hold at the library - two of them are already in transit. I also put all the DVDs of Patricia McConnell on Interlibrary Loan. No idea when they'll come in. (Of note - This is the first time I've ever actually used ILL for myself. Ever. I'd used it before for my boss at the oil and gas company, but not for me.)

* Saturday I had the wonderful pleasure of celebrating the baptism of my good friends son. I've known him since he was just a few days old. I cared for him during the first two "false labors" and the final real event of his little sister coming into the world. He is a quality young man who as of tomorrow will turn 10. His extremely high IQ was showing through the examples the pastor was using of analogies he (the 10 yo) had come up with regarding life as a Christian. For example, he likened the need for us to read the Bible, pray, etc. to practicing soccer. Both are ways to get ready for the "end" game. He had a couple other analogies too which were really spot on.

* I am finally getting faster at my barefoot running. For the longest time it was taking me 30 minutes+ to complete 1.5 miles -- although most of it was done walking. On Thursday I completed the 1.5 miles in 24 minutes! (Still not very fast, I know. But I'm regaining ground I lost from not running for a while.)

* Tuesday Buddy goes for his next round of shots. That'll have him protected enough for me to take him out on a "real" walk. I've been practicing loose leash walking in the house with him, but it will be a real test on Wednesday morning when we go out in the "world". I'll have the clicker and a bag of goodies with me.

* My mom and stepdad are leaving on Wednesday for ten days. They're going on an Alaskan cruise. A long held dream of my moms. I get the house to myself for ten whole days! Something that hasn't happened since I moved out of my apartment last August!

* Only a bit more than two weeks left of my summer class. Then only 4 classes to go! Hopefully I can hold on to my current GPA.

* Mom gained 3 new tutoring students, so she is completely full. If she gets any more, she's going to refer them on to me. She keeps telling me that the way to get them is to "get out there". But the way she "gets out there" is getting her hair done, or her nails done, or going clothes shopping ... all of which takes something I don't have any of -- $$$. So I keep perusing Craigslist and other places, and wait patiently for the new school year to start again.

Today I got a pre-recorded call. Normally I would just hang up as soon as I knew it was pre-recorded, but for some reason I kept listening. Turns out it was a good thing I did!

The call was telling me that I needed to activate my debit card with my university because I had a refund due me. Since I've been waiting to hear about all the scholarships I applied for, I thought maybe that was the "refund" they were talking about. I hadn't received a card though ... so after a bit of research, I found a number to call.

Two phone calls later, I found out that I have one scholarship of $75, with possibly more later! $75 isn't a lot, but it is almost a month's grocery's or gas. They're sending me a replacement card, which should be here by Monday. It took me about 20 minutes to apply for the 8 scholarships - so even if all I get is $75, that still is pretty high value hourly work.

I had decided to try to participate in the frugal fast which Patient Saver suggested this week. The only thing I thought might cause a problem would be if I suddenly had an interview and needed to get some appropriate/fitting clothes.

Well, I found out tonight there were other possible snags!

Tonight I went to go to my sign language class. After our last class in May we'd agreed to not meet again till tonight. The teacher sent me a message on facebook today reminding me about it.

I ate a good meal around 5 p.m. so I wouldn't be tempted to stop somewhere for a snack. Then I arrived at our meeting place around 6:30. When our teacher/leader got there, she asked me if I knew of a good sit down place to eat.

We'd talked about going out to eat as a group and signing our orders while she interpreted, but had never set a date. Apparently, tonight was it.

We all (7 of us) ended up going to IHOP. I could have just ordered water, but instead I had water and a grilled cheese sandwich. (Both the least expensive thing I could find on the menu, and the least amount of food.) It was $3.89 with tax, and I left $6.00 total.

I'll be marking it and moving on to complete the Frugal Fast this week.

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I got an email tonight from the current Primary/Junior SS leaders asking if I'd teach this Sabbath. Reluctantly I agreed. This will at least be a good way for me to introduce myself to my Primary students who will be starting with me on July 3rd.

Tonight I also found a person willing to let me have a pool party at their house. The kids will earn points for it by prompt attendance, knowing their memory verse, answering questions about the previous weeks lesson, bringing a guest and good behavior.

I have found two new authors which I *really* like. Both of them are in the adult mystery genre, and feature women. The first one is "The No 1 Ladies' Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith. It is set in Botswana, Africa. There are six books in this particular series (but lots more written by this author). The other book/author is "Curiosity Killed the Cat Sitter" by Blaize Clement. A former female policewoman is no longer on the force, but runs a pet sitting business. There are 4 books (so far) in this series.

The last few months my car has died on me twice - both times where I'd left the lights on for a few minutes after turning off the engine. Then this past week it had been starting more and more sluggishly. I *really* thought it was the starter or maybe the ignition.

In fact, I had an appointment lined up for tomorrow with a shop I've used before and a family friend to go with me "to talk shop" with the mechanic. My dad however convinced me that I should get the battery checked just to be 100% sure.

I'm glad I did! I took it to Firestone where I'd gotten the battery last summer (remember all my car woes of last summer???) and an hour! later I found out that it *was* a bad battery! They replaced it for $18, and another 40 minutes later! I was out of there.

So ... here's hoping that there is not anything more to it!

Ever since I finished up with my Spring classes, I helped out on Tuesday afternoons at my local church school until it was time for my sign language class. Last week the teacher/principal asked me to come in two extra days. I off-handedly mentioned that I couldn't do it because of gas money. She asked me if I would come and help if she could get me some gas money. I said sure -- thinking maybe $10. Well on Monday after I was leaving I opened the envelope ... there was $60!!

I've been looking everywhere trying to find any kind of work. Babysitting gigs, etc. I've applied at a number of employment agencies. Nothing. Just a bit ago this morning I get a call from the person I worked with this past semester. She told me that the high-school boy I'd worked with had passed Biology (yay!) AND that he was having trouble finding a tutor to help him finish his courses in Korea this summer. SO he is looking at coming back here to the US for a month and would like me to help him!

I'd be giving him a really cheap rate - 24hrs a week for $200 for 4 weeks. It's not 100% positive that he'll be coming - details such as where he'll stay during that time and whether his parents can afford it as well as whether the college the courses are coming from will let him complete the courses in that short of a time...

But ... God is in control!

My summer class starts this Sunday, and I'll be on campus for 4 days. I'm really looking forward to being busy again!

ETA: Oh well. I just got a call letting me know the student found a tutor in Korea. Will keep the faith.

Yech. There was drama this weekend. I won't go into it all, but suffice it to say that there is no chance of mom and stepdad reconciling.

I've really, really tried to stay out of all of it. But today something happened which made me very annoyed. No, actually, REALLY annoyed.

Mom was over here picking up some of her belongings. She decided she wanted her case of CD's. Apparently before I moved in, this case was stored in one of the dresser drawers in my bedroom. Stepdad knocks on my door, and when I say come in, he walks right in and goes over to my closet (which was open) and starts looking at the top shelf. Some things there are his, some are mine. He then asks me if I've seen the CD case. I tell him that no, I don't recall having seen it since moving in here. He leaves.

My mom then comes in and asks me if I'd seen it. I told her that no, I hadn't. Then she opens one of the dresser drawers. I stood up to her and told her that I did not want her going through all the dresser drawers! The drawers had ALL been empty except for one which had sheets for the bed in it. She got all huffy and told me "Well, if you were missing something, you'd want to go through all the drawers!"

Then she left.

First of all, a big part of the reason I insist on paying rent is to have some expectation of privacy. Secondly, if I *was* missing something, and was told by someone that NO they had not seen it, NO I would not expect to be able to go through their dresser drawers or their closet!!!

And she seriously thinks I'd consider living with her on her own??? (She's under this delusion that she's going to be able to go out and buy a 3 bedroom house in the low 100's with part of the divorce settlement. She's offered to let me rent a room there "for just $300 a month - a real bargain since I'd charge a lot more to anyone else". Sweet, right? Let me move *again*. Let me move *further* away from my home church. Let me pay *more* in rent. And, top it off with being in a much smaller space than now with just my mom? Yep, I'll be taking her up on that real fast.

I'm sorry if I'm sounding really, really b-wordy here. I'm having LOTS of really ungracious thoughts. Wondering a lot of the time if it really was worth living like this to go back to school. Now I'm pretty much stuck. I've gone to far to not finish.

My brother is so smart. Living FAR away from Texas, and far enough away from all other relatives so he has a comfortable breathing space.

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One other piece of drama this morning. I dropped my prescription off to get refilled. I then got a phone call from my doctor's office manager telling me I had to come in for blood work and a doctor visit before they'd renew the scrip. When I explained that I have no income at the moment, and am in school, she snarkily asked, "So how do you plan on paying for the medicine?" At the time I didn't have this comeback on hand, although I wish I had -- $25 for medicine is a WHOLE LOT easier to come up with than $200+.

She wanted me to make an appointment right then. I told her I couldn't do that - I needed to see if I could figure something out. I called back later and asked if the figure of $190 they gave me *absolutely* included everything. i.e. I wasn't going to receive a surprise bill a month from now for lab work. They assured me it did. So, I went ahead and scheduled the appointment. I've been with this doctor since 2001, and really like her. (Her office manager, not so much.)

My stepdad when he heard about this, told me to not send him rent for May. That I can make it up once I have some income coming in again. That way I won't be dipping into savings for this.

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Enough of the meladrama already, right?

So, maybe good stuff.

I went ahead and registered for my fall classes so I could see exactly how much they'd cost. Then I also checked with my advisor about how many credits I'd be charged for for Spring semester.

I was told that there is *no charge* for Capstone (a one-week course where you write 3 1500-2500 word research papers on a pass/fail basis). So, I'd only have the one 3 credit course.

What that means is that right now I have about $1200 more than I need for Fall/Spring tuition. Of course, then there are the fees for the certification exam and graduation expenses ... but that right there makes me feel a whole lot better. (I was worried that it was going to cost a good bit more.)

Then I finally contacted the scholarship/financial aid office to find out when the decisions were being made. I was told that they'd already weeded out those who weren't eligible, and are working on giving out the rewards. Since I haven't received a letter saying I'm ineligible, and there's no notation of such on my record --- I may have a chance of some scholarship money! The final rewards will be given out by (sometime in) July. So, hopefully sometime in the next 4 -5 weeks I'll be getting on here gleefully exclaiming that I was awarded some scholarships.

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I checked into CareCredit. You have to financially qualify for it - just like a regular credit card. The only way I could qualify right now, would be to get a co-signer. I'd thought about (not too seriously) asking my mom to cosign, but her income is about as unsteady as mine is.

I also checked into the idea of getting work done at the local Dental school. I'm not too sure about it though. The screening visit is $54. Then *if* you are accepted as a patient, you have to come in once a week for appointments AND be willing to go for a "complete" treatment plan. That makes me very, very wary. The school is in Dallas - about an hour's drive from here. All I want is a crown and two fillings. What if they "suggest" a whole bunch of other work?

So .. I think I'm going to wait to make any decisions on the dental stuff until I find out if/how much I receive in scholarships.

Today I finally went to the dentist to have my teeth checked. The ones which have been bothering me for several months. But that really is just a small part of my day today.

It started with my tutoring student telling me he had not spent any time studying the study cards, and that the night before a test he had all of three days to prepare for, that he's going to a friends house for a few hours. I seriously don't get it. I care more about him passing than he does. Only one more week left working with him. If he passes, then I might work with him again next year. I'm not so sure though that I even want to.

After tutoring, I got my oil changed. Had a $5 coupon and got a raincheck for a free car wash ( since it was pouring rain). $26.84 total

Then I went to the library to pick up a bunch of books I had on hold. (the Alice books by Phyllis Naylor) books 1,2 and 4-9 were all there. Book number 3 hadn't even been put in transit. I'd ordered all of them on the same day, and none of them had other requests. The CSR released the hold on that copy, and put it on a different copy. Hopefully I'll have it before I finish the first two.

Finally, I head down the road for my dentist appt. He is located in a town I lived in several different places, and also attended a nearby university. So I knew a great Chinese place with the best Egg Foo Young. I parked, and before going in checked to see the showtimes for Shrek 4. The local movie place has first run movies for $3. I turned my car off, but not my lights.

A few minutes later I got out (the first showing wasn't till after my appt) to go eat. Soon I found out they didn't take cc or debit. So back to my car for another plan.

The problem was though, my battery was dead!!! Argh!! After about 15 minutes a lady helped me jump start my car. I didn't want to turn it off till I was sure it was recharged, so went through TB drive through and then just drove around looking at the places I'd lived before for about an hour.

I finally went into the dentist about 30 minutes early, and an hour later was seen. Final prognosis is that I have at least two cavaties on the left side (where they xrayed) and one tooth that most likely needs a crown soon.

Total cost of prognosis (2 fillings, right side xrays, and. crown) $1700!!!

Today's visit -$85.

I feel so frustrated. My car has now done this twice - where the battery dies if the lights are left on after the motor goes off. Plus all the problems I had with it last summer.

Then I have a sinking feeling that before my doctor will renew my synthroid (hypothyroid) prescription, she's going to insist on an office visit and bloodwork. $3-400.

Then of course all this dental work. I could let it go - but what if the tooth cracks? And the cavaties will only be worse later.

Right now I have enough savings to pay for fall semester tuition. IF I find some income for the summer.

I'm really tempted to use my Roth Ira contribuitions. There'd be just about enough to pay for the dental work, and I don't think there'd be any tax consequences.

Or, I could just not continue my degree right now, and try to find full time work and rebuild my savings. I'd really hate to do that though, with only 16 credits to go. Plus there's no guarantee I'd find anything.

Spring semester is almost finished. I have one test to take on Friday, and then I will be done! If I do well on the test, then I should have 3 A's. Then I can breathe easy (at least academically) until my summer class starts on June 6.

Financially ... my gut is twisting. This month -- May -- it looks like I won't even make $400.

TG, the academic dean at the school where I'm tutoring the high-school boy at talked to me today. She did say that she might have some (one at least) person for me to work with this summer. She also asked me if I'd be willing to work with SH again next year ... at a reduced rate and reduced time. But that she thought she could find others to make up for the reduced amount/time.

Next year SH will be taking pre-calculus. I'm not even sure what pre-calculus is. (yes, I know it's math - I've taken Algebra 2 and Statistics ... not pre-cal). The government and lit classes I feel comfortable helping him with ... the pre-cal ... not so much.

I'm really not sure what to do. I was hoping to find something part time where I could be more sure of how much I'd make each month. But there doesn't seem to be much of anything near enough that'd be worth the gas.

I was looking forward to my break between classes so I could go catch some movies at the dollar theater, but all the movies there are ones I don't want to see. The movies I'd like to see are at the full-cost theaters (or will be soon) Iron Man 2, Sex and the City 2, Shrek ... For now I'm going with the free movies from the library. This weekend I watched Miss Petigrew Lives for a Day (great movie!) and Revolutionary Road (Ugh!!! Don't recommend unless you want to be very, very, very depressed). I have Cold Mountain, Slumdog Millionaire and Dan in Real Life still to watch.

I'm going to try to do some cooking and putting together a lot of freezer meals over the next couple of weeks. So hopefully I can reduce my grocery bills for the next few months. There really isn't much I can cut.

My monthly bills look like this:
$200 - rent
$79 -- storage unit rent
$80 -- phone (paid for by my dad right now)
$90 -- gas (auto)
$90 -- groceries
$25 -- prescription
$35 -- savings towards 6 month car insurance
Total -- $599

Then of course, 10% of whatever comes in goes to tax savings, and another 10% goes to the giving category. Then you know, the incidentals like oil changes, hair cuts (still need one badly), etc.

I'm going to have to use some of my tuition savings for living expenses. Which means I'll have to borrow money for Spring 2011 tuition -- unless I get some killer scholarships.

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My stepdad has paid for tickets for my mom and I to go see the play version of Little House for Mother's Day. I had planned on doing it for her, but realized that it would be totally financially irresponsible -- even though the two tickets ended up being a bit less than $50. I'm going to cover parking, which will probably be $10.

My teeth are still bothering me. My mom and stepdad have said they'll cover the cost of getting my teeth checked out, and if something needs done, they'll help me out.

This is a lesson in humility for me. Learning to humbly accept other peoples generosity. Someday hopefully I'll be in the position to do the same for others again.

Thankfully my car seems to continue to hang on. I read a good article off of Yahoo today:

http://autos.yahoo.com/articles/autos_content_landing_pages/1428/How-To-Tell-When-It-s-Time-for-a-New-Car

Well, that's about it for now.

Last night after my ASL class my teacher videoed me doing my story. She did it in about 12 segments so that we could make the signs as clear as possible. It turned out pretty well, although some of the transitions are *really* noticeable. I had to upload all 12 segments to youtube, and then redownload them two at a time (two per hour) and then convert them. Finally I put them in the Movie Maker and did some more messing and trimming, and came up with the final product:

Kitten' First Full Moon : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Blz7nD6uJiM

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I have three "vacation" mornings this week. My high-school student is having standardized testing Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. I offered to meet with him Tuesday after school, and then do a double session on Sunday - seeing as though he'll still be expected to be ready for the next test on Monday. He wants a "break" from tutoring. So, instead of doing makeup sessions, "we can just take the $75 from May." UGH@@@!!!!! Gee thanks, I didn't need that $75 or anything.

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I found out last night that my local church's school is desperately seeking a first-third grade teacher for next year. It is somewhat tempting. Steady pay (REAL money - none of this business of "taking breaks") and probably a pretty small group of students (could be a curse or a blessing though ...) most likely no benefits though. But I'm focused on finishing my master's. If I went back into teaching, I'd probably not finish it ever. Because if I went back into teaching for the denomination, I'd have to take classes to renew my denominational certification. That would essentially curb any further classes in Library Science. Plus, I just really do not want to go back into the classroom.

Not to mention I have *absolutely* NO teaching materials anymore. So, I'd be starting from pure scratch.

Just not something I want to do.

*Of course, I'm starting to feel really panicky about my money situation. And kind of wonder if God is pushing me towards this to take care of that. But then again, it could be the panic speaking. I hope I hear about the scholarships for next year really soon.

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My mom and stepdad have offered to cover the cost of me getting my teeth x-rayed to make sure that the tooth pain isn't more than just sinus related. That might happen as soon as this coming Tuesday.

So funny. Tonight my stepdad and I were out doing our usual evening walk around the neighborhood (about 30 minutes or so) when I got a call from my mom. She was working with one of her tutoring students and couldn't figure out how to do the math. Luckily I had worked with my tutoring student (in the same class) on Monday on that exact assignment - so I knew what the page looked like. I tried walking her through it step by step as I was walking, but finally had to tell her I'd call her back when I had paper and pencil in front of me. We went straight back to the house and I called her back. Between stepdad and I, we were able to work both mom and student through the problems. (It was doing function tables from a graph and figuring out the rule.)

Sixth-grade math I can still figure out. Don't know that I want to mess with seventh-grade math.

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Not too much to report. Yesterday was my ASL class. I showed my teacher the progress I've made on putting together the video. She suggested some better/smoother ways to sign/transition some parts. Next Tuesday will be the final run through - then I'll need to make the official video.

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Mailed the textbook which sold Monday, today. From what I understand, I'll get paid for it on the 15th from half.com. Hopefully another textbook or two will sell before then.

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I looked into getting the disc to do streaming video through the Wii from Netflix. Unfortunately I can't do it on my $4.99/month plan. I'd only really have time to watch more than one or two movies a month when school isn't in full swing, so going to a higher plan just to stream videos to the Wii - ridiculous.

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A tooth in the area that the dentist who did my first root canal two-years ago, and was put on a "watch" list, has been really sensitive and hurting. Really, most of that side of my mouth hasn't been feeling so great. My allergies have been really acting up, so I keep praying that it's just my sinuses causing my teeth/jaw to hurt. There's no way in double h hockey stick that I can afford first of all going to a dentist and getting new x-rays, and then a root canal, and then a crown. Not if I want to actually finish my degree.

So, I'm taking my $70/bottle (30) generic allergy medicine and popping Aleve and hoping that when my allergies are gone, the tooth pain will be gone too.

I had a pretty uneventful weekend. One really good thing is that I think my tailbone is almost healed. I was able to sit through all of Sabbath School and church without my donut. I was a little sore, but not too uncomfortable.

I was disappointed that neither one of the usual sign language interpreters were there at church this weekend. I learn so much just from watching them, and trying to follow along during the songs. There was actually one song I think I could have signed most of, but without anyone else signing ... yeah, I'm chicken.

I worked with my high-school student on Biology Sunday afternoon. Then came home and my mom was there with Easter baskets for both me and my stepdad. She offered to hide them (i.e. do a treasure hunt) but both of us said that was okay. Then we went out to IHOP. While we were there, mom and stepdad played against me on the iPhone game Words With Friends (sort of like Scrabble -- Free). I still was beating them.

If any of you play Words With Friends, my handle is Librarian2be.

After we got back we all went for a walk/run. I was doing my barefoot thing using the couch to 5k program (that I've kind of altered to better suit my speed). Every time I was running, I had to do some circles because my stepdad was keeping step with my mom. So I'm not sure how accurate my distance log was.

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Today after working with my high-school student, I stopped at Wal-greens and picked up exactly $5.08 of Easter candy. Two of the items were for my tutoring students, the rest for me.

This afternoon I wasn't 100% sure that I'd be working with my 6th grade tutoring student, but I went over to the school anyway. My mentor librarian had one of the books I wanted to use for my book talk on Friday.

By the time I left the school, I had $140 in my pocket. Hopefully that will continue next week (well, not the $140, because $40 of that was from before Spring Break ...). Anyway, I'll be very happy to make a nice deposit in my checking account tomorrow. May's budget is looking brighter already.

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I stopped by the library also on my way home today to pick up some other books I needed for class. They weren't on the hold shelves, so I had to go to the information desk. I joked around with the lady that they probably were getting tired of seeing me around. She then said that she hoped the library wasn't out of my way. I told her it was on my way home from tutoring. This led to her asking me for my information to give to people who come in looking for a tutor!! Wouldn't that be awesome if I get a tutoring client from the library???

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Yesterday I listed all the textbooks from this past year on half.com. I'm starting them all out a bit on the high end. If they don't sell in a few weeks, I'll lower the prices a bit.

I also found the textbook I'll need this summer for $36 including shipping. Regularly priced around $70.

ETA: I made a sale! 1 textbook sold for $35. My stepdad just told me he probably has a padded envelope that my book will fit in. So, no money going out! Yahoo!

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Okay, some book reccs:

Ages 10 - 14/15:
Hoggee - Anna Myers:
A 14 year old boy and his older brother work as hoggee's along the Erie Canal. A hoggee is a person who leads mules along the path of the canal while the mules pull boats up and down. It is only a spring and summer job. Howard decides to spend the winter and send the money home - but it doesn't quite work out that way. He ends up meeting a very special girl - she's deaf. Can he help her be able to communicate with her family?

One-handed Catch - MJ Auch:

11 year old Norm loves to play baseball and to draw. Then one summer not long after the end of WWII his father asks him to grind some meat and he ends up losing his hand. Norm finds that some people try to baby him and have few expectations of him, while others hold him to a high standard. Will he ever be able to play ball again? What about tie his shoes?

15 - Adult

Little Brother - Cory Doctorov:

1984's Big Brother meets 2022 technology. Marcus and his friends have perfected the art of ditching school - even with the advanced "gait recognition" technology and all the other tracking mechanisms. Then one day he and his friends are in the midst of playing an Alternate Reality Game when a bridge in San Francisco (where they live) is blown up by terrorists. The group gets picked up by Department of Homeland Security, and then the real story begins. Can a 17 year old kid fight back and win against the government?

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Oh, I've now made two test videos of my ASL story time video. I'm still working out a few kinks, but I'm getting closer to the finished product. I should be ... it's due April 23. I really need to have it finished earlier than that though, so I can start focusing more on my research paper due on the 28th!

Today after my morning tutoring student, I stopped at Walmart and picked up enough groceries to hopefully last two weeks (other than bananas). I would have waited until tomorrow, but I won't be working with my student tomorrow, so figured I should do the groceries today.

I spent a total of $34.75. That is nearly half of my reduced food budget. I used one coupon for Totino's pizza, but hadn't found a coupon for mouthwash.

On Monday I want to see if I can get some Easter candy for reduced price - won't spend more than $5. Will have to see if it's at 75% or more yet then.

I also filled up with gas: $22.00. I still had some in the tank, but decided to go ahead and fill up before the weekend.
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I got a postcard in the mail a few days ago telling me that I was eligible to make a claim in a class action lawsuit against AT&T in regards to their DSL service not being as fast as they advertised. I will get up to $2.90 for every month I had service with them where the speed was off. I had DSL with AT&T for around 5 years, 6 if you count the landline less version. So ... that could net me around $100 or so.

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I read two more books for my children's lit class.

Flight by Sherman Alexie:
It's about a 15 year old kid who is part Native American and part Irish and has had a really rough time of it. Just as he's about to make a really, really terrible decision, he starts time traveling. He goes to 1975 Red River, Nevada as an FBI agent, 1876 at Custer's Last Stand, and a few other places. Finally, he ends up back where he'd started, and has to decide if he's going to follow through with his previous plan. Awesome book.

The White Darkness by Geraldine McCaughrean:
I could NOT put this book down. I stayed up till 1 a.m. last night to finish it.

It's about a 14 year-old girl (Sym) who's "uncle" has taught her from the time she was very small all about the Antarctica, and about Captain Oates from Scott's second failed expedition to reach the pole. She has created a companion out of Captain Oates "Titus" as kind of a sounding board and comforter. After her father dies, the "uncle" moves in with her and her mother (who finds out that they are completely broke after her husband dies). Then one day he tells them that they're going to take a trip to Paris. Only, not all of them make it to Paris. And that just not might be the true final destination. Sym will end up calling on everything she's learned and finding courage and strength she never knew she had.

Simply a fantastic book. (An award winner!)

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Today I got a call from one of the ladies at church who is on the nominating committee. Apparently my name ended up on a short list of people they wanted to ask to lead the Primary class.

I've been asked before at other churches, and have always turned it down. I prefer doing things like greeting at the door, or collecting the Sabbath School offering envelopes. Things that don't tie you down every week.

I tried to get out of it by saying that there was no way I could get there to do decorating, etc. She told me that we meet in one of the school classrooms, so I wouldn't be able to decorate anyway.

So I asked about if there was a budget for crafts/activities. She said there was.

Then she told me it was from July to June. So I told her I will hopefully have a job my May, so I wouldn't be able to fulfill the whole year. She told me that I would just work that out with the coordinator.

Oy vey! I accepted the position. :bug eyes:

I will have an assistant, so if I need a break from teaching once in a while I can get it. I'm planning on a mini-trip to Houston in August to visit a good friend of mine - so will need to get that weekend covered. And then of course Christmas if I go to CA again.

I really, really don't want to do this. But I guess I'm of the age where if I'm a member I really should contribute. And I'll probably end up enjoying it, for the most part. I just hate being tied down. Maybe I'll have my assistant do one week a month ... It'll probably be good for me to flex my working with little ones muscles again too, after being out of the classroom for so long.

Yesterday I went to my ASL class. The children who'd been there last week that I'd ordered two candy bars from (fundraiser) weren't there. So that meant I managed to squeak in *just* under budget (less than $.30 under - but still, under!)

For April, I'm going to try to cut $20 from my food budget, as well as not spend money on *anything* else that I absolutely can't avoid.

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On my way to class Tuesday night there is a section of road that has a work zone limit of 40 mph. Every time I go through that section I see at least two or three cops. So, I try to keep my speed right around that mark.

Some lumber truck got behind me last night and didn't like how fast I was going. So he tailgated me for at least five miles, maybe more. Then the road (two-lane, double yellow line) was "clear" and he passed me. As he was passing me, I was praying that there'd be a cop seeing this, and that there wouldn't be anyone coming up over the hill.

Well, no cop, but no head-on collision either. Passing me didn't do the guy much good, because for the next four miles I caught up to him at every stoplight until he turned off.

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I'm all registered for my summer class now. It requires that I spend 4 days on campus. The first day is a Sunday, so I'll just drive from home (about 25 minutes with light traffic.) Then Sunday, Monday and Tuesday night I'll be staying in the dorm so as to avoid morning traffic (a good hour or more on a weekday.) The room is single occupancy with a shared bathroom for $22.50/night. Plus, an extra $5 for internet access. I think it's worth it. I don't need a tv, and I can get by without a fridge - which is the only thing I could get better at a hotel. I may bring my own microwave though, so I can have my oatmeal in the morning. (They have a fridge/micro for rent - $39 a piece. Can buy a micro for that!)

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My allergies are really kicking my posterior. I finally gave in and started taking my allergy medicine. I hate taking it, because once it's gone, it'll cost at least $70 to replace it (generic Allegra.) But, it's either take it now, or get bronchitis or maybe pneumonia later. Ugh.

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Some book recommends from my latest reading frenzy (for school):
How to NOT be Popular by Jennifer Zeigler
**About a 16/17 year old girl who's parents have never stayed in one place longer than eight months. She at first loved the nomadic life, but as she got older she started hating leaving behind friends and boyfriends. So on this newest move to Austin, TX which will only be for four months, she resolves that she is not going to make any friends, because then it will hurt less when they move. Things don't quite go according to her plans though.

The Great Wide Sea by M.H. Herlong
**After the mother dies, the father decides to sell everything and take his three sons sailing in the Bahama's for a year. The three sons aren't exactly thrilled about this prospect - especially the oldest who is almost 16 and looking forward to his first car. The youngest also isn't too thrilled, who at 5 doesn't know how to swim. What does it take to forgive? What does it mean to be grown up?

Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta
**This is a book that takes a little bit to get into it. I wasn't sure if I liked it or not at first. After about 100 pages though, I couldn't put it down.

Two families lives are irrevocably intertwined and altered one day on the Jellicoe Road. The story of the survivors and the territory wars between Townies, Cadets, and Jellicoe School students show that in the end, there is always the possibility of hope and love.

It looks like my total income for March is $740. So my April budget is the same. I'd been thinking about getting a hair trim soon, but will put it off till at least May. I can use my tax refund to pay for it.

I sent my sixth grade tutorees mom an email on Thusday letting her know my new policy - pay up front - no refunds. If a sssion is missed - with advance notice, I'll add time to future sessions. I heard back from her today (after texting to ask if shed gotten my email) and she canceled for this week, but will start next week with paying in full. Not quite what I was going for - missing a third full week of tutoring money - but in a way it is good. I have a lot of reading and research to do right now. It just really cuts financially.

I had some brownie mix in my pantry, so made them this weekend. I shared some with my stepdad (a fellow chocolate lover) and put some in the freezer for next weekend. I would be under budget this month for groceries if I hadn't said I'd buy a candybar from two different kids this coming Tuesday. Still, it'll only be a few dollars over. MUCH better than the past few months. For April I need to see if I can go even lower - maybe under $70 would be doable. ( March will be about $93 I think. )

I highly reccomend one of the books I read for my class - teens and up. "how to NOT be popular" by Jennifer Zeigler. Really great book. I was cracking up laughing at some parts.

We've been having some really windy weather here lately. The temperature has been in the high 60's and mid70's, but the wind keeps it chilly. Today was the ten year anniversary of the big tornado in Downtown Fort Worth/Dallas area. I remember when that happened. My parents were almost in the thick of it that night. I think that's about the worst tornado in the DFW area, at least since I've been in Texas (1995).

This week a number of Aldi's stores opened up in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. I think they are the first in Texas. Having heard so many people talk about Aldi's before, I am quite curious to check one out.

There is one that is on my way to my morning tutoring student (and on my homeward trek as well). So I will probably stop and check it out on Sunday (doing a Sunday session to make up for tutoring student taking Wednesday off to go to Six Flags).

In order to get to it on my homeward trek, I'll have to do a turn around, so it'll have to be well worth it. (I don't like u-turns - especially on busy roads.)

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Yesterday I kind of made a pointless trip. (i.e. wasted gas) I'm doing a research project on cataloging graphic novels. I've found enough journal articles to give me a good background for the paper, but only a blog post dealing with the MARC codes. The author of the blog post pointed me towards a particular book. After much searching, I found that the book was available in the central Fort Worth library, not for checkout.

So, I called and eventually ended up with an appointment to see the book. The person I made the appointment with ended up having been someone in one of my classes last semester - he'd recognized my name (distinctive last name). So, that was fun.

The book itself ended up not being much help after all, but my professor (whom I'd emailed about my problem) gave me the go ahead to use the blog post as a source.

So ... I met one of my classmates in person, got to see the central library, and realized the book didn't have what I needed. I guess not a *totally* wasted trip.

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I've completed two barefoot run/walks this week (more walking than running at this point.) I really need to replace my sandals - they both have quarter size holes in them. When I went walking in them on Tuesday I had bad enough blisters form that I had to delay my run/walk till yesterday.

I guess I keep hoping to find another $5 deal on sandals (how much my current ones cost 4 years ago) but I might have to give in and go for the $10 pair. My feet will thank me.

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Today I returned the iPhone data cable. No problem whatsoever. I even had taken the wrong receipt with me and the guy had no problem pulling up my info.

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Groceries today: $22.58

One of the items I bought seems to consistently be overcharged. Usually I catch it when it goes across, but today I was distracted and didn't think about it till I got out to the car. It was a difference of $.98. I debated about going back in and fighting it out, but in the end decided it wasn't worth my frozen items defrosting on me.

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Not terribly exciting weekend plans. Tomorrow is potluck at church. I have the corn pudding casserole I made last month (which I forgot) - need to take that out of the freezer tonight. Then Sunday I have the tutoring appt. Then of course work on school work.

Tuesday was a long, yet good day.

It started out with my working on Biology and English with my high-school tutoring student. He asked me if we could just work on English on Friday. I told him sure we could -- as long as he had ALL his Biology vocab cards memorized. He groaned. Oh well.

Then I headed off to meet my friend T and her two kids at Ci Ci's Pizza. We ate and chit chatted and goofed around a bit. We still had some time to kill before the movie, so we walked over to Mardel's. It was kind of windy and I didn't have my jacket with me. So T asked me if I was sure I was ok walking over. I reassured her I was fine. She then asked me if I was just being polite. Her 9 year old son then piped up, "I thought being polite meant saying please or thank you?" LOL! Love that kid.

At Mardel's (a Christian bookstore) I usually can go in and get out without any financial damage. But yesterday I bought 6 books. Yep, six books. I couldn't resist them .... $1 each!! Of course I probably won't have time to read them till this summer.

After Mardel's we went to the dollar theater and saw "Old Dogs". It was pretty cute and funny, although I have the feeling some of the humor went straight over all but one of the 5 kids heads that were with us (we met with another friend of T's and her 3 kids).

After the movie T, myself, and the kids stopped at the video arcade. The 9 year old boy played Guitar Hero, while the 7 year old girl sat on my lap (so I could push the gas pedal) and played the car racing game. What a blast!

Finally I headed over to my ASL class. Everyone else seemed to be running late. My instructor helped me to translate some more of the book I'm using for my video, and then we had class (half-hour late).

I got home after 10 p.m. and watched Lost, and finally shut out the lights around 11:30. Today I didn't have tutoring, so slept in. Yum.

What a great day.

Spent: $6 -books (movie and lunch were treated by my friend)

Mileage: An extra ... 60 miles or so I think. Well worth it.

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Now I need to get busy and make some progress on various schoolwork projects, plus probably ought to do some laundry.

Although this week is Spring Break, I'm still working with my high school student on Biology and English. Thankfully he was focused the entire time today - another session like Friday's session and I would have screamed!

Anyway... my phone had not been updated since the end of January. That means that there were quite a few new apps and other settings which I'd changed around since then that were not backed up. Also, I'd been looking at a couple apps which required the latest software update.

Why hadn't I updated my phone in so long? Because I had left my iPhone charger/data sync cable in my bag on the playground at the 6th grade tutoring student's school. Never to be seen again. That night (after realizing I'd left it there about 9 pm) I had run to Wal-mart and picked up a wall charger so I could at least charge my phone. But they didn't have the sync cable.

Then when my mom got an iPhone a few weeks ago, I thought that if she chose to keep it, I could borrow her sync cable once in awhile. But ... she of course isn't here anymore.

So today after tutoring, I stopped by the AT&T store and picked up a data sync cable for $21.97. (I also stopped at Staples and picked up more index cards for flashcards $3.99 pack of 500.)

When I got home I mentioned the data cable to my stepdad and he asked me if I'd ever heard of this website called Cell Phone Shop. I told him that I hadn't. So he showed me their website and how much the same cable cost there ... $4.99!!

I got on there and looked around, and ended up buying a data sync cable, a mini-microphone (for videos), a car holster/holder (so it doesn't slide around or fall on the floor), and a doohicky to wrap my headphones around (which are constantly getting twisted) all for $24.99 (+$4.99 shipping).

I'm of course going to take the data sync cable back that I bought today (probably on Wednesday because I won't have time tomorrow.)

So, for about $8 more I got 4 items instead of just 1. All of which are items I'd been thinking about, but hadn't wanted to spend the money on.

Yay! Right?

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Unfortunately, I decided that as long as I had the data sync cable here, I may as well get my phone updated.

I plugged it into my little 5 port usb hub and started the software update.

Error message. Software update couldn't be completed.

Weird??

I tried again. Nothing. Message comes up saying "iPhone in recovery mode. Must restore."

I called customer service and am told that yes, I have to restore my phone. Argh!!

So, I click restore. (with great copious amounts of tears and frustration)

Error message. Restore couldn't be completed.

WHAT???

Call customer service again. Got someone who had notes from my previous call (Yay! Didn't have to explain it twice!) Asked me where I had my usb plugged in. Then told me to plug it in to a port in the back and try again.

It worked!

Apparently what happened was the connection was too weak between the hub usb port and the phone for a software update. For normal syncing, it's okay.

Spent a good 3 1/2 hours re-syncing my music (didn't even bother with re setting up my play lists) and re downloading my apps.

Other than my music, everything is completely back to normal on my phone!!

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Tomorrow I'm meeting up with my friend T and her kids to see Old Dogs at the dollar theater and eat lunch together. I'm really looking forward to it. It's going to be a LONG day though, with ASL class after wards, but well worth it.

I've been thinking a lot lately about the fact that I'm almost 35 and the prospects ... well, there just aren't any. Then the other night I got a call from the elevator guy (ex bf). He ended up asking me if I thought it would be offensive to a woman he'd dated about a month sending her a text message saying he wanted to break it off. Of course he'd already sent it ... In the course of our conversation he said something about how maybe it's just easier being single.

Take it to today. There's this person I know. She's really a fantastic person in so many ways. Until it comes to money. She and 3rd husband have had lots and lots of issues regarding her way of dealing with money. She and second hubby had the same problems.

She gets it into her head that "she's making money, so why can't she get what she wants!" Yeah. Alrighty.

So today I find out that she has gotten herself an iPhone on a 10-day trial. Mind you, she wasn't at a two-year contract renewal point. So ... full price.

Normally, I would have no problem with this. The problem however is that she is attempting to hide the fact that she has a different phone from hubby. He will NOT be happy. And she knows this. (Needless to say, this is a pattern with her. Hiding purchases. Justifying with "I make money so I should be able to spend it how I want!)

I don't know what the point of a 10-day trial period is, unless you're not sure you'll get good reception. Because once you have the phone and use it for more than a few days, You are hooked.

My guess is she's going to wait until the 10 days are up and then let hubby in on it. Yep, that's going to be fun.

Yeah, so, being single, while not quite a great thing (you know - lack of companionship, cuddles, etc. etc.), it may not be that bad after all. If I mess up my finances, it's all on me. Nobody else can do anything to mess up my financial picture. (Of course if you find someone who has a similar money view as you ... then that becomes a moot point.)

The forecasters had been saying we might get a mix of rain and snow sometime late Thursday, but that it'd be more rain than snow.

Then ... this morning I woke up a little earlier than my alarm and saw an email from the host parent of the Korean student I'm working with. It said school had been canceled. Curious, I got up and looked out my window ...






It is supposed to keep snowing until midnight tonight, so I suspect school will at the least be delayed or canceled tomorrow.

Yesterday when I was done working with the Korean boy, I stopped across the street and got my oil changed, radiator flushed and brake fluid replaced. My uncle (over Christmas) had told me I should do the radiator fluid soon ... so I finally did it. I'm glad I got all that out of the way yesterday.

Tutoring is going well. I think I'm making a pretty good impression on the host parent. The host parent apparently is the sister of the school's registrar. I may have the possibility of another tutoring student or two from the same school. I met the mom of the autistic boy on Monday, but he was sick, so we haven't talked anymore since then.

I may have a very full schedule soon!

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Tuesday night I had my first ASL class. I loved it! We're going to have a test each week, and we'll have potlucks with the deaf members, and they'll come in and tell us stories and eventually we'll have to sign a paragraph length story while the rest of us write it down. I've found a couple apps on my iPhone to help me practice. There's a total of 10 people in my class, plus two or three instructors.

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I haven't done well at all on the no eating out challenge this month. Somehow telling myself I'm not going to do it has caused me to do more of it than usual. Well, at least I know I won't be doing it today or probably tomorrow!

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Almost forgot. I need a business name for my tutoring. When it was just the one or two kids, I didn't really need anything formal. But if I start getting more ...

So ... any ideas? I was thinking of just registering my name as a dba, but am not sure if that's a good idea. Or, maybe I could use the name of my classroom website I used to have (can't put it on here, because part of my last name is in it) ?
When I had a business before, I had LAN enterprises - don't know if I could use that again - plus it doesn't sound very appealing for tutoring.

For the last six months or so, I've been sweating doing my 2009 taxes. From the calculations I'd made with the 2008 turbo tax, it sure looked like I was going to end up owing around $1500 due to Self-employment taxes. It really worried me how I was going to make my savings last for tuition AND paying the tax.

I was basing this off of making roughly $10k at the gym (plus the w-2 income from January/Feb). Today, though, I found out I'd made about $7500. And that right there made all the difference. Seriously.

First, I qualified for the Earned Income Tax Credit. That put me down to owing about $200. Then, I put in my education expenses. That brought me to a REFUND!!!! of ..... $62!!!

This puts me in a real conundrum as to how to do estimated taxes for 2010. I more than likely will make less than 12k for 2010, and will have a similar amount of an educational deduction. So ... with EITC and the education credit, I doubt I'll end up owing more than a few hundred dollars, if that. Maybe just go ahead and send in $300 a quarter, and then get it all back later (most likely)? Just to be safe? I probably need to talk to a small business tax person - I just hate to do that since *every penny* counts right now.

Ugh! I'd so much rather be getting W-2's than have to be messing with all of this kind of stuff.

Today was my first tutoring session with I, the sixth-grade boy. He didn't have any actual math homework, so I taught him the concepts for his next two-days assignments, then he played the various math iPhone games I'd downloaded. (math was estimating multiplying fractions, and multiplying fractions). It went pretty well, except we ran out of things to work on before our time was up. I don't think that'll be a normal occurrence though.

His mom gave me $60, and said she'll give me the remainder on Wed. and Th.

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I arrived at the school's library early so I could be sure to have a parking spot (and to make sure I didn't get lost). The school librarian was still there when I arrived. We talked for a few minutes, and then a bright idea hit me.

I asked her if she was certified, and she said yes. Then I asked if she had her Master's, and she said yes! Then she told me that she'd just finished mentoring a library student last semester!! So ... I asked her if she'd be willing to be my mentor, since I'd just moved to this area and needed a nearby person. She said yes!!

(in the library program, you have to have a mentor as you go through it who essentially checks off that you've completed various skill tasks required for graduation)

Seriously, I felt like this was a God-thing.

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I have an interview on Wednesday at noon for the keyboarding teacher position. I SO hope I get it!

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One of the ASL books I ordered on Friday came today. That was some real quick shipping! And now I have a piece of mail with my current name and address on it, so I can get a library card (once I find where the local branch is located!)

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Spending:

Business expense: iPhone math apps - $7

Today my 5 male helpers and I got all my things completely moved out of my former landlady's house. They are now all either in storage, or at my new home.

Yahoo!

Former Landlady (FL) did a number of things that messed with my mind. First, on Friday when I went over to pack everything, I got another note.

"Laura, the kids have been having trouble remembering what food is ours and what is yours. So, I packed up all your food into bags and boxes." FL

And ... she had! Even the food in the freezer - which was really strange, since she didn't even have any food in there.

Before I left, I had a chance encounter with her. I spoke up, and told her thank you for bagging/boxing up my food. She completely ignored me.

Um.. okay.

Then... today. When I got there, I had yet another note. "Laura, I wish you all the best. You are a great person. Leave the key under the mat, and make sure you have your mail forwarded." FL

She had moved all my pantry boxes, etc. into one huge pile next to my room. The whole time we were there, she stayed shut up in her room with the animals. I was glad I'd had a chance to say goodbye to them (the animals) on Friday.

My dad offered me a good suggestion I think. I'm going to write her a note and ask her if she'd tell me what had happened. That I don't understand why her attitude towards me changed so drastically. Then, if she wants to tell me, she can, in writing. Which, seems to be her favorite way of communicating.

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Tomorrow I start my first day of tutoring with my new student. There is a slim possibility of a 5-hour a week position teaching keyboarding to 8th grade students at a local Christian school. If I get that ... then I *will* be quitting the gym!!!!

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On February 3, I'll be starting to take a class at my church on American Sign Language. I was talking to the instructor at church this weekend, and she told me that if I really enjoyed it, and did well with it, that I could take the next level with her. That would enable me to know enough to interpret sermons. (like she does)

That *really* intrigues me. Not only would it be an awesome skill to have as a librarian, but it would also be an awesome way to give back a little at church.

She was giving some stats during the announcements. Out of 10+ million baptized Seventh-day Adventists worldwide, there are less than 100 baptized deaf members. Our little church of less than 200 members has 10 of them.

So, if I can become good enough, someday when I move to wherever my librarian job will be, I may be able to help bring in new deaf members.I just think that would be SO cool.

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I spent several hours tonight sketching out my assignments for the coming semester. There are some weeks which look like real hair pullers. But, if I can keep pretty much on schedule, I should be able to do just fine.

They also put out the summer schedule. So today I put in my advising form for the last of the three Master's classes where you have to be on campus. I'm hoping that my form gets put through early enough that I get into the particular section. It's the only one that doesn't meet on Saturday.

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Spending ... ugh...let's see, what do I remember?

Truck rental: $18x.xx (added insurance)

won't get reimbursed for cost because the storage place I used was not the one with the reimbursement coupon

Gas: my car $23.xx
rental truck: $27.xx

Offering: 1.xx

books for ASL class: $23.xx
(used on Amazon)

Change of address form: $1

Driver's License change: $11

Hmm.. I'm sure I'm forgetting something... oh well.

*My mom paid for the pizza today, which was very nice of her. The guys ate almost every slice of the 3 large pizzas and most of the salad my mom added on the side.

Classes started on Tuesday. Two of my classes were up and running with no problem, but the third one was having some technical difficulties. It finally was up and running today.

I knew I was in a different section for my Children's Lit class, but hadn't realized that the required reading list would be different. As far as I can tell, the books I read over vacation are NOT on the new list. Ugh! Even better, with the other list, I didn't have to read Goosebumps - there were several other series I could choose from. Now, I have no choice. Double ugh! Also, the other section had you write book reviews as blog entries - this one only has you write the book reviews. I'll probably still put them up on my blog - if I'm going to take the time to write reviews, may as well put them on my blog!!

Anyway, only one of my classes looks like it will be a lot of work - the cataloging class. I have to do a research paper/project for it. I already chose to do it on graphic novels and comics, since I have somewhat of a knowledge base from the class I took this past summer.

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I will be starting to tutor a 6th grade boy next Monday in ... Math. Don't laugh too hard, I'm trying not to. As long as it keeps to stuff like adding fractions with unlike denominators, and very basic algebra, I should be okay. I hope.

3 1/2 hours a week for $100. It will definitely help the budget, since I'm spending more on gas, and had to cut my hours at the gym (both due to longer commute).

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The last couple days I've been feeling really yucky. Don't know if it is allergies, my body releasing stress, or what. All I know is that all I want to do is sleep, when I need to be doing schoolwork, and Friday will be packing and of course Sunday moving all the big stuff!

Ugh!

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Almost totally forgot! My 5 year blogaversery was on Tuesday! Hard to believe that I've been nattering on about my thoughts on money and life here for 5 years. Like I've said before though, I'm so glad to have found this community here.

SA'ers are the best!

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Spending:

Gas: lots of fillups 3 x in the last 9 days!!! ugh!!! roughly $87 total

Groceries: $12 - Costco veggie patties
$1.23 - frozen veggies
$29.32 - misc. groceries

Storage Unit: $35 (Jan rent + admin. fee)

For the most part things are going well in my new place. This morning I was slightly annoyed when I went to eat breakfast and there were no bananas left. Which is why I made a grocery store trip today .. bananas for the counter, and bananas for the fridge (plus other stuff).

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Oh yeah, I figured out a way to get to the gym without paying so much in tolls. It only adds about 5 minutes or so to my driving time (as long as there's not much traffic). So, I'm hoping that'll work out long term. Or ... I'll get another tutoring student or two and be able to quit the gym completely!

You know how when you see drivers do idiotic moves in front of you, or near you, it seems as though there never are any cops around to see it?

Well, today as I was driving home (oh glorious word - home, as in the place where I can use the kitchen in a relaxed manner, have a bathroom right off my room ...) a red pickup truck was in the center turning lane next to me. The driver of the pickup truck cut in front of me to get into my lane, causing me to have to brake hard in order to avoid him. Then, a few moments later, the same truck pulled back into the center turning lane, again, causing me to brake hard.

Unluckily for this truck driver, directly behind me was a cop. The cop smoothly pulled into the center turn lane, and followed the pickup truck into the parking lot with lights on.

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As I mentioned above, the word "home" has a much better meaning for me now. As of Thursday night, I essentially moved in to my mom and stepdad's home. Sweet bliss.

I had wanted to avoid my landlady seeing me haul off my computer and also get my frozen foods on Thursday. However, I'd forgotten she doesn't have her kids on Thursdays, so I couldn't do it without her seeing/hearing. I ended up getting my computer, some clothes, etc. All 4 animals greeted me, and the black cat Sierra, nearly escaped out the front door during my last trip to the car.

I decided to try again today to pick up food from the pantry, as well as fridge food and freezer food, and of course my computer keyboard I'd left behind. Unfortunately, I guess the kids got out of school early today for whatever reason.

So, again I got everything I wanted to get, except for the fridge and freezer food - landlady was in living room/kitchen with a friend talking the entire time. All 4 animals greeted me, and hung around me most of the time I was there.

On my way to the house, I stopped at the bank and got a cashier's check for Feb. rent and wrote a note to my landlady giving 30-day notice. I was worried that she might try to say I had abandoned my stuff or something (since she could NOT have not noticed all my activity on Thursday.)

I left the note, and the check, taped to her bedroom door just before leaving. I had hoped to not go back until Friday to pack the remainder of my things, but I realized tonight that I'll have to go back once again tomorrow - I left my textbooks there. Ugh. I just hope she's not home.

The hardest part of all this is seeing the confused looks on the dogs faces - especially Nikki's. Today when I walked in the door, Kayla, the dog who slept in my room, *ran* full flight to me with her butt wiggling vigorously. It just about broke my heart.

Ugh. It wouldn't have been any easier in May to leave the animals ... but it still isn't easy. I would've liked the opportunity to at least have taken the dogs on one last walk ... oh well. In a few years I'll have a place of my own again, and hopefully be making enough money where I can afford a dog and a cat - animals that I can train and spoil and love however much I want to!

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Spending today:

Deli - $4.68 (breakfast and lunch)
Gas - $25.46
Feb rent - old place: $290

I didn't get any groceries today. I'd been planning on getting some more bananas, but just ran out of time before sunset.

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This morning was my first run from my new home to the gym. It took about 45 minutes, which wasn't too bad. What wasn't so great were all the tolls. I'm going to have to experiment to find a way with less tolls, and not too much added time.

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Today was payday. Even with the extra shift I worked on Wednesday, it was a paltry amount.

$317.68

So ... $31.77 - Giving; Savings; Tax Savings

I didn't have a talk with my landlady this weekend. She came home Friday night slamming doors and loudly complaining about how if she has to turn up the heat (presumably for me) then she (meaning me) should pay for it. It was pretty obvious she wanted me to hear it. Pretty silly really, because no matter how much she turns up the heat, it's not going to help how cold it is in my room.

So, anyway, after that, I realized that she isn't in any kind of mood to have a rational discussion.

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Yesterday at church I made my need known for a new living situation as soon as possible. One possibility arose, but I think it's pretty slim.

An older lady (maybe late 70's) had been renting out a room to someone up till Christmas. The person had been there for a year and a half, and apparently was driving her crazy, so she finally told the person to go.

From her one question of me (do you have a car?) I surmised that the problem had been the tenant was asking for rides a lot.

She didn't sound too enthused about taking on another tenant, but promised that she'd think about it.

I know nothing about what the space is like, nor how much it would cost ... but I figure if it works out that the lady is open to my coming there, it may just work out in the other details. (Gotta have a little faith, right?)

My other option that I'm looking at again (which I chose to not go with before) is living with my mom and stepdad. I stayed with them this weekend, and my mom offered it again to me. I told her that I wanted her to sit down with D and work out what their expectations of me would be (i.e. what would it take for them to both be comfortable having me in the house all the time) and then I'd take a look at it and see if I could live with those expectations. I also told her that if we did it, I'd want to have a weekly conference where we'd feel free to constructively share what's working and what's not working, so if anything's bugging anyone, it won't take more than a week to get it out and figure out a solution.

I would have to rent a storage unit for the majority of my stuff, and my commute to the gym would nearly double. But .. if I can find enough tutoring students, I could quit the gym, or cut way back -- and be much closer to where most of the tutoring students would be located.

I'm thinking of offering $150/month, plus whatever household chores they'd like me to do. Then $30/month more for utilities. That would give me $110 month towards the extra gas and rental of storage unit.

We both would just have to keep in mind that this is short term. Who knows, maybe this summer I'll manage to find a school in desperate need of a librarian, and can get my emergency certification and then move to wherever that school is. (Dream, dream ...dream..)

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One way or another, my personal deadline for getting out of here is two weeks from today. I wish I could do it this coming Sunday, but I don't think that's possible.

It is not healthy for me to live in this environment.

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Saturday I made it over to the animal shelter. I ended up only being there a bit over an hour. There were a lot of new dogs. Penny and Lenny were both gone - hopefully adopted (and not in the back sick or something). There were also a lot of people there - part of why I didn't stay very long.

I went to a free music concert at our sister church. It was pretty good - not enough to buy the lady's cd, but I did leave $1 offering for her.

After the concert I went over to my mom's. We watched the Cowboys stomp the Eagles. Then today we played with the Wii for a while. I showed mom and stepdad how to do the boxing, and we played skee ball and darts on another game. They're thinking about getting the Wii Fit.

Mom made a cottage cheese roast for me. There were enough leftovers for me to have lunch the whole week! I'd been thinking about making enough quiona and cornbread, and opening up a can of baked beans for lunches. But this way I don't have to *use* my landlady's cooking stuff. Heaven forbid!

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Today I cleaned out my car. There was a bunch of stuff I threw away.

I'll say 20 points worth (for the challenge)

I also cleared out a good bit of stuff from my pantry that I don't think I'll ever get around to actually using. I'm going to see if I can find a place to donate it.

I'll give myself another 20 points for that.

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I've decided to not replace my printer just yet. Once I move, I will either replace it, or maybe work out a deal with my mom on using theirs. (maybe buy every other ink cartridge? or pay 1/3rd of cost?)

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I wish I had a temperature gauge to find out what the temp is in my room right now. My feet are freezing, my hands are slightly cold, but the rest of me is okay.

It sure was nice sleeping in a *warm* room last night!

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Oh, I forgot to mention this before. When I got back last Sunday, there was a sign on the washing machine saying that it was broken. However, on both Wednesday and on Saturday when I got home from church ... guess what I heard? The washing machine.

So this lady is trying to make me mad with the animals, and to top it off not letting me use the washing machine. Jokes on her though, cuz when she's not here, the animals still choose to be in my room, and I washed most of my clothes before I came back! (and did some more at my mom's this weekend)

I'm SO ready to get out of here!!

So, I did a stupid thing this morning. I didn't know I had done it until I got home this afternoon.

How did I find out? By one of my landlady's famous notes!

What had I done? I left my space heater on. Major stupidity, but NOT done on purpose. I hadn't turned it on since before I went on vacation, and just plain forgot it was on this morning as I was stumbling around getting ready to go to work.

Understandably, she was ticked. I'd be too. But, instead of saying, "Hey Laura, you left your space heater on this morning. That's incredibly dangerous. Please don't let it happen again!" then I could respond with abject apologies, and make sure it doesn't happen again .. and we could move on ...

Nope, she writes me a note telling me that she'd found out my space heater was on, and that she's decided to give me notice of an earlier move out date. June.

She then goes on to say that she's selling her house this summer.

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Today I was studying my SS quarterly lesson on the fruits of the spirit - specifically love. It really hit me hard, all the uncharitable thoughts I've been having towards my landlady.

I had decided that instead of reacting to all this by taking flight and possibly leaving bad blood, I should be the adult and see if we could talk it out and clear the air. Maybe I'd be able to find out what was really going on here.

After getting that note this afternoon, my resolve to have that talk with her weakened measurably. I was again ready to schedule the movers to come get my stuff ASAP and take whatever place I could find.

Thankfully I decided to call my dad first.

After talking with him, I've decided that I'm going to write her a note saying that we need to talk, and when would be a good time for her. Leave the ball in her court.

I'm thinking of leaving it on the kitchen table in the morning before I go to church.

If she bites, then I'll start by saying how sorry I am about the space heater thing, and continue by saying that I think there've been some frustrations building, and I'd like to hear what she thinks. Then go from there.

Hopefully the conversation can make it tenable for me to live here until May. If not, then an intensive search for a new home will begin.

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I also received a disturbing piece of mail from a government agency resulting from a failed company I owned in 2000. I'm going to make some calls on Monday to figure out what to do about it. (I thought it was taken care of way back then!)

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In gym related news ...

K, another worker at the gym, talked to the owner yesterday for quite awhile. She expressed to him our frustration with not having enough supplies to keep the bathrooms stocked, and sometimes not even to do the towels. He agreed that wasn't a good thing, and that now that he's done with his "football middle age thing" (my words, not his) he's going to pay more attention to his business.

So ... this morning I texted E to tell him we were out of laundry detergent - and I had a full load to wash. He then called me and told me that he'd be in later with a lot of supplies. I'd heard that one before, so kind of rolled my eyes. Miracles do happen! We now have more than enough shampoo, deodorant, hairspray, detergent, etc., to last a few months! (no body wash yet .. he's still going to get that). Now we are to tell him whenever the supply closet (which I organized today) gets down to one of anything - and he'll make sure it gets replaced.

If this actually happens, it will make life so much easier at the gym!

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The tutoring session I was supposed to attend yesterday (in order to meet a possible tutoring student) was rescheduled for Monday - due to bad weather closing the school & the mom feeling sick.

Mom told me that there may be another lady with a second grade boy who'd be more able to afford my $25/hr rate than her rate.

So, I could possibly have 6 hours/week of tutoring (or more). That would be very, very helpful.

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What's up with sweet potatoes?!

Last week when I went to Walmart for my weekly grocery shopping, they didn't have any. Then this week they had some, but they were completely unappealing.

I ended up finding some at Albertsons, but they were $1.29/lb versus the russett's for $.98/lb!

I thought I saw on some list somewhere that winter is their growing season?!

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I had to stop by my bank today to figure out what was going on. On Tuesday I had deposited two checks, but they were not showing up online, either as a pending or completed transaction. The teller wasn't able to tell me why it wasn't showing up, but she said that it did show up in my account. Weird.

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Spending today:

Wal-mart: $5.87 (fruit, egg sub, treat)
Albertsons: $3.21 (sweet potatoes)