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

Woo Hoo!

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

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

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

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

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

I'm just not sure what to do.

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

or

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

---
I posted a recipe on the frugal blog about

Danish Aebleskiver's If you're looking for a fun family treat, you might want to check it out.

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

=---
Not much else to report really.

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

---

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

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

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

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Today I wrote a post about

More Ways To Reduce Your Debt

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

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

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

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

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

In the mail today I got a coupon for $5 off my next $50 purchase at Tom Thumb. So, with the $30 gift card I got the other day, I could get $50 worth of groceries for $15 -- and that's assuming I don't use any coupons. Hmmm... Of course Tom Thumb is more expensive than Walmart, but even so, I think I should be able to get a comprable amount of groceries for $15.

---

I logged into my UI account last night, and guess what? It shows the last six weeks of payments as having been processed. Yay, right? Not so quickly. They ALL show as "Benefit paid: $0.00" WHAT!!!!

I checked it again this afternoon, just in case it needed processing time or something. But nope, it said the same thing.

So, I sent my third email to them asking what the hockey sticks is going on! Supposedly they are supposed to get back to you within two business days. Considering the fact I sent my first email about a month ago, and the second one a week ago, and yet to have heard back . .. yeah, we'll see where that goes.

I wish I knew what else I could do to get some answers.

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Today I posted the first of a new Thursday Thirteen series on using Baking Soda called

Thirteen Ways To Use Baking Soda In Cooking.

Then I suggested a fantastic children's book about a boy named Walter called Just A Dream.

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I stopped in at Walgreen's tonight to pick up a couple things. There was this lady in front of me who was buying a whole bunch of things on sale or clearance. I think the cashier was getting kind of frazzeled, but he remained polite. He'd finally finished ringing her up and announced the total price . .. then was like "Oh! I forgot your coupons!" Saved her nearly $10.

Although I was halfway annoyed at how long I was in line, I enjoyed watching the whole little show more - especially when the lady saved a nice bit of money.

Oh and a funny. You know how I moan and groan about how math and I just don't agree? Well this lady was asking what 50% of $1.70 was. Someone nearby with a puzzled look on their face piped up ???$.90? A second later I said $.85.

Now why couldn't the GRE ask questions like that??

Last week I responded to an ad on Craigslist for a Market Research study. They called me on Friday, but needed me to come in on Monday morning. I couldn't do that because I was at the gym then.

So today I was just finishing my second children's book post when I got a call asking if I could come in today at 2pm. I of course said yes!

It was a very different study, using electrode nodes attached to your head and a video they measured your responses to. But, it made me a cool $75 for less than an hour of my time.

If I could only do a couple of these a month ...

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Today my Single Frugal and Loving Life blog (yes, I changed the title - better words for search engines) continues my series on living within your means by exploring

Ways to reduce debt and begin to live below your means

On Storytime For Children I added two new books:
Listen to the Rain by Bill Martin Jr. and The Great Kapok Tree by Lynne Cherry.

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I think I mentioned before that my desktop computer was giving me some trouble. Well, it is working fine again now - not sure exactly what happened.

But now my wireless keyboard is giving me fits and caboodles -just stops communicating, then will start up again. That makes it very difficult to write anything.

So, again, I am very thankful for my little netbook. However, I am going to need to figure out how to get my keyboard working right, because for my blogs I have to do a lot of pictures, and this little baby can't handle too much pictures saved on the disk without majorly compromising performance.

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I did not spend any money today - even though my market research place was very near a dairy queen. Speaking of dairy queen, if you go to their website and join their 'team" you get a coupon for a buy one blizzard get one free. Just saying.

I don't know if I've mentioned it before, but lightbulbs in my apartment tend to have a very short lifespan. In fact, right now the only lights that work in my apartment are the one above my desk (actually installed within the desk,) the kitchen light and one light in the bathroom.

My dad thinks this is because the wiring in the apartments is old. Maybe he's right.

Today they turned off the electricity for the whole complex for a bit over 8 hours while several electric company trucks worked on the electric boxes. I had received notice about this a few days ago, and really had meant to make up a couple sandwiches that didn't need to be refrigerated to prepare - but um... procrastinated and didn't get it done.

So, when I got up today, I realized there really wasn't anything I could eat without opening the fridge or the freezer. And of course anything in the freezer wouldn't do me much good because the microwave wouldn't work.

So I twiddled my thumbs as long as I could stand it, then went off to do some errands. One of them was stopping at Taco Bell and getting some FOOD!

So, my procrastination and lack of preperation caused me to spend nearly $5 (for brunch and supper.)

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Continuing my series on Living Within Your Means, today's post is

How Can I Live Within My Means?.

I didn't get a new post put up today on my storytime blog due to the lack of electricity at home, and then once at the gym, just wasn't feeling great.

However, I did get a large stack of books from the library yesterday which I'll be adding to my blog over the next week or so - plus have another good sized lot that's come in which I need to pick up. Most of which are well loved books, a few which I've not read before, but look interesting.

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I've shared a post from this particular blog before, and today saw another one that I had to share with you.

Tom Thumb Miniature Dog

Enjoy!

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Oh! Almost forgot. Today I used one of those transfer prescription coupons at Tom Thumb. My scrip cost $24 (sans insurance) and I got a $30 Tom Thumb gift card! Woo hoo! I tend to get my groceries at Wal-Mart, so I'm going to see if there's any market on Ebay for it.

I found out today that one of the other gym workers had given notice. E told me that he'd prefer to not have to hire someone new, so he gave me first choice of hours. So, I now have 36 hours a week at min wage. If I ever get the UI, that should be around $2000 - $2400.

If you remember my bare bones budget from before, 36 hours at the gym gives me about $150 - 200/month deficit. With the UI money, that means I can hold off from touching savings (for living expenses at least) for a good 10 months.

I've decided to put the word out to my pastor that I'd like to find a room to rent starting in September/October. I plan to offer $200/mo + 10 hours babysitting/tutoring or $300/mo. All I need is a room, internet access, kitchen privs, and laundry room privs 2x/month.

If that's not possible, then I will try for the option of finding a roommate and do a two-bedroom - that would work out to roughly $400/mo.

With working nearly full time at the gym, I will be able to take a full load of classes, time-wise at least. It remains to be seen how much I should do financially wise.
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This is a really fantastic video with Julie Andrews singing a song from Sound of Music. It is just totally beautiful.

Dancing in Antwerp

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This week I'm doing continuing a series on Living Below Our Means. Today's post is Living Within Your Means Isn't Enough

And on my Storytime blog, my most recent post is about a beautiful story of how a little girl grew up and found a way to make the world a more beautiful place: Miss Rumphius.

I'd love any feedback on either.

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I think I may be getting sick. Which is not good.I'm hoping its just my allergies bothering me - I can't afford to be sick.

After procrastinating and procrastinating, I finally got my taxes done today. Of course I owe - thanks to working at the gym and ChaCha. But at least I don't have to think about taxes again till next year.

I *still* have not heard anything regarding my unemployment money. I emailed them on Thursday to find out what was going on - if I still haven't heard from them by Tuesday morning, I'll email again (while also continuing the futile attempts to reach someone by phone.)

A piece of good news - I finally received the check from the Pennsylvania Court for the Wachovia settlement -- that's $35 more in my coffers. Yay! I'd begun to wonder what had happened to it.

If you'd like some suggestions of good books to read to your kids in getting ready for Earth Day, feel free to check out my Storytime For Children blog. I have two posts up so far, but have quite a few more coming in the next weeks. Earth Day probably is one of my favorite literature themes. So many great children's books.

This week I'm going to see if I can make it to one of those networking groups. If I could even find something for 10 - 15 hours a week on top of my gym job (that paid at least $9/hr) then I could do okay without the UI, and not dip into savings (other than paying for school.)

Hi all,

Just a quick note to let you know I'm still percolating.

I'm anxiously and nervously working on getting ready to take the GRE on Tuesday. I've taken two practice exams so far -- out of 800, I scored in the low 700's for Verbal, and high 400's for Math. Urch!

I'm not really sure at this point if there's any way for me to study enough to boost my math score. I'm going to keep reviewing the math parts that are giving me trouble - but mainly it is all the various formulas and knowing when to use them.

--
My friends got back from their cruise Friday night. I spent most of Saturday with them, church, potluck, and then watching videos they took/pictures.

--
I *stil* haven't heard anything about my Unemployment status. So, will have to attempt getting in touch with someone via phone yet again this coming week. Looks like tax day will have been an overly positive estimation of when I receive my first payment. Ugh!

--
Still haven't done my taxes. I know - time is running out.

--
I've decided to use my GRE test trip as a mini-vacation. My dad has generously provided funds for two-nights hotel stay where I'll be going. There are several free admission museums there - specifically one about Children's Literature which looks interesting. It'll be nice to have two nights of cable as well.

--
After I get back from this trip/test, I am going to have to seriously hunker down on the spending front, the eating/health front, and the finding a job front.

--
Ok, I need to get some posts put together for my two other blogs, and then work on getting packed. I'll be leaving right after working at the gym tomorrow. I'm not looking forward to a 3 hour drive, but I'll survive - as long as I can find good music stations on the radio.

I've been keeping pretty busy the past couple days doing various things. Nothing really exciting really.

Today I did my last pet-sitting visit before my friends get back (actually, I stayed there last night and watched some more cable!) Their cat Megan was hiding from me this morning, but as I was just about to leave, she came out and hissed at me. So I sat down and took my shoes off -- and she let me give her foot rubsies.

My dad sent me $100 for my hotel when taking my GRE. (Isn't my dad sweet?) That's enough for 2 nights - taxes. I'm thinking about maybe making this a little mini-vacation. Yeah, like my life isn't a vacation right now, right?

But really, Abilene does have some interesting things to see, and it's one town in TX I've not been before. If I stay one or two nights will depend on how my job search is going. If I've got an interview lined up for Wednesday -- it'll be one night!

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I've kind of been disappointed with the traffic my children's book blog is getting. It went for nearly three days with NO visitors. I was beginning to wonder if it was worth it to keep going with it. Then . . . the visitors started coming back (mainly google searches) and then *yesterday* I had 8 unique views - but one of them had to have been one of those indexing robots, because I had a total of nearly 600 page views!!!!!

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I am beginning to think that sending responses to job postings on Craigslist is good for one thing, and one thing only. Job search credits for UI. Every week I've sent at least 6 or more responses (sometimes closer to 12) and I've gotten 4 interviews out of it, plus two other responses - one of which was that spam site trying to get me to sign up for online degree programs.

Yech.

There has to be a better way.

When I get back from my GRE test on the 1st, I am going to seriously start trying to figure something else out. Also seriously work on revamping my resume. I've kind of been doing *just enough* in trying to prepare for the GRE. So once that's out of the way, I can get focused again. Even if I could just find a part time job to add to my gym job - that would be great.

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A few days ago I wrote a post about the

Montana Plane Crash and how there were people on it who hit close to home for my family.

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Ok, I'm going to catch up with some blogs here, then get back to prepping for the GRE.

Toot a loo!

Friday afternoon I went over to my friends house to check on their rabbits and their cat. If you remember, when I went there on Wednesday, the rabbits were completely out of water. That is why I decided to go back on Friday instead of waiting till Saturday.

Well, I guess the weather had been cooler, or the rabbits hadn't been as thirsty, because their water bottle was half full. Still, I had bought a second water bottle (Walmart $3.xx) for them, so I went ahead and attached it to their cage.

I had decided to go ahead and spend the night there (which my friends had told me I was welcome to do) to both keep Megan (cat) company, and wait a few hours to change out everything (plus they have a big cable package, so I did a bit of cable surfing too.)

About 9:30p.m. someone knocked on the front door. I debated about acknowledging the person, but in the end decided to at least turn the porch light on and see who was out there. After seeing it was a man, I called out "um, yes?" He asked me if I was a family member. I told him that no, I was a friend of the family. He said, Oh, ok. and then went on his way.

That was a little unnerving, but it also made me feel good to know that my friends have neighbors who are keeping an eye out for them.

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I kind of wish I had Lifetime for the next 4 weekends at least. They're showing 4 new Nora Roberts movies. If I could pay for just one channel, it would be Lifetime.

---
One week from Tuesday is my GRE test. I'm really getting nervous about it. I almost wish I'd scheduled it out further. But, even if I had, I probably still wouldn't feel ready for it.

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I talked to my brother today. Once he has his acceptance letter for nursing school, he is thinking of signing up for the Air Force - have them pay for his schooling, and then serve however many years are required in exchange.

He'd be able to go in as an officer because he already has a degree, so wouldn't have to do boot camp (which is good, because he has two bad knees.)

I'm not sure how I feel about this. I want my brother safe, but I'm also proud that he's willing to serve his country (even though it also will benefit him financially.) Going in as a medic/nurse should keep him fairly safe -- hopefully.

Whatever happens, will happen. Hopefully it will all be for the best.

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My recent post on Single Frugalton is about the

dangers of gift shops. I'd love to hear your opinions on it.

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Sunday plans;
() Craigslist
() Study GRE math
() update blogs
() clean kitchen
() trash run
() exercise

Yesterday at my interview, one of the questions was if I prefer working by myself or in a group setting. I thought that was a funny question, because sometimes I have thought that I'd much prefer working out of my home and not having to mess with the whole office/coworker thing.

But the last five weeks or so, where I have had very little interaction with other people comparatively to when I worked in an office, I've realized that I actually miss it.

Even working at the gym doesn't offer that much in the way of interaction. For example I was there today for four hours, and only ONE person came in.

I feel kind of bad for people who stop and say more than hi to me, because sometimes that's enough to get my mouth going - just to have someone to talk to face to face.

Another thing I've realized is that when I was first laid off, I had so many people calling me to check on me, or emailing me, etc. But now, it's back to normal - where I get maybe two calls a week.

I think next week I am going to force myself to go to at least one of those networking get together things. Even just to get out and interact with other people. Although, when in a group of strangers, my shy/quiet will hardly say a word side strikes up. Worth a try though.

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Yep, I received my check for Jury Duty today. So, since I had to pay $6 for parking (since the attendant gave me back $2) I am now even. Yay.

I'm really having a lot of fun with my children's story time blog. I hadn't realized that so many of my favorite children's poet poems were on you tube. Some of them aren't read exactly the way I'd do it - but they're still good.

While at the gym today I skipped the last section of chapter 5 - just was not getting it - and studied through the middle of Chapter 10 of the GRE math. There were a couple sections I didn't stay with very long, but might go back to later if I have time.

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oops - time for ER - will finish later

Well, my interview this morning was interesting. I didn't speak with the person I'd been corresponding with, and he didn't seem to have seen any of my info until it was handed to him. He reiterated the fact that there were at least 600 cannidates for the positions.

Then he mentioned that sometime they had to work a little late to ensure projects were done. I told him I didn't have a problem with that. THEN he mentioned that sometime they had to work Saturdays. (Groan. Interview over.) I told him I couldn't do Saturdays, but I'd be more than happy to come in on Sundays if needed.

They're of course not open on Sundays.

Oh well - I don't know that I'd really want to work at a place where I'd be expected to put in that much overtime anyway - esp not for what they're paying per hour.

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Long story short - I found out today why I haven't received my unemployment benefits yet. They were on hold. For more of the story check today's post on

The Single Frugalton.

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Here is a really cute video of a cat being aggressive with another cat - that is, a *picture* of a cat! LOL

Cat attacks Picture

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I went to take care of the Bunnies and Hissy Cat today. Hissy cat of course hissed at me as I opened the door and growled at me as I walked past her to get to where her food/toilet/water were all at. Before I left though, she let me give her a foot rub - only after I took my shoes off.

Poor bunnies! Their water bottle was completely empty! After I refilled it, they both practically attacked it.

I ended up goofing off for an hour or so, then before leaving, I refilled their water again.

I'm not supposed to go back again until Saturday - but I'm worried that they'll be dehydrated before then. The weather has been pretty warm.

I'm also thinking about getting a second water bottle for them - but I really don't want to spend very much, since well, they're not MY pets - and it won't probably even be necessary again once the family is back.

Any suggestions?

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I called about the Lab bill today. I was told to resubmit my insurance info to them and then see what happens. For now, I'll leave it at that.

The lady I spoke with confirmed that it should have been covered.

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Wednesday's Accomplishments:
Wednesday Plans
(x) Interview at 10:30
(x) Cancel savings account at Chase
(x) Call Aetna and holler
(x) Go feed hissy cat and bunnies
() Study Chapter 6 in GRE
(x) Update blogs
() Finish Driver's Ed renewal course!!!!

Thursday's Plans
() Watch Lost
() Update blogs
() Finish Driver's Ed renewal course!!!!!
() Study Chapter 6 in GRE
() Send in application to place mentioned by Chase bank lady

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ETA - When I got home today from taking care of the fur babies, I found out that my freezer door hadn't properly shut. So, I don't know how long it had been like that, but there was starting to be some drippage.

None of the food is meat - it appears that all the frozen fruits have turned to mush. Do you think my frozen burritos (bean and cheese and rice) and my frozen veggie lasganas will be okay to eat still?

I can't believe I did that!

When I got home tonight and checked my mail, I had a bill from a lab. It said that the insurance company had denied the claim because I wasn't covered on the date of service.

WHAT?!!! I was told I'd be fully covered through Feb. 28, and after that I'd have to go with Cobra. The lab work was done on Feb 19.

I will have to call Aetna tomorrow and find out what the eck is going on!

The lab bill itself isn't horrible - $104 - but if that wasn't covered, then probably the doctor's visit wasn't, nor my medication refil -- that all would add up.

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I hadn't realized how long and involved Chapter 5 of my math book was. I worked fairly steadily on it today for about two hours, and still haven't quite finished it. The last section is on Algebraic Fractions (+,-,x,/).

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I applied to a number of postings on Craigslist today. It was weird though, one of the listings I'd found last night and had left up to apply to in the morning, had been removed. I guess they found someone between late yesterday afternoon and early this morning? It had every appearance of a legitimate ad. Oh well.

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Tomorrow I have an interview at a place that does loan modifications and credit repair. They sent me three websites with info on their company.

I looked over all three websites - the first one is just a list of products, but the other two are for the Loan Modifications and Credit Repair. The Credit Repair site shows they are licensed and bonded in the state of Texas, but the Loan Modification one doesn't say anything about that.

I read an article on MSN yesterday about the Loan Modification places basically not being worth anything because they take your money up front, and then have little if any results to show for it.

So . . I am wanting to ask enough questions about how they operate their business to reassure myself that it is a legitimate business that is actually helping people. I'm just not sure of the best way to phrase my questions so that I don't come across as accusing them of something in case they ARE legitimate.

For instance: How does the loan modification process work? Do you take the money upfront, or upon successfully helping someone? What is the success rate?
How long has this business been operating? Has it gone under any other names? etc. ..

Suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

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Tuesday Accomplishments;
() Cancel Chase savings account
(x) Cash paycheck
() exercise
(x) Check Craigslist
(x) Update blogs
() Study Chp 6, 7 GRE Math
(x) Gym from 3 - 7

Wednesday Plans
() Interview at 10:30
() Cancel savings account at Chase
() Call Aetna and holler
() Go feed hissy cat and bunnies
() Study Chapter 6 in GRE
() Update blogs
() Finish Driver's Ed renewal course!!!!

Due to the shift changes prompted by one of our staff members being asked to leave, I now have the early morning shift on Mondays.

It's amazing to me how fast a body gets used to NOT having to be up at the crack of dawn and how difficult it is to force that same body to rest the night before.

I had to go by the South gym to pick up the paychecks for the other two locations, so I even got to sleep in a few minutes more than I would have otherwise.

Even so, I was totally dead off my feet at the gym. Luckily, between 7 and 11 only 1 person came to workout. The other problem was that I was *cold*!

I hope I'm not coming down with something. Ugh!

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I stopped by my apartment management's office today and signed a 6-month lease. I also found out that I could rent the smallest two-bedroom for $750/mo including utilities. So, I think I will spend the next few months looking for a roommate that I can live with to split the rent. Even if it goes up a bit, it'll still be less than $400/mo which would save me at least $265/mo. The biggest issue I still have to wrestle with is if I can give up my privacy.

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I did manage to get in a few hours of studying my GRE math. I'm working on Chapter 5 of 14. So, if I concentrate on two chapters a day, I should have throughly gone through all the chapters by Sunday. Then I can take the practice exams, and review what I missed. Then on to the rest of the test.

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I spent way too much time this afternoon working on my Storytime For Children blog. I think though that I like how it is coming along. If you'd like to check it out and let me know what you think -- especially about the header and color scheme -- check my side panel in a few minutes for a link to it.

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Tuesday Plans:

() Cancel Chase savings account
() Cash paycheck
() exercise
() Check Craigslist
() Update blogs
() Study Chp 6, 7 GRE Math
() Gym from 3 - 7

So . .. I didn't sleep very well last night. (Let's just say that when you have a bottle of vegetable oil from 1997 and you're not sure if you should use it or not - no matter how much you want to make the brownies - DON"T DO IT!)

While I was tossing and turning, my mind was scheming as to what to do about my storytime blog. I'm thinking the likelihood of getting publishers to give me a carte blanche go ahead to read their books from cover to cover on videotape without having to pay royalties or something, is probably pretty slim. Especially without having anything established other than the one post.

So, I've decided to go ahead and do something similar to what I was thinking - except without the videos. I'm going to focus on different children's authors/poets and/or themes. I'll write short histories of the author's, give ideas on how to use the books or poems in a homeschool or classroom setting, and provide either links to already created activities or my own suggested ideas.

I also am going to see if my dad would be willing to record himself saying his children's stories. My dad was a pastor for 35 years, and I've never heard better children's stories. So, if he's willing, then I might put up two of those a month with a transcript.

Eventually, if it gets established enough, I might be able to add in my original idea. I still might make videos showing how to read a story to a group of children, or how to engage one child on your lap in a story. You would think most people would have those skills naturally, but from what I've seen, that's not so.

I need to get an amazon code from today for linking to the books, so it may still be a while before I get it really going.

I may be asking those of you with little ones 10 and under to give me suggestions of some of their favorite current authors. I know quite a bit myself, but there's so many out there that I may not have heard of them before.

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Can I live on $838/month?

The answer to that question is no. But I *can* live on $1000/month.

Why am I asking myself this question? Because that is what I'm probably going to be doing for the next couple years.

I think I'm going to give up on the job search for now. (Not that it's going so great anyway.)

If I work at the gym 32 hours a week - M, T, TH and F that will give me roughly $838/month income. The monthly difference will have to be made up through my savings.

What this will allow me to do is:
1. Have 4 days a week where I will have plenty of time to study and work on my blogs while getting paid.

2. Be in a place 4 days a week where I can work out.

3. Have my Wednesday's free to volunteer at my local library branch to start getting some real world experience.

3a. By getting my foot in the door at the library as a volunteer, I *may* be able to be in line for a paid position eventually if one opens up.

So, here is my budget:

Income: 838
Rent: 665 (Utilities are paid)
Phone: 50
Internet: 20
IRA: 50
Insurance: 200 (Health, Car, Renter's)
Gas: 40
Food: 50
Other: 10
Total Output: 1085
Difference: 246.60

246.60 *12 = 2959.44

So, at least $3,000 will be used from savings. I will have to use savings also for any taxes owed, medical costs, or car repairs. So I'm thinking roughly $4200 for one-year above my income.

I will pursue other avenues of income, such as from my blogs and babysitting, but that's not consistent enough to count.

My food budget will basically be this:
loaf of bread - $4
jar of peanut butter - $3
2lb bag of pinto beans $2
quinoa or lentils - $10
RiceMilk (2 lg containers) $7
Oatmeal $4
Fruit - $5
Frz Veggies - $6
Other -- $9

A day's meals would look like this:
Breakfast: Oatmeal w/milk banana
Lunch: Beans and veggies
Supper: Quinoa w veggies
Snack: peanut butter toast

I have some of these things on hand already, as well as a good number of other food items, so any grocery money not spent will be kept back for months when the gym is closed for a holiday.

I think I can make this work. It won't be easy - especially using up my savings. But if in the end I have my Master's and have library experience for my resume, I think it will be worth it.

What do you all think?

I found out today that I might be able to get some more hours at the gym starting next week - for a total of around 20 - 22 hrs/week. It'd still be a good bit less than my unemployment allowance, so I can do that and still claim payments. (not that I've been paid anything yet.)

I think it will be good for me to have more days at the gym - force me to get out into the world at least 4 days a week. E understands that I am still actively searching for something that pays more/give more hours, and that I may not be able to give much notice.

What I'm actually thinking would be good is if I could find something part time that pays 10-12 dollars/hr for 20 hrs, and then do the 15 hrs or so at the gym for min wage. That would give me enough to pay rent, gas, and bare min food. But it would also give me two days a week where I can study and work at the same time.

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It is so weird to wake up on a Friday morning and remember that I'm not going to have had an infusion of cash in my bank account. Today was the 4th Friday with no paycheck.

I will be getting a paycheck on Monday for the gym, but it will be 1/3 of what I was used to getting every Friday.

I am still living off of what I earned in February, so reality hasn't totally sunk in.

In a couple weeks though I will be living off much much less in order to avoid touching my savings as much as possible - unless of course I find another job. The rubber will really be hitting the road.

Monday morning I'm going to go by that place where they offered me a job several years ago. It probably is a real stretch that anyone there still remembers me, let alone would have a job open -- but it wouldn't hurt to try. Especially if it meant I could walk to work again.

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Friday's accomplishments
() close Chase savings
() Study GRE Math
(x) Gym from 11 - 7
() exercise

Saturday's plans
() study GRE math
() make flashcards
() update blog

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Oh I wanted to tell you all. My Single Frugalton blog came in 3rd place out of the 5 blogs. There were a total of 65 votes, and I got 12 votes. Caregivingdaughter.today.com, which is a fantastic blog about a woman taking care of her mom with alzheimers, won with 20 votes.

I was totally honored to know that 11 other people liked my blog enough to vote for it. (Hey, I had to vote for myself, right?)

I sat with my friend T and her two children for church today. She chose to sit in the *very* first pew - not exactly my first choice (or second choice, or third choice....) Her husband was playing the piano for choir, which is why she was sitting there. (He is a very talented pianist.)

After church was over and we were getting ready to leave, a family of 3 came over. I looked up, and it was like a blast from the past! One of my students (one of my *favorites*) was standing there in front of me! She looked so grown up, but I knew her almost immediately. I hadn't seen her in almost 4 years - she'd been my student for two years - such a quiet, intelligent and polite girl.

I didn't mind so much having sat up front, otherwise they probably wouldn't have spotted me.

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I took some pictures today with the 4 gig SD card I'd bought out in CA. Previously, I'd been using the 2 gig card borrowed from my stepdad. My computer doesn't seem to want to recognize it. I hope I can figure it out soon, because I use my camera quite a bit - and would really hate to have to buy another card. (I can't take this one back, it was on clearance sale - Circuit City - no receipt.)

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Accomplished so far today:
(x) Sabbath School and Church
(x) picked up books from library (including GRE book)
(x) Study GRE Math
(x) trash run

Sunday Plans:
() clean kitchen (counters/dishes/fridge)
() make oatmeal patties
() study GRE math
() go to T's house for math tutoring
() decide how to go to courthouse for jury duty (drive downtown, take DART??)

I really liked the place I interviewed at today. It seems like it would be kind of like what I was doing at my former job - only maybe with a bit more variety and keep me busier.

I think the interview went pretty well. Which was good, because I could have had my nerves totally frayed by the fact that my hose decided to run *below* my hemline AS I was getting out of my car to go inside!! And no, I hadn't noticed a run before that. They lasted all of 3 days. Nice.

Anyway, I should be hearing back from her on Monday (while I'm possibly at the courthouse getting on a jury!)

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One of the GRE prep books came in at the library today - but it wasn't the one I was most wanting. So . . I decided to bite the bullet and go buy a couple prep books. With the test coming up on the 31st, I don't have very much time to waste at all.

I bought one book focused on Math review/test questions, and one book focused on the essay questions.

After spending about 20 minutes working in the Math book, (and yes, I know I am being hard on myself), I am feeling kind of stupid. I'm in the basics chapter. Some of it I'm remembering, some of it I'm still going "huh???" after he explains it.

Word problems are going to kill me.

Ask me to find the average - fine, can do.
Ask me the mode or the mean - great!

Now give me a problem that says Sally took 3 tests and got a 90, 92, and 94. She needs a 95 average to get an A for the course. What does she need to get on her 4th test?

Figured it out - not the way the book explained it - but still got the right answer.

Then, here comes this problem:
20 students scored a 90 on a true false test. 30 students scored 100. What is the mean, mode, and median?

ARGH~~~~~~

I hate word problems!

Luckily, my friend T's husband is going to spend a couple hours with me on Sunday on this Math stuff. I really am going to feel silly telling him I'm getting confused on the prime numbers. I used to know this stuff - really, I did.

All I can do is take my time and study it right? If it gets to be a week before the test, and I'm still faltering with the math, then I'll just have to reschedule it. It might mean that I start my program later (and cost another $50)- but this isn't a race, right?

So . . tracking my back to school spending so far:

GRE registration: $140
Prep books: $40

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Friday Plans:
(x) 9 a.m. Interview
(x) 11 - 6:30 --- gym
() Contact school librarians
() Write thank you notes
(x) Study GRE math materials
() trash run
() dish run

Saturday Plans:
() Sabbath School and church
() set clocks forward??
() study GRE math materials
() trash run
() dish run

Perusing the Craigslist ads today, it seems like I have exhausted most, if not all of the possible legitimate job listings - at least for awhile.

This afternoon I went for my second interview. It was at a company dealing with waste management.

It didn't start out so good. When I arrived (30 minutes early - sat in car till it was 15 minutes early) there was *no one* in the lobby! At first I sat in a chair hoping someone would come into the lobby. It kept getting closer and closer to my interview time and I wasn't sure what to do.

I contemplated going down the hall labled 'human resources and payroll' to see if I could find someone there -- but in the end I just couldn't get up enough moxie to do so.

Finally, it was 2:58. I decided to call the phone number where my appt had been set up. They asked me to give it another 10 minutes, and if no one had shown up, to call them and they'd email the company to let them know I'd been there and they needed to reschedule with me. Just as I got off the phone, a lady came into the lobby -- and within a few minutes I was seated at a cubicle desk filling out the application.

The first thing I noticed was that everyone was wearing jeans. Oh happy day!!
Everyone seemed pretty relaxed while taking calls - they had a pretty funny one where someone wanted to rent a garbage truck for the day.

After filling out my application, I took a typing test (scored 62 WPM.) Then I had my interview.

It was a total opposite of yesterday. I wasn't completely *not* nervous, but I wasn't *too* nervous. The lady was really friendly.

She told me about the company, and gave me a chance to ask questions. I asked her a question no one had ever asked her before - about how the calls were routed to the different reps.

The position actually sounds like a fairly good fit for me (temporarily while going to school.) It's taking inbound calls helping customers be happy. The pay is about what I made at my former job -- but, and this is a BIG plus - you get graded on your performance (did you ask customers name, did you verify info, did you get account number, did you follow through on what you said you were going to do, etc) and based on your scores (10 quality checks a month) you get either a 15% bonus, 10% bonus or no bonus. They meet with you twice a month to go over your performance, so you're never left hanging wondering if you're doing okay or not.

They also offer full benefits (including tuition reimbursement - wonder if they'd reimburse for getting a masters in a totally unrelated field?? Or I probably should stay mum on that.)

She also told me that they have very little turnover - everyone has been there from one to 30 years. The reason they are looking to hire new people is because they've expanded (doubled) their territory and need at least 7 new CSR's to handle the call volume.

I won't know one way or the other for a couple weeks at least - but I really like the sound of this particular job.

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Oh, I went to Office Depot again today to print out corrected copies of my resume. The same guy who helped me yesterday was there. I told him that I had bragged about OD's customer service.

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I spent some time reading through this Algebra review pdf today. A lot of it makes little sense to me - so many symbols it starts to run together. But some of it is sort of coming back.

http://www.math.uakron.edu/~dpstory/tutorial/mptii/lesson02.pdf

I have a long way to go though.

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Thursday Plans:
(x) Practice interview questions
(x) Print copies of updated resume
(x) Check Craigslist
() Send thank you note
(x) Interview at 3 pm
(x) Study GRE math material
() Contact school librarians
() trash run

Friday Plans:
() 9 a.m. Interview
() 11 - 6:30 --- gym
() Contact school librarians
() Write thank you notes
() Study GRE math materials
() trash run
() dish run

Off to see ER!

Following in the footsteps of others . .

() Workout 3x a week
() Research for best GRE refresher course
() Study for GRE
() Register for next available GRE test
() Talk to branch librarian regarding some kind of job at library for experience, maybe paid
() Contact UNT to find out details of program - how online works
() Submit proposal to WIA for paying for/helping to pay tuition
() Find a part time job or more
() Spend no more than $150 outside of Rent, phone, internet and gas expenses (not including GRE expenses or application fees)
() Spend 30 minutes to an hour 4x a week cleaning and or organizing apartment
() List Spanish books/materials on ebay
() Make at least 28 posts to blog
() Finish Drivers Safety Course for discount
() do taxes

One thing I've found the past two weeks with not having a full time job, is that I've been spending a lot more on food - namely food that isn't great for me. So, my plan for March is I am taking out $150 cash for food and anything else (other than gas, GRE expenses, etc.) I'm hoping that that will make me a lot less likely to spend on food I don't need. If I have any left at the end of the month, I'll treat myself out to a meal - or if it's a tiny amount left, then I'll treat myself to a movie at the dollar theater.

I'm really getting excited about the idea of going back to school and getting my Masters in Library Sciences. The more people I talk to about it, the more I'm hearing that they think it's perfect for me.

I'm more than slightly nervous about the whole GRE thing. I just need to bite the bullet and find study materials for it, find out test dates, and then get prepared for it!

---
Tomorrow I'll be posting an article my brother wrote for my blog about how to play golf inexpensively. It really is a pretty good article, if I do say so myself.

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Monday's Goals:
1. Call UI and ask for first payment (need to find out how my severance check affects this)
2. Call Work force center and get my password reset (ugh!)
3. Workout for 30 min
4. Gym from 1 - 7
5. Call for interview at party place (from Craigslist)
6. Check Craigslist for any new possibilities
7. Research GRE prep materials
8. Contact UNT regarding online program details

I think I have figured out what I want to be when I grow up!

Seriously though, Yesterday I was talking with some people about my whole life/work situation. I told them how I just was feeling unsure about going the technical school route, and how none of my options really excited me.

One of the people asked me what were my greatest passions in life. I immediately responded: children, books and computers!

Since they already knew that I don't wish to go back into the classroom, they suggested that I might enjoy being a school librarian!

I mulled over that idea most of last night (and overslept this morning getting to the gym!) Then today I spent a good bit of time researching it and thinking about it.

It just feels right. I am going to go back to school and get my Masters in Library Science with Certification for being a School Librarian.

My next step is to refresh my math skills, etc., and then to take the GRE.

Then, I am going to present a proposal to the WIA people as to why they should pay for me to get my Masters (or at least enough credits to get the certification) instead of paying for me to go to a technical school.

Whether or not they are willing to help me out, I am going to do this. It will just be more financially difficult without their help.

If I am accepted into the program, then that means I will be here in Texas for at least another year.

University of North Texas is where I am thinking of going. They have an on campus option, and an on-line option. If I can, I'm going to see if I can do some combination of the two options to provide the most flexibility.

I am truly excited about this!

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I heard back from one of the Craigslist ads I responded to yesterday. I am to call on Monday to set up an interview. It is a part time position that pays $12/hr.
But, if I can combine it with my gym job, then maybe it'll be enough to manage through school without cutting into savings too much.

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Today's Accomplishments:
1. Gym - 8:15 - 6:15
2. Decided what I want to do when I grow up!
3. Updated blog (Potluck idea)
4. Not much else

Saturday's Gameplan:
1. church
2. update blog
3. get laundry together
4. do laundry at Mom's

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Have a great weekend everyone!

Wow, today I spent a good bit of time on Craigslist. I ended up responding to 6 different ads, and considered 3 others.

One of the ads was for the local garbage service company for a customer service rep.

I actually was given a link to their site where I filled out a bunch of information and sent my resume. Once I was through, I was told to call an 800 number within 24 hours. So, I called it.

I've got an interview on Thursday at 3 p.m.!! Woo hoo! It's a bit far away, but hey, it's an interview right, it'll get my feet wet.

Another ad I responded to was for a Market Research company. They were looking for people to call possible research participants for studies (people already signed up in the database.) I love focus groups (free, easy money!) so I think this could be quite fun too. AND their office is *really* close by.

I searched a bit around their main website and found a name of the person who I think is doing the hiring - so my cover email used that person's name. Genius if I'm right, bozo if I'm wrong. But, at least I'm trying right?

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In doing research for today's blog post, I came across a really neat freebie site for sharing videos with friends and family. I've already set up a site for myself and uploaded my first video - so easy and best of all, free!

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I have to tell you about this book I've been reading the past few days. I first saw it in Barnes and Nobles three or four years ago, and wrote the title in my notepad. Just this past week I finally got it from the library.

From the moment I read the first paragraph, I was guffawing. Seriously. It is a Young Adult book, but if you remember anything at all about being a teenager, I think you too will get a kick out of this book.

"The Year of Secret Assignments" by Jaclyn Moriarty.

Here's an excerpt from the first chapter:

Writing Prompt:
We bet you just wrote down 'grass,' "water," "sky" etc. Maybe you noticed the coffee cup, but we bet you didn't notice the lipstick stain on the side of the coffee cup! Now, go ahead and try again. Write down EVERYTHING that you see.

Girls response:
I don't get it. There is no coffee cup.
Ms. Yen just turned around from the board and I noticed shes getting a bit fat. The top buttons on her jeans has popped open.

She said that she didn't think there was a formula for time travel, although she does think there might be a formula to make me shut up and do my maths or else find myself laughing on the other side of my face when it comes to the half-yearlies!

If she tells me what the formula is, I'll write it out for you.

End Excerpt.

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Okay, over and out. Almost time for ER - I missed it last week and the nbc.com episode viewer STINKS.

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Almost forgot:

Fridays goals:
1. gym from 6:20 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
2. exercise
3. clean apartment
4. update blog

This afternoon I attended the orientation session for WIA (a program which pays your tuition, books, etc., for you to go back to school.)

The room we were in was meant to hold maybe 20 - 25 people, tops. Today, there were closer to 40 people. The center wasn't ready for quite that many people, and had to pull in chairs from other places. But, I did hear a few comments saying that the orientation sessions had been fairly large for the last six weeks or so, and getting more so every week.

When we came to the end of the orientation, the presenter handed out appointment sheets. These appointments were for us to have a one-on-one conversation with her, and take an assessment test.

The earliest date for an appointment was April 9. Ouch.

I didn't fill out an appointment sheet because this particular center isn't the closest one to me. I completed the orientation at it because it didn't conflict with my schedule at the gym.

I called the one which is closest to me to see if I could set up an appointment with them - seeing as how far out the appointments were being set. Unless the person I spoke with didn't understand what I was asking, I was told to just come in Friday at 8:45 a.m. and they'd take us in groups.

If I can find my birth certificate (yes, they require your birth certificate + social security card + driver's license, etc.) before Friday, then I'll go in this week. If not, I'll have to order one, and hopefully go in next Friday.

The school I'm looking at is A T I. (American T ech nical Ins ti tute.) It looks like they offer Business Office Admin and Medical Office Assist courses.

Does anyone know anything about this particular college? Would a certificate from this place actually be worth anything (career wise?)

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Today's Accomplishments:

1. Attend Census thing - no, overslept
2. Attend Orientation - yes
3. Update blog - yes
4. not much else

Wednesday's Goals:
1. Check Craigslist listings
2. Check out WIA college listings and career courses
3. Look for birth certificate
4. Work on filling out WIA application
5. Go to gym to run
6. Attend career seminar
7. Clean for 15 minutes (anything!)
8. Update blog

Saturday night I went with some friends (and a bunch of their friends) to the Magic Time Machine. It was the first time I'd been there.

We had to wait about 90 minutes to get a table. While we were captive... er waiting for our table, we went upstairs. The upstairs is filled with ways to part with your pretty penny ... a Magic Show for $3/person, arcade games, a bar (not sure if they serve other than soda ..), and several people who'll do a caricature. Other than soda and water, none of us parted with any pennies upstairs.

Finally we were led to our tables (one for the adults, one for the young'ones) by two swashbuckling pirates.

One of our group who was celebrating her 40th birthday was dressed up as a granny - gray hair, fake glasses, droopy parts , a walking cane, etc. N, who was the person who helped me get my job at my previous company, will be having a birthday soon, and so he dressed up as Duff Man, the Redneck. To put it mildly, both of the celebrators, plus various others in the group, didn't need a drop of alcohol to get into the 'spirit.'

After ordering (food way overpriced - I had a baked potato for $5) we were all led on a Salad Car Train. One of our group needed to use the restroom, and was thusly led on the "needs potty training" walk.

The kids all had a blast getting autographs from the various characters, and the adults had a blast having permission to act like kids.

It really was a fun evening, which ended up not costing me anything because my potato was taken care of by my friends who'd invited me.

---
Today I spent a lot of time on Craigslist. I found the gigs section, which somehow I'd missed before. I ended up emailing 3 different ads.

One I got a reply on quickly - asking me for $10 to cover 'training materials.' Next.

A second one sounds a lot like Ch@Ch@, except you are based in a building and you do a lot more than just look up answers to questions. The pay per hour is about $1/hr less than what I was making, but I would get full benefits, plus have the possibility of merit raises.

I had to google the answers to 3 questions and include the links to where I found my answers in my email. That was kind of fun.

The third one was for a Nanny position taking care of two 3 year old twins. From what I could tell, it is a 4-day a week job (Tue - Fri at 1p.m.) Amazingly, the pay is slightly more than I made per week at my former job, but no benefits. (Well . . I'd say playing all day with two little ones counts as a big benefit.)

---
Tomorrow I have to call work in Texas and figure out why I can't log in to the site. Well, it will let me log in, but not actually go anywhere - it says there is no account associated with my log in??? I will be *majorly* annoyed if my information has been lost, because I spent *numerous* hours putting together the info for the resume on it.

---
I found out how much my UI will be. It's roughly 55% of my former paycheck.

I can send in a form to have 10% withheld for Fed Tax if I want to. I'm not sure if I'm going to do that or not.

----
Monday plan:
1. Call Work in Texas about website logging in
2. Call Cobra company to find out if TX is participating in the 65% deal, and when it goes into effect -- also if they *must* have a paper coupon
3. Make bank deposits
4. Exercise
5. Work gym from 11:30 - 5
6. Finish trash run - do dishes
7. Check Craigslist

I got a phone call from E this morning at 6:47 a.m. asking me if I could go in early - as in ASAP. The person who was supposed to be there had gotten a bad sunburn and was pretty ill.

I made it over to the gym by a little after 7:30.

One big accomplishment today -- for the first time since before Christmas break, I did my 30 minute run! Of course, I scaled it back a lot since it had been such a long time, but I ran for a total of 18 out of 35 minutes. Yay!

I found out from E that both of the people who I'd talked to about joining the gym have signed up! Bonus time!

---

I got my Cobra letter today. Just for Medical it'll be $398/mo. It didn't mention anything about the 65% Stimulus discount - but it was dated on the 17th.

I'm going to call them on Monday to clarify about that, plus some other items.

---

Today's accomplishments:

1. Gym from 7:30 - 5 pm
2. Cashed gym check
3. updated blog
4. 35 minutes exercise session!
5. Checked Craigslist

Saturday Plans:

1. Church
2. poltluck lunch
3. update blog
4. Out on town with friends
5. Clean counters (one of these days I'll actually do this!)

Um yeah. You know that list I made yesterday of all the things I was going to accomplish today?

Managed to do four items.

1. Applied to company scfr mentioned
2. caught up on blog posts
3. Perused Craigslist job postings
4. Started to look into ehealthinsurance plans

Didn't clean, didn't exercise, didn't finish applications (although did make some progress on one of them.)

On Craigslist I found a number of interesting postings. One was for AmeriPlan, which I don't think is right for me. Another one was for a different tutoring company than AtoZ, which I did apply for and took a number of qualifying tests.

A third one though made me annoyed. I responded to an ad for an admin asst with a starting hourly rate slightly higher than what I made. I received a reply back with a link to a website to fill out an application. I filled out the application, copied and pasted my resume, and submitted.

After submitting, the next page was a list of online colleges where you could 'further your career opportunities' and nothing else. So now I'm wondering if the ad wasn't just a scam to get you to give your contact info so they can bug you to death to apply to one of those online schools.

Maybe I'm wrong, but I don't think I am.

----

One thing I've been trying to wrap my brain around today is the fact that all the money which I've been earning from my side jobs, and which I've completely allocated towards savings goals, is now not really 'extra monies' but is now 'NOW' monies.

I'm trying to figure out if the money I have stashed in my general Extra Monies account, but not allocated yet, should be put in my Next Month fund for general spending, or go to where I'd put it if life was normal.

You see, right now I am using the money I earned in January for expenses. In March, I'll use the money I earned in February (including the severance pay I guess.) So by April, I'll presumably need to use the monies earned in March.

Since there will be no full-time income coming during March (unless a miracle happens) the only income will be from side jobs or unemployment.

So . . . maybe for February I will go ahead and allocate my extra monies normally, since I'll have a 'normal' income. But then in March, whatever comes in from whatever source, will go to fund April's budget.

Am I making any sense?

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Tomorrow my mom wants me to go with her to some travel business seminar she thinks I could really do well with. I think I'm going to tell her I'm more than happy to meet her for lunch somewhere, but am not interested in MLM (which is what this is.)

What I hope to accomplish on Wednesday:

1. Attend seminar at workforce center - maybe see if I can take typing tests and/or other computer proficiency tests

2. Cash gym check and deposit it

3. Gather needed info to complete various applications (health insurance, workforce)

4. Check Craigslist for any new listings

5. Clean at least one hour

6. Get in at least 30 minutes of exercise.

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First of all I want to say how much I appreciate all of your kind words and support regarding the loss of my job. It was a tremendous comfort.

Like I feared, I am having extreme pressure put on me now to go to CA.

I really don't know what to do. I've tried to make the pro and con's lists - logically and emotionally. But what gets me every time is that either way I'm going to end up hurting one parent or the other.

The loss of my job and the feelings of being rejected are really hitting me hard. I really don't know how people cope with this who don't have supportive family and friends. I really don't. Because I'm just barely hanging on.

My brother and I talked for a long time tonight. He's trying very very hard to be objective and not pressuring me one way or the other. He suggested that maybe I should take off on a cruise or something for a few days - basically get out of range and see if I can get my head clear.

As nice as a cruise sounds, I know I wouldn't feel at all comfortable spending that much money with no income to replace it. But, I think he is right in the concept - maybe just get away somewhere for a few days and be "out of range".

I'm really really tempted to call my ex in Lincoln. The last time I heard from him was nearly a year ago via email. But of everybody I know in real life, I think he'd have the best ability to be impartial and clear headed. But to open that can again probably would be a mistake.

I stay here in Dallas - my mom's happy, and I get to continue to watch my best friend's kids grow up. Kid's I fed bottles to when they both were barely a week old. But the possibility of me remaining single is pretty high.

I go to CA - my dad, my brother, other dad side relatives are happy. I maybe have a better chance of meeting an SDA man. I maybe have a better chance of being in an environment accepting of my lifestyle choices. I maybe have a chance to get to know my uncle's two little ones whom I haven't seen since they were 3 and 5.

I think by saying the only way I'd move to CA was if I had a job lined up, I allowed myself to not really have to make a decision. Now that I don't *have* a job here or in CA, I don't really have a good way of getting out of making a decision.

There are job possibilities which I could pursue here in Texas - but what if staying here really isn't the right decision? If I get another job here, then I'm making the decision to stay.

I'm so frustrated and confused about what to do right now that I could scream!

Have any of you noticed a recent upsurge in grocery prices? I know that most prices have been going up for awhile, but it seemed to have leveled off for the most part.

I've been looking for a bottle of Martinelli's Sparkling Cider. I like to have that for special occasions - such as birthdays and holidays. Usually Walmart carries it,and it's around $3 for a bottle.

Walmart doesn't seem to carry it anymore. So tonight I decided to stop in Tom Thumb and see if they had it.

They did. For $8.99!!! Yeah - like I'm going to pay $9 for a bubbled version of apple juice. NOT!

Something strange I noted though at Walmart yesterday. The Ben & Jerry's ice cream had risen to nearly $3.34 for a pint at one point. Yesterday, they had it for $2.75!

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My post today is about

reviving the lost art of letter writing.

What I *really* need to do is revive my running motivation!