Keeping It Frugal

I gave my dad the name of the Firestone Guy from yesterday's fiasco. He called him and got the story from him about what all was going on.

Then he called the mechanic that was recommended to me by the car rental guy. He talked to him a good while and felt he knew what he was talking about. This guy says he can get the EMC from a junkyard for $150, and then labor would be around $100-150 more. So ... roughly $300 versus $1k+. Hmm...

My dad asked him what quality the ones from the junkyard would be. The guy said that pretty much they either work, or don't work.

So, tomorrow I'm going to call this guy and find out how late his garage is open. (His shop focuses soley on Hondas and Toyotas.) Then I'll call the tow guy the car rental guy suggested, and meet him at the Firestone. Pay my bill there (battery and diagnostics) and head over to the mechanics place.

Then hopefully it won't take him too long to get a brain from the junkyard, replace my car's, and then see if the alternator needs work. (as well as if anything else needs work.)

If this guy turns out to truly be good at what he does, then I might just have a good place to take my car to in the future - even though it is a bit of a drive.

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I got some more responses from Craigslist. One lady was interested in my video rocking chair -- but then her son decided he wanted a black one, not a blue one. :roll eyes:

I had several more people express interest in the VHS/DVD player. Have yet to make an actual meeting time though.

Had a second response on my Tivo. No meeting time set up yet.

Had three responses within 15 minutes of posting my digital convertor box. I guess I priced it just right? $10 No meeting set up yet.

ETA - Had two more people interested in the time I was writing this! Definitely underpriced it! Oh well..

I hadn't gotten any responses to my listing of VHS tapes and DVD's. So I went ahead and took them all to Half Price Bookstore today, along with a couple sacks of books. Made off with $23.50

Sorted through papers/assorted stuff today for a couple hours. Found owner's manuals for converter box and vcr/dvd player. Also found the driver disk and owner's manual for my scanner/printer.

Threw away a bunch of junk mail type stuff - still have several bags that I need to sort through more carefully and decide what needs to be shredded, kept or just thrown away.

I still need to list my dining room table/chairs, lazy boy recliner, king bed and entertainment center. Those are the things that will have to be picked up from my apartment -- and except for the Lazy boy, will need two men to get them out and down my stairs.

If I don't get any takers on Craigslist, I think I'll check with Goodwill and Salvation Army and see if they'd come pick them up.

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What I got done today is really what I need to be getting done every day this week. Tomorrow I'll be able to get my boxes, and then hopefully be able to start packing.

I think I also need to arrange for that domestic abuse shelter place to come pick up my clothing/etc. in two or three weeks. Hmm.. I could also check with them if they could use any of my furniture.

Today Murphy decided it was time to pay me a visit. It wasn't all bad, there were some small miracles and blessings, but Murphy sure let his presence be known.

It really all started yesterday afternoon. I left to go over to my mom's house around 5:30 p.m. Traffic was pretty bad, and I ended up getting to her place close to 7 with minimal gas. It was enough gas to get me to a station in the morning, so I wasn't worried.

I watered the trees, ate supper and did laundry. I thought about heading back home before the morning, but by that time it was 9:30. So, I decided to stay the night.

That was blessing #1.

I got up about 8am this morning, ate breakfast and put on my grungy clothes (clothes I wear when doing laundry.) My plan was to drive straight from my mom's house to my place, take a shower and get dressed, then head to church.

I decided to eat a slightly larger breakfast than usual today.

Blessing #2.

About 9am I loaded my car up, turned on the house alarm, and got in my car.

Murphy #1 - The car wouldn't start. The engine wouldn't even turn over.

Hoping that the problem was just that there wasn't enough gas to get the engine to go, I called AT&T's Roadside Service.
About 9:30 the auto rescue guy shows up with a couple gallons of gas.

After he puts it in, I asked him to stay another minute so I could be sure my car would start.

Blessing #3.

The car didn't start. So, I realized then that it had to be that my battery was dead. I asked AR guy if he could jumpstart my car. He told me it would be a separate invoice, and I would need to call Roadside again so they could give him the invoice number. Which I did. He then jumped my car, and told me not to turn it off for at least 20 minutes.

My roadside assistance plan gives me 4 free service calls a year. I had not used ANY of the calls this year. (My new year begins Sept 23.)

Blessing #4.

So I started driving down the road. I passed the first gas station because I'd only been driving for a few minutes. I kept going for about 8 more minutes. My fuel light started flashing. I knew that there was only one more gas station in the next 10 miles. So, I pulled into the 2nd gas station. And turned my car off.

I tried to start it. It was dead.

Murphy #2.

So I went into the gas station while my car was filing up to see if anyone had jumper cables and would jump my car. No one had jumper cables, but they did have them on sale.

Murphy #3, and Blessing #5.

So, I bought the jumper cables. One of the clerks knew how to jump a car.

Blessing #6.

Unfortunately, the first start didn't take. So he had to jump start it a third time.

Murphy #4.

Finally I'm on my way. At first I had my air conditioning on, but then about 10 miles down the road I decide to turn it off to conserve battery power.

Two seconds after turning my ac off, lights on my dashboard start going crazy, and a terrible rackety noise fills the car. I pull off quickly onto a large shoulder and come to a stop. I don't turn my car off, but it dies. Completely.

Murphy #5. Blessing #7 (wide shoulder.)

I call roadside for the third time. I am told that it'll be about an hour before a tow truck can come get me. It is roughly 95+ degrees. My windows won't roll down because the electricity wasn't working.

Murphy #6.

The tow truck arrives in about 50 minutes.

Blessing #8.

I have a full bottle of water in my car and my cell phone fully charged.

Blessing #9.

There isn't a Honda dealership within the free 9 mile towing distance, but there is a Firestone. So, that's where I have him tow me. His truck is very nice and cool.

Blessing #10.

Firestone Guy(FG) tells me my battery is shot and they can't figure out what's wrong without battery power. He tells me the battery will cost $99 + tax and labor. I tell him that my battery has a 5 year warranty. He comes out 5 minutes later and tells me it is now only $69.

Blessing #11.

Even with the new battery, they can't get it to turn over. So they have to run a diagnostic test. $79.95

Murphy #7

The diagnostic test can't run because two circuits keep shorting out. Finally, they unplug the EMC??(brain/computer of car) and they can get it to work without the two cirucits shorting.

FG comes out and tells me that the EMC is basically fried. A remanufactured one with labor and taxes will cost $1,049.

(FG said he thinks that the EMC fried due to the multiple jump starts.)

Murphy #8.

I call my dad and he tells me how much he thinks Firestone stinks. That I should not authorize the work, and take time to figure out the best plan of action. So, I tell that to FG (except about what my dad thinks of Firestone :grin. He understands and gives me his business card so my dad can call him to get better specifics.

Blessing #12. (My dad is great!)

FG calls local car rental place (Enterprise). They are closed. (about 3:45 p.m. at this point.)

Murphy #9.

I call my friend T and get her voicemail. Then I call another friend B, and get his answering machine. I was going to see if they could pick me up and take me home, then I could take my time finding a rental car.

Murphy #10

I called the airport Enterprise (about 10 minutes away.) They said that the airport one did not pick people up from outside the airport.

Murphy #11.

A lady was sitting near me and overheard much of my dilemma. She spoke up and told me that her son was there getting his car inspected, and that if it passed inspection, she'd be willing to take me to the airport's car rental.

Blessing #13.

The kind lady took me and my laundry over to the airport and dropped me off. I managed to figure out how to get to the level where the car rental places were located.

Budget was the first one I saw. I decided to stop there. At this point, I was very sweaty, exhausted, frustrated, and plumb worn out. (Wearing ratty shorts, a shirt that clashed with the shorts, legs that needed shaving BAD, and hair that needed washing. At least I had fresh breath, right?)

I told him my story. He first quoted me a price of $400 for a one week rental. I asked him with beseeching eyes if there was *anything* cheaper. He found a discount which made the price $375. We talked for a good bit. He was really sweet.

When he found out I had a Honda Civic, and that my car was at Firestone where they were quoting $1k, he was like, "Oh No! Don't do that!" Then he told me that HE has a Honda Civic (95) and that he'd had to have it's EMC replaced. The guy that did it, did it for about $300! He gave me the guys name and number, as well as the name of a guy who would tow it for less.

Blessings #14 (discount), #15 (Name and Numbers).

I drag all my stuff out to the garage and find my car. It's one of those behemoth ugly looking SUV type cars. Uh uh. No way, no how.

Murphy #12

So, I drag all my stuff back to the rental counter and after waiting for him to finish with a lady, I tell him I can't drive that car. (due to its size.)

He tells me another car that is more the size of my Honda. He tells me that the lady at the booth will take care of switching out the info.

I take off dragging my stuff. Shortly I realize that I should have asked him what he meant by "lady at the booth." Because the only booth I saw was unmanned.

So, I drag my stuff back to the counter. In front of me is this family that was taking *forever.* Finally I get up there, and he tells me he meant the lady at the EXIT booth. Okay, cool. So he goes ahead and calls her to let her know I'm coming and what was happening.

My new car is at the *VERY END* of a lane of cars. Finally I make it into it. I drive to the exit booth and the lady there switches out the info.

(It's a little red Mazda. Not sure of the model. Kind of cute.)

I somehow manage to find my way out of the airport and head on my way home. I'm just pulling in to my apartment complex when I realize three things:

1. My apartment key and mailbox key are on my key ring that is with my car at Firestone.

2. I don't have a parking tag for the rental car, so will have to park it in the visitors parking area until I can get a temporary tag. (Or, it WILL get towed.)

and 3. My toll tag is in my Honda, and my toll tag is associated with that license plate. (This though I think I can fix pretty easily by calling the toll tag place tomorrow and having them switch the license plate temporarily to my rental car.)

Murphy #13, 14, 15.

As soon as I pulled to a stop, I called my apartment office and left a message on the emergency line (for lockouts.) Not too long after wards, a maintenance guy came and let me in my apartment. He also went and made a copy of it so I'd have one.

Blessing 16 and 17.

I got all my stuff out of the car and into my apartment. Then went back out to my car and moved it into an available visitor's spot. The very fact that there was an available spot on a Saturday evening (around 6:30 p.m.) -- Blessing 18.

I got into my apartment and headed towards my bedroom (after stopping in the kitchen.) My computer was dark. I couldn't get it to turn on.

Murphy #16.

The idea came to me that maybe unplugging the power source in the back and then replugging it might work. I tried it. It worked!

Blessing #19

So, now I am here at home finally, sitting at my working computer, and eating some much belated food in a very cool apartment (temp wise at least.)

Blessing #20

Throughout this day I spent a lot of time on the phone with both my mom and my dad. My dad is going to make some calls to find out the best way to deal with this.

He also has told me that he is going to help me out financially with this whole thing. I told him I appreciated it very much, but really didn't feel comfortable to keep on taking money from him. He told me to accept it as a gift from his heart. What could I say?

I'm glad I wrote this out like this, because as exhausting and frustrating as this day was, I can see just how richly blessed I was throughout the whole ordeal.

God is good. And Blessings had a clear victory!

Last night I got a phone call from my brother. He married J Oct, 2006. For a little over a year now, they had been having some major problems. About 3 months ago, they officially separated. Yesterday they went to the courthouse and paid the fee, and are now officially divorced. (No lawyers involved thankfully.)

My brother is really torn up about it. We talked for about an hour, and he was pretty choked up the whole time. I wish I could have been there to give him a hug. He told me that I've been a rock for him this past year, just because I've let him talk and not judged.

He is such a good kid. My heart hurts so much for him. So many of his adult dreams are now tarnished - marriage, owning a house ...

He'd been talking about maybe training to be a ski patrol person, but now that it is officially over, he might just head out to start nursing school. I really hope he can stop in Texas on his way there.

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If you haven't heard yet, the Kroger stores in the Southwest are having Double Coupon Day on August 15. They usually only double up to 39 cents, but on the 15th, they're doubling up to $1. Only the first coupon for any multiple items will be doubled.

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I listed my VHS/DVD player on craigslist. I've now had two people respond as being interested - but both want me to prove that it works. I understand why, but ... the only way I can think of is to have them come to my apartment. I really would rather not do that.

Does anyone have any ideas?

My mom and stepdad are out of town on vacation right now. They asked if I would go over to their place a few times to check on things and water their trees.

So yesterday was the first day I was to go to their place. I got off work at 3, but I hadn't eaten lunch because I wasn't really hungry. I very rarely go out to eat, (of my own volition at least.) I really had a hankering for IHOP - Garden Stuffed Crepes.

Well, there was an IHOP on the way to my mom's. So, a little after 3 I stopped there and placed my order. The crepes comes with sauce on it, and I prefer to put it on myself. So, I asked for it on the side.

Therein ensued hilarity.

The cook on duty was a trainee. (And from overheard conversations, I don't think he spoke much English.) He didn't understand the abbreviation SOS (sauce on side.)

The first attempt, he made it correctly, except he used Nacho Cheese sauce and slathered it on. The second attempt, he made the crepes, but put the eggs on the side.

Finally, nearly 40 minutes after I placed my order, and with having one of the other employees standing guard over the cook, I received my meal.

My waitress was very apologetic. I let her know I wasn't annoyed and not in a big hurry, although was getting pretty hungry.

After I finished, she gave me my check. I was kind of expecting to be given a discount of some kind for my trouble. But there was none. It wasn't the waitresses fault, so I paid and left my normal tip, and left.

I suppose I could have kicked up a fuss and demanded a discount of some kind. But, I was just happy to have food in my stomach and be able to be on my way.

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One of the places my mom and stepdad stayed at so far during their vacation is a cabin outside of Gatlinburg, TN. The second day they were there, some people came and changed out their tv. The first tv was not working.

The night of the third day they went out to eat and to do some shopping. When they came back, they found out that their cabin had been robbed! There was no sign of forced entry, so they think it might have been the people who put the new tv in, or acquaintances.

The police told them that usually the theives just take the tv and leave the inhabitants belongings alone. But, I guess my mom's 6 year old *just* functioning laptop, along with a beautiful leather bag from a high-end store (Cachet) filled with various clothes, a number of pieces of her really good jewelery, and of course all their medications ... was just too good to pass up.

Luckily no one was hurt, and my mom and stepdad had all their identification and credit cards, etc. with them. My mom says that she should be able to come up with receipts for everything - which is good, because from my prior experience in dealing with theft loss, if you don't have a receipt, they don't believe you actually owned the item.

The one good thing of all this is that my mom has been wanting to upgrade her computer for a long time. So, even though she has lost 6 years worth of documents and other information that was stored on her laptop, she'll be able to start over with a new one.

What a thing to happen while on vacation. Ugh.

ASK how much the place charges!

In the local Kroger sales paper this week they had a coupon for a $25 gift card with the transfer of a prescription. I also had the same deal for CVS. The Kroger one expired on the 11th, and the CVS one on the 28th.

I decided that I'd go with the Kroger one because $25 at Kroger would get me more useful groceries than at CVS.

The last time I had my scrip filled it cost me $31 at Walgreens. I *assumed* it would be a similar price at Kroger, so I dropped off my bottle to transfer the prescription without asking how much it would be.

Well, today after church I stopped by to pick it up. It was $43!!!!! My jaw was hanging open. There wasn't anything I could do at that point since they'd already filled it .. so I paid for it.

Something interesting that they're doing now. Instead of giving you a gift card with the money loaded on it, they load the credit onto your Kroger savings card.
That is a very sensible cost saving and environmental measure. Too bad that I will probably only visit Kroger one more time to use my credit, thanks to the WAY overpriced meds.

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I have a potentially sticky situation. My dad has been very generous to me, especially since I was laid off in February. Every so often I'll find a letter from him with a check in it. I have never asked for it, and have even told him that as much as I appreciate it, I'm really okay without it.

Well, as I've mentioned before, I will be having a hotel stay near the end of August for school. On Friday I received a letter from my dad with a $300 check in it. That more than covers the hotel expense plus a good bit more.

I called to tell him thank you and for our usual weekly chat. He told me that 200 of it was from my grandma.

Later, he put me on with my grandma. I expressed to her my appreciation and we chit chatted a bit. Then she told me that she'd had some big ideas lately for me. I asked her what those were.

She told me that she thought I should trade my car in under the Cash for Clunkers program. I tried to tell her that I doubted my car would qualify for it, nor that I'd be able to afford a car which would get better gas mileage.

(I have a 97 Honda Civic which gets between 28 and 32 mpg.)

She insisted that even though my experience told me that I get at least 28 or 29 mpg, that I should check out the program. So .. I told her that I would check it out. Then she told me that even if it doesn't qualify, that she really thinks I should start thinking about replacing my car.

I tried to be as polite as possible and told her I appreciated her thinking about me. (She also mentioned that she'd help me out in getting another car.)

Help! My car runs just fine! The last major repair was rebuilding the starter (2 years or so ago). It probably needs new tires and brakes soon, but other than that, it's in great shape. It's paid for, and I know everything that's happened to it since 97.

I know I need to be prepared that I'll have to let go of this car someday ... but it makes no sense whatsoever to me to let go of it now. And I absolutely refuse to make car payments ever again - nor do I want to be beholden to someone else for "helping" me purchase a different car (unless my current car starts going bonkers on me or it gets totaled and I can't find a car for 3 or 4 thousand to replace it). Money for school is a whole different ballgame - but for a car, when I have a good one already?

So, I've already looked into the cash for clunkers program. As expected, my car doesn't qualify. Other than telling her that I looked into it, what would be a good response? Her heart is in the right place ... but I don't like the feeling I'm getting that she thinks she can make me do what she thinks is best because she's giving me money (which I didn't ask for in the first place.)

Should I not cash this check?

Yesterday after work I stopped by the home I'll be moving into in September to give her my deposit (basicly needed to hold the room till I can move in.) I'd taken measurements of my computer desk/chair and dresser so I could see if they'd fit in the room or not.

After emptying the room out, and moving the bed into a different position, I figured out that they both will fit in, plus possibly my nightstand.

I played tug of war with the chihuahua while talking to CC - that was fun.

After I was done, I went over to my mom and stepdad's. They're going on a vacation and have asked me to stop by several times while they're gone - to check on the house and to water the trees. I took advantage of being there, and got my laundry done.

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When I got back home this morning, I checked to see if my final grade was posted yet or not for my graphic novels class. I got an A! Now I just have to get 12 more A's to finish out my degree.

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For some reason I thought you had a 10 day grace period for vehicle registration renewals. Luckily I got on the ball and double checked *today* because it actually is only 5 days! Whew! I got my registration renewed online - now just have to wait for the sticker.

(I prefer doing it online because you can use a credit card and you don't have to drive all the way to a tax office. It's worth the extra $2 for me.)

Well, it looks like things have worked out for me to move into the room I checked out last week.

Yes, the room itself is small, but really, for the price ... I don't know that I could find a much better situation. And it'll only be until I finish school.

Tomorrow is my last day of my summer class, and I'll be spending a good 5 - 6 hours finishing up a project for it. After that, I have until August 22 before Fall semester classes begin.

So, that means I'll have about three weeks to sell, give away, pack and clean as much as I possibly can. Then about the middle of September, I'll move into my new home.

Advantages:
Free cable and internet

Lots of animal lovin' (2 dogs/2 cats)

Weekly access to washer/dryer

Be able to put money in savings again!

Closer to my mom and stepdad's house

5 minutes from an SDA church/school

Only ONE toll between it and the gym

Area where room is, is pretty much out of the main traffic areas in the house.

Good amount of storage space in garage.

Good sized living room right off room which I'd basically have to myself.

Disadvantages

Small room

Will have to change churches, because will be too far from regular church (same denomination)(our pastor's last day was today - so this may be as good a time to go to a new place as any.)

Will be a lot further away from my good friend T (but don't see her all that much anyway ...)

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These are the items I'm planning on selling/giving away:

small wooden rolling table (about the size of a large dinner tray) -- maybe $10

20+ year old beat up working Lazy-boy recliner - probably a give away, but will try $5 first

beautiful real wood entertainment center - going to start at (new was around $1000) $200, if no bites, will go to $150

rolling desk chair - $10

beanbag - $5 or giveaway

round one-piece solid wood dining table in great shape - $50 (5 chairs will be included for free, if they want them - pretty much falling apart)

King size bed- mattress/frame/sheets/comforter - about 12 years old - $25/$10 or giveaway

So, the big thing I'm wondering about, is what would be the best way to list these things on CL? Pictures of course, but should I list them separately, or in one or two "moving sale" posts?

Do my prices seem reasonable?

After checking my credit card statement online, I realized that I had prepaid for my hotel stay - no cancellations allowed. When I made the reservation, I saw that clause, but somehow it didn't stick in my mind. So ... hotel it is. (for my on campus days)

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Today I went and checked out the home of the single mother with two teens, dogs, and cats. (For a total of $290/mo including utilities.)

The room was small. BA, maybe twice the size of your closet.

There is room in it for a twin bed (in room already) a dresser, and *maybe* my computer desk.

If the room was all there was to it, I probably would have to pass. But, it wasn't.

Included in the rent is an amount of storage space in her garage, which is nearly equal to the size of the bedroom. Plus, there is a large living room which her family rarely uses right next to the bedroom - which I've been told I can use if I need to for my furniture/items.

The two dogs and cats are adorable and so sweet and lovable. If I end up renting there, I'll be sure to post pictures.

There isn't much of a closet for hanging clothes. But, since I'll have easy access to a washer/dryer, I would reduce my clothing amount quite a bit. (I could possibly get one of those portable closet things and put it in the living room if I really needed to...)

The only problem is that she is really needing someone right away. The earliest I could move in would be mid-September. (I put in my notice to vacate yesterday - my complex requires 60-day notice.)

However, she really liked me, (especially liked how her animals took to me), so is going to see if she can find someone to just rent for a month or so.

Seriously, I hope this works out.

It is maybe an extra 5 or 6 minutes driving time to the gym, and if I took the toll road, would only have ONE toll (instead of two.)

So, my budget would look something like this:

~$870 Income

$290 - Rent/Utilities
$50 - Cell Phone
$22 - Renter's Insurance (pd yearly)
$55 - Car Insurance (pd 2x yrly)
$100 - Food
$80 - Gas/Tolls
$87 - TITHE!!!!
$100 - SAVINGS!!!!!!!!!!
$86 -- Miscellaneous (meds, treats, clothing, etc.)

I cannot even begin to tell you how much it would do for my morale to actually be able to put money into savings again.

Granted, most of it will be going straight out again whenever I pay tuition, but it will at least help to slow the drainage a good bit.

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I got an email back from the pastor of the church where the University is - he said he'd check with his members about possibilities. So, if the above doesn't work out, hopefully he'll find something.

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

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

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

This may be a possibility.

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

Well ... we'll see what happens!

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

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

John

Hi all.

Well, this past Saturday I managed to complete the 5 mile long run with my group. After I got home I took a cold bath/warm shower then got ready for church. I had a few twinges of pain in my lower back during church and felt pretty stiff, but otherwise okay.

Took Sunday off as a rest day. Monday did 30 minutes on the elliptical - my knees made a few creaky noises and still felt stiff, but otherwise okay.

Monday night I stayed at my mom's (going to a meeting with her Tuesday.) We went for a 3 mile walk. I didn't run - just walked. 2 miles in the spot in my left foot where I broke a bone in 1992 started hurting a good bit. (It did that about at mile 3 on the long 5 miler too.)

I've had several people suggest that before adding more miles I should really get that bone checked out.

However, I think I've come to the conclusion that I decided to train for a half way too hastily. If I were 50 pounds lighter (thus less stress on bones/joints) and had health insurance, I think I probably would make a different decision. However, since I'm not 50 pounds lighter, and don't have health insurance -- I've decided to stop my training for the half.

This really stinks because I put about $100 into this already-- but I'm afraid that if I continue I may come up with an injury which will cost me a whole lot more.

I think I'll be ok just going back to my 2 miles in 30 minutes 2x a week + elliptical 2x a week + weights 4x a week.

2 years from now, hopefully I'll be a lot thinner, and have a job with health insurance. Then I'll take up this goal of doing a half again. Right now, I think I just have too many pounds hitting the pavement to risk injuries needing xrays and physical therapy with no insurance.

Le sigh.

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My pastor (the one who I was planning to ask about housing ideas) announced at church that he is leaving, after 8 years. Selfishly, I am most sad that I won't get to see his oldest daughter or son graduate from 8th grade (I taught both of them.) I will also miss his sermons - he always had a way of coming straight out and not sparing any punches.

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Oh! I got my first two assignments graded from my class. 100% on both.

I would really highly recommend pretty much anything by Harvey Pekar - Although I would suggest starting with "American Splendor." (Word of warning - he does use some colorful language at times, but not often enough to spoil his writing.)

So I just finished one week of the training program for the half-marathon.

Thursday - ran/walked 3 miles; Friday- rest day;
Saturday - ran/walked 3.2 miles; Sunday - rest day
Monday - elliptical 30 minutes
Tuesday - ran/walked 3.2 miles
Wednesday - ran/walked 3 miles

My body - my feet, my calves, my lower back, the back of my knees are all sore. This is even with concentrating on NOT heel striking.

Tonights group walk/run was *awful*. I was slowing my whole pace group down. On the way back there was a bench, and I *had* to sit down - just for 30 seconds. It was so HOT out. The temperature was at least 100 degrees at 7:00 p.m. - who knows what the real temp was.

Then the course - so many hills! Ugh!!

It took me 54:14 to do 3 miles. That is more than an 18 minute mile. I was completely wiped out by the time we got to the end.

The training schedule calls to do a 3 mile run tomorrow, and then a 5 mile run on Saturday.

I don't want to be the one holding everybody back. I really don't see how I'll do 5 miles on Saturday - even starting at 7 am.

Before I invest in a Garmin or in other distance running paraphernalia, I need to figure out if I really can do this. If I really want to put my body through this. I do know that if I do keep on with this, that I need to get the Garmin 50 sooner rather than later, because I hated not knowing the distance we'd gone, and had to really hold back from asking the pace leader too many times.

*Oh, and I was SO annoyed at the start -- one of the leaders was trying to give some last minute instructions, and people would NOT stop talking! I *so* wanted to tell them to shut up already! But I didn't - just tried to move around to a place people weren't talking. Why are people so rude??

This weekend I went to my mom and stepdad's place. Saturday night we drove to another town to go to a church concert that one of my moms friends was singing in.

When we got back to their place, it was nearly 10:30 p.m. and it was 95 degrees out. But I needed to do my 4 mile run - all three of us went out together, but I ended up just walk/running the two loops with my mom and stepdad, which put me at a bit over 3 miles.

This morning mom and I got started early (for a Sunday) and made Special K Roast; Cottage Cheese Patties; Banana Quinoa Oatmeal Pancakes; and Crustless Quiche. All of these items are now sitting in my freezer being flash frozen. I put the Special K Roast in muffin pans so it'd be easier to freeze individual portions.

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When I got back home and had put away my laundry and the food, I went to check my mail. I usually only check it maybe 2 or 3 times a week.

I had a very nice surprise today! A very thoughtful and sweet person sent me a bit of money, with the stipulation that it was to be used for something I want.

Hmmm... could that person be reading my blog? No, the money was sent the day before I posted about my salivating over the Garmin.

Well, from some of the comments on my Garmin 305 post, I decided that wasn't the way to go, even if I had the money. But, I have been doing some more looking, and I think that maybe the Garmin 50 with the footpod would work -- I've found it in several places for less than $90.

Although I already have a sportswatch/heart rate monitor, the three big things the Garmin 50 has that I really really would like:

1. Track my distance without having to calibrate step stride or mess with GPS

2. Track my pace/speed

3. Able to upload info to Garmin tracking software - see trends on heart rate, distance, pacing, etc.

I really could have used the Garmin 50 last night. I was supposed to do 4 miles, but my mom and dad only had a 1.5 mile route set up. My stepdad tried to explain the route to me, but there were too many turns, and with my err... directional talents ... I decided to just stick with them. If I'd had the G50 I could have struck out on my own till I hit the 2 mile mark, then just turned right around.

Though the 3 + a bit miles pretty thoroughly wore me out. How am I going to do 5 miles this coming weekend!!!!???

So ... anyone have any experience with the Garmin 50?

Some of you may remember when I first started running last year how I was salivating over a Garmin Forerunner GPS enabled watch. I never did get it.

So now that I'm training to run a half-marathon, the bug has come back in full force. I found a Garmin 305 Forerunner for $179 on Amazon. It tells your heartrate, how fast you're going, and your distance. (plus a lot more.)

I *really* *really* wanted this.

But, financially speaking, I *really* *really* am NOT in a place where I should be spending nearly $200 on a watch.

So last week I was cleaning out a drawer as part of my decluttering effort (and moving prep.) Lo and behold, I found a Timex Sportswatch and chest heart rate monitor!

The only problem with the watch was that the battery was dead.

So today after work I stopped by Walmart's jewelery department and had them put a new battery in the watch. I also thought the chest heart rate monitor would need a new battery - but the guy told me it was good to go.

The new battery? It cost $4.33 including tax.

This setup won't tell me how fast I'm going, nor will it tell me how far I've gone, but it will help me by letting me see how hard I'm working (heart rate) and how long it takes me to run a course. (Which would have been nice for my race this past weekend, so I could have had my actual race time.)

Maybe, if I keep up with my running past the half-marathon this December, then it would be worth it to invest in a Garmin, but for right now, my Timex will do the job!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

So, that brings us to today.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Happy 4th everyone!

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

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

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

We know how well that goes. Not.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Le Sigh.

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

Yesterday when I got home, my apartment was hotter and more humid than I think it ever has been. I'd left the a/c on in the morning - it's on constantly actually, thanks to our constant 100 degree weather we've been having.

I called the apartment management office, but it was after hours. So I called the emergency line to report it. Apparently I wasn't the first to call about it - they had a message saying that if you were calling about the A/C being out to not leave a message because they were aware of it and working on it.

At that point I did what I could to get myself and my apartment as cool as possible. Turned my ceiling fan on high, brought my floor fan into my bedroom, opened up a window and put a wet towel over it, got down to minimal beach ware.

All that made it just bearable - but I was already sleepy. So I ended up zonking out on bed for a couple hours, then got a call from my mom at 10:30.

By that time either the A/C was working again, the night had cooled down enough, or my cooling measures had worked -- maybe a combination of all of them. Then I preceded to stay up till 2 a.m. Heh.

Here's really hoping the A/C doesn't go out again. The temps do NOT look like they're going to get any better any time soon.

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I don't remember exactly where I found this link, but it was pointing actually towards the bottom of the Wikipedia page talking about how CNN has pre-formatted obits on famous people and how some years ago somebody found them.

So, anywho. I looked at that and thought it was kind of interesting, but then kept on reading (going up).

Boy howdy, there were a bunch of interesting stories. A few of the more famous ones involving Bob Hope and Mark Twain. Ernest Hemingway's story is a sad one. Then a couple stories of Japanese soldiers who didn't believe the war was over until 1974.

Then I read this one, and thought that it could be turned into an amazing book under the right talent:

"Ann Green (or Anne Greene), a servant in Oxfordshire, was hanged for allegedly murdering her newborn child in 1650. Having presumably been declared dead, her corpse was taken away for dissection, but she revived. She was ultimately pardoned, and became something of a celebrity."

I mean, can you just imagine what kind of backstory there was to the whole thing? And I'd be really curious as to how she didn't get accused of being a witch (Salem witch trials was around that same time, right?) And then how she was pardoned, why? What did she do with her life after that? How did it change her?

I don't know why that one just popped out at me. I wonder if a writer has already taken that story and used it as a book?

Here's the link if you want to look at some of the other peoples stories:

Pre-mature Obits.

I think the link was posted because someone was wondering how in the world they (CNN, etc.) were able to get the memory clips up so quickly after MJ's, etc. deaths.

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Well! Upon googling a bit, I have found that someone *has* written a book based on Anne Greene's story -- Newes From the Dead by Mary Hooper. As morbid a story as it seems, I am going to have to see if my library has it. Wow!

Eta more: And, my library has it! 3 copies! It's billed as Juvenile Lit. Interesting. Now I just have to wait for it to come in and get it.

I don't really have too much financial to impart.

I just wanted to let you all know, in the interest of not over running this blog with talking about running, I have started another blog. (Don't laugh too loud please.)

It is called

Run! Laura! Run!

And in case you're wondering, yes, it is a bit of a take on Forest Gump.

So, anyway, I just have one post up so far, and it doesn't look very pretty yet. But I wanted to share it with ya'll.

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In other news - this week sure has been one where we lost a lot of icons.

Ed McMahon's death has kind of been lost in all the MJ adoration ... which I think is truly sad. I grew up hearing him say "Here's Johnny!" The last few years of his life were a financial mess, but he still left behind a legacy of a life lived to its fullest.

Then of course Farrah losing her battle with cancer. What a beautiful, strong and courageous woman. I hope to never have to battle anything like cancer, but if I do, I hope to be just half as strong as her.

And last of course, Michael Jackson. I really surprised myself by how emotional I got upon hearing that he was dead. I've enjoyed his music through the years, and found some of his songs to be particularly meaningful to me at times - but he also led a life which was quite strange. I guess I prefer to focus on the legacy of the music he left behind, rather than what he may or may not have done in his personal life.

Unfortunately, like when Princess Di and Mother Teresa died, one person's death seems to be overshadowing the others.

RIP Ed, Michael and Farrah ... along with all the non-famous people who also went took their last breath this past week.

I got my membership package from the running club yesterday. So today (my day off)I did a number of errands.

First, I stopped at the library and picked up a bunch of books (most of them for my grad class, plus a couple on running.)

Then,I headed to the dollar theater and saw "17 Again.' Cute movie.

Finally, I managed to find the running store. I had my feet refitted/analysised and ended up switching from Ascicss (which is what I had) and getting a pair of New Balance. Since I had a 15% coupon, I decided to get a pair of moisture wicking socks and a pair of winter running pants - both of which were also on sale.

Right now when it still is in the 90's at 7 pm, it is hard to think about wearing anything close fitting that goes to the ankle - but come late October/early November, I think I will be very happy to have them.

I didn't track mileage on my Asics very carefully, so basically went with when my calf muscles and feet were telling me I needed new shoes. So, with my new pair, I am going to really try to keep up with mileage better.

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I ate supper at McDonald's with my friend T and her two children. (She treated me actually - got a fruit and walnut salad which is about all I can eat at McD's.) In the course of our conversation, she mentioned some friends of theirs that her husband was going to go see "Transformers" with tonight. These friends had BOTH of their cars repossessed two days ago.

My mouth hung open for a bit before I could control myself.

The husband of this couple actually stayed with my friend T and her family for over 10-months rent free while getting established in the oil and gas business. While he was staying there - rent free, not helping at all with anything in the house (in fact not just not helping out around the house at all, but being a significant contributor to making the house a mess), nor contribuiting towards groceries - he often would go out to eat or go to first-run movies -- letting T's husband pay. Adding salt to the situation though -- several times his wife and kids came to visit for a weekend or vacation -- they'd go out to eat or to first-run movies -- and not invite T or her family.

At one point T finally had had enough (he was only supposed to be there for 5 months tops) and told her hubby it was either his friend out the door, or it was her out the door. The friend was gone two weeks later.

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Ok, it's now time for me to get back to reading one of my acquisition's from the library today -- "Finger Lickin' Fifteen" by Janet Evanovich.

Today I spent about 90 minutes or so searching the internet for the various required books for my upcoming courses.

The first course, coming up here in just a few weeks, requires a great number of books. Most of them are novels, but two of them are actual textbooks. Guess what? I found ALL of them at my library!! Yes!!!

Of the three classes I'll start in August, one of them has no required texts (Yay!), one of them I have not found any info on yet (will be calling Monday!), and the third requires two texts. I found one of them at my library, and the other one I found a very used copy of at AbeBooks.

Hopefully, I will have as much luck in finding the required text(s) for the one remaining class.

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I made a suggestion to my brother today. I suggested that maybe we could convert my livingroom into a bedroom for him, and clear out closet space for his stuff, and we could split my apartment.

Long story - he and sil are getting divorced - have already short saled their house. He's decided to go back to school and become a nurse.

If he can find a nursing program he can get into here in Dallas, he said he'd be willing to talk further about the idea.

With me working 4 days a week at the gym and going to school full time and him going to school full time and working, we probably wouldn't see each other much at all. I very very rarely use my living room for anything, so it wouldn't be much of a sacrifice.

This would cut 3 -4 hundred dollars a month off my expenses - and I would know I'd have someone I get along with pretty well.

Some of you may remember me talking about joining a local running club, oh 6 - 8 months ago or so. I got out of running regularly in November, and didn't really get back into it until about 6 or 7 weeks ago.

Well, for some reason today, I decided that it was time for me to do something where I'd get some social interaction as well as exercise. So... I joined the Dallas Running Club!

It costs $25 for a one-year membership. The membership includes 8 free races a year plus discounts on a bunch of other races, a free runners magazine, and discounts to athletic stores.

After signing up, I noticed that they have a 23 week training program called "Couch to Half-Marathon." Hmmm... interesting. The basic requirement is that you can run/walk 3 miles. Well, I can do that, if you give me 45 minutes or so ...

So .... for $30 ... I signed up!!!! The program is to get you ready for a half-marathon in November.

They even had a pace group for the 14 - 16 minute milers! (Which is where I signed up.)

Once I get my membership packet, I'm going to go get new running shoes. (15% discount.) Mine are getting to the point of needing replacement soon.

So, July 8 I will be registering for my first grad school class in the morning, and attending the first meeting of the Couch to Half program in the evening. Then, on July 13 I will have my first training run in the early morning, and start my first grad class (officially).

I'm hoping that this will give me some kind of a social outlet, as well as help me to stick to an exercise program.

Oh yeah, the first free race coming up is a 5k on July 4 - which I have signed up for. My first race since October 2008!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The sooner I can cut my housing costs the better!

This Wednesday my mom is going to be coming over and help me do a major decluttering/disposal/cleaning of my place. Since in about 5-6 weeks time, I'm going to have very little free time anymore (yay!) I figured I need to start getting prepped for moving out earlier than later.

So, anyway. I decided to get a bit of a head start on it today, and took everything out of one of my dresser drawers. Only maybe two of my dresser drawers has actual clothing items in them, the other 4 are either empty or just have "stuff" in them.

Well, as I was cleaning it out, there were a bunch of envelopes. One of them was a mypoints envelope, and I felt something hard in it. So I looked in it, and lo and behold - there was a Walmart gift card!!!! Who knows how long it has been in there - but I checked the balance, and it is worth $25!! I can get a lot of food at Walmart for that!

I wonder what else we might unearth on Wednesday.

Woo Hoo!!

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

"Welcome to the Graduate Program for Library Sciences"

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

Yahoo!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Okay, first off, I have to share this video. Hey Kashi, if you're reading you might just recognize this.

Mall of America "You Make My Dreams Come True"

For those who don't know, Mall of America is in Minnesota. It's one of the largest malls (at one time I think it was the 3rd largest anywhere, but I don't know if that is true anymore.) I remember a number of times my family eating in one of the restaurants lining the ice skating rink and people watching. It's a really neat mall, as malls go.

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Ugh! So I finally *finally* got the final materials mailed out today for grad school. What a fiasco trying to find stamps.

First I had a doctor's appointment this morning (paid cash, got 20% discount.) Then I went to the dollar theater which was on my way home, and saw "Knowing." Ok movie, not great. Next I stopped at Kinko's and printed out the documents I needed to mail. Kinko's didn't have stamps!

So, I went next door to Tom Thumb. They only sold stamps in books. I only wanted two. A book would take me at least 5 years to use up.

Next, I stopped at the Post Office which still was on my way home. Got my envelope stamped (went to counter.)

Then I realized I needed to get a card for Father's Day. Stopped at Walgreens and found a card. Asked about a stamp - again, only sold in books!

Finally, I stopped at another post office which was on my way home. I thought I would get a stamp from the machine in the lobby. I only had cash/change on me because I didn't want to spend more than I had budgeted for the day.

The machine only would take credit or debit cards!!!!! I got in line to go up to the counter. Then I saw a note saying they also only sold stamps in books - plus the line was at least 20 people deep.

Arghh!!!

So, I think I might look into buying a set of forever stamps. That way, it won't matter how long it takes me to use them because they'll still be good. I just will have to be very careful to keep track of them!!

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Update on my gift card on Ebay - it's now up over $21!!! Woo Hoo! I hope my other two do as well.

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Weird, I think the tornado sirens are going off. The weather doesn't seem like tornado weather - it was really hot and humid today.

Speaking of weird. I was looking on msn.com at the local news, and saw that Cleburne (a town about 45 miles South of Dallas or so, and where I lived for a few years) has had three mini earthquakes in the past 7 days. They've never had an earthquake before this past week.

Eta: A few minutes after I posted, it started raining. It now is raining and I think they're may be some small hail thrown into the mix. Rain wasn't even in the forecast earlier today!!

Well, I bit the bullet. After not having sold anything on Ebay since December of 07, I listed a gift card.

I actually was going to list 3 gift cards, but apparently you can only have one listed at a time. They are all $25 gift cards (thanks Mypoints!) for Gap, Macy's and Magazines.com. I originally redeemed the points for them to use as gifts ... but various circumstances happened, and they were never sent.

So, since I am looking for extra money whereever I can find it, I thought I'd see if I would have any luck.

The Gap card already is at $9.99 with one bidder. I really hope it gets bid up to near full value like most of the other cards have,(listed on Ebay for Gap) but I can live with $10.

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Tonight I went with my friend T to see "Angels and Demons." (Thanks to a really sweet gift my dad gave me a few weeks ago - with specific instructions to spend it on fun stuff!) I had really liked "Davinci Code," but even though "Angels and Demons" was kind of predictable in places, I think I liked it better. The ending just had a a whole better feel to it.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

This is my budget for June:

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

Total: 933
Income: 854

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The pizza was SO good.

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

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

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

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

I have a pair of black knit jersey pants. They were given to be by a co-worker amongst a bunch of other items she was parting with as she lost weight. Of all the items she gave me, these pants have proven to be the most useful.

Unfortunately, there was a small hole in the pants. Fortunately, the hole was in an area where no one was likely to see it unless I sat cross legged, or in other unladylike positions.

I wore them a lot. The hole grew and grew. Finally a couple months ago it was getting big enough to where I wondered if it might be noticeable soon. So, I bought a small sewing kit for $1.

I mentioned it to my mom, and she told me to just throw them out.

I don't think she realized how difficult it is for me to find pants that *work* for me - plus, I really just like these pants.

So, like I mentioned yesterday, I can sometimes, err..., procrastinate. Remember the sewing kit I bought two MONTHS ago?

I opened it today - this morning. I sewed up the hole - which luckily was along the seam line. I turned the pants inside out first -- and it turned out beautifully.

So now I can sit in unladylike positions with these pants on and not worry about giving views of things that are not fit for public viewing.

I was pretty proud of myself - I hadn't ever mended something before, and the last sewing class I had was in 1990.

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Hey, if you ever need a little motivation to do your workout, check out this video:

Dog Doing Squats . (Yes, it is again from one of my favorite blogs to get a laugh.)

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

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

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

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

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

I procrastinated about doing anything about it.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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