Two days in a row I've had late nights. Tuesday night I had an appointment at Heather and Joel's home. I had been a bridesmaid in Heather's wedding a few years ago. There's only one word to describe that appointment --Chaos!! It started with me not having the correct address (they'd moved recently). Then, Heather had forgotten to tell Joel I was coming, so he'd invited another couple over. They didn't have all the stuff Heather needed to make taco's, so the guys went out to the store. I think both couples were interested in the product, but they just didn't like the price (understandably). I didn't make it back home till after midnight.

Tonight (Wednesday) I had an appointment with my best friend and her husband. I paid for pizza for all of us (tax write off) and then did the demo. Their two children LOVED it! I did a bit of a funny though - I was trying to demonstrate how the Rainbow can pick up water very fast. So I filled my cup with water, and asked the little boy to hold it. Then I turned on the machine --- and --- POOF! Water Everywhere!! I had forgotten that I had switched the hose from the intake valve to the exhaust valve! It really was funny, except that I'm not sure how trusting the little boy will be of me now! LOL They did end up buying the machine, with a little help from me. I won't go into all the details, and some people may disagree with me on this, but for the past six months I have been setting aside my tithe money into a giving account. I just plain did not want to give it over to the church burecrats - I wanted it to go for God's work - or to church workers. I knew that my best friend's daughter has some very bad allergies, as does her husband. This caused her to miss a LOT of work last year, and her husband too. I just felt that this was SO perfect for them. I also had been asking God to show me how and where to use this money. I felt really impressed that this was what they needed, and I should help them get it. So, that's what I did. They had a hard time accepting it, but I stressed to them that I truly felt God was impressing me to do this, so they finally accepted, after my manager and I got the monthly payment as low as we could for the remainder.

I'm going to have to go back on Friday for three reasons: 1) I messed up when filling out the contract, so need to redo it and have them sign 2) there were no owner's manuals in either box and 3) there was no product registration form in the box. It's a little bit frustrating, but perhaps I can get another appointment up there so it'll kill two birds with one stone, so to speak.

Spending Log: Tuesday and Wednesday
Gas: $20.00
Office Depot: $12.97 (appointment book + soda)
Pizza: $20.00 (tax write-off)
Giving: $1200
Tolls: $1.50
Junkfood: $2.10

Keeping It Frugal in Texas,
Laura

Well, today I made my first sale. I know I should be jumping for joy, but in all honesty, I'm not so sure I feel very good about it. The sale was to my mom. When I got to her house today she asked me how I felt it went yesterday with Dave. I told her the truth, that I felt he hadn't been very nice and that I'd seen a side of him that I didn't care for very much. She essentially decided that she wanted the Rainbow, and so she was going to get one. I think she sees this as a test of Dave - how he'll handle her going completely against what he had decided (a good point - because this is something she's known to do quite often - so maybe a good thing for Dave to see, as well as for her to see how he reacts). If her credit somehow miracuously manages to be approved, then she's going to have to start making payments on it in Sept. I wonder if she somehow thinks that Dave might bail her out and just pay it off for her???

Our group is now down to 6, and I have a feeling that by tomorrow we'll be losing one more. I can understand the other's frustration. We have a meeting Tue - Friday at 2pm which runs for at least an hour. So that essentially cuts out 1 -3 hours of time you could be doing demos (depending on how far you live from the office, etc). Also, whenever you make a sale, you have to go back to the office to get your replacement Rainbow - so if you are at an appointment an hour away, you make the sale, then you drive back to the office an hour to pick up your new Rainbow - if you have any other appointments scheduled then more than likely they'll have to be rescheduled. I have committed to doing this through at least the end of June, no matter what. On July 1 I will weigh the pros and cons and decide if I'm going to continue with this or not. I feel like I have to give this time, as well as putting forth as much of my own effort as I can.

Tonight we had what is called "Main Event" which is where all the offices in the Metroplex get together once a week. Various prizes are raffled off and some of the big wigs talk about various things. I met a few of the people from my class as well as some other people from our office, and we car pooled over to where it was held. Of the five of us, three smoked in the car. I had the privledge of sitting between two of them. *cough* *cough* *gag*! Believe me, I have my own vices, but I just can't tell you how much the smell and the smoke from cigarettes bothers me - makes me feel sick to my stomach. This is something that never was an issue at my last job (school). I don't know. Guess something I'll just have to get used to.

I found one of my items which I'd mailed out a long time ago had been returned to me because of an unknown address. I got on my computer to email the person and let her know what had happened to her item, to find out that she had already started a "dispute" resolution with Ebay!! Arghh!! I had told her that if she didn't receive it to email me!! Oh well, I responded and copied the address she had given on her MONEY ORDER and told her that it had been forwarded to my new address. Honestly, right now, I am throughly sick and tired of selling through Ebay and really could care less about getting my first negative feedback (if she ends up leaving me a negative feedback). I think if I DO ever sell more stuff on Ebay that I am going to insist on PayPal only - so I won't have this mess of an incorrect address (or wating 4ever! for the $ to come).

K, I'm very tired.

Spending Log:
Exon: $5.16 (Gas)
Pancho's: $4.97 (lunch)

Keeping It Frugal In Texas,
Laura

The good about my day:
1. Sold the remainder of my teacher resource books at Half-Price Bookstore, and got $65 for them. Didn't buy any new books.
2. Watched "How To Lose A Guy in Ten Days" while drowning in Cherry Coke.
3. Got a free 2 liter soda at Kroger's because the cashier forgot to ask about the bottom of my cart.
4. Got my free movie ticket from a promotion Kroger's ran in April.

UGH!
----My second demonstration. The WHOLE thing! Today's was with my mom and her fiance'. The demo itself went okay. But let's just say that after today, I'm not so sure how much I like this guy. Ok, so you don't want to buy the darn thing. I can handle that, can even understand it. I'm of the frugal mindset myself and don't like to spend money unless I really see the need or have thought long and hard about it. But, if someone came into my home (whom I invited!) to demonstrate something, especially when that person is possibly going to be your stepdaughter soon, I think I'd hold off on the barrage of negative type questions. If you're not interested, just say, Thanks for coming, I really think it's a great product, but it's not really something I'm looking at getting right now. Don't ask me questions, and then when I answer them, tell me "well, that may be the company line ...." ARGHHH!!!!! Get this -- my manager offered this guy the most UNHEARD OF DEAL -- $50 down today, THEN a whole YEAR before he has to pay the balance -- no interest!!!!! All he could say to me was, "What if I called in a few weeks and asked what your best price was?" I told him that I had no way of telling him that, but that I did know that the offer from my manager, and the price of the product, was ONLY good today. There's much, much more, but I won't bore you all to tears. My mom pulled me aside and told me that she *really* wanted it, and would get it from me tomorrow. I had to tell her that no, she couldn't because her credit is cr@p right now (ok, not actual words, but general idea).

Really, truly, I could care less whether or not he had bought it or not. It was just the *way* he acted, the *way* he asked the questions. Like he was accusing me of lying at every step of the way. I drove 45 miles ONE WAY to do this demonstration. It took me most of the first 30 miles plus a traffic jam to calm down on the way back.

Tonight, more than most nights, I am really, really, feeling how single I am. How alone I am.

Spending Log:
Kroger's: $9.36 (bananas, frozen meal, junkfood)

Keeping It Frugal in Texas,
Laura

Today was a pretty lazy day overall. It started out early, because of course my cat wanted his breakfast and didn't understand that I wanted to sleep in.

The cable guy came by and switched out my box for a DVR box. Yay! But he told me that I wasn't supposed to have been getting HBO and Showtime and they'd be gone by tomorrow. Wahhh! Oh well, not really like I was watching much on them anyway - just kind of nice to have such a plethora of movies to choose from. Oh, may I say it .... I LURVE my DVR!!!!

Towards late afternoon I was getting kind of bored and felt the need to get out of the place. So I went to Wal-Mart to drop off my dad's prescription, and to get some of the things I needed for my demonstrations. Then I dropped my books off at the library. I had thought about going in and getting some more, but I missed it closing by 10 minutes. Better luck next time I guess. After that I stopped at a pizza place and ordered a pizza to go. While I was waiting for it, I went back to my car. As I was reorganizing my car space, I found my friend Heather's # which I had been looking for before. So I called her. We were chatting up a storm, and I guess the person I'd ordered my pizza from noticed that I was on the phone, so he brought out the pizza to me. What service.

I totally wasn't planning on talking to Heather about me coming and doing a demo for her and her husband, but our conversation just naturally flowed into it. I think I got her pretty excited about the Rainbow. We set up an appointment for Tuesday evening. It *might* be a sale!!

Tonight I watched "Daddy Day Care." I thought it would be a silly movie, but it turns out that it really was pretty good, and I was really glad that I watched it. I also watched "Picture Perfect" which I had seen before. I really didn't get much done today, but sometimes you just need those lazy kind of days.

I did though get my Excell set up to record all my business expenses and income, and refigured my budget based on just the base salary, as well as figuring out my formula for any $ above and beyond the base salary amount.

In the mail today I finally got my deposit back from my old apartment. Apparantally someone *did* come in my place after we left and stole my pots and pans (which I had inadvertantally not packed) and the wet dry/vac that the manager was supposed to pick up. So, the cost of the wet dry/vac was deducted from my refund. I could I suppose file a claim with renters insurance, but it probably wouldn't hold much water since I had to leave the door unlocked. At least the refund is enough to replace the money I used to pay the new deposit here, so I'm breaking even.

Ooops. Guess it wasn't such a quick report after all. Scott would ask me sometimes how I came up with these long emails after we'd been talking on the phone for an hour or more that night. Guess I just like to write - a whole lot more than I like to talk outloud.

Spending Log:
Wal-Mart: $7.97 ((business supplies)
$3.87 (ointment for dad's finger - will be reimbursed)
Wal-Greens: $2.36 (junkfood)
Papa John's: $9.97 (pizza)

Oi! I spent more money than I realized today. Will have to watch my pennies till Wednesday (payday -next to last check from teaching)

Keeping It Frugal In Texas,
Laura

Today was our last day of training. When I arrived, there were a number of our group standing around outside --smoking of course - and talking about some of their doubts and concerns. Andrew walked by and overheard some of what we were saying and asked what we were talking about. He got a bit upset, and then dissapeared into the building for a few minutes then came back with a whole pile of w-9 forms and independant contractor forms, etc.

Later, he had one of the higher up's come by and talk to us for nearly an hour telling us about how big the company is, etc.
There was a lot of time taken up showing us just how big the company is. One really cool thing was that the Rainbow was mentioned on an episode of "Everybody Loves Raymond", only it was called something else, like a Hum Ve.

I didn't get out of the office with my kit until after 5. By the time I got home and got started with my first demo (to my dad) I didn't have much time left before he had to leave. I cut some parts short, but still didn't get through to the very end, so I had to "reschedule" it for Sunday morning. My dad was very impressed with the machine, even though he couldn't afford one. I think the gest part was when I had him vacuum the rug under the dining table 50 times with our regular vacuum, then I vacuumed with the Rainbow two or three times and pulled up a boatload of cat hair and other gunk.

I did pretty well for the first time going through the demo from start to almost finish. I just got really stuck in the middle of the close section, and I couldn't find my phone script for calling into the office. Putting everything back into the box was a pain and a half, and took me almost as long as the whole demo did. I was *so* hungry by the time I had everything cleaned up and put away!

I'm sure after I do this a few more times, I'll be able to pack it more quickly, and also assemble the various things more quickly too. I do need to figure out that closing though, or I might lose actual sales. My next demo isn't till Sunday at 4, so I am going to try to practice a bit between now and then. Maybe do some housecleaning - like cleaning my mattress and pillows.

Oh! I almsot forgot! During lunch today I was looking around in my car, and I saw the copies of the scholarship papers that I had left with Todd on Tuesday. As I was looking at them, I realized that I had forgotten to give him $15 check to go with them! I was *so* embarrassed! I called him and told him that I had *just* realized that I had forgotten to give that to him. He told me to not worry about it, that he had written a check for it. What I can do is drop off a check on Monday on my way from the Monday morning meeting to my mom's house (where I'm doing a demo). That'll be right on the way.

Not much else to write about today. I am so very tired.

Spending Log:
Lunch: $3.01 (grilled cheese, and box of Jr Mints)

Keeping It Frugal in Texas,
Laura

The morning at work didn't start off very well. I pulled up and saw a number of the people in my class standing outside the building smoking or just standing there. I went over and said Good Morning, and stood for a few moments. Finally the smoke was really getting to me, so I decided to go ahead and go in. Well, unfortunately I didn't double check what door they were standing in front of, and when I tried to open the door, it was locked. The door I wanted was the next one over. I tried to just laugh it off, and I think I would have succeeded, but one of the "ladies" said, "You know I've been out of school for awhile, but I do remember taking a course called "Reading Is Fundamental"." I *really* wanted to ask her if she thought that was necessary, and there was a word that *really* *really* wanted to slip out of my mouth to describe her, but I decided it wasn't worth it.

Later we had our daily "on-time" drawing, and I won a prize! It was the RainMate which is kind of a miniature version of the Rainbow machine. I was pretty happy to get that. We had to have at least 80 appointments set today for Andrew to get lunch for us. We were missing three people, and ended up with only 69. After a bit of hemming and hawing, he decided to go ahead and get pizza for us. Of course I was the only vegetarian in the group, but luckily there was someone who was alergic to salt (so she couldn't eat peporoni or sausage) so we got a cheese pizza for us.

Alot of today felt kind of like wasted time. Andrew would start us off on practicing a part of our demo, then would leave and not be back for an hour or more. Our groups would go through the demos two or three times, and then just kind of sit there yakking waiting to see what to do next. It was a bit frustrating, especially when he (Andrew) would keep saying how we were so far behind schedule. We stayed an extra hour today, and apparantally are back on schedule.

Tomorrow we're going to have a much longer day, but we'll also be leaving with our Rainbow to use in our demo's. If we sell it, we have to go all the way back to the office to pick up another one. That's going to be a bit of a pain. But I really doubt that I'll be selling any this weekend anyway. The demo's this weekend are mainly just for practice - getting my feet wet.

When I got home this evening, I did not feel like getting anything put together for supper. So I told my dad that I'd take him out to eat, if he was willing to hear me say a sentence about my business (so I can write it off). Mom called while we were eating and wanted to know what we were eating, and why I hadn't wanted to make something at home, etc etc. Just being nosy. I wanted to ask her what *she* had eaten all day and *why* she'd eaten whatever she'd eaten! Of course though, I didn't do that. It isn't as though I go out to eat all the time - and even if I did, it really isn't any of her business!

Dad told me something that made me really sad today. He said that his sister Ni (my Aunt) had told him that our little Maltese who is nearly 16 years old is really failing fast. That we might need to really start thinking about letting him go. I really don't want him to be put to sleep without any of his immediate family members there with him, but he's in CA right now. The only person who *could* be there with him is my brother, and the President of the US is probably easier to get in touch with than he is! He really has had a long life - he's lived longer than the normal life expectancy for a Maltese. He's such a good dog. We got him my freshman year of high school - our little Reggie.

I am feeling so tired and just out of sorts. I really hope that I start feeling better soon, cuz I'm going to need a lot of energy to do all the demos and driving.

Spending Log:
Exon: $20.00 (gas and a drink)
Luby's: $13.29 (dad and I supper)

Keeping It Frugal in Texas,
Laura

Today was officially our first day of training. Andrew (the manager) told us that the whole food name thing yesterday was just to see who could handle silly office humor. Our numbers went from about 34 people yesterday, to 14 today. It will be interesting to see how many show up tomorrow.

I am still thinking that this is going to be a good thing. It *is* going to be a lot of work -- and a *lot* of driving, which I'm not particularily fond of, but I'm willing to do it. The reason I'm willing to do it is because I see that I will be rewarded for what time and effort I put into it.

Most of the people there smoke, and it seems like most of them also drink. A lot of them curse quite easily. It is going to take a lot of getting used to. I'm not sure if any of them could become more than acquaintances because it just doesn't seem like I have very much in common with most of them. Most of my time will be spent on my own, so it probably won't be that big of a deal in the long run.

I found out today that the office is open Tuesday to Saturday. Before I had even said a word, Andrew started talking about how Saturday's were a must, UNLESS your religous beliefs led you to not work on Saturday - such as Seventh-day Adventists, Jews, Seventh-day Baptists, and Jehovah Wittnesses. I guess my lack of jewlery, lack of cursing and smoking, somewhat more modest dress, taking the meat off my sandwich yesterday, etc *had* been noticed by him. He asked me pretty point blank what I was. I told him I was an Adventist. So, he told me that I would just have to work extra hard on Sundays. I told him I'd have no problem doing that - I'm used to working on Sundays.

We had a homework assignment tonight. We had to begin setting up our demo's for this weekend. He gave us a contest - everyone who completes 5 demo's between Friday and Monday gets to choose a $50 GC for Outback Steakhouse or Red Lobster. The GC's wouldn't do me much good, but the Outback one would be a good birthday gift for my Mom. So, when I got back home tonight I called five people, and made 4 set appointments, and one more good possibility. So, I think I just might have my GC.

I got another email from the *24 yo* tonight. He was asking me if I would like to chat on the phone with him. I told him I couldn't tonight because I had to do some phoning. He was born in TN just like me. What am I doing emailing with a 24 year old????

Ok, it's getting kind of late, so I better get going.

Spending Log:
Jo's Deli: $1.89 (grilled cheese sandwich)

Keeping It Frugal in Texas,
Laura

Well, today I went for the orientation. I must say that I am quite impressed both with the product itself, and with the company. The manager answered just about every question I had without me having to ask it. I have decided to give this my best shot.

Something kind of funny - in an effort to get to know each other, and I guess to make it easier to remember our names, we had to come up with a food name for each of the ~30 people there. There were some very interesting names. My food name is ... Cherry! Becuase I was smiling so much. Hee!

After Orientation I dropped off the Scholarship application to Todd. On the way back I came with in seconds of being in a major car accident. I had just pulled out of the parking lot and was moving forward, when out of nowhere this car makes a left turn in front of me. Luckily for me my brakes were working *very* well. I literally came with in milimeters of hitting the driver's side of the other car. That's two times now in two days that I was either in an accident, or came *very* close to being in one. My guardian angels must really be working overtime right now.

A funny! I got an email from a -- get this -- 24 year old guy! on the one singles site. He's divorced with what looks like a 2 yr old little girl. This guy is the same age as my brother! How weird would that be???

Spending Log:
Exon: $1.49 (drink and snack)

Keeping It Frugal in Texas,
Laura

Shortly after getting up this morning, I got out the list of job possibilities which I had written down yesterday. After calling all of them, I was able to easily cross out three of them, two others all I got were answering machines. One of them I have to go by and fill out an application. Another one I have to fax my resume. Two of them I got "interviews" with. All within the space of about 30 minutes.

I went to the first "interview" today. It was for a company that sells an air purification system. Basically there was a group of about 30 people sitting in a room watching a slide presentation on the company and the benefits, while the manager? narrated. The manager? kept reiterating "if" you are selected" bolognie. After about 25 minutes or so, he gave us time to finish filling out our applications, then started taking people out for our "interview". He calls me back finally - 30 seconds and a handshake later I am walking out the door! We were told to call back between 6:30 and 7:00 to find out "if" we were selected. Ooohh, the suspense was killing me -ha ha. Who would'a thunk it? I was one of the ones "selected!"

There are four days of training from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. My second interview (again, a group interview) is on Wednesday, so I figure I'll give this company one day to make me want to work for them. -- To prove to me it's NOT another Fire Secure. One thing I can say though, is that they already are MUCH more organized. Something else, is that they do guarantee a base pay + commision -- I'll have to see more how that works though before I get *too* excited. Also, they *said* that there isn't any cold calling - that everyone we'll deal with are existing customers or people who've expressed interest. Again, time will tell.
I may be wasting my time with this, but then again, maybe I'm not. That would be pretty cool if I found something right out of the barrel.

After the interview I stopped by Todd's office to pick up the scholarship application for the Pathways program. Last night I emailed him and told him that I had decided that I wanted to do the program. The first session is the weekend of July 8-10. I really hope that this program is as good as he says it is. He asked me if it would be okay for him to put his fiance's name down as my sponsor, because she is trying to become a trainee or something - and you have to sponsor so many people. He's already in training to be one of the assistant counselors. -- That would be too weird if he was in one of my groups - though he knows pretty much everything about me.

Dad and I each chipped in $20 for the grocery envelope, and then I went grocery shopping. Albertson's had it's 1/2 gallon milk on sale 10/$10, so I picked up 5 of them. The OJ was also on pretty good sale, so I picked up two of them. Then one of my favorite snacks - green grapes - was on sale for 10lbs/$10 - yummy! Dad had mentioned that he'd like something in the house besides water to drink. I didn't want to get soda, cuz neither one of us needs those empty calories, so I picked up some Langer's Strawberry-Orange blend Juice - on sale for $1.50 (7.3 cents/oz). Most of that should hold us for this week, and into next week.

Oh! Almost forgot! I bought a 4-1 printer/scanner/copier/fax machine today from Circuit City. I was getting very tired of not being able to print anything out, and looked at the cost of replacing the ink (needed black and color) and it turned out that those two inks were only $30 less than the machine I bought. I'd been seriously wanting one for awhile (nearly two years) and I looked at it as more of a $30 purchase (on sale, and after mail-in rebate). I like it very much - just have to figure out how to have my DSL, phone, and fax all in the same phone jack.

Well, I guess I better go get that application filled out. Todd needs it tomorrow, so I'll be dropping it by his office after training is over.

Spending Log:
4-1 Printer: $101.32 (with tax)
Albertsons: $25.08
Exon (Gas): $10.00 (~5 gallons)

Keeping It Frugal in Texas,
Laura

Saturday
Didn't really do too much. Cable guy came right at noon and hooked up the main tv with digital and the 2nd tv with expanded basic. Very cool. He didn't have the DVR box, but will come by on Thursday with it.

Late afternoon I went out and saw "Sisterhood Of The Traveling Pants". They changed a few things on it that I wish they hadn't, but overall it was very good. I was crying like a baby - almost as much as I was when I read the book a few months ago.

Then I went to Walgreens and got some junk food, and to Taco Bell and got some food. Way too much spending on unnecesary things.

Got an email from one of my Ebay customers telling me she'd received her package - unfortunately it was empty with the exception of a piece of wadded up newspaper. I offered to send her some other books I hadn't listed yet, or refund her money. I feel just awful that this happened.

I got some emails from Scott. He asked me to pick out my 8 main character traits from a list. One of the traits I listed was adventorus - he was really surprised by that one. One of the traits he picked for himself was reliable. The jury's still out on that one.

I signed up with eharmony for the 3 months for $49. Normally it's $49/month. Maybe I'll have better luck with it than the site where I met Todd and Scott, though I'm not holding my breath.

Spending:
Cable: $33 (waived instalation fees - yay!)
Movie: $5.50
Taco Bell: $4.73
Wal-Greens: $6.81
Eharmony: $49
=== way too much money -- ugh!

Sunday:
Dad got here this morning raring for a game plan. So we had breakfast, then went on a 30 minute walk. Then got most of the pictures/miorrs etc hung up, got stuff loaded in his truck to take to storage, and just basicaly got the place looking better.

Scott wrote me and told me that one of the older men in his single's group whom I had met a couple of times basically dropped dead after the Single's Potluck on Sabbath (Saturday). The thing that really stinks about it, is that that man had just recently become engaged. I didn't know him very well, but he seemed like a nice enough person. Scott is taking this pretty hard I think. He lost both his mom and one of his sisters 10 and 13 years ago, and I think this is just bringing it all back up to him.

I've been feeling so ucky all day today. It was all I could do to keep working on stuff with dad. I didn't want to complain, becuase its not exactly like I've been working ultra hard this last week or so. I did go through the Sunday paper's employment section and wrote down about 14 different places I want to check out. There are a lot of car places advertising gaurnteed training salary. It is somewhat tempting, but I don't think I'd be good at that at all - I can't tell a lie worth anything - that I think is one of the reasons I failed at my fire safety business - part of the sales pitch to prospective employees, I just couldn't say because I didn't believe it once I was "inside" the whole thing.

I hope I get an answer to a question soon. If not sooner, by Saturday at least.

Ok, I better get some shut eye so I can get started on my job hunt tomorrow.

Spending Log: NONE

Keeping It Frugal in Texas,
Laura

Hi! It's been awhile since I last updated here. The rest of the packing and moving went well and was fairly stress free, as much as packing and moving can be stress free! I got a mani/pedi and highlights -

Last Friday of course was moving day. Everyone showed up by about 9:30 and I was all moved out and on the road by 11 a.m.! Then I was all moved in, and got pizza for everyone by 2:00. Most of the rest of the afternoon was spent settling the big pieces of furniture, and settling my room, while Scott mostly laid on my bed.

Oh yeah. That brings up another part of my weekend. Scott. Suffice it to say that I was glad he came, I enjoyed having him here, he was a big help with the actual moving part of things, but ..... he didn't come here with any more intentions than just wanting to be with a friend. Yes, I was dissapointed, and frankly, more than a bit embarrased, but still glad that I found out what it was all about. I did tell him though that I couldn't do another weekend like this one, and he understood. I'm not totally sure where this leaves us. A part of me would like to just completely cut off contact with him, but at least till the end of next week, there may be a reason for me to stay in contact with him, so until then, I'm going to put off my final decision.

My trip to Fredricksburg was good. The b&b I stayed in was very charming - I spent hours on the front porch swing watching the people go by and reading. The first night I was there, there was a very huge storm with LOTS of lightning and thunder. Some of the lightning got so close I could actually hear it sizzle! I hiked to the top of Enchanted Rock. It's a *steep* 8/10 of a mile climb, and boy howdy, did I ever find out how out of shape I was! When I got up to the top, I found this little secluded spot, with a couple of stunted trees and a lot of cacti. I sat right under the trees for nearly two hours just talking to God, singing praises, and quietly listening. I don't know if I imagined it or not, but I *think* I heard him speak to me - just something simple "I am with you my child" Later, on the way back down, I got myself off the correct path and was getting more than a little nervous. I asked God to help me find my way back to the correct path, and somehow I managed to find it. I really felt his hand guiding me that whole time on the way to the park, on the Enchanted Rock, and as I was going back to town. It really was an amazing experience. Really, the best part of my whole trip.

The rest of the time I checked out some of the shops. I *love* antiques, although all of the antiques in their shops were WAY out of my price range, they still were cool to look at and dream about. I did end up buying two things - 1) My first piece of jewlery that I bought for myself - an ankle bracelet with a small blue heart. One bf I had gave me a number of pieces of jewlery, but since I don't really wear it that much (especially with teaching in the schools I've been at) I never bought any for myself. I guess this was just one more step towards breaking away from what has been. 2) I bought a set of kitty kat coasters - to put drinks on my coffe table (from a garage sale, but still, no reason not to keep it looking nice). My whole trip - food, gas, do dads, and lodging, were MORE than paid for by my Ebay sales! Ya-hoo!

Mom and Dave brought Monkey over tonight. At first he was hardly even acknowledging me, but then he got to where he wouldn't let me out of his sight. Right now he's laying down in front of my computer monitor resting his head on my leg (yeah, I've got my legs up on my desk) .

I've been without internet since last Thursday night, which has been hard in some ways. But today when I got back from my trip, the DSL service had been turned on at my new place. YAY! I haven't been keeping up with tracking expenses very well lately, but now that I have my net back, I will be tracking much more faithfully again.

Tomorrow the cable guy is coming. We're going to get Digital Cable with DVR capabilities. I know, I know, we should be spending as little as possible. But dad and I agreed that since we got such a deal on the apartment, that we could splurge a little on tv. I haven't had cable for nearly three years, and dad's pretty much been without it for a year or so, so I know we both could do without it if we really had to tighten our belts. I am SO looking forward to the DVR!

Ok, this is getting a bit long, so I probably ought to sign off.

I'm gonna have to catch up on some of y'all's journals.

Keeping It Frugal in Texas,
Laura

Woo Hoo! With the exception of a few items here and there, I am completely PACKED!!! One day ahead of time!!! Thanks be to my mom and her fiance!!! Between the three of us, we got everything packed in the matter of about 6 hours of real work (didn't really start till nearly 1, then mom was on the phone for nearly an hour, etc).

So that basically means that I have all day tomorrow to do some things that needed to be done, but I didn't think I'd have time to do them. Also, I might just take in a $1 theatre movie. And, I might also get a mani/pedi done, as well as my hair cut/highlighted. I'm not doing this just because Scott is coming - though that is maybe part of the reason. I've really been wanting to get my hair trimmed/cut for awhile, and I know that highlights *do* look really good in my hair, and it's been nearly two year since the last time I had highlights. Also, the mani/pedi is something I *really* like to get, and haven't had one in over a year, and of course it's the beginning of summer, so it would be nice to start summer off with good looking feet and hands.

I am *so* happy! I've put up probably ~45 auctions in the last 6 -8 weeks, and all but one of them have sold, or is selling right now! And that one auction has a watcher, as well as 3 more days to go - so it's fairly likely that that will be sold as well!!!

I really truly am looking forward to the next 7 or 8 days. Moving to a new place, whatever may happen with Scott, my Fredricksburg trip . . . Wow!

Spending Log:
Scholotsky's: $9.10 (took Mom and Dave out to thank them for help packing, etc)

Keeping It Frugal in Texas,
Laura

What a long, tiring, frustrating day, though with a good end.

I mailed out a bunch of Ebay packages this morning. One person won 11 auctions, but hasn't paid me yet, so I put all their stuff in one box and had it weighed. Then emailed them two different shipping options. Still haven't heard back from them yet

When I cleaned out my big storage cabinet, I managed to give 90% of it to Tammy and Nada. They both were pretty surprised by how much teacher resource books I had. But I think the thing they liked the most were the big books. I have two more brand new big books here at home that I'm going to bring for them tomorrow. I put all of the books I was giving
Vicki into the two storage containers she'd bought, plus two more file crates that I had. I think at first Tammy felt a little put out because I had told her she could have first pick - but I'd been telling her and telling her for awhile, and felt like I needed to get the books moved out -so when Vicki said she'd take whatever I was gving away - I gave it to her! I did keep out about 40 or 50 early reader books for her little boy Nicholas - she wants to teach him how to read this summer.

Dad called to come meet him almost as Tammy and Nada were finished going through all my books, so I told them to please just turn the lights out when they were done. Then when I got home, dad and I got most of the clothes out of my closet and loaded them into his Jimmy, as well as all the pictures/artwork I'd taken down last night, and some kitchen stuff. Then we went to Kroger's and got some more boxes. Then we got sandwiches from our favorite sandwich place - Schlotsky's.

After he moved out the freezer so I could get under my stairwell, he left to take the load to our new place, and to get to an appointment. Then I went back to the school and started working on the inventory. I had to pretty much do a new inventory for the 2nd grade, because the previous one didn't have any of the the teacher editions or textbooks listed. Then I did the first grade one, went pretty fast since I'd done it the past two years. I then tried to burn both of them onto the correct CD's but apparantally, since we've gone on a network, we can't burn CD's anymore. Would've been nice if they would have told us this before I wasted 30 minutes getting frustrated trying to burn a CD!

After printing out the inventories, I started on the book orders. The union had put the textbook list on a CD Rom. Nice idea, in that it saves paper, but it also is quite frustrating. I liked being able to highlight the books I needed to order so I could be sure I was writing the correct order #'s, and I liked being able to read the #'s easily, -- I also liked being able to read the *entire* textbook list! I'd gotten through about 80% of my order, when the CD (Adobe Acrobat) decided that there were too many errors or something, and shut down on me! I retried about four times, and it kept producing the same result! So, I decided to just write down the names of the books I needed, the quantity, but not the price or ISBN #, and call it a job. I also did call Vicki (since at this point I was the only one there at the school). She never called me back.

Next, I moved on to report cards and filling out the blue book. That went fairly smoothly, thankfully. But then I moved on to the cumulative folders. As soon as I sat down to start them, I realized that I had forgotten to ask Bambi for the cum cards and the blue reading cards for the new students and first graders! I looked for them, but they are most likely in the locked file cabinet. So, I decided that I would just write the same info on index cards and put it in their folders. Things going smoothly. THEN I realize that I am *completely* *missing* TWO student's folders!! I make up two new folders for them, and put what I can in them. But, for one student I have absolutely NO information - not a birthdate, not parent's names, phone numbers, etc.! So, at this point I call Vicki again, only this time on her home number. She basically tells me that I'll have to come back in tomorrow when Bambi is there to see if we can find those two folders. ARGHHH!!! I wanted to be done TODAY!

So, I'm frustrated, and tired, and SO ready to get out of there. But, the room still needs to be dusted and I needed to get my stuff that I was keeping put together. While I was cleaning, my mom calls me. After talking for a few minutes she tells me that I sound crabby. Well, maybe that's because I AM feeling crabby! We'd been emailing each other back and forth during the day trying to figure out a good time for dad to pick up the dolly cart and microwave. For some reason she feels its necessary for her to be present when he comes get the stuff. Annoying. Frustrating. So glad when this is all over!

She's coming tomorrow to help me get started on packing, which is very sweet of her. With her help, maybe I'll actually be able to get this all done in two days. I just hope we don't drive each other crazy tomorrow.

Ok, now to the good part. After I got home I wrote Scott an email telling him that I hope he had done well on his presentation, and that I'd had a LONG day. Well, after 9 (free minutes) he called me and we talked for over an hour. Just as we were about to hang up, I asked him if he'd found anyone to work his hours for him or not. He had!! That means that sometime in the next two days, I need to get a pedicure/manicure (tomorrow it'd be only $25 for both together) and a haircut (hair needs a trim *badly*). It also means that my curiosity will be finally satisfied.

Spending Log:
Post Office: can't remember right now - think it was ~$21 - 8 packages
CVS: paid with gift card - junk food, 24 pk bottled water for moving day -- ~$8

Keeping It Frugal in Texas,
Laura

Yesterday was my last day of school. It went ok. My boys were a bit wild with having so much open floor space, but eventually calmed down a bit. I got a few goodbye gifts which was nice. One gift was a picture of most of my kids and on the mat all of them had signed it.

After the kids left I spent about five hours cleaning out three years of accumulated teacher stuff, giving away as much as I could, and figuring out what I'm going to do with the rest.

When I got home I spent about an hour cleaning my car out. Then, while watching 7th Heaven and Everwood finanles, I got all my Ebay stuff ready to go.

I'm honestly getting a little bit annoyed with Scott right now. Maybe it's everything going on right now, or maybe it's something else, but I sometimes feel like writing him and telling him to not even bother with looking for someone to take his shifts so he can come down here. I'm not going to do that though, because 1) I am curious about why he's coming 2) I would like to see him again for whatever reason and 3) it may work out where he can't even come. So, I'm trying really hard to let whatever God wills to happen, to happen. Easier said than done.

Ok, I better get going. This promises to be a LONG day of more cleaning, sorting, throwing and packing.

Keeping It Frugal in Texas,
Laura

This has been a long four days. I am way too tired right now to recount them. Tomorrow is my last day of teaching at this school, and perhaps, ever. I have such mixed emotions. As much as these kids drive me nuts sometimes, I do really love them. And I think some of them love me too.

I want to share a note M wrote me on Thursday (I think). "Dear Miss N I do not want you to leave. I love you I will miss you a lot I want you to stay. I do not want you to go. I always care about you, always. I don't want you to move because I will get sad, thats why. Don't go. I like you. I always think you look good. You and Monkey." (Monkey is my cat).

This is the little boy whom I've been SO hard on all year, who's driven me to distraction. But, he obviously gets it. He gets that I've been so hard on him because I do care about him.

Tonight seeing the Kindergartners marching, and knowing that I won't be the one teaching them next year, actually made me feel prety sad. Knowing that I'll more than likely never see any of these kids again, or hear about them later, makes me sad. It's the teachers of older students who usually get the kids that return to say thanks.

It's been a long, hard, stressful weekend. Tomorrow will be an emotional day for me I think. Gladness mixed with sadness, and perhaps some disapointment.

The question runninng through my mind is _did I do the right thing????

Keeping It Frugal in Texas,
Laura

Yesterday my modem was on the blink and I couldn't get on the net except for a few minutes here and there. It was very frustrating because yesterday Ebay was having a $.10 listing sale, and I was only able to get 3 items listed.

Of the now 23 items I have listed, 17 of them are selling!! Woo Hoo!

Yesterday was an okay day. Main thing we did was get ready for Young Author's night. As usual, the worse the practices are, the better the performance is usually. They did a top notch job at the program. Especially since one of my students who defiantally refused to read his story (which of course was a pain and a half to get him to even agree to have me type it for him in the first place!) M was also not there, which was good in a way, because I hadn't had a chance to get a hold of his mom to warn her about his story's subject matter.

I ended up buying $25 worth of food for refreshments because NONE of the parents offered to bring anything!! I was more than a little bit annoyed, but it partly was my fault because I didn't get more notes sent home. The other child who didn't show up in time for the event, did eventually show up - after everyone else was gone, and my former aide and I were getting ready to put the room back together! I still had the karaoke machine set up, so I told her that we would be her audience and to go ahead and read her story to us (about 5 people in the room). She got up there and burst into tears, and wouldn't be comforted.
It turns out that her parents hadn't checked the Otter book (since at least last week!) and the little girl started telling her parents that she had to go to school! They were of course wondering what was up with her, but finally decided to look in her Otter book - and made it to the school over an hour late. It's the old story - parent's who are too busy to take the one or two minutes it *might* take to look in their child's Otter book and see if there's anything they just might need to know. Arghh! One reason I'm glad to be quitting teaching!

After work when I got home, my dad was here getting all of his things out to take to our apartment. Of course he *needed* me to help him do a zillion differernt things, just assuming that I had nothing better to do. Ya know, like get ready for my program!

Tuesday spending: $25.67 Kroger's (groceries for program)

Wednesday:
This morning we had our awards Chapel. All the teachers gave out certificates to EVERY child in their class or homeroom. Whoopdi Doo! Gah! I HATE these kinds of things. I feel so strongly that these kinds of things do NOTHING for a child's self esteem and can actually be detrimental. I gave all my kids either high honor roll or honor roll - not even sure what exactly I based it on. Walking back from Chapel, several of my kids asked me what the difference was between the silver(honors) and gold (high) and I really didn't have a good answer - at least not that I could actually say - which would be NONE! - at least for this particular age level. The other thing I hate about these things is that every teacher did a different level than the other teachers -which right away makes things unfair - which is what Vicki was trying to avoid in the first place by having us give EVERY child some kind of a certificate. One example: The pre-k teacher has 5 students. She called up the first student and than began to slather on the praise and 4 different certificates, a ribbon, and a sticker. Then the next child (who so happens to be Tammy's boy Nicholas) was absent, but she listed the certificates he had "earned" which were less enthusiastic than the first boy. The next three children also received 2 or 3 certifciates, a ribbon, and a sticker each. The ony reason I went along with all of this was because it seemed to be what everyone else wanted to do, and I guess I'm really at a point where I don't care that much anymore.

This afternoon I had the kids begin their cleanup of the room. It went okay I guess. They had fun tearing down the bulletin board decorations as well as other decorations. They didn't like the cleaning up of all the trash so much though. I assigned a couple kids to sorting out the books - two of my boys decided to basically dump ALL the books from two of the bookcases onto the floor - creating a HUGE pile of books on the floor. I pretty much spent two hours harrasing the kids to get those books picked up and sorted!! There's still a lot to do tomorrow. I hope we get it all done before leaving for the park.

I IM'd wth my brother tonight!!! He's been dating this wonderful girl for over two years. He was telling me that she's thinking of going to Spain for a few months, and that he's not sure if he's going to wait for her or not, even though she deserves to be waited for. MEN! He also told me that he thinks I shouldn't give Scott the time of day, let alone a second chance, because he thinks that Scott is playing me. Maybe he's right, who knows - guess I'm just gonna have to find out for myself.

M wrote me a really sweet note today. Essentially he said that he didn't want me to leave and that he didn't want me to move and that he loved me. Sometimes its the kids that drive you the most nuts that pull at your heartstrings the hardest. I guess he knows that even though I'm hard on him, it's only because I want the best for him.

My dad ordered something from overstock that was supposed to be delivered here yesterday. He missed the Fed Ex guy by five minutes. He called the headquarters and asked that it be sent to my school, and was told to leave a note with the same information on it. When I got home today there was a second notice of attempted delivery. He wasn't too happy when he heard that. Well, a few hours later (about 6:15) after I'd ummm, gotten comfortable on a *very* muggy day in TX, somebody knocked on my door. It was the Fed Ex guy! He had come back after his other runs were done I guess, because he figured that since I was a teacher, I'd be home by then. I was very impressed.

Spending Log: $3.47 Taco Bell (supper tonight, lunch tomorrow)
$1.40!! gas station (*1* 20 oz Coke! -- highway robbery!)

Exercise: 15-minute tape on Tuesday, none on Wed.
Water: 2 - liters on Tuesday, barely 1 L on Wednesday
Food: blah! late night eating both nights due to busyness and phone calls

Keeping It Frugal in Texas,
Laura

Ok, I have to start out with the best news! We qualified for the apartment!!! Woo Hoo!!! We almost didn't qualify because I had foolishly sent in a letter written by a previous landlord of mine which had slightly different dates than I had written on the application (bad memory sometimes - go figure.) Dad is going to go pick up the keys tomorrow and start moving his things in, and maybe some of my things too. I'm so happy and here's the reason why ...I've got a place to live!

Well, on to not such exciting things. I told my kids this morning about my not coming back next year. It started out horribly because my boys were just COMPLETELY misbehaving and I was having to discipline and fuss at them A LOT. Once I finally got them settled down enough to listen, there wasn't much of a reaction. A few of them had questions, but none of them seemed overly sad about it, or overjoyed either. Later during the day one of my girls made me a really sweet good by card. I think maybe more than a few of them already knew about it. Well, at least it's out in the open now.

Vicki was there today. I talked to her for a short while, but I don't know if she believed me. I think she still just feels so hurt that there's really nothing I can say. It just makes me feel so horrible that she feels like this. I wish there was something I could do to help her, but I'm not sure that she'd welcome much of anything from me right now. This whole thing just kills me.

The kids are mostly ready for Young Author's night tomorrow night. Tomorrow we're mostly going to be practicing for it. I have no idea how it's going to go. Some of the stories are really different. Three of my boys are going to be reading stories that were mostly written by just one of them -- the SuperBaby series (5 books in it so far!). I tried to get the other two boys to do something of their own, but they just were insistent on doing it this way. Quite honestly, I don't have the energy to dissuade them, so I let them. I honestly wanted to cancel the whole shebang, but the kids have been looking forward to it ever since we had the one in December.

My Ebay stuff is doing okay. Last time I checked (an hour or so ago) I had 6 items out of 20 selling, with 7 bids. I hope that all the buyers send their payments quickly so I can get those books mailed out before my move.

Daily Goals:
1. Exercise: 15 minute walk video (had to go into classroom early, got up late)
2. Water: ~2 liters
3. Food: none after 7:30
4. Soda: had one pepsi vanailia

Spending Log:
Kroger's: $8.80 (oj - on sale 2/$4, got two!, bananas, etc)

Keeping It Frugal in Texas,
Laura

It's been a busy couple of days.

Friday:
School was okay. J apologized to us during worship for his outburst on Thursday. One of the teachers left early, so I lost my aide. The kids were ok, not great, but not terrible.

After school I mailed off a couple of items for Ebay. Then I made a Green Bean Casserole for potluck. I also went to a Bible Study at J's house. It was kind of weird because it probably was the last one I'll attend there. When I got home I called Scott and we talked for three hours.

Spending Log:
Kroger's: $5.57 (green beans, mushroom soup, etc)
Post Office: $5.01 (2 packages)

Saturday:
While waiting for the kids to show up for the performance, I sat in our lunchroom watching people go back and forth. Mr. B went back and forth several times. Every time I saw him I'd get this terrible feeling in the pit of my stomach. It's been like this ever since the beginning of the year when he went to the school board and told them he thought I was a terrible teacher. This man is the father of two of my former students. His son I had my first year here. A sweet, loving boy with some major academic problems, whom I tutored daily after school for the majority of the year. His daughter I had the next year. A nice enough child when behaving, but had major anger control issues, as well as attention issues, as well as academic issues. I had absolutely no energy left after dealing with her all day. So I decided that it was well past time for me to let my hurt and anger towards this man go. It wasn't hurting him any, it was only hurting me. I thought about confronting him face to face, but I think that instead I'll write him a letter. He really needs to know that what he did had a profound effect on me, in a negative way.


The program itself went well, except that a lot of kids were missing. I had a huge headache, and so as soon as the children's part was finished I went home. Then I went to J's house for the potluck. That went ok. I think my casserole went over well, there was very little left. I don't really care for potlucks that much. Mainly I think its because I have a hard time talking very much in a large group of people. Also, its difficult for me at least, to know exactly when it's polite to leave - especially if the potluck is at someone's home.

Today was National Stamp Out Hunger. Before I left for the potluck, I put out three large grocery bags of food by the mailboxes. It was a good way to get rid of some of my stockpile before moving, as well as to help out people less fortunate than I. The bags were gone when I got back, so I assume they went to the right place.

After I got home I listed 20 auctions on Ebay. Most of the things I listed aren't very high-demand items, but they are useful resources for a a primary teacher. So far (as of Sunday) 5 of them have bids. Yay!

Scott and I talked on the phone again for a couple hours. I asked him what he'd meant in his email when he said that my moving on Friday would work out better for him. At first he kind of joked around, but then he told me that it would work out better because it would give him more time ---depending on how things went!! I have very little doubt in my mind right now that he is coming down here for at the very least another chance.

After we got off the phone, I called Tammy. It had been awhile since she and I had really had a chance to talk. We talked for a couple hours. One of the things we talked about was what happened on Thursday. I found out that Vicki has more than likely quit - walked out. Apparantally J told her that the "staff" thought she was difficult to work with, and when she asked him to be more specific, he named *my* name as well as a number of other teachers! This obviously hurt her very deeply. I just feel horrible that this happened. I *know* I have *never* said that I thought she was difficult to work with - and I also DON'T feel that she is difficult to work with! I think she is a wonderful person, and a wonderful principal. While I haven't agreed with everything she's done, or how she's gone about some things, it's always just been a matter of personal opinon. She was an awesome support to me two years ago when Todd and I broke up. I remember so vividly walking towards the church the morning after he and I had had our "talk" and Vicki took one look at my face and asked me if I needed to talk. She took me into her office and listened as I poured my heart out to her, and she in return told me some private, personal stuff.

I'm not sure what I'm going to do just yet. I'm not sure whether a phone call or a card would be better. Somehow I want to let her know that I'm so sorry that I was a part of this, even though unintentionally.

Spending Log: None

Sunday:
This morning I went over to the school. When I got there the VBS group was going through a training, so I was able to borrow Heidi's keys to get into my room. I guess the SS team was also meeting, because I saw Mr. B in the computer lab (he teaches Primary SS -- in my classroom!). I spent about two hours cleaning, throwing out, organizing, and giving away things to Tammy. I told her that what I gave her today was just the tip of the iceberg.

I met my dad at the Olive Garden by Hulen Mall at 1, and then we went to the first apartment complex on our list. It was a very nice place, but unfortunately they didn't have anything available till after June 7. The leasing manager suggested we look at this place across the street that hadn't been on the list. We had just pulled into their parking lot, when my dad got a call from his brother Jim. Half-way into that 30 minute phone convo, Cathy, the lady who made the apartment list for me called. I told her that we were about to look at this particular apartment building. She had me read in between the lines of her words, and basically told me that that wasn't one of the places she had reccomended for a reason, but she couldn't say why. I told her I understood exactly what she was trying to tell me. When my dad finally got off the phone, I told him that we should skip this place and go on to the next one. Which is what we did.

The next place we visited, was also our last place. My dad agreed to go for a 2nd floor apartment, which made this place possible. The grounds are quite beautiful. There is a very lovely pool and jacuzzi spa, a fitness room with an eliptical trainer +some other equipment, a very nice playground for children, etc. The apartment itself is a 2br/2ba, 950sq ft, washer/dryer connections on outside balcony. The master bedroom has a very nice sized walk-in closet. The first price she quoted us was $680/mo which I thought was pretty good - then she told us there was a special of one month's rent free, either up front or pro-rated, I said, let's do the prorated - then because I am a teacher (well, currently at least) she gave me another discount --- which put the grand total at $608/mo!!! That's $200 less than the high end I was wanting!!!! We filled out a credit application before we left, and will hopefully know by Thursday if we were approved or not. If we're approved, then my dad can start moving his things in this coming weekend!!!

One thing the lady mentioned was that it is now common for leases to ask for a 60-day notice instead of just a 30-day notice. I couldn't remember what my last lease had said. I really didn't pay much attention to it when I signed it. Tonight I looked for it, but could not find it anywhere! I'm really hoping that it still was a 30-day notice, cuz if it's not, well, I messed up then.

Scott called a little while ago (while I was starting to type this). We talked for about 40 minutes or so. In my last email I had said something about letting him know about how my apartment hunt had gone. He had thought I was going to call him or email him. Oops. He did something very interesting tonight. He told me that if his class got out early on Tuesday, that he would give me a call. That's the first time he's made an indication before hand that he's going to call me on a certain day/time since this whole thing started back up.

I have nothing at all prepared for tomorrow. I have a general idea of what we're going to do, but nothing prepared. One thing that I know I'm going to have to do tomorrow is to tell my kids that I am leaving. The last few school days some of my kids have been asking questions, and one little girl already knows, and then at the program they announced from up front that one of the teachers is going to be leaving as well as the principal. My kids are pretty smart. If they haven't put two and two together yet, I'd be pretty surprised. So, I'm a little anxious as to how that will go.

I better be off to bed. I wonder how Survivor turned out - I taped it instead of watching it tonight so I could get some other things done (also so I could watch Desperate Housewives -hee!).

Spending Log:
Application Fee x2:$70
Refundable Deposit: $100

Exercise: Friday - yes; Saturday/Sunday, none
Water: Did pretty good all weekend
Food: not too good

Keeping It Frugal In Texas,
Laura

Well.... today was an okay day. It started with a bit of drama at staff worship. After prayer Jermey reminded Vicki that he would be taking his class on a field trip, and she didn't remember about it, but said she'd figure something out. Then she left the room before I could ask her what time I could bring my boys down for her to talk to them. I guess Jermey misinteruppeted her leaving as leaving in a huff, and he became upset and slammed his fist on the table. Everybody in the room just about jumped out of their skin.

Later, Vicki came by my room and asked me if I still needed her to talk to my boys. I told her that she didn't, because for worship I had laid into the whole class about treating each other right, and showing God's love, etc etc. Then she asked me if I had a problem with her that I hadn't told her about. I was very surprised, and told her that I didn't know what she was talking about. She told me that Jermey had mentioned that I had said something to him about her. I told her that I had explained to the Bible study group about some of the reasons/frustrations which led me to my decision, but had tried to make it clear that it had nothing whatsoever to do with her. If I had a problem with her, which was fixable, I would go directly to her and try to resolve it! I really hope she believed me.I saw her talking to Susie later - a pretty deep conversation. I hope everything's alright, because after school was over and I was awalking out to my car, I saw our vice principal sitting in the van of one of our superintendants talking with him - and there wasn't a board meeting.

got a lot of grading done after school today. Everything since the last time I graded, up till today's is now graded, sorted, and ready to be stuffed into the folders. Tomorrow we're going to have Choir Practice in the morning, so that will in effect make tomorrow a half day.

Near the end of ER Scott called me. **I WANT TIVO!!!*** We talked for a little over an hour, and then he had to go into work. During our conversation I got a major leg cramp and pretty much shouted into the phone. He asked me what I was doing when he called, and I told him I was watching ER. He asked me if it was a re-run, and I told him that no, it was a new one. He offered to call me back and I gritted my teeth and told him that there are more important things in life than a tv show. *Wail!* There's also such a thing as closed captioning.

I got an email from my hs friend Charity today. She told me a couple of things that really surprised me. We first met my jr year. I was moving to NJ ahead of my parents so I could start school, and on registration day my family was sitting in the cafeteria eating lunch, and this girl stops by our table and asks if she could sit with us. That's where our friendship began - the three muskateers. Anyway, she told me in today's email that the year before we met, she had been 40 pounds heavier, and that the students had really been quite mean to her. And that her senior year (when we met) most of them were just superficially nice to her, except for me and Alex (the other part of our muskateers) and a few others. She'd never said anything about that before -at least not that I remember. I also don't remember her not having very many friends, I thought of her as fairly popular. But maybe my perception was skewed because I hung around with her and Alex and Ella, etc all the time we werent' in class or at work.
She also gave me some more insights into why our alma mater is actually closing, which were quite interesting, because they prove my dad was right.

Ok, it's really way too late, especially if I'm going to get up to do exercise in the morning.

Daily Goals:
Exercise: Nope - Day off today
Water: 1 liter
Food/Soda: Fudged a little bit over 7;no soda

Spending Log: None

Keeping It Frugal in Texas,
Laura

ARGHHHH!!!!! Beating head on wall!!!!!!!!! Am I going to survive til May 23rd??? HORRIBLE rotten, terrible, no good, very bad day! I don't know what I'm going to do if those boys don't knock it off and start behaving. To top everything off, my boys have been ganging up on my newest student - being quite rude to him. I told Vicki about it this afternoon, and she told me to have the offending boys join her in her office in the morning and have my aide watch the rest of the class. We'll see if she's actually available, and whether or not I actually have my aide's full attention.

This morning I decided to do my Chicometrics video. For some reason I thought it was only 45 minutes long, but I soon found out that it is actually ONE hour! Yikes! My abs were hurting later - there was a LOT of ab work in the video. I think I'm going to take tomorrow as an off day from exercise. I don't know if I'm imagining it or not, but I do think I am already starting to see a little bit of a difference in my body shape from a week and a half ago.

Dad called in the middle of Lost!! I WANT TIVO!!! So, anyway, I asked him if he'd be willing to put his motorcycle in the same storage place as his other stuff, seeing as how all the apartments with garages were asking an extra $100/mo for having a garage. He agreed, thankfully. Also, if he's able to, we're going to meet around 2 pm on Sunday to look at a few places. That way I can get a few hours in at school, and we'll be hitting the places when most of them are actually open!

I got a packet in the mail from the bed and breakfast place I'm going to. It was a nice little packet with some tourist type information. I think one of the days I'll probably go to Enchanted Rock for a few hours - it's 18 miles from where I'll be staying, so not a terrible drive. It did show that it's about 250 miles from DFW to Fredricksburg. I hadn't realized it was that far.

The only saving grace for tomorrow is that it is Musical Afternoon Thursday, so I only have to survive the whole bunch for the morning. Then on Friday we're probably going to have a Musical Performance Practice which usually lasts a good hour and a half or more. So, the next two days I'll have a lot of my teaching time filled with fairly easy activity.

I had three people leave me feedback on Ebay. I also finally got the money order for the last auction item that hadn't been paid for yet. So tomorrow I have two items that I need to ship. I also really need to get some more stuff up for auction.

Daily goals:
Exercise: 1 hour Isometrics video
Water: 2 Liters
Food/Soda: none after 7/no soda

Spending Log: NONE

Keeping It Frugal in Texas,
Laura

Today was NOT fun at school. From the time the kids walked in, until just about the end of the day -- STRESS! Three of my kids were late - they're kids who are normally late, so I just figured they'd show up when they showed up. Well, one of my girls went out to the restroom. When she came back she told me that those three kids were standing outside the door in the hallway, hiding I guess. I was livid! They told me that they heard that we were praying, and so didn't want to interrupt. I told them that I appreciated their thoughtfulness. Then I asked them why they didn't come in once we were finished praying - they said they didn't want to interrupt our song service. HAH! None of them have ever had any problem interuppting our class whenever their parents have felt like deigning to bring them to school (nother vent, nother day). I basically told them that they were old enough to know that when their parents dropped them off at school, that meant that they are to go to the classroom right away (unless they're early - unlikely event for these three!). I also told them that if anything like this happened again, that I would personally talk to each of their parents and tell them that they needed to walk their children to the classroom door. They didn't like that idea very much at all.
***I am SO ready for this to be OVER!!!!****

I was in such a rush to just get the eck out of Kansas (classroom) that I left my cellphone there! Arghh!! Of course I didn't realize this until it was too late for me to go back and get it (my room would've been locked, and noone there).

I got an email from the apartment locator, Cathy today. She sent me a list of about 10 different possible properties that fit what I told her we were looking for. Most of them seem to be more in the range of what *I* was wanting. Now, if only my dad would be willing to accept one of those places!

Dad and I went to Sam's Club this afternoon and he bought peanut butter (he's gone through what for me is a two month supply of pb, or more, in ~six weeks!) I bought a pretzel for us to split from the food counter (mmm .. I love hot fresh pretzels!)
We ate supper at Taco Bell. It was kind of weird because when we were at the counter and had started placing our order, this other person (manager?) stuck his body in front of the cashier and rung up another person's transaction. I thought that was pretty rude. Then, the cashier forgot to give my dad $1 in change, but he caught it.

Oh wow! I just got off the phone with Scott. We talked for nearly an hour and a half (I started writing this a little after 9!) It is so good talking with him. That is I think what I missed most after we broke up - just the talking, the communication, the connecting with another human being. I'm still not totally sure exactly where this all is going, or if it is even going anywhere, but I think I've decided to just enjoy it for whatever it may or may not be. It's not like by me spending so much time talking to him or corresponding with him, that I'm closing doors to other opportunities - because I really wasn't even thinking about even trying to start seriously looking for a new relationship till after I got settled again. So, if this turns out to be nothing, then I haven't really lost anything, but will have gained some long-distance companionship, for a little while at least. I'm really going to try to take it one day and one moment at a time.

Daily goals:
1. Exercise --
30 minute exercise video in a.m.
12 minute weight routine in a.m.
2. Water -- 2 liters+
3. Food/Soda -- none after 7

Spending Log:
Sam's Club: $1.00 (pretzel)

Keeping It Frugal in Texas,
Laura

Last night after I got off the computer, I got into a cleaning spree that lasted about two hours. It started with just *one* thing, whichof course led to another and another. I didn't drop into bed till nearly midnight! Of course by then my pulse was pumping, and it took me forever to get to sleep. So, my alarm goes off this morning and I have an awful time getting up. I finally manage to get up, but am still feeling yucky and just not up to exercising, so I skip it.

The morning at school was okay. The afternoon was NOT okay - let me just say it again, I HATE SOCIAL STUDIES!!! It wasn't even M this time, he was actually pretty good today. It was 4 of the other 5 boys, and one of my first grade girls! We have SS right before P.E. so I made them run laps until they looked like they couldn't run anymore. Must have worked, becuase for Science they were much more well behaved. Only two more SS periods left! TG!

By the end of the school day I was feeling more and more miserable, and my chest was feeling tight - though that may have been from stress during SS. So, anyway, I decided to go ahead and go to the doctors. The wait wasn't too bad, and I had a good book with me. It was a little weird getting asked some of the routine nurse type questions by a MALE nurse - especially a *CUTE* one. The doctor checked me out and told me my lungs were clear, and she didn't think I had a sinus infection (which is what I thought) but it was probably just my allergies going haywire. So I ended up getting an allergy shot (my first one ever) by the MALE nurse -- on my hip!! I also got a couple other medicines I had to pick up at Wal-greens. That was probably the fastest time I ever got my prescriptions in before! I'm feeling much better now, so I think the meds are working.

While I was at the doctor's office, my dad called me. He still hadn't looked at any apartments. Eh. He told me he'd be here tomorrow afternoon, and that he has a dentist appointment in the morning just a bit north of here. He asked me if I had entered the numbers in his phone for him like he asked. I told him I hadn't - kind of like he hasn't done very much at all with looking for a new place! (no, I didn't say the later to him, I'm not stupid!)

I got a phone call from a former colleague of mine, and friend who got married last July 4th in CA. She's teaching K at the same school as my former mentor teacher from when I was teaching in CA. We had a good little chat. I felt kind of bad since I hadn't called her or emailed her like I had said I would when I saw her at Christmas. Too much life going on I guess.

Later, I got a call from one of my colleagues asking for my former aides number. After I gave it to him, I asked him if he and his wife were planning on going on the SS camping trip. He said if it was up to him, he would, but wasn't sure if his wife would want to go. I asked him if he thought he and/or the others who might be willing to help me get moved out would prefer Friday or Sunday. He thought Friday would be a better day, especially if the others might be going camping that weekend.

I got a couple of emails from Scott today. He emailed me once during a class break. How sweet. One thing he said in his last email could be taken in a couple of different ways (none bad). Guess I'll have to wait less than 3 weeks to find out!

I got an email from the apartment locator person. Her name is Cathy. She sounds like a nice person (from her email at least). I had to answer some questions to help her narrow her search down. I hope this proves fruitful.

I had two kids make orders for Scholastic Books today. Unfortunately, I forgot to bring the catalogs with all the various codes home with me, so will have to wait till tomorrow to put in the order. Hopefully it will come in time.

Daily Goals:
1. Exercise: nope, none
2. Water: some, most of a liter
3. Food: didn't eat much for supper, but got home close to 7, so did have to eat after 7.

Spending Log:
Doctor's: $36.21 (co-pay + account balance from last visit in Jan -after insurance amt)
Wal-greens: $26.13 (2 meds)

Keeping It Frugal in Texas,
Laura

I really didn't do much of anything today. I felt really crummy when I woke up this morning. After feeding my cat, I stepped on the scale - 4 pounds gone. I sort of half-heartedly did my 30 minute exercise tape. Then I headed over to the store to get milk and banana's. Before I got to Kroger's though, I decided to stop at Whole Foods and see if they had any egg salad -- they did! In the same section though they had this yummy looking refrigerated meal (Oriental style) for $6. I had to keep reminding myself that I was only coming in to get egg salad if they had it.

When I got to Kroger's, I decided to stop by the Morningstar products and check and see if they were on sale or not. They weren't, but one of my favorite ones was being discontinued and being sold for $1.89. !!! Of course, since I was only going to buy milk and banana's, I hadn't brought my coupons with me! So, I went and paid for my purchases, then went home and got my coupons and came back to the store. There were four boxes left. When I got up to the checkout area, the U SCAN area was pretty backed up, but so were all the other registers. I think it probably took about 10 minutes before I finally got to a register! It was worth it though to get my favorite for $.89 a box! (after coupon)

After that I went over to the school. My classroom was locked, and I couldn't find anyone around who had keys. So I thought I'd go back home and do some stuff, then try again later. On the way home I stopped at Wal-green's and picked up my prescription. It cost $13.49 copay - I'm going to have to ask my doctor if I could get a generic version. When I got home, I decided that I would just lay down on the couch for a few minutes. Next thing I knew, it was after 6 p.m.!!

My throat is really scratchy, and I felt kind of flushed like when you break a fever - but I don't have a fever. So, anyway, I made some hot lemon and honey tea, which helped a little bit. My honey though was crystallized almost to the point of being unusable - but there was enough not crystallized to flavor my tea. Guess I haven't used honey in awhile.

Scott emailed me a couple times today. I wasn't sure if he was going to be feeling kind of depressed or down today because of it being mother's day - his mom died ~15 years ago, and he was really close to her. He didn't sound too down in either of his emails. He told me that he spoke with a mutual friend, updating her on his life. Boy, I'd like to have been a fly on that wall!

I found a really neat website tonight. It's written by a mother of *7* with an *8th* child on the way, who homeschools. Her system of organization I think would be good for large families, or even singletons like me. Here's the website in case you're interested. http://largefamilylogistics.net/index.htm

Oh! Something else I did today! I made a final decision/final plan for my getaway! I checked into the pricing of a Kabin at KOA campgrounds, and it was only $20 less a night than a hotel room with fridge/microwave. I also checked around some other sites to see what other accommodations were available. I found a bed and breakfast (actually, it is a one room cottage) that has a fully equipped kitchen and a bathroom with a claw-foot bathtub (will have to remember bubble bath) for the same price as most of the hotel rooms I was finding! It has a front porch with a porch swing. So, I went ahead and rented it! I had budgeted $300 for accommodations, so after renting this place, I now will have ~$70 left for "fun". I used my PayPal debit card since I'm planning on funding this totally from my Ebay sales. I didn't have that exact amount in there yet, but I only had to put a deposit down today, so have about two weeks to make up the difference (better get some more stuff listed!)

K, definitely time to hit the hay. Really hope I am feeling better by the morning. There's no way I can take the day off, especially since I don't have anything prepared for tomorrow! What chaos that would be!

Spending Log:
Whole Foods: $3.01
Kroger's 1: $3.14 (milk, bananas)
Kroger's 2: $3.56 (4 boxes of Morningstar)
Wal-greens: $13.49
Deposit on Getaway: $76.xx ($156.xx remaining to be charged on the 21st)

Daily Goals:
Exercise: 30 minute video attempted
Water: 1 liter 16 oz
Food/Soda after 7: no soda at all today/ not much food today, but did eat a WW fudge pop around 9 to try to soothe my throat some more)

Keeping It Frugal in Texas,
Laura

I woke up early enough to do my 30-minute video, shower, check my email, and eat a relaxing breakfast, before heading off to early service. Early service was a little bit weird. Pastor Hunt didn't do a sermon that was really based on Mother's Day like normal, his sermon was about Rahab. It was a good sermon, but . .. Also, they didn't recognize the mom's in the congregation, or hand out flowers. Maybe they did that for second service - but I remember last year when Scott was here, that we went to first service and they handed out flowers at first service.

When I got home I had a message on my cell and on my answering machine from my mom. She told me that she hadn't gotten my message till this morning. When I called her back, she told me that she and Dave were on their way over. I wasn't planning on meeting her for lunch till about 1:30 - they ended up getting here more about 12, so I had to hurry and get her gift wrapped up.

The meal was kind of awkward. Some of the things we talked about, it seemed natural to mention my dad in the course of conversation, but I felt so ultra aware of how jealous Dave feels of my dad, that I tried to NOT mention him. And of course my mom pulled one of her "Mom's" asking me out of the blue what was the "highlight" of having her as a mom. I can't tell you how much I hate those kinds of questions that put you on the spot. We were talking about Scott later, and she bursts out and says "He broke your heart didn't he?" Umm... obviously, yes, but I don't particularly want to share that in front of Dave - not to mention that I wasn't really in that frame of mind to discuss that.

After the meal we ended up going to the park between my house and the school where there was an Art Festival going on. As we were walking there, out of nowhere my mom blurts out, "You know, they really need to do more things to bring a sense of community here." I'm totally flabbergasted. She doesn't even live here, has only been in this area when visiting me, and yet feels she knows enough about everything to come to this conclusion! I asked her how she came to this conclusion. She told me that this is a place of many cultures, but the cultures tend to separate themselves (again, HOW did she come up with this??) and they should do more things like this. I told her that they *do* this Art Fair in the park *EVERY* year, as well as having free band concerts every Sunday during the summer by the library, as well as other things I couldn't think of right then.

Well, we walked through the different booths and such for a little over an hour and a half. Mom stopped in this one booth with a bunch of earrings, took a pair off of a display case, then walked up to the booth operator and I guess asked if she could try it on. After trying it on, she asked for the price *$45* then tried to haggle, but wasn't successful. She did this a number of other times. She has a lot of jewelery already, I don't really see why she wants *more*, not to mention that it's not like she has an endless supply of money. I saw this one framed picture called "The Woman At the Alamo" that I absolutely loved. I could just picture it in my home. But I couldn't picture myself paying $325 for a piece of art. There was also a pencil/ink drawing of this old man/grandfather sitting on a stump and four children ranging from maybe 3 to 10 standing around him, looking like they were listening to a story. I was SO drawn to this piece. There wasn't a price tag, but I'm sure it would be way more than I'd ever be willing to spend.

I saw the mom of one of my little girls and her older sister at the fair. It was a little weird at first, but then I reminded myself that I don't have to worry about keeping up appearances anymore. That I'm not trying to keep my job here.

When I got back home I got an email from Scott, and then I replied to it. Apparently the one I had sent him after I got back from church had a inaccurate time stamp which confused him. We played email tag for a few emails -- two or three word messages back and forth. Finally, I ended up calling him (that's basically what he had asked me to do in the emails). We talked for over 4 hours again. At one point in our conversation he said something that made it very natural for me to be able to tell him that I was curious about why he was coming here to see me again. He told me that I would just have to remain curious! He also said some other things during the course of the conversation, that really truly leads me to one conclusion, although, I still could be wrong. I *really* think that he is coming here looking for another chance.

After I got off the phone with him, I got an IM from Todd. (I uninstalled it and reinstalled it last night - it's working again, Yay!) I told him about some of my conversation with Scott, and some of the conclusions I had reached. He asked me exactly what drew me to Scott - if it was just that we were similar in our religious beliefs. I told him that that was a part of it, but certainly not everything. He also asked me if Scott had given me a good explanation of why he'd ended our relationship before. I told him that he really hadn't, but that *if* he is asking for another chance, that I will have to have a good explanation, as well as being told why it's different now. Todd said he was worried that I'd jump at a chance to be with Scott just to get away from my life here in Texas. I told him that if that was *the* only reason, I'd just be exchanging one bad situation for another. That having a good strong marriage that lasts 40 years, where I can look at my husband/partner and know that we had our share of rough times and good times, but in the end it was all worth it, and where I can still look at my partner/husband and get a flutter.
I told him that I'd rather be single for the rest of my life, than to be in a marriage where there is some aspect of "convenience" in it. That I will only marry ONE time (unless, perhaps my husband dies).

After that, he started to share with me some concerns/doubts he has about his finance. It was a little hard giving advice, because even he admitted, the reason/concern was pretty vain on his part. I was glad though that he felt comfortable venting about that to me, because our conversations had become somewhat unbalanced - with me doing a lot of the venting.

Like I told a friend in one of my emails last night -- Why didn't anyone tell us that life gets even more complicated when you're an adult?

Daily Goals:
1. Exercise
Yes - 30 minute video in the am
Walked around Art Fair ~90 minutes

2. Water -- Two liters
3. No food or soda after 7: No, Scott and I started talking about 5 and didn't get off till after 9, and I was *starving!*

Spending Log:
Romano's Macaroni Grill: $30.89 (3 people + $5 tip)

Keeping It Frugal in Texas,
Laura

Overall today was an okay day. The kids weren't great or anything, but not terrible either. For Art I had them make cards for their Mother's. They had to write at least three reasons why they appreciated or loved their mom before they could decorate their card. Most of the cards turned out really good, and were really sweet.

On the way home, I stopped at the cheap gas station and filled up. When I got home, dad wasn't here yet. So I took my Ebay packages to the post office and mailed them. Ooh Boy! There were only two people in front of me when I got there, as well as the three people at the counter, so you would think I would be in and out, right? NOT! The three people at the counter took FOREVER! Then, when one of the three was finished, the PO worker left and never came back (at least while I was there.) Then a second person finished, and THAT PO worker started taking package carts to the back. By this time there was a line of at least 15 + people behind me, and only ONE P.O. worker helping the same customer who had been there when I arrived. Finally the second lady came back and started taking care of people. The people ahead of me all went pretty fast, so once the line started moving again, it kept moving.

I was a bit frustrated though. In one of my books I had left a couple workshop handouts that I thought the person might like. Well the PO lady asked me if there was any kind of correspondence in my packages (I was mailing Media Mail) and at first I told her no. Then I wondered about those, and she told me that those would count as "correspondence". Ugh! It cost me an extra $2 to mail it Parcel Post.

When I got back home dad told me that he hadn't "had a chance" to look at possible housing. ARGHH!!! But he had signed up at some house sitter's site and posted an ad for himself. If we somehow chanced upon someone who needed a house sitter in the *very* near future, and would be willing to have two adults and a cat, that really would be ideal. No rent, no lease (so if either my dad and I have the opportunity to move somewhere else, we can without punishment$$). I just don't see it as a very strong possibility. I really, really, hope that he doesn't leave this to the last minute. I told him today that my kids will be coming here for the end of the year party on the 20th, and I'd really, really, like to have the *new* place of abode lined up *before* then. He didn't quite get it I think. He did say he'd at least have the dining room table cleared off of all his stuff by then.

Yay! He made his first sale this week and has four appointments set up for next week! I hope they are fruitful.

He took me out to Jason's Deli again. And again, he got the broccoli soup, and asked to have it reheated! LOL!!
I told him about Scott, and he said basically the same thing I had been thinking. That *if* Scott is after a second chance with me, that I should get a very good reason *why* he is coming back to me (*if* that is indeed what he is doing.) If he's coming back to me because he's run through a number of women and been dumped/dissapointed, and thinks that -well, I may as go back to Laura. That's one thing. But, if he's coming back because after having had experience with a number of other women, he's realized that I'm the best thing since sliced pie and can't believe he was so silly as to let me go. Well, then THAT of course would be another thing.

When I checked my email tonight I had a bit of a shock. I got my phone bill from SBC. It was about $40 less than usual. I have my very basic phone service/DSL/Cell Phone combined in one bill. I went to check my online bill, and saw that I hadn't been charged for my cell phone! So I called CS and asked what was going on. The lady told me that my bill had been paid (I guess by SBC) but that there had been some mess ups and delays with charges being sent and such, but that it'll probably catch up on me next month. She advised me to just pay my normal amount, or I could wait till next bill and have a double charge for my cell phone. I think I'll do the first choice.

I got a phone message from my mom tonight while I was at Jason's. She didn't say it in so many words, but I think her finance didn't like her going out with me by herself tomorrow. Maybe he thought I'd sneak my dad into the picture or something. Or, maybe he just doesn't want to spend the afternoon alone. I don't know. I'm just really starting to have some real qualms about him from things my dad has told me that mom has said about him, and also from things she herself has said - especially in regards to the wedding. I guess she's a big girl and will have to learn for herself. Although she herself said that it kind of felt like too soon to be able to really *care* about him like he appears to *care* about her. Well, yeah. You've been with one man for over 26 years. I would imagine it would be pretty difficult to jump into the major *caring* for another man less a month after the divorce was final. I remember what it was like for *me* after ending a slightly longer than a year relationship. I had no inclination to date at all for at least TWO YEARS, and still didn' t really have any interest for another two years after that!

Yahoo IM is still giving me fits. Todd IM'd me again a few minutes ago. I told him again that my screen was blank. I'm not sure if he believed me or not, because he again *responded*!! Wish I could figure out what's making my IM give me fits, and what's not letting me download ANY music!! Times like these I hate my computer!!

Goals for today:
Do 8 minutes in the Morning weight-lifting routine -- *
Do 1-mile video tape in the morning. --- *
Do a 30-minute walk after school. -- *
No eating or soda after 7 p.m. -- Done
Lots of water. -- Yes!
Get papers graded and sorted and ready to send home! -- Sorted and Sent Home!

*I figured I wouldn't have time after school since my dad wanted to go out to eat. So I did a 30 + minute workout tape this morning. By the time I got back from eating supper, I was stuffed, and too tired to try to do another workout video (and it was nearly 7 - by the time my stomach would have settled enough, it would really be too late for a workout.)

Spending Log:
4th Grade Class: $5.00 (handknit scarf - fundraiser/Mother's Day)
Gas (1/2 tank) : $10.00 ($2.19/gallon)
P.O. (Ebay): : $24.61 ( 9 packages)
Renter's Ins: :$19.00 (paid premium for rest of term)

Keeping It Frugal in Texas,
Laura

I am so thankful today was Thursday. Four straight hours with my kids this morning was more than enough. Not that the day was really bad or anything, just I was SO thankful for the two music classes. My little boy who's stepdad's grandma died last week finally came back today. He is a bit of a handful usually, but today he was fairly subdued. Although I have the feeling it was mostly due to having been gone for so long. I really hope it doesn't rain tomorrow. Inside recess just isn't enough to get the energy out.

After school I went to the park and did my walk - I managed a little bit over 20 minutes. I was thankful that the rain had cleared up.

I had taken a bunch of the big manila (sp?) envelopes from my stash at school. When I got home I got all my stuff put together for Ebay. I thought I had it all finished up, when up pops the little mail icon. It was a notification of another instant payment, so I had to put together another one. I'll be mailing out 9 packages tomorrow. There are still two auctions that haven't been paid for yet.

Just a few minutes into ER, I got an email from Scott. I was really wishing for Tivo. If I had Tivo, I would have replied right away, and he might have called me (he got out of class early). I admit it, I am a tv aholic. **It was a year ago Mother's Day weekend that I first met Scott in person.

Then, about 15 minutes later I got an IM from my ex-bf Todd. Of course I couldn't see what he had written because my Yahoo Messenger has been really annoying for the past few days. The text box where you are supposed to be able to see the messages from the person, as well as the ones from you, is completely blank. I told him this in my first message to him, and then -- he sent a message back to me!! Um, I just told you that I *can't* *see* anything in the text box - why did you send me a message back????

I'm probably not going to get my afternoon walk in tomorrow. I have to post my Ebay packages, and then dad wants to go out to eat somewhere. Maybe if it isn't too late, I can do one of my 30 minute videos instead.

Oh, almost forgot. I called my mom about Mother's Day. I'm going to take her out to eat at Romano's Macaroni Grill (her favorite place). I also have the "Notebook" DVD, and am getting her a hand knit scarf (4th grade fund raiser) tomorrow. I would have just invited her over here for brunch on Sunday, but right now I am feeling like I am going to need to do some major cleaning and prepping in my classroom for the final 10 days of school. Also, she told me that she is going to be pretty much working all day
Sunday.

Spending Log: NONE

Goals for today:
Do 8 minutes in the Morning weight-lifting routine -- Yes
Do 1-mile video tape in the morning. --- Yes
Do a 30-minute walk after school. -- Yes.
No eating or soda after 7 p.m. -- Done
Lots of water. -- Yes!
Get papers graded and sorted and ready to send home! -- Graded - not sorted


Keeping It Frugal in Texas,
Laura

Today was not too bad at all. It started out with a teacher appreciation breakfast. Of course, I had already eaten breakfast before I came, but did eat a stripple (vege bacon) and a chocolate donut (couldn't resist!) and drink some OJ. During chapel we were all recognized, and given a sweet card that our kids had each signed, as well as a $10 Walmart Gift Card. That was pretty nice of them. No really big incidents today as far as behavior goes. S.S. went okay - did move a few kids here and there, but for the most part it was better than it has been.

Science I had them on the rug. There were three main people who just would not stop goofing off, but for the most part, the rest of the class was involved in our discussion. Well, when Science was over, I dismissed those who had been making good choices to choose a Center activity. Those who remained were sent to their seat with their heads down. One of my little girls (the one who threw up yesterday) was one of the ones I had to sit with her head down. She burst out into tears. After the others were seated, I explained to her that while she *had* made good choice through *most* of the class time, that she and another little girl had made some not so good choices several times. Most of the times the other girl was the instigator, but she did start it a few times. None of the 5 who were sent to their seat dared to make a peep or raise their head till I dismissed them. Two of them (M was one) sat there almost the whole Center time (~15 min) because they had caused the most ruckus.

After school, three of my colleagues and I headed out to our meeting 10 minutes before 4. Nearly TWO HOURS later, we finally made it to our meeting (50 minutes late!) We had gotten stuck in a traffic accident bottleneck for about 45 or 50 minutes. We were joking that maybe we could just skip out on the meeting. Luckily there was still some food left when we got there, cuz I was one hungry lady!

During the meeting somehow a fire alarm got set off. It was kind of funny seeing about 50 or 60 teachers all pushing their chairs out and starting to jump up, but not really sure what to do. Most people stayed at their seats - I did too, but felt really weird sitting there with a fire alarm clanging *loudly*. It turned out to be a false alarm, but of course the fd had to check it out. A couple of really cute firemen walked through where we were. That was probably the most exciting end-of year meeting in a while.

One announcement that made me *really* *really* glad that I'm NOT coming back next year is that they are adopting a Phonics "program" i.e. workbooks!! I really thought that with the new Reading program they would be adopting the year after next, that they were going to shy away from workbooks - and use *real* learning for Phonics. I'm glad I don't have to try to fight that battle.

ARGHH!!! I am SO annoyed! This morning before I left for work I set my VCR to record LOST. I even put in a brand new video tape. ------It didn't get recorded!!!---------- I so wanted to cry when I realized that. I really wish I knew what I was doing wrong, because sometimes it will record, and sometimes it won't, and I do the same thing every time. Frustration!

Oh wow! I almost forgot! Yesterday I asked a colleague of mine if he'd download some songs for me since I can't seem to download songs on my computer. He said he'd be happy to do that. Well, guess what he had for me this morning?? A CD with the songs on it!!!!! What a nice guy, too bad he's married. just kidding

Guess who called me last night, just as I was about to shut down my computer?? Scott!! He had gotten out of class early. We talked for nearly an hour. Then again tonight, he sent me a short email during a class break. I'm really really trying not to read too much into all of this, but it's getting more and more difficult with each email and phone call.

Goals for today:
Do 8 minutes in the Morning weight-lifting routine -- No
Do 1-mile video tape in the morning. --- No
Do a 30-minute walk after school. -- No - went straight from work to meeting.
No eating or soda after 7 p.m. -- Done
Lots of water. -- sort of
Get papers graded and sorted and ready to send home! -- Nope -Had NO time

Spending Log: NONE

Keeping It Frugal in Texas,
Laura!

Today was an ok day. It was definitely made better by the fact that I actually had my aide today. Of course I still can't quite figure out what makes her think it's okay to sit there and read or fill out paperwork when she's supposed to be walking around and supervising. Don't get me wrong, I really like her, but sometimes I really, really miss the aide I had first semester and some of 2nd. He was hardworking and always on the ball.

Oh, I should tell you how my day began. During the middle of song service, one of my little girls jumped out of her spot and started running to the door. Almost before I had even realized she was up, she had thrown up all over the carpet. Yeck! She's a child who embarrasses *very* easily. So I made a minimal fuss - just went over and asked her if she was feeling any better, then told her to go to the bathroom to rinse her mouth out. Then I preceded to get some cleaning stuff and paper towels. This wasn't the first time she had thrown up this year, but this time it was much harder to clean up. So I had her go tell our Secretary (Bambi) what had happened, and ask for some carpet cleaner. A few moments later my aide (who is her mom) and Bambi came down to the room and cleaned up the mess so I could get back to the other 12 munchkins.

You see, this whole time while I was dealing with the little girl, and then dealing with trying to get it cleaned up, I had my class on the meeting rug. I put one of my 2nd grade girls in charge, and asked her to have them sing. For the most part this worked well, until M decided that it was the perfect time to act completely whacky and silly when teacher's attention wasn't focused on him. He ended up jumping on top of a few people, as well as hitting a few of them while spinning around in circles. Well, this wasn't totally out of my view, but I just couldn't get to him very fast. Finally I did, and then had him call his mom to explain to her how he'd been behaving. (BTW - this wasn't the first time he'd been spoken to about his behavior that morning - in a span of about 15 minutes or so). The rest of the day he was ... well .... better.

As soon as I could leave, I changed into my "walking" outfit and went to the park. I planned on doing a 30 minute walk. But unfortunately, I appear to be in much worse shape than I had thought. I had to struggle to do *15* minutes! My main problem at first was that my calves were hurting me. That was kind of strange, because usually they don't start to hurt or get tired till after I've actually done some good hard walking. I must keep up with this!

My dad called me this evening and told me that he might make it by tomorrow. I told him that *I* wouldn't even be here tomorrow because of the cotton pickin' End-of-Year meeting. (Can't you tell how much I'm looking forward to it?) So he said that he wouldn't try to make it tomorrow, but would be here on Friday. I asked him if he had done any more looking for a place to live, and he said he hadn't, but that he would get on that tomorrow afternoon. He wants me to look into house sitting -- I really don't think there is going to be much of a market out there for two adults and a cat to house sit someone's home. Plus, what would we do with all our *stuff*!!???

All the auctions I had up on Ebay ended today. With the 16 auctions I held in the last three weeks, I have made 2/3 of the money I have budgeted for my get-a-way. I still have tons more books to list too. One person who bought something from me that ended last week (which I mailed out on Friday) also bought something from me that ended today. I really wish she would have emailed me to let me know that it was possible that she would be getting a second item from me so I could have combined shipping for her (as well as saving on packaging for me!). I won't be able to get anything shipped out tomorrow, because who knows when I'll get back from that wonderful meeting (dripping sarcasm). So, I'll probably mail them on Thursday afternoon.

Goals for today:
Do 8 minutes in the Morning weight-lifting routine -- Done
Do 1-mile video tape in the morning. --- Done
Do a 30-minute walk after school. -- Done -- well, a 15 minute walk.
No eating or soda after 7 p.m. -- Done
Lots of water. -- Done
Get papers graded and sorted and ready to send home! -- Nope -Could've, Should've, but didn't want to!

Spending Log: NONE

Keeping It Frugal in Texas,
Laura

Oy Vey! It was another one of THOSE days today. I had three kids absent again today. I thought I was going to have my aide, but, alas, her daughter was sick last night, so she was going back home to catch up on her sleep. I asked Vicki if I could use Connie for my reading period, and she basically tried to make me feel guilty about asking. She said "J and M need her to do their grading....." I didn't say this to her, but REALLY felt like it -- Mrs. L is SUPPOSED to be MY aide for Reading and Math -- but she (and other aides before her) get pulled from me for every reason under the sun. All I can say is that I am SO glad the year is almost over and I won't have to deal with any of this baloney anymore.

After school we had a meeting with the other person interviewing for the Principal position. The person seemed pretty nice and very well educated. One question asked was about uniforms. After the person gave their answer, they then preceded to ask all of US what we thought. Well, I was the last one to be asked. Everyone before me gave the pc answer that they liked them. I tried my best to get out of answering by saying that I'd rather not comment since I wouldn't be here next year. I ended up having to answer. I told them that I *don't* like uniforms. I didn't have a chance to elaborate. I think uniforms take away the indivduality of the children. I LOVE Friday's when they can where "normal' clothes and let themselves shine through. Uniforms also are a pain in the rear to police. And yes, I can tell you of many, many wasted (in my opinon) staff meetings discussing uniforms. Ugh!

I got an email back from Scott. He was asking me about how many days I was planning on spreading out my moving. Things that make you go hmm. ... I wrote back to him and took about three paragraphs (yeah, I know, I can be long winded when I'm writing) to essentially tell him that I hadn't made any final plans. It really does depend on how soon dad finds a place for us.

Goals for today:
Do 8 minutes in the Morning weight-lifting routine -- Done
Do 1-mile video tape in the morning. --- Done
Do a 30-minute walk after school. -- Didn't do - got out of meeting 5:15 p.m.
No eating or soda after 7 p.m. -- Done
Lots of water. -- Working on
Get papers graded and sorted and ready to send home! -- Nope

Spending: NONE!

Keeping It Frugal in Texas,
Laura

Hee! Well if any of you have ever read the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Universe, I bet you can guess what movie I saw today! It's probably been 15 years since I read the book, but it was what got me into Science Fiction. The movie was just AWESOME! It was SO funny! I walked out of the theatre grinning like a cheshire cat. It was worth paying full price (matinee of course) to see.

I ate at IHOP before the movie. I had my very favorite meal there, although it's one that gets me some strange looks. I get ONE cheese blintz with apples; one slice of French Toast w/extra powdered sugar; and two-eggs scrambled. IHOP was really, really busy, so by the time I got my food I had to really hurry to finish before the movie started. Usually I'll take my time and read as I eat - yes, I take a book with me everywhere I go.

I made it to the movie in the middle of the previews. OH WOW!!! Do any of you remember Herbie??? I used to LOVE Herbie when I was little (elementary age) and can remember watching several different Herbie movies numerous times. Well, apparantally they have made an updated Herbie movie!!! As soon as I saw the love bug sitting in the junk yard, I said a little too loudly for a public theatre --"HERBIE!!" Oh, I can hardly wait for this to come out!!!!!

After the movie I went to Walmart which is right in the same area as IHOP and the movie theatre, to get a double newspaper (coupons of course). Well, I made the mistake of looking at some clothes. I really did need another top to go with one of my skirts (since I have a bleach happy mom who's w/d ruins at least one - two pieces of clothing every time I use it!). I also had been wanting to find a dress for church that was a little bit more spring/summery, especially since I've gained most of my weight back and alot of my clothes don't fit me anymore. So, I ended up finding two tops, one on clearance, the other one not on clearance, and a beautiful blue suit/dress. I don't buy clothes that often, and I'm really hoping to lose some weight in the near future so my current wardrobe will be expanded without buying anything (especially if Scott is coming here in less than a month -YIKES!).

I managed to get into my classroom today because the cleaning people were there. So, tomorrow I'll be sending home a Monday Memo for the first time since the beginning of April (I think). I couldn't get into the office to make any copies, so I'll still have to go in fairly early tomorrow to get copies made. Oh, I also made a note on my classroom website's math links page to let people know that they better make their own links to their favorite games, because the website will be gone as of June 1. I bet I'm gonna get some questions because of that. It kind of stinks though, cuz I had to renew my godaddy website registration in February, but without my classroom stuff to put on the site, I really have no reason to keep paying for it to be hosted. That'll save me $8/month to take the hosting off - or at least reduce to the free hosting status (with all the ads-YUCK!).

I got emails today from Scott and Tracy. Multiple ones from Scott. Nothing really interesting, mostly chit chat. The email I got from Tracy though was kind of funny. She told me that she definitely would NOT be able to come to my mom's wedding. BUT if it were MY wedding, she would definitely find a way to come -- unless the guy was a jerk. I was kind of wondering exactly how she would know if he was a jerk or not?? I wouldn't marry a jerk, now would I??

I spent a lot of money today and hope to not spend any more till at least Friday.

Spending Log:
IHOP: $5.91 (meal)
$3.00 (tip)
Movie: $5.75 (matinee)
Wal-Mart: $31.97 (two tops, dress, newspaper)
Kroger's: $8.67 {cat food (sale +cpns) granola bars, paper towels (cpn) Puffs (cpn) jelly (sale) bagels (sale+cpn)}

-- I do need milk, and probably more Bocca Burgers - but I think I'm gonna ask dad to pick those up from Sam's tomorrow.

Goals for tomorrow --
Do 8 minutes in the Morning weight-lifting routine
Do 1-mile video tape in the morning.
Do a 30-minute walk after school.
No eating or soda after 7 p.m.
Lots of water.
Get papers graded and sorted and ready to send home!

That's all foks!

Keeping It Frugal in Texas,
Laura