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January 4th, 2011 at 05:02 pm
Hi everyone! I have my first tutoring appointment today at 1:15 p.m. so I don't have a lot of time right now, but I just wanted to stop by and say hi!
My stepdad and I arrived back home at 2:40 a.m. this morning! Boy, was it good to get back to my own room again.
I had a great trip and did a lot of fun stuff. I'll try to post a bit more about that soon.
Today though I worked on updating my sidebar with one of my financial goals for this year -- tracking my earnings with the various rewards sites. My goal is to earn $800 by November 11. I'm including the $50 I earned from Swagbucks in 2010 towards that goal.
I made a financial leap of trust (or stupidity, depending on what happens ...) today. I took out some money from my Roth IRA and used it to purchase shares of one particular stock. I read a lot about this particular company over vacation, and all of my California family members have put money into this particular stock. This could turn out to be a fantastic decision, or one where I lose most of what I put into it. Either way, in the grand scheme of things, it isn't a lot of money. (There won't be tax consequences as the money I took out came from my own contributions.)
I am starving right now, so I probably ought to go get something to eat, and then get ready for my first session with my new student.
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December 21st, 2010 at 02:36 am
Ugh! I was almost finished with this post when I decided to check something, and without thinking, hit "search." Goodbye post.
Anyway ...
I had a good day with my mom on Friday. We ate at Olive Garden, and then went shopping. She bought me a red coat from Costco, and an HP ePrinter from Wal-Mart. Then we watched Beezus & Ramona at her apartment. (Sweet!) Then I signed her up for Swagbucks. My second referral!
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Sabbath School class on Saturday was chaotic. My usual helper wasn't there (told me last week) and of course there was the Christmas program. So at 10:30 I had 15! kids, and then at 10:35 I had 6 kids. The program was fantastic! By the time we ate potluck after church and got the money counted, I got home around 5:00 p.m. It was a long day - but good.
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On Sunday I worked with my senior high-school tutoring student helping her fill out college applications. I'm really glad we went back through them, because on one she had flip flopped the GPA numbers (i.e. where it asked for her GPA, she put 4.0, and where it asked for the weighted score, she put her actual GPA.) She gave me a giftcard which turned out to be an Amway gift choice. After entering in your redemption code, you are given a selection of possible gift options. There wasn't anything which really stood out to me, but in the end I chose to get a fish aquarium thingy for beta fish. Might be a nice stress reliever.
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I now have enough Mypoints for a $50 Wal-mart gift card. Of course, there are none available right now, so I'll have to wait until January. I also have nearly enough Swagbucks for a $50 Amazon gift card (5108 - need 5900.) I'll probably just wait til January and get the $25 (5 $5's), and then keep on doing that till I have enough for *both* a $50 and a $25.
Swagbucks and Mypoints are my two main focuses, but I am also using a number of other sites. They include: irazoo, zoombucks, sidetick, beruby, and beezag. Of all of these, I think irazoo is probably the easiest to make money from - easy 100 points a day, which equals one $5 Amazon card per month. Beezag is interesting in that you watch these commercials and then enter numbers at the end to prove you watched it. Each commercial is worth a different number of points. Once you reach 8000 points, you can cash out for $8.00 PayPal. Most videos seem to be between 50 and 70 points, and you get two - three a day. Zoombucks I think I'll probably focus more on just entering zoom codes whenever I see them, and maybe go search once a day. Otherwise the site is kind of annoying. Sidetick ... it finally seems to be crediting me properly. Essentially you can earn $.50 a day by opening an email and posting a comment on the daily blog post. Payout is $25.00. BeRuby is something I just started using. All you do is click on websites (CNN, Yahoo, etc.) and get paid from half a cent to one cent each. Payout is $10.00 Paypal.
So ... I decided that my goal in doing all these different sites is to earn $650 by November 1, 2011. This money will be used to purchase a new computer (assuming my current one doesn't die on me by then.) I already have $50 towards this. So .. 600/10 .. that means I need to average about $60/month from these sites. Hmm... I may have to supplement this money from other sources ... I think $30/month is completely doable, and perhaps $35/month, but $60 is really pushing it.
... Maybe I can count the money I get back from statement credits using my credit card rewards points? Today I redeemed 3000 Chase Freedom points for a $30.00 statement credit. On my Citi card, I'll be getting 2000 Thank You points for my GPA this semester (if I can figure out how to get an acceptable grade statement for them.)
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Ok, I probably ought to be going. I need to make sure YNAB is up to date so I can update my YNAB app for the trip; plus there are still a few things I need to do packing wise. SD is taking me to the airport at 5:45 a.m. Gulp! That's the earliest I've had to wake up in a long time.
I don't know how often I'll be getting on here in the next few weeks ... So in case I miss it ...
Merry Christmas! Happy Hanukkah! Happy Kwanzaa! Happy New Years!
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December 13th, 2010 at 03:26 am
I mentioned awhile ago that I had signed up to be a group leader in a weight loss program my church is holding in the new year. Well, yesterday we had our first volunteer meeting after church. I found out that the program coordinator had told a friend of mine (church assistant treasurer who I help with counting money each Sabbath) that she wasn't needed. Doh! I count it as the age of this person (she has to be in her early 20's.) But seriously, when are there ever *too many* volunteers for a church function??
Anyway, today I finally got around to reading the group leader handbook. By the time I finished it, I decided it wasn't for me. First of all, it was pretty offensive in how they discussed people with weight issues. Secondly, the time commitment required of a group leader was more than just the once a week meeting - it also involved calling 6 - 8 group members on a daily basis. Thirdly, I just plain did not agree with some of the ideas in the lessons.
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Has anyone else been having problems with Mypoints recently? I've been a member since 2005, and have earned nearly 90,000 points (redeemed 83,200) and until November, never had an offer or email not credit. In November, I had two offer sign-ups not credit (freebie things), and in December I had two sign-ups that have not credited yet, and one survey non-qualifier. I contacted customer service regarding the survey non-qualifier, and one of the November offers (waiting for the 30 day period to pass on the others.) I finally did receive credit on the one offer (Pet Centric, upload a picture of your pet to their site, then share it on Facebook - 165 points total!) And customer service gave me "goodwill Points" for the survey non-qualifier.
I'm afraid to complain too much about offers not crediting because I've heard too much about people being deactivated without warning. I have nearly enough points right now for a $50 Wal-Mart card (need about 120 more.)
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I got a good bit done today that I'd been slacking on. Cleaned out my closet, and found my two sweatshirts. (I'd put them in a suitcase a few months ago for a Sabbath School lesson, and forgot I'd done that!) Cleared my drawers/bookshelves, etc. of accumulated junkmail, etc. Did three loads of laundry. And still managed to spend a lot of time on the internet.
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I got comments from my professor today on the grant proposal my partner and I did. From her remarks, I think we may have gotten a good grade. She said that she thought our proposal was unique and a contender. So, I just may still have my 4.0 going into Spring semester.
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I was reading a blog focused on Swagbucks today, and indirectly was led to a freebie site on Facebook. Then as I was reading through *that* I found out about two new interesting money making sites. One is a social network where you supposedly can earn $15/month *just* by logging in every day, reading any email in your site inbox, and making a comment on the main blog post.
The other site I found out about, is one where you watch these advertisement videos. During the videos two numbers flash across the screen randomly. Then at the end of the video, you enter those numbers to earn credit. 800 points = $8.00 (cash out) I spent about 10 minutes checking the site out and watching videos, and earned 39 points.
I'm going to play around with both of these sites and see if they really pay out, then I'll post their names here. The first one (social site) you get $1 for every referral, and $.25 for every person your referrals refer -- but you do use your real name. So .. I probably would only give my referral link to people here who already know my real name.
Anyway, none of these sites really take that much time, and if they really do pay out, it's a nice bit of extra money each month.
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Did you hear about the roof collapsing on the Text is Metrodome and Link is http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=ap-giants-vikings-snowstorm Metrodome in Minnesota where the Vikings play? If the other team hadn't been rerouted on their flight plan, and it had happened just a little bit later in the day ... Yikes!
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Tomorrow night I'm meeting 5 other ladies from my church for a December birthdays get together at Soup Or Salad. I think that sounds like fun. With my birthday being so close to Christmas, I usually get left out of any birthday rememberances at work or church, etc.
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My birth certificate didn't come yet, hopefully it will arrive tomorrow so I can get my license taken care of before Wednesday (when it expires.) If I have to, I'll go to the DMV on Wednesday, but that day is SO full already. Besides, do I really want to spend my birthday at the DMV????
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One last thing ... Restaurants.com is having their 80% sale right now. I think this code expires today?? But if you enter code: Joy at checkout, you get a $25 gift certificate for $2! I bought one for a vegetarian restaurant near where I'll be visiting my dad/grandma in CA. So, I'll be able to treat to a really nice meal for around $27 (after tip and required spending amount of $45.)
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This week I think I'll probably only have tutoring through Wednesday. I know my high-school Junior was trying to get out of Thursday, and definitely Friday. My Senior might still want to meet on Thursday - hopefully - we've been working a lot on college entrance essays, so that's not dependent on a school schedule.
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December 10th, 2010 at 04:22 am
This evening I got email confirmation of my 5 Amazon gift cards I'd ordered from Swagbucks for November. So now my Amazon.com account has $50 just sitting there waiting to be put to use. I already have enough Swagbucks for my January $25 -- I may just try to get a $50 one this month ... hmm...
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Monday and Tuesday afternoon I worked with the College Freshman on his research paper. It was on the Chosun Dynasty and the four hereditary classes (Korea.) I was mangling the pronunciations so much, that he finally said, "Just say Y" (for Yangin.) LOL! Between the two days I worked with him just under an hour. So, I only charged him $20.
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If the family of the two boys I work with on Wednesday nights can reschedule their boys math tutor, I will be having a second night with them. They want my mom to work with their two oldest boys at the same time as I am working with the two youngest. If it works out, that would be an extra $200 per month. The boys are quite pleasant and fun to work with.
Actually, I can't say that I have *any* tutoring student that I don't enjoy working with - ... well, maybe one who can sometimes be quite frustrating, although I know it isn't his fault ...
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On to the Driver's License Renewal Troubles:
Yesterday I was driving to my late evening tutoring session when it dawned on me that I needed to renew my license ASAP! Why? Well, if I want to get on the plane on the 21st to go to CA, it would be a good idea to have a current license!
So, this morning I get on the TX DL site and enter my information to renew online. DENIED! What??? After reading the eligibility criteria closely, I saw that you can only renew every other time online. That means that in order to renew, I must go in person. Ugh!
Well, I figured that all I would need would be my current DL, and my birth certificate. Nope! Not good enough. When I go in, I will need my birth certificate, plus two other forms of i.d. (I'll be taking my SS card, and a letter from my car insurance stating I've had continuous coverage for more than 2 years.)
As you may know, I have a lot of my things tucked away in my storage unit. Guess what one of those items are? Yep! My birth certificate. I was ready to order a new one from my birth state rather than dig around and through all my boxes ... but luckily I called my dad first. Guess what he had, and knew how to get to it in less than two minutes? My birth certificate should arrive by Saturday or Monday. I'm hoping my assumption is correct that they'll give me my new license right away - otherwise I won't have any current picture i.d. This would be very bad.
I know this whole ordeal is my fault due to procrastinating (and not having a central place where all my important documents are kept within easy finding.) Still, though, it irks me that I have to go to such lengths to prove who I am, and that I can't just renew online again. Oh well, guess that's life.
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Oh! I ordered the flashcards for my certification test. They came on Tuesday. I haven't done much with them yet, but from what I've seen, they look like they'll be helpful.
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Last night my mom and I were talking after finishing our tutoring session. She asked me if I wanted the Nook as a birthday/Christmas gift. I told her thanks for the thought, but my iPhone does the job just fine - and is only one device to carry. So she asked me what I'd like ... I told her a mani/pedi and a bike saddle seat. (She was looking for the $100 range.) I'm going to go over to her apartment next Friday and set her up on Swagbucks, as well as maybe watching a movie and dinner somewhere. (My birthday is Wednesday, but neither of our schedules work out to do anything that day.)
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I am curious to see what my January tutoring schedule is going to look like. If new students/hours keep at this rate, I am going to be one busy lady!
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November 30th, 2010 at 01:41 am
Tonight when I got home from my tutoring sessions, I had an envelope from my university. Inside of it was the information on how much my scholarship is for next semester -- $400! Yay! I was really hoping that it would be the same as the one I got for this semester, but now I know for sure. So, my last semester/class will cost just under $500 (although I don't know what the graduation fees, etc., will be.)
I really had meant to cancel Netflix, but I kept procrastinating on doing it. Tonight I was *really* glad I hadn't done it yet. My high-school boy tutoring student was supposed to watch a television drama from the 1970's or earlier, and then write an essay about it. Then he was also to watch a current drama, and then compare the two.
Well ... he didn't do it over break. The assignment is due tomorrow. I searched about a dozen different dramas on my Netflix app on the iPhone before I finally found one with streaming episodes. Bonanza! We watched it over the 3g network - the first 20 minutes or so were perfect, then for about ten minutes or so it stuttered and froze a good bit. But we finally managed to finish both the program, and his essay. (He'd watched Season 8 of 24 recently.) Our session lasted over an hour longer than regularly scheduled, so it will probably replace our normal tutoring session on the 17th (when he probably won't have anything to do anyway!)
So ... I guess I can now consider my Netflix subscription tax deductible? (I'm joking, really.)
Man, there were a ton of videos on the Swagbucks offer walls today - plus one on the rotating slider (homepage top.) Those videos, plus 6 Swagbucks TV wins, 3 codes, and 2 search wins (so far) put me up to 2,262 SB's.
I found out about this really cool Firefox browser add on which helps scout out deals for you on other websites when you do online shopping. I made a post about it on my Text is Living Frugal blog. and Link is http://www.livingfrugalandsimple.com/2010/11/cool-firefox-add-on-may-save-you-money.html Living Frugal blog.
No spending today, and I don't plan on spending anything tomorrow. So, I think this pretty much wraps up November.
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November 29th, 2010 at 03:11 am
Groceries - $77.89
Auto:Gas -- $74.32
Auto:Insurance -- $206
Auto:Repairs $127.50
Gifts - $57.36
iTunes -- $11.30
Prescriptions - $45.30
Subscriptions/Fees - $60
Groceries - Two main reasons I think this category was under budget this month. One is the challenge between my mom and I (me, limited sugar; mom - one 12oz coke/day.) Two, was I cooked and froze 2lbs of pinto beans, and 8 servings worth of lentil soup - plus ate quite a bit of homemade burritos. It could have still been less, but on the most recent shopping trip (after the challenge) I bought more sweets than I really should have.
Auto:Gas - This would have been less if I hadn't made an extra trip to L************ to help the local church school teacher. This extra expense was offset though by her giving me $20 in gas money - which I first refused, but then accepted.
Auto:Insurance - My six-month premium with Geico. Reflected is a 10% Defensive Driving discount, plus an additional $6.60 for Roadside Assistance. (I canceled my $3/month RA plan with AT&T as of Friday.)
Auto:Repairs -- Replacing three outside belts to stop my car from squealing constantly.
Gifts -- Mostly Christmas gifts, but also one Mother's Day gift. All bought via Mypoints or Swagbucks.
iTunes -- Got a bit carried away with purchasing tutoring apps for my new preschool student.
Prescriptions - Renewed Walgreen's Prescription Discount card, plus monthly prescription.
Subscriptions/Fees - $60 - Renewed professional memberships in American Library Association and Texas Library Association.
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"Passive Income"
In November I earned around 1200 points at Mypoints. I need another 1200 points to redeem for a $50 Wal-mart card. I may be able to do this by sometime in January. (Most of the points are from two sources: clicking on paid emails, and survey non-qualifiers. I did make one purchase this month (gift) which gave me 200 points, and I did upload a pet photo for a contest and shared it on Facebook - for another 225 points.)
I redeemed 2,250 Swagbucks for $25 in Amazon.com gift cards. Plus I have earned an additional 2,109 Swagbucks in November. I will most likely use those to get another $25 in Amazon.com gift cards in December. I have at least one family member who may sign up under me (mom), and am going to try for two others over the holidays.
I redeemed 8900 Chase CC points for $89.00 in statement credit.
I found out yesterday that I earned $2.86 in advertising income through my Frugal blog for Amazon.com. Of course, I can't get that money until it reaches $10. Which may be never (considering this was from a sale in August ... the only sale so far.)
Tutoring Income
Also in November I acquired two new tutoring students. This added an additional $150 income. Which almost made up for the week of Thanksgiving where all but my new students canceled.
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Future Spending/Income
In December I am pretty sure that both my gas and groceries categories will be a good bit less with my going on vacation from the 21st thru the 3rd. My family will pretty much not let me pay for anything. Although I will offer - and I am looking for the $3 deal for a $25 Restaurant.com gift card. I'd like to treat to this one particular vegetarian place.
Also, I should receive the scholarship money I was granted in November. However, I will also be paying my last semesters tuition (Due December 20?? I think.
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November 29th, 2010 at 02:24 am
We had a pretty small group for Sabbath School this weekend, just six kids. Of course, church itself was pretty empty. I guess a lot of people out traveling.
Yesterday I got an email from Amazon telling me that they had money for me, but didn't know how to get it to me. (I'm an Amazon Associate on both of my blogs.) So I went to the site to find out what they were talking about. I had to search all the way back to August to find ... one person had bought two items (quinoa and something else)through one of my links! My advertising profit? $2.87. Of course, the minimum payout is $10, so I'm not sure why they were stressing about me setting up a payment method. I think its so funny that I made my first "sale" through my frugal blog on which I have *very* few Amazon links, rather than on my book blog in which I have links everywhere!
This weekend has been incredible with the wins on Swagbucks TV. From Thursday through today, I have had an average of ten wins per day. That's nearly half of a $5 Amazon gift card! (The normal average is two-three a day.)
Today my stepdad and I went over to my moms new apartment and helped her get more settled in. We brought Buddy with us - he was so happy to see mom. He followed her everywhere she went. On the way back home I asked SD to stop at a gas station because I wanted a Cherry Coke (challenge is over! thank you very much) Buddy went nutso in the car with SD while I was in the store. I think the little guy is getting a really bad complex.
Friday I went out grocery shopping pretty late. If I hadn't needed to fill up with gas for the weekend, I would have just skipped it.
I had about 15 items in my cart - all the lanes were packed (that were open.) So I chose the one with only one person who had two FULL carts. I figured that the one person had a better chance of getting through quickly than a line of 5 people with 15 - 20+ items (more chance of um... problem customers.) So anyway, while I was waiting, a cashier opened up the register just behind me. When I noticed it, she was about to start ringing a guy up behind me. He saw me notice it, then looked at my cart, and told me to go ahead. Really cute guy too. (Probably early to mid-twenties though. Too bad.)
I forgot to make an actual list, so didn't pick up spinach. SD picked that up today for me though.
So groceries -- $27.40 (fruit, cheese, Rice Dream, Orange Juice, hot chocolate, marshmallows, etc.)
Gas - $2.49/gallon $22.86
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November Spending:
Gas -- $74.78
Groceries -- $77.99
Auto Insurance -- 206.62
Subscriptions & Dues - $60 (
Prescriptions, etc. - $45.30
Gifts - $57.04
iTunes - $11.xx
Auto Repairs/Maintain - $127.65
Phone - $80.62
I did really well with my grocery spending this month. I think doing the challenge with my mom had a large part in it. Also, making crockpot beans and freezing them, as well as lentil soup, and eating lots of homemade burritos, cut down expenses.
Gas was okay. It would have been less if I hadn't gone down and volunteered at the local church school (I could have waited till December to fill up.) But .. I did get $20 in gas money from the principal/teacher (which I did try to refuse, but she insisted.) That isn't figured into the gas amount.
Auto Insurance - I chose to stay with Geico. The amount reflects the Defensive Driver's Discount, and adding back Roadside Assistance. I called AT&T on Friday and dropped their RA, which cost $3/month versus $1.xx/mo for Geico.
Subscriptions/Dues - After much thought I decided to renew my membership in the two professional organizations. Hopefully next year I'll be working in a library that will provide those dues for me, but for now, it will be good to have on my resume.
Prescriptions, etc. - My monthly scrip, plus a renewal of Walgreen's Prescription Club Discount card.
Gifts - Most come from an order with Lakeside Collection. VERY slow shipping. The order also earned some points through Mypoints. A few of the others are from two different photo deals I did through Swagbucks. My Christmas shopping is done. Oh yes, almost forgot - one gift was for Mother's Day (also a Swagbucks deal.)
iTunes - Got a bit carried away finding apps for my new tutoring student (pre-schooler)
Auto Repairs - Replaced three outside belts when the squealing got really bad in my car.
Phone - This should go down a little bit next month, now that I've canceled Roadside Assistance
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I did have some unexpected new sources of income this month, such as the two new tutoring students, and the reimbursed gas money. I also redeemed $25 worth of Amazon gift cards (through Swagbucks) which are currently sitting in my Amazon account. Not to mention the scholarship I found out about!
So, I definitely could do better next month. After the 21st, I doubt I'll be spending much of my own money (being out in CA.) I will offer - but will more than likely be turned down. (I am hoping one of those $3 Restaurant.com codes come out so I can get a gift certificate for this one restaurant out there and "treat" for at least one meal!)
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November 19th, 2010 at 02:05 am
Last night I worked with two new tutoring students, a 2nd grader and a 5th grader. They're both great kids and I think it is going to be lots of fun finding things for them. Their mom insists on them having homework between sessions. My mom had been working with the fifth-grade boy, as well as his two older brothers. But she wasn't able to work with the second grade boy.
Today as I was waiting for my high-school boy, I ran into the mom of two of my mom's former students. (She'd exchanged hair styling for tutoring.) She asked me if I'd be willing to work with her 4 year old daughter and help her get ready for kindergarten. One or two times a week for an hour each. Right up my alley! We'll possibly start in January.
Then near the end of my tutoring session with the high-school boy, his host mom came home. She's the same person who has essentially helped me get most of my students. She asked me if I thought I could tutor someone in Algebra 1. I gulped, and said that I thought I could. I'd have to get some books and such from the library to review, but I think I could do it. As long as I stayed ahead of the student.
Wow! if both of these new students pan out, I'm going to be quite busy! Yay!!
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Grocery Spending:
11/17 -- $8.01 supper, chocolate oranges (2)
I needed something to eat before tutoring my two new students. CVS had the chocolate oranges on sale 2 for $5. I *love* those oranges, and that is a good price. So ... they are put away until Thanksgiving when the challenge is over.
11/18 -- $7.06 bananas, shredded cheese, green onions, frozen veggies, cream corn,
I decided to make the corn pudding for potluck on Sabbath, so needed a few more ingredients.
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Wow! Yesterday I completed a special offer on Swagbucks for comparing insurance offers. (It gave me enough to get my 5th Amazon card, and have 300+ left.) This morning I was inundated with phone calls and emails. On Tuesday I had written a blog post on Text is how I've managed to stump car insurance agents. and Link is http://www.livingfrugalandsimple.com/2010/11/how-i-stump-car-insurance-agents-few.html how I've managed to stump car insurance agents. This morning to my utter shock, someone actually managed to beat my rate by $3 (per six-months.) I told them I didn't want to make a decision right away, but would need to think about it. Or, in other words, research the company.
Good thing I did! It has absolutely terrible ratings for customer service and claims handling. As I was talking to the five different people (the ones I actually answered the phone for) a reoccurring statement made was that I had only been insured for one-year. I thought that was really strange since I was pretty sure I'd been with Geico since at least 2001. I also found out that Texas passed a law raising the amount of the mandated minimums.
So I finally went ahead and gave Geico a call. I found out that most agents when making a quote will just automatically put one-year, and that I had been with Geico nearly 12 years. I also found out that I won't need to worry about the increased coverage rate until my May renewal. Then I asked the agent to add roadside service back to my plan. I couldn't remember why I had taken it off my plan in the first place ($6/term). He reminded me that it usually is only available for people with comprehensive, but that since I've been with them for so long, he'd make an exception. It just so happened that he was a supervisor!
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As I was typing this I got a call from the mom of the 4 year old. She and her husband have decided to have me work with their daughter twice a week! Yes! Apparently she has to pass a test to be admitted into the particular Kindergarten. The mom is going to talk to the pre-school teacher to find out what skills need to be worked on. I'm really running the gambit here - working with 4-year olds all the way through college!
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November 17th, 2010 at 03:22 am
Last night around 10:30 I was typing away on an entry here, when Poof! the power went out. It stayed out for over 90 minutes. We'd had a little bit of thunder and lightning, but nothing major. So ... that was weird.
I cashed in for my 4th Amazon $5 gift card yesterday, and deposited the second one in Amazon. I love free money.
Last night my mom asked me to help her with two of her tutoring students on Wednesday nights. This particular family has 4 children. I'll work with the two youngest, and she'll work with the two oldest. That adds an extra $200/month for me! Woo Hoo!
Today I spent quite a bit of money (well, for me anyway.) I decided to renew my memberships in American Library Association and the Texas Library Association. A total of $60 for both of them (student rates!) I'd been debating on it ever since I got the renewal notices. I finally concluded that if I want to have any chance of getting a job, it probably is a good idea to have a professional membership.
I did something else really unusual for me today. I opened up a credit card offer! It was for a Citi Visa for students. Even more highly unusual for me is that I applied! What got me? Two things: 1 - You can earn up to 4,000 points per semester based on your GPA; and 2 - Every month you pay on time you get 25 points. Boo Ya! Easy free points! I was approved for $4,000.00. I'm hoping that I can send them my grades for Spring semester and get the first 4,000 points. It'll motivate me to work even harder to make sure that one class this semester that's making me nuts becomes an A, for another 4,000 points.
Speaking of Credit Cards. Today I checked my Chase Visa account, and I had enough to redeem for $100 cash. Before it changed over to Chase Freedom, I could just apply that as a credit on my statement. But now they have a feature where you can apply a credit to your statement for *specific* purchases and purchase amounts. This is good and bad. I'll probably use it more often, since there is no incentive to save for a better deal on statement credit. However, it is very rare that an item is exactly within a certain range. Like today, I didn't have anything that was in the 70 - 75 range, but I did have a number of items in the 23 - 25 range. So, I ended up using 8900 points for an $89.00 credit. Next statement I'll have enough for a $20 credit (the minimum.)
I was supposed to buy bananas tonight, but totally forgot. By the time I was finished with my high-school boy (we worked 80 extra minutes) and made it through the construction traffic, my brain was fried. So, no banana for breakfast tomorrow.
I watched last night's Dancing with the Stars tonight. Wow! I just so love Jennifer Grey. She is so fantastic. I haven't heard the results yet from tonights vote off, but if a certain person on there stays, and Jennifer goes ... ARGHH!
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November 11th, 2010 at 02:03 am
I just checked my email and found out that I was awarded a scholarship for the Spring semester! Yahoo! It didn't say how much it will be for, but I'm hoping it'll be at least $400 like for this semester. That'll definitely help put a little extra breathing room in my budget.
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Last night I was really, really bored and not feeling like doing school work. So I made the first video for my Living Frugal blog, and then I also made a second video for my Children's Books blog. It's a book review in an interview format. Text is Book Talk with Dan and Laura and Link is http://www.childrensbooksforstorytime.com/2010/11/book-talk-with-laura-and-dan-julius.html Book Talk with Dan and Laura.
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Spending Report:
Filled up with gas: $23.57
Bought bananas: $1.43
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I'm about 70 Swagbucks away from redeeming my 3rd Amazon gift card -- and I haven't even been doing it for two full weeks yet! Of course, the proof will be when I am able to actually redeem the gift cards.
I did some Mypoints emails today, and looked at the rewards page. Recently, it had looked like 60% of their gift cards were gone. But it must have just been a glitch, or maybe they restocked. I have about 5600 points right now, so I could get a $25 gift card, or wait a few months more and get a $50. I'm debating on getting a Walmart card and use it for new clothes, or get an Amazon card to add to my SB winnings for something larger. I'll probably end up waiting to have enough for a $50 card.
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I feel really badly for my sixth grade tutoring student. Last week he had his finger slammed between 50lbs of weights when he was in weightlifting class. He actually broke the tip of it! So today I had him do his vocab quiz orally, and then I was his scribe for our essay writing work. (It was his writing hand.)
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My mom may have found the house she's going to move into. She's going to leave Buddy here for the most part so that he's not alone for 8 or 9 hours a day. He's going to be one confused little puppy.
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November 10th, 2010 at 04:03 am
I am signed up with a couple of listserves serving librarians. This past week or so, a number of posts have had links to videos made by this one site. My professor in one of my classes this semester has also created several of her lectures using it. So tonight I was feeling a little bored (even though I have plenty of schoolwork I should be doing!) and decided to play around with it.
I posted the end result on my living frugal blog. Here is the link Text is Cooking Lentils and Link is http://www.livingfrugalandsimple.com/2010/11/cooking-lentils.html Cooking Lentils.
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Today was a NSD.
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I worked with Korean Boy this afternoon. A week or so ago he'd made a 31 slide PowerPoint on WWII without my help. Today I was helping him write notes for presenting it to his class on Friday. Oh boy. He essentially went to a Korean Wikipedia site and copied the translated information, and pasted it into the slides. A few of them make sense, but most make very little sense at all. He's already turned the slideshow in, so there wasn't anything I could do about that. But I did help him at least make his notes for the presentation sound halfway decent.
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November 8th, 2010 at 03:53 am
This morning I worked with Korean Boy for 2 1/2 hours. We managed to get a very rough rough draft completed.
I was thinking about stopping and picking up some spinach, but the traffic on the way home was such a boor that I had only enough patience left to go straight home. So ... today was a no spend day.
I finished up the final draft of my second big paper. I think I did a pretty good job on it. I hope my professor agrees.
I spent way too much time today on Swagbucks. I did a couple of surveys, and completed one "task" on an offer wall. The task is not something I'd do again - spent 90 minutes on it for 15 SB's. Not worth it. But stubborn me would not quit till I finished. I am up to 522 SB's right now, so I could go ahead and redeem for my second gift card. But I read somewhere that they sometimes discount the gift cards closer to Christmas. So ... I'm going to wait.
While aimlessly watching Swagbucks tv, I started reading Janet Evanovich's latest book "Wicked Appetite." It features Diesel. Yum. I'm about 60 pages into it right now.
Last night I watched "The Baxter." I'd never heard of it before, but looking through my choices, it was the one that appealed to me most. I'm so glad I watched it! Such a sweet,quirky, romantic, funny and unexpected movie. One of the cleanest romantic movies I've seen in a long time. Safe to watch with your parents - no squirming around "love" scenes.
My church is going to be holding a weight seminar soon. The date hasn't been set just yet. The leader of it is looking for group leaders. I offered to lead a group depending on what day of the week it was on, and if there were not any requirements for the group leader to already be at a healthy weight. If it's on a weekend night, I'll definitely do it. I'm not going to go overboard though like I did the last time I was part of something like this. I did lose 30 pounds, and came in 3rd place ... but it didn't take long for those pounds to find me again.
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November 7th, 2010 at 01:25 am
Sabbath School and Church went relatively smoothly today. We had one girl who is deaf, but wears a hearing aid. I really hope I didn't make her feel like I was condescending to her - was just trying to make sure she understood what was going on. My sign language skills are *very* rusty.
Came home and goofed around on the net a little. Signed up for a couple of special offers on Swagbucks, none of which have credited yet. Ugh. I'm up to 300 without those offers, but if they go through, I'll have enough for another gift card.
Took a nice nap, which I really needed. Then I looked on my school website and saw I'd received my grade for two assignments. One was 100, the other was an 89. Boo. Oh well, I have 100's for everything else in that class. Overall, all three classes seem to be winding down on the amount of work for each week. So if I do get the new tutoring student, it won't be too difficult to work school around him.
I'm thinking about watching a last movie from Netflix (my current month didn't end until the 10th, so will cancel tomorrow.) Yesterday I checked into what it would take to take money out of my ROTH. T Rowe has excellent customer service! The person who responded calculated how much of my account was my contributions, and told me I could "redeem" any amount of that to my bank account. It would take two to three business days. The sad/funny thing is, with all the ups and downs of the markets the past few years, my balance is almost exactly equal to the amount in my account. Knowing I have this fairly easy option to access more money helps me to breathe a bit easier. Of course, I won't do it unless I am out of other options (other than asking family for a loan.)
I tried reading Jan Karon's book "In The Company of Others" today, but was just too sleepy. (It's the second book in the Father Tim series. Father Tim was the main character in the Mitford series.
Tomorrow I'm working with Korean Boy at 10 a.m. in an attempt to write a rough draft of an essay due Monday. We've already spent the majority of two sessions working on it, and are not very far. Then I need to put the final touches on the second major assignment for one of my classes.
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November 5th, 2010 at 10:55 pm
I don't know why I have such a difficult time trusting that God is truly watching out for me. I think it's a case of "easier said than done."
This morning 3 things happened which reminded me that I truly am not alone.
1. If you remember, one of the upcoming expenses I was stressing over is my 6-month doctor visit and blood work. Last time it cost me approximately $200. This morning I managed to get in touch with a real live person at my university's health clinic. I found out three things: a) TSH test cost $41 on Nov. 29 and 30; b) Physicians visit (for prescription) is free, and c) I would need to pay a $15 service fee since I am not a campus student. So, for less than $60 I will be able to get my prescription renewed!
2. I received a call from the person hosting Korean Boy and College Korean Boy. She had a 4th tutoring student possibility for me, the son of a friend of hers. It would be a possible $400 - 500 month extra if it works out.
3. The biggest of all three! I took my car to the place I get my oil changed at. The mechanic who met me at the bay just so happened to be a former Honda dealer mechanic. I explained to him about the squealing noise and that I thought it might be the timing belt. He looked at me and was like, "It's not the timing belt. The timing belt wouldn't squeal, it would just break." He asked me when I'd had it changed last, and I told him it was about 60k miles ago. He said it didn't need to be changed for at least another 20k. Then he said that what probably was causing the squealing noise are the outside belts (can't remember their names.) AND he said that to change them out with parts and labor would run about $120! I told him to go for it!
An hour and half later my car was finished. I'd also asked him to look over it and see if there was anything else I needed to be aware of. He told me that overall it looked pretty good, but that one of the three engine mounts was bad. I asked him what kind of time frame I was looking at to get that fixed -- he said it could be 6 months, 1 year, or even 3 years. So ... I'm not going to worry about that right now.
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I did a couple of surveys on Swagbucks today (finally qualified!) and completed a few of the profiles. So am now up to 175 SB's.
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Spending log:
Decided I didn't need any groceries this week. So I spent of my $20 for the week: $1.50 - stamps; $1.39 bananas. That leaves $17.61 to add to next week.
Not buying junk food really cuts back on the expenditures!
Mechanic:
$127.65
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November 2nd, 2010 at 02:54 am
Happy November everyone! Today sure didn't feel like it was winter around here. I don't know what the temperature was, but I was sure quite warm.
I just finished my first draft of the second big paper for one of my classes. We had to assign peer review partners within our groups. That was some interesting drama. One person proposed that we partner up by last name. Normally I would have no problem with that, however, in our group we have at least two people who consistently turn in assignments late. Luck would have it that she'd be my partner.
So, I proposed the option of pairing people up with the person who posted the previous assignment before or after them. A few others already had an idea of who they'd like as a partner. We ended up doing a combination of my idea, and choosing your own partner. 4 people chose their own, and 9 were paired up via posting time. Whooh!
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Spending Report:
$1.50 - Stamps for my brother's birthday cards. He's turning 30 on November 4! Yikes!
$24.26 - Filled up the gas tank.
Income:
Korean Girl paid me $75.
Korean Boy did not pay me today - says he'll have it tomorrow. This is a regular occurrence with him, but he does eventually pay. I didn't work with College Korean Boy today, but probably will tomorrow.
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Buddy's leg seems to be doing better today. But then he started having multiple sneezing fits. Hopefully he's just allergic to something, and it isn't anything else.
I am tired!
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November 1st, 2010 at 02:52 am
Today was a no spend day. Of course I'm almost out of gas, so will have to get that tomorrow.
Added $40 tutoring College Korean Boy. I helped him with writing a movie review of "Labyrinth." That was interesting, considering I haven't *seen* that movie! LOL!
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This morning when I should have been working on the big points assignment for one of my classes, I was instead distracted by our family's dog Buddy. I took him outside to do his business, then went back in to finish breakfast. SD was sitting at the table, and noticed that Buddy was licking one foot obsessively. Then we noticed that when he would sit or lay down, he was greatly favoring the leg - as well when he would walk. After awhile of watching (and trying to see if there was something wrong with his paw), we decided we needed to take him to a vet. The vet however didn't open until 1 p.m.
Mom was out at a tutoring job, and by the time she came home it was nearly 1. Buddy seemed to be doing much better at that point, and they (mom and sd) decided to not take him to the vet. The best we can figure is he got stung by something.
If he was my dog, and I had the money, I probably would have taken him to the vet today - even though he started looking like he was doing better. Oh well.
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October 31st, 2010 at 04:55 am
Today was a no spend day for me. Not too unusual for a Saturday since I spend most of it at church.
I went ahead and signed up for Swagbucks. Unfortunately, I didn't realize you had to have the referrer send you a link for them to receive credit. I've already earned 78 SB. I can see how it would be possible to earn enough for a $5 Amazon card about once a week with not too much time. I'd rather the Paypal card (i.e. cold hard cash), but it costs a lot more in SB's.
--
I had a frustrating experience this morning. The lady who had committed to being my assistant for teaching Sabbath School, and who had previously missed all of July, August and September ... called me as I was driving to church to tell me that she wasn't going to be able to help me, AND that she hadn't had time to do the ONE project I'd asked her to prepare. (The project took me all of about six minutes to do - but it was six minutes I needed to finish something else!)
Thankfully the other lady who's been helping me reliably the past four months agreed to continue helping me until I can find someone else. (She'd do it indefinitely, but her husband is wanting to church surf.)
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Tomorrow (Sunday) I am working with High-School and College Korean Boys starting at 2 p.m. The CKB could bring in anywhere from $50 - 75 depending on how much help he needs with his essay. That'll be a nice boost to the checking account.
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I have a crockpot of beans cooking tonight. They soaked since Friday afternoon until about 10 tonight. I changed the water once. Hopefully that will help to relieve some of the less desirable traits of beans.
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October 29th, 2010 at 03:30 am
This afternoon I was working with the Korean Boy. His sponsor came home and started talking to me about working with him in June to help him finish two classes via home study. At first I was saying, well it will depend on whether I've been hired on somewhere else or not. Then she mentioned, wouldn't my job start in August (if I got one!)? I realized that she was right - even if I did get hired somewhere, the earliest I probably could go and start putting the library together would be July. So, I told her that I would be willing to do it.
On my way home I was thinking about our conversation. It dawned on me that most public school employees don't get their first paycheck until the end of September.
So, when I got home I updated my budget, making sure that all my accounts matched, etc. Then I took the positive balance and subtracted my Spring tuition (roughly $900). I then subtracted my 6-month car insurance premium due in November ($216). Then I subtracted other expenses for November, other than the rent (which has already been paid). It left me with roughly $1000.00 total.
November is going to basically have 3 weeks of tutoring. December is going to have maybe 2 weeks of tutoring. So, that means that in January, I'll most likely have to use some of that buffer. Feb. should be a full month (wait no, it might not be - my big test week will probably be in Feb.) March will be 3 weeks (Spring Break). April and May should be full months. If Korean Boy stays, June will be an extra month. That leaves July, August, and September. *If* I get a library job, I will have moving expenses, setting up the library expenses, and of course, living expenses.
This is of course assuming nothing goes wrong with my car.
I am going to have to cut my costs wherever I possibly can. I've spent way way too much on stupid things.
The only places I can really cut are food and Netflix. I don't really use Netflix that much, so putting it on hold for a while won't kill me. Food ... I think I'm going to have to go to a beans and rice, rice and beans, and throw in some oatmeal diet.
If it weren't for the fact that I have two responsibilities at church which I've committed to, I might consider changing to a church that is closer by to save on gas. But overall, it wouldn't really save that much more. I will definitely have to not do any extra trips though.
I really can't do *any* extra spending. No more .99 apps. No more junkfood (will fit in with the challenge!). No more $1 movies. Nothing that I can't unequivocally post here and defend as a necessary expense.
I think I may ask my family to pay the renewal on my iPhone AT&T driving app for birthday/Christmas. For me, it has become an essential. It saves so much gas and time in my not getting lost.
If I don't do this, I may still be in the clear by June -- but come August ... (or July if Korean Boy doesn't happen in June).
I am going to attempt again to post all my expenditures. If you see something that you question, please feel free to question me.
Also, please feel free to offer any suggestions.
*Something I've thought of that might help when/if I do get a library job -- Take with me only what I can fit in my car, and leave everything else in storage. Then rent a room from someone short term. Once my paychecks begin, pay for movers to load the truck and have someone drive it to wherever I am. That would also give me time to really investigate the least inexpensive places to live in my new town.
If I don't get a job .... I really don't know what I'll do. I guess that would be about time to cash into my retirement money.
***I just had another realization hit me. All the above figures don't take into account travel expenses for interviewing for the supposed jobs. When I was a teacher in the SDA denomination, those expenses were taken care of. From what I've heard, that isn't the case in the public school system. Oy vey.
***Edited to add - My dad pays my phone bill. At first he was just going to pay the difference ($30) for the iPhone, but he's ended up actually sending more than enough each month for the entire bill. So cutting that wouldn't help.
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October 27th, 2010 at 07:00 pm
So my mom had been making some annoying comments about my weight recently. While at the same time, she was acknowledging that her Diet Coke habit probably wasn't very good for her.
So, instead of getting fed up with her comments, I decided to do something proactive. Something which would help both of us.
I challenged my mom to drink only one 12oz soda per day, and I would limit my sugar intake to a spoonful of brown sugar in my oatmeal. Until the day before Thanksgiving.
So far, so good.
I'd done pretty well with No-S (no snack, sweets or seconds except on days that begin with S) over the last year or so. But lately I was finding myself following the guidelines ... every other week. My clothes were/are showing the effects of that, as was/is my grocery budget. Weekdays won't be so difficult for me, because I've proven to myself that I can go without my sweets for 5 days at a time, multiple times over. The real test will be Saturday and Sunday. (This isn't cutting out carbs. This is cutting out chocolate, ice cream, etc. Someone sent me a message on FB thinking I was cutting carbs. )
This challenge will benefit my pocketbook, and most likely my waistline. Plus it has the added benefit of maybe finally breaking my mom of the Diet Coke habit - which will be good, especially for her bone density.
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In other news, it looks like I might have a new tutoring student. Another Korean boy (actually, I think he's a freshman in college??). If it happens, I'd meet with him once a week on Fridays.
This works out very well, because I don't need to meet with my mentor librarian anymore. I'm finished with my Proficiency Checklist.
I registered on Monday for my very LAST class, and am just waiting for registration to open up for Capstone (one week, three essay questions - graded on a pass/fail basis.)
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This past Saturday was the church in the park. Sabbath School went pretty well. I had 10 kids by the end - only 4 of them were ones I'd had before. It really makes it hard to plan when you never know who is or isn't going to show up .. but oh well.
I ended up having to leave a little early from church. The weather was really rainy (everyone was seated under an overhang/gazebo thing.) I was getting a horrific headache and feeling nauseous. So, I get to my car, and for some reason didn't put it in reverse. Drove right up over the concrete stop block, that I did! Ugh! I managed to back my car off of it, and drive away. But all week I've just been waiting to see if I did any damage to my car which will significantly shorten its life.
Thankfully the headache went away not too long after I got home.
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October 22nd, 2010 at 02:58 am
This week I booked my airplane tickets for Christmas vacation. Although I'm doing two one-way tickets, through a lot of searching and good timing, I managed to get them for about $20 more than what round trip would cost to one city.
I'll be starting out in San Jose again for Christmas Eve/Day, and spending some time in San Francisco and the Napa Valley area (where my brother lives.) Then dad, grandma and I will head on down to the LA area.
I'm looking forward to having some time away from Texas.
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At church this past weekend the principal/main teacher of our church school told me that she had this huge grading project she needed to get done before the first parent/teacher conferences. I told her that I thought I could get all my schoolwork finished for the week by Wednesday, and help her out on Thursday due to not having my normal tutoring students. Well, it turned out that one of my tutoring students miserably failed one test (one he insisted he didn't need my help on) and so I ended up having him Wed., today and tomorrow. I still did manage to get all my schoolwork finished early.
So today I arrived at the school a little after 9, and was kept quite busy until 3pm. She offered me gas money (it is a 40+minute one way drive) but I told her I didn't need it. I'm planning on asking her to write a letter of reference for me when I start library hunting. That, I think would be much more valuable than $20 gas money. I also got a free lunch from Panda Express - it was leftovers from what the school kids had ordered. Yum.
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A few years ago there was this great science fiction show played on Spike TV -- about the same time as Journeyman. My Tivo alerted me to it. In the last month or so, for some reason I got it in my head that I wanted to see it again. However, for the life of me, I couldn't remember its name. I searched through all of Netflix, and did some heavy duty Google -- to no avail. Yesterday evening I got the idea in my head to try imdb.com (internet movie database). In searching the site, I had no luck. However, I posted a message on their messageboard. Within 3 minutes I had my answer --- "Seven Days"! I also had a link to a Youtube channel where someone had posted most, if not all of the episodes. (not on DVD yet) Woo Hoo!
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Momcents -- I found the Mandie movie on Netflix - my library doesn't have it. As soon as I watch the one I have now, I'll get to see it. Yay!
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This Sabbath we are having outdoor church. Which, of course, means outdoor Sabbath School. I'm not really looking forward to it, but my mom found a book on nature activities which might help.
Anyone have ideas on how to keep a group of 6 - 9 years olds occupied for an hour outside, without them going wild?
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Almost forgot -- for those of you who are fans of the television series "Little House On the Prairie" there is a very funny and touching book by the actress who played Nellie Oleson. "Confessions of a Prairie B*tch" you might want to pick it up from your local library.
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October 14th, 2010 at 03:20 am
This morning a bit past 9 I was working on some classwork when suddenly a loud noise startled Buddy and I. At the same time as the noise, I felt like I'd moved - my equilibrium felt just a tiny bit off for a few seconds. I stepped out of my room and was like "What the Heck was that?!" My stepdad said he thought maybe it was a large flock of birds on the roof getting into a fight.
A few hours later I got a text from stepdad asking me about what time I'd heard/felt the noise. Turns out there was an earthquake in Oklahoma (possibly near OK City) at 9:06 a.m. People in Texas as far as San Antonio reported feeling something.
I know it may be kind of silly to be excited about having experienced my first earthquake ... but here's a couple reasons why:
1. I lived in CA for two years. Before moving there (for my first teaching job) I'd been petrified about living in CA and being in an earthquake. None happened (at least that I'm aware of).
2. Two different times in the past two years when I went to CA for a visit, two to three days later that area experienced an earthquake.
3. It's pretty far out that an earthquake could happen here/be felt here. It happened in an area with no mapped fault. They're speculating that its a result of the injection wells in OK.
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In contrast to my tutoring rant from yesterday, today's two students were awesome. Both moms had the money out and ready to go (one even paid me for the next two weeks.) The first boy with ADHD was in a good attitude, and was getting what we were doing. And the second boy who I work with on essay writing for timed tests as well as vocabulary, really seemed to enjoy our session today where we wrote a descriptive essay on his moms table centerpiece. He also told me that he used one of his vocab words at school - they were working on adjectives - he gave the example of "glum".
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October 13th, 2010 at 03:34 am
In today's mail I got a nice little surprise. An invitation to join Phi Kappa Phi. I was nominated by my university because of my grades. If I pay ... $70 initiation fee, then in December I get to attend an induction ceremony where I'll receive a certificate. I also can use their seal on my resume, they have some insurance discounts, as well as discounts at other places.
I was inducted in the Psychology honor society when I was in college (can't remember its name) but I don't think I had to pay anything for it ... I'm not really sure how I got in that one, since at that time my overall GPA was barely hanging on to a B- -- wait, that was the semester before my two C's (Statistics and Chemistry.)'
When I was in high school I was nominated for the Who's Who in High School. That one my parents actually paid the money for a book - my picture and a bio. That was definitely an ego booster only thing.
So... what do you all think? The invitation sounded really salesy. Like it was really trying to puff me up and consider it a great honor. If it's something that might actually be useful, as in getting a job, maybe I'll go for it. But if all it will be is something I can say about -- oh yeah, I'm a member of Phi Kappa Phi. Aren't I so smart? (Not!) Then I think I'll pass on the $70 initiation fee, and then the membership dues which increase each year up to the third year of $130.
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Korean Boy made me really mad today. I got a couple emails from his math teacher asking to get together with both of us. So, at the time we normally tutor, we met with his math teacher. She pretty much was saying that she doesn't think he's ready to do Pre-AP Pre-Cal due to a couple different homework assignments he'd completely failed, as well as the fact that he'd have to read and understand the extra material mostly on his own. He stubbornly did not listen and insisted that he could do it. I reiterated that Pre-Cal is Greek to me, seeing as though the highest math I had was Algebra 2 and Statistics.
So we get in my car. He doesn't have any homework to work on because he's taking the PSAT tomorrow. So I'm just going to drop him off at home. I tell him that we'll stop by the bank so he can pay me for the week. That's when he tries to tell me that I shouldn't be paid for today, since I'm not working with him.
Arghhh!! Really? I'm there at the school at 3:30. I met with you and your teacher about your classwork. I'm driving you home. Do you really think I'm doing all that out of the goodness of my heart???
So I said to him that although we may not be working on schoolwork together, I still have given him at least 30 minutes of my time. That is worth at least $15. So, $90 total for the week, since we won't be working on Wednesday (due to the PSAT). He agrees that's fair. We stop by the bank and he doesn't have enough money. Arghh!!!
Next week they're having a 2 1/2 day Fall break. So I'll be working with him only two days. as well as Korean Girl. Between the two, that means a loss of $100 for that week. 60% of my weekly income.
In some ways I really enjoy tutoring. In others though, I really, really, hate it!
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October 8th, 2010 at 10:42 pm
Today when I got home from working with Korean Boy (we were reading The Legend of Sleepy Hollow) my mom told me that the local teacher store was having a garage sale - everything 40 - 70% off in their yard. So, off we went!
It turned out that the majority of the items in the garage sale were those of one teacher. It was really interesting going through all the boxes and piles. I felt as though I was getting to know this teacher a little bit. I could see that she'd been teaching for a long time - at least since teaching reading via Whole Language was popular, and then back to Phonics, and then on to my personal favorite, Four Blocks. I could see that she'd mostly taught Kindergarten and First Grade, and perhaps pre-school as well. Although there were quite a few reading books which covered older age levels (such as the "Christy" books which are based on the book "Christy" by Catherine Marshall, as well as the mini-series by the same name.) There were lots of materials on Navajo Indians, and various other tribes - as well as tribal legend books.
My mom had to leave before I had a chance to look through everything. I ended up taking a huge stack of books (mostly real reading books, the "Christy" books included) as well as a few teacher resource books. All of it cost me about $15. Some of the items I'll probably give to my Kindergarten teacher friend the next time I see her.
If I was still teaching right now, or if I knew for sure I was about to have my own library soon ... I would have taken a lot more!
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I found a great app for my iPhone recently. The sabbath school materials for both teachers and students. So now if I don't have my teacher's manual with me for some reason (like last Sabbath when we got locked out of the church after potluck!) I can just look it up on my phone! It uses a pdf format which makes the print a bit too tiny for regular usage. But in a pinch, it will definitely do!
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I updated both my book blog and my frugal blog. (Links in sidebar.) In fact, I added two new books to the book blog this last week. I'll probably be adding some of the books I got today to it as well in the near future.
School is keeping me uber busy, but sometimes I just have to take a breather and do something else!
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If you are a user of YNAB and have an iPhone, I hope you'll understand my absolute LOVE of the YNAB app. Seriously, love. The only receipts I keep anymore are the ones I need to turn in for reimbursement (for Sabbath School supplies.) With just a few swipes I can see a list of ALL the money I've made since January for tutoring (Income Available Next Month), or money I've gotten for other purposes (generally put in the Income Available This Month). Love!
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September 27th, 2010 at 12:49 am
This past week has been crazy busy. I put in a total of 12 extra hours tutoring one of my mom's students. Today I worked with her again for 3 hours. I also had my permanent crown on Tuesday. The kicker was this one huge assignment for one class that was giving me nightmares. It was due Friday, but by some miracle, the professor granted us two extra days!
I am SO tired right now. Not sleeping well at all. Had a few charley horses in early morning hours, which I hadn't had for a long time. Nearly fell going down the stairs *twice* this week. Last night Buddy slept in his ex pen instead of my bed - was hoping I'd sleep better. Didn't work very well.
Oh, last week I met with Korean boy and girl's academic dean regarding my concerns about their ability to do the English classwork. This Tuesday we have another meeting where the teacher will be included. Apparently she'd been told "No Modifications." Both Korean students are majorly stressed out - the girl is a senior and really worried about what's going to happen when she applies for colleges with an F in English. For me to really be able to help her, I'd need 4 or 5 more hours a week at least to help her read and understand the material. Ugh!
I read this fantastic book for one of my classes - I have to write a journal quality review of it. Once its graded, I'll post it on my website and link to it. It's a great book for boys in third or fourth grade.
Speaking of books ... I joined goodreads.com a while back. Recently I signed up for a bunch of different "First Reads" contests. I won a free book! It's a dog story. I can hardly wait for it to arrive.
Next weekend we are having a special potluck for the Primary students and their families (as well as a few special guests). I'm planning on making Danish Aebleskeber's, and the others are bringing more to fill the edges. Our class is moving into a new room next week as well. This actually is a good thing, because it is not a shared room. This means I'll be able to leave most of my materials there each week, and put up a few posters, etc. I'm planning on putting together a birthday poster, and probably a memory verse poster, and figuring out a way to display the kids sticker cards (cards they earn points on for attendance, etc.)
We watched a predictable, yet cute movie last night - "When In Rome." I wouldn't pay to see it, but if you have a chance to see it for free (on tv, via netflix, etc) I'd go for it.
Speaking of movies. Has anyone seen "Ramona and Beezus"? It's still at the dollar theater, and I was thinking that maybe I'd try to see it if I get a chance. Will probably wait till Netflix has it though, with my school and tutoring schedule.
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September 17th, 2010 at 05:11 am
As I've mentioned before, Buddy got some matts pretty soon after his first grooming appointment. I tried a number of tricks to get them out, but they were just getting worse instead of better. So Tuesday we got him shaved. What a difference fluffy hair makes! Without it, he looks so fragile and so much tinier.
Yesterday my mom went to the doctor for a follow up visit on her surgery. She got a good grade, but was told that she would need to take longer for full recovery. In other words, she shouldn't start back with her tutoring yet. So, one of her students has gotten really behind without her there to help her. I was asked if I'd be willing to work with her until Mom is able to again.
So today (Thursday) I worked with Korean Girl and Korean Boy from 2:30 - 5, then drove over to Mom's student and worked with her from 6 - 9. Before working with all of them, I was working on a big paper for one of my classes which I spent several hours floundering on, trying to figure out exactly what I was supposed to do! Long day.
Oh .. Korean boy dropped one on me today. He tells me "I have book journal due Tuesday and book proposal." I emailed his teacher and found out the book journal was actually due on the 14th! but she's giving him until the 22nd. If this was all he had to do, it would be bad enough. But he has an essay due on
Tuesday which is worth 50% of his first test grade. We have Friday and Monday to do all of this. (3 hrs)
Oh .. he hasn't read the book yet for the journal -- though maybe he'll have started it tonight if he can find it online. I would ordinarily say "let's work on Sunday afternoon" but I've already said I'd work with Mom's student on Sunday for a few hours - and I need to leave some of that time for my own school work!
Oh .. mom's student will be at least 6 hours, possibly up to 15 hours before all is said and done. At $25/hr. I don't tend to do much school work in the evenings, so for a week or two, this should work ok -- and give me a good boost of income!
The Long Day could have had a horrific ending. As I was driving home I got to this one spot where it is essentially a blind spot. Right before the road becomes divided with a median. I ended up on the wrong side. Only by the grace of God, and drivers who were paying attention, did I make it to a place where I could get back in the lane going the correct way.
Took about 5 years off my life.
Also made me decide to never take that way home again in the dark. My stepdad told me he's had that happen to him at that same spot - where cars all of a sudden are going the wrong way (with him the correct way).
--
Tomorrow Buddy goes in for his snip snip. We're hoping it'll help with his barking. Tonight a friend of my stepdad's was visiting. He has a beard (not sure if that was the problem), but Buddy just plain *did not* like this guy. He wouldn't stop barking or settle down till mom took him in the bedroom and closed the door. He'll do that with us sometimes too -- just start barking his head off. Sometimes if he hears me/sees me coming down the stairs and he's on moms bed, he'll start in. Other times if I have him at the table with me while I'm eating, and stepdad comes down the stairs, he starts barking. And on and on.
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This coming Tuesday I'll be getting my permanent crown. I was just thinking about calling the dentist to find out what was going on with it, when they called me. Good timing.
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September 11th, 2010 at 03:39 am
This is a neat video of an experiment conducted in Chicago where 100 $1 bills were pinned to a tree with various messages on them:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZsN8FUV9nS4
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We had some interesting weather here the first few days of the week. Wednesday afternoon as I was driving home from tutoring, I heard that tornado actually touched down in Dallas -- near the Lovefield airport. I haven't heard what damage estimates were for it yet, but there also was a good bit of flooding in various parts of the metroplex (Dallas, Fort Worth, plus numerous small cities).
My dad called me yesterday afternoon and told me that he and grandma were sitting in the living room watching CNN and it looked like all of us in DFW were being blown away or flooded out. Funny how the media over blows things.
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Speaking of the media ... maybe I shouldn't say this, but, I really wish they would just not cover the so-called Pastor in Florida and all his lunacy. People like that come out of the woodwork for their 15 minutes of fame, because that's just what they get. Maybe if they didn't get it, they'd be less likely to do stupid *** stuff.
So ... anyway...
My mom came home from the hospital on Wednesday afternoon. She's still in bed recuperating and in some pain, but much prefers her bed to the hospital. Buddy absolutely *detests* spending any time at all away from her. I take him up to my room and he starts whining this really terrible pitiful whine. Then when he calms down, acts all depressed. I think a lot of his behavior is anxiety related.
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Wednesday I started with my fourth and final tutoring student (at least for this semester). He's a good kid and I enjoyed working with him. I especially liked that his mom paid me for two weeks at the same time.
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Thursday after tutoring Korean boy, I stopped at a place called Pro Cuts and got four inches chopped off the length of my hair, and my bangs stair stepped (chin length, then down). After a $3 tip, it cost $18. I'm happy with it.
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Sunday I'll be meeting mom's former "friend" to exchange items - mom had a few things of his, and there were a number of things she didn't get in our moving her out last Friday night. He wanted to eat lunch. Uh no. I politely told him that I'd only have time to drive there, get the stuff, and then get back home. Not particularly looking forward to a one-hour drive one-way, and right back again. But it's what one does for family. (Plus I'll be driving stepdads car, so no gas or miles on my car - makes it more appealing.)
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September 1st, 2010 at 04:33 am
Sabbath morning I woke up feeling yucko and my tooth really bugging me. All day Sunday it got progressively worse. Finally Monday morning came, and I called the dentist and changed my build-up/temp crown appt. from the 21st to today.
Dmontngrey - my tooth is/was cracked/cracking, so a crown should work well enough. If not, then in a couple years maybe I'll have dental insurance again and/or will be in a better financial position to afford a root canal and crown.
I started with a new Korean student today. A girl. She is really super sweet. So now I have Korean boy and Korean girl. They both are about the same age I think, although one is a Junior and the other is a Senior.
With the 3 students I now have, I can make up to $900 a month. A fourth student will probably start next week, and will give me another potential $100/ month.
Four students would be a total of about 12 1/2 hours a week actual tutoring, plus another 6+ hours commute. That is about perfect with my school load this semester.
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Any ideas on how to keep mats from forming in a Maltese's fur? Before Buddy was groomed, I brushed him 3 or 4 times a week and he never had a mat. Since he was professionally groomed, within three days he had at least two mats. I was able to work one out, but the other one was too set. He now has a total of four mats, one fairly good size. (I took care of him while mom was on her trip, and we're keeping him till after his vet appt. on Friday.)
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August 27th, 2010 at 10:34 pm
Wow! I'm not complaining or anything, but why couldn't some of these people have showed up this summer when my income was completely dried up?
It looks as though I have a possibility of two more students. One would be directly before the 6th grade boy on Wednesdays, and the other would be directly before Korean boy on M, Tu, Th. Roughly an extra $90/ week.
If all of them come through, then I will just have to see if it is more than I can handle along with class work.
Classes started Thursday. Nothing is due until September 10, and the last assignment is December 9. One class looks like it will be a real doozie, but the other two look doable.
While my mom is on her trip, she's letting me drive her car. A 2010 Mazda 6. My car is a 1997 Honda Civic. I jokingly told her that she's going to have to fight me to get her car back. A working radio, windshield wipers that work at all speeds, cruise control, alerts when there's a car beside you when you want to change lanes .... luxury. The keyless entry and start up thing took me a while to get used to, but I'm really enjoying that aspect as well.
Too bad a Mazda 6 will probably never be in my budget category, even once I get a full-time job again. Too many other priorities.
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August 24th, 2010 at 01:34 am
Today I had my first tutoring session with Korean boy for the new year. We didn't really do any tutoring - just went around and met his teachers, exchanged email addresses, and then I followed Ms. G home (where we'll be doing our sessions.) By that time it was about 5 p.m. So ... $125.
Ms. G asked me if I'd be willing to work with her daughter a couple nights a week on Algebra 2 after finishing with Korean boy. (Korean boy, along with three other Korean students are staying with Ms. G.) After making sure she understood that I'd probably have to be refreshing my memory at the same time ... I said I'd charge just $15/hr instead of the $25, which she felt was fair. The library has a TON of Algebra learning books which I will be acquiring for myself shortly. An extra $30/week is worth it.
We had the one of the hottest days so far today -- 108 degrees. But we also just had a short thunderstorm - hopefully that cooled things down a bit.
Tomorrow I'll be depositing:
$125 - Korean tutoring money
$25 - Last week 6th grade boy tutoring
$20 - cash from mom for gas for her car
$89.89 - Primary SS reimbursement
My bank account is going to stroke out having that much money go in there at once.
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August 22nd, 2010 at 08:55 pm
Yesterday I met my mom's "friend". He's nice and all ...
I stayed with them, and then this morning took them to the airport. They're going to FL and then to Detroit. I get to drive my mom's car while they're gone -- soooo nice to listen to the radio again while I drive. Oh, not to mention ... cruise control! It's going to be hard going back to my car ....
On Friday I met with the Korean boy I tutored last year. At the end of the year I was under the impression that his parents wanted to cut back the number of sessions, and wanted a reduced price. So, I was going in there prepared to offer a lower price for 4 days a week. Thankfully they seem to have changed their mind!! 5 days a week at the same rate as last year.
However, his schedule doesn't offer an 1 1/2 hour block this semester. So, three days a week I'll be picking him up from school and going to his house. The other two days we'll be working through his lunch period and study hall. We had to do it this way due to my already having another student one afternoon a week, and not wanting to tutor on Friday afternoons.
He was diagnosed with Narcolepsy in Korea, and now takes a pill. He says that it has made a HUGE difference. I'm actually looking forward to working with him without the struggle to keep him awake and focused.
On Thursday this week I'll be meeting with two of my mom's tutoring students who may become mine.
So, I may possibly have 4 tutoring students on a regular basis this semester. Perhaps 5 -- if the student I meet with on Wednesday afternoons finds someone else who'd like me to work with them on the same afternoon (I offered a discount for both parents if they found someone for the same afternoon). That will make my schedule completely full. Due to taking 9 hours of graduate classes + completing the practicum requirements (and the classes all seem to have multiple research papers and other large projects) I don't think I could handle more and keep my grades to the level I expect of myself.
Classes start on Thursday, so I'll know more about what I have ahead of me over the next few months.
I mentioned previously that I upgraded to the lowest level of Netflix unlimited service. (Previously I was grandfathered in to the 1 disc/2x month plan.) Gotta say that I am loving it! I have been making much use of the streaming video (so has my stepdad - via the Wii). Anytime I think about maybe wanting to go see a movie in the theater - even at the $1 theater, I just remind myself that I already have an arsenal of movies at my service - and there are a TON that I haven't seen yet.
The best one so far I've seen recently was "Up." It was just so adorable! I'm thinking of seeing "The Boy with the Striped Pajamas" ... but am wanting to make sure I see it when I'm feeling good....
For the most part I am really enjoying teaching Sabbath School (same thing as Sunday School, just on Saturday). The one most irksome thing is never knowing exactly how many are going to be there - and the second most irksome thing is kids arriving at all different times - some even with 20 minutes left. For example, last week we had 8 kids. The most so far, and two of our regulars were missing. So, this week I was prepared for ten, but had materials enough for 12. We had 5 show up.
Oh well. The kids that do come regularly seem to really enjoy class -- I've had a number of the parents tell me that their child loves it. The ones that come regularly are also starting to get more into the song service part. At first I think they weren't sure about it - because the people who taught a combined Primary/Juniors class didn't do song service ... Two of the girls love the song "When He Cometh" almost as much as I do. And yesterday one of the children observed that most of the songs in our handmade songbook (thanks to not being able to afford multiple copies of the real songbook) have some kind of motions to go with them. That was totally on purpose. (It currently has 16 songs in it -- but I'll be adding a few more this week. One that one of the students requested yesterday, but I wasn't sure on the words. I'm using book rings to hold them together so it's easy to add new songs.)
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Oh, almost forgot!
I posted three more textbooks on half.com last week, and two of them sold within an hour of my posting them!!
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On Tuesday I have a dentist appointment for a cleaning, exam and x-rays. I have the feeling that I'll be quickly making an appointment for a crown -- the one tooth has been really bothering me lately. I wish I didn't have to repay for the x-rays, but the dentist I went to previously only did half my mouth, and that was quite a while ago, so the situation may have changed/worsened since then.
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