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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Good:

Friday afternoon I got a call from a parent who wants a tutor for her sixth-grade son. He needs help with writing - sounds like he *can* write, just has trouble coming up with ideas to respond to random questions. I meet with her and her son on Wednesday! This phone call is a result of the flier I left with the registrar of the school where I tutor the Korean boy. Yay!! It may work out to one or two hours a week at $25 each -- so $25 - 50 a week.

This morning one of my Primary Sabbath School kids brought me this really sweet picture/creation she had made for me. It looked like she'd really spent some time on it. I was reminded of one of the better parts of teaching. The sweet unexpected gifts from the kids.

Friday afternoon I turned in the final assignment for my summer class. No more classwork until August 26! (Of course then I start 9 credit hours + needing to make sure my requirements list is completed by November. So will be muy muy busy!)

I'm liking my job for the most part (writing and posting Craigslist ads) and have gotten paid twice now. However, once school starts and I have the Korean boy again, as well as the new tutoree, I will be quitting. (It was billed as a temporary job - with possible longer term. It also only pays 7.55/hr. So, compare doing one hour of tutoring for $25, or 3 1/2 hours of writing posts for Craigslist ...)

Mixed Bag Good/Sad:

Mom left last night. But since Buddy has a vet appointment on the Tuesday we had discussed leaving him here till after that. Plus mom is going out of town the last week of August and wanted me to take care of Buddy then too. So in the end, she asked me to take care of him through the end of August when she gets back from her trip.

Starting with the good:

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

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

3. I sold another textbook on half.com!

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

Not so good:

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

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

UGH!!

On Monday I was perusing the Craigslist job listings in what I thought was more futile effort. But I'm stubborn like that. So there's this ad for someone to write advertisements for merchandise and clean it up for pictures.

I called the number and found out it was a resale business. He was wanting someone in the morning so the ads would have a better showing. I went over and applied, and even did a sample posting. I chose this binder full of football player cards from 93.

Well I guess he must have liked my write up, cuz this morning (while I was out walking Buddy) he called. He wants me to start tomorrow! Next week forward it'll be mon to Th from 8 - 10. I think it pays 15/hr!!!

It may only be temporary - he wants to see if this will pick up sales or not. However long it lasts, it'll be more money than I have now! And if it does last, I think I'll be able to fit my tutoring student in afterwards. This way I'll be able to offer him a lower charge per session.

God is so good!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

But ... God is in control!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Today's visit -$85.

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

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

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

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

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

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

My one remaining student still hasn't paid me for May. He'd asked me if I could wait until he found out for sure when his final was ... I agreed. Then the next day I pointed out to him that if he wanted me to help him with the English class, it didn't matter when the final was -- and that I needed him to pay me by Friday. He must have forgot, and I also forgot, because the entire session we were working on the (thankfully!!!) open book test.

I know for sure that I have A's in two of my classes. In my third class I am pretty much finished with the final test, but am just waiting for a reply from the instructor regarding a few questions I had.

I've been enjoying myself soaking up book after book -- ones I want to read, and can enjoy without having to worry about writing something about them later.

My mom and I have played 4 games of Words With Friends in the last week. She's won two, I've won one (and am probably going to win the current one).

I've not been doing very well with food or money lately. They kind of go hand in hand for me. The more my gut tightens about not having money, the easier it is for me to spend money --- not on good, healthy food -- but on junk food. I'd been doing so well on No-S, sticking to just the weekends for my sweet tooth -- but of the last two weeks especially ... not good. It's almost like I get this voice in my head that tells me --well the money's gonna run out sometime one way or the other, whether you're careful or not ... may as well enjoy some of it.

I'll get back on track, I always do. I just wish I was stronger and could tell that "voice" (for lack of better terminology) to shut the hey up!

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In good money news ...

I got my tax refund --- $62! Yay! I'd been planning on using some of it for a hair cut, but with what I'm bringing in for May, and nothing lined up at all for June yet ... guess I won't be getting a hair cut any time soon.

Also, after a bit of a mess with half.com (they had an old checking account on file for me -- and I had to verify my identity in order to update) I finally am getting paid for the two textbooks I sold. (Actually, I sold three. But before I mailed out the third one, the buyer asked for a refund. Supposedly had dropped the class.) So ... that's $59.62.

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I've been really considering what to do with my things in the storage building. That rent eats $79 a month. I'd say the unit is about half-full -- it was the smallest non-climate controlled one. The climate controlled ones start at $99/mo.

I have approximately another year before I could possibly get into a place of my own again. So, the 4 months it's already been in storage, plus 12 more would be a total of 16 x $79 = 1264.

What's in storage? 5 bookshelves of varying sizes, approximately 15 boxes of books, ~5 boxes of photos/games/DVD's/memorabilia, ~10 boxes of kitchen and bathroom stuff, 3 boxes of decorative items, elliptical, 2 dressers (1 is my childhood dresser the other is a normal dresser), 2 nightstands, futon/couch,computer desk/hutch,and some other miscellaneous items.

I could see selling the elliptical with no problem. The futon/couch I could sell, although I was thinking I could use that as my bed whenever I get into my new place. The childhood dresser ... mostly held on to for sentimental value, as well as the hope to use it for a child of my own someday -- very dim hope. It's not very big, but is sturdy. The books ... I suppose I could cull them down to only 5 boxes worth, if I absolutely had to.

The thing is, even if I did manage to cull the items down to even half of what I have right now ... the smaller units wouldn't be cheaper. Or, if I somehow found another place with cheaper smaller units, I'm not sure the savings would equal out the cost of renting a truck to move the items.

Ugh. I don't see a way to effectively cut this expense. Although, maybe I should go ahead and try to sell the elliptical. I probably couldn't get more than $50 for it though ... it would be more than nothing.

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Is anyone else having a problem getting notified about responses to blog posts? I've gone back and checked a number of blogs where I commented, and found that there'd been subsequent comments - but I'd not gotten any notice of it.

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Well, can't think of anything else halfway interesting right now. Hope everyone has a good weekend -- and Happy Mother's day to all the mom's!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Well, that's about it for now.

I'm in the final stretch of the semester. Lots of stuff due in the next 5 or 6 days, then I can take a breath.

A mixed blessing occured this morning. I was told by one of my two tutoring student's moms that she couldn't afford to keep going. So, instead of going into June with a possible $7-800, I'll be going in with about $400. I've resolved to not panic. God is in control.

I did not manage to cut my food budget this month like I'd hoped to do. Part of the problem I think was I didn't really plan very well. So, as soon as I have a chance, I plan on seeing how many meals I can make with stuff I already have, and then just fill in the edges. Maybe I'll be able to do some cooking on Sunday (and freezing).

I was asked to do a third job at church. I turned it down - with good reason. It was being the Sabbath School Secretary - essentially the person who goes around and collects the offering before SS is over. Can't quite do that if I'm teaching the Primaries.

Well, this has to be one of the shortest entries I've ever done I think.

Before I go -- For great Christian romance stories suitable for teens, check out the Christy Miller, etc. series by Robin Jones Gunn. Excellent.

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

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

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

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

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

Just not something I want to do.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Okay, some book reccs:

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

One-handed Catch - MJ Auch:

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

15 - Adult

Little Brother - Cory Doctorov:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Simply a fantastic book. (An award winner!)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Today I finally had the chance to stop by Aldis. We were out of bananas, so I figured I'd pick some up.

Overall, I wasn't really impressed. The carts were gigantic and the aisles narrow. The aisles didn't seem to have much rhyme or reason for what they had - which meant they couldn't mark them clearly. Some prices were better, but not remarkably so.
It just didn't seem like they'd thought through people flow when designing it. Then I got to checkout with my one bag of bananas. I got in line behind a lady with about 10 items who was behind someone else with 100+ items. While we were waiting another cashier came by and told us to get into a new lane. So we did. He left. 10 minutes later he returned with his cash box. We were basically stuck waiting because all the other lanes were packed. The lady in front of me remarked that she'd made two visits to that store - her first and her last.

As for me, I think I'll wait a few weeks and try again. Maybe by then they'll have gotten more organized.

--
I'd seriously like to drop my sixth grade tutoring student. Not because of him, but because of his mother. She's so flakey!! Sunday I texted her to dblchk that we were on for Monday as normal (last week was spring break.) She finally replied Monday morning that she was in the process of moving - so could we just do Wed/Th instead? Sure, why not lose $40 of my April budget - just a tank of gas and some groceries. (could've met him at the school)

So today I really wasn't feeling good, but I needed the $30 plus the $40 she owed me from before spring break. So I head out to her new address. Just as I'm about there, I get a call from her saying she'd jet realized it was Wed and that her mom had picked son up from school. She then later had the gall to try and place the blame on me - for not texting her to double check about today!!

Tomorrow I'll meet him at the school and supposedly get the money owed previously, and "take care" of this week. I'm curious if she's planning on compensating me for today - I highly, highly doubt it.

(for reference - the drive is about 30 minutes if I leave at 3 pm. If I leave at 3:08 or later, it will take at least 45 minutes or more. So I either leave at 3 and wait in my car for 30 minutes, or leave 10 minutes later, and sit in traffic for 15 extra minutes.)

---
Well since I didn't have tutoring, I stopped by the library to pick up the books for my next journal assignment. Oy vey!

I had the titles and the call numbers written down, so shouldve been easy right? HAH!

After the third time I had to ask a librarian (same one) where a book was, she told me I could just put the books on hold so I didn't have to hunt for them. I told her I thought you couldn't do that for books in your home branch - but she said I could!

I ended up finding all but three books I needed, and put the rest on hold! (these were all books showing as having multiple copies checked in at this branch)

Most of these books are *thick*! Ordinarily, I love thick books, but when I have 8 of them to read, plus the research project, plus the asl video project, etc. all due in less than a month ... Ai Ai Ai!!

The good thing though is that after May 2, other than the third cataloging test, I am done with school until June 6(or whatever date is Sunday that week.) So I'll have a few weeks to just breathe - and concentrate on ASL.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

---
Groceries today: $22.58

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

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

Tuesday was a long, yet good day.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

What a great day.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Yay! Right?

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

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

Error message. Software update couldn't be completed.

Weird??

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

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

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

Error message. Restore couldn't be completed.

WHAT???

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

It worked!

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

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

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

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

This coming week is Spring Break. At first I thought both of my tutoring students were not going to use me, so, a loss of $225. But, thankfully only the $100/wk student decided to take the week off.

I've not been doing any extra driving - to work and home, to ASL class and home, to church and home. Any grocery or gas stops have been en route. This coming week however I might do an extra trip to meet my friend T and kids for a movie, and perhaps meet with my mom somewhere, then perhaps a third trip to the dollar movies on my own. Kind of giving myself a little "vacation" too.

Last week my storytimes all went really well. I ended up doing 4! Two for my local church's school, and two at my mentor's library.

I'm working on translating a book and poem into ASL for my video blog with my ASL teacher. (found a free download thing that converts youtube videos into windows media files so I can edit the youtube video in movie maker which comes free on PC's.)

Today I bought ($4.99) a running app on my iPhone called "jog log". I'd been wanting to get back with my running, but didn't like most of the apps I saw for intervals (couch to 5k programs). With this app I was able to create my own program. I can progress as fast or as slow as I'm capable. I might try to go out for a run later today. Beautiful weather. (My phone's charging right now.)

This week I need to work on my research project for my cataloging class and my third journal for children's lit. So far I'm making A's in all my classes.

I applied for a bunch of scholarships for next year a few weeks ago. I don't know when they let you know one way or the other, but it would be so great if I could even get $1k in scholarships. It would greatly ease my mind.

I've been feeling really tired and run down lately. I'm hoping that when I get back to running/walking regularly it'll help.

Can't think of anything else right now.

It's been a bit since I last posted. One big reason is because something happened which made me really ticked off, and I didn't want to spew it all out here.

Long story short. My mom has filed for divorce and has moved out. This, after she assured me that she and stepdad had a plan in place if things weren't working between them. So, that leaves me in the very awkward position of renting a room in the home of my soon to be ex stepdad. Yay!

I've been told that I'm welcome to stay. Which is what I've decided to do. One year with four different addresses is way more than enough.

Ugh.

----
My ankle is pretty much healed. Tailbone, not so much. Today between driving to church, SS, church, then driving home, meant over 4 hours of sitting. Even with the modified donut, it was too much.

---
Things have worked out with my library mentor. I'll be doing a storytime for the church school on Tuesday - kind of a dry run. Then at my mentors school on Thursday. Tuesday I'm also going to be working with my ASL teacher to start learning the signs for my video blog storytime.

--
I seem to be back on track with my eating now - which is good, because usually when my eating is off kilter, so are my finances.

April might be a very tight month financially. Although it wouldve been more so if one of my tutorees hadn't decided to not go away over Spring Break.

--
So, can anyone tell me. What's the point of getting married or being in a relationship??? Seriously, as lonely as I feel sometimes, is it that much better to be in a relationship or marriage where your partner isn't willing or able to give it a chance - to work through the hard times? I know there are people out there who ARE willing to do the hard stuff of relationships/marriage, but how do you know if you found someone who isn't going to just run away when it gets too hard?
I guess you could say I feel ready to give up on the whole idea of another relationship, let alone marriage.

What happened to divorce not being part of a married persons vocabulary? (except in instances of abuse or infidelity)

This morning I woke up to an inch of snow on the ground. Other areas south of us got several inches. School wasn't canceled, so I worked with my tutoring student.

When I got home I was tired due to not sleeping well (thanks to my tailbone) and was also feeling frustrated at how the tutoring student seems to be trying to sabotage himself. He got a passing grade on his last two quizzes and test - so now he wants to cut our biology study time in half (other half on English). Everyone here who works with him thinks it's a bad idea. But his parents in Korea have agreed to it. So unless he starts understanding it lots better on his own, this last test where he made a 79, may be his highest grade. Ugh.

Anyway. I decided to take a nap. Of course I'd barely laid down when my dad called me to rub in that he was out in barefeet picking oranges. Then I got a call from my ASL teacher telling me class was canceled tonight due to possible ice on the road.

So finally I took my nap. When I got up I talked to my stepdad. Apparantally my mom thinks I've been leaving my dishes in the sink and oatmeal on the counter. Well, the dish in question is actually a pot. I don't use a pot to make my oatmeal. The oatmeal on the counter is a namebrand. My oatmeal is not - plus I keep my scoop in it. I told him no big deal, that I'd put her stuff away if I see it left out. He said he'll talk to her about it.

Seriously, I could care less. It's just slightly annoying to have it assumed that the stuff is mine when I've tried to be ultra concious about putting things away after myself.

In other news (actual financial) I haven't eaten out since Thursday! I'm starting to earn points for the challenge a bit late, but better late than never, right?

Oh, class being canceled tonight means that I'll probably only have one more tank of gas for Feb. That'll mean I'll come in under gas budget this month! Which is good, because last month I went over.

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

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






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

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

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

I may have a very full schedule soon!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Starting on Monday, I will be working 90 minutes per weekday with a ninth-grade student on Biology and English. He has limited English proficiency and narcolepsy (where he falls asleep without warning). On his test days (for biology) I'll sit in the classroom with him and read the test with him (and I think I get paid extra for that).

Woo Hoo!

This is at the same school where I interviewed last week for the keyboarding position.

Also ... on Monday I'll be meeting with a mom of another 9th grade boy who is Autistic. If we gell, then I may start shadowing her son in his afternoon classes one or two days a week. The mom has been doing the shadowing full time since the woman who'd worked with him before found another job in her field. So, this would mainly be a way for the mom to be able to get some things done during the school day.

If I have all three of these jobs (tutoring 6th grade boy, and the two 9th grade boys) I will not only have enough to pay my bills each month, but have enough to put away for tuition for next year! Meaning, that I may not have to borrow from my dad for my final semester (which is something I was thinking I may have to do, due to all the car expenses).

Best of all, though - No more gym after this Thursday!!!

This will mean that I'll have to be more efficient with my own classwork, but I really think it is quite doable.

Heh, I'm going back to high-school!

I hadn't checked my 401k from my former company for a couple months. Today, I logged in just to see how it was doing.

There was NO money in the account!

The last time I'd looked, I had over $4,000.00!!!

It was after business hours, so I sent an email asking what had happened to my money!! A small portion of it was employer matched money (maybe $400 or so) but the rest of it was money I'd put in - either through a rollover, or from my salary.

I've had a 401k from when I was teaching continue to be held for me, now for nearly 5 years. This makes me more than slightly perturbed.

---
This has been one spendy month. Nearly $200 spent on gas (when a normal month *might* be $90). Then of course renting a truck to move, and paying rent (for Feb.) to two places (guess that actually would count towards Feb and not Jan.)

Next month will hopefully be better. I'll be making another tuition payment (I took the three payment plan - just to spread out the pain a little bit).

On Wednesday I left my tutoring bag at the school - in it was my iPhone charger along with a marker board and other supplies. So, I had to go to Walmart and get another phone charger - because I was going to be at the gym all day Thursday, and had to have my phone working.

Yesterday as I was leaving the gym to go to my Thursday tutoring session, I got a call from the headmaster of the school I'd interviewed at on Wednesday. After I'd interviewed, apparently someone else with more experience working with 8th graders and who could do Reading Recovery applied - and they went with her.

Of course I thought I'd be starting Monday, so had already told E he needed to find someone else. I'd also told a couple gym regulars ... So, had to call E and grovel. He gave me hours - but less, and instead of Tuesdays, Mondays.

So I did my tutoring session (without the markerboard) and headed home. And got royally lost - even with the gps on my phone. It was raining cats and dogs and super dark. I was nearly out of gas when I finally found a gas station.

I pulled off the freeway and filled up. Across the street was an AT&T store. My phone has been coming close to dying on me 3 or 4 times in the last week when I've been far away from any place to recharge it. So ... I went in and I bought one of those portable battery chargers ... $50. I also had the guy change my texting plan to the $15/1500 text plan (this last bill I had 400 texts over my plan limit of 200). Then ... I somewhat impetuously decided to sign up for the talking gps function. I figured I could try it out for a month and see if it was better than the free gps (no talking/no auto rerouting) option. $10/mo extra.

I tried out the new gps function today. I really really like it. Sometimes its a little slow on telling you turns, but if you miss a turn, it automatically reroutes. SO nice not having to mess with touching the screen to see the next turn. You also can be choosy about how you want them to make your route. SO nice.

I guess you could say I did a little bit of retail therapy. At least I don't do it very often, right? And these were all things I'd been thinking about and debating about pretty much since I first got my phone in September (I think)?

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After a nice week weather wise, it was really strange to go outside today and be freezing my tail end off again. I hope it goes away soon and we get back our low 50's!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Spending:

Business expense: iPhone math apps - $7

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

Yahoo!

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

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

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

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

Um.. okay.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Offering: 1.xx

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

Change of address form: $1

Driver's License change: $11

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Ugh!

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

SA'ers are the best!

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Spending:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Spending today:

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

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

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

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

$317.68

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