Just a quick note.

Last week at work was such a crazy chaotic week. The powers that be decided they needed to build two new offices within our company's area. Those two new offices of course are being built in the same area where another coworker and I had our desks.

So, other coworker and I had the pleasure of packing up our desks/computers etc and transferring them elsewhere. Coworker got put in the file room, and I got the pleasure of sharing the computer with the front desk receptionist. Fun.

If all has gone well this weekend, the furniture will be able to be moved back into the area by Tuesday morning, and we'll have our desks/computers back.

BTW - we're not getting the offices. There's enough room outside of them in that same area for our desks to fit. Less privacy than before (which wasn't much to speak of anyway.)

Such is life as a peon I guess.

---
Up to almost $56 with ChaCha. I took a couple days off from it in order to get other things done. I'll be getting my next gym paycheck on Friday - it'll be for 11 1/2 hours *$5.55 (3 Friday's + a one-hour shift I covered). It'll be a nice start to October's Extra Monies.

Today I got a call from E at the gym asking if I could work the 5:30 to close shift. I was only planning on watching a movie tonight, so I said sure, why not.

While I was at the gym in the afternoon, I found out that we get paid on the first business day of each month, and the 15th of each month. So that means I have a paycheck waiting for me at the other gym location. I'll pick it up on Friday, which is fine, since I won't be able to get by a bank until then anyway.

Then tonight I got another call from E asking if I'd be willing to come in *early* tomorrow and open. The person who was supposed to do it is sick. I of course said YES.

I think I'm going to REALLY like my next paycheck.

-------
When I checked my email tonight I saw that I'd received another ING referral bonus. YAY!

Of course, I'm still waiting for two of the last three bonuses to go to my available balance column. I think they still earn interest though, which really is all that matters.

----
I'm now up to nearly $28 in ChaCha earnings. I think I've become slightly addicted to the sound of a doorbell.

---
A new company has moved into our office building. They are taking up at least two complete floors.

This morning I arrived at around 7:15 a.m. and found that the ENTIRE row where I normally park was completely full!! Normally when I get there at that time, there *might* be one or two cars in that section.

So it looks like I'll be parking up on the next level from now on. That's okay though, because that is the same level that the gym is on.

----

I forgot to mention yesterday . .

On Sunday my dad and I found mini-blinds at Walmart for about $8. It took us all of about 3 minutes to remove the old ones and install the new ones.

That saved me at least $27.

While we were at Walmart, we also had them fill my tires with air and move the hubcap on my one tire so we could get to the airstem. They did it for no charge.

My sidebar is updated I added a page for September to track my savings and extra monies. I am not including my income from Cha Cha or the gym until I actually receive payments.
-----
This morning I ran my second 5k race. Going into it I wasn't expecting great things because I felt like I hadn't been training like I needed to.

Well! Guess what? I BEAT MY TIME! Woo Hoo!

This particular race didn't use the timing chips, so I'm not sure of what my *exact* time was - - but as I passed the finish line the clock read 43:00!! I started near the middle of the crowd, so I probably could subtract a few seconds. Even so, that is an improvement of at least 37 seconds!

One kind of downer though. Most of the second half of the race there was this older lady who I kept trading places with - she'd run ahead of me a bit while I was walking, then I'd run ahead of her a bit while she was walking, etc. We both reached the 3 mile marker at the same time and agreed to run it the rest of the way together.

I wasn't able to run it the whole way because the first part of it was over dirt with lots of tree roots. I figured rubbery legs + tree roots = possible injury. Once I got to the section which was just dirt, I ran again. The older lady ran the whole way.

She made it across the finish line about 15 seconds before I did. I'd finished and drunk a couple cups of water (and my dad had finished the end of the race video) when we noticed someone laying on the ground being fanned. A few minutes later, paramedics came and put her on a stretcher.

It was that same lady I had ran to the finish line with. The ambulance stayed at the lake, so she probably was okay. Just kind of a bummer to see someone you sort of ran with go down like that.

----
In other news, I've now made nearly $16 with ChaCha now. It really is kind of fun and easy.

------
Saturday night I took my mom and stepdad to a local baseball team's game. I'd gotten the tickets for free from my company. The tickets included free food and parking. We all ate way too much - but had a great time.

--------
Today was probably the last time I'll see my dad until at least Christmas. A week from tomorrow he will be heading out to CA next Tuesday. So now it's just my mom and I left here in Texas.

I noticed yesterday that some of the gas stations had gone up by 5 - 10 cents except for one. So today I decided to fill up even though I still had a good amount to get me through the weekend. I didn't want to take the chance of the $3.34 price becoming the $3.45 price of another station (or worse!)

8/22/08 Odometer: 104,917
8/29/08 Odometer: 105,185

=268 miles (trip to mom and stepdads, trip to Mckinney (Museum), regular driving)

Purchased 7.764 gallons@ $3.34 =$26.00

Mileage = 268/7764 ~29 mpg

Hmm . . that number seems off somehow. It's strange how each time I fill up, my mileage seems to be going down by one mile.
----
Today was kind of frustrating at work. I was *very* busy. That is a good thing. But one of the frustrating things that happened was that I worked through my normal lunch hour to finish getting some documents certifed mailed. Then, when I took my lunch time, I had only finished eating a few minutes, when my OM saw me savoring the last few minutes of break time and was like - L, do you know DW has stuff he needs you to do? And that he said you'll have to stay here till it's done?

Arghh! Yes, I knew he had stuff he wanted me to do. I knew that it wouldn't be something that could be done quickly, and that he wanted it done before leaving for the weekend. I know she wasn't saying it to be mean or malicious or whatever, but at that point it just sat so totally wrong with me!

Then later on I was attempting to make copies of these HUGE documents. He wanted them in color. There is only the one color copier. I had managed to make one good copy, and had a second one set when the copier started whirring with a big print job. Usually I can handle that without outwardly showing any frustration. Today my frustration showed and was noticed by the person who'd sent the print job.

I know it can't be helped when there are a dozen people hooked up to the same copier/printer. Even so, it can be SO annoying when you're in the middle of a copy job to all of a sudden have a print job start up. It's nobody's fault, and can't really be helped. All the same, it still can be quite annoying.

Some of you may recall that a few months ago I was considering a move to CA. After considering pros and cons, I developed a list of 5 signs/events which would need to happen for me to feel certain it was the right way to go.

Well, tonight I got a phone call letting me know that the first item on the list has happened! This is incredibly exciting news for the main person involved, as well as for the whole family.

So . . . one down, four to go.

-----

My apartment complex management have become anal about appearances. A few weeks ago they sent a notice listing a bunch of different possible violations and their fine value.

One item was regarding the mini-blinds on the windows. Admittedly, the condition of some of the mini-blinds in the complex is atrocious, so I can kind of see their point. But . . I got a fine notice on my door today.

The blinds in my bedroom are fine. Nothing broken, and they hang all the way down.

The blinds in my living room are the problem. While my beloved cat was alive, he destroyed a good number of mini blinds in the various places we lived. I tried to avert that from happening by making sure the blinds were lifted from the windowsill enough for him to stick his head under.

Didn't work. So, I have one blind that has half of about six sections that are broken out. Then, the other mini-blind is stuck in the position where there is about two inches of space between the windowsill and the bottom of it.

So, I have to replace the one mini-blind myself, or have the management come in and replace it for $35.

Ugh!

Thankfully my dad is coming up Sunday so he can be here for my 5k on Monday. We're going to go to Walmart, etc to see if we can beat that price. I'm really hoping for something more in the $10 - 15 range, if not LESS.

What really irks me about this is that I've never been charged for the blinds in any of the other places I've lived - never even came out of my security deposit.

--
I put another few hours on ChaCha tonight. It was a bit on the slow side - had plenty of time to surf the net between questions. Made a couple more dollars while doing what I'd probably be doing anyway.

---
I went to deposit some money into my WAMU account today via the ATM. But when I got to the point where I put the deposit envelope into the ATM, I got the message saying that they couldn't help me any further and I needed to contact my financial institution.

I've had a $0 balance in the account for a couple months now, but if it was deactivated (which is the only thing I could think of) then why did it even accept my pin #??

I am now proud to say that I hold three jobs. My first job (the one that pays the bills) is of course the one at the oil and gas company.

My second job is the 3 1/2 hours on Friday afternoons at the gym.

My third job, which I just started today, is with ChaCha as an expeditor. In slightly over 90 minutes I made $3.30. I know, not a whole lot of money - but it's money I wouldn't have otherwise made in that time period.

I wish we had Firefox on our computers at work so I could do some ChaCha during lunchtime.

My goal is to make $20/week. So, that translates to roughly an hour a day. If I'm able to put in an extra two hours on the weekends, then I could make up to $100/month (give or take).


--

Remember my savings goal of a Cruise in 2010? Well, I realized today that I'll turn 35 in December of 2010. So I've decided that it will be my 35th Birthday Cruise. I'm thinking that for the next couple of birthdays/Christmases I'll let everyone know that any cash gifts I receive, half of them will go towards my Cruise fund.

Car trouble:

1 - My dad's GMC Jimmy - some kind of ball bearing or some such thing in his front driver side tire broke. He was here, visiting me, we were about a mile from my apartment. Took about three hours, but a friend of his brought a big trailer up and loaded his Jimmy on it. Short term fix cost about $161, long term fix (replacing whole front axle, big and small bearings, etc) cost another $900.

My dad says that the steering is so much more sharp than it had been and is glad he went ahead and did the whole shebang. His Jimmy has close to 200k miles, was bought used, and has been paid for a bit over a year.

2 - My tires -- My tires are low. I know all I need to do to fix this is find a tire pressure gauge somewhere and fill them with air. However, one of the tires had the hubcap put on in a weird way (it must be one of the newer tires) and the stem is not in a reachable spot.

So, I need to go somewhere where they have one of those tools to take the hubcap off and put it back on with the stem reahable. My dad suggests Walmart (where I bought my tires.) However, I really really don't look forward to sitting around for an hour or two just to get air in my tires -- so have been putting it off.

That one tire (with the strangely placed hubcap) is looking really low . . .

-----
New job:
Today was my second shift at the gym. Like last week's, it was completely uneventful. No one came in to workout . . so I had pretty much the whole time to read, or if I'd wanted to, I could have called someone and talked on my cell. The only things I really did was to fold towels that had been in the dryer, and start a new load of towels.

Last week I made it very shortly after 3:00 p.m. Today was a different story. At 2:54 p.m. my main boss saw me walking down the hallway and called me in to ask me to do some copying for him - and he needed it right then.

What was I going to say? Um, can't do that for you because it'll make me late for my other job that pays minimum wage. Yeah, that would be a NO.

So, I ended up getting there 10 minutes late. I'd told E that this was a possibility, but that I didn't think it would really happen. Of course, it did have to happen - luckily not on my first shift!

When I'm sitting in the gym wondering how I can make time pass faster . . I remind myself that the reason I'm doing this is to help me get to my house that much faster, as well as my other savings goals. That helps the time to pass just a bit more easily.

---
My carpooler started making noise a couple months ago about how she didn't like the 7a.m. leaving time and that she was going to find other rides. At the time, I told her that was fine - she needed to do what suited her needs best.

So, for the last 3 weeks or so, she's been riding with me pretty sporadically. Last week she rode with me twice - didn't give me any money. This week she rode with me twice, and gave me $5.

So, it appears that $40 of my extra income pool may dwindle to more like $10 - 15, or perhaps less a month.

The only way to change that would be for me to go in everyday at 8a.m. which would mean no time to workout at the gym in the morning. Not going to happen.

-----
I had to fill up today. I ended up paying an extra $.21 for it because I decided to pass up the station selling for $3.39/gallon to see if the station which had been lower in price the day before would happen to be lower again today. They weren't.

So . . . $3.41/gallon
Bought: 10.449 gallons

Odometer on 8/8/08 = 104,601
Odometer on 8/22/08 = 104,917

So, mileage would be 316/1050

Which equals ~30.09 mph

That is a bit less than last time, but almost all the driving was done in town.

I was also surprised to see a number over 10 gallons when filling up. I think thats the first time I've seen it go over 10 gallons since I can remember. I really thought I had a gas tank slightly smaller than 10 gallons. Maybe I really was smelling fumes coasting into the gas station.

Yay! I got another ING referral bonus today:

+$10 for Downpayment fund!

---

I don't drink a lot of soda . . but my mom does! She's addicted to diet Coke. So I got an email from Tom Thumb and one of the deals was buy 2 12 pks of Coke, get 3 12 pks free. I stopped by after work yesterday, and for a total of $12, I bought 5 12 pks of Coke - 4 for my mom, and 1 for me.

Today was my stepdad's birthday, so I called to wish him a happy bd -- and also to tell him about the deal. He's very much like me in that he likes to find ways to save money wherever possible.

The thing I was wondering though -- have 12 packs *really* gone up to $6??? I don't remember the last time I bought a 12 pk, so maybe they've been that much for a while .. but OMW that is a LOT of money for soda.

---
Today at work I was making some copies at the end of the day and just happened to glance in the trash can. There was an empty 20oz bottle of fanta -- so . . I absconded with the lid. (mycokerewards)

---
I was supposed to do my training today after work for the gym. But E called me and said that he'd had a new client who wanted to train at 5:30 today - so would I be willing to train in the morning. Of course, I said yes.

So I'll do my training in the morning, and have my first shift in the afternoon! Look out - here I come - ready to make $6.55/hr! So at 3.5 hrs, plus maybe another 30 minutes training =4 hrs = $26.20. -- Almost a tank of gas! LOL

I will have to find out if they pay weekly or monthly and if they do direct deposit. I hope they do dd, but I kind of doubt it.

Grocery shopping: $25.61

I stopped at Walmart tonight. They had the Boca Burger's in a bun 2 for $4. That made each complete sandwich $1. I bought 5 boxes of them. (They're pretty good - I've had them before.)

As I was driving home I was thinking about how much I could spend on my various meals per month if I didn't have too much variance.

30 days worth of breakfast - 2 large cannisters of oatmeal + 2 large containers of egg sub, maybe 4lbs of bananas = ~$20

Work lunches - 20 days - 20 Amy's burritos from Target at $1.69 ($33.80), 1 large bag frozen veggies ($2) -- ~$35.80

Home lunches (10 days) - pb & j sandwiches, boca burgers, etc - $10

Supper - 2 bags Quiona, 1 bag brown rice, 1 bag lentils, frozen veggies ~$30

Snacks - (string cheese, almonds,) ~$10

So, theoretically, I could get by on less than $110/month. Work lunches could cost even less when I make my own burritos (but not that much less really).

So, where does all the other money go in my grocery budget? Let's see . . last month I broke down and bought a pizza from Pizza Hut . . I also found a store that sold Nestle Treasures & had Orange Crush Jelly Belly's . . . I bought a couple varieties of squash (expensive stuff!) . . . I bought some unhealthy junkfood items . . plus other things not coming to mind right now.

---

Before I even got started with all this thinking this afternoon, I'd asked to take Monday off as one of my vacation days.

I've gotten more and more behind in my housework and haven't been preparing meals ahead of time -- which has led to my doing a lot of the impulse convenience food shopping of the past few weeks.

This weekend I only am planning on going to church Sat. morning, then Sun afternoon I'll be doing my first RAoK meetup with the Salvation Army.

That means I'll have from 11:30 a.m. on Saturday until 4:30 p.m. on Sunday, and then all day Monday to be productive.

My plan is to give my apartment a through cleaning by Sunday afternoon. Then, on Monday I am going to plan out my meals for the rest of the month - attempting to use ONLY what I have on hand already as much as possible.

If I accomplish both the goal of having my apartment in Impress a Stranger Shape, and have my meals planned out (and prepared ahead as much as possible) for the month by 2 p.m. on Monday, then I'm going to treat myself to a movie. -- I want to go see "Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2".

What that means is that when I get home tomorrow (after stopping at the library) with the 9th book in the Janet Evanovich Stephanie Plum series, I will have to make a decision between sitting down and reading that first, or get a head start on the cleaning. If last weekend repeats itself, Stephanie Plum will win.

Today's spending:

Gas: $3.73/gallon - 9.382 gallons bought
...........=$35.08 Odomoter: 104,433

Groceries: $30.59

Bought: red/green grapes, 3 bananas, 4 red del apples, 1 can mandarin oranges, lg cannister old-fashioned oatmeal, 5 16oz containers of egg whites, 1 32oz mixed frozen veggies, 1 box Morningstar veggie links, lg container Rice Dream milk, 1 sm box Junior Mints

---

Woo Hoo! Remember how in my last couple posts I mentioned about how I was trying to figure out whether I should go with the quarterly membership plan at the gym, or cough up the money for a full year?

Well, today near the end of my workout session with E, he confirmed with me that I do have the job (after work on Fridays 3 1/2 hrs) starting a week from this coming Friday. He also mentioned that since I'd be working at the gym, my membership would be FREE!

So, not only does that mean I don't need to pay for the quarterly fee (roughly $64), it also means that I don't have to put it in my budget to save up for the next quarterly due!

Yay!!!

---

When I was doing my grocery shopping today, I noticed something that slightly annoyed me. First of all, Wal-mart has stopped carrying the large container of generic egg substitute. Wah! Secondly, the next least expensive brand that is in a large container cost $4.89 for 32 oz, while the 16oz containers cost $2.44/each. So, you would at first assume it would be cheaper to buy the 32oz version + greener (due to less trash) - but obviously you would be wrong!

----
?'s

I'm going to a Vegan/Vegetarian meetup brunch tomorrow. I'm planning on bringing a fruit salad, but I'm not sure if the mixture I'm thinking of will work right or not.

Here's the fruit I was thinking of: red/green grapes, sliced bananas, chopped apples, mandarin oranges, maybe some canned pineapple chunks?

Is there anything that I should take out? Or do you think all those tastes/textures would work ok?

Next ?

At the gym, I will be an independent contractor. This year I will make less than $600. Do I have to do a Schedule C for it? Or can it be listed under "other income" for tax purposes?

Next year, I would make a bit less than $1200. Would that be enough to make me have to pay self-employment taxes?

One more ?

Anyone have any idea why my Cruise 2010 ticker is so long? It's cutting part of my sidebar off! I checked the code and it looks the same as the other tickers. Weird.

July:

I kept fairly good track of my spending this month, but even so did overspend in several categories (food being the main culprit.)

I had some extra expenses that I had not counted on with my switch from a landline based DSL to a non-landline based DSL.

I made some purchases that I probably should have foregone.

However, I was able to sell some items, as well as return some items.

So, all in all, financially speaking, not a great month, but not the worst.

August:

I will be starting my second job sometime in August, which will bring in about $28/wk (3 1/2 hours)

I need to make a decision about whether I'm going to pay my gym membership in full for a year at the reduced rate, or just pay one-quarter at the reduced rate by August 30.

The DFWO group I joined in July is doing a 7-day Caribbean cruise at the beginning of January. It cost's $700 + taxes and tips. I'd really like to go on this, but there is no way I'd be able to save enough to go by January, unless I put all my savings + extras toward it.

So, thinking about how excited I was about the Kenny G concert, and how it motivated me to "find" money to be able to go, I've come up with a long term goal.

Starting in August, I now have 3 savings goals.

1. Car Fund (until fully funded):
$220/mo base + all HSBC interest
+ 40% of extra* monies

2. House Downpayment Fund:
$50/mo base (TDAMERITRADE)
+ All ING interest
+ 30% of all extra* monies

3. Cruise 2010 Fund:
30% of all extra* monies

*Extra Monies = Second job, proceeds from anything I sell, survey money, 5th paychecks, ING referral rewards, Carpooler money, overbudgeted amounts in gasoline, 50% groceries, bonuses, etc.

Once the Car fund is fully funded, it still will get all HSBC interest (to help pay for repairs.) But the House Downpayment will then go to 60% all Extra (plus the monthly savings), and the Cruise 2010 Fund will go to 40% all Extra.

I will track all extra money on a page (sidebar). I'm not *too* far from fully funding my Car Fund. I just have to really buckle down and quit spending so much overbudget in a few categories which keeps dwindling down my one-month buffer, which I then have to replenish, so send less to the savings goals.

-- I also think I'm going to track my gas mileage. I need to get gas tomorrow, so I'll start as of August 1.

* I finally received my reimbursement check from the disability insurance overpayment. So, that's $16.25 more which I'll be putting in my Downpayment fund.

* I had an ING referral go through today. So, that's $10 more to the Downpayment fund.

* My carpooler paid me today. I'm probably going to have to get gas tomorrow - so I think I'll put that $10 to my gas fund. $10 worth of gas should get me through to Friday, and a replenished gas fund.

* On Sunday I went on my first outing with the DFW club. There were six of us who ate lunch at the museum (good price/food). Then 4 more showed up in time to do the tour. The exhibit was really quite large, and I really enjoyed seeing works by Monet and Gaughlin etc. in person.

* I used nearly 1/2 tank of gas to go to the museum and back. Ugh.

* I've really been trying to do the gas mileage "tricks". Such as driving 55, not using a/c unless absolutely needed, trying to keep a steady smooth pace, etc.

I'm not sure if all of that has given me much more than an extra 15 miles or so. I'm also not sure if it's worth continuing when I'm having people practically running over me on the tollway. Or, like yesterday on 35, having people tailgating me and giving me birdy signs when they finally pass.

* This weekend I had a very visual reminder of why it's so important - so *vital* to have renter's insurance. Sometime Sunday morning one of the apartments in my complex caught fire. By the time the fire was out, 4 apartments were destroyed, and 12 others were heavily damaged by smoke and water. One person was injured, but I haven't heard anything about pets.

Neither my carpooler nor I had even heard the sirens or commotion because the area where this happened is on the other side of us, closer to the main road.

* I spent a bit of money this weekend on foolish and wasteful things. Things I knew I shouldn't be spending money on even as I bought them. Unfortunately, they are not things that can be taken back.

I got stressed out at work on Friday (over something which I found out today was not even necessary) and the "who cares" monster came out to play. Oy.

* I have signed up for not just one, but for TWO 5k's in September! One is on Labor Day, and the other is on the 14th. I was so happy to find races that weren't on Saturday. I really want to make going to church a regular part of my life again.

* The race on the 14th benefits an organization that does a lot to help underprivileged children in India and the US inner cities obtain an education. I have set a fund raising goal, and made a donation page. If anyone is interested in hearing more, let me know.

* One of my co-workers today told me that her daughter was interested in doing a 5k with me. So I gave her the info for both of the races I've signed on for, and told her I'd love to have the company!

* I've been having trouble with my abductor muscle the last week or so. E, my PT was telling me it could be overtraining. I sheepishly asked him if the problem could also be caused by drinking too much coke.

After telling me what I know already (i.e. soda dehydrates muscles) he told me that for every ounce of soda I drink, I should drink 2 ounces of water to somewhat mitigate the effects.

He also suggested using foam rollers to help work out my leg muscles. Although he said a much less expensive option was just getting some pvc pipe from Home Depot, etc. That it would serve the same purpose. **Bright idea alert! I just remembered that I have two pvc poles that my dad made for me years ago (for some exercise video - which have gone unused) which would work perfectly! Can't get more inexpensive than free!

E will be working at the gym in the morning, so maybe I should take one of them and see if he'll have time to show me what to do.

* E also told me today that due to minimum wage rising, that the gym's monthly fees will be going up as of September 1.

So, since my training session is coming to an end (2nd week of August) I will have to start paying the quarterly fee.

I can either pay for the first quarter by the end of August at the lower rate, then after that have to pay at the higher rate.

OR I can pay for a full year's membership at the lower rate, then once that year is up, will have to pay the higher rate.

Paying a full year upfront will save about $120 over paying the higher rate.

My only quandry though is, what if I do end up moving to CA in March? They have a no refund policy.

So today I decided to test the waters again at Craigslist.

It was a mixed bag of results.

I posted my 19" TV/VCR in the freebie section. An hour later I had met a man in the McDonald's parking lot, and he drove away with it.

I also reposted my ad for the Brita Pitcher + filters, as well as the Spanish learning books. I toyed with the idea of reposting the Spanish learning computer programs as well, but was told it probably wouldn't be a good idea. I think I'll probably end up taking them to Half-Price bookstore and see what I can get.

So far the Brita pitcher ad is still up and going. But . . for some reason my Spanish learning books ad got flagged!!

UGH!

-----

I was planning on doing a bunch of meal prep for the week today - plus meal planning and maybe even my laundry. Guess I was in too lazy of a mood to do all that though.

I did manage to make a triple batch of Veggie Bean Burgers - yielded 13 burgers. I ate one for supper, and the rest are flash freezing right now. I didn't quite follow the recipe, which I think is why not all of the "burgers" held together very well when I flipped them in the skillet.

I was going to make Vegetarian Sloppy Joes tonight, but then I realized that the recipe calls for cooking at least 10 hours in the crockpot. So, I put together all the ingredients, and will dump them in my crockpot in the morning before heading to work.

---

This was a no spend weekend for me (dad treated for IHOP yesterday.)

I got a text message from AT&T that my rebate from my cell phone purchase had been mailed - finally!

I still haven't received my refund from the overpayment of my disability insurance. If I haven't gotten it by Wednesday, I will be calling them again. I seriously hope they don't do this to me again next year. (My salary was reported as over 15k more than it really is -- so they held out the concurrent amount to pay for the disability ins. premium for that pay amount. This happened last year as well.)

This morning my carpooler handed me $8 and told me it was for me to treat myself to lunch.

My lunch today was a veggie omlette (made in my bowl I keep at work) and a handful of french fries from the catered lunch given to us by one of our vendors (a seafood/steak place).

The $8 goes to my Kenny G Ticket Fund!

Woo hoo!

Old balance: $0.00

New Balance: $8.00

Saved $8/$65

---

I also got two emails today about my TV/VCR combo from Craigslist. So it looks like I'll be able to get rid of that pretty soon!

I've been pondering on what I could do to bring in a little extra money to help my car fund grow faster, etc. Babysitting, etc., seems to only happen once in a very long while - so can't really hope for too much from that.

Anyway, this morning Eric, my PT was at the gym in the morning. (Usually his dad is there in the morning.) We were chit chatting a bit when it hit me. At least 3 evenings a week I go home after work and . . . watch t.v., read, goof on the net, etc. Why not put one of those evenings each week to good use?

So I uncharacristaclly (sp?) blurted out and told him that if he had any evening hours openings (for watching the desk/gym) available, that I'd be very interested in one evening a week.

**He said that he thought he would very likely be able to find me some evening hours!** Better yet - at the same gym I already work out in (where my office is located) - so no driving to get there!

I'd still be able to read, or perhaps even do some strength training (while keeping a close eye on the front door) but I'd be getting paid! Woo hoo!

----

I'm going with my best friend T tomorrow night to see Sex and the City! It will be so great to get to spend some time with her again (sans kids) as well as to see SATC.

----

There has been a very definite environment/relationship shift at my workplace. It's been VERY noticeable to me since coming back from vacation. My good friend and co-worker has also noticed this.

Maybe I'm noticing it more now because I'm looking for reasons to either stay a Texan or try out being a Californian again, or if it truly had a major shift about the time of my vacation.

I know I shouldn't have let it upset me so much, but on Thursday I heard something that made me realize just how far out of the loop I was - not to mention the news itself could be something very sad.

----
Very cool thing at work today. We moved into the 21st century! We got a color copier!!! Our Landman was so cute with how excited he got when someone made a copy of a land plat (sort of a map) he'd colored in - and it came out looking better than the original!

I'm just so excited because now whenever DW our engineering manager asks me to print out the production for various wells, I'll be able to print the black and white pages along with the color curves -- together!! --- at the same time!!! No more having to match up the b&w pages with the color curves!!

That was the question in my head last night when I picked up my mail.

There was flyer from the local $.99 stores advertising that for their 5 year anniversary celebration that they were selling a Wii and Wii Fit to the first 9 customers at one particular location. This location just so happens to be on the way to work.

Unfortunately, they don't open till 9, and I'm supposed to be at work by 8:30.

Am I the owner of a Wii and Wii Fit? Nope. The responsible Laura kicked in and reassured me that this wasn't worth being late to work for -- not to mention figuring out how to explain it to the lady who carpools with me.

So . . what would you do if faced with this choice? Be 45 minutes late for work and get a Wii/Wii Fit for $.99 (or some other item you really desire); or forego the Wii/Wii Fit and follow your normal schedule?

Warning: Long post ahead.

As I mentioned in my last posting, la familia de California are seriously trying to get me to move out there. They've tried to get me to go out there before, but I previously had great resistance. My resistance now is not so great.

All of this may be a moot point if my two requirements don't happen - namely (1) situation w/family member resolved; and (2) have a better salary + comparable benefits job lined up.

** If I do decide to go, it most likely would not be till after Feb. 15. Three reasons - 1. 3-yr anniversary at job (looks good on resume and just feels more finished) 2. My apt lease isn't up till March and 3. My brother would most likely be able to fly out here and help me move (slow season for him).

Okay . . so a very preliminary Pros and Cons list. -- I welcome questions and comments to help me flesh out things I haven't thought of. --

Pros for staying in Texas:

- Stay in same apartment

- Freedom and privacy

- Very familiar with surroundings (i.e. don't get lost very often anymore)

- One of my best friends lives here, along with her two children

- My mom lives within a 45 minute drive

- Comfortable with my job

- Job pays me enough to pay my bills and put some in savings

- I like my coworkers

- I have easy access to a gym in the office building

- I have a great personal trainer with whom I have developed a good friendly relationship

Cons for staying in Texas:

* In regards to job and life in general I have been feeling very much at a stand still.

- As much as I hate to say this, I really think that my job is a dead-end. I doubt seriously that I will ever see another raise in the next five years, and if there is one, it probably wouldn't amount to more than 1/2 tank of gas a month.

- While I won't say I hate my job, nor even that I dislike what I do . . . I will say that the thought of doing this for the next 30+ years gives me nightmares.

- Although I do have good health insurance benefits, and my salary does pay me enough to pay my bills and save some -- that is only with being pretty frugal. If my rent were to go up my very much, or if the prices of other essentials were to go up much, etc., etc., then the small bit of money I am able to put to savings now would be gone.

- Although I have big plans and hopes of being able to save enough to replace my car if needed, as well as for a house downpayment -- on what I make + with rising costs, sometimes I feel like it's a lot of bluster without any substance - i.e . impossible.

- I like my coworkers. For the most part it is a good work environment. But sometimes, especially the past few months, I have felt more and more left out. I think this is due to a number of factors -- 1) Two new employees closer in age to another coworker -- 2) My eating and drinking habits i.e. vegetarian and no beer/wine, etc. -- 3) I think sometimes that I talk too much -- 4) other - not really sure.

- My best friend - When we are able to get together, its great! But that's just it. She is married, a teacher, and has two young children. Hence, we don't get together very often.

- I've allowed myself to grow unhappily comfortable in preferring my own company. What do I mean? Even when I do go to church/Sabbath School I have to force myself to make small talk with people. I think in some ways I've forgotten how to really connect or make friendships. -- So, I more often than not excuse myself from even making the effort of going in the first place. There have been many, many weekends where I've cocooned myself in my apartment from Friday after work til Monday morning without leaving it once.

- I'd like to get married someday - but not to just anyone. Here in TX, single men in my age range, who don't drink or smoke, have a good head on their shoulders when it comes to money, share similar views/beliefs about God, and connect with me in the other ways that matter - just don't seem to be here.

Pros about CA:

- Greatly reduced expenses by sharing household with dad and Grandma

- Be able to spend a lot of time with my Grandma who will be 88 in Sept.

- Grandma has mentioned that she'd be ok with my having a cat -- one of the main reasons I have not gotten another cat is that I'm gone so much during the weekdays - there, in CA there would usually be at least one person in the house most of the day - so the cat wouldn't be lonely.

- Have 24/7 access to washer/dryer

- Possibility of much larger salary

- Very good possibility of being in a work environment where my lifestyle choices aren't looked on as odd or different

- Be an inexpensive and short plane ride away from my brother

- May be able to use part of larger salary to actually do some traveling

- Live in an area where being vegetarian is normal and easy to accommodate

- Live in an area where there is a MUCH higher likelihood of meeting someone with similar values/lifestyle

- Give me a bit of a fresh start - maybe feel renewed energy for life

- ???

Cons for CA:

- MOVING

- Sharing space with my grandma and dad (would need to lay down MAJOR ground rules)

- Uncertainty about what kind of work situation/environment I may find myself in

- Leaving the familiar

- Leaving my best friend, as well as another good friend who's moving to Houston soon.

- Not being able to see my mom very often (would involve a longer plane trip)

- Uncertainty that I would actually be able to connect with anyone there better than I have been able to here.

------
Overall, I think the main reason(s) I am even willing to look at this as a possibility is that I feel at such a standstill with my life. I've been feeling for awhile that something really needs to change.

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over, yet expecting something different. I wonder, if by staying here in Texas, by staying in a job that I really don't see room for growth in, and by hoping that somehow, someway, something will happen to give me the life I dreamed of when I was 12 - if that just isn't a bit insane.

Phone Musings:
I checked my latest phone bill yesterday. I saw that I had again been charged the $25 price for my DSL.

Last month I had called to find out why it had gone up ($5). They'd told me a notice had gone out that all the levels would be going up. So I had asked what I could do to bring the price down - was there any kind of contract, etc? Nope. So then they let me know that I *could* go down one level to the very basic DSL and save $5. Told them to go ahead and do that!

So yesterday I called them again to find out why I was still being charged the higher price. I was told that I had made the change two days after the end of the previous billing cycle, but I'd get a credit in my next cycle. I again asked if there was anyway for me to get a better deal - and was again told no.

So, I asked how much would it be to go to dry loop DSL (no landline). I was told it would be the same price - $20/mo -- but that I would lose my $5/mo discount for having the landline bundled with DSL.

I decided to go ahead with the dry loop DSL. With landline DSL I pay $20/mo + $6/mo measured landline + ~$15/mo taxes and fees for landline service. So, I figure that I'll save ~$21 - $5 discount = $16/mo by going to dry loop.

I am going to have to either get my Linkysys wireless router working again, or buy a new router/modem combo so I can continue to get updates for my Tivo. All I need for my Linkysys I think is the installation CD (don't know where it is) and to make sure I have all the necessary cables to connect to my modem.

I think I'll ask my stepdad if he knows how to set up the wireless router and encrypt it so all my neighbors can't use it. Also, need to make sure I can let my Tivo connect to it.

The dryloop won't start till the 26th, so if it takes a few weeks for me to get it figured out, it won't kill me - since there aren't any must see shows to record in June.

Food Musings:
I think I am going to have to go to a cash basis only for food. I continually am spending way too much money on food/groceries - buying things I really shouldn't be buying in the first place.

I'm not going to start this this month, due to my upcoming trip. But for June I believe what I'm going to start doing is do my beginning of the month shopping stock up (generally $40 - 50) trip via credit card. Then I'll take out $60 cash for the remainder of the month. My credit card will be left at home, along with my debit cards - unless I know I'll be needing it to fill up with gas or some other planned expenditure.

I will lose out on the points I could earn on my credit card for those purchases - but it would only be 60 points per month lost. Much better to lose those 60 points per month, and then have the possibility of having the unwisely spent grocery money to be sent to savings and not the hips!

Reading musing:
I've always enjoyed James Patterson's books. Until recently though, I hadn't realized just how many books he had written - and how many of them I haven't read. I am planning on rectifying that glaring mistake as quickly as my library card allows me to.

Two books of his I read recently - which I couldn't put down - "Seventh Heaven" and "Beach Road."

I also have found that the books that have the "Red Dress" emblem on them are quite enjoyable, light, fluffy reading. But I'd found them more by trial and error at the library. This weekend however I googled that term, and found a website listing all the authors of those types of books. Again, my library card is getting a workout.

Vacation/Work musings:
Only 4 1/2 workdays till I get on the plane and head off to sunny San Francisco. I really hope I have more energy by then than I do right now.

There has been quite a lull as far as things for me to do at work this past week. Which has been good in a way, seeing as though I'm still not feeling great. But I do hope things pick up a bit this coming week. I hate feeling like there really isn't much reason for me to be there - doesn't make for a very good feeling of job security.

I was quite annoyed to find out that the hotel I'll be staying at *charges* $15/day for the use of their fitness facilities. It didn't say whether the pool was included in that or not. They also charge $15 to have a small fridge in the room. Ugh! Guess I'll be sticking with lots of walking for my exercise while in SF.

Other musings:
I really need to do a trash run, and run the dishwasher. It is so easy to let some things just kind of slide when its just you.

I was talking with a friend of mine who is going through a divorce. She and her soon to be ex-husband have the arrangement of having their two boys (5 and 11) one week on, one week off. The dad mainly is able to do his work out of his house. The mom works away 8-5 plus an hour commute each way. The boys are both going to be in some kind of summer camp for 5 different weeks. This leaves her with 4 weeks to find care for them.

She has three options: 1) An activity loaded daycare type place $190x2 per week; 2) A run of the mill day care place $110x2 per week; or 3) Her soon to be ex has offered to watch them during the day.

When *I* look at the options, I personally would go for #3! But she doesn't want to go for option #3 because ... "It's not fair! It's my week to have the boys and he'll get to see them all day! I'll only get to see them for a few hours between getting off work and putting them to bed."

I SO badly wanted to point out that no matter which option she went with, she STILL would only be seeing them for a few hours a day! But, I think she already realized the fallacy of her complaint - but isn't willing to give in. So, she's talking about putting the 5 yo in the day camp, and letting the 11 yo be home alone.

Not having kids of my own, I am keeping my mouth clamped shut.

I have 9 days till my trip. My cough is NOT getting better - even with the so-called miracle shot the doctor gave me on Monday.

In fact, I felt worse today than probably I have in the past three weeks.

I have to wonder if it's that the antibiotics aren't working (although I'm not hearing the rattle when I breathe) or is it just that after a day and a half's dose of it, enough is built up to make you feel a whole lot worse before you feel better?!

I left work early today because I felt so crummy. I probably wasn't really safe to drive - but somehow managed to get home.

Arghh!! I HATE being sick! It is costing me so much - both in real money and in opportunity cost.

This afternoon I had my permenant crown put on. It didn't take very long -- but she put a piece of guaze in my mouth and told me to bite on it for the next 30 minutes!

Well, I was heading to the gym for my personal training session right afterwards . .. . So I walk into the gym clamping down on the piece of guaze. My trainer asks me if I'm chewing on something. I explain to him what's going on. So he then proceeds to talk back to me clamping one side of his mouth! What a dork! It was very interesting doing cardio while concentrating on keeping your teeth together. Can't say that I want to experience that again.

So, about the egg on my face.

I received in the mail a few weeks ago an advert for opening a checking account with Capitol One and getting $125 bonus after a direct deposit.

Somehow though I had gotten it into my mind that it was CHASE bank. Can you see where this is going??

When I was finished at the gym this afternoon I went home and checked the mail - hoping to have the insurance reimbursement. It wasn't there. ARgghh! Then I went across the street to the building I used to work in. There just happens to be a Chase bank branch there.

I sat down with the guy who opens accounts and told him about the offer and that I wanted to open an account. I give him the advert. He tells me that he'd love to open an account for me . . . but that this advert was for Capitol One, not Chase. *If I knew the code for super embarrassed that's what would be here*

He told me that they did have a deal where you could get $100 for opening an account, but that he'd be willing to match Capitol One's offer if I still wanted to open one with Chase. So I went ahead and opened the account.

Now, you have to understand that this is the bank that my company has a business account with, and when we were in that office building, many of the company's employees had accounts there. So as soon as I said who I worked for, they (the guy opening my account and the branch manager) started naming names of people in my company.

I can only hope that no one from my company goes into that particular branch in the near future.

Today we were all let go at 2:30 due to the weather conditions. Yay!

Some of you may remember my dealing with the $287 phone bill last summer. The bill was a result of my phone line somehow getting crossed with another persons - and that person did a 10-10 dial to Cuba.

Well, the past couple weeks my DSL has been acting funky. Sometimes working fine, sometimes slow as dialup, sometimes not working at all. Then in the past week or so I've been getting those two or three ring phonecalls. I generally don't answer my landline since it would almost always be telemarketers. But, yesterday I picked it up - only to hear two spanish speakers chatting away. Then again, at midnight last night, my phone rings. I pick it up, only to hear two spanish people. Again, this afternoon it happens.

So, I decided to be proactive this time, and not wait to get another $300 phone bill. I sent in a repair ticket. Then I called customer service to find out if there'd been any weird charges to my phone number. They couldn't tell me if there'd been any 10-10 charges, because that would be with Ameritell (10-10). But they did make note of what was going on.

The repair person will be coming sometime between noon and 4 p.m. on Saturday to find out what is going on. At first it was "sometime on Saturday before 9p.m." I told the lady that I would NOT be in my place from at least 8 - 11:30a.m., and would be leaving again by 6:30 that evening. (Church in the morning, Jim Brickman! concert in the evening.)

---
I've been trying to find a way to get rid of my extra Tivo box ever since I upgraded over a year ago. I've had no takers. Today I was talking with our new receptionist about Big Brother, and eventually about Tivo. I mentioned that I had an extra one I'd love to find a home for. She told me that her parents might be interested in it! Woo Hoo! To finally get it out of my house and not in a landfill! She asked me how much I'd want for it, and at first I told her I'd just give it to them. But she kept asking, so I was like - o.k. $5.

If it had Lifetime with it, then it would be worth a LOT (probably could get $100- $200 for it). But of course if it had Lifetime with it, I would probably never have upgraded to my current one . . .

Two main frustrating things right now.

1. I received an Explanation of Benefits (EOB)for my root canal showing that my responsibility was $352. That means that I should be getting back about $300.

I've been waiting for that refund check to come - was planning on using it to pay for part of my crown. It still hasn't shown up.

But in todays mail I got a new EOB saying that there was double charge, and that I owe the full $1300!!!

I got on the website and saw that for some reason there were two charges for the same thing on the same date - one of which part was paid, and the other none was paid.

I guess I'll have to wait till Monday to call and find out what is happening and when I can expect my money back!

2. Today I stopped at Walmart to do some early March grocery shopping. One of the items I bought were these La Tortilla Factory tortilla's. I bought 3 pkgs. On the shelf, the only price I saw that came close to what I got was $2.82.

When the cashier rang them up - they rang up at $3.32! I of course spoke up. She ended up taking them all off the receipt. Then I thought she put them all back on?

So after I paid, I went back to the shelf to doublecheck that there was NO $3.34 sign. There wasn't. So I went to Customer Service. The lady took my tortilla package and looked at the shelf. When she came back, she told me that someone must have taken off the upc label for this particular item - but that the price WAS $3.34. But since the label was off, she would go ahead and give me the $3.34 back.

I was happy with that - but then I asked about the other two packages. She then showed me on my receipt that it showed only ONE tortilla pkg charged! So, I ended up having to pay for the two that were not charged.

I guess I should be glad that I got the one package for free. But I do feel frustrated that I was thinking they were $2.82, and through no fault of mine, the correct price tag had been taken off the shelf. I really felt that I should have been given the price difference on the other two items - especially since the only proof she had of the item's cost was what the bar scanner said - and that isn't always correct!

At any rate, I left with 3 pkgs of LTF Tortillas for $6.86, which is less than the $8.46 it would've been for 3 pkgs at $2.82 each.

3. A couple things at work today really frustrated me too. A little too easily almost. Had to bite my tongue really hard a few times.

Wow. You know how I had a root canal on Tuesday and had to start taking a more powerful antibiotic to get rid of the remaining infection?

Well, starting Wednesday night, I began having terrible heartburn. It let up after a few hours, and I was able to go to sleep. The next day I again experienced it a few times, then it would go away after an hour or so.

Today it wasn't too bad at first, but then this afternoon it became more constant.

I finally decided to call my endodontist and see what was going on - if this had anything to do with the medicine I was taking. She told me (through her receptionist) to stop taking the antibiotic and that she'd call me later to figure something else out. Still waiting for that call.

But tonight I posted on another forum I visit about my wonderful week *dripping sarcasm* and someone posted a link to a thread about the antibiotic I was taking -- Clindamycin. OMW! The people on that thread were experiencing the same symptoms as me, and some even worse - being hospitalized, etc!

Needless to say, I will NOT be taking this medication anymore. But I will be calling my endodontist again in the morning because I still need to take *something* to get rid of this infection!

I did also have one person give me a lot of hope that it IS possible to have an infected cyst go away on its own. He'd had a similar situation, and the cyst went away after antibiotics.

I am feeling so out of control financially right now. I don't know where all this is going to end up $ wise or health wise, and I already feel as though I've spent WAY too much money - even though it is for stuff that was absolute needs.

It also is worrying me a lot that I'm now going to have to include in my budget all my copays for prescriptions and office visits for the rest of the year - not to mention however much the crown is going to cost me. I just got way too used to using my Flexible Spending Account money, and not really thinking about how much it was.

At this rate I don't think I'm going to even be able to find the money for my Vacation fund, let alone get my EF fund full enough to even think about starting my downpayment fund. It feels kind of like as soon as I put my mind to really buckling down and watching my pennies and making them work hard, oodles of situations came out of the woodwork requiring the use of not only current money, but also set aside monies.

I'm moving backwards right now - not forwards. And I HATE that feeling!

----

On another note --- My car passed the 100k mark Thursday night! Only took me 10 1/2 years to do it, but I did it.

I was watching Biggest Loser last night, and one of the tips that the guest cook/chef had was about pink lentils. He said that they were even better for you than beans.

Lentils are pretty cheap food, as well as very nutritious, but I don't think I've ever even seen pink lentils.

The chef also said that they cook up in "just minutes."

Anyone ever hear of pink lentils or know if they really are something that cooks in "just minutes"?

---
On Sunday I made a crockpot of 2lbs of pinto beans. Tonight I finally got around to putting the beans in snack size ziplock bags. It made 33 1/2 cup servings! Since I take my lunch to work 99% of the time, that means I have more than 6 weeks worth of beans for lunches! The cost of the beans? $1.39 LOL!

I made a decision this weekend. I'm not going to take the SAT tutoring job. The training session I went to Wednesday night felt very rushed. I left there feeling like I hadn't really had a chance to retain much of anything. Also, the pay is a lot less than what I had thought it was going to be - especially if I don't manage to make the 700 mark before starting.

So, I've written the person who was working with me and let her know this.

I am going to look into other ways of making an extra couple hundered dollars a month. My mom suggested another tutoring type place that I could check out.

In other news . . I have decided to add a bit of running to my workout schedule - on a treadmill for now. I am going to be using a program called "Couch to 5k" which can be found on the coolrunning.com website. Before really getting into it though, I needed to get some real running shoes.

So, I did that this afternoon. $100. Ouch! But my back and knees will thank me for it later.

I haven't really decided if I'm going to go for doing a 5k or not. If I do, it wouldn't be until the fall when it's not too hot or too cold.

I got a call from A around 7 p.m. tonight telling me that they would like to have me join their team! Since I didn't quite make the 700 mark on the SAT tests, I will start training, then half-way through take another diagnostic test. Then at the end of training will take another one. If I make the 700 mark, then I'm good to go. If not, then I'll be on a probationary status, but still able to start tutoring.

Wednesday night after my regular job I'll have my first training session. I'm not too excited about the late night that promises to be, but I AM excited to get started!

The two areas I really need to work on are recognizing the grammar errors (and being able to see the most correct fix) and making a list of easy to remember studies which can support the various possible essay topics. My essay was not given full points because I hadn't used any "studies" to support my answer.

---------------
After the scare I had on Wednesday regarding maybe losing my home due to developers buying the land, I've been giving some serious thought to what I'd need to do in order to be able to purchase a home in the next two - three years.

Right now I have about 5 months salary saved in my EF/Car fund. I have no money earmarked towards a down payment. Before being comfortable starting a downpayment fund, I feel I need at least 6 months income + $4,000 Car repair/replacement in place.

I think I *might* be able to find an older home in the 85K to 90k range. So, 20% downpayment would be $17 - 18K.

Let me put it this way. There is NO way I can save that much money in 3 years - not on what I make now.

So, in a more optimistic view, I have two choices available to me. One, cut down on optional expenses to increase savings. Or two, find ways to increase income.

I am going to do both.

Money Cuts:
First, I have decided to stop taking my Callanetic's class. I love it. It's very relaxing and rejuvenating, but really, it is something that I could do just as well at home for a WHOLE lot less money.

Second, I am going to renew my personal training ONE time. That will put me through May with about 6 extra sessions. I spoke to my trainer today, and he said I could space those last six sessions at one a month - as kind of a check in session. However I would have to pay the gym fee of $20/month. He also is going to help me figure out a good routine rotation which I'll start practicing on Wednesday mornings.

Third, I am going to drop Netflix (not a lot of money saving here - but really, I CAN get movies from the library, and just HOW long have I had this last movie out??)

Fourth, I am going to look into whether or not I can sell my Tivo w/the remainder of my prepaid service contract. If I'm able to do that, then I'm going to drop Cable. (If my Tivo worked without Cable, I'd keep Tivo in a heartbeat and just drop Cable.)

Fifth, I am finished with fast food, soda and frozen dinners. If I go out to eat somewhere, it will b only because I'm going with someone else (i.e. part of a group) and will order as cheaply as possible. i.e. At a Mexican resturaunt only order one single enchilada, no sides. I also am going to continue to try and cut my food budget as much as possible, however, I will be keeping good nutrition in mind.

Increasing Income:

First, I am going to go through my apartment and find everything I can find that may have any cash value (that is not necessary) and try to sell it. (Books, extra t.v. ??)

Second, I am going to redouble my efforts to lose as much weight as possible by March 20 to increase my odds of winning the cash prize.

Third, I will be starting the tutoring job. Training is paid. I will do everything in my power to increase my scores in order to make and surpass the 700 mark.

Fourth, I will seek out other opportunities to earn extra income. I need to see if maybe there's people who need a babysitter, etc.

-----
So ... My top four financial goals --

All money left in grocery, other, gas and phone at the end of each month, as well as any other money earned by any other means will be sent to --

1. Vacation Fund - $500 (Will be essentially a free vacation, but I want to be sure to have money available to pay my own way for anything I do while in CA. After the vacation, any leftover money will be sent to #2.)

Then to:
2. Emergency Fund - 6 months income

Then to:
3. Car Repair/Replacement Fund - $4,000

Then to:
4. Downpayment - $18,000.00 -- GULP

About 2:30 this afternoon I received a phone call from the person I was to have an interview with asking if I could come in earlier than I was scheduled for. I agreed - even though I hadn't done some things I'd wanted to do before the interview, but felt I wanted to show flexibility from the start if possible.

So, I got there just a few minutes before 4 p.m. I think it went pretty well. After the interview questions were over, we went over my test (I took the Reading and Writing portions of the SAT). She told me on my essay that one of the problems was the lack of a variety of examples - I needed an example from some study or such not.

I bit my tongue, but very badly wanted to ask her how many high-school students read Newsweek or whatever enough where they'd even KNOW supporting studies, let alone be able to remember it accurately to include in a 25 minute essay from start to finish??

Anyway, from going over my test results, I saw that I essentially needed to have omitted more questions than I did on the Reading part, and on the Writing part I needed to have answered more correctly.

She told me there were two possibilities going forward - 1) Go ahead and start my training while I continue to study to retake the test and make the 700 mark, or 2) Study to retake the test until making the 700 mark, then begin training.

So . . . neither of these two options made it sound like I won't get the job - just have to make the 700 mark. I wasn't far off in the Reading (missed by 30) but in the Writing I was 80 pts off.

Any English teachers out there know of a good resource to really get down pronoun agreement?? That was one of my weak areas - recognizing when pronouns didn't agree. i.e. "It is one's duty to read diligently, because you will learn more that way."

---

My Grandma has been searching for the past few years for a divided skillet. Each time she came here to TX to visit, we would also check around to see if we could find what she was looking for. This time however, I got the bright idea to do a google search -- and found just what she was looking for on Ebay!

The starting bid was $10 + $9 shipping. I put in a max bid of $20, thinking there was no way it would go higher than that, because, really, how many people even know such a thing exists? To my dissapointment and amazement, I was outbid! I started raising my bid bit by bit until I hit $27. Then I called my dad to double check just how much she was willing to go. He told me she had been thinking $29 max (cost +sh) so I said I'd be willing to throw in $5, and my dad said he'd be willing to throw in $5 or $6. So, I put my max bid at $35.

I finally found the other person's max! I bought the pan for $31 + $9 sh = $40.

I was a bit annoyed though, because it just seemed a little too convenient that someone came along and bid up to $30 on something that is pretty obscure. It made me wonder if it wasn't a family member's account or something who saw that there was a bid on their item, so went to bid it up to the retail price.

Maybe not. It could have really been someone else wanting it.

Oh well, I'm just glad that my grandma now will have her pan. I asked her what she'd use it for and she told me she'd use it to be able to cook her meals all in one pan at the same time. Guess that makes sense.

In this picture I'm wearing my $20 dress from Ross, and $15 of jewlery from Claire's (including my hairpiece). I don't think anyone had any idea that I didn't spend anywhere close to what they spent on their outfits.



We had a lot of fun. I even got up and was part of a Conga line! I got Tye (my bf) up there on the dance floor for one song - which is more than he said he'd do.

There was an Austin Powers impersonator there - he was really good and really funny. I must have made an impression on him because he remembered my name enough to call me up by name to be part of the Conga line.

Yeah, baby, yeah! (Yes, I am a 31, almost 32 year old woman admitting that I actually liked -- no, enjoyed -- the Austin Powers movies.) It was so weird when I was talking with him, because I *knew* it was some guy playing a character, but he was doing such a good job of it, you felt like you were maybe really talking to Austin Powers.

Well I went to the endontologist (sp?) on Tuesday for my root canal. It ended up though that she didn't think I actually needed one! She did say that my tooth has a crack in it and so it will need a crown. If it is still causing me pain after getting a crown, then we'll look into getting the root canal.

So, I'll be getting the temporary crown put on this coming Thursday (December 6.)

Our company's receptionist had her last day with us on Friday. If you may recall back in August how I was taken off the phones completely by our head honcho -- well she was experiencing the same treatment from our head honcho and got totally fed up with it. Can't say that I blame her at all, but I will really miss her. I put together a good-bye lunch for her because supposedly she hadn't worked here "long enough" to get a company sponsored farewell party (she'd been here since August 06). Someone else in our company took up a money collection for her - I'd thought about doing that, but wasn't sure how far to push the envelope with having put together the farewell lunch. So she left knowing that she was loved and cared for and would be missed greatly - even if the head honcho was still a pitb to her on her last day!

Our Christmas party is going to be this coming Saturday night. My bf will be going with me - it will be his first time meeting many of my co-workers. He'll know some of the brokers (other side of our company) from the old office building.

I stopped at Ross last night on the whim of maybe finding something appropriate for the semi-formal dress code in my size -- Wow! I found seven different dresses that actually fit me! The one I liked the most was purple, but I didn't get that one since it probably wouldn't have been the most appropriate for a Christmas party.

I also decided I wanted to get some clip on earrings and a necklace to go with my dress. I've never been one to really buy jewelery, nor really wear it much -- but I didn't think it would be so difficult to find a non-ugly pair of clip ons! I did actually find one pair that were nice - but they were nearly $30, which is more than I paid for my dress! So, that was a no go.

I'm going to go to Sam Moon's after work on Tuesday, and maybe Claire's as well to see if I can find something.

My mom is leaving today to go to NJ for two weeks for a training class for her new job. She won't be getting back until Dec 16, the day after my birthday. She's going to get to go see the Rockette's though - when we lived in NJ, we got to see them at the Radio City Music Hall a couple times, so it will bring back good memories.

Her new job is being the Director of one of those tutoring learning centers. She's told me that the lady in charge of working with SAT prep tutors needs people to tutor the Reading/Writing portion very badly - especially on Sundays. Hmmm . . . All you have to have is a teacher's certificate (check) and to have scored at least a 700 on the Reading portion of the SAT's. I took the SAT back in 92 I think, and do not remember what my reading score was - except I know it was a LOT higher than my math score (snicker.) The place I graduated from has closed its doors (two years ago) so I am working on figuring out how to get a copy of my score. I'm really hoping I don't have to take it again, because well, it's been at least 12 years since I've been in any kind of an English/writing class. I love writing, but mostly its for my own pleasure, so I don't worry too much about "correctness" or being too polished. I'm afraid I may have lost much of my "refined" writing skills from way back when. But maybe my score was high enough so I needn't worry.

It sure would help me out a lot to have a second job like that -- one which I could possibly turn into a full time job later on once I have my "Goodbye Head Honcho" Fund fully funded.

--
Oh - the 20 week fitness challenge -- We are now three weeks in, and I have lost 4.5 lbs! Which translates into 1.85% loss. Next Sunday they are having the first seminar - a Holiday Cooking class. I'm going to see if my bf would like to go to it with me. Might be kind of fun to do together.

----
I have my Christmas shopping all finished. Most of it was accomplished using my Mypoints credits for various gift cards. Other than gift cards, I bought my dad S2 of Home Improvement from Overstock, I bought my mom a handheld football game from Walgreen's (yes, this was something she said she actually wanted) and I'm getting my bf a gift cert for a massage. So, all in all Christmas is going to come in well under $100.

Hi all,

Just a quick update on life, love and happiness.

At work this past week one of the main people I do work for pulled me aside and said that he realized he wasn't the easiest person to work for (no kidding Sherlock!) but that he wanted to take the time to tell me how well I've been doing the past few months (with the various projects I do for him.) -- Hmm . .. that was nice of him. I wonder though if a little birdie mentioned that I have very real plans of turning in my resignation papers by August 08??

Oh something else work related ... Some of you may remember how I applied for an assistant's position to our Landman ... then found out the position had been offered to a coworker? Well I found out Friday (from the coworker) that she had decided that the position wasn't really for her. Great for her to have figured that out. As for me . . I had to go into my head and play the chorus of this little ditty "Get Over It!" There's little to no chance that they'll ask me if I want it, and even if they did I don't think I would take it -- ya know, second choice and all that!

Cool unexpected freebie! In today's mail I got a card from my cable company -- and in that card was a voucher for one free ticket for Six Flags!! Now I just have to find someone else to go with me -- and figure out when to go. It's only good through December -- I wonder how much longer it will be open? Mmmm mmm I LOVE amusement parks -- give me some rollercoasters - the higher and the faster and the more loop de loops the better!

Love life .. or should I say dating life? LOL! I'm still seeing Mr. Elevator guy. He's a real gentleman - opens car doors, carries my green bean casserole dish into church for potluck, stands up whenever a woman enters/leaves a room, etc. He sure was raised right -- I'm just having to get used to having my door opened for me -- I'm no feminist, but have been on my own so long that it feels almost unnatural sometimes to sit and wait that extra few seconds or stand to the side while the door is being opened. I think I'll get used to it though.

I can see though that if anything long term develops out of this that I will have to be super bug killing woman - he's very creeped out by creepy crawlies. I live in an apartment in a pretty old building with lots of places for the creepy crawlies to get into. This afternoon we were at my place chit chatting after getting back from church when his attention was diverted by some small creepy crawlie meandering across my ceiling. It kept going back and forth. I finally got up on top of a stand with a tissue and killed the little fella. Discussion then was able to resume. LOL!

Finances - Doing okay. Took my mom and stepdad out for mom's birthday on Friday. They had a coupon for the place she picked out, so that was good - still was a good bit of money, especially since the only thing I could eat there was a baked potato. I've spent a lot of money on gas the past few weeks. Between a little less than half a tank a week for commuting, plus a number of trips to my mom and stepdad's, plus a trip to my dad's, plus a trip to where Mr. Elevator lives -- gas has been guzzled at an alarming rate -- even though my car gets 300+ miles on one tank (~10 gallons).