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Okay...so it has been a while...

I know I haven't written in quite a while but a lot has been going on.  Well not so much work related though because my work has really slowed down.  It is not a good feeling!  So many expenses, so little income!  I am trying to pick up a part-time processing gig or sell some of the makeup I represent to make up the difference, but so far nothing. Let's get off that depressing subject though...oh wait while I'm still on that subject I might as well say one more thing. Apparently I earned too much money last year for Dani to be considered for any financial aid her senior year of college. That did not make me happy either as unless she can get student loans, I will have to charge that too!  UGH!!  I had such a great game plan to have all credit card debts paid off by Aug/Sept, and I haven't even been able to put much of anything toward them since my work slowed way down. 

Okay...NOW off that subject.  On a positive, moving forward note....we are moving Wood Stock !  WHOO HOO!  I had seen this cute country store that was available for lease on the route I take to the grocery store. This place is only like 2 miles away from home!  Where the store is now it is around 30 miles, one way. 

We purposely picked that far out because rent was cheap.  But the population and amount of people that stop out there just makes it impossible to really turn a profit. December was great, that's about it.  So I decided to call about this shop up the road and we went to look at it and although the rent is more than double, it isn't much more and the population is way greater!! The street it is on is really what I'd consider the main street of the town too so that's a good thing.  We move to the new place as of August 1st.

It is exciting yet scary at the same time!  I do hope this move will be beneficial!  Between the savings in gas and truck payment because hub is going to sell his truck, the overall cost should equal out about the same when its all said and done.  Hub's already been over there spackling walls to prep for paint, and planning out what things he's going to put in what rooms.  It is an old house that was put into use as a retail shop so it has like 4 separate rooms with large doorways (open) so it has a nice old cottage appeal.  I think the wood art would look nice in it.  I forgot how much there is to do though. Phone company, security co., insurance changeover, permits for signs...ugh.  But it will be well worth it I think!

I broke down on Sunday and filled up my car.  Took $40.25 !  That is alot for my corolla, but the last tank of gas lasted me 8 weeks!!  So I am very happy with how long it lasts me. 

Stac is working at a local restaurant and Dani is working at a fitness place near where she lives.  I'm so proud both of my girls are ambitious enough to want to work.  Dani kind of needs to since she rents a house now with her boyfriend and the food, gas, etc bills never stop even though she's not in classes this summer.  Stac enjoys making tips.  She isn't used to that and it was cute how excited she was when she brought home her first big night's worth!

Well...that's it for now.. off to check monster.com 

 

Defending Going Green !

Several months ago I purchased 4 large canvas shopping totes at my

local grocery store (not sure if I'm allowed to mention the name),

but I decided it was time for me to stop using plastic and do something

green for once.

 

Today I went shopping and needed only 2 bags with me. At the

checkout counter the lady in front of me took a while to depart from

the register area with her two toddlers. I had already put my groceries

on the belt and the cashier started to ring up my purchases. I saw the

bag lady start to load my groceries into a plastic bag, and I went up

behind the mom who was just now leaving waiving my two totes

and saying "No, I have these". The cashier looked up at the bag lady

and said "She has those other bags", and so the gal removed my

things and started using one of the canvas totes. Okay, fine.

 

I saw one tote go into my shopping cart but didn't see the other.

I told the bag lady I had two as I thought the cashier was starting

to bag the rest of my things in plastic. The bag lady pointed to the

cashier and indicated that she had that bag. Oh okay. I couldn't tell

at first glance because she stuck that tote right in front of the plastic

bags she had lined up.(The totes are off-white). The cashier gave

the bag lady a look (like this lady is wifty).

 

The topper was when she got done with that bag (which was

NOT full), she proceeded to put the last item, my bread into a

plastic bag. I pulled the bread out and stuck it into one of the totes,

and exclaimed "I'm trying to do my part here". The cashier just

shook her head slightly and shot the bag lady a glance.

 

This is really no big deal and do I care what those two ladies

thought?.. NO! The thing is, I felt like I was being challenged

because I brought canvas totes (which THEY sold), instead

of letting them use a bunch of plastic bags for my groceries.

 

SHEESH! Going green shouldn't be so hard!

 

Diane

http://www.dianestjames.com

Instead of complaining about gas prices, do something about it!

Not a day goes by that I don't hear about gas prices going up yet again. I hear folks at the gas pumps saying "There goes another paycheck down the gas tank". I just smile and nod but truth be told inside I'm thinking "And you are probably one of those people that races down the highway!"  Although I am one of the lucky ones that does not need to leave my home to 'go to the office' since I work at home, I still need to drive like everyone else does, for reasons other than going to work.  Here are some things that I know save me on gas. How many of them do you do?

* Drive the speed limit.  I am constantly seeing folks driving over the speed limit. It is actually quite the norm where I live.  But when I drive the speed limit, I know I am saving more gas than if I were contstantly speeding. It also eliminates the cost of a CB or radar detector as the concern about getting caught by the cops is eliminated. If I'm not speeding I don't have to worry.

* Take it off.  I have tried to teach both my girls about this little trick long before the gas prices even started to hike, but I'm not sure how much it is followed.  When I am driving, as soon as I see a red light up ahead I take my foot off the gas. Often I even shift my car into neutral (I have a stick). Even without a stick shift though, it is saving gas by taking my foot off the gas.  Unless the light turns green before I get to it, the fact remains that I will have to stop at the red light (or risk getting stopped by the police).  Most cars can easily coast to a stop light.  

There may be some unhappy driver behind me who does not like that I'm not maintaining 40 mph right up to the light, but too bad!  I've learned years ago to be alert of my surroundings while driving but also not to care about someone behind me riding my tail. If they are that mad, they can use more gas and go around me.

*Starting up.  When the light does turn green, not 'gunning it' is also a gas saver.  Many a car and pick-up truck have left me in the dust because they want to see if they really can go from 0 to 60 in a matter of seconds.  That is a good way to watch the gas gauge go down faster too. I just gradually get up to the speed limit and keep it fairly steady.

*Stay in the lane. When I'm on the highway I almost always stay in the same lane which is either the center or the right lane. Many drivers change lanes in order to go around someone who is driving slower than they like - that would be me. ;)  When changing lanes, drivers tend to accelerate to pass and sometimes also to make sure they clear cutting in front of any driver already in that lane who is going fast.  By staying in one lane you will not only save gas but also be safer.

*Make a list. When I do venture out on the road, I try to make sure it is for multiple purposes together.  When combining errands into one trip, it saves gas. Instead of making 3 trips on 3 different days, I combine going to the bank, post office, grocery and dry cleaners all in one trip!  This also saves time which we all can use more wisely the way we cram so much into our everyday lives.

*Car pool.  If I were to work in an office I certainly would talk to others where I work and see if anyone lived within 5 or 7 miles of me that I could carpool with. I see so many solo drivers during the morning and evening rush hours. How many of them are all going the same direction?  The more car pooling, the less you have to use your own gas to go to work every day.  The ideal car pool is to get 4 people in the car pool. Then you only have to drive every fourth day. Think of how much gas you would save.

I can not do anything to force the gas prices to go down, but I can sure make sure what I do buy goes a lot further.

 

Memorial Day weekend

It is another weekend and another one that didn't involve a lot of extra work.  I am happy yet not. It is good that I have some free time, but I could have used the extra work.  Still grateful to be working but it has slowed down some in recent weeks.  Not that I sit around and do nothing, I've been sending out Affordable Mineral Makeup and other samples for mompackfillers.  It takes a while to put the makeup in the tiny little bags, hole punch the business card, cut ribbon and tie it all up together.  But I'm hoping it will pay off. I'm really interested in pursuing this mineral makeup company because it has fantastic products, at good prices with exceptional customer service and delivery~!  I am joining a new branch of it that will mean higher commissions for me but it also requires higher minimum monthly quotas, so I am going to do as many fillers as I have time to make. I am pushing hub to have a basket of samples at the store too.

I am going to make a decision this week about dropping some of the companies I rep for. I will keep the ones that have no minimum purchasing requirements, but those that do are getting another look. I will probably drop the lavender love even though I have like 5 in my downline, they haven't been selling much either because I haven't gotten much in commissions and last few months I have been making the required monthly purchase.  I got some shea butter to use after showers, but it is downright sticky after applying.  Who wants sticky lotion?!  Maybe it is suppose to be like that, but I just am not as thrilled about the products I've been getting from that company as of late. So that is on the drop list. I'm also looking into a different jewelry company.  One with lower requirements and that let's you earn from your downline without needing thousands in sales and a minimum of 3 recruits. This is going to be virtually impossible for me due to the lack of home shows I do which is none!  I supposedly have a new recruit but it really doesn't matter to me because I've spent time talking with her on the phone and emailing her, yet I won't make anything off of her sales. 

I did have some work that I finished up yesterday.  But first thing in the a.m. I went to the grocery because we invited the folks and sis and family for memorial day.  We got a charcoal grill and are going to have burgers, hotdogs, potato salad, etc., and I wanted to beat the rush and make sure I got the 'good' burger and hotdog rolls.  It was good going early like that!  Got my pick of the good stuff. 

Last night was Stac's dance team banquet.  It was okay. The food was really good, unlike 2 years ago, but the program itself was...well...I guess the girls liked it- so that is what was important.  Everyone looked very nice. It was fun yesterday afternoon painting nails and doing hair with Stac. I had enough rollers to do both of us.  I think I'm keeping the long hair for a while.  I really like how it looks, especially after having rollers in it.  Flows just the right way. Like a 'Breck' girl.  :)

So...this morning it was exercise and walk the dogs day...but I didn't have to go to the grocery since I did it yesterday. And my work is done, so..as I look around I see I can spend some time straightening out this office.  Getting some piles again which I don't like to get out of hand. The rest of the day will be probably watching some movies or Animal Planet if any of the animal cops shows are on.  I really like the happy endings (well most of the time they are happy). 

Well off to grab some breakfast.

 

 

 

Saturday bloggin

I have the weekend 'off' work so that means I'll get something else done around the house. Last weekend I cleaned out the coat closet on Mothers Day.  Yes went out to dinner too so it wasn't like I had a bad Mothers Day or anything like that. I just hated opening that closet!  Whenever I needed to find something it was groping through shoes and jackets that fell to the floor, and the closet was definitely getting a gym stench to it from the sneakers that are tossed in there at night.

So it was actually a nice feeling to me to go through the whole thing.  We got rid of some coats that were too small for Stacey and put in the laundry what jackets and sweaters could be washed and then they went upstairs in the closets there as now that it is May, really don't need a ton of coats down in the hallway.  Oddball shoes and such got tossed too.  It is so spacious in there now, I can actually step in there!  And there is plenty of room to hang coats again!  No more pushing and pushing the hangers aside to fit one more garment!

Today I am going to mop the front balcony to get it ready for sitting out on. It hasn't really been mopped since we moved in and it has quite a bit of dirt on it. I need to get some flowers for the pots up there too sometime soon. Still have the dead ones there from last year.  I did get hanging flowers for the front porch which look nice.  The other day we also got two small round tables and 2 wrought iron chairs each for the back porch so we can sit out there and eat. I hate to keep charging stuff, but I dont want to use cash right now either.

I keep reading things online about the place I work for and it makes me worried - why would I not be, working in the mortgage industry.  So I am trying to save money to have a few months worth of expenses in savings. But in order to do that I need to pay the minimum due on the visas which makes me cringe.  I hate how high my balance has gotten.  Hopefully my job will continue on and I'll be able to meet that goal and then start hammering away at the credit card debt.  

It sure would be nice if the store would start making some real money, instead of sucking up some of my earnings also.  Last quarter I had to pay the quarterly sales tax that was due because we didn't have it in the store bank account.   Just need to get more sales.  I will have to say that hub has a very nice ratio of purchases per visit though. I'd say 80% or more of the folks that come in end up buying something, and that is pretty good when window shopping is done so much of the time.   I still wish he would increase the consignment fees to 30% but he won't budge on that.  Most vendors are at a 80/20 split unless they are new this year. And that just doesn't create much for us.  So I always hope hub's own art work or my other things sell in there so we can make 100%.  Rent just went up $50/month too but that was expected.

I have a gift cert hub got me for a spa around here and I was thinking about going today but just not in the mood. I know, how could I not be in the mood to get a massage or a facial??!!!  But on a weekend when I don't have to work, I'm relaxed! Don't feel like it is something I need right now.  I will definitely go one day next week, during the week which is when I can really use some pampering. Hub is getting on my about not using it yet and it does expire in another month or so. Can't blame him for that!  Never used the one he got me before we moved.  Well I TRIED to use it a week before we moved, but they were closed for that week so ended up giving my gift cert to a friend. Wonder if she ever used it?

Tomorrow we're getting a visit from Merlin's original owners. I'm sure they're going to be impressed with how handsome he is turning out to be!  Then we are going to have dinner with some friends of ours that I've been trying to get together with for months!  Going to eat at a seafood restaurant not far away. 

Well....off to change into swabbing the deck clothes!

 

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