Weekly Preview

Sunday - Writing
Monday - NaNoWriMo Ends!!!, Lessons, Teach 2 Spanish classes
Tuesday - Lessons, James birthday, Young Marines (J), Keepers (E&S)
Wednesday - Lessons, Art class (E&J)
Thursday - Lessons, Ladies Christmas Party
Friday - Lessons, Star Wars Day (D), Living Nativity
Saturday - Living Nativity, Decorating the tree

Bob is working M, T, W, F 10-6:30. He won't be getting 40 hours anymore, I guess. This confirms that he has to keep looking for something else. Working 30 hours a week at minimum wage won't keep us solvent. It also makes it pretty clear that I need to bring in some income.

We are making some Christmas cookies this week and starting our Christmas School. I'll post some at Cornerstone about that.

I'm tossing around some ideas for celebrating James' birthday. He wants to gather a couple friends and go to the Community Center to swim, so I'll see if we can work that out.

Completed Workouts

Completed Workouts:
S - None
M - Tae-bo (27 minutes) and 100 crunches
T - Jog 3 miles and 100 crunches
W - Tae-bo (attempted the long video, but pooped out before the end - made about 45 min)
Th - Jog 3 miles
Fr - Tae-bo (short)
Sa - None

The Employment Saga Continues

Tonight I sent out a few resumes and completed an online job app or two. Thought y'all might be interested in the jobs I've applied for recently.

The last three weeks have brought these employment opportunities to my notice, and I've applied for each one.

• Merchandiser
• Dispatcher at a Towing Company
• Special Services Notetaker at a local community college
• Stage Crew at the community college
• Clerical Assistant, also at the community college
• Coordinator of Learning Support Services, one more at the community college
• Any available position at a local grocery store
• Court Researcher
• Manager of a local tanning salon (cuz, ya know, I'm so TAN and all. lolol)
• Leasing Agent for an apartment community
• Teacher/Coordinator at some kind of daycare/preschool or something
• Weekend Assembly work at a temp agency (even THEY don't call me back)
• Office Assistant
• Field Interviewer
• Sales Associate/PreSeller for a portrait company (ok, I am getting desperate, eh?)
• Operations Manager for a nationwide movie rental company
• Nutrition Educator

I am trying hard to identify part-time opportunities that allow either a flexible schedule or non-traditional work hours. For full time, I am only considering options that have really excellent pay or weekends only because it would mean the kids have to go to school. And that isn't our goal.

I'd like to do some tutoring, so if anyone is in need of a tutor, please let me know. Also have considered (gasp) babysitting on a regular basis.

Weekly Preview

Sunday - Night of Writing Ridiculously
Monday - Lessons, Teach 2 Spanish classes
Tuesday - Lessons, Live Well group
Wednesday - Lessons
Thursday - Thanksgiving here at home
Friday - Writing, go see New Moon? (anyone? anyone?)
Saturday & Sunday - Writing
Monday - NaNoWriMo Ends!!!

Oh wow! This is the last week of the month! How'd that happen? I am only 60% done with the book! Good thing there isn't too much going on this week, so I can write. Or play Bejeweled Blitz.

Bob works this week on Mon, Wed, Fri, and Sat - yep, only four days again. At least they are eight-hour days. He will be working 10-6:30 instead of 8:30-5.

The 5K I plan to do has been moved back a week to December 12, so I have another week to get ready. But it also has another week to get COLD. lol

Planned Workouts - S - None, M - Tae-bo (short), T - Jog 3 miles, W - Tae-bo (long), Th - Jog 3 miles, Fr - Tae-bo (short), Sa - Make up any missed workout

Completed Workouts

Completed Workouts:
S - None
M - Tae-bo (27 min)
T - Jog 2.4 miles
W - Tae-bo (60 min)
R - None (too distracted)
F - Tae-bo (27 min)
Sa - Jog 1.5 miles (tired & twinge in knee)

Going to up the jogging next week and hit a 3 mile run at least once, preferably twice.

Sagas 1 & 2 and 5K Coming Up

James went to the doctor last week and was put on an antibiotic. Well, THIS week, he seems to have turned up with a non-allergic amoxicillin rash. He is covered in red spots. I was going to take him to the doctor, but it turned out to be a lot harder than I imagined.

I called our regular pediatrician. Waited on hold for about twelve minutes before speaking to a human and learning that the doctor is out of town for 2 weeks. Gone to India. The office referred us to the pediatrician on call - he was gone to jury duty. (They can't excuse him during H1N1 season??? Really?)

So, I called HIS replacement and left a message on their answering service, which told me they would call back within 48-72 hours. Reassuring, eh? I then called BACK to our office and asked if James could see one of the family practice doctors. Nope, they were all overloaded, and all call-ins were being referred to the walk-in clinic. Farther away? During flu season? Not really a good idea, in my opinion.

Finally that last office called back and told me THAT doctor had gone home sick. I was talking to the nurse though, and she agreed with me that it was probably the non-allergic amoxicillin rash and James was probably not contagious. Keep giving him the amoxicillin.

But I kept him home from co-op anyway because he just looks so awful. He feels great though! The other kids have gone to co-op but I am home with James.

That was saga #1. Saga #2 involved a hard drive failure which thankfully is covered under warranty. I spent a lot less time on the phone with tech support than I did trying to get ahold of a doctor. lol A new hard drive will be sent to us within a couple business days, and we can get back to business. But everything on that hard drive is toast. All of my stuff is backed up. David and Emily both lost some work, though. Emily was devastated, but David was matter-of-fact. He told me his philosophy is basically "Don't cry over spilled milk" and got back to work typing in his lost 2000 words.

I have finished teaching the first semester of one of my Spanish classes. It will resume again mid-January. Three weeks remain in the first semester of the other Spanish classes.

This coming week appears to be calm - most activities are not being held because of Thanksgiving. I am hopeful that I can catch up with my writing. I am several thousand words behind.

I've been counting calories this week. I've not been recording my food intake in a couple of months, but I've gotten lazy. Next year? I better count calories around Halloween. I am going to try hard to make my goal by mid-December.

I found a 5K race, the Santa Shuffle in Lapeer, that I think I'll run two weeks from tomorrow. There is a fun run for the kids that I may be able to persuade the kids to participate in. Anyone care to join me?


So, fin

Weekly Preview

Sunday - Skipped church; rearranged living room
Monday - Lessons, Teach 3 Spanish classes
Tuesday - Lessons, J Young Marines, S&E Keepers
Wednesday - Lessons
Thursday - Lessons
Friday - Co-op
Saturday - Book Club (going to see Shakespeare play!)

Bob works this week on Mon, Wed, Fri, and Sat - yep, only four days. :-(

Planned Workouts - S - None, M - Tae-bo (short), T - Jog 2.5 miles, W - Tae-bo (long), Th - Jog 2.5 miles, Fr - Tae-bo (short), Sa - Make up any missed workout or long jog

Completed Workouts

Completed Workouts:
S - None
M - None - resting,
T - Kickboxing at church
W - Jog 2.4 miles
T - Tae-bo (27 min)
F - Tae-bo (60 min)
Sa - Painting a room (2 hours or more)

The Tuesday kickboxing class isn't very challenging compared to the other class I took or compared to Tae-bo, but it's a good pace for Emily.

On Wednesday, I jogged TWO MILES WITHOUT STOPPING! I was so excited that I even woo-hoo'd right there in the cemetery. LOL I walked there and back and ran 4 loops. I even did a 20 second speed burst on each loop.

That was the only jog I managed this week - and it was such a nice week too! It's been too chilly for me in the mornings and I only managed an afternoon jog the one time.

I woke up today really sore (in a good way) from the long Tae-bo video I did Friday night, rather late. I worked very hard on it. Today we painted the dining room - mostly David and I - and sparkpeople.com says 2 hours of painting burns 700 calories! So, that was my workout for today - that and scrubbing the floor on my knees.

I'll jog Sunday.

Long-awaited update

I haven't written much of anything here except weekly previews and lists of completed workouts. I haven't had a lot to say, I guess. It's all pouring into the story. Heh heh....

The weather has been a nice surprise - late in the year for an Indian summer, but really nice. This whole week has been gorgeous. Next week also looks to be nice, although chillier with maybe some rain. I can still hang out my laundry on occasion and the furnace isn't running as much, which is nice when it comes time to write that check.

Bob worked Mon-Fri last week and Mon-Thurs this week. He works tomorrow too, which is the Grand Opening of their store. Next week, they only scheduled him four days, one of which is Saturday. Maybe he can use the two weekdays he is off to go apply at some other places. Now that he has some recent work experience, maybe that will help.

David has been busy listing items on eBay. Did you know you can list 5 items every month for free? You pay the final value fee if they sell, but no listing fee. He weeded out his PSP games and is hoping to earn enough money to buy an iPod Touch. He has some money he earned doing yard work for a friend of ours too.

James went to the doctor on Wednesday since he had a sore throat, swollen gland in his neck, and hasn't been sleeping well. The doctor took a throat swab (to test for strep) and wrote him a prescription for an antibiotic. He has been taking it for almost 2 days and feels better - the gland seems smaller. Haven't heard if it was strep or not. She also thought 'mono' was a possibility. If he wasn't feeling better by today, she wanted to see him back again. But he IS feeling better - thankfully. He told me this morning that his throat doesn't hurt when he swallows.

Suzy had bright red cheeks that same day, which is a huge sign a kid has Fifth disease. However, the next day, a lacy rash is supposed to show up on the extremities and she didn't have that, or a fever. So, I don't know what that was all about. I call her healed in Jesus' name!

David and Emily have remained healthy. I've made everyone take Vitamin C a couple times a day and let them sleep in. I bought some garlic for the dreaded garlic/honey/vinegar cure, but I haven't used it. Bob is fighting a sniffle and cough, but that's about it. He often comes down with something in the cold months.

I was supposed to go scrapbooking this weekend with friends, but one friend's son has H1N1 and the other friend is also sick, so we have sadly cancelled our fun times. The kids are bummed because they were going to get to go along as well. Hopefully we can reschedule. So, I guess we can do something family-oriented in the nice weather and we can all write!

Missing? The USB cord for my MP3 player. This will seriously cramp my style! It is a MUST-HAVE.

Stay tuned for details of the insane project I've undertaken since I didn't go away for the weekend.

Weekly Preview

Bob works 8 hours on Monday-Thursday and on Saturday this week. The store opens on Saturday for the first day of business. (Salvation Army in Oxford)

Goal each day is 1667 words. Need to be at 23,000 by Friday.

Sunday - Skipped church; photo shoot
Monday - Lessons, Teach 3 Spanish classes
Tuesday - Lessons, J Young Marines
Wednesday - Lessons; Doug FM Free movie night
Thursday - Lessons
Friday - Lessons; J Science, Scrapping?
Saturday - Scrapping? And writing


Planned Workouts - S - None, M - None - resting, T - Jog 2.5 miles, W - Tae-bo (long), Th - Jog 2.5 miles, Fr - Tae-bo (long), Sa - Make up any missed workout or long jog

If I go to the Healthy Living class on Tuesday night, then I'll do kickboxing there and change my schedule around. Or maybe I'll just add it to this schedule, since that kickboxing is a rather sedate workout comparatively. I can only go if Bob takes James to Young Marines.

Completed Workouts

Completed Workouts -
S - 3 mile jog
M - None - resting
T - Jog 1 mile (treadmill problems again! Argh!)
W - Tae-bo (50 min; I skipped the biceps/triceps work)
Th - Jog 2.4 miles (4 loops and walked there/back; kids went me)
Fr - Tae-bo (27 min)
Sa - 2.4 mile jog

On Saturday, I had hoped for 3 miles, but I was not in good form and my right Achilles tendon was tight. So, I alternated jogging and walking a bit more than usual and stopped after 4 loops instead of 6.

I tried treadmill jogging on Tuesday, but after about a mile, it overheated. That's what it did before. And not only did it overheat, it also popped the circuit breaker. And now even when I put in the little key thing, it pops the circuit breaker. In my admittedly under-informed opinion, it needs a new motor. This was a free treadmill we got from a church acquaintance. Her basement had flooded and the treadmill was in there. So, it likely got wet. Not sure if we will try to fix it, or just trash it. Hate to trash it. I was so looking forward to using it this winter.

And can I just say, I love Tae-bo?? It's not too hard, but it makes me sweat. Very good workout. Plus there are varying levels and lengths and different workouts so I don't get too bored. And once I've done it a few times, I can turn down the volume and listen to my MP3 player instead.

I do miss my kickboxing classes though. Those were 30 minutes of cardio kick and 30 minutes of strength/toning exercises. I need to add in those crunches and such-like to my routine.

I have just over a month to my goal date and I have 7 more pounds to lose to my goal weight. It won't be quite a year since I started. I need to get intense about that last bit of weight. I've come a long way and I want to hit my mark!

Weekly Preview

Bob works 8:30-5 Monday-Friday this week. That's the most hours he's been scheduled in a week so far.

Since NaNoWriMo begins Sunday, I will be writing like a madwoman all week. Goal each day is 1667 words.

Sunday - National Novel Writing Month begins! Attend Write-in? D&E Youth Party
Monday - Lessons, Teach 3 Spanish classes
Tuesday - Lessons, J Young Marines & E&S Keepers at Home
Wednesday - Lessons
Thursday - Lessons
Friday - Co-op, J Sleepover
Saturday - No plans except Writing


Planned Workouts - S - 3 mile jog or a bike ride, M - None - resting, T - Jog 2.5 miles, W - Tae-bo, Th - Jog 2.5 miles, Fr - Tae-bo if time before co-op, Sa - Make up any missed workout or long jog