Wednesday Wherefores

Well, didn't get the job. Apparently I was in the top 5 of 500 candidates. But not the top choice. Which is ok. I am good with it. So, now I have no prospects.

I have, however, just scheduled an essay writing class and am busily signing up homeschooled high schoolers. The class will begin next week and run every other Wednesday in February and March.

Can you believe January is nearly over? YAY YAY! YAY!!! Winter is slipping away.

Worked on the taxes last night. Hope to have them done by the weekend.

The dryer did not work and Bob had to return it. So now, we are dryer-less. Not a good thing in the depths of winter. Hopefully we can come up with something affordable and functional.

Bought Suzy a cute coat at the thrift store yesterday. Her coats have nearly broken zippers. She likes the new one and it's big enough that it ought to fit her next year too.

The sun shone today! I was soooo glad to see it!

Now for a quick library trip and some tae-bo before I settle down to watch a movie and do some paperwork.

Bob Goes to Work

OK, I know some of you have wondered about Bob's new employment. I didn't say anything much about it before it started for a couple reasons. First, he wasn't all that excited about it. It pays minimum wage and it's not full-time. Second, we were hoping he'd get something else before this job started.

So, anyway, that wasn't God's plan. Bob started at the Salvation Army yesterday. He was hired for a new store, but is training at an existing store (that is farther away). He is working 7 hours 5 days a week this week. I guess we'll see if that continues or changes. He is a back room worker, at least thus far. (One day in, lol)

At least it's a job, eh? Some income is better than none. And he's out of the house doing something. And hopefully a stepping stone to something more lucrative.

Thursday Notes

Suzy was "playing" the piano earlier today, not something I let her do often. She was plinking away at the high notes and James said, "That sounds like someone pounding icicles into your brain!" lol

I'm finally at 25 pounds LOST since January 1. And I've lost two pants sizes. YAY! Go me! I've journaled a lot of calories and exercised a lot of hours to hit that goal. I'm not done yet. I have 13 more pounds until I've hit my goal weight. And then I'll set a new goal. And I hope to run a 5K this fall. Actually RUN it, not walk/jog. So, there you have it.

The little kids have been going to a soccer camp/VBS this week every night. They seem to be having fun and they know a few people there. The first couple nights David rode along with me, just to get out of the house he said.

Last night, I took Emily instead and we had a little girls' night. She and I went to the thrift store and tried on pants - she got a couple pair and I got a pair of capris (a size SMALLER!) and a shirt. Then we grabbed some slushies and some McDonald's and went for a walk at a nearby park. Then we headed back to the church and still had a few minutes to wait and we sat together - I finished my book club book and she wrote for a while. A nice night together - we don't get that often enough.

Bob had an interview yesterday afternoon and it went pretty well, I guess. All we can do now is wait and pray. A lady from our church was in the waiting area when Bob came out from his interview.

I hear the ice cream truck!

Randomness

Randomness....

There's a redbox in the Kroger store in Imlay City now! YAY! I may just cancel Netflix, although when David heard me say that, he reacted with horror.

Suzy is playing across the street with her friends.
James is trying to figure out a way to fix the hanging basket he broke. (Anyone have an empty hanging basket pot?)
Emily is mowing the yard.
David is upstairs in his room playing with Legos and listening to Black by Ted Dekker. (At least I think that's what he's doing.)
Bob is working on the back porch. He's replacing the floor.
Lisa is procrastinating starting dinner. I think we'll be eating late tonight. lol

I took David to the thrift store to see if I could find him some more shorts. Ended up with another pair of shorts (white! ack!) and a pair of jeans. Got myself a long dress coat, which I have needed for YEARS. YAY! Also a fall coat on half price, 2 church shirts for James, and a smattering of clothes for the girls.

Suzy has been trying very hard lately to be sweeter and obey right away. It's very nice to see. I've been trying to reinforce it as much as possible.

I learned how to enter the soccer players into the online system. I am going to put some in tonight and see how I do. By the way, I am taking over for the current soccer registrar for the region. Right now I am Assistant Registrar and I am on the board, I guess.

Deb and Dar and I met last night and got the co-op schedule into some semblance of order. I've been emailing back and forth with teachers all day, getting their assignments straight. I have a phone call or two to make and I am waiting on several to get back with me. Then the schedule will hopefully be all set.

Suzy is going to have a fancy tea party to celebrate her birthday. I am looking for a place to have it since I don't like having parties at home. I am pretty happy she decided on this instead of a sleepover. Twelve little girls for two hours vs. five or six little girls ALL NIGHT on the living room floor? Yeah. lol

So, I have lots to do instead of blog, so I should get at it! lol

Memorial Day, Thrift Store, Soccer, HSM3

Memorial Day - tiny little parade, memory service in town, followed by another short service at the cemetary. Lots of people. Then free ice cream for the kids at the restaurant in town. Met a friend while walking to the cemetary and hung with her and her kids. They came back to our house for a little bit afterward then took David home with them.

I took Emily with me to pick up another friend to go to the half-off clothing sale at the thrift store. Dropped James at her house to play with her son while we were gone. I found a few shirts and 2 dresses for Suzy, several pairs of shorts and a shirt or two for Emily, as well as 2 pair of PJ's, and for myself a "new" pair of jeans to replace the too-big ones, a pair of capris and a pair of shorts and I think some shirts. I also got two pair of shoes, but I'm taking them back. No pix. All I bought were clothes and books. :-)

Monday night stayed up far far too late, even for me, making a quiz on facebook.

Tuesday I started working again. It's been a long time - more than 2 months - since I did any real work on my book. I did do the test scoring for a few weeks in there, but that was a bad experience. I'm sorting through my thoughts on that in relation to how people learn, and hope to post that at Cornerstone.

Did some editing and sent out two queries on Tuesday. Realized I need to revise my synopsis for Forget-Me-Not since it was written for the old version of the story, before it was expanded. Today I edited 20 pages of the story and then looked at the old synopsis, totally overwhelmed with the task. Sigh. I am kind of stalled on the queries until that's done, since many agents want a synopsis.

Tuesday afternoon I met with my leadership team for Seeds of Faith about co-op - posted on Cornerstone about that.

Tuesday night was James' last soccer game. There was one more game, but it didn't end up getting rescheduled, so his season is done now too. They got clobbered. I lost count of the other team's goals, but it was embarrassing. LOL There were at least 3 goals in just the first quarter, one of them in the first minute of play! Ack! They had one star player that was so far above anyone else on the field that it was practically impossible to stop him. James was goalkeeper during the 3rd quarter. I felt bad for him, because they did score on him (got it on video too! lol Not sharing it!) but he did stop one goal at least.

So, both the kids are done with soccer now! I'm just getting started though. I have a meeting tomorrow with the current registrar so she can tell me about how to go about taking over for her.

Right now, Bob and the 2 younger kids are going through the shoes, to see which are too small, disliked, or ruined. Then they are going through the sandals I have put aside. David is upstairs, probably playing Legos since he is grounded from both the PSP and the internet. Emily is "cleaning her room" which means she's sitting in the middle of a pigsty mess reading a book.

And me? I just keep listening to the HSM3 soundtrack over and over and over and over.... (Yes, I bought it. All three soundtracks actually. Used on amazon, so at least I didn't spend a lot of money.)

And now I need to go make dinner.

Regain, Redress, Replay

Weighed in today at the same weight I was two weeks ago. Before Sister Weekend and scrapping weekend. lol So, the treats have been worked off. Hopefully next week, I'll have a loss to report.

Emily and I made a trip to the thrift store today to get her some spring clothes. She has been looking a bit like a hobo lately and I was afraid that once the weather warms up (if it EVER does) she'd have nothing to wear. Two trips to the fitting room netted us 7 short-sleeved shirts, a pair of jeans, a pair of capris, a pair of shorts, and a cute sleeveless dress. Oh yeah, and a very cute black spring jacket. I also grabbed a short-sleeved dress for Suzy and a nice pile of books.

Suzy climbed in bed with me this morning complaining of a headache. "Oh no," I thought, as this is how James first presented on Monday. He's still sick, too, by the way. He seems to be better and then worse again. He spent most of Wednesday laying on the couch. And he's had bad dreams three nights in a row. So, Suzy and James have spent the day so far laying around moaning. I stocked up on library & Netflix DVD's to occupy them.

So, Spring Break's been kind of a bust between the sickies, the cold and snow, and the fact that I'm working on test scoring online now. Also Bob has been volunteering every night at the homeless shelter from 3 - 8 AM. Makes me wish we could take another week off, but we won't.

Time to go to work!

Thrift Store Visit and Weekly Preview

Sister Weekend is over for another year. What fun we had laughing and talking, playing games and watching movies, eating out and eating in, talking about memories and looking at scrapbooks. I can't wait for next year!

David participated in a youth auction on Sunday as a fundraiser for the mission trip. Each youth was auctioned and will be doing work for his or her purchaser. David (and most of the youth) were evidently auctioned twice.

On Friday before Sister Weekend began, I headed to a thrift store that I love. It's located in the city where my parents live, so I don't get to go there much. The thrift store has a book store located in it now and I bought some books for the kids' lessons. Very nice bookstore!

What I specifically wanted to buy was a pair of black pants and a pair of khakis for myself and tennis shoes for Emily. I found two nice pairs of tennis shoes for Emily (and she is pleased!), one pair for James, and a pair of sandals for myself. I found the pants I wanted (a size smaller!) and some shorts as well, and also several shirts for Bob and for me.

When I headed over to the checkout, they told me that unless I had exact change, I'd have to come back tomorrow to pay since their credit card/check machine was down and so were the cash registers. Odd, eh? So, I did go back the next morning with one of my sisters and my mom.

More Sister Weekend updates coming up this week.... but for now, what's on the agenda this week?

Monday - Lessons, Work (editing or whatever), Try to get the taxes done
Tuesday - Lessons, Nature Walk/Scavenger Hunt, Babysit in the afternoon I think, Begin Training for the online scoring job I've landed
Wednesday - Lessons, Art Class (D/E/J), Work (me) Pioneer Club (D/J/S)
Thursday - Lessons, Work (me)
Friday - Co-op
Saturday - I was invited scrapbooking, but I don't think I'll be able to go. Will decide later on.
Sunday - SS, Church, Youth Group (D)

More Jan 1 Thrifty Finds

I took these pix of the New Year's Day thrift store buys but they never got transferred to the computer until today. So, here you go, twenty days late. LOL The PJ's are Suzy's, the shirts are Emily's. These are not all the things I bought, but just the ones that ended up getting photographed.

Suzy's fashion show

Michele requested pictures of my thrift store finds, so here are a few. All I bought were clothes, so I hope you like a fashion show, Michele! The clothes have already gone to the laundry and been put away. I think so anyway. So most of them were not handy, but Suzy was a willing model, so you will see her first.


I bought pants to go with this shirt, but they were too big. I've set them aside for the future.














When I saw this skirt, I knew she would love it. It's black with red sparkles. So, I looked for a dressy red shirt to go along with it.











This pair of pants was the first thing I put in my cart. She adores stuff like this. I didn't know if she'd already have a shirt to match, so I found a plain pink one. Her eyes got big when she saw the pants!














This outfit is too big, so we'll put it away for next fall. Hopefully it will fit well then. You can't tell with her arms up, but the sleeves are about 4 inches too long. It's crocheted, so there is no way to modify it at all. The pants are too long as well - black with a hot pink pinstripe. Of course, the ribbon should be tied. She loves the long swoopy sleeves.





She was happier than she looks in this photo. lol The jeans are new and she loves this kind of fluttery top. It's lined, if I remember correctly, so nothing itchy will touch her skin. She can't stand itchy stuff inside her clothes! I will have to cut out all the tags.


I also bought her a pair of cotton winter PJ's with The Little Mermaid on them, the tight-fitting kind, as well as a pair of summer pajamas. I think they have that monkey on them. Jack? No, not the POTC monkey Jack. lol

A Little Update

Took the girls to their meeting tonight. Brought James along so we could get him some pants at the thrift store. He tells me he has no pants. I find that hard to believe, but .. hey, the kid needs something more than soccer shorts (his fav!) to wear. It's COLD out there!

Got James 3 pairs of pants. Also got a pair of khakis for David, an outfit for me and several shirts, a skirt for Emily's costume, and a dress for Suzy. James used his own money to buy a couple toys.

On the way home, I hit an opossum. THUNK. The kids were adjusting to that idea when.... THUNK again! Less than a minute passed and I hit a raccoon! Yikes! What in the world??

We brought the bunny into the back room today - fixed him up a little cage back there. He'd be happier in something bigger, but it's either outside - cold in a bigger cage or inside - warm in a smaller cage. That's all we've got.

I'm giving some thought to the suggestions of a divider of some kind and noise-cancelling headphones. I can't move into another room here because of the internet connection. The main problem is the noise. I can't take calls or make calls with the loudness in the background, so I do need a separate room if I am going to try to run my business the traditional way. I may try to scrape up some business on the internet instead - and be totally an online company. I haven't gone to a lot of effort promoting the business or trying to get assignments because of the work environment here. It's worse now that the weather is cooler. And I had higher hopes of Bob corralling the children upstairs. That's not going to work out. Anyway, rest assured I am thinking about the ideas! Thanks for sharing!

I haven't forgotten to share about Bob's disability hearing results. We are still waiting.

We are trying to make some decisions on health insurance. We have also been doing our assignments for Financial Peace University, although it is hard to do a "budget" when you have no real income. lol

Thrift Store Haul

Thrift Store Haul

Spent two or three hours at the thrift store today with David, Emily, and Suzy and came home with the following:

David
-2 pair lounge pants (pajama)
-1 fall jacket, reversible
-2 church shirts
-1 pair church pants

Emily
-1 pr winter pajamas
-3 dresses
-1 pr jeans
-2 pr pants
-2 t-shirts
-3 long sleeve shirts

James
-1 pr church shoes

Suzy
-1 pr church shoes
- 1 dress for next summer (she has plenty of fall/winter dresses already)
-2 sundresses (or jumpers) with tees to wear underneath
-3 t-shirts
-1 skirt with tee to match
-1 pr pants

For myself I got a dress that I hope to makeover into a Renaissance Festival dress. We'll see if I can actually accomplish it or if it even works, but I saw it and it screamed "COSTUME!!!" at me. If I don't use it, I'm sure someone here will eventually.

On the way home, we stopped at a couple garage sales. Our finds: a fake plant with lots of greenery and hyacinths in a basket (just right for the top of my bookshelf; it's been nagging me to put something on it), some 7x7 Creative Memories page protectors (I think I have one of these albums), some girl toys, and, best of all, a VERY nice bike for Suzy for $20. She's happy. It is slightly big for her, so by next year it should fit her great and will fit her for 2-3 years, I imagine.

Great bargain day!

Eleven Money-Saving Ideas

I've been reading money-saving ideas here and there on the web over the last few months, as finances are tight everywhere. I thought I'd share some of the things we do to keep costs low. We've always lived on a shoestring, some times more than others.

Some of the things we dot:

1. Use half as much of the product. For example, cut all the fabric softener sheets in half. They still work as well, but you get twice as many. Use half the laundry detergent or shampoo.
   
2. Buy the store brand whenever possible. It's almost always just as good and almost always MUCH cheaper.
3. Watch the grocery store ads and plan your meals around what's on sale, instead of planning your menu first.
   
4. Never pay full price for anything if you can help it. Buy on sale, ahead if possible so you'll have it when you need it.
5. Rethink buying things like DVD's, books, CD's, video games, games, toys, etc... If you still want it after a few days, then reconsider. If you can borrow it, do so. Will you really watch/read/play/use it more than once?
6. Frequent your thrift store for clothing and other items. I should do a post just on this, but you can get just about all your clothes you need there if you have a good store nearby. Underwear and socks are the exception in my experience. Other items are often available there too. I recently bought a coffeemaker that works great!
   
7. If you smoke or drink regularly, QUIT. Great for your health and wallet.
8. Consider the bills you pay every month - are they necessary? Obviously you have to pay your housing and heating costs. Do you have to have your cell phone? Cable TV? Internet? Movie rentals? Gym membership? You may find you are able to eliminate something extraneous here.
9. Use your library! Interlibrary loan for me is FREE and I can get just about anything I want to read, watch, or listen to. Your librarian is your friend!
10. Grow a garden. Too late for this year, but plan one during the colder months and get ready for spring!
11. Drink water. Cut out pop, coffee, juice, Koolaid, teas, etc... Water is cheap or free and healthy too! (OK, I am working on this! I drink Diet Coke and coffee, but we drink mostly water at all our meals.)

So, there are eleven things you can try.

Maybe you already do all these. Stay tuned. I'll try to give some more ideas in the near future. Feel free to leave your ideas in the comments!

Thrift Store Finds

Took David to the thrift store today to look for shorts for camp. He insists he doesn't wear shorts. But I think he'll want some at camp. Found 3 pairs of shorts. Kept looking and found a pair of tennis shoes for him, 2 Star Wars shirts (he's excited!), 1 Christian t-shirt, and a pair of pj pants. I think he's set for camp now.

Got 2 dresses for Suzy (one casual, one church) and a skirt. Got a fall dress for Emily and a t-shirt for myself that says "Warning: I have an attitude and I know how to use it". Also got a pair of jeans for Bob. (Nothing for poor James! lol)

Also got some books (always do!), a plastic storage basket with handles, an insulated cup, a steel coffee mug with a lid, and a blue glass vase that makes me happy.

Oh yeah, and also a set of Adventures in Odyssey cassettes (David has been asking me to get some new ones) and a mini Lego Star Wars set that he is thrilled to have!

I am really pleased! Plus I got a $5 coupon to use within the next month!

Clean Carpets

Whew!

Rented the carpet cleaner for $18 and cleaned my living room and bedroom carpets. (That's all the carpet we have!) Also cleaned the sofa and two recliners. The carpet doesn't look a whole lot better, but at least it's cleaner. (You should have seen the dirty water! Eeww!) This carpet still "feels new" to me, but it's got to be eight years old now. I know we got it before Suzy was born. At least I THINK we did.

So, we had everything out of the living room and bedroom, except the computer desk, TV, and bookshelves. When we put the stuff back, we changed the furniture arrangement a little at David's request. We put the couch where the chairs were and vice versa. LOL That's rearranging at the Wagners. I like stuff the same.

We also went to a new consignment thrift store today. It's nice! I've been driving past it on the way to work every day and finally took the time to stop. I bought a watch (mine died) and a vacuum (ours blew up a couple weeks ago) and a book on math games. Suzy bought a couple toys.

National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets is our movie for the evening. Hamburgers are grilled and waiting to be eaten. Two kids are bathed and two remain to have their showers.

THAT was a heck of a day's work. lol And it's not quite done.

Flaring Nostrils of Total Rejection

Yesterday we went to Meijer - all of us. It's part of my "make the most of family time" plan. I give David and Emily each a list and send them off to shop. Good practice, right? David had frozen foods and meat yesterday and Emily had produce. Stopped at Taco Bell for takeout burritos and tacos.

Bob also went to the Secretary of State and renewed his drivers license and our car registrations.
Got home in time to have our quick Mexican lunch and then took Emily to art class. David had to forego it this month since his soccer practices are only on Wednesdays.

After I dropped her off, I went to the thrift store and got myself some summer clothes (2 shorts, 2 tanks, 2 capris, some tees). I needed some nicer things, as well as some more shirts to wear to work. Also got David two pair of pants (1 jeans, 1 black pair), a pair of shorts for soccer, and a tshirt. A dress for Emily, a pair of jeans and a swim coverup for Suzy, and 6 books completed my purchases. I love shopping secondhand!

I bought a few t-shirts with pithy sayings.

I could give up
CHOCOLATE
but I'm not a quitter.

(Yes, I had that on my other blog for a while, so I thought it apropos to have the shirt.)

Power Corrupts.
(but absolute power is kinda neat)

Got one for David that says:

SOMETIMES I AMAZE MYSELF

I already have a shirt that says:

Chocolate is
cheaper than therapy.
(I get a lot of comments on that shirt whenever I wear it!)

David's team practiced in the rain. He didn't particularly like that, although he likes playing a soccer game in the rain.

Last night at work I didn't run a press. Instead I went through 29 boxes of parts looking for any bad ones. I didn't find any bad ones, which made for a really boring evening.

Right now I am taking a break from taking my winter clothes out of the closets and drawers and replacing them with my summer clothes. Also, I need to figure out lunch. Soon.

We are almost done reading Nim's Island. Still haven't made it to the theatre for that. This weekend there is supposed to be rain and it will be chillier, so maybe it will be a good movie weekend. However, I'll likely opt for Speed Racer instead. Heh David wants to see Ironman.

Tomorrow is Homeschool Park Day and James has a softball clinic. I need to take Emily to get her glasses fixed or order new ones. That might end up being Saturday. I need to call about that.

Four soccer games on Saturday - 8:30, 9:00, 11:00, 1:30. So, yeah, it'll be a soccer day. If it's nice enough, maybe we'll do some garage sales in between.

Oh yeah, what's up with the post title? Well, David has been going around saying it. Evidently it's a line in Kronk's New Groove, which the kids watched the other night. LOL I found it rather catchy.