Selling myself

Today at work, I told a local business owner that he needed a bookkeeper. Seriously, his deposits are a mess, and he can't keep all his employees' paychecks straight... and then I proceeded to tell him that he not only needed a bookkeeper, he needs ME!

He took my number, and I expect to hear from him soon.
He said that he didn't want to advertise in the paper, he'd get all sorts of losers who aren't qualified applying and just wasting his time... to which I said "I have a degree in accounting"

He leaned in and said "really?"
We discussed dress codes (there isn't one, I can wear jeans and tennis shoes!!! woohoo! that right there makes it worth it) and hours... thinking it would be 3 days a week. After he left, my dearest friend at work told me that he's a really great guy, and he treats his employees VERY well. If/when he calls, I will have to let him know that I have financial requirements for a paycheck... and if he can meet them then I will put in my notice the next day. I don't have any benefits from my current employer (they're available, I just don't partake... we get our bene's through JP's job) so that's not even an issue.

Time for bed, I have to get up for an early meeting at work tomorrow... stupid meeting, but it's an extra half hour of paid time to sit and listen to bankers talk... lord they do love to hear themselves talk...

Dog day of Summer

Today we drove 420 miles (round trip, mind you) leaving home at 6am to go down to Minneapolis to the dog park. Mom and I, Alex and Emma, and Hailey, Kate and Chloe.

Eric stayed home with Comet. She got spayed on Wednesday, and although she's feeling fine, she's under strict doctor's orders: no water until the sutures come out... 10 to 14 days. In other words: NO FUN until the stitches are out. We could not imagine taking her along, and having to keep her on a leash in the dog park, where dogs are allowed to roam free, to keep her out of the Mississippi River while her mom, aunt, sister and daughter all go play like water babies. Wouldn't be fair, and there's no way to explain it to a dog... Eric volunteered to stay home with her, and although he is the youngest of my children, he is also the one I trust most to stay home alone. I did not worry that he would bail on her and go spend the day with his friends (Alex) or invite a bunch of his friends into my home to create a mess, and again, ignore the dog (Emma).

So we went, and it was wonderful... after I got over the initial worry of Hailey. See, she is my dog, and she listens to me, only me, and only MOST of the time. She's also slightly nervous aggressive... nervous dominant, I guess. I was concerned how she'd be at the park with strange dogs, unleashed and roaming free.

Not a problem, not at all. So I relaxed. She was wonderful, she came whenever I called, and she played in the mud, and ran (FAST!) up ahead on the trails, and then came back to make sure I was still there, and she jumped in the river and swam out after rocks that Emma skipped and she had this smile (yes, dogs DO smile!) plastered on her face the entire time.

You see, yesterday, July 24th was Hailey and Kate's birthday... they turned 7 years old.

I will be posting pictures soon, I'm too tired to upload, view and resize, save and publish them tonight. But it was great, it was so much fun, and next time, JP and Comet will join us.

Speaking of JP, he'll be home next weekend... home from his last summer 2 week camp. Then we just need to get through the next year of drill weekends, and then he's no longer Staff Sergeant Honeybear, he's just my husband, Honeybear. Officially retired at the age of 38 (well, he will be 38 by next July!) Just one more week... and then one more year.

the old and the restless

ok, so I'm bored, husband is gone, nothing good on TV, I'm too bored to go to bed early.
You know what I want to do? Write. Haven't done that in quite awhile. I "finished" the book back in January.

I don't feel like revisiting it, working on rewrites or revisions.

I just don't know that I have it in me to start a new project. and honestly, I think I would feel like a fake.a.a.a.... a hypocrite if I DID start something new without having done anything with what I already have.

I'm just feeling antsy and uneasy... and in the past, when I felt like that, I would write... well, not always exactly WRITE, as in words, sometimes I would pick up a pen and write out a budget, work with numbers, sometimes all it took to relax me was to put everything on an Excel spreadsheet. Sometimes I make lists of projects I want to do, remodeling, things around the house. Sometimes I can make a shopping list... or even a shopping wish list.

but none of that sounds appealing right now. Tiny Sue is is hanging out with me, but she's really no help. She's sweet, and cuddly, but that's about it.

I also want to reread the Harry Potter book The Half Blood Prince... it's been ages since I read it, and after just seeing the movie, I want to see how it compares.

But after all this venting, I will probably just end up finishing my bored-seen-it-a-million-times movie marathon and falling asleep. I've been flipping channels since I got home from work at noon.
So far today, I've seen:
10 things I hate about you
Carrie
She's all that
(incidentally, all three of these movies contain Prom scenes... weird, right?)
Edward Scissorhands
Made of Honor
and now I'm watching
My cousin Vinny

damn, 36 sure as hell is boring on a Saturday night.

this is good

I can't even begin to express how excited I am when I think about the future... IF things go as planned.
Of course things are planned, that's what I do, THAT is how I survive... I plan shit out.

The money plan, of course. I originally asked JP to give me until the end of the summer to work this thing, prove to him that it would work... paying off everything. He really does seem to be getting the idea, too. After refinancing the mortgage and the truck, and getting lower payment amounts, I've been throwing the savings from those at bills.

Off track here, but still on subject, that's something that annoys me... people who think they're saving money when they... buy something on sale, for example... you're not SAVING money when you buy a TV at a 10% off sale... unless you literally put that 10% amount into a savings account. Otherwise, all you're doing is NOT spending it... at least not at the TV store.

Saving money, to me, is a budgeted amount put aside every pay period into an interest bearing account, or some other means of putting it away, out of the reach of SPENDING it.

Ok, back to the subject at hand... my budget is looking wonderful on paper, and so far, so good, on keeping the reality of it in check with the paper version.

Anyway, work sucks, and JP is away at Guard camp for 2 weeks, but I am still able to grin a bit.

wishful thinking

Ed: My goodness dear, you get through my transactions so much faster than the other girls, that really makes me happy.

Me: Well, Ed, I'll tell you why... I do your banking so quickly because I can't stand to be around you very long. You've got a horribly bad toupee, and scarily large teeth that I'm almost certain are made of wood, much like George Washington's, in fact, I'd be willing to bet they were a gift to you from him on his deathbed. Your skin reminds me of Pennywise the clown from the novel IT by Stephen King, reaching out from a gutter to grab small children. It wouldn't surprise me to see an alien pull open your jaws from the inside, like a kid opening a bag of potato chips, and come plopping out onto my counter, sitting briefly to get it's wits about it before lunging at me to sink it's razor sharp teeth into my jugular vein.

Being responsible sucks

I worked pull tabs last night, picked up a shift to cover someone who's sick.
It is my weekend to work, so I am scheduled to work tonight and tomorrow night, too. Nicer paycheck, so whatever.

Today my friend Gina and her boyfriend are going tubing down the river. Gina tried her damnedest to get me to call in *cough*sick and go with her.

JP is doing a major housecleaning today because he's invited his little friends over tonight for some stupid Ultimate Fighting thing on Pay Per View. He asked me to make my famous BBQs to feed them. So I'm supposed to help him clean, fix the BBQs, put them in the crockpot to cook all afternoon, then GO TO WORK... and NOT get any of my own damn yummy supper.

Gina's offer was really good... tubing, sunshine, booze... I even said yes for a few minutes. Then I got to thinking about having to call Carol to tell her that I'm *cough*sick, and I got to thinking about everything wonderful that JP does for me, and about how I was bailing on helping him. I felt like shit. So instead of calling Carol, I called Gina back.

I did drive them out there though. Drunk driving after tubing is a bad thing... we always got rides, or had a sober tuber with us.

But now I am back home, finishing up what I can do to help JP, then I have to shower and get ready for work, and all I can think about it Gina and Mike floating down the river enjoying a beautiful summer day.

When do I get to enjoy it? Huh?
Fuck, being a responsible adult really blows.

Random thoughts brought to you by UV Blue

with lemonade, of course.

You know what's annoying? having decent thighs when standing, only to find that they squish out to twice their size when you sit... that's a shame.

all I can think about is the day I can quit my job. Not the day I get a better job, but the day I quit. I never wanted to be a stay at home mom when my kids were little, they were whiny and annoying... so damn needy. and smelly. But now, I would LOVE to be able to not work. I imagine all the things I could do if I had every day... I could do the laundry and the dishes, the remodeling projects, the furniture refinishing, the scrap booking, the simple errands that I always seem to be too damn tired to do after work. I could make meals that would be better than fish sticks and tater tots at the end of a long mentally exhausting day.

I have given this a ton of thought... all I have to do is pay off all the debt, the discover card, the military credit card, the Menard's acct, and the student loans... and then JP's check would be enough to cover the mortgage and the truck payment... and since this is a 5 year plan, even the truck payment would be gone by then.

And 5 years from now, my kids will be 16, 17 & 20... THAT alone is incentive enough, huh?

Also, I've noticed how incredibly smart Chloe is... you know Chloe, my mom's puppy... Comet's baby... the girl is wicked smart... she knows how to Kennel, she can sit, and she is potty trained. And of course, she is OBMYGOD cute, to boot!

I tell you what, I LOVES me some UV Blue & lemonade...

Mom and I are going out rummaging tomorrow morning, I went out this morning and got her a couch. She is house hunting, and doesn't have a ton of furniture... I picked it out, and just hoped she'd like it... and I think it will work great... now all she needs is a house... so she's looking for furniture and household stuff, and I am determined to find work clothes for summer THAT FIT my smaller ass... I am sick of wearing pants that, without a belt, could be pulled down without unzipping.... I am sick of swimming in my clothes.

which is nice... it is much more normal in my life to bitch about clothes being too tight... I'm liking this whole skinnier Nik thing. I think JP prefers more cushin' for the... yeah, anyway (HI MOM) but I don't care, I like me in a size 4, not a 12.

Now it's time to go put the fish sticks and tater tots in the oven... I need food or I'll be a sick unhappy girl in the morning!