OK so Obama is finally inaugurated. I am pretty happy with some of the things he's done so far, such as pledging to close Gitmo, signing the Gender Equity Pay Act and just being an all around fly guy in the White House, I mean after 8 years of Howdy Doody and his robotronic, silent wife it is so nice to have a hot, stylish family in there.
But here is what I am not so happy about. I haven't been blogging at all because I've been too TIRED because I've been working more than usual because my restaurant has been dead b/c no one has any money to spend on going out to eat. My two closest friends lost their jobs, both of which were more or less out of the blue. One friend's company was closed without notice by its parent company, and ther other friends was one fo the Starbuck casualties (he worked in management.). My poor retired dad just came to visit and spend the entire time frantically searching online for CD's with good rates, because he pulled all of his money out of the stock market and is juggling around trying to make things work.
I did at least get my taxes done already. I have already spend my refund three times over in my mind...more soon...
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
So so tired
Today is my first day off in a week and I had class tonight. I came home from class, cleaned the house, yelled at the girls for leaving the mess, harassed my husband about not making enough money and now I am miserable.
We had a rough weekend because Saturday morning something broke on the furnace. One of my husband's friends came to look at it and said he could fix it but not until Monday. He thought maybe if we called around someone else could fix it that day, but they would probably charge us hundreds more dollars, so of course, we waited until Monday. We borrowed a bunch of space heaters and thank god the house didn't burn down. We had no hot water so I couldn't really cook anything. We went to the Y to take showers. For once I was glad I had to work all weekend because it was kind of awful in the cold house.
Anyway, it cost $722 yesterday to fix the furnace. Thank god we have a little emergency cash for things like this, but I swear, a couple more things like this and all our emergency cash will be gone. Oh and then yesterday our stove started making weird noises (it's really old) and so I think it's about to die. I am praying it lasts until we get our tax refund back, but just in case, I am keeping an eye on Craig's List for used electric ranges.
I have to say, I hate it that I live like this - scraping through one disaster after another. I went to college for god's sake - but I know my experience is pretty typical of folks today. I wonder if things really will get better with President Obama? What would help me would be if we got to keep a little more of our pay....and if there was national health care so my husband didn't have to stay at a job with low pay just for the benefits. And if it was cheaper to go to school or easier to get loans so I could get more education and make more money.
Both my kids who are supposed to be sleeping are now on my lap singing the alphabet.
We had a rough weekend because Saturday morning something broke on the furnace. One of my husband's friends came to look at it and said he could fix it but not until Monday. He thought maybe if we called around someone else could fix it that day, but they would probably charge us hundreds more dollars, so of course, we waited until Monday. We borrowed a bunch of space heaters and thank god the house didn't burn down. We had no hot water so I couldn't really cook anything. We went to the Y to take showers. For once I was glad I had to work all weekend because it was kind of awful in the cold house.
Anyway, it cost $722 yesterday to fix the furnace. Thank god we have a little emergency cash for things like this, but I swear, a couple more things like this and all our emergency cash will be gone. Oh and then yesterday our stove started making weird noises (it's really old) and so I think it's about to die. I am praying it lasts until we get our tax refund back, but just in case, I am keeping an eye on Craig's List for used electric ranges.
I have to say, I hate it that I live like this - scraping through one disaster after another. I went to college for god's sake - but I know my experience is pretty typical of folks today. I wonder if things really will get better with President Obama? What would help me would be if we got to keep a little more of our pay....and if there was national health care so my husband didn't have to stay at a job with low pay just for the benefits. And if it was cheaper to go to school or easier to get loans so I could get more education and make more money.
Both my kids who are supposed to be sleeping are now on my lap singing the alphabet.
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Thanksgiving
The last week or so have been crazy. But first, Thanksgiving. I had to work at the nursing home. I did have some say in the matter; I am required to work a holiday and so I requested Thanksgiving because I'd rather be home with the fam on Christmas, and of course, we got paid time and a half (which actually comes somewhat close to what I think we should be paid normally). But I would be lying if I said I wasn't kind of sad today. Not resentful, because I do feel that I get to do a lot of things by working nights, such as enjoy the summer sun when others of you are in offices, but I was a little sad that I wasn't with my girls today.
In other news, I have been sick with the flu for the last week. Today was my first normal feeling day. As luck would have it, there was only one of the really sick days that I had to miss work, because of course, no sick time for me, so no money if I miss work. I am part-time at both of my jobs so I don't get any benefits.
Just before I got sick, and probably, worsening my sickness, a friend/coworker of mine committed suicide. I am not sure if I feel it is appropriate to write too much about this on here, since it seems like it is trivializing something that is so huge and terrible to me. However - an interesting note about this - I spend time on Facebook, and often times, keep up with my friends solely through their status updates. So naturally, when my friend died in this tragic manner, I wanted to put it on Facebook but it seemed wrong somehow. Then, though, other people that knew him started putting it on (I am sad today; We will always love you; etc) so I decided to as well. Then, I started IM'ing with friends about him, and in the end, realized that I did a lot of my grief processing via IM and Facebook. SO I guess it is ok...right?
In other news, I have been sick with the flu for the last week. Today was my first normal feeling day. As luck would have it, there was only one of the really sick days that I had to miss work, because of course, no sick time for me, so no money if I miss work. I am part-time at both of my jobs so I don't get any benefits.
Just before I got sick, and probably, worsening my sickness, a friend/coworker of mine committed suicide. I am not sure if I feel it is appropriate to write too much about this on here, since it seems like it is trivializing something that is so huge and terrible to me. However - an interesting note about this - I spend time on Facebook, and often times, keep up with my friends solely through their status updates. So naturally, when my friend died in this tragic manner, I wanted to put it on Facebook but it seemed wrong somehow. Then, though, other people that knew him started putting it on (I am sad today; We will always love you; etc) so I decided to as well. Then, I started IM'ing with friends about him, and in the end, realized that I did a lot of my grief processing via IM and Facebook. SO I guess it is ok...right?
Monday, November 17, 2008
Ouch Organic
I have arrived at the sad, sad conclusion that I simply cannot buy my family the high-quality, organic food they deserve. In the summer, we have a share in a CSA farm, and for what works out to be about $25/week, we get more organic produce than we can eat. For the supplemental protein, dairy and snacks I need, I can swing some organic purchases. But this time of year, with the aforementioned plummeting of my income, the fact that we have heating expenses, and no more farm share, I just can't afford it. So, yesterday at Stop&Shop I caved. I try to limit my weekly food spending to $160, and that just is not going to buy enough for us if I try to buy organic. I had to give myself a little internal therapy session the whole way home, "It's ok - they get to eat food that is good PART of the year. When I was a kid, we ate crap all the time, and I turned out ok (Did I?)...Some kids are hungry all the time, at least my kids can be full". Etc. I then called a friend on the way home, who told me that not only was her family no longer eating organic foods, she wasn't even sure if she could afford to buy generic groceries this week.
When I got home and was putting away the groceries, I noticed my list of "When to Buy Organic" foods, looking balefully at me from the refrigerator door, where I stuck it under a magnet after clipping it from Eating Well magazine sometime last year. The list reminded me that bell peppers, apples and celery were sure to kill my children (and me, in short order) were I to buy non-organic versions. I averted my eyes and kept putting away the food. I also noticed that the fridge is starting to make an occasional buzzing sound, which probably means death is imminent. If we have to buy a new fridge right now, I am burning the list from Eating Well.
When I got home and was putting away the groceries, I noticed my list of "When to Buy Organic" foods, looking balefully at me from the refrigerator door, where I stuck it under a magnet after clipping it from Eating Well magazine sometime last year. The list reminded me that bell peppers, apples and celery were sure to kill my children (and me, in short order) were I to buy non-organic versions. I averted my eyes and kept putting away the food. I also noticed that the fridge is starting to make an occasional buzzing sound, which probably means death is imminent. If we have to buy a new fridge right now, I am burning the list from Eating Well.
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Um....not better yet
OK so just a quick post about my weekend. I went to work on Friday night and made $50, and on Saturday my boss called and said business has been so slow that I wasn't needed. (I was in the worst section - we rotate through them - so this did not happen to any other servers that night). I typically make $300-$400 on my weekends waitressing...so at best, I'm down $250 and worst, down $350. I had to dip into savings to do the grocery shopping today. In past years, I haven't had to dip into my savings until January when the real winter lull hits. Ouch ouch ouch. I hope Obama turns things around, and FAST, or my family is in trouble. Ironically, I am trying to save a little money because we are planning to go to DC to see his Inauguration, but if things continue like this we may not be able too! It is a cheap trip for us since we have lots of family to stay with there, so we really just need gas money and some food money while we're there, but now I'm wondering if we'll even have that. Ugh.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Exhausted
OK - well I am not sure it makes a lot of sense to do the numbers tally because my income fluctuates greatly. I have two jobs: I work per-diem as a CNA in a rehab/extended living facility, and I wait tables. I work anywhere from 1-3 nights at the facility, and my tips vary greatly depending on what section I am in. So an actual numbers tally is not that representative of the state of our nation.
Instead, I'll write about my perceptions of how things are. Right now, I am so tired I can't see straight and that is usually the case. I am with our twin pre-schoolers all day (they don't actually GO to pre-school because we can't afford it - somehow, incredibly, we make "too much" money to qualify for Head Start), then about four nights a week I go to work, from roughly 3-11 pm. My husband works a regular, full-time job, through which we get our health insurance, and then frequently takes side jobs which he does on weekend days when I'm not working, or weeknights when I'm not working. I also am taking a Spanish class right now because I thought it would be helpful as I continue on a path in health care.
So, in summary, I work about 32-40 hrs a week outside the home. My husband generally works 45-50 weeks. We trade off the twins. Rarely are the four of us together - in fact some days I never see him at all. Those days he leaves for work before we wake up, then I drop the girls at a friends' house for an hour or so when I head to work, he picks them up, and then they're all asleep when I get home from work at night.
Is this normal? Is this how most Americans live now? We do own our home, but it is TINY - really just four rooms: 2 bedrooms, a living room, and an eat-in kitchen. There is also a breezeway we can use as a sitting room about 6 months of the year, and a big yard. I am grateful we own it, don't get me wrong- but it is small. And we were only able to buy it because my grandfather died and left me a small chunk of money we used as a down payment. We do both have late-model vehicles; him a truck, for work, and me a Scion. With children, I feel that I must always have a reliable vehicle, so I guess we have more money tied up on those vehicles than some families might...
but anyway. I am exhausted and my back hurts and I get to do this all over again tomorrow- so more later.
Instead, I'll write about my perceptions of how things are. Right now, I am so tired I can't see straight and that is usually the case. I am with our twin pre-schoolers all day (they don't actually GO to pre-school because we can't afford it - somehow, incredibly, we make "too much" money to qualify for Head Start), then about four nights a week I go to work, from roughly 3-11 pm. My husband works a regular, full-time job, through which we get our health insurance, and then frequently takes side jobs which he does on weekend days when I'm not working, or weeknights when I'm not working. I also am taking a Spanish class right now because I thought it would be helpful as I continue on a path in health care.
So, in summary, I work about 32-40 hrs a week outside the home. My husband generally works 45-50 weeks. We trade off the twins. Rarely are the four of us together - in fact some days I never see him at all. Those days he leaves for work before we wake up, then I drop the girls at a friends' house for an hour or so when I head to work, he picks them up, and then they're all asleep when I get home from work at night.
Is this normal? Is this how most Americans live now? We do own our home, but it is TINY - really just four rooms: 2 bedrooms, a living room, and an eat-in kitchen. There is also a breezeway we can use as a sitting room about 6 months of the year, and a big yard. I am grateful we own it, don't get me wrong- but it is small. And we were only able to buy it because my grandfather died and left me a small chunk of money we used as a down payment. We do both have late-model vehicles; him a truck, for work, and me a Scion. With children, I feel that I must always have a reliable vehicle, so I guess we have more money tied up on those vehicles than some families might...
but anyway. I am exhausted and my back hurts and I get to do this all over again tomorrow- so more later.
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
The Day After
What a perfect day to start this blog...the day after the Election. I am a somewhat typical, working American mom, and I've been wanting to blog for a while. I know from reading other blogs that a blog needs to have focus, not just random pontificating about things, recitations of meals, and other nonsense. Additionally, I feel like a lot of the Mom-blogs out there don't really speak to me. Soo.....I've decided this blog will chart my daily life experiences - expenses, exhaustion levels, moods, etc to see how things change when President Obama takes over.
Now, I should say up front I am a devoted Democrat, and have been my entire life. I spent the '90's working on various Democratic campaigns (both national and state), and I served in the second Clinton administration. However, I had some crises in my personal life that coincided with the year 2000, and George Bush's stolen election (or maybe it wasn't a coincidence) which resulted in my withdrawing from political involvement, aside from a little campaigning around Election Day. I spent several years getting myself back together, and then I got married, moved to rural Massachusetts, and started having babies - so my life is very different today.
This election cycle, I supported Hillary early on, because I wanted to see a woman in the White House, and because of my long devotion to Bill Clinton. I did not dislike Barack Obama; I just liked Hillary more. When she lost the nomination , I shifted my support to Obama.
I did not, however, have much emotion towards him until he held an event in August in Unity, NH. I watched that event on TV with my bi-racial children (twins, age 3), and at one point one of them pointed at the TV and said, "Look! Barack Obama is brown like Daddy!". At that point, chills came over me and I realized the magnitude of this candidacy, and what it represented not just for my own family, but for our country, both its past legacy and its future, and our standing in the world. I realized how important it was that Barack Obama be elected, and that my children's awareness have him as a figure in it.
However, I work almost full-time in the evenings, and am with the twins all day, so was not able to campaign much. I did, however, believe in my heart in Obama, and do as much as I could, from having conversations at work to persuade people to vote for him, and doing visibility and working the polls with my girls on election day. I cried yesterday when I voted, and again during the acceptance speech, and then again this morning when I let the girls watch the acceptance speech online (they were only interested in the Obama family's new puppy, but hey....baby steps).
Anyway, now that CHANGE is upon us, I think it will be interesting to actually LOOK at the circumstances of my life, and see if it improves as we transition. I really hope it does, because I want my experiences to support the Democratic platform, but I am going to do my best to accurately report my experiences. I guess the best way to do this is to do a weekly tally on hours worked, money earned & spent, and then other experiences as they happen (health care issues, heating costs, and so on). My work schedule shifts week to week, but I almost always work weekends so I'll make Sunday night my weekly tally night, and then blog throughout the week as things happen. I have no idea if anyone will even read this!
Now, I should say up front I am a devoted Democrat, and have been my entire life. I spent the '90's working on various Democratic campaigns (both national and state), and I served in the second Clinton administration. However, I had some crises in my personal life that coincided with the year 2000, and George Bush's stolen election (or maybe it wasn't a coincidence) which resulted in my withdrawing from political involvement, aside from a little campaigning around Election Day. I spent several years getting myself back together, and then I got married, moved to rural Massachusetts, and started having babies - so my life is very different today.
This election cycle, I supported Hillary early on, because I wanted to see a woman in the White House, and because of my long devotion to Bill Clinton. I did not dislike Barack Obama; I just liked Hillary more. When she lost the nomination , I shifted my support to Obama.
I did not, however, have much emotion towards him until he held an event in August in Unity, NH. I watched that event on TV with my bi-racial children (twins, age 3), and at one point one of them pointed at the TV and said, "Look! Barack Obama is brown like Daddy!". At that point, chills came over me and I realized the magnitude of this candidacy, and what it represented not just for my own family, but for our country, both its past legacy and its future, and our standing in the world. I realized how important it was that Barack Obama be elected, and that my children's awareness have him as a figure in it.
However, I work almost full-time in the evenings, and am with the twins all day, so was not able to campaign much. I did, however, believe in my heart in Obama, and do as much as I could, from having conversations at work to persuade people to vote for him, and doing visibility and working the polls with my girls on election day. I cried yesterday when I voted, and again during the acceptance speech, and then again this morning when I let the girls watch the acceptance speech online (they were only interested in the Obama family's new puppy, but hey....baby steps).
Anyway, now that CHANGE is upon us, I think it will be interesting to actually LOOK at the circumstances of my life, and see if it improves as we transition. I really hope it does, because I want my experiences to support the Democratic platform, but I am going to do my best to accurately report my experiences. I guess the best way to do this is to do a weekly tally on hours worked, money earned & spent, and then other experiences as they happen (health care issues, heating costs, and so on). My work schedule shifts week to week, but I almost always work weekends so I'll make Sunday night my weekly tally night, and then blog throughout the week as things happen. I have no idea if anyone will even read this!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)