Ugh oh no Kat, I'm so sorry. :( I.. definitely know how you're feeling, and it sucks.

Did you get some sleep, at least?

I'm sorry you're having such a stressful time, Kat. I hope the mail gets sorted quickly and that your teacher gets a clue and explains the assignments in a clear manner. I completely understand why you're screaming in your head although I think I would be doing it outloud at this point.

Well, my month of birthdays is almost over. 3 daughters (yes, they were all born in March) are done, only got the hubby to do. His birthday is tomorrow. I still don't know what he wants for his special birthday dinner. He's probably say "Nothing" and we'll have to figure something out. Such fun. XD XD

I did sleep ok. Surprisingly. I did wake up at like 445 am however. Ugh. Stayed in bed until about 530 then got up and showered and got ready for the day.

At this point I don't even care if I don't do the assignment completely correctly as long as I do something and get a passing grade. I know I will hate myself later for thinking such things but I also know I'll be ok.

My mom's birthday is today but I think that is the only March birthday we have in my family. My big birthday month is September. Dad, brother, other brother, sister in law (who has passed away) and stepmom. Also my grandpa, but we never celebrated that, we just knew when it was - he died when I was like 3-4yrs old.

I always want that wheel that sometimes shows up on facebook "When the wife/husband/girlfriend says they don't know what they want" and the wheel has all the various locations on it.....or the other one that has various locations marked as "I don't know" "whatever" "what do you want" and all that - I find it hilarious to see those wheels but sometimes wish I had it to make the decision for me!

My neighbor gave me a ride home.

Our month like that is June.. lots of birthdays, PLUS graduations and fathers day!

Kat, sometimes, you just have to let things go. And htat's okay!

But I think I'd also be doing the screaming out loud at this point :P

Snuck into the play last night after I stopped to help set up the concession stand and candygrams.. and it was pretty good! I thought they had Lilys mic turned up louder than everyone elses, but it turns out she just PROJECTS when she sings.. which I guess I knew :P

Going back tonight to sell candygrams, then I'll watch the second half probably. Tomorrow we're going to actually get good seats and WATCH it though, Alex is coming too :P

Yeah. LET IT GOOOO LET IT GO, (whatever the rest of the frozen song lyrics are) I feel like that. I need to do that. LET IT GOOOOOO I did jump up and down like a toddler at work when I was explaining the situation to some coworkers :P I was all like, so this happened and this and this and then I told them "I said to Nathan, HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO GET TO WORK!!!!" (I jumped up and down as I said how am I supposed to get to work!!) And then I laughed and said THAT is how stressed out I am right now. That I was literally JUMPING UP AND DOWN at work in front of GROWN ADULTS to express my stress levels.

I completed all the things that were due at this point, going to work ahead on a few things if I can - I really need to work on the whole theme project thing I guess. Am NOT into it at all but eh.

And everyone wants me to spend my banked money to buy myself a better car, and I get that - I need a better car - I really do. But what they aren't seeming to get, even tho I've EXPLAINED IT - is that money in the bank is my GROCERY AND GAS MONEY and it will not last very long - and spending some of it leaves LESS to use for Gas/Groceries which means it will be gone faster. I have maybe 6months worth of $ in the bank for gas/groceries IF I stick to around $200 a week. Thats NOT A LOT. If I spend 4k on another car - well now I have a bigger insurance payment AND less in the bank, so I'm broke faster. Which means I have NO FOOD or I don't pay bills at some point. (Which, that would be hard to do as the bills are all auto pay -so I'd literally just have no $ to buy groceries or gas for the car) Ohhhh everyone says - just make Nathan pay - sure. I do make him pay half the insurance NOW (and he puts gas in the car every other time and buys his own sodas/snacks and take out food at least half the time) - and I plan to make him pay his cell phone and some rent - but I was being nice and TRYING to wait until after his trip to see his boyfriend graduate in early June - but even if he paid all that - depending on how much "rent" I charge him, I might get like another $400 a month. Which would be helpful but not enough - since I'd have an extra insurance amount and STILL need gas and groceries.

AND now I've just aired all my drama to you all. :P Its one reason I've been doing the college and trying to get the degree, because hopefully a better paying job will come out of it and I'll be at least OK if not set up great. (The main reason is I really love working with the kids and felt I could do the lead teacher job, so why not, ESPECIALLY with the benefit of better pay)

ANYWAY. GO LILY!! Yes! Make sure you watch the whole thing at some point. I'm sure it'll be great. Not even sure what play it is, but Lily always does great with her singing stuff lol

[edit] 830am Sunday March 30

Well I am feeling a little better about my theme project. I was brainstorming again today (I looked at the GELDS yesterday and was struggling to figure anything out). Yesterday I browsed a really good website, reviewed the "advice" given my my professor (which wasn't that great honest but pointed me in a good direction at least) And I now have ideas for games and activities for theme parks, zoos, city parks, water parks which I think I can make age appropriate for 3-5 year olds. Next I have to figure out which GELDS go with the activities and make sure I have GELDS from ALL 5 domains being used. For example - I have Theme Parks (think Six Flags, Disney World, the County Fair) - which have games and rides - so the kids can create "tickets" to use for games/rides that we will create - I have ideas for a duck pond, and ring toss for games, as well as building a paper roller coaster (if we can make it sturdy enough maybe a toy car can go for a ride? LOL), I figure I can ask them to design (draw) "blueprints" for their own theme park or zoo, and can get them to build a replica zoo from the block center w/ the animal toys for an activity on zoos. Discussions on types of equipment at different parks is a good thing - rides at a fair vs a water park for example - and maybe they can create a water park ride for rubber ducks? If I can find the right type of materials Discussion/books/writing on habitats for animals at the zoo or in the city park (and discussion about the different types of animals you'd find at each) Oh and food - picnic food, vs theme park food

I figure I can also make matching games and bingo games for the types of parks or foods as well. At least my brain is finally working. Now I have to begin gathering materials and crafting/creating and also I thought I'd see if my kids at school could help too and I might do some videos to embed in the powerpoint of them building or playing some activities!

Kat, let it out! It's better out then in because then you have voiced it and it's become "real" and you'll see it differently. When I get stressed I try to always speak the reason out loud even if no one is there to hear it. I hear it and it helps me get a different perspective.

You are facing a situation financially that 75% of us are facing right now and it's only going to get worse. That 4k "new car" you're thinking of buying? It probably costs more like 66k now and will continue to go up in price thanks to the tarifs that are being levied against literally everything. I know you don't follow politics so I'm just going to say that last night at midnight a 25% tarif was levied against all imported new cars and on imported car parts. That means all new imported cars and "American-made" cars made from foreign made car parts just went up exponentially. So, more people are going to be looking to buy a used car and that's going to push up used car prices. If I were you, I'd get the old car fixed (for now) and keep that 56 months of grocery/gas money in the bank. It will be more useful that way.

As for school, I love the theme park/zoo idea you have. Kids love those places and will be eager to help design/build one. We have a theme park about 30 min away from us called Kings Dominion. It's like 66 Flags. It has both a water park and theme park area with age appropriate rides from all aages. I'm interested in hearing what kind of assignments you create with this theme.

Don't worry, you got this. You may need to just let it go at this point but over-all, you'll do wonderfully. You have the drive, determination, and motivation to get an excellent grade. (Yes, a "B:" can be a magnificent grade too. :p ) Mieke, a hearty "break a leg" to Lily! I'd never be able to get on a stage anmd sing like that. Kudos to her. :) Sounds like you've been pretty busy yourself. :D

My week has been hectic. Hubby's birthday went off very well. He wanted a quiet day with just a delievered dinner and to watch more "Battlestar Galactica." He finally decided on Red Lobster for dinner and the meal was really. He got a Lobster fest platter. I can't believe how much he actually ate! 😆 Then, the next day, our tv broke. It has a line of dead pixels splitting the screen in half. The right half is darker then the left half. I don't think it's fixaable. So, on Monday, he bought us a new tv. It's an LG with alexa built in. I can't wait to try it and actually be able to control the tv myself instead of always asking everyone else to control it for me. :) Tuesday the nurse came and said everything still looks like it's healing beautifully. Yipee! Wednesday I had an appoihntment with my Pain Management doc. I haven't seen her since last year and she was amazed at how well I look. She said that I look like a brand new woman and the surgery did me well. She also noticed that I've lost at least 20lbs since I saw her last. I am so psyched! The exercises are going well for me and I hope to lose another 15 lbs because my goal is to get below 190. So, Things have been ghectic but not horrible.

Hope everyone is having a good week and that your weekend will be a fun one! Hugs ❤

hi! Glad you are healing well (and losing weight, that is awesome!! Good luck on your goal to lose a bit more!) (I've also lost about 20-25 lbs - in the past 3 years. Would love to drop another 20-25ish but am still slowly losing, so we will see what happens as time passes).

Sounds like your hubby had a good birthday, and he enjoyed it, which is what matters. Yay for a TV you can control lol (boo for needing to get a new one tho!)

As for the car, YIKES on that information. But no, the old car (Buick) is unfixable. The motor is screwed, and it costs as much for a new motor as it did for the "new" used car. And would have taken more time. Nathan is planning to do that for the Mazda though (but we will see if he changes his mind by the time he has enough $). I am just stressed about it because it takes away from my savings. But I had to do it, since I have to have a car to get to work. I've told him he isn't allowed to drive MY car anywhere except work now and that I will be taking him out to practice driving with me again so I can see how he is driving (although I know he won't drive the same with me as he does alone anyway). HE emphasized he won't be "doing that" (meaning hot-rodding) the car any more anyway. I also told him he better get saving more because he now has to buy a bus or plane ticket to go see his boyfriend's graduation because NO SORRY BUT NOT SORRY you are NOT driving MY car out of state after blowing up TWO CARS!

I got a 2010 Scion xB for 3k.

Kat, thanks for all the well wishes. I wish you luck in your endeavor to lose another 20-25lbs in the coming months. It's not easy, especially not with the kind of food there is in the grocery stores. It really irritates me that the nutritious foods cost an arm and a leg but the crap food that is full of everything bad costs next to nothing. So, because we're poor, we get the crap food because it's in our budget, and it perpetuates our poor health. I do try to eat healthy but it's not easy when you're buying food for a 21 year old bottomless pit. XD

Itt sounds like you got a good deal on a reliable car. I wish we could find something like that but, I'm serious now, every used car dealer my hubby contacted said they had nothing under 10k on the lot and anything cheaper wasn't in their future. I think location has something to do with it as we live 60 miles from DC. How did you find your new car? I wish my 21 yr old son would learn how to drive but he's still dead set against it. I asked him how he would be getting back and forth to work if he has to get a job? He said he'd walk or eventually ride his bike. Ugh. He's been looking for jobs because he's worried about the economy right now but the only things close enough to walk to are Sheetz and Food Lion. He doesn't want to wrok at either because he won't make enough money to pay rent or any of the bills if he has to suddenly pay them (meaning my SSDI is cut and his dad's VA disability is turned off thanks to the government cutbacks.) I don't know what to tell him except to start small and keep his ear to the ground about openings in other places. Except, he doesn't want to drive. XD XD XD

It was a little buy here/pay here place. And since I had the $ in full for the car, I'm not making payments. Some places like that do only have more expensive cars, but sometimes you can find a cheaper one. And we also just looked along the road-side. There was a lovely red nissan (car) I would have loved, but its owner was asking 6k. I did not want to spend that much.

I am trying to prompt Nathan into working more hours at his job. And to look for a 2nd one or a different one if they wont give him more time because he needs a better income than he is getting only working 3 days a week. It is good your son is thinking of a job, not only for the just in case if you/dad lose income. I agree some jobs don't let you make enough, but any job is good to start with, and begin saving $. A place you can walk or bike to easily is good also, but eventually he probably will want to, need to, and will get, his drivers. My youngest brother didn't until he was 24...because he could walk or hitch a ride with parents/friends but then he decided he wanted to take himself.

I also agree that most of the food I can get is crap/bad for me. I have been told and told to cut sugar and carbs because I am on the verge of becoming prediabetic or something I guess (they talk about diabetes and the A1C but then tell me I"m fine but cut carbs and sugar). But the majority of what I can afford to buy and eat has loads of that. I have cut down, but just not as much as they want. And sometimes I just WANT freaking muffins or toast or bread or I just have/want to get take-out food. I have reduced the sugar I put in my tea (I make it at home), but you can't reduce the sugar in kool aid or it tastes like crap. And that is what I drink at home, plus water of course.

You got lucky with the car! I hope we get that lucky when we finally go looking. I think you're right about the license. My son will go get it when he's ready because I just can't see him riding his bike everywhere (even if that is what he intends on doing.) It's just not possible in this day and age.

I completely understand about the food. We used to make kool-Aid with sugar but tried it with Splenda and it tasted ok. Then we found Crystal light pitcher packs. They contain enough drink mix and sweetner for one full pitcher. We use those now because it's easier and no sugar. I hear you about craving carbs. I do that myself. Sometimes nothing beats a huge helping of carbs and stuff what the doc says. :P

I did finally get my hubby to admit that we need to move. So now we need to save up for a new place. It'll be a while before we can actually move, like a year or so, but at least I won the battle. 😆

Yep. Its not the prettiest thing (it has a couple small dents, and scratches plus paint peeling off the hood) but I don't care too much for cosmetic damage unless its terrible (like torn off crap). I can always bang dents out and repaint if I want to.

I've tried the packets you can add to water, but its just NOT the same as my kool-aid. :P I do use them sometimes though. Splenda or other brand sweetner instead of sugar is SO MUCH more expensive!! I bought some to try it out, and it was ok in the tea/kool-aid but I can't afford to buy it compared to buying sugar. And yeah. STUFF WHAT THE DOC SAYS hahahahah! Because I just can't eat like they want me to. I usually have a granola bar of some sort, or muffins for breakfast. When I am on break/weekends, I might sometimes have cereal, toast, oatmeal or eggs. (Not all at once). Just depends on my mood, but work days I grab and go! So granola bars or something else I can take with me. Lunch is usually at school - if they're serving something I eat (Fridays they don't and some other days too sometimes). Its chicken a lot there. Chicken sandwich, chicken tenders, chicken nuggets, popcorn chicken - all breaded, so carbs too. Argh :P I try all the veggies tho, even if I end up not liking it much (like lately they've been serving cheese covered cooked squash. Its not terrible. But its not really GOOD either, but its edible). Dinner is whatever I am in the mood for at home. If I feel like cooking - pork chops, steak, pork ribs, beef ribs, pot roast, chicken, tacos, spaghetti. Lately i've bought some of those premixed frozen skillet meals, so veg and chicken and noodles or rice. I usually add rice and cheese or instant mashed potatoes, plus canned veggies to my meat dinners. And I'm terrible about if I have candy, I have a couple pieces of it after dinner. Bad me. SUGAR! And if I don't want to cook, we have ramen noodles, sandwiches, frozen pizzas/bagel bites or frozen dinners. And of course, we eat out. Zaxbys a LOT. Firehouse subs sometimes. Other places sometimes.

Oh I bet you will like getting a new place, I know you aren't super thrilled with where you are living. Why did he not want to move? Saving up for anything is rough. I do NOT want to move. I would likely never find a place as cheap as I have my mortgage right now, especially to rent. Unless I ended up out in the boonies somewhere and then my expenses would be increased driving to work and to get groceries LOL Plus I like MY house. I just wish it wasn't falling apart sigh (The foundation issue, which I cannot afford to do anything about either, at this point in time and when I DO do something about it, will prompt several OTHER projects that will cost even more).

[edit] 1pm Tuesday the 8th

GUYS!!! I PASSED MAJORLY!!! So basic passing the GACE is 220. Professionally passing is 250+ I got a 286 and a 285 on my two test sections!! WHOOOOO

Unofficially anyway. I'm sure the official scores will be about the same :)

Congrats on acing the practice tests! Now, you just need to ace the real thing. When do you take them? :) WooooHooooo for you!

Food has been an issue in this house for as long as I can remember. No one wants to eat healthy. Their idea of a dinner is what meat do I want? No mention of vegggies. facepalm So, I put my foot down and said dinner must consist of a meat and a vegetable. Period. They've tested it every once in a while but mainly stuck with it.

I don't care about car cosmetics as long as it runs and gets me where I need to go. ;)

He doesn't want to move because he's comfortable. rolls eyes I do understand his point but it seems to be more out of lazinesss then actually likeing where we live. So, I pushed the point and it all came out. I'm not flooking forward to saving up the money or the actual move but I think we'll be better in the end. :D

that IS the real thing. Just unofficial scores as the "official" score has to be sent to the school and mailed to me. I took the tests today, before lunch.

Yeah I get that. Food thing. Nathan is often happy with just meat and corn. However on work nights if I cook that, he doesn't take the veg, it slides off the plate to easy (he drives back to work and eats there or eats in the car, possibly while driving). I think the cutting down on sides is part of helping lose weight - when I was married we'd often have meat, rice, veg, bread and/or potatoes too. I rarely do bread now, and I serve myself less meat, rice OR potatoes, never both. And that was like, EVERY DAY. Now I don't cook as often and when I have other things, its also less food. Like I swear, I used to eat 6-8 tacos myself homemade. I make myself stop at 4 now (and thats probably still too many calorie/carb wise LOL)

Ahhh yeah. Totally me. I don't want to move because I am comfortable too, among OTHER things. But if you guys don't really like where you live, then just being comfortable isn't the best reason to stay. And yes, hopefully you'll find somewhere better to be comfortable at!

Kat, how long before you get the "official" grade back? I know you aced it. :D

Food is perplexing to me. I eat salads and lots of veg (Not Vegan) but my weight stays the same. But if I eat only meat and 1 veg I start losing weight. The doc says stay away from carbs but that's all I eat sometimes and as long as it's one meat and one veg I still lose weight. I swear that ccarbs are my downfall. How are we supposed to eat healthy when all the healthy food is so expensive (and getting more expensive by the minute.) Alll the food that's bad for you is the cheapest there is. I don't understand how they expect us to lose the weight when the food is the reason we weigh as much as we do. Don't blame us. Blame the foofd manufactuers. XD

We live in low income housing. The neighborhood is wonderful, no bad elements and the neighbors are wonderful. It's just that it's tiny and there is no storage. We're spending another 100 a month on storage because it all doesn't fit in here. Plus, the apt itself is very old and very dated. The shower is too small and it doesn't have a mechanical dishwasher. I've already found a place but it'll be trickly to get in there as there is limited availability. Hopefully, rents will start to come down and people will start moving and there will be more places available. :D

The scores should be reported anywhere from 1 week to up to 6 weeks after the exam. The official score may also vary a little from the unofficial based on exactly how they score everything. But my last test (10yrs ago) the unofficial score was the same or within a few points of the official one, so yeah, I think I'll be good :P I'm certain I got over 250 regardless even if I drop some points lol And 220 was the minimum score, 250 for minimum professional score (meaning I know my crap)

carbs bad :( sugar bad :( fast dinners bad :( (be they frozen, premade or fast food!) ALL BAD :( All right, not all bad. But whats good doesn't always taste good nor is it what you want. AND YES> THE COST! EEEEK. So expensive to get good for you stuff. So just not worth it for me, because I can't afford it. I do what I can, but it is what it is.

Oooh no storage sucks. I would not mind smaller than I have, but I am very grateful to have the room I have, I can store anything just about anywhere. As I've said before, I bet I could turn my bedroom/closet into a small "studio" style apartment. Especially as the bath is attached and I have a door to outside. (I pretty much already have, I only would need to add a recliner, tv (maybe), food storage and microwave/mini fridge to have it all set)

But I have three other smaller bedrooms (used to be 2 plus closests, but we turned the closets into a 3rd bedroom along with moving two walls a bit), the attic, AND the back house to store crap. I cleared out the attic mostly (a few things I put back up there) but the back house is a disaster zone. I really need to call some scrap/junk places and see if they'll come get it, or at least pay me a good bit if I haul it to them in a Uhaul (more than the cost of the uhaul rental!!) Clean some of that out.

[edit] 4/12 at 140pm Well I have completed two assignments, except for the discussion part of one (I will check back for that tomorrow or Monday). I am not completely sure I did them right but I did them. So there. :P Nothing else is due for a bit, but I do need to figure out some more activities and gather materials for them for the whole theme assignment thing. Urgh. Tomorrow I am going to the RenFaire - and the guy I've been going on dates with is going with me and Nathan. Nathan of course will just run off on his own for at least half the day anyway. And Monday is back to work boooohooooo

[edit] Thursday April 17 6am

You've earned the Visit the Bathhouse achievement!

WHOOOO! Guys I made it to 300!!

OMG CONGRATS ON YOUR SCORES! I know you said they're the unofficial ones, but I just know you aced it!

AND on your "new" car and bathhouse streak!

I saw your renn faire pictures (well.. the after the renn faire pictures!) and honestly thought your face looked thinner, before I read here that you've been losing the weight!

UGH I can't take anymore talk about tariffs. This do/don't thing is really killing people.. and companies! Three big companies around here (Well, within 2.5 hours), laid off 90+ people each because of the impact it's already had on them.

And agreed about real food being expensive! (Though.. I do LOVE me some potatoes. And bread.. sometimes. And POTATOES :P And SUGAR.. sugar is my downfall!).

I've been having a smoothie for breakfast everyday for the past like, 2 months though, and I will say.. I'm really feeling a lot better? And like.. I ate fruits and veggies before, but now I can eat more than just like.. apples and canned mandarin oranges, since it's the frozen stuff it's all good. And I've been mixing it up and throwing some stuff in there that I normally wouldn't eat (like the mangos I accidentally bought!).

Lily ROCKED her play.. I forgot how long ago that was. I really haven't been here at ALL, I'm sorry!

And after that she did a one day jazzfest, and she got FOUR solos! They had to try out individually for each one, so.. that's really incredible! Yesterday and today.. cleaning. Right now, the easter bunny definitely can't bring eggs here.

What else what else what else. Oh! Alex told El to do the dishes, because that's their rent for living here, and if not he was goign to charge them $10 a night for food, electricity, cell phone, etc. Didn't even yell! And then El went to school and spent 10 or so days in a mental hospital. And honestly, it was nice. But they're back now.

Good Morning! YES YOU LEFT ME! :P I get it though. Life is crazy. Good for you, feeling better, eating more fruit (even if it is frozen and in smoothies, thats good!! I tried that for a while, I enjoyed it but got tired of making them). Sugar is also my downfall (and carbs thanks to the Dr). I just ate two Dunkin Donuts for breakfast. Bad me. Thank you for the looking thinner compliment. I've been keeping track (once a month) of my weight since January since I was curious. I use the scale in the gym at school lol Still slowly losing, which is great!

Whooo hooo Lily!! She rocks.

And um. WOW Ok. I want more info on El but you don't have to go there at all if you don't want to. But how did we go from "you need to do dishes or pay $10" to 10 days in a mental hospital?? I hope they are doing ok now?? <3

Who knows. They went to the counseling center instead of class, apparently said she was thinking about.. you know.

They sent her to the ER for a hold, who sent her to the mental hospital, where she was quite happy.. probably because SHE DIDN'T HAVE TO DO ANYTHING because she RAN AWAY FROM ALL HER PROBLEMS.

But.. again, EVERYONE was happier while they were gone which.. is sad?! Like.. that's SAD. But they're going housesitting starting on Tuesday so. It'll be quiet around here again. Even if we have to do the dishes.

Ahhh I see. And I also get the happy you're gone, but happy you're back thing too - honest! I love Shane to death. Love it when he's here. He drives me insane when he is here. I love it when he leaves. It is also sad that we feel that way. But it is what it is.

- Sorry about the tarif lay-offs. The whole thing just sucks. But our new tv is really nice. :P

I've been slacking off on Subeta, just not feeling it. I don't feel it much for Vesnali either because I never find the flowers. My screen reader just doesn't pick them up so the only ones I get are from Cinthia (if I do the quests.) I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday, though. :D