Definite Progress

I'm not sure which purchase I was more excited about yesterday - a vacuum cleaner for $10 or a six-muffin tin which will fit in my toaster oven for $1.50. Haha! I'm becoming so... domestic. I have the numbers written down for someone selling a washer and dryer that my aunt might want to buy for the house, and for a swiffer wet jet for $15 for me. Major items I'll still be wanting are couches, a dining set, eventually another bed for the spare room, a bicycle, cookware, and lots of cleaning supplies. At some point my aunt and uncle will put in a washer and dryer, fridge, and oven. But I can do laundry at home, I have a toaster oven, and I have a mini fridge I'd bring, so those aren't super essentials initially for me.

The BEST news is that I get to begin subbing this week! Remember how I was thinking it'd be weeks and didn't know what to do with myself? Yeah. I was in the process of getting some paperwork together to take to the sub lady, and the principal from the school where I student taught said she hoped the lady could get me set up quickly because she has a job for me on Thursday. She offered to call the lady and did, and I have an appointment at 9:00 today to get processed. After that I should be good to go, and I'll be working all day Thursday! Whew, what a blessing. Thank you, Pa, for having it under control even when I didn't. So I think that'll be $70 minus taxes this week, and hopefully I can get lots of other work. I'm so thankful for this! I'll also be house-sitting overnight for someone on Friday night, so that'll be a little pocket change.

I swept the floors in the three main common areas at the rental, and did some vacuuming with my cute little semi-useless vac. It's a great machine for a dorm room, or I'll keep it upstairs for little messes when I don't want to lug the big one up the stairs, but for the common area downstairs I need to take my new (ha) big boy to it. So today I want to finish sweeping, and vacuum everything. I'd like to mop also but the water at the house isn't turned on yet and I think it's smarter to just wait than to try to bring water over in a bucket or something. I'd turn it on if I knew how... gotta learn these things if it's going to be my house! I bet it's in the utility room somewhere, right?

I have a hot date tonight, so the basic sequence of my day will hopefully be a little cleaning --> two hours of processing for subbing --> drop of car to fix alignment and make sure I didn't bugger anything else up --> more cleaning --> pick up car --> hot date. If it's warm today and I have time between picking up the car and my hot date, I'd like to clean my car a bit. I got a car wash (which I rarely go pay for) and the very next day I drove all day in snowy sludge, went off road, and otherwise goofed her up. :( I feel bad, and also she looks terrible, so I want to AT LEAST hose her off, if not break out my awesome car cleaning kit and go to town.

{it's already 30F out, and it's only 5:49... good sign!}


I'm going to get started on my day, but I leave you with this little piece of delight from the newest blog I'm following, Good ol' Mitch. Check out his blog for more nerdiness.

I also leave you with one of my favorite songs from a musical, especially when discussing meds with people...

"Who's Crazy/My Psychopharacologist and I, from Next to Normal"

"My psychopharmachologist and I
It's like an odd romance
Intense, and very intimate
We do our dance..

My psychopharamcologist and I
It's like a lover's game
He knows my every secret
I know his... name!"

Broken Glass, Soloist, Puppies, and Jobs...

Well, I didn't get that job I wanted. And I won't know about any of the others until next week or so. Which means I really can't be moving out next week now can I? I really hope to when i can though. If things look promising I'm going to ask the kind folks to hold the property for me; offer them half rent or something, until I'm all set. I'm applying at a furniture store as a door greeter and I'm going to check out restaurants. Ugh. :( I already checked all the restaurants that are classy and I would get good tips from... now I can try those which will bring in very few tips... then I'll go to no tips. And fast food. Crumbdiddlyumptious. Yes that is a real word and yes I do say it.

Here's a bright spot: Look at how cute my doggies are when they choose to share a space!

He's getting so big. I got him at 6 wks and he was shorter than Samantha. Now he is pushing 4 months, weighs three times as much as he did originally, and Sam could walk right under him if she ducked her head a little. They get along pretty well considering he's a rambunctious lab puppy and she's an old reserved papillon.

I'm watching The Soloist right now. I've seen it once before and I really enjoy it. It's about a man that once played the cello at Juliard but was overcome by paranoid schizophrenia and "bombed out of there". He is now homeless and living on the streets and he played a violin with only two strings until the reporter Steve Lopez discovered him. He writes about Nathaniel the musician in the newspaper and a cello is donated to him. From that point on both men embark on a journey of self-discovery, trying to make sense of the world, triumph and pitfalls. It is truly an excellent story and I highly recommend the movie to anyone. Nathaniel's character is so multi-faceted, unpredictable, and endearing that you will be captivated throughout the entire show.

Last of all, I am making broken glass jello for Christmas!I actually found this recipe many moons ago, and separately found the blog of The Food Librarian and only later realized that she is the one who I got the original recipe from. Does that make sense? Perhaps, perhaps not. Regardless, you need to check out her post and you'll see what I'm up to! For tomorrow I'm making the Christmas version; for New Year's Eve next week I'll make the multi-colored one. I've done this once before and my one problem was that I didn't wait for the white jello to cool enough before pouring it over the colored pieces and it melted them a bit. :( Whoopsie! This time I know better, now don't I? As a side not, do check out Food Librarian's latest post; I really want to make those clear gelatins with fruit in them. Gorgeous!!



I've really enjoyed getting to know people on 20sb.net and would like to give a general shoutout to anyone who has chatted with me, written on my wall, read my blog, or commented on it. I'm so encouraged to blog when I know that someone actually cares a teensy bit! Haha. I just added Google reader and will now be keeping up with all the blogs I'm subscribed to. I may not always comment but I will be reading because I'm interested in all of you!

"And so it goes..."

Every time I post partial song lyrics in my title, the first person to correctly identify the song will get a shout out in the following post. This one should be easy.

Well, life is interesting right now. I have a maybe on an intense housecleaning job that would run $180/wk, and I'm interviewing next week for a nanny job that would bring in $175/wk.I also had a hit from a lady that wants a babysitter which would bring in maybe $75/wk. And every other week I get $30 for housecleaning.

If every single one of those pulled through, I could be rolling with about $1,750/mo. If all of them fall through I get $60/mo. Should all shuffle down during/after the holidays so I have my fingers crossed in the next two weeks. I'm also applying for more jobs tomorrow, and I'm STILL trying to get my subbing to go through. I'm not sure if I'm more afraid that I will overbook myself, or that I'll not be aggressive enough because I don't want to overbook and will end up with nothing.


I found a house I think I want to rent. It's $600/mo and all utilities are included. It is also furnished. It's a 1 bed, 1 [full] bath, shoebox of a house. Actually if I get it I think I will make a shoebox model of it for fun. It has a living area, a somewhat narrow but not too bad kitchen, a pretty small bedroom, a utility room w/ washer and drier and another closet, and then a full bath with shower/tub and lots of nice counterspace. It's furnished with an L-shaped couch which consists of two armchairs that kick back, the corner piece, and a loveseat w/ a pullout bed, a cute little table for two in the kitchen w/ chairs, a two person bar with stools by the front window, a full/double size bed, some dishes/silverware/glasses, and all the major utilities such as washer/drier, fridge, microwave, oven, all that jazz. If I wanted to, I could just put my clothes in a bag and move in.

Of course part of the problem is that I have more than clothes to move in. I have a dresser and I'd love to find room for my desk and I have an electric keyboard.... it's not a huge house. But it's much bigger than a dorm room, and I survived that for three years, so how bad can it be?

... right?

SCREEEEEEeeeeeeeeeeeEEEEECH

Pretty sure the world stopped turning. I'm subbing for my mom at her office job and nothing has happened for two hours. Haven't heard my boss so much as roll his swivel chair across the floor. No telephone calls. No one coming in. It is so. Quiet. I do believe the world has ceased to spin.

On the positive side, I lost two pounds! I'm also so sore in my legs I walk with a limp. Haha.

I'm off to Wal-Mar or Big 5 to get a heart rate monitor and resistance bands that go over a door, so I can be super awesome and to celebrate my loss. Which sounds funny but whatever.


This is a shout out to my 20sb's that have been keeping me company... y'all are awesome. I are heart you.

Money, money, money...

... it must be funny, in a rich man's world.


I was planning on substitute teaching this spring as my major form of income until I can get a real career after graduation. However, it supposedly takes about 10-12 weeks to process my application, which I haven't quite finished yet. That puts me at the beginning of Feb! I can live without income until then, but I would rather be adding to my savings not just taking out of it. So, I will definitely be searching for a job between now and then.

What are some of the in-between jobs you have had in your lifetime?