So I signed up for this program from The College Network. And although I wouldn’t really recommend it to anyone, I won’t go into all those details. I’m not doing it basically because my employer wouldn’t approve the program for our Tuition Reimbursement Program. I’ll just have to stick with something local then. I’m working on it, slowly but surely.
Not having an internet connection for awhile, I got a little behind on this site. Since I was last here, I’ve paid off all of my medical bills except one! The only one left is about $900 and I have a monthly payment plan set up, so that will be gone soon enough. I recently applied for an apartment and was surprised to be denied due to something I wasn’t even aware of. Apparently, I still owe Comcast some money. It’s not even very much and it wasn’t on my credit report 6 months ago, so I was scratching my head trying to figure out where it came from. Turns out, last year when I had all those medical bills, I also had a Comcast bill that I completely overlooked. I had made a few payments and then it got lost in the shuffle. So instead of sending me something saying “Hey we’re gonna send this to collections” Comcast did just that. So now I have another stupid mark on my credit report for a lousy $173 dollars, which I would’ve paid off looong ago had I been aware of it. Oh well, it’s gone now, so all I’m really looking at is my student loan. I probably should be making payments on it, but really I’m just going to pay it off when I get taxes next year. That’s the only way it’s going to be done quickly. I need to save money in the meantime so I can move out, replace my hunk of junk car, and hopefully grow a little nest egg.
So far I’ve lost 7 pounds! Usually when people quit smoking, they eat more, but I feel so different and I’m not eating as much!
That’s my deadline. If I don’t give myself a deadline, I won’t do it. Or I’ll start to do it and then I’ll give up. I’m tired of giving up.
In almost every aspect of my life, I’m very organized, but when it comes to my pictures, I feel lost. I did get as far as putting all the pictures of my oldest child into cute little Winnie the Pooh albums. But since I had my second child, I got a digital camera so now I have very few printed pictures of her. However, I have TONS of pictures from childhood through high school and I don’t know where to begin or how to organize. By year? By event? Chronological would probably be best, but I don’t have enough albums or time! Tonight I did finally sort out this old bag of negatives I’ve accumulated for 10 years. Most of them went into the trash, so I feel a little better now. =) Now I just need to find some cute albums. Awhile back, my dad started collecting all the family pictures he could get a hold of and cataloged them on his computer. I definitely don’t have that kind of time, but it might be helpful to get a scanner too, to at least organize the photos I do have.
Paid off Columbia House and a small medical bill for $73.00! And I actually have money in my savings. I’m getting excited!
In trying to stay optimistic, it could be a lot worse. I know people with a lot more debt that I do, but I’m only 24 and I’ve accumulated this much already WITHOUT credit cards! (Unless you count my Kohl’s card.) In addition, $6400 of that is medical bills from having my daughter and half of that is her dad’s responsibility. There’s also a good chance that some of the medical debt will be reduced after I fill out the right paperwork. Besides the medical bills, right now my debt looks like this:
Kohl’s: $49.08
Columbia House: $96.92
Verizon: $135.08
AT&T $525.27
Student Loan: $6610.76
Some of those aren’t that big, but on top of all the necessary bills (rent, electric, insurance, etc.) it’s difficult to get them down. I just recently got the Kohl’s down from $300, so I feel like I’m getting somewhere. I haven’t had AT&T for almost 2 years and just found out a few weeks ago that I owe them money when I tried to get a cell phone with them again. Two years without receiving any kind of notice that I owe this money! How crazy is that?
I’m only 24 and have been summoned twice. The first time, they decided not to use a jury. The second time, I actually lost the paperwork and wasn’t able to do it. Third times the charm?
As a life-long book lover and former library employee, I decided on this goal about a year ago. Here’s the complete list. Ones in bold are ones I’ve read. But in all honesty, some of them look completely boring and some are so old
2008 Schlitz, Laura Amy – Good Masters!Sweet Ladies! Voices from a Medieval Village
2007 Patron, Susan – Higher Power of Lucky, the
2006 Perkins, Lynne Rae – Criss Cross
2005 Kadohata, Cynthia – Kira-Kira
2004 DiCamillo, Kate – The Tale of Despereaux
2003 Avi – Crispin: The Cross of Lead
2002 Park, Linda Sue – A Single Shard
2001 Peck, Richard – A Year Down Yonder
2000 Curtis, Christopher Paul – Bud, Not Buddy
1999 Sachar, Louis – Holes
1998 Hesse, Karen – Out of the Dust
1997 Konigsburg, E.L. – The View From Saturday
1996 Cushman, Karen – The Midwife’s Apprentice
1995 Creech, Sharon – Walk Two Moons
1994 Lowry, Lois – The Giver1993 Rylant, Cynthia – Missing May
1992 Naylor, Phyllis Reynolds – Shiloh
1991 Spinelli, Jerry – Maniac Magee1990 Lowry, Lois – Number the Stars
1989 Fleischman, Paul – Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices
1988 Freedman, Russell – Lincoln: A Photobiography
1987 Fleischman, Sid – The Whipping Boy1986 MacLachlan, Patricia – Sarah, Plain and Tall
1985 McKinley, Robin – The Hero and the Crown
1984 Cleary, Beverly – Dear Mr. Henshaw
1983 Voigt, Cynthia – Dicey’s Song
1982 Willard, Nancy – A Visit to William Blake’s Inn
1981 Paterson, Katherine – Jacob Have I Loved
1980 Blos, Joan W. – A Gathering of Days
1979 Raskin, Ellen – The Westing Game
1978 Paterson, Katherine – Bridge to Terebithia
1977 Taylor, Mildred D. – Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
1976 Cooper, Susan – The Grey King
1975 Hamilton, Virginia – M.C. Higgins, the Great
1974 Fox, Paula – The Slave Dancer
1973 George, Jean Craighead – Julie of the Wolves
1972 O’Brien, Robert C. – Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH
1971 Byars, Betsy – Summer of the Swans
1970 Armstrong, William H. – Sounder
1969 Alexander, Lloyd – The High King
1968 Konigsburg, E.L. – From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler
1967 Hunt, Irene – Up a Road Slowly
1966 Trevino, Elizabeth Borton – I, Juan de Pareja
1965 Wojciechowska, Maia – Shadow of a Bull
1964 Neville, Emily Cheney – It’s Like This, Cat
1963 L’Engle, Madeleine – A Wrinkle in Time
1962 Speare, Elizabeth George – Bronze Bow
1961 O’Dell, Scott – Island of the Blue Dolphins
1960 Krumbold, Joseph – Onion John
1959 Speare, Elizabeth George – The Witch of Blackbird Pond
1958 Keith, Harold – Rifles for Watie
1957 Sorensen, Virginia – Miracles on Maple Hill
1956 Latham, Jean Lee – Carry On, Mr. Bowditch
1955 DeJong, Meindert – The Wheel on the School
1954 Krumgold, Joseph – …And Now Miguel
1953 Clark, Ann Nolan – Secret of the Andes
1952 Estes, Eleanor – Ginger Pye
1951 Yates, Elizabeth – Amos Fortune, Free Man
1950 De Angeli, Marguerite – The Door in the Wall
1949 Henry, Marguerite – King of the Wind
1948 Du Bois, William Pene – The 21 Balloons
1947 Bailey, Carolyn Sherwin – Miss Hickory
1946 Lenski, Lois – Strawberry Girl
1945 Lawson, Robert – Rabbit Hill
1944 Forbes, Esther – Johnny Tremain
1943 Gray, Elizabeth Janet – Adam of the Road
1942 Edmonds, Walter D. – The Matchlock Gun
1941 Sperry, Armstrong – Call it Courage
1940 Daugherty, James – Daniel Boone
1939 Enright, Elizabeth – Thimble Summer
1938 Seredy, Kate – White Stag, the
1937 Sawyer, Ruth – Roller Skates
1936 Brink, Carol Ryrie – Caddie Woodlawn
1935 Shannon, Monica – Dobry
1934 Mrihd, Cornelia – Invincible Louisa
1933 Lewis, Elizabeth Foreman – Young Fu of the Upper Yangtze
1932 Armer, Laura Adams – Waterless Mountain
1931 Coatsworth, Elizabeth – The Cat Who Went to Heaven
1930 Field, Rachel – Hitty, Her First Hundred Years
1929 Kelly, Eric P. – Trumpeter of Krakow
1928 Mukerji, Dhan Gopal – Gay-Neck, the Story of a Pigeon
1927 James, Will – Smoky, the Cowhorse
1926 Chrisman, Arthur – Shen of the Sea
1925 Finger. Charles – Tales from Silver Lands
1924 Hawes, Charles – The Dark Frigate
1923 Lofting, Hugh – The Voyages of Dr. Doolittle
1922 Van Loon, Hendrik W. – The Story of Mankind
I actually tried this a few months ago, but it didn’t work out so well. First of all, it’s a lot harder than it looks. Not to mention I’m terrible at it. But at least I tried!
This might seem a little silly and simple, but I’ve never done it. Sometimes I’ll be driving around sunset and it will look so pretty that I want to stop and watch the rest. I’m usually too busy or not in a good spot! GRRR!
I live in an apartment and will never be able to be completely “green”, but who really can? I just want to be more conscious of the everyday decisions I make and how they will and already do affect our environment. I’ve already stopped using plastic bags at the grocery store, replaced all the light bulbs with CFLs, I drive less, and started recycling more. The few books I’ve read on the subject seem to focus mostly on people who own homes, which I don’t. I already participate on the frugal end of it, I love and utilize yard sales, used book stores, freecycle, etc. But I still feel like there’s more I can be doing. My biggest problem is water consumption. I just love my long hot baths…
