Julie is going with my parents out of town tomorrow morning ... so how in the heck am I going to spend the next nine days??!!?! I have to work, both jobs, a lot over the week. Infact, I'm actually working at Cracker Barrel on Thanksgiving, which is why I couldn't go with them out of town *I would have killed someone bein on an RV with my parents for that long, I really honestly don't mind*

Friday:
1. Go shopping for some warmer clothes for Julie. She really needs about five more pairs of pants, and some night clothes. I don't know how cold it is iin North Carolina, but well ... I'm sure it's colder than down here. A lot colder.
2. Do laundry.

Saturday: Freedom!
1. Clean out, vacuum, scrub down my car. My car is lived in ... it's getting pretty ... eeewwww. I just always put it on the back burner on my things to do list. Children should not be allowed peanut butter filled cookies if they are going to smear them on the car. My coworker gave me her sons old *in really awesome condition* car seat ... which is really really sweet. She was looking for a way to get rid of it ... and I happen to needed a new one.

2. Go shopping! Next week and the week after we have some really big clients coming into the office. We're about to expand big time .. which is scary. There are 11 of us in my department, we're about to grow to 75. But, the CFO of the company asked us to dress more business than casual. Sniff. We're pretty laxed at work, but I have a feeling my flip flops will have to be put away for the next couple of days. Oh well, I'm hitting up the mall for a couple of new outfits. AND, since I don't have to pay for daycare next week, I will NOT feel guilty about actually doing something for myself.

3. I'm dying my hair *if I have the time( tonight as well. I have to work 2 - close, but if I have time .. it really needs some color.

Sunday:
1. Work 8am-4pm. Or around that time.
2. Michael is coming over, and I'm going to cook for him. We're still in that weird "we have too much baggage are we sure this is going to work" stage ... so I'm going to wow him with my cooking. I'm thinking about stopping at Blockbuster and watching a cheesy horror movie ... horrorfest is this weekend, but he works retail so we don't have much time for that.
3. Freak out, b/c Michael is expecting me to cook seafood. Deer in the headlights look. I have no idea what I am doing, but my girl at work is bringing in some recipes and will be a phone call away for when I burn down my kitchen.

And that my friends, is my weekend. I don't know what I am going to do without Julie, but I'm sure I can make it through without her. I just can't wait until she's home for snuggles, I love snuggles. The best part, my best friend lives in Orlando for school ... and we never see eachother. She'll be home for Thanksgiving ... so I can taste a drink in our future. Plus, another friend still "owes" me drinks from my 21st birthday *I'll be 23 in three months, sigh*, so I think I am going to cash in that raincheck. I'm sure I can find something to do with myself over the next nine days.

By the way, I made sweet potato casserole this morning, from scratch. Holy moly. Never again, unless I figure out an easier way to mash sweet potatoes ...I'm pretty sure I gained some muscles ... somewhere.

So yesterday my friend called ... and called .. and called. I was busy at work so I didn't have a chance to return her call until almost 6 when I was done picking up Julie.

She had an extra ticket for Guns n Roses!!!!

OMG ... are you kidding me.

So, it kinda threw a teeny wrench in my budget. I didn't have to pay the $93 for the tickey *yes, $93 ... how sad is that*, but I did have to pay $10 to park $2.50 to drive on the expressway, I gave her $3 for fries while there, and $5 for dinner on the way over. Totally worth it. I had to buy lunch and breakfast today, so there goes another $8. The rest is going to go into my gas tank.

The show lasted till nearly 2:30 in the morning. Then I had to drive my friend home, by the time I got into bed it was 3am ... UGH. Waking up this morning was really really unbearable.

I haven't gone out in MONTHS. Seriously it's close to two years or more. I always feel guilty leaving Julie. But last night I went and had a BLAST. I met these two hillarious guys so we spent most of the night telling eachother jokes ... then I met this nice guy and he asked for my number.

My friend laughed when I proclaimed that I hadn't been picked up in a really long time.

So all in all ... the best night I have had in ages ... one of the best shows I have been to ever. I won't say the best, that would be the free ticket I got to Incubus.

And you know, it got me thinking ... I have been questioning karma a lot lately. It happens when I think about Julie's father and this situation. Don't get me wrong, I love my daughter, but I can't get over how "unfair" it is to all of us that he left. And I couldn't figure out how come my life was harder. It's not. Sure, James is a lot of horrid words, but I have a wonderful daughter ... and wonderful friends. I didn't like who I was before my daughter, and I honestly think she was brought here to give me life. So, the next time I want to kill her father .. I'll remember last night ... a free ticket to a great show, where I met great new friends *and possibly a potential boyfriend* ... and be content. That's all you can be in life, content.

Thank you folks and good night!

I cashed in $38.41 in change today. Handed over $5 to my friend for buying a sub for me ... mmmm Publix subs.

$25 is going towards filing for child support. I am filing today, as soon as I find Julie's SSN#. I'm actually going to do this.

The rest, I'm either going to buy her another outfit, or throw into my savings account. Both are important ... I won't decide until I get home today.

A good day, I think.

So 50 degrees might not sound cold to most of you ... but whew! Was that hard to wake up to this morning! This weekend was in the high 80's and then wham ... it's chilly. I had to bust out Julie's coat ... and I noticed I don't have one. Great. I don't know when I'm going to be able to afford that.

I'm heading over to kmart b/c they have their pants on sale. 2 for $7 for Julie. I'll get her two full outfits for a little less than I'd pay for second hand clothes at the consignment shop. The clothes there are great, Children's Place, GAP ... but I'm more worried about quantity at this point over quality. I have to make it to Christmas when her great grandmother will load her up with clothes. LOL. She might not speak to me, but she loves the kid. Whatever, I'm just happy for the clothes.

My daughter went peepee twice in the past two days ... on the floor. She runs to me to tell me she needs to go ... starts tugging at her diaper ... I take it off, put her on the potty ... and she promptly stands back up and pees on the floor. I don't know what to do about that! LOL. She likes to carry her potty around behind her bumm around the house. It's pretty hillarious. In two months, a week and two days, she'll be two. I'm not ready for this!!!

A preliminary Christmas for Julie:
1. Trunk for dress up clothes.
2. Dress up boas, sunglasses and shoes. I think I'm going to hold off on actual clothes until she's older. More beaded necklaces!
3. A good doll, there's a particular one I have in mind that I wanted to get her last year but waited too long ... I think it will be perfect this year as well.
4. A couple of puzzles.
5. A couple of books.

I think for her birthday I am going to get her a trike. I am not to sure b/c my mom wants to get her a ride on car that I don't think Julie is old enough for yet ... but my mother won't listen to reason on this one. I'm also considering a good wooden cradle for her doll.

I honestly can't think of anything else she needs ... I am going to get her sippy cups for her stocking ... and who knows, we might be ready for big girl panties at Christmas as well. I'm going to talk to the teacher tonight about the need for pullups ... Julie's all about taking off her diaper and throwing it in the trash if she has a chance.

This weekend flew by. I love it when that happens.

It was a good money making weekend. I brought home around $115 on both Saturday and Sunday. SWEET. It means that we're getting back into season "Come on down snowbirds!" I complain like most Floridians the amount of snowbirds that do infact come down ... but it's amazing how much our income depends on it.

$130 - day care
$15 - gas
$5 - McDonald's for dinner Saturday
$25 - Dad
$10 - phone bill
$27 - groceries at walmart

I have a couple of bucks left over, and I had to buy lunch at CB on Sunday. I don't count that as a spending day though ... since I HAVE to eat at work or risk not making it home without hitting up McDonald's or something.

This afternoon, I was going to put my check into savings, but I think I am going to cash it and head over to the consingment shop to pick up one or two pairs of pants for Julie ... possibly more. Tomorrow it will be in the 50's when we wake up in the morning ... the high will barely reach the 70's! Yeah fall is here!! This weekend it was digustingly hot ... I hate trying to plan for "winters" down here.

Goals for this week:
1. Plan Julie's outfits for the week .. including socks. No more hunting in the morning.
2. Box up some of her toys and take to the storage shed.
3. Make some more lunches for work ... the mac n cheese I had today ROCKED.
4. Make breakfast at home.
5. Keep track of money spent better.

That's enough for now ...

Yesterday I had to stop at the gas station, I was on fumes ... I only put $10 in the tank to hold me over until this weekend, when I can put money on my walmart gas card.

After work, I went to Publix. I spent $32.34, but that also included a $15 pack of diapers. Not to shabby.

The only thing else I need for the rest of the week are egg whites and soda. What an interesting combination. I'll probably pick up a pack of sunflower seeds from walmart, they are the only store around here that sells honey roasted sunflower seeds. We used the rest of the milk this morning ...

Last night, I came home and made dinner for Julie and I. I ended up having enough left over that I froze two meals for the following week.

I also need to buy some more gladware to freeze things in for work.

All in all, including the $15 for gas, I shouldn't spend more than $30 at walmart tonight. This week's daycare is back to being $130, plus I'd like to pay my dad $40-50 that I owe him. So, the goal for serving this weekend is $210. I don't know if that's possible ... since usually it's been everyother week that's busy lately.

We're about to go and pay the car payment. It's scary to know that after I make this payment ... I will have nothing left from payday. ACK. Oh well, I put $330 on the prepaid debit card, $305 for insurance and $15 for Julie's premium. It's not like I'm completely broke ...

right?!?!

So I went to the library last night to hopefully find The Tightwad Gazette. I haven't had a card to the public library since I was in highschool so I applied for a new card first ...

Turns out sometime in 2005 someone checked out and lost a number of books in my name. This can't possibly be me since I was living in a different city and honestly wouldn't have checked out the books to begin with. They were on things like sewing and baking ... but I was living on my friend's couch at the time ... so it's not something that would have peeked my interest.

Anyways .. I have to pay it off ... since I can't proove that it wasn't me ... AARRGGGHHH!!!

It's $168 ... total ... isn't that insane!! Until I pay it off ... I can only check out three books at a time ... not to bad I guess. I put $21 to it ... all the cash I had. It's just upsetting ... but whatever ... money's just money at this point.

I went to get my bank account at my credit union opened up ... I have a savings account there. Since my credit score is pretty awful, I have to take a class to be able to get it open?! I have never heard of this ... but whatever, it won't hurt to do this. It's $30, and I'm going to have to change my schedule around and have my mom pick up my daughter ... but just knowing that things will get done eases my fear a bit.

Just a bit though.

Still waiting to hear from Direct to see if my loans were able to be consolidated. Then I will know for sure my total budget.

I've been paying extra on my car to try to get it lower so that when I go to trade it in in a few months I won't owe so much ... still trying to save money, plus by my daughter winter clothes. It's like a never ending way to spend money.

Tonight I am going to cash my check at the credit union ... pay my mom the $10 I owe her for the rest of Julie's costume *she's going to be a kitty* and head to the grocery store.

Another no a/c in the car day ... today is WONDERFUL here in Florida, very windy and not sunny at all. I think I live in the wrong state ... I could get used to living in this kind of weather!

I've noticed that I've been stressing a lot lately about money. It's not a good thing.

My goal this week:
Do not stress about money! There is nothing else I can do about the current state I am in, but work to get out of it. Fretting and pndering are NOT going to help.

Let's see if I can keep to that.

I've gone three days without a/c .. and guess what ... my car hasn't leaked. HMMM .... I think I might have solved the problem. Now if I could get the car to not SMELL. That would be wonderful.

This weekend I made a good deal of money. I bought Julie some new clothes, and I will be heading to the grocery store tonight. Going to pick up some turkey sausage, egg whites, brown rice and veggies. MMMmmm ... how healthy. Thank goodness my daughter eats pretty much anything i give her.

10.18 .. that's how much I added to the change jar today.

It came from a few random places, a couple of pants pockets, I cleaned out my wallet ... I also brought home $6 in change from work tonight. Not too shabby.

16.00 - original
+10.18 - today's total
--------
26.18 - two days worth of saving. Not to shabby at all.

Tonight wasn't a great night at work, but it wasn't to bad either. I brought home $103, which is $12 less than average.

I ran to Walmart afterwards. I needed a few things ... and only bought what I went in there for. WOW ... it CAN happen!

I needed deodorant, a small pack of wipes for Julie, gum, milk, cheese, turkey, envelopes, pens and I did fight the decision to buy Julie a new pair of shoes ... but she really needed them, so I picked up a pair. I ended up spending $28.88 ... and I have to run by the grocery store tomorrow to pick up some veggies, eggs and turkey sausage for work this week. I shouldn't spend much at all.

I also got a $20 gas card ... I usually get $40 every week ... even though $20 will fill my tank for the week *usually* ... I like to have the extra, just in case. I get paid Thursday though ... so I only got the $20 since I really really have to get my oil changed this weekend.

I spent $5 at McDonald's ... after serving food all day .. the last thing I want to do is come home and cook ... plus everyone is asleep. I need to be asleep too ... its after midnight and I have to be at work at 8am.

I put $45 away for daycare, I only need $20 more. Plus, I have a few bucks left over tonight, after tomorrow I'll know how to spend those.

All in all ... a good day. I just wish there were more hours in it.

I made a new category ... "no air condition in the car"

See .. my car is a piece of crap. That's the nice way to put it. It GUSHES water a couple of times a day. My car smells like mold ... it's really really disgusting.

So, I did a little bit of research online ... and found out that the car is gushing water b/c of something with the air condition ... I'm no mechanic ... but supposedly I have to put a piece of rubber tubing and it will drain on the OUTSIDE of the car (what a freakin concept!)

Well, since I'm not a mechanic ... and I don't really have any idea as to WHAT is the air condition under the hood ... my idea is to stop using the air conditioner in the car.

That might not seem like a big deal to anyone ... but I live in Florida. It's still 90 degrees plus humidity down here. It will save me on gas to turn off the a/c and HOPEFULLY will stop the leak.

I'm going to give it a try ... at least until the end of the month. By then, if the leak hasn't stopped ... I know it's something else. If it has ... well then I have to think of something else ... don't I.

Hopefully we'll get the $1000 bonus we're working towards this month. If we get the bonus (I don't think we're going to get it right now ...) I am going to trade in my car. Still waiting to hear if that guy at work actually wants to buy the car ... this is all my plan if he doesn't want to buy it.

My daughter is ready for bed .. she's sitting in my lap actually cuddling ... something is wrong with this picture.