Been Busy - Here's a list:

Wow! Been over a year since my last post. Sorry folks. School just takes a lot out of me, I guess....

What's been happening besides school?

• A good friend moved away to SC. 
• I moved twice, finally in a house I can stand. 
• Got a washer & dryer
• I'm thinking of moving again but if I do, I'll buy the place. 
• That means selling the house in Knoxville.
• Finally tackling the weight issue (again) 
• This time from the emotional angle instead of the food angle
• WRITING!!!  
• Put in over 21,000 words on the female agent vs gun runner story
• hit a wall
• Writing other stuff 
• grad school application essay
• blog posts
• updated e-portfolio for 2 semesters
• Taking summer classes
• grammar
• 4th semester French
• Working - BGCOP
• Health issues 
• Been healthy, but it takes work
• Cats are good
• Car needs work again
• what's new?
• SEO for one client
• Website for one, one still due
• Mentoring women in business
• monitoring cat posts on FB 
• lawncare at house
• yard cleanup @ Knoxville house
• career planning
• trust event occured in June (US Bank & Oakland County MI Probate Courts)
• Met many of my cousins!
• Let's not forget the "NO on Amendment 1" campaign run by some friends in E TN. 
• And political commentary never stops. 
• I really DO try to restrain myself. 

Whew!

Yeah, I've been busy. Still found time to enjoy music, a few movies and read about 15 novels....

If I ever figure out how to "be still" it will be God's doing.

Travelling Today

I'm off on the Megabus to Virginia today. If you follow me on Twitter, I may even Tweet if I find something interesting. The worst part will be sitting for 9+ hours. My back is already stressed and painful.

Ah well... I've got my tunes, my crochet, and a good book coming with me. Not to mention the MP3 player with some good speaker tapes on it.

I'll have the laptop, so I may post while I'm away. Not sure. Visiting family, so it depends on how things go. I won't be in control of my own schedule. That may be a good thing!

I get to give a couple of presents for Mother's Day to my aunt and cousin. And I have a fabulous present for my uncle that I've been holding on to for several years - just kept forgetting to pass it on!

I'm all packed, just need to shower and dress.

God Is Good!

I returned my textbooks yesterday, and was able to get cat food and gas.

Today, I checked the bank balance, like I do every morning, and Whoa! There was money there!!! It turned out it was a refund for the class I dropped.

So, I got to pay a month's utility bills. That's cool! The second month is already on my credit for the internet/phone, and I saw the meter-reader yesterday for the lights & water.

I'll go talk to everybody today and tell them what's up. I guess I'll have to let them know when my next student loan payment is coming in, too.

Confirmed with my cousin on my trip this weekend. Everything is going as planned.

Got a call yesterday on a job I signed up for, for today. She said the supervisor would call me with details. He never did, so I didn't work today.

I'll use the time to clean up my suitcases, and get the laundry done so I have clothes to take with me.

God is Good! That money came just in time (as is God's way), and now I won't have to worry about the lights getting cut off while I'm on my trip. I had no idea that money was coming...

Taking a little trip...

I'm going on a little trip on April 15 - to see my family. I'm taking the "Megabus" that is like an express Greyhound service, but by a different company. I'm going to DC, since that's nearest their house. It's an almost 9-hour bus ride. I'm gonna be sore when I get there!

They have wi-fi on the bus, and I'll be taking the laptop, so we can do a Skype convo with the other family members with my camera setup. We are doing a remote-memorial on our end for a beloved member who passed away.

I expect it will be an adventure. We'll see....

POST SCRIPT -
My trip got moved to May 7th.

Who's Rich?

I just read this blog post...

http://finance.yahoo.com/career-work/article/110876/why-the-rich-dont-feel-rich

And the original blog post here...

http://delong.typepad.com/sdj/2010/09/todd-henderson-we-are-the-super-rich.html

I believe in living below my means. Sometimes, that means I go withtout. Without gas for the car, without new clothes, without "elective" medications, and so on. Perhaps I make the choices I make because I want a roof over my head. Perhaps it's becuase I have a strong desire to never work more than 30 hours a week outside the home. Whatever it is, those are my choices.

Yes, I do make the choice to not work full time. I have way too many irons in the fire to work full time outside. I have my websites, my SEO business, and some other "projects" that are promising to make a tidy sum. So, I need the time more than the money.

As long as the basic bills and the car is paid for, I'm OK. I may have to put off some work on the car until it's urgent, but that's again my choice. I also choose to hire a lawn service.

I love mowing the lawn, don't get me wrong... But it puts me flat on my back for 2-3 days afterwards. I lose all strength in my legs and my back aches too much for comfort. So, I made the decision to hire it out every 2 weeks. I would do it more often if I could. Besides, I get a full-service package this way. When I need rototilling done, I know who to call.

But this post is about being rich. Define rich... Just for yourself, define it. Does it mean money in the bank? Property? Friends? Health? Stuff? To me it's a mix of all of them. More friends and health than stuff, money or property. I used to think that money and property and stuff were what life is all about. But I've lost everything I've owned 5 times now. I lost it in a fire, when I lost my home and storage locker due to financial difficulties, when I moved to Tennessee. And, let's not forget the 2 times we lost everything when I was a kid.

So "stuff is just stuff." I learned that the important things are photographs, correspondence and cards from family and friends, and important documents that are a pain to replace, like your passport and social security card. In my case, I also have family tree and geneological documents that I would loathe to lose. I keep these things above flood stage, near the roof in my office. They are accessible, but safe. And if something happened, I would know exactly where to start grabbing and tossing out the window!

Rich - memories of friends and family. Close ties with special people all over the world. That is what I call my "rich life." I don't have a lot of cash, or property. I probably have way too much stuff, but that's because I'm a clutter junky. I'm learning to tame and reduce it. At least my floor is mostly clear - except for the cat toys and shoes everywhere...

I have enough food so that I won't starve in the next 30 days. My utilites are paid (mostly on time, too!). I have a home of my own - mine and the bank's. I have a brain, and I'm fairly healthy. (I've been doing "body work" with a masseuse, and my health feels much stronger as a result.)

So, am I rich? NO! I would love a car that didn't have a ton of work to be done on it. Maybe one that was less than 5 years old, instead of 12 years old. And I want to be fully out of debt.

That's RICH! To have no payments to creditors...

Wow! I had that for all of one week, once. I look forward to it again. That's why I drive a 12-year old car.

So, that's my definition of rich. I hope you will think of your own definition. Write it down someplace. Refer to it often. Daily, if you can... And be grateful for the stuff you already have.

We live in one of the richest (if not the richest) countries in the world. We have a life style that is among the most favored. Yeah, we like to bitch and complain about "how bad we have it" but we really don't have it that bad. Think about that for a while...

Finishing that pizza slice???

It's Amazing!

It's now been a little over 6 months since I had regular work. No steady income to speak of - certainly not enough to pay the bills! I was thinking about school. It's just too expensive to pursue. And I was thinking about SSDI (Social Security Disability Insurance), which I may still pursue. My voice keeps going out, and my joints hurt regardless of sitting or standing. And yes, some depression has creeped in, too.

My current status:
My car now needs $200 worth of work on the front end - Right Away!..
The car payments start up again this month, after re-financing the loan...
I need to make a trip to Virginia and see my family. My uncle is elderly, and I need to see him...
I have a roommate, helping with the house payment...
I have Food Stamps, so we have plenty of food...
Food Stamps wants me to apply for work (which I've been doing all along) so I now see how much effort I really put into it...
Small jobs keep coming to me, at just the right time...

Seeing how many jobs I apply for has been an eye opener. I apply to many more than that, since I also have the agencies looking for me. There are some jobs I don't write down, because of whatever reason: for Food Stamps, you have to get a name, phone number and address, and pretty much a lot of stuff that online applications don't give you. I have the option of applying online, as long as I can show the "successful application" page and print it. And those kiosks in stores? You don't have the option to print from those... So, I keep applying. I've done the required number already, and I'm not stopping.

Yep! Small jobs have been saving the day! A cat sitting weekend here, a website research project there; a Presentation update here, some office organization there; a care-taking overnight here, well you get the idea...

There isn't enough coming in to pay back the loans my family and friends gave me a couple of months ago. Only a job, or enough of the small jobs, will pull me out of this. But somehow, I've managed.

I know that God is running the show. If I ever had doubts before, I don't now. Prayer works! In the midst of all this, I've even been able to make a small donation to my church. A very small donation, to be sure, but at least I could send them something! I figured my friends and family would forgive that small delay...

The work on the car is covered by a job that I'm in the midst of right now. There may be enough to pay off the smallest of my medical bills and put some on another - and still leave me enough to drive to my family's place.

I've wanted to have the ladies over one evening since I moved into the house, so I set aside Sept 4th for that purpose. I've planned the menu, and I'll have to get some items for the Antipasto Salad, but I have everything else in the house for the planned menu. I've invited 20 women, expecting about 1/2 - 3/4 to show. There is seating for about 16. I'll pull out the Yahtzee! and some cards. So, even broke, on Food Stamps, and in restricted circumstances, we can have a nice evening.

That will take care of next weekend, pretty effectively, and keep me from driving to Virginia on a holiday weekend. So, I won't be leaving anytime soon to go visit my family. At least a 2-week delay, I figure. I'll have to get the funds from this job, take the car in, and then see where I am. I have to have the money for the car loan put aside before I go, too. At least a good portion of it. If the small Presentation jobs I've line up work out, then perhaps the following weekend?

Well, don't stop praying...