Tagless & Formerly Tagless 5 :: The Babnanas are still dancin'!

[kimmar067]

This fake tree thing is looking better all the time. No tangled web of lights, no fighting with tree stands, no mess of needles and best of all NO ALLERGIC REACTION. Now to go do the neti pot. Hopefully I will no longer be completely stuffed up and this throbbing head/nose will subside.

....ahhhhhh, she finally SEES the 'light'....

 

[creativeamanda]

...non-tortured person RIGHT HERE....

And this idiot recycled hers this year.

But she lived a grand old life--7 years. I got her for $35 at the commissary. . .

 

[creativeamanda]

!!!

My thoughts exactly.

 

[Mean Queen]

I am just sick. The numbers are out. My boss (the superintendent) is accused of embezzling over $500,000. We were told last month there would be 36 teachers laid off, all of us would receive a 5 day furlough, and no one got our $300 CHristmas bonus we had received for 6 years straight from a return to the district from the state insurance commission. This was so we could meet the budget. All the while, he was embezzling money. He's admitted to it in a personal statement when he turned himself in today.

Look here: http://www2.scnow.com/scp/news/loca...orruption_in_marion_dist._2_schools/97684/P0/

That is horrible. I can't imagine why anyone would do something like that?

SadieDog - sorry you don't feel well! We still do the real tree. DH and I have considered a pre-lit fake tree, but my DD10 is totally against it. Plus, I know my mother would roll over in her grave (if she wasn't cremated and stuck in a vase.)

TK - get the iPhone or some other smart phone you can surf the web from. I can't get on the net at work without big brother watching either. But I sure can get on my phone and head to the Dis, Facebook and anything else I want when I have a second.

 

[TarzansKat]

Thanks, TK. I am embarassed to say that I am just now taking decorations off the tree. I have felt too miserable to do it before. However, I cannot wait any longer. This tree has been killing me. I'm sad to say that I do not think I can have a live tree anymore. I'm having a hard time imagining a fake tree. I really enjoy the 4 of us walking around the tree farm, picking out and cutting down a tree. I had such a terrible allergic reaction the 1st 3 days it was in here, I almost tossed it out the window. This tree probably contributed to my sinus infection. It MUST go. I was hoping since it has bothered me so much, that my husband would take the initiative to get it out of here. Yeah, right. I have felt rotten for too long and even though I feel like crap now, it's got to be done.

Please excuse me while I come on to vent about trying to get all these lights off the tree. I forgot they are a huge pain. The stands with the large bulbs are finally off. Each bulb is hooked on a branch so that takes some time. Now the strands with the small lights are tangled. Even with a chair I cannot reach well enough to the top. What a tangled mess up there. The more I fight with the lights, the more needles fall. My head is pounding, nose competely stuffed but also running. I will do the neti pot after this torture. OK, got to go try this again.

I HIGHLY recommend that you get an artifical tree. Pre lit would be best, and now is the time to look, if you don't mind storing it for a year.

It never occured to me that the reason I may have gotten sick every single year after Christmas was from having a live tree in our home, until my allergy doctor pointed out that fun little tidbit.

I have fond memories of picking out trees as well, but my health is worth more to me. Ever since we've had an artifical tree, I have not come down with a major sinus infection right after the holidays. Who knew?

TK - get the iPhone or some other smart phone you can surf the web from. I can't get on the net at work without big brother watching either. But I sure can get on my phone and head to the Dis, Facebook and anything else I want when I have a second.

That's a good point. Actually, now that I have the laptop, I could bring that to work and surf the net. There's a coffee shop just around the corner from us that has free wi fi and I'm fairly certain I could pick up their signal from where we are.

 

[TarzansKat]

Good morning, folks!

So I am really loving the fact that my nausea is pretty much gone. I still have weird food aversions, but that's okay. At least one of the things we both seem to like is lots of fruit, and that can be a great snack.

The only problem is that I'm still waking up 5-6 times a night to go to the bathroom, and I am praying that goes away soon. I'm just into my third month, maybe it didn't lift until my fourth month last time. I can't even remember.

I'm lacking the motivation to get going but I need to hop in the shower and head off to work.

Afterwards, I'm taking my Mom (with my DS) to look at one of the bigger townhomes in this apartment complex and get her take on it as well. Then we're heading out, there's a store with shelving units on sale and I'd really love a small, wide one for our living room. Now that DS is older, he's got a lot of board games and things that just don't fit will anywhere else. So, hopefully, we can find something good and inexpensive.

Everybody have a happy Saturday!

 

[kimmar067]

That is horrible. I can't imagine why anyone would do something like that? ....

... guess the KIDS weren't 'Priority One'....

 

[creativeamanda]

... guess the KIDS weren't 'Priority One'....

Apparently not.

Here's the news, though. I was contemplating finding a job in another school district in North Carolina before all of this broke. This working in SC and living in NC and having to pay income tax in both is for the birds.

Not now, though. These kids need normalcy. And I'm not one to "jump ship" because things are tough. I'm one to effect change first and then move on once I feel everything is settled.

 

[kimmar067]

Apparently not.

Here's the news, though. I was contemplating finding a job in another school district in North Carolina before all of this broke. This working in SC and living in NC and having to pay income tax in both is for the birds.

Not now, though. These kids need normalcy. And I'm not one to "jump ship" because things are tough. I'm one to effect change first and then move on once I feel everything is settled.

...that's very noble of you.......

 

[Mean Queen]

Apparently not.

Here's the news, though. I was contemplating finding a job in another school district in North Carolina before all of this broke. This working in SC and living in NC and having to pay income tax in both is for the birds.

Not now, though. These kids need normalcy. And I'm not one to "jump ship" because things are tough. I'm one to effect change first and then move on once I feel everything is settled.

And that's why I totally respect teachers and others who work at schools. You sure aren't doing it for the money, you're doing it for the kids.

 

[creativeamanda]

...that's very noble of you.......

And that's why I totally respect teachers and others who work at schools. You sure aren't doing it for the money, you're doing it for the kids.

Some things are more important than a pocketbook. It's a shame that the accused (as I should call him now) didn't feel the same way.

 

[SadieDog]

I HIGHLY recommend that you get an artifical tree. Pre lit would be best, and now is the time to look, if you don't mind storing it for a year.

It never occured to me that the reason I may have gotten sick every single year after Christmas was from having a live tree in our home, until my allergy doctor pointed out that fun little tidbit.

I have fond memories of picking out trees as well, but my health is worth more to me. Ever since we've had an artifical tree, I have not come down with a major sinus infection right after the holidays. Who knew?

.

That's the difficult part, letting go of the picking out and cutting down of the tree ritual. However, you are correct. My health must come 1st. The reaction I have to the Xmas tree is miserable and so it the raging sinus infection.

What did you think of the townhouse?

Some things are more important than a pocketbook. It's a shame that the accused (as I should call him now) didn't feel the same way.

That's wonderful you will see things through before looking elsewhere.

Due to health insurance issues, it's difficult for me to work part time at the daycare. No benefits, no retirement and it looks like it will be around $100 a week just for myself to stay on my husbands insurance. He works for a very small company. They pay much of my husbands medical but nothing of family members. Each family member is $100 a week. Myself and 2 kids would be $300 a week on top of what my husband pays for himself. Not possible.

With my daughter being in college and 18, she pays a fee to the state each month for coverage. Not sure what is happening with my son yet. I really want to stay at daycare. Kids and adults become quite fond of each other. Also the lady said she could not do this job without me. If I leave, she would have to down size. That is if I could even find a job with benefits. Things have not improved around here yet.

 

[TarzansKat]

That's the difficult part, letting go of the picking out and cutting down of the tree ritual. However, you are correct. My health must come 1st. The reaction I have to the Xmas tree is miserable and so it the raging sinus infection.

What did you think of the townhouse?

I know, it's the sentimental attachment. I have really fond memories of picking a real tree, too, but, I promise, you'll find a pretty artificial one and be happy!

Well, I had a lot of mixed feelings about it. I mean, it is really nice, but it's only about 300 sq. feet more. It has a huge two car garage with lots of additional storage, but it's $355 more a month in rent.

I just don't know that it's worth it. Right now, there's probably no sense to moving. Maybe I'll feel differntly after the baby comes, but I'm not sure.

I really love one level living, and we have that now. The townhome has two flights of stairs because you come in on garage level, and have to walk up to your main level, then your bedrooms are upstairs. Bedrooms are only about three feet longer than what we have now, and dining and living are slightly bigger.

I don't know. It's a really tough call, but I really love to save money.

I was talking to my husband last night about things we can do to streamline this apartment, getting rid of the junk, and getting the toys, etc, more hidden so it feels more like a home, at least in the living area. I don't care about toys in DS' room, that's his space, you know? But the end up migrating out to the living room, and being an unsightly mess. I just bought at all bookcase yesterday that I know will help us out a bit, and I'm thinking of one of those nice fabric storage benches to replace our coffee table.

I'm sorry, I'm rambling. I just wrote a huge post about this in my PTR, so it's totally on my mind right now. LOL

 

[TarzansKat]

I wanted to put this on a separate post for you, SadieDog.

I'm sorry you're going through the health insurance thing. I just wanted to offer my sympathies because I know how you feel.

It's actually the only reason I work. Part time tellers are eligible for health insurance. It eats up about half of my paycheck, and it feels very defeating. I'm fortunate that the price for a family is set no matter how many children you have so this little bean won't cost anymore in that sense.

Insurance isn't offered at my husband's work. I have no idea what will happen now with the new legislation being passed since he works for a small buisness owner, but I think we can pretty much count on me having to carry it. The kicker to that is, I'd really like the freedom to do the accelerated teaching program (to become an art teacher) and it's only offered Friday nights and all day Saturdays. If I told the bank I couldn't work on Saturdays, they'd let me go. Saturdays are mandatory for all new hires, and I'm only part time, so it's part of my schedule.

I feel very stuck.

 

[creativeamanda]

I will say that I honestly feel that benefits are worth being a teacher. Health insurance for myself and the kids including dental, vision, and optional life is $402 a month. DH pays $172 a month for his. Not a small amount, but we do have vision, dental, and a $15 copay for office visits, no matter how many tests are run. Last week I had an eye appointment and paid $22.50 for the checkup, contact lens fitting, and 4 boxes of contacts. I think that's pretty darn good. The vision add-on was like $200 for the whole year. I pay a lot more than that every year if I don't have insurance: $139 for the office visit, $50 every other month for contacts.

 

[creativeamanda]

TK: it may be the long way, but have you looked into online certification? I got my master's degree at East Carolina University completely online. I know the University of North Carolina system is set up so that a person could get their certification online at one of their campuses (ECU is part of the UNC system). You may want to look at that in your state. I'm looking at Penn State's programs right now because I need to be a Board Certified Behavior Analyst to do what I ultimately want to do (have my own company that provides ABA services for kids with autism). Their program is completely online.

 

[TarzansKat]

TK: it may be the long way, but have you looked into online certification? I got my master's degree at East Carolina University completely online. I know the University of North Carolina system is set up so that a person could get their certification online at one of their campuses (ECU is part of the UNC system). You may want to look at that in your state. I'm looking at Penn State's programs right now because I need to be a Board Certified Behavior Analyst to do what I ultimately want to do (have my own company that provides ABA services for kids with autism). Their program is completely online.

Do you think that would work for me? What I mean to say is, I don't have any education courses at all, my BFA is in Painting. So, I'm qualified in that sense to teach art, but it's the education courses I need. I'm not sure if any of our local colleges offer online certification, but it's worth looking into. I'm just not sure how that would work with student teaching.

 

[LegoMom3]

Well good morning you chatty people! How's things?

I totally have Disney on the brain this morning. TK - any penny saved in rent is another penny you can plop in the trip jar!!

.

 

[SadieDog]

TK, do you have a 2 bedroom now and you looked at a 3 bedroom? $355 more a month is A LOT!

 

[TarzansKat]

Well good morning you chatty people! How's things?

I totally have Disney on the brain this morning. TK - any penny saved in rent is another penny you can plop in the trip jar!!

.

Well, that's one way of looking at it. LOL

TK, do you have a 2 bedroom now and you looked at a 3 bedroom? $355 more a month is A LOT!

No, actually we have a two bedroom now and we looked at a biggger two bedroom.

I don't even know that there's anywhere near us that has three bedroom apartments, it's not common around here unless you rent a home.