What the Heck is a Chalk Line?

So now that I have a little more free time on my hands, it's time to work on all of those projects around the house. One of the biggest projects that I wanted to tackle was taking up the carpet in my family room.  The carpet is a cream colored barber that still smelt like the previous owners cat.  It also had a beautiful electric blue paint streak right by the doorway.  It was the only memory I had of the electric blue walls that blinded me every time that I came in the back door.  My dog also liked to claw at the carpet, which left it in tatters.

As soon as the carpet was taken up, it was time to chose new flooring. Since my dog loves digging in the backyard and tracks her muddy paws into the house,  it was decided that a tile or laminate floor would be best.  Next we had to look at price, since the budget is limited.  Also I was looking for something that would be easy to install. I am very much a girly girl and would hate to break a nail.

We decided on peel and stick tiles.  The price was right and according to the instructions on the box, it looked very easy to install.  On the day of installation I worked in the morning and planned to spend the evening finishing the floor.  As I am leaving the mall I get a phone call asking me to stop at Sears and get a chalk line.  A what??  A chalk line?? What the heck is a chalk line??

I then went to Sears and perused the hardware department.  I saw a label claiming to be a chalk line, but to me it looked like measuring tape.  There was no chalk to be seen!  I continued to look around and found a few other packages claiming to be chalk lines that also looked like a measuring tape thingy jingy. So I bought one.

I continue home, throw on my work clothes and get ready to install the tiles.  Just as I was about start laying the tiles in a corner, I was told that we needed to start from the center of the room, hence the reason that we needed a chalk line.  We measure the room, find the center, then I lay the line down on the floor and start to pat the string to get the chalk on the floor.  It's not working!  Why do I see no chalk?  Then I was told that I had to snap the string, wow that worked great!  I now see a nice straight chalk line.

From there we start to install the tile.  Things were going great until we worked our way our to the outer walls.  The tile are too big and need to be trimmed down. Not only do the have to be cut, they have to be lined up to the pattern!  Ok I can do this.....I will just cut a tile in half and it should fit. Umm no....it's still too big.  I will trim it down a little. Crap I trimmed it too much and now it's too short.  New tile......trim, trim again, trim a little more, yay it fits!  And this particular tile only took me 20 minutes to lay.  Only 32 more to go like this!

So it's now 2am and the floor is done.  It looks very good and I no longer smell the cat urine.  Please let the tile stay stuck to the floor.  I would hate to go throw this process all over again!

Step Away from the Levis

Having to now live on a limited income, I have really had to cut out all of my extra spending.  Going to buy a new shirt, jeans, or purse is no longer an option.  I now have to ask myself "Amy do you really need it?" I then get that little voice in my head that says "step away from the Levis".

Although not purchasing all of the super cute spring outfits really bothers me, I have to admit that when it comes to health and beauty items I tend to go crazy! I have this crazy obsession with make-up, shampoo, styling products, and even aspirin and seasonal allergy medication.

Not having a job makes my obsession worse.  Anytime I see anything on sale I have to buy 2 or 3.  I am afraid that one day I won't be able to purchase that cleansing cream and lipstick.  My complexion will fail and my lips will look naked.  This will be about the time that I get an interview and I won't be prepared to have that polished look. I also won't have my allergy pills so I will not only look bad, but I will be sneezing all over the interviewer!!

I may be dirt poor in the months to come, but my entire bathroom closet will be stocked  to make me look good and smell good til 2020!

Dae-What....Daewoo!

I own a 2001 Daewoo Lanos that I purchased brand new 10 years ago.  I had never bought a brand new car before and was excited over the 10 year 100,000 warranty that was offered.  Now if you have never heard of a Daewoo before, you aren't alone.  Unfortunately just after I purchased the car, the company went out of business.  I am guessing there may be about a dozen of these cars left in this area. Heck maybe I should just park it for the next 15 years, then it will be so rare a collector might offer me a nice chunk of change for my hunk of junk.

Now having a car that is 10 years old is risky, but having one that is so uncommon makes repairs pretty pricey if anything breaks down.  Every year I hold my breath when it is inspected because I know it will be expensive. Last year I spent $800 on it, then wondered if I should have just traded it in. This year I feared the same fate. Being unemployed, a $800 car repair dictates if I eat this month!

 Luckily this year some higher power decided to cut me a break.  After stressing all day, the inspection center called and let me know that the only thing the car needed was a $5 light bulb!!  I got an inspection, emissions test,  and an oil change for a final cost in the double digits...not the triple digits.

Not having a job makes simple things like a car inspection seem like life or death.  A bad car equals lots of money for repairs, but even worse it could leave me without transportation to go for interviews or even start a new job.

What I Want to be When I Grow Up

Last week the Parade Magazine posted an article highlighting what people earn.  As I was going through and looking at earnings from across the country, it made me think.....what exactly do I want to do when I grow up?

Obviously if I was looking at just salary, I would want to be the plastic surgeon in Las Vegas that earns $1 million a year.  I am sure being in Vegas he has quite an extensive client list containing dancers, performers, and snow bunnies who want to look 20 years younger.  However needles and blood isn't for me, so I must choose again.

How about a graphic artist, I do appreciate art.  But looking at the salary of $12,180-I don't think I could survive on that.  Next we have wine maker.  I do love to drink wine, so maybe I should learn to make it.  And considering that we live in a popular grape region I would be all set.  Unfortunately the pay is only $25,900.  I could live on this salary but it would be a very tight budget. In keeping with the beverage category, I could try a barista.  They make $17,500 and considering I don't like coffee, I wouldn't spend my paycheck at work.

Let's see what jobs are actually in the salary range that I would be comfortable in.  Furniture maker- $39,000.  Unfortunately I am a girly girl and would be afraid to break a nail.  Exterminator $66,000.  Too bad I hate bugs.  DeeJay $30,000- I love music but I am not a fan of smokey bars.

There were two jobs that did catch my eye in this article.  The first being a blogger (go figure).  The pay is only $10,000 but it would be a great part time gig.  The other was an obituary writer.  It would be a sad job indeed. but I do like to write and it pays $75,713.  Not too shabby.

With my recent unemployment I have been given the opportunity to really explore what it is I would like to do.  Once I do find that perfect opportunity life will definitely be more "richer"

Another Element of Unemployment....no Healthcare

One of the biggest struggles of losing my job is my health care coverage.  Ironically I was never one to go to the doctor, unless I was on my death bed.  I paid into my heath care plans for years and years and never used them. This past year however, I finally decided to address some issues that I have been hiding under the carpet all of these years.

I am not sure if it's old age, stress, or the fact that I haven't had a good nights sleep in about 7 years-but I have been having some severe memory issues.  I regularly pay my bills 2 or 3 times in one month- yes I mean double and triple paying because I forgot that I already paid them.  I have conversations with people and forget what we spoke of.  And would complete sales reports at work, turn them in, then do them all over again- forgetting that they were already submitted.

Now that I have begun to seek treatment for my problem, I have to stop testing mid-way because now I don't have medical insurance.  Considering the fact that I have sat on this problem for so long, I suck it up and go on Cobra at $309.71 per month!  However after submitting 2 months worth of these over-priced payments, I receive medical bills totaling $6000!!!

I call the insurance company directly, however they have my account listed as closed, I call the Cobra administrator, however she claims I need to call my previous employer, I call my previous employer who claims it is out of their hands.  But someone knew how to cash my checks.

Being unemployed is hard enough. Paying over-priced medical coverage is even worse.  However being unemployed AND paying over-priced medical coverage and still not having coverage...well that has put me over the edge today.

Rainy Days and Mondays Always Bring Me Down

It's yet another Monday.  It's been 3 weeks since I lost my job.  Although I have had both good days and bad days, Mondays tend to be rough.  I lose my job on a Monday. my basement floods on a Monday, I get a $5400 medical bill on a Monday, and my stalker likes to do drive-bys on Mondays.  It's only 9:00am today and I am already wondering what this Monday has in store for me.

Prior to everything hitting the fan in my life, I actually didn't mind Mondays. Although getting out of bed was always a chore, I was happy to start a new week and see what weekend shenanigans that I missed.

Here' to better "routine" Mondays!! To all my employed friends, I am sure you are shaking your head saying Monday's suck....but for someone that doesn't have a job to go to on Monday- It gives Mondays a new meaning.

Doggy Mama

I became a doggy mama in February.  During a visit to the Anna Shelter, she caught my eye.  She looked so sad and timid and I thought maybe I could make a difference in her life. She is a German Shepard/lab mix.  She is a beautiful tan color.

During the first few weeks she would either try to hide and just shut down and curl up in the corner.  It was heartbreaking.  In addition she didn't eat the first few days and trying to get her to drink something was virtually impossible.  I was at my wits end.

Over the last 2 weeks she has begun to open up.  She has done this by eating my carpet, my lazy boy chair, the wooden trim around my backdoor, my cupboards...well you get the idea.  I began to wonder if someone broke in in the middle of the night and switched out dogs!

I thought that maybe I wasn't spending enough quality time with her, so I have been doing my best to play with her and keep her occupied. The problem now is, she won't leave the back room so I have to go to her.  But I had to remove all of the furniture because she was eating it up.  So I sit on the floor.  When I decide to retreat to the front living room to give my back a rest, she will only go as far as the kitchen.  I try to get her to come into the living room to join me, but she won't budge.

However yesterday this all changed.  I spent the morning vacuuming the floor and the couch pillows, dusting, and shining up the hard wood floors. I did all of this while Honey was in the backyard doing her business.  As soon as I was all finished, I let her in.  She was all wet and covered in mud and did a bee line straight to the front room and introduced herself to a pillow that was in the couch, which she managed to take a bite out of before I caught her!!

How I love being a doggy mama!!

My Job, My Dog, My Lint Roller

Things are starting to look up.  I just got hired at Victoria's Secret.  As I mentioned in my previous post, this job is a great fit for me.  I love sales, working with customers, and I look thin in black-which is the required uniform for employees.  Each day I get up, get ready for work, and don my favorite black pants and sweater.  However I have forgotten that I now have a wonderful tan colored dog that sheds like crazy.

Just as I am all ready to walk out the door, she decides that she needs to jump on me to let me know that she needs to go outside and potty.  By the time I get her outside, back inside, and into her cage I am covered from head to toe in lovely tan fun.  Black clothes and fur and not good friends.

So I have decided to be-friend the little Scotch lint brush that I saw while waiting in line at Walmart.  Now I can have my dog and my job!

I've Become a Mall Walker

Judging from my increasing waistline, I have decided to start exercising.  The problem with that is two-fold.  First I am on a very limited budget.  Not having a regular income coming in, I hesitate to commit myself to a year long gym membership.  Although some memberships are only $10 per month, one month I might actually need that $10 to buy myself that case of ramen noodles!!

The next problem is, I will be motivated for about 2 weeks, then I will come up with every excuse not to go.  It's cold out, I'm tired, I have a TV show on, I need to stop and get gas in my car first, etc.  If I had a gym partner to join me, I might consider it.  But the problem with that is, I get bored about 1pm and that is the time I would like to go.  But everyone I know has a job and is working at 1pm!  If I wait until 5pm to join my partner, the gym would be too busy for my liking and that would be yet another excuse not to go.

So I have come up with a great solution to get a little exercise in.  Thanks to my sister, I have become an infamous mall walker!!  Am I one of the youngest ones there walking?  Why yes I am.  Do I have the most up to date sneakers?  Again, yes I do.  Can I keep up with the retireees when I am walking......well they all blow right past me.  But I still have cooler shoes!

Do you put your socks or pants on first?

Believe it or not I actually miss the routine of having a job.  I miss rolling out of bed at a specific time, going to the bathroom, brushing my teeth, taking a shower, drying my hair, putting my make-up on, getting dressed, and grabbing my can of Diet Coke and a Little Debbie snack cake as I run out the door.

I then get to work, crack open my Diet Coke, listen to my 25-40 voice mails, check my email, return about 1/2 of the voice mails, eat my Little Debbie snack cake, chat with my office mate to decide what time we are going to go to lunch, answer a few more emails, make a few more phone calls, check weather.com to see if there will be more snow, then go to lunch.  The rest of my day plays out pretty much the same.

Now that I don't have this routine, I feel lost.  As much as me and Mr Routine weren't always friends in the past, that routine is what held me together and kept me focused.  I miss it!

In the hopes of trying to establish a new routine, my current day consists of the following.  Get up at 8:30AM and take the dog out, let the dog play until 9:30AM, bring the dog back in and give her breakfast, lounge back in a bed for a while longer, throw sweats on and take the dog back out at 11:00AM, watch the People's Court, Judge Alex, Judge Pirro, channel surf and web search until 3:30PM, put dinner in the oven, watch Judge Judy, eat dinner, give the dog dinner, then hope some kind soul takes pity on me and asks me to meet them out...even if its only to walk around Wal-Mart.

Please for my mental well-being,.......bring the routine of a job my way!!