Weekends Fly By, Weeks Don't

Another weekend is almost gone. Now that I'm working Full Time, the weekends slip by so quickly. I used to have a whole week to get stuff done, now I'm left cramming it all into 2 days, which sucks 'cause then Roman and I don't get to spend too much time together just relaxing and playing. I feel like I spend my entire week just running the roads...to work, to my parents to pick up Roman, and back home. The weekends are at CVS, Walgreens, Target, Publix, and sometimes Wal-Mart. I'm glad for the money, but I'll be glad when things are back to "normal."

Work these last few weeks has been just building binders for the field workers, it is kind of boring and monotonous, but that's okay for now. Hopefully we'll be done with binder building this week.

Today I'm going to my parents for brunch before my dad and brother Christopher go to Dunkirk, NY to visit family(they will be back on Saturday.) Then, I'm taking Melisa shopping for new clothes for her job at JcPenney. I don't have a lot of connections, but I'm glad I know the assistant manager, who hired her :-) I know she'll do a good job, and now she just needs to "dress for success."

New Jobs

Well, I haven't written in quite some time, but hopefully that will change really soon.

It's been a new chapter in our lives regarding jobs. I started my new job at the Census Bureau last week. I'm doing clerical work, which right now is basically checking in questioners from the field for GQE(group quarters enumeration) which consists of prisons, retirement homes, homeless shelters, and the like. I really like everone I work with, most are retired military, but there are a few people around my age. The computer program we use is completely frustrating at times, but it's a job, and we can laugh and have a good time when the system is down and we still get paid the same. Oh, and I quit Kohl's, so yay for me! No more dumb managers!

Michael started his new job as an electrician's helper for Baraco Electric on Monday. It is a part of the George Stone electrician's program and they are paying for him to go to school, so he can get his license next year and become a REAL electrician. So far he is just doing grunt work, but he is glad to be finally doing what he loves. He will be working part time at Wal-Mart on the weekends for a while, too. So, he really has his plate full, but I am so proud of him.

Roman is getting so big so quick, sometimes I just wish time would slow down. He is 13 months old now and is walking all over the place. Since he turned one, he said to heck with the crawling and just walks and is trying to run! He spend the whole day at Grandma and Grandpa's house and had such a good time, he didn't want to go home!

Random stuff

It's been a while since I've posted, so I'm just going to post a few random things that happened recently.

1. I left my purse in a Target shopping cart. I got all the way home and then realized that I didn't have it. Thankfully, I called the store and a manager went out to the parking lot to get it. I'm even more thankful that nothing was missing.
   
2. I did our taxes earlier this week, and we are getting a really good refund this year. Thanks to Roman($$$) and a few other credits. We will be able to pay off a few bills(Michael's truck and a loan we had to take out for his dental work), get the roof repaired, and buy a chaise lounge for the living room and maybe a laptop later this year. We are going to save about half of it, though, "just in case."
3. I took my dad out to lunch today at Tijuana Flats, for a very belated birthday lunch(his bday is in November.) He is getting his second rhinoplasty done next week, and it will be the last time for a few weeks that he is going to be eating out. Roman had a good time eating black bean chimichangas.
4. Our 4th anniversary is coming up this Sunday. We don't have anything planned, but Michael took the weekend off so we could at least have some family time. I think we are just going to walk around downtown and go to Breaktime Espresso Cafe. We were wanting to take a short weekend trip, but I think we will save that for the summer and go to New Orleans.
   
5. I went to the mall ball with my best friend, Sharon. It was a lot of fun to get dressed up and have a night with just us girls. Getting ready was half the fun, and I will miss her a LOT if she moves away.
   

The Pregnancy Pact

Last week I watched a Lifetime movie, "The Pregnancy Pact." Despite the disclaimer at the beginning of the movie that basically the movie is a work of fiction, this did happen in "real" life a few years ago. It is a sad fact, but seeing a teen mom is now becoming common. In the movie there is a daycare in the high school where teens can bring their kids so they can finish school. They said that it costs $13,000 to take care of one baby. That is a lot of money that could buy a lot of birth control or teach better or more varied sex ed. The movie was fairly good, though I didn't like how the first half of the movie seemed very pro abortion. Thora Birch's character kept asking the girls if they were going to keep the baby. My opinion is, if you can have the fun, you need to pay the price and at least give birth to the baby, then give it up for adoption if you can't take care of him/her. Also, they depicted buying condoms in a very bad light...who goes to a gas station where some greasy guy sells them like candy? Go to Wal-Mart where no one is going to bat an eye at your box of Trojans.

Teen pregnancy is on the rise for the first time since 1990. Though I'm sure the media would like to say it is not their fault, but the fault of parents not watching their teens, I would beg to differ. I remember when I was a teen, I rarely saw or heard about sex on tv or in movies. My parents would turn the channel if such a thing came on. Now, shows for 10-11 year olds talk not only about sex but show sex. So much that it seems like if you haven't already given up your viriginity by the time you are 15, that you are a prude, a goody two shoes, or that there is something wrong with you. I think the media needs to take a step back. Kids don't need boyfriends or girlfriends at such a young age. They don't need to be having sex, and having babies when they haven't even graduated high school.

I watch "Teen Mom" whenever it happens to be on. I like that this show shows the reality of having a baby at such a young age. Most of the girls aren't with their baby daddies and those that are have very rocky relationships. The only couple that is still together, and happy, is one who gave up their baby because they knew they couldn't take care of her, even though they may have wanted to keep her. I think so many girls think that having a baby is going to be all fun...afterall, they are just like dolls, right? Let me tell you, the cuter the baby, the more work(I should know!)

I hope the number of teen pregnancies declines very soon. We need better sex ed in the classes, more activities for teens after school, and better programing on tv and in movies.

Gimme my money, man!

I can't wait for our tax return this year. I don't know how much we'll be getting back, but I can only hope it involves 4 digits. I'm hopeful because now that we have Roman, he is supposed to be a big deduction(I hope this is not some big conspiracy that parents have to tell other couples so they'll have babies, too...there better be money involved!), plus we put in a new air conditioning unit last year, so we should be getting back a bit. I've been mentally spending money(or dreaming) on what we would do with the extra money. We'll save most of it, but here are a few items that are on our wishlist:

1. A new roof. We have a sizable leak over our dining room(aka Unlce Bob's Self Storage.) To have it patched will cost $500, and I think about 5 grand for a brand new roof. No matter what our return is, this is the one thing I know we will be doing!
2. This chaise lounge for our living room...it would be nice to have more seating.
3. Our cellphones are almost past their prime...Michael's cell phone has a hard time holding it's charge. So far we like the Samsung Rogue.
4. It would be nice to have a wireless router so our cable line doesn't go half way around the house!
   
5. A laptop computer to go with that wireless router. It would be so much easier to get on the computer in the living room while Roman plays, instead of having to wait for him to go to sleep.
6. Pay off some bills, maybe even Michael's truck.
   
7. Take a vacation in the spring or summer. I'm not sure where we would go, I would like to go to Disney, but Roman is a little young still(plus I hope to be pregnant again soon, so rides will be a no go.) Maybe to Atlanta, New Orleans, IDK.
   

Okay, so those are a few of my dream items, what do you plan on doing with your tax return?

Addicted to Fame

I guess January is the month of unveiling new looks in order to get make on magazine covers(People mag, specifically.) First it was Kate Gosselin with her $10,000 make over, which was mostly for hair extensions...is it just me or do they look really silly on her? It looks like some cheap Halloween wig. Well, at least her exes ex girlfriend likes it. "Jon always gave her s--- about having short hair. Props to Kate. She can now be a MILF!" said Haley Glassman. YES! Just what Kate always wanted, to be considered a MILF!

Look at me!

Now herpes simplex 1(or was she 2?), Heidi Montag is revealing her new body. Wow. I don't know what she told her surgeon, but I think she is trying to look like sex toy blow up Betty, or something. Her boobs are DDD's AND she wants them bigger! Watch out Dolly Parton! She says that she is addicted to plastic surgery, and some say that she has body dimorphic disorder. Really, I think she is just a fame monger. Afterall, she did write a book about it! Herpes Simplex 1 and 2 both need personality make overs.

Coming to a frat room near you

Money for nothing and your chicks for free

This is kind of a spawn off of the previous post. All dating shows seem to have glamorous dates, while those of us in the real world are back in reality, and are more than likely, poor. Here are some date ideas that are free or cheap:

1. Visit the library. Ours has recently released movies and cds. Free sure beats paying $1 per title/per night at Redbox! Plus they will let us check out 4 at a time.
2. Cook together. This is something what my husband and I did when we first started dating. We would pick out a recipe from a cook book at make it together. Sometimes it would be for just us, sometimes we would cook for family, too.
3. Go on a picnic. Take those recipes that you made out to the park!
4. Free music in the park. During the summer we have music on the beach and in the park. It is a great way to spend an evening away from the TV.
5. Walk around downtown. Sometimes we would get coffee at our favorite spot, Breaktime Espresso Cafe.
6. Go to the beach. It is nice to sit out, read magazines, and sip on a bushwhacker.
7. Do a craft. Sometimes we would paint pottery, make holiday decorations, or scrapbook. Shopping for supplies is half the fun.
8. Puzzles/Games. Once we both got 2 copies of the same Sudoku book and would see who could finish first. Traditional puzzles are good(as long as the cat doesn't take the pieces) and so are board games(I like Scene It.)
9. Check the paper for free/cheap things. Usually there aren't very many things to do in Pensacola, unless you are under 5 or over 50. But, sometimes they do have free events, festivals, art shows, etc.
10. Go to the park. And pretend that you are 5 and swing on the swings and slide down the slide(why are these words both nouns and verbs?)
    

Let me know what ideas you may have!