Nanamom's thoughts Blog

Anyone know anything about the country of Kosova (o)? We are featuring missionaries form there at out conference in April and I just was informed that i need to do a bullitan board, table decorations, decorate a welcome center an dmake an authentic dessert or two or three. HELP ANYONE??!!

I started a group on Prosper.com!!
It is Get Out of Debt and the nickname is GOOD. I put it's goals as helping others get out of debt. I have a loan finally. It took awhile but I got one. I have another one pending. I won't be able to bid on another till April but at least I have a start. I hope to have at least half a dozen by the end of the year. Won't be much income but it will be some. I am only playing with my "allowance" (part of it anyway) so it isn't a big risk. Once we have some big projects done (like the garage roof, fence, a playset, etc) we may try to do some more. Right now I can't wait until April to find out what bonus DH gets. I am hoping it will take care of 1/3 of the garage roof. The company didn't make alot of money last year but it did OK so we'll see. I understand the bonus is based half on his performance (was great) and half on the companies. So we know he'll get one just not how much. Half of it goes to one of the other projects.

Hey all who read my blog, I have a odd question that I don't think is forum postable.
WE received an invitation to a child's "black belt test and reception" OK, we plan on going he is one of my students in the Sunday school class I co teach with our Pastor.
My question is what would be an appropriate present? We do not give cash for any reason. I was considering a Christian CD or ??? Maybe Chuck Norris' biography.

I am trying the Prosper thing. I have been bidding on loans for a couple months now and finally figured out how to make sure I get one. I think I have won two loans (or rather a small part of them) and will let you know how it goes. Now if I could just figure out what to do about the 20 $ challenge since nothing is selling.

Well, went to the dentist today and found out just how much they want me to spend. He also found out just how much he can't talk me into spending. He even tried the old you want to save your teeth but you aren't willing to put th emoney in them. After I explained (pretty coolly ) that I am a SAHM because we believe it is important for our DS2 to have me home and ... He backed down very quickly. We are going to find out what they (ins) will pay for and go from there. I am shocked to find they pay a different percentage of different precedures. And more unhappy that I didn't find out what percentage they will pay for of the work I already had done. Of course I was in so much pain I probably would have agreed to go with it no matter the price.

Wow the field of dentistry has really changed since I was last stuck in the chair of torture. I had a 2 hour root canal today. He put this thing with a piece of plastic over my mouth and then used it as a "table" for stuff. The next thing that was new (to me anyway) was the bic his aide clicked and then he put his tool in it and from there straight into my mouth. I'm not sure if I have a tooth or a radio receiving station. I am sure he made alot of money today!!! Monday is when he will give me an estimate on what else he needs to do and I will redefine need for him, as in my insurance pays this much, you can only hurt me until that is gone then you have to wait for next year!!!

DH's not mine. His went great. He got high marks in everything and was complimented on his ability to realistically rate his own performance as well. Hopefully a raise comes of this next month. Next month is when the bonus comes out as well. Hopefully it will put a dent in the bill to have the garage roof replaced.
I wonder if I should request a performance review. Let's see should I ask DH for his review of me as a wife, or DS2 of his review as a Mommy, or take a concensus of the GK's on me as a Nana or just ask God how I am doing as His kid? Actually I suspect the whole process would depress me so I dont' think I want a performance review.

WOW, dental care is expensive!!! I went in for the rest of the Xrays yesterday and while I was there found out the cost of my root canal (still to come on Monday. The receptionist thought I should know since my insurance only covers so much. Nice to know someone at that office is listening. Anyway it is 850.00 plus what was already done 196.00 and after several months a cap for 850.00 and something else for 275.00. I told them that about covers what my insurance allows so they could stop there but it seems the cap and other piece can wait until January so they have some to work with now and then in January they can do more. I dont' think the Dr is going to like that but oh well he'd like not getting paid even less I'm sure!!!

At least I hope they sold. I put my old sewing machine on ebay and it sold yesterday. The person who bought it only has 2 other ratings to her name and while they are good ratings I am concerned and probably will be until the money shows up. The machine I bought to replace it will be almost paid for as soon as that money clears because I cashed in my money jar (136.00) to cover any difference. I also sold another machine but it went for very little. Every bit helps though. Now the real challenge will be packing them! That is my next project.

Ok I got tired of the lopsided face, not to mention the pain and went to the dentist today. He wants to do a root canal (just the word makes me cringe) I was braced for an extraction but he says it can be saved. OK Then I told him to take a look at the rest of the teeth that need work and tell me again he could save them. He did. So Now I am set up with two more appointments, the first in a long line I am sure to get started on work. The next one is in two days where we will do xrays and see what else needs to be done. We will discuss the possibilities and decide what we can afford on our insurance. We do have insurance thank God! It will pay 2500 dollars this year. So I will have 2500 dollars worth of work done this year. Then he can do another 2500 next year if it is warrented! So far I saved by not letting him use anasthetic today when he started the root canal. (OK how many of you cringed when you read that?) Honest, I am in so much pain from this now the drilling really wasn't any worse (much er only a bit) Now however, it hurts or should I say HURTS!!! AH well that is what ibuprofin is for!! The next trip in is to finish the root canal and then a trip in to cap it off. Then we'll look at the rest of what is left financially and dentally. Needless to say this guy thinks I am nuts already!!

That would be my face.
The right side of my face is quite a bit larger than the other side. I have had this problem for about 24 hours now. Late Friday afternoon I realized my mouth was on fire. In fact the pain started and soared to new hites faster than I could imagine. I was in so much pain that i was ill. I couldn't cope with anything. My darling DS2 tried to make Mom feel better by bouncing up an ddown on her while I lay as still as possible hoping she could retain stomach contents. I was successful, but his methods weren't. I stayed in pain in spite of severla tylenol. My Pastor's wife suggest advil which i promptly begged DH to go get and to take the bouncer with him. He agreed and she was right I was able to get some sleep that night. Bright and early I went dentist hunting and discovered that I should be encouraging DS2 to become one, after all they get every weekend off and work short hours the rest of the time (apologies to any dentists out there) So it is now Saturday evening and my face is quite lopsided. I am in pain and have been all day, although it was much better once the swelling started. I just hope the swelling stops soon since I have to get up in front of the entire church tomorrow morning. I suggested I just tell them my husband has a great right hook but he frowned at that thought. He also informed me it would have to be a left. I told him that would make it funnier but he still said NO in no uncertain terms. I figure I'll take so much grief from my 56 graders before church that the laughter of the rest of the congregation shouldn't faze me abit. Actually I'd rather they l.augh than cringe, I do enough of that if i happen to forge to avoid the mirrors.

Well the cards didn't sell but the other stuff I have put up are all going to sell. It isn't part of the challenge but will help pay off the sewing machine I had to buy, Right now I have half the cost (yes my DH wants me to just pay for it but I want to NOT use a credit card, I want to use cash for it when the bill comes. My goal for this next two weeks is to not use the credit cards for more than 100 to 200 dollars. I'd say not use them at all but we both have birthdays coming up and that is how we surprise each other we use the cards but the money is there when the bills come int that way we don't necessarily know when the other is shopping. Now if I just had a couple ideas for him!!!!

I was made a moderator on another site. I was and am delighted with the trust and started checking every morning for posts. Two days ago I found a couple of awful posts and deleted them shaking my head at how sick people can be. Today I found a whole bunch more. Does anyone really want to look at teens going to the bathroom? At least that is what it said the posts were. Needless to say I didn't check on the validity of the topic name, just got rid of them. They wrote it in smutty terms too. I am amazed. Is there that stuff on all forums? Does some poor sole have to check this one too? Wow with that many forums it must be a job and a half. I am still glad I am a moderator but am going to be even more diligent since I know that there are a couple kids that frequent that other site. I think I'll check morning and night after this.

About 8 years ago I found a fantastic friend. Created obviously with me in mind. We could make awesome things together and spent many many hours happily working. This past couple weeks have been rough because I found out her problem is terminal. I can't imagine my day without her sitting there waiting for me. I can't imagine how I will fill the hole left behind. When my DH and I went job hunting across the country for 6 weeks living in a car she was only second to the dog in importance. The beloved object is my sewing machine. I am trying so hard to be grateful that I have a backup but oh it is so hard. DH asked why and I offered to let him do his work on a TRS-80 Model I (He is a lead systems analyst) He understood that analogy quite well and began trying to figure out how to get me a new machine. I don't want a new one, they cost several thousand dollars, I want that one. The company tells me the component board is no longer made and that when the LED screen goes out it will not be fixable (was getting rather hard to see what stitch I was choosing) but I want that machine!!! It and I have been through alot! DH and I lived out of a suitcase and the sewing machine was the second thing packed (first the dog, then the machine then the coffee pot. clothes came in 4th.) Oh well time to "build a bridge and get over it!!"

I'm on it No doubt about this. i am supposed to be the one torturing (I mean teaching) students with work and tests and the like. Instead I am slaving away every day at someone elses idea of torture (I mean teaching). I am taking the last class I need to get my Masters of Divinity (M Div) I am enrolled at a Wesleyan college long distance. I have about a dozen more classes to take through them to get ordained as a Wesleyan minister (and a bunch of other hoops of course). The cool thing is that this course will count at my old school so I can get my M Div as soon as I write a thesis. The class is probably the most time consuming one I have ever taken but at least it isn't busy work. Now if I just knew what my thesis could be on, maybe I can do one on Finances and quote this site from time to time. At any rate at least I am once again on my way after a few years off. I am grateful this school counted 12 of my classes from th eother school so I only have 12 more to take and I hope to reduce that further when I get my undergrad transcript to them.

Not the kind that squeeks the kind that moves a curser. My son has learned to use one during the time we were trying to get sound on his computer. Now he can use his programs all by himself. Needless to say I took pictures and will sigh over them multiple times. Now if we could just get sound on my computer!!!

No Sale on Ebay. I may try to relist them but mix the cards up differently. I don't know i may decide that the best market for this is a non virtual one. Oh Well back to the drawing board. There has to be something I can do for the $20.00 challenge.

The IRS came through. We had cut down what they deduct because we knew we would get alot back and had better uses for it. We misjudged however and were due several thousand. Last fall we found out we owed the IRS a couple thousand due to a mistake several years ago. It balanced out quite nicely. We still got a bit back to add to the EF and they are paid in full. It means we didn't pay the medical bills but those are no interest and will get paid this year even if it is at a bit a month. I plan on incurring no more for a long time so that is acceptable to me. We added some to the vacation fund as well just in case because our DIL may need us to come down if she goes into the hospital for surgery.
So the EF is now almost halfway to the goal for the year and we won't have to touch it if we go east unexpectedly.

A couple people have asked where to see the cards I made. so here are the links (at least I hope they are, I'm not that great with a computer)
//search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZjirahsdaughterQQhtZ-1

If you go to ebay and search under my name there, jirahsdaughter you can find some of them
Then if you go to http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=5350805the other one is there.
My id on etsy is nanamom and on ebay is jirahsdaughter. Hope you find it. If not let me know and I'll ask my DD how to list a link. Thanks for asking

I put one set of cards up at ETsy.com. It is different from the ones on ebay. I like these cards better. You can see them at etsy.nanamom.com I plan on changing the configuration if the cards don't sell, IE putting animal cards together and see if it goes that way. If nothing sells, not sure what I will do. Maybe try a different kind of card, something fancier, or maybe give up.

OK, 5 sets of cards are on ebay and up for sale. I'll see how that goes before I put more on. The listing fee for each is .45. i am selling a set of 4 handmade cards ofr 6.00 on th eBuy it Now price and starting bids at 2.00. If it goes at the starting bid I will make very little but will at least not lose money. I am going to try a couple other sites as well and see what works best.

I'm not happy about it but I am slowing down for a short time (short SHORT) so that I can recover from this stupid bout of pneumonia I have contracted. I even went to the DR when it was early stages for a script so that it won't hold me up for long. Hopefully this will be over when the pills are gone in 10 days. I had double trouble when the kids were younger and almost died so am a little careful since to not let it get that bad.

I have had a clod so even though my supplies were in I didn't run out and collect them so I could get started. Yesterday though they were delivered. This morning after feeding DS2 I decided to get started on creating somethign that hopefully will sell on ebay and thus work on the challenge. I spent the next 6 hours working on it. I have very simple ones for now and as I get more practiced and as I see what sells I will get more elaborate. I do have supplies left for a couple dozen more. Tomorrow I put them online and see what happens. I have to decide how I want to list these, individually or in sets and if set how many per set? Actually I think I will do some of each and see what sells best.

I have a horrible cold. The only good part of this is my son is learning about germs. He made the connection that he caught one from the kids in GA and Daddy caught one from him and I caught one from Daddy. He asked me about the little things on me that gave people colds. Today I didn't have to remind him to wash his hands, i fact he went and got his stool so he could reach when I was on the couch hoping to not move for at least 20 minutes. I tried lying on the couch figured it was close enough to be "with" him and watch that he was safe as he played, close enough to know when the dog wanted to go out, and could get drinks, food or what ever was needed by my little one. What I didnt' realize was that the dog wanted to be with me as did said child. Our couch which is really a loveseat got very crowded and I got very little rest. I did feel very loved though. At nap time I tried to lay down upstairs. The dog forced himself past the gate at the bottom of the stairs and came up to his "room" (where we lock him in if we are gone) and stayed there, the cat crawled up on me and proceeded to have an argument with me on where she should be allowed to rest. She wanted on my head and I was having none of that. I won (barely). DS2 was in his room sleeping so I had a bit more room and a bit more rest. When he woke up he asked why the dog was locked up. I got up and looked and he was forlornly resting his head on the low dresser we use to block her off (it wasn't in place to block her off she had free run of the house) DS2 came into bed with me to play with the cat and the dog stayed where he was until we went downstairs. I couldn't believe it.

That's the bad news, the good news is it was in our favor. Yeah we let them get the interest on our money but it could have been worse. We had cut our deductions way down for the first part of the year because we didn't expect to pay much in th eway of taxes. We didn't cut it down far enough. The good news is the IRS bill we owe from 3 years ago will be paid and we will be able to replenish the EF and pay some of the medical bills off.

That is how I feel, Yucky Yucky Yucky and did I mention I don't feel good? Ah well now that I have that said I will go back to doing the things I always do. I have never understood how some people are able to call off sick. My DS2 just says Oh when I tell him I don't feel good then asks for whatever he needs to do again. The dog is even less understanding. He wants to be brushed, fed, walked, go out, eat the cat, etc no matter how I feel. The cat is willing to curl up with me but looks quite indignant when I hav eto get up to go fix dinner or reach a toy or... Somehow that paid sick day thing is nebulous to me, maybe because my work days aren't paid?

I opened a sharebuilder account about a year ago and was buying a local stock every month. Then in January I changed it to another stock I am willing to support. Today after a great deal of consideration I decided to sell the first one and go with another. The people I knew who were with the company have left and I am concerned that it won't be doing as well so I sold the stock and bought one that seems to be doing well. We'll see. The fees for selling really take a bite but that's cause I am investing so little right now. I upped my monthly investment amount also so that will help. I don't plan on changing anything for a year at least unless I decide to invest more every month. I'm considering that. I also don't have a goal for this money although I may choose one soon.

I have lost 4 lounds this week. They say to lose no more than 2 but the first week is always way over, at least for me. I'm happy with the weight loss. I'm not hungry very much but I need to figure out different things to eat sometimes. I'm getting tired of shredded wheat!

After finding a tiny bit of info in a thread on this site I joined sparkpeople.com. It is a website geared to helping people lose weight. I really like it. There are alot os similarities between this one and that one. They use points, they have blogs, they have forums, dispelling myths (food consumed standing at the refridgerator really does count!), and they are looking for hints tips and common experiences to help each other achieve goals. It is interesting and i am enjoying it. I don't know if I have lost any weight but will find out on Friday. I do know that I am getting the proper amount of protein which I was curious about since we became vegetarians. If any of you decide to join after reading this please use my name (nanamom) I need the points to stay ahead of my DH!

yeah right! She showed up with lots of makeup on and proceeded to set in front of me cotton balls, mascara wand, makeup sponge, and cloth. When she held a color chart up to my face to see what color it was I reminded her that I don't wear makeup. She said I know and proceeded to tell me what color foundation I would wear. I said, foundation is makeup and I don't wear makeup. I said it very mildly and politely. She said but that's what I do! I looked at her and said, "I warned you on the phone I don't wear makeup and you told me you mainly did skin care. I have dry skin and that is why I let you come over." She said (again), "Then you don't want to do all the makeup?" I said, "No what do you have for dry skin?" She showed me a multi step process that made my face feel like a tight drum skin (yuck) and I asked how much the moisterizer was. She told me they had a great tinted one. I had the feeling at that point that I had lapsed into Greek or some other language. I looked at her and she was serious. I repeated the no makeup thing and she finally looked up the price of the stuff. It was $22.00!!!!!! I
said , "So with the $15.00 you told me I had that makes it $7.00?" She told me the $15.00 wasn't for makeup. I told her there was no way I could justify paying $22.00 for a moisturizer. Thinking, I can get better cheaper, alot cheaper. She said thank you and went to her car for my gift cards. I got 3 $5.00 gift cards for the bagel place. Not bad for a few minutes of frustration. I was honest with her but maybe she didn't understand that no makeup meant none?