-$2.79

I hate money.

Last night I balanced my checking account and came up with -$2.79. This was after I had just purchased an iced mocha for $4.27. It's frustrating that the majority of my money issues are self inflicted. I know what I need to do, but I don't do it.

Today I emptied my piggy bank and took it to the bank so I would have some cash until I get paid on Monday. I got back $46.71. Not bad. I deposited $25 and kept the remaining $21.71 for the weekend.

Debt Is Slavery

I didn't come up with it, it's the title of a book, but when I read the title it resonated with me.

House Pictures!

Ta da!

Yippee!

My house is painted.
Pictures soon.
That is all.

Little Things

I didn't do much today but I still feel good about what I did get done. Sometimes taking care of the little things can feel like a huge accomplishment.

Today I finished up the hallway with a second coat of paint, took a box of glass containers and a bunch of plastic bags to be recycled. I then purchased a big box of baking soda, sprinkled it all over the carpet, let it sit and then vacuumed. I also changed the bag in the vacuum cleaner. (It's amazing how much better the vacuum works when the bag's not full.)

Just six little things done and I feel like I moved mountains. What can I say? I'm easy. :)

A Little More

I finished priming the kitchen, it looks fabulous.

Last night I painted the hallway. It needs a second coat but it also looks fabulous.

Today I weeded and mulched another flower bed.

1943 Guide to Hiring Women

I found an article from Savvy & Sage magazine (September/October 2007) in a file folder during a post "Hoaders" viewing cleanup. Savvy & Sage reprinted an earlier article from another magazine about tips for hiring women. It's hilarious. I thought I'd post it here so I can throw away the article. :)

The following is an excerpt from the July 1943 issue of Transportation Magazine. This was written for male supervisors of women in the work force during World War II.

Eleven Tips on Getting More Efficiency Out of Women Employees: There's no longer any question whether transit companies should hire women for jobs formerly held by men. The draft and manpower shortage has settled that point. The important things now are to select the most efficient women available and how to use them to the best advantage.

Here are eleven helpful tips on the subject from Western Properties:

1. Pick young married women. They usually have more of a sense of responsibility than their unmarried sisters, they're less likely to be flirtatious, they need the work or they wouldn't be doing it, they still have the pep and interest to work hard and to deal with the public efficiently.

2. When you have to use older women, try to get ones who have worked outside the home at some time in their lives. Older women who have never contacted the public have a hard time adapting themselves and are inclined to be cantankerous and fussy. It's always well to impress upon older women the importance of friendliness and courtesy.

3. General experience indicates that "husky" girls - those who are just a little on the heavy side - are more even tempered and efficient then their underweight sisters.

4. Retain a physician to give each woman you hire a special physical examination - one covering female conditions. This step not only protects the property against the possibilities of lawsuit, but reveals whether the employee-to-be has any female weaknesses which would make her mentally or physically unfit for the job.

5. Stress at the outset the importance of time the fact that a minute or two lost here and there makes serious inroads on schedules. Until this point is gotten across, service is likely to be slowed up.

6. Give the female employee a definite day-long schedule of duties so that they'll keep busy without bothering the management for instructions every few minutes. Numerous properties say that women make excellent workers when they have their jobs cut out for them, but that they lack initiative in finding work themselves.

7. Whenever possible, let the inside employee change from one job to another at some time during the day. Women are inclined to be less nervous and happier with change.

8. Give every girl an adequate number of rest periods during the day. You have to make some allowances for feminine psychology. A girl has more confidence and is more efficient if she can keep her hair tidied, apply fresh lipstick and wash her hands several times a day.

9. Be tactful when issuing instructions or in making criticisms. Women are often sensitive; they can't shrug off harsh words the way men do. Never ridicule a woman - it breaks her spirit and cuts off her efficiency.

10. Be reasonably considerate about using strong language around women. Even though a girl's husband or father may swear vociferously, she'll grow to dislike a place of business where she hears too much of this.

11. Get enough size variety in operator's uniforms so that each girl can have a proper fit. This point can't be stressed to much in keeping women happy.

I agree with number eleven.

It's a start

I finished weeding the flower bed that I started on Saturday. With the help of my roomie, it's also completely mulched!

I also started priming my kitchen. I pulled down the wallpaper in 2007. It's looked dingy and icky for over 3 years. It feels good to see bright white.

Outside In

I believe that the condition of a person's home, inside or out, is a reflection of what is going on in their mind and heart. If this is true, than it must be clear to my neighbors that this year has been a turbulent for me. All of my flower gardens are overgrown with weeds and my house in general looks neglected.

Actually, the exterior of my house has been in a state of half paintedness (yes, it's a word) for 3 years now so I really can't use recent events as an excuse for that. Perhaps the paint is symbolic of a journey that's not complete. I've made many changes in my life the past few years, but maybe there's more to come. Maybe I'm just trying to come up with excuses and I'm really just lazy. Whatever the reason, I've decided I need to spruce up my house, and by doing so, hopefully I will find some direction for my mind and heart. And whatever the reason, my neighbors will be thrilled that I'm finally taking care of my property so that it's not such an eyesore.

So begins operation "No More White Trash". :) It's a light hearted way to describe my serious attempt to heal myself from the outside in and find some direction. Just typing that sentence brings me to tears, so obviously I'm on to something here. I'm hoping that showing some pride in my house will help me make some better decisions in my life or at least be at peace with the ones I've already made. So in order to do this, I need some kind of a plan. I don't have hard facts and figures yet, but I do have a basic idea of what needs to happen.

First of all, I've already contacted a painter to finish painting the exterior of my house. I'm going to pull money from savings to pay for it. I know that once it's completed, a huge load will be lifted. I hate that my house has looked like this for 3 years.

Next, I need to tackle my yard. Today I weeded a flower garden that was completely overgrown with weeds. It was so embarrassing. I had weeds taller than my 5' fence. I had enough weeds to fill the back of my roommates truck. Tomorrow I think I will go to the free mulch sight and mulch the area I just weeded.

Since I've proven that I get over zealous and end up injuring myself, my goal is to work on one flower bed at a time, without overdoing it. Hopefully that will also prevent me from getting burned out.

I also would like to finish up some interior painting projects. My kitchen has been in a half finished state for even longer than the exterior of my house. I need to use crappy weather days to work on patching the termite damage and then finishing priming the walls so I can then finally paint the kitchen. I've been talking with my friend who helped me paint my living room; I told her I would trust whatever color scheme she comes up with. I LOVE my living room so I see no reason why I shouldn't trust her with my kitchen. I have a feeling she's going to suggest something completely different, which is good. I need to be pushed out of my comfort zone.

So for now, that's my "plan". Get the exterior painting done, get as much cleaned up in the yard as I can while it's still nice out and then finish the kitchen. It doesn't sound like much, but they're all big projects that will feel amazing to complete.

Here are a couple of before and after pictures of the flower bed I tackled today.

Motorcycle Chick

Yep, that's me. :) I'm learning to ride at age 41. I must be insane.

An actual FINANCIAL update!

Oh yeah, the original intent of this blog was to write about my debt elimination, at least that was suppose to be a major part of it. Lately it's been like a bad Lifetime movie. So here is an actual financial update!

Current credit card debt: $3800!

Hee hee! I'm getting so close.

Frugal or sad?

Actually, neither...or maybe both?

I'm not so frugal (some would say cheap) that I cut off the end of every tube of toothpaste just to get the last few blobs of toothpaste out. No, I simply forgot to buy more toothpaste and had to resort to desperate measures. Perhaps "lazy or unorganized" would be a better description for this. Really, it's probably "all of the above".

I hope you enjoyed another little glimpse into my brain. Think it's scary? Try living here.

Note to self...

Don't watch movies that have weddings as the happy ending. They suck.

Inked

I've wanted a tattoo for several years but never knew what I wanted to get or where to put it. I decided a while back that I would finally get a tattoo after my 100th dive. For me, getting to my 100th dive was a major milestone. I'm not comfortable in the water but I've been able to overcome my fears to become a fairly decent scuba diver. My 100th dive was on June 15. I got my tattoo on July 12. I searched the internet to try and find ideas of what I wanted. I kind of knew I wanted something tribal looking. I also wanted something that only divers get to see. I finally decided that I wanted the outline of a ray with a shark inside. We saw a spotted ray in the Bahamas and it was beautiful. The average person can see a ray in an aquarium, but it's really amazing to see them in the wild. For me, the ray represents the beauty of the ocean that only a very few get to see. The shark represents how I was able to overcome my fears to do something I've wanted to do my whole life. Learning to dive was not easy for me. It took a long time before I felt good in the water. The trip to the Bahamas in June was amazing. I finally felt like a diver. My tattoo is simply an acknowledgement of all that I've accomplished the past few years both in the water and on dry land.

Recipe: Orange Herb Dressing

I just tried this recipe from Clean Eating magazine. It's really good. I had it with leaf lettuce, mandarin oranges and sliced almonds but I think it would be good with almost any fruit and nut combo.

Orange Herb Dressing

2 tbsp fresh orange juice
2 tbsp white balsamic vinegar or apple cider vinegar
2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 tbsp fresh tarragon, minced, or 1/2 tsp dried tarragon
1/2 tbsp fresh oregano, minced, or 1/4 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp orange zest
Sea salt and fresh ground black pepper, to taste

Wisk ingredients together. Serve immediately or refrigerate until serving. Store in a sealed container and refrigerate for up to 2 weeks.

Enjoy!

Home Sweet Home

Do you love where you live? I have a friend that commented about how much she loved her house. That statement caught my attention. I've always been rather indifferent about my house. It's simply been a place to live. I like it well enough, but I've never thought "wow, I love my house, what a great place to live." I asked my friend what was it about her house that made it so wonderful? She replied with a answer that basically boiled down to "there's just something about it that I like."

About five weeks ago, this same friend was at my house, sitting in my living room. She was looking around and said I really needed to paint the living room. I agreed but I'm so indecisive about color that I've never done anything about it. She instantly said recommended two colors that would look wonderful. I said "great, you pick the colors and I'll paint it." Two weeks ago, she came over, we went to Lowe's, I bought the paint and we spent the day painting my living room. By the end of the day, I had a beautiful new living room. The colors are perfect. The living room is now warm and inviting. I didn't realize how stark it was until it was painted. I can honestly say I love my living room. Because of the amazing transformation in the living room I've been inspired to finish up some half started projects such as painting the kitchen.

Of course, shortly after painting my living room, I found out that at least at one point, I've had termites. I might (probably) still have them, however I haven't been able to find any live termites, just the signs that they've been here before. It's so frustrating. It's great that I haven't found an active colony, but like the bug guy said "they don't just pack up and move." So, I'm in limbo. Treatment will probably cost around $1300. Although I'm certainly not thrilled about how expensive it is, I would get the treatment in a heartbeat if I found live termites. However, since everything we've found it old, I'm uncertain how to proceed. Part of me thinks I should just get the treatment and be done with it. The other part thinks I should hold off a bit and just really watch for any new signs of termites. I've learned a lot in the past two weeks. I know what to look for. Clearly I don't have a huge, active colony at work in my house so it's not like the house is going to fall down around me in the next month or two. I think I'm leaning towards waiting a bit, keeping a close eye on things this summer, continuing to pay off debt and working on my small home improvement projects. In all likelihood, I will end up getting the treatment, if only for peace of mind. But in the meantime, I can proceed with my short term goals of paying of my last credit card, painting the kitchen and loving my house...termites and all.

How to make applesauce

Peel, core and cut up apples into chunks.

Put chunks into a slow cooker.

Add cinammon if you want.

Set slow cooker to low.

Cook for several hours to desired doneness (chunky to mushy.)

Eat.

Enjoy.

Really...that's it.

Too Sweet?

Is it possible for something to be too sweet? It's not often that I string these two words together. Tonight I tried Stevia for the first time in my iced tea. I used the tiny little scoop that came in the bottle and OMG it's SWEET, it's (gasp) too sweet. I had to keep adding more tea to dilute it. I've been trying to control my sweet tooth and get used to food and drinks without being so sweet. I tried Stevia simply to add a hint of sweetness not an overwhelming amount. Obviously I'm going to need to work on this.

On a side note, I just had a piece of toasted Ezekial bread with organic peanut butter, neither of which has sugar (in any form) in the ingredients and I loved it. There's hope for me.

Zero!

Here's a beautiful site, my first zero!

Ta Da!

I passed my exam! I'm an ACE certified personal trainer AND I've been hired to work at the gym where it all happened. The place where I worked with my trainer and lost 100 lbs. I can't wait to get started.