Wellness Challenge

It's kind of funny how some people who work in some fields are oxymorous (I made that word up. LOL) to their job.  For example, there are many people in health professions who live unhealthy lives.

I am very health conscious, but in the past years I have gained weight.  Of course I have a legitimate health excuse, but I can still eat more healthier.  I've been working on it by joining the challenges at the YMCA, but this week I joined the county wide Wellness Challenge.  I'm looking to get my friends and co-volunteers at the NP and even some of my fellow church members to join.  I think it's a fun way to get more healthier.  So far we have 5 people on the team, but my goal is 20. The challenge is sponsored by the American Cancer Society.  I need the motivation.  I've been eating so badly.

I wasn't able to sign up for JJ Smith's challenge.  I missed the deadline.  I didn't read the information correctly.  BOOHOOO.  I read it twice on two different days and I still read it wrong.  :-(

Returns & Refunds

Sadly, I'm gonna have to return my layaway for my bed.  I simply can't afford.  That's a bummer because I really really really really really want new bed.  I've tried the blow up beds, but I think I'm too fat for those.  I've burst two already.  Maybe I need to buy a queen size one.  I don't want to, but I can't keep sleeping on the sofa.  I am NOT getting rest on the sofa.  So, I'm gonna call Slumberland tomorrow and tell them that I need to return it for a refund.  :-(

Teaching Gardens and CPR Anytime

I'm into my second week at work.  I'm excited.  I have three projects I'm working on:

Teaching Gardens;  I have to find a school to partner with that will create a garden to help teach children about nutrition and healthy eating.  One problem......It's the middle of March.  School is out at the end of May and WE HAVE NOT IDENTIFIED A SCHOOL who wants to work on the project over the summer.

Hmmmm.

So I made a suggestion to our grant funders....let me find a school, but also let me find a couple of community youth groups who are interested in working with the gardens over the summer.  Of course the funders want there to be a lot of hoopla associated with the planing day and harvest day, so that means I really need to get a lot of buy in from the school.

I also suggested that we work with summer youth programs instead of a school.  I don't know if they are gonna go with that idea.  But, I'm hoping for the first idea.

My other project is getting 350 members of our community to participate in CPR Anytime.  This seems like it would be a fun things to do while helping people to save lives.  The issue is finding that many people.  I"m sure I wont have a problem.

My last project project is working on a Power to End Stroke: Power Sunday events for May.  I wish I could attend the Power Awards event in NYC on May 4 (My B-Day weekend).  I signed up to a contest to win a trip as a fan.

Whew!!!

I've got a lot of stuff to work on, but I'm happy!!!


 

I am a PIO

Yep, when I started my job with the health department, I became an assistant PIO--Public Information Officer.  I'm also on call 24/7 as an emergency responder.  So, if there is a tornado, flood, earthquake, or other natural disaster or community emergency I have to respond and be able to provide information to the public.  So, this means I definitely MUST get a new cell phone plan ASAP.  I can't be running out of minutes and the people are trying to call me.

As a health educator I have to be a public health image in the community.  So, of course I have to model health which to me includes LOSING WEIGHT.   I haven't weighed myself, but I think I still need to lose about 30-35 pounds to be within a healthy weight range.  It's getting to be warmer and I'm tired of binding my fat in two girdles.  UGH!!  JJ Smith has a weight loss challenge that I'm gonna sign up for.  I hope I get picked.  I need more motivation to lose weight.  I think I've got the working out down (I completed the 7 week survivor challenge at the Y), but I need help with learning what to eat and how food affects my weight.

In other news....

As a health educator, I promote public health within the community.  So I recorded 3 radio commercials related to smoking this morning.  It was cool!!!  I told my boss that I'm not a stranger to radio.  I've done radio commercials and recordings before.  I'm currently learning to edit now as a media technician for my church.  It was fun!!

First Day on the Job

Today is my first day!!!  YAY!!!

There are 107 employees (including me) at the health dept.  I've met so many Kathy's, Amy's, and I've shaken so many hands.  Thank God I'm not OCD.  The only people I remember are Administration (my bosses) and JK the maintenance guy.  LOL.  Actually, I remember Tom too because he is on the few guys that work for the dept.

I signed up for health insurance and learned that it won't start until May 1.  That's cool.  I can't wait.  I wanna make an apt to see my doc ASAP.  I actually get $150 back on my deductible when I do a routine physical every year.  So, that will be my first appt along with an appt to see the dentist.  Too bad we don't get to go to the dentist at the health dept for free.  However, we do get free immunization and TB test, which I have to do tomorrow morning.  I only get $10,000 life insurance, but I have an option to buy an $100000 term life in policy which I think I'm gonna go ahead and do.  I'm also gonna sign up for the 457 plan which is like a 401K. I need to build my retirement back up.  If I left my money in the retirement funds, I thing I'd have over $30,000.  I can also sign up for budget counseling through EAP.  I'm gonna do that cause I NEED HELP WITH MANAGING THE PENNIES I'M GONNA BE MAKING.

I will get my first check on March 23.  I'm only gonna get paid about $480, but that's cool.  My first full check will be April 5.

Another cool thing is that I get my B-day off.  How cool is that for a perk???!!!!!!

I want to plan a trip to Niagara Falls for my b-day.  I've been checking out rate, especially since my B-day is on a Friday this year.

I'm on lunch break now.  I gotta be back at 1:05....So, I'm headed back to the office.

My Last Week to Certify for Unemployment

There are many critics of our unemployment system.  Many believe that if a person is getting unemployment they will sit on their bums all day and collect a pay check.  Yes, there are people who do that and even people who abuse the system, but I THANK GOD for my unemployment.  It kept me afloat even though there was a battle in the beginning to get it.  I do admit that there needs to be some type of constraints so that people don't abuse the system, but it took me since November 2010 to find a full time job--that's almost a year and a half.  Of course I am a child of God and I knew that if my unemployment ran out, God would provide, but during my time searching and searching, I kept a part time job.  I didn't just sit on my bum.  I searched and searched and I worked part time until the door was opened.  THANK GOD FOR OPEN DOORS!

So, my last day to certify for unemployment benefits was today because I will be starting a full time job on tomorrow.  I THANK GOD that I was able to sustain and hold on.  God is AMAZING!!!!  HE NEVER LEFT ME!!

So, as I pick up the pieces to my life and allow GOD to rebuild, I pray that this time, I do things the right way.  I pray that I won't squander what I have and take advantage of what I have.  THANK GOD FOR GRACE AND MERCY!!!

15 more minutes...

I'm sitting her at the community center waiting for my students to come to class that started a half hour ago.  If they don't show up in 15 minutes, I'm LEAVING!!!  My 4 day weekend would simply start early!!

I don't know what's wrong with my students, but they all come to class LATE.  I told them that class starts at 1:15 and they must get here by 1:30.  I don't believe either one of them are working, so why does it take them so long to get here.  I know that some of them are walking, but that just means you leave home a little earlier that's all.

But, it is now 1:49pm.  If no one shows by 2pm, I'm GONE!!!

Bittersweet

Today is my last day teaching for the college. It is bittersweet!! I wish I could continue at least teaching at the community center, but my NEW FULL TIME job won't allow me the time to do that. I will be still teaching for the NP. I have to get that class together because no one is coming. Basically, because we haven't really had any advertisement, but I will get the word out next week. I"m gonna get yard signs made advertising the class. I believe that I have a good set of resources especially since I've been to the training.
I have a 4 day weekend coming up and I'm glad. I need to get my clothes together for work next week and I need to clean my bedroom.

Speaking of bedrooms, I have not slept in my bedroom since October of last year. My blow-up bed died and the windows in my two bedrooms are so bad that wind just rips through them. The draft is horrible!!! So instead of freezing my pituty off, I have been sleeping on the couch. However, that's getting a little bit old!!! I want my bed and I need about $600 to get me new bed. I already paid $400 and put it on layaway which slumberland has been calling and calling me about. But I think next week, I'm gonna go ahead and fork over the money. I NEED A BED and I don't want to go to one of the thrift stores to get one because I've had issues with bed bugs before, I DO NOT WANT THEM AGAIN!! Also, I want to buy something quality that is comfortable and will last me a long long long time. So my full size Urban Loft bed with my Sealy 300 plush mattress set is costing me a pretty penny. The weather is getting nicer so I'm gonna be able to sleep in my bedroom soon, so I might as well go ahead and get my bed out of layaway. 

In other news.... My brother is going to Europe this summer and I'm gonna do all I can to help him get there. I can't wait. Actually, I want to see if I can go for a few days too. I'm not sure how much that will cost me, but his trip, for 20 days is about $6500. I just wanna go for about 4 days. I'm gonna start looking up airfare rates and hotel rates. I hope it's not more than $1500. My mom's bday is coming up and I want to be able to send her a nice gift. I wish I could send her on a trip. She has always wanted to go to Hershey Pennsylvania. I'm gonna see how much it cost to go there.

I wish I had enough money to for me, my mom, brother, and niece could go. That would be a fun trip. I'm gonna check it out. I also want to plan a trip to Niagara Falls this year for my 35th B-DAY!!! I wish I had enough money to do all three!!

God, if I've found favor, can you please bless me with enough money to go on all three trips this year??? In Jesus Name, Amen. The Bible says you have not because you ask not!!

When all my strength is gone...

My New HP is kewl!

Yep, I forked over $650 to get a new laptop. Actually the computer was only $549, but I needed a mouse and since companies don't send restore disk I paid $40 to get them made. And now I have it and it's nice. The newness is awesome. I just downloaded Google Chrome and thanks to my job at the college, I just paid $10 to get Microsoft Office Professional which I'm also downloading now. HP has this fingerprint swipe thing that's neat. I sync a website to a fingerprint and it signs in for me without having to type anything in. That's neat. I'm gonna do some playing around with my new toy....

Speaking of good movies....

My favorite author right now is Janet Evanovich--Stephanie Plum Series (and Meg Cabot--Heather Wells Series). I went to see One for the Money a while ago and LOVED, LOVED, LOVED IT!! Lionsgate also did this film. GREAT JOB!!

Better the 2nd Time Around

I went to see Good Deeds on last weekend.  The movie started at 1pm.  I got there at 1:34pm.  I was a little "put off" because the guy who sold me the ticket gave me a ticket for some other movie that I never heard of.  At first I didn't know what to do, but because I was already late for the movie I just went in to see the movie.  But it kept bothering me because I know that some theaters don't want to give credit to black movies so they will intentionally replace the tickets that was bought with something else.  So, I decided to go see it again this weekend.  And I will say that those 15 minutes that I missed the first time do make a different.  I LOVED the movie the 2nd time.  Kudos to TPS and Lionsgate!!

My record SUCKS

I went online to get an insurance quote from Progressive and Geico.  Geico was cheaper and they quoted me $89 a month.  That was cool until they ran my credit and checked my driving record.

I drive well, but in 2009 I had a few snafus.  I got three tickets -- two for speeding and one for an illegal u turn on the highway.  These tickets caused my license to be suspended.  I also backed into someone and messed up their car.  My car was fine, but it cost over $1000 to get fixed.  UGH!!!  Outside of those few incidents I had not had a ticket since 2003.

So because of that and my credit, I have to pay $158 a month.  DAG!!  I can't afford that, but I also can't afford to NOT have insurance.  I've been driving without it for over a year, but now my job requires that I show proof.  So I forked over the money. 

I can't wait to clean up my record!!!

Unemployment Woes

I eventually got my unemployment check for about $500 on Friday. I was so happy, but then I missed my scheduled interview with them.  DAG!!  I know that I only have about one check left with them, but I didn't want to miss it.  Now I have to wait until they send me a letter to tell me if I get my last check or not.  UGH!!!  I really really really need that money!!!

I used part of the money to get a new laptop because mine is really slow and I will be working with the editing team at church and I need a faster laptop to edit the sermon during service so that it would be ready for after church.  So I went to Best Buy and got an HP with 6GB.  It was about $550 and overall I spent about $650 cause I needed a mouse and I paid $40 to get a recovery disk made.  Ugh.  They just wanna get paid for EVERYTHING.  They used to send you a recovery disk, now you have to either make your own or pay them.  Best Buy wanted $100 and I wasn't gonna fork over that much, so I went to Staples and they wanted $40.  I need a class on how to make them.  I know that there are instructions online, but I need a class. 

I started my fast on March 1 and I don't know why, but I'm tired and sluggish and just don't feel like it.  I wanna eat.  I haven't been eating any meat, but I have not stuck to the plan to only eat after 7pm.  I need to get it together!!!

Electrolysis

I AM EMBARRASSED!!

I have horrible facial hair.  Not just peach fuzz, but a manly goatee is growing on my face.  GROSS!!

It started in 2003 after my pregnancy and not knowing much I began tweezing and eventually waxing the few strands of hair that were growing on my chin. Those strands multiplied and it wasn't until 3 years later that I learned that the tweezing and waxing was causing it to grow thicker.  So, I began to shave, but that caused razor bumps so I've used depilatory for the past few years. I've always had a thin mustache that you could barely see, but even those hairs are growing thicker.  However, because my hormones are whack the hair is growing and growing and now I have to depilatory once a week otherwise I look like this:

It's horrible and because my skin is dark I get horrible dark spots that look like this:

It's so gross and embarrassing.  When I did date, I would hate for a man to get close to my face.  Even though I piled on the makeup, there was always stubble.

So I went to for my first electrolysis appointment on yesterday.  I was excited.  But it hurt like crazy!!!

I took an ibuprofin an hour before, but it still stung, burned and hurt.  It was bearable, but uncomfortable.  She was only able to get the top part of my chin.  I go back in two weeks for her to do the bottom part.  After that she will do my mustache.

When I get my health insurance I'm gonna see if I can get my hormones checked out.  I know insurance won't pay for all of it, but I hope they will cover some.  I have got to get rid of this.  I AM NOT A MAN!!

One last week

I have one week to work as a GED instructor. I will still be teaching for the NP I volunteer with, but no more working at the college or the community center. I'm gonna pitch my class at the NP to the college to see if they will partner with us. We will see how that goes. Because we don't have the testing equipment and resources.

I've got to get car insurance before I start my new job. Man, I don't have a lot of money and unemployment only sent me $74. UGH!!! So, I'm gonna be counting my pennies until the end of the month. I can't wait to get my health insurance. I'm sure it won't take effect until at least 30 days after I work, but I will have it. I also can't wait to have a steady paycheck.

I've been working on my budget and I think I will be able to pay all of my debt (sans student loan) this year!! $31,000 per year = 2,583 per mos =1,291 per paycheck.

My expenses are:

Rent= $0  THANK GOD
Utilities= $0 THANK GOD
Rental Ins= $15 per month (I have to buy) ($180 per year)

YMCA= $20 per month ($240 per year)

Car Loan= $250 per month ($3000 per year)
Car Ins= $100 per month (I have to buy insurance) ($1200 per year)

Gas=$100 per month (they say gas is going up, UGH) ($1200 per year)
Oil Change= $150 per year (4 times a year at $35 each or $12.50 per month)
Total Car expenses=$ $465 per month ($5550 per year)

Phone= $100 per month (stupid prepaid phone, I've gotta get something cheaper) ($1200 per year)
Food= $150 per month ($1800 per year)
Misc= $100 per month ($1200 per year) (tissue, clothes, lotion, toothpaste, etc)
Total= $350 per month ($4200)

Student Loan= $300 per month ($3600)

I do pay my tithes every paycheck so my tithes should total $3,100 for the year and I participate in our churches Debt Retirement program where I help to pay the churches mortgage at about $1500 per year.   I also give an offering and give a monetary gift to my Apostle and his family during celebrations such as National Clergy Appreciation Month or his anniversary for a total of $1000 per year.  All of these are tax deductible except the $1000 and in prior years (except this year) I have been able to use my charity donations to boost my from a standard deduction to an itemized deduction which has benefited me.  For 2011, I only gave about $5000 to my church so I had to take the standard deduction.  Maybe if I boost that to $6000 or $7000 I'll get a larger refund for 2012 taxes.  I'll try.

So my overall month expenses= $1150.00 ($13,800 per year)

I should be able to pay majority of my bills with one check.  Of about 15% will be taken out for taxes, insurance, so  that will leave me with about $1000 a month. 

I NEED to make sure I stick to this budget!!!

If I can stick to this budget I will be able to pay:

$3000 car loan
$3500 for my evicted apt
$1000 medical bills

And actually, I'm supposed to pay my car off this month.  I'm not sure what will happen if it's not paid, but my goal is to have that paid by May.

Father God, PLEASE DON'T LET MY CAR BREAK DOWN!!!  I CAN'T AFFORD TO GET IT FIXED!!!!  In JESUS name.  AMEN!!