School and Work

I'm glad next week is the last week of school. I need a break from everything. I'm not taking summer classes because my mom is tired of babysitting and needs a break too. I wish I could work part time and go to school part time but then I would have no way to pay my bills. If I could find a part time job that pays a full time wage would be great but that probably would never happen in customer service call centers. I can't wait to be finished with school though so I can actually start a career instead of having a job I really don't like. I work in tech support for an ISP and trying to explain to some people how to do something over the phone is irritating sometimes. The most annoying part of my job is when we speak to IT professionals and they think they know more that you and get really rude with you when you try to explain how to set up the modem. Each ISP do things different and when you finally prove to them that the way you were trying to explain works they don't even apologize. It's really frustrating to me. The only thing I like about my job is the work environment and my coworkers. It's a very laid back call center and everyone gets along. There is also good benefits. Those are the only reasons I stay where I'm at. Another year or 2 I should be graduating and hopefully get a job in the career I really want.

Weekend

This weekend I worked 5 hours overtime at work on Saturday. It was boring because nobody was really calling in. I feel like my weekend was too short because of it. I'm just glad I got a break from my kids. They fight way too much. At least they got some energy out while at my parents house. They love going over there to swim and ride their bikes. I wish I didn't live in an apartment complex so they could ride their bikes at our place. People drive way too fast and don't really pay attention if kids are there or not.

My children's great grandmother turned 95 yesterday. I think she's going to be one of those people who live to be in their 100's. She still hasn't told me her secret too a long life yet. She still lives on her own and even drives. She never travels far though just to places like the grocery store or bank which are less than a mile away from her home. I'm disappointed that we didn't get to see her yesterday but glad that she had a good time. One of her grandsons live a few hours away and a came and picked her up to spend time with his kids and few of her other grandkids. I know that really made her happy. All she talks about are her grandkids and great grandkids.

Last Week

For Memorial Day I took my kids to my parents house to swim. They enjoy swimming a lot even though my 10 year old is the only one that gets all the way into the pool. I swear my other kids are scared of getting in the pool even when they have life vests on and other flotation devices around them to use. My 4 year old was brave enough this weekend to let my 10 year old hold him in the pool. I'm just glad he's trying.

Thursday my 6 year old son's class had a end of year kindergarten show. It was really cute. Each kid had their own line to say so nobody was left out. They did a song where they pretend to play the piano, drums, and trumpet. My son really got into it when the drumming part came on. It was so cute. Him and his older brother are always drumming on stuff so I wasn't too surprised that was his favorite part. Maybe I'll enroll him in lessons.

My 10 year old is in 4th grade and he received his FCAT writing results. They expected him to get a 2 (3.5 is passing) and he ended up getting a 4. I'm really proud of him seeing as he was struggling so much with FCAT last year. I wish they had the rest of the FCAT results though. We'll see how he does on the new testing format next year.

If I won the lottery

Some people say money will not bring you happiness but I believe it will if you make the right choices. I know for me money will definitely bring me happiness. Living paycheck to paycheck is not fun or a good way to live. The only bad thing about winning the lottery in Florida is that you do not have the option to remain anonymous. I did research this before and some states you can claim your prize anonymous and others you cannot. I think it would be better to remain anonymous so strangers and even people you know don't try to con you out of your winnings. Before I would claim my winnings I would hire a lawyer to help with the legal aspect and a financial advisor to help me with proper money management. I would take a lump sum amount versus payments over amount of time because taxes could be raised so you may pay more in taxes. I would pay all my debt off so I wouldn't have to worry about collectors. I would purchase my own home so that I don't have to worry about a mortgage payment. The would purchase a modest house since it is just my 4 kids and I. I would put an equal amount in a savings account for my 4 kids for college. I would purchase a new car as well. I would give my parents money so that they can take all the vacations they want since they are both retired. I would also have my financial advisor invest some of my money. Of course I would donate to a few charities as well. If only I could win the lottery I would definitely like my life so much more.

Extreme Couponing

I really need to learn how to extreme coupon. I have no clue how people are purchasing $200 worth of merchandise for $20 sometimes less. I've tried extreme couponing but I never find any good coupons. People that are doing this say they use manufacturer coupons and store coupons but I can never find store coupons. I think a lot of these people don't have any jobs because it seems like a lot of work just to find all these coupons.

People that are really good at extreme couponing have an entire room or 2 filled with paper towels, toilet paper, soap, etc. and they won't even be able to use that much in a life. I think some people go a little overboard with it. I know some say they donate some of their stock piles but I think they all should do that or at least just get what they need and leave it at that. Some of them may need extreme couponing rehab. lol.

If I could learn how to this and save money I could do so many things that I can't do now. I could have my kids in more sports that they would want to play. I could actually buy myself clothes more than just once a year. I would probably buy myself a few clothing items every few months at least then put money away for a rainy day or towards a house. I guess I should start researching more on how to do this.

Mother's Day Weekend

This weekend went by way to fast. Friday my 2 boys that are in elementary school gave me their Mother's Day gifts that they made for me at school. My oldest wrote a poem and my youngest filled in a questionnaire about me but also made a few more things for me. He made me 2 pictures and a shirt. The shirt had 2 flowers on it which the flower part were his handprints. It was cute. I think it's funny when they fill in questionnaires about me especially when my 6 year old thinks I'm still 21.

On Saturday we just relaxed at home. I didn't really relax since I had a lot of studying to do plus cleaning. I was supposed to go to a comedy show Saturday but couldn't find a babysitter. I don't think I can remember the last time I went out. I guess that's the life of a single mother.

Sunday we went to my parents house and celebrated Mother's Day with my mom for a few hours. The worse part of the day was when we went to get my oldest new shoes. My 4 and 6 year olds weren't too happy that they weren't getting new shoes. I tried explaining about how his shoes were really worn so he needed the new shoes. Just my luck though they showed out and embarrassed themselves in the store. Luckily my mom was there and was able to take them to the car while I paid for the new shoes. My mom was embarrassed how they acted and she didn't like how people kept staring. I could care less what people think but don't worry they won't be acting like that in public again. I set them straight when we got home. They will not be doing anything fun for awhile because of their actions. I guess that is all that really happened.

The Weekend

For some reason this weekend just went by really slow. I worked 6 hours over time at work. I kind of regret it just because some people are just so rude and unhappy people. I had a customer call in about their internet not working and he wasn't even at his business to even troubleshoot the issue. He very rudely told me to press the hold button on my phone then press the little conference button and call the !@#$%& business. On top of that when we called the business she cursed at me as well and told me I'm wasting her time then hung up on me. I'm glad I don't live in NC or else I'd tell everyone not to go to that certain business. I can't imagine how they would handle a difficult customer. That was really the only irritating thing about this weekend.


The best part of my weekend was my youngest son is finally potty trained. I'm so happy that I can start saving my money on diapers. It really adds up over the years. I wasn't even trying to potty train him and he just decided to go on his own. I guess seeing his older brothers going on their own motivated him. Now if I could just get his speech improved I'll be even happier. He can talk but most of the things he says you can't really understand. Hopefully the speech therapist he'll start seeing next week will help him greatly. He's definitely a smart little boy so I believe he will improve quickly.

Driving in Florida

The only thing I really dislike about Florida is how most people drive here. I don't know if it's people from Florida that are bad drivers or if it's people that move here from other states. I'm from WV and do not remember people being such horrible drivers. I moved here when I was 17 so I was only driving for a year before I moved here so maybe other states have the same type of drivers.

About a year ago I was driving on 436 in Altamonte and this elderly man was face to face with me and he never turned his head to make sure nobody was in his blind spot and just starts coming over and there were cars around me so I had no where to go and he was driving right into my car and the side view mirror was pressed against the passenger window. I had to honk my horn for him to realize I was there. That is not the first time that has happened and I'm in a minivan so I'm not hard to miss. lol. I'm not a great driver but I do look before I enter lanes.

Sometimes driving puts me in a bad mood. I can't stand when someone cuts me off then when I honk my horn because the person almost hit me they have the nerve to give me the finger like I was wrong. That really drives me nuts. Another thing I that puts me in a bad mood is when someone is coming onto the main road from a side street they come out and make you have to slam on your breaks then drive slower than the speed limit. People need some patience and wait until there is nobody coming or is far enough down the road so they can catch up to the speed limit. There's many more things I could say about drivers but that would take way too long so I guess I'll end this blog here.

Easter Weekend

This weekend we didn't do too much. Saturday my kids and I spent the day home. It was hard to get the kids to sleep that night. They were too excited about the Easter Bunny. My oldest wasn't as excited since he's 10 and knows I'm the Easter Bunny. The Easter Bunny was almost late since I accidently fell asleep while trying to get my 2 youngest to fall asleep. Thankfully I woke up at 4am and was able to get their baskets ready in time.

Unfortunately my kids woke me up at 7am so I didn't get to sleep too much longer after putting the Easter baskets together. I really like sleep if you can't tell. I didn't get them too much candy or else they would have been even more hyper than they usually are. They mostly get toys instead.

Later in the afternoon we went to my parents house and they had an Easter egg hunt then dinner. The 2 oldest were trying to grab all the eggs. I swear they are so greedy. A few of the eggs had a dollar in them. Even though it's not much they already have spent the money they found. I guess I need to start teaching them how to save. I'm just glad my kids had fun yesterday.

My Weekend

My weekend was pretty uneventful for me. My kids and I spent the weekend at my parents house taking care of their 2 dogs while they were out of town. The kids love being at their grandparents house that they didn't want to leave. They have a lot more room to play outside than at my apartment so I guess that's why.

My parents went to New York for my brothers wedding. Unfortunately I wasn't able to go because of school and had no one to watch my children. The wedding was a no kids wedding. I have never heard of somebody having a no kids wedding but found out it is pretty common. The bad thing about my brother living in New York is I never see him and have only met his wife once. The time I did meet her she seemed nice.

My 2 oldest children went to a birthday party at the bowling alley. The bad thing about having 4 kids is that when one child gets to go do something and the other doesn't they have a fit. I felt bad the 2 youngest boys couldn't go but I took them to the park to make up for it.

Life as a Single Mother

I am a single mother of 4 children and at times I love it but other times I just want to give up. The hardest part for me about being a single mother is that I have all boys. The ages of my children are 10,6,4, and 3. I thought with having all boys that it would be easier but I was definitely wrong. The hardest part for me is that they are always fighting. When I say fighting I mean verbally or they are wrestling. I'm afraid when they are old enough they are going to break my furniture or each other. The days they do fight is mostly when I feel like giving up. It's hard to get them to listen to me when they act like that.

My boys may drive me crazy at times with the fighting but most of the time they are very lovable. My oldest will help out with his younger brothers. He is always helping his 6 year old brother with homework or help with getting the other kids to clean up after themselves. I don't know what I would do with out my oldest. The 2 youngest are 11 months apart so they have a lot in common. They are the best of friends.

For me there is only one other thing that makes me want to give up which is my financial situation. I wish I could afford to do more fun things with my children but when most of your paycheck goes to bills there's not much you can do. At least I can take them to the park and such. I'm looking forward to graduating and getting a good paying career that way I will be able to do more fun things with my kids.