A gig.

I got a call last night that I had once again been requested to sub for the middle school!

I'm quite honored that they chose me to sub and since I haven't done it in a while because of winter break I'm glad to get back into it.

THe great thing about this gig is that it's this Friday from 7:20am - 2:30pm. So I'll be out by 2:30 and can start my weekend. Woo Woo!

Are you broke?

It's no secret - we live paycheck to paycheck. Since only one of us works and I stay home with the baby finances can be tight at times.

That's why I'm glad that there are payday loans available.

We currently have a savings but you never know when a rainy day might come and totally deplete your savings. It can really be done in an instant.

The whole idea behind payday loans is that you take out a high interest loan from a provider and pay it back within a short time period. It's basically a way to pay your bills, rent or car payment.

I know a lot of people have been using this service lately because they know that their tax money is due any minute, but in the meantime they still have some pretty big bills lingering.

It's nice to know that payday loans are available if we're ever in a bind!

Brochures are out and about!

The other night when I went to the ER for the OHSS I noticed that my brochures and price sheets were in the brochure holder at the hospital.

YAH! I'm glad to see that they are getting out in the community and that dropping them off with the social workers has been a waste of time and money.

Taking a break...

Since we are going through with another round of IUI I'm taking a business break and also a substitute teaching break. This time doing the drugs has totally made me feel crappy and I feel like I also have so much stuff to do on the homefront.

That doesn't mean that I'm going to let everything I've worked for go downhill. I still plan on completing my marketing strategies information and mailing out brochures to my outreach bank.

Makin' dinero!

I've been bringing in some major cash with my blogging! I never thought that we'd actually get much out of it ... but I'm a money making machine!

What can I say...always thinking about dollars!

Makin' the moola!

So with PayPerPost, LoudLaunch, Blogitive, and substitute teaching we are doing awesome finacially! Plus, of course we are waiting for out tax money!

In fact, we are at the point where we will break through on our debt and not owe anything! (Except for the car and house!)

That's absolutely amazing considering that a couple of years ago we owed over $30,000!

I'd like to blame that all on infertility even though the vacations, eat outs, and home decor were fun!

Aruba, Jamaica, Oh I wanna ...

take a vacation to MAUI!

We have been talking about taking a vacation for the past few weeks. We were looking into a nice sunny vacation but the reality is that I can't just do a 3-4 day sunny vacation. It's got to be at least a week and I want to stay at an awesome place. It just isn't a vacation if you don't stay at a nice place!

A Maui Vacation Rental is just what the doctor ordered. They are clean, upscale, and offer the perfect setting that you're looking for.

Imagine looking out your bedroom window and seeing this:



Gebhart Properties has some great rentals in Maui and the surrounding islands. You can rent condos, townhouses, apartments, and even full houses. This would be the perfect idea for a vacation, honeymoon, or family reunion.

Following up

I'm going to followup Monday with the person that inquired last week. This could be a good client because it sounds like her mom needs some help out but isn't at the point of being in assisted living or nursing home.

My ideal client!

Of course, now I just have to pray that she has some money. That's always and obstacle.

Dear God.

Can you please bring on the weekend?

It's almost bud-thirty here and I'm so excited that the weekend's finally here!

Of course, I was asked to sub all next week.

I'm a popular girl.

What can I say?!

Making money?

Is your company effective in it's marketing? Are you marketing online?

If so, there's a lot of marketing you can do online and it might not be the right thing for you and your business.

For example:

Are you reaching the proper demographic?

Are you targeting your audience?

Are you getting click throughs from interested buyers?

All of these things are important when advertising online and you're throwing money away if you're not using activity based costing.

Acorn offers analytics which will help you in deciding who your target audience is and how much traffic you are getting from your site. Also, you can find out where the traffic is coming from and get the exact IP and router information.

Make your marketing dollars count and *know* that they are working for you!

Whipped.

With Margot's snoring, Graem's crying in the middle of the night, and tons of calls starting at 6am to sub -- I'm exhausted!

I've gotten through most of my "to do" list for the week but I still have a few errands including getting the car washed and making sure that I pick up Graem's passport information.

Maybe I'll do that tomorrow.

Then again, it's too cold out!

It's all dying!

I swear everything in our house and with our cars is dying! Our car is on it's last leg and tonight as we're watching 24 the damn surround sound makes these crackling noises and then just shuts off.

Why can't we be independantly wealthy?

My poor car

My poor car has been through the ringer. I've used it for three jobs now and put over 100,000 miles on it over the past 7 years. It used to run so quietly and drive with ease.

These days it makes this nasty noise when you start it up and then continues to make noises when being driven. It's like it's saying "Please, let me die."

I hope it's not the radiator or any other major part - but if it is I know there's a place that offers cheap radiators.

Radiator.com offers a wide variety of radiators and a very easy to navigate website to help you purchase the radiator that's right for your car. Not to mention that guys that work there are really helpful.

We're in the money!

As most of you know we've been doing paid advertising on our websites. Just recently we got this blog and two others approved.

Just keepin’ tabs, to make sure it’s all worth while:

PayPerPost: $1,836.06
Blogitive: $250.00
LoudLaunch: $108.00
Blogsvertise: $49.00
Total: $2,243.06

Not bad for being able to do this while sitting my ass on the couch.

Outreach lunch

Today I went out with my friend/collegue Amy. We discussed a lot of business information and even exchanged some information on a potential client for both of us.

She told me about some new things that were going on at Alterra and how they were going to start switching their name over to the new company over the next few months.

It's nice to still have a good working relationship with the people from old job. You never know when you might need those connections!

Mama's Day!

Never before have I really enjoyed Mother's Day because it's just a reminder of what a horrible mother I have. One who never calls, doesn't care, and is full of hate.

But since Grammy has been born we've made it a priority to treat ourselves on Mother's day! The past few years we've gone to Thai Cuisine for Dim Sum and it's been great! Each year we take pictures of Grammy picking up with the tab and giving the waitress OUR credit card!

This year maybe Grammy will get us some Mothers Day Gifts! DotFlowers offers great Mother's day flowers and also other items that will make your mother very happy! They also offer same day delivery - in case you forget!

Montessori for Grammy...

Well, we were going to move Grammy over to Namaste Montessori in the spring when they opened up on Route 96 - but I must admit that I haven't been overly impressed with their communication.

It seems like when I call I constantly get an answering machine (which is fine -- I understand they're with the kids) but they never return my call! And when they do it's weeks after the fact.

The other day I called because we were thinking about moving Graem over in April and you'd think that we would have gotten information or a call telling us that the new center is opening etc. NOTHING.

So, now I'm questioning if moving her away fromo IC3 is really the right thing. We've been so happy with them and although Namaste comes highly recommended...they might be working out the kinks the first few years of opening and I don't want my kid to be the guinea pig!

Brochure out!

I mailed out the brochure today to the person requesting information. I will followup with her in the next few days to make sure she received it and to see if she has any further questions.

Boy, it'd be great to get a little gig for a few hours a week. Of course, the subbing is working out pretty good and so are the blog writings.

It seems like lately with the weird jobs I've been doing --- we're doing really good and actually making a dent on some of our credit card payments!

I love me some silvah!

We have been looking for ways to make investments with our money. Mostly Graem's college money, my retirement, and Margot's SEP money.

We've considered stocks and bonds, but one thing that's always been around and proven to be dependable and constant is Silver Bars.

Through Monex Deposit Company you can purchase silver in ignot or coin form. It's a risk-free investment and something that's sure to add value to your portfolio. Not to mention diversity.

This is really going to be something that I look at in the future. The stock market might be doing well today...but you never know what could happen in the future.

Glad I'm in the business...

I'm glad that I had the experience of working with seniors because I think it's really going to help us in dealing with Margot's dad. Not to mention that it's a lot easier for me to step in and help or take care of her dad because I'm somewhat detached from the situation.

Today I'm going to call some of my collegues that I used to work with and get some answers to my questions. I figure not only will I be able to get the answers but I can also do a little outreach for my business too.

It's good to have connections.

In front of the tellie..

Today I've stuck Grammy in front of the television while I've written these past 10 posts. I always feel horribly guilty if she watches more than an hour of television.

I think it's total brain rot and I have never wanted that to be a "babysitter."

If that were the case then I'd be working at a job making $70,000 and she'd be at family daycare full time!

This afternoon we have a pretty good schedule - car wash and pharmacy! So I guess that can be considered a "field trip".

A good looking man.

Everyone knows I'm certainly not the professional on choosing a hunky guy! But I'm not your typical lesbian and I can appreciate a man dressed for success. I love it when a person dresses the part and really acts confident. Whether it be a man or a woman!

One person that I think has the whole package is Peter Belisi! Check out these Belisi Fashions!

He has dressed some of the most famous people and his style is clean cut and very fashion saavy.

His myspace page makes him appear to be an average Joe, which I can certainly appreciate.

I really like his neckware line and might even get Dennis one of his ties for Valentine's Day.

YAH for me.

Last night I got a call from the substitute phone service. It appears that one of the teachers that I subbed for a few weeks ago has requested that I sub again this Friday!

It works out perfectly becauuse it's right next to Grammy's school. Plus, I can do pick up and drop off. That way Margot doesn't have to stress out being late for work or late picking Grammy up.

This sub gig is really working well for all of us!

It's a crappy job...

Today I am home with Grammy and I hear her farting in the corner. All of a sudden I ask her if she has to poop. She says "No." Then I smell something and realize that she has pooped in her panties.

It was gross and boy do I wish Margot was home! Margot had to clean crap from her panties last week though. So even if Margot would have been home it might have been my turn anyway!! Damn.

Always and forever?

When I met Margot over 10 years ago and she took me home to meet her family I was shocked to see that her Chinese father was dating a Russian woman! Supposedly, he had done a breast job on her (she was an exotic dancer) and the rest is history!

They are still together and for better or for worse.

At first we questioned if she was one of the mail order brides from Russia! But she actually moved to the states prior to meeting Manny!

LoversPlanet offers profiles of Russian women that you can look at, write, and even meet! It's a great idea for people that are on the search for a foreign bride.

It's a win - win situation!

Busy Busy Busy

I have a list down to the floor of things that I need to do today! Of course, here I sit making blog entries and trying to do my 6 blogitives for money.

I guess if I'm making money I can justify being a lazy bum and still hanging out in my pajamas at 10:30.

I mean it is less than 5 degrees outside and it's not like I should be *expected* to go outside in this weather!!

VACATION

I actually just spoke with Margot and she's on board with the whole vacation idea! WOO WOO!

I think we both realize that things are just going to get harder with trying to conceive kiddo #2 and taking care of her dad and we really need to do something fun and enjoy life so that we can better prepare ourselves for a rough couple of months and years ahead of us.

We all need a break ... don't we?

My needs...

include a vacation! I know I mentioned earlier that I *need* a MacBook but I really need a vacation. It seems like after the miscarriage we were instantly hit with Margot's dad being sick.

The reality is that the next year or so with taking care of Margot's dad and us trying to conceive I can see it being very stressful and us not taking the quality time that we need as a family to do something "fun".

Just yesterday we were talking about taking a Costa Rica Vacation with some of our friends.

We all agreed that someplace sunny and with beaches would be perfect about right now. (As we sit in Ithaca with 6 inches of snow outside!)

Vacations.net offers some great traveling discounts and specials to places all over the world.

This summer.

This summer we are still trying to figure out our plans and also figure out what we are going to do with Graem. With Margot's dad being sick things might change too.

At this point Grammy might go to the new Namaste Montessori a few days a week and we might just try St. Paul's Nursery School Tuesday and Thursdays. That's offered from 9:00am - 12:00pm.

Of course, we have no idea how much time we will be in NY or what the future holds so it's hard to predict what arrangements we need to make.

*ring*ring*

Thursday I received a call from a potential client. She has received my information from one of the social workers at the hospital. (YES! My marketing and outreach has finally paid off!)

She is looking for companion services for her mom but it sounds like she might need a little more home care. Her mother needs assistance with toileting and since I can’t render care because I’m not a homecare agency — I wouldn’t be able to take her case.

It sounded like her mother was independant before and a hospital stay made her weak and now she might even have some incontienance.

The good thing is that I have her contact information, I’m sending her out a rate sheet, brochure, and nice cover letter and I’ll follow up in a few days to make sure she received it.

I thought it was cute when the daughter asked if we could also “fertlize her plants” as part of her care. For $25 an hour I’ll sing to her plants!

I *need* an MacBook.

No, really! I'm just waiting for minute that our computer poops out on me. We'd be absolutely screwed! It has *everything* on it and I'm not sure there would be much in terms of recovery.

Our current computer is a Dell Inspiron 8600 and we purchased it right when Graem was born about two years ago. It's been an amazing computer but I know it's been through the ringer. Including Graem sitting on the screen, kicking it, stepping on it, and me dropping it a few times!

I looked at the Apple MacBooks and I'm quite impressed! Margot's brother has one and it seems so easy to use and very reliable. If I were to purchase a new Apple I'm sure I'd use one of the rebates offered on ebates.com.

Not only do they offer cash back rebates but they also show you any other discounts that you might be eligible for. That's just using your business smarts and making a wise purchase.