5 Year Plan

I might have a 5 year plan. It's kinda crazy. Normally I can not answer the "Where do you see yourself in 5 years?" I might actually be starting to figure it out. I have spent sometime in the last few days looking at different master programs at schools here in Florida. I am thinking about enrolling in a program to begin in the fall. It is a little overwhelming because the first time I went to school I felt like I had to because I didn't know what else to do. This time I want to do it. I want to go back to school. It's an interesting place to be.

On another note:

I have been trying to be better about checking the mail every day. Which sounds a little lazy but the truth is I am just tired of opening the bills. Well today I pulled up next to the mailbox, jumped out and grabbed the mail. As I get in the car I quickly flip through the mail to see what is there. Junk mail, bill, Nicole, Nicole, ad, postcard looking item... What is this? The postcard says "Congratulations! You have received a gift subscription." I look at it again and it was addressed to me and it is from my grandma. Apparently she decided that I needed the gift of The Word Among Us.( http://wau.org/). It is a very spiritual magazine. I am not sure why of all the Grandchildren she has she chose.

Here is what the magazine promises:

• Daily Meditation based on the Mass readings
• Articles that illuminate church doctrine
• Biographies of the Saints
• Touching personal testimonies to God's healing power

I think Gram wants me to get more God....

Okay love ya all....

Lions and Tigers and Bears!

Oh My, tornado warnings tonight in O-Town. Cars off the road, and people are still thinking it's a good plan to drive around outside. Why would that be a good plan? Oh Well, that isn't what I feel like writing about tonight. I could spend 3 blogs talking about people driving on I-4.

So here's the story for today:

I have begun couponing (def. The act of using coupons in order to save money). So two weeks ago I got a Sunday subscription to the Orlando Sentinel (major newspaper here in O-Town). That was a battle in an of itself because I got it with Groupon. But really the paper was only $10 for a year! So finally after 2 weeks and a few phone calls and emails the paper shows up this week. I have also been collecting coupons here and there for the last 2 weeks. So when my newspaper arrives on Sunday I carefully go through it and find all the "deals" that I might be interested in. I leave this to sit for 24hrs while I think about by savings.

Monday I decide I am gonna make dinner for Nicole who I will be picking up at the airport at 7pm. So I am gonna try my hand at coupon use for the first time! I am sort of excited about the prospect of saving around $8 on 2 items. I have 2 - $3 off 2 bottles of wine coupons and the wine was on sale for $7.99 a bottle and 2-$1 off 2 cans of Campbell soup which is on sale for $1.5o per can. Which means, in case math for you is like grammar for me, I should be able to get these 4 items (2 bottles of wine, 2 cans of soup) for a total of $9.99. Which is how much one bottle of wine would normally cost me. So off to Target I go. I do all of my gathering of the items I will be purchasing for the day. I head to the register. The woman was very nice and wrung up all of my items, I hand her my 4 coupons. She easily handles the soup and then the looks at me and says "you can only use one of these coupons for the wine". Now I accept that there is a belief that you can only use one coupon per item idea but I can promise that I can read, and there is no where on these coupons that state only "one per transaction" or any limit period. So I said "well I used 2 on the 2 cans of soup you just wrung thru". She responds "well I wasn't supposed to do that either". So I nicely said "well if you read the coupon there is no limit on the number I can use on this item". She started to get very angry with me so I looked at the customer behind me and said "ma'am you might want to go to another line, I am gonna have to call the manager" now the cashier I guess didn't exactly know what I meant so I repeated to her "Can you please call your manager". So now I am the person holding up the line at Target... crap. So the manager comes over and they have their little discussion to which the "nice" cashier tells him in not so many words I am trying to rob the store blind by $3. She says that "she can't use two coupons on the same item", well interestingly enough the manager with out entering any special code swipes the second coupon and amazingly it works! At the same time saying "I will do it this once". Are you freaking kidding me? Really Target. You didn't have to do anything but process the order correctly in the first place. So finally I get my total. I look at the cashier and say to her "did you take off the 5cents for my reusable bag?". LOL she was mad. Oh well, they should train you to read the things that pass over your counter better. So the trip cost me about $24 with all of the things I purchased and I walked away with 2 bottles of wine.

So I have begun reading Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison, if you want pick it up and read it with me. I have no idea if it will be good or not but it is next on the list!

State of the Union is on, better get my glass of wine and pay attention.

Happy Tuesday!

Lazy Sunday

I am having an incredibly lazy Sunday today. Sundays always equal football to me this time of year. I always remember the games being on in the background whether it was our team or not. Football was the thing that was the background noise to what we were actually doing. Unless it was our team, then the food was pulled out and the volume turned up. It was as if the world all around stopped to watch the game. Even if I am not interested or have little time to sit and watch football ends up on my TV every Sunday. It makes me feel at home even when I am miles and miles away.

So I have accomplished a few small things today. I just watched tIMER. This movie is interesting and I would say the idea is incredible sad to me. Its about this "Big Brother"ish idea that this timer is implanted in everyone's wrist, once the timer goes off you will meet the love of your life the very next day. The story revolves around this woman who's timer is blank. The acting is okay, the story is hard to watch. The idea that we as society are relying on technology to get us through life so much that we cant connect with each other and at the same time some of us are trying. There is also the idea that there is only one person for each of us. Both of these I have very strong views on. I sometimes hate that I find out what used to be "big" things in peoples lives online, that I feel like Online dating is easier then meeting people in person, and that I can't live with out my cell phone. But I very much like connecting with people in person, sharing experiences and talking about how things could be, are and will be. It is the double edged sword of technology. I like that this blog has made friends far away feel some much closer too me and that they have sent me advice and love about things I have talked about. These are ways that technology helps.

I also am not certain about the idea of the one. That is a lot of pressure to put on a situation that shouldn't have so much stress. That there is only one person for each of us is hard to believe. I think that maybe at each time in our life that is a person who is most important, who has great affect over us and who helps change our life. I hope, as do I think most, that there is someone that I will find to grow old with. Who will be apart of my life for a very long, long time.

I also finished a book today, The Deep End of the Ocean by Jacquelyn Mitchard. This is the first book that I have read off the Oprah book list. It was a good book, I would say 3 out of 5. I think it would have been better if I had a child. The story is about a mother who's 3 year is taken from a hotel lobby. It is about the emotional turmoil of the situation and its effects on each of the people in the story (mostly the mother and older son). I also read the 3 Bill Cosby kids book on the list, and did not enjoy them much. I just hope that all of the books on this list aren't heartbreaking sad.

Halftime Show! Let's Go Greenbay!

Btw - I fixed it so anyone can comment! Lots of love!

Dress Party

So I went to a dress party tonight, I have to say it sounded crazier in my head then it actually was. Although seeing grown men in ball gowns is pretty awesome. Met some lovely people had a good time. It was way more low key then I had anticipated. It did however give me a story to tell and some fun for a Saturday night. I am so looking forward to doing nothing tomorrow. I plan on cleaning the house, doing some laundry, reading the rest of the book I am on right now so I can tell you about it tomorrow, and might go check out the dress of Midsummer. But for now, I am gonna go to sleep. Happy Saturday!

Little Bit of me

I feel like I am giving a little bit of me when I am writing this. I gives me a bit of time to reflect on the days event and the things that are important to me. I had a good day. I am going to a "dress"party this weekend. It should be very interesting. Everyone at this party will be wearing dresses, men included. I feel like it can only go in one direction and not split down the middle. I will either have a great time or be there 20 mins and make an excuse to leave. So I guess this post is to be continued until after the dress party on Saturday. I am not sure how I feel about being in a room with men in dresses but I work in theater so it is not the strangest thing that I will ever see. So this is the bit for today... Happy Thursday.

Book List and other things

So tonight Nicole and I have both decided to read from a book list. I have chosen Oprah's which I talked about in a previous post. Nicole is a much fast much more focused reader then I am. It has never been a strong suit for me. I get distracted way to easily. So I put together an excel spread sheet to keep track of the books and rate the ones I like the most. I normally don't do fancy paper work but after putting an actual budget together it felt like the right thing to do. So now I have 2 "to do" lists. It is interesting having a reading list, it is sorta like the summer reading list I got as a kid. Getting summer reading lists some summers was awful but other times I was very excited to getreading . I read some of my favorite books during those summers, The Pearl and Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, 1984, Catcher in the Rye, and so many more. It grew harder and harder for me to read and interestingly enough when I started doing theater I stopped reading as much as I had. I sometimes wonder if maybe my love for all literature began and ended in the theater. I see that now that I am further away from the production aspect of the theater I am way more into reading. I would love to say that I am doing a book a week but I am not sure that will be the case. 3 of the books on Oprah's List are by Bill Cosby, I wanted to feel like I knocked them of the list quickly, I have. So after this weekend I should have at least 4 books done and the 5th will be started. So I am hoping that I will find the love of reading I once had all those summers ago.

Spending

So I spent some more time tonight working out my pay off my Credit Card Debt plan. At this point, if I spend nothing more on my credit cards and do nothing but pay off debt and save $20 per month I should be able to pay off my debt in 2years and 2 months. So I am gonna try and stick to my plan, work hard and keep my nose clean for at least this year. I have figured out everything with hopes that I can get it all paid off. I have at minimum an additional $1000 in income coming in this year that I will take and put towards the debt. Which hopefully will get me to the credit card debt free place in a much faster period of time. It makes me a bit nervous that I have no room for mistake right now. I really need to get some wiggly room in my budget for emergency items. Things I can't do, get my teeth fixed, get my car fixed and get my a 401K or IRA started. At 31 years old it scares me. I would love to find something part-time that I can do to earn a bit more money, I love my job but I need more money. I am either looking at changing my job, changing my life style or tying to make it work as is. I am hoping that I can find a way to make an extra $200 a month at this point. That would give me a bit more room in the budget and a bit more of a way to feel safe in what I am doing. Okay bare with me it might be a bumpy ride but I think I can do it!