Comments by "Kimberly C" (@kimberlyc84) on "Glorious Life On Wheels"
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@ 2:22 I knew someone who used to snub their nose at "but for the grace, there go I." Because she followed the "formula" (go to school, get good grades, fall in love with a high school sweetheart, never do drugs, go to college, work your way through or get great scholarships all throughout, come out with a great job, have 2.5 kids (I guess the dog is the 1/2 kid 🤷♀️) get a house in the suburbs, a pool, never be late on a bill, sip wine on the back veranda, blahblahblah.)
And then she got a cancer diagnosis and it drained everything.
First, she was mad telling me things like, "this wasn't supposed to happen to me" because she had nursed her children. So what! So did I. And I had a double mastectomy at 42.
She had married her HS sweetheart.
So what. Me, too. And 21 yrs later, I met a child that wasn't mine.
They traveled the world. So what. We traveled (more like raced through) the southeast and I don't remember ANY of it.
He retired at a very high rank. Mine blamed his parents for his color deficiency and not being able to pass a color vision test.
She retired from being a nurse. My dreams of becoming a nurse disappeared when I got a splinter in first grade.😕
They owned a very successful cleaning business. Every few years a new Mercedes. They had it all planned for their children to take over. Then the children married, moved, and never looked back. The business sold for a great price. The day it sold, they had a head on collision.
Paralyzed him from the neck down. Her spine was injured. "This wasn't supposed to happen."
Sadly, we no longer speak.
I completely understand stages of grief, losing success is basically a death. So I understand it. But there has to come a point when one has to realize that some things just happen. Not everything is going to be that person's fault and not everything is going to be another person's fault.
But that in no way gives license for us to take the "oh, you made a bad decision," "oh, you don't know how to manage money," "oh, you should've done this, that, & the other, then you wouldn't be in this situation" quips from the peanut gallery.
I refuse to let another throw that malarkey my way. I refuse to be shamed into the fact that I go to the food pantry sometimes to see if there's just toilet paper, beans, noodles, and maybe a chicken I can have because if I don't get my meds, I won't need the food because I may not survive a seizure.
I'm in a sticks/bricks but the taxes are pushing us to go smaller in a nearby county with taxes at 2/3 lower. But for those that don't even have that option, my heart goes out.
I still say, hold your head up and you square those shoulders! They don't know nothin' 'bout our stories!
But one thing I know about theirs: there but for the Grace, go they.
That's my 2 cents.... I would have more...but I haven't turned in my cans for deposit🤣
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I've started this as well. I'm not sure when we'll be overrun by builders and the highway widening, but the last thing I want to be is taken by surprise.
My last little Birdy flew the nest last month, making me an empty nester.
Out of a 4 br/2 bath 1700sf with an oversized closed in carpeted ac double garage as well as 2 separate family rooms, I use the den, eat in kitchen, 1 bathroom, and a smaller downstairs bedroom that houses my office area in a 5'x4' corner. I've taken six carloads of clothes, dishes, holiday decor, picture frames, toys, a printer, computer, just so much STUFF.
It's been so freeing to actually organize and prioritize.
I'm SOO proud of Teresa!
Grateful for the G.L.O.W. & the help!
~Safe travels and safer stays!
🚐☁️
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Of COURSE they are!
I knew when we took a 'field trip' to earn our Girl scout Fingerprinting Merit Badge at the local PD wayyyy back when, something just gave me a "Book 'em, Danno" Hawaii 5-0 vibe...
Then, when my daughter's GS troop visited the Spy Museum in D. C, I just KNEW I was being 'monitored.' ...well...that and the fact that our family has been directly enlisted (minimum of one for each generation) in four branches of military dating back to the revolutionary war (took about 5 yrs of digging to get all the names). My sons are the 11 generation.
I'm fully aware that "Lexa" is listening, my phone is tracking, my monitor is watching, and my freezer is defrosting (power surge 🙄).
We were assigned Cntgx badges (not sure if I spelled out the full name, whether it would trigger a virtual slap on the wrist and remove my comment altogether) for "emergency usage" in my school system.
It monitors us as to where we are inside of the building.
I deliberately remove mine when I go to the restroom... Even though the trainer vehemently stated that it does not track us inside of the building...
Then why is it in writing that it tracks us inside the building to provide specific immediate assistance inside of the building??
Somebody, apparently, hasn't read the handout 🤔
And don't let me get started on the Ariel humming that I continuously hear outside...drones all over...
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I knew it when I heard him!
"How you doowin' this mornin'?"
We transplanted from Long Island, New York to GA in '94...
Sometimes I speak a little softer, sometimes a little slower... But even today, 30 yeeyas later, and at least once every few weeks, if there is a new student to register at my elementary school where I work, as I'm talking to a parent, they'll stop, look at me, & tilt their head to the side & ask, "where are you from? You don't sound like you're from GA" when I tell them I've been here 30 years, that's even more perplexing. A lot of them tell me they thought that I would lose my accent having been here so long...
Fuggedaboutit!🤣
I loved seeing his build in earlier interview. Gave me some great ideas!
I also wrote the phone number from his back window down.
If you put it in google, it brings you right to his website.
🚗☁️☁️
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Yaayyy!!! Glad I'm glad I'm not the only member of the 'Old Home Folks'
My definition of update: changing the lightbulb from 40 to 60 watts😆
Changing out pansies to petunias in the pot🤣
Changing my wreath from wintergreen to summer florals☺️
I've learned to fix or replace quite a few essential things from YouTube (dryer belt, vacuum cleaner, disposal, springs in my washer, thermostat in my freezer, sprayer on my sink, spout in my tub, faucet, serpentine in my truck, caulk, grout the tub, seal tile, replace hinges, replace the connectors in the lights in my kitchen.
Just so many things. Some things, I've had to save up and get a pro (like pumping my septic or replacing my HVAC), but for the smaller (but still could have been expensive) jobs, it took some effort, but I'm glad to be a student of YouTube University!
My sweet tri-level split (a throwback to the '70s era) hits 50 yrs old this year! The gentleman who had it built also built three of the 11 homes (including his) on our little street.
His son and widow live two houses over. They've since been lead tested, radon tested, termite tested, and are all standing strong.
Mine has had bathrooms added and removed, has housed college kids, bachelors, wedding parties (my backyard is shaded by three beautiful elms and has thickets where rabbits and chipmunks reside.)
The 1970's era two-car garage was enclosed, carpeted and vented about 20 yrs ago. My first holiday dinner seated 21 people comfortably with enough room for the cake & pie table in one corner, the Christmas tree in another and two long tables. It was great!
Yeah, it might look odd from the outside. But when I think back to when I would drive past houses like that, while I was living in an ant infested, drafty, mildewey rental that was condemned, I'm SOO happy with my 50 yr old prize.
Funny when my grandpa lived in the little 2 bedroom duplex we would visit in the summer, nothing matched and everything was already at least 30 yrs old.
Nowadays, it's called eclectic 🤣
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@sylviajones4907
I have a thought I still giggle about. It's not about a mobile home, but it is about a home.
We moved from NY to GA in '94. Our first home was a sweet little ranch. Needed a few odds and ends, but great bones.
Well, me in my omnipotent brilliance decided I wanted to paint to freshen things up.
Budgetista that I am, I went straight for the Oops! Paint @ Home Depot.
It was a nice soft light green...so I thought. That's what color the blob was on top. And there were two cans!! WooHoo! Jackpot!
I donned an old T-shirt, old pants, covered everything & went to work. I did our little den and the bathroom.
The paint was no odor, too! Man! I was KILLIN' it.
Hubs was THRILLED!! Not just because of the price , but because I was able to finish the den and bathroom before he got in!
By nightfall, it had dried and we're settling in... I hit the lights...WHAM!!
The room lit up like a construction site at night! The whole room glowed in the dark!🤣🤣🤣
But wait! That meant--yep!! The bathroom, too!
The big joke was that we didn't have to turn on any lights to find the bathroom at night🤣
It was a fluorescent soft green, kind of like a Granny Smith apple being zapped by lightning😆
So THAT'S why the big cans were a buck!
I did redo the bedroom and bathroom, but we were so doubled over w laughter our sides hurt!
What a way to 'lighten the mood.' baDumBUMP!! I'll be here all week, folks!😁
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@waterbug1135
But little do people realize how debilitating this can be.
My AI biometric screening said that I was obese. (Yeah...a hunk of metal should know)
I have gone through major surgeries, I am 4'11" (& 3/4"🙄), and I got up to about 170 lb. Many people couldn't tell because of the clothing I chose to wear. Classic tank dresses, a flowy jacket, non clingy, etc.
I had gone to a new doctor and she stated my 'bad' cholesterol was "through the roof" & immediately wanted to put me on meds.
I asked to wait for 6 weeks (and got the results. "Bad" cholesterol was 106..."normal" is below 100🤔)
I also realized that they only test for cholesterol every 5 years or so... So why was she so worried about it now? Because I was new & I must have never heard it before.
So I replaced the sweeeet tea w flavored iced green teas & cut the sugar from 1/2 CUP to 2 tblspns, replaced the muffin & donut breakfast w oatmeal & Greek yogurt and made my own muffin from a recipe I created w very little sugar, replaced the burger/fry run w home cooked crockpot & air fryer meals (who knew air fried cabbage was a thing!) & cut my daily Hershey intake to once every other week or so (sort of🙄)
I upped those fruits & raw veggies & started walking the halls of the elementary school I'm at to 3 times every other day.
One time around when the kids are not in the Halls is just over 3/4 of a mile.
I went back to the doctor 6 weeks later. I was down to 157ish, another 4 weeks and I was at 140!
In the meantime, I tracked back through my health screenings 10 years and found that my "bad" cholesterol was ALWAYS between 103-106 never higher!
When I asked 'who' this less than 100 was for, she said well, that's 'ideal' for everyone.
Then I asked her how come over the past 10 to 15 years no one has ever said anything? No answer.
I asked so ONE number negates the 20 other 'normal to excellent' results?
No I'm not saying to ignore your cholesterol levels or to ignore a doctor.
But I had to take a good look at my life and see, yes, I could lose a few pounds. But I've stayed steady at 140/size 10 for the past 3 years (and my mom, g mom & great-grandmother all wore 10/12, walked daily, & didn't smoke, drink, And they've all lived into their '90s.
Progress is what one should strive for. Progress beats perfection.
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I remember scheduling a tour of the Chik fila museum w my kids as one of our summer excursions.
When we first relocated from NY to GA in '94, I really didn't think about the fact that S. Truett Cathy deciding to not have his restaurants open on Sundays was a thing.
But I wasn't even considering all the ff places that were open.
Our family Saturdays were spent cooking for the week (two proteins, 3 veggy choices, some type of starch, choice of sugary sweet tea and syrupy sugar water, a butter filled dessert, and always salad 'fixins.' I guess to try & pretend it would counter balance all the other stuff🤷♀️)
I had adopted the routine my then husband's mom had set when they were growing up. She was a stay at home mom, though. So cooking all day for the week was fine for her as well as cooking different items daily.
My mom worked bankers hours w Friday late nights. I often accompanied my dad to various train stations to run the booths on the LIRR. He often was our 'pseudo' chef and took up the slack (swim lessons, appointment taker to-er, bday party accompanier, etc)
Mom made simple casseroles or crockpot meals.
My former spouse's parents didn't do that. Even in pain, it was expected that she would clean, cook, it would get devoured, and that was just the way it was. But, of course, all I saw was the after effects: the house was always tidy, food always available, smiles everywhere. Yeah...no. it was truly a facade.
Me: I became exhausted and frustrated that I was also expected to work outside as well as tend to the children (whom I did not create alone), tend to the house, and expected to make mini banquets each week. This made no sense.
I got to the point where I was so 'heavenly minded that I was becoming no earthly good."
I started that frustrating fiasco at 21 and made my Exodus 21 yrs later.
I knew things had to change and if not then (now), when?
I had to step back and regain the semblance of normalcy that worked for me.
Now, I am in no way condoning divorce or separation. But I felt like I was being guilted into needing the slightest sliver of 'chill time' (which usually was just journaling uninterrupted on the patio).
I actually felt bad when I wasn't constantly 'doing' something for others.
When I made my Exodus, I had to pull back and take time to navigate our new normal. But it seemed like the 'waiting' was what I needed:
I had to wait for assistance results (the worst that could be said was 'No.')
I had to wait for answers to requests for payment arrangements or due date changes (working for the school system, we are paid once monthly).
I had to wait for creditors to respond and accept/reject payment settlements from the 'fun toys' someone else decided was worth spending all the children's monetary gifts to procure.
It was that 'waiting' that was truly needed.
I adjusted as things adjusted.
It took me several years to just be honest w myself. If I'm running around tending to everything all the time, eventually I would be of no use to anyone and I'd wind up with a trio of enabled, immature people who felt that everyone else owed them the world. People who, when they delve into another's life and are not given a play-by-play of that person's life itinerary, they retaliate w scorn, belittling comments, mocking, and intimidation.
You owe no one any explanation as to why you are choosing to pull back, focus on your priorities, and position yourself to becoming a balanced person.
It still amazes me how 'now' social media has conditioned people to be.
"When's the next video?"
"When are you going to interview so-&-so?"
"I spent all day/week waiting and you didn't post this/that/the other."
"I'm insulted you didn't respond with a detailed playbook with subsections to my request for the Pythagorean theorem in modern jargon 🤔🙄)
Although you don't owe anyone an explanation as to why you're re-prioritizing choices and revamping things, I appreciate you sharing why/what/how you'll be posting your content.
Bravo for doing what's going to work for you and your family🥰
Best always to you!
🚐☁️☁️
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@ 6:30 when you start speaking of the minimum wage, and 40 hours computation, that didn't even include the taxes that you're going to have taken out.
So you're basically already starting underwater and upside down.
In Georgia, the state minimum wage is $5.15 but it defaults to the federal minimum wage $7.25....woot woot... Hey, honey! What you want for dinner tonight? Alpo or Meaty Bone?😮
I remember seeing an episode of the 70s sitcom "Good Times" where an elderly neighbor had reverted to sometimes eating cat food. She said it was because the amount of her social security made it so that she couldn't get enough food stamps.
And even though this was a fictitious sitcom, it has always been in my mind since the first time I saw it. Even before I understood what social security was about. Then I learned and understood it to be a supplement.
But with companies that have closed, pensions that were stolen (YouTube "Fun with Dick & Jane" (I prefer the remake. I saw in the credits where Jim Carrey actually employed former employees of Enron, Tyco, etc. companies that had all stolen employees' pensions) or liquidated, and in general the cost of everything outpacing the income, it just boggles my mind how anything is supposed to work.
My aunt worked for the school system since the mid-60s through the mid-80s. Her husband had been killed when she was pregnant with their last baby. The situation had it so that she did not get any type of widow's benefit. The school system does not pay into social security. A lot of them down here, if at all, have opted out of ss, including the school system I work in. The thing that gets me, though, is the convoluted 4 pages of explanation that lets us know that they are not paying into social security, that the 6% is essentially going into our paycheck each month, and that 3% is going into one of the two pension funds.
If I did not love to read so much, I don't think I would have even taken it to heart. I literally had to sit with a dictionary and a thesaurus when I first started working here 19 years ago to understand the jargon.
And then they have something called the "hidden paycheck" which is the other stuff that the school system pays for on our behalf (like whe %Of health insurance).
But even as recently as two years ago, when our administrative Assistant retired, she miscalculated. Even after she had met with the retirement department. It turns out that because of the month she retired in, she ended up missing signing up for the health insurance.as a retired. So she had to look into the Marketplace. But because her retirement income was above the guidelines, she wound up having to shell put $400 a month for a basic health policy. She had the 30 yrs but wasn't old enough to get the soc sec she'd accumulated from previous employers yet.
You just can't make it make sense.
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Furthermore...🤦♀️
My mom has nails just like L.A.V.A.Lindy.
I remember envying her nails when we'd have 'polishing parties' on Saturday nights in preparation for church and the week ahead.
Mom (& Sally Hansen😆) taught me how to thin out goopy polish, how to take a Q-tip & dab a little remover to get polish off the cuticle, how to Vaseline down then wrap my hands in sandwich bags and then put gloves on to deep moisturize.
We created our own sugar scrubs... you know, the kind that they charge an arm & a leg for now🙄
We layered shimmery plums over hot pink to create hues that no one else had then put a light coat of clear shimmer..
I learned to grow out my own and had many girls ask me how I grew them out and how to file them.
My prom and wedding pictures were gorgeous.
Then about 3 yrs later, one of my friends asked me to be in her wedding. She sent all of us to a nail salon. I told her I didn't prefer false nails but I had never had them done. So everybody went to this place that they had all gone to frequently. The very first time it was done, my skin itched, I had to remove them immediately after the service, and my nail bed was so torn down from whatever adhesive they used, it took me about 4 months in using a series of my own mixture of mint, coco butter, vitamin e oil & olive oil (I still make & carry a little container in my purse. It's going on 37 yrs now.)
All it took was that one time to ruin my nail bed to never succumb to that again (and please save any "you didn't get a professional" "the person was inexperienced" "they used cheap materials" blahblahblah for someone who cares.)
Those of us who can grow them out and care for our own nails don't need to convince anyone.
Lindy and others of our generation remember when nail salons were more for the well to do and fancy.
We pride ourselves in 'doing our own' and remember when we'd never have thought of having some random stranger masked up touching, poking, clipping & snipping then deciding how THEY want our nails to be filed.
~Just facts of my life.
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You know what I especially love about your channel?
I love that no matter what anyone's living modem may be, there is no, "wouldn't you want: something bigger? Something smaller? Something that looks more like..something that you wish didn't look like...blah blahblah.
I appreciate that you ask people if there's anything THEY would do differently, not interject what you would prefer. You're extremely respectful. Thank you..
When I made my Exodus 12 yrs ago, I took 1 of the 4 marital vehicles. All things considered, it was the best running at the time and the only one that could accommodate our 3 children.
Every month, though, it was giving up the ghost and the $250/month pymnt had an additional $300 in repairs. Within 4 months, it left us stranded 60 miles from home at my daughter's chorus event.
I'd been researching and knew the Matrix was for me.
I signed my name on the dotted line for Trixi and did a voluntary repo on the money pit.
That first holiday, I dropped our daughter over for Thanksgiving, said my hellos & well wishes to all (his family still sends me holiday greetings), then left for my planned happenings.
Christmas time came and his Uncle Ro & wife called to wish me happy holidays. His uncle said he was genuinely happy to see me making my way.
Now, Uncle Ro speaks the exact verbiage of Boomhauer from 'King Of the Hill.' I'm talking clipped mumbles & all! He proceeded to tell me that the ex had told him that he "could never drive that little bitty box all cramped up. She should've gotten a blahblahblah."
Uncle Boomhauer told me he cut him right off & told him, "Look here, Mayn...She ain't buy dat cah fa yu, Mayn. She baht dat car fa huh & dem chi'ren."
I sure do love Uncle Ro! 🥰
Thanks for letting us tag along!
🚐☁️☁️
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I really appreciate this video.
I'm not an engineer, per se, but I have tinkered with, and 're-engineered' some things to make life a little bit easier along the way, even though I'm still in sticks & bricks.
Our plan is to get a simple RV to hitch our tiny Toyota to visit some state campgrounds. We're both mid '50s and have decided that we would much rather be able to fire up the RV and take three short staycation weekends than one big long one in the middle of the year.
We have become increasingly disheartened and basically disgusted with hotels over the past few years.
You'd think w opening back up, you would expect that the hotel business would really step up to try and get people back. Not even close. Even the higher end has just turned me off. (WHY is it no matter what, the sticky spot ALWAYS finds MY bag!🤷♀️)
But for the price we pay, we figured if we would modify our vacations and buckle down and save that money for 18 to 24 months, we could have a simple rv, something that we would both enjoy, and we could just drive to wherever we like to visit.
It would also give us the opportunity to not have to deal with overhead noise, hauling everything out in front of oggling eyes, and dealing with the ever-increasing cost for the ever decreasing service.
So much of social media is surrounded by the jazz hands people..the "if you don't have what I have, you're just a poor lost soul."
I absolutely love your interviews because the overwhelming theme is "if it works for you, I'm happy for you." Or as I heard a long time ago: if you like it, I love it!
~Love the G.L.O.W!🥰🚐☁️☁️
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I'm listening to this one more time because I know that I desperately need to hear this. In my quest for perfection, I returned to school to relearn a skill that I had worked successfully at for a year in 1994. There was very little computerization of that skill so I didn't have the many many things that assist us with that skill now.
Yet I am terrified to venture out into that field again. I've earned two national certifications, I have all the workbooks and my pages (or should I say volumessss) of notes, my instructors have said that I was more than ready, and yet I still find myself stagnated.
I know I could probably wipe out the loan that I took to relearn the skill within 2 years.
My mother was a perfectionist, then life happened, but as I was growing up, things had to be just so.
So I see where the detriment may have stemmed from.
I married someone w these characteristics (the type that would deliberately drive straight through what would normally take 18 hours just to brag it only took that person 14 hours...🙄... When small children and subsequently smaller bladders are involved, this is NOT a bragging point😡)
It took me over a TWO decade to confront and subsequently leave this situation.
Actually, it was this phrase, "maybe nothing you've ever done, nor will ever do, will be good enough for me."
Welp... If that wasn't a major clue, I don't know what was.
But I digress... I have had many sessions of therapy, and I still do to help me face my stagnation. I think I'm getting there...progress is progress...
I'm working through an orientation and training session for the skill I've acquired. An agency actually reached out to me over 6 months ago so I'm trying not to kick myself about procrastinating so long.
~Thank you for the video. I do have and use free counseling sessions through my insurance to assist me with this. I feel a milestone being reached at least within the next month!
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Sometimes, if I get a call and think it's someone I'm expecting, I'll answer (like my dr or nurse)
If they say my first name or ask for me, I immediately ask who's calling, before I say "speaking" or "this is she."
If they continue without telling me who they are, I immediately interrupt and I tell them you "may be" on a recorded line.
If it's legit, they will usually continue,
because my doctor usually is on a recorded line anyway.
But if it's some kind of random person trying to sell me something, they'll usually hang up. Sometimes I'll say we have a bad conn--and hang up.🤪
I don't usually have to entertain too many of those calls because most people are in my contacts.
But for the rare occasion that I do get them, or they slip by, the "you may be on a recorded line" usually gets them to leave me alone and then I can block the number.
Seems like a lot, but I'd rather do that than keep letting it get me angry and possibly miss an important call. (And there aren't too many since my remission, but when I had various doctors and appointments with techs and schedulers calling, it cut down on the trash calls.
My MIL used to blow a whistle or an airhorn, but I'm too cheap to buy one. Sounds fun though 🤣
I still find it extremely strange that we can see the rings around Saturn as if they're on our own ceiling but the surveillance on an alleged criminal 20 feet from TEN cameras walking out of a store resembles Oscar the Grouch in a hoodie that NO ONE can ever make out!🙄
Lastly, I set up a credit carma account because I can check my account and any possible accounts that have been opened in my name on a daily basis and it won't affect my credit rating. The annualcreditreport. Com only allows one free report per year and by the time you get access to it, if you pay for another report, someone could have opened up several accounts in your name.
I know there are also credit monitoring sites, that come with bank accounts, but even those are not as accessible all the time.
I would rather be proactive and check it myself rather than wait for them to catch a breach
I also Google my name occasionally to see what may be connected. One of the reasons I refuse to go back to my maiden name (it's a very common name) is because there is a woman serving life (but we all know 'life' may not be 'life') in upstate New York somewhere with the same first and my maiden name. The last thing I need is to be picked up if she breaks out. (Regardless of the fact she's a different race, I take nothing for granted) 😮
Gotta stay as vigilant as possible.
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As my best friend pointed out, we are ALL on the spectrum to some extent.
From savants to Asperger's to ASD I, II & III, Even OCD (in my opinion) is a form of an exceptionality.
I've learned so much about myself in interacting with our Special needs students over the past 20 yrs at my school.
My first year, I met sweet Kayla L. She had Asperger's. She had to bring two backpacks to school. One w her supplies, the other with her dolls...all of them. There were melt downs if things weren't just so. But she received assistance (affective social skills, reasoning, etc.) She graduated high school and is an EMT now,🥰
Next year I met Lena S. She played piano without music or lessons. She was 4 and completely non verbal, but had a smile that lit up the room. She 'found' her voice in third grade. The day the speech pathologist called her mom during lunch we were in tears! She had communicated using sign language. She had a voice, just chose to not use the verbal form. She also had Down's Syndrome.
Then there was J.R. he was wheelchair bound and had some cognitive issues and motor issues, but he had the most hilarious sense of humor. He was categorized as SLD (Specific Learning Disability. I find it ironic that specific learning disability is not specifically specific🙄
If there was a sub, he loved locking the wheels to his chair during bus dismissal so half the time they'd wind up slamming into the back of him. He found this utterly hilarious. (Picture your 12 yr old hitting the back of your heels w the grocery cart, only reverse 🤣😵💫)
Everyone has something to contribute. We just have to be open to receiving it.
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One of the things to keep foremost in our mind is that we are given intuition for a reason. Some have a more developed sense than others, but it's there. Trust it.
We always hear of flight, fight, or freeze.. I'd encourage every one of us to ditch that "freeze" mentality.
Practice your game face in front of your mirror.
With the advent of YouTube, we can all Look up a few simple yet effective moves and learn the most vulnerable spots to get us away to safety:
Eyes/poke, chin/sharp shove, ears (anyone ever had their ears pulled/boxed for wriggling around in church?), throat (a good throat punch will release at least one of his hands), instep/STOMP on it! Hands/pull them backward as hard as possible then RUN!
And of course the ever unpopular & proverbial painful: the groin...Just think "ROCKETTE" and let that foot do the job! You'll wonder how they've made it without your high steps!
This is not the time to threaten: if you've got it, use it. Don't say what you've got (I've got a 'weapon' & I'm not afraid to use it.) I give you permission, just USE it!!
We're not necessarily wanting to engage but distract to buy us time to get away.
If you're using a public shower, be aware of your items. If you can put things in a locker, even better.
~Best to all
🚗☁️
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You asked for it...
I started journaling in 5th grade. It was an assignment given to us by a woman who would become my absolute FAVORITE teacher, Mrs. Glenda Good.
I LOVED reading, but writing...not so much, until that assignment.
That was the year I saw Marsha Brady (from the Brady Bunch) get a diary. So I asked my mom for one and got it for Christmas! I've been journaling ever since. (I'm 54)
Throughout the years, I've written short stories, essays that have been published & helped me earn scholarships, poems that have won contests, petitioned administrators and advocated for my children, contacted omnibusmen/state representatives to help & advocate for elder care recipients, and most recently, addressed board commissioners to reconsider and address rezoning decisions (not completely successfully, but as they say, if ya don't vote, don't complain. At least my thoughts were considered and a compromise was reached).
But I have to also share the overwhelming sense of gratitude I have for being able to still LOVE the release it gives me. I get to look back at some of the toughest times and see how things did (or didn't) work either as I thought but went in another direction completely.
Words are my love (if you couldn't already tell🥰).
I was an official court reporter for 1 year right out of court reporting college in New York. A month after my wedding, all non-salaried positions were frozen. I was let go, I parlayed all of the typing skills and clerical procedures into working as a human resources assistant in a bank.
We relocated a year later with a baby in tow to GA. Two more babies, 2 houses, 12 cars, lots of transition, & 21 yrs later, and I made my Exodus from an increasingly tumultuous marriage to start over. I had started working for my children's school system once all of them were in public school. This is my 20th yr.
11 years from that, the two oldest are military, one SpecOps, the other, medically retired working as a corrections officer and just earned a welding certification.
The last little birdie graduated Magna Cum Laude last May from the local college that everybody teased her about for going to, less than $3,000 in student loans, earn that bachelor's degree and signed on with an international company, she just bought a home on an acre and a half 2 hours south.
I just think back to when we were in an ant infested mold riddled rental and how my school clerk once a month salary left $19.85 a week after every thing was paid. If it weren't for the food co-op, I can't imagine.
I made $1.02 too much a month to qualify for food stamps.
Through bc, bankruptcy, repos, foreclosure, I am so grateful to be here.
I remember getting up pre-dawn on Saturday mornings & driving into neighborhoods where I would see work trucks (painters, plumbers, etc.) parked. I knew the homes were affordable and lots had long term families. I drove around for months, days & hours until I finally found something I could afford. Some days I was so defeated. The approval, funding, & rate were ready...now If only I could find the right one. I'd fired two realtors and was at my wit's end.
Then it happened. I found it, called the inspector, made my bid, got it inspected, and three days until next month's rent would have been due, I closed on it! Called up the youth group & family, rented the 26' Uhaul & cleared that rental in one day! Called the sheriff to return his keys and I was outta there!!
Now, I'm in a peaceful sticks & bricks. Although it's 50 yrs old and eminent domain is a looming threat, I am grateful to be termite & bug free (except for the ladybugs that seem to love my light blue painted walls🤷♀️) and the only mold is growing out back with the moss & mushrooms😁).
I returned to school online to relearn my court reporting skill and I recently earned my National Certification.
Learning all the new technology is truly Wilma Flintstone meeting Jane Jetson. But it is great to know that I have another technologically challenged trial by fire person in Carol! Thank you!☺️
I've heard it said, and I try not to forget: remember when what you prayed for was what you now have ❤
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Yes!
G.L.O.W. found me about 2 weeks ago as my last little birdie flew the nest and I started looking at options for my lone lifestyle.
My OCD would not let me watch the videos out of order, so I started back at the oldest and now, April 9th 2024, I'm here😊
Call me weird, call me nuts, but one of my most favorite parts is finding out all of the options for indoor restrooms!
It's not like it's put out on display, and there are "sample results" to comment on, just plain, simple, what everybody does and takes for granted. I'm also following a single nomad vanlifer who actually videoed no less than 4 restrooms to show why a portable option was more appealing than the public options.
I especially like the no build builds for vans & cars.
Carol is kind, intelligent, not condescending in any way whatsoever, peaceful and relevant! As a mid-50s single, looking for options as I reach retirement so that I will have some sort of retirement, I look forward to her interviews.
As we've traveled throughout the past few years, we have also been highly disappointed with the hotels that we have stayed in.
Even the "immaculate" Airbnb options had me cleaning up what they missed.
My stick vac should not pick up crumbs and pet hair if they had just vacuumed before we got there 🙄
Anyway, I look forward to putting the videos on as I take my daily walk around my school between classes.
I'm doing the best I can to make my health incentive dollars stretch and to keep these bones in working order.
Welcome fellow G.L.O.W.bie!🎉🚗☁️
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Welcome to my neck o' the woods!
(I transplanted from LI, NY in '94.
Just when I thought I was considered a little bitty bit Southern after so long, someone asked me today where I'm from...he was from Brooklyn, moved here about 9 months ago and is a substitute teacher at my school.
I went to give him a class roster and he said he heard it in my voice when I said my, "Hey. Howarya!"🤣)
I found a tiny home community in Clarkston, GA (when I say found, I mean FOUND! I think I made Google mad because it had me doing u-turns about four times before I finally got it right and finally didn't pass right by it again.🤣
They are built by a non profit called the Microlife Institute. There are tours as well. But I'm looking for more of a community that's geared around older people. When I checked the sold price, all of them were well over $200,000. 😕
And I didn't notice any as single levels.
I'm not quite sure if they were intended for specific groups of people, such as homeless, veterans etc. but they are aesthetically pleasing. There are 8 on a half acre. (Which is what I'm on) There's a common mail box like PO boxes as well as parking area and then you walk to your home, past a communal fire pit and Adirondack chairs. All homes had covered porches. I personally think the surrounding area is a bit busy, but to put the houses the way they are situated on that acreage is beautiful.
But there are upcoming TOURS where we can speak to the homeowners! They are 492+ sq ft.
We rented a 500 sq ft cabin in Ellijay last October and I was instantly hooked! I deliberately rented a single level without a loft because I didn't want to climb anything.
But I digress. Back to the tiny homes:
It is on a bus line, it is not far from a major hospital, and health departments, that particular county does have lower taxes than mine one county over, and it does lead to the farmers market that's been there since 1977 where it started as a produce stand. Now, it's enclosed and offers more than 1000 sq ft of items. It represents over 40 countries and is in the most ethnically diverse county in the southeast with more than 64 spoken languages and (I'm sure) more dialects.
I live about 20 minutes away in the next County over and a 2 and 1/2 acre lot 400 ft from us that is on our corner is being bulldozed for more townhouses.
We went to ALL commissioner meetings for 2+ years trying to ask them to reconsider the petition the investor had of rezoning the lot from single family to townhomes.
We asked them would they consider 8-12 bungalow type smaller homes on the lot since our County allows 8 townhomes per acre and they originally wanted to put up 16. All starting at $400k+ back then. Now, they're more.
The bungalow, single level would be inviting to seniors and small families, perhaps those getting back on their feet & would provide a nice mix of age ranges. We were told "nobody wants to mow a lawn"😕 (funny...there are 11 houses on our little street all on 1/2 acre lots. Our lawn person is $125 A MONTH and we NEVER have to call him. He comes every other week.
I'm watching the baby birds nesting in my oaks right now...but if I go to the mailbox at the end of the driveway, and look the other direction , I can see the gridlock traffic through the bare acreage they just bulldozed😞
He who had the big bucks basically won.
The Board of commissioners did reduce the allowable amount of town homes from 18 to 16...which will add to the 216 units already across the street within a 1.5 miles radius.
ALL, EVERY SINGLE ONE has 13 steps leading up. Garage is underneath, but you still have stairs inside to get to the living areas.
The walking trails and passive park that was promised 5 years ago when the first 200 townhomes went up has never materialized. We asked several times at the meetings and got silence.
Teens are commonly seen just sitting on the electrical boxes. When the pool is open, there is NO lifeguard & it's not shaded and if dues aren't paid, they can't get the code to get into the area so they just hang out until it gets too hot. Then who knows what happens since none seem to have jobs in the manymanymany fast food places or carwashes (4 within a mile of each other).
I've planted extra muscadine vines on my side for the deer that have migrated to my back woods for shelter.
I'm less than 10 years away from full retirement from the school system I work for.
My last little birdie just flew the nest to make her own home 2 hours south in Georgia on a 2-acre pecan orchard that has orange and apple trees.
Who knows... I might just be moving into a camper and renting out a spot on her land 🤔
Our two oldest are military. So, in a sense, nomads themselves 😎
I'm de-cluttering this 1700 sq ft blessing to prepare for the encroachment.
I've also found a location in Jackson, GA for 55+ yr olds to possibly rent a lot for an RV or camper.
I can see the writing on the wall....... And every time I leave for work and I come back and there are more logging trucks I can hear Phil Collins lyric, "I can feel it coming in the air tonight.."🎵🎶
I can't thank you enough for this channel finding me.
I've already bought my tickets to a tiny home/RV/travel festival at the end of the month about an hour from me. Who knows, maybe we'll boondock and see how things go since the ticket is good for both weekend days🎉
Alternatives to sticks & bricks is a very real concern for me and I refuse to be caught off guard.
Stay hydrated and safe travels to you😊
~Thank you for such relevant content!
🚗☁️☁️
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This is where one of those bumper stickers that says, "I'm with Bob" would sure come in handy!!
My parents were raised in Chattanooga, TN, so we've been sent back from New York every summer since we were about 2 to all the way through our mid-teens to the Lookout Mtn area. I absolutely loathe the incline, but when you're a kid, it's fun (I guess)🙄
As an adult, I've driven up the side of Lookout Mountain, a few times. I've only gone to Point Park to watch a sunset.
I did treat my daughter to a visit to Rock City and Ruby Falls for her 15th bday. But the twists and turns are definitely not for the faint of heart. I don't remember ever seeing anything larger than a passenger van so maybe there's a height restriction. I have no idea... I was too busy trying to keep my heart from coming through my chest!
Caveat for those who've never been to Rock City/Ruby Falls and the Incline:
First: the Incline is about a 75° grade. It is a PULLEY system. There is NO bathroom unless you're at the bottom or the top. You will have NO transportation at the top unless you intend to walk. Point park is a park with monuments, plaques, a few cannons, and overlooking the TN River.
The gift shop is ok.
2nd& 3rd: Rock City and Ruby falls are a nine minute drive (if you don't miss the signs🤦♀️), but it's about an HOUR+ walk. There are few if any sidewalks and keep in mind this is a city. Generations of people live up there. It is a very private area. Other than the gift shops & Point Park (which closes as sunset & no overnight parking), it's (in my opinion) a fun day trip coupled with a walk downtown)
You do NOT want to think you can just walk around up there.
We went on the 95th anniversary of the discovery of Ruby Falls (which is still somewhat of an issue w the Native Americans my grandmother is descended from...)
If you are claustrophobic, be aware. It is inside the mountain and the tour route is narrow and uneven. Be prepared w sturdy, comfortable sneakers & a jacket if you get cold easily.
Rock City is fun in the summer, but again, lots lots lots of walking.
I enjoyed it w my daughter.
You can purchase combo tickets, but do NOT buy the incline unless you're ok with not having transportation when you get up there.
(Plus it might be closed).
So glad you made it safely and are humble enough to share😊
🚗☁️☁️
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I also keep/carry snacks w me, including a drink (mostly water). But for those who like to have flavored water, they have little squirt enhancers that you could squirt into your bottle of water.
I'll buy my big bag of chips, or nacho flavored faux Doritos, or trail mix at the grocery store and put them in little small containers that I get from Dollar tree. That way I have a variety of things to munch on if I'm not going straight home. But whenever I go to a gas station, there's always that temptation to buy something extra if you go inside even to use the restroom. Now, I have it in my little cooler already in my car. We all know the price of "convenience" when you can easily get $30 worth of gas and come out having paid $10 extra for two bags of chips, a sweet treat, and a drink.
My little Coleman cooler is about the size of 2 6packs so it's little. I use reusable ice packs (just two from home). I keep a couple of bottles of water, a container of air popped popcorn, some pretzels, maybe an apple or small oranges. Most of the time, I still have snacks left over for snacking at home.
I also map out all my errands and start w the furthest one first (unless there's a store along the way that I think may run out of something, like Ollie's.) I start with the farthest place I'm going to visit first. I tried to make the farmers market or grocery store the last place so my insulated bags really work how they're intended to work and I don't come home with lukewarm items.
I also have informed delivery to check to see if there's any mail for me at my PO box. I use my PO box to eliminate porch pirates from helping themselves or to have any significant cash back from credit card rewards I might get.
Usually, if there is any type of cash rewards, if it's less than a few dollars I have it credited back to the card.
But my daughter recently purchased a lot of designer stuff off eBay with the intention of reselling it when the sale price of the items ended. But the sale price is still going on. So she would not have made a profit. (Capitalism is what it is)
So she decided to return all the items to get a refund. eBay refunded it all back to the credit card. Since it was a zero balance on the credit card, it was a significant amount showing as a credit.
If you have a zero balance (I don't carry a balance. Contrary to what they tell you, your credit will significantly improve and show "paid as agreed" when you do NOT carry a balance. I've proved it for 18 years.)
When something gets refunded to your credit card and your balance is at zero, call the credit card company IMMEDIATELY and ask them to issue you a check for the overage. Do this BEFORE charging anything else so you get the full amount back. They can't direct deposit but they will issue a check which I had sent to my PO box. Our mailboxes are at the curb, and lot of people just walk their dogs along my street. I know that it's a federal offense to mess with the US mail and people's mailboxes, but thieves really don't care, now do they?🤦♀️
It was over a few hundred dollars so it really made a difference, especially since she's out on her own now.
I save gas, time, and energy if nothing is showing on my informed delivery app. And if the image that is showing is junk mail, I just ignore it and don't go until I'm closer to the location.
I also get gas when it's cooler (remember, gas is gas so it can evaporate) & at the Quick trip, the pastries are less than .50 after 3p.m. I sometimes catch their muffins and will buy what's left and refrigerate or freeze them for breakfast and I make my own cocomochalatte (I buy my own mix from $$ store) and have a stainless steel thermos that keeps hot drinks hot for about 5 hours. I just can't see paying $4+ for sugared up coco in a not big enough cup that goes cold within an hour😞
I also have a small clip on fan to circulate air when it's not cold enough for the heat but not warm enough for the ac and the pollen is too horrendous to crack my window. I got a clip on fan the size of my cell phone at 5 Below.
It feels GREAT knowing I'll still have something in my pocket at the end of the week😊
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Indeed! She could have taken him to the independent bathroom, which is usually a single restroom reserved for people who may be in a wheelchair.
Or, how about this, telling dad to hold his game for one hot second to be responsible and take his son to the restroom.
I remember going to our local rec center with a friend at the age of 12. We had gone swimming, and had finally come out to the locker room to get changed.
There was an older woman who had had a mastectomy. (I had no idea at the time of course) I had no idea of why she looked like that and my friend actually started giggling at it. I just felt like she must be in such pain.
Keep in mind, I was a very underdeveloped 13 year old so to me it just looked strange not that she was flat on one side, but that she wasn't flat on both sides. Because I was very undeveloped and flat at 13.
Anyway I moved on with life but when I was diagnosed at the age of 42 and subsequent reconstruction, I know exactly what that woman was feeling.
I had always been very self-conscious about my looks all through my marriage. And then when I finally made my exodus, and was diagnosed a year after, I felt even worse. I felt like I couldn't look at myself and that nothing would ever make me feel better.
I really had to dig within to finally come to terms with who I was, and how I looked and with my subsequent reconstruction. I chose to stop at a certain point so I may not appear 'normal' to others.
I am hyper modest now. And that's not to say that I won't put on a swimsuit, but I am very aware of how I feel about my body. No one has a right to see me unless I give them that right.
I would have been extremely upset at seeing this child going through the locker room, and I would have reported it to management.
The second one: me...out loud: What's WRONG with you?
Me: in my head: punch in the throat.
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My last little one just flew the nest. I celebrated 54 yrs Last week and 11 yrs of survivorship as well.
Our 11 half acre to acre & a half lot neighborhood is being encroached upon by townhomes. The anchor 2.5 acre lot was just bought and bulldozed to add to the already 250+ 13 step units less than 100 feet away.
Builders paid $709k for one lot...but only want to offer us less than half. Foundations have shifted, hardwoods have been demolished, air &, water quality and traffic ,& noise are horrendous in our suburb 50 miles east of Atlanta.
We've deliberately planted more muscadine vines for the deer to munch on as many of their native food is no longer available. The foxes are also fewer and fewer.
We've fought for the past five years, attended manymanymany meetings (sometimes, I was the only one to show up 😞), requested from the commissioners that they would reconsider not rezoning the single family lot to townhomes and bungalow type homes (which would be VERY appealing to independent seniors or small families.) We were laughed at and were told, "Nobody wants to mow a lawn."😮
Oh...and let's not forget the 20% raise they gave themselves...funny... I don't remember seeing THAT on the ballot🤔
So I've been considering some major moves and G.L.O.W. found me!😊
I'm less than 10 yrs from full retirement @ the school system. But I don't want to be caught off guard. If they come for us, and our homes and lots, I'm going to have to make a major decision and the last thing I want to be is caught off guard.
I have taken so many things to the goodwill, value village, giving things away etc
I occupy a small bedroom downstairs which houses my small office space, my bathroom, my den, and my kitchen. Sounds like it's time for a downsize!
I may not do vanlife full-time, but I have been blessed to find a tiny home community within 30 minutes of my current home here in Georgia.
In searching, I also found a 55+ campground for those who choose to live in a more mobile situation.
I love that you have given us so many options to look at and consider.
I love that you put the hard questions for us to ask ourselves.
This is not something to be done on a whim, especially if it's a necessity.
I appreciate the respect you give.
There's no shaming if someone's situation is a tent or the Taj Mahal on wheels.
I don't think I'd truly be considering this lifestyle as an alternative if it weren't for G.L.O.W.
Simply put ...thank you🎉
🚗☁️☁️
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@ 9:12 my principal just hired a brand new first grade teacher who grew up and was homeschooled one block away from our school. I have worked there 19 years. She would come in and participate in 5th grade when we had the 4-H presentations, and she was also able to receive community-based speech services.
She holds her bachelor's in Early childhood education k-12, has both a Gifted and ELL endorsement as well as a reading endorsement. She is a first responder and is also bilingual. She turned 22 this year.
Yet I work w 22+ yr veteran teachers who refuse to even look at doing anything more (and does it SHOW!) than their bare minimum of just showing up 😤.
As the data management person who has to enter all info, I see reports of 5th grade "team" teaching where they release their kids to wander the halls at least 15 minutes ahead of the class change, yet admin doesn't realize that most of the discipline referrals that happen are when the students are released into the hall at that time and the cameras have caught vandalism, inappropriate activities, or wandering the campus unescorted...what could possibly go wrong🙄. That's just one example where the negative is outweighing the positive.
I strongly believe that parents are and always will be their child's first teacher. They ought to be their best teacher as well.
My nephew is a first-generation fully homeschooled young man. My brother, his dad, a Marine, and my sister-in-law decided from the beginning that they would homeschool him. Especially with the onslaught of having to switch every few tours and move around all over the place. This became the very best constant that could ever have happened. He is now in intelligence for the military, living his dream.
You have a right and indeed an obligation to ensure you give the best foundation possible. And, speaking from 1st hand experience, it's beautiful to see what you've put into your child that will enrich her and give her the best of foundations: nature and hope!
~best to you always!
🚐☁️☁️
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@ 3:59 I completely understand.
I called it following "The Formula"...do well in school, graduate, either go to college, the military, or apply into the work sector, get married, have 2.5 kids (maybe the .5 is the dog 🤷♀️), put down roots, KNOW your neighbors, pot lucks at the community center, raking leaves and shoveling snow for pocket money, retire, get a gold watch, then spend those retirement years watching glorious sunsets....
Yeahhh...not so much...😕
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My mother was raised in the projects of Alton Park, Chattanooga.
It was a meager existence, at best.
She gave up a full nursing scholarship to Tuskegee to marry my dad. They moved to New York in '64 right after graduating HS.
My mom went into banking and my dad worked on the Long Island RailRoad.
They saved their money and purchased a 1932 Cape Cod fixer upper in 1975.
Every last stick of furniture, appliances, cars, and clothing was either re re gifted, dumpster doven, or handed down.
When I got out on my own, everything was no less than 3rd hand.
For 21 yrs, I raised our children on thrifted, consigned and lost & found items.
As my mom had taught me: Just because times are bad doesn't mean you have to look hopeless.
When I left an increasingly abusive situation with just my business clothes and a few jeans, the kids, their suitcases & a car, you bet your last buck I made sure haircuts were gotten (via barter), hair was done (via students at the beauty college), clothes were mended and clean. I was gifted everything to get us back on our feet. Beds still in plastic, a TV that clearly needed to be put out of its misery but that still fired up to watch VHS tapes, cable wasn't an option for my wallet), well-worn couch & chair, part of a table. My crockpot worked overtime creating unique creations to keep the free potatoes from the bottom of the food pantry bin from going to waste.
My little Toyota didn't hold a candle to the principal and teachers' Lexuses, Hummers, Infinitis & and Mercedes, but you can bet your bottom buck, I kept those door dings to a minimum. Just because I couldn't afford their payments didn't give me an excuse to treat my little humble bootscooter like nothing. No one knew we were homeless for a month until I finally found an affordable rental.
As much as "Name brand" hasn't meant anything to me since I was a teen (Ooh la la...Sasoon!), I remember the desire to be accepted by my teenager peers. I remember mom scraping together enough to get me a pair of cowgirl boots when the craze came around. Dad had found a very outdated Walkman turned in at a station and unclaimed for a month.
It didn't matter that I still ate lunch alone, but for at least one semester, I wasn't teased for wearing the same shoes every day and I felt like I belonged.
I've been at my elementary school for 19 yrs. I know who the students are that are registered as homeless. I have called more than one or two parents at a time throughout the years to give them very nice items that my (now grown) kids have outgrown but still have somewhat of an 'it' factor to a kid.
Every parent wants their kid to have good friends and just not be picked on. As adults, we've lived through it. We know (or at least we should) what's really important.
I've heard my school nurse comment, "Aren't they supposed to be homeless? She's driving a BMW"😮
It's like these people never had better times.
Every Christmas, on YouTube, I watch a movie with Tess Harper called "A Christmas Wish."
There are about a dozen and a half movies w the same title, so I always have to put in "Tess Harper" (who is one of my most favorite actresses anyway).
It focuses on an out-of-work mother who was abandoned by her husband who packs up her daughter, stepson (abandoned by the husband) and toddler they head out to look for work (I take it to avoid being evicted from the trailer they were living in).
The car she's in is a Cadillac. It's the only thing they have. The kids are clean and well behaved. Being able to finally find a motel in a little town where she's able to find a job as a waitress. I know, it's one of those feel good movies (there is a sad part, an "I knew it moment" and a "Wow! Didn't see that coming moment, too."
But I was just thinking how someone could easily say, "how is she homeless? She's in a Caddy?"
As fictitious as the storyline is, it's reflective of the thought pattern.
I could just imagine somebody saying, "They should have put her in a beat-up Yugo... that's more believable."
But, no, actually, it's not.
If I still had the Chrysler Pacifica that blew up on us when I made my Exodus, I might have had a better vehicle & people may not have believed me, but we would have still been homeless.
You never know someone's story. Just because someone doesn't look like what they've gone through or what they're going through doesn't dismiss the fact that they may still be going "through it."
That's my 2 cents about that
Thanks for the opportunity to voice my thoughts.
P.S. You've got the RIGHT hat on for this one!! Tell it like it T. I. Izzzz!!😎
🚗☁️☁️
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@gloriouslifeonwheels3621
(EDIT: I just read the @ line for that response...if you put a 't' before the 'ch' I bet you'll get a chuckle... that's exactly what they're being 😉)
Keep in mind, some comments are 'bot' generated.
Some are just trolls w nothing better to do.
Some are posted to see how many responses then put the names of those who responded into search engines to generate all types of things.
This happens especially with "sponsored" videos. I clicked on another van life just to see content and "everything was great" & "nothing breaks because we have the super duper road blaster and we'd like to thank superduper wheels that we haven't had to change in 5 years!" I was like 'can this get any more sappy than it is?? Where are the REAL channels??🙄
But, because I had clicked and commented, I was bombarded with emails and ads for items that could only be bought in Europe! I have NO idea how, but I figured it was the bot or a troll since I started getting all these ads for tires!😂
I've unsubscribed from many that I didn't even subscribe to.
Don't give your energy to the silly comments. If, after you've responded, they never respond back, or, as we can see, the language is way off, just ignore it.
Decluttering and paring down. Prepping for weekend boondocking!
Woot! Woot!
🚗☁️☁️
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I do Curion surveys. They give a Visa card with the $$ you earn.
Most of them are taste tests. But when they do a product test, you can take the remainder home. I participated in a paper plate test. They gave us honey glazed chicken and lo mein noodles. You walk in a square then sit and follow the prompts on a screen (does the plate slide, is it sturdy, does the plasticware cut through, does the food seep through, etc). Then you put your uneaten portion into an aluminum pan (each person got their own).
It was a two day survey, about 20 minutes from me. I was able to get a time slot after I got off from work.
You can opt for a virtual card, but I wanted the physical one..
It was $150 and we had dinner and lunch for about 4 more days.
Sometimes they have a survey where you will come and pick up a product and take it home and just answer questions daily online about the product.
I did one for a week. Just a moisturizer. I put a little it on a place where if I had a reaction it wouldn't show (feet). I use the product for 15 days, answer the questions daily (about 5 minutes), returned the unused portion and that one got me (or the utility company rather😉) $200.
Sometimes there may be a 1 hour taste test in a couple of weeks. 40 and 50 bucks.
When my daughter did them (surveys) in college, she had made enough in gift cards that when she took a trip to Hawaii, that's all she used.
I recently did one that tastes tested a chocolate bar. That one gave $40.
CURION. Hopefully it helps someone 😊
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I've always been a "waste not want not" type of person. I also am of the mindset of, "that chicken's not dead until I say so!"🤣 After I've boiled any leftovers (usually with scallions, bell peppers, whatever veggies are in the mark down bin @ the farmer's mkt along w fresh herbs from my window container garden) and strained the broth, I dry the bones out in my toaster oven and crush them with my mortar & pestle for fertilizer in my bucket garden. I grow a vine of tomatoes, cukes or squash and a "mystery" bucket to see what will "catch"
One year I tried a pineapple, but the heat got to it😕
I freeze almost everything.
I was always a variably healthy eater, but cut out beef over 20 yrs ago (mainly due to the recalls from the Mad cow stuff & taking it back to the grocery store to turn in the meat).
Scraps from salmon at the farmers market and I put Italian seasoning n lemon juice on them in and air fry them.
The bone down the middle still has quite a bit of meat around it.
I make my own fresh pressed fruit smoothie in my juicer and strained (I don't prefer the pulp, so I scoop it from the strainer & use it to make a jam or compote & refrigerate it), add chopped up ginger, grapes, oranges, and a dollop of Greek yogurt.)
I incorporated daily salads when I started having children because that was really the only way I could get them to eat vegetables. (The 2 oldest nomads are soldiers and my youngest just bought an acre 2 hrs south so it looks like I might have a spot to boondock sooner than later due to rising taxes 🤔)
Now, salad is a main meal for all of us at times. I love the idea that for less than a dollar per serving, I can make a huge salad w chicken (from the boil), or some other protien, grapes, orange slices, cheese shreds, chopped ginger, my own dressing and usually can't finish it in one sitting. I can couple that w a little bowl of homemade soup and I'm more than full. 😊
My little 20 oz blender is my BEST friend.
I also look at other cultures for heart healthy ideas.
I implemented walking the halls of my elementary school between classes so that I am not doing an obstacle course between little bodies and legs. One time around up and down each Hall takes me about 7 minutes and it comes out to a little under a mile. I do that three times a day. I also keep a gallon jug of purified water in my little office and I steep green tea on top of my stove at home to bring and drink throughout the day. I like to get the fruit flavored kind from the farmers market. As long as I can look up the ingredients to ensure no adverse side effects, I'm good.
I've been a once a month paycheck for 20 years now. My mom was a banker from the mid-60s until the mid-90s and she was also a once a month paycheck person.
Set I learned to budget pretty early.
I really appreciate everybody sharing different tips and suggestions.
This is indeed what a YouTube channel should be about.
P.S. for those who may be in a guardianship or foster position caring for a toddler, just want to suggest if you receive SNAP/food stamps, inquire about WIC benefits as well. Stands for Women, infant & children.
It's a supplemental food program specifically geared to pre-birth (if you also know of or are assisting a low income pregnant woman, they may get certain specific food listed on a voucher to target healthier food choices. Once the baby is born, they can get formula assistance. If they nurse, they get different options (to assist w mom getting healthier food (I remember getting things like tuna and canned chicken choices when I nursed, but when my son would not nurse, I received extra formula).
Every little bit helps!
Best wishes to everyone!
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Someone once said:
Remember when what you HAVE (present tense) is what you USED TO wish for?🤔
My sweet shelter turns 50 this year. It's a tri level split built in 1974 by the man who's son and widow live two houses over. He also built three of the 11 (including his) on our block back in the '70s.
Mine has had bathrooms installed and removed, been a college house, a bachelor pad, a starter home, has hosted slumber parties (care of yours truly😊), rented out rooms, has survived at last count FIVE hurricanes with NO FLOODING!🙏🏾
The 1970s 2 car garage (and you KNOW how big those cars were!) was enclosed, carpeted, & vented about 20 yrs ago. My first Christmas here, I seated 21 people comfortably & still had room for the desserts table, the Christmas tree, and the coffee and punch table & 2 long tables & chairs.
It was wonderful!
The master bedroom closet (about the size of a portable wardrobe) really helps me keep my wardrobe minimal and I consider what things I can wear with a sweater or what types of things can be worn as a multi purpose so it's not so cluttered. All my clothes are thrift or consignment finds or hand overs 🥰
The previous owner painted everything neutral tans and gray, updated the original windows & voila! This home was IMMACULATE from nook to cranny! Sure it's not as shnazzy as the 8-9 bedroom 5 bathroom mansions around the corner (literally in walking distance), but who wants that many commodes to clean, right?🤣
A friend used to ask me why I don't get an alarm (I have a sign. 😉).
I told her because everything in the house is either what the burglar has already pawned or something they've probably donated to the thrift store.😆
Burglar #1: Hey! Grab that VCR!
Burglar#2: VCR?? Man!! I thought we'd get at least a flat screen! The latest thing this lady's got is 'Raiders of the Lost Ark' on video! Look! It's got a Blockbuster label still on it!
Burglar#1: let's check the toolshed!
Burglar #2: WHAT IS THIS??!! A push mower, shovel, broom, and a hacksaw! Where's the ride on lawnmower?? (I pay a teenager $25 a week to cut my lawn..he rides his father's mower two houses up from me & takes him 15 minutes to cut the whole 1/2 acre!)
Burglar#1: Okay! Nevermind that! Let's check the jewelry box!
Burglar #2: It's all costume!! Where's the good stuff??
(Here's a kicker: I pawned it to move in🤣
I have one sterling silver band and my father's Cuban link bracelet he always wore. I wear them daily. Everything else is coral, shells, plastic, or handmade using semi precious stones from the yard😊
~Thankful for my.little BigLots boom box and record player. ☺️
P. S. I was gifted an echo dot about 5 yrs ago. I use it for weather, positive affirmations, trivia, and stories (ask her to tell you a Thanksgiving or a Christmas story. (Alexa , tell me a ______ story). She also tells Halloween ones (not too scary, but fun) The Thanksgiving ones are my favorite, about 5 minutes each.
~Have a beautiful week everyone!🚐☁️☁️
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Wow! My natural clock has me down at 9 & it's 4 am as I read this. I celebrated 54 sol rotations this past Thursday 😊🎉
This brings back memories of my (then) hubs discovering his cousin sleeping in his Astro van back in '91.
He had been medically discharged from the Army only to find his identity stolen and credit shot when he got out.
Hubs disclosed the van living issue to my FIL and he moved into an upstairs bedroom across from ours in their house.
I remember him seemingly bitter, but 20/20 is truly hindsight.
He was now over an hour from the VA and other resources (American Legion (for medical liaison), legal aid (for the identity theft issue), tolls, gridlock traffic, etc.
No one understood why he seemed more angry than thankful. Over the years, I came to understand that he wasn't necessarily angry at the handout of the permanent shelter, but more upset that people refused to see living in his outfitted van was the better solution for him.
It isn't our lot to 'make' someone understand. It is our responsibility to accept (not necessarily agree), and we can always do this with respect.
I'm grateful to have raised a nomad who has taught me so much.
Now, as I contemplate my upcoming choices and decisions, I feel less intimidated and more empowered. As long as I keep learning and open my mind to alternative solutions, I know I'll be good.
Great content!
🚗☁️☁️
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My daughter just moved 2 hours south from where I am in GA and bought acreage on a pecan grove. It has orange and peach trees (WHAT??? maybe NOW I can finally get a peach from...uhh...mmm...oh, yeah! The PEACH state! I can't remember the last time I got a Georgia Peach that actually came from Georgia 🤔)
The rents are double and a half what her mortgage is. We are being crowded out, and bulldozed for the two and three story townhomes that are being thrown up within 3 to 4 months' time.
An anchor lot 400 ft from us with an older, unkept home was bought for $700k and is being bulldozed now as I post this. We petitioned the commissioners & builders for 3 yrs to consider not rezoning it to townhomes and to consider keeping it as single family and putting in 12 small bungalow, cottage type homes with one level.
We were basically laughed at by the builder and the contractor (who doesn't live here, of course🙄) and told "nobody wants to mow grass"😮
All the townhouses are three stories, 13 steps to get onto the main level. And they can put 7 per acre so they've been approved for 14, 3 story, no walking trails nor passive park as promised when the first 215 (yes, 215 (that's where I stopped counting) within a mile & a half radius) already there were first put in. Almost daily after school, I see older kids just sitting on the electrical boxes outside on phones.
If any have bikes or scooters, we welcome them to play on our street because it is not a cut through and they don't have to worry about the cars that go speeding through the townhomes' roundabout like SpeedRacer (despite a 25 mph sign. The little one that was hit should be getting his cast off soon😢).
All starting at $470k two yrs ago, so there are multiple families (most renting) crowding together into them to pay the rent to people that don't live here. (But business is business, I guess)
Yet our foundations are shifting from the granite they have to drill into and they only want to offer us less than half for our acreage. The deer are more prevalent in our thickets since the food source has been removed.
We are all nearing retirement, (except for the 4 little ones' parents next door😊). Out of the 11 homes on our street, 5 are veterans, 3 w ailing parents living with them, and our homes are either ranches or tri-level splits, so there are at maximum only 4-7 stairs to navigate.
I've started decluttering and downsizing so when (not if, but when) they offer me something that makes sense, I won't be taken by surprise.
I too have started pricing items and getting rid of what won't suit me and checking out places that might offer me what I need (like my daughter's acreage) where I can have a home base to park and reside and I'd rather pay her and help her with her place and be able to hit the road when I want and have a home base that's not killing me fighting the encroachment.
I have also found a 55 and over RV community about an hour from me, but that won't be feasible in driving to work every day until I retire at the elementary school I work at.
I also found a tiny home community one County over from me.
The taxes are much lower. They were built by a non-profit organization called Microlife Institute. I don't think they are restricted to age. But there is an upcoming tour that I will be participating in in a few months. So I can get an idea of some options.
There is also a tiny Home festival coming at the end of the month. It's not restricted to just tiny homes. The festival website says there will be Vans and RVs as well!
I'm really excited about this option.
There was recently a sad situation here and that hit the news where about 200 seniors were paying for an independent living facility but the mortgage was not being paid. The owner filed bankruptcy and the they were all given less than 60 days to vacate.
That means that all the money they had paid had gone into somebody's pocket who basically just spent it.
Sad, selfish situation.
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We relocated to GA in '94.
When I made my Exodus from a tumultuous situation, I was turned down for 3 rentals (because my (then) mate refused to pay bills on time, my credit was shot.)
When I finally found one in my kids' zoned school, it was fine.... For about a week.... Then the ants started coming... Through the floorboards, from the ceiling, around the drains in the bathroom, around the electrical sockets, through the windows, in the cabinets, through the pipes...
Everybody kept telling me just stop paying the rent and continue to complain...
Well, in my county, code enforcement literally told me all he has to do is have a good roof. He can rent a tent to you, and it would be legal.
We called an exterminator out twice a month for 2 and 1/2 years.
Within that time frame though, I was diagnosed with bc, I had to file bankruptcy because my then ex-mate decided to let the marital home go into foreclosure instead of selling all of the things that I had left as agreed, my car gave up the ghost 60 miles from home @ my daughter's honor chorus show, my elementary school office clerk job started furloughing. I applied for food stamps, and I was told that I made $12 too much. I said, oh, $12 a month? They told me no $12 a YEAR too much 😵💫
I rotated between three food pantries and a co-op to keep food in the house.
I resorted to a kerosene heater because the heat in the house would not register above 67, and, contrary to popular belief, we do have freezes down here in Georgia.
I had always packed my lunch since I was a teenager so taking breakfast was no problem in addition to lunch. My Hotlogic is a lifesaver to the communal microwave at work that NOBODY cleans after use. (I just separate my portions into smaller containers, and I heat up separate things in mini aluminum loaf pans. Stays add a constant temperature once I put it in in the morning, and buy lunch time, I have a nice, not dried out, not rubbery meal.)
I attended every first time home buyer seminar and scoured every single program I could find to see if I could qualify for something on my salary.
Most of my money was split between court fees to have their father pay his under $300 a month child support for two children...not $600..but $300 total.
I did the math, and I think one of those impoverished children in the third world country was getting more than it would be per hour for him to support our children.
Every single thing in the home was donated with the exception of the deep freezer, the dryer, and a dresser for each child. (That's all I left with).
My eldest enlisted in the military to lower the pressure on us. He was deployed when I was undergoing my surgery.
I was finally approved for a home at 3.625 APR with no PMI.
But, within 8 yrs, the county taxes have doubled.
They are building $500,000 townhomes less than 400 ft from me, all with 13 steps a piece up, but want to give us less than half of that. They have no desire for seniors or people that have mobility challenges in any of the 250 + units. 😡
My second child enlisted shortly after graduating high school.
And my third and last little birdie just graduated college on every essay scholarship and part-time job she can find.
She just qualified for an agricultural/USDA loan 2 hours south in rural GA on a pecan grove with orange and peach trees.
I have been looking around at RVs, vans, and places that I might be able to move to.
I did find a tiny home community in clarkston, not too far from me, but the houses are all occupied... But you can rest assured that I am definitely keeping my eye out😊
It has seriously come across my mind the possibility that after I retire from the school system within 8 years that I might just get a small camper and, if allowed, live on her land. I would rather pay rent to her.
There's also a tiny Home festival coming to Georgia at the end of the month. I believe it is in Jackson georgia. I got my tickets last week.
It says in addition to tiny homes it will also have RVs and vans.
I think the best thing is to continue paring down as I'm doing, prioritize in case we are bought out, deluge myself in as much information as possible, and really come to terms with what may be a very real issue.
The last thing I want to do is do you have to spend my entire retirement per month just to pay for where I live.
~Sending good vibes to all!
🚗☁️☁️
P.S. when I finally was able to qualify for our own home in 2015 and move from the rental, we were paying $950 a month. (TRULY GOD'S GRACE!)
That weekend, I had my son block his number and call to ask what the rent would be because the landlord had put a for rent sign out on the lawn.
He was told $1250. Which was still amazing at that time for a whole house.
I see people bringing me proof of residency when they enroll their students and they are renting one ROOM and it will say $1700 for a room, kitchen, & bath EXCLUDING utilities!😮
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I moved into the neighborhood I'm in in 2015.
There are 11 houses on our block all on half acre lots.
I qualified and was blessed to be able to move out of a rental and purchase this house with rebuilt credit after a bankruptcy from the divorce.
The gentleman next to me is on a full acre and his father built the house I am in, his house, and two others on our street.
On half of his acre, I was told that he had a huge vegetable garden.
People would come home and there would be squash, pumpkins, green beans, bulbs of onions, potatoes on their doorsteps.
Now, it mainly gets overgrown every few months can I see the son making a feeble attempt at tackling the brush and overgrowth with his push mower.
But the stories I would hear from the other neighbors and the look they would get in their eyes reminiscing is just wonderful.
I mainly get vegetables from my mom when she gets extra when she helps out at the church pantry.
Most of the people coming don't really want fresh things anymore. Boxed, over-processed items are easier, although they are loaded with salt and alternatives, the health aspect kind of goes out the window when you are short on time and even shorter on funds.
I plan to do a bucket garden this year. Tomatoes in one, and cucumbers & squash in another. Looking forward to seeing what happens with my green thumb attempts.
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@susansharp112
Hi there. Medicaid and Medicare are two different things.
She said Medicaid (which is income dependent)
You said Medicare (which acts as a supplement, but if one doesn't qualify based on living $1 above guidelines, the private pre-retirement employer insurance (if the company hasn't folded) is the primary (and if the window is missed, that premium could be a challenge as well).
One depends on income guidelines and acts as a supplement to pick up what the other doesn't cover. (I always have to look at the written explanations when I'm figuring out my In-laws' medical convoluted issues in November & December for January.)
My MIL has had migraine blackouts (like, dropping groceries in the stairwell w kids blackouts) stemming from childhood trauma. But it wasn't considered neurological back then. So her 'work' was home things (babysitting (and No, opening a licensed daycare at home wasn't an option when you're blacking out), laundry, etc).
FIL was a skycap for the Port Authority. So basically tips were what paid the mortgage.
So even at below minimum wage, he didn't qualify for Medicaid for her even before retirement because the tips had to be reported as income, bringing the salary to between $30-$60k in the '70s through the early '90s.
And being able to move from projects to a home out on the Island was no small feat esp on one income.
But they did it.
So at retirement, they have an employer sponsored primary retiree plan and Medicare (I think...I still get SOOO confused without my notes) is the secondary for things not covered.
But then there's health issues that have cropped up...he finally quit smoking, but the secondary smoke contributed to her bronchitis, asthma, he's had strokes, she's had thyroid issues, RA, cataracts, hip surgeries, etc.
Then there are things not covered at all like some hearing aids, some dental care is only partially covered.
There's a lot that goes into qualifying and how much.
~Just hoping to clarify some things.
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I agree! I've been told by people I no longer affiliate with that my "perfectionism" is what ruined the relationship.
But I never considered basic responsibilities (paying for lights, gas, water on time) as being 'perfectionistic.'
I was seen as "not living life." (Kinda hard to live life w creditors garnishing checks in my opinion.)
I find that I shouldn't have to subject my stewardship and desire to prioritize obligations to another's desire to handle things haphazardly.
That distinction between high standards, pursuit of quality, and ambition from perfectionism is very much needed.
My standards of requiring to know how someone I may desire to pursue a relationship with treats others is a high standard (to me) (Do they belittle or condescend others just because they don't know a lot about something? Money doesn't give anyone the right to down another.)
Re: Pursuit of quality. My daughter was teased and laughed at for choosing the local 4-year college that she graduated from Magna Cum Laude on scholarships when she could have chosen from among 20 big-named ones.
I always told her there are plenty of geniuses who graduated from ABC around the corner college and plenty of imbeciles who graduated from Oxford and Harvard!
She chose quality (a college where she was just far away enough to be independent, taught her what she needed, and is one of the most culturally diverse in the country with over 70 nations represented. Yet, she was still close enough to have her support base. She chose this over what others saw for her. She signed on as a marketing logistics mgr w an international company, closed on her home on acreage last month & will be 24 in June. No student loan debt.
Yes, she's making some mistakes, but she's such a thoughtful, aware, kind soul, I couldn't ask for a better life for her.
Re: Ambition for perfectionism will kill a dream every time. I have to drill into myself daily that I'm progressing not perfecting.
I'd rather do a task with excellence (that is to the best of my ability, cleanly, and properly) than to keep starting over just because step D wasn't perfect (now, if it's open heart surgery or something, that's different).
My job entails scheduling about 800 students per year (it's a small school) for the next year. BUT that means complying with Fed, state, & county guidelines for funding. I can't just schedule an autistic student in w any class. The teacher has to have specific certifications, then all the courses have to be approved by the County,state & Fed govt. Then there's speech, cognitive subjects, social skills in addition to core classes and specials (health, music, STEM, foreign language, PE, art).
Then there's ESOL classes if they are non English speakers to get the resources to assist w their native language as well as English.
When I first accepted the position, I would cry incessantly because I was so afraid of not getting the schedules perfect. So I wouldn't do ANYTHING! But I wouldn't reach out to my mentor, I wouldn't reach out to other Student Data mgt clerks, I couldn't MOVE! I was so terrified of making a mistake, I wouldn't schedule ANY students! Then, when my error report would come, I'd have 800 errors!!🥺😬
But I had to reel myself in and think of how do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. I FINALLY convinced myself to at least schedule 100 students a day and see what my error report looks like the next day. A lot of times, the errors were just because I had not scheduled them with ANY teachers!
The error report would tell me what courses I might be missing, it would tell me if I missed an ELL segment, it would tell me if the teacher I had scheduled the student with was not certified in a specific area. Then I could look down on my list, in all these notes that I had taken, and I could find a specific teacher, that I may not have pulled on to our school list & follow the steps to move the student.
Within two weeks, I was down to less than 50 errors a day! I created a formula to follow and prioritize and I was no longer running out of Kleenex daily🤣
This is my 3rd year.. I still get flubbed up and frustrated at times. But as long as I've gotten those students partnered where they need to be to get the resources they need, I'm okay. I literally get an error report daily, but that's where I can go to an admin and say, "hey, this student is supposed to get extra this & that, but s/he's not scheduled, who do we get to approve it?"
Excellence (consistency, double checking, and REACHING OUT FOR HELP) over perfection (if it's not exact and precise the first time, I'm not doing it ever again) wins the day!
And being kind to oneself is a game changer as well ☺️
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Home training! Preach IT!!
I put in the discipline referrals in my elementary school daily. Kids will be suspended if their foul language, if they bite, hit, kick, threatened, if they so much as violate any of the rules which their parents were supposed to have read through because they acknowledge them when they enrolled them, they are written up.
We had one little boy who was 5 years old and on the first day of school, he did not want to come. He slapped his mother in the face several times. And she just stood there.
He hit his teacher twice and was timed out first time, suspended the second.
Needless to say, he didn't have to complete kindergarten. And since kindergarten is not mandatory, he has been sitting home all day everyday. She called us last week...LAST WEEK with him screaming in the background asking could she enroll him in kindergarten.😮 I told her we have 4 weeks left of school. You can enroll him but the minute that he lays hands on that teacher he will be suspended AGAIN.
So we can see what she's been doing with him at home.
A..b..s..o..l..u..t..e..l..y..NUTHIN'
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So as I finished posting my comment, a suggested video comes on for Dr. Phil and the title is, "My daughter is a lazy, lying mooch who neglects her..."
Hmm...wonder how she was enabled to do that?
My oldest deliberately allowed his hours to be cut from a retail job.
I asked him did he not know what to do? You need to find three more jobs at 10 hours a piece.
He didn't like that answer.
So I contacted my brother who is a retired Marine corps recruiter, and he came and took him down to the recruiting office. (So much for the 'I can't find it.'🙄)
That son is now medically retired and a corrections officer and certified welder.
Second son tried the same thing.
He served 6 yrs, earned Spec Ops, came out as a sergeant, inactive reserves. Studying broadcast journalism.
Last little Birdy didn't need the lesson.
Pushed through college, graduated Magna Cum Laude on every scholarship she could find, just signed on with an international marketing company. Just closed on acreage in South GA. She'll be 24 in June.
They ALL address elders w Miss or Mr. in front of the name.
Even the 8, 6, 5 & 3 yr old next door AND the parents address me with Miss in front of my name.
When did respect become so disrespectful?
Guess Common sense just ain't so common any more 😔
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My sympathies to those who have lost their children. My youngest was diagnosed with stage 4 ovarian cancer at the age of five. I have never felt more confused and scared in my entire life than when I got that diagnosis from the ER. Through pure grace and lotttssss of chemo and question upon questions and answers, she will be 24 this June.
@ 11:35, I concur COMPLETELY!
I'm in an 1800 sf tri level split, 4 br/2 baths on half acre.
My last Birdy just flew the nest. My oldest two are military, so in a sense, nomads themselves!
My friend and I both made our Exoduses from tumultuous situations an average of 6 yrs ago.
We started traveling and he gifted me w blown up pictures he'd taken throughout our excursions. He mounted them on canvas and hodge podged to get the brush strokes.
I took a whole weekend and decluttered my den.
I arranged the N. Ga mountains on one wall, the Gulf Coast and Florida on another, and Tybee Island lighthouse & beaches on another.
Then I just looked around the empty bedrooms and redid my lighting w lamps I already had. The den is 14x17.
I have a gifted sectional that I sleep on more than my own bed. I cut the cable and haven't missed a thing, especially that outrageous bill!💸💸
The den abuts the eat-in kitchen. I use one bathroom and have a small bedroom downstairs that houses my office area.
So out of 4 br/2 baths, 2 dens (one downstairs has a separate entrance), an enclosed, carpeted & vented w ac 2 car garage (and it's a 1974 garage, so you know how big the cars were back then!😂), I used that area as my overflow dining room when I hosted Christmas my first year here. We sat 25 people comfortably in there on two extended long tables and still had room for a dessert table, and a Christmas tree on top of a card table in another section of the room!
Out of all this space, I use 2 rooms, a kitchen, & 1 bathroom.
I'm like, make this make sense! 😮
My back yard is beautiful, but I honestly prefer pots for my flowers.
I might go out on my little covered patio, but everyone is so busy, it's just me & the birds most days.
There are 11 homes on our street, all on half acre lots. I only know the neighbors in passing because everyone is too busy working to pay the mortgages and taxes.
Less than 400 ft from us, a builder bought the little house on the corner on a 2.5 acre lot. He petitioned to have it rezoned from single family to townhomes to add to the 215 units already encroaching upon us.
We petitioned for bungalow style, single level, smaller homes (all the townhomes are 13 stairs to get in. Some do have an entryway through the garage, but when you're inside, you have to still do stairs to get to the main level. So this is definitely NOT a welcome for senior relatives or mobility challenged people.) NONE are ADA compliant. There are high lips on the ones with street level entryways and those may have a downstairs bedroom & living area, but then the two bedrooms upstairs are inaccessible if a wheelchair and challenging if a walker is involved.
It's like it wasn't even a consideration for people that may need or want this type of housing.
We went to every meeting for the past 3 years with the commissioners and the builders.
I guess he who had the most money won because after it was approved, the chairperson of the board of commissioners gave herself a 20% raise... I must have missed THAT on the ballot 🤔
All the townhomes also start at high $500k😵💫
Anyway, back to the matter at hand. My last little birdie just moved 2 hours south to rural GA and purchased an almost two-acre lot on a pecan grove that also has orange and apple trees. She was born and raised in this town and cannot stand the congestion and I can't blame her.
Who knows, maybe by the time I retire in 9 yrs, the regulations will allow full time RV living and I can rent a little section of her acreage.
I did come across a tiny home community one county over from me. They were built by a non profit called the Microlife Institute. The area is a little busy, but it was sort of an oasis once you turned in when I finally found it. It is on a bus route, and the county it's situated in does have lower taxes.
They do give tours of the homes every few months and they have a guest speaker. I take it the homeowner will probably be the host of the tour.
I'm looking forward to just getting a close-up look. It'll be right at the beginning of Summer so hopefully it'll be right before this Georgia heat hits equator-ish temps 🫠😂
I've seen more people in one spot in this video than I've seen ALL WEEK on my street.
Now, THIS is what a TRUE community looks like!
Looking forward to finding a tiny home base just over the border of GA into TN (no income tax 😉), van living on the weekends and providing my court reporting services more when I retire from the public school system here.
9 yrs isn't so far away. And with the looks of things and the townhouses encroaching, I just might be looking at RV living a lot sooner than later until I retire.
I really can't tell you enough how much I appreciate your channel.
I turned 54 last week. And seeing older, female vanlifers, and people that just had very real experiences, whether they just took the leap, or the leap pushed them, it's just refreshing to see REAL people in REAL situations facing REAL issues and making REAL solutions.
Thank you so much!
🚗☁️☁️
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It might be a little off-kilter, but you could look to volunteer in the media center at a local elementary school a few times a week reading to classes
and volunteering with helping to check in the materials and help with inventory. We are so short-staffed, every department needs help.
Then drop by the teacher bar in the cafeteria for lunch. You could get an ala carte item of a baked potato, something to drink, either a side salad that you make yourself (so pile it high), side of veggy and you could pretty much pile it up with whatever toppings you want, and those 4 items would be 40 cents a piece.
If you wanted to then get an entree (which I usually don't do because the baked white or sweet potato is more than filling), it would make it $4.
But imagine going into a warm or air conditioned building, staying there from 10:00 a.m. until school dismisses, you have a place to stay, contributing to the children, warm or air conditioned accommodations, private bathrooms, and a hot meal, and all that for less than $4 a day.
With the way things are going, we have more volunteers in our buildings than we do teachers. All volunteers have to go through a criminal background check, but that usually takes about 2 weeks.
You could also look into volunteering at the local library as well. It will give you a place out of the elements for the majority of the day and use of a computer when you need it.
~Just some thoughts.
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@ 6:20 last I remembered the 1st amendment gave freedom of speech. But even without that, I don't remember you ever standing over anyone with a rubber hose and ski mask threatening anyone to watch your videos. (In my best Mr. T voice & scowl, "You betta watch and listen to all my 'Bible stuff,' FOOL!😡" (Those of us old enough to know will remember 😆)
Just as YOU are free to post on YOUR channel content that YOU'VE come up with and that is dear to YOUR heart (anyone care to venture what the theme is here?🤔), other people are free to NOT watch/listen. I mean, let's face it, unless we're in, oh, say, GRADE school, this really shouldn't be an issue (teacherteacherteacher (while pulling on teacher's shirt sleeve incessantly) she's using my airwaves to talk about something I'm not interested in and it's bothering me! Make her stoppp...wah wahwahhh😭)
And what does the teacher inevitably ALWAYS say?
One doesn't HAVE to listen. But unlike elementary school where one may request to move one's seat, one doesn't even have to sit near Carol. One can ignore her, unsubscribe from her channel, actually get up and NOT access the phone or computer every 30 seconds and (here's a novel idea) one can choose to spend time NOT surfing & trolling the web and actually cultivate a new hobby, teaching a child or another person a new skill or sharing an interesting hobby (my walking sticks are almost ready to sell at the summer farmer's mkt. Oak and elm, uniquely inlaid w shells and smashed pennies from all over, sturdy, and fun (Amazon's got NOTHIN' on these😊) and this is my second yr.), maybe actually teaching a child to ride a bike, make a container garden, read a BOOK.
We're working on screening in our patio together. Best hubs/wife project EVER. Downsizing and checking out a tiny festival coming up soon. Revamping the budget, cooking from the deep freezer, creating new concoctions.
Besides this post, last time I accessed something was last night when we fell asleep on Star Trek reruns 😆
The drift is gotten, I'm sure.
Don't know if the AI algorithm will even post this, but what have I got to lose?
The points are:
No one is being forced to watch/listen.
Of all the online videos, it's refreshing to find one where I don't have to be bombarded with belligerent, idle vulgarity, scantily clad (if at all) shakers of their 'groove thangs' and front grills of teeth that give reflectix some serious competition 🤣
Thankful that your hands are neither jazz nor crotch dwelling.
Thankful that you are humble enough to say when you don't know enough about something.
Thankful that I'm able to access something (buckle up & get ready for it) that I CHOOSE to on my little non-fancy, no contract for 24 yrs, (as somebody wrinkled their nose and said) ugly phone. She said I NEED to get a specific phone. Funny, I don't remember it being a problem for ME.
Just as tuning into your channel (or not) shouldn't be a problem for another, NOT tuning into it shouldn't be an issue.
That's my two cents (I would have more, but I haven't turned in my cans for deposit yet🤣)
P.S. Thank you for the other channel links, too. I'm on L.A.V.ALindys Awesome Van adventures and it's great to see someone I can relate to as well. I'm almost caught up.😊
~Thank you and be well.
🚐☁️
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1. Woop woop for Discount Tire!! (Not to be confused with Tire Discounters).
They were recommended to me by a mechanic friend when I made my Exodus and I was all of a sudden thrust into taking care of my own cars.
They haven't done me wrong yet! Affordable, free rotations, free tire repair, price match, quick service! I'm in Lawrenceville, GA.
2. Anyway, I'm a recovering food addict. I've never been close to the 600lb lifers, but I've had to (and still do) come to grips with the fact that I will NEVER EVER EVER be a size 2 or 4 again. But that's okay! I've gone from a not so healthy 16 to a very healthy 12. After 3 beautiful now adult children, I think I'm doing pretty darned good!
I've replaced the high salt high fat high sugar choices with more fruits, more raw veggy & making my own treats with healthier contents (minus the tofu, thank you 🤣)
I still have a Hershey square or two, but I'm no longer a whole bar in one sitting typ-a chick!
I've also come to terms with the fact that just because a new Dr. wants to shove me full of pills, doesn't make it right for me.
I have the choice (and I did) to find one who will LISTEN and understand then monitor my choice to add more water, exercise, and improve my eating rather than swipe a script and wish me well.
I'm seeing the changes for the better.
I think that's an issue with many of us. We want things to be perfect NOW, when, in essence, perfection is imperfect at its best.
We all need to be kinder to ourselves!
Even the turtle made it to the ark eventually. One step at a time.
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Ok. First, be honest... how many of us at 7:00 said it: "They can't handle the TRUTH!" I know I did👊🏾
My daughter has absolutely gorgeous nails. Me on the other hand, I am like Fred Flintstonette.
But when I was younger, my nails were the envy of all my friends. They were natural, they were long, I kept them tapered and a little square at the tip, I used white out to give myself a French manicure and many of my so called friends were jealous.
My aunt was mixed race. My grandmother was Blackfoot Cherokee, and my grandfather was Caucasian and black.
Both my grandmother and my aunt had hair that usually came down to their waist. My aunt would deliberately tie her hair up and bunch it under so that it wasn't so long. My hair can grow down to my behind if I wanted to. But the chemo made me realize that I am not my hair. I have had people ask me, when I did have longer hair, where I got my wig from. I chose not to answer them.
My daughter's hair is very thick, natural, and very wavy. When the chemo took her hair out and it started to grow back, people often asked her when it had all grown back where she got her wig from.
It takes a special kind of stupid to even ask that kind of question.
Comments like this about the nails makes me wonder if people actually believe that I go to Starbucks every morning for my homemade mochacocoalatte just because I choose to put it in a reusable Starbucks cup.
It would be like saying I don't have a right to have anything nice just because I get my powdered coffee from a food pantry.
With reference to the integrity, the advent of people being able to bully other people behind a keyboard has just gone beyond out of control.
People post whatever they want, they are nasty, they are vindictive, they hold silent and private grudges that no one else knows about. And then when people can't read their minds, they have the nerve to get outright angry.
It has been said from times of old...... It is better to be silent and be thought a fool than to open one's mouth and remove all doubt.
It has also been said to entertain not a fool in their folly.
Some people just have absolutely nothing better to do than to open their mouth and remove all doubt.
🤔
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We did our first adult "semi-campout" in the N. GA Mtns last fall. It was EPIC!
Borrowed a camper to boondock in.
I brought simple things I knew we'd enjoy (haven't had McDs or any other fast food in 21 yrs).
Maple sausage & scrambled eggs in veggy wraps, chicken chili in the cast iron wok, sauteed squash & zuchinni swirls w garlic & ginger with air fried chicken strips. Green tea spritzers.
The fridge was small, but we had a cooler, too.
I had made our own walking sticks a few weeks before out of fallen oak branches (I saw them on Amazon, but wanted our own...now I KNOW why people charge so much on Etsy to make unique ones! My hands got a workout but hubs loved his!)
Checking out little roadside apple stands, hiking Amicalola Falls, driving up Brass Town Ball (highest point in GA), then finding a spot to camp out for the night, checking out the Moonshine festival! What a blast!
We have increasingly become disappointed with the hotel options... even with the higher end ones. It was just seem that they would...oh..I don't know...CARE...but maybe that's just me🤷♀️
So for the $$ we had been spending over the last few getaways, we looked into the.small RV as an option, called a friend, and gave it a try and we're HOOKED!
I know it's nowhere near all butterflies and rainbows... But we are willing to take that trade off to be able to be somewhat self-sufficient, not have to lug all our stuff from the car to a hotel room with ogling eyes and then the idea of forgetting something back in the car, breakfast that really shouldn't be called breakfast, and then mattresses that have us waking up feeling worse than when we got there.
Looking forward to our next journey
🚐☁️☁️
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Wow!
I am an enrollment Clerk at my elementary school. This is my 20th year. I have always been a thrift store shopper. And when I started 20 years ago, the cap for my position was $22k. (That's about $10/hr)
I have been told by co-workers that apparently I am being paid too much. Apparently, because I don't LOOK like I make $22k, I'm not supposed to dress well🤦♀️
My hair is done at the beauty college, my nails are on pointe thanks to $tree & Sally Hansen.
We are paid monthly. My mother was a banker for 30 years. She was paid monthly.
She started me with my own savings account when I was five. I learned to add and subtract using an abacus. Everything I have ever purchased has very rarely been new.
At 6, I learned what layaway was and I bought myself a black and white 9 inch television set from TSS stores. This ended the Saturday morning battle over Soul Train and different cartoons between my brother and myself. That TV lasted me until I got married in '91.
As I grew older, my first choice for shopping has been the thrift store. At 18, I was gifted with absolutely beautiful business suits from the DIL of the man who I worked my part-time job through to college. He owned the highest grossing Cadillac dealership on Long Island. I was hired in the service department and stayed there four years through high school then Technical college. A year after my first full time job WHAM! I was laid off, we were evicted, we moved into a room in the in laws' house and I took temp work.
4 months after our first born, we relocated from New York to Georgia. Two more children, LOTTTS of bills, NO budget, & 21 years in, I divorced. I had gotten a job in the school system when our youngest was 5.
I took the children, one dresser each, the deep freezer, and the dryer. I was turned down for three rentals because the credit was shot. The fourth rental said yes. That same year, the school system furloughed us, I was diagnosed with bc, the car was voluntarily repoed, and the house was allowed to go into foreclosure instead of trying to be sold as outlined in the decree. I filed for bankruptcy to get out from underneath the financial obligation of the home that I had left. I had agreed that everything be sold for and all the contents would belong to my former spouse. The foreclosure was out of spite.
That little rental that we found took half of my monthly paycheck, was ant infested, flooded in the crawlspace w every downpour & moldy, but as long as the ceiling didn't leak, code enforcement said there was nothing that could be done. My church members donated everything that they did not want. The ladies group pitched in $10 a piece and brought me a new washing machine though. I liked to call it rustic eclectic! But some of those things were absolutely beautiful. I was gifted a three-piece Ashley furniture set, a beautiful pine kitchen table, a nice little curio (about $10) for some beautiful pieces of Mikasa crystal that I had found in the thrift store, and bed frames for the mattresses that were donated to us. All the mattresses were still wrapped in plastic. I utilized food pantries for 3 years. When I applied for food stamps, I was told that I made $12 too much. When I asked if it was $12 a month, I was told no...$12 a YEAR!😮
My landlord kept trying to have me give him cash. I scraped up enough money to get at least half a month ahead and then I would get a money order before my paycheck would come. Between fighting him to actually give me a lease with terms that were not month to month and fighting for what came to about 50 cents a day in CS for the children, it was a horrible cycle.
I'd always brown bagged my lunch, but I started brown to bag my breakfast, my tea, my snacks, my salad for lunch, pretty much everything.
I was able to qualify for an older model Toyota right before my bankruptcy. It wasn't fancy, it had a good reputation, and it had room to haul around my kids and pick them up after school.
I bartered a lot of services to have them participate in activities. I was one of only three people who knew how to sew a proper hem for the 240 member marching band, I have kept my notary up-to-date for the state since I moved here in 94. So when it was needed that paperwork had to be notarized for the band to take a trip, yours truly was utilized. I didn't charge the standard $4 per notarial duty but I received over $300 in Visa gift cards which went right to my utility bills.
One thing I did not leave when I left my former spouse was my scarves and my business suits. Every day, at my school, I came in dressed like an administrative assistant. Regardless of the fact that I was not. If I needed a new blouse or a skirt didn't fit quite right anymore because of my surgeries, I would reach out to some of my church members and see if any of them had any clothes that they no longer wanted.
I had co-workers that would tell me how they were getting at least $600 for one child in child support and how I should have gotten a better attorney. Way to encourage😕
I had people tell me that I should just stop paying the rent until the landlord fixes whatever needed to be fixed... Well that would be great because all he'd have to do is evict me then fix it. Not every state has laws that make sense. People really should know the county ordinances in the town that they're talking about before they start spewing information. I might be able to get on the people's court, but I would be homeless.
I went home, and when the heat was out, we would plug in our little space heater or electric blankets. I would call up the gas company and let them know that the gas was out because the landlord had not fixed the furnace so they would credit me for the days that I did not have gas.
When a water pipe burst, I called up the water company and let them know. I turned off the main valve to the house and I packed up the children and we went up to the local YMCA for them to take showers and get ready for school.
Oftentimes, we would have many potato dishes from the free potatoes that I could get from the huge bin in front of the food pantry. As long as you brought your own bag, you could pick out what you wanted and sometimes there were lemons and onions as well.
Most times after my rent, light, gas, and $40 cell phone, I had $150 at the end of the month (about$37+/- a week). This had to last for the next 4 weeks to cover gas to and from work. A volunteer at my school graciously donated one of the huge box televisions and I found a converter box in a thrift store somewhere. The volunteer also gave us a DVD player and about five seasons of Murder She Wrote on DVD.
My oldest enlisted to take off some of the stress.
Every day when I went home, I would take off my work clothes and hang them up, sometimes I would spray them with freshener.
We didn't qualify for the low-cost internet so many times I had to drop by the library for the children to complete their homework assignments. They would be there sometimes until it closed.
I volunteered while they did their work.
When we would get home, if the heat was out, we would get into our pajamas very quickly, choose our clothes for the next day, pack lunches, put everything in the refrigerator, make sure everything was ready to go the next day by the door, and then we'd all get under our electric blankets and settle in for the night. I would boil a pot of water on the stove for them to take wash ups in the morning.
No one at my job even thought we were without heat, hadn't gone to a grocery store in three years, or that ALLL my clothes come from a thrift gift or hand me ups.
My mom used to always say that just because you don't have doesn't mean that you have to look like you don't have. This is not to be confused with trying to keep up with the Joneses.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with having something decent that can bring a little Joy to the face.
It is absolutely preposterous to think that just because someone is either forced to live in a car or chooses to, or has meager means living in sticks and bricks that they shouldn't have something that is clean, nice, or even in my case as with my Mikasa crystal that is just beautiful.
Before the chemo took my hair out, I would scrape together my $10 and go to the beauty college to get my hair done. The students in there did nails for $5. Many of them had already learned their technique they just needed a certification so that they could incorporate.
My sister-in-law used to have the most fabulous nail art, people thought she would go to the salon. She didn't tell them anything. She would give the student the money that she would have given to the professional.
My niece learn to do her own nails just as the friend in the other video you had.
It's like you have to look like Eddie Murphy when he was in Trading Places or you're not legitimately homeless.
Now, if it is somebody who is refusing to get work, who always is asking for money instead of food, if the person is walking around sporting Mr T chains, and is living in his Lamborghini because his Maserati is in the shop, I have a little bit of a problem.
But if it is somebody who chooses to keep a wedding band or a sentimental piece from a deceased spouse or friend and the family pet is the only source of companionship and protection, I don't see a problem with having a few nice things.
That's my two cents about that... And, as always, I would have more, but I haven't turned in my cans for the deposit yet 😎
~as always, you have given a very insightful video.
Let us all keep in mind, there will always be naysayers.
It will never be my job to convince a fool of their folly. Some people are just going to believe that things are not real. No matter what. There are some people that do not believe that are exists..... I just find it ironic that those people actually use air to spew the nonsense that they do.
~Safe travels and safer stays to all
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Re: the Posi-vibes challenge:
My daughter gifted me with an echo dot a while ago. It took me a full year to even want to set it up. I only use it for my alarm clock and I do use it because I like the ease of accessibility to info (traffic as I'm heading out, weather in a state we may be heading to a week ahead), listening to a specific artist while I'm doing housework, etc (although I do have a record player as well (there's nothing like Nat King Cole on the record player around the holidays. Love the popcorn crackle of the albums 🥰)
I also am very well aware that it runs algorithms on things that you say and do even when you don't access it.
So I'm very careful about what I access on it.
Mainly it's the weather, and my favorite jazz stations.
But when I first get it up in the morning, I ask it to tell me today's positive affirmation.
And she tells me a 10-second affirmation.
There are affirmations for morning, noon, and night. And there are generic affirmations for the day.
And if you ask for one for the day, and then ask it again immediately after, the affirmation will be different.
I have absolutely no problem with receiving three or four different positive affirmations.
I, by no means, ignore what's going on in the world. I also set a timer for 3 minutes and I tell it to share what's in the news today.
I tell you, after that 3-minute litany of 'news' I welcome the positive affirmations.
I will continue doing this as part of my daily positive start. And I am not saying that nothing bad will ever happen, or that I expect everything to go all rainbows and butterflies throughout my day.
I also read a chapter of Proverbs that coincides with the day. It takes about 2 minutes, if that. There are 31 chapters, so, say on the 24th day of the month, when I get up, I will read Proverbs chapter 24. I like to use different translations so we can give me a different perspective on different ways to implement and do things.
But I don't need to internalize all the negativity that's already out there.
Thanks for the challenge!
Wishing all safe travels and even safer stays!
🚐☁️☁️
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My mom used to hang a sheet over open doorways in winter and summer in the sweet '32 Cape Cod she & dad bought in '75.
It was a drafty shell of a box on a true basement that had the best bones situated in a little fishing town on Long Island.
Dad bricked up the fireplace that first year and installed a 3-foot cast iron wood burning workhorse. Dad did all of the insulation over, and laid carpet with thick padding underneath as well. He put floor insulation behind the paneling to make it even more efficient. That blanket/sheet hanging forced the heat up the back steps to the bedrooms and it was sooo warm!
Ceramic bowl filled with water and dried flower petals or pine needles to keep moisture in the air and to give the whole house a nice scent.
One year, the oil man even staked out our house. He thought we were going with the other guy and undercutting his business because while our neighbors had to call him three or more times throughout the winter season, we only called him once because the stove kept the house so warm. Dad also worked with a small tree cutting family after his shifts on the LIRR. 3/4 of our backyard was always stacked with firewood.
Now that my last little birdie has flown the coop, making me an empty nester, I have actually driven four carloads (5 including yesterday ☺️) to the Goodwill and the thrift stores of just STUFF that I don't need. Stuff that my two oldest who are in the military are definitely not going to use; clothes that my daughter hasn't worn since middle school are gone; clothes that I can't even get past my thigh are outta here!!😂
And I spend all of my time between my den, my kitchen, the bathroom, and my downstairs bedroom that has an office space in the corner. I push the door up and have an oscillating heater. And I also put on an extra layer of clothing. Sweatpants are NOT evil🤣
So many people think if they're going to be in their home, they're going to blast their heat and the AC and they're going to be comfortable.
I don't have a problem with that, but I do have a problem when ppl do that for five other unoccupied rooms then complain about the bill, right?
I have been looking into some alternatives as my taxes keep going up but my income can't meet it.
I am so grateful that this channel found me!
P.S. I went back to New York a few years ago and that house is still standing, the Big oak tree in front came down a few hurricanes ago.
But the house is still sound. I always said it reminded me of Suzi's house from Miracle on 34th Street. The chain link fence has been replaced with a white picket one and azalea bushes are beautiful when they're in bloom.
I just smile at remembering how rundown and lonely it looked when we first moved in back in '75 to how many families have enjoyed living there.
🚗☁️☁️
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You make me think of myself when I was interested in joining our church youth choir.
But it was a bit different. It's not specific to one congregation and it's completely a capella (no musical instrument accompaniment)
The group is called the Easternnaires (I think someone added "Electrifying" to the title years ago 🤷♀️ (a lot of their performances are on YouTube ☺️).
The group is still around for over 50 yrs now. It's made up of young people who are members of the Churches of Christ from NY, NJ, CT, & Pennsylvania.& (I think MD). It was started by a beautiful soul named Dorothy Wells from the Harlem congregation. She passed away a few years ago but the group is still going strong. She was in her '90s.
Anyway, our home congregation was hosting the rehearsal one school break. The rehearsals were really the fun part! Traveling from NY to NJ or PA was a big ta do! We'd all have our little brown bags & be @ the little building @ the break of dawn to take the "Blue goose" (our church minivan) to the 2-hr trip to NJ or CT. (Basically , anywhere other than home was exciting!) There, we'd meet up with the other 150+ young adults & teens we'd met over the years.
The group totalled over 300, but there were now grown members who had coordinated via phone & snailmaill to coordinate what songs to rehearse. Then there were about two BIGBIG things where we'd perform. One would be at a youth lectureship that we saved up for throughout the year. It was usually on a college campus (I still remember staying at Yale at 15!! In a dorm!)
The other event was usually a contest of some sort. We came in 2nd one year for a McDonald's Youth Gospel choir recording contest!
Then throughout the year, we'd meet up for local youth weekend events (I met my husband at a Winter Weekend hosted by his congregation. It was checkin on Friday at a host home, workshop & theme breakouts on Saturday, then roller skating that night & after Sunday service & dinner (usually spaghetti because it could feed 300+ young folk & parents) 😊, then we'd put on a concert that afternoon (about 3 songs) & head home. Best times Ever!
There were friends I'd met from Maryland, former members & spouses whose children were now members from CT, just so much support and help and encouragement throughout the years.
Oh! I almost forgot what my original response to you was!🤦♀️
Although I'd been in school chorus since I was 5, it was in the Easternnaires singing group, when I was a new member at 13, that a 'seasoned' member who was all of 16 took me to the side and did a warm up w me. I was so used to straining my voice to hit those high notes. But it was this young lady (I still remember her name: Donna Lisa) who taught me what to do and I discovered I was nowhere near the soprano I was led to believe! I was a true tenor to baritone! My school chorus teacher had always said "true ladies all sound like parakeets" Ha! What crock! I'd grown up on everyone from Mahalia Jackson to Minnie Ripperton & everyone in between, male & female, country, Latin, rock, jazz, reggae, you name it). There was no comparison to either lady. But if I'd only known then what I discovered at 13! No more straining my voice! No more being singled out because I'd slip two octaves down!
It wasn't perfect for her, but it was 'perfect' (and natural) for me!
40+ yrs later, I've loved seeing my daughter earn solos in "The Sound of Music" "Little Shop of Horrors" & honor chorus productions, hitting those notes I'd once dreamed about. And then, as I head out some weekends to pass out food boxes, the more "seasoned' members of our congregation put on a little impromptu songfest on sight with tenors holding the melody for the altos & sopranos to carry the harmony and (usually) our one or two bass to glue it all together.
See! Your story was PERFECT for me! ~Thank you for bringing back such wonderful memories for me!☺️🥰
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We had the absolute blessing of being able to take a weekend getaway to the north Georgia mountains. We opted for a 500 square foot Airbnb and it was more than enough room. I immediately took out my sketch pad, and started sketching out where I would put things, how I could separate the absolutely beautiful oversized dining area into another bedroom and an office area, where I could put a second bathroom if I needed it, etc. Hubs had to remind me that, 'Hey, this isn't our house.' and my response was always...... But it could be 🤣
I have literally four loads to go to the Goodwill right now.
Our oldest two are military, so nomads in a sense. And our last little birdie just flew the coop. We are heating and cooling 2700 square feet of space and we literally utilize the kitchen, the den, our bedroom, and our office.
We are both within 9 years of full retirement, but I cannot see continually doing this with the taxes hiking up every year and builders bulldozing the acreage surrounding us to slap up townhomes. As if 250 townhomes within a 1.5 mile radius weren't enough.
We have been fighting this battle for well over 4 years and the little guy doesn't count anymore.
They are buying out our lots and suggesting that we choose a town home which starts at $500,000...
I've lived here for 32 years, my house is only valued in the high threes, yet they buy the broken down houses surrounding us for $700,000 to start but won't go above three for mine. But they want the land.
I figure I'm going to try to get out while I'm at the top of the game. When they come for mine, once they start giving the neighbors their High 700,000 checks, I'll take mine too.
I just don't want to be caught out there with no options.
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For the soda, I use seltzer water and mix with 100% (no added sugar, fruit flavor, and lottts of fizz😊)
Rolls, I make my own without yeast or corn bread in the skillet, and I only buy a whole rotisserie chicken if they are marked down and I can get three for the $10. A lot of times, WM will have them at the end of the night with the yellow stickers on them.
I'll freeze two of them.
The one I cook, I'll break apart and saute garlic and onion and bell pepper in my great-great-grandmother's cast iron skillet. (Everything just tastes so much better in it 😊). I'll put the onions & garlic on the bottom and the top and then I'll cover it and just let it simmer down in a little bit of water.
Then I'll cut up whatever vegetable I might have found in the markdown bin and let it steam in the same skillet.
That usually takes us through about 3 days with a side salad.
Then comes the REAL masterpiece: when the dregs get to slim pickins I boil everything down in about a gallon and a half of water. Let it cool, and then I strip the leftover meat off. I take the bones and I let them dry in my little toaster oven. Then I crushed the bones in my pestle and mortar for fertilizer for my bucket garden.
I'm doing tomatoes this year.
When they come, I blanch them, chunk them up and freeze for homemade spaghetti sauce (I got so tired that every single jar of tomato sauce nowadays has olive oil in it. If I wanted oil in my tomato sauce, I would add it myself).
For breakfast I'm back to what my mother used to have to bribe me to eat: oatmeal.
She would have to dump a whole box of raisins in it and then mix it up. That's the only way I would eat it because I'd have to dig out the raisins and then suck the oatmeal off of them😂
Now, I just buy the box, doesn't have to be name brand, and I will chop up peaches, sauteed apples, and maybe a little cinnamon & I will drizzle it with a little bit of honey. I am good for the day.
Our grocery bill hovers at around $70 a month including veggie markdowns and fish from the farmers market. (We have a Nam Dae Mun. Prices are decent & I like that they sell the leftover fish parts after they've filleted the center cuts. I still get a good amount of salmon from the "edges"
~I'm loving reading the suggestions!
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I put my comments on the previous video. If that person chooses to find them then fine. If they choose to not, that will be their loss.
But I want to give you mad props!! You are the quintessential QWA-EEN of CLASS!
@ 0:14, I was honestly waiting to hear it! When you started to say, "Heck, no..H...." But your character is truly CLASS A!
You said, "He...CK to the NO!"
My principal's 23 yr old, 6' 4" son stopped by the school on his way in from the dorms last week. He greeted all of us in the front office by Miss and our first names.
Even my 30 yr old mentee addresses me as Miss Kim and she's not even Southern born!
I have enrolled former students who are now enrolling their little ones (this is my 20th yr) and they (the PARENTS) still address me as Miss Kim or my last name.
It's kind of an unwritten rule that once they have a reached adulthood, they can address me as either by my last name or they can continue to address me by my first name but ALWAYS with Miss in front of it.
I never thought this would become an issue.
I even have younger cousins (I'm talking like 30s) who address me with, 'yes ma'am.'
I was born and raised in New York.
My parents were born in Alabama raised in Tennessee and move to New York in 1964.
We addressed our babysitters and teachers (in New York) with Miss and either their first or last name. It wasn't even a thought to address anybody by their first name.
I still address older members of my church with either miss or Mr. and either their first or last name.
The teenagers address us w Miss or the men w Mr. in front of our first or last name.
There is such an heir of 'privilege' today and then when kids are out of hand or just running rampant or tearing up and destroying other people's private property and then they wonder, 'Well, what happened to the parents? Why didn't they teach them manners?"
But let that same kid get up in the wrong person's face with the, "I'll address you any way I want" and see what'll happen. It may not happen soon, but it'll happen.
Court shows have thrived off this type of foolishness for 40+yrs.
And the criminal court cases have been going on for decades.
I did my internship in Skagit County Superior court. I took first appearances of 18 yr olds who got real humble with the "Yes, sir & No, ma'am" real quick when they'd been locked up.
Pitiful.
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I see it as just a bit of disorganization.
When we went to the North Georgia mountains to an Airbnb for a weekend getaway, hubs was surprised that I had everything except the kitchen sink.
I knew what we were getting into, but we still wanted our own food, our own sheets, our own basics so that we could be comfortable.
As a cancer survivor with open wounds, I could not risk any infection.
And the hotel choices we were finding were just ridiculous.
For a 4-day getaway, I had enough clothes in case we had to change plans, all the different types of food options that could be interchangeable, My own cast iron wok, etc.
It took about 20 minutes to settle in and deep clean and for the rest of the time we were more than content.
We probably had the same amount of things that he has in that minivan in my little Toyota, just a little bit more organized.
Also have to think of where he's traveling to. He might get rid of most of those things when he gets to where he is.
If he likes it, I love it!
😎🚗☁️☁️
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I tell you, the things we take for granted! Sending good vibes and wishes for the days to be able to wear shoes comes sooner than later!
I am the 6th direct generation of bunions. We are born w them. I wore EE walkers at 12 months.
My sons wore EEE Buster's Brown's when they walked. My daughter doesn't have them.
I was teased incessantly, seems like from kindergarten on. "Claw toes, knobby knuckle numbs, ugfeet, etc."
It also didn't help in grade school that every end of the year field trip was always to the beach 🙄
Later, my former MIL actually said she couldn't fathom why her son would want someone with such ugly feet. She said if she were me, she'd keep sneakers on all the time...gee...thanks for accepting me🤦♀️
She dubbed me "Sasquatch" when I would come in sandals for family gatherings. I wear anklets in the summer. This was deemed a horror in that I was drawing attention to my "Big foot-itis".
But I wasn't in pain & chose not to have surgery. They don't bother me as long as I have the proper cut of shoes. And I can and do have nice shoes & cute functional sandals.
I've trained my toes to sit next to each other instead of on top, and I began a regimen of coco butter, Vaseline & socks since 1st grade so there was never ash or dryness. I polished mine like everybody else.
But I also learned I had perfect feet to go on pointe within my first year of ballet at 7, and earned the lead in three performances each year.
My balance was exceptional on beam and landings for the 10 yrs I was in gymnastics.
My feet may have been ugly to some, but they were mine, they were big & oddly shaped but they were mine. At 4'11" I've been in size 9 (10 in boots) since I got my first pair of heels at 15.
I am grateful every day I can walk (even when 'Arthur' (short for arthritis) makes a visit) unassisted.
There is a third grader who has progressive rheumatoid arthritis at my school. When it rains, she is in excruciating pain. She walks with the help of a rolling walker every day, but some days she has to use her wheelchair. She also has brittle bones. She's been in a foot brace for close to all year.
I'm glad you're healing & found something constructive and enjoyable to watch.
Sending you good vibes for a wonderful recovery!🎉
🚐☁️☁️
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There really needs to be a differentiation between a rant and a passionate presentation. You are definitely not ranting. Usually rants are confusing, rage-filled, and eventually get to a state of being unintelligible, bordering on gobbledygook and gibberish. I have heard neither gobbledygook nor gibberish.
We have been at a level of misinformation, disinformation, and outright deceit since the beginning of time. It has increased and gotten progressively worse with the instantaneous influx of "helping mankind." Okay, but what happened to teaching people to fish instead of giving away the fish without accountability?
Re: unaccompanied children (meaning no lineage has to be proven), I am required to enroll children IMMEDIATELY. No immunizations required (they have 30 days), no history, put immediately into housing. Yet, I make $1 a month too much to qualify for food stamps. Make it make sense.
Now, for you, Carol.
You give clear opinions, specific examples, and a disclaimer if you're not sure of something.
That's three things more than what is usually touted during an election campaign. If you can't provide something, you say it.
If you don't know enough about something, you say it.
I am proud to say not ONCE have I seen you do jazz hands!😂 (My life is great! If everyone were as perfect as me, they too could live in the land of butterflies & rainbows🤪...which brings me to the sponsor of this video...for so many years, I lived without butterflies and rainbows...but since I've been (you name it) drinking liquid tin foil...hitting my thumb w a hammer...eating mudpies every day...my life has been just filled with butterflies & rainbows!
So order your liquid tin foil, remote controlled hammer, or mudpie mix from Butterflies & Rainbows & use my code to get 2% off within the next 24 hours. Hurry! Before this humongous opportunity passes by🙄
I appreciate if you have reviewed something, you give your honest pros and cons.
And the fact that that item may work better for someone else is left up to that person.
You've helped more people with this channel in 4 yrs than some who have been in voted into positions of 'Service' for decades at a time.
Now, you just turn to your mirror, tip one of those gorgeous hats, and give yourself a bow!
😎🚐☁️☁️
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Yes! Thank you for noting that! I was getting a little discouraged because I've been looking for ANYTHING less expensive than the $1700+ rents I'm seeing. My mort is $1200, but our acreage is being rezoned for townhomes starting at $500k and the anchor 3-acre lot was just bought for $700k. I'm about 40 miles east of Atlanta. 10 yrs from retirement in my public school system and I've revamped my retirement contributions as much as possible to pay off student loans quicker (yeah...not everybody qualifies for the public workers forgiveness stuff), kids are military so, basically, nomads themselves.
It was my nephew and new family that is making this make more sense.
He's on a 20 month wait list for base housing. The stipend for off base housing is miniscule when you're budgeting like crazy, the school systems are less than optimal (esp if people don't show up...like the TEACHER🤦♀️), and your kids are smart off the charts because of homeschooling. When sending your children to a formal school dumbs them down, that is NOT a good thing.
So he was gifted an RV by a relative. The husband is no longer able to drive and wife is also incapacitated..they relocated west and found a tiny home community.
He's now got a 2 1/2 bedroom (the loft is the "1/2" separate shower, toilet (so no waiting for the shower), eating kitchen, learning room, family room, propane & electric all total comes to less than &600/month including lot rental.
They have an electric car for him to head to work. She drives the Midsize SUV for local runs and they tow it when they take vacations.
This is the most beautiful thing I've seen. He's finishing it out little by little with items from the Habit for Humanity ReStore (over 700 locations nationwide 😊) and they're able to save like never before!
Simple ideas that work for each person will always be the best option.
🎉
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Before my daughter left for college, I found & signed us up for a self-defense class that was facilitated by a female police officer (she was also a black belt). It was an hour long class held at a church one afternoon.
She gave some great tips, and moves for everyone from the youngest most agile to older people that might have mobility challenges.
It was really a good class. Although I can't remember everything, there are some definite moves and strategies that stuck with me.
I would suggest Googling something like "free self defense class near" whatever zip codes you're near.
Know how to change your tire. (I didn't say you'd always HAVE to do it, but know HOW to do it.
Learn basic parts under the hood (like the difference between the oil dipstick and the trani dipstick (if you even have one FYI: sealed tranis have a plug instead of a dipstick) so no one can throw out random "car jargon" and start "taking charge."
I have had a 16" breaker bar sheath (a hollow metal pipe that can be used to leverage over lug wrench when the blasted lug nuts are torqued too tight🙄.
My dad gave it to me when I got my license in '86. It fits right in my drivers side slot between the door jamb and the seat. Hasn't slipped in any of my cars and I've only used it once...but Im not afraid to use it again.
I also keep "reinforcement" sharpened and easily accessible. My key ring has pepper spray on it (just be mindful if you are going into a courthouse to leave it. (our tax office is in the same building so I know to leave it behind or the deputies won't let me in through the scanners)
I keep a tazer in my car right in front of my gear shift cubby. I got a combo at Academy Sports.
I researched reviews and both come in the same packaging for about $25 total.
My pepper spray is aqua and my tazer is hot pink and charges via usb.
I test it every month (not on living things, but to at least see the spark).
My best friend is an IT tech and he says that for charging phones, if you're going to use a port at a rest stop or waiting for tire/repair where it offers the plug.or a port, plug in a wall adapter, use the wall adapter with your plug. It creates a "break" in the direct access to your phone. It doesn't always happen, but if you use the direct port it opens a vulnerability to your information on your phone. If you ever have to be out of your vehicle and in a hotel for some reason, where they have the USB ports on the nightstand, use your plug/adapter. Hotels are PRIME for data breaches. And by now we've all gotten at least one letter from some place we went to EONS ago stating that our information had been breached...gee, thanks for letting me know...decades later 🤦♀️
If I'm walking out of a store first and there's a 'viber' (someone who makes my conscience think twice, even for a split second TRUST YOUR INTUITION!) and especially if they are double timing your steps, I'll either step to the left/right, whichever has more room, immediately and let them pass me by and not think anything of it or I will turn around immediately and go right back into the store. I'll step over to the side and watch where they go.
I also get my $$ and grocery bags situated BEFORE leaving the store. Especially if I'm coming from a store like Aldi's (or I guess Sam'sCostco type places, too. Places where it's not unusual to not have grocery bags.)
Aldi doesn't provide grocery bags unless you buy them. I can't tell you how many times I see women who will have their baby in the shopping cart, and then they have a cart full of disorganized groceries, they get to their car, put up their back hatch to start loading and rearranging.
You can get empty boxes of all sizes for free that they have for the customers and you can situate all of your items BEFORE you leave the store. That way you can just put it right into your car or your van, return your cart, then put the baby in the car and leave.
I've seen cars that just drive through grocery parking lots and I get the distinct feeling they're there shopping for victims.
Before you head out of the grocery store, step to the side and look out. Look to your left and your right to see what you might be dealing with as well. Have your keys out even if your car has a passive entry (where you just touch the handle to open.). I'd rather be able to set off the alarm than be shoved into my car.
If I think of other things I've developed a habit of & that I've learned, I'll post again.
~Safe wishes for all of us
🚗☁️☁️
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We've had a standalone shopping supermarket that closed about 12 years ago.
On the other side of the parking lot is a Goodwill, a Chinese food restaurant, a Mexican restaurant, and a hair supply store. That's it.
Big rigs used to be able to park there overnight just to get some rest.
There is a waffle house that stands alone within walking distance on the other side, about 500 ft away
The parking lot was never trashy, always tidy, never overrun, and the trucks usually stayed at the far end by the closed supermarket.
They didn't take up any parking spots at the waffle House or the Goodwill at all. Even before the pandemic.
Now, at least a third of the parking lot has been fenced off. There's still room enough for at about 5-7 big rigs to park horizontally and not take up any space away from the Goodwill parking or the waffle House parking. But it is more noticeable.
But now they can no longer Park overnight. And the WM one block away does not allow them to park overnight. It is across the street from a huge apartment complex where there are consistent evictions.
I do EVERYTHING to avoid that WM. There is consistent trash all over the parking lot, loud music, the store has a "garage" floor (NO tiles now for over 5 yrs), just an unpleasant environment all around.
I have a 10x better experience at the Goodwill parking lot than at the WM.
Imagine if that closed down supermarket would split into a place to get a shower, maybe work and have some wi-fi, get a decent meal, and just a place to rest... But I guess that would be too much like right. It's just going to continue to be an abandoned supermarket, I guess 🤷♀️
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We are definitely not alone! After a 21 year tumultuous marriage, I made my Exodus. (Please, no "I should have just left, I'm an Id10t, I'm weak, etc..just save it 🙄). Everything that had been agreed upon, including him selling the marital home and getting all of the vehicles except one etcetera was not adhered to.
I had one of the marital cars and it broke down 60 mi from my 3rd attempted rental, with my daughter in it.
I have been researching reliable affordable cars on my school clerk salary and I found a 2009 vehicle for under $10,000 with a payment and jumped on it. I then use my little prepaid legal from my job and apply for bankruptcy to get out from under the legal obligation of the home that he was supposed to sell and he would keep all the proceeds from. Instead he let it go into foreclosure and it still had my name attached to it.
I excluded my car from the bankruptcy and when I got in front of the hearing officer, he looked at it, flipped the paper over, and asked me where are the rest of my debts..
I said I don't have any. I said I paid my portion of the bills. I said but nothing was in my name except that house and I have to get out from the financial obligation because ex has not paid on it for 4 months and he's not going to.
I had worked with NACA for about a year to try and I did succeed in getting the interest rate lowered. But you have to not pay for 3 months, be 3 months behind for their plan to work. So you have to trash your credit for them to seem like they're coming to the rescue.
No way. I paid the payments on time and after 9 months I was able to get it reduced from the predatory interest of 10% down to 6%. Hubs still didn't think that was good enough. More abuse followed. So it was time for me to go.
The day that bankruptcy discharged, what's the day that the house went up for auction on the courthouse steps.
He proceeded to bash me online about me abandoning the situation etc.
The day that the house is being sold was the day that I was undergoing a double mastectomy for breast cancer.
He had no clue.
I had never felt more free, more alive, then when all these situations came to a head.
I was also fighting for the $300 a month child support for two children... Total, but $300 for two children...... that's $9/day....38 cents an hour...the price of a an overpriced cup of coffee.
I applied for and received an unsecured credit card and put my water bill, $30 on it, ONLY. With this, and the car, I was able to rebuild my credit. All food was through food pantries for three yrs.
The bankruptcy gave me such a sense of failure. But when I went back in my journals and I saw the times that when I would deposit money for bills he would take it out and buy things like scuba gear, and go to places without me like clubs, while I'm taking groceries back to the store because he had taken money out and was going to bounce the account, it wasn't anything that was my fault.
I utilize free counseling and it took me awhile, but I came to grips with the fact that people are going to do what they're going to do but not everything is my fault.
I'm a cookie home-r too, have taken my lunch and breakfast now for the past 32 years, can I have 9 years to full retirement from my elementary school Clerk position..
I will let you know though, if you have grandchildren that go to an elementary school, and you're close enough to eat lunch with them, the teacher bar has some pretty good selections! Can you get a choice of between two entrees, full salad bar, baked potato, or a sweet potato, fruit sides, veggie sides, lemonade, sweet or unsweetened tea all this for $4! It used to be $3 for the past 18 years but inflation...🤔 I let all the grandparents an older relatives know. And they don't have to get a full lunch. Imagine getting a baked potato with all the toppings, a side salad that you fix yourself, and a drink, those count as 40 cents a piece/a la carte! $1.20 for a full meal!
They get a chance to visit with their grandchildren, and they get a good filling meal.😊
Just another option to think about.
~Best to all!
🚗☁️☁️
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We have quite a few co-ops here.
They used to restrict You by ZIP code, but since the pandemic, every Tuesday when I'm coming home from school, I can see the line around the corner of people waiting in their cars for a box of food.
They are absolutely the best thing that ever happened.
It hurts my heart when they run low. I just remember how much they helped me when I made my Exodus with my kids having to start over.
At that time, they were renting the corner of a church parking lot in a double wide trailer.
They were able to assist with up to $150 toward a bill BUT you had to come with the rest of the money if your bill was over that.
And they made you get the utility company on the phone right then and there and you had to come with your portion, if it was a check, they made you get on the phone with the bank right then and there to make sure that it would not bounce, or if you had the remainder of the money, you have to count it out right then and there.
My daughter's and son's Scout troops did service projects where they collected toys or dolls, or something year-round and toiletries and they prepared birthday boxes in accordance with ages.
So when we were going through our transition and their birthdays came around, they also gave to us.
About 9 years ago, they were able to purchase a 3-acre plot of land, and build a brick and mortar building where they also have a community garden.
The building is a lot more secure than the trailer was.
And I am so proud to say that within 3 months of them moving in, they were able to burn the mortgage!
They had been saving & serving for well over 25+ yrs in the trailer until they could build a secure location.
Lots of the kids also volunteer there to add to their community service hours for scholarships. I often see military reservists helping out as well.
A food pantry might be able to help. Some churches also might have food give aways throughout the month.
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I don't have heated seats, but before I saved enough in Receipt Hog and Fetch points, I bought snazzy unique oversized tee shirts (thrift store had best prices and beautiful selection) and popped off the headrest, slipped it right over, tuck the arms, then replaced the headrest.
I also put a fleece remnant (although there are plenty of full size fleece throws on clearance) on the seat to keep me toasty while I'm heading out in the morning.
I keep my vents closed so the cold air isn't flowing in.
I also keep a Dollar tree set of gloves, earmuffs (there are thin ones now), sunglasses (you KNOW nobody actually cares if there's an M.K. glued to the frame, right??🙄), and socks (ever stepped out into an invisible puddle... it's horrible 😵💫). All take up very minimal space and come in handy when I'm freezing!
With all the construction around my area, I have also resorted to putting a pair of slip-on jeggings and a pullover top in a small packing cube & putting it under my seat.
I'm not the only one who has discovered a flat tire from the ongoing parking lot construction (which started two years ago...and is STILL ongoing🙄).
But I seem to be the only one who knows how to change my tire. (Although I have AAA, the wait is always over an hour after 4 when we get out of school.)
I can change my tire in 30 mins and then get to a Discount Tire for them to either patch it or replace it free before they close. WM around me usually stops taking at around 3...good help is almost non existent! Fix-a-flat is my last resort.
I saw something online called "second skin" to add as a layer to the headliner in the car. It says that it's supposedly cuts down on your cool air escaping more... I'm going to look into exactly what it is and see if I can make my own.
I read that blasting the AC can reduce fuel economy by more than 25%.
I'm not sure if this second skin is intended to go underneath the headliner. I have no intention of ripping mine off but maybe I can create some kind of 'barrier' using magnets that are strong enough to adhere through the car headliner as an extra layer.
I also make sure I keep my hatchback cover thing is in tact. It seems to reduce the heat back there. (At least until this horrible ATL heat kicks in🫠)
This is so inspiring even if you're not a van lifer!🎉🎉
~Thank you.
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Ooohhh!!
Thank you so much for this! This is what I was thinking of doing. But most of the people I speak with tell me it's either all or nothing. Says who?
I am less than 10 years from two pensions at the public school system I work in. I work in the front office doing the scheduling, county, state, and federal compliance, discipline entries, SpEd, ELL, graduation credits, etc. So I work through the summers. But I do get to take vacation time at different intervals throughout the year in addition to the spring and winter breaks.
My last little birdie just flew the nest. I am decluttering and downsizing.
Builders are knocking down trees left and right and encrouching on our acreage. I've put up the good fight but I cannot fight the freeway.
So what I thought about doing was, if I am forced to move sooner than later, I would find a smaller, maybe already established home with a short commute to my job, but further away from the urban sprawl. But I would look into a comfortable motor option to take extended school breaks up to the mountains where I intend to retire. Maybe stake out a couple of areas that I haven't been to yet to see how things are at different times of the year.
~You are truly a blessing! I love how you give so many options for this choice of living!
🚐☁️☁️
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I recently saw a news story of a gentleman who took about $19k of his own money, bought land, went through all the hoops for zoning & was approved.
He built about 20 tiny homes, partnered with job resources, etc. to help people get back on their feet.
The community housed about 50 people, families combined, single and couple, etc.
Then, within the year, some councilman, or mayor, came around and actually had them all towed away and destroyed. Saying that it violated some kind of ordinance.
So giving people dignity, a place to stay, and resources, is a violation of an ordinance??
Yet that head honcho didn't have any other viable solution other than to put those people back under a bridge or out in the open on a sidewalk...BRILLIANT😕
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Our school district, in accordance with the McKinney-Vento Act and No Child Left Behind criteria defines homeless students are those who "lack a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence."
This is my 19th year as a registrar at my elementary school.
I always wonder, then, if a family does not pay rent but they find permanent shelter with a relative, if they can still be considered homeless. The answer is yes. So we have had people that have registered their children starting in kindergarten who are now in 5th grade who every year apply as homeless and are accepted as that status and they are residing with Grandma or an aunt.
The status automatically entitles them to free lunch as well as other resources.
I do have issues though with those that are milking the system as homeless.
If you have been residing with someone specifically five or more years, I find it hard to believe that you are homeless.
They are not doubled up, the situation is more than acceptable, and they have no intention of leaving.
There are also subcategories such as doubled up, hotel / motel, vehicle, or unhoused.
It just seems unfair to those who are truly homeless. (House fire, job loss, couch surfing, etc.)
Just my opinion.
🚗☁️☁️
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