I'm looking for around 300. :3

i cant really go higher than 260, or i cant afford the other stuff lol :(

I'm sure I'll have them in stock for a while, should you have enough later. :3

Stopping in to say hello. :)
I'm still stuck with limited internet until next Monday.

Going to be a pain in the a** because I don't have work until Friday, and no tv either.

That stinks, Rus. :( I remember we were similar too. For awhile I didn't have the cable installed, but Aaron couldn't live without it. Me...I don't care, and the 30 extra bucks a month is kinda nice. :XP

But yah during the time we moved in and didn't have any cable or internet...It felt like I was disconnected from the world. :(

I hate feeling disconnected like that. Dx Hopefully you get the full Internet back soon.

Hey Chi, i'll take the festive ribbon for 300 now if thats all good with thee! ^-^

Just send the trade if you accept

Sure thing! It's coming from my mule. :)

Chi - I only have Thursday now to go! YAY!

Then I have a month off...and I don't quite know what I'll do with myself!

I still don't know what I'm going to do with myself for not having any final exams. I'm done on Thursday, too.

We may have a party during our Wednesday finals block next week, but it's in the evening and would be solely fun stuff. Doesn't count! :D

So, I have one week off, then one week of class. Then I get about two more weeks off before grad school. :XD I know what I'll be doing next week. Getting that damned eBay room cleared out and turned into a baby room!

Well my friend said we're going out for a drink to celebrate the end of spring semester. She's like just 'a' drink, and I'm like yah OK...as long as Aaron doesn't mind, and he only would if we were too broke to do it.

I've got another friend saying I should work and go to school and I'm kinda hesitant as I'm liking being a full time student and not having work on top of everything else. Not to mention the whole one car thing and me NOT HAVING A LICENSE. Ugh. I'm pissed about that last one.

I'd say getting the license would be necessary before a job anyway, unless you could do stuff from home. If you're going to take more than 12 or 15 credit hours, anything beyond a part-time job might be too much to juggle. Most students do work part-time while taking 12 credits. The more adventurous go full-time.

If I weren't pregnant I'd be working full-time while going to graduate school. I'll have classes just two nights a week from 4pm-6:45pm. The workload is equivalent to full-time undergrad from what I hear, but I also know I can buckle down and do a lot of work in one go.

If the baby turns out to be happy and pleasant, I may keep my part-time spot. Not sure. It's all being played by ear right now.

Edit: I will be working until birth or until the business shuts down in the summer due to Mother Nature reasons. I meant when the baby's here I won't be able to put several hours in. :XD

Yah I wouldn't mind so much a part time job I guess...it's first things first, and also it's nice NOT having to juggle between work too. I mean I'm ENJOYING getting to put all my focus on school...and I guess as bad as it DOES sound, ride out the storm as far as possible on unemployment. Part of me feels bad because I came from a household where my parents really looked down for those taking government handouts, AT THE SAME TIME I'm learning more and more that one of life's biggest secrets is trying to use what system is in place to your best advantage and I don't feel like I SHOULD feel guilty as I have friends I know who are doing absolutely NOTHING on unemployment except for the odd resume and they are STILL riding out on unemployment.

The fact I'm communicating with them on a weekly basis, and doing really well in school should show I am actively pursuing a degree to make myself MORE QUALIFIED for the job market. I'm an intelligent person who unfortunately made some bad decisions the first time around in college...and I REALLY don't want to be working dead end job to dead end job for the rest of my life because of it. It isn't SOLELY my fault for things turning out the way they did. My parents made it very awkward living under their roof and I wanted to cut the ties and try to make it on my own. I just found out after the fact that it is much harder than it looks. :(

I'm probably preaching to the choir as I know that Kin is trying to do the same thing, but my mother has been kinda disappointed that I'm not working and I can tell without her flat out telling me so.

If I were in your shoes, I would also ride out the unemployment for as long as possible. If you are able to make ends meet with Aaron's wages and your unemployment, you shouldn't deny yourself the extra time to devote to your studies. Besides, you're not just sitting on your ass doing nothing. You're going to school so that you can eventually get a job in a field that gives back to the community.

Speaking of Kin and benefits and using a system to one's advantage..

We got notified that because we're both enrolled in college now, plus expecting a child, his undergraduate schooling will be completely covered by government grants. If (and it's a big if) he gets on the same program I was on for my undergraduate studies, his gas costs will be reimbursed, and we'll get a $500/month stipend.

I am crossing fingers and toes that he gets on the program I was because his gas reimbursement will also cover the gas I'd need to use to commute two nights a week for class. The stipend would cover our monthly groceries.

It's looking more like we'll need a second vehicle. I'm going to talk to Mom on Thursday at work to see if she's willing to commit time to taking care of the baby for an hour a week. If not, we'll need the second vehicle. That's fine. There will be enough in the loan money budget to do so now that we don't have to worry about Cole's tuition.

It'd just be neat not to have to spend the money if we didn't, you know, have to. The conflict will come on Thursdays. His last class of the day gets him home without enough time for me to get to my class. :XD And without two vehicles, I'm kinda screwed to get to class on time. If Mom can come here and watch the baby for an hour, I can borrow her vehicle. She can take ours home and then I swap at the end of the night. Win-win.

That's our only conflict, so I think that's good. D:

Wow that would be awesome if he gets on that program! My fingers are crossed for you!!

You know it kind of disgusts me when I see someone who's gotten on state assistance for college and ends up withdrawing when they can't keep up with it, for whatever reason. I tried to use that ORIGINALLY when I lost my job, but because of massive state cuts I was told several times that it would be IF they could clear room for me. Instead of sitting on my ass and playing a gambling game with probably shitty odds, I went to the financial aid department and they gave me a form to petition the decision made by my fafsa form. Not only did I get money to pay for school tuition and books, but pell cuts the rest of the money you're awarded and mails a check off to you. That money REALLY helped us out and will continue to do so.

Speaking of which my next BIG thing is to make an appointment to see the head of Financial Aid for another petition for Fall. I'm worried that because Aaron is back to work it is more likely they will deny me due to him 'making too much'. (They DO ask how much child support you pay out, but I don't think they really give us credit for how much we spend on the kids regardless of the fact...a third of his wages off the top, then there's the summer when they're here for the majority of it -- all the money it takes to keep them fed and taken care of. Well we are able to do an abatement form in the summer AFTER proving they've been with us for 6 consecutive days or longer. He ONLY gets HALF of it back, which I think is utter bullshit. Of course if you ask me how much she should get, I'd say zero and the kids SHOULD be living with us. I could play fulltime student and stay at home mom without much fuss AND we wouldn't be so financially tight. Paying 600 a month in child support SUCKS.)

When you go and have to give them the tally, maybe you guys could also bring receipts from now until then showing the additional care that goes into the kids' living expenses? Copies of medical bills, anything like that will be a bonus.

I'll cross fingers that your next year's expenses will be taken care of! Let's both hope for fruitful outcomes. Cole and I will be OK if he doesn't get on the program, but if he does get on the program we're looking at about $7000 or so that we don't have to take out of loans.

(Which is good, since I have about $30,000 in loans that aren't federal... we'd like to "pay them off" so that when we both graduate in three years we'll be able to consolidate the remaining federal loans. Guh. It's gonna be ridiculous. The $30,000 cannot be consolidated with the federal loans.)

Ouch! That's a lot of money. :( It's a shame there isn't more help for people with school. It's too bad they don't give cuts for students with exceptional grades. :/ Education shouldn't be so costly for those who have the potential. Everyone should be able to afford it without having to go in the hole. (In an ideal world)

The nice thing is you're much farther than me and in all honesty you can't buy time. I'm worried that by the time I actually get through all my education I'm going to be way behind someone who went fresh from highschool and just rode through the storm. They'll have much more relevant work in the field compared to me. :(

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Anyways Aaron is getting up to go to bed. I'm gonna go join him for nightly cuddles. =3

Well, I can't complain too much. We lucked out SEVERELY this year because our rent didn't go up the $50 we were expecting. I don't know if it's because my landlord knows we're expecting and he's really kind, or if the fuel costs weren't too bad this year? I'm thinking it's because he's really kind. For how big this place is, our rent is a steal..

With the student loans, I am lucky in that there are programs available for me to sign up for after I've graduated. Being in the field I'm in, some (not all, some) employers will take on a person's loan debt after they work there for 2-3 years. I'm not gonna tell myself we have to live with that debt forever, buuuut... it'll be a while. It's okay though.

Don't sell yourself short. I'll be done when I'm 28, almost 29. If you stop at a Bachelor's, you won't be that far behind me at all. =3 Age has nothing to do with relevancy. It never does. It's about what you learn and how you can apply it when your time comes.

Sleep well!

Thanks! I slept alright. I'm a bit pissed my friend never got back to me to let me know if she's coming over today or not though. I guess I'll find out eventually.

I slept in far too long for my liking, as usual. I need to make some breakfast, slurp down some coffee and then get some more of my pending "to do list" done. I have forms and crap to fill out today, plus I should get started on my final translation exercise for Latin.

I don't have to leave for class 'till 5pm, so yay!

Yay!

I need to finish my final in English...no wait START my final. Don't wanna, but it's the last thing I need to do for this semester!! YAY!!

Oh and fill out some forms for Michigan Works, just in case Pell falls through. :'(

I think I filled out my student employment forms right, but who the hell knows. :XD I'll pass them in tomorrow, since I need to get a supervisor to sign, and I don't think she's around today.

I need to get some late lunch and then shower. If there's time I'll finish up Latin, otherwise I'll do it when I get home tonight. I think I'll be gaming and eBaying this weekend, save for whatever day we use to celebrate Mother's Day! (Depends on the weather, since we'll do a cookout for my mother.)

I'll a pair of Yumeh Slippers 3.5k.

All of the people running around in their leaves made me realize that we need a pixelated item that disables the underwear and puts a little blurred part over the naughty bits. :)

Originally Posted by Kinmotsu

All of the people running around in their leaves made me realize that we need a pixelated item that disables the underwear and puts a little blurred part over the naughty bits. :)

That would be SOOO *bleep bleep bleep* SWEET!

I think you should forward the idea on. Being naked rocks! :cool: