Bah. Stubborn!

I know. Grrr. :< He does seem miraculously better though...

Originally Posted by hummy

yeppers!
also it is doubble bubble bonus goldies day, aw well!

Oh drat. I totally forgot about that! ><;;

Originally Posted by Chi

Su, I love the free app of the day. ^_^

So, what's everyone up to today?

Me too! Its so great. Speaking of, I think I might have missed todays. :lol: Oooh well. Half the time its kids stuff anyway.

Today was mostly bf time. Hung out at his house all morning/afternoon. Went home in the evening and had a game night with some friends.

Ooh. And congrats on page 1000! :D

@Izumi
Good! :) Hopefully it was a fluke.

@Su
Thank ya!

I had a play date today. I'm setting it up for every Tuesday, as I have no class or errands. Plus, it's my husband's biggest day of the week (4:00am-8:30pm), and having something to break up the monotony is needed. It went well. The house is in shambles, but I'll get it picked up later. ;) Right now the baby is napping and I'm using the rest of the time to relax. I reorganized some of the food pantry and got laundry going. The rest is "me time".

Sweet! So you're going to be online for a little bit to chat? I was busy testing out some free MMORPG Aaron has been enjoying, but if you're here I'll come hang out with you.

Yah, Aaron seems fine today. Maybe it was something he ate...I dunno.

It depends. She should be up any minute. She usually only naps an hour and she's going on an hour and a half right now. :)

Bleh I hope for the both of us she takes another half hour. I don't usually get you to myself. :XP

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Haha I bet she woke up now.

Anyways, if you still are there Chi - Any plans with your tax returns? I'm hoping to get some bills caught up and have a little to treat myself to something cool for my bday this year.

Yep, she's up. And quite crabby. e_e

We'll be paying bills with ours this year, but next year (summer onward of this year, really) we should have more money. If Terra takes to daycare well enough I'll be going back to work until practicum/interning, or I'll keep up with it if it's not too demanding.

Sounds like a lot of things are eventually starting to smooth out in your life. You and Kin have been doing a lot of schooling, and Terra sounds like she's doing really well. It's just a matter of time. I'm kinda jealous of you two as you got it all going on. I kinda screwed up on school and Aaron had his kids with another woman, and we're both paying for it dearly. Love the kids lots, but it's just all screwed up at the moment. I found out that their 'stepbrother' moved back into their trailer at their mom's boyfriend's house. Now it's seriously a squat house - two bedrooms and 6 people living there now. The poor kids are living in the livingroom again. Sucks. But you know what? Jack all we can do, unless we want to rip some holes with the kids and their mom and hire a good attorney.

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I'm glad in a way though that they aren't biologically mine. I still want the best for them, and I care about them a lot...but at the same time I don't need to take the blame if something goes wrong with them. I've tried my best to do what I can. I've told them countless times I love them, and they are welcome to live with us at any time in their life. They just HAVE to stand up to their mom, as she will NOT talk with us sensibly about the situation and we don't want a war. Next thing you know if we try to influence the situation she will try to say we brainwashed them or put them up to it.

Right now I feel like they are basically a meal ticket for them to survive. Because she has them she can claim all sorts of government assistance. It's really sick. Someone like me who tries to work for everything I own and someone like her who just pops a couple of kids out and gets stuff handed to her and doesn't work. (At least not for money - granted kids are A LOT of work.)

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Pam is failing classes because she isn't turning assignments in. All her mom does is yell at her when she brings home a failing report card. All that stupid woman has to do is get on a computer and log onto her daughter's account as the teachers update it for them constantly. Luckily, the exwife finally gave the password to him in a round about way and now Aaron will log in on a regular basis and call Pam up to check up on her and make sure she does her work. She's getting her iPod taken away if she doesn't improve.

Every time I get anxious with how I'm walking through life, I tell myself that the only limitations are the ones we set on ourselves. If you want to go back to school, go back to school. We're taking on a lot of debt to get this done, and it may be for naught. Seriously. With the heath care changes going on in the country, psychologist pay is at risk of a serious reduction. If that passes, I'm screwed. And the nursing jobs will be cut as well.

Er, anyway. I just mean, don't tell yourself you can't do something. Just do it. Take the risk, get scared, burnout, but just do it. I hate school. I've done nothing but fight with the faculty. I worry every day I'm raising Terra wrong. :lol: It's nothing to be jealous of, it's just a different path to walk.

With the stepkids, you're right in that you guys can't do anything. The mother is seriously screwed up, but getting emotionally involved is too dangerous on you and your body. No matter what you do, unless you continuously harass CPS, it won't change. I hope they leave her for good when they're old enough. :/

I'm hoping so too. The kids aren't been sexually or physically harmed, and it's just psychological bullshit as well as just stupid things like the mother not taking the time to make sure they do well in school, and feeding them absolute garbage. Sure we took them out to McDonald's one night they were here, but we used it as an educational experience too and the rest of the weekend they ate very healthy. We always try to make sure they have fruit and vegetables to snack on and there is PLENTY to do here. We are probably every child's dream house. We have every gaming system imaginable to play on, internet, they have plenty of toys here too and we're willing to take them to the library to encourage them to read. We really want the best for them, just like always the father gets screwed loyally out of custody.

I'm just hoping they aren't too emotionally screwed up when they get older. I know I was, and still am to a degree but the older I get the less of an impact it seems to have and I see that my view of the world was pretty skewed...and still is to a degree.

I think when I sat and thought really long and hard about kids I decided I couldn't selfishly bring one of my own in the world. I would love to adopt or do a big sister program one day. The world is f***** up enough as it is, and I don't agree with bringing another being into this world. I'm not saying anyone else shouldn't and know I have no control what others do. It just pisses me off to no end though when I hear stories of kids in horrible situations and wish that there was some way to stop that cycle from happening.

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I also have good intentions, and want to do something to improve others lives...but getting PAID for it is a bitch. Like you said, your profession is starting to get a bit shaky because people just don't have the money to pay for such services. I bet you could do A WORLD of good with your training though to improve others lives, but how much are you willing to sacrifice? You're just like me - have a house, bills, and a family you have to come up with money for.

I think Kin, on the other hand, going for nursing is a SMART move. We will always need nurses. As long as people are getting sick and going to hospitals. Maybe doing ER isn't his dream job, but there will always be an ER.

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We do need people in mental heath, too...but that's one of those things that when the money gets tight, people can easily over look. Unless you work in like a prison based setting...of course the government is making MASSIVE cuts. I wouldn't be surprised if that is something they really cut down to something of a joke.

Oh wow am I rambling today! Sorry. I'm very opinionated and I love getting on my soap box. :XP

I think if things get too bad on my job search I'll do crisis work. People can stop receiving services due to no money, but like you said, there will always be ER care, and similarly, there will always be crisis care. The tricky part is finding a licensed clinical position, as you don't need many LCPCs in a crisis setting. Not here, anyway.

I still worry about Cole. You know politics. They can short staff a hospital and still make it run with less quality care.

It's funny you ask what I'm willing to sacrifice. I'm already planning to help with soup kitchen type things, and I'd like to organize support groups in the area for things were lacking, specifically with the disabled population. First, I need to take care of my debt, as I can't extend myself if my family and I aren't able to care for ourselves.

So I imagine ten years from now I'll be doing a lot. I guess I could always teach with my degree, but that's not what I want to do. I suppose I would be okay doing overnight work at a boarding home, depending what's needed. So long as I can make $15 an hour and receive benefits, I'd be flexible as to what I'd do.

If I have a master's and I'm a licensed clinical professional counselor, and I only make $10? That's sad. Really sad.

that would be more than sad, Chi.
it's pathetic the way basic care givers are paid so poorly.
like teachers, crisis counselors and law enforcement etc.
then you see a professional athletes or actor/actresses making obsene amouts of monies.....
anyway, i hope the best for you and your husband, Chi.

*dusts off Izumi's soap box*
i'm a fan of soap boxes, myself.
<3.

I agree. ;_;
The professions that we truly need, i.e nurses and teachers, are being cut down while more and more CEOs/ big wigs are coming out of the woodwork. Or so it seems to me.

Hi everyone, do you know if Chi is here or not? I wanted to ask her if she might have a Dove Wings for sale.

Look at that little girl grow! <3

@Bartuc
Wait 'till you see the newest FB photos in... er, hopefully by tomorrow. It's nuts! She just keeps sprouting. ;_; <3
How be ye?!

@Yue
I do. Send a trade to "Chi's Mule" with 8k? :)

@Liz & Hummy
I figure what will be will be. So long as we can pay our student loans off and eventually buy a house, I'll be fine. I just really want to work a job that I love, but also that provides me with enough money to make ends meet without depending on a credit card. :/

totally agree with you, Chi.
i wish jobs were paid by how much education you have.
or it would erase a certain amount of student loan debt if you are paid lower.

Chi: I wanted to talk to you about that price, would you be willing to lower it a bit as 8k is a tad overpriced for the Dove Wings. I know right now I don't have even close to that much, but was also going to ask if I could trade you three of the new event rares and some gold for the wings?

Yeah, it's good to have a good paying job that you enjoy. It would be nice if companies could help pay a portion of a student loan if they hire you and the loan was for classes that the job required.

@Yue
It depends on your offer. I usually sell for the highest MP price. :)
I have an event set, but what about CIs from this month or last month?

@Liz & Hummy
Right now there exist loan forgiveness programs for both my husband's and my fields. But, if everything else is getting cut, it's not a stretch to wonder if they'll disappear by the time we graduate. I have a feeling things will get better in another five to ten years, but it's going to be harder for everyone for a while yet.

I will keep a lookout though. I know some organizations will pay back X amount of your student loans if you contract into working for them for X amount of years. And there are additional organizations out there that will give X amount if you perform X things over X years within the community. :)

Chi: I know you do and that is why I wanted to talk about that, I realized that you do high mp and 8k is a tad to high for the Dove Wings. I just bought them like a week ago for a friend and only paid 6.5k for them. I was wondering if I could trade you sets of the new CI and maybe a couple of rares from the last event for it?

Originally Posted by Chi

@Yue
It depends on your offer. I usually sell for the highest MP price. :)
I have an event set, but what about CIs from this month or last month?

@Liz & Hummy
Right now there exist loan forgiveness programs for both my husband's and my fields. But, if everything else is getting cut, it's not a stretch to wonder if they'll disappear by the time we graduate. I have a feeling things will get better in another five to ten years, but it's going to be harder for everyone for a while yet.

I will keep a lookout though. I know some organizations will pay back X amount of your student loans if you contract into working for them for X amount of years. And there are additional organizations out there that will give X amount if you perform X things over X years within the community. :)

excellent!
i hope they are still there waiting for you both upon graduation.
they should have some sort of clause that lets you have the loan forgiveness if you
started school during the time the forgiveness was in exsistance.
i'm still sleepie, so i hope i made sense.....

I don't need event rares but I would take 2 sets. :)

Well that is a bit high then as I would value two sets at 10k Chi.