Approaching MELTDOWN!!

I’m venting this at nearly 2am in the hopes of staving off the nervous breakdown that I badly need, but don’t have time for. Mind you, I am extremely grateful for the recent windfall of blessings that have come my way. But, at the same time, they have come with them MOUNTAINS of paperwork, time-constraints, and a lot of money. This is a long, and exhausting read, but I just have to get this all out. Allow me to explain…

I had to wait to register Hannah into Kindergarten because she needed a screening first, which could not be done until the middle of August. Not to mention having to order a copy of her birth certificate (that got lost in the several moves we’ve been through since), which cost $45!! Right after that, I had to get shots updated for all of the kids. I had to have THAT done before I could even enroll Hannah and Taylor into school. For THAT, I needed to fill out pages upon pages of documentation. Lest we forget the small BOOK of forms that I needed to fill out for EACH child for daycare (8-10 pages AT LEAST, for each one), at which time, I had to come up with $120 for the enrollment fee alone.

THEN, I had to go to the teacher “meet/greet” to further validate their enrollment and see what class they were in. Once I was there, I had to attach my hand to Riley and Hannah, with Taylor following closely as I rubbed shoulders with the WHORDE of parents (usually as PAIRS), teachers, and kids doing the same thing. In each class, I was directed to stations which had, guess what?, MORE paperwork to fill out. So, I’m cramped into a tiny desk doing this, and separating school supplies, while my kids are running all over the room, embracing old friends, playing in the water fountain, and showing me all the cool stuff I could barely pay attention to, all at the same time. I’m also being hailed by other parents that I know (in between fussing at the kids to PLEASE leave other kids’ supplies alone and the carpet area is NOT a playground!), and trying to find an opportunity to at least say hi to the teachers.

After that, I went back to the daycare (to give Riley a chance to acclimate, while I asked some questions), and found out – this was just last Friday before I start work on Monday – that Riley had to have a physical done before he could attend daycare. They accepted the shot records for the girls just fine, but for Riley, that just wasn’t good enough for some reason. So, I had to haul ass over to a walk-in clinic that afternoon to make sure I’d get the form filled out before Monday.

All during the last two weeks, I’d been trying to contact my financial aid advisor about what my new part-time student status would do to my grant (which I count on for the kids’ seasonal clothes). Could NOT get a hold of him, and I was still waiting to see if I got into the class I was on the waiting list for, which would seriously impact my loans. I JUST got a hold of him this last Friday (in between the meet/greet, daycare, and clinic fiasco). Classes start on Monday, and I don’t even have my books yet b/c he has to approve my loans first, which he couldn’t do because I was still on the waiting list for a class!! At the 12th hour, I found out that I DID get the class, but he won’t be able to assess my financial aid package until Monday, which means I won’t get my books until the end of the first week of classes!!!!!! AAAARRRRGGGH!!!!

TONIGHT, I checked my mailbox and discovered  my paperwork for the child support modification. “YAY!” was my INITIAL reaction. Until I looked a little more closely. Ok, so I am to fill out 4 pages of income information etc, fine. I also have to submit documention of proof of insurance, income, and daycare expenses, ok! Then, I saw I only had 10 days to do this, otherwise the whole modification is called off and I have to wait another 3 years. Oh wait. It gets better. The “10 days” is from the mailing date filled in at the top of the letter – it read 8/18/08. I JUST got the freaking thing TODAY, the 23rd!!! Which means that I have to have all of this crap back IN their hands BY this Thursday!! Tomorrow is Sunday, so I have to wait until Monday before ANYTHING can be done. And I have to come up with SOMETHING that says the kids are going to be covered under my insurance, their daycare costs this much, and yes, I make this much money – BUT, I won’t get a paycheck for 3 weeks, my insurance doesn’t kick in for another month, and I won’t even pay the first week of childcare until Friday!

WHAT THE HELL????!!!!

Ok, I need to go to my Zen place…I am a leaf…Life is a cookie…*inhale, exhale*

Oooooooooooooooommmmmmmmmmmmm…

Free hair cuts!

My neighbor knocked on my door the other day to tell me some great news! A hairstylist is coming to my complex tonight to do back-to-school haircuts for kids for FREE!! That’s right! Completely pro-bono! Doesn’t that just rock?! It’s at 6pm, but there are a lot of kids that live here, so I want to get there early, so I’m not waiting all night. =)

I just did Riley’s hair myself (electric hair trimmers work great on boys’ hair), but the girls really need one. They want to get their hair cut short just like mine – isn’t that sweet?

For all those out there that still doubt God’s existence or interest in our happiness, you cannot look at my life and not see God in it!! The following is a brief synopsis of a life led by God:

In the last 4 months, I’ve received $2200 that had no business coming to me, and was completely inexplicable! I’ve had the job of my dreams literally fall in my lap, making more money than I’ve ever made and starts EXACTLY when I need it to. Not to mention a daycare who’s location and curriculum is what I’ve always wanted for my children! Lest we forget, I received a letter from the state OUT OF THE BLUE stating that they are going after my ex for more child support – through no action on my part – that will be completely free for me!! The timing, again, is PERFECT, because I am needing the help with child care costs and my new health insurance premium for the kids. I even got a completely free family order at McD’s!!!!!

I implore you ALL to let go, and see how God takes care of you!!!

“Fantabulous” new look!!

Well, I did it. I lopped all of my hair off! And I love, love, LOVE IT!!! It’s the best look I think I’ve ever had. But SHORT!! I’ve had long hair for the last 5 years, and it’s only ever been this short once, 8 years ago. With starting a new job, I really wanted something different, and more professional. She took off, at least, 8 inches of hair!

It is so chic!!! Now, my hair rests about an inch or so above my shoulders, and comes to right about my chin. I wish I had a digital camera so I could show all of you! It’s kind of a long/short look. Long on top, but tapered in at the bottom for a more rounded look, with a wide part and long, sideswept bangs. It really offsets my long face, and softer features. My stylist kept saying, “This is SUCH a cute cut on you! You’ve got a good face for it!” She knew I was a little nervous. After all, my hair grows very slowly, so if I didn’t like it, I’d be stuck with it for a WHILE.

I’m surprised by how much I like it, with it being SUCH a drastic change. But it is just so sleek, stylish, and professional! And surprisingly versatile! I use the straightener for an everyday, trendy look. I can use the curling iron for a more glamorous, evening look, and even my curly hair creates a tousled look. I just have to be careful with that. I could easily look like an electricuted poodle. lol It’s still long enough to pull back, but it’s more like a paintbrush than a ponytail. lol Still, with a wide clip, it looks nice. I keep looking in every reflective surface I come across! lol How narcissistic is that?!

I’m still getting use to not automatically going to pull my hair out every time I put on a shirt. And I keep running my fingers through my hair expecting it to keep going, and it doesn’t. I was outside last night, trying to fix Hannah’s bike, and one of the neighborhood teenagers came up to say hi. He looked down at me and said, “Megan?” I’m like, “Yeah?” “Oh, I just wanted to make sure that was you!” LOL

I feel just so supremely confident to start work! My mom actually surprised me with the offer to pay for a haircut – I LOVE that woman!!! Like most things I can’t afford (which is almost everything at this point), it didn’t even occur to me. But she told me that she knew how important it was to feel good about yourself on the first day of a new job, which is not unlike the first day at a new high school. Especially since I’ve been out of the workforce for so long, and this job means so very much to me. It was so thoughtful, I teared up!

Wow. Who knew someone could drone on this long about their hair! lol Anyway, hopefully, I can post a pic soon…

“Fast” food??

I decided, against my better judgment, to take the kids to McDonald’s last night. I couldn’t really afford it, but I also really didn’t feel like making anything I had in the fridge either.

I pulled up to the drivethrough and was about 2 cars behind the ordering speaker. I waited, and waited…and then waited some more. Took forever just to get up to the speaker, and then they told me to just pull ahead and order at the first window. Huh???? That’s weird, but I did it. And I waited, and waited…

Now, I’m a pretty patient and understanding person. I generally give people the benefit of the doubt. But this was REALLY pushing my limits. I watched 2 other cars pull out cuz they got tired of waiting (it’s not set up like Starbucks =)). The kids even asked if we could go somewhere else, but by then, it had become a mission. I told them, “No, I have to get up to that window so I can remind them what the words ‘fast food’ actually mean.”

By the time I got up to the window, it’d been close to 20 minutes. Apparently, all of their computers were down. But they could’ve handled it a lot better. I’ve been in other drivethru’s where this happened, and they sent people out to the cars to write down their orders. The manager was probably not working on all 4 cylinders last night. Dufus! I was still nice about it though. The guy took my order and told me to pull up.

Well, the food only took a couple of minutes, so I was glad about that. But, when he gave it all to me, he just told me to have a good night…I hadn’t paid for it yet! The asst manager came up and said because it had taken so long, it was on the house. THE WHOLE ORDER!! Between me and the kids, that was a good $15 worth. (at McD’s, that’s significant). I was hoping for a free order of fries or something. At that point, I was like, “Shoot, that’s WORTH waiting 20 minutes!”

You have to understand people, that I couldn’t really afford it to begin with. To some people, time is more important. For me, it’s free food. =)

Found a great day care…

Now, I’ve mentioned that the child care is expensive, but I found a really GREAT place for them to go. It’s a real daycare (they’ve only had homecare unil now – cheaper, but not as reliable or structured). And they SHUTTLE the girls to/from school – whew!  They provide all meals and snacks (which will really cut down my grocery bill) They have a lovely outside playground in the shade – for hot weather. The gravel is made of small bits of rubber, so they won’t hurt themselves on it. They have an asphalt area with several tricycles for the little ones, and it’s all in an enclosed area. So, while it is kind of pricey – the registration fee ALONE, holy cow! – I can afford it, and know that they are very well taken care of.

I’ve taken Riley a couple of times, and he doesn’t want to leave! lol He’s so excited about it, and keeps badgering me about when he’ll get to go again. That’s such a relief since he’s not ever really been to daycare – since he was a baby anyway. It’s a christian facility at a church, so Riley will have a bible lesson everyday! Isn’t that just awesome??!!! We’re calling it “Riley’s school”, so he feels more included with the girls. He goes to his school, and they go to theirs.

They’re security is great! I have to have a electric key just to get inside the front door (it’s an odd-looking metal bar-thing), and you have to use it again to leave. But they won’t give me one until the kids’ first day. The doors are right in front of the main office, so if you don’t have one, they buzz you in and you have to check in with them.

Just goes to show, when you wait on God (and believe me, I’ve WAITED), it’s PERFECT. He doesn’t chince on the details either. The day care is really close to home and right on the way to work. This is EXACTLY what I wanted. Premier is on the other side of town, so I’ll have a good 15 minutes to myself to gear up for the day, and wind down at the end. Typically, their daycares have been close to work and then a looong drive home (which puts them to sleep too late and I have a hard time getting them to bed). I’ve wanted it like this forever! It’s just never worked out that way until now.

GOD IS SO GOOD TO ME!!!

I’m back! New and employed…

After a long hiatus, I’m posting again! And boy, do I have NEWS! I’m a tax-payer once more! But in order to really appreciate the gravity of this monumentus occasion, I want to start at the beginning…

A few weeks ago, I called my mom to ask her if I could borrow my dad’s fax machine to keep at my place for a while. I’d been planning to find a job this fall for the last year, and was ready to start sending out my resumes, and having a fax machine would really help since I figured I’d have to send out quite a few before I got a bite (historically, this has been the case). She told me, and I quote, “Megan, let’s just wait and see. You may only have to send one resume and that’s all it’ll take.” I was like, “Yeah, ok, sure, whatever.”

THE VERY NEXT DAY, my friend, Sara, called me about a job opening at Premier Benefits – where she works. She knew how long I’d been DYING to work there (5 years, people), so she wanted to help, God love her. The notice of the opening had just gone out that day. This was Friday. I took my resume/cover letter over to her house that weekend, and she handed it in on Monday, which was automatically sent to the main office in St. Louis. That’s how they screen the candidates. Friday of that same week, she found out that St. Louis had sent a copy back to the hiring supervisor (a sure sign that it had been approved by Corporate). The next Monday, I got a call for an interview and scheduled it for the next day. That was significant because I applied last March and didn’t even get an interview, though, at the time, I regretted making it that soon because I really didn’t want to start work before the kids start school on August 25th, and that was still 3 weeks away. So, I probably should’ve spaced it out more.  I just put it in God’s hands.

The way they do it is, I have a phone interview with the St. Louis office, if they like me they schedule a face-to-face with the office here. But, in this case, they scheduled both interviews at the same time (a really good sign), and I ended up having the face-to-face first, and THEN the phone interview later that same day. Both went really well, and I didn’t even need to bring up my single mother of 3 status! She said that she had other interviews to conduct and she’d be making a decision the next week. I figured that was to check my references and do a background check and maybe have a final interview. That was Tuesday. Thursday, I was offered the job. 2 DAYS PEOPLE!!! They didn’t even check my references – I checked. And it gets even better! She told me that I was to start on the 25th!!!! And, I was offered considerably more than I asked for! Which really shocked me because the supervisor kinda balked at my minimum salary requirement.

I’m SO EXCITED!!!! You have no idea. And not about the money. Actually, I’m still barely breaking even because of the INSANE child care costs. Even with 2 in part time care, it’s still $900/mo. Yeah, I know. Throw in another couple hundred in extra gas, and almost $300 in insurance… (which I’m HAPPY to pay because that does include vision and dental for me and the kids, which have AWESOME coverage – can you say BRACES??!!! =)) But this company offers so many advancement opportunities and GREAT raises with a starting salary very much above their original posted beginning salary (which is why the supervisor hesitated).

Ok, and that about covers it! =) I’ve still got a week to wait, and it’s driving me nuts! I’m so anxious to get started. This isn’t just a job, it’s the beginning of my career. I feel so good about having a job that I have to dress up for. =) I’ve missed that sense of accomplishment that only comes from working, and haven’t felt like I had much to offer being unemployed (even with going to school). Even though, I’m barely making any money, I’m able to stand on my own two feet again! Goodbye MEDICAID!! Hello HMO!! WOOHOO!!!

And btw, I never had to use my dad’s fax machine once. lol