New Year Resolutions

I know it's a bit early, but I want to start planning now. I have a couple things I want to do. Most of it is just trying to clean up my life.

1. Pay off a certain credit card. It isn't the highest balance, but it's the highest interest. I've been slowly chipping away for years, but I feel like I should have made more progress. My goal is to have this ENTIRELY paid off by the end of the year. My credit and credit cards are a huge weight on me and I want to get rid of it. I have better things to pay for and now that I make a little more money, this is possible.

2. Shine my sink. It is the first step in using baby steps to tidy your home. My mommy has been part of FlyLady for years, and the house has been looking much better. It is all about doing little things for a little bit of time. An extremely messy room is a pretty overwhelming task to attack, but if you just work on it for 15 minutes, it is more manageable. You are more likely to work for 15 minutes than you would be to try to attack the whole thing at once. Then with the first 15 minutes down, you feel as if you accomplished something and you're more likely to return.

There are a lot of other things that I want to get into soon like taking more photos and learning how to use my grandma's old sewing machine. But those are little things that just require mustering up some patience to sit down and learn a few things on my own.

Any other resolutions out there yet? What about your resolutions for this year? How'd you do?

Green Energy

I have always been a bit of a tree-hugger. When we would go camping, I loved to just walk through the woods. Hemlock Gorge was always where I felt "at home" and would spend the majority of my time there. I haven't been there in a couple years and the last time I did go, it was after they had found and destroyed an infestation in the trees. I think it was the Emerald Ash Borer that had infested the trees, but the infested trees had to be removed so they didn't harm the healthy trees. Sadly, many trees had to be taken out. What was once my refuge had become open and odd to me. It was no longer home, but a strange place that hardly looked familiar.

Growing up, we also had recycling bins on the porch, and all we had to do was put the recycling out with the trash every week. It would be picked up in a separate truck and I was happy to be doing a little to help the environment.

Since I have moved out of my parents' house seven years ago, I haven't been recycling because I don't just put it to the curb for pickup. But since I've started my new job, the little voice in my head pushing for recycling is getting louder. At work I see a lot of paper and plastic waste.

I have been trying to print on the backside of old paper and refill my plastic bottle instead of getting a new one. When I'm done with the bottle I try to take it to my boyfriend's parents' house because they recycle.

Since I went to MIAT, I have been paying more attention to green energy and alternative energy. It is continuing to gain momentum and I'm excited about this. I have been thinking about getting a house for a while now, and I would love to use some form of alternative energy. I was thinking about solar panels, but they are pretty costly. Since a main focus of the training of the Power Tech Institute is wind energy, I have started thinking about that. A windmill in the backyard could be fun and a great learning experience.

I guess this is just my ramblings of wanting to do more and feeling pretty helpless about it.
Any suggestions?

Don't leave me alone with a coffee maker...

So tonight has been my first night on my own at work. It has been rather uneventful on the work front. I have released one aircraft so far. I have also had to call a pilot to ask about when I set up his Customs for a scheduled run... Overall, not anything exciting.

But in the world of things that happen at the office that could be messed up anywhere... Well, put it this way: I should not be allowed to go near a coffee pot. It doesn't matter how good the intentions are, I need to keep away.

Tonight, I decided that I would make a pot of coffee for the Hot Standby guys. They have to come in just in case the airplane on a scheduled run breaks. That way we have a recovery team waiting in case they are needed. Thank goodness they are not usually needed.

So I went to make the coffee... In my mind, you put coffee and a filter in the basket above the pot, then you add water, put the pot in place and press "Brew." It would seem that this is not the case. I poured the water in and within seconds, the "Ready to Brew" light came on. I took this as a good sign. That is, until rather warm water came running out. There was no pot, no basket, no nothing waiting for the liquid so it went all over.

I spent way too much time and way too many paper towels cleaning this up. (We have cheapie paper towels... they don't do much.) Anyhow, I made a mess, and I've learned from this. Don't go anywhere near a coffee maker!

Movin' on up!

Since I was last on here, I have gone to school, graduated at the top of my class, got my FAA dispatcher license. And my apartment even feels like a home.

So I am two months into my new job! I am now a "Flight Follower" at a company in Pontiac.

So many people ask what I do... it's hard to explain. I guess I do everything to make a trip go as smoothly as possible. I do paperwork, set up Customs, set up fueling and loading and off-loading.

Now my goal is to get rid of my debt. It has been hanging over me for far too long. My goal is that if I get at least one of my cards paid off, I will be that much closer to paying off the other one. I'm trying to spend less on gas by driving the Chrysler instead of my truck. I wish I could afford to get a "fuel-sipping economy car." I figure if I could find a car that could keep in line with my "car" account with fuel and payment included, I can afford it. But so far, it's not working out...

Now with the new job, I can get a commission check! I can use that to get ahead, or save up. I haven't figured it all out yet, but I will! I'm excited and a bit confused about my future, but I know it will all come out well as long as I keep a positive attitude.

Moving forward and treading water....

Lately I've been feeling SO accomplished, yet I also feel like I've been standing still. It's not that I want to completely change my life (again) but I just want to have some more adventure.
So far this year....
-I've finished rebuilding a car motor
-I've started helping to rebuild another entire CAR - ground up.
-I'm moving to a place that will save me bunches of money...
-I'm saving money to pay off my insane credit card debt
-I've been doing well in management.

But I've been trying to take more photos and do a bit more travel and the like.
I'd like to save up enough to get a separate hard drive for my photos and my music.
I want to go to Chicago (possibly with my ladies.) For fun and photographs.

I just feel stalled. I can't even get my stuff packed because my roommate took up any and all extra room to put boxes. I cannot walk though my kitchen or my living room! It's like I'm just choking, No room to move freely.
My plan when I move is to keep my place clean and presentable at all times. Anyone who knows me, knows that I stink at housekeeping. I am also try to better my personal appearance...
I'm just trying to improve myself.. I know I can be better, so I am pushing myself a little harder... That is the only way to get results.

And to switch to absolute randomness... my mouse is dancing. I'm using my boyfriend's laptop computer and not using the mouse. I'm just sitting here innocently typing and the cursor just dances across my screen!

I hate being a girl....

I hate it.
In happier news, my niece had her baby and now I am a great-aunt!
I just saw pictures and little Tremaine is absolutely adorable!

Restless.....

Lately, I have been restless.... Maybe it's because of winter, maybe I'm sick of being in only one store, maybe it's because I'm starting to really feel the weight of bills.
Whatever it is, I'm not feeling the love at the Zone anymore.
The other day, I was helping a customer like I usually do, and he mentioned that I have great customer service skills and I may be a perfect fit for his company. He wanted to know if I would be interested and asked if his associate could call me and maybe set up an appointment. Since I wasn't sure if this was altogether on the level, I gave him the number at the store.
Surprisingly, a few days later, the lady actually called me back. We ended up playing phone tag for about a week. Today, I finally got a chance to talk to her and we set up a time to meet. Her company is having an open house next Tuesday, and I'll be there!
I've explained that I have to be at the Zone until at least mid-March to get the tenure requirement for the ASE certification. So I've got some hope for this new adventure....

Taxi!

Lately I've been feeling like a taxi, without the pay.
I'm constantly taking Sean to work or school or running errands. And with my truck's mileage dropping rapidly, it's driving me buggy. Rar!
Just one of those things that's been nagging at me, so I had to get it out.....

busy world....

Well, Just the other day I was told by my store manager that all of the planograms in the store are my responsibility and only mine, and also that I was doing a "piss-poor job" on them. How long will it take for her to realize that I'm not Jen? Jen can do those things in about half the time I can. But Jen is helping the Area Merchandiser so she's not in the store. I am not Jen!

Anyway, yesterday was my day off and it seems that is the day my body decided to be sick. Figures.
My entire body ached and I was coughing a lot. I also had a fever or 100 degrees. I took it easy and drank lots of water... I don't ache as much today, but I'm still going to try to take it easy at work and keep drinking water.

And my final dilemma is that I don't know when to file my taxes. I had to file something else for my 2005 taxes so that they don't levy my taxes to cover my ex-husband's debt. I want that to clear before I file this year, but I haven't gotten a clear answer from the IRS on how long that Form takes to go through their system. I called one 800- number, then another. The second number answered the questions I had. Then I went on the IRS site to get the form I need and it turns out that my circumstances deem that I fill out a slightly different form. So I wanted to call the IRS again to be sure that the different form had the same turnaround time, and they don't work with that form at that particular place. So, I got another 800-number but when I called this one there was no answer, not even a recording... OY! I just want to know if I can file for this year without it getting all screwed up...

It Started!!!!

Well, for the first time in almost six months the project Sunfire started!
Dale and I have been rebuilding this motor mostly as a learning experience and a trial of patience. It has been a lot of hard work and aggravation, but the end is now in sight.
I will be selling the thing in about a month or so, if anyone's interested.... hint, hint.