Money money money money... mo-nay!

First of all...

Zach found a job! Hooray!!!

It really is all about who you know. I was talking with a friend at work and asked where her husband works, and she told me that it is called Heritage Web Solutions, that they might actually be hiring and that Zach should apply. At the same time, he applied for a job at Teleperformance (I don't know what they do there, but it did not come too highly recommended). Well he was offered a position at Teleperformance right away, and a second interview at Heritage. We were relieved he had found a "real" job with Teleperformance, but there were 5 weeks of training every day from 4 PM to 12:30 AM. I work from 8 to 4ish. Not too excited about that! So we decided to wait and see how the second interview went. That was this morning, and they offered him the position AND he started training today! Not only are the hours better but the pay is better. In fact, he can make up t0 around $48,000/year if he does well (it is some commission, plus base pay). And there are benefits. That means not only can we go to the doctor and the dentist, but we may be able to get out of renting sooner than we thought! HA (if you can't tell, I am thrilled about this)! We are just so excited. (He gladly quit his paper route two nights ago.)

Our plans for the semester have changed a little. Things have been a little unstable at work for me. Because I did not get the promotion I was hoping for, they have me and a few others working on a filing project for another department. The 'plan' is that when the project is over we are eligible for re-hire back into Data Entry. However, if the project is finished before they start re-hiring (which looks like Februaryish) then we are, as far as we know, out of a job! For the time being they have enough work for me to do that I can almost get my full 40 hours a week. But who knows what is going to happen in the next couple of weeks.

Additionally I am not going to school this semester anymore. We hadn't really found out whether or not we got a Pell Grant, so we considered taking out a short-term loan to postpone tuition payment until we found out for sure. But even with the loan and the grant, I would still have to cut back on my hours at work in order to be a full-time student. One part-time job was not going to pay the rent... and the bills... and the groceries... for both of us! So we decided the best thing for me to do was to stay out of school another semester so we could save up some money instead of living paycheck to paycheck. Had we known that Zach was going to find a job so soon we may have changed our minds, but some of the classes I still need aren't offered until fall anyway, and I was having trouble filling up the 12 credits required to be a full-time student. Even though I am disappointed to be postponing school ANOTHER semester, all's well for now. Someday I'll be done. Someday!

Oh and I am looking forward to feeling much better about myself. Now that we can afford a gym membership, and hair appointments, and new clothes, and... :o)

Here's some pictures of our fun Saturday this weekend!










We decided to take our niece and nephew -Hallie & Chase- sledding.

Our friends Lauren and Charlie came with us. The kids loved it!