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AmandaVT

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Posts posted by AmandaVT

  1. Ugh, I'm so sorry these jobs pay so little. Even our fast food companies start at $17-$18/hr. 

    What about grocery stores or hardware stores? They pay pretty decently to start and there is usually an opportunity to move up quickly. 

    Have you looked into PT for your feet? I was very skeptical because the stretches I found online were not helping, and I was almost resigned to just living with a lot of pain. I gave it a try, and it turned out I was doing the total wrong thing for me and needed to focus more on muscle building in my ankles and hips because my joints are hyper-flexible, so the stretching was the opposite of what I needed. I'm a teacher and am on my feet on concrete floors all day, so I get the pain. I just graduated from PT - one foot is almost totally better, except for a possible stress fracture (which hurts less than the plantar fasciitis did), and the other is improved. My PT told me to keep doing the exercises, and the pain should continue to improve. 

    • Like 1
  2. 25 minutes ago, MEmama said:

    Yep. I came here to say the same thing--Subaru Forester (or Honda CRV)-- until I saw the $10,000 limit. Idk if you can find them at that price anymore, unfortunately. But for a shorter person (I'm 5'3) having a taller vehicle improves visibility so.much. I'm always surprised by how reduced mine is when I drive my DH'S VW  Jetta (another fantastic, reliable car, btw. His is a 2014 and gets astounding gas mileage--better than the Prius in our climate). 

    Another short person chiming in to recommend Subaru Forester!

    • Like 3
  3. It's pretty bad here - worse than Irene in many places, and Irene was devastating. I think FEMA got here yesterday at some point and there have been helicopters circling since. 

    This was downtown Montpelier earlier - after the waters started going down. 

    image.thumb.png.b6da88f1ef8e132a2abbda53d95eb04e.png

    This is the road to my school:

    PNGimage.thumb.png.288a2c34c037112b135835936321764d.png

    • Sad 25
  4. I'm terrible with staging/furniture placement stuff, but one thing that seemed to be very much appreciated was the jar of chocolate we left out before every showing. We had a lot of thank-you notes, and a lot of candy was eaten! We also had a candle lit and fresh flowers. 

    image.thumb.png.0bf2198852ffeb1b8ada0aafc63b62fa.png

    • Like 3
  5. Have you thought about a school job? If I remember your state correctly, (LA?) there are numerous alternative pathways to licensure. I went through an alternative licensing program in VT to become a special educator. My district paid for the whole program, and I was able to get a job ASAP on a provisional teaching license. Good benefits and kid-friendly schedule. 

  6. 2 minutes ago, wintermom said:

    Exciting times! I looked at tons of photos of kitchens online to get some ideas. For additional counter space, do you have enough room to add an island (even ready-made movable one, like IKEA sells). We had one for our first kitchen and it was really nice. 

    I can't actually see any of your attachments, though. 

    Try refreshing - they uploaded as a weird extension at first and I had to take screenshots and re-upload. Hmm - it's about 12x12, so not a huge space, but I thought maybe a small island in between the kitchen and the breakfast nook area may work?

    1 minute ago, mommyoffive said:

    I am horrible with this stuff too.  HORRIBLE.  Do you need the eat in space in there?  

    We don't need the table in there, no. Currently, it's a fruit bowl holder and occasional small appliance holder (sometimes the mail ends up there too). I have to move the toaster when I need more counter space, so it usually ends up on that table if I need to roll out pizza dough or something. 

    • Like 1
  7. We moved into our current home in October 2020. It has great bones, built in 1930. We've been taking down wallpaper (so many birds on the walls!) and repainting. We put a new roof on last year. It's finally almost time to tackle the kitchen. I am having a really hard time envisioning pretty much anything. I am terrible at stuff like this. But we have almost no counter space, almost no cupboard space, and DH and I are hoping to do something this winter with it. 

    We are not up for a $50,00+ renovation, so I'm trying to think creatively. I am really 100% fine with practical and functional. We don't need fancy. The "beams" on the ceiling are fake, hollow plasticy material and those need to go. The breakfast nook area has great built ins but is mostly being used for storage at the moment. We don't have a pantry or anything like that. The metal bookcases were supposed to be temporary until we had more cabinets. I'd rather our food and pots/pans be in cupboards if possible. 

    I'm attaching pictures - please excuse the mess and the fan. It's a million degrees here today and I'm trying to keep the house reasonably cool. 

    Any thoughts on how we could fix the kitchen? First picture is coming in through the dining room. There are four doors. I think we could close up the one to the left of the refrigerator. 

    image.thumb.png.fdaf95cbe360572c1689553f064e1216.pngimage.thumb.png.06892d1fb60ab9312da095decd9f8519.pngimage.thumb.png.2cfeaed4fe53a12ceb6138b460e70be2.pngimage.thumb.png.a96cb770f6c447fdec986220d27f1851.pngimage.thumb.png.b93155679d7cd1582dab48ce365d039d.pngimage.thumb.png.9768b6b51e4a04bc461fc8c673af5533.png

     

    • Like 1
  8. Not in NY, but I'm next door to you. My friend fostered a very high needs child for a few years. She had to be the squeaky wheel with DCF. She's really bad at being the squeaky wheel, but that was the only thing that made a difference. She struggled to get respite care and childcare for her, but when things were too much at home (5 hr tantrums, etc), she would have to say "if you can't find respite options, I won't be able to keep caring for this child." They kept throwing more money at her, way higher than the official max daily amount for fostering, but she would say that it wasn't the money, she needed a break. It didn't help that she had 4 DCF workers in the years she had her, and most of them were too busy/overwhelmed to do much. But persisting and holding the line helped. If you're not "that person" DCF will walk all over you as a foster parent. Is this a therapeutic placement or regular fostering? It can be extra tricky to find therapeutic respite/childcare workers too. 

    Do you have local community mental health agencies? Here, our county agency has summer programming for children that receive services through their programs. Transportation to/from day camp is provided as are meals. 

  9. I just finished A Duet for Home, which is one of our upcoming Golden Dome nominees for next year. Middle grade fiction - our librarian gives book loving teachers sneak peeks at the upcoming year's nominations and lets us read them over the summer! This one is a good one - adjusting to living in a homeless shelter and kids working together for good is the main theme. I enjoyed it - perfect summer read!

    • Like 4
  10. 3 minutes ago, Arcadia said:

    23 currently in SF Bay Area according to this https://www.airnow.gov/?city=Santa Clara&state=CA&country=USA. We haven’t been affected by wildfires yet. 

    I deleted my older photos/images and I try to upload on the small size setting instead of using actual size. 

    You're amazing, thank you! I didn't realize we had a total limit- I just thought the boards had decided to limit all file sizes and was amazed that everyone was able to attach pictures that were only 8kb. 

    Here's the view from our smoky backyard on Sunday!

    image.thumb.jpeg.877f90507565f9598a09d0a23f663a97.jpeg

    • Sad 4
  11. It's ok today - the other day is was in the 200s and the smoke was low. We've had a few bad days so far this summer and it looks like it'll continue off and on all summer. 

    I tried to attach a picture but I'm having the hardest time attaching them recently. The file sizes are always too big - how is everyone getting pictures to embed into their posts these days?

     

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