I’ve been a squeaky wheel asking for my reimbursement over a year for my last CPST renewal. There were a lot of hoops and it got messy. Today I just got the money. That will offset my initial investment in the sitter program. You get reimbursed for the drug test/background check after 4 jobs.

I had my interview today with the sitter place. Sounds like once I get drug tested/background checked and fill out some paperwork I’ll be in the system and will look for upcoming jobs. The company is not new, but the NOLA location is new. So, job opportunities may not appear immediately. They said you will primarily be needed Fri & Sat evenings. Parents must book us a minimum of 4 hours. The pay is lower than what I saw online (I’m sure that’s reflecting the company’s cut). However, they said it’s common that parents tip. The hourly income varies based on how many children. My references were very prompt and already responded to their emails from the company tonight. One of my references is the owner of the nanny agency I worked for in MS. We plug in our availability week to week for the sitter site. My boss is very prompt on our schedules and I already have my full May schedule (I got ds’ birthday off). My hope is that the weekends I don’t have the kids I can pick up jobs. I never work past 5 on Fri/Sat so hopefully I can find some work. There’s potential to do some weeknight jobs depending on what they need and my hours. A friend is visiting the city this week and we’re going to brunch Friday (I have Fri off). If I have time I’ll knock out the drug test that day. Totally random - we have “Caturday” coming up at work and I’m excited to see the kitties. Kids can see the cats and make toys for the shelter.

Xh said he’d work with me next summer on a revised schedule but he already made vacation plans etc this summer. Some relatives visited tonight. We all ate out. Luckily the place I found online was good.

I think at one point I proposed 2 weeks on/off but I don’t remember if I actually asked xh… at that time dd would have had a fit to be away from her stepbro for more days at a time. These days she comes to my home and says she’s glad to get a break from her brothers (when she’s here alone) lol

dd said her dad pressured her once to answer who she’d rather spend more time with (Mom or Dad). She tried to answer split her time evenly but that wasn’t an option. She said he’s so dramatic and knew he couldn’t handle the answer if she answered “Mom” (although she felt pretty neutral) so she said him. I told her it’s fine and yeah, he’s dramatic lol She said he doesn’t want me asking any questions about him but always asks her questions about me (is she yelling at you?). She said he’s super worried about them being in NOLA and texted her yesterday, “are you safe?” I brushed it off and said it’s ok he’s worried. And that’s why I made us leave before dark (we went to the Riverwalk and experienced a smidge of French Quarter Fest). Dd volunteers this info. I don’t ask. I told her she can tell him she didn’t want to answer certain things but she said she’s tried and he turns the conversation around making her in trouble or something. She’s very bright, I think she’s catching on so early that xh is manipulative. I hope she’s starting to see that he’s controlling too. I’m sure if we were married he would not have approved for me to walk them around the city. I’m learning my bearings and I have some local friends now. I am so much more confident. Plus, I did not exclusively live in small towns. She complained about the walking but we did get some yummy frozen treats.

Kids will be here soon for summer (every other week). End of May.

I’m researching it. I see one job description says minimum of 10 hours a week. I don’t know if I could commit to that. I feel burned out some days already.

The one that would fit the best and has 18 month financing at Best Buy has the auto sensing cycles. I absolutely hate those. So no washer/dryer for me right now. Different financing but same problem with lowes. Someone gave a detailed review and said it never submerges the clothes unless you hit all these buttons to trick it and label it a bulky load then go back to the original cycle function. no thanks I wanted the most narrow because there’s no guarantee they can reconstruct the doorway here which is absolutely too small for the existing unit. We don’t know if it’s a load bearing wall. And that’s just more work for everyone. I’ll think on this longer and for now focus on getting that third (yes, third) job. I’m currently tutoring a couple of times a week online and Tuesday I interview for a place that assigns babysitters to 4 & 5 star hotels while the parents need to attend conferences etc. I wouldn’t get many jobs with my schedule but maybe a couple here and there. I’m also stuck waiting to hear back from the school mentoring program. dd is here eating me out of house and home 😆I’m on day 3 of a migraine/headache but it’s almost gone. I cannot get a weekday off + Saturday so I think the week of ds’ birthday I’ll ask for the actual birthday off and let the kids stay home together that Sat. It’s very important to me I get that one on one time with ds.

My trash can went missing after the storm. I guess I’ll have to request a new one. I looked around the neighborhood but most have numbers and they match their house. I don’t recall mine having a number. I guess I can add one when I get the replacement. After I get my tax return and make more progress on my cc debt, I might consider opening a card specific to a home improvement store for a washer/dryer on Memorial Day weekend if they have a good deal. That might be foolish though. I’m sick of going to the laundromat and now I’m being judged by one of the attendants. Rude! So far that’s the best location I’ve found near me. The other one was so crowded and cramped. He knows my car broke down there once and watched us jump it. He sees me come mostly in the evening and commented I come too late. I told him I came from work and got off at 7 pm. The laundromat closes at 9. Then he said oh I thought you just be sitting around (like he thought I didn’t have a life). I believe 2 items of mine have gone missing. First he said no we don’t have it then asked to see a pic of the items in question only to state again if they had it it would be in that room. I think I accidentally left a sweater there (meant to move to my car to hang dry later) and the skirt I haven’t seen in weeks but liked to wear to work. I’m just over it. I’ll see what the units cost on sale. I did consider moving out end of lease — road floods but I was told it doesn’t. The landlord said that the flooding is new after they did construction on our street. And I moved in under the impression that the unit’s W/D worked. But moving is not worth it. Hassle, deposits etc etc

I was never able to fix issues on the turbo tax site. I deleted one state and tried to start over but it kept pulling a job from my federal form into the wrong state section with no way to delete. I ended up filing with Tax Hawk. My street keeps flooding in severe weather. We closed the library Wednesday for weather, though. I definitely wouldn’t have been able to get to/from work. So much for putting utilities on my new cc. The water department won’t take Discover. Figures lol Still waiting for the first cc statement to see if I’ve earned any rewards. I’ve already made a payment, though.

I think I misheard and the correct word is colposcopy. Oops.

Ok I am just gonna drive down Wed night to see ds that Thursday for his birthday (not til May). He’s still interested in go carts so I plan to take him to this place that does that. They also have laser tag so I’ll suggest that as well. One go cart ride & one laser game won’t take long. They have a roller coaster there… might talk us into that. I went to a wellness visit and had abnormal results. Now they wanna do a colonoscopy. I literally had normal results last year so whatever the case I’m catching this early I guess.

A Family Dollar is closing down so I scored some discounted food & cat food! $1.80/bag for cat food - it’s normally over $7. Yes, I checked the exp dates. If it wasn’t so complicated I’d take ds to the WWII museum on his birthday (he brought it up last visit). We get a 3 hr visit but by the time he got here the museum would be closed. I don’t know if I’d want to bring dd (when I have them both).

At least I can laugh about it… a loose part came all the way off the trunk today. So now we can’t open the trunk. I’m not rushing to get that fixed 🤦🏻‍♀️ We had free passes to the aquarium but spent $20 in parking fees. I stubbed my toes badly today on the trundle bed so I didn’t want to walk further away. I wouldn’t have even gone if I hadn’t reserved the passes and told the kids. But the walking was manageable. Faster than the zoo. And dd loved the sting rays so went back to see them and pet them again. We were gonna check out The Cheesecake Factory but saw the menu and a) expensive and b) I didn’t even see food I wanted. $9.50 under the cheesecake… is that per slice?? Good grief. Ate in the mall food court, much more reasonable and everyone was happy with their food. It’s really been a good visit imo despite all the hiccups. We’ll probably go to a buffet on Easter Sunday. I’ve been charging the heck out of my cc but should get a tax return soon and hardly get these visits with both kids so I’m just going with it. It’s basically a wash… I won’t make any headway on my debt. I have been cooking at home as well but eating out might make the most sense for Easter. Ds can eat to his heart’s content. I want to try the ferry some other time. albino gator in pic

So the bus route/stop changed because the bridge is out… but the website didn’t update to reflect that. So that’s why I didn’t get the bus. This. This is why I don’t rely on public transit lol

So this has been a disaster. Cross referenced the bus info 4 ways and the bus didn't stop there!! In fact we saw that bus number twice but it didn’t stop anywhere close. My boss is picking us up. The auto place called & said it WAS a bad battery afterall. And after all their charges they quoted me over $600! I asked to hold off on the air filter (like $50). So that brought it below $600. I will get my car back today.

My car acted up again today. Long story short it’s at an autoshop and I’ve determined what bus stop & bus number to use with the kids tomorrow to get to work. What we couldn’t determine is accuracy of travel time. I’ll pack food tonight for all of us to have at work. This has already been quite the expensive week. I owe $200 for the diagnosis and oil change. Then they’ll come back with quote of labor & parts. 2 places have said the battery is fine but not sure about the starter etc since I had issues again.

We rode the streetcar. There was a bit of a mishap (confusion on my end and a driver that misled me) so it took us 2 to get back to my car 🤦🏻‍♀️😆 an adventure… ha We got beignets and had awful luck finding somewhere to eat lunch when we were on foot so got food later. I appreciate the public transit options but would not want to have to rely on them. One stop the streetcar had to sit there like 10 min. I have to bring the kids to work tomorrow because I’ll have no power in my neighborhood for a while when the power company works on something. I hope dd cooperates.

Ds was talking about possibly getting a job by his dad's home and said he still doesn't have his permit. I asked if he thought he was still supposed to get a car and he said no, they don't have any money (big surprise. Dad's a future faker). Basically, if he wants a car he'll need to save up for his own. I told him if he gets a permit I can take him to parking lots to practice. I'm gonna see if I can figure out the trolley ride thing tomorrow.

Car was ok today and since we met earlier than usual I suggested we eat at a restaurant near the pickup spot I’d always been curious about. It was very good and we had leftovers. New DVDs at the library so I brought home Migration & Wish for us to watch this week. Ds wants me to catch up on the Walking Dead (I haven’t watched in a long time) so we’re going to watch some together tonight.

I think I’ve had a taste of all the scary things. A bridge went out but my gps directs me another way. My car wouldn’t start last night and I found myself stranded at the laundromat. A coworker met me there and we did a jump since we didn’t know what was wrong. I did contact roadside assistance but I don’t know if they ever came. I missed a call and the number I used was all automated. I took the car to Autozone (yay city hours… they were still open) and they ran a test. Supposedly no signs of issues with battery, starter or alternator. Said it’s like my car sneezed but wasn’t sick. I did try to see if anything under the hood looked loose but wasn’t able to see anything. I’ll see if I can find a way to get an oil change today. I hope everything goes smoothly tonight when I get the kids. I forgot that with spring break I get 2 weekends.

My zoom interview went well. There's a chance I could work with a local school doing this 1:4 tutoring program. You go on site to do it and the number of hours could be 6 hours or it could be less depending on their needs. So hypothetically, maybe I could do it the two days I'm off a month and that would be up to 12 hours of supplemental income a month. But I don't know. I'm not even sure how the pay works (if it's contract work where you file your own taxes or what). Dd is here this weekend. The St. Patrick's Day parade has been rescheduled so we aren't going to do that.

Finally got my discover cc in the mail. I see no way to benefit from transferring any of the cc debt to my new card. I did all the math and it would be worse. Currently owing $180/mo ($147 min payment and $33 interest). If I transferred a relatively manageable amount (to be paid off during the first year) I’d owe a 3% transfer fee ($1000 + $30). Now the cc debt that was $180/mo would drop to ~$136. But I’d owe ~$85/mo on the new card. Monthly I’d owe ($136 + $85) ~$220. Now if the new card has 0% APR for 15 months (can’t remember if it’s 12 or 15) it still isn’t worth the balance transfer. That would lower the monthly payment to ~68. $136+68 = $204/month.

I feel like it shouldn’t have pulled the LA job into the MS section and I just need to remove it but the program is not letting me so I might have to delete the whole MS section and re-enter manually if that’s an option.

I had clicked help and it gave me a chat bot