I know it's been quite a while since blogging, but hey what can I say...ok nothing, I can't say anything. Here's the good news, I'm blogging now and so that counts, right? So a lot has happened in the past few months. I will try to catch you all up with out making it too boring. Here's just a little taste of it...Jeff's new job, trip to California, new dog, Amway and transit system.
So we'll start with Jeff's new job. He is currently working at Toyota of Seattle. Great job, but hates the drive to work. Technically it's only about 35 mins from our home, but with morning rush hour traffic it takes him a good hour or more to get there. Eeekkk! He's been there since March and very much likes the guys that he works with and his manager is easy to get along with. He seem much happier and for that his wife is much grateful. So up to now he has been driving and dealing with "special drivers", who you would think living in Washington state would be used to driving in the rain, but become...what's the word...wacko when it rains. Why? I don't have the foggiest clue, but I'm going to look into that. So we've been spending more money in gas and he also has to pay for parking. Can I just stop here for a moment and go down a bunny trail? What...no? Too bad! So here are my thoughts on parking in Seattle, STUPID! Well this is after all MY blog. Just kidding. But in all seriousness, it's so incredibly expensive. It's like expecting the average middle to low income families to come up with money that Bill Gates has. Ummmm....I don't think so! I mean seriously, you can't get a mango out of a grape! But that aside, we've had no choice to do this and thus have given our money over to those rotten money suckers! Well we have decided to try out the transit system. Hahahaha! This is funny. Trust me. So Jeff's hours are 9-6 M-F and 8-5 on Saturdays. The great thing about Wa is that they have a great transit system. Trains, buses, light rail, it's great. Here's the bad part, remember I said that he works till 6pm? Well in reality that means he doesn't leave till 6:20-6:30. Ok keep that in mind. So I go online and figure out the craziness of the transit system and the best way for him would be to take the Sounder Commuter Train. Sweet right? Ya, not so much. The last train that leaves Seattle is 6:15pm. This means that he would have to leave work on time. Unrealistic. And then hope there is a bus that can get him to the station by 6:10. Ya, well that's basically impossible. So this means that he has to ride the bus home. Ok, not too bad, but it gets him home about 20 mins to 30 mins later. Not bad you think? That gets him to the Auburn station (city we live in) at 7:50pm. I'm wondering, will we ever have dinner together again? Probably not. Ok, that's fine, sacrifices make you a better person. I think. So the plan for the weekdays will be to take the commuter train in the mornings and buses home. Fine, we can do that. Then comes Saturday. No train available. Buses fine, but has to transfer a million times. Oh fine, not a million, but enough to make you go ugh! Sacrifices, sacrifices, sacrifices. Next step print out itinerary and go down to train station and buy Orca pass. So yesterday we went to the station and used the machine that you purchase the passes for the month on and spend A LOT of money that we will hope will last a month. Woo hoo! That big step is over. Next big step is Tuesday morning, first day of taking transit system. We leave early to get him to the station and I drop him off, I leave and am half way home when my cell rings. "The card doesn't work! It's for the month of June. I can't use it." PANIC. It's 7:40am and the train is coming at 7:45am. I tell him to go put money on the e-purse thingy and that should get us through till June. Phone rings. "NOPE! now it's saying that there are insufficient funds! I thought you said we had money?" Ok...so here's the thing, we just gave it all to the stinking transit station for the stupid pass that we can't use till June! We still had money in the bank though. Not much, but definitely enough for it to not say that. So I go into explanation to husband that yes we do have money I don't know why it's denying him. Well by then he said just turn around and come get me and I'm going to have to drive up there today. UGH! Sigh! Here's the thing that machine did NOT tell us, that it was only usable for the next month. Oye! Well that's helpful! So now we have to buy an e-purse for the rest of this month to get him through. Really? Like I have the money for that! This was supposed to be SAVING me money not sucking me dry. So our first day of the transit was a major bust! Oh you won today transit, but I'll be back! Tomorrow is a new day, hopefully it will be better. So that's where we are with Jeff's job and the transit system. On to the next.
A couple of weeks into Jeff's job a friend of mine from church was going to drive down to California for three weeks to visit family. She asked if I wanted to go with her and I said no, not really. But thanks for the offer. Then the day before she was leaving, I made the decision that I was going to go cause I was sick of being home alone by myself and staring at my walls and being lonely. So after some phone calls, I was on my way to California the next morning. I had decided to stay with my aunt in northern Cali for the three weeks and keep her company. I had a great time and was ready to come home by the end of the trip. I'm not usually spontaneous like that, I am a planner big time, so this was a huge step for me. I loved it!
Ok...new dog. So Jeff and I have been looking for a dog for a long time. The night I got home from Cali, my sister text messages me a picture of her and this tiny Chihuahua. Not being a big Chihuahua fan, I was like, ah that's cute where did you get her? She proceeded to tell me her boyfriends dog had puppies. She was totally cute and so I said, " Are there any left?" She told me no and she was sorry she didn't tell me before. Siblings! :D I told her that if there was anything that happened that someone backed out to please let me know. The next day she says, "Your not going to believe this but the people who were supposed to take two dogs backed out!" Oh man! I was so excited. I said, well send me a picture of the boy and I'll see if we like him. I'm all about the face. Well...let me just say this, cute should not be allowed to ever describe my dog, he is gorgeous!!! We said yes, of course, and I sent money out to get his shots done and buy a carrier for us to fly him out to us. There was some drama with the airlines but the bottom line is he is here and healthy and stubborn as ever! But that face...oh I tell you it is to cute to be mad at for long. Here's a picture or two for you to ooooo and aaaahhh over.
Ok so last but most certainly not least. Amway. "What" you say? Ya, I thought it was some old rusted out company too. So here was my introduction to Amway. As you know I went to Cali for a mini vaca and stayed with my aunt there. We got into a conversation on how the government rips you off during tax time, and I shared with her how I always owe because we don't have any deductions. She told me her woes and we sat and hated the government for a while. But then she said, "That's why I'm an Independent Business Owner with Amway now. It helps me to have things to claim so that way I don't owe. This year I got money back!" I sat there thinking, ya, well there's no way I'm getting sucked into the Amway thing. So we chatted about it for a while and that was that. Then her friend Doug came over, who by the way is a hoot, and got to talking about taxes yet again. Oh joy. LOL. So Amway was brought up again and by this time, I'm thinking what the heck, I need to just do this so that I can have something to claim so I can get money back! I'm sick of always paying! So Doug tells me he can get the guy to come and talk to me and see if it's something that would be beneficial to me. So here is something you have to know about me, I don't like to try to promote something if I don't fully believe in it. Makes it kinda hard. I have to love the product or company to do that. So I'm thinking, "Oh man, this guys gonna come and do his sales pitch and I'm gonna hate it!" So he gets there and to my sweet surprise...was very down to earth, wasn't trying to push me into doing anything and began his presentation at the kitchen table. So he's kinda going over what to expect as a IBO(independent business owner) and what kind of profit you can make and how that all depends on you personally so on and so on, and I'm sitting there flipping through one of the catalogs looking at prices, cause if you know me at all you would know that I'm a numbers person and I am serious about a budget and making sure we have enough to get us from one pay check to the next. So here comes a rabbit trail. I have to explain something to you. Due to my number issue, I calculate everything, it's really ridiculous. So I flip the page and see tissues. Your thinking, "Tissues? So what?" Well in my house we have allergies and we go through 8 boxes a month! So when I buy tissues I make sure I find the deals! But lets not confuse that with cheap tissues! EWWW! Nope I buy Puffs Plus with lotion. Ya I could by the really cheap ones...if I liked the feeling of sand paper on my face, but since I don't, then I go with what's next on the list. I used to by Kleenex but Puffs is comparable and is cheaper! :D Ok, so if you buy a pack of 4 boxes of Puffs plus from Wally World (That's Walmart for you richer people), then you can get them for the low price of around $5.00. Not bad. So this household pays about $10.00 a month just on tissues! I know stupid. Anyhow, lets just put this on a small scale. For the time frame of three months at $5 a pack of four boxes of tissues I would spend $30 a month and $1.25 per box. Not bad you say? So I look at the price of the tissues in the catalog and the ones I was looking at said they were comparable to Kleenex, sweet, and the price was $42.12! I was like who spends that much money on tissues! Then...yes, then, I saw that it was for 36 boxes! Oh my! That got the wheels turning. So let me work this out for you...If I spend $30 dollars for three months on 24 boxes of tissues at $1.25 per box, I'm dumb! No...just not educated properly. :D If I were to buy my tissues from Amway, I spend $42.12 for 36 boxes (that would get me four months instead of three), at $1.17 per box. Ok, I'm not a brainiac, but that's saving me A LOT of money! So this guy looks at me and says, "Is something wrong?" Which translates, you have a stupid dumb look on your face. This is where I chuckle and say, "no actually I was figuring out the difference in what I pay for tissues in a three month time frame and was calculating what the difference is if I were to get them through Amway. I'm saving a lot of money if I go with Amway! Wow!" That was the point in which he had a dumb look on his face. I explained him my calculations and he was like, "wow, you did that in your head?" I said, "Ya, that was that pained look I just had, I was calculating LOL." That was the point in which I said, "Sign me up!" And so now, I am an Amway Independent Business Owner and absolutely love ALL the products they have. I love that they sell everything that you normally by every month in grocery's, name brands and so so so so much more! It is truly amazing!
Well that was a lot I know, but I wanted to fill you in on every thing. I really need to get better about doing this more often so that these won't be so long, but I hope you truly enjoyed yourself and look forward to sharing more adventures with you soon! :D
Marisa
