Id like to say that I’ve accomplished a lot.  Truth be told I haven’t accomplished very much at all.

We were starting to do well in terms of making healthy dietary changes.  More recently, we’ve fallen back to old ways of comforting ourselves with “junk.”  But, overall we are still eating better than we were.

I haven’t had the time or energy to tackle any de-cluttering tasks.  But, my father will be traveling a bit this month and I will have a little more freedom to pull our bedroom apart and slowly put it back together.

I have gone to 2 appointments with my therapist and am making a commitment to myself to go every 2 weeks for the duration.  It is a hard thing to admit that I need help.  It is even harder to lose my habit of making jokes about my troubles and get real about how frustrated, scared, and even angry I am all too often.

After a brief drop in hours immediately after the holidays my hours at Walmart have returned to their usual level.  This means that I am back to working 58-65 hours a week.  Days off are a rare luxury, but I have learned that I have to have them for both my emotional and physical health.

In terms of health, the four of us have taken turns with various ills during the entire month of January (Sephoni alone has missed 8 days of school).  Luckily, the girls have health insurance again as of yesterday (through the state) and were able to go to the doctor today and get on antibiotics.  In fact, that is probably the best thing that has happened so far this year – it is a huge load off of my mind and weight off of my shoulders to simply not have that worry (or the out of pocket expenses) anymore.

I hope that 2012 has been blessing each of you

Jia

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While the new year actually began 2 weeks ago, tomorrow marks the first day of what I hope will be a year of positive changes.  Some of the delay can be blamed on us wanting to get the last of the holiday food out of the house, as well as to get past Accolan’s birthday.  Much of it though can be blamed on some health issues that flared up for me.

I am, thankfully, feeling much better than I was for a while there and am looking forward to getting my life back on track.

This weeks goals include:

Starting a healthier eating regimen.  Until the growing season returns and brings with it affordable fruit, smoothies are on the back burner.  Instead Accolan will be starting his days with oatmeal and I will be breakfasting on fat free Greek yogurt with raw honey.  Lunches will have a focus on raw veggies – salad for Accolan and raw veggies with dressing for me (since I can’t digest lettuce).  Dinner will be healthy real food with smaller servings (this week’s menu includes vegetarian chili and a white bean & sausage stoup).  Snacks will be fresh fruit, unsweetened applesauce, sugar free Jello, or air-popped popcorn.

Tomorrow I plan to go to Walmart and pick up some storage boxes and bins and start on decluttering our bedroom.  This means tackling the desk and years and years of paperwork, sorting through every drawer, closet, nook and cranny.

Tuesday I start therapy. As a benefit of Accolan’s Veteran status I am able to get this free and with all the stress that we are currently dealing with (and all of the baggage over the years that I have simply stuffed down) now is as good a time as any to work on getting my head straight.

What steps are you making so far this year?  Are you excited about any particular goals?

Blessings

Jia

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My theme for 2012 is RECLAIMING …

reclaiming my health (and my husband’s)

reclaiming our finances

reclaiming my spirituality

and reclaiming our dreams by working at them each and every day

Part of that reclamation work includes reclaiming a blogging life.  With 2 blogs to keep (2witches, which will focus on all things related to spirit and bladeandcauldron which will focus on the more physical aspects of life).  How, exactly, I am going to fit this in (while I continue to work 2 jobs for the foreseeable future) I haven’t yet decided I only know that it is not something I am willing to walk away from.

Happy 2012 to each and every one of you.

Blessings!

Jia aka Mama Kelly

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I am finding it harder and harder to sit down, when time allows, and find anything meaningful to blog about.

I am still here.

I am still doing my darnedest to work both jobs, do them well, and have energy left over at the end of the proverbial day to put a smile on my face for my family.

I am still spending what extra time I have to peruse my favorite couponing web sites, plan out each week’s shopping, cook real food whenever I possibly can, and working on some crochet projects for holiday gifts.

I am doing everything in my power to hold on to the hope that, in the end, that Accolan’s benefits will be reinstated and that life will be able to return to some semblance of normalcy before too many more months have passed.

In the meantime I wanted to stop by and wish a Happy Halloween to the readers that are still with us (and a Blessed Samhain as well).

Jia

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Friday into Saturday is usually the one night that I can try and sleep in in order to play “catch up” on the previous week’s lost and broken sleep.  Thankfully last night was one such night.  THough, truth be told, I could lie right back down and fall back to sleep given the opportunity.

I only work a short shift at job #2 tonight (4 hours), but tomorrow will be  a bit hectic as I am working 5 hours at job #1, coming home briefly, and then going to job #2 for another 4 hour shift.  Then it is a usual week: 40 hours at job # and 21 hours at job #2.

We’re managing to survive since Accolan’s disability was cut off in July.  Not everything is getting paid on time.  We are having to fall a bit further into debt each month.  But, all things considered, we’re okay.

Of course it means that my 3rd job (now that my actual job #3 ended) is very close to what I used to do when Accolan was the sole bread-winner – to make what income we earn seem like much much more.

Some of that means spending hours flipping through sale flyers, perusing couponing websites, printing and or cutting coupons, and shopping.  Shopping with multiple coupons and combining them with special sales and price matching can be a little complicated and so it is something that Accolan and I do together.

From what I’ve seen of this week’s sale flyers, I won’t be able to pull off anything close to my great deal at Acme this week, but I should be able to fill some holes in the pantry nonetheless.

Another part of my “third job” is what is always is this time of year – gearing up for the holidays.  Watching for good sales on items the girls want/need is part of it.  But, this year, much of it involves trying to make as many presents as possible. You know? With all that free time I have (hee hee hee).

So are you starting to plan for the holidays?  Do you make any gifts?

Blessings

Jia

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I spent a goodly amount of time this week perusing sale flyers, my two favorite couponing websites, and printing out online manufacturer coupons.  Most of it is for my weekly price-match shopping trip to Walmart tomorrow.  But, this week also required a separate trip to Acme so that I could take advantage of a special sale (extra $5 off the purchase of 10 select items) and the ability to double coupons.

I wound up having to bring the whole family with me so that I could break the order down into 4 separate orders.  I had to make some last minute changes to my plan.  But in the end we purchased:

2 boxes Cookie Crisp cereal
2 boxes Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal
4 cans Progresso soup
3 bags Betty Crocker Cookie Mix
2 boxes Betty Crocker Muffin Mix
2 bags Chex Mix
2 bags Bugles
1 box Milk ‘N Cereal Bars

8 boxes Totino Pizza Rolls
4 Individual Totino Pizzas

6 cans Grands Biscuits
2 cans Crescent Rolls
2 boxes Go-Gurt Yogurt

The Down and Dirty?

The full retail for these items would’ve been $112.51

I spent ….. $35.08 …. a savings of 69% and received a bonus $12 worth of boxtops for education that printed out at the end of my order.

But, it gets a little better … one of the items I purchased didn’t get it’s sale discount so on my way home tomorrow I will be stopping for an adjustment (and will likely get the item FREE).

Wonder how well I’ll do at my next shopping outing tomorrow?

Blessings

Jia

PS Sorry I haven’t been here much.  Jobs #1 and 2 are taking up most of my energy (and time).  Job #3 didn’t last as long as I would’ve hoped and so crazy couponing is becoming my third job.  Add to that the fact that I am trying to make a number of holiday gifts this year and it seems that even my “down time” is pretty darn busy.  I am hoping to be able to better organize my time in the weeks ahead and, at the very least, hope that each of you are well.

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The week started out on a sour note.  Sephoni wound up with another occurrence of stomach pain and vomiting, and after some hemming and hawing Monday found us at the E.R.  While she wasn’t truly emergent, she’d been unable to keep much, if anything, down since Saturday and it was the 3rd episode in 3 weeks.  Having no health insurance these days, it seemed to make more sense to take advantage of the E.R.’s ability to do blood-work (and any other necessary testing) so we could leave with answers even if it meant another bill I would have to figure out a way to pay off.

Their diagnosis was the same it was last year – GERD.  It took until Thursday for her to be able to return to school, but by her birthday on Friday she was almost 100% recovered.  And so we were able to start off our weekend on a positive note.

We decided to take her to buy a new bird as the bulk of her birthday present.  She had missed having a feathered friend since the passing of Maya and for about $40 (bird, food, treats, new toys) we were the “best parents ever.”

Saturday brought with it the arrival of our friend Casey.  We had a lovely relaxing day: went out and bought our Halloween pumpkin and then went to a local Chinese place for dinner (treated by my dad). Afterward, we came home and had birthday cake.

Sunday we had a leisurely morning (coffee and pastry) and headed out to Eastern State Penitentiary.  The history was fascinating.  The visit itself was creepy and a bit sad.  While we didn’t have any overt experiences there were plenty of moments of arm hairs standing on end.  We ended our day with burgers at a nearby restaurant and a unexpected stop in a used bookstore.

It has been dubbed the “best birthday ever” by Sephoni and I think we all had an equally wonderful time.  Casey left last night, as always too soon for my taste, and the plan is for her to come up the weekend of 12/17 for our 4th annual cookie baking extravaganza.  The expectation is that she might have to pick up the bulk of the baking (with my girls as her slaves) as I don’t know how much (if any) time I will be able to take off.

In other news, I am struggling with what to do in terms of blogging.  I desperately still want Blade and Cauldron to turn into something more than a place for me to whine.  I am not really ready to let go of 2 Witches, and am contemplating renaming it (and possibly even putting everything previous into unreadable draft status) and starting anew.  The problem of course is lack of time, lack of energy, and lack of inspiration.

Working 60-65 hours a week does not leave me much.  But, I have to believe that there are ways to make the time, ways to create the energy, and even find the inspiration.

Blessings

Jia

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The plan is to eat pretty plain and simple this week. Not only to save money but to make sure that come next weekend my fridge is empty.

Accolan and Reya made a large batch of macaroni and cheese with peas.  A mix of packaged macaroni and cheese, plain pasta, shredded cheddar, milk, butter, and frozen peas.  Since almost everything is purchased at rock bottom prices it comes together quickly and cheaply.

The other dish seeing us through this week is Spicy Oven Fried Chicken.  I started with this recipe and made some tweaks.  I used 3 parts seasoned bread crumbs and 2 parts grated Parmesan cheese with a bit of cayenne pepper for heat.  I made a triple batch so I had enough for Accolan, my dad, and me to each have a taste today and still have plenty to see us through 2 dinners (with frozen veggies and biscuits from a tube on the side).  I am thrilled with how it came out, and I think I have a new favorite way to make chicken.

Friday is Sephoni’s 12th birthday and we will likely be eating out (my Dad treats on birthdays) or ordering food in.

Saturday morning will see the arrival of our friend Casey and the plan is to spend the day at home and make a spread of Indian and/or Thai dishes like:

• Red Beef Curry
• Green Chicken Curry
• Triple Mushroom Saute
• Dal
• Benghan Bartha
• Aloo Matar

While my Dad doesn’t like any of these dishes, the rest of us love them.  And since my Dad doesn’t like them I don’t get to make them very often.  Casey’s visit give me the perfect excuse to put out a feast.  Luckily, I already have the more obscure ingredients (fish sauce, curry paste, coconut milk) and much of the basics (curry powder, jasmine rice, lentils) already on hand so I won’t even have to spend a lot to do it.

More later.

Blessings

Jia

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This week I was able to pick up a few things free after coupons.

I was able to get 7 1 ltr bottles of Dr. Pepper.  A nice treat for Accolan and the girls as soda is only a rare purchase these days.

I was able to get 2 bags of crave cat treats.  Snack-fed kitties are happy kitties.  Unfortunately, only one of our cats will eat them.

I was also able to get 3 3-pack samples of Cascade dishwasher tabs.

It’s not a lot, but every little bit helps.  Have you scored any free, or nearly free deals this week?

Jia

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Between being sent home early again for low production and losing time due to needing a sick day (another blasted sinus infection), I didn’t meet my earnings goals this week.  I was only able to accrue 29 hours at job #2 and 17 hours at job #2.  I also was unable to fit in job #3.

As a result I need to tighten the purse-strings a little bit more this week to compensate.  We are doing everything we can to fill the pantry so that, if push comes to serve, I can keep us fed if I have a week here and there when I can’t afford to go food shopping.  I am doing whatever I can to fill the pantry with food that the family can turn into meals on their own.  Unfortunately, left to their own resources, dinner translates into things like grilled cheese, hot dogs, pasta and jarred sauce.

One of the techniques I am using is to take advantage of the price match guarantee at Walmart.  Working so many hours (and usually working 7 days a week) makes it nearly impossible to hit multiple food stores each week. But, I can spend 20 minutes or so after a shift to pick up a couple of items at low prices. Some recent bargains include:

• Blue Bunny Ice Cream – $2.49 for 1.75 quarts
• Kraft Cheese Singles – $1.99 for 1 lb.
• Ronzoni Pasta – $0.79 for a 1 lb. box
• Ragu sauce – $0.99 a jar

Another technique i am using is to send Accolan and the girls out to specific stores when (for one reason or another) achieving the best deal forces to to shop at a specific store (mainly because, unlike Walmart, they double coupons).

I am also making use of couponmom.com to figure out the best way to match a specific sale price and coupon.

What are your favorite techniques for stocking up your pantry for as little as possible?

Blessings

Jia

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This week will find me getting my full 40 hours at job #1, 21 hours at job #2, and clearing maybe $40 from job #3.

It’s hard.

Physically my pain levels are up and my resistance is down.  My fatigue levels are crazy high.  At the moment I am either having one hell of an allergy flare or am getting a cold.  I came home and made a pot of chicken soup to be on the safe side and plan to rest as much as I can in spite of having to work 8 hours days both on Saturday and Sunday.

I had to tell Sephoni that a birthday sleepover just cant happen.

Its not only that I would have a hard time affording a party on top of an outing she’s thinking about to Eastern State Penitentiary (she’s seen it on the ghost hunting shows), and a birthday present (even a small one); but, I am taking unpaid time off from both jobs over the course of her birthday weekend.

In part this is to allow me to be able to be with her for her birthday.  But, it is also because our friend Casey is coming up for the weekend.  For the past couple of years we’ve gone down to visit her for Columbus Day weekend.  Since we can’t afford the travel, or the related expenses, she’s coming to us. But, it makes taking any other time off nearly impossible.

I am having a hard time keeping up with any semblance of regular once-a-week cooking.  I managed to get some done this week … a huge amount of soup and a roasted chicken with a lemony gravy.  I may or may not put up a catch of pasta sauce with lentils tomorrow or Sunday before I go to work.  Accolan is trying to do more cooking (hamburger helper, scrambled eggs, hot dogs, etc) but we are having trouble finding a rhythm.

Other than that we are keeping our spirits up as much as possible and continuing our search to pinch every penny until it begs for mercy.  Eventually, I will find the time to post here more … I am hoping that at some point there will be some level of predictability in my schedule and I will be able to fit in more time here.  In the meantime to those of you who still read us, that you for sticking with us.

Blessings

Jia

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The kids are back to school.

Reya started her Junior year of high school.  She is taking the usual History, English, and Math classes but decided to take Environmental Science for her Science requirement as she thinks this is what she wants to peruse in college.  She is starting her language requirement and decided to take Latin.  She likes her teacher and seems to be genuinely enjoying the class.  She is also continuing with her Art electives.

Sephoni started Junior high and is enjoying the extra freedoms provided by being able to sit with her friends at lunch, instead of with her class; and being able to walk home (now that the district cut our busing) when the weather permits.  She likes all of her teachers (even the Math teacher who she’s heard horror stories about) and is looking forward to starting Band, trying out for Choir, and deciding what other extra-curriculars and/or sports she may want to participate in.

Both girls are getting back into the routine of Tae Kwon Do classes, after a summer of somewhat more lackadaisical attendance.  Reya is now taking adult classes, which means that, while she and Sephoni take class on the same nights, they have class at different times.  It means a lot more running back and forth with dropping off and picking up, but it seems to have reignited Reya’s excitement so its worth it.  Additionally, Sephoni is finally “ready” to return to sparring (she’s been skittish about it since she got hurt back in December and the odyssey of Dr appointments that followed), and the Demo Team is resuming as well (which means she goes to class 4 days a week).

We’re starting to think about planning Sephoni’s upcoming 12th birthday (she wants a Harry Potter themed sleep-over) and how to pull it off on the proverbial dime.  We need to get Reya her driver’s permit and a part-time job, though not necessarily in that order. In other words life continues.

Hope all is well with you and yours.

Blessings

Jia

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Today isn’t much of a holiday for me.  I have to work two 4 hour shifts – one at each of my jobs.

But, even when I have the day off it is bittersweet.

In spite of having worked at job #1 for almost 10 years I do not get anything in the way of paid time off, nor do I get any paid holidays.  Job #2 is another story, however.

In a few short months I will have earned 6 paid holidays a year.  This time next year I will be paid for Labor Day whether or not I work that day.  It is a small blessing that I am very very grateful for.

The sad thing is that I am not alone.  More than 25% of American workers are in a similar situation, provided no paid time off by their employers for the simple reason that there is no legal obligation for them to do so.  Another fine manifestation of how (in my opinion) so many companies work under the belief that greed is good, and employees are disposable.

I hope that each of you is enjoying this American holiday celebrating the worker without any financial hardship.

I hope that each of you is enjoying time with family and friends.

I hope that, even if you’re not in the US, that today is a beautiful day for you and yours.

Blessings

Jia

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I’d like to be able to say that I’m getting used to having to work two jobs.  Unfortunately its not the case.

To begin with, my schedule is not consistent.  Monday through Friday may find me working only my full-time job, or working both jobs.  I may come home for the night after 5pm, or not until after 11pm. I generally work at job #2 on Saturdays and can be scheduled for anywhere from 4 to 9 hours. The only consistent day is usually Sunday, where I work at job #1 from 11-7, unless a holiday interferes with our usual protocol.

On top of this, despite my openness when I was hired about having another job, and my very clear direction insofar as when i was and wasn’t available, job #2 keeps trying to schedule me for shifts I can’t work which just becomes one more thing I have to stress about every week.  And job #3?  Well, so far it just hasn’t been something that I’ve been able to fit in.

The bulk of the problem though comes down to two things – pain and fatigue.

My primary doctor “diagnosed” me with osteoarthritis a while back and feels that the bulk of my pain is a combination of that and my neurofibromatosis (NF-1).  My hips and knees get pretty bad at the end of a long shift, my feet get even worse.  And lets not talk about the bruises I seem to be able to give myself on my abdomen on the bagging carousel.

The fatigue comes not only from just having to work two jobs, but also from the fact that my new “schedule” has my insomnia kicked up into high gear.

I am hoping that a couple of weeks from now I will have adjusted better.  In the meantime, be patient with me and know that Blade & Cauldron is never too far from my thoughts.

Blessings

Jia

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It’s been a while since I was last able to post anything here on Blade & Cauldron. Overall, things are going alright. We even came through Hurricane Irene unscathed. There were branches to clean up, and we lost our cable, internet, and phone for a little over 24 hours. The only other loss has been 2 days pay – the day of the storm itself, and today as our building was without power and phones. Compared to what could’ve occurred, I am not complaining.

That being said, juggling two jobs isn’t the easiest thing I’ve ever done. Its physically demanding. Its emotionally draining. I don’t see my girls that much. I don’t get that much in the way of downtime to unwind. I get even less in the way of time to get any household work (or even bill paying) done. The last time things were this hectic was back in 2007 when I was working an average of 53 hours a week and going to college at night.

This past week was really hard. The plan was to work at my telemarketing job 8-2 Monday through Thursday; 8-4:30 on Friday; and then 11-7 on Sunday. The plan was to work at my cashier job 4-11 Monday through Thursday and 10:30-7 on Saturday. There wound up being some flaws with this plan:

• I lost a half hour at job #1 right off the bat on Monday morning when flooded roads required a detour which turned my 15 minute commute into 45 minutes.
• Job #2 was supposed to be a cakewalk this week. The focus was supposed to be on computer based training, observation, and finally being put on a register with another cashier to shadow me and walk me through various procedures.
• The computer based training references the “old” register system. The new registers, while requiring very similar procedures, have a significantly different set up.
• Due to staffing shortages (which were compounded by massive crouds of people who used a coming hurricane as an excuse to shop as if stockpiling for the zombie apocalypse) I was thrown onto a register with only about 30 minutes of observation, and without not only a shadow but without any clue about how to get help when I needed it.

But, I survived. Friday morning dawned and I was thrilled to only have one job to go to. I was overjoyed at the prospect of having the next 2 days to catch up on my sleep.  However between being so tired that I was slurring my words and having little luck making any “sales,” I was sent home after only 3 hours for “low production”, despite the fact that I’ve worked there for almost 10 years, despite the fact that they know my situation, despite the fact that they could’ve moved me to a different task, and (most angering) despite the fact that they carried newer hirers who had less sales than I did but sent ME home.

The result? The money I earned from 21 of the hours I worked at Walmart this week wound up being cancelled out by losing a total of 13.5 hours at my telemarketing job.  And while I can make up some of the hours I lost today, I can’t make all of them up – so once again this week will find me “short” in spite of working two jobs.  So I’m just a wee bit stressed.

But, I am blessed in that our trees are still standing and our rugs are still dry.  I have electricity to cook our food.  My family has a roof over their head and enough to eat.  We are safe and sound and I am very very grateful.

Blessings

Jia

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