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School is about to start!

January 2nd, 2008 at 02:31 am

Firstly, I cannot wait to send my boys back to school! They are driving me crazy!

My school starts the same day they go back (January 7th). I'm finally at UCF! I'm lucky enough to have my classes online. Two of them (both the same teacher) are already showing up and it seems I'll be doing a lot of reading in them!

In the Crime in America class the whole reading and exam schedule is available:

*Read chapters 1-3; first exam is on January 30th
*Read chapters 4-9; second exam is on February 25th
*Read chapters 10-13; third exam is on March 26th
*Read chapters 14-17; fourth exam is on April 22nd

It doesn't seem like much, but I've heard his tests (for both classes) are very detailed so I'll have to read very carefully.

The Criminal Justice System class has only mentioned the first reading assignments and the whole exam schedule:

*First exam is on February 6th covering from book #1 chapters 1-5 and Appendix A and from book #2 chapters 1, 15, 17, 19, 31, 33 (yeah he really started the ball rolling in this class!)
*Second exam is on March 6th
*Third exam is on April 22nd

I'm glad he didn't tell us what chapters were on those other two exams yet. I don't think I want to know!

The other class I am taking is Research Methods in Criminal Justice. I've heard some things about the teacher not being very clear in his directions and some grading discrepancies because of it, but I'm going to reserve judgement until after I start the class.

My Amazon.com Order

December 26th, 2007 at 11:46 pm

I used my $100 in Amazon.com gift certificates from Christmas today. I was able to pick up:

6 books: 2 cooking books, 2 fiction books, 1 real estate investing book, 1 book on writing

3 CD's: The latest CD's from Avril Lavigne, Maroon 5, and Kelly Clarkson

1 ring: sterling silver celtic knot with a rainbow moonstone

It took me some time last night and this morning to figure out the deals and what I wanted. I always like to see how many good deals I can find. This year's deals weren't as good as last year's, but they weren't bad either.

Plus this year I opted for the ring. I don't usually wear a lot of jewelry. I bought the ring I wear as my wedding ring earlier this year when my old band didn't fit anymore. It's a sterling silver with a small emerald. I've always wanted a nice chunky moonstone necklace, but I saw the moonstone ring and liked it a lot for my other hand.

Oh and I forgot that I ordered some stuff before Christmas with points I earned on my credit card. I ordered some headphones for DH and myself (I previously ordered 2 for my boys and liked them a lot) and I ordered a small bookcase for my room. The same bookcase on my Amazon.com wishlist is $49.99. To me using the points is a better deal!

Christmas

December 26th, 2007 at 04:50 pm

Christmas went off without a hitch this year. OK, we had one small hitch. A whole package of hoagie rolls were getting moldy. I just bought them Friday! So I looked at the date and noticed they were expired before I bought them! I am so going to complain! I no longer have the receipt, but I'll probably write a nice letter to the company. Their delivery people are supposed to remove old bread before they put the new stuff on the shelves.

So other than that it all went smoothly. Out of everything I only charged about $20 in all and the rest was paid out of pocket. This is the first year I didn't charge everything up! I actually had the money to spend for Christmas. Well, that and we put spending limits on what we were going to buy. I made gift baskets (4 of them) for each couple. Each one cost about $35, which includes the basket and a gift card. For each of our boys we set the limit at $100 each knowing they will get spoiled from everyone else anyway, which they did. Though I must of done something right because my youngest was just as thrilled opening a present with clothes as he was the ones with toys.

We bought way too much food, but that too is alright. We now have extra for ourselves, which not having to go shopping again for a while is always nice.

Everyone else spent way too much! I wish they wouldn't, but they know what they can and cannot spend. Plus they don't have children (we are the only ones which is why they always get spoiled). You know how children can make money disappear quickly! My boys received way too many toys, but they are keeping pretty quiet today so that helps me out. My parents gave us a refurbished KitchenAid mixer. I love those things! Now I have to start making bread and stuff. Anyone have any good recipes? DH is Italian (born and raised) and he loves a good fresh bread with his meals. So do I.

We also received a bunch of gift cards. My parents gave us $50 worth for Darden Concepts, which can be used at Red Lobster, Olive Garden, or Smokey Bones (and some other restaurant I've never heard of before). I also got two $50 Amazon.com gift certificates. So did my DH. We usually get them at Christmas and I'll use them for things I wanted throughout the year, but wouldn't buy usually. Like I'll update my music CD collection, maybe some books I wouldn't buy usually unless I find them for $0.25 or less. DH also had some from work. Instead of a Christmas ham, he got to choose $65 in gift cards. He got $40 gift card from Amazon.com before Christmas, but they were out for the other $25. I told him to try again after Christmas to see if they got more or he can add it to our restaurant gift cards.

The only other thing is that I've been sick. I was feeling alright when we had everyone here, but later last night I was feeling worse and this morning I was all congested. I'm feeling better now that I've been up for a while. Hopefully it will go away soon.

Oh and Christmas Day was a no spend day! Smile

Introduction

December 24th, 2007 at 02:27 am

Hello everyone! As I'm sure you've already read my "About Me" info over to the side, I'll just elaborate a bit more on it. OK, I'll ramble on for a huge amount of time--be prepared! LOL!

I've been a SAHM since August 2004. Actually my last day of work was the same day Hurricane Charlie came through (yes, I'm in Florida). I was working for a major mortgage company and had been there for 8 years. Prior to that I was in the Army, but was discharged after 1 1/2 years due to multiple injuries (long drawn out story that really isn't that exciting).

In between I was able to get in one year of college before getting married, committing myself to a full-time job, and having children. I was finally able to go back once I could become a SAHM. I began my second year of college at the beginning of 2006. It took a while to finish due to now having children around, but I finally graduated with my AA degree in Behavioral & Social Sciences this December 2007.

I will be continuing my degree with the University of Central Florida this January 2008. I'm majoring in Criminal Justice (BS), minoring in Psychology, and working on a certificate in Behavioral Forensics. I should be done in three years (December 2010).

While I am going to college I am racking up the student loans so I know I'll need to get rid of as much debt as possible before I graduate in December 2010 and they become due in June 2011. Even though I'm sure I'll be working again by the time they are due, I would really rather not have many other bills/debts with them. Debt is evil! LOL! But I really could justify getting what I needed for college if it means a better life in the future.

So that is me for now. I'll add another post to explain where I am starting out with my debt and how I plan on getting rid of it. Ta-ta!