Busy, busy, busy!!!!!!!!!

I finally got my first lesson done on my new course "Intermediate Accountting II". I got a 95%. This is another hard course, but I only have five more lessons to go now.
Laura is an official Jafra Skincare Consultant now. We got her signed up Saturday night. We have a Spa Pamper Session set up for Sunday afternoon. We let everyone do mini-pedicures to try out the spa products. We are preparing for a 2 day Holiday Open House, so please keep us in your prayers that it is prosperous in leads and $$. We would appreciate it very much!
Laura and I are so excited. Lisa fashioned "Mama" bags for us with a divider in the middle so we have a purse and mini Jafra office. She is so creative. She has already finished them and they are on their way to us. Please check out her business site: www.mymorningglory.com.

ANOTHER ONE DOWN!

I have finished my "Accounting Spreadsheet Fundamentals" course with a 93%. I only have two more courses left for my degree. I am going to get started on my first lesson today!

Laura & I held our first Jafra Skincare Party a week ago. We had so much fun! Only a couple of people ended up making it but we still had almost $200 in sales. I thought that was pretty good for our first class with just a couple people. It was a very good training session for us too. The party we had booked for this past Sunday got rescheduled. It was probably for the best since we started getting bad weather due to Hurricane Wilma. We have another party this Saturday. We are really looking forward to it! Thanks so much again for everybody's support.

I am having Lisa make us mama bags. It will be a divided bag for a dual purpose of purse & mini-office for Jafra calendar, catalogs and brochures. I am so excited about it. I am enjoying working with her figuring out exactly how we want it and she searched for material for us. That was so helpful because I just don't have the patience for that. I don't know if you have checked out her website for her mama bags, but she does a wonderful job with them. She is so talented! I can hardly wait to show them off to people. And of course I will keep some of her business cards with me so people can order from her.

I almost forgot to say how well Mike's job is going. He is so much happier and looks like he will actually be making more money at this job! That is always a nice bonus! The fact that he is happier and more relaxed is the most important part to me!

Moving Right Along!

It's been a long time since I have made an entry. I was working on my "Intermediate Accounting I(Financial Analysis) course. It required a lot of work and concentration, but I finished it last Thursday! I finished it with a 95% for the course. Now I am already on Lesson 2 of my "Fundamentals of Spreadsheets" course. This is an easy course and I should be done in about a week.
Another reason I didn't update my blog is Mike lost his job the middle of September. I didn't want to be entering a depressed blog entry. He had another job before the end of the month. It has been tough financially because he has to pay for supplies and then get reimbursed for them. We will get his first paycheck this Friday, so things will ease up now. Friday night he said he really enjoys what he is doing. I haven't heard him say that in a long, long time. So, with the old saying "One door closes and another opens". That seems to be the case here. He is much less stressed with this job.
Another bright note! With the end nearing on obtaining my degree, I knew I needed to do something or get really bored. I don't want to take any more courses right now either. Also, I would like to make some extra money to help get bills paid off so we can eventually move up to Oregon. I thought about it for quite awhile. The thing I thought I could make the most at is, of course, a bookkeeping or accounting job on the side. That doesn't appeal to me, since I really don't like it that much all week long. I would like to do something I can have fun doing. Mike has asked me a number of times why I don't get back in with Jafra Cosmetics since I talk about it so much. He also asked me what job I have enjoyed the most over the years. I was with Jafra about 21 years ago, but that sticks in my mind more than anything else. I loved what I did and interacting with other people. Laura needs to make extra money too, so we got together and discussed going into business together. We enjoy doing things together and thought it would be much easier if we had each other's support and help. Both Mike and Pat are completely supportive on this venture for us. We also thought it would be much safer if we hold night skincare sessions. I am now an official Jafra Skincare Consultant. Laura and I went to a Jafra meeting in Vero Beach called a W.O.W. meeting. It stands for "Wonder of Women". I had forgotten how good it felt to be in a room with so much positive energy. We both just loved it. We have our first skincare class scheduled for this coming Saturday and another on Sunday night of the following week. It is such a joy to watch someone open up as Laura has been doing with Jafra. She thought she would have a hard time, but when you believe in what you are doing, it comes so easily. She has already been telling alot of people at her work place and has already sold some Jafra products and she isn't even signed up yet. I think that is great. We are going to get her signed up with proceeds from our classes. We both have set a goal of becoming managers and replacing our present jobs with Jafra. I did it 21 years ago, so I know I can do it again. We are both very excited and ready to get going. Mike and I fixed up the extra bedroom for my "Jafra" office. I am prepared for it to take off running for us. I told Mike once I decided to get back into Jafra that I felt like I had "come back home". In fact I have a separate hotmail address now for my Jafra business. It is "jafraimback@hotmail.com. We set up separate e-mail accounts since we know we will have to split off after we get going with our own consultants. I will keep you all posted on our success! There are very few consultants in Orlando so we have a wide open market! Orlando, watch out cuz here we come!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Relaxed!

Well, I actually made myself stay away from the study books for a whole week to give myself a chance to pull my self back together. It did help. We rented a couple of movies Saturday night and bought some sub sandwiches. We haven't done that for a long time. Sat. night we watched "Finding Neverland". I haven't seen a movie yet with Johnny Depp that I haven't liked. Not only is he good looking, but I think he is a terrific actor and very versatile. Last night we watched "Hildalgo". I also love movies about horses. So we had a pretty relaxing weekend. So today, I am going to start crackin the books again and move forward.

Coping!

I am sure everyone that reads my blog already knows that Orlie passed on a week ago today. It has taken me this long to be able to enter a blog about it. I am so thankful for Mike. He spent several hours Saturday night listening to me while I was dealing with it. I have found these things bring up other things that you have to keep sorting thru in order to deal with things. I told him I felt sad and joyous at the same time and he understood. I am sad for losing just a wonderful person in my life but at the same time joyous , because he is no longer suffering. I have wonderful memories of Orlie though! I doubt if he had any idea how much of an impact he had on other people's lives, because he wasn't trying to, he was just being Orlie. I am so thankful he was a part of my life.
I haven't made any progress on my studies. I decided it would be better if I gave myself a break this week. I couldn't really focus very well for a couple of weeks before he passed on and found I will have to reread most of this chapter to even be able to finish the exam for this lesson.
I have no updates on the other situation either. I still haven't heard anything.

Clearing up confusion!

In case anyone was thinking they had read a blog that isn't there anymore, you are absolutely correct. Someone advised me to take it off in case someone ran across it and wanted to cause trouble. The people I put it in here for know all about it anyway, so I decided to delete it. I will still keep you updated on the situation though and your continued prayers are still welcome!
A fellow employee resigned Tuesday and I didn't even get to say goodbye. That makes me sad. She was very unhappy and it wasn't a good situation, so I completely understand. I do hope she gets in touch with me.

Update!

We signed the papers for the land Friday afternoon and gave him the first 1/2 payment due Aug 1. Since the agreement starts Aug 1, that comes right off the principal. I love that.
I finished my first lesson in Intermediate Accounting I and sent in the exam yesterday morning. This one was pretty difficult. Both chapters were very long and a lot of difficult problems to work on for the 2nd chapter and I had alot on my mind. Good news, though, I only missed one question and got a 95%. On to Lesson 2.
On a sadder note! I know you all know about Orlie going thru his ordeal with cancer. I have been reflecting on how much influence he has had in my life. Much more than I had realized. He was always a steadying male influence for me when I really needed it. When I was in high school and Dad was going thru the worst part of his drinking, I used to go see Frances and Orlie alot. They were always there for me. That has always meant alot to me. I feel frustrated right now, because I wish I could be there to lend support and a helping hand to Aunt Kathy and Uncle Len. I know this is extremely difficult for them, especially Len. But since no one knows how long he will linger, it would be very impractical to go up. I think I would rather go up and spend some time with them after it's all over. They might need it even more then. They could use some happy visits too, not just funeral visits.The best thing I can do right now is keep them all in my prayers and give emotional support whenever I can. I know they appreciate that too!

Land Purchase Update!

I realized I hadn't updated my blog to let you know how our meeting with Charlie went Sat. He was very fair with us. The land is valued around $41,500 and he offered it to us @ $38,750. Originally we were going to offer $40,00, then $39,000 and then we decided to offer $38,000. We went over all the details and agreed on those. We prefer to pay the taxes ourselves, rather than him escrow it. He also offered us 1/2 month payments since we have to do it that way anyway, so that is better for us. We pay interest on 15 days and lower the principal every fifteen days so we thought that was great! May not look like much at first, but every little bit helps. He also gave us no penalty for early payment. Well, everyone knows how I have always had a hard time standing up to people. Mike spoke up during the meeting, but he told Charlie that he would agree to the financial matters that I knew we could handle, since I take care of them. After we came to agreement on everything else, he handed me the 1st page of the amortization example and asked if we had anything else. I almost caved and said "No, that's all." But even though I knew he was being fair with us(he has never even charged us late payments over the past 5 years when we were late sometimes), I knew for myself I needed to speak up and say we hadn't come to an agreement on the price of the lot. He, of course, wanted to stay at $38,750 and we had already told him $38,000, so I said I would rather even it off at $38,500 and he agreed right away. I know $250 doesn't sound like much, but it wasn't really a matter of money on this issue. Most of my life I have just accepted whatever anybody was willing to give and I knew I had to make a stand sometime. Well, I did, and he agreed and I felt sooooooooo good about it. Not only does anybody that knows me well, knows I have had a hard time with that, but also to make a stand against a male figure made it doubly hard. I am so proud of myself, and it was so great when Mike told me he was very proud of me too. We will be signing the papers this week. Even though we had been purchasing the trailer and paid that off in June, we were paying lot rent on the land for the past five years. Now, we are no longer renters! That feels good!

TGIF!!!!!!

I am sooooooooooo glad it's Friday. Tomorrow aft. Mike and I are meeting with Charlie. He's the man we bought our trailer from and have been paying lot rent since we didn't have a big enough down pymt for the whole thing. He has been pretty good to deal with. Please keep us in your prayers that he accepts the amount we are going to offer. He said he can set the payments at whatever we want, since he is carrying the contract. The only reason we are going to go ahead and buy the land is to build up some equity in it so we can sell the whole place hopefully by next year. This way we will have more money to move to Oregon and get a place up there. The land value continues to go up so this should help us. Even if it tops out, this is a whole neighborhood that used to be a mobile home park about 20 years ago. Housing developments have been going up all around us, so there is a possibility they will want to do the same with our area. Which will be good for Pat & Laura and for Mike & I.
Also keep praying that Tropical Storm Franklin keeps going in the direction they are hoping it will take, which is east of us and moving to the north back out into the sea! That way nobody will be hit with it. This has already been a nerve wracking summer with so much activity this early. Maybe it's just getting it out of the way early. lol The weather down here has been miserable. It is supposed to be 94 degrees today with a comfort zone of 105. Seriously people, how do you call that a "comfort zone"?
I received my new course. It's Intermediate Accounting 1, the text book is "Financial Reporting and Analysis". There is alot involved with it and I am really going to have to stay on top of it to complete a lesson a week. That's my goal though! I get to work early enough that I can study for about 15 mins or more, I study at lunch, and study some more when I get home. That's the only way I can complete a lesson a week. But it will be worth it to get it completed.

ANOTHER A!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I sent in my final exam for Microeconomics last night and I aced it! I finished the course with an A. This was a difficult course and I am really glad to have it out of the way. I only have four more courses to finish my associates degree in accounting. I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel!

Just an update!

I sent in my exams for Lesson 3 & 4 this morning and got the results back.(I'm still in Microeconomics, by the way). I got an 85% on lesson 3(I missed 3), it brought my cumulative grade down to an 87%. I got a 100% on Lesson 4 thought and brought my cumulative up to a 90%. Yippee!!!
Laura & Pat had Cheyann'es 1st birthday party Sat. aft(June 18th, her BD is 6-15). She had an absolute ball with her cake. I am going to miss them all while they are in New Mexico.
I went Tuesday morning for a breast sonogram. I had my mammogram done about a month ago and they said because I have dense breast tissue they wanted to do a sonogram. The tech said everything looked fine so that was good to hear. Now, I hope the only other tests I have to have for the rest of the year are to do with my degree! lol I am about all tested out.

LOSING & GAINING AT THE SAME TIME!!!!!

I am continuing to loose weight. I have now lost 7 lbs. I started using my treadmill more last week. Laura made a suggestion that I use it first thing in the morning since it helps burn more calories during the day. Last Wed. I made up my mind to get up as soon as the alarm goes off and use it while the coffee is brewing. It's so much better than coming home at night and trying to talk myself into changing and using it, still finding time for studying and also having to fix dinner. Now as soon as the alarm goes off I get up right away and use it. It is soooooooooooo much easier. THANK YOU LAURA!!!! I have so much more energy during the day and am actually handling the stress at work better. I also do my stretching exercises for my back so I actually have 30 mins of exercise the mornings I use the treadmill. Yeah for me!!!!!!
The gaining part is to do with my degree. I am about 1/2 thru the first course on my 4th, and most importantly MY LAST SEMESTER! This course is Microeconomics. I told Mike the scary part is this course is actually making more sense to me and I seem to be grasping it. lol I don't get reimbursed for this course but I still want to complete it with an A. So far, so good! This course makes more sense to me than Macroeconomics. But the instructor said both of these courses are two of the most difficult ones. I will say I have to agree with them. This one isn't as boring as Macroeconomics, thank goodness. I will keep everyone informed of my progress. The college gave me a six month extension, so at least I don't feel as pressured now.
The weather here has been horrible. It is supposed to be around 93 for the rest of the week with a comfort zone of 99. Now tell me seriously, they call that COMFORT????? lol They should call it "the humidity factor" like they refer to "the windchill factor", but definitely not a "comfort zone".

Sometimes Losing Is A Good Thing!!!

I am maintaining my goal. Since April 8th, I have lost 1 lb a week for a total of 6 lbs. I am very proud of myself. Normally I give up after a few weeks. I also passed all five courses of my third semester with A's. Lisa gave me a beautiful book bag that she made herself as a congratulations present! That made me feel so good! I passed another very important test. I went in for the dual isotope stress test and they said there is nothing wrong with my heart. The practitioner said just to keep up what I'm doing(which is just changing what I am eating some, exercising and losing weight) and come back in two months for a follow up visit.

Proud of Myself!

Since my annual physical on April 8th I have lost 4 lbs(1 a week). I guess it just really sunk in how necessary it is for me to get this extra weight off for my health. It really hasn't been that hard. I like food that good for me so that's a plus. I have found alot of small ways to improve my eating habits. I have really been paying close attention and it is the little things that were adding up. So any encouragement is helpful!

THIRD SEMESTER EXAMS

I finally have my 3rd semester exams done and in the mail to the college! I will post the results as soon as I receive them. I feel that I did very well. Now I only have one semester left to go. I really want to buckle down and get it out of the way. Well, I saw the cardiologist Friday and wasn't real impressed with his attitude. I thought his practitioner was much easier to talk to and more understanding. They want to go ahead and have me go thru the isotope treadmill test. They really think my high blood pressure is due to stress and weight. The practitioner was impressed that I had already started on a cholesterol lowering diet and had already lost 3 lbs. since I had been in for my physical. So today I am also going to get started on a daily exercise program for overall fitness and to help take off the weight. I want to be around for a long time to spend time with my husband, daughters and their families!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Vacation Is Over

Well, our vacation is over and Mike & I are both back at work. We had such a wonderful time with Lisa, Lawrence and the girls. I for one did not want to come back to Orlando. Mike told me on our way to their house from the airport "Ok, you can tell me you told me so. It is beautiful up here." He couldn't get over how green everything was at this time of year. I think it was good for him to go exploring on his own for a day. He enjoyed stopping and taking pictures. I can hardly wait till we can get him a 35mm camera with a zoom lense. He used to have one and I think a friend of his dropped it in a river on a hiking trip. There are so many places we want to explore when we move up there. So many more things to do outside and better weather to do it in. It was so peaceful up there compared to down here. It is such a rat race down here. I am not sorry we moved down here(although I have to keep reassuring Mike of that). We have seen alot and done alot of things we couldn't elsewhere, but I will be so glad when we get moved. So please keep us in your prayers that both families down here will be able to move next year as we are planning.

What A Cutie!

I would have entered this post sooner, but I have been too busy spending time with Lisa, Lawrence and the girls. Juliana is such a sweetheart. I have been holding her alot of course. She is so perfectly formed. Mike & I are enjoying our stay very much; it has been so relaxing. It will be so nice when all of us are up here together and we can have a big family gathering. This will be my dream come true. Well, we are getting ready to go to the Tulip Festival. They have so many in the yards up here. They are so beautiful.

YEAH, LAST DAY BEFORE VACATION!!!!!!!!!!

I am so glad my vacation starts tomorrow! I really need it! I have lots to do at home, but I will have plenty of energy from being excited to get it done.
I got my packet in yesterday for my third semester exams. I will take those after my vacation and have that semester totally out of the way! Yippee!!!

A NEW BUNDLE OF JOY!!!!!!!!!!!

My granddaughter, Juliana Grace Betancourt, arrived yesterday morning at 10:40am. She weighs 8 lb 9 oz and is 20 1/2 in. I am so excited about seeing her. Needless to say, I have been a little scatterbrained at work, but I am trying to pull it together so I can get everything done before I leave for vacation. I am so glad Mike is going with me this time. It's gotten harder and harder to leave him behind each time. He is looking forward to it too. I am always so relieved when I find out my daughters have come thru childbirth safely. They mean so much to me, that it is a little nervewracking till it's over with. But Lisa & Juliana are doing well.

I am asking for prayer also for my son-in-law, Pat. He got a shot in his shoulder that numbed his right arm, shoulder, part of his face, and the right side of his back. They are hoping this will allow the muscles to relax so the disk can slip back into place. So please pray and ask anyone else to also!

Happy Anniversary to Us!!!!!

Today is our 4th anniversary! We are going out to dinner to celebrate. We decided we will probably try a new place this time

Things aren't sounding real good with Pat & Laura with the insurance company. Anybody that reads this, please do some praying. Although maybe it will spur the move up for all of us. That would be a good thing! All of us can hardly wait to get out of here. Even Damian is saying he want s to go fishing in Oregon.

Good News!!!!

I am at long last done with my third semester courses. I just finished course five "Business Law". I completed it with a 98%! I am so glad to have this done. I am now waiting for my semester exam papers to come in so I can get that out of the way and get started on my final semester for my accounting degree. I have carried a 4.0 thru all three semesters. I am very proud of myself!!

Mike and I took our canoe out Sunday for the first time. We went on a 4-5 hour trip. We had a great time and greatly needed the time to just relax! We saw one large alligator sunning itself. Mike saw a baby one and another adult one that I didn't see. There were alot of turtles sunning themselves on logs, beautiful wildflowers and birds. We narrowly missed running into a dead tree in the water where a water moccasin was sunning itself. I am so thankful Mike saw it and guided us around it. I will admit I was very scared, but he handled it great!

Nine more days and Mike & I are off to Oregon to see Lisa and her family. We can hardly wait. Thank goodness I am really busy at work and the time is going by very quickly.

RELIEVED! THAT'S ALL I CAN SAY

My sister Kathy came thru her surgery just fine. They believe they got all the cancer. YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!! I realized after I got the call regarding her surgery how tense I had been about whether the cancer had gone further. I honestly would fall apart if something happened to her. She has always been there for me thru everything I have gone thru. We are very close. We don't always agree on everything, but that is perfectly normal. I am just so glad she is doing so well! I know God watched over her. She had a tremendous amount of peoplel praying for her.

FEELING GOOD ABOUT MYSELF!!

I am doing better about taking care of myself. My lower back has been bothering me so much that I realize for my health's sake I have really got to start exercising more and strengthening my back and stomach muscles. I bought this " Body Wedge 21" at Walmart for $20. It is a blow up plastic wedge that you lay on at different levels for more or less resistance. It looks kind of silly actually, but I tried it last night and it really does give you a good workout and it doesn't hurt my lower back like laying flat on the floor does. It shows 21 different exercises and you can't say you lost the page with them because they have them stamped right on the wedge. lol They also provide you with a large poster of them and a DVD. It's quite a challenge to stay on the wedge, but maybe that's part of the exercise. I may be able to stick with this more because I actually liked it and I like the challenge it provides. I don't like things that are too easy and boring.
My pants are starting to fit a little bit looser, YEAH!. Lisa gave me a book last year, (The Seven Secrets of Slim People". It talks about how it can take up to a year or two for your metabolism to even out after you stop dieting. I have been paying more attention to how my body reacts to things, I'm doing much better at stopping before I get full, and being more aware if I'm snacking because I really am hungry or just trying to comfort myself with food. I let myself eat things I stayed away from for a long time and then would stuff myself with at times. I don't forbid myself foods I like anymore.Instead I am eating small amounts of things I really like and allowing myself to really enjoy them. The book is right, this keeps you from going on a binge of forbidden foods.
I am also finding that since I have been staying more aware of how much I use to comfort myself with food, I am starting to get back in touch with things I enjoy doing. Those are much healthier than using food for comfort. I love to dance, fast or slow, and I don't get to very often. Mike doesn't like fast dances. The one time I can really get out and dance is at our Holiday Party, because most of the husbands won't dance, so the women will. Being a company party I don't mind getting up and dancing by myself or with the other women that are dancing. In the past I have looked forward to the party because we always have great food at our parties. This time I went with the intention of having fun dancing and only ate small portions. I hardly even touched the dessert table. It felt so good not to be concentrating on food. I had so much fun dancing. I was up on the dance floor almost all evening. I also didn't worry about whether people thought I was being foolish or not. What progress I have made! It feels great! Then I had people telling me at work that they really enjoyed seeing up there having so much fun!

Happy News!!!!!!!!!

Paula, a wonderful co-worker, had her baby today. She had a very short labor. She went into the hospital this morning and delivered Kathryn Elizabeth , 5lbs 12 oz, 19 1/2 in. just after noontime. They are both doing very well. I can hardly wait to see them. She will make a wonderful mother. I don't know the dad very well, but he's very nice and I'm sure he will be a great dad.

Monday - Again

Another week! What can I say! The good thing is Mike & I only have 26 more days before we fly to see Lisa & her family. I can hardly wait. I miss all of them. I am so blessed to have four wonderful grandchildren, and another will be here soon. I am so grateful that I was able to spend so much time with Maddy when she was little. I am still having so much fun watching Damian and Cheyanne grow up. The only thing I regret is not having been able to spend more time around Isabel growing up. Before long though, I will get to see her much more. I have so much fun with all of them. I can be goofy with them and they don't mind. One of the things that just makes me smile so much is their smiles are just so adorable and they are so full of love. You can tell all of them are loved very much because they are all very happy kids. I enjoyed raising both of my daughters and it's just so nice to be able to experience that joy again with my grandchildren. I love to just watch the interaction between them and their parents. I may sound kind of sappy, but it just fills my heart with joy to be around any of them. This, to me, is what is important in life!

FED UP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is one of those days that I feel like if I have to follow another instruction from my immediate supervisor, I could just scream.For you that know me well, and I'm sure those are the only ones that would be reading this, you understand the whole situation. It's really hard to take orders from someone you have very little, if any, respect for. But I keep reminding myself of the goals I am working towards by staying here. That is the only thing that keeps me somewhat sane!

First Thought

Here goes with the first blog that I have created. I decided I needed to try doing these things on my own.

I am on my last lesson for the final course in the third semester in obtaining my Associate's Degree in Accounting. I am very proud of myself. Along with working full time(I have a 50 minute commute to work), numerous tragedies over the past few years,and life's normal stumbling blocks, I have managed to maintain a straight A average. Yeah! for me. I am finally learning to give myself a pat on the back. I also had a lot of support from my husband, my daughters & sons(ok, technically they are my sons-in-law), and some wonderful friends at work. They all have encouraged me along the way in my determination to accomplish this goal. I only have one more semester left. After I finish with school, boy am I celebrating!!!!!!!!!