Category Archives: bills

something to appreciate

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I got to work last night…only for a few hours covering lunch breaks, still, I was working last night. Oh, hey, I’m working, earning money which is most excellent. I have missed the babies and my colleagues and wearing scrubs for weeks…maybe even months. I really have missed it all a lot. I really appreciate the fact that the census has picked up and instead of being cut from the schedule I am being called and asked to come in to work..a lot…compared to not at all.

I really appreciate being able to do what I am educated and trained to do.

I appreciate the ability to actually pay my bills…or at least try to catch up on them. Of course this means that I will appreciate not being called numerous times every day by said bill collectors just in case my sad financial situation has changed from two hours ago…I could have won the Mega Millions lottery you know…if I actually played the lottery…with the money that I don’t have to pay the bills.

Yeah, it is good to be working and doing what I love and do best. I’m sure my patients appreciate that.

I hope my patients appreciate the fact that I wore my hair up in a sock bun for them last night…they should…just saying.

sigh!

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All is right with my little blogging world!

Yes, I am that shallow.

But please don’t fault me too much. A girl like me just can’t help it. I have grown accustomed to your visits. Like any other blogger (who is willing to admit it) I find myself planning on blog posts on a day to day basis. I imagine that you too will be amused or righteously indignant over the latest adventure here under the Big Top. My darling husband and my circus clowns narrow their eyes as they point accusing fingers and declare that I m planning on blogging this moment under the Big Top. I can’t believe that I have become that transparent.

Still just one evening here at the new Big Top site and I find that I have visitors. Oh it is so wonderful to have you here! It’s like having the welcome wagon here ready to help me feel at home. Thank you for finding me and following me over here!

Still as I am arranging the furniture, putting away the dishes and hanging the pictures around here, I find myself wanting to go back to visit my old home. It’s my nature I guess. I still drive by our old house in San Jose. I must confess here that I am so disappointed that the current resident chopped down the mulberry tree in front of the old house. I bet they regretted it on the first hot summer day. The Blogger site will remain for a bit just in case my bitch~kitty decides to go back or I discover that I forgot something. I always forget something, you know. It’s all part of the adventure of moving for me.

Meanwhile there is plenty of other things to distract me and inspire me: returning my new Fendi glasses, the Pumpkin Fair and photographing it for a local business (squee!!), working at Dell’Osso Farms Pumpkin Maze to raise $$ for my cheerleader and tiny dancer, and working extra hours to pay for an outrageous cell phone bill…2000 texts this month?…$700??…WTF? I thought we had a FamilySharePlan! Kid I have to tell you that thank God He made you cute.

Do you want me to link you up here? Leave a comment so I will know to add you to my blog roll.

Monday Patio Photo Shoot

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John Scalzi writes:

Your Monday Photo Shoot: On Your Porch/Patio

It’s going to hit about 98 here today, and I don’t feel like moving around much, and I expect most of the rest of you don’t either. So here’s a quick and easy Photo Shoot for the Week:Your Monday Photo Shoot: Show us something interesting on the porch or patio of your house or apartment. For those of you with neither, fire escapes and window sills will suffice.

Compared to Scalzi-land, it is downright chilly here at 88°! Seriously, this is so nice after that awful, deadly baking we had for two weeks this month. I have been enjoying this “cold snap” by turning off the air conditioner and opening up the windows to let the breezes in.

We also have been taking advantage of the change in the weather to get outside and take care of some yard work or just riding our bikes and trikes.

Aaahhh! Fresh air! This is how summer should be.

It almost makes me forget that $500 utility bill for the month of July.

what would I do with cash to spare?

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Yesterday was payday under the Big Top and that is always a good day. In spite of what the “experts” might say about dual-income families, we are not rolling in the dough. We do not have tons of material goods: no big screen tv, no tv or computer in every room of the house, no Game Boy, X-box or any other toys like that. I only wish for fancy pedicures and spa days. Our last vacation as a family where we actually went somewhere was in 1992 and it was just Holly and Zoë back then.
No, we are not blessed with a huge disposable income. Sorry to disappoint the experts out there. We live pretty much paycheck to paycheck just like most Americans. We do know that one reason is because of poor choices we made when we were younger. But we have learned the hard way about living the American way on credit. It took a long time to pay for the mistakes we made but because of them, we live differently. We carry a one mortgage and one car payment. And although we do have one credit card with a low balance everything else is in cash including those three sets of braces we currently have. So payday for us is bill paying day (my electric bill for those two weeks of triple digit temperatures is $500 and our ac was never set below 82°!) and re-stocking the pantry day.
So last night, after paying the current bills, I went grocery shopping to stock up the empty pantry. It didn’t take long to fill up that cart. While I unloaded my groceries onto the conveyer at the checkout, I couldn’t help but overhear the transaction ahead of me. The lady with her two small kids in the cart was having problems paying for her cart load. Her total was just over $90 but her bank card was declined. She kept trying and trying over and over again. She then began to remove items. Still her card was declined each time she tried. The clerk was getting rather exasperated with her. My heart really went out to this young woman and her kids. If I could I would have stepped up and covered the purchase. But after paying the bills I knew that I didn’t have the cash to spare. I wish I did. Someone once did that to me years ago. I was so embarrassed and yet so grateful. The person did it with no expectations in return except my thanks. I never saw that woman again but I will never forget her kind act. She will never know how much it meant to me. Someday I will pay it forward.
In the meantime, all I could do was say a quick silent prayer for that woman ahead of me as she picked up her children and walked out of the store without her groceries. God bless her.

the beautiful smiles cruise

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It was just nine months ago that we had a GREAT idea for our family. We ran into some friends at our kids’ spring band concert and noticed their tans, relaxed postures and the braids the ladies had. They all looked fabulous so we had to ask how did they all come about this new look. The answer was simple. They had just returned from a 7 day cruise vacation…the whole family: mom, dad and three kids.
Steve and Dara shared how much fun they all had and how the vacation had something fun everyday for all of them: adults to teens to kindergartener. Of course we were jealous. There was no big, fun vacation planned for us because I had just started a new job; not to mention the cost prohibitive factor of a cruise vacation for our circus act. But Dara disagreed, at least on the cost point. She then gave me the price tag of their package.
Hmmm….
That’s all?!
Now I was even more jealous.
But then I got to thinking about it all. Steve is a high school science teacher and works part time as one of the high school track coaches. Dara is a SAHM. They carry a mortgage and other bills just like us and yet they could afford this vacation. Of course they did plan and budgeted for several months prior. But still, they could afford this.
Hmmmm….
Why couldn’t we I asked myself and then Bill. We talked it over and decided with a year to save and plan we too could afford a family cruise vacation. The prices for our planned cruise for the seven of us for 7 days was indeed surprisingly affordable. How exciting. We actually were planning a big, fun, family vacation! I bid for the time this coming summer and we began to plan and budget.
Whoo-hoo! A cruise was in our near future.

Then came the last dental check-ups for Zoë, Abby and Jodie. I received not one, not two but three, yes three orthodonture referrals.
Great!
At the orthodontist we received good news/bad news.:

  • yes our insurance did cover some of the costs, but not all of it

  • Jodie should wait at least for six more months before we begin orthodonture work on her

  • We would receive sibling discounts as well as a professional courtesy discount

  • Zoë care plan would be pretty basic and simple with braces and maybe bands

  • Abby would need braces, a palate expander and a referral for dental surgery to coax a lazy molar down

  • Jodie would need some dental surgery as well but later

  • the estimated cost for all of this….you guessed it, about the same as the cruise vacation


Every time Zoë and Abby smile now, I see our cruise vacation on the Mexican Riviera. I finally have a picture of the two of them so you too can enjoy what was our cruise vaction.

It’s beautiful!
The end result, their dazzling smiles (Jodie’s too), will be even more beautiful…and I figure, God willing, the Mexican Riviera will be there for another time.
In the meantime, we are punting and tentatively planning a week in Capitola in a beach house rental not unlike a family vacation of Bill’s childhood.