Dreams

I HAVE THE PERFECT BOYFRIEND!

Ok so no one is perfect and he does have his flaws but right now he is ABSOLUTELY PERFECT!
Apparently he had his own little start up business a few years ago that never took off so he still has products from a company he bought supplies from.  A couple of years ago I got this crazy pipe dream that I would one day open my own pagan supply store.... well these products are all pagan!  Pagan jewelry pendants (i will turn into full blown jewelry) pagan art, incense (so much incense! lol) and more.  So once my jewelry site is back up online I will no longer be selling just jewelry my pipe dream is no longer just a dream its reality!

Thursday he and I are going to get all the paper work going and soon we'll be open for business!!!! yay!

Busy Busy Busy need a breather!

Me: Hi there I'm Anielle and I'm a workaholic
Everyone: Hi Anielle

Seriously what woman in her right mind would take on two jobs while being a mom and a full time student...let alone FIVE jobs!

I've always been told I'm a little on the weird side. Yes folks this crazy woman is now working 5 jobs.  I went for a interview the other day, the gentleman then sent me to another shop and that got turned into an unexpected interview on the spot.  The second interview was at a consignment shop to sell some of my jewelry.  When I got home some friends getting ready to start selling costumes for the Renaissance faires asked if I would be interested in working for them sewing beads and jewels on to the belly dance costumes.  I took them up on it.  I'll also be spotted at the Texas Renaissance festival from time to time at booths 501 and 502 where I worked last year showing the new hawkers how the job is done and giving breaks as needed, I planned on doing this as a favor to my boss because she went an hour out of her way in the spring time for a faire to pick me up and take me to the Sherwood Forest Faire so I could earn enough money on the weekend to pay for my cell phone bill.  However she wants to pay me if I make any sells for her whenever I give a hawker a break if the break is needed, I will also be getting a couple of complimentry tickets for doing this so I can get into faire with my stepson and see his daddy selling dip-n-dots or kettle corn.  So far in the story we are now up to 3 jobs, don't forget I have my own web shop that makes 4 (sadly we are off line at the moment the host site got hacked and we are having to start over.)  I sign  into my email around midnight this morning, remember that first interview that kicked of this story?  It was to work part time for the gentleman by helping organize his work shop and designing steampunk jewelry.  He hired me!  Right now the payment for that job is set up as an hourly wage plus a percentage on the sells that come from my designs!

Every single job i have now except for the jewelry shop hand/designer one is sporadic pay so that will be our grocery money while my boyfriend pays for daycare.

But that's not all folks!  Nope not finished, I also volunteered this summer to teach 2 pagan classes online, Stones (the jewelry artist had to jump at the chance to teach this class lol) and Gods/Goddesses.  A lesson a month I'm currently writing my lessons and submitting them for review I hope to have all of the lessons finished by the end of this week.  Teaching for the whole online school starts in September.

Job Hunting

My stepson started daycare yesterday.  While he was there I spent hours cleaning and organizing the master bath and started decorating it.  In between bleachings I was job hunting.  All of today I have been job hunting.  My eyes are so dry and red and I have almost nothing to show for it.

The hunter has become the hunted it seems.  I just know fate is hiding around that corner I just passed, I saw fate duck back there, she's waiting to kick me while I'm down.  CHMS will most likely only cover about half of the baby's daycare the other half will eat up any grocery money we have for the month and that just wont do.  So far the only luck I have had is a possible job interview to work at a cat rescue and adoption center.  However the fact that I'm overweight may keep me from this job if they even decide to interview me in person because its a labor intensive job.  (I worked at the Texas Renaissance Festival and at Sherwood Forest Faire...if those jobs aren't labor intensive I don't know what is, even my previous job at walmart wasn't as bad as faire on the physical demands.)  The other possibility is selling my jewelry at a consignment shop.  I saw an ad online wanting a jewelry designer and one with knowledge of steampunk (I just had to jump at the chance.)  The pay is anywhere from $4-$8 hours based on the experience of the jewelry designer (I have 13+ years so far.)  I'm hoping to make at least $7 an hour, its just below minimum wage, I think my years as a jewelry designer/maker would gain me at least that.  I'm meeting the possible employer tomorrow morning for coffee and to show off my current stock of jewelry in person.


My living room floor is covered in jewelry, construction paper (to make dividers in my jewelry box which is nothing but a plastic shoe box, and a marker to label.  I also got smart and I am writing down everything I am taking with me and how much I'm selling each item for.  In each little bag I also have a slip of paper describing the item and it's price (matching up to the list I'm taking with me.)  I just need to remember to take pictures of those that aren't listed yet so if they sell tomorrow I can at least display them under my archives tab on the shop site.  Anyhow lots and lots of things to do to prepare for tomorrow!

99 cent Treasures

I was out of the house with my stepson today all day.  One of our stops on this day of random window shopping was the Hastings bookstore where I made a purchase.  I found two books for 99 cents each.  One for my boyfriend, "The Book Nobody Read: Chasing the Revolutions of Nicolasus Copernicus" and for me I got, "No Place Like Home: Staying In, Kicking Back, and Living It Up."

I just love this book!  Its all about "nesting," something the author Michelle Kehm calls a "lost art."  I have to agree with that statement.  I also agree that its coming back and is "very today."  This book is all about what I have set out to do in my new life as a step mom and a live-in girlfriend, crafting for the home and running it as a woman ought to.  If you are a woman who loves working day in and day out that's alright we're allowed to we fought long an hard to be seen as equals to men (who were the ones who viewed us as being lower than them.)  As for me I love being a stay at home mom, if I didn't have school to finish my stepson wouldn't be going to daycare, but since i have a huge debt that needs to be paid back I might as well finish and get that degree right?  My ideal and hopefully future job will allow me to still have time at home and be "Suzie Home-maker."

I love the idea of painting my walls but we live in an apartment currently (looking into buying a foreclosed home when the lease is up here) so we can't paint the walls we just don't have the money to paint and then repaint when we move so what's a gal to do?  Well... I have some cardboard, paints, fabric, construction paper, and a crafty heart.  My plan is to make a piece of art (using the cardboard as cheap canvas) of how i want the walls to look like in my home, once we have a home to call our own that is.  The art work will allow me to visualize what colors will go together and how it will look full scale without causing us to go bankrupt, and for now it will add the desperately needed color this place needs to liven it up.

Boo-Boo Bunny

So I am yet again cutting up an old baby blanket.  This time I'm making new washcloths.  We can only find 3 of my stepson's wash cloths, the last clean one of which was used to day to treat his first real boo-boo, he's had a tiny scrap on his knee before, but today was a head wound.  He was refusing to go to sleep so his daddy was in the room with him, he climbed out of bed and sat  behind the door.  When he refuses nap time he loves to slam his head back against the wall (he's always loved hitting his head he used to hit his forehead with his fist or bang his head on the corner of his crib.)  My stepson didn't realize that hitting his head on the door hinge would be a bad idea.  He cut his head open and like all head wounds that happens to be more than a bump, he bled, and in the style of all bleeding head wounds, it bled for a bit.

Here comes mommy to the rescue!  I had daddy sit with him in the chair we have in his room, I got our last clean washcloth, got it cold and wet, cleaned him up, then went back and got an ice cube and put it in the cloth and held it to his head for a little bit to help keep an swelling in the area down.  Then I checked him out and the bleeding stopped.

All of this reminded me of when I was little.  My mom used to take a washcloth and roll it and tie with a rubber band so it looked like a bunny and she called them "boo-boo bunnies"  so I figure I can make a couple to have on hand since our little one just got his first pair of shoes and now has to learn to walk with shoes on....now that's a sight to see, if you hold him up he runs, if you don't hold him up (by holding onto his hand) he falls back on his butt refusing to get up... frustrating yes, but cute too.

I will not be adding faces to ours lol.

The Never Ending Battle

Of good vs. evil.................. well sort of.

We've been dealing with my stepson's birth mother for a couple of weeks now demanding to see her son.  We would have no problem allowing her this, however she has certain rules and channels she needs to follow including giving us a week's notice before the meet up, she's not supposed to be rude or snarky about it either.  Then we set up the appoint for the chosen day and we meet at a family therapy or pregnancy out reach building (that the meet ups have always been held at.)

She called back on mother's day wanting to see her son since it was mother's day, but it was a Sunday, even if she had given us a few days notice we still can't due meet ups on the weekends, why? Simple the meet up place is closed on the weekends.  She texted my boyfriend this past monday wanting to see the baby this week.  Tuesday was too soon and we wouldn't be able to schedule on short notice, wednesday and thursdays my boyfriend works late, and yesterday the baby had an appointment for some physical therapy.  She also called my boyfriend a jerk and blamed us for her not seeing the baby in 7 months (other than the demand to see the baby on mother's day she only called to find out how he was doing the day after his 15th month checkup....which thanks to medicaid didn't happen.  This phone call was cut short because he was on a previous phone call where a former friend was harassing him and threatening to call CPS on him over and over and demanding to know where the baby was when it was none of her concern.  My boyfriend asked his ex to call him back in 15 minutes so he could end his previous call but she never called back, the next time we heard from her was this past monday (almost a whole 2 months went by.

This never ending battle may have finally come to an end.  As my boyfriend and I were snuggled under the blankets falling asleep last night, he got a text from his ex.  She's moved, she left town and now as long as she stays gone we wont have to put up with her anymore.  There may still be a rude comment or a curse word thrown at us once in a while on facebook, but at least now the threat of her coming to steal the baby away is gone.

for once, THANK YOU IRS!

Last month i got a refund for no reason at all no notice or letter included just a check well after 3 hours of phone calls and stupid elevator hold music I found out that i was eligible for the Making Work Pay credit and thats why I have the check! We can pay for Adam's vet bill!!!!!

but because finances are still tight for us with the baby and day care and all I'll keep the free gift for every purchase runing for the next six months on my jewelry :D

  Also and update on Adam.  I will be picking him up in 45 minutes from the vet.  Poor kitty hated the catheter so much he pulled it out on his own!  However that was enough to start breaking the blockage free although he hasn't used the litter box he had a steady trickle of urination coming out.  I'll find out what the blood work shows when I pick him up.  I am a little worried that because he pulled the catheter out and there's only a trickle of pee he may get blocked again and very quickly.  The vet and I think it was all due to a change in his diet so I'll be picking up his old kitty food after I bring him home.

Need help with a Vet Bill

Day before yesterday my 5 year old tabby cat Adam was running all over the apartment being a happy normal cat playing with a tiny stuffed bear as though it was a mouse.  (Thankfully he does not view my actual mouse as a toy.)

Yesterday was a much different story though.  I woke up with the baby and my boyfriend.  I made the baby breakfast and my cat was asleep on the floor, not anything out of the normal, what was out of the normal for him was that he was howling.  I caught him squatting trying to urinate on the carpet.  I moved him to his litter box, he already knows where it is so it was pretty unusual.  He squatted again and nothing came out he stayed in his litter box squatting for 5 minutes before he gave up.  My previous cat had this same issue so I picked Adam up to see if his lower belly area was tight.  I barely touched his belly when he started howling, I moved my hand and he stopped, when I touched his belly again he returned to howling.  For the rest of the day he slept...in his litter box.  I tried to put him in his bed which is the top of his climbing post and he refused to be up high.  Yesterday evening he vomited and then again before bed.  His usual sleeping spot is the top of the suit case we have next to our bed, instead he slept in his litter box.  I woke up this morning and he was still sleeping in his litter box.  When my boyfriend put his son at the table for breakfast, Adam howled from the bathroom again.  I called the vet who had me rush Adam in right then and there.

We just got back from the vet's office (Adam's appointment was at 8:30 and we got home at 10:00)  Adam does have a blockage keeping him from urinating and is in a  lot of pain.  The vet gave us the price estimate for a catheter and blood work...$600.  The vet clinic requires us to pay half of it up front.  Well things are really tight right now money wise and so I took out what I could from my bank account which was only $80.  My boyfriend is getting paid tomorrow and at noon time I have to go back to the vet clinic with another $220 to bring us up to the half way point.  We then have 6 months to pay off the other $300.  There is a chance that poor Adam may have to have surgery too, if that's the case we have to pay even more money and the surgery costs will have to be paid half up front.  With my stepson starting daycare next week, and that costing us more than what we are paying for rent we wont be able to afford the vet bill.

So in order to help pay for Adam's vet bill and everything he's getting done tonight I need your help.  I have only sold once piece of jewelry since the spring semester ended.  Please buy some jewelry from my site Jewelry-by-Zili don't forget I can do some custom orders as well just send me an email from the site (under the contact me link)  I'll include a free gift with every purchase for the next 6 months.  Please help me and Adam out.

 

Update: I got a call from the vet clinic they already checked his kidney functions and his kidneys are perfect!  After the call they were going to insert the catheter and run more blood work.  Also I already recieved a jewelry order from a fellow jewelry artist and kitty lover.  One of her two babies was sick not all that long ago as well.  Her order put me in tears (happy tears) knowing that my friends are looking out for me and Adam.

New Clothes

Scratch my project ideas on making new clothes from old.  I have a storage box full of fabric that was given to me by my mother's friend when we helped cleaned out her craft closet.  I have a circle skort I've been working on.  A simple circle skirt with 3 different fabrics and some old cut off jeans sewn to the inside to keep me from chaffing too bad at the Renaissance festivals.  I'm adding some lace I bought from a friend, removing the shorts to make it a draw string skirt --so I can wear it over a simple green draw string skirt my mother passed down to me from her reenactment days.

When I moved in with my boyfriend I had gotten rid of most of my t-shirts trying to make my wardrobe more feminine, that left me with a few work blouses and winter clothes.  Everyone knows that we only have 1 month of true winter weather in Texas so I need to replace a few things.  I am going to sew a few tank shirts and 3/4 sleeve tunics using tutorials I've found on the Craftster forums.  If i can find some guy-ish fabric instead of my floral prints I'll be making the stepson some new clothes too possibly.  I see lots of sewing in my future!

What does a Stay at Home Mom do?

My friends know how I came to be a future step-mom but long story short, I've been dating my boyfriend since a week after his son was born, and I've been the only constant female and/or mother figure in the baby's life.  His birth mother walked out on him when he was 4 months old.  The former roommates moved out about 2 months ago and we filed with the police about harassment.  (The former roommate's mother also made a false report to CPS on my boyfriend back in May.)

So now I am a "stay at home mom" until college starts up in a few weeks.  Since the end of May I've been in this role.  What has gone on in that time?  Well my "stepson" has gone from not being able to form words to calling me his "mama" calling his father "daddy" or "dada" saying the word "bye" and when we moved my cat in with us yelling "Kitty!" every time he sees the cat.  He has also gone from a bottle, to sippy cup, to cups with straws.  He has also gone from crawling to walking and will be wearing his first pair of shoes soon as he walks with me holding my finger, or walks on his own.

What do stay at home moms do anyhow?  Well I play with my step son which has led to his walking and talking.  I clean house too and I cook.  Is that all a stay at home mom does?  Nope not at all.  I also started a jewelry business a while back, and I craft.  What sort of things do you craft other than jewelry?  I made a fantasy creature mobile yesterday for my stepson's room.

This would be the dragon-esque creature in the center of the mobile.  He may be almost 17 months old but sharing your room with your dad till you are 1 year old, and having a birth mother who barely bought you anything when you were tiny  you miss out on things like a mobile, so I thought he should have one.  This mobile was made with cardboard, construction paper, glass beads, and coat/carpet thread.


"So what's your next project Future Stepmom?"  Well the next project is almost completed.  I've been working on a castle picture to add to his room which lacks color except a blue and yellow bed and his fantasy creature mobile.  I took a piece of cardboard and sketched a castle then I painted the background black.  I colored the castle and grass of the image using prisma color markers.  Now I just have to buy some glow in the dark star stickers when my boyfriend gets paid and the picture will be done.


"After that?" I'm planning on digging through my boyfriend's old t-shirts he never wears and constructing new clothes for me since I tossed out a lot of things when I moved.... I may even make some new clothes for the baby out of his old baby blankets, just not all the baby blankets since we hope to have a baby of our own in the distant future lol.