This morning I dropped mom off before 8:00 and headed over to the WorkSource to find out about the assistance for low income and single parents. When I was first checking the guy at the door asked if I had my current case paper with the Attorney General's Office and I briefly explained my situation with Dawson's dad. He said I could talk to a case worker but he wasn't sure if it was going to be okay or not.
So we (Dawson and I) wait there for almost an hour and they finally call a group of us back to a small room, thankfully I was the first one to go to the case worker so it didn't go on forever like it could have. Long story, less long is that I cannot get assistance unless I have a current case with the Attorney General's Office trying to get child support from his dad. Well that's not an option so I am out of luck.
Of course I left in tears trying to figure out how I was going to afford the $130 a week in daycare. I called mom up and she said to call around some more especially since I wasn't THRILLED with the one I did find for that amount. I called the list that they gave me at the Early Learning Center and was just about to the end of the list when I called TLC. The lady was SUPER nice and the price is AWESOME. It's only $80 a week!!!
She suggested that I drive out there and see the center before 11:30 when the kids laid down for their naps so Dawson and I headed out there. Tarkington is the next town over from Cleveland and it's about 8 miles down the road from my house so it's not to bad, the worst part is it's 2 lane country roads which I hate but oh well gotta get used to them lol....
We got there and Elmo was painted on the front window so Dawson was so very excited. I loved the director and we got a tour of the daycare. We met every teacher and saw his classroom. They are going to go ahead and try him out in the 2 year old room since he'll be 2 in two months. All the kids said hello to him and he just ran off to play and even walked to lunch with them. :-)
I feel 1000% better about this place AND it's $50 cheaper! So officially my daycare issues are solved, his first day is Monday.
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Our apartment
After going back to the ECL place I was just pulling out talking to my mom on my cell phone when my caller id came up "Nik" who is my boss. He was calling to check on me and make sure things were all still "good and ready for Monday' and asked how I was going on the daycare. I told him I was actually right down the street and he asked if I wanted to come by the office. I jumped on it because I hadn't actually seen the office OR the apartments really.
OMGoodness, I love our apartment! Dawson and I walked the property with him and we saw all 3 floorplans, I actually like the layout of the 2 bedroom better than the 3 bedroom and we're going to be just fine for a while in the 2 bedroom. Nik actually put some consideration into which 2 bedroom we were getting and it's literally 40 feet from the office. I can look out my office window and see my front porch. The bus will drop Brendan off in front of our apartment and I can watch him walk up the stairs and into our apartment, it's going to be great.
We have a fireplace, a huge walk in closet in my room, and 2 full baths... I get to bring my washer and dryer and don't have to buy a microwave because they have them built in. Our carpet is brand new and it's just awesome.
I'd been excited about my job but had been a lttle concerned about having not seen the apartment we'd be living in and now that I've seen it I'm thrilled and cannot wait to start working!
OMGoodness, I love our apartment! Dawson and I walked the property with him and we saw all 3 floorplans, I actually like the layout of the 2 bedroom better than the 3 bedroom and we're going to be just fine for a while in the 2 bedroom. Nik actually put some consideration into which 2 bedroom we were getting and it's literally 40 feet from the office. I can look out my office window and see my front porch. The bus will drop Brendan off in front of our apartment and I can watch him walk up the stairs and into our apartment, it's going to be great.
We have a fireplace, a huge walk in closet in my room, and 2 full baths... I get to bring my washer and dryer and don't have to buy a microwave because they have them built in. Our carpet is brand new and it's just awesome.
I'd been excited about my job but had been a lttle concerned about having not seen the apartment we'd be living in and now that I've seen it I'm thrilled and cannot wait to start working!
Daycare woes...
Well I went today to get Dawson all signed up for daycare with the Early Learning Child Development program to find out that they have a waiting list and there are at least 4 kids in front of him. So of course being me, I start to panic. Well they gave me a list of daycares in Cleveland and I go to one to check it out. $130 a week!!! UGH, how in the world do parents make it???!?!?
So I decided to get the paperwork from them but then go back to the ELC place and put him on the waiting list, after all maybe it would go by fast. Well she's going over the rules with me and you have to pick him up at 3:30, I don't get off of work until 5 so that's not going to work anyways.
On my way home I realized that one of the machines that the $130 place had was a machine for "NCI", (NCI is Texas' aide for single/low income parents with daycare) so I called them back and sure enough they accept it.
I called the WorkForce Solutions place (where you apply for NCI) and got the list of things I needed to apply and then called my boss to have him fax a letter with the info they needed. I'm goint to be there in the morning when they open.
I really hope that they will help in some way, anything will help
So I decided to get the paperwork from them but then go back to the ELC place and put him on the waiting list, after all maybe it would go by fast. Well she's going over the rules with me and you have to pick him up at 3:30, I don't get off of work until 5 so that's not going to work anyways.
On my way home I realized that one of the machines that the $130 place had was a machine for "NCI", (NCI is Texas' aide for single/low income parents with daycare) so I called them back and sure enough they accept it.
I called the WorkForce Solutions place (where you apply for NCI) and got the list of things I needed to apply and then called my boss to have him fax a letter with the info they needed. I'm goint to be there in the morning when they open.
I really hope that they will help in some way, anything will help
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
BIG changes around here!
As most of you've seen from my facebook page, I got the job in Cleveland! I'm so excited, I'll be making a decent salary AND get a 2 bedroom apartment. I'm going to wait to get settled financially before moving to a 3 bedroom because I will have to pay the difference between the 2 and 3 bedroom prices. There also aren't any available right now. I start next Monday the 13th and we're doing a one month trial probabtionary time to make sure I like it and he likes me.
Sunday mom, Dawson, Brendan and I drove up there to look around some more and to show Brendan the apartments and to find his school. The school is much older and smaller than he is used to BUT it's only the 4 and 5th grades so I think it will be nice. He will ride a bus to and from school and I'm going to let him stay by himself after school since I'll be there on property. He's excited because I'm getting him a cell phone since I'm not going to have a home phone and I want him to have a phone while he's there at the house by himself. The complex is so small that I literally can be there within 3 minutes no matter where I'm at on it. If I have to run off the property while he's home by himself I'll just take him with me.
Because I'm just now getting on my feet Dawson qualifies for the Head Start program, they actually don't start until 3 for the normal head start but they have another daycare called "Early Head Start" and it's for kids ages 6 weeks - 3 years old. The best part is it's directly in front of our apartments, I'll literally be able to look out my window and see the daycare and probably most days we'll walk to pick Dawson up. I went today and picked up the paper I needed from the WorkForce Solutions today and tomorrow morning I'll be going to sign him up!
Last night neither mom nor I slept a bit worrying over how she was going to make the bills here. We both KNEW that without my help here she couldn't make it on her own (nor does she need to because she doesn't need a 5 bedroom house). I was up at 4:00 this morning for the day because of worrying about it. This morning first thing I told her how I felt and she said she'd been up all night with that worry too. So today she took half day off and we went to LaPorte and we found Tiffany, James, and the boys a 2 bedroom trailer in the same park as Tiffany's close friends. The price is right, it's really cute, and will be great for them. My dad is going to get the lease in his name and pay the rent for up to a year on it and then they have to be able to do it on their own. James HAS to get a job and Tiffany has to continue to go to school. Dad is going to pay the rent and mom is going to help with some of the utilities.
Mom and David are going to decide what she's going to do. At this point she is either getting a 1 bedroom apartment in Cleveland in my apartments OR they are going to get a rent house in Deer Park. They will be deciding for sure by the end of this month.
So here we are moving AGAIN, but this is going to be my last move for a long while! Oh and we have to all be to our respective places by the end of November. Let the fun begin!
Sunday mom, Dawson, Brendan and I drove up there to look around some more and to show Brendan the apartments and to find his school. The school is much older and smaller than he is used to BUT it's only the 4 and 5th grades so I think it will be nice. He will ride a bus to and from school and I'm going to let him stay by himself after school since I'll be there on property. He's excited because I'm getting him a cell phone since I'm not going to have a home phone and I want him to have a phone while he's there at the house by himself. The complex is so small that I literally can be there within 3 minutes no matter where I'm at on it. If I have to run off the property while he's home by himself I'll just take him with me.
Because I'm just now getting on my feet Dawson qualifies for the Head Start program, they actually don't start until 3 for the normal head start but they have another daycare called "Early Head Start" and it's for kids ages 6 weeks - 3 years old. The best part is it's directly in front of our apartments, I'll literally be able to look out my window and see the daycare and probably most days we'll walk to pick Dawson up. I went today and picked up the paper I needed from the WorkForce Solutions today and tomorrow morning I'll be going to sign him up!
Last night neither mom nor I slept a bit worrying over how she was going to make the bills here. We both KNEW that without my help here she couldn't make it on her own (nor does she need to because she doesn't need a 5 bedroom house). I was up at 4:00 this morning for the day because of worrying about it. This morning first thing I told her how I felt and she said she'd been up all night with that worry too. So today she took half day off and we went to LaPorte and we found Tiffany, James, and the boys a 2 bedroom trailer in the same park as Tiffany's close friends. The price is right, it's really cute, and will be great for them. My dad is going to get the lease in his name and pay the rent for up to a year on it and then they have to be able to do it on their own. James HAS to get a job and Tiffany has to continue to go to school. Dad is going to pay the rent and mom is going to help with some of the utilities.
Mom and David are going to decide what she's going to do. At this point she is either getting a 1 bedroom apartment in Cleveland in my apartments OR they are going to get a rent house in Deer Park. They will be deciding for sure by the end of this month.
So here we are moving AGAIN, but this is going to be my last move for a long while! Oh and we have to all be to our respective places by the end of November. Let the fun begin!
Thursday, September 2, 2010
An old friend?
I recently got back in touch with an old friend, we actually dated back in 1997. We broke up because I felt he was getting to close to me and at the time I wasn't looking for that and was going through my big mess of a life. Through the years I've wondered how he was and what happened to him. We had mutual friends but he moved to Pearland and kinda lost touch with everyone. He got married, had a daughter and lived his life.
Well he's now divorced (it's about to be finalized on the 16th, they've been separated twice now but this time is it) and 3 nights ago friends requested me on Facebook because he saw me on our friend Christi's page (she was how we met the first time). I accepted him curious to see what he'd been up to and to say hey. Well we've been talking every night and this morning he texted me a good morning as my wake up alarm.
It's nice because there's no pressure, we've agreed to be friends and see where it goes from there. We had a good thing back then and I was basically a fool not ready for anything. We agree that the timing wasn't right then and we're both open to see where things go from here. Of course there are almost 15 years gone by and 3 kids in the mix now but it could just make things better, only time will tell. He knows EVERYTHING there is to know about my "issue" and it's not one with him so that's another nice thing about this.
I'm excited but cautious! Just had to share, things could be turning around for me in many aspects of my life. It's about time!
Well he's now divorced (it's about to be finalized on the 16th, they've been separated twice now but this time is it) and 3 nights ago friends requested me on Facebook because he saw me on our friend Christi's page (she was how we met the first time). I accepted him curious to see what he'd been up to and to say hey. Well we've been talking every night and this morning he texted me a good morning as my wake up alarm.
It's nice because there's no pressure, we've agreed to be friends and see where it goes from there. We had a good thing back then and I was basically a fool not ready for anything. We agree that the timing wasn't right then and we're both open to see where things go from here. Of course there are almost 15 years gone by and 3 kids in the mix now but it could just make things better, only time will tell. He knows EVERYTHING there is to know about my "issue" and it's not one with him so that's another nice thing about this.
I'm excited but cautious! Just had to share, things could be turning around for me in many aspects of my life. It's about time!
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Interview in Cleveland
Monday evening I went on Craigslist in the Real Estate section like I always do for jobs to apply for, it's amazing how much Craigslist has helped in this job search! I found an advertisement that listed a job in Cleveland, Texas for a property manager. I almost didn't reply to it because I really don't have the title experience of "manager" but decided to go for it since I pretty much know everything there was to know to be one. It also said it was only 72 units so I was VERY interested. I also wasn't sure about it being in Cleveland but thought "what the heck" and went for it.
I sent my resume about 10:00 on Monday night and Nik called me at 9:00 Tuesday morning wanting to intervew on Wednesday. I called my mom and couldn't on Wednesday because it was the first day of close for her and I'd have nobody to watch Dawson but said I could meet with him that day. He said sure and we arranged to meet at noon at McDonald's. The reason we had to meet at McDonald's is because he's replacing his current manager because she isn't working out.
Our interview went awesome, we talked for about an hour and things really couldn't have went better. He said that he had to run some things by his dad (his partner) but he was pretty confident that we'd be working together soon. The pay is what I was wanting AND I'd get an apartment if I chose to live on site, which of course I would. They even have 3 bedrooms so Dawson and Brendan could even have their own bedrooms!! They have washer and dryer connections so no laundry room and it's basically perfect for us!
I asked him if it would be okay for me to at least drive by the complex so I could see it and see where it's located. He said sure and gave us directions. Mom and I drove by there but the current manager was at lunch and said she'd be back at 1:00, 1:15 she still wasn't back so we decided to go eat lunch. We went and ate at a mexican food place and went back and I asked mom to go in to get a floorplan and check the inside out of the office. He was there! lol... She went in got floorplans and we left.
Once I got home I decided to fess up to him that I sent my mom into the office in case he recognized the van and didn't want him to think I was trying to be sneaky so I sent him a nice email thanking him for his time, that I went by and my mom went in for a floorplan and saw him, and that I really hoped that we'd be working together soon. This morning I got a return email saying that he bet my mom "Had wet feet" because it was pouring and the parking lot had standing water in it and that I'd be hearing from him soon as he was on the road today. So at least he wasn't upset that I had her go in and check it out and has a sense of humor. Now I wait...
Fingers crossed, prayers, whatever it is you do! lol... This could mean my boys and I could get out on our own and I would basically have a job that I've wanted for a LONG LONG time!
I sent my resume about 10:00 on Monday night and Nik called me at 9:00 Tuesday morning wanting to intervew on Wednesday. I called my mom and couldn't on Wednesday because it was the first day of close for her and I'd have nobody to watch Dawson but said I could meet with him that day. He said sure and we arranged to meet at noon at McDonald's. The reason we had to meet at McDonald's is because he's replacing his current manager because she isn't working out.
Our interview went awesome, we talked for about an hour and things really couldn't have went better. He said that he had to run some things by his dad (his partner) but he was pretty confident that we'd be working together soon. The pay is what I was wanting AND I'd get an apartment if I chose to live on site, which of course I would. They even have 3 bedrooms so Dawson and Brendan could even have their own bedrooms!! They have washer and dryer connections so no laundry room and it's basically perfect for us!
I asked him if it would be okay for me to at least drive by the complex so I could see it and see where it's located. He said sure and gave us directions. Mom and I drove by there but the current manager was at lunch and said she'd be back at 1:00, 1:15 she still wasn't back so we decided to go eat lunch. We went and ate at a mexican food place and went back and I asked mom to go in to get a floorplan and check the inside out of the office. He was there! lol... She went in got floorplans and we left.
Once I got home I decided to fess up to him that I sent my mom into the office in case he recognized the van and didn't want him to think I was trying to be sneaky so I sent him a nice email thanking him for his time, that I went by and my mom went in for a floorplan and saw him, and that I really hoped that we'd be working together soon. This morning I got a return email saying that he bet my mom "Had wet feet" because it was pouring and the parking lot had standing water in it and that I'd be hearing from him soon as he was on the road today. So at least he wasn't upset that I had her go in and check it out and has a sense of humor. Now I wait...
Fingers crossed, prayers, whatever it is you do! lol... This could mean my boys and I could get out on our own and I would basically have a job that I've wanted for a LONG LONG time!
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Good thoughts please???
Yesterday I sent out an email to a group of friends with who I'm always invited to go to dinner once a month, we all have my "issue". I've been probably twice I think, but have become friends with several of them just through email.
Amy was my first contact with the HIV world when I was newly diagnosed. I can remember sitting in her car at Sylvan Beach thinking my world was coming to an end. We lost touch but got back into touch with her when I took Dawson to his first check up and she came walking through the door to see me, she was working at TXCH then. It was so exciting to see her!!
After I sent my email out yesterday she emailed me back and asked for my resume. I sent it to her immediately and this morning I got a call for an interview for Tuesday. This would be at Legacy Community Health Services in their HR department as an assistant. This would literally be a dream come true because it would get my foot in the door in the Houston HIV workforce!! I've wanted this for YEARS now!!
Today she emailed me and told me that another friend of our's works at AIDS Foundation Houston and her co-workers last day was today.The position hadn't even been listed yet and to email Desiree (another old friend that I've gotten in touch with), in intend to call Desiree tomorrow morning. AIDS foundation Houston is THE place I've always wanted to work if I couldn't work at HACS (Still trying to get an interview there) or with Dr Hammill (still working on him too lol;....)
THEN today Kim emailed me and told me to email my resume to her boss at her company because they were hiring clerical help. I'd PREFER to work either in the HIV field or in leasing but right now anything would be great! :-)
Positive thoughts for Tuesday to go well would be MUCH appreciated!
Amy was my first contact with the HIV world when I was newly diagnosed. I can remember sitting in her car at Sylvan Beach thinking my world was coming to an end. We lost touch but got back into touch with her when I took Dawson to his first check up and she came walking through the door to see me, she was working at TXCH then. It was so exciting to see her!!
After I sent my email out yesterday she emailed me back and asked for my resume. I sent it to her immediately and this morning I got a call for an interview for Tuesday. This would be at Legacy Community Health Services in their HR department as an assistant. This would literally be a dream come true because it would get my foot in the door in the Houston HIV workforce!! I've wanted this for YEARS now!!
Today she emailed me and told me that another friend of our's works at AIDS Foundation Houston and her co-workers last day was today.The position hadn't even been listed yet and to email Desiree (another old friend that I've gotten in touch with), in intend to call Desiree tomorrow morning. AIDS foundation Houston is THE place I've always wanted to work if I couldn't work at HACS (Still trying to get an interview there) or with Dr Hammill (still working on him too lol;....)
THEN today Kim emailed me and told me to email my resume to her boss at her company because they were hiring clerical help. I'd PREFER to work either in the HIV field or in leasing but right now anything would be great! :-)
Positive thoughts for Tuesday to go well would be MUCH appreciated!
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