Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!

Tomorrow is our 6th Wedding Anniversary!! Shannon has our anniversary off and the day after that off! He didn't plan it that way, nevertheless, it worked out pefectly this week.


On Monday, I sent an email to the Department of Social Services (DSS) for the state that we live in. I decided to email them because I had been trying for a week to reach someone, anyone to answer a question for me. I had left 4 messages, 3 of them with one person and still no response. I was going to out the person I left messages with but decided not to. I wonder if the people in our local office got in trouble? LOL I also decided to turn to emailing someone at the department because the website states to contact them if we have any questions, concerns, or comments.

Here is what I emailed to them:

To Whom it May Concern:

My name is Stephanie ---- and my husband, Shannon and I are trying to apply for food stamps. We received a letter stating we were not approved due to not providing proof of income, even though we included a letter from his Human Resources department stating his hours and rate of pay.

I have been trying to reach someone, ANYONE really...who will answer the phone in the Food Stamp office and nobody will return my call. I have been trying now for 7 days. I left a total of 4 messages, one on Monday & Tuesday of last week and twice today. I understand last week was Christmas but we are just trying to get some live help.

Thank you.
Stephanie ----
(my phone number here)

Well, my day just improved for the better! I just checked my email and received a response from the DSS and they said that our application was denied in error and that the proof was in the agency (I'm thinking it was misplaced). I KNEW I included our proof of income, but our case worker didn't believe me. HA!

We won't be getting as much as we had hoped, BUT it's better than no help at all.

Adventures in Shoes

We went to Walmart yesterday for groceries and other things. While my husband was looking for new shoes, I took our son to look for new shoes for him. So I went over to the kids section and saw an ENTIRE aisle for little girl shoes! I went down another aisle and saw a small section for little boy shoes. Imagine looking down a shopping aisle, now look to one side, don’t look too far down because little boy shoes only cover less than HALF of one side! LOL To be fair, the other half of this aisle had big boy sizes. For my son’s sizes, they had about 6 pairs to choose from…literally! Three of the pairs were Velcro and the other three were shoe laces. I wasn’t about to buy shoes with laces for my almost 3 year old! LOL They had Thomas the Tank, Disney’s Cars, Spiderman and some other brand. Kyle doesn’t really watch Thomas the Tank so we choose Disney’s Cars in his size and Spiderman in one size bigger!

My husband ended buying 2 pairs of shoes as well, one of them is waterproof.

Groceries & Shoes

Shannon had today off and then he has to work 2 more days and then he'll have 2 more days off. UGH! Hopefully it will pick up at his work.

On Monday, if I don't hear from the Food Stamp office by 10AM (which I most likely won't), I am going to call them yet again and leave another message. This is ridiculous. I need to get this taken care of. I'd like to know what else we need to prove our income, besides a letter from his HR department.

We went to Walmart today for groceries. Shannon also bought 2 pairs of shoes. He really needed new shoes, since the ones he wears now are about 3 or 4 years old at least. We also bought 2 pairs of shoes for Kyle. We bought 2 different sizes so that we won't have to worry about buying new ones when his feet get bigger. One of his shoes is of Disney's Cars and the other is Spiderman!

Special Days in January

Our 6th Wedding Anniversary is coming up on January 1st! Wow. Six years!



Kyle's 3rd Birthday is on January 3rd!!! Our little guy is turning 3 soon!

Back to Pen Palling

I have decided to get back into pen palling again. I miss receiving real mail instead of junk, bills, and freebies. Freebies aren't bad but it would be nice to receive letters again. I started writing yesterday and now have 4 letters done! I have several more letters to respond to, so that should keep me busy this week. I also got back into pen palling because I have some really amazing people I write to and I miss writing them!

Shannon brought home a packaged tray of cookies from work on Christmas Day! He said someone from the kitchen gave them to him, I guess the Chef had many trays left over so he was giving them away! They are delicious and Kyle and I have been eating cookies here and there.

Kyle is doing really well eating at the table! While I was writing letters on MY NEW TABLE, Kyle came up and sat down too. So that's when I pulled out his crayons and a coloring page for him to color on. He wanted to scribble on my letters so I gave him a blank piece of paper. He colored a bit on the table but thankfully that came off.

Time with Hubby

Since Shannon canceled his video game subscription, he's been spending a bit more time with us. On some nights, we'll stay up late together and have hot chocolate. Kyle is already in bed by this time, so it's nice and quiet! Last night, Shannon got home around 11:30PM or so and we had hot chocolate together and watched tv.

We stumbled upon a show called Parking Wars. It's centered around the Philadelphia Parking Authority. It's pretty much like the show Airline, but for cars/parking/tickets, etc. It follows the impound lot and meter maids. I feel so bad for the people who get their car towed, but their stories are so funny and the way some of them react is so hilarious. There are people who finally reach the window and then are told they need more documents, then they are forced to leave and come back with the required paperwork.

Throughout the evening, I could hear our neighbors were having a party. I could hear people laughing and then I would hear people outside as well. This went on passed midnight.

Anyway, I really have been enjoying OUR TIME. It's been awhile since we've had that, especially since after Kyle was born! LOL

We have a new insurance rate and it's about $15 to $16 less than before!!! What a savings!!! The last insurance company we were with kept going UP every 6 months to a year! We were with this company for about 4 years! I am so glad we are with this new company!

Quick Vent!

I just need to vent a bit…

Just a little advice ~ If you want someone to purchase from a business that you represent, don’t be RUDE to them!

Here’s what happened to me. I contacted a rep from a home business and I told her I am looking to purchase ONE item. She wrote back saying that I need to make a purchase of $35-$40 to make it “worthwhile.” Since I am not looking to spend that much, I wrote back asking if she knew of any other reps with the company that had this item in stock. I pretty much asked her this because she pissed me off saying that I needed to order so much for MY order to matter!

Anyway, she wrote back saying “why would we know of another rep with this company?” She also included a lot of other crap that didn’t make sense.

Here is the email:

From her ~
“However in order to make it worth our/their while we would need a min of $35 - $40 order. Let me know and we can go from there.

My response ~
“Okay well I am only looking for the soil pack that is priced at $19.95. Do you know of anyone (a rep) who has it in stock?”

From her ~
“How would I know about anyone else? it's not like we've been searching for anyone else selling [said business] ..... I don't think there is anyone left that is a consultant besides us.
We require at least $35.00 worth for an order even in our swapping group so it is not like we exclude you. That is why I suggested you get 2 if you don't want to do so I guess we can't do anything.
We have to protect our place with [said business] for when we actually need something besides accessories. Hope that makes sense and you understand.”

My response ~
“Why do you keep saying "we" and WHAT swap group? LOL I am not in any swap groups. I contacted you because I found your site through a search.”

Here’s what I was THINKING while reading her email:

Anyone else with the company? HMMMM, maybe someone in your downline? Your upline? Sheesh! WTF are you talking about, I am NOT in your damn swap group! So, I am hoping you would “exclude me” because I am NOT in your swap group and because I am a potential customer! Apparently her “place” in the business is MUCH MORE important that helping a customer.

Table for Three!

Shannon put our brand new dining set together last night! It looks beautiful! I feel spoiled just having a dinner table now. We've been married almost 6 years and we've never had a dining set!

Today was our first day of using the table. Kyle and I started off with eating breakfast at the table. It definitely felt odd using it! Kyle got the hang of it. I even had him eat his snacks at the table. Kyle and I also had lunch together. By dinner, we all ate together. Kyle didn't really eat, since all he really eats these days is cheerios.

Shannon has to work the next two days but then he's off again on Friday. Four days off this week! I am still trying to get our food stamp application taken care of. In the meantime, Shannon will be saving his pay stubs. Especially the one for this week where he has four days off.

Just a little Vent!

Well, I never received a call back from the DSS! Surprise, Surprise! I called again this afternoon and left another message. I don't expect a call back until AFTER THE NEW YEAR, maybe even later than that.

Also, I am looking to order ONE item from a home business from an independent representative. Anyway, I told her I am looking to purchase such and such item and she wrote back, "to make it worthwhile, we would need an order of $35-$40." WTF?! Worthwhile for WHO? Obviously not me! So I wrote her back that I am only looking to order the ONE item and asked if she knoew of a rep who had this item in stock. LOL

Not approved!?

We received a response from DSS about our food stamps application and we were "not approved." The reason...wde didn't provide proof of income -- even though we did! Shannon had HR write a letter stating his wage, hours, and income info. How much more clear do they need it to be?

I tried calling the DSS office first thing this morning at 8:10 AM to be exact and left a message because the lady wasn't there. Since it was 10 minutes into her shift, I bet she was already on a coffee break or out on her 4 hour lunch! I just really want to get this resolved and find out what information they need and why the letter isn't sufficient!

Shannon is off today and tomorrow and again later this week. He said he'd put our dining set together, so hopefully that will be today! I am dying for it to be set up!



Our DVR stopped working sometime last night. I have no idea what's going on. But thankfully all the shows are re-runs so I am not really missing anything.

What does Momma say?

I saw this video on Yahoo today! I just have to share it! TOO CUTE! I wish my son talked MORE!!



Whad did mamma say ? @ Yahoo! Video

4 Days Off!

Shannon has 4 days off this week!!! For the last 2 weeks, he’s had 3 days off due to low occupancy in the hotel. He has today off and then split days off this coming week. Everyone in his department has either 4 days off or even as much as 6 days off!!! Although, most of the people he works with are young and in college. He is one of the few with a family to support.

We’re still waiting to hear back about the status of our food stamps application. We checked the department of health of human services website and it said it can take up to 30 days to hear back. Next week will be about 30 days, so we’re hoping to hear back soon.

And now there are TWO!!!

We were just notified that we have a package in the management office of our apartment complex! Since I am not expecting anything and the note said we would need a TRUCK to pick this up, I had a feeling of what it might be. Still I was curious, so I called the office and she said it’s a table from Target! In other words, Target refunded me for the table, yet it was delivered anyway!!!! We have to pick it up from the office by Monday or they will send it back to UPS and charge it to us. Well, we don’t have a truck, so I guess we’ll be sending it back to Target!? I am waiting to hear what Shannon says we should do.

Could it be?

Not even 5 minutes after Shannon left for work today did I hear a delivery truck outside. It was FedEx with our dining set! I never thought we would actually receive it. Third times a charm! I called Shannon to let him know that it was here and he sounded excited. He may put it together this week. He canceled his video game subscription a few weeks ago so he has time after he gets home from work. I can’t wait for our table to be set up, Kyle needs to learn how to eat at the table.

I caught up on a few chores today. I had 3 loads laundry to do! I also cleaned our bathroom.

Kyle received some Christmas presents early. He’s been playing with his new toys since this morning. He got toy cars, coloring books and crayons. I showed him how to color and he colored a bit but he loved playing with the crayons more. He also got a one piece pajamas and a pull-over sweatshirt.

Our Weekend

I took most of the day off from doing my daily clicks on my PTC sites! It was a nice break. It was Shannon’s third day off this week, so we drove up to see my in-laws. We left at around 9:30am. Shannon decided to take the “back way” which he is not familiar with, we drove around for an hour. I suggested we stop and ask for directions but he kept saying he was going the right way. We got lost and wound up going in a big circle and ended up stopping at home for a bathroom break. The second time leaving, we took the freeway. We spent about 3 ½ hours at my in-laws. Kyle played with their dog and ran around the backyard.

Yesterday, we went grocery shopping. I picked up some new socks for Kyle because just about all of his pairs of socks have holes in them. I also bought some placemats for our new table, which should be here soon!

Is there a Table in the Future for us?

I am not sure if the Universe is trying to tell us something. I’ve been waiting over a month and a half for a dining set to be delivered to us. I first ordered our set through Target and it reached our state but then it was determined that it was damaged during transit, so it was returned to sender. Then Target tried sending our set a second time, and it was returned because it wasn’t addressed correctly. So then I had Target refund my money, although I did still get credit through Upromise for my purchase! NICE!

Just a few days ago, I found a dining set at Walmart that I really liked based on the customer reviews. I ordered it and yesterday I received an email from Walmart saying my item was out of stock!!! I started thinking the Universe is trying to tell us that a table is not meant to be for us! LOL

I checked my email this morning and our ordered has shipped! We’ll see how this one turns out. You can see the table I ordered HERE!! It was between that one and a table at Kmart by Martha Stewart. I chose this one because of the reviews and that it is made of “solid hardwood” which sounds really sturdy!

Unexpected Savings!

Our car insurance has gone down! I have no idea why but I am not complaining.

When we first purchased car insurance a year ago, it was in another city and when we moved to our current city, our rate went up a bit. When it came time to renew our insurance, our rate went down again! We are very happy with Progressive Insurance. They have top notch customer service!

We also have to renew our car registration in January and Shannon estimated that it was going to cost between $200-$300, plus the smog check. Well, we just got a bill yesterday from DMV and it’s only $28 for registration!!! I even showed the bill to Shannon because he didn’t believe it.

Busy with new sites!

In the last week or so, I joined 8 new PTC (paid to click) sites! Seven of them are owned by one person and I know her through cafemom. With the addition to the newest 8 sites, they are taking up most of my time during the day. I am looking at joining few more sites too.

I also joined 2 new survey sites. I just started on them and so far so good.

I’ve been updating my other blog as much as I can, I update it when I join new sites or just to post proof of payments. These PTC sites also offer a free way for me to advertise my sites. So I am taking advantage of that feature.

So Unfair!

Shannon received an advertisement in the mail for a local OB/GYN’s office! LOL Well, at least one of us is receiving this information! I’d love to see them take him as a patient.

Nothing New except Hugs and Kisses

Last week, we shaved Kyle’s head! Since it’s cold, I’ve been putting a hoodie over his head when we go outside for our daily walk. I am surprised he keeps it on his head because he used to always take it off.

We sent in the additional info to our local health department and now we’re waiting to hear back on whether or not we qualify. We will apply for WIC if we need additional help with food costs.

Yesterday I wanted to see if Kyle understood the words “hugs” and “kisses” without me doing the gestures. Usually when I ask him for a hug, I put my arms out and he always runs to hug me. Shannon would ask him for a hug the same way. Well instead of putting my arms out, I just asked him if I could get a hug and he ran right over to me and put out his arms to hug me. Then I asked him for a kiss and he gave me a kiss.

Shannon applied for another job this week. We are really hoping to hear back from this one, he really likes the sound of this particular company. Meanwhile, we are both keeping our eyes open to any other positions.