Tax Free Weekend

This past weekend was tax free on "back to school" items here in North Carolina.  They offer tax free purchases towards school uniforms and school supplies.  I took advantage and bought a binder, dividers, and scissors.  The binder that I bought came with dividers, so I really didn't need to buy the extra set.  Oh well, now I have 10 dividers!  LOL  My coupon binder is almost complete, I still need plastic baseball card holders.  For now, my coupons are divided up and in different sections. 

I still want to get new pants for Kyle.  So far, I bought 2 pairs.  He now wears size 4/5 in Boys, he is no longer in "toddler" sizes.  Since Kyle doesn't like change, he doesn't want to wear the new pairs of pants.  I've already had to throw out a pair of his corduroy pants because they had a hole in the knee and Kyle kept making the hole bigger.  His other corduroy pants have holes in the knees now.  His pants are getting thin around his butt too.  Plus his pants are a little snug in the waist and I can see they are getting shorter on him. 

I've been a busy bee!

It's been a productive day for me!  I woke up and did my 55 minute workout (I always seem to put this one off by taking an extra rest day from working out).  I am also catching up on laundry today since I realized we were almost out of clean clothes.  I am doing at least 4 loads of laundry (darks, whites, and two loads of towels & bath mats)! 

Kyle starts Kindergarten on August 25th and I am looking to get him more clothes for school.  His school district doesn't not require school uniforms, but we're going to stick with the same theme.  Kyle will also be attending 5 days a week, which means I will need to have more clothes for him, plus extras when I need to do laundry.  He's still the same size as last year - 5T, which I can only seem to find at JC Penney. 

Got a little tan in the process

As I mentioned in my previous post, Kyle's bus was late picking him up for school yesterday morning.  His bus was 15 minutes late picking him up and when it came time for him to be dropped off, they were really late!  I was told that he would be dropped off around 2:45pm, so I left around 2:30pm just to be sure I was out there on time.  Well, 2:45pm rolled around, then it was 2:55pm.  It was hot with a slight wind, I was already sweaty and plus I really had to go to the bathroom.  At 3:05pm, I called Shannon to let him know that the bus still wasn't here and I had to use the bathroom.  He said to wait another 5 minutes and call him back.  The bus finally showed up at 3:07pm!!!  His bus was over 20 minutes late!  I am just glad that he wasn't dropped off somewhere else or he fell asleep and they forgot about him.  He was so calm and quiet on the walk back home.  His teacher said he had a good day and didn't even cry!  She sent him home with a few forms to fill out, including the application for free meals at school, so we're applying for that!  In the meantime, I am sending Kyle to school with $20 to cover the cost of meals until the application is approved. 

Shannon came to bed around 4:15am yesterday morning.  He didn't get to sleep until 7:15am or so.  He woke up to help me get Kyle up for school.  We ended up not going to Walmart since Shannon decided to stay up all night and into the next morning.  I told him that I really wanted us to go and it was important to me!  We are out of food!  My MIL has gone grocery shopping 4 times in the last 7 days, and we have gone zero times in the last 2 weeks!  I have some afternoon snack ideas for Kyle to enjoy after he gets home from school.  Let's hope he'll actually eat!

I really need to go to Walmart because I need more school clothes for Kyle.  His teacher needs an extra set of clothes to keep at school.   I plan on getting at least 6 sets of clothes, just because we aren't always able to do laundry. 

Yesterday was also a "historic day" for us!  Kyle ate salad!  I could NOT believe it.  I couldn't stop watching him eat it.  Getting him to eat salad is like teaching a pig to fly!  I was eating salad the last few days and he would try a bite and then spit it out.  Well, yesterday he actually chewed it and ate it!  Plus when the salad was gone, he wanted more!

Stopped by the Classroom

We got up early hoping to have Kyle start preschool today. The weather was freezing cold, the car had ice on it and Kyle was shivering by the time we got out of the car to go into the school. We met the teacher and saw the classroom. She went over the main points of what he needed to have. We're going to have him go Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. The school has a uniform dress code and we're also going to apply for free or low cost meals for him. We gave his teacher his paperwork as well.

My MIL and I ended up going shopping today for his clothes. First, we tried Goodwill and found a pair of pants and a shirt. We then we to Big Lots and Walmart. I didn't find anything at Big Lots but I did find his pants and shirts at Walmart. I bought long sleeved shirts since it's cold outside. We then went to the "mall" that they have out here. I went to JC Penney's and found a jacket and a beanie and glove set. We also looked at Sears and found a jacket for much less and ended up getting the jacket there and returning the jacket I bought from JC Penney's.

I tried on some of the clothes on Kyle and unfortunately the jacket is WAY TOO big for him. It's more of a size for an older boy of at least 7 or 8. It's not a toddler size jacket. Plus, Shannon wants to get a thicker jacket for him. The pants that I bought for him were marked for 4T but they are too big, hopefully after a wash or two, they will fit better. I am going to take the clothes back to the Goodwill that I bought from there since they are too big for him. The shirts look big on him, but they will do for now.

Kyle also needed a backpack and he will need a towel or blanket (for rest time) as well. I found a backpack at the goodwill for only $3! We're probably going to have him use a towel because his blankets are still packed away.

Kyle will start his first day of preschool on Wednesday! Shannon and I are excited for him and want to make sure he is ready. At least we know where his school is. It's a beautiful and clean looking school. All of the classrooms are inside a big building. When we got home from taking Kyle to the school, he starting crying when we got home and we think it's because he didn't want to leave! Hopefully he'll like playing with other kids.

When we got home, we all ended up eating tuna sandwiches and other things we could find. We were all hungry! Shannon, Kyle, and myself ended up taking a nap after eating! I think we slept for about 1 1/2 to 2 hours. When I woke up, I took a shower and Shannon was up by the time I was done.

Til 10 PM?

I have to work until 10 PM tonight. I hate working so late! I am looking forward to tomorrow's schedule and then Friday. I only have to work 5 hours tomorrow and then I am off Friday. Although, Friday will be another day for me to catch up on laundry and cleaning. I need to have Shannon help me with cleaning around here, since I hate having to do it one day a week while he's home all day.

I am getting sick of the color blue! I have to wear it at work and then I see fellow employees wearing it. The good thing about having a uniform is that I don't have to pick out something new to wear each day.

I did have something good happen yesterday. One of the "co-managers" said that I was doing a great job and she has seen how I am with the customers. She has also asked me a few times in the past how everything is going, which is good. Even the "customer service managers" ask how I am doing. Fellow cashiers are very helpful, which I appreciate.

Speakability called yesterday wanting to schedule a therapy session and Shannon told them the issues we are having with medicaid. I guess their insurance/medicaid rep called and left a message and Shannon didn't get the message until after 5 PM. We're going to wait until we get ahold of medicaid to call Speakability back. This morning, I called medicaid and left a message and they still haven't returned my call. I still have no idea why they need to talk to me (and only me), Shannon tried talking to her but she can only talk to me. Hopefully we can get this all straightened out so we can start Kyle's speech therapy.

Interview for Walmart

I had my interview with Walmart today. I had to wait 15 minutes before they called me in, they did apologize and said they were running behind, which I understand. They are going to make a job offer to me, but I have to go back in tomorrow morning! LOL The manager who is going to do that was at lunch at the time. The interview process was more formal than I thought. I had 3 different people sitting in on the interview and one person asking the questions (there were only about 6 or 8 questions). Then they did a second interview with the manager, both interviews took about 20 minutes total. Then they wanted me to go out to the registers and observe a cashier doing the job. That way, it gives the candidate a chance to determine whether or not the job is for them or not. It was pretty busy at the registers! Busy is good, it makes your shift go by much quicker. Every time we have gone to Walmart, it's busy at the registers!

I've been a cashier at Target before and they were never busy everyday. They were usually busy on the weekends. But then again, Target doesn't have a grocery side to it. I am sure more than ever, more people are shopping at Walmart for everything they need.

I have never worked here in North Carolina, so this will be interesting. From what I hear, the people are different from what I am used to and have grown up with, they have different standards. You have to watch what you say, they are all (or at least most of them are) church-going people. I am expecting a culture shock. Although, the people here are really nice here.

Also, it sounds like I won't have to take a drug test either! Shannon said it seems to be a common thing, that employers don't require drug tests!

While I was waiting to be interviewed, I wanted to find out what the dress code is. Their uniform is khaki pants and a dark blue, blue, or navy blue shirts. Pretty easy. I happen to not have either, so I will need to buy a few pants and shirts. Target required khaki pants and red shirts. Also, I saw employees wearing sneakers, so I am happy about that. I want to be comfortable at work.