There are other things to consider, though. I really do think the social aspect of public school is something positive, so I’m worried about removing Alex from daily contact with his friends. I have thought about after school tutoring sessions instead, but he’s so busy with sports and playing outside that I don’t want to overwhelm him. After all, he’s just 7!

I don’t know… I keep going back and forth on this. I guess the only thing I can say at this point is “we’ll see”.

I hate to have this happen, especially since I’m losing out on more than $500 worth of deductions. I guess this will have to serve as a lesson about the value of staying organized. Damn.

All I can say is that I feel the Hawks’ pain. I’m currently going over my own household budget numbers to see how I can possibly come up with enough money to pay for my grad school tuition in the fall and winter — and it ain’t pretty. I just don’t see where the extra money is going to come from. We’re already scrimping and saving and cutting back wherever possible. We switched to cheap insurance a long time ago, we’re not wasteful of water or energy, we use coupons at the grocery store, we save all our errands for one day so we don’t waste gasoline, etc.

Ugh, this is so stressful! I might end up taking fewer classes in the fall and/or winter in order to reduce my tuition burden. I really don’t want to stretch grad school out any longer than necessary, but that might be the only option left here.

While we never win prizes from the games, we don’t exactly go home empty-handed, either. That’s because there are usually at least a handful of local sponsors giving out promotional items at booths set up around the fair. This means we can get a couple of t-shirts, hats, water bottles, key chains, or frisbees just for taking a minute to fill out a form. Yes, the form is usually followed up by a sales pitch — but who’s to say you have to give your real telephone number or email address?

Anyway, I’ve been scouring the paper and there are still quite a few more fairs coming up. This is going to be a great summer!

I have tried practically every over-the-counter cream and topical lotion out there, as well as quite a few very expensive prescription medications, but nothing really works. In fact, my skin usually gets even worse, turning red and flaky because of the harsh chemicals. So this summer I’m thinking of trying an oral treatment like Acneticin. I’ve read a lot of literature that says because acne problems start within the body, it doesn’t make much sense for treatments to work from the outside in. Maybe if I get something that treats me from the inside out, I’ll have better results. Here’s hoping, at any rate!

I haven’t been to a job interview in forever, but one thing HR people immediately notice about my résumé is that I used to work in a factory. Yes, in an actual factory operating punch presses and other industrial equipment. Apparently recruiters don’t often see someone with a blue-collar background applying for white-collar positions, so I always get a lot of questions and comments about my factory experiences.

Truth be told, I loved working in a factory. I’m the kind of person that enjoys mindless, repetitive work because it allows me to think about other things. I mean, who wants to actually focus on work for eight hours? I even used to memorize poetry by taping a poem by my machine so I could look at it all day. That was fun for me.

Heck, if I could find a factory job that paid well enough, I’d apply for it now — Master’s degree and all!

We’re not serious racers, but we’ve toyed with the idea of buying some kind of bigger RV that we could use both for motocross and for summer road trips. We’re looking into some of the costs associated with this purchase, such as parking and maintenance fees, and with the kind of upkeep required for the water supply and cooking gas. Plus we have to be aware of how much motor home repairs cost in case something breaks down in the future. After all, we would definitely buy a used vehicle, so anything could happen.

This is not a decision we need to make this month or even this year. But I think it would be awesome to have a motor home someday!