It has been a few stressful weeks here at the Horne front. And I have to remember if I am stressed Bert is really really stressed. It has to due with - his job, where we could move to, our house selling, waiting and waiting and waiting. Honestly, that is what the stress is about, the waiting! It has been over three weeks of WAITING. BLAH! BLAH!
Bert has been trying to get a job with his company in outside business sales, which would be more like real estate but way better potential for him. We have applied all over the country (including Hawaii) Excluding (very cold weather states and those with lots of tornadoes). We have had pre-interviews, interviews and WAITING with places in OH,PA,WV and now VA calling and asking if we would be willing to move. Why would we apply if we weren't willing?
We keep looking at houses here in the 'Burgh and have it narrowed down just in case we get the job here.
Here is the deal - I hate not being able to plan! And I keep forgetting how stressed Bert has to be?! He is the one that is being turned down and is waiting to see if his career will go further. We have been rejected a few times for the following reason - he doesn't have outside business experience. WHAT?! Did they not look at his resume? And the thing is - he would ROCK at outside sales. If you know Bert you know how awesome he is with strangers, how professional he is, and just likable.
So for now I keep working and we keep waiting and we keep being super supportive even though we are so stressed.
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Things we are good at
Being in a forever relationship has given me a new perspective on how I deal with things and how Bert deals with things, as well as, what we are good at.
1. I am very good at selling Real Estate, while Bert is super duper good at selling Verizon Wireless.
2. I am very good at cleaning up after a very sick dog, while Bert is not good at all good and runs to the other room (while gagging).
3. Bert is extremely good at having a company lower our bills. Me - not so much. I will try and have it lowered a little but he can have it lowered a LOT.
4. Bert is super awesome at letting things slide of his back. If someone yells at him, he just rolls with it. If someone yelled at me I would cry and never speak to them again.
5. I am good at grocery shopping, Bert is good he just spends more.
Also, last week was a CRAZY stressful week in the Horne household. Bert has been trying for a new job here in the 'Burgh for 6 months now and hasn't gotten past the interview. BUT, two weeks ago he had a call from a manager in West Virginia, you read right WEST VIRGINIA!!! asking him to interview.
Now moving to west virginia, throws all of our plans out of the window. But we agreed that he needed to interview. SO, as he is preparing for the interview I am preparing for our house to go on the market. Last Thursday everyone knew, including Bert, that he would be offered the position in "forever far awayville". How did I handle the stress of having to - market and sell our house in the 'Burgh, find a new place to live in yuckyville, move Bert, wrap up business here, retake a real estate exam, find a company to work for, move me, learn a new territory....? I cleaned, cleaned like a mad women, cleaned like I have never cleaned before. I also painted everything that needed painted in our house and began to stage....ugh. Bert watched tv and asked if he could help :)
To make a long post longer - last Friday rolled around and between 530pm on Thursday and 8am Friday the job had been taken off the market. The big dog of that area decided not to fill the position and we are still here in the 'Burgh, WITH an interview for a position Bert wanted to begin with.
PHEW! I say PHEW!
And that is how Bert and I differ on lots of things.
1. I am very good at selling Real Estate, while Bert is super duper good at selling Verizon Wireless.
2. I am very good at cleaning up after a very sick dog, while Bert is not good at all good and runs to the other room (while gagging).
3. Bert is extremely good at having a company lower our bills. Me - not so much. I will try and have it lowered a little but he can have it lowered a LOT.
4. Bert is super awesome at letting things slide of his back. If someone yells at him, he just rolls with it. If someone yelled at me I would cry and never speak to them again.
5. I am good at grocery shopping, Bert is good he just spends more.
Also, last week was a CRAZY stressful week in the Horne household. Bert has been trying for a new job here in the 'Burgh for 6 months now and hasn't gotten past the interview. BUT, two weeks ago he had a call from a manager in West Virginia, you read right WEST VIRGINIA!!! asking him to interview.
Now moving to west virginia, throws all of our plans out of the window. But we agreed that he needed to interview. SO, as he is preparing for the interview I am preparing for our house to go on the market. Last Thursday everyone knew, including Bert, that he would be offered the position in "forever far awayville". How did I handle the stress of having to - market and sell our house in the 'Burgh, find a new place to live in yuckyville, move Bert, wrap up business here, retake a real estate exam, find a company to work for, move me, learn a new territory....? I cleaned, cleaned like a mad women, cleaned like I have never cleaned before. I also painted everything that needed painted in our house and began to stage....ugh. Bert watched tv and asked if he could help :)
To make a long post longer - last Friday rolled around and between 530pm on Thursday and 8am Friday the job had been taken off the market. The big dog of that area decided not to fill the position and we are still here in the 'Burgh, WITH an interview for a position Bert wanted to begin with.
PHEW! I say PHEW!
And that is how Bert and I differ on lots of things.
Friday, April 16, 2010
Food Update
So far this week we have spent -
32.76
This includes two dinner parties and a stop at the expensive grocery store for milk and eggs!
Total Balance so far
61.04
We have 38.96 left for the month....hmmm...are we going to make it! eeek!!
32.76
This includes two dinner parties and a stop at the expensive grocery store for milk and eggs!
Total Balance so far
61.04
We have 38.96 left for the month....hmmm...are we going to make it! eeek!!
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
$100 challenge
Nothing makes my stomach hurt more then throwing food away. I find myself every week throwing something away that we should have eaten, but were to lazy or forgot about it. I really, really want to go on an 8 day island hopping adventure to Greece in September. With that in mind I have started to initiated cut backs. Nothing drastic, nothing too intense. Just little things each month that in the end saves us money and get me what I want.
Last month we decided to cut way back on our eating out and our cleaning lady fired us, so we have been cleaning it ourselves (saves us $150 a month) This month I re-negotiated a better deal with our cable provider (savings of about $70) and we have started the $100 challenge. I bet Bert that I could spend just $100 for the entire month of groceries. This does not include eating out or wine, just food. It helps that I have a stocked pantry and my parents arrived last month with some red meat for Bert, (they think he is starving because we don't eat red meat that often)
The challenge started today - Grocery bill $28.28
I have made the following food
- Black Bean Burgers
- Turkey Tacos
- Guacamole
My mother thinks I'm crazy, Bert thinks it can't be done.... I am set to prove them all wrong :)
P.S. I will be doing all the shopping this month, Bert doesn't look at prices!
Last month we decided to cut way back on our eating out and our cleaning lady fired us, so we have been cleaning it ourselves (saves us $150 a month) This month I re-negotiated a better deal with our cable provider (savings of about $70) and we have started the $100 challenge. I bet Bert that I could spend just $100 for the entire month of groceries. This does not include eating out or wine, just food. It helps that I have a stocked pantry and my parents arrived last month with some red meat for Bert, (they think he is starving because we don't eat red meat that often)
The challenge started today - Grocery bill $28.28
I have made the following food
- Black Bean Burgers
- Turkey Tacos
- Guacamole
My mother thinks I'm crazy, Bert thinks it can't be done.... I am set to prove them all wrong :)
P.S. I will be doing all the shopping this month, Bert doesn't look at prices!
Monday, April 5, 2010
How to convince the hubby to try this
I love this website - progressivepioneer.com
I love the receipes, the posts, the greenness of her page.
Today she posted about making our own toothpaste. Below is the website with directions. http://lusaorganics.typepad.com/clean/2010/02/natural-toothpaste-tutorial.html
Bert is not the greenest person I know, or the most willing to try new things, BUT I really really want to try this, and it could save us money, then we could go to GREECE faster... how should I approach this with him??
I love the receipes, the posts, the greenness of her page.
Today she posted about making our own toothpaste. Below is the website with directions. http://lusaorganics.typepad.com/clean/2010/02/natural-toothpaste-tutorial.html
Bert is not the greenest person I know, or the most willing to try new things, BUT I really really want to try this, and it could save us money, then we could go to GREECE faster... how should I approach this with him??
Update
HE AGREED!!
Bert thought it would be a great idea to not have cable. SO, I called the company this morning and found out it would be cheaper for us to keep our cable (albeit a watered down version). We have our internet and phone through them, and I need the internet to work and we have our phone for our security system. BUT, we still are saving around $100 and that was the point to begin with.
Bert thought it would be a great idea to not have cable. SO, I called the company this morning and found out it would be cheaper for us to keep our cable (albeit a watered down version). We have our internet and phone through them, and I need the internet to work and we have our phone for our security system. BUT, we still are saving around $100 and that was the point to begin with.
Friday, April 2, 2010
Radical Idea
As we know, my husband is a mizer (sp?). His new idea for us to save money, aka - put more money in his retirment fund, is to: trade in his pratically new car to buy a newer car for me (in cash) and then he would take my car, thus eliminating the car payment he has. I say...blah. He works too hard to not have a nice car. I love my car. I have had her since grad school and she works just fine! Except when I have a large client or a tall client, but so far no one has complained.
SO, while cleaning out our backyard today I came up with a GREAT idea for us to cut back - cancel our cable.
WOO-WHAT?!?! No Cable?! What would we do all day? Below is the list that I have made to compensate for no cable....
1. We have netflix and in the summer there is nothing new on tv. If it is raining outside we can always use our netflix. It streams right into our tv from our internet.
2. Garden. We were really bad at that last year! Thankfully Bill came over a lot to garden for us, or make us garden. I want a veggie garden anyway and it isn't going to weed itself.
3. Playing tennis, walking the dog, biking the trails...endless things to do OUTSIDE, in the SUNSHINE, that are FREE.
4. Boardgames, dinner parties, bonfires in our backyard....
There would be plenty for us to do, and it would save us so much! The monthly bill for our cable is over $200 (that includes the internet and a landline) I would think we could save at least $100 dollars a month by not having cable.
Wish me luck in proposing this to Bert, who LOVES his tv :)
SO, while cleaning out our backyard today I came up with a GREAT idea for us to cut back - cancel our cable.
WOO-WHAT?!?! No Cable?! What would we do all day? Below is the list that I have made to compensate for no cable....
1. We have netflix and in the summer there is nothing new on tv. If it is raining outside we can always use our netflix. It streams right into our tv from our internet.
2. Garden. We were really bad at that last year! Thankfully Bill came over a lot to garden for us, or make us garden. I want a veggie garden anyway and it isn't going to weed itself.
3. Playing tennis, walking the dog, biking the trails...endless things to do OUTSIDE, in the SUNSHINE, that are FREE.
4. Boardgames, dinner parties, bonfires in our backyard....
There would be plenty for us to do, and it would save us so much! The monthly bill for our cable is over $200 (that includes the internet and a landline) I would think we could save at least $100 dollars a month by not having cable.
Wish me luck in proposing this to Bert, who LOVES his tv :)
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Books
I decided this year that I would read more. Less tv, more read. It has helped that we have a netbook and hubby can netflix "Lost" til he falls asleep and I can read, all in one bed! So far here is a list of books that I have read this year -
1. A Thousand Splendid Suns - Khaled Hosseini - I liked this book. I felt connected to the characters and though there was a nice development. I remember being a teenager and feeling helpless over the plight of women in Afghanastian, and that helplessness was refueled with this book.
2. Memory Keepers Daughter - Kim Edwards - Blah, blah, blah. I have never been so happy for a book to end. It was just contrite and uninteresting. I felt no feelings towards the characters or their plights. I even skipped the last page.
3. The Good Wife - Stewart O'Nan - An interesting book. I wouldn't read it again. It was the every day life of the characters, no real climax, no real end.
4. The time of the uprooted -Elie Wiesel - Holly Moses, this is a hard book. I have been out of the academic world too long to grasp this book. It wasn't a book I could read right before going to bed, or after a glass of wine.
5. Remember us : my journey from the shtetl through the Holocaust - Martin Small - I cried and cried. It was a beautiful book and it was nice to have the author skip over the brutality he (and everyone else) endured. It was more about the human spirit and a remembrance of his family and his life. Highly recommended!
6. Daphne : a novel - Justine Picardie - A good book. I like how the author wove the characters and different time periods together. Wasn't a huge fan of the characters, but that is because I view them as whiny women, and I hate whiny women.
Currently on my nightstand
Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister - Gregory Maguire.
1. A Thousand Splendid Suns - Khaled Hosseini - I liked this book. I felt connected to the characters and though there was a nice development. I remember being a teenager and feeling helpless over the plight of women in Afghanastian, and that helplessness was refueled with this book.
2. Memory Keepers Daughter - Kim Edwards - Blah, blah, blah. I have never been so happy for a book to end. It was just contrite and uninteresting. I felt no feelings towards the characters or their plights. I even skipped the last page.
3. The Good Wife - Stewart O'Nan - An interesting book. I wouldn't read it again. It was the every day life of the characters, no real climax, no real end.
4. The time of the uprooted -Elie Wiesel - Holly Moses, this is a hard book. I have been out of the academic world too long to grasp this book. It wasn't a book I could read right before going to bed, or after a glass of wine.
5. Remember us : my journey from the shtetl through the Holocaust - Martin Small - I cried and cried. It was a beautiful book and it was nice to have the author skip over the brutality he (and everyone else) endured. It was more about the human spirit and a remembrance of his family and his life. Highly recommended!
6. Daphne : a novel - Justine Picardie - A good book. I like how the author wove the characters and different time periods together. Wasn't a huge fan of the characters, but that is because I view them as whiny women, and I hate whiny women.
Currently on my nightstand
Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister - Gregory Maguire.
It's How We Roll
In the Horne household there are certain chores that we HATE to do. Sometimes they are not done until our lovely and wonderful and perfect Tammi comes to make our castle sparkle. But, because we have to be adults (sometimes) we have a system that divides the chores evenly...
That is how adults make decisions in our house! Luckily, I win most of the time. Here is a list of items that are on the rock,paper,scissors game board
1. Cleaning the kitty box (we are trying to house break her like we did our other cat)
2. Bringing the sheets up stairs at 11pm so we can make the bed
3. Cleaning the kitty box
4. cleaning the kitty box
That is how adults make decisions in our house! Luckily, I win most of the time. Here is a list of items that are on the rock,paper,scissors game board
1. Cleaning the kitty box (we are trying to house break her like we did our other cat)
2. Bringing the sheets up stairs at 11pm so we can make the bed
3. Cleaning the kitty box
4. cleaning the kitty box
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