Focus

It's been a while since my last post. I have been saving money, making money and investing money, some of it legal. Back to school meant to me the end of  a long summer of no income; my funding would feed my minimally nourished  line of credit. Why I didn't work all summer is expressed earlier in blog post but in a nut shell I didn't work.

Plan B
I learned, along with many other broke students types, the Provencal  government data base that was in charge of telling the humans who to fund  hit a 'glitch;' rhymes with bitch, in the ditch ...you know, not rich.  Thousands of students were not receiving their money...yet. For me I would delay purchasing that roast I'd been eying and settle again for TVP. After weeks the government of Alberta offered us emergency loans only if we really needed the money;  so first we had to prove, we students who qualify for government funding to begin with really were busted.

"Here here, students we have messed with, fill in these 6 pages and go down to an office wait in line, come early and bring print outs of your bank account balances for the last two months and we will maybe give you a loan against your money we owe you". Then when we get things sorted, we will take the loan amount off your regularly scheduled funding.

Hm-mm I side stepped this offer, in the end I could read between the lines, and couldn't stand in one to get what was already mine. It would have been like dating my ex. I knew sooner or later I would get the funding; I had to be patient or I could easily become one.

There are many students who are in dire straights and getting the money a bit faster without me in line might help. These students have kids to feed, are new to our country in some cases and second language speakers. Giving them a bunch of forms to fill in, having them run around literally students like us often have no time and no car, is poor customer service. Arrange babysitting of course right and  remember study. I can tell you this week the Government reported, boasted sort of, they had paid out over $500,000 in loans to 600 individuals. That about $830 bucks each. Whoot! What a fuck up.

Eva Pea

Housewarming invite

I have not been to a party outside my own living-room in forever. Attending a housewarming for a former coworker/neighborhood friend. What to bring as a gift? I trundled off to the local fresh food store. I knew the homeowners would appreciate getting no stuff and I made the judgment that another bottle of gift-wine would be just too pedestrian. My gift budget under $15.00, they were supplying the beer and food.
 

I opted for a reusable mesh veggie sac filled with organic ingredients with which to create salsa.
2 heirloom tomatoes (1 red 1 yellow)
1 onion
1 lime
1 bunch of cilantro

Also included was a sympathy card hoping for a speedy recovery on their first mortgage payment.

~Eva Pea

Weekly Family Outing - Inside

Getting our family together once a week is part of my ideal life experience. Aim for the middle I say. With myself and my kids (19 & 21) in post-secondary, scheduling something regular is the only way this might happen.

If it were the 80's I might insist we meet at the Corkscrew Lounge downtown and have drinks and potato skins or to Japanese Village for a food and knife show on Friday nights. The 90's would see our family at a Curry house  or  picking at wings down at the pub. 2000`s- lets face it Krispy Kreme all the way. However, today's time and cash are very dear and instead we decided on Sunday morning coffee-breaky 9:30-10:30am at my place. Even if parties happened the night before, we agreed knowing where the coffee and muffins are on Sunday morning would be good. My BF will bake. So goes the threat.


$0.45 Coffee for three 2 black one with soy
  0.45 Hot chocolate for one made with milk
 2.00 Fruit apple, banana or berries
 2.00 Baking  four servings
 1.68 Organic Eggs four scrambled
$6.58 Total

And if we go with Moroccan style eating there will be only two plates, no cutlery and $0.0002 dish washing expense.

I can hardly wait.

EvaPea

Apply for a Scholarship

Due to my unseemly fortunate situation I qualify for several scholarships this semester. My failure to find work all summer has put me in the category of 'experiencing extenuating financial hardship'. My 4.0 GPA puts me in the 'good marks' group. My mom jeans put me in the 'aged' category.

I am told most student do not apply for scholarships, even though they are tax free. Last year I earned $1000 in scholarships. which is like working 85 hours at retail job or one lap-dance with Dino. This year I can apply for over $15,000 worth. The application takes about 16 hours to complete including all the essay jokes and puns. If I don't get the scholarship maybe I'll get hired as a speech writer.

I can also apply for under the 'community contribution' due to my services in the area and at school. Turns out, it does pay to change diapers. I also re-qualified under the single parent status since my 19 year old himself is entering post secondary this fall (this in turn supports 'the extenuating financial hardship' category). The adhd diagnoses allows me to apply for additional supports, a new i-phone however doesn't qualify.

My essays are a bit unraveling as to get my 'situation' across in words reads like a list of what to avoid when recovering from open heart surgery. Surprise dental work, getting lost in traffic and the baking soda diet have not made this years financial summer a kind one.
I'd rather submit a picture. I'd pick one of me working studiously in my 5'x4' home office, perched on a teetering frayed cane stool, knees touching the desk top as I slurp on a Mr Freeze which has given me an ice cream headache signified by the clutching of my right front hairline. In the background they would see my motivational poster 'Up with People', all of my pens, my Tony Robbins CD collection and lastly but not least my dancing eyes.

A Peach

On day 9 of the cleanse; it is a small miracle I can count that high. We are all exhausted to one degree or an other. It has been a long week for my family, protracted even. Three of us are returning to post-secondary next week. So preparing and organizing and buying tiny portions of cheese has dominated daily deeds. At 11:00pm my daughter and I lay on parallel chase-loungers emitting sounds usually reserved for the nursing home circle time. She slowly spills out her last couple of days back at the 'paper' and reviles some fantastic bits of personal happenings. Oh let's celebrate I suggest looking around for celebration type junk. Although my BF is handy his junk is not needed in this particular celebration. A cleanse coupled with a restricted spending plan changes what cuts it as celebration food and drink. Ouzo shots for example are out.

I did have one fantastic peach. I held it and felt how the first woman must have felt in anticipation of the perfect sweet resistance to the bite followed the flavor high one single bite of a perfect peach can present. I cut the peach into perfect smiles. We had chamomile tea, Sleepytime to be exact.

Cost of celebration under $1

Get Healthy Save Cash

My guy and I are on a cleanse. Not a crazy cleanse. There is no gunpowder or lemonade involved. No special oil and bucket, no nasty mustard wrap. It is 30 days of 5 days ON and 2 days OFF.

The ON days are no meat, dairy or wheat. The OFF days are whatever you want. I am not so much about the all or nothing experience as my guy is. He is happy to eat super clean and then inhale a cheeseburger-pie-milkshake the next week. Me, I get offended if someone else is mentions a burger after I'm done my cleanse. I ease back in. An egg, a piece of spelt toast with preserves, organic wine from a humming birds thimble. Anyway...At either intensity dining out, drinking, stopping by the  pâtisserie  is NOT an option.

The food along with a couple of supports is acceptable to my Natural-path (covered by insurance but a good investment for the average boomer regardless). A liver booster Unda 243, which I hear is great for hangovers and contains 24% alcohol.  Multi-Glyco to even out moods (aka blood sugar) and Acidophilus to 'enhance intestinal health'. However, my hard core man wants to stick as close as possible to Dr. Thomas Rau plan. In this plan, The Swiss Secret to Optimal Health the foods and preparation methods are very restricted. Steamed broccoli, shredded beets, shredded carrots, shredded, cucumber and alkaline broth make from finely diced green beans, finely diced zucchini, finely diced celery and finely diced carrot are the stars.

We started this cleanse August 27. Today is suppose to be our first of two days off but we are waiting till Sunday, for some reason, put forth by my better half which I completely disagree with but am too weak to argue about; besides he's in charge of the shredding and dicing, I need him. 

We should be finished on September 27th. We measured and weighed ourselves. We mostly sleep, count the number of voids and spend time watching the food network. As you may have gathered not only do we save entertainment dollars; no one invites us for dinner therefore no hostess gift. And if we must partake in some community food related event for faux Facebook politics we can look the height of self-disciplined sophistication sipping minted fresh-lime water (a Mojito without).

~Eva Pea

Exercise or Entertainment

Imagine if your entertainment activities helped to keep you fit. I hear this is true for some people.

I am not just referring to the self amusement at the gym brought on by viewing my reflection in the mirror as I tipy-toe onto the scale, braced for the after summer check-in, it's like Vegas.

The entertainment I refer to has to do with planning stuff to do that involves movement.  Jumping to conclusions, running around in circles and chasing after bargains. Again I veer off topic.

Yes playing tennis alone can be frustrating, and getting into your climbing gear is evil at times, and  maintaining your bicycle can become a chore if you let it. However, human kinetics can all be amusing, even entertaining. Sleek and seamless are highly over rated. The same goes for us in the environment of nature.

Unlike some elite purists (TRX or hyp-yoga) nature is available, free and I hear a good cover for naps. Amuse ourselves by seeing the funny in personal efforts to get our own bodies to do our will can be laughable and humbling as well as challenging and exhilarating.

Next time you are boring yourself consider moving your body in a different way...highly entertaining.