It's been a while..

Okay wow...so almost 2 months to catch up on...I got this..

So we've been pretty active this summer, which is out of character for us honestly. We were doing therapy for 2 kids for a while but I stopped taking my daughter because she wasn't listening to this therapist either, and my son had to stop going because of insurance issues. My Mr. changed jobs again in May, and it looked like things would be okay, but we recently found out it's not..so I am having to put more of my time and energy into actually making items and trying to get them sold.
Plus, since that isn't a guaranteed money maker, I've been doing more transcription and captioning, just to get a little extra money each week.

The kids have been reading a lot. We are trying to cut down on electricity, so they read and play games together a lot more, which I really love, until they start fighting haha.

I am also trying to plan to send my oldest to Europe for University next year. That is starting to sound like an impossibility, but I really want this for him and he has always been such a good kid...he really deserves it. So I am going to do my best to send him, even if I have to sell a kidney!

I had started a partnership with a lady for her subscription box, but things had gone south, and she decided to dissolve the box due to ridiculous customers. She doesn't like to deal with people, and these people were absolutely awful so I really don't blame her. I can't even believe what they were saying to her in the emails...believe me it was unthinkable..I would never say such things to anyone.

So, since then I have started redesigning my Etsy shop a little bit, and I have a large market show in September that I'll be working on stock for as well. If I can find enough time to sew/make instead of typing...it's a hard choice.

I guess that's the most exciting bits, I hope all of you are doing well. I hope someone still stops by here :)

Remember, even when things are tough, and you can't imagine them changing and getting better, they will...eventually, but only if you stick it out, keep going, keep breathing...I know I will. Tomorrow needs you, too!!

Change is a good thing right? I mean yea...every body loves change...

So if you read my blog back in the beginning, you'll know that this last year has not been the easiest year for us.

My Mr. went from working an awesome job making plenty of money, to a job making less than half of that...

But he was excited. He had been at the old job for 15 years, and had kind of done everything he could except take a supervisor position. However, that would ultimately have lost us money, because he wouldn't get the overtime options being on straight salary. 

This new job was with a brand new plant, the first LG plant in the US. We took a big pay cut, obviously, because the new job paid insurance premiums for the employees, and we figured that was a good deal, even with the hourly pay cut of $6, since we were paying about $800 a month for insurance at the previous job. With the paid insurance, he was promised reviews and raises and possibly bonuses along with other perks.

Well, in the beginning, things were tough because we were only getting the base 40 hrs a week, when we were told he would be getting 50 hours minimum. This made a huge cut immediately from $1000+ a week, to about $600 every other week. How do you budget that kind of change?

So we muddled through, my etsy shop really came into play as a necessity, more than just my side hobby, as every bag ordered would pay the water bill, or buy groceries or gas instead of being a fun bit of pocket money for a nice dinner for me and the Mr.

Then around Thanksgiving/Xmas we had a bit of sadness losing my sister in law. We volunteered to take in her 4 littles until custody got worked out proper. I loved having them here but that was pretty hard on everyone, as of course, no other family members would offer to help us. Not even with gifts for the kids xmas. Our xmas, my kids and the cousins, was saved by The Bloggess. If you haven't read her blog you should totally check it out...she's phenomenal...like an absolute rock star at life.

So, January rolls around, and while the Mr is finally getting about 60 hours a week, making finances slightly less terrible, there is still no plan at work for future pay structures. My Mr. is a Line Lead, and is only making $16 an hour, while other leads in other departments with way less experience are making $20 an hour. But they say it is being worked on..."HR is discussing it"...well, Mr. said he would give them till summer to work it out..he would stay at least 1 year..then if nothing was changing he was looking elsewhere...nothing changed.

He put out his resume, and he got an interview, he killed it in the interview, the position was offered to him on the spot.  He was told to come back in 2 days for orientation. While he was there in orientation, they pulled him out to interview him for a supervisor position. He apparently killed that interview as well, because he had his 2nd interview for supervisor yesterday. They are already seeing the potential in him and his abilities and he hasn't even started working for them! I love that.

My Mr. has more than 15 years manufacturing experience, and is a very intelligent person. He is amazing a problem solving and just plain getting shit done. He's really the complete opposite of me. hahaha  He is a huge asset to this kind of company and LG wasn't willing to offer him what he's worth.

 Although, what I think is really funny, is that since he went to the interview at the new place, his supervisor at LG has been saying "Hey, when can I talk to you about staying?" , or "What is it gonna take for you to stay?". My Mr. has been telling his supervisor, along with anyone else in HR, for the last 6 months at least, that he is only giving them till summer to figure out a plan, that he is not going to stay if they don't work out the pay scale and work up a plan for pay over the next 3 years at least.

The new place mapped out the next 5 years of pay raises plus they offer quarterly bonuses.

So, apparently, enough people are leaving that there are rumors of HR personnel from Korea coming over here to try to work things out so that people will stay and work there. I hope they do make a better plan for the ones who are staying, however, it's just too late for us.

My Mr. will be starting his new job on the 13th. Unfortunately, for about 5 weeks we will be taking another paycut, and he will only be getting 40 hours a week during training, and we are paying for insurance again, soooo that will really be tight for a minute...but we know how long it will be tight, we have a timeline of things getting better. By this time next year, he will be making what he was at his last job. Plus, he will be getting more days off to be with us, because of the shift structure.

I think I will like him being home more...maybe...I know I hate that he has to work 12 hours 6 days a week right now just to get enough paycheck to cover bills/food/gas. I hate that he hates his job and has to be there so much.

SO that's our big change this year. Hopefully with the new position, we will be buying a bigger house by next spring. I am thrilled to be able to think about that again. It really wasn't even a possibility with LG, and that made me sad.

I hope you will follow along, and see how things go. I will be working on lots of projects and hopefully going to lots of vendor events this season..wish me luck :)

Thank you to everyone that stops in to read, I hope you are all doing well, I sincerely appreciate all of you. Remember to give love and hugs to all those around you, remember to check in on those friends and family that  may need a little extra love...I 'll be here sending you love and hugs from my crazy corner of the world...I love all of you <3

Until next time, keep going, keep loving, keep breathing, one breath and one step at time <3

Happy New Year!

So here we are 2019...ok so I have to admit I am feeling really let down by all the 80's movies that showed me where we'd be in 2010 and 2020...I'm no so sad about the shiny suits..but I am super disappointed that instead we are actually falling in line with the movie Idiocracy  which I highly recommend if you haven't watched it..it's eerily familiar and believable so be warned.

Either way, here we are, I have so many plans for this year. NOT resolutions, I don't believe resolutions are a good idea, I think it puts too much pressure on you, which is why so many people don't last more than a few months, weeks or even days. I am just laying out some fairly reasonable goals for the year.

I think they are reasonable anyhow...maybe for a normal person..that's where I mess up generally. I forget or ignore that I am definitely NOT a normal person. I need to exert so much more energy just to get through daily life than most people it's scary. I think it scares me the most because I see it in my kids too. My 13 year old daughter especially. I feel like she has gotten the worst of both of our gene pools..she has my propensity for depression and her dads side has given her other quirks..and not the good ones like in My Hero Academia.

This year has to be a changing year for us. We really need to turn things around this year. I think a lot of that depends on my husbands job getting things in order there, but hopefully I can pull some magic out of the air even if they don't come around and get their shit together.

Here's my list:

• Pay off bills (I'm sure this is on everyone's list right? We don't have very many so I'm hoping to ditch all of them except the car.)
• Grow my shop so that it is helping to pay bills, even small ones
• Buy list of items for my shop and for Hubby's hobby (It's a long expensive list, it carries over year to year, so we'll see how much progress we make)
• Get my oldest to finish HS and get his diploma.(Tourette's makes this a bit of a push, but I really think if we work hard he can do it.)
• Buy a house by Xmas '19 (this is a really really loose goal..it may very well not happen)
• Make and KEEP all appointments for the kids specialists.( This is just hard because going anywhere can be a hassle, and being on time is virtually impossible!)
• Get my car fixed. (Not really in my control, but still a goal I'd love to mark off. I love my Volvo and it's just sitting there needing the engine swapped, new engine sits in my garage staring at me while I work on my sewing/embroidery every day)
• Buy Hubby a car. (He's very picky, wants 1 of maybe 5 cars...soooo picky)

All of these really depend on LG getting their shit together and working up a fair pay scale for the workers. They just built this plant last Spring, and they only started working in the plant in August/September, but there are regular operators making more than my hubby who is a supervisor. Yea, it sucks. We went from his last job bringing home about $1000 a week to this job where he brings home about $600 every 2 weeks...I don't know how we've survived but we are still here...we are behind on rent, and a few bills have fallen 30 days behind at some point, which is really hard for me to accept since we were really hoping to be able to buy a house this year. We really need a bigger house. The kids are always squished up, never have any time apart from their siblings, and I think that's hard for them..I was an only child, so I don't necessarily understand it..

We've worked really hard to keep the bills paid on time and I had not had a late payment in 3 years until this mess..I really understand how people can get behind and it's hard to come back..I only hope I haven't ruined our chances of buying a house this year. I guess we will see how it goes if they ever fix his pay and we make enough to have a mortgage. 

Today I'm working on some new project bags for my shop. I hope to keep my shop running and hopefully have it start making enough to help pay a few small bills, just to keep things on time and not late.

So there it is..most of my major goals for the year. Do you do resolutions? Do you do goal setting? Or do you just keep going like it's just another day? It really is right? Just keep breathing, just keep going..I will :)