June Chit Chat

[auroara78]

I couldn't agree more with Mocha! Sounds like heaven!!

I just found out via email that the raise I was supposed to get (2-3K extra year) is being postponed until next year! I was hired 11 days short of getting a raise for this year...I am seriously kind of sick about it, because money has been tight, and I was counting on that extra little bit every paycheck to help get our finances back on track. UGH.

Hubby is refusing even a part time job because he knows a part time job would just be retail or something that pays 8 bucks an hour or around that, I just think he's being a snob. He could work 2 nights a week after I get home from work, and still have plenty of free time. He's just being a bit lazy and snobbish. Even 2 nights a week at 8 dollars an hour would help pay an extra bill off, or even be extra grocery money. It's not like I'm asking him to work full-time. To be fair to him, I havent really pressed the issue with him, just mentioned it in passing (very briefly) but he got very upset with the idea of working for almost "nothing" as he says.

I'm just extra worried because I have a 10 percent coinnsuracne thing and even though they pay most of labor and delivery, we are STILL paying off DS2's hospital bill. It is still over 1000 dollars and we pay on it some every month. Then, I worry about the incoming bill from DH's ER stint for his pancreatitis....and well, money sucks, let's just put it that way....

Despite money woes, everything is going great. DS1 and 2 are just lovely and cuddly and oh so cute, hubby is doing better health wise (he's still terrified to have a drink, and he's eating more healthier), so I guess there is definitely an upside...if only we could get our money sorted better....

[Hobbermittens]

Hubby is refusing even a part time job because he knows a part time job would just be retail or something that pays 8 bucks an hour or around that, I just think he's being a snob. He could work 2 nights a week after I get home from work, and still have plenty of free time. He's just being a bit lazy and snobbish. Even 2 nights a week at 8 dollars an hour would help pay an extra bill off, or even be extra grocery money. It's not like I'm asking him to work full-time. To be fair to him, I havent really pressed the issue with him, just mentioned it in passing (very briefly) but he got very upset with the idea of working for almost "nothing" as he says.

Your DH could take a job like that. I did. I work only a few days a week in the evenings, and it helps. I get $8/hr. It isn't a ton of money, but it does help.

I am sorry about your raise! What a bummer. WHen they say "next year" do they mean next summer, or just after the New Year?

[Hobbermittens]

Thanks Hobber. I will see how strong I can be! And I meant to ask you for your salsa recipe if you don't mind sharing? I love tried and tested recipes.

Absolutely! Here is how I make it (I wing it a little, so feel free to change it here or there):

2-3 cans diced tomatoes
1 can Rotel tomatoes and chiles (original flavor)
1 sm can roasted mild green chiles
1 fresh jalapeno, chopped and seeded (use more than one if you like it really spicy, or less for a more mild salsa)
1/2 can chopped jalapenos (again, use less or omit this ingredient if you like it milder)
1 green pepper, chopped
1 sweet onion, chopped
at least 5 cloves garlic, chopped (more if you like!)
The juice of one lime
a few splashes of vinegar (red wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar work best)
salt to taste
fresh chopped cilantro, to taste ( I usually use a handful or so)
4 green onions, chopped

I mix everything in a big bowl, and then take about 1/2 of the mixture and put it in the blender. Then I "pulse" it, so it gets smoother, and mix it all back in with the chunky mixture.

Like I said, I do wing it, so it isn't always the same every time. I sometimes add chopped cucumber (which is delicious!), but that seems to make it go bad quicker, so if you want to add the cucumber, maybe add it to only part of the batch.

I do sometimes use fresh tomatoes (maybe half the amount fresh, half canned). The fresh tomatoes tend to make a lot of extra juice, so you might have to pour some off. We live in a place where good, fresh tomatoes aren't always available, so that's why I usually use the canned kind.

[Mochagirl]

Auroara - I'm sorry about your raise - that really sucks. If DH doesn't want to work in retail, there are lots of online jobs he could do. I do online freelance writing (or used to), which pays $15 per article, and I also do search engine evaluation work that pays well for what it is.

Also, your comments about having to pay for the medical stuff really makes me happy I live in Canada. My Dad's been in the hospital for 8 months now - can you imagine if we lived somewhere where we had to pay for care?? My DH had brain surgery a few months after we got married and had a 2 week stay in the hospital - I can't even imagine how in debt we'd be after that, not to mention the week stay in the hospital after my twins were born, including some NICU care. We don't have to pay for anything like that here - it's all rolled into our income tax. Worth it if you ask me.

[auroara78]

Mocha, I think that would be a dream come true. It makes my DH huffy that we pay so much for our health insurance (and we really do!) and yet everytime you NEED it you end up stuck with a massive "co-pay" bill. I kind of miss the HMO I had when Quinten was born ..it was just 400 dollars for everything and I thought that was alot, but after getting 10% seperate bills from the hospital, the other various doctors helping with the c-section, the ob-gyn office themsleves....400 seemed like a deal to have a baby with!

My old co worker's husband a federal employee and it cost ZERO to have her baby! Why must us non-federal people have to pay so much?? ACK.

Sorry, my mood has not improved since this morning. That email really shot me down in a slump, and then we talked about it in the education meeting where my boss point blankely addressed it and pointed to me and another employee and said our raises were definitely getting deferred until January. So it's only 6 months, but it's 6 months that I was hoping to have some extra money.

Hobbers, I'm going to have to reapproach hubby now that I know the raise isn't going to happen for another 6 months. He thinks we can "make" it if we're careful, but we're not always careful, and he never took over the check book like he said he was going to once he became a stay at home dad, and it's time for us all to face the music now, instead of letting it get totally out of control. I'm going to have to make a new spreadsheet for him and show him, I guess. Numbers talk more than words, I suppose.

[Mochagirl]

I really feel like I need a good cry right about now. My dad's taken a turn for the worse - he had a heart attack last night on top of his millions of other health problems and is now in ICU. My mom is on a much deserved vacation in Spain (she's been his primary caregiver this whole time), which means my brothers and I are trying to manage this crisis remotely - none of us live in our parents' city.

I was doing some yard work to try to take my mind off things and had to set my brand new sunglasses on the ground for a minute to do something, and when I turned to get them ds3 had ripped them into 3 pieces. They weren't really expensive - $35 - but we're having a tight month money-wise and now I have to get new sunglasses. I really didn't need this today..,.

[zanacal]

I'm so sorry Mocha, big {hugs} and thoughts for your family x

[Hobbermittens]

Mocha, I am so sorry. I hope you are able to get stuff worked out with your dad, and he recovers quickly.

[laughinglynxie]

Sorry for all of the bummer news going around folks. Big hugs for everyone.

I posted in the name section if anyone wants to take a peek and help me out!

[Mochagirl]

Thanks everyone. My Dad's been in the hospital since November and we already knew he wouldn't be coming home - at this point they're just trying to keep him comfortable. The best we can hope for is that he recovers well enough to move into a nursing home.