The Great Flood of 2011 in PA

Officials have issued a MANDATORY evacuation for Wilkes-Barre (45 min North of us) and areas surrounding the Susquehanna River.  There are so many road closures in the area.  Hazleton schools are closed and that is 10 miles North of us.  St. Clair schools are closed (where I substitute teach) and that is 10 miles South of us.  They closed a section of I-81 exit 124 Frackville.......and we are exit 138 for Tamaqua!  Tonight is when the river will be cresting.  It's just such a sad time right now.  John's school was canceled in Tamaqua - no flooding here (maybe the local creek, but nothing major).  His teachers can't get here!  This should make my point about how teachers SHOULD BE LOCAL!  Joe seems to have made it safely to work across Blue Mountain.  I haven't heard of any closures on that side of the mountain! 

Stressful Day

It's rough being a Mommy!!  Some mornings are easier than others.  However, John and Jacob decided NOT to go to bed on time last night.......giggled ALL NIGHT LONG!  Luckily, I had Damien to watch the kids while I went to the local business college to find out about a career change from teaching to medical coding/billing.  I really enjoyed medical billing when I worked at Labcorp!  I begged them to send me to ICD9 coding class, but it never happened for me.  I'm now trying to find a way to go to college so that I can find full-time employment!  There are NO teaching jobs out there to obtain right now!  It costs $21,000 before any of my college courses transfer over.  I'm sure it will still be in the double-digit thousands even after that! 

Taking it Easy today!

I finally got my husband to watch the kids yesterday!  I didn't waste a single second!  I was like the wind and blew out the door and straight to the gym for my "me" time!  Today.....well today I'm paying for overdoing it at the gym yesterday!  haha 

I am in the process of decluttering our home and preparing for a community-wide yard sale this weekend!  Bye bye stuffed animals!  We also upgraded the boys from toddler beds to twin beds!  John has already fallen out of it!  haha  I sure hope that Daddy can keep the kids distracted this weekend so that they don't see their toys being hauled off by other kids!  That didn't go over so well last year for them.  However, I need to earn some extra dollars to put into an emergency fund for us. 

I am presently reading Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover.  Baby Step #1 is to build $1000 emergency fund ($500 if your annual income is less than $20,000).  Baby Step #2 is to tackle that annoying debt (minus the mortgage right now).  So...I'm on baby step #1!! 

My first blog! WOOHOO!

Hello everyone!  This is my very first blog and I'm absolutely excited!  I really want to figure out how to post special deals, coupons, fantastic values, and sweepstakes to enter!  I'm just a SAHM most days....unless I am fortunate enough to get a phone call for a substitute teaching job!  I love to be around all of the children!  They are frustrating sometimes, but a joy at other times.  All of you Moms and Dads understand!  I'm usually stuck in the house and find myself surfing the internet daily for good deals.  Other times, I'm working with my youngest sons on preschool skills.  I'm excited about all of the back to school deals that have been available!  I have found Elmer's Glue sticks (2 pk) for $0.40/each at Wal-Mart!  I snatched a few of those up!  I prefer Fiskars scissors for the kids and found those on sale at Staples.  That is my other "Go-To" place around here.  We're out in the mountains in PA and I have to drive at least 40 minutes by highway or interstate to find the largest stores.  I depend a lot on Wal-Mart and price matching other ads.  That saves me gas money to the larger cities!  That also saves my nerves from becoming frazzled by taking both children (3 & 4 yrs old) to the store with me!  However, if I see Target having a special deal like a gift card with purchase of so many items, I will make the sacrifice!  

Lately, I have been taking my children to see "Disney's Winnie the Pooh" at the local movie theater.  I have located a few M&M bags that say "Win Movie Tickets!" on them.  Inside, there is a special code.  You enter it online and you will receive $3 off of a movie ticket and approximately 2 months to use it!  I have used those during the matinee hours with my children at Regal cinema and used my Regal Rewards card each time.  Sometimes, a special coupon will print out for free soda, $2 candy (I usually get mine at Dollar Tree - same boxes), and Yahoo! Movies is giving out free popcorn if you send the e-mail to your smartphone.  Hint:  the e-mails are only valid for 7 days.  I found that out the hard way!  

We shall see how well this new blog goes!  =)