I can have Ale's party at the Children's Museum...they are not really offering the service right now, so they'd rent me the space, but I have to bring the food (which works great for me,as my cousin and I can make things for much less than whatever they'd charge!... our cost is $0.17/piece for sandwiches and $0.25/piece for hot-dogs, for example!)...the children can play in the Museum, so there's no need to hire an entertainer ...I think we can make something quite grand at a reasonable budget!!

my nephew, the one that is in rehab, had to have an operation on his nose...apparently, he got his nose broken at some point and didn't even realize it...when he went to live in Delaware the cold weather gave him a sinus infection...it got so bad he was having trouble breathing...they had to operate today because his Dad offered to cover it with his wife's insurance but, as of the 10th of June, they are switching companies and they wanted to make sure it was covered...so, anyway, to make a long story short and to get to what's important: the operation went very well and he's in his room now...only problem is, he's feeling so well, he's already complaining about the bandages and about the medication, etc...((sigh)) he'll stay 2 -3 weeks at our house for recovery (the re-hab center won't take him until he's fully recovered and can follow the psychological treatment just like everyone else!)...these 3 weeks will be "added" to his total treatment time (it will be as if this were a parenthesis),the total treatment is 22 months...so, instead of being out on Dec 07,he'll be out on Jan 08...he's protesting about that, too!...

went to Siman (dept store) today...no cardigans (in ANY color), no sweatpants... shoes WAY too expensive (white tennis shoes ON SALE $45.99!!)

And not regular boring (bills!) mail, either...REAL letters!! woo-hoo!!

**2005** 2006
level of satisfaction with my life, on a scale 5-10, with 5 being "sucks" and 10 being "perfect", looks like this:

Family : **6 (DD "boosts" the score! so you can imagine!) With my sister sick, I'm chauffer, messenger, administrator, cook, maid and even provide moral support (who's giving ME moral support??)** We're doing much better, I'd give it an 8 now
Spiritual: 6 - **have not had a prayer meeting/attended my praying workshop in ages!!** The praying workshop ended and, the prayer meetings sort of got cancelled - the others didn't come anymore!...so, I'm going to church to pray every Thursday, to thank God for all his mercies and ask for some more blessings! I'd give that a 9!
Work: **-3....right now, I like my job, I just hate everyone around me!!** LOL! I definetely don't hate the people around me anymore...hmmm, I'm still overloaded, though, but, still retaining my sanity...mainly due to the fact that I HAVEN'T got a raise - nor will I get one! - I'd give this a 7...financial considerations aside, it would be more like an 8+
Physical: **6 - I'm not exercising, I'm not eating too well, I'm always tired...I try to get 3 meals a day, though, and remind myself to breathe often!** er...no progress here!...except, I'm less stressed!
Financial: ** do I REALLY need to score it?? or can you guess? -4 Creditors keep calling and things seem to be looking down, rather than up, lately!** I'd give it a 5...I'm less than happy, but, it's a HUGE improvement from last year...no creditor calls, no late payment fees, several cc's paid off...there's still a lot to be done, though!

As you see, all areas show significant improvement! Yay!

At the new school they have a small store where they sell food and snacks...
Ale will be staying there for lunch, which means I'll have to pack a snack and a lunch for her...I have been thinking about givin her a small allowance ($2.50/week)...she can decide whether she spends it all on one day or whether she uses a bit every day...($2 seems adequate since that would be $0.50/day...)...she has never really managed money on her own...apart from when I let her buy her own stuff at the marketplace or at the flea-market...but I'm always around to see that at least they give her her change right and stuff like that!...
Yesterday, I gave her $0.50 for school...and, she told me "Mom, I was lucky that I found something that I wanted to buy and it only cost $0.25, because I lost the other coin you gave me..." ...(EEk!) I told her it was a shame that she had lost the other coin, because she could have 1. used it to buy something else some other day or 2. bought some more of whatever it is she liked at school...I told her she should be more careful with money...but, unless I GIVE her some, how can she really learn to take care of it??...
So, this is the plan: Starting August, Ale gets $2.50/week...if she's responsible with it (doesn't lose the money, manages to save some), then in 3 months she can get $3.00) if not, she'll have to wait longer to get "a raise"...

Took Ale today for her evaluation...they LOVED her!...she integrated with her class very easily and even participated in the rehearsals for the end-of-shool-year pageant! LOL! ..."unfortunately", because of the rehearsal, they couldn't fully evaluate her in math and motor skills (she's inverting her numbers and is having difficulty distinguishing left and right...we are working on that!)...so, she didn't get evaluated on her "weak" issues! ...
Anyway, I paid for the following today:
$230.00 - complement of enrollment fee
$160.00 - English books
$25.00 - Spanish books
$45.86- set of uniforms (3 daily, 3 PE)
=======
$460.86 total

(to be discounted from the $500 my boss gave me for Ale's school!) =)

which means the total cost to me is $100 (that I had previously paid) ...The remaining $39.14 will go towards shoes! (she needs black shoes for daily and white tennis shoes for PE...will get those end-of June or beginning of August, as Ale's feet DO grow much faster than the rest of her! LOL!)

my sis finally managed to call the neurologist at the right time to get the results read via phone (yep, we do that here!...and it's free! - imagine it gets factored in in the original visit's fee!)...there are traces of cysticercos...which means that other doctor that said she'd never had them, but that she had a tumor, was wrong...now we have to wait until August for the new MRI...the really fancy one, with the enzyme reader, which the doctor claims can almost show your hidden thoughts! (LOL!)

...so, while we are not completely at ease, it does help a lot!

The children's museum...
This is where Ale's class went today...she was soooo excited!

I just LOOOOOVE this new pic of me and my DD!



...and she's not only beautiful, she's very smart, as well!...yesterday she was reading a sign on a friend's door (apt complex) that said: Visitors, please identify yourselfs to the guard...she read it first out loud, and then was quiet for a while and then she said: Mom! I just read that sign silently and it's much faster than reading out loud!

Ale made me a big flowr pot for mother's day...now I have to find a plant for it...Ale wants flowers...I agree...it is a very nice pot, they painted it white and then painted butterflies all around...complete with glitter wings!

...the doctor says the probability of the swelling being a tumor, based on the MRI's, is of about 1%...he has sent my sis to have some blood tests and schedule another MRI for end of July/start of August...says the only medicine he'd prescribe right now would be a couple of beers to help her calm down after that big scare!

My cousin went with her and, she just called....right now the Doctor is checking my sister, but, my cousin was present at the pre-check interview they had and, he said the swelling might be caused by live cysticercos...he also mentioned that the Doc my sis saw yesterday is famous for scaring his patients....He did mention the possibility of a spinal tap, but will wait until he has checked my sis/the MRI's before making a decision on whether to order one or not...
Turns out THIS Doctor is the father of a boy that used to be one of my nephew's best friends (before nephew started doing drugs)...believe me, in a small country like this one, IT DOES MATTER!...

Will update as soon as they get out of the Dr's office!

sis went to the neurologist today, for what we thought would be her last visit with the neurologist for the neurocysticercosis...the one that she usually goes to is out of the country for a month, so they referred her to another one...he said there seems to be swelling on her brain, and he thinks it might be a tumor...he also said he doesn't think she had cysticercosis ...he wants to do a spinal tap...and give her some medicine and, depending on the progress, he said he might have to do a biopsy! This is her BRAIN we're talking about!!...

I made an appointment for her to see a private neurologist today...I mean, she HAS been in control with the other one (who, incidentally, is the chief neurologist at the SSI), and he never said anything even remotely similar...

Plus, sis says this one only looked at the first and last MRI's....he didn't look at the other ones...

Her appointment is at 10:30am...it is 9:05 right now, so we have to wait to see what THIS doctor will say...

...but, whatever treatment she needs, we really cannot afford to do privately, it has to be done at the SSI...and that IS a scary thought (their doctors have a tendency to go on strike every 6 months...there are the horror stories on the newspaper about the guy that had the wrong kidney removed because they put the Xray wrong on the viewer, so they thought they had to take out the left one, when it was the right one that was sick!... or the woman who had to have a hysterectomy because she delivered her baby by c-section and they left a sponge in, which caused a major infection...)

((sigh)) Please send prayers, healing vibes and positive energy our way!...it has been a long year....(they discovered the neurocysticercosis last May!)

Again, since I have to be more careful, I want to know what I'm REALLY spending on Ale's school (notice how I am staying away from the grocery bill, where I might have REAL opportunity for cost cutting??...don't worry, I've noticed, too!)

2006-2007 school period

enrollment fee: $330
(paid $100 on21/apr/06)
books: $160
(based on last year's brochure, not listed for this year)
uniforms: $??
monthly tuition: $137 ($1,507/year)

total, without uniforms, SHOULD be $1,997.00

I found some chinese spring rolls that are almost like the ones my mom used to make (my sis' favorite dish!)...so I bought them for her as a Mother's day present...they were $4.50, but she loved them, so it was worth it!

Honoring my agreement with Ale, I cut my hair yesterday...

We took a picture together, both of us with short hair (mine is shoulder length, in layers)...will post as soon as we have them developed!

was taken on the 21st...but, THEY CAN'T FIND IT!!!...she has her appointment to see the doctor tomorrow so he can see it, and the SSI has LOST her MRI!!!!...She'll make one last phone call tomorrow to see if they have found it... if not, she has to cancel and re-schedule the appointment...which will probably be set for mid-June...if she's lucky!!

Things are definetely looking better...My sister is in full recovery from the neurocysticercosis (sp?) and we are only pending the results from her last MRI (THAT deserves a separate entry!)...and, eventhough money is still my major source of worry, my situation is veeeery different than what it was last year...I got the cc issue under control, am not getting any creditor calls, and, despite the additional expenses from the new car loan, I think I can handle things so that I don't default on anything...I'm still overworked...still love my job...but, right now I don't feel like I hate my co-workers...none of them!...not even the annoying ones! LOL!...
((contented sigh)) I definetely don't hate my life (the way I did last year!)
Oh, and the "frugality" thing, while still a challenge, is not as hard anymore!

Thanks to all for your continued support!!

They called at the gate and were told there IS a prize: a farm full of ducks and potatos (patos y patatas), but only for visitor # 1,000,000!!!

(be patient, she only reads one page per night!)

This month, I will receive the last $250 from the sale of the farm...so, as of June 1st, 2006, I will have to make do without...I have managed to bring the cc's down to where I THINK I'll be able to handle at least minimum payments every month...I'm going to have to be a lot more careful... what might throw me off-balance is the combination of new loan for the car (paying about $30 more now than for the previous one, which I finished paying last month, and the new gas prices/new car fuel consumption (previous prices/car meant $36 a month...that's soooo NOT going to be the new quota!...gas prices were just below $3 then...they are about $3.49 now...and this car has a bigger engine!- las one was an 800cc)...AND Ale's school expenses (luckily, to start in August, so I will have some time to adjust to the two first ones!)...a variation of $60/mont...

so...let's say the new car spends about 30% more gas, and factor in the new prices...I could be spending about $60 - $70 in gas + $30 additional for the loan + $60 additional for Ale's school....this is $150-$160 MORE a month...ouch! ...not counting car insurance....hmmmmm...

Oops!...can you spot the mistake?? $70-$36 = $34...so $34 + $30 + $60, total ADDITIONAL per month ~$124, not $150!...

I have to work this number into my current estimated budget....(well, the $60 additional for Ale's school were already factored into my "adjusted" budget for August '06...)

Back to the excel file!!

...she scans through and reads one word here and one word there...today she read an ad for beds (ooohh, they're made of sheep! -- actually, the TV ad for this bed says the sheep are out of work because with this bed you don't need to count them off to fall asleep!)...so, she read that whole ad...including prices...now she has learned that if it has a dot "." in the middle, you read first the number that is before and then the number that is after the dot (so $3.99 is three/ ninety-nine)...she's also counting down in English...twenty-six, twenty-five, twenty-four...
She had a period when she really was having problems with number recognition at school (she could recognize 1-4, her classmates could recognize 1-30!!...not all children HAVE to be the same, but you'd expect them to be in more or less the same range if they are in the same class!- no matter their age)...there was also a slight problem with the dictation (still there, it still hasn't "clicked" 100% yet, but it's getting better)...but, she loves reading, and, she's really improving fast at that! - she's reading to me, a book called The Most Famous Egg in the City...so far, an Ant called Doña Barriga woke up one day and felt like laying an egg, but then she saw an ad that said if you went to the city you could win some nice prizes, so she decided to go to the city, but walked for an hour and got tired, met a snail, and the snail allowed her to ride in his shell, and after an hour he got tired, and they met a turtle, who allowed the snail to ride in her shell, but, after an hour she got tired, and they found a sheperd girl, who allowed the turtle to ride in her basket, and after an hour the sheperd girl got tired, and she found a farmer, who allowed her to travel in the back of his tractor, and after an hour they arrived in the city....
We are now at the gates of the city and, believe me, I cannot wait to hear what is going to happen! (I promised myself I will not "peek" or read ahead!)

Just bragging! This is my beautiful, beautiful daugther...before I had to cut her hair!!...Thanks to a friend, I was also able to buy the group picture, which she wanted so much...(but, I forgot that one at home today!)

I dreamt that I had given my niece access to my bank account, and she had spent $1,500 that were for the car...she was very cool about it, like: don't worry, I have the money and I'll pay it back before the end of the month...I was so worried...
I think this one relates to her spending the balance in my cellphone...but, still....weird (and, no, I would never give ANYONE access to my account!)

I had to recharge $5 in my cellphone...I had already charged $5, but, my niece made a call to a landline that lasted 11 minutes! (we need to talk about that when she gets back!--she's out of town!)

1. keep better track of my spending- same situation!..I need DISCIPLINE!!

2. Send out at least 15 resumes in January(best time of the year to find a new job in ES!) and, at least one more per week for the rest of the year until I find a job that pays better! done!...believe it or not I have a job offer...NOT from the resumes...from this site!
3. FINALLY decide on a school for Alejandra, AND save money for her enrollment fee, uniforms and school supplies Already paid $100 to reserve Ale's space. Someone from the office has offered to help with $500 towards Ale's education...this takes care of enrollment, books and uniforms!
4. continue to lower my overall debt - I started Jan 05 with ~$17K (out of which ~$4K were for a loan and the rest -~$13K!-pure cc debt) and, am starting Jan 06 with $~11K (with ~$8K for a loan and ~$3K in cc debt)... expect to be able to end Dec '06 with ~$7K, which I expect to be purely for the loan... to come partly from the English classes/$20 challenge. Higher than last month, as now I have the loan for the car!!...BUT! I asked for some "extra" money so part of that is going to go towards the cc's (much lower interest rate!)...real situation is: $7.8K (refinanced) loan, $3.1K car loan, $2.5K cc's

5. Help Ale find a way to earn those $3 she's missing to open her account with HER OWN money...Pending...

Today was one of those days when I wished I had worn rollerskates to the office!...I've been up and down, here and there and everywhere...I had to prepare a bunch of payments, was given about 4 new travel expenses to prepare, 8 documents to scan, 1 document to review/fax, 1 message to send, 1 pakcage to mail...had to retrieve 2 letters from accounting (May 2nd is the last day to file your income tax here, these letters are for the owners of some of the houses we rent...sure, now they want ME to hurry getting them! they've been ready since mid February!!!!)... had to deliver some documents for signature....had to take the (company) car to the insurance company so the adjuster could give us the authorization letter for the repair shop...had to make about 4 work-related phone calls...Had to send 1 message to Travel Control because one of the analysts had a travel expense rejected and didn't know why...had to file the house expenses (expat housing) for the past month...and update my excel file with the info...had to rush to HR to be measured for the new uniforms...which will probably arrive in October!!!

Things left undone: data entry/presentation from feedback forms from the latest training...translations...pick up of signed forms...

Then I had to come home and take my niece out to buy her b-day cake...only to realize I had left my wallet at the office!!! ...rush back to the office to retrieve it (luckily, I had sister's car, as she was finishing getting the house ready for my niece's birthday party - only 8 kids invited..they later went to another friend's house, as it was his b-day, too!)

Right now it's 2 am....the neighbors are having a bacholerette (sp?) party...they must have a stripper, because they keep yelling: mucha ropa, mucha ropa!! (too much clothing!)...and "go for it Yani!!!"..."Way to go, Lorena"...they're listening to reaggetton, of all things!!! ((faint))...so I figured I might as well update my blog... ((sigh))...at least, now it only sounds like 5 or 6 women...at the beginning of the night it sounded more like 15-20...

Soooooo....the guy with the car says he'll take it to the gas emissions thing tomorrow and bring the car along so I can take it for a drive....and on Tuesday he'll take it to the Vice-Ministry of transportation for the new license plates (takes a couple of days)...so close now...

Monday is May 1st...the FMLN has already announced they'll have "peaceful" demonstrations...which means they'll close the streets, write on walls with spray paint and burn tires on the streets...it's like a re-run of what they did on the 80's...I guess some people never evolve!!...

a couple of years ago she had to sell her car, which she hadn't finished paying for. The guy that bought the car basically gave her a lump sum and then took over the payments...but, she never made sure he had changed the documents to his name...and then there were a couple of late payments and we found out because the bank called our house (after all, the loan was in HER name!)...the guy paid up and promised to straighten things out...again, I told her she should press on the name change on the loan papers...a few months later again she got phone calls from the bank...again she contacted him, again he paid and,AGAIN, I counseled she follow up...well, yesterday she couldn't access her salary (direct deposit, but account was showing $0 balance!)...she went to the bank to complain and they told her they had frozen her acct because there was 1 payment left on the car, but that was overdue by more than 90 days....totalling $100....she paid them just so they would unfreeze the account (yes, the loan is STILL in her name!)...she's now trying to contact the guy again!!...One part of me feels sorry for her...but another part of me wants to hit her!!

and, our IT guy (at home) wants to reformat it...he says we'll lose all our info!!!...our IT guy at the office says: huh??....((sigh))

***
solved! thank God for conference calls! ...we should be getting our computer back tonight!

well, I went and paid $100 to reserve the space. They gave me a list of the documentation they need, and told me to bring Ale by one of these mornings, so she can be with her would-be classmates and so they can evaluate her...At this, my sister almost had a heart attack: "she has to do a test??"...LOL! she thought they were going to sit Ale down to do a "formal" written test!...I already told Ale she gets to visit one morning at the new school and she's very excited about it!

Also, one of the directors offered to help with Ale's school (every year he and his wife try to help 2 kids with their education... unfortunately, one of the kids they were helping has gotten involved with gangs and is no longer studying, so they thought they might help me with Ale this year...the amount they set aside for this is ~$500 per kid...in Ale's case, that covers her enrollment fee, books and uniforms! yay!)

God is good and He's sending us help from many different sources!