My mom put up with so much from me. I remember one day she was teaching me how to iron pants neatly so that they’d have a crease. I told her that I would never have to iron pants, because when I grew up I was going to have a maid. She laughed at that, and later on, when I was a teenager and interested in having wrinkle free clothes, she gladly showed me how to iron. Of course, here I am, 42 years old, and no maid has materialized yet. In fact, for a while I ran my own maid service. Talk about irony! Of course, if it had not been for my mom teaching me how to clean over my very vocal protests, I never could have made money that way, much less trained others!

I really appreciate my mom. Today, her homemaking skills have really paid off. She lives in a show palace of a home. I’m looking forward to seeing the flowers that I order her from 1-800-FLOWERS on her kitchen table or in the living room. Almost nothing pleases my mom as much as a beautiful bouquet of flowers. And she certainly deserves all the beauty she can get after putting up with my stubbornness for all of those years!

The other day, I received a prepaid Visa card in the mail as a rebate on a printer I had recently bought. When using the card, I realized that I felt safer than I do when using my bank card. My bank card is linked to my savings account as well, and anyone who got hold of it could potentially wipe me out. I can see why some people would prefer to have a prepaid Visa Debit card such as the Vision Premier Prepaid Visa® Card.

In my household, there’s more than one reason to get such a card. About eight years ago, my husband got overdrawn at his bank and there was a big snafu. He didn’t bother getting it worked out right away. By the time he decided to straighten out the mess, it had become even more snarled up. So as a consequence, he can’t get a bank account at any bank! This is a huge drag, because that means he can’t buy me any of the online goodies that I’d like to have.

As soon as I saw the Vision card, I immediately told him about it. He thinks it’s a great idea. You can even treat the card like your own personal bank, if you want. You can have your paychecks direct deposited onto the card, for example. And of course, you can use the card online, or to pay bills or any of the other things that you would normally use a credit card to do.

The way the economy is going, and with interest rates the way they are, I think having a debit card is a great personal finance solution.

The stupidest thing ever happened at my son’s school today. I got an email telling me that he had a cigar box (which I had sent) and a cardboard sword. I was told that these items were “totally inappropriate”. Please. This is the perfect illustration of why kids begin to hate school. Seriously. When I was a kid we all used cigar boxes for our supplies. I guess it is no longer politically correct enough. And I suppose my kid should be in front of the television set instead of making cardboard swords, huh? Ack!!

Sage asked me if we could start walking to school again, and I’ll tell ya, there’s nothing more motivating than your child asking you if you will walk with him to get you to put those car keys back in your purse! So we’re walking now, up the hill and down, and I’m feeling my legs get back in the groove. We’ve had weird weather here–going from the fifties to the almost-nineties in only a few days! I’m enjoying the warm weather though. I’ve already got color on my face from the sun, which looks nice now…

You keep hearing about cities who are having hard times due to massive layoffs and so on. Well, one of my favorite cities, Austin, isn’t struggling with those problems. Oh, I’m sure there have been some layoffs here and there, but the city itself just continues to grow and continue to become a scene unto itself. Hollywood has sat up and taken notice, and of course, hordes of people come to Austin for its SXSW festival. Even when SXSW isn’t going on, Austin has a music scene to be reckoned with. What all this means is that it’s a fantastic place to live!

If you’re looking for Austin Realtors to show you properties that you’ll like, try Kirk Lewis. He specializes in luxury and waterfront properties, which if you are moving to Austin, you’ll quickly realize that waterfront (or close to it) is the way to go. Those properties are simply beautiful!

I lived in Austin for ten years, and I can tell you that the hugest mistake that I made when I moved there was going with a realtor who didn’t know her market. Real estate is one of those areas when specializing in a niche can be very advantageous to the consumer. Personally, I will never again buy a property from someone who isn’t absolutely familiar with surrounding properties, crime rates, neighborhood codes, etc.

That’s why if you’re looking for the good life in Austin, you should give Kirk Lewis a call. You’ll avoid a lot of hassle with someone who has an excellent track record such as his. And you’ll find a property all the sooner, so you can go check out that music scene!

I’m blogging over at Room 107 if you’re interested in reading about my misadventures teaching in an alternative school!

I got my hair done last Saturday, and practically the entire time I was there, the topic of discussion was tattoos. The salon’s owner is getting a huge one on her back, and she has been approached by one of the TV shows that feature tattooing. So we talked about all of the different tattoos that we all have, and did show and tell between stints under the hair dryer.

Even my mom is talking about tattoos. She goes to the same salon, and she is fascinated with what the girls are getting done. I would have never thought!

Tattoos are definitely a part of my everyday life. Most of my students have them, and they enjoy telling the stories behind them. So when I heard that there is a Tattoo Chat, my eyes nearly fell out of my head. I mean, what an awesome idea! People love to talk about their tattoos. It is the ultimate ice breaker, so I can see lots of people meeting lots of new friends on this site.

This is one of those things that I wish I had thought of!

There is no question about it. I’m going to have to remodel my bathroom. I actually like it how it is, even though it is so small that you can reach the sink from the bathtub. It’s cozy, and has finished cedar walls that are just gorgeous. It also has a built in vanity, also cedar, and a clawfoot bathtub. The bathtub, for all I know, may have been here since the house was built in 1920. So why remodel if I like it so much as it is?

Well, the floor is rotten! Let me tell you, it is not going to be any fun at all getting that clawfoot tub out of there in order to replace the floor! Of course, while I’m replacing the floor, I’ll take a cue from Denver Remodeling and replace the fixtures while I’m at it. The toilet definitely needs to be updated. I am debating on whether or not to replace the sink cabinet, since it goes so nicely with the room. Replacing it would free of some space, however, and I would get one of those cool bowls or other modern sinks that look so nice. Of course if I keep the existing sink, I could update the hardware, which would help somewhat.

Anyway. I’m really not looking forward to moving that darn tub.

Summer is coming up, and I’m looking around for where I want to go. My students are always talking about Amsterdam being a great place to visit, and so I’ve considered going, just to say I’ve been. I’ve seen some amsterdam apartment rentals offered at Short Stay Amsterdam (part of the Short Stay Group), and let me tell you, they are super modern and chic! I just love them!

See, I never stay at hotels. Well, at least very rarely. If I am going to travel somewhere, I really want to get to know the place I am traveling to. I want to feel at home. For that reason, I either stay in a hostel where I can hang out with a bunch of folks, or an apartment where I can relax the same as I would at home, and even invite people over for dinner and so forth.

The other advantage to renting an apartment instead of staying at a hotel is that it ends up being much more luxurious while being cheaper at the same time. You can really save major bucks if you are traveling with more than one person. The apartment will be plenty big enough for you, since you can choose from a variety of sizes. Of course, you’ll also save money on eating out, and possibly entertainment, since you can just pop in a DVD with friends and chill. Personally, I just get worn out trying to entertain myself constantly, so an apartment totally works for me, whether I’m staying for a week or two months.

And looking at this summer’s schedule, it could very well be six months. Hopefully I can get the repairs I need done on my house and still have some money left over to travel with!

Ever since Spring Break, I’ve been having a heck of a time getting to sleep at night. I’ll go to bed and literally lie there for hours. Reading hasn’t helped, nor have the helpful head and back rubs that my husband has been giving me. About the only thing that helps is Ativan, but that’s addictive, so I only take it when I’m absolutely desperate and know that I won’t be getting any sleep at all otherwise.

I would like to have an adjustable massage bed. That would be cool, since Greg’s hands eventually get tired of giving me head and back rubs. And really, that is one of the most effective things for getting me to go to sleep, usually.

I need to try some alternative sleep therapies. Maybe take a hot bath with Epsom salts and lavender. I could get a sleep pillow, or some ear plugs. I could pay someone to knock me over the head.

Also, the heck with the electric bill. Remembering to crank the air conditioning down would be helpful as well. There is something about it being really cool in the room that makes it much easier to sleep. I really don’t understand how people ever went to sleep before the advent of air conditioning!

Anyway, I know that ONE of these things will work!