Table for Five

Sleeping too much, dreaming too much, wishing too much (Updated)

April 30, 2012 By Elizabeth 14 Comments

Maybe this is a midlife crisis. I don’t have a clue, but there is definitely something going on with me. My sleeping schedule is so screwed up that on a daily basis, I have no idea if I’m going to be able to go to sleep at the end of the day or not. Either I’m spending night after night staring at the ceiling at 3 a.m., or I’m having a day like yesterday, where I took a SIX HOUR nap in the afternoon, got in bed at 1 a.m. and slept until 9.

When I am sleeping, I’m dreaming. I’ve been dreaming that I’m in a big city on vacation, and I’m wandering the streets for hours. Sometimes because I’m lost, sometimes just to see the city. Just before I woke up this morning, I was dreaming that I was at a mall during a holiday weekend, everything was already half off, then the power went out, so everything was free. I grabbed a Coach Purse and a pair of jeans like the apparent thief I am.

I also dreamed that we were moving, and while Chris, the kids and the movers were upstairs, I was in the basement stacking boxes near the stairs to be taken up. I kept yelling “come and help me” but no one was listening, so I started screaming at the top of my lungs and pounding my hand against the wall.

Something is definitely wrong.

Three weeks ago, I was so angry at the state of my house that I photographed the mess and wrote an impassioned blog post about how I was going to get this house clean. I spent two days dusting and bagging up trash with the reluctant help of the kids, and then…lost interest.

I’m taking my medication every day as prescribed, yet the only thing I feel like doing is watching TV, reading, and poking around online. I have piles of products to review, giveaways to start, ambassadorship posts to write, and I can’t make myself do it. Everyone says just pick one thing and get that one thing done – but it all feels like I’m at the bottom of a mountain being asked to push a huge boulder up.

I want a clean house. I want meals on the table for dinner. I want to earn a couple hundred dollars a month to help with the family expenses. I want to sleep like a normal person. I want to have a handle on my email and my blog jobs. I want to stop dreaming that I’m lost and alone.

The pressure of having three blogs to maintain has left me feeling unable to handle them at all. I feel like I can either be in a space in my head where I’m constantly focused on my blogs, or a space where I can keep the household running, or a space where I can take care of myself, but there’s no space big enough for all three. And then I deal with feeling horrible guilt over whichever of the three things is being neglected the most.

Chris and I can’t seem to get on the same wavelength either, which certainly doesn’t help. You know, like I was “in the mood” for a couple of days while he was dealing with work stuff so it didn’t work out, then yesterday morning, right on schedule (what is it about Sunday mornings, seriously), he was all smooching me while I was trying to get our kids plus their cousin ready for brunch.

So to sum up – I’m either sleeping not at all or way too much, I can’t muster the energy or desire to do much of anything at all, and I really don’t know what to do.

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Updated to add: Good gods, I’m whiny. Boo hoo, I have such a hard life because I’m having trouble sleeping. I really have nothing to complain about, seeing as how my husband is employed and works his ass off for us, both the boys are getting A’s in school, Kaitlyn is loved by everyone, I have a house and a car and food. This is why I should really wait to start blogging until AFTER the first cup of coffee kicks in.

I also forgot to tell all of you that after a crapload of internal wrestling with the subject, I’ve decided once and for all that I am going to write my life story, but not here. I’m using a domain I bought two years ago and did nothing with, and I’m not going to be anonymous about it. The blog is Simply Elizabeth, the URL is http://elizabethedwards.me/, and the post series is going to be called The Girl With Three Names. I’ll let you all know when it’s ready.

Also, I’m editing this post because I forgot to thank my husband for putting up with all my aforementioned crap. TWENTY SEVEN years we’ve been together, people, and I’m grateful for him every single day. For real.

Filed Under: Personal

How to Get Kids Through College Debt Free

April 26, 2012 By Elizabeth 13 Comments

While this is a guest post, it’s also information I’m starting to gather, because both my boys want to go to college, and I assume Kaitlyn will too some day. How are we going to pay for it? Student loans, you betcha.

Tuition Payment, Main Hall circa 1968 (Photo credit: Kraemer Family Library)

Simply having a college degree is becoming more necessary for those wishing to obtain a decent job in their 20s. While the college education no longer promises a kid the high end job they had always hoped for, it is more likely to get them a job, especially in this rough job market. However, college educations are expensive, and not always easy for everyone to afford both during and after college.

But getting your kid a college education doesn’t mean having to take out thousands of dollars in student loans. There are several ways you can get your kids through college without having to sacrifice your retirement or taking on massive debt yourself including:

Fill Out the FAFSA

One of the easiest ways to receive money for school is by filling out the FAFSA. There are hundreds of thousands of dollars the federal government has to give out each year, and thousands of students miss out on the opportunity to receive that free money by not filling out the FAFSA. Even if you believe that you and your husband make too much money for your child to qualify, you should still fill it out as you may be surprised to find out that your child is actually eligible for several grants.

Scholarships

While scholarships seem like a no-brainer to save money, thousands of students don’t apply for them each year just like the FAFSA. There are several sites such as Fastweb.com and Scholarships.com that provide thousands of dollars in scholarships, and applicants can become eligible for them by simply writing a 500 word essay or submitting their resume. No sports career or 4.0 grade point average needed.

Get a Part-Time Job

Working never killed anyone, and while working 20 hours a week won’t foot your child’s college tuition bill, it can greatly reduce their costs. Instead of spending their extra time hitting up parties, consider having your kid put in a few hours of honest work. Not only will it help them pay down their tuition, but it will also give them some extra spending money to enjoy so they aren’t maxing out their credit cards low interest. Many universities even offer work study programs to help reduce the cost of tuition while paying students above average wages.

Go In-State

The cost of in-state tuition compared to that of out-of-state tuition varies greatly. On average in-state tuition costs a about 50 to 75 percent less than out-of-state tuition, so if your child has the choice between one state school or another, see if they won’t choose the one located within your state. It will cost less, and make affording tuition more possible. The only time you should really choose allowing your child to go out of state is when they have been accepted in to an Ivy League school where attendance will pay for itself in the long run.

Special State Programs

Several states have specific programs that have been designed to help students get through college on a smaller budget. Missouri, for instance, has the A+ Program which allows students to receive two free years of education through a community college in exchange for tutoring and good grades. Other states such as Texas also offer similar plans. See if your state offers programs such as these for your child.

College may be expensive, but it doesn’t need to leave you with tens of thousands of dollars in debt upon your child’s graduation. Instead of agreeing to $25,000 or more in students loans, actually create a budget and figure out a way to get your child through college debt free. Not only will this keep you from having to worry about outrageous student loan bills, but it will give you and your child the financial freedom needed to be prosperous upon graduation.

Big thanks to Alex S. for contributing this post!

Filed Under: Being a Mom Tagged With: college education, college educations, college tuition, filling out the fafsa, free money, student loans, tuition bill, tuition payment

See The Photo That Has 132 Repins on Pinterest!

April 21, 2012 By Elizabeth

I found this photo on I Can Has Cheezburger? and pinned it to my Makes Me Go “Awwww” board on Pinterest last night. In a matter of hours, it has been repinned 132 times!

So seriously cute! Their caption called it a “Burrito”, which is technically true since “ito” means “little”. But I didn’t want to pin it as “Burrito” because I thought most of my Pinterest followers would be expecting to see a photo of, well, a burrito. Anyway, that’s the photo that has been repinned 132 times in 11 hours! If you’re on Pinterest and don’t use it for spam (seriously so sick of that already), leave me your Pinterest URL in a comment so I can come follow you! Mine is pinterest.com/table4five