(no subject)
Okay, I'm going to leave an actual post this time to really update on how my life is going.
All in all, it's going alright, except that I really need money. I'm going down to the coast in less than three weeks to spend Christmas with my family, so I'm missing a week of work. My rent and utilities are paid through the month and I have two more paydays before I leave (5th and 19th). I've paid for most of my Christmas presents (well, put them on credit cards, but I only owe about $150.00 on each). Since I'm missing that week of work, I want to get my January rent mostly paid before I leave, because my next payday after that is January 2, and my rent is due the 5th. That means between now and the new year, I have to pay the following:
-January rent ($350.00)
-December cable ($34.99)
-December power (not sure yet, I get billed tomorrow and it's due the 20th)
-December phone ($20.00 or so)
I also need to get my snow tires on, since I'm driving down through the gorge. For any of you who have never driven through the gorge in Oregon, it's a real treat. Snow and ice until you get to Portland. Wheee.
I think it's going to cost me about a hundred bucks to get those put on, and I need to get my oil changed before I leave, so that's another twenty or so. If I have any extra money, I want to pay a little on my Gottschalks card and on my Maurices card. I'm okay on gas/groceries/cigarettes. It's really nice getting free food at work, it cuts down on my groceries a lot.
So my strategy: I'm going to pay most of my rent when I get paid Monday, and I'm going to get my snow tires put on and my oil changed. I also have to pay my power bill. I'll pay whatever I can with this check and then maybe I'll have some left over to take with me with my 19th check.
Managing bills = not the easiest thing to do when you suck at math.
But I have to go. I miss my mom a lot. She was already horribly depressed over Thanksgiving because I wasn't there. Plus, with everything that's going on with my sister, she needs me.
Oh, ha, I didn't mention what my sister did.
Okay, so. They headed down to the coast like November 4th, and started her in school the 6th. They came back up the 8th or 9th to load the U-Haul and get the rest of the stuff out of the house. My mom and Jerry spent the night at my apartment, but my mom said Blake and Amelia could stay at the house for the night because I didn't have room. Amelia went out with her friends but was supposed to come back to the house, since they were planning on leaving the next morning.
So my mom and Jerry head home in the morning, and Blake's there, but there's a four-page note from my sister about how they should just leave without her because one of her friends really needed her, and that she'd get a ride home -- to Waldport, an eight hour drive away -- the next day.
They put off going for a few hours but they had to leave, because they had to get the U-Haul back, and Jerry had to get back to work the day after. Amelia, of course, never showed, but she talked to my mom on the phone and made it seem like it was just a misunderstanding. My mom told her to call me. Then my mom called me and asked me if I'd drive her four hours the next day and have my mom meet me halfway and pick her up in The Dalles.
And Amelia never called. She told a few of her friends she was running away because she didn't want to move. My mom came back up a couple of days later, and she and I spent a day and a half looking for her and putting up missing persons posters. We know where she is, too. And this, my friends, is why I absolutely love laws about state lines:
Since my sister is an Oregon resident, since she started school down there, you'd think that we could have reported directly to the police in Milton-Freewater. M-F is about ten miles south of here, just over the border, and we know she's there, because she told her friends she was, and they called my mom. BUT. Since she ran away while she was in Washington, M-F couldn't do anything about it until we reported it to Walla Walla police and they opened a case on it. That took a lot of time. Basically, the two police departments can't do a damn thing unless they consult the other. It's stupid. All the technicalities make me sick.
The worst thing is that she's only fourteen. I'm so pissed at her about what she's doing to my family. I'm almost positive that she's fine, since people keep seeing her. But still, my mom was really looking forward to having Thanksgiving in their new home, even if I wasn't there. And she was sooo depressed when I talked to her last Thursday.
Anyway, I'm sick of people asking me every single day if I've heard anything. If I had, I assure them, I'd have already told you.
To change the subject, work is going okay but is stressing me out. I'm finishing up my verifications right now so I can get certified as a manager, but they're taking a really long time. As soon as I'm certified, I get a raise. Yayy.
I've been feeling pretty worthless lately anyway. I should be in school. When I look at the big picture though, it was good for me to take a year off. I'd already be burnt out. Overall, I think that I did the right thing, but it's hard to justify.
I'm tired of my fingers hitting the wrong keys, so I'm going to log off. There. An update. You all should be proud.