Happy New Year and Happy Anniversary!

    I can’t believe it has been a year since I started my blog. For years I have maintained a journal of my feelings, thoughts, and events that went on in my life. I always felt a sense of relief after I expressed my feelings on “paper.” It helped me to move on during the difficult times in my life. Now, years later I am still finding the satisfaction that writing brings to me. Writing is much like a healing process for me. Once it is on paper the issues just don’t seem as bad as I thought they were.

    At the time I created this blog, my kids were at their dad’s house in North Carolina for Christmas and New Years. It was my first Christmas without the kids, my first Christmas after the divorce, and my first Christmas I spent alone. I thought I would never get through those few weeks. I thought I had a friend to help me through this tough time, but I was a bad judge of character on this one, as usual. I started to pull out my journal to write and as I was writing I was on the Internet at the same time. I came across Google’s Blog site and decided to create my own. So, here I am a year later. I have made some good friends, some great connections, and most of all I am still sane.

    Happy New Year everyone!!!!!!!! May 2011 bring you happiness, good health, and everything you deserve!

    Make sure you check back soon as I will be launching my new web site. I will be posting a link on here announcing the grand opening in early Spring.

Christmas Bonus

   Today was an interesting day. After spending a good chunk of my day trying to find a part-time job, I was informed that our Christmas bonus here at work is not even enough to buy groceries for my family. It reminds me of that Chevy Chase movie, Christmas Vacation. What a classic! Maybe I should do what his brother did to his boss.


   I know what you’re thinking, “You should be lucky you are getting anything” and “You should be lucky you still have a job.” Well, let me tell you something. I think the companies are thinking we are thinking that way and that is why they think they can get away with giving such crappy bonuses. I think that is why Christmas bonuses are going to be smaller this year for a lot of us. Sure, some of us don’t get one, and I am sorry. But for those of us that do, it will be shrinking. A lot of us count on that, and I was one of them. I have learned that you cannot count on anything lately except yourself.

    This announcement comes not long after they sent out a corporate email stating how their profits have gone up tremendously this year. Really? What a joke.

What do you mean I don’t qualify?

  

    If any of you know me by now I don’t like to take charity. I have mentioned that it must be the “control freak” in me. But there are times when I need a hand. Accepting help from the government as in food stamps, insurance, and any other perks does not seem like charity to me. After all, I have been a tax paying citizen since I was 16 years old. I am sure some of the taxes I have paid all those years go to Medicaid, Medicare, and the food stamps that some “unfortunate” people collect.

    So, why don’t I qualify? Because according to their “income standards”, I make too much money. I make less than $100 dollars over their criteria. There is a chart they provide to see if your current income is low enough to get these benefits. This is the same chart that has not been changed or has been updated in many years I am sure. It has not changed with the current recession nor has it changed with just the cost of living. I am sure that my current income IS over the limit had I applied 10 years ago. Ten years ago my income would be excellent for a family of four. Now it is NOT. Don’t get me wrong, I am not looking for handouts, just a bit of help.

    When I look at the forms to fill out there is one thing that stands out and makes me sick. It states in the “Frequently Asked Questions”:

• May I apply if someone in my household is not a U.S. Citizen?

    The answer is as follows: “ Yes. You or your children(ren) do not have to be a U.S. Citizen to qualify for free or reduced-priced meals.”

    Are you kidding me? I DON’T qualify for free OR reduced-priced meals because I MAKE TOO MUCH MONEY. I may be wrong, and please correct me if I am wrong, but if you are NOT a U.S. citizen, you DON’T pay taxes, right? So a hard working LEGAL single mom of three kids cannot get an ounce of help, but someone that has no business living here let alone working here can get all kinds of free shit?