I've Got Jobs Coming Out of My Ears...

I am still working at State Farm doing telephone surveys in the evening and Cracker Barrel in the Country Store as a Retail Associate. I finally started the Summer Youth Employment Program and work both at the Champaign Public Library and for the City of Champaign Human Resources Department. In essence, I have 4 bosses.

God loves me.

I am so blessed in a time in which people are tearing their clothes and gnashing their teeth about unemployment and job loss and I have an abundance of jobs. I could also start working for the schools but I am going to do the CNA training...at least I believe that is the best thing to do. But, I can't do both. I know that if I did the before and after school program at the school that I would have the middle of the day off and I would not need to work at state farm. I would have to get up bloody early in the morning though. I am thinking I should stay the course and rely on what I know what will work and after the CNA training if it does not work out for me I know that there is an abundance of jobs out there for me to fall back on.


So, with that resolve, I now just need to determine how much and when I will work where. That determination is very important because I do not want to end up back in the hospital or overwhelmed and in over my head. The fantastic thing is that nearly every job is flexible one way or another. The minimum amount I would like to make a month is $400 for my apartment rent and utilities, $575 for Stanford and Woodhollow, $120 for my therapy appointments, medication, and psychiatry appointments, and discretionary spending money (knitting, eating out, snacks, gifts, etc). I also need to have some money for my new apartment, dishes, bed linens, air freshner, an alarm clock, foot care stuff, hangers, and I think that's everything. So, ideally, $1400 would be living comfortable and have a cushion for saving and tithe. That would mean $350 a week.

The summer youth employment program ends August 30th. The CNA training starts in August and I move in August. So let's type this out:

The most I can make at the summer youth employment program until the training starts is:

SY (22 hours $8/hr)
$176 a week

M, T,Th 1:00-4:45
W 9:00-12:45
F 9:00-4:00

As far as I know, the times that I currently have at Cracker Barrel are the best for both my manager and me:

CB (11 hours $8.45/hr)
$92.95 a week

W 5:00-10:00
Sat 5:00-11:00


And that leaves State Farm which has the most potential for hours and pays the most but I like the least:

SF (13.5 hours $9/hr)
$121.50 a week

M,T,F 7:30-11:00
Sat 9:00-1:00

So! That schedule would be a total of $390.45 before taxes which would be enough for all my bills. That would be the schedule through the rest of July and into August.

Since I don't work on Sundays, I would have church in the morning at Love Corner and in the evening at the Vineyard. Wednesdays I could make it across town to the 1:00 Bible Study and hang with my new friend Elaine from Love Corner. Monday evenings I now have my therapy sessions at 5:00 which is right down the street from the library so that's very convenient.



For August, I would have the CNA training 8:00-12:00 M-F for 8 weeks and I can't be late or miss more than 2x before I get kicked out of the program and I can't go back again. When the training starts, I will have to either work at the library in the afternoon and be late to work at Cracker Barrel every Wednesday, not work on Wednesdays at the library, or not work at Cracker Barrel on Wednesdays. I lift that up to God to work out in His infinite wisdom. Everything else will stay as it was.


Once the Summer Youth Employment Program is over, September and the first part of October I will have to ride on whatever I have saved up to cover that loss, but I am sure God has something else amazing in store for me. I know that I may receive disability which will be amazing. I will get a little over $430 a month as long as I don't earn over $980 a month. At that point, without the summer youth employment program, I believe I would be well under that. Then, once the training is done and I am working as a CNA, I can quit the state farm job and will work at Cracker Barrel only to pursue their promotions and increase my work history.

The only other thing I need to pray for the the Stanford payment plan. If I do get the disability, I will recieve back pay and be in a position to pay a substantial amount of the bill down and quite possibly go back this year. Praise be to God that is what happens! However, if in the next two months Ms. Kathy Terri I believe her name is decides the payment plan is not working she will send it to collections. I know that no matter what happens, the account will be paid and I will return to Stanford, I just don't know the details of course. So I am not worried so much as concerned. I will move forward with this radical idea of working 48.5 hours a week at 3 jobs for at least 2 months...by the grace of God I won't go crazy and will do what needs to be done to move toward my desire to finish my senior year at Stanford.

For anyone that reads my blogs, I hope that you would pray with me and for me. *Sigh* The most important things will be getting enough sleep and eating regularly throughout the day everyday. While I am sane and not yet overworked I want it to be known that I understand what it is I hope to undertake. As a good friend and somewhat of a hero of mine Mario would say, "Here we go!"