Bettacreek - New home? Plus a pic of some of the ladies here

[Bettacreek]

Welp, I just signed myself up for plasma donations. $20 for the first visit that week and $30 for the second visit that week, totaling $200/month. Minus gas charges, of course, but I'll still be in the green. It makes me nervous that they put your RBCs, WBCs and Thrombocytes BACK INTO you, but I guess they haven't killed anyone yet, err, I hope! Lol. But, gas'll be $26 for that month, so that's an extra $174 that I wouldn't have otherwise! Hopefully it doesn't make me sick at all and I can handle going in twice per week.
I've also taken the support to petition. I'm petitioning under the pretenses that my daycare costs have increased (they have of course), but hoping he had a raise or two since he started working, and I can get it adjusted to that. In PA, they don't care if you've lost your job, you're still responsible to pay that full amount, tough cookies for you.

 

[Bettacreek]

Plasma donations fell through. Somebody moved all of my important documents to the fire safe, and somehow my original birth certificate and all of our SS cards were lost. Anyways, returns have come in and finally things are looking better, kind of. I was juggling homework for awhile, felt like the only thing I did was go to school, eat, poop and do homework with minimal sleeping in there once in awhile!!! Finally everything at school is slowing down and I can take a moment to breathe! Have a bunch of orders that are late and have to be shipped out on Tuesday (thankfully they're all packaged up just waiting to go, thanks to the long weekend and no homework). My sister has been laid up for the past weekish (well, about 5 days), and has surgery tomorrow. I've been helping her with some of her ADL's (showering, dressing, etc), so I'm hoping everything goes well for her!
As for the money, I have spent a huge amount, compared to what I've been spending the past few months. I bought FIVE new loaf molds for soap (just found out that Michael's decided to discontinue the molds I was using, plus they don't fit into the shipping boxes well) for $102 (EEP!), but I know that the money will come back. I decided that I won't be purchasing the colorants and other fun stuff for soaps that I had been planning on purchasing, which the budget was $100, so that somewhat makes up for it. I've also filled my gas tank, with my own darn money, full to the top!!! Gosh that's an amazing feeling, lol, though the $55 spent isn't really all that exciting. I'm also spending another $300, plus about $30 in gas, for, well, an incubator. Cabinet GQF, don't remember the exact model. It won't be used right away, but for the price, I nabbed it. I figure I can toss the ducks' eggs in it to sell ducklings, or maybe even hatch for some other folks until I can actually start raising my own poultry again.

The soap molds have me extremely excited. They're the perfect size for what I want. I'll be able to pump out soap very quickly in short periods of time. Each mold will hold an entire batch. So, instead of being able to make two batches at a time, I will be able to make five. I've also figured out that I can make up a "full batch" (4x the smaller batch) and then before it comes fully to trace, separate some out, add my scent and any additives and mold it, then continue on three more times, so that will save even more time! There's a store close to here (about half an hour away) that wants to sell my soaps, so hopefully I can get some great business and be able to meet the demand of the shop, shows and online sales.

 

[Wannabefree]

Awesome Betta..sounds like things are looking up for you I gave my neighbor a bar of the soap I bought from you. Next time we're splitting an order So, you have another customer

 

[hqueen13]

Yay for sales! Congrats on the progress!

 

[hqueen13]

Yoohooo! Your inbox is full dear!!

 

[DianeS]

Don't know if you're hoping to find a way to replace your birth certifcate and SS card, rather than waiting to locate the ones you have, but just in case you are...
You can order a new birth certificate online, if you were born in the USA - http://www.vitalchek.com/ You can order multiple copies if you need them, and each comes officially certified from the county, so they count as originals for everything, even for getting a passport.
Once you have a regular photo ID and birth certificate, then you can get a replacement SS card. Take those things into your local SS office, and they look them over and return them to you. Your SS card arrives in the mail soon after that.

Then with the SS card you can go do the plasma thing again. I do that, it is a nice extra bit of money. It's also some "me" time, the donation floor here usually has a movie playing on TVs, or I can read a book I brought. Nice and calm, not being able to jump up and go do something because you're stuck there for a bit.

And yay! on the soap molds and your process ideas. Sounds like that should work great!

 

[Bettacreek]

Thanks guys!! All of my molds are now in my possession. Everything that I've spent money on has arrived. So, now, I can technically make 18.5lbs of soap at one time (counting the new molds only). Not that I plan to, but hey, spring break IS coming up afterall. I have the loaf molds (5), a mitre box (a guide to cut perfect bars) and a cutter I purchased awhile back when I was using my wooden mold, plus a tray of guest sized soap molds and four trays of larger bars of soap. I also bought lids for my candles (rustic looking lids), 50lbs of soy wax (brought my price per candle down enough to incorporate the new lids and raffia to decorate them), 1,000 wicks (again, helped to bring the cost down to add to the looks of my candles and boost sales). Hmm. I did buy something that isn't technically an investment... bought a really nice underwater digital camera. I suppose I could count it as an investment as my old camera took a crap and I kind of needed a new one to get good pictures of my stuff online for my website (ok, I'm making excuses, I really just wanted a new camera). I also have some colorants to play with coming from a woman on another forum (for free). I've been trying to crank soap out, but haven't been making it super far, but next week, I'll have a ton of soap and candles and such pumped out. We have a big show coming up at the end of May, and I'm hoping to be fully stocked with the new products. I'm planning on having another sale here soon of soaps made with the old molds to help recoop a little bit of what I've put into the new stuff, plus I'm debating on whether or not I should just sell the old molds that are still in good shape. I almost feel bad about selling them because I hate them, but some people might like them. I guess I'm a hoarder though, because I keep thinking that there might be something I could use them for...

 

[Bettacreek]

Well, just when things were finally starting to look up, TSHTF... Hardcore. I made a huge mistake at a clinical site and while talking to another student in the locker room I swore and a staff member overheard. I have been kicked completely out of my LPN program.

 

[Dawn419]

Oh noooooo!

 

[hqueen13]

OMG! That stinks!!!!!

What didn't you like about the old molds?