My experiance with section 8 housing

I don't even know where to start.  I am not the kind of person who asks for government help or help of any kind as I'd much rather make my own way.  However, due to a few bad choices I found myself in need of some assistance.  My little family of 4 lives far below the poverty line.  Now I know that in America so many people have this mentality of "I want I want" and keeping up with the Jones, and they feel entitled or obligated to have a level of comfort in this wonderful country that we call America, but all I was trying to do was get a 2 bed room apartment for my family that is up to code.  Where drinking the water won't make me vomit.  Where I don't smell gas every time I turn on the stove or oven and the fan actually works to get the nasty gas and smells out of the house.  Where we have a working smoke detector.  Where there's not holes in the carpet all the way down threw the padding where when I try and vacuum it breaks my vacuum cleaner and more of the carpet comes up every single time.  And a list of other things that make this place a terrible unsafe environment for children.  A place that I could afford as they recently raised my rent here to a level that I simply can't afford.  It was tight before, now it's impossible.  I don't want to pay an extra 50 dollars a month so they can afford to keep their hot tub on.  I'm sorry.  If your going to raise my rent at least fix things around here.  Anyways.

I got there at 8 pm as they told me that demand was high and to get there early in order to get a place in line.  There were already 11 people in line ahead of me, some of them had been there since 5 PM.  The office didn't open to take applications until 10 AM the following day.  There were no restrooms.  There was no garbage cans.  There was no place nearby to get things to eat or drink.  These people were all very nice people and you could tell just by looking at them that they too were in a very bad place.  Either they didn't have any home at all or they were being abused at home and needed to get out.  Some of them though were simply 18-20 year old girls who had gotten themselves knocked up and wanted to get out and start their own little family on the taxpayers dime.  The girl next to me told me flat out that she could easily stay at home with her parents and raise her baby but she just didn't want to.  It infuriates me that people like this abuse the system and then guess what, there's no help for the people who truly need it.  Anyways.  We stayed there all night.  Some people slept, I myself couldn't I was so worried and nervous that I wouldn't get the help that I needed.  Turns out I was right.  Closer to morning some ghetto fabulous people showed up and they decided they were just going to push their way up to the front of the line.  So now we are all standing waiting at the door for about 3 hours getting pushed to the front like we are at a concert.  There's women who are 8 months preggo and I'm just expecting someone to bust their water the way things were going.  The police were called.  They threatened to shut the whole thing down.  The residents from the apartment buildings who have to actually pay full price for their rent yelled insults at us and took pictures as they drove by.  The police threatened to arrest us all.  Now because I've had dealings with the police I know that would never happen because arresting 78 people is a lot of paperwork and that's just not going to happen.  But they too insulted us and basically told us we were a bunch of dirt bags for even applying for this.  So that was fun.  Way to not do your jobs and not keep people safe Valpariso's  finest. 

Anyhow after all that I finally get in there and I do have the majority of the information I needed for the application.  It would have been great if the applications were online or you could go ahead of time to get one so you knew all of the questions they were going to ask for.  But no.  They don't do that because they number the applications as you walk in the door (or rather get pushed in by the crazy crowd) and I guess they don't want people trying to say they were number whatever so you just have to kind of guess what they need and what they don't.  After all that.  I was number 15.  I was thinking things were alright and it was going to work out but no.  They give you a packet of what they look for to approve people and come to find out the fact that I have a foreclosure and a bankruptcy on my record made my credit too bad to approve me.  The fact that I lost my house and NEEDED a place to live was the very reason I couldn't get one.  Where is the logic in that?  Never mind the fact that even before the bankruptcy went threw I've always paid my rent on time in cash on the first of the month.  Never mind that since the bankruptcy I have done nothing but try and improve my credit.  None of it matters.  Not even the fact that I had to file bankruptcy because my at the time husband decided not to pay the bills- not because he couldn't afford to but because he wanted to run my good credit rating into the ground- and I was pregnant with his twins and no one would hire me- none of that mattered.  You know it would have been nice if they would have told me what the requirements were ahead of time so I'd know not to even try because they weren't going to help me. Whats worse is some of the people who were with me and waited patiently like decent human beings they too for whatever reason were denied.  It just breaks my heart that the people who really need this aren't getting the help that they need and people who defraud the system and lie their way in do.  Is this my world?  Is this the country that our military is fighting for?  Why? 

When people have no money isn't it just normal that the first thing to go is their credit rating?  That they use credit cards to pay for luxuries like food and shelter and to keep the gas on?  And then they end up defaulting because when you have nothing what else can you do?  You know it wouldn't be so bad if it was just me I really wouldn't care but this is about my kids.  My kids are suffering EVERY DAY for stupid decisions my ex husband made because he was mad at ME.  How is that fair?  He must really love them to have done these things to him but the funny part is he watched them overnight so I could go apply for this because he'd rather have his kids living in section 8 housing than where we are now because it truly is THAT BAD. 

Anyways before you go judging people for using things like section 8 or food stamps or whatever they may be using you should really stop and think and quit steryotyping people by what they look like or where they live.  You don't know what its like till you've walked a mile in their shoes.  That is all.

Back to school. . .not cool

It's that time again boys and girls, time for the kid's to go back to school.  I will have to take a break from my normal sleep to whenever routine and join the millions of half awake mom's getting their kids on the bus or taking my princess to school.  Yuck.  Where did the time go?  What happened to my little baby?  Who said she could grow up?  I don't like it.  Next thing ya know she's going to know about Santa and how to read and use the internet and she won't be a kid anymore.  Well anyways, lets take a look at some of my mega trendy tops that are not too cool for school and if you like what you see please take stop over at Crochet by Mel and check out my other super cool items. 

 This top is so awesome my model took it home with her as payment for being my model.  It is the black outer shell only so an under-layer is needed for wearing to school ha ha.  This one is made in black bamboo but if you'd like it in crochet cotton I will take 5 dollars off since cotton is cheaper than bamboo. No matter what fiber you get it in though this is a hand wash only in cool water shirt and lay flat to dry.  As you can see the front and back match exactly and I can make this in any size needed, this is a small/medium.  The best part about this shirt is the simplicity of the design however no 2 shirts would be exactly the same.  If you'd like a longer sleeve length I'd be happy to work with you on a custom order.  Just Click here to purchase.

 This pretty little yellow number was inspired by a sweater I saw Brittany wearing in season 2 of Glee.  If you take the ties off of the shoulder you get a slouchy shoulder bearing top like she wore with the orange floppy hat.  Leave the ties on and you get a cute keyhole detailing on the shoulder.  This is made with yellow acrylic yarn and has retro bell sleeves.  I can gladly make this in any color you wish.  Being acrylic the best part about that is it's totally washer and dryer safe.  Click here to purchase.

Now I'd love to sit here and talk about every single item in my shop right now but sadly time just doesn't allow for me to do that, there's dishes to wash and boo-boos to mend and you got the general idea.  Thanks so much for stopping by I hope it wasn't an epic waste of time :)

Angels Forever Panel

So I'm on this "team" of Victoria's Secret addicts called the Angels Forever Panel and I did the live chat with some of the big wig's and that's an hour of my life I will never get back.  The cool thing is I got a coupon for a free mega expensive bra of my choice so I went to my parents to print it out because we all know my computer doesn't have a printer hell it doesn't even have speakers and I took it to the store.  I was okay.  I love the new store at Orland mall its much better than the old store but see the trouble is I was shopping for a friend of mine who's serving our country in the desert and some local jerk wad stole her bag with all of her underthings in it so since I had a bunch of coupons burning a hole in my pocket I went to Vickys to help her out.  Sadly they don't carry the majority of the bra's there in an A cup.  I had no idea they were so discriminative twards A cup girls.  It makes me pretty sad especially considering how most of their bra's have like 400 lbs of padding in them why don't they make them in A cups when those girls (not to be rude or anything) need the padding more than anyone else?  I get maybe there's not a whole bunch of women who need those sizes but they still should carry something more than just the very sexy and the bombshell.  Their whole campaign is "A body for every body" but I guess that doesn't include A cups.  Very sad about that.

Their new colors and everything though are pretty fantastic.  I liked the sliver and bling ones but the bling is too big for everyday wear.  Maybe you could wear it with a big bulky Christmas sweater or something of that nature but the bling on them was so big it's like you can't wear it with most shirts.  Maybe it's for strippers only?  No fair.  We can't all be strippers ya know. 

And I learned something today.  Did you know they sell mints for 2 bucks?  So if your a couple bucks below the coupon amount and face it you always are because they price things specifically so you always are all you have to do is pick up a little tin of mints and voila you get your money off.  Or in this case I got my free duffel bag.  Yes I got two of them.  Don't judge. 

The girls that work the store were wonderful until I got to the check out and I handed them the very special email coupon and they all looked at me like I was trying to pull one over on them.  They called the manager and she had to read it and re-read it and then she said to go ahead and put it threw.  There's another 7 minutes of my life I will never get back so word to the wise, if your going to hand out super special coupons to make people feel special and appreciated PRETTY PLEASE let your associates in on it so they don't make your customers feel like they are doing something wrong by using the coupon.  And that's all I have to say about that.  Back to the crochet grind stone. . .

He is faithful.

Going along with my theme from my last post- I got my first sale on my shop over this past weekend.  It was a sale I had already lined up but she had backed out of it because of well. . . now that I broke off from that other place she didn't back out now lets just say that much.  I didn't make a ton of money but you know what, she's been a good friend of mine for years and I had the yarn laying around here anyways, and having a sale is better than having a boatload of product sitting in your closet right? 

I have been a busy little bee lately working on the shop it's so fun to have actual "work" to do.  My store claim was just approved on Wanelo and I have a facebook page up, a Rebel Mouse page up and am building followers on all social media sites.  I am LOVING having my own shop.  Nothing holding me back now!  I got a model for a live shoot coming soon and am shopping around for the official CrochetByMel fake person or dress form.  Some wonderful promotion team keeps using me in treasuries and I'm averaging more views per day than the old shop.  Signed up for that google mess today and that should be up and running by tomorrow.  Yay! 

New and very exciting things are coming so keep a eye out!  All things work together for good for those who love the Lord. 

Give us this day or daily bread . . .

Finally got into church this week, and forgive me if this post is disjointed I left in the middle to try and give blood but it took too long and I ended up not being able to.  However I did find out my iron levels are back where I can give blood again and I have a rare blood type so they want my blood.  Next time I see a truck on my kid free weekend I will for sure have to stop by. 

Anyways, I have been going threw some trials lately and I have been tested several times in the past week and have become quite frustrated with the world and everything in it.  I've had a sinus infection for over a month and a constant headache and everything I do is just getting constantly crapped upon by people who are supposed to care about me and be my friends and family and people who are supposed to care about me just don't but that's okay.  I know someone who does care.  He doesn't always give me what I want but he always gives me what I need.  I've been up I've been down I've been I been every witch way and in between but one thing I could always count on is I am not alone.  I've never been truly hungry.  I've never had to sleep in my car because I was homeless.  I've never had any form of Cancer.  I got 3 beautiful kids who are all healthy.  My life is pretty good.  He has always taken care of me and I need to remember that when things just aren't going my way like now for instance when I've been arguing with the lovely people at Capital One for three hours just to try and close my account.  Just take a deep breath and remember I am not alone.  God knows my needs and he will provide for them.  Just like he created me to need food and sleep and shelter he will provide those things for me. And he always has.  There's been many a times where he's cut it pretty close but I think he did that to test me.  If you have the faith of a mustard seed you can move mountains and I've seen that play out time and time again.  I haven't moved any mountains just yet but it's coming.  Expect big things from this gal right here, if not from my store than in life.  The big guy has a plan for me and where I don't understand it and sometimes I'm pulling my hair out because things just don't seem to be going the way I want them to in the end it will be worth it.  All things work together for good for those who love the Lord.  Now this isn't just a pep talk for me it's a pep talk for you too and if you don't already believe that Jesus died for your sins because he loves you so much perhaps someday you will.  I don't mean to preach at you but this life is hard, much too hard to do it alone and I don't wish that on anyone so if the good Lord lead you to my webpage I pray he will also lead you to think about it.  I can't even begin to tell you how good he's been to me and all the modern day miracle's I've witnessed in my pretty short life so far.  Patience is a virtue :)  Until next time. . .

Here we go go go go go!

So now I am here.  Got the shop up and running, I have a grand total of 11 items that are freaking awesome if I do say so myself.  I got a model lined up for whenever she's got some time she will swing buy and help me take pictures of some of the other items that I am adding to the shop.  You know it was fun making blankets and random other items but now I think I will focus mostly on women's clothing and accessories.  I have lowered the prices on most the items in my shop in hopes to clear them out for summer and get ready for fall, I guess we'll see how that goes.  I have an awesome team supporting me and a bunch of friends behind me so at least I didn't have to start totally from scratch. 

I am so pleased to report that after only 2 days of being in business I have had over 300 views and the first day all my shop had in it was one item.  That's not me though folks that's the support and awesomeness of my fellow crafty's boosting me up and helping me out.  You know how the saying goes, don't mix business with pleasure and ya know what?  They are not wrong.  I love my old partner she is/was a really good friend and I hope that one day we can still salvage a friendship out of this so cross your fingers for me.  It's just better to have my own shop.  You know at first I was scared to have one I didn't think my stuff was good enough to be sold on the open market it takes a special kind of person to appreciate hand made goods and my family though I love them dearly most of them- they just are not fan's of handmade goods.  So I didn't much think I was good.  I needed a extra person to tell me if stuff was good enough, and hold my hand and give me helpful hints and suggestions now where helpful hints and suggestions are always good sometimes they can hurt your feelings.  And sometimes they have you galloping off way far in the wrong direction all together.  It's not really their fault that's the thing about doing artsy type stuff what one person likes may not be what someone else likes and vise versa.  It's all a matter of finding your niche and seeing what there's a market for and its a process.  The freedom of having my own shop is amazing.  I didn't want to say anything because I didn't want to spoil the friendship but when I brought her something and she didn't like it she'd unravel the whole thing - many many hours of hard work and toil for nothing- and then re-use the material to make something of her own.  It not only bothered me but it made me feel as if I had to produce superior products to keep my work from being destroyed.  But anyways, I should not get this tipsy over one little glass of wine and I hope you come visit my new store Crochet By Mel and please do let me know what you think.  I will always take constructive critique with grace and would love to hear what you have to say.  Hopefully there will be a lot more new items to come.  Take care and God bless. 

Welcome to Crochet By Mel!

I'll be your host, Mel.  Thanks so much for stopping by.  I love to blog when I get the time and I love to crochet so why not blog about crochet and all the wonderful aspects of being a single stay at home mom to 3 adorable little munchkins.  I'll be back .. .always leave them wanting more. . .