Diary of a Work at Home Mom

Hanging by a Thread

2011-10-31T08:49:00.002-04:00

Lately I've felt like I'm barely holding onto my last bit of sanity. The noise in my head has just been so loud that I haven't been able to get anything accomplished. That means I'm not making much money, which adds financial stress, which keeps fueling the fire. Not fun.

My creativity has been all but nonexistent. I've got a variety of stuff to write about, but most days I'd be doing well to write fill-in-the-blank wedding invitations. Writer's block sucks.

I'm hoping today will be better. I'm trying something different with my medication that I hope will help. The doctor gave me some flexibility with the dosing of my anxiety pills, but most of the time I've been taking the maximum dose (two pills) only as needed. It took the edge off, but it also made me drowsy and spacey the next day. So I figured maybe if I just take the minimum dose (half a pill) every day, maybe it will keep me less stressed without squashing my energy, creativity and motivation. We'll see how it goes.

Hooked on Sims Social

2011-10-16T13:03:00.002-04:00

I know I've ranted about Facebook here on a few occasions. I understand its appeal and all, but the privacy issues just really bug me. But I've reluctantly begun to use it a little more over the past few weeks, because it has put me in contact with a couple of old friends.

Well, Pumpkin kept asking to sign up for an account of her own. I told her no, because she's not old enough to sign up according to the site's terms, and more importantly because I don't want her exposed to all of the drama that tends to go on there with the younger set. But I agreed to let her chat with some of her friends through my account. That's gone fine for the most part, but there's been one small snag: She got me addicted to The Sims Social.

She saw a post by one of my Facebook friends about it, and she decided to try it out. I didn't mind, but then I got curious and started messing around with it. And I quickly got hooked. I try to stay away from it, but sometimes I just can't resist going back to work on a quest.

I suppose it could be worse. I could have gotten hooked on a more expensive and time consuming hobby like geocaching. Then I'd have to buy a Garmin chirp and probably do a great deal of traveling. So in the scheme of things, I guess The Sims Social is not so bad. But I am thinking about just buying the regular game so I won't have to spend time on the social aspect of it. It's kind of hard to get everything completed in a reasonable amount of time when you don't have many Facebook friends, and not many of those play.

Utility Companies Suck

2011-10-15T14:52:00.002-04:00

Our local electric company really put us in a bind a couple of months ago. They sent us a letter informing us that we had two weeks to find a new cosigner or switch to their prepaid plan. Never mind that we had been with them for ten years and never been disconnected.

Yes, we were behind on our bill, but not far enough to have our electricity cut off. And it certainly wasn't the first time we'd been behind. I guess they sensed that it was a bad time for us to get news like that, so they did it. (Half kidding.)

Anyway, I called and explained that we had nobody that could cosign for us and we couldn't pay off our balance all at once. I worked out a deal where we could pay a portion of it up front and then have 30% of each prepaid payment put toward the rest until it was paid in full. Even that was rough on us, but we finally got it paid off a couple of weeks ago.

Going prepaid isn't so bad. We can pay whatever we want at a time, and there are no disconnect or reconnect fees. All we have to worry about is keeping enough in the account to keep it from being disconnected. But the way things have been going lately, even that is sometimes a challenge.

It would be nice if we had the same options as NJ electricity customers. The industry has been deregulated up there, so if they have problems with one provider, they can switch to another one. Maybe if things were like that here, the power company would have more incentive to treat their customers well. I'm glad ours worked with us and all, but if they had to worry about losing our business, maybe they wouldn't have put us in a bad spot in the first place.

Another Sucky Day

2011-10-15T14:27:00.002-04:00

I've had a lot of sucky days over the past couple of months. I was pretty sick for a long time, and when that finally abated I had to deal with the depression that always comes with any physical illness for me and lingers for a while afterward. I finally started feeling better a few days ago, and I had high hopes for this weekend. But so far it's not going so well.

I woke up with a headache, which is not particularly unusual. My allergies have been acting up on top of everything, so I figured it was related to that and would get better after I took my daily allergy pill and a couple of Tylenol. But it didn't. I tried to carry on anyway, but a couple hours later it suddenly got worse. Much, much worse. Near-migraine worse. The feeling that someone had taken an ax to my head, the sick stomach, the whole bit. Gnards.

I took some Advil and lay down for a couple of hours, dozing off and on. I finally got to the point where I could get up and fix some lunch and eat. Now I feel better than I did, but the headache is still lingering in the background, waiting for me to get overconfident and do something to bring it back full force.

I've got too much to do to let it define my day. I have work to complete, and I promised Pumpkin I'd take her shopping so she could get her friend a birthday gift. So I'm trying to take it slow and not end up incapacitated again. Too bad there's not a roadside assistance plan for human beings instead of cars. I could probably use it today.

Curse You, Caffeine!

2011-08-23T12:18:00.002-04:00

There was a time when I hated coffee. Then I discovered french vanilla creamer, and I started liking it, but still only drank it on occasion. When I decided to start getting up earlier, I started drinking it fairly regularly. Now I'm ready to quit again.

I started drinking caffeine free tea on my doctor's advice, and since I can't drink soda, that pretty much cut caffeine out of my diet. So I didn't figure a couple of cups of coffee a day would hurt me. But it is. I drank two fairly strong cups this morning in hopes of getting lots of work done and some stuff accomplished around the house, and while it's kept me awake, it has made me feel like absolute crap.

I've got a headache and my muscles are tense. My stomach is all to pieces, too - my appetite is about where it would be if I were taking the top rated appetite suppressants right now. But I made myself eat lunch in hopes it would make me feel better. Didn't work, though.

I guess I'm going to have to find some other way to get myself going in the mornings.

Where've I Been?

2011-08-19T20:03:00.002-04:00

I didn't finally go completely off the deep end and get committed. I didn't skip the country. My Energy bookshelf speakers didn't fall off the shelf, hit me in the head and put me in a coma. I haven't gone anywhere, nothing's happened, I just haven't been blogging.

Things have been rather hectic around here, but not really in a bad way. Pumpkin has gone back to school, and there was all the hubbub of buying school supplies and going to parent meetings and contending with the new bus routes (which they've already chucked and gone back to the old ones). And I've been trying to get myself back on track and get more work done since I've got some peace and quiet. I've done okay in the time since she's gone back, but not as well as I'd hoped. But it's a start.

I plan to get lots more work done this month so next month won't be so financially crappy. And once I get my work back on track, I'm going to get back to my plans to get some passive income started. I've got to do it, because Hubby can't hold down a job and we're just barely scraping by on what I'm making from writing. I'm ready to quit living paycheck to paycheck, and one way or another it's going to happen.

I'll try to keep you up to date on my progress. But please forgive me if I don't get around to it for a while.

A Computer for Mom

2011-07-14T18:12:00.002-04:00

My mom has been talking about possibly getting a computer a lot lately. I think my siblings (and perhaps some of her friends) have convinced her that it would help her keep in touch with everyone. And I agree, if she will quit being so scared of technology and let herself learn how to use it. I'm more than willing to teach her, but my previous attempts haven't gone very well for that reason.

The big question is what kind of computer would be best for her. The first thing that came to mind was a tablet. I think a tablet touch screen would be easier for her to use than a mouse, and although I have yet to use one myself, I imagine they would be a bit less complex than a laptop or desktop. But her eyesight isn't so good, so the small screen could be a problem there. Plus there's no keyboard, which could make emailing a challenge since she has some arthritis.

I may take my laptop up when we go back up there and see what she thinks of it. If she's able to see the screen well, I'll see if I can catch one like mine on sale again and order one for her. If not, I guess it will be back to the drawing board.

Anyone have any suggestions for computers for elderly people who have never used one? If so, I could certainly use them!

Ridiculously Hot

2011-07-13T17:51:00.002-04:00

I'm not one to complain about hot weather, because I'd much rather have it than bone-chilling cold weather. But the past few days here in the high country have been real scorchers.

I got so hot yesterday that I got sick, which was no fun at all. Monday and today I made it a point to run errands, mainly so Pumpkin and I could get out of this hot house and be in some conditioned air for a while. According to the weatherman it's supposed to cool down starting tomorrow, and that won't hurt my feelings at all. But I still maintain that I'd rather be burning up than freezing.

One good thing did happen: I finally found another killer laptop deal on eBay. I placed my order, and the UPS man brought it yesterday. And... it works great! Now when it's hot I can grab my laptop and work (or search for the safest diet pills that work, or whatever) from an air-conditioned restaurant with WiFi. Woo-hoo!

In case you're wondering where I find all these laptop deals, they're in eBay's Daily Deals section. I get an email with the featured deals each day, but if you go to the site there are lots more. As you can see from my previous post, my first attempt didn't work out so well. But so far I'm really happy with the one I have now. And if anything goes wrong, the seller included a 90 day warranty, plus I purchased an extended warranty from SquareTrade. So I should be good to go!

The Laptop Was a Dud

2011-07-07T21:05:00.002-04:00

I got the laptop I ordered from eBay pretty quickly. I opened it up, anxious to try it out. But as soon as I turned it on, I was disappointed.

According to the item description, it was to have Windows 7 as the operating system. There were also Windows 7 stickers on the laptop itself. But when I turned it on, I was greeted with a Windows XP screen. Not cool.

That in and of itself wouldn't have been so bad. But after tinkering with it a bit, I found that neither the sound nor the internet worked. I should have known that it was too good of a deal to be true.

I contacted the seller and explained the problem. As it turned out, the entire shipment from the refurbisher had Windows XP instead of Windows 7, and they offered to give me a partial refund. Of course I refused because of the other problems, and they said they would send me a return label so I could send it back for a full refund.

So I started looking at other laptops on eBay, thinking I might go ahead and order one. I found one I liked, tried to order it with Bill Me Later, and it wouldn't go through because it would have put me a few dollars over the initial $500 limit.

All of the least expensive laptops that would meet my needs (and are new, NOT refurbished, because I'm not going there again) just barely put me over that limit. I could order an Android tablet or a smartphone or a Fuji Finepix with all the bells and whistles no problem, but another laptop? Nope.

So now I'm playing the waiting game. I've done without a laptop this long, so it won't hurt me to wait a little longer, I guess. But I'll be glad when I get my refund and can get on with my life.

Finally Getting a Laptop

2011-06-24T13:18:00.002-04:00

I've been wanting (actually needing) a laptop for several years now. I've priced them numerous times, but never got as far as actually making a purchase. But I recently became determined that I would have one in the near future.

I think what started it was a series of emails from dear old eBay. The first email informed me that I had been selected for a special offer in which I could get $15 in eBay bucks by making my first purchase with Bill Me Later. The second one came a few days later and included a 10% off coupon code. I figured they must really want me to buy something, so I started looking at laptops. I mean, who am I to disappoint eBay?

Then today I got yet another email from them. It was the daily deal email that I get every day, but this one had an HP netbook for under $200. I clicked through to check it out, and it looked like something that would meet my needs. I really wanted a full-sized laptop, but I just couldn't say no to a deal like that.

I wasn't sure how Bill Me Later would work or if I would be approved, so I was a bit leery of going ahead and making that purchase. However, I knew I would need a wireless router to go with it, so I started searching for deals on those. I found one for $21, so I decided to try buying it and see if the BML thing would work. And it did!

So I went back after that transaction went through and bought the laptop, using my coupon code to bring the total on it down to around $160. Not too shabby! I should be able to pay that off in no time.

I was thrilled to find out that I qualified for Bill Me Later, what with my credit being nearly nonexistent at this point in time. I had considered applying for a credit card, but I figured that even if I was able to get one, it would be too much temptation. When you're carrying plastic, it's just too easy to go out and buy that awesome HDTV, or those gorgeous womens boots, or that killer smartphone... you get the idea. I'd rather concentrate on paying off our current balances before I try to build my credit up any further.

I probably wouldn't have been able to talk myself into getting that laptop if it weren't for the fact that I've been doing better with my work lately. For the past couple of weeks, I've been much more motivated than usual. I hope things continue in that direction, because I need to do plenty of extra work if I want to get the laptop paid off quickly!

Stupid Cell Phone

2011-06-21T15:41:00.002-04:00

Hubby and I got new cell phones a few months ago. His is actually a little newer than mine, but I don't think it's a newer model by much (if at all). Still, his phone picks up a whole lot better than mine. So unfair.

When you live out here in the boondocks, spotty service is to be expected. But at a certain spot on my front porch, his phone is clear as a bell. Mine is not. I can usually hear the other person fairly well, but they can never hear me.

Maybe if I could order the best Wilson cell booster Canada's got it would help. I hear they've got boosters that will catch a signal in pretty remote places up there, so surely they would have something that would help me. After all, there is reasonably reliable service just a few minutes up the road.

At least we still have a landline phone. I considered having it cut off since we get free long distance on the cells, but it wouldn't have really saved me money by the time I paid the access fee the phone company would have charged to let me keep my Internet. I guess it's a good thing it worked out that way, because if it hadn't I'd be nearly unreachable at times.

Crazy Mountain Weather

2011-06-20T14:02:00.002-04:00

Here in the mountains, we had an early start to summer. At the end of May, highs topped out in the upper 80s, and didn't stray far from there for a couple of weeks. It was a lot to get used to, since just a week or two prior it was cold enough that we had to build a fire. But I didn't complain.

But then the heat subsided, and despite weather forecasts that said it would be right back, it hasn't. It's been more or less normal for this time of year, but it just seems strange that the weather made such an abrupt about-face.

According to the forecast, today was supposed to be hot with a chance of thunderstorms. It's looked like rain alright, but hot? No. It's been reasonably warm, but between the clouds and the lovely mountain winds that can pick up steel buildings with ease, it hasn't even come close to being hot.

You'd think I'd be used to all this weather weirdness, having lived in the mountains for ten years. Don't get me wrong, it's nice to have all four seasons. It just seems like sometimes we have all of them in the same week.

Another Reason to Hate Facebook

2011-06-16T08:54:00.002-04:00

I hate Facebook. Yes, I have an account, but only because it helps me keep in touch with a couple of people that I wouldn't otherwise be able to. I don't post on my wall, because I have no desire to share every last detail of my life, even with friends or family. And I've added as little personal information to my profile as possible, because Facebook doesn't give a crap about anyone's privacy.

And I just found another reason to hate Facebook. I found out yesterday that a teenage relative of mine is pregnant. That's bad in and of itself. But then I heard that it had been announced to the world on Facebook! I, of course, hadn't seen it, because I rarely log in, but I logged in last night to see. And sure enough, her aunt had posted about it.

I always found Facebook rather annoying. I don't really care if somebody is at the dentist, or searching online for some Testoripped, or just got a letter from the DMV, even if I know them. I do care that someone I care about very much but is too young and immature to be a mother is pregnant. But for someone else to tell the world about it on Facebook? That's just tasteless.

I'm not sure how the poor girl feels about the whole Facebook thing. She has an account but didn't post about it herself, so I'm assuming that she didn't want people to find out that way. I just hope that everything works out as well as possible all the way around.

A Rough Week

2011-05-27T23:27:00.002-04:00

This week was a very trying week. I spent a great deal of it in bed, between depression and exhaustion. I hate it when I get like that and wish I could just snap out of it, but I can't. It sucks.

Today was somewhat better. Compared to the rest of the week, I felt like I had started taking the best multivitamin for women or something. I'm still not quite back to normal, but much improved.

For those who've never had to deal with severe depression, I wish I could explain it better than I have. In this case there are certain details that I'd rather not write about for fear of getting depressed about them all over again. But for the most part, I just can't find the words to describe it. Maybe one day they'll come to me.

Shelly the Turtle

2011-05-26T14:13:00.002-04:00

Over the weekend when we were cleaning out the garage, I found an itty bitty turtle. Being the critter lover I am, I just had to bring her in and make her a little habitat. I got some advice on how to care from her from someone I know who has owned turtles, and so far she's doing great.

She's so freaking little! I could probably fit her in an iPod Nano case, but for the time being I've got her in a nice roomy Tupperware cake pan that I've converted into a terrarium. I know she'll need something bigger before long, but I'll find her something when the time comes.

Pumpkin is in love with her. At least we're calling it a "her" (or more specifically Shelly) since I have no idea whether it's male or female. But Pumpkin wants it to be a girl, so I gave in on that notion, even though it's officially my pet.

If any of you turtle fanciers out there have any tips I'd love to hear them!

Motivation Comes at the Wrong Time

2011-05-07T18:47:00.002-04:00

All this week, I struggled to get things done. For some reason, all I felt like doing was sleeping. And when I was awake, I just couldn't get my head on straight and get anything done.

Now the weekend is here, Mother's Day weekend no less, and I suddenly get a burst of creative energy. Since I desperately need to get some work done, I gave in instead of fighting it. It's not like I had any big plans anyway.

It's funny how when I'm home alone and it's nice and quiet around here, I can't manage to get anything done. But when the weekend comes and I want to spend time with my family, I get inspired enough to write a hundred page report on no exam life insurance. I'd love to have more control over when my muse visits. But that's the way it goes.

Puppy Update

2011-05-04T22:57:00.002-04:00

Pumpkin has had her puppy for a week and a half now, and it's been eventful to say the least. Here's a brief synopsis.

A few days after we brought her home, I went out to hang up clothes and found her lying on the porch looking sickly. Later that day Hubby saw her having a seizure. She had several that day, and according to Hubby quit breathing during one of them until he started petting her. She refused to eat or drink.

Pumpkin was terribly worried about her, and since she had school the next day, I volunteered to keep her inside and sleep on the couch so I could keep an eye on her. She slept all night and half of the next day. I finally got her to drink some water and eventually eat, and by that evening she was back to her old self. She didn't have another seizure until a couple of days ago, but at least that one didn't get her down. I'm working on saving up the money to take her to the vet and find out what's going on.

She's taken several knocks in her short time her due to being overly friendly to our other animals. Tiger has smacked her several times when she wouldn't stop licking him, but he has shown enough restraint not to claw her. But Molly (Hubby's coonhound) wasn't quite so patient.

She gave warning barks the first dozen or so times the pup got on her nerves, but today she finally had enough. I was just getting out of the shower when I heard Brownie yelping out back, and I instantly knew what had happened. I got my clothes on as quickly as possible and went out to check on her. She was lucky - it looked like Molly had picked her up by the head and slung her to the side. She had tooth marks above each eye, but there was not much blood and no other damage.

For such a tiny animal, she has a huge appetite. Isn't it funny how dogs eat a lot and look like they've doubled their body weight, then an hour or so later they look like the "after" picture in an ad for Muscletech Hydroxycut? Maybe she's hoping to grow quickly so that she can show the other critters around here who's boss.

April Showers Bring... What?

2011-05-02T01:35:00.002-04:00

We got quite a bit of rain last month. Now May is here, and I'm ready for some pretty weather. This weekend was nice, not hot enough that I was out pricing ceiling fans or anything, but good and warm. But according to the forecast, it's going to get chilly toward the middle of the week, and we could even see some frost and light snow.

I'm hoping it doesn't happen, because my lilies are doing very nicely so far. It would be a shame for something I planted to actually grow, only to be frozen and die. Because I'm a really terrible gardener.

If I can just remember to cover them up on the nights when it's supposed to be cold, they should be okay. If they make it, you can be sure that I'll be posting pictures when they bloom!

A New Furbaby

2011-04-26T11:50:00.002-04:00

We got rid of one of our dogs a few weeks ago. She was absolutely driving us nuts with her constant barking for no reason. If we had close neighbors, I'm sure we would have been forced to get rid of her much sooner.

So we were down to Hubby's pride and joy, his 10-year-old Treeing Walker, and Pumpkin's cat. That was fine with me. But then we went to my brother-in-law's house for a cookout on Saturday, and Pumpkin somehow talked us into coming back home with one of their dog's puppies.

I wasn't too thrilled about the prospect of another pet, and Hubby certainly wasn't passing out the Djarum cigars. But the little booger is kind of growing on us. She yips a lot, but hopefully she'll outgrow that before too long. And she's a Basset Hound/Pekingese mix, so at least she won't get too big.

Hubby is building a lot for her as I write this, so we'll have somewhere to put her if she develops a habit of staying in the road all the time like our last little dog did. And Pumpkin promised to take full responsibility for her care (except for when she's not at home), so maybe things will work out okay with this little pup. I hope so.

Irreparably Broken

2011-04-13T08:10:00.002-04:00

That's how I've been feeling for the past week or two. I just feel like I'm missing something, something vital that was there before I went through that ridiculously long bout of depression.

It's not that I don't feel better now - I certainly do. I no longer lie in bed for days at a time, avoiding interaction with anyone but immediate family. I haven't had a panic attack in probably a year. And I no longer have chronic writer's block or an irrational fear (or more accurately, paranoia) about using the computer. Those are all enormous improvements over a year ago. But I'm still not quite my old self.

When I first started looking for work online, I kept at it regardless of what anyone else had to say. Even when my first attempt at self-employment failed and I had to take a local job, I kept looking. I found that I could make money writing, and I didn't rest until I had enough writing work to keep me busy when I wasn't at my job. I was trying to get back ahead so we would no longer have to constantly worry about how we would pay the bills.

Hubby fell ill right after I left my regular job to write full-time, but that didn't slow me down much. I had to take breaks to do stuff for him and comfort him when he was feeling down and just keep him company sometimes, but I still found plenty of time to write, and while we were no longer getting ahead, I was keeping the bills paid with no problem.

Then things kept getting gloomier, and gloomier, and gloomier. I started missing deadlines, partly because I was so busy trying to fix all the problems that I was dealing with (some of which I've written about in detail, others that I never had the words or the desire to express), but more so because I was losing hope that things would ever be okay again. Those thoughts took over my mind, and I started losing motivation. It eventually got to the point where I could barely function at all, and my writing career all but vanished.

Now I'm out of that wretched depressive state, and work is coming in, but the motivation still isn't there. I'm having to work hard at getting myself to just jump in there and get things done, and I'm way too easily distracted. I should be highly motivated, what with our finances in such dire straits at the moment. I thought that was one of the things that motivated me before, but apparently it was more my natural drive to do my best at everything I did. Could the years of progressively worse mental health have killed that forever?

I certainly hope not. I can't afford to lose it, because my family is depending on me to be the breadwinner. And even if they weren't, I'd hate to see an aspect of myself that I was so proud of just fade away.

But I'm not taking it lying down. I'm fighting it as best I can. I've been creating to-do lists for each day, and I'm going to do my best to stick to them. I usually get at least most of the tasks done when I do that, so it should increase my productivity if not keep me 100% in line. I have a ton of work that I need to get done this week, but once I'm caught up and things are less hectic I'm going to try to break next month's projects up into more manageable chunks. That way if I fall behind on those chunks (either due to lack of motivation or receipt of priority projects), I still have a chance to catch up.

That's my plan, for now. I just hope that I eventually find that drive that I once had. While I'm not interested in spending practically all of my waking hours working like I did at one point, I would like to be able to get things done as quickly as I once did so I could take on more work plus spend more quality time with the family.

The Only Good Thing About Insomnia

2011-04-08T14:08:00.002-04:00

I had my first nearly-sleepless night in a while last night. I'm thankful that I've been sleeping well for the most part lately, but those hours and hours of lying awake even though I'm dead tired are a real killer.

The only good thing about the nights when I don't sleep very much is the entertaining dreams I have. It seems like when it takes me a long time to get to sleep, I start dreaming as soon as I'm out and don't quit until I wake up. I'd rather get more sleep, but I've got to admit that those wacked-out dreams kind of make up for it a little bit.

Last night I dreamed that I was out somewhere with my mom and Pumpkin, and somehow the UPS guy found me and brought me a package. Then he kept coming back with more and more packages until I had at least a dozen. I started opening them and found that they were mostly toys and baby gifts. Pumpkin asked if all that was for her, and I told her I didn't remember ordering any of it. I found one toy in the bunch that she liked, and I gave it to her. Then I remembered that I had been doing some early Christmas shopping online, and that was to be one of her gifts. The rest were for my nieces and nephews.

There was a lot more to the dream, including a Thanksgiving dinner with some family, a few former coworkers and a bunch of people I didn't know, but most of it made very little sense. Still, it's rather interesting to see the crazy stuff my mind comes up with when I'm asleep. Too bad I can't make a movie out of it and post it here!

Figuring Out Firefox 4

2011-03-30T19:37:00.002-04:00

I guess you can call me an early adopter of Firefox 4, because I upgraded last week. I don't usually upgrade that quickly, but I love Firefox and just couldn't wait.

I was rather baffled by it at first. With the default settings, it's a lot different from Firefox 3. For the first few minutes it might as well have been in French (which would be fine for those in France using it on their ordinateurs, but not for my non-French speaking self). But after a little tinkering I figured most everything out.

But it took me until just a few minutes ago to find the home and refresh buttons. I kept meaning to look in the documentation to find out where they were, because I use them a lot, but just never got around to it. Oh well, now I don't have to. (In case anybody out there is having the same problem, the home button is all the way over on the right, and the refresh button is at the end of the address bar.)

Even with the minor adjustments, I'm glad to be back to Firefox after using Opera due to my mail problems. It looks like I may end up having to switch back, though, because Windows Live Mail is acting all weird again. I sure hope not.

What Do You Think of Bare Minerals?

2011-03-30T08:31:00.002-04:00

I tried Bare Minerals foundation a while back when they were giving out free samples. Quite frankly, I wasn't impressed. But it takes a lot to impress me when it comes to foundation. I need really good coverage, not because I have dark circles under eyes, but because of my frequent breakouts and the scars they've left behind. Yet I don't want to look like I've got a ton of makeup caked on, either. The Bare Minerals foundation just didn't cover like I needed it to.

But I got a coupon for $10 off an order from their website a while back, so I thought I would try some of their other stuff. I ordered a kit that included two eye shadows, a powder eyeliner, a blush and a lip gloss, along with all of the brushes needed. The verdict on that? Not bad.

It came with instructions on how to apply the eye makeup, and I did as instructed. Unfortunately, something about the shape of my eyelids made the shadow that goes in the crease go all wonky. I figured it was the brush that they sent for that purpose, because it was a little on the fluffy side. I tried applying it with a tapered Mary Kay brush I already had, though, and it looked great.

I absolutely adore the powder eyeliner and the brush that goes with it. Eyeliner is a must-have for me, but I'm a spaz when it comes to applying liquid liner. I had been using a nice silky powder eyeshadow from Merle Norman and applying it with a lip brush, but I ran out and hadn't been able to find any more. But I like this stuff even better. It goes on easy, and it's not hard to fix if you mess it up.

The blush is okay, it goes on well with the angled blush brush, but it's a little pink for my tastes. From the picture on the website it looked more neutral. But I'll use it, because I apply just enough blush for it to be barely noticeable, so it doesn't look shockingly pink.

The lip gloss is good, too. It's also pink, but it has more of a brownish tint to it. It's nice and shiny, and it has a major cooling effect on your lips. It also makes them look really smooth and plump. My only beef is that it's rather sticky, but I've found that most of the lip glosses I like are.

Overall, I like my Bare Minerals makeup. Hubby even commented on how good I looked the last time I wore it, and it had to have been the makeup, because I had done nothing to my hair and was wearing sweats and a holey t-shirt. So I'll definitely be ordering from them again.

Really Freaking Tired

2011-03-27T17:02:00.002-04:00

I spent most of yesterday in bed. Part of the reason was because I forgot to take one of my medications the day before, and that always makes me tired and moody. But even after I took it and gave it time to get back in my system, I was still ridiculously tired.

At first I thought maybe it was high time I went out and bought some of the best multivitamins on the market. And maybe it is. But I've also come to the conclusion that a big factor in my low energy levels of late is that I've got a sinus infection, an ear infection or both.

I've been having ear pain off and on, but not bad enough to send me running to the doctor. But today I started feeling serious pressure in my temples, and that's always a sure sign of trouble. So I guess I'll be heading to the doctor sometime this week. Happy happy, joy joy.

I would wait until money wasn't so tight, but I can't afford to be tired all the time. I've got too much work to do, and I need to keep up with it. And I can't do that if I'm sacked out.

The Storm That Kept on Giving

2011-03-23T23:34:00.002-04:00

The weather in the mountains is always interesting, to say the least. We get lots of wind, and it's not at all unusual to find someone else's trash can lid, spa cover or plastic chair in your yard. In the winter, we get some pretty big snows. And in the spring, summer and fall, thunderstorms like to play games with us.

It's fairly common for storms to hit us, go on their way, and circle back around and hit us again. But this evening was a real doozy. After a rather calm and sunny day, the rain, thunder and lightning just came out of nowhere. We got a big enough drenching that we had to check on the basement (which, thankfully, wasn't flooded). Then it quit and appeared to clear up, but as soon as Hubby decided to play video games, it came back for Round 2. And that's how it went pretty much all night - it would stop storming, we would start to resume our normal activities, and then it would start again.

It finally let up shortly after Pumpkin went to bed, so now I'm getting some stuff done that I had hoped to have done much earlier. I would normally be up now anyway, but I was hoping to get to bed early tonight since I'm feeling slightly bad. Oh well. I'll survive.

Next Week!

2011-03-18T19:01:00.002-04:00

I finally get to get started with my new job next week. I was starting to get worried. I had to retake one of the tests a couple of times, but I finally got the required score. So now I'm ready to go!

I'm planning on spending a goodly portion of the weekend getting ahead on my writing work. At least I hope it works out that way. Hubby is going to his brother's and will be out of the house for a while, but Pumpkin will be here. Too bad she doesn't have something to do this weekend. I know she'll be bored while I'm sitting in here working. Maybe I'll be able to get some stuff done while she's still in bed, and then I'll be able to take frequent breaks the rest of the day to spend time with her.

I just hope I'll be able to muster enough energy to get everything I need to do during the day done with this new job. I've been seriously lacking in that department for a while now. I tried some 5-hour Energy, but it didn't seem to help a bit. I can't have much caffeine, so I guess I'll have to try to find some good vitamins and see if that helps.

Gotta go get a little more work done so I can chill the rest of the evening. Catch ya later!

Stupid Rain

2011-03-06T15:42:00.002-05:00

I'm aware that my part of the country is in a drought right now. But do we really have to get enough rain to last us a month or two in the span of a few days?

It has rained cats and dogs for the past couple of days, and as usual, the basement has been turned into a kiddie pool. But this time it's not the basement wall that's leaking. It's coming in through the basement door. I guess that means the ground is seriously saturated, because the only other time it has come in that way was when the guttering was leaking.

So far we've been focusing on keeping water out of the basement in the first place to avoid damage, and pumping it out when necessary. We're not technically in a flood zone, so we're not required to have flood insurance, so we haven't purchased any. But I'm starting to consider it.

Trouble is, it's really freaking expensive. At least it is through our homeowners' insurance company. Maybe I should look elsewhere, like at http://www.wholesaleinsurance.net or some other discount insurance site.

We're supposed to get a couple more days of rain this week, so we'll have to really keep an eye on things. Wish us luck.

The Surreal Life

2011-03-04T22:07:00.002-05:00

Did you ever watch that show, The Surreal Life, that came on VH1 a few years ago? It was kind of like The Real World, except instead of "ordinary" people living together, it was D-list celebrities. It's one of the few shows I've actually gotten into over the past several years, and I rather miss it. But lately my life has felt rather surreal, so I guess I don't need to watch other people's surreal lives on TV any more.

I spent the week training for my new job, and the time that wasn't spent on that was spent getting stuff done around the house and crashing for the most part. My energy levels haven't been the best lately, but I've been trying to stretch what energy I've had as far as it would go. Sometimes it has worked out nicely, others not so much.

I was afraid Hubby would make things more difficult for me since I've had to spend more time on the computer, but he has pleasantly surprised me. He deserves a medal or a NGC gold eagle coin or something for being so good to me. He hasn't really been at 100% lately himself, but he's really stepped up and taken care of Pumpkin when needed and made sure I was able to work undistracted. He's the man.

I'm still waiting on some test scores to see if I'm ready to move into production on my new job. But I've got plenty to keep me busy in the meantime. It's a little scary to be honest, but it certainly feels good.

Strep Is the Devil

2011-02-26T15:25:00.002-05:00

Pumpkin has strep again. I guess we're lucky that she hasn't had it in a while, because there was a time when she seemed to have it constantly. But I wish the stuff just didn't exist.

She's on antibiotics, but I don't think they're going to do the trick. She's been coughing and feeling icky since they got in her system, so it's like it's breaking up all the gunk but not actually killing the bacteria. I'll probably end up taking her back to the doctor on Monday.

Hubby seems to think he's getting it too. He's been feeling weak, and that's usually the first sign that he's getting sick. The jury is still out on me. My throat was bothering me last night, but it isn't today. I guess I'll find out if I've got it or not within a few days.

I think we all need to start taking some one a day vitamins. Maybe that would help keep us from getting sick in the first place. I know that when I took them as a teenager I rarely got sick, but I was also a lot healthier overall then. Anyway, it's worth a try.

The New Normal

2011-02-25T22:36:00.002-05:00

I've had a pretty busy week compared to what I've been accustomed to lately. And it feels damn good.

The company I'm going to be working for has sent me a ton of stuff I need to go over before I start training next week, as well as instructions for software I need to install and settings I need to change and such. I've done some of it, and I still have lots to do over the weekend. I had planned to do some of it this evening, but I got a request for a rush job on some articles. And of course I accepted, because I'm not about to turn down any bit of extra money I can get right now. But I've already finished them, so I still have plenty of time to get everything done.

I had plans to go shopping with Hubby and Pumpkin today, so I had to work around that. I got up late this morning and had to bust my butt to get some stuff done before we left to pick her up from school, and shortly after we got back I started working again. My arthritic wrist is hurting from all the typing, but otherwise I'm feeling great. Almost like my old self again.

That's right, I'm starting to remember what it feels like to not be either severely depressed or stressed to the max again. And it's about time. I've been under a huge amount of stress for a good four years now. It started around the time I quit my day job to start writing full time. It wasn't because of that, though. You see, right around that time, Hubby quit his job of two years to go to work for a guy who turned out to be the world's biggest liar. He said he could give him all the hours he wanted, and ended up working him thirty hours in two days and then disappearing for two weeks.

I had plenty of work then, and we were only paying lot rent instead of a mortgage payment, so even though Hubby was essentially jobless, we made it alright. But then he started having trouble with his gall bladder, and it soon got to the point where he couldn't do anything but lay around, so finding another job was out of the question. I had to work day and night, plus do the chores for the both of us and take care of Pumpkin's needs. And the doctor kept making him try something for a month, come back, try something else for a month, come back, take a test, come back, and so on and so forth for a good six months before he finally saw fit to do surgery.

The surgery helped, and he found a new job to go to when he was cleared for work by the doctor. I thought things would get better, but boy was I wrong. A few days before he was to start work, the landlady informed us that we would have to move our mobile home because her son would be moving his onto the lot. Since our savings were gone, we couldn't afford to have it moved somewhere else. So we would have to sell it and find another place.

After the bad experiences we had had with landlords (her in particular), and considering the fact that rent is outrageous when compared to income around here, we decided we would try to buy a house. We found a fixer-upper, sold the mobile home, closed and moved in. Actually there was much more drama to it than that, but I don't feel like hashing it out right now.

Things haven't been much better since then. Hubby changed jobs, we made it but struggled, he had to quit his job due to back trouble and hasn't been able to hold down a job since, he kept inviting his relatives to stay with us, we argued, we struggled even more, yadda yadda yadda. Stress, stress and more stress, and that lead me to a nervous breakdown.

I've been working toward recovery since then, and it's been a rough road. I think all this work came at just the right time, because I was just getting to the point where I could accept our "new normal." I know that it's up to me to bring home the bacon, and have known that for a while now. And just when I was beginning to lose hope that it would happen, things started to turn around.

Now, I'm cautiously optimistic. It looks like I'm going to have enough work to be able to support the family. In fact, I may have to look up some fenphedrine reviews because I'll be sitting in front of the computer so much. (Actually, I'm going to have to make myself get out and go for a walk every day.) Things are still far from perfect, but I think I'm finally getting to the point where I can deal with that.

Sorry for the long (and for you long-time readers, repetitive) post. I just had to get all that off my chest. Now, hopefully, I can put it behind me and move on.

Busy as a Bee

2011-02-24T23:35:00.002-05:00

I'm going to be a busy gal for the foreseeable future. I got the job I applied for (Yee-haw!!!), and I'm also getting a steady stream of work from the client I just hooked back up with. And I still have the work I was already doing. So I should be working full time hours, and probably a hefty amount of overtime, for a while. Awesome!

Another good thing about all this is that I won't have to apply for writing jobs any more. I have to admit it was getting rather tiresome patrolling the job boards every day, finding ads for jobs writing about everything from designer sunglasses to male enhancement, weeding through it all to see what I was interested in and qualified for, sending resumes and applications, and waiting. I finally wrote a standard cover letter and saved it to my hard drive so I could copy and paste, which made things a little quicker, but it still took up a ridiculous amount of time. I won't miss that a bit.

I could go on, but I won't. I need to get back to getting all my ducks in a row before I start training next week. The company I'm working for has sent me a lot of stuff I need to read over and digest, and I also need to make sure I'm up to date on all of my work. But I'll be back around before the weekend is out.

Blackheads Suck

2011-02-23T12:24:00.002-05:00

Does anyone have any idea how to how to get rid of blackheads? I've never had much of a problem with them myself, and on the occasions when some would crop up, those pore strips pulled them right out of there. They worked well for Hubby, too. But Pumpkin has them in the little creases on each side of her nose. I tried a pore strip on her, but for some reason they just wouldn't get in there and do the job.

I don't want to use anything harsh on her baby soft skin, so most of the cleansers on the market are out. And I've found that while cleansers are good at preventing blackheads, they rarely do much in the way of getting rid of the ones you've already got anyway. Maybe there's some trick to getting the pore strips to pick them up from those hard to reach spots that I don't know about. If anybody knows that trick, please enlighten me.

An Interview

2011-02-21T11:52:00.002-05:00

I've got a job interview today. It's the first one I've had in a long, long time, and to be honest I haven't missed them a bit. But I'm really hoping that it goes well. It's a phone interview, so at least I don't have to worry about being judged by the way I look.

I don't want to say much about the job, because in my experience it's always been bad karma to talk much about a job until it is secured. But I will say that it kinda-sorta falls into the tech jobs category, but doesn't require a degree or any technical knowledge beyond what I possess. I know I'm well qualified and would do a great job, it's just convincing the interviewer of that.

I'm trying my best not to be nervous. But I need this job soooooooo badly that it's hard not to. Wish me luck. I'll need it.

Some Much-Needed Good News

2011-02-17T22:46:00.003-05:00

I've been about to tear my hair out from applying for so many writing jobs and getting so little response. The few responses I have gotten have been from people who want high quality writing for a penny or two a word, and as much as I need some money coming in, I feel like I would be doing myself more harm than good by accepting that. I think I'd be better off to keep searching for better paying work than to spend my time toiling away at slave wages.

But today something completely unexpected happened: one of my former clients, one that I kind of flaked out on around the time of my nervous breakdown, emailed me. She said that she had read some recent posts on my other blog, and it seemed that I was doing better and wanted to make contact. But here's the real kicker: she said I was welcome to come back to work for her any time! I nearly fell out of my chair!

After recovering from the shock of it all, I emailed her back and told her that I would love to come back to work for her. The pay is less than I would accept from most clients, but she is absolutely awesome to work for and always provided consistently steady work. There's no way I could say no to that.

I don't know how much work is coming in right now, but I'm sure she'll keep me reasonably busy. That combined with my current gig with Coupon Trunk should give me a decent chunk of change each month. Plus I'm interviewing for a part-time hourly work from home position next week. If I get that, maybe, just maybe, our financial outlook will no longer be so bleak.

Wish me luck with it all. If my sanity will just hold out, I think better days are ahead.

Next Week Will Be Better

2011-02-15T22:57:00.002-05:00

It's been a rough week so far. I had a bit of an emotional meltdown over the weekend, and it lasted through Valentine's Day. (Why do these things so frequently happen around the holidays?) But Hubby was good to me through it all, and he ended up making V-day itself awesome. I'm so beyond lucky to have him.

I think the finances were the main thing that was stressing me out. They've been excruciatingly tight. But things will be better on that front next week, because we'll be getting both the proceeds from my domain sale and our tax refund. Then we can catch up on the bills and get a few things that we desperately need, like a dresser for Pumpkin's room. But we've already discussed the fact that we should only spend on necessities, not things like kitchen canisters with landscape photos on them (yes, I know someone who spent a portion of her tax refund on those) or iPhone 4 wood cases. Anything that's left is going into savings.

I may have to get a new printer, though. I had one hell of a time getting some important documents printed today. I had to restart the computer at least a dozen times altogether. I tried reinstalling the driver when I got done, but if that doesn't work, I guess I'll have to come off of a little more money.

It feels good to see a little bit of light at the end of the tunnel. I'll feel much better when I get more steady income flowing in, though.

Still Chuggin Along

2011-02-11T22:33:00.002-05:00

I've been looking for work for a few weeks now, and no one has contacted me saying that I'm exactly the writer they've been looking for and they would like to offer me a multi-million dollar a year part-time position. But over the past week, I have gotten a few nibbles.

The first sounded like a promising gig, but I don't think the guy liked my prices. As far as I'm concerned, that's his loss. I think I charge very reasonably given my experience and skill level, and am quite competitive among others in my market. But some just refuse to pay writers what they're worth, so they end up getting what they paid for.

Another guy emailed me today and was very interested in hiring me as a contractor, but there was a misunderstanding that killed the inaugural project. He still seems very interested in what I have to offer, though, so I'm hopeful that he will at least send some stuff my way.

And then there was a reply about an altogether different type of project that involves me promoting their stuff on my blog. I'm cool with blogging about platform shoes or PSP games or car covers or whatever as long as they realize that I won't lie and I will be straightforward about being compensated for it. I'll just have to wait on the details of that one.

So maybe all that searching and applying and waiting wasn't just time wasted. Even if none of these pan out, now that I'm gaining some momentum, maybe there will be lots more on the horizon. And whatever happens, I'm taking the opportunity to work on my first ebook when our tax refund gets here. And that just might be the kick in the pants that my freelancing career needs right now.

No More Viruses, Please!

2011-02-06T01:31:00.002-05:00

This past week, I got my second virus of 2011. This time it was a stomach bug. Pumpkin got it first, and then as soon as she got over it, it was Hubby's and my turn. It was brutal, but at least it didn't last long. We were only completely out of commission for one day. And even though I was only able to eat a couple of pieces of bread that day, I don't think I would see any weight loss if I stepped on the scales. I barely moved except for walking the short distance between the bed and the bathroom.

My computer got a virus, too, and that was more upsetting to me than the one I got. I spent a whole day following the instructions over at Major Geeks to remove viruses and malware, and it looks like it paid off. I'm keeping a close eye on everything though, just in case.

It would be great if I could be done with viruses of all types for the rest of the year. Not only do they suck, but they take away time that I would have spent working, or in this case, looking for work. It's enough to make me want to put myself, my family and my computer in a bubble.

Hanging In There

2011-01-28T13:36:00.002-05:00

Still no luck on finding more ongoing writing work. Or any one-off gigs, for that matter. I've thought about just giving up and converting my office into a second bathroom, complete with one of those big fancy soaking tubs. Oh, wait, I can't do that. I'm freaking broke.

Giving up is not an option, so I'm keeping at it, applying for everything I can find each day. I've even applied for some telemarketing jobs that don't require experience. It's a long shot because there's so much competition for those kinds of jobs, but it's worth a try.

I've also applied for "real" jobs in my area, to no avail. If things had been going this way a few months ago, I would probably be in the nuthouse by now. But my head is on somewhat straight, so I'm hanging in there. I just hope something comes along soon, because the bills aren't going to pay themselves.

But She's Too Young for Makeup!

2011-01-20T10:25:00.002-05:00

My little girl is growing up way too fast. For the past week, she's been asking to wear makeup. It's not that she's never worn it before - I did her face up when she dressed up as Cleopatra for Halloween a couple of years ago, and she puts on some eyeshadow and lip gloss from time to time. But I'm just not ready for it to become an everyday thing.

Still, I can understand where she's coming from. She's not trying to look like some overly made-up pop star or anything. Her main concern is covering up the pimples that are starting to pop up here and there. Yes, pimples. As far as I'm concerned, she's too young for that too, but that's beyond her control. And she's starting to break out at the same age I did, so I was sort of expecting it.

I'd like to find her some good natural make up to cover them up with, something that won't cause further breakouts. And I'm definitely planning on trying to find a good acne treatment to help keep them at bay. I know how it is going through adolescence with acne, and it's no fun.

I'm not mentally prepared for all this, but what mother is? All I can do is do my best to help her through these changes she's going through, and try not to lose my mind in the process.

Look Out World, Here I Come

2011-01-19T13:14:00.002-05:00

The Crud has finally decided to make its exit in full, leaving me clear-headed and much more energetic. I haven't felt this good since... well, since before I got The Crud. And I haven't persistently felt like this in months and months. I'm ready to get back to life and start kicking some butt.

I felt so motivated yesterday that even though it was my birthday, I just had too much energy to kick back and relax properly. I was on the computer off and on all day and night, getting caught up on my work and looking for new gigs and even work-from-home jobs. I found a bunch on a job board that interested me, and I applied for every single one that I felt I would enjoy, be qualified for, and be adequately compensated.

There was one ad that just blew my mind, though. It was for a gadget reviewer. I thought it sounded pretty interesting until I read through the job description. They wanted people to review high-dollar "gadgets" like HDTVs and such. The reviewer was expected to obtain the product on his own, then write a 500-1500 word review. The pay? $25 per review. Um, no thanks. Maybe if they wanted me to write sport sock reviews or candy reviews or even alli reviews, because I wouldn't have to spend a fortune to get the products. But to pay out the cash to get such expensive stuff and then only receive a penny or two a word for its review? No thanks!

Sadly, there are way too many people who expect a talented writer to work for peanuts. I got caught in one of those traps once, accepting a job that seemed pretty simple and offered a few thousand dollars for the completed project. But I learned my lesson when that project turned into a nightmare of busting my butt to get the equivalent of minimum wage, working 18 hours a day, with no chance in hell of making the deadline. I'm a lot more careful about what I get into these days.

But enough of those horror stories. My motivation has returned, and I'm ready to get my freelance writing business back to where it should be. I'm going to keep actively searching for clients, and I'm going to work on my writing website until it's exactly how I want it, and I'm going to start advertising it. Wish me luck!

Not Getting Any Younger

2011-01-17T15:28:00.002-05:00

I've got a birthday coming up, and I've been trying to forget about it. I actually haven't had to try too hard, because I don't think of it unless somebody mentions it. But Hubby won't shut up about it. He keeps giving me a hard time about getting older. I know I'm not getting any younger, but sheesh!

But Hubby wouldn't be Hubby if he weren't picking on me about something. And he told me the other day that I still look like I'm twenty. So I suppose I can forgive him for ragging on me so much.

Still, I'd like to get in better shape before I get much further into my thirties. I know losing weight doesn't get any easier as you get older, and need to lose quite a bit. I don't care about looking like I did when I was in high school, I'm mainly interested for health reasons. But I'd be lying if I said that a small part of it wasn't because I know I'd be more attractive at a lower weight. What can I say, I'm human.

I had sworn off diet pills, but I'm starting to consider them again. I've lost some weight on my own without even trying, and maybe if I were to eat healthier and start exercising, I could lose more. And if I added some of the most effective diet pills on the market to the mix, that might speed things up a bit.

I'm still on the fence as to whether I'll actually try any diet pills. If I do, it will only be after some serious research. After all, I'm trying to get healthier, not do things that will be detrimental to my health.

Friend Is a Four-Letter Word

2011-01-14T23:37:00.002-05:00

Making friends has never been one of my strong points. I've always been somehow "different" from my peers, I guess partially because of the whole bipolar thing. So when I was a kid, even though I tried to be friendly and courteous to everybody, I rarely made any lasting connections. The few friends I did make eventually backstabbed me in one way or another, so I severed ties with them when I left the area where I grew up.

I thought maybe things would be better where I'm at now, but they've actually been a bit worse. I did meet the best friend I could ever have, Hubby, so that was a good thing. But as far as friends to hang out with in a non-romantic way, I haven't had any more luck than I did when I was younger. And I'd rather be lonely than have friends who aren't real friends.

Well, recently Hubby has been trying to nudge me toward making some friends so that I can do some of the things I enjoy and he doesn't with them, like going to concerts and shopping. After several unsuccessful attempts, I think he finally found someone that I can connect with: his cousin's wife. We've all been hanging out together for the past couple of weeks, and whenever he sees an opportunity, Hubby sends us ladies out to run an errand or something together. At first I was rather annoyed by it, but we seem to get along really well, so I guess his friend matchmaking is working.

Over the years I've learned to get by with nothing more than a few family members to talk to and nobody to really do things with. But it would be nice to have somebody to discuss anything that's on my mind with, whether it's Pumpkin's education or makeup tips or the benefits of pendant lighting, and to participate in activities that I've been missing for a long time. So I'm going to try to keep an open mind and not push this girl away like I've done before with prospective friends. Hopefully it will work out better than most of my past friendships.

A Violin? Really?

2011-01-13T01:14:00.002-05:00

I'm finally starting to get over that horrible Crud that has plagued me for the past week. I got my sense of taste and a small amount of energy back a couple of days ago, but today has been the first day I've really felt normal. Still pretty stuffy and tiring fairly easily, but otherwise I'm okay.

Pumpkin has been out of school all week, and she has been pretty helpful around the house. I think it's because she's decided that she must have a violin. She mentioned getting one a few months ago, but she more or less dropped it well before Christmas. But ever since we went to my mom's shortly after Christmas, and she talked to her cousin who is learning to play the mandolin, she's been bringing it up every couple of days.

Well, Hubby's brother recently bought a violin. He's been buying a lot of instruments lately, and I have no idea why, because he doesn't play anything nor express any desire to do so. Just something else to waste money on, I guess. Not too long ago he bought a Wii, a bunch of Wii games, and all sorts of Wii accessories, only to turn around and sell them a couple of weeks later for much less than he paid for them. Weird.

Anyway, I look for him to start selling off instruments the next time he needs some cash. Pumpkin knows how he is too, and she's already told him that when he's ready to sell the violin, she has dibs on it. She's got some money saved up that she claims she's not going to spend until she gets it, so we'll see how that goes. If she doesn't have enough, maybe Hubby and I can help her out on it.

The next question is how she's going to learn to play it. It's a shame my dad is no longer with us, because he could have taught her. She could take lessons at school if she were enrolled in the afterschool program, but we can't afford that. So I guess we'd have to check on lessons at the music store in town. I'm not sure how much they cost. But if she's that interested in playing, I'd like to see that she gets the opportunity.

A Bad Case of the Crud

2011-01-09T23:19:00.003-05:00

A few nights ago, for no good reason, my positive New Year attitude went missing. I thought it was the dreaded depressive state setting back in. The good news is it wasn't. The bad news is that the problem was actually the moodiness that sets in right before I get The Crud.

Yes, that's right, The Crud. Also known as the common cold, only a cold this bad isn't particularly common, at least not for me. I get little cases of the sniffles pretty often, and they often lead to sinus infections, which suck. But this Crud has just knocked me for a loop. I'm all stuffed up, been coughing and sneezing, and it feels like someone has packed my ears full of cotton. I'm weak and get extremely dizzy when I stand or bend or look down. Ick.

But the thing that's really got me down is the mental fog that goes along with it all. For the past couple of days, I've been about as useful as a futon cover on a sectional sofa. I haven't done much except sleep and watch TV, because my brain goes into overload if I try to do anything else. I finally managed to get on the computer this evening and do some blogging, but I don't feel like I'm making any sense. So please excuse me if this post appears to have been written by a drunk monkey. I think I'll go to bed now.

Happy New Year!

2011-01-05T23:50:00.002-05:00

Howdy y'all! I just wanted to drop by and post happy New Year wishes for my readers. I know it's been 2011 for, like, five days now, and in this day and age that makes it old news. But I still hope each and every one of you have a wonderful, happy and healthy year.

As for me, I'm excited to see what the next twelve months will hold. Most of 2010 was pretty miserable for my family and me, but things seem to be getting better. Those terrible bouts of depression and anxiety I was having seem like a distant memory now, and I can honestly say that despite still having lots of problems to sort out, I have an unusually positive outlook. Now if things would improve for dear Hubby, I'd be downright ecstatic.

I haven't made any formal resolutions, but I do hope to get my work back up to a level that will keep the bills paid and give us some extra money to save and/or play with. It will probably take a while, but I've been celebrating every shred of progress I make to keep myself going. We'll see how it all pans out.

Is a JOB in My Future?

2010-12-27T00:21:00.002-05:00

Money has been tight at my house lately, and from the looks of things it's about to get even tighter. I've been mulling over my options, and I've half-heartedly put in a few job applications. I hope to be able to continue working strictly from home, but I just don't know whether or not that's realistic.

It would be great if I could go out to the garage and run across a hidden stash of gold bullion and not have to worry about it. But since the chances of that happening are slim to none, I've got to do something. I plan on looking for more writing work after the beginning of the year, and if all goes well I'll find enough to keep the bills paid. If it doesn't, I'll have to go back to work for someone else. If I can find a job around here, that is.

I could probably go back to the restaurant where I was working before I became self-employed full-time, but that's a last resort. I've also got some connections that could possibly help me get a job at a local factory if they happen to be hiring. Other than that, the pickings are pretty slim.

Giving up my flexible schedule and time with my family is the last thing I want to do. But the bills aren't going to pay themselves. And since Hubby isn't able to contribute, I'll have to figure something out.

The Wrong Degree

2010-12-27T00:09:00.002-05:00

I came to the conclusion long ago that I pursued the wrong degree when I was in college. It's not that there's not a demand for business managers - after all, every business needs management. It's that all the available positions either require experience or a bachelor's or master's degree. An associate's degree won't get you much of anywhere.

If you're going to get an associate's degree, you need to go for something more specialized. If you've got an associate's in accounting, for example, there are plenty of accounting finance jobs that you could get. I know this because my brother-in-law's girlfriend just got her AAS in accounting, and she's already got a job with a local accounting firm. Must be nice.

I've often thought about going back to school and getting my bachelor's or another associate's degree in a high-demand field. But I honestly don't know if I could hack it. The way things are going in my life right now, I seriously doubt it. I'm not going to rule it out permanently, though. I remember a film I watched in elementary school that had a very wise message that applies here: "Never say never, 'cause never is forever, and forever is a long, long time."

A White Christmas

2010-12-26T23:53:00.002-05:00

How was your Christmas? Mine was rather uneventful. We stayed home all day and didn't have any company. It was actually kind of boring as far as I was concerned. But we were all happy with our gifts, and it snowed enough for Pumpkin to go sleigh riding. She had a good day, and that's the most important thing to me.

The snow hung around and is still coming down. It has also gotten bitterly cold and windy. The roads are in bad enough shape that there has been maybe one car that passed our house today, and while we don't exactly live on a main thoroughfare, that's highly unusual.

Now that we're done with the whole Christmas thing, I'm ready to hibernate for the rest of the winter. Or better yet, vacation on Sanibel Island for the next few months. I don't think either of those things will actually be happening, but I can hope and dream. Right?

Christmas Time's a Comin'!

2010-12-22T13:25:00.002-05:00

Can you believe it? Christmas is almost here! And for once, I'm actually happy about it.

As usual, we weren't able to spend much on gifts. In fact, most of the gifts we're giving are homemade. Decorated stockings filled with candy and inexpensive toys for the little ones, and canisters of home-baked cookies for some of the adults. But we're all in the Christmas spirit this year, and that's what counts.

I bought Hubby some cologne, and I also ordered him a socket set. The socket set probably won't be here until after Christmas, but it was such a good deal I couldn't pass it up. I would have loved to have bought him something nice like an Eotech Magnifier for his gun, but there's no way I could have afforded it. Maybe next year.

I've got a couple of things left to do, but for the most part, I'm ready for Christmas. And that's saying a lot, considering that I'm usually up late on Christmas Eve trying to get all the presents wrapped. If I don't get to blog here again until after the holiday, have a merry one!

Somewhat Back to Normal

2010-12-19T22:47:00.003-05:00

The past couple of weeks have been rather out of the ordinary around here. Nothing catastrophic or anything, just not normal. Or maybe it is normal considering that it's winter. Winter in the mountains comes with all sorts of surprises, most of which I could do without.

First off, school was out all but two days over the past two weeks. The two days they did go were a Friday and a Saturday. Pumpkin usually likes snow days, but this time she went into fits every time they would cancel it for another day. That's because at first they took days off of Christmas vacation to make up for them, and as of right now they're going until Wednesday when last Thursday should have been their last day of 2010. But I guess Wednesday was their limit, because they've finally started adding on to next semester.

Another strange thing is that Hubby has been in bed sick most of that time. The doctor called it bronchitis and a sinus infection, and told him that if he had waited a couple more days, it would have turned into walking pneumonia. I think it had already made the transition, because I've never seen him that sick for that long. It took two rounds of strong antibiotics, and he's just now able to do a fraction of his normal activities. So of course I've been having to look after him and do all of his normal chores, in addition to keeping Pumpkin entertained and trying to get my own stuff done.

I don't think I've done too bad of a job. Had this happened a few months ago, I would have probably been so stressed out that someone would have had to take care of me. But this time, for the most part, I managed to stay cool, calm and collected. Perhaps not as efficient as I could have been, but you can't win 'em all, right?

All I know is that I'm really looking forward to spring, and winter isn't even officially here yet. I saw some pictures of the most gorgeous crape myrtle trees online, and I found myself wishing that I could look out the window and see something like that rather than a bunch of snow and ice. Sure, winter is beautiful in its own way, but I'm much more appreciative of warm-weather beauty.

Oh, by the way, I hope to start responding to comments more quickly now. I thought I had the settings adjusted to where I would receive an email with each comment, but it wasn't working. I just figured out how to fix it, though, so hopefully all of my many, many (HA!) commenters will start seeing quicker responses.

No Shopping Trips This Weekend

2010-12-11T00:54:00.003-05:00

If I do any holiday shopping this weekend, it's going to be online. Since Pumpkin will be in school tomorrow (thanks to it being called off four days this week due to road conditions), I had hoped to talk Hubby into going with me to get the rest of her Christmas presents. But he's still really sick, so it's not going to happen.

I could go do it myself, but I don't want to. For one thing, despite the fact that Hubby tends to rush me, for some reason I don't feel like shopping alone. And for another, despite the fact that he hates shopping, Hubby feels left out if I buy all of Pumpkin's gifts myself. So I guess I'll just hold off until later.

I do still have some Amazon gift certificates left, so I might see if I can find anything there. And with it being two weeks until Christmas, perhaps I'll check some other online stores and see if they have any killer deals to draw customers in while they can still use standard shipping. That sounds like a plan to me.

Staying Warm

2010-12-11T00:37:00.002-05:00

I don't know about the rest of the country, but here in the Appalachians, we have had some bitterly cold weather lately. The past couple of days haven't been so bad for winter, but it was insanely cold last week and the beginning of this one. And according to the forecast, it's supposed to get even colder starting Sunday. Oh, joy.

At least we've got plenty of wood to burn this year. Hubby cut it off and on over the summer, so we should have enough to do us the biggest part of the winter. And unlike last year, it's actually dry wood. That means it doesn't take me two hours to get the stuff to burn, and I don't have to constantly babysit the stove.

I've been sitting up late and keeping the fire going so it won't be freezing when we get up in the morning. And that suits me fine, because I can't normally go to sleep until 2:00 or 3:00 AM anyway. I use the quiet time to work (and play when I can't concentrate) on the computer for the most part, and occasionally watch an old favorite TV show if I catch one on.

The worst thing about this weather is having to keep a fire in the basement. Our water tends to freeze when it gets really cold, and heat tape scares the bejeezus out of me. So until I get over my phobia, I have to keep an eye on the stove down there when we need a fire. It wouldn't be so bad if the house were like most and you could enter the basement from the inside, but I have to brave the cold and go outside to get down there.

All that running back and forth to the basement on cold nights has shown me that my idea of getting one of those small steel buildings to put a stove in and pipe the heat into the house wasn't such a good one. Sure, it would keep the mess that wood makes out of the house, and might be better for our allergies. But when I don't have to go downstairs, I'd just as soon stay indoors during inclement weather.

Self-Gifting

2010-12-03T15:11:00.002-05:00

I've been reading some stories about this year's holiday shopping trends, and some were rather surprising. Despite the economy not making much headway, spending has edged up, and Cyber Monday turned out to be the biggest online shopping day ever. And according to most sources, more people have been buying stuff for themselves this year than the past few.

I wish I could have contributed to those increases, but money is as tight as ever at my house. I've only gotten a little bit of Christmas shopping done, and I'm not in any position to buy anything for myself. And even if I was, it wouldn't be something I really wanted like an HDTV or a laptop. It would be something more practical, like the parts to fix my car or a new faucet to replace the leaky one at the kitchen sink so I wouldn't have to keep reaching under the sink to turn the hot water on and off.

It's not that I see anything wrong with self-gifting. I've done it before, when I saw a great deal on a stereo and had the money to buy it. I guess it's just a tinge of jealousy that our financial picture is not improving while it looks like other people's are. Maybe that's not it, though. Maybe people are just tired of not being able to have anything and are using credit to get things that they really can't afford.

But to any of you out there who are doing better now than you were this time last year, congratulations. Maybe in 2011 I'll be able to look back at this year and see that we're doing better as well.

Hubby's Sick Again

2010-12-02T22:41:00.002-05:00

Poor Hubby. He's sick again. On top of the sinus problems he's been experiencing, his stomach is now giving him trouble and he's been extremely weak and tired. It could be that the whole thing is due to a sinus infection, because I've seen those and other types of infections affect him similarly. But whatever it is, he's pitiful.

I think he has finally decided to go to the doctor. I hope so, anyway. I think antibiotics are probably in order. And I'm trying to talk him into finding some good multivitamins to take so that he will be more resistant to these things.

If he does go to the doctor, I'll probably go too and try to get something for my sinuses. Our doctor is good about giving us both something if we need it, even if we're only paying for one visit. Maybe if we both get treated at the same time, we won't keep passing germs back and forth.

Stupid Sinus Infections

2010-12-01T19:05:00.002-05:00

I hate sinus infections. I've had more than my fair share of them. I think I've got another one, but I'm trying to tough it out until I go back to the doctor. And when I do, I'm going to take Hubby with me and see if he can get some antibiotics, too. He says he has thought he had one for a long time, but won't go to the doctor because he says he can't afford it. But if we don't both get treated, we'll probably keep passing it back and forth.

Pumpkin just finished a round of antibiotics for a sinus infection, too. But I'm not sure that it got rid of it. She was complaining with the same old symptoms again today. I'll probably end up taking her back to the doctor before long.

I would try giving her garlic to get rid of it, but if I couldn't stand it, I know she wouldn't be able to. When I tried getting rid of a sinus infection with garlic, I was soon running to the bathroom like I had taken one of the best colon cleansers on the market. And it made me smell so bad I couldn't even stand to be around myself. It seemed to be working quite well, but I had to stop eating it before it had time to completely eradicate the infection.

I wish I could find something else natural that would get rid of this junk. Going to the doctor and getting antibiotics all the time is irritating, not to mention expensive. If anybody knows any good home remedies, please let me know!

Is it Christmas Already?

2010-11-21T22:38:00.002-05:00

No, it's not Christmas yet, but you'd never know it by going into any retail store. I started seeing Christmas stuff around here before Halloween, and now every store seems to be in official holiday mode. And it's not even Thanksgiving yet.

I have been thinking about what to get people for Christmas, but I haven't done any actual gift shopping yet. And you won't see me anywhere near a shopping center on Black Friday unless it's a dire emergency. There was a time when I got up early and went shopping the day after Thanksgiving, but not any more.

That's not to say I won't be doing any early Christmas shopping. I plan on trying to get enough work done this week that I'll be able to take advantage of some Cyber Monday deals - from the comfort of my own home. No crowds to contend with, no rushing to the store only to find out the deal I was chasing is already gone, and no tempting displays to trick me into impulse buying. Just me, my computer, and killer deals.

I'm not going to be able to do much for Christmas this year, but I hope to at least be able to get all the nieces and nephews a little something. And of course Pumpkin and Hubby. It all depends on how my work goes and what kinds of deals I can find.

Blackie's Back... Sorta

2010-11-12T23:11:00.003-05:00

A couple of days ago, I was delighted to open the front door and see my dear kitty, Blackie, staring up at me. I immediately gave him an outpouring of kitty loving, and headed straight into the house to get him something to eat. Not only did I bring cat food, but I also brought some of the tasty chicken scraps that he so loves. He scarfed them down in a hurry, so I doubt anybody has been slipping him any appetite suppressant diet pills.

He seemed to be a happy cat, and I was a happy cat-mom. But the next day, he was once again nowhere to be found. I've seen him one more time since then, and I coddled and fed him again, and again he went on his merry little way.

I don't know what's got into that cat. He's always been the type to wander, but he rarely stayed gone this long. But according to a reliable source, he's probably been hanging out at a house down the road where a lot of other cats have been congregating. Must have found himself a girlfriend over there or something. I guess if we want to keep him around, we're going to have to scrape up the money to get the poor fella spayed.

I hate the idea of doing that to him, but I know it's important for keeping the wild cat population under control. And heaven knows we've had our share of trouble out of wild cats. Now I just hope he doesn't read this and take off for good. Hey, he's a smart boy, you know.

All I Want for Christmas...

2010-11-12T23:03:00.002-05:00

Is a lifetime supply of ink cartridges! Seriously, I wish someone would just present me with a huge carton of black and color cartridges that will fit my printer. The printer has seen its better days, but it still prints beautifully, and if I never had to buy cartridges for it again, I'd keep it until it fell apart.

Is it just me, or do cartridges seem to be useful for shorter and shorter periods of time with each one you buy? Maybe it's the brand I'm buying (although I almost always go OEM), or perhaps it's the way I'm using them. I suppose buying only color cartridges but printing mostly in black couldn't be helping, could it?

And the really strange thing is, I'm not really a big printer. I print greeting cards and invitations on occasion, but probably not as often as most. I print off coupons when I find a really good deal on something that I'm likely to buy. And every now and then I print out a form I need to fill out or some income and expense information for business purposes. I just don't get why I'm using so much ink.

Anyway, if there's anyone reading this that would like to buy me a gift that will not go to waste, here's your answer!

Where's My Kitty?

2010-11-08T14:08:00.002-05:00

I haven't seen my cat in four or five days. He's been known to disappear for a few days at a time, but I don't think he's ever been gone this long. If he has, it was before we got rid of the dog he couldn't get along with. I'm getting pretty worried about him.

I know he didn't run away because we didn't take good care of him. It's not like we weren't feeding him regularly or anything. Not that he was a big eater at all - you'd think he was on Lipofuze or something with the nearly nonexistent appetite he had. And I was always doting on him when he was nearby. That wasn't too often, though, because he was kind of a loner. Still, when I petted him and talked to him, he ate it up.

I hope he pops up on the doorstep soon. After years of not particularly caring for cats, he turned me into a total cat person. Sure, we still have Tiger, Pumpkin's cat, but Blackie was my baby.

I Swear It's a Conspiracy

2010-11-01T13:11:00.002-04:00

I've been a little on the paranoid side for as long as I can remember. Okay, sometimes a lot on the paranoid side. But every time I tell myself not to be so paranoid, something comes along and convinces me that I was right all along.

Case in point: my current car insurance situation. I thought I had paid it in September, but apparently I did not. I can thank my poor state of mental health during that time period for that. Normally the insurance company would have sent me a cancellation notice at the end of the month if I missed a payment, but they didn't. So I had no idea that we were a month behind until I logged into our online account to make a payment.

When I saw that we owed for two months, I flipped out. I had no idea how we would pay both months, and I felt sure that if we didn't, they would see their mistake and send out a cancellation notice. So I worked my butt off to get as much work done as possible by Saturday, so that I could put what I made plus every penny I could scrape up from any other source, in the bank and pay it in full.

I got all the work done, and got up on Saturday morning to check my email and see if I had received payment. I had. But there was also an email waiting for me from my insurance company. Instead of waiting until the first of the month to generate a cancellation notice, they had gone ahead and done it. So now we owed for three months, plus the hefty fee they charge us when they have to send out a cancellation notice. How wonderful!

So now we have to pay all that by the middle of November, instead of two months now and a month by the end of November. So scrambling to come up with the money was about as useful as buying an iPad warranty for a refrigerator. And yet again, the forces of the universe have succeeded in pushing me one step closer to insanity.

Fat Cat

2010-10-27T13:22:00.002-04:00

Tiger, one of our cats, jumped up on my lap yesterday, and I noticed that he's become quite the plump kitty. He's got the stripes, so if he was orange instead of gray, he would bear more than a passing resemblance to Garfield.

It's not that he's inactive. It's that he eats constantly. He gobbles up his share of the cat food and often half of Blackie's (our other cat). And then he goes hunting.

Almost every day, there's something dead (or, more likely, a remnant of something dead) on our porch. Sometimes it's a mole, others it's a bat, and others it's several baby mice. And he's most likely not sharing, because I've never seen Blackie eating any of it. In fact, on the few occasions that I've seen him with a critter he's caught, he has played with it instead of trying to kill it.

I know obesity is not good for animals, but what can you do? I can't stop putting cat food out, because Blackie has to eat. And if I didn't put enough out for both of them, I know who would get the lion's share. Too bad they don't make fat burners for cats. Or do they? Maybe I should check on that.

Bully on the Bus

2010-10-27T12:49:00.002-04:00

There's a girl on Pumpkin's bus that she has been having trouble with for a while. She can't just stay away from her, because they have assigned seats and they're in the same one. A couple of weeks ago, Pumpkin came home saying that the girl had been hitting her and pulling her hair. I was livid.

I asked her what she did, and she said she defended herself (as we've always taught her to do). But then the girl would tattle on her, not mentioning that she had started it, and she would be reprimanded.

I mulled it over for a bit, and since she wasn't actually physically hurting her, I decided that the first line of defense should be to try and let Pumpkin handle it on her on. I'm a firm believer that one of the most important things a parent should teach their child is how to solve their own problems, and that would be a good place to start.

Well, Hubby wasn't fond of that idea, so he took Pumpkin to school and picked her up for a couple of days. When she returned to the bus, the girl was nice to her. So she decided that she wouldn't ask to get her seat changed, because she didn't want her to be mad. I told her that it was up to her, but that if she started it again, that she would have to ask to have her seat changed or I would have to step in.

And surprise, surprise, the bully started bullying again. I had to take Pumpkin to school this morning, so she didn't ride the bus. But if she hasn't had her seat changed when she gets home, I guess I'll have to talk to her bus driver. And if that doesn't work, I'll have to go to the principal.

I've been lucky in not having to deal with things like this in the few years that Pumpkin has been in school. But if these things start happening more frequently, I'm going to be reaching for the anti wrinkle cream and hair dye, because I can already feel myself aging from this little incident.

I AM a Good Mom

2010-10-23T14:59:00.002-04:00

I've been dealing with yet another major bout of depression for the past couple of weeks. I've been feeling particularly worthless this go-round, like nothing about me is good and I can't do anything right. There have been numerous occasions where I've felt like the world's worst mom because I wasn't able to go above and beyond for Pumpkin.

But I know that's not true. I can honestly say that no matter what, I always put her first. If I didn't, I probably would have put myself out of my misery by now. But I know she needs me, so I hang in there. And no matter how horrible I'm feeling, I manage to make sure she's fed, clothed, bathed and all that. Sometimes, that voice deep down inside that tells me that I am a good mom is all that keeps me going.

It's not that I've never had my doubts. Like when she was a newborn, and I tried to breastfeed her but it didn't work out. I was convinced that breast-milk was best, and I still believe that it is. But sometimes it's just not an option. It was a long time before I accepted that and stopped feeling guilty, though.

Going on a decade later, I feel like I'm doing pretty good with the whole motherhood thing. I know I'm not perfect, and I know that some of the hardest years are yet to come. But I also know that being her mom is my highest priority, and that counts for something.

Not Much of a Phone Person

2010-10-15T22:45:00.000-04:00

In my teenage years, I spent quite a bit of time on the phone. Usually it was with my high school sweetheart. I had a few friends I talked to as well, but most of the time we didn't talk for more than 15 or 20 minutes at a time. Unless it was one specific friend who would talk all night and into the next day if I would let her, and although she was my friend, I found that horribly annoying.

These days, I hardly ever talk on the phone at all. The biggest reason I have a cell phone is in case I have car trouble or some other sort of emergency. These mountain roads can be rather creepy when you're stuck on the side of them, and depending on where you're stuck, you may have to walk miles just to find a phone. So I feel better having my cell around, and Hubby feels better if I have it, too. Besides, you can call long distance on it at no extra charge, which keeps us from having to pay a monthly long distance bill on the landline.

I can't really say I'd be lost without my cell phone, though. Concerned, yes. In a tizzy? Doubtful. I'm just not like those people you see walking around everywhere yammering constantly into their Bluetooth headsets. Don't get me wrong, those headsets can really come in handy for some people, but it seems like there's a law somewhere that says that if you have one, you must constantly talk on your cell phone. Just my humble opinion.

But, when Pumpkin gets old enough to drive, I'll probably be considering a headset for her cell phone. I'd rather for her to just avoid using it when driving, but we all know how that goes. At least with that and a phone with a good voice command system she wouldn't have to look at the phone and dial. Texting and driving, however, could be another story. Good thing I've still got several years to mull that over.

I Tried, Really I Did

2010-10-15T12:43:00.002-04:00

I mentioned something in a previous post about sharing some photos of autumn leaves here in the mountains. Yesterday, I even got around to taking some pictures of them. They could have been better if I had brought along my video/still camera, but I had to make do with my phone. Still, they came out surprisingly well.

Now the problem is getting them from my phone to my computer. I have a USB Bluetooth transmitter that I use for such purposes, but it just hasn't been willing to cooperate today. I managed to get a grand total of two pictures transferred before it refused to continue. Lovely.

Well, we're supposed to have a pretty weekend coming up. Now if this wind just skedaddles on out of here so it doesn't blow any more leaves off than it already has, maybe I can get some really nice pictures. I've been worried about that for several days, because we've had some gusts that were certainly capable of picking up a steel building and putting it back down on its top or side several yards away. I haven't seen any such incidents this time, but they're not at all uncommon around here.

So, with any luck, I should have some lovely autumn scenery for my dear readers to behold before the weekend is over. Stay tuned.

Away From Keyboard

2010-10-13T12:16:00.002-04:00

I haven't spent much time on the computer lately. I guess maybe you figured that out by my lack of posting lately, if you're a regular reader. It's not that I haven't had any inspiration to write. I've had a few ideas bouncing around in my head, from a pictorial and commentary on the state of the lovely autumn leaves here in the mountains to a list of the top ten diet pills. The main problem is that I've had bigger fish to fry.

Like getting ready for winter. Hubby finally broke down and rented a wood splitter so we could bust up the huge pile of wood that was beside the house. We worked on it all day yesterday, with precious little help. I did as much of the lifting as he would let me do, but he still overdid it, as usual. His back was in awful shape last night. I'm surprised that he was able to get out of bed this morning, but he's faring reasonably well, considering.

The rest of my time away has been divided between housework and mental health days. I'm glad that I work for myself, because no employer I've ever worked for would allow me as many of those as I've needed this year without sending me packing. Things are improving, much more slowly than I would like, but at least they are improving.

I'll probably be posting more over the next several days. I feel a blogging spurt coming on. If it happens to fizzle out, don't worry. I won't disappear for too long.

A (Non)Progress Report

2010-10-05T14:23:00.002-04:00

I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that I had lost some weight due to my medications obliterating my appetite, and that I was going to try to keep the momentum going so I could drop some more poundage. Only things haven't quite worked out that way, as usual.

I still haven't had much of an appetite, so maybe I have lost a little more weight. Then again, I don't suppose all those scrumptious chocolate cupcakes that I had on and after Pumpkin's birthday party were much help in keeping it off. I knew I should have had some fat burners on hand, because such temptations inevitably arise from time to time.

I also haven't started walking like I had hoped to. Partly because of the cool and rainy weather, and partly because I haven't been in a frame of mind that's been conducive to getting anything done lately. It sucks that I can't accomplish even the simplest of tasks because of what's going on in my head. Maybe one of these days I'll get the treatment I need, and life will cease to be so difficult.

Crazy Fall Weather

2010-10-05T14:10:00.002-04:00

The changing of the seasons in the mountains is, to say the least, interesting. Summer lingered briefly after the official beginning of autumn, but the weather has been really wild since then. At first, it was slightly cooler temperatures and alternate periods of sun and rain. Now, it's progressed to insane swings from warm and sunny to bone-chilling cold and back again.

I'm just glad that the weather turned out nice for Pumpkin's birthday party. The kids actually got to play outside, which was nice. But by the next day, it was way too cold for shorts, gloomy and windy. And every day since then has been pretty much the same.

According to the local weather website, it will be warming back up later this week. That's good, because I'm already getting behind on the laundry again. It's going to be rough trying to keep up with it once the weather gets cold and stays that way (if we don't get my dryer going), so I'm trying to make sure that it doesn't pile back up to even a fraction of what it was before I declared war on it.

An Inexpensive Birthday Party

2010-10-02T21:43:00.002-04:00

I had Pumpkin's birthday party to plan this week, and very little money to work with. I couldn't do anything fancy, but I was determined to have a party for her while she's still interested in having one. Luckily, I managed to pull it off without having to take out a payday advance loan.

The only thing I spent more than I had to on was disposable plates. They had some Halloween-themed foam plates at the store that she adored, and they weren't much more expensive than the plain ones, so I got them for her. I bought small plastic cups instead of the large ones I usually get so the kids wouldn't waste as much soda. And speaking of soda, I bought three two-liters of the generic stuff for 79 cents each. Not bad.

Instead of springing for a decorated cake from the store, I bought cake mix and frosting and baked her cupcakes. I got a half gallon of ice cream instead of a bucket of neapolitan like I usually buy, and one bag of plain chips rather than a couple flavors of the brand-name ones.

We had plenty of streamers left over from one of my House Parties, and she didn't want balloons, so I didn't have to spend a dime on decorations. All told, I spent around twenty bucks on the whole thing. Not bad.

Another Lazy Sunday

2010-09-19T21:26:00.002-04:00

I had planned on getting a few things accomplished today. Like some housework, maybe a little laundry, and some of my work on the computer. But I ended up getting very little done.

I should know better than to try to get anything done on a Sunday. Because every time I get it in my head to do so, Hubby ends up completely changing my plans for me. This morning, shortly after I got up, he informed me that we needed to go to town and buy some stuff so he could complete his planned projects for the day. So whatever I had planned was automatically trumped.

We went to Wally World to get some tire patches and plugs, a toilet rod and flusher, and a shower curtain (the last one was my idea). Then we went to a couple of auto parts stores to try and find a part for a carburetor on a go-cart that he's been trying to repair for ages. We had no luck in that department.

By the time we got back home, the allergy medicine that I had taken before we left was making me sleepy. So I lay down and dozed off and on for a while. Hubby came in and woke me up because he needed my help with one of the tires he was fixing, so I got up and helped him with that. When that was done, I just totally lost all will to get anything done.

At least the toilet is fixed, and our crappy shower curtain has been replaced. I can't say I did either one, but if it hadn't been for me mentioning both, they probably wouldn't have gotten done. So today wasn't a total loss. Now if only I could find an expert in how to remove pimples to tell me how to get rid of that god-awful bump on my lower eyelid (yes, it's still there, and now it's itching like crazy!), I could go to bed happy.

Losing Weight, and Not Even Trying!

2010-09-18T22:49:00.002-04:00

The last time I went to the doctor, I actually looked forward to getting on the scales. The medication he had put me on had reduced my appetite to the point where it was virtually nonexistent. My clothes also seemed to be slightly looser, so I was hoping that I had lost some weight.

I was elated to find that I had lost nine pounds. And I hadn't even been trying! That's highly unusual for me. All my life, every time I've attempted to lose weight, it has been an uphill battle. So to lose that much weight in just over a month without going on a diet or exercising made me feel good.

Now if I could just keep losing that much each month until I got to a normal weight for my height, that would be awesome. But I really don't believe that will happen without any effort on my part. I'd probably need to start a strict exercise regimen, eat a healthier diet, and start taking some of the most effective diet pills 10K.

Still, that little bit of weight loss encouraged me enough that maybe I'll be able to get motivated to at least start walking. It's finally getting to the time of year when the weather is great for walking, so that should provide a little more incentive, too. Wish me luck!

You Have Zits Where?

2010-09-17T20:10:00.002-04:00

Oh, in addition to not feeling well, I've been contending with zits in strange places. I mentioned that I think my medication might be causing me to have body acne. But this morning I woke up with my right lower eyelid swollen, and upon inspection found that a pimple was forming there. Cripes!

Now I've definitely got to check on some acne treatment reviews. This is just getting too far out of hand. I've grown accustomed to having bumps on my face more or less constantly, but when they start coming up in places like that, I just can't let it go. I am officially declaring war on my acne, and I'm not going to rest until I win.

Feeling Like a Dead Duck

2010-09-17T19:51:00.002-04:00

I spent all of last week feeling horrible because I had a sinus infection, and the antibiotics the doctor gave me weren't strong enough to get rid of it, and he was out of the office and couldn't call me in any more. I figured this week would be better, because I could finally get something stronger and put it behind me. It has been better, but not by much.

The new antibiotics seem to be doing more than the first ones I was on, but I'm still not sure whether or not they're going to get rid of the infection. I'll feel pretty good for a while, and then I'll start feeling like crap again. I woke up this morning feeling like my head got run over by a train, and spent the day sleeping off and on. I feel halfway decent this evening, except that my stomach is acting up. Probably a side effect of the antibiotics.

Maybe I need even stronger antibiotics. Maybe I should put a clothespin on my nose and try eating huge amounts of raw garlic. Or maybe I need to clean my entire system out with a good colon cleanser. I guess if these antibiotics don't make me feel better, I'll be making another appointment. Because the doctor's office has already informed me that they won't call anything else in without seeing me again. Lovely.

Stupid Zits

2010-09-16T14:31:00.003-04:00

I hate acne. I despise acne. I loathe acne. Did I mention that I can't stand acne?

Unfortunately, I've dealt with it since puberty, and it's showing no signs of going away. While I don't break out quite as badly as I did as a teen, I still have pimples pretty much constantly.

I'm afraid that some of my medication is making things worse. Since I started taking the last one the doctor put me on, I've had an unusually large amount of body acne. If it had increased by that much on my face, I would have already talked to him about going off of the stuff. But since the medication seems to work well, and we're not talking about huge, cystic monster zits for the most part, I've let it slide thus far.

It's rather strange. My face still breaks out, but no worse than it did before. My neck has stayed broken out pretty badly, but that started before I ever went on the medication. I suppose I should try an anti-acne body wash and see if that helps. If it did, that would be awesome. If not, I still wouldn't go off my medication just for that. Not unless it got really out of hand.

Would Going Back to School Do Me Any Good?

2010-09-15T12:06:00.002-04:00

I've been kicking around the idea of going back to school for a few years now. Back when I was working outside the home, I was really interested, but didn't feel like I had time for it. Now that I'm working from home, I'm not really sure whether or not it would do me any good.

Of course it would help if I were seeking a job outside the home. But what I'm interested in is making more money from home. I want to keep my freedom and not have to rely on a sitter to raise Pumpkin. And I'm pretty adamant about that.

At least if I do go back to school, I won't have to worry about testing and such. I've already got two years of college under my belt, so I wouldn't have to take the SAT or ACT. I never took the ACT, but I did take the SAT when I was in high school. I did fairly well on it, but I'm sure I could have done better had I taken some SAT prep courses.

So, does anybody out there have any suggestions for courses of study that would enable me to make more money from home? Writing is my thing, but I'm open to other options. Not those medical transcription/billing/data entry scams, but real careers that allow for flexibility in how, when and where I work.

Ahead of the Game

2010-09-14T22:23:00.003-04:00

I got the bulk of Pumpkin's birthday shopping done way early, and now there's just one more thing I need to get her. Then all I'll have left to do is buy the supplies for her party. It's rare for me to get that much of a jump on things, but while I'm on a roll I'm going to try to keep it going.

So I'm already thinking ahead to Hubby's birthday, which is in a couple of months. I know one thing he really needs: some shoes. I don't know if that can wait until his birthday or not, though. I saw some nice Nike running shoes that I might go ahead and order him, and if he needs them before his birthday I can go ahead and give them to him early. We shall see.

After that comes Christmas. I haven't even started thinking about that yet, besides trying to accumulate as many Amazon gift certificates as possible to help with the shopping. But once I get Hubby's birthday present squared away, I'll probably go ahead and start browsing. It makes things much easier when you don't wait until the last minute to do everything. I'm finally learning that lesson after all these years.

A Long Week

2010-09-10T15:55:00.002-04:00

This week, for me at least, has seemed like it was a month long. I guess that has something to do with the fact that I've had a sinus infection. I got antibiotics for it last week, but they just didn't cut the mustard. In fact, they made me feel quite a bit worse. And between the congestion, the headaches, the cooler weather and some rain, I haven't felt like doing much besides sleeping.

I managed to fight it enough to get a few things done, though. I finished cleaning the master bedroom, which was no small feat after having a mountain of dirty clothes piled up in there for some time. I also looked up some information on getting assistance for my mom to help pay for her insulin. Her Medicare plan doesn't cover the entire price each month, and there's some limit in place that's causing her to have to pay full price for a month or two. I printed her off an application for assistance from the drug company and mailed it to her, and hopefully she will qualify.

Today I didn't feel quite as bad as I have been. It's a good thing, because I had to take my brother-in-law to the dentist and run a few errands. Any other day this week, I would have been lucky to stay awake long enough to do that much driving. I'll just be glad when next week gets here, because my doctor will be back from vacation and I can finally get some stronger antibiotics.

Catching Up on the Housework

2010-09-02T20:31:00.002-04:00

Don't you just love housework? Yeah, me neither. But it's one of those things that has to be done.

I had been seriously slacking on housework for a long, long time, up until a month or so ago. The depression I was dealing with left me with no energy or will to do much of anything. Now it appears that I'm finally on the right combination of medications, and I've been working on getting the house back in order a little at a time.

One of the first things I worked on was the dishes, which were constantly piled up, seeing how that's one of my least favorite things to do. I still hate doing dishes, but I've managed to keep them done up for the most part. It's a bit of a hassle since our kitchen faucet is torn up and we have to keep the hot water turned off from under the sink when we're not using it, but it's worth it not to have the kitchen in a constant mess. Hopefully before too long we'll be able to buy one of those nice Moen kitchen faucets to replace it with.

The biggest challenge has been catching up on the laundry. Since I still can't use my dryer, I have to hang stuff out if I want to avoid the laundromat (which I hate with a passion). So it's little wonder that dirty laundry was seriously piled up. But after an insanely rainy spring, we've been blessed with a fairly dry summer. Not a drought like we had a couple of years ago, but dry enough that I've usually been able to get several loads washed and dried each week. If all goes well, I'll have everything washed up by next week at the latest.

There's still more work to do, but it's already much improved. To read this, you might think that my house looks like one of the ones you'd see on that TV show Hoarders. Let me assure you that it has never been anywhere near that bad. But it is bad enough that now that I have a little energy and motivation, it's going to drive me batty until I get it totally spic and span.

I Write, Therefore I Am

2010-08-31T17:11:00.002-04:00

For a long time now, I've been concerned about losing my flair for writing, because the words no longer flowed with ease. But I now realize that my problem was more complex than that. The horrible depression that I was dealing with was affecting not only my writing, but every single aspect of my life. So it wouldn't have really mattered if I was a writer, or a burger flipper, or had a sales career. Whatever I was doing, my work would have certainly suffered.

Even now that I'm on medications that are helping me tremendously, I have to learn how to be productive again. The words are flowing better, but still not as well as they did for the first couple of years that I was a writer. I'm trying to find ways to work around that, like creating websites to generate income independently rather than writing for others that have finite deadlines. Still, it's rather tough to get motivated.

Despite the challenges, I'm elated to know that I haven't lost my ability to write. Writing has given me a sense of purpose, and writing for a living has worked wonders for my self-esteem. It would be devastating to lose all of that.

Stomach Bugs Suck

2010-08-19T11:37:00.002-04:00

I woke up at 3:00 the other morning, and I was feeling okay. Until I turned over on my stomach, that is. Then I started feeling sick, and I didn't sleep a wink for the rest of the morning. I got up at the usual time to get Pumpkin ready for school, and found out shortly after that I had a serious case of the runs. By then I was in full-blown misery.

That was a rough day. I ended up barfing in the tub because my other end was busy on the toilet (sorry if that's TMI). I stayed in bed most of the day, because every time I moved around my stomach would start complaining that much more. I got up long enough to fix myself a bowl of Easy Mac, not because I felt like eating, but because I needed to eat something so I could take my medicine. I ate most of it and kept it down, but it didn't make me feel any better.

The worst was over that day, but my stomach hasn't been in good shape since then. If I felt like this all the time, I wouldn't need Apidexin to lose weight! Oh, and now Pumpkin has the same thing, so she's not a happy camper. I hope Hubby doesn't get it too, because then I'll really have my hands full, and I'm not even back to 100% yet.

Here's hoping that next week will be better.

My New Phone

2010-08-13T13:38:00.002-04:00

Hubby's cell phone has needed help for some time. It's a Motorola Razr, and he shattered the outer screen shortly after he got it when he was helping his parents move. A few months later, he shut it up in a car door and rendered the inner screen useless. I was shocked that it still worked after that, but it did.

We didn't have a warranty on it, so we couldn't get it replaced for free or at a reasonable price. So he just kept it and used it like it was. Our contract ran out a couple of months ago, but he planned to keep using it for a while anyway instead of upgrading. But then the earpiece speaker quit working, and he could only use it on speakerphone. So he started using my phone, which was identical to his except for being in good condition.

I carried his phone with me when I went out, just in case there was an emergency and I needed to call for help. But Hubby called me on it the other day, and I found out that the speakerphone speaker was no longer working, either. So we decided that it was time for a new phone.

We went to the cell phone place yesterday and looked at what they had to offer. Hubby wouldn't settle on anything, so I ended up choosing the phone. I had been looking at a Blackberry flip, but they required the purchase of a data plan with it, and we really didn't need one. So I decided on the LG Script, a cute little phone with a slide-out keyboard. It was inexpensive with a two-year contract, so he agreed.

Once it was hooked up and we got in the truck, Hubby told me to put it in my phone case. I asked him which one of us would be using it, and he said he didn't know. I kept after him, and he finally told me to keep it. And that made me happy. I mean, I was all for him using it since he paid for it and all, but the Razr was a much better phone for him since he likes flip phones. And the LG was a better phone for me, because although I'm not a big texter myself, he makes me do his texting for him.

I played around with the phone last night, and I really like it. The only thing I've found that I don't like so far is that it doesn't record video (the Razr does). If I didn't already have a digital camcorder, I would be looking at digital camcorder reviews right about now. I guess I'll have to carry my camcorder around in case I see anything video-worthy from now on, but it's small, so I can live with that.

I had intended to talk to them about changing plans, because we didn't have unlimited texting and Hubby has been getting a lot of texts lately. But I forgot about it, so I had to call them today. I switched to a plan that costs the same as our old one, but has unlimited text and picture messages and offers nationwide usage at no extra cost. It includes fewer minutes per month, but that's no problem since we don't use that many minutes anyway.

Now I've just got to get a micro SD card so I can use the phone as an MP3 player. That's another gadget that I've wanted for a while, and now I don't have to buy one!

I Hate Insomnia

2010-08-07T21:19:00.002-04:00

I've been having frequent bouts of insomnia lately. I think a big part of it is the fact that I've been trying to fight my urge to stay up late so I can go to bed when Hubby does. One night, I went to bed around 10:30 or 11:00, and I didn't manage to get to sleep until 4:00 AM.

Another factor could be our ancient mattress. It has a hole in it, and the stuffing keeps coming out. And the more the stuffing comes out, the more the bed moves whenever one of us turns over. Sometimes it feels like we're in a waterbed, and when Hubby has a hard time sleeping and tosses and turns a lot (which he often does), I can't get much sleep either.

We really need to go somewhere that we can buy mattress sets for cheap and get one for ourselves and one for Pumpkin. A couple of really good mattresses would probably help all of us sleep better. As for me, I guess I'm going to have to start sitting up later, whether Hubby likes it or not.

My Thousandth Post!

2010-08-03T16:25:00.002-04:00

I went to my blog's dashboard with the intention of writing a post, but no idea what I was going to write about. Then something just kind of fell into my lap. I noticed that I had published 999 posts on this blog. So that makes this my thousandth post!

Of course I've written more posts than that in my blogging life, seeing how I have a few other blogs of my own and have also written for blogs owned by others. But this was my very first blog, so reaching the thousand posts milestone is particularly special. It's taken me four years to get here, so I suppose I should probably celebrate!

Yes, I'm a geek, and I'm proud of it.

To Print or Not to Print?

2010-07-30T15:03:00.002-04:00

I've had my share of trouble with printers in my day. Back when I had my old computer with Windows XP, I went through printers like most people go through socks. The printer I got when I bought the computer worked fine for a while, but after I got the Service Pack 2 update, the print quality kept getting worse and worse until it was completely unacceptable. So I bought an all-in-one printer, scanner and copier. It worked well for a while, and then the same thing happened.

When the print quality on it got horrible, I got a Lexmark wifi printer. Fortunately, it printed well for the rest of my old computer's useful life. In fact, I'm still using it. I broke off the little thingie that holds the printed pages a long time ago, but I don't mind catching them as they come out.

But sadly, it looks like my beloved printer has seen its better days. It has started having trouble feeding the sheets of paper through, resulting in crooked pages and jams. The print quality is still great, but I'm afraid I'll have to replace it before too long.

If I printed a lot of stuff for my work, I'd probably just forget about buying a new printer and switch to online printing. Professional printers can make things look so much better, and by the time you buy paper and ink, it really doesn't cost much more to have stuff printed online. As a matter of fact, if you have things printed in large quantities, it's probably quite a bit cheaper than printing it yourself.

For now most of my printing is for home use, so I guess I'll keep my printer until it just won't work any more and then check prices on a new one. But if I find that I need brochures, postcards or things like that, online printing is probably the way to go.

She Likes Reading, But...

2010-07-29T15:01:00.002-04:00

When school was in session, Pumpkin did quite a bit of reading. Not only did she do what was required for school, she also read independently in the evenings and on the weekends. There were always books lying around that she was reading on.

At the beginning of the summer, she said she was going to do lots of reading. But that didn't quite pan out. She read enough books to get a free book when she goes back to school, but after that she kind of lost interest. I guess I can understand, considering all that's been going on this summer. Plus we finally got our satellite hooked back up, and she's spent a little too much time in front of the TV.

I took her to the library this past weekend, and she checked out several books. So far, she has only gotten around to reading a little bit of one of them. And school starts very soon. Hopefully she will realize that she needs to brush up on her reading a little before she goes back and read at least a couple of them by then. If not, I guess it's not too big of a deal. She'll have to do plenty of reading once school starts.

My Summer So Far

2010-07-07T14:24:00.002-04:00

Summer has always been my favorite time of the year. Not because I'm a particularly outdoorsy person, although I do enjoy some outdoor activities on occasion. It's mainly because, at least so far in my life, I've had a much easier time tolerating heat than cold. And I like all the pretty flowers and wildlife that comes out when the weather is nice, too.

This summer hasn't been a particularly eventful one, but overall it has been nice just the same. We haven't made any long trips, or really any short ones to speak of. Well, we did go up and visit my mom a couple of times, but they were just overnight deals where we'd visit, hear all the local goings-on from her neck of the woods, say our goodbyes and come home.

We've also had some friends and family coming around from time to time. Some of Hubby's young friends have been over several times, riding four-wheelers, playing Guitar Hero, and just hanging out. Hubby's brother, his wife and his kids have also been terrorizing us on a regular basis (and I mean that in the worst possible way). Pumpkin has done a few things too, like going to the lake with a friend and attending Bible School. So it hasn't been a totally boring summer thus far, but don't expect to see one of those family slide shows about it all, either.

I was hoping we'd finally get to go on vacation this summer, but that doesn't appear to be happening. Maybe next year I'll have enough good stuff to make a slide show out of. We shall see.

A Blah Day

2010-06-01T23:33:00.002-04:00

Today was another one of those "blah" days. I had tons of stuff I needed to do, yet none of it got done. My brain just refused to function, at least in the way it needed too. There was plenty of crap bouncing around in my head, just nothing that I could really use.

All I could manage to do was a minute amount of writing and playing some online games. It got pretty frustrating, so I ended up taking one of my anxiety pills. Those things are pretty much the opposite of taking Nuphedragen. They make me lazy and do absolutely nothing to curb my appetite. In fact, they make me want to eat, but I try to fight it. They do help with my nerves a little, so I put up with the side effects since they're not horrible.

But when I go back to the doctor, I'm going to see if he can either give me a stronger dose or try something different. My nerves haven't been in quite as bad of a shape as they were a few months ago, but they're bad enough, and it would be nice to have something that does a good job of calming them.

Stir Crazy

2010-06-01T00:42:00.002-04:00

Poor Hubby is about to go nuts over not being able to work. He's accustomed to being able go nonstop, and now he can barely do anything. I think that pushing himself too hard in years past has a lot to do with the shape he's in now. I tried to tell him to slow down all along, but my advice fell on deaf ears.

But even though he's so hard-headed, I feel bad for him. I know he was just doing what he felt was best for our family. And now that he's not able to do what's best for us, it's killing him. Some days he's really depressed about it. But I do my best to keep his spirits up and find things that he can do.

I would encourage him to go back to school to pursue a less physically demanding career such as energy auditing, but there's no point. He is learning disabled, and he's not willing to challenge his mind enough to even get his GED, much less get any kind of certification. So the most we can really hope for right now is that he gets his disability.

I just hope he's able to come to terms with his situation before long. I can't stand to see him the way he gets sometimes.

A Visit from Precious

2010-05-31T14:22:00.003-04:00

I don't think I wrote about this, but we gave Pumpkin's dog, Precious, to Hubby's mom and dad. She was just getting to be too much trouble for us. No matter what we did, she stayed in the road entirely too much. When she was here, she would nonchalantly walk or lay in the road, and wouldn't budge when a car came. And we would often find her either at a neighbor's house or walking in the road as much as a quarter mile from the house.

We were scared to death that she would either get run over or cause a wreck, but we couldn't keep her in the house. We've apparently got a flea problem in our yard, and no matter what we did to get them off of her, she would keep getting them back. So we finally talked Pumpkin into letting us take her to her grandparents. There they could get the fleas off of her and keep her in the house, and we knew she would be taken care of. Plus, that way Pumpkin could still see her often.

They've had her for a couple of weeks now, and she's doing well over there. As soon as Hubby dropped her off, his mom gave her a drastic haircut. She's a Pomeranian, and you know how those dogs are mostly hair? Well, when she got done with her, it looked like she had taken some of the world's best weight loss pills. Now she looks like a tiny sheep instead of a fluffy little dog!

Anyway, Hubby brought her home with him for a little while yesterday so Pumpkin could play with her. She stayed in and enjoyed the attention for a while, then she went to the door like she needed out. Guess what she did as soon as we let her out? That's right, she took off up the road as fast as those four little legs would carry her.

He had to get in the truck and go to the neighbors' house to get her. Then when we went to take her back home, she took off in the other direction. I miss her and all, but having to chase after her like that reminded me why we took her over there in the first place.

So far, she hasn't been running off since she's been over there. I guess that's because they've kept her in the house all the time except when she has to go to the bathroom, and then they bring her right back in. I hope that it stays that way, and she lives a long and happy life with the in-laws.

The Weekend Wasn't a Total Bust

2010-05-31T14:04:00.002-04:00

Well, we didn't end up going to the free concert in the park that I had hoped to attend on Friday evening. About an hour before it was scheduled to start, we got a bad thunderstorm. I'm talking heavy rain and sky-to-ground lightning. It didn't show any signs of letting up any time soon, so I told Hubby not to worry about taking me. I didn't want to take Pumpkin to his parents' house, and I didn't want to get her out in such a bad storm, either.

So we ended up giving Hubby's cousin a ride to the grocery store. While we were there it quit storming, and the rain slacked off. But he had to get back home, and I didn't want to have to take him back and then go all the way back to town not knowing if they were still having the concert or not. Gas is just too expensive for that.

The forecast was calling for rain on Saturday too, so I figured we wouldn't get to go to the festival that was going on then, either. But Saturday turned out to be beautiful. We got there early and hit the yard sales, which weren't as plentiful as I had hoped. But I got a shirt for Pumpkin and one for myself for a dollar each, and she bought High School Musical 1 and 2 DVDs for five bucks. There wasn't any live music going on yet, so we came back home for a while and went back later in the afternoon.

When we got back, there was a bluegrass band on the stage, and we listened to them while Pumpkin swung on the park swings. We got rained on lightly for about two minutes, but other than that it was warm and mostly sunny.

Yesterday we didn't do much, just hung out at the house because it was once again raining. But the weather broke long enough for us to fix barbequed chicken on the grill.

So all in all, I guess I can't complain. I got Hubby out of the house to go somewhere other than his parents' house, and it didn't rain all weekend. With what rain we did get and have been getting for so long, I almost expected to open the basement door and have water come gushing out (kind of like if you opened the door to one of those walk in bathtubs with it full of water). But so far, the ditches and pipe we put out back have been doing their job pretty well. Hopefully we won't have to deal with a flooded basement again.

Lovely Weather We're Having

2010-05-28T12:57:00.002-04:00

So far, this year has been mostly crappy weather-wise. But for the past couple of days, it has been beautiful out. Lots of sunshine, no rain, not even the wind gusts that tend to ruin otherwise nice weather around here. The persistently gray skies that we were seeing week in and week out had me wishing I could sell this place and look at Outer Banks foreclosures, but the weather right now is freaking awesome.

They're calling for rain to set in tonight and continue through the weekend, though. I hope they're wrong. I think I've got Hubby talked into getting out and doing some stuff, and I'd hate for the weather to ruin it. There's a local blues band playing for free in the park this evening, and some sort of festival going on tomorrow. And as infrequently as I'm able to get him to do stuff like that, I'd hate to miss them!

Judging by the radar on the local weather site, it looks like some pretty bad storms are headed our way. But they don't look too big, and maybe they'll get here either before or after the concert. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Keeping an Eye on Your Credit

2010-05-27T15:40:00.002-04:00

I just don't understand why so many people and companies put so much stock in people's credit history these days. Sure, I can understand having to submit to a credit check when you want to borrow money. But I've never understood why employers need to check people's credit before hiring them. There's a case to be made for it if you will be handling money, but just because you've fallen behind on a bill or two doesn't mean you're going to resort to embezzlement. And for those who aren't applying for positions where they would handle money, credit checks seem like nothing more than a means of discrimination and an invasion of privacy to me.

But checking the credit of those who want to get a job or rent a place is standard procedure these days, and there's no law against it. So it's become important for everyone to keep a check on their credit histories so that they know what to expect. Fortunately, it's easy to get a free credit report and even a free credit score online these days.

My credit isn't all that great, so if I find out that someone I'm considering dealing with checks credit, I just walk away. And I'm not so sure that I'd even want to deal with such people or entities even if I had stellar credit. If more people refused to submit to senseless credit checks, maybe these companies would rethink their policies.

Maybe I Should Get a Job

2010-05-27T15:17:00.002-04:00

Writing has not been easy for me lately. There was a time when the words flowed with ease, but those days appear to be lost and gone forever. So thoughts of getting a "real" job have been more and more frequent.

The people at the restaurant where I worked before quitting to work at home full time still want me to come back, and I have considered it. But I don't like the idea of having to work pretty much every weekend again. I just heard that they're going to start staying open 24 hours a day soon, and I wouldn't mind working the night shift, but Hubby is very much against me doing that.

I could probably get back on with the nursing home where I worked before that, but I really don't like that idea. It's not that I didn't like the residents - there were many that I looked forward to seeing each day. But I found seeing them cooped up in those little rooms, often with nobody ever coming to visit them, very depressing. Maybe I could handle a job ordering supplies like laundry detergent and incontinence products where I didn't have to be in contact with them as much better. But the pay there is awful, so it probably wouldn't be worth pursuing.

Heck, the best job in the world would probably sound terrible to me now. I've gotten a taste of working independently, on my own schedule, and I hate the thoughts of going back to the grind. If I could just break through this mental fog and get back to making good money at home, all would be well.

My Dirty Floor

2010-05-27T15:01:00.002-04:00

I've all but given up on keeping my floors clean. My upright vacuum has seen it's better days. Even after Hubby changed the belt and gave it a good cleaning, it still barely picks up anything. I've got an ancient Rainbow vacuum that my mom gave me that worked well for a while, but now it has problems, too. And I don't have the money lying around to get it fixed, much less to go out and buy a new vacuum cleaner.

So my carpet doesn't look so good right now. And neither does the cheap tile in the kitchen. That's because the back patio has been staying muddy, thanks to frequent rain and poor design. So every time someone comes in the back door, the floor gets all tracked up. And I'm not the type to go behind people each time they walk in with a mop.

One thing I need to do is invest in some good door mats. I'd have to put the one for the back door inside to keep it from getting filthy or floating away when the patio floods, but that would be okay. The only problem would be getting people to actually use them. When I see a door mat, I instinctively wipe my feet on it. Unfortunately, I seem to be one of the few who do that.

Maybe one of these days I'll be able to save up and get another good vacuum cleaner. Or better yet, get the old Rainbow fixed. I really should call the vacuum repair place in town and see if they give free estimates so I'll know how to proceed.

No More PS2

2010-05-26T14:13:00.002-04:00

I think I mentioned that my brother-in-law let us borrow his PlayStation 2 and a bunch of games for a while. At first I didn't play it much, but then Hubby got me interested in Raw vs. Smackdown 2010, and I started playing it quite a bit. Then another of my brothers-in-law let us borrow Mortal Kombat Armageddon, and I got totally hooked on it.

Well, the one that owns the PS2 came and got it this past weekend. And that sucks, because now I won't get to finish Mortal Kombat Konquest. I don't normally get into role playing games, but I was totally sucked in by that one. I think I was pretty close to the end of it, too.

Now I'm ready to go out and buy a new gaming system. If we had the extra money lying around, I'd be out looking for a PS3 or Wii. I'm finally sold on the new generation of games, at least some of them.

Hubby knows someone who is selling a PS2 with 30 games for $75. That's not a bad deal at all. Maybe she'll still have it when we come up with the money. It might not be the newest thing out there, but it would do just fine for our purposes.

Shrek Forever After Rocks!

2010-05-26T13:44:00.003-04:00

I'll be the first one to admit that I'm a Shrekaholic. I loved all of the first three Shrek movies, and didn't mind a bit when Pumpkin watched them over and over and over on DVD. So when I found out there was going to be a fourth, I was ecstatic!

Then I found out that her Girl Scout troop was going to go watch it on the opening weekend, and I was all for it. So on Sunday, Pumpkin and I went to the theater with bells on. And it's a good thing we got there early, because it ended up selling out.

We both loved it. The plot's a little too convoluted for me to try to explain in a brief blog post, and I don't want to ruin it for anybody who hasn't seen it. But let's just say that Shrek finds out what things would be like if he had never been born. If you want to know more, here's the movie trailer.

Poor Puss in Boots... it looks like he could use some apidexin to help shed those extra pounds! And that's not nearly all that changes without Shrek around. If you liked the first three Shrek movies, you won't be left disappointed by this one. If you've seen it, drop me a comment and let me know what you thought of it!

Sleeping Better

2010-05-25T11:39:00.002-04:00

There for a while, I was having a lot of trouble going to sleep at night. I figured that it was because I was letting Hubby talk me into going to bed too early, so I started waiting until I was truly tired. That helped a little, but it was still taking me an hour or two sometimes to get to sleep. And that meant I had a hard time getting up in the mornings to get Pumpkin on the bus.

I thought I might have to try some sleep pills, but I think that the new medication that the doctor put me on is helping. That's the only thing I can figure, because it's the only thing I'm doing differently. It's had a couple of weeks to get into my system, and for the past week or so I haven't had much trouble getting to sleep. I even slept surprisingly well when Pumpkin and I went camping, despite the fact that the bed I was in was not very comfortable at all. The only way I could get comfortable was lying on my back, and usually I can't sleep on my back, period.

I hope that this is the end of my sleep problems. It's no fun staying awake half the night, and then having to sleep late or take naps during the day to make up for it. I'm naturally a night owl who likes to sleep in, but when you're routinely sleeping until noon or after, that's not a good thing.

Camping Was Fun

2010-05-25T11:28:00.002-04:00

As I mentioned, Pumpkin and I went camping with her Girl Scout troop over the weekend. The weather sucked. It rained intermittently, and it was very foggy at the campground. But we still had fun.

At least we weren't in tents. There were four girls and two adults in my cabin. And despite the fact that the other mom that was in there has a way of grating at my last nerve, it was pretty peaceful considering the fact that we were with four young girls on an adventure away from home. And we didn't spend much time in the cabins anyway. Most of the activities were held in a conference center due to the weather, including making s'mores. Good thing there was a fireplace!

We did manage to do one outdoor activity: a nature scavenger hunt. We didn't see any of the animals on the list since the weather was so horrid, but our group found everything else on the list.

A couple of hours before we planned on leaving, the sun came out. But the grass was still very wet, so we took the girls to the gym and let them play.

All in all it was a fun trip. Considering the weather I thought I might have to make up some excuse to go home early, like that I had to sell my timeshare (never mind the fact that I don't have one). But Pumpkin had a blast, and I was happy to stay there with her the whole time.

I Hate Mornings

2010-05-21T08:14:00.002-04:00

I'm not a morning person at all. Never have been, and probably never will be. Since I was young, I've always preferred to stay up late and sleep in whenever possible. And now that I don't have to be at work at a certain time, I often get up long enough to get Pumpkin off to school and go back to bed.

But this morning I stayed up. I needed to get some clothes washed and hung out so that they would (hopefully) dry before we got any rain. So as soon as Pumpkin got on the bus, I started gathering up dirty clothes.

That took what seemed like an eternity. I was trying to make sure I washed everything we needed for the camping trip, and my brain wasn't fully awake. I finally managed to get everything that was needed, or at least I think so. I put the stuff in to wash, and then I threw something to eat in the microwave and got on the computer to attempt to get some work done.

It's been slow going, for sure. I've been up for two hours now, and my brain still isn't awake. Too bad I don't have any more of those diet pills I used to have that perked me up. I sure could use them right about now.

But I do have a couple of sample packets of vanilla caramel latte mix that I got in the mail a couple of days ago. I'm not supposed to have much caffeine, but I may have to give in and try one of them. It smells absolutely heavenly, and maybe it will give me enough of a boost to keep me from going back to bed.

Not a Good Weekend for Camping

2010-05-21T08:01:00.002-04:00

Pumpkin has been looking forward to this weekend for a long time. She and I are going camping with her Girl Scout troop. But it doesn't look like the weather is going to be ideal.

To be specific, the highs are only supposed to be in the mid 60s, and they're calling for showers and thunderstorms tonight and tomorrow. That sucks. I was hoping it would be a warm and sunny couple of days.

It's not like bad weather hasn't hit us before when we were camping. On one particular family camping trip, we got a really bad storm that started around midnight and lasted about three hours. We ended up sleeping in our vehicle. We also found out that our tent wasn't as waterproof as we thought it was. Good times.

I'm hoping that we won't get rained on, or at least not stormed on. The cool weather won't be a good thing, but we can deal with it if we must.