Odds and Ends

that's what my weekend is going to be filled with. CMT is doing a weekend marathon of the "Dukes of Hazzard," "Dallas" and "Green Acres" so that's what I'm going to be doing. I can do that while I do the laundry, box up clothes that are too small and go through my kitchen to get rid of things that we don't need anymore. I've decided to attempt and spend some time at Text Broker. I think that the shorter articles of 100 to 150 words there could possibly be done within a half hour even with interruptions. I'm going to start on that in the morning, or late tonight depending on whether or not I turn on the pot of coffee I set up for in the morning. It's just the right temperature that the windows are open so there isn't any electricity being used by the heating/cooling unit. I'd love it if my light bill would post so I could make sure of the due date. The mail doesn't run again until Monday? is that right? I have pla...

Well, $80 something dollars later I can almost see. I finally got the frames for my glasses replaced. I was a bit irritated when I realized that if I'd had the time to call and check when they were first broken they would have still been under warranty and replaced for free. Oh well, that's life. My next eye exam is due in March of 2011 and these frames are under a year warranty. I wonder what the chances are that they'll be able to make new lens so I don't have to buy frames again? I think that I've got about $160 left to get gas and supplements without my pay figured into the equation. I'm gonna have to request the $25 from Sidetick and figure out something else for my tires and savings account. We have an auto loan to pay back this month. I think the New Year is gonna get off to a bumpy start but we'll manage. I think the new stain remover I bought this morning works well. My clothes smell great even with just a couple spots treated. I left my glasses...

I just realized this afternoon as I was making peanut butter and raisin cookies on demand for my four year old that I forgot to make her birthday cake this year. I wasn't happy about that but I've decided that I'm going to make it after the first of the year. It'll be a surprise to her. I just need some cake mix, icing and some decorations along with one candle. I have gone over the budget, packed up old clothes that are too small for all of us and starting thinking about what I want to accomplish during the New Year. I'm hoping that 2011 will go better than 2010 did. I have four days left of nothing to do but I choose to do. The 3rd of January we start back with our regular therapy and the 10th my youngest goes back to preschool. I found one school holiday in January I just won't know if it's a therapy holiday until later in the month. I have to redo the financial aid papers for ABA therapy soon. At least I think that I do. I'm wondering when I'...

OK so I cancelled the pest control service $33 saved. I downgraded my Internet to the economy, it's a little slower but it's only $24.95 a month. I left the cable alone at $55.50 a month. They did away with extended basic and the next one down is about $15 a month for channels 2-13 that I could pick up with an antenna. The new bill will be $72.95 before taxes with the $15 discount that runs through July. That's more than the special that I have now but the end bill will be less than this end bill. The regular bill before taxes on these is $87.95 a month. There went the money saved on pest control. I'm going to check into prepaid Internet and eventually cut the cable off as soon as I find the shows I want to watch online and on DVD. I'm looking for pre-paid Internet because while I work from home my time online has been reduced as I write more and more offline. I spend a couple hours a day online which isn't bad. OK I'm going to see what else I can do. I...

Well, I can tell it's Monday already. Of course being as it's half past noon I should know it's Monday by now. I have been looking at the budget, yes I'm bringing it up again. I have the feeling that we'll be scraping by on the skin of our teeth,  cutting a few corners in the new year. The pest control is the first casualty since that's $33 a month that we can see immediately as being used elsewhere or saved. The last is not likely for a few months. I'm still trying to see how much electricity we used this month. The budget amount for the bill is $200 each month; the last bill showed that so far we have a credit of $76.34. That's not too bad of course the summer hasn't gotten here yet so there could still be an amount that we have to pay when the budget billing is reviewed. I'm tired of having to unplug behind everyone and I'd love to have a working dryer so the laundry didn't pile up when it was cold or rainy. I have to have Internet...

Well, I can tell it's Monday already. Of course being as it's half past noon I should know it's Monday by now. I have been looking at the budget, yes I'm bringing it up again. I have the feeling that we'll be scraping by on the skin of our teeth,  cutting a few corners in the new year. The pest control is the first casualty since that's $33 a month that we can see immediately as being used elsewhere or saved. The last is not likely for a few months. I'm still trying to see how much electricity we used this month. The budget amount for the bill is $200 each month; the last bill showed that so far we have a credit of $76.34. That's not too bad of course the summer hasn't gotten here yet so there could still be an amount that we have to pay when the budget billing is reviewed. I'm tired of having to unplug behind everyone and I'd love to have a working dryer so the laundry didn't pile up when it was cold or rainy. I have to have Internet...

I've had a headache since last night and it refuses to go away. At the moment I'm figuring out what we can cancel and get rid of in order to move. My goal is April but that might be pushing it. In the mean time I'm donating what we don't need and putting up things I want to keep. I've figured out that I can save a whole $33 by canceling the pest control since the problem that we started the service four is gone and shows no signs of returning. Hopefully if the wasp do come back it will be after we've move. My problem? Coming up with a deposit/rent and pet deposit in order to move us out of here. I don't want to stay here at all. I'm only down here because my oldest daughter is. I don't like it here at all.

OK so it’s been an interesting day. Opening presents, doing laundry and dishes, arguing with a toddler when she has a tantrum because we touched her toys. Sharing is a concept that’s still a bit new to her. I think her nap wasn’t long enough but she was dry when she got up from it. We’ve worked on potty training some this week but I think whatever progress we’ve made is going to have to be started all over again during the next vacation. I’ve been thinking about the things that we need and the things that I just want to buy. The two are getting confused in my mind so I have to make myself a nice long list for the next visit to the store. I need to leave off things that I don’t need but just want.

Well, mostly it was restful. This afternoon Theresa had a therapy appointment that I got her daddy to take her to. I also got him to stop at the store on their way home. That gave me extra time. I spent my morning trying to fix display issues with Firefox and Internet Explorer so I could use one of them b/c buttons and tool bars that I need are not available for Google Chrome. It was a lot cause so I use one of them for the buttons and Chrome for everything else. I watched Mr. Mom. I even got to watch it from the bathtub. I took advantage of having the house to myself to take a nice long soak in the tub. At the moment I'm watching the weather and it's supposed to get cold tonight. Something about snow in the weather forecast, I do hope that they're wrong. I don't like snow and I really don't want to have to keep the house that warm this weekend. Did I mention I need new duct work? One of my cats has discovered that he can let himself in through the vents when he...

That about describes how I feel at the moment perfectly. It's almost 1p.m. and at 2:30 I was supposed to take Theresa to a Christmas party for about an hour and a half just because she's never been to one. It looks like it'll be next year. I have a good mind to plan for the next school vacation but that doesn't usually work out too well. Therapy has increased so much over the past year that I have no free time unless I'm asleep. I miss the days when we could make plans and keep them but those days are gone for a while. I have been attempting to get out of the house more for things other than therapy but it's not going well. I'm thinking that we can go somewhere besides the grocery store every now and then. I want to have a garden next year but the ground is too hard, I'm thinking the containers will have to do. I just have to buy potting soil when it's on sale, off brand. I think I'll get some herbs so I can stop buying them. I managed to do ...

OK it's almost 2011, just a couple weeks give or take a few days. It doesn't actually seem real. I'm not sure it's the numbers or the fact that I have two kids and a step kid that doesn't seem real. Almost 18, 11 and almost 4. When did I get old? OK so I'm not old yet, I just feel old. My days run together and I spend time figuring out bills and other boring adult things. I don't actually like being grown up. It's nice to spend time just sitting and watching a cartoon with the baby though. It's rather amazing to see what she can do but confusing when you look at what she can't do. She can spell a  bunch of words and as a general rule if she can spell it she can read it. She has memorized most of her shows so she says the lines before they do. This is rather strange. I can't believe it's Sunday night and I'm watching "Gene Simmons: Family Jewels." It's not the fact that's the show I'm watching that I can't...

OK an hour well, closer to two hours in a therapist office to schedule three more appointments by the end of the visit. I just love having to fill out all the forms and go through the testing process all over again. I'm exhausted, I was looking forward to having two weeks off. My mistake for looking forward to it.

OK it's just after six in the freaking morning and I've been up for half an hour. I've already had time for a cup of coffee with hot cocoa and whip cream to see if I couldn't get an extra dose of wake up this morning and a raisin swirl bagel with cream cheese just because I wanted it. I can't stand mornings, not really sure what I have against them unless it's the fact that I'm tired and it's cold out.  Theresa was up in the middle of the night crying, sort of. When I went to find out what was wrong, her blankets were how she wanted them. That means they'd come off of here and ended up in a nice little ball, she was cold and she was mad about it. I don't blame her, I get mad when I'm cold too. I got her covered back up and she went right back to laying down quietly until she could get back to sleep. I know she was quiet because I had trouble getting to sleep after that; I was afraid she'd wake up cold again and I wouldn't hear here....

O.K. so far today I managed to get the kids up, fed, dressed and given her supplements. I even got her on the school bus without having to spend too much time out in the wind. Since I put her on the bus I’ve done a load of laundry, vacuumed up most of the floor that wasn’t too big of a fight with toys and am almost done putting the Christmas tree up for her. In my need for getting more done in a short amount of time I boiled my noodles while I was putting the tree together. I’m eating breakfast as I write this out in my word processor so that’s a simple copy and paste later today when I find the time to post it. If I’m not mistaken I get to go to the grocery store tomorrow in between appointments. First thing in the morning we have an appointment then in the afternoon we have therapy. It’s just going to get colder as the day goes on so I hope to grab a few groceries in between. At the moment I would be watching “Flirting with forty” as I eat my breakfast and write this. Sadly enough ...

OK in a moment of stupidity today I decided to go through Theresa's clothes and get out what doesn't fit her into boxes to donate. Well, she's got three dressers and a closet. I managed to fill one box out of the closet and a dresser drawer. This is gonna be a long project; not only do I have to get out what's too small I have to put up what fits. Organizing by socks, underwear, night clothes, school clothes and day to day wear. This is going to be fun. I'm already exhausted and box two still has a lot of room at the top of it. I managed to put in the cover for the highchair we don't have anymore. Someone somewhere has to have a highchair they need an extra cover for. I think I'll donate that baby bathtub that it's easier to put them in the sink than use as well. I may very well have bitten off a lot more than I can chew. I've been trying to down size for some time now so this is my beginning effort to requiring less space. The new home is still ...

First I'm wondering why Firefox won't display all the images that I need it to. I still haven't figured out where to go in order to get it to display everything it's supposed to. I'm wondering if I should have just done the original blog as Odds and Ends and made pages out of the other two. Sounds silly to have that dawn on me now. I wonder if I can merge the three? Probably not because each one is supposed to focus on something. One is to focus on family and writing, one on work and savings and this one. Well, this one is to let my mind wander off. You know I've noticed that updating them each and everyday is sometimes easier said than done. I also noticed that I don't know where I put the list of blogs I'm following so others can click to read them if they want. I know January will see changes to my Internet at least. I'm opting for the one that's half of what this one is when it's not on special. I have to make some changes to the tele...

OK today is the 10th and I've got $58.62 for groceries that was supposed to be for Christmas and Birthday's. That leaves me with the money to pay both my phone bills. At the rate things are going I'm going to have approximately $25 to get three kids Christmas and one a birthday present this month. I sent my oldest a card for her birthday without money in it. I didn't have it to send. This year sucks. I hope to start earlier this coming year by picking them each up a little something at a time. The only problem with that is by the time the end of the year gets here both will have duplicates of something because grandparents like to shop. Their grandparents don't like to ask if you had plans or something you'd prefer to buy them either. I just realized that the most work I've done this week has been on these blogs. That's good in a way but not good in others. For instance I don't get paid each and every month to write a blog. I have to focus more o...

My pest control is supposed to be done this morning so I'm trying to wait until after he's done to put the kid in the tub. I don't want to be in the middle of her bath and have to snatch her out of the tub when he gets here. She'd get rather upset. I reinstalled Firefox yesterday so I could get a tool bar that I needed and well, I'm really wondering why not all of my buttons and images are showing up in the browser. I can hover to find out what they are but that's a big waste of time when I get paid on being productive. I also noticed that by hitting enter my cursor moves to the top of the page instead of down the page like it's supposed to. I have an article that I want to write but all these complications are rather irritating to say the least. Theresa wasn't feeling well yesterday. To top that off we got snow and sleet which made for a freezing cold day. She was has fluid on her ear, we got her antibiotic and she feels a bit better today. I got h...

So far this day has been the most unfocused one I've had in a while, my mind keep wandering off. It's 20 minutes until 10a.m. and I can't remember what I've done today. I let the baby sleep a little too long because when I got her up her pull up had leaked and she was rather upset to be laying in a puddle. I did manage to give her a bath before she got dressed this morning. She was rather happy and true to form when I said "all done bath" even though she'd only been in the tub for ten minutes she put her toys up as she always does. I saw an article title today that I want to write to. I just don't want to write it for the amount being asked or for the specific title that was up. I have an idea for my own title and personally I think it'd serve me better than the one I saw because it makes more sense and lends itself to numerous variations on key words that people in the real world use to search. I have the resources page open for the percentages ...

I've spent more time upset the last few days that I have working. It would seem that I write crap because even if I felt like competing for my earnings I couldn't or wouldn't write to any of those titles up to compete for payment. My bright side today? I get my truck out of the shop tonight with it's new working brakes. Brighter side my mommy is paying the $700 it cost to fix the damn things. Oh well, at least getting to appointments is going to be easier now and I will be doing it safely because it was to the point it couldn't be driven anymore. Now to get past the fact that I should have been able to cover that with savings. Oh yea, they savings account was cleaned out over the summer to make up for two months taken off because of the schools being out. I just realized that in a few more months we'll be going through the summer without any savings if I don't get a move on. Whenever the letter comes in I have to send off income proofs that I already sen...

When I first  figured out how much work  I would have to do without the benefit of private clients I never counted on such drastic changes in payment policies. I have to redo the entire thing. The problem with figuring it out all over again is that I'm too shocked and irritated at the sudden changes being crammed down everyone's throats. Yes, there are some cheering the changes on while those that are supposed to be answering questions are treating those with questions as if they have brain damage for wanting clarification and straight answers. I have no patience for this, in fact I stopped posting on those boards for the most part when the new moderator came in. I've always found this particular moderator to be offensive but it would appear that he would be there to stay. Strange though I almost feel sorry for him as he doesn't seem to know that he is the biggest part of the problem. I managed to watch the first Sex and the City movie all but the first fifteen minu...

IWhat I'm thinking at the moment does't fit on either my family or my working blog so it's going here. I'm a freelance writer for those of you that don't know. I work from home producing content for various websites. Well recently a site that I used to earn enough to cover the bills on when I didn't have outside work there has been a drastic change in the way payments are now made. Although only $20 of the earnings I'll receive on the 10th are from the previous upfront payment system. The rest was from ad revenue. July payout I had $135 in upfront payments. Well, it's kind of obvious I was more than a little distracted the last month the system did me any good. The new changes are being made strictly with profit in mind. Not the writers and an ignorant, arrogant, lying jackass is screaming that it's in EVERYONE'S best interest. Not to be bitchy or anything but I'm betting that the donkey couldn't afford my basic needs never mind my want...

That's the sum of my day in the world of freelance writing. F. U. I'd love to go into a rather long rant here but I won't. I'll just say that it's a crock of shit and be done with it.