Odds and Ends

OK so far I've hauled recycling off to make it possible to see the area in my floor where it once sat, done the January shopping and budgeting. I'm hoping all are correct. I purchased a new planner, not the one I wanted but it's small enough to carry with me, and the deadlines will fit in it. I wanted a desk calander but in the past that's proved to be a bad idea. The kid writes all over them. Then I read this  post  and got to thinking. I'm still working on throwing out those things, but if the world were ending I don't believe I'd attempt to take anything with me. The important things'll make it with or without me taking them along for the ride. Today I am wrapping up some end of the year cleaning projects and doing a tad bit of promotions and writing to prepare for the income needs of 2013. I have a ton to do this year, the least of which is actually completing my daily to do list and remembering to keep on hand the yogurt and fruits that the ki...

There are a number of things in store for 2013, and the work schedule is filling as I write this. I have personal projects as well as earnings to keep up with so every moment being scheduled is pretty much a must. The first thing I'm beginnning the year with is for my sheer enjoyment however. A month free from Netflix is where I'm starting. I am determined to have time off if it's no more than an hour a day. There are free sites for streaming I know, but Netflix is free (for the month) and has a few things I have not been able to find (not that I have had time to look) and I can put my computer on a stand and watch as I soak in a hot bath. (OK so that was too much information.) I have a total of 14 personal projects in my spread sheet. Three of those have begun. Most of them have notes about what they are to be, or rather the idea that I have in my head for them. Scheduling is a bit slow at the moment since I have a wall calander for everyone, and my online calander. I ...

Well, of course nothing went as planned but that's fine too. There were pre-birthday cupcakes, Christmas presents, an inbetween Christmas and birthday present and the false start on the cake. Then there were the birthday presents, after speech because of course given a choice the short kid wanted to go see her speech therapist on her birthday. ;) Everything was put out only to discover there was no vegetable oil left. No problem just means that we wait for it. Well, get the oil then we have dinner first, I nearly fell asleep before I baked the cake. Triple Chocolate Fudge with pudding in the mix and vanilla frosting! The writing was green as per the short kid's request. The baby is six years old now. I can't believe it, it seems like it was just yesterday that she was brought home from the hospital. Every year goes by a little bit faster. Here's hope 2013 goes by extremely slowly.

I was over at  M3  when this thing called Reality caught my eye. I thought it might be fun to see what my answers would be.  1. If you could change something, what would you change? I'd have more time to spend with my babies; like every waking moment until they were big enough to run away to do thier own things. The way it stands, I merely hope they have wings of their own. 2. If you could repeat an age, what age would it be? I'd rather not repeat any of them. I learned from my mistakes, and I moved on. Time refuses to stand still so I keep going. 3. What one thing really scares you? My youngest knows no danger, and my oldest is to much like me.  4. What one dream have you not completed yet and do you think you will be able to complete it? Living a life without interference. I'm well on the way! 5. If you could be someone else for the day, who would you be? My autistic 6 year old. I'd love to know what she sees as she looks at the world, ...

There have been Christmas before this one, some festive, some not so festive but each one carries iwth it the memory that will not soon be forgotten.  Christmas Past  Ok by now we've survived Christmas festivities. Today we would be attempting to survive the baby's birthday. First Birthday! Christmas past was taken December 25, 2006. (I think) The child with reindeer antlers on her head had turned 7 almost two weeks prior, and this was to be her last Christmas as an only child. Two days later her little sister would arrive via scheduled C-section. The First Birthday! that you see is just that, the youngest first birthday party. This year is bringing happier memories to the surface as it begins to draw to a close. Hope you had a Merry Christmas!

The ramblings today would be mindless just as the title suggests. I have a number of ideas floating around in my head, and a determination not to be dependent on private clients for meeting income needs. I am bordering on doing triple the work to write my own things such as articles and books while dong some private projects to supplement my income. I would also be rearranging my blogging. This one is the one I like the best so the other two will be merely linked and let to die out slowly. They have served the purpose that was intended. I am getting older and really should focus more.  I think I need to write somewhere between ten and twenty articles a day to keep on track. This is getting tiring after almost six years.......has it been six years already? The kid turns six this year, so five is more accurate. Next april will be six years.  I have a lot of things to get out of the house. Things that have been broken, that are too small and things that we do not use. A few...

The title says it all; these thoughts will ramble with no real point in sight until I stumble upon one. I have been looking at rental property for a few years now. My current expenses are down, but they unfortunatly are not down enough to cover the rent of $350 a month which I have to be average for the needs that I have. I have been going over the expenses for 2013 and so far January sees my expenses at less than $500 for the month without items such as supplements, food and gasoline. I would wondering just how high my income will have to get in order to stop worrying. The income will need to be consistant in order to stop the panic sessions. The expenses would be well over $500 a month with rent included. I cannot remember the last time I had to pay rent, this is going to be an interesting transition. Most interesting of all will be the continued struggles to get everyone on board with the reality that having money in the pocket does not mean there is money to spend.

I went to the school on December 20, 2012 for AR with my child. What ended up happening was rather different. The weather had looked bad all morning, for a moment I thought I wasn't going to be able to go. Then it cleared up for a moment and I decided to go ahead and go. I noticed all the children sitting quietly at thier desks, and the teacher in the back  of the room. Unusual already. I had barely made it into the classroom to sit down and been informed they were under what the teacher believed to be a warning when the alarm bell went off at the school to signal all the children in the hallway. The teacher rushed children into the hall, my child was slow to get up. Then she wanted to take her book and appeared upset when I made her leave it. The children had to be moved to the appropriate spots by the teacher; it would have appeared as if all of them had auditory processing disorders to see the inability of following directions. The commotion was too much for the little kid. ...

OK so I'm not doing the work I should be doing at the moment. I have two laptops on my desk, one is running scans and the other is downloading software for scans, and updating its scanning software. It occurred to me that my kid has been using my computer constantly and that my old laptop was sitting in a drawer where I had virtually written it off lacking the funds to have it fixed for her. The thing was making a horrid noise and overheating when I wrote it off and used my tax refund to buy a new one so I could continue to work. I finally began reading other blogs and read about someone that had found a large dust bunny in thier daughter's computer. I decided it could not hurt to take it apart and look at least, so that's exactly what I did. The computer in question is now running without overheating. The only problem is that it is still in need of a keyboard, and my stuff has to be gotten off of it. That is the next surprise for the kid. The pictures will be posted wh...

My autistic angel is in Kindergarten this year. It is something that I had dreaded for a long time but this year is going rather smoothly. My child has only come home with a single injury; another special needs child bit her while she riding on the school bus. Everything else so far is going well with only a few things that had not been anticipated occuring. There was the incident with the fire alarm, and the drill that she thought was a game other than that she is cooperating fully with the teachers and almost fully with me to get ready for school. Hair brushing has become an argument but it is one that I am familiar with. Her favorite past time is computer time, and flash cards. She would spend all her time on it if she could. This only creates a problem when you need her to do something else. The computer reinforces her lessons from the school day, and she has reached the point of interactions with the screen. The verbal comprehension that she has is increasing a great deal d...

I have no words, so just a few pictures of hassles and memories.

My productivity is down lately. I am starting to think that all the time spent forcing myself to work no matter how exhausted or sick is beginning to get to me. I am attempting to make it to the end of 2012 without losing my sanity and my temper. I'll be resting some, in an effort not to lose it outright but once 2013 starts I may regret the resting. There are goals set for 2013, financial and personal; they are not strict but they are musts. The kid's dad will have a check December 21, 2012 and then as a result of not being able to stand for a couple weeks will not have another one until January 18,2013 provided I figured his paydates correctly. I have some monthly earnings goals and some sites that I need to acquire payout from one or two last times so I can put them behind me. It's getting more difficult to meet the guidelines for them. The goal for the new year is to be more productive with the writing, that is after all how I make my living. I have went from ...

The school week ends at mid day on Friday to start the Christmas vacation. It is not a vacation for us. We have dentist, doctor and speech appointments. I rarely get a vacation that is a vacation, and even rarer a day off that is not due to illness. In between Christmas and appointment my youngest child has a birthday, the oldest birthday has already past and my step child's is in January. Meanwhile I had neither gas nor postage to get my oldest her birthday present, and Christmas is slim for her. Sure she has grandparents that will buy her tons, she's a hard little thing to buy for. The baby has people that are buying her stuff, and she's sure to love it because they know her better than her grandparents ever imagined knowing her. I do believe that I have everyone where they should be. There has so far only been one Christmas/Birthday card, whatever it was returned unopen to people far to ignorant to comprehend the meaning of the words "no contact" but there ig...

People unfortunately are unavoidable unless you manage to live completely off the land in some remote area growing your meals, making your own clothes and firing shots at those that would intrude upon your space. This reality is not feasible for most, although the idea of building a large brick wall hundreds of feet high with electrical wire and barbed wire to top it is growing increasingly appealing. What I've noticed recently is a trend for some to believe the world revolves around them and thier children. Heaven forbid you should remind them they have options or ask them questions without tailoring them to the two year old mentality of the world revolving around them that they are so deluded with. Coping with little time while asking simple questions is met with hateful responses that you have done nothing to deserve, and heaven forbid you take offense to said hateful response. You could after all have been rude from the start and just pointed out that those stares they reciev...

The end of 2012 is fast approaching, and the year did not go as planned. This is something that I hope to correct in 2013. There are some repairs to do still to make this place as comfortable as possible as I search for a rental that fits into my budget. Renting makes more sense for a number of reasons, let me explain. The taxes and repairs are paid by someone else, this frees up money for me to save for other things. It can help my long since degraded credit, yes I had a life once, then life happened and ruined my credit with it. A move will give me a fresh start, and as an added perk I will have more privacy in a way.  The savings goals are small still. Tax time is drawing near, and some of the return provided it is visible to the eye will be used for much needed repairs. Moving requires a suitable environment for my autistic child, cat and dog to be accommodated safetly. There is the need for two bedrooms, and a fenced in yard. I cannot get the help I need to put up a f...

Time is something I have little of, almost as little of as I have money. I have decided to dedicate myself to increasing the efficient usage of my time. I am writing a book, and outlining another since the original idea went down the toilet. I read something about someone fixing their own  washer  recently and have decided to see if I can fix my dryer myself. I don't use it regularly, but I do have a few items that require dry cleaning. It is cheaper to dry clean yourself than to drop it off for professional care. I can save a tad of money there and my light bill won't go up a great deal. (I haven't used the dryer in ages.) I have no choice but to attempt to fix it myself, auto repairs are taking a toll. Something else goes wrong after the last problem was fixed. I would be taking crash courses in automotive diagnostics, gaining patience to do repairs myself if worse comes to worse and doing construction. I want a vacation with no end to the work in sight.

The noise from the engines was like music, the vibration in the stands like soothing. The new drivers appeared to have something to prove. The arrogance ended with half of the cars on the track crushed; taking stock of the damage would take days.