Odds and Ends

Every Wednesday we see S for Applied Behavioral Analysis therapy and lately it's becoming an idea that shows itself to be a bad one. In the beginning I was not given a choice of therapist or a choice when we changed therapists. I've never been fond fond of this therapist because she's always a few minutes late and doesn't really listen which results in my having to repeat the same things each and every week. I have asked her to assist with behaviors in the past because either I found them irritating or because I don't allow them in my house and she has refused. I would need a therapist that listens and knows without being told that it is overstepping their bounds to parent other people's children. When we first started this the $55 an hour came out of my pocket and we could only afford one hour a week instead of the two that they try to make a minimum for the children. Then financial aid kicked in and we got two hours a week at no charge. A little later they i...

Theresa was up way past her bedtime last night because she got to take a late afternoon nap that lasted into close to the evening. She didn't want to get out of bed this morning, and she only ate a couple bites of the cereal bar that I gave her. I managed to get her supplements in her and get her dressed only to have her supplements come up again because she was supposed to have a full stomach. Fun, huh? She got on the bus when it came because she wouldn't come back in, it seems that she missed the pre-school and her little friends. I made a plan for today though. First I am updating this blog where my mind wanders, editing a coupon article and searching for something new to write. This evening after therapy we will stop at the store to pick up a couple items that we need. We will also go to the grocery store to complete my list. I plan to box up a few items that no longer fit today and stack them by the door. I also intend to add another post at  Dazed and Confused  and s...

I've been searching for things to write about and coupons for the past two weeks. I saw a posting yesterday where someone wants articles about coupons. So I'm going to write articles on coupons and put them on the site for purchase. If nothing else I'll have more articles in my portfolio to show potential clients and I could make some much needed money in the meantime. I've also gotten my next shopping trip almost planned. I have the items I need by store, because some stores take Internet coupons and some I'm not sure about. Other stores double coupons, so I'm taking the ones I need doubled to the one that doubles the highest value of coupons. I have a budget in mind and I think I'll be able to meet it with my coupons which I organize by expiration date. I have some with long expiration dates that I plan to hold onto until they are on sale. I plan to purchase a paper this Sunday because there are coupons for products we use and I haven't read it in ...

Well, I have to pay more attention. I use swagbucks for a lot of my search needs (the majority actually) to earn Swagbucks that I then cash in for Amazon gift cards. Well, I knew they had coupons but I wasn't paying close enough attention. They offer the same coupons as other sites, printing and redeeming the ones on the site earns 10 swagbucks each. I can run my totals up for gift cards faster and save on items that we use everyday. Example the 30 cents off French's mustard will make it 70 cents at my local dollar store where it sells for $1. That 70cents makes it cheaper than the generic brand. If I take the coupon to a store that doubles them then it becomes worth 60cents and the bottle is roughly 40 cents per bottle. I can buy two at that price and still save some money while getting us enough mustard to last about month maybe more. There are some items we've been needing that a savings with coupons and earning swagbucks could make possible. I have a Kmart reward ca...

We were out of routine all week long for one reason or another. Monday- I put Theresa on the school bus only to get a call that she had gotten sick on the bus. I went to get her, cancelled her afternoon appointment and off to the doctor we went. Two hours later we were home. Tuesday - We got up for an 8a.m. IEP that didn't happen due to server problems, go home start over with the day. We finish speech and they ask if the Wednesday afternoon ABA appointment can be moved to 8 to 10 in the morning. We arranged for the therapist to meet me at the IEP and I made plans for after. Wednesday - We meet the ABA therapist at the school for the IEP meeting. It took all of thirty minutes and I picked up an application for the actual Head Start program instead of the disabled preschool program. Then we went to the store with our therapist instead of leaving Theresa in pre-school for the day so we got the full two hour session. Thursday - We didn't have speech because to fit in the c...

The day began fairly well considering we were running late. We managed to get to the doctor's office a little after 8a.m. and were home by 9:30 this morning. Theresa did fine, she didn't have a fit when we got there, instead she was pointing things out to me that she saw around her. It was almost too good to be true, then we went inside. She listened well enough to come back to where I could see her while I signed her in and told them that we were there for lab work. The wait wasn't that long considering it's a doctor's office. Theresa went back and forth from watching "Mickey Mouse" to looking in the fish tank and visiting with another family that had a baby with them. She was very nice. Finally, it's her turn and she comes with me willingly. She went into the room told us "I'm sorry" and of course we're wondering if she's telling Ms. Pat she should be apologizing already. When I put her in my lap, she said "sticker...

It's been raining all morning, and Theresa got on the bus in the rain. It wasn't raining when we walked to the road, but as soon as we got out there it began to rain harder and colder. I had a small coat on her to keep the rain off and dug one out of her bag to hold over my head. I have to buy myself a rain coat, and a new umbrella since the last one broke. It's starting to thunder now, and it's getting louder. I can't believe that we have therapy this afternoon. I feel awful after standing out in the rain this morning. I'm tired as can be and I think I'm getting sick from standing out in the rain, I hope that Theresa doesn't. As a result of the rain I'm trying to write an article on things that can be done indoors to keep kids from being bored when it's raining outside. So far it's going very slowly. I can't manage to finish this article with my mind wandering so I'm going to go back and forth between them to see what I can find to...

I saw two assignments on what used to be AC that I want to do but I doubt I can finish them in time. I just submitted an article to  Constant Content  and once I hit submit I had doubts about it. It was actually the title that I had doubts about. I messed up my budget this month. That one was really surprising since the tax refund came in. I guess it shouldn't have been a surprise since a lot of things got taken care of. I planned it out carefully but I managed to miss having the full amount for the one supplement that I'm about to run out of. I need a few more dollars but it'll prevent me from having my phone bills. I lost my thought so I'll be calling it a post now.

The week is about half over, at least the "typical" work week. My work week is far from over. Actually it's been a bit off. By that I mean that I'm lucky to get my notes done so far. Yesterday I had a sick child so there were only things that made he happy done. At the moment I'm working on an editorial about a book I just read, it was supposed to be a review but I got lost so I may just leave it alone until I can think of something else to do with it. I still have my elephant note page open. Good thing I have a month before the request closes. I have one fact that gets left out because I want to write an article about it myself, I have some questions that I can't put into the article I took them for. I may not do that article at all, I might just don't know. I do know that I need a different type of appointment book so I can highlight blocks of time instead of writing it in. This one will have to do until 2012 comes around though. I found my dictionar...

Well, it's Monday once again! I'm not sure why I'm so happy about that fact, maybe it's because I managed to get Theresa fed, give her the morning supplements, dress her and put her on the school bus. All without a tantrum or running behind. I set my alarm for 5:15 this morning and managed to get up in time to get most of what I needed done. I have spend this morning (and part of yesterday) editing older articles to improve them. I plan to edit all the ones that I don't have to send request for first. I'm adding links to related articles where I can, the ones that can't are still being edited for improvements of minor, silly errors that I don't believe they should have been published with. Well, I've only got a couple more hours to work uninterrupted and I need to try and pick up the toys to vacuum before the little one gets home. I also want to clean her room a little while she's gone so I'll go for now.

Today has proven to be both hot at 84 in my living room and only a small 58 word article written. All my shade is on the side of the house without window screen. Two windows open in the shade would make all the difference in the world. We got one open, just had to move the television set for a moment. Now if we can find a new home for the set it'll be great! I'm wondering whose bright idea it was to face this place so that the most windows were toward the afternoon sun when everyone knows that it's the hottest part of the day? I want awnings over the windows but I want them on a new home and not this place. It's falling apart, and I don't have the energy or the heart to even begin the repairs that would buy another few years out of it. It's cooler in Theresa's room, even though it's on the front of the house and the window is closed for lack of a screen and my nerves. There is no carpet in her room which means the heat isn't sucked into it making i...

We missed the bus this morning because I thought that we'd already missed the bus. I mean we were out there for half an hour waiting so I came back in and decided to check the time. Well, about two minutes later I heard the horn on the bus. The trees blocking the road prevented the driver from seeing that we were coming back out the door. I drove the kid to school and beat the bus there. I don't know how but I managed to get home in time to do a quick load of laundry. I actually did it yesterday but today I had to redo it because I had hand washed it and left it in the water too long. It was soar so into the washing machine it went. Well, when I went to hang the laundry outside I heard water running. Nice, another leak under the house. OK for the moment the pipe is fixed but we can't use the bathtub in the back. Now it's already time to go meet the school bus, hopefully they won't be as late dropping her off as they have been.

It's getting hotter which means more time outside for me and the little one. She has a vitamin D deficiency and sunlight helps with that. The summer also means that the grass is growing and there is no more putting off the yard work. This morning I was cutting grass with a pull-mower. You know the modern version of the old push mower. It's not ideal but the riding lawnmower is torn up. It refuse to crank once again. The hours that can be spent working outside are now. The hours that can not be spent working outside are spent doing paying work and editing it. Research fits in there somewhere. The house well it's clean enough for me. If you want it spotless wait for an invite; if you're brave hold your breath while you wait.

The time change is tonight. We get to push the clocks up one hour and in theory lose an hour. Now exactly where does that time go until we turn the clocks back an hour to regain it? Does it float in space just waiting for us to find it again? I don't think it does but you never know. The time change means that I have (supposedly) more hours of daylight to go out and work in the yard. It also means that the unbearable heat will be here soon. That means no more freezing nights but it also that the air conditioner is going to have to come on at some point running my light bill up once again. I'm not looking forward to that particular part of the summer. I am looking forward to some repairs being done since my other half seems to have a sudden interest in fixing things long neglected. The trees that are right against the back of the house and the one blocking the shed door are the first ones to go! I'm kind of excited but I also dread being able to access the siding that ne...

I sat down and figured it out so carefully. Three blogs meant I kept on track at two of them and had one just to ramble away on when nothing fit the topics of the other two. Well, today nothing really fits because I'd have a couple tiny post or either one long rambling one. I chose to have a rambling one. The recent changes to my income required yet another change to my working habits that is not welcome but I'm not forced to go back to private clients just yet. I'm putting that off until I get the new battery for the laptop so I can actually work on the go instead of being tied to this desk to be half way productive. These days half productive is all that I can muster. I didn't feel like doing a load of laundry and guessing at today's weather so I hand washed the shirt that I intend to wear tomorrow. I know lazy but I'm tired. I finished up a 900 word article this morning, ran the grammar and spelling check then ran it through copyscape. After all that work...

How do you break something as it's being fixed? Easy you let two men who have no idea what they're doing pretend they know how to do something. The hubby's car has two new outside door handles and now only one of them works but both the inside handles are working. The cost of the shop visit I was trying to avoid will have to be paid eventually anyway because they pulled a metal rod out of the door. Oh well, the doors open from the outside so that I can roll the windows up now. The front end on my truck still hasn't been checked out, if it's something bad we have to park it and replace it. I'm tired of driving it after all these years and lately it causes more trouble than it's worth. Well, I'm tired and should be working so I'm going to go write an editorial, or maybe a short story.

I have no focus. I have three windows open writing and one open to play games. No focus at all tonight. I really need focus since at the rate I'm going I'll be working 90 hours a week. Well, there are only 24 hours in a day and I have to sleep at some point. I have to work more than ever now. The first of the month is here and it's time to pay the bills again. My tax refund should be here by the end of next month. Any other year they would be a much needed relief this year deciding where to spend it, actually on which repair and bill to spend it is making me a nervous wreck. So far the weather isn't terribly hot which means I have time to find an air conditioning solution. I know that I have no desire to repair the duct work since that would cost more than this place is worth at the moment with all the repairs needed on it. The well has been acting up and cutting itself off so I'm thinking about fixing that but I don't want to have to pay someone to come repla...

Seriously it's almost 4:30 in the afternoon and it's right at 80 degrees inside. It's not even the first of March which means this summer is going to be rather unpleasant for us unless I find an air conditioning solution quickly. Another $400 light bill is one more than I can pay. We're $341 over budget which will get added to the actual bill that we have to pay during the month of October. At the rate we're going that'll be $1,000 easy. I was reading  Annie's  post for the day and the dream home she mentioned looks nice. It's rather easy to maintain as well. I wouldn't be experiencing these air conditioning problems if I lived in it; a little time on a rack and a lot less money and it'd be taken care of. It finally got too hot in here for me so I turned the fan on for the central unit in addition to the fans that I have on in the windows and on the floor. The problem? I wouldn't be able to drive my own home. In the meantime my tax refund...

The more I need to work the less I actually feel like working. It might be different if I had a little more help but as usually I have very little help and am surrounded by people who voice opinions about things that they don't know anything about. They seem not to be as many of them at the moment, they know I'm miserable. Let me be happy and they'll rush to butt in. I have no idea why but those that are around me love to see me miserable; they must every time I'm happy they rush in to ruin it.

It's Sunday evening and most people are either ending a relaxing weekend or smiling at the fact they have one more day left of it. I on the other hand am finishing up a weekend of doing four loads of laundry and struggling to get a few articles done. I managed to do a maybe three all weekend and write a paragraph or two on articles that I've been working on. I've taken all but one covering off the living room windows facing the road to make it easier to open them the rest of the way when Theresa goes to bed. These lovely floor to ceiling windows open wide enough that she can easily push on the screen and fits nicely into the opening if she should decide that she wants too. I had a look at an article I did last year sometimes on the  advantages  of freelance writing. I know the link takes you to the second page it's intentional. I managed to vacuum a little just to discover that my vacuum needs a filter or a belt. It's not picking up everything that it should. ...