Well, it's Friday and I have made it through the week. It's been a pretty calm week, well except for today.
The Good:
*I got all my work done for the week and even worked on a few things for next week which means that I am actually ahead! Yeah, I know....spooky.
*The final tally of Caterpillar's grades came in and he passed everything. In fact, his lowest grade was a 74 in Math and since he does struggle in that class I am willing to accept it.
*MH actually was able to pick up a few side jobs. This is always a good thing.
*Found out that Cheshire Cat's new due date is June 25th. Not too much longer before we have a new baby to cuddle.
*It's warmed up a bit here so while it is still cool I am not turning into a popsicle.
The Bad:
*My dryer died finally this week. That is so not good on so many levels.
*I knew that I would be going out of town sometime next month for a few meetings at work. I also knew that it would be for a few days (paid for of course) I did not know that it was going to be the first week of the month and the way that I would find out was to get my itinerary emailed to me. I would have much rather had some details sent to me first...sigh.
*Got my new electric bill in this week and even though I froze through the entire billing period and never had my heat set above 68 my bill was $489. That is pathetically ridiculous.
The Ugly:
*I have a really good friend who is in her 70's. Another friend and I try to check up on her, especially since she is no longer working. We try to get together for lunch at least once a month. Today was that day. We waited for her for awhile and then went ahead and ate, thinking (and hoping) that she had just forgotten. The longer we sat there the worse I was feeling so we decided to drive to her house to check on her. Her car was sitting in the driveway and as I was contemplating the best way to break into her house to check on her a neighbor came over to tell us that she was taken by ambulance to the hospital the other night. After tracking her down and going to the hospital ourselves we finally were able to see her. She is in ICU where she is having internal bleeding they cannot control. She has been given several pints of blood and while they think she is getting better they still haven't found the cause. I will be going to the hospital to check on her again on Sunday and the only good part is that while I was there the social worker came in to get information from her so I am now listed on her emergency contacts so this will not happen again.
It's been something of a week and hopefully the good will continue and there will be no more ugly for quite awhile.
Friday, January 15, 2010
Monday, January 11, 2010
The Year of the Simple
So far so good. I have spent the entire past week repeating my manta of "Keep it simple, stupid", and it has worked!
I managed to schedule everything I needed to last week, leaving room for those last minute things that tend to crop up. I also made sure I scheduled the stupid little things that I normally just try to remember and then when I forget I kick myself in the butt. The result was a completely stress free week complete with enough spontaneous things thrown in to keep me from being over scheduled.
I was able to spend time with my family and not be stressed out about things that weren't getting done. I was also able to make time for some phone calls with friends to catch up, one friend who called out of the blue on Saturday that I had not spoken to in a couple years. It was so nice to be able to just focus on that and not feel guilty that I was neglecting my family. I have gotten into the habit in the past few years to not be on the phone in the evenings and weekends when everyone is home so it was nice that when I received the phone call I had no qualms about just sitting down and chatting for an hour or so.
I have really been wanting to add a few things to my schedule but honestly I am afraid of upsetting the balance I am enjoying with work and family. If I can keep this up for the rest of the year then possibly I can regain my sanity and maybe not have to color my hair quite so often to get rid of that pesky gray that crops up more often than I care for. Guess we shall see.
I managed to schedule everything I needed to last week, leaving room for those last minute things that tend to crop up. I also made sure I scheduled the stupid little things that I normally just try to remember and then when I forget I kick myself in the butt. The result was a completely stress free week complete with enough spontaneous things thrown in to keep me from being over scheduled.
I was able to spend time with my family and not be stressed out about things that weren't getting done. I was also able to make time for some phone calls with friends to catch up, one friend who called out of the blue on Saturday that I had not spoken to in a couple years. It was so nice to be able to just focus on that and not feel guilty that I was neglecting my family. I have gotten into the habit in the past few years to not be on the phone in the evenings and weekends when everyone is home so it was nice that when I received the phone call I had no qualms about just sitting down and chatting for an hour or so.
I have really been wanting to add a few things to my schedule but honestly I am afraid of upsetting the balance I am enjoying with work and family. If I can keep this up for the rest of the year then possibly I can regain my sanity and maybe not have to color my hair quite so often to get rid of that pesky gray that crops up more often than I care for. Guess we shall see.
Monday, January 4, 2010
A New Year
For someone that hates change as much as I do, I get surprisingly chipper at the beginning of the New Year. It's a time for change, for goals, and lists! Lots and lots of lists. I absolutely adore lists. Generally I can come up with my own reasons for making a list but there is something about the beginning of a new year that brings out an insane desire to make a list, or two, or ten.
I spent the weekend getting my new day planner situated. I never leave home without it and have it within arms reach at pretty much any time. I'm pretty picky about dayplanners and I am one of those people that are difficult to buy one for so I always buy my own and then someone else gives it to me for Christmas. I know, pathetic but it works for us...lol.
I spent today getting all of my work things together and everything scheduled for the month. Since I am only working for two companies right now and one of them has monthly and bi monthly projects I can schedule everything right now at the beginning of the month. My other company is a weekly company but it's pretty easy to figure out what I am doing for up to three weeks in advance. I don't know why I didn't try doing this before. In the past I had always scheduled by the week and now I can't figure out why. This is so nice to look at my calendar and at a glance I can figure out what I am doing and can schedule anything else in between work. A friend of mine called today so we could get together for lunch sometime in the next couple weeks with a couple other friends. I was able to look at the calendar and tell her what days I had open without having to do anything. Simple. I like simple.
In fact, I have decided that I want this year to be the year of simple. Last year at this time I was working on 5 different projects, dealing with household issues, and the boys were doing Boy Scouts which kept my calendar pretty full on the weekends and sometimes even during the week. This year I think we are going to try for relaxed and low key. I am looking into adding a couple more temporary projects in which to fulfill other goals I am looking at, but I think for the most part I will keep it simple.
I spent the weekend getting my new day planner situated. I never leave home without it and have it within arms reach at pretty much any time. I'm pretty picky about dayplanners and I am one of those people that are difficult to buy one for so I always buy my own and then someone else gives it to me for Christmas. I know, pathetic but it works for us...lol.
I spent today getting all of my work things together and everything scheduled for the month. Since I am only working for two companies right now and one of them has monthly and bi monthly projects I can schedule everything right now at the beginning of the month. My other company is a weekly company but it's pretty easy to figure out what I am doing for up to three weeks in advance. I don't know why I didn't try doing this before. In the past I had always scheduled by the week and now I can't figure out why. This is so nice to look at my calendar and at a glance I can figure out what I am doing and can schedule anything else in between work. A friend of mine called today so we could get together for lunch sometime in the next couple weeks with a couple other friends. I was able to look at the calendar and tell her what days I had open without having to do anything. Simple. I like simple.
In fact, I have decided that I want this year to be the year of simple. Last year at this time I was working on 5 different projects, dealing with household issues, and the boys were doing Boy Scouts which kept my calendar pretty full on the weekends and sometimes even during the week. This year I think we are going to try for relaxed and low key. I am looking into adding a couple more temporary projects in which to fulfill other goals I am looking at, but I think for the most part I will keep it simple.
Monday, November 9, 2009
Room for Improvement
I have been having a string of incredibly bad luck lately. So bad, in fact, that I haven't felt like updating anything really as it would just sound like whining.
But today I decided that while it could definitely be worse, there is ALOT of room for improvement. Of course, immediately after I made this life affirming decision to focus on the improvement, I received a phone call with more bad news.
BUT...we are focusing on the POSITIVE!
I have finagled some things around and decided that no matter what...we are not going to get a car that we will have to make a payment on. We have two more years to pay on MH's truck and we will revisit this topic then but for now we have more than one option available and will go with one of those.
Speaking of more than one option, one of the options that we have is getting MH's grandmothers car. This was originally a pain in the neck idea since they live 8 hours away and she wanted so much for the car even though it needed some work on it. Now things have changed slightly so we would pay $800 for fixing the transmission seals and stuff and then pay his grandmother $500 for the car. Originally she had wanted $1200 even though the transmission had a leak that needed to be fixed. Now, including one way plane fare the entire thing shouldn't cost more than $1500. Much better. Plus we know that the car was taken care of, has less than 40,000 miles on it and was lightly used. I'm thinking this is our best bet at this point.
MH has had alot of time off lately because of different things but it looks like maybe things are looking up a bit. Keep your fingers crossed.
While doing my job lately has not been as easy as it could be, I have at least been able to do it and have worked out a way to try to actually do it a bit better. Also, several contests that they are running lately can make it possible for me to get more money. I like money. I just wish it liked me as much.
All the time off I have had lately has given me a lot of time to clean my house and do things that I have been putting off. My bedroom closet is organized and that, my friends, is not easy considering what was in it and the size of it.
Cheshire Cat hit a raccoon on her way to work early this morning and messed up her radiator and AC. Thank goodness that she was fine and the damage to the car was repaired for less than $150. She was also able to get the car back this evening so everything turned out really good.
Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.
Anton Chekhov
But today I decided that while it could definitely be worse, there is ALOT of room for improvement. Of course, immediately after I made this life affirming decision to focus on the improvement, I received a phone call with more bad news.
BUT...we are focusing on the POSITIVE!
I have finagled some things around and decided that no matter what...we are not going to get a car that we will have to make a payment on. We have two more years to pay on MH's truck and we will revisit this topic then but for now we have more than one option available and will go with one of those.
Speaking of more than one option, one of the options that we have is getting MH's grandmothers car. This was originally a pain in the neck idea since they live 8 hours away and she wanted so much for the car even though it needed some work on it. Now things have changed slightly so we would pay $800 for fixing the transmission seals and stuff and then pay his grandmother $500 for the car. Originally she had wanted $1200 even though the transmission had a leak that needed to be fixed. Now, including one way plane fare the entire thing shouldn't cost more than $1500. Much better. Plus we know that the car was taken care of, has less than 40,000 miles on it and was lightly used. I'm thinking this is our best bet at this point.
MH has had alot of time off lately because of different things but it looks like maybe things are looking up a bit. Keep your fingers crossed.
While doing my job lately has not been as easy as it could be, I have at least been able to do it and have worked out a way to try to actually do it a bit better. Also, several contests that they are running lately can make it possible for me to get more money. I like money. I just wish it liked me as much.
All the time off I have had lately has given me a lot of time to clean my house and do things that I have been putting off. My bedroom closet is organized and that, my friends, is not easy considering what was in it and the size of it.
Cheshire Cat hit a raccoon on her way to work early this morning and messed up her radiator and AC. Thank goodness that she was fine and the damage to the car was repaired for less than $150. She was also able to get the car back this evening so everything turned out really good.
Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.
Anton Chekhov
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Thursday Thirteen # Who Knows What Number I'm On.
Since I am still trying to get back into this whole thing I am going to use this as my to do list that needs to be done by this weekend.
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1. Still have 54 small businesses in which to place new signage in.
2. 8 Walmarts that I need to audit electronics dept.
3. 4 Walmarts that I need to work in for another company in the HBA Dept. Thank goodness I can knock out these at the same time as the ones above this.
4. Since we are having company for the weekend I still need to shop. I have a grocery list already made but need to find time to shop.
5. Popcorn sales at Blockbuster tomorrow night from 5-8
6. Popcorn sales on Saturday morning on post from 10-2.
7. Make spinach artichoke dip and potato salad for BBQ on Saturday.
8. Make the pound cake for dessert for the BBQ,
9. Mop kitchen floor and clean the main bathroom.
10. Go to the bank and deposit several checks that I have not had time to deposit.
11. I'm gonna count this as seperate because it takes time of it's own.....enter the reports for all of the reports I am able to finish.
12. Pick up Jack's heartworm pills.
13. Kill Mad Hatter for not thinking that any of this is important.
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Saturday, August 29, 2009
Happenings
Wow....been a long time. Things have just gotten so busy lately and though there were many things I could have written about, I just didn't feel like it. Some highlights of the past couple weeks or so.
* School started this week and after a couple days of problems and headaches I think everything is going to work out. First day we found out that Caterpillar didn't get all of his shots like we had thought so they sent him home. Had to hurry and find a doctor that had an opening and got his shots. Next day, he ran a fever at school and had a pretty bad headache. Because of the increased panic over Swine Flu they wanted him gone NOW. Things started getting a little better after that and by Thursday the school system decided that they would extend the time for shots until Oct 1st. Sigh.
* Something happened to Caterpillar over the summer because I gave him the option to go to school on Wednesday since he still had a bit of a headache and he decided that he WANTED to go to school. This is NOT normal for him. He gets himself up at 5 am every morning and even has enough time to sit around and play on the computer before he goes. Hope this lasts.
*Mad Hatter's truck decided that it was going to die immediately AFTER filling the gas tank with $80 worth of gas. Took it to the mechanic and the engine is dead. $2200 later and we will have it back next week, we hope.
*I am down to two companies that I am working for and doing some extra work for now for a third company. Even with the decrease in companies that I work for I seem to be incredibly busy lately so I think I will just stick with these two.
*The anniversary of my mom's death is coming up quickly and I go back and forth with ignoring it and focusing on it. Not really sure how Monday is going to go. I keep trying to tell myself it is just another day. We'll see how that works.
*Popcorn season is here for the Boy Scouts. Every weekend we have something going on somewhere trying to make some money for the boys troop. Anyone want any popcorn?
*Mad Hatter's sister will be here next weekend. She and her roommate are coming to visit and we will bbq. The girls and their boyfriends will both be here also so it looks like it will be a full house.
And so goes life. Until the next installment.
*
* School started this week and after a couple days of problems and headaches I think everything is going to work out. First day we found out that Caterpillar didn't get all of his shots like we had thought so they sent him home. Had to hurry and find a doctor that had an opening and got his shots. Next day, he ran a fever at school and had a pretty bad headache. Because of the increased panic over Swine Flu they wanted him gone NOW. Things started getting a little better after that and by Thursday the school system decided that they would extend the time for shots until Oct 1st. Sigh.
* Something happened to Caterpillar over the summer because I gave him the option to go to school on Wednesday since he still had a bit of a headache and he decided that he WANTED to go to school. This is NOT normal for him. He gets himself up at 5 am every morning and even has enough time to sit around and play on the computer before he goes. Hope this lasts.
*Mad Hatter's truck decided that it was going to die immediately AFTER filling the gas tank with $80 worth of gas. Took it to the mechanic and the engine is dead. $2200 later and we will have it back next week, we hope.
*I am down to two companies that I am working for and doing some extra work for now for a third company. Even with the decrease in companies that I work for I seem to be incredibly busy lately so I think I will just stick with these two.
*The anniversary of my mom's death is coming up quickly and I go back and forth with ignoring it and focusing on it. Not really sure how Monday is going to go. I keep trying to tell myself it is just another day. We'll see how that works.
*Popcorn season is here for the Boy Scouts. Every weekend we have something going on somewhere trying to make some money for the boys troop. Anyone want any popcorn?
*Mad Hatter's sister will be here next weekend. She and her roommate are coming to visit and we will bbq. The girls and their boyfriends will both be here also so it looks like it will be a full house.
And so goes life. Until the next installment.
*
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Karma
Things have been pretty crazy around here lately. I have been working more lately than normal but have really been loving the checks they provide.
Of course you know what happens when you start making a bit more money and you start thinking of cool things you can do with it, don't you?
You guessed it! The IRS sends you a letter letting you know that they feel a mistake was made on your 2007 taxes and after detailing all the reasons they feel that this is an error they tell you to please remit $1457.36.
Assholes.
And just in case that isn't quite enough, your son, whose father cancelled his insurance in February and you cannot get insurance through your job until October, decided that breaking his tooth in half would be fun. $400 later, he looks like nothing has happened and you cry a little.
Sigh.
So that extra $2000 that I made in the past couple weeks? It's gone. Now, Mad Hatter has a $2K job that he is doing next week. Let's see how that goes.
Other than that, things are fine. Facebook is addictive. And I am tired.
Of course you know what happens when you start making a bit more money and you start thinking of cool things you can do with it, don't you?
You guessed it! The IRS sends you a letter letting you know that they feel a mistake was made on your 2007 taxes and after detailing all the reasons they feel that this is an error they tell you to please remit $1457.36.
Assholes.
And just in case that isn't quite enough, your son, whose father cancelled his insurance in February and you cannot get insurance through your job until October, decided that breaking his tooth in half would be fun. $400 later, he looks like nothing has happened and you cry a little.
Sigh.
So that extra $2000 that I made in the past couple weeks? It's gone. Now, Mad Hatter has a $2K job that he is doing next week. Let's see how that goes.
Other than that, things are fine. Facebook is addictive. And I am tired.
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