A Work at Home Mom’s Blog

I remember listening to The Police when I was just a kid. Roxanne was one of my favorite songs back then, and it still is to this day. Message in a Bottle and Do Do Do de da da Da were some of my other favorites.

Whenever I hear a Police song these days, it’s like a time machine taking me back to the early 80s. Their songs are truly timeless, but at the same time they make me miss the time when they were in their heyday.

If you are a classic rock fan, you probably are aware that The Police are reuniting for the first time in many years for a worldwide tour. If anyone has an extra ticket, I would be more than happy to accompany you.

There is also a new Police CD out that I would just love to have. It includes all of their hits:

The Police

Track Listings
Disc: 1

1. Fallout
2. Can’t Stand Losing You
3. Next to You
4. Roxanne
5. Truth Hits Everybody
6. Hole in My Life
7. So Lonely
8. Message in a Bottle
9. Reggatta de Blanc
10. Bring on the Night
11. Walking on the Moon
12. Don’t Stand So Close to Me
13. Driven to Tears
14. Canary in a Coalmine

Disc: 2
1. Do Do Do de da da Da
2. Voices Inside My Head
3. Invisible Sun
4. Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic
5. Spirits in the Material World
6. Demolition Man
7. Every Breath You Take
8. Synchronicity I
9. Wrapped Around Your Finger
10. Walking in Your Footsteps
11. Synchronicity II
12. King of Pain
13. Murder by Numbers
14. Tea in the Sahara

The new Police CD would be a welcome addition to my collection. The Police are one of those groups that I could just listen to over and over and over and still not get tired of. They are one of the few eighties groups that I truly miss, and I would love to see the day that they put out a new album. But if that day never comes, I will still feel privileged to have been around when it all began.

I’ve been off of work at my day job for four days now, and I just found out that I’m also off for the next two days. Had I known I would be off this long, I would have taken a vacation.

I’ve stayed busy during my little break so far. I’ve had plenty of writing to do, between my two ongoing gigs and my new potentially ongoing one. If I could get a couple more things going, I would kiss my regular job goodbye. I’m actively looking for more stuff, and hopefully it will go well.

Florida farmers are responsible for supplying lots of goodies to this country. My personal favorite is their oranges, but they grow all sorts of yummy fruits and vegetables, as well as raising livestock. Agriculture is a booming business in Florida, and the farmers have plenty to be proud of. But they’ve got something else up their sleeve besides crops. Watch this video and learn:

The Who has many fans, and I am one of them. I can’t claim to be their biggest fan, but I own their Greatest Hits and have seen Tommy live and in person. But I was a bit surprised to find out that they are also quite popular among the canine set.

I don’t know whether this pooch discovered the Who’s “Who Are You” by watching CSI or was a fan from the early years, but he sings along quite well for a dog, don’t you think? As I watch this, I can just hear what my grandmother’s reaction would be if she were still around today: “What kind of music is that? The dog sings better than they do.”

I’m on board for what will hopefully be another ongoing writing gig. It’s not the one I would have shaved my head for, but it’s not too shabby, either. I’m thinking seriously about putting in my notice at my day job, but I’m at least going to wait and make sure that this pans out like I hope it will.

My day job doesn’t pay very well, so if I can keep steady writing work coming in, I would be much better off spending my time doing that. I just worry that I’ll quit my job, then end up not having enough work to pay the bills. If I were a single gal I would just take the plunge without giving it a second thought. But I have a family to think about, and we’ve been through enough hardship that I don’t want to put us through any more unnecessarily.

As it stands right now, it seems like any time I’m not sleeping I’m working. Sometimes I get tired and frustrated. But the fact that I’m finally getting started doing what I’ve wanted to do all my life, and will hopefully be working from home full-time soon, keeps me going.

It has been many years since I have indulged my inner fashion diva. There was a time when whatever I wore made a statement, whether it was jeans or a dress. But I got married and settled down, and now there are times when I get depressed just looking in my utterly lackluster closet.

A big factor in my unfashionableness is lack of funds. I still have an eye for great clothing and accessories. For example, I just love Bracher Emden Handbags such as the one pictured above. I would have one in a heartbeat, but I don’t have $1380 to spend on it at the moment.

For those of you who love high fashion, check out ElectricLadyland.com. It’s an online store that is not only named after an album by one of my favorite artists (Jimi Hendrix), but has fabulous clothing and accessories, including that awesome purse up there!

I found an awesome ongoing freelance writing gig that’s available yesterday. I am scared to talk about it for fear of jinxing it, but I would shave my head to get this one. And no, I’m not kidding.

I took the plunge and sent in my resume. I doubt that I’ll even hear back from them, but I’m not letting fear of rejection hold me back any more. I didn’t get the ongoing job that is my bread and butter, as well as another one that gives me work from time to time, by not trying. I’m finally learning to take the bull by the horns and go for it and think positively. It’s about time- it only took me nearly thirty years.

You’ve probably been exposed to one or more loyalty rewards programs online at some point. You join up, make everyday purchases through the program, and receive some type of reward. Some programs offer prizes, others cash.

I’m not usually impressed by these kinds of things. It seems like a lot of work for little reward. But the utango rewards program looks like it might be worth a try. Unfortunately I can’t join right now (they’re only offering it to singles or couples who have been married three years or less), but according to their FAQs I will get the opportunity eventually.

The utango rewards program is a cash rewards program, which is of course the best kind. But it offers more than any other rewards program. Members can earn up to $200 per year, plus they receive anniversary rewards and bonuses for referring friends and family. Best of all, you can earn up to a $1 million lifetime cash reward. How’s that for a retirement fund? Oh, and did I mention that it’s free?

I will absolutely, without a doubt be keeping my eye on this program. It seems easy enough to use, and it would be well worth my time for that million bucks.

After attempting to chase my boss down for nearly a week, I finally got to talk to her about cutting my hours. I got what I asked for, so I’m happy about that.

I will now be working three or four days per week at my regular job. With the busy season here, I expect to work four more than three. But that’s okay. At least I won’t be quite so pushed for time now.

I still have yet to figure out what’s going to happen when school lets out. The program I am thinking about enrolling Pumpkin in is taking applications this week, so I guess I’ll be finding out soon enough. I would love to just be able to up and quit my job, but I’m not making quite enough writing to do that. We could possibly scrape by, but I’ve done all of the scraping by I care to do for a while.

So overall things are good. I’ve got a little fear of the unknown going on, but otherwise I can’t complain.

I’m in a pretty foul mood today. My day started off with minor annoyances, and continued to be more of the same, but it has just worn me down to the point that I’m not fit to be around.

I didn’t have to work today, so the original plan was to work on some small writing projects and do some major house cleaning. But yesterday my in-laws said they needed to go a few places today but didn’t have transportation. I said I would take them, and I knew that would take a big chunk out of my day. So I thought I would get Hubby to take Pumpkin to school, and get up and at it early.

I usually wake up pretty early on my days off, but today I didn’t wake up until the alarm went off. And even then I could barely stay awake. I finally dragged myself out of bed and helped get Pumpkin ready for school. Once Hubby and she left, I turned on the computer and fixed myself some breakfast while it was warming up.

Shortly after I finished eating, the phone rang. It was Hubby, and he had forgotten to take his antibiotics or bring them with him. It was about five minutes before he could drop Pumpkin off at school, and as soon as he let her out he had to go straight to work. So instead of getting to meet him somewhere with them, I had to take them all the way to his workplace. And of course he wanted me to pick him up some breakfast since he didn’t have time to stop himself.

By the time I got all of that done, it was after 8:00. I would have gone on over to the in-laws’ while I was out and gotten everything over with, but they usually don’t get out of bed until 9:00 or 10:00. So I came home and got to work on one of my writing projects. I finished it up and sent it in, with a note that if any edits were needed to let me know. I also had two other projects from the same source, so I went ahead and did first drafts on them but waited on feedback from the first one to go any further.

My mother-in-law called a little after 9:30 and said they were ready to go. You could have knocked me over with a feather on that one. But I hurried up and left, hoping that whatever they needed to do wouldn’t take too terribly long. To make a long story short, by the time I took them everywhere they needed to go, picked up Pumpkin from school, took them home, ran by the grocery store, and got back home, it was 4:00.

On top of all that, around 1:30 I started getting very sleepy. I toughed it out and went on about my business. But by the time I dropped the in-laws off, I was feeling like total crap. I was snippy with poor little Pumpkin, and wanted nothing but to come home and crawl in bed for a week. When I finally got home and got her to clean up her toys that were lying around, I lay down and tried to take a nap. I dozed briefly, but that was it. I couldn’t stay asleep, but I couldn’t hold my eyes open, either. So I got up and decided to work on my writing.

When I checked my email, I was greeted with a message that the client wanted things done differently than what I had done. She sent a detailed synopsis of what she wanted in each assignment. So detailed, in fact, that I don’t know why on earth she would pay someone to do it if she is that clear on what she wants and has the time to put it in writing. So I guess I’ll be starting over from scratch on that, and it will probably be late. I should be working on it right now instead of blogging, but I’m just not in the state of mind to write well right now. Not about anything but my state of mind, that is.

In summary, here’s what I accomplished on my day off: ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!