A Work at Home Mom’s Blog

I’ve been having a hard time concentrating for the last few days. Between anxiousness over quitting my day job and worrying about Hubby, there just hasn’t been much room in my brain for anything else.

I’ve been getting my writing done, but I’m afraid I’m not doing as well at it as I could be. The distractions are taking their toll. I’m not letting myself get depressed over it or anything. I think I’m doing a reasonably good job of remaining positive under the circumstances. But I can’t get stuff off of my mind.

I’m hoping that Hubby’s doctor visit tomorrow will bring me some peace of mind. I’d love to hear that it’s something minor that can be easily fixed with meds. But I know there’s a chance that it might require surgery or extended treatment. I’ll be glad when it’s over with, and hope that the doc gives us some satisfactory answers.

Hubby went to the emergency room last night. He was having pains in his chest and numbness in his left arm. Not good.

They did an EKG and some blood work on him, and said there was nothing to indicate heart problems. But they didn’t say what the problem was. It could be a pulled muscle or acid reflux, but they didn’t specify what it was.

Hubby is worried to death, and so am I. I’ve been trying to remain positive, but it’s hard when I’m all to pieces on the inside. He’s young to be having heart problems, but his dad had a heart attack at a young age.

We were supposed to go on a double date tonight, but Hubby didn’t feel up to it. He hasn’t been himself at all. If he isn’t feeling better by Monday, I’m going to try to get him an appointment with a decent doctor. The hospital here is notorious for not getting things right, so hopefully I can get him in with a competent physician. It may not be heart problems, but it would be nice to know with some amount of certainty what it is.

There are some days when I just want to crawl into bed and not get up. I had one of those last week. At one point in time it seemed that my whole body was in pain, right down to my toenails. Most of it could be chalked up to exhaustion, and I found that slowing down a bit was a big help.

Another thing that was a big help was Freeze It. It’s a pain relief gel for muscle, joint, and arthritis pain. I was fortunate enough to have recently received some samples of it, and it really came in handy for the pain in my legs and wrist.

I’m no stranger to arthritis pain- I’ve had arthritis in my wrist since I broke it at six years old. I have tried numerous things to alleviate the pain in it, the most effective being a liniment. It did a pretty good job, but smelled horrible and made my wrist burn terribly at times. That’s no fun, especially in the heat of summer. So I was eager to try Freeze It.

I was pleasantly surprised at how well it worked. And the cooling sensation was a welcome change. The gel has a bit of a smell to it, but it was gone within ten minutes of application. At $9.99 a tube, Freeze It is affordable as well.

If you have aches and pains, give Freeze It a try. It’s available at Wal-Mart and many drugstores.

If you’re a regular reader, you probably already know what I’m referring to. If not… I gave my notice at my day job. Yay!!!

I’ve been debating on it for some time now, and came really close a couple of times. I went in one morning with every intention of giving my notice, and my boss did something that made me decide to wait a while. Then one day I got frustrated and swore that I was going to quit again. But I thought about it and decided to wait until I got a laptop. Then I started thinking I could probably get one sooner if I went ahead and started writing full-time. You get the picture.

Here’s what gave me a kick in the pants: The past week or so, I have gotten precious little rest. I have had numerous writing projects lined up, have stayed up late almost every night working on them, and I still have yet to complete them all. One of my main clients sent me a message asking for an estimate on how long it would take on the projects she had given me, and in my reply I said that I may have more availability in the near future. She was happy to hear that, stating that she had been considering hiring more writers but would prefer to give me more work instead. That was all I needed to convince me that it was time to make the change.

I’m still a bit nervous, but I think things will work out well. Pumpkin will be starting back to school shortly after my last day at work, giving me time to work on my writing uninterrupted during the day. Then I can spend more time with her and Hubby when they are at home. And the money is getting good enough that I should actually be better off by writing full-time than I was writing part-time and working part-time at my day job.

I kind of feel like I’m flying by the seat of my pants, but I’m ready to make this work. I’m finally living my dream, and now I get to do it full-time.

When my dad was still around, if one of us looked pale or otherwise unwell, he would say, “You look peaked.” That’s pronounced PEAK-ed for any non-hillbillies out there.

The past couple of days I’ve felt quite peaked. Yesterday morning I woke up with what felt like a charley horse in one of my legs. I didn’t recall doing anything to cause it, but just shrugged it off and went on. A little later my other leg started hurting similarly. I’ve had a slight sore throat for a few days, and that proceeded to get worse. And my tooth that desperately needs to see a dentist started hurting as well.

By the time all of that set in, I was having trouble concentrating and feeling pretty grouchy. So I stopped writing, took some Aleve, and lay down. I dozed a little, but frequent interruptions prevented me from taking a real nap.

After a while I started feeling slightly less awful, so I got up and did some work. Fast-forward to this morning, and the pain still hasn’t subsided. And now my hand and wrist (not the one with arthritis but the other one) feel like I’ve gripped something too hard for too long.

I’ve got a lot to do today, both on the computer and off. I’ve got to muster the strength to do at least some of it. So I shall quit whining now and get started.

I have a mountain of writing work to do. I added it up, and while I won’t go into specific numbers, the projects I have scheduled over the next seven days will earn me almost as much as I have been making from writing in an average month. That rocks.

Pumpkin is staying with my mom for a few days, and Hubby has been working long hours. So maybe I can get this stuff done in a timely manner since I will have few interruptions. The only thing standing in my way is a ton of housework and some errands I need to run. I suppose I’ll just have to aim for hitting the high points on those things. I’ve got a dream to follow here, you know.

I didn’t have much of a life to start with besides my family, but since I’ve started writing I’ve had even less of one. One of the things that keeps me going is knowing that once I am able to quit my day job, I will be able to work my schedule around things I want to do, to a certain extent anyway. If I work it just right I should be able to spend more time with Pumpkin and Hubby, and do some things with them that we’ve wanted to do for a long time.

My shoulders are still on fire from the sunburn I got over the weekend. Pumpkin’s neck area got burned pretty badly too. If only I hadn’t completely forgotten about sunscreen.

My face got burned a little too because the SPF in my foundation wasn’t high enough. I’m afraid to use anything extra on my face because I have sensitive skin. But Arouge makes a sunscreen that is made just for people with such skin problems. It’s also said to be good for those with dry skin. I just might have to give it a try.

Arouge also makes other facial care products, and they have an offer in which you can get free shipping if you buy a set. That’s even more incentive to try their products out.

I’ve been having some bad health days lately. I know that overall I’m in good health, but these minor annoyances are wearing me down. Boo-hoo.

My wrist has been hurting pretty badly for the past week or so. I started putting Heat on it again, and it was starting to help. But then I got sunburned and now I can’t use it until that subsides. So all I can do is take pain meds, wrap it in an Ace bandage, and grin and bear it.

I’ve also got a tooth (or possibly two) that is bothering me. I know I need to get to the dentist, but I’m trying to wait until we have more money to spare. But I don’t think it can wait much longer.

Yesterday my legs decided to swell for some unknown reason as they do from time to time, and I also came to the realization that my cycle has gotten ridiculously short. With all of these things coming together, you can imagine that I wasn’t in a very good mood yesterday. Add to that certain people grating at my last nerve, and I haven’t been fit to be around.

Well, I think I’ve gotten in more than my recommended daily allowance of whining for today. Time to move on and get some work done.

Hubby, Pumpkin and I went to a festival in town today. There was great music, plenty of stuff for Pumpkin to do, and lots of booths. But we all got sunburned.

Hubby didn’t get burned too badly, because he is fairly dark complected. But Pumpkin and I look like lobsters in spots. Pumpkin got it the worst on her neck, chest, and back, while I got it mostly on my arms. She hasn’t been complaining, but I’m on fire.

I put some Noxzema on my arms, and that actually seemed to make it worse. I don’t have any aloe or anything else to put on it, so I guess I’ll just have to suffer for tonight. Poor me, and poor Pumpkin. I bet she’ll be feeling it by morning.

My computer problems have gotten a bit out of hand. I have a hard time completing my writing work because my desktop PC has gotten so slow. That leaves less time for family, blogging, and extra work. So I made a wish at the Robinhood Fund to try and win money to help me get a laptop sooner.

If you could take a minute to vote for me, it would be much appreciated. And if you have a wish there, leave me a comment and I’ll be happy to return the favor.