A Work at Home Mom’s Blog

We finally got the oven Hubby has been promising to pick up for me a couple of days before Christmas. It works very well, and I’m quite happy with it. I’ve been baking like there’s no tomorrow.

When we went to pick it up, the guy tried to give us a bunch of other stuff. There was a kitchen sink, a refrigerator, and a bathroom vanity without a top. But I felt about the same way about them as I would if someone tried to give me a bunch of Chrysler 300 accessories: It’s nice and all, but I have absolutely no use for them.

The only thing I could have possibly used would have been the vanity. If I were so inclined, I could have gotten my hands on a piece of granite or marble and made a nice storage table out of it. But I’m not, and I really have no place for one anyway, so I didn’t bother.

My mom is dead set on getting a computer. Apparently my sister has convinced her that it’s a good idea. I’m not so sure myself.

True, you can find information about everything from asparagus recipes to incontinence supplies online. The Internet is a wonderful thing like that. But my mother doesn’t know the first thing about using a computer. Quite frankly, she’s scared of them. Believe me, I know. I tried to teach her to use one, and she was so paranoid that she would tear it up that I could barely get her to touch the mouse.

I’m the only one in the immediate family who really knows my way around a computer, so of course I would be expected to teach her everything. If she’ll be a little less intimidated this time around, I won’t mind it except for the travel. But there’s another thing I worry about as well.

You see, my mom loves to shop. Especially from home. I worry that she’ll discover the joys of online shopping and overextend her finances. I’ve got to try to remember not to show her many online shopping sites, because I don’t want that on my conscience. Of course I could always tell her horror stories of how people get their identities stolen online. Maybe that would solve the potential problem.

Today has been really, really rainy. Our back yard is nothing more than a big mud pit. When I was younger, I would have spent days like this making prank calls, pretending to be a representative of some New York movers or something. But I’m too old for that now.

We did venture out today to do some shopping. Apparently a lot of people had the same idea. Hubby and I got gift cards from my mom for Christmas, and we spent them in a hurry. I got two new shirts and a new purse, and he got a much-needed pair of shoes.

As for the weather, it’s supposed to be pretty wild over the next week. They’re calling for sun, then more rain, then a cloudy day, and finally a fair amount of snow with very cold temperatures. Should be interesting, to say the least.

I have a really bad tendency to forget that such things as mailboxes even exist. Pumpkin always checks the mail when she gets off the bus in the afternoons and brings it in, but on weekends and when school is out it often goes unchecked.

That happened yesterday. Partly because it was Christmas Eve and felt like a holiday, and partly because I’m just so darn forgetful. As we were coming back from visiting Hubby’s grandpa today, I just happened to think that I hadn’t checked the mail. Hubby said he hadn’t either, so I checked it and found two envelopes.

What was in those envelopes made my Christmas a little brighter. One was a check that I didn’t think I would get until next week. The other was a Christmas card from the UK, from a lady I do some writing for. It was really cute and original, and had a nice handwritten note inside. It brought a smile to my face, and Pumpkin enjoyed it too.

If I got things like that more often and bills less often, maybe I would actually remember to check the mail.

Mine went better than I thought it would. I ended up getting some money that I wasn’t expecting until after Christmas, so we were able to get Pumpkin a couple of things. We didn’t go all out or anything, just bought her a couple of things she had shown interest in. And she was a happy camper.

She did ask why Santa didn’t bring her the laptop she asked for. I told her that he probably thought she should be a little older before she got one, because they require a lot of care and responsibility. She was satisfied with that.

I had to return the MP3 player I got her. I’m glad I got it out and tried to put some songs on it before Christmas, because it didn’t work well at all. The earphones were horrible, and after I put a few songs on it they all started skipping. I just got the money back and put it toward her other gifts. I’m not really sure that she would be capable of taking care of that either, anyway.

After we opened gifts (or more precisely, after Pumpkin opened her gifts), we got ready and went to the in-laws’ to eat dinner. It was good, and Pumpkin got to play with one of her favorite cousins. But I was glad when it was over, because there were other kids there who are a pain in everyone’s butt. Their tiny house was crammed full, and the kids running around like banshees were just too much.

All in all, we had a good Christmas. But I’m still glad it’s almost over and done with.

I’ve been wrapping up my work for the day early for most of the week, and trying to spend some special time with Pumpkin while Hubby’s not home, then some family time with both of them, and finally some time with Hubby after Pumpkin goes to bed. It has done me a lot of good, but I was planning on working last night. My plans were thwarted, though.

Hubby called me and said he was bringing a friend of ours over to spend the night. Had it just been him I probably would have still worked some. But once they got here, they informed me that there were some more people coming over. So my work was done for the night.

We had a good time. We sat around and had a few drinks, listened to Hubby and friend play music, and played Uno. We talked about everything from snowshoes to getting a term life insurance quote to baking.

Even though it all came together at the last minute, it was great. Hubby and I both needed to have some fun and take a break from all of the stress we’ve been feeling lately. And fun we had.

Well, one of the ladies who owes me money sent me an email yesterday saying that she had put a check in the mail for a goodly portion of it. Normally I would be ecstatic, but I’m not. It is not even a week until Christmas, and every other check she has sent me has taken about a week to get here.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m glad to finally be getting money I’ve been owed for six months (plus a little bit of interest), and it will help with the bills. But Christmas is still looking extremely bleak.

I will get a little bit of money later this week, and I’ll be glad to get that as well. But it will go toward our rent, not Christmas. I’ll be lucky if I can get Pumpkin another gift and scrape up enough money to bake stuff for everyone else. If Hubby brings that stove home and it fits and works well, that is.

You wouldn’t really know it to look in my closet right now, but I love shoes. They were once my biggest weakness. Before I moved out from my mom and dad’s, I counted my shoes once. I had 70 pairs!

I got rid of most of those when Hubby and I moved in together. I kept some of my favorites, such as a groovy pair of platform shoes and some shiny, black chunky-heeled boots. But even they are gone now. I’m not sure where the platforms got to, because I would definitely still wear them. Maybe they were one of the pairs that would no longer fit me after Pumpkin was born.

Now I still have several pairs of shoes. But most of them are sandals, and out of those there are only a few that I wear. I think I have about three pairs of winter shoes. My, how things change.

I was pretty well caught up on my work yesterday, so I turned the computer off shortly after Hubby got home. It felt good to have a whole entire night off for once.

We didn’t do anything special really, but I enjoyed having a little family time. We played with Pumpkin and watched TV until she went to bed. Shortly after that, wrestling came on. Normally I work while Hubby is watching it, but last night I watched it with him. I know that it’s all fake and that the majority of the guys on there use, um, “bodybuilding supplements“, but I rather enjoy watching it every now and then. It’s good for laughs, and it’s not often that I get to watch half-naked guys without Hubby objecting.

Today school is two hours late, so I’m not getting too heavy into work until I take Pumpkin in. But I got another assignment that I need to work up some titles for, some researching to do for a new project, and the rest of the monster project to work on. So I should stay fairly busy today.

I got my Christmas decorations up over the weekend. It’s about time. Pumpkin was about to go into fits wanting the tree up.

Our tree has just about had it, but it will hold up for this year at least. Next year might be a different story. If we weren’t in such a bind right now, I would plan on hitting the after-Christmas sales and finding a good deal on a new one. Oh well.

Here’s a little something to give you a good laugh and get you in the Christmas spirit. Right-click and save it to your computer. And although there’s really no bad language in it, you might not want the kids to listen to this one. It could cause an embarrassing situation if they were to decide to sing it in public.

Christmas Balls (from John Boy and Billy) Sorry, it’s gone now.