A Work at Home Mom’s Blog

Ever feel like you have the weight of the world on your shoulders? I’m having one of those days.

I stayed up late last night trying to get some work done, and slept in a bit this morning. I needed to get a couple of hours of sleep and get back at it because I’m behind, but I can’t write well if I’m exhausted. So I thought I would sleep until 9:00 or so and get up and get to work.

The phone woke me at about 9:45, and it was Hubby. He went back to work today, but he ended up getting sick and needed to come home. He parks his truck in town and rides with his cousin to work, and the office is close to an hour from here. He wasn’t sure if his cousin could bring him back, and if not he needed me to come get him.

Of course I didn’t argue with that. I got up, got ready, and waited for the word. He called back, and I went after him. I dropped him off at his truck, got enough gas to make it back home in mine, stopped by the grocery store to get him some crackers, and came home.

I went ahead and ate lunch when I got here, and then got to work. It was nearly 1:00 before I got started, and I need to get at least a total of 3 articles, a report, and a blog post done today, and more if at all possible. I was supposed to work on Hubby’s grandfather’s will (which I would rather not be doing but he’s not going to have one if I don’t and he’s pretty sick and there are lots of other extenuating circumstances), but I don’t think I’ll be able to get to it today.

I also have to go to the bank and put some money in, because I was forced to use my bank debit card instead of my PayPal card for some stupid reason to get the gas and crackers. And after coming home and checking online, I realized that I had enough money for them in PayPal but not at the bank. Grrrr.

I know it could be worse, but I’m just severely stressed over it all. I guess I had better get back to my writing now if I want to have any hope of getting it done.

This morning, Pumpkin brought me one of her old toys, a Fisher Price zoo that makes animal sounds, and informed me that it was making funny noises. I removed the drained batteries from it and asked if she wanted me to put some fresh ones in. She shook her head, and said she didn’t want it any more.

I took that as a sign that I need to go through her toys again and get rid of things she doesn’t play with. I couldn’t do it today, but I hope to get to it in a couple of weeks. I’m sure I’ll find lots of things in good condition that she has barely played with, and if so I’ll try to find someplace to donate them.

Donating stuff is a good thing. It lets us get rid of things we don’t need and gets them into the hands of those who need them but can’t afford them. But there are other ways that donations can help as well.

Take car and boat donations, for example. You can give them to Car Angel and Boat Angel, respectively. But this non-profit does something a little different: They sell the donated vehicles and boats and use the proceeds to make videos geared toward kids and teens. Like D.O.P.E., a documentary about the rise and fall of four skateboarders who got mixed up with drugs. Here’s the trailer:

Car Angel/Boat Angel has given away over 2.4 million videos, and it’s all made possible by donations. That’s nothing to sneeze at.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I’m fortunate to live in what I consider one of the most beautiful areas I’ve ever seen. But sometimes you just need a change of scenery. The mountains can be especially monotonous in the winter, and I would just about give my right arm for a vacation.

I really hope we get to go somewhere this year. I will settle for somewhere like Tweetsie Railroad if I have to, but I would love to go somewhere I’ve never been before. I’ve never been to the beach, and although it hasn’t hurt my feelings terribly, I think going somewhere like the Outer Banks could be just what the doctor ordered.

There are plenty of beaches that are not too terribly far from here. Who knows, maybe we’ll end up going to one of them.

My poor mother has been bugging me to death to come see her for the past month. I haven’t been up there since Christmas, and our Christmas gifts from my sister are up there waiting for me to come get them. I’ve planned on going up there several times, but something always comes up. Hopefully I’ll make it this week.

I talked to her on the phone a couple of days ago, and she said she was going on a trip one day. Since it was a day trip, I knew she wasn’t going to my sister’s or making Las Vegas hotel reservations. As it turns out, she’s going to see the granddaughter of her close male friend (I say boyfriend, but she says not) participate in the Special Olympics.

I suppose I should have paid more attention when she told me when she was going, but I didn’t. I’m doing well to pay attention to what I’m doing, much less keep track of anyone else. So I guess I’ll be calling her back to find out before I make plans. But barring any unforeseen problems, I’ll get up there this week.

I’m the type of person who rarely dresses up. I’ve had one job that had a business casual dress code, and I got accustomed to wearing cute pantsuits, khakis and skirts while I was there, but other than that I’ve pretty much always been a casual gal.

Hubby is the same way. His idea of getting dressed up is putting on a good pair of jeans or khakis, a button-up shirt, and his cowboy boots. You’ll never see him fussing over cufflinks- I doubt he’s even aware of what they are.

Seeing how I work from home, for myself, and don’t usually meet clients face-to-face, I have it made as far as dressing as I please. But Hubby’s new job requires him to dress fairly neatly. That has been a bit of a challenge, because is afraid to ruin the few good pairs of pants he has. When he gets back to work, I’m going to have to do some clothes shopping for him. Heaven knows he won’t do it himself.

One thing I have really been slacking on in my writing business is getting a logo. Graphic design isn’t cheap, you know. And I’ve been on a very tight budget every since I went full-time, so that has fallen by the wayside.

I realize that every business needs a logo, even small ones like mine. Especially small ones like mine. Using a logo on all of your communications makes them look more professional. And it’s a must for your website. In fact, that’s also something that has been holding me back from setting up a website to promote my services.

So what’s a small business owner on a budget to do? Well, you could design your own logo. But that’s not exactly an option for me. I don’t have any fancy graphics software or hardware. I do have Microsoft Paint, but what am I going to do with that? I suppose I could make a logo out with it, as long as it consisted of text, circles and squares. Call me crazy, but I think I’ll pass.

But all is not lost. I tried out a nifty little service from LogoYes that helps business owners do their own logo design. I was a bit apprehensive given my limited graphic abilities, but I figured it couldn’t hurt to try. Trying is free, after all.

What happened was nothing short of a miracle: I created a nice, professional looking logo! A logo that didn’t look like a kindergartener drew it! A logo that I wouldn’t be ashamed for my clients to see! Here it is on a matching business card:

Not too shabby, huh? Here is another one I created:

(In case you’re wondering, that’s not my real address, phone number, or fax number. I don’t have a P.O. box or business line yet, and I’m not crazy about the idea of publicizing my physical address and home phone number.)

Creating my logo was so easy. All you have to do is choose a symbol (which they have lots and lots of), add and format your text, and adjust the colors and layout as you wish. You can adjust the sizing as you like, and there are plenty of fonts and colors to choose from. And when you’re done, you can design a matching business card to go with it in a snap.

LogoYes makes it quick and easy to design professional logos and matching business cards to brand your business. And they’re much more affordable than paying a graphic designer and then paying someone to have your cards printed. Once you’ve purchased the logo and business card graphics, you can take advantage of a coupon for 100 free business cards. You can then purchase more when you need them, or you can print them yourself if you like. It’s a great solution for small business owners for whom logo and business card design was previously out of reach. Like me.

I had hoped to be able to get some work done late last week, but looking back I realize that was pretty unrealistic. Hubby needed me a lot those first few days after his surgery, and I wasn’t about to stray far from his side. If that meant not getting any work done, so be it. One of the biggest reasons I wanted to be a work at home mom was to be here for my family when they need me, and be there I will.

He’s starting to get around fairly well on his own now, and mainly just needs me to do things that require lifting or bending. So while he’s not as helpful around the house as usual, I do have more time to get some work done. So that’s good.

I’ve still got a lot of catching up to do, but I did manage to get several articles written today. I could have gotten more done if I was feeling a little more motivated. I guess all that time doting on him made me less concerned about my work. The motivation is coming back, although maybe not as quickly as I would like.

Hopefully tomorrow will be better. Pumpkin has also been out of school since the middle of last week, due to inclement weather and then MLK day today. Barring any more wintry weather, she’ll be going in tomorrow. Then maybe I can get lots of stuff done.

I always imagined that it would be very expensive to run a small business with lots of phones and computers. But in reality, it’s not really that bad.

My sister-in-law runs an insurance agency. My brother was telling me that she only pays a couple hundred dollars or so a year, and all of her computer needs are taken care of. The company she goes through does all of the maintenance, and in most cases just goes ahead and replaces machines that have problems. Not a bad deal at all.

There are also companies that specialize in things such as used Cisco networking equipment for small businesses. They buy old stuff from businesses, refurbish it, and then resell it at great prices. Some even accept trade-ins for new equipment.

My business is not at a stage in which it needs a lot of fancy equipment, so I can’t take advantage of such deals. So I guess I’ll just be saving my pennies in hopes of some day soon being able to replace my old clunker.

These are the two things my weekend has primarily consisted of. I developed a naggy cough yesterday, thanks to my interminable sinus infection. I’m on my second round of antibiotics for that, and I have a bad feeling that it won’t be my last.

And the weather is frightfully cold here today. I dread seeing our electric bill this month, because we’ve had to run the emergency heat all day today. We’ve also needed it several nights this month.

It would have been a great day to just hunker down indoors and get some work done. But Hubby got it in his head that we needed to go out and get breakfast this morning, so go out we did. We also ended up visiting his grandpa in the hospital, going to his parents’ house to get some calendars, and stopping by his grandpa’s house to visit his dad, who is holding down the fort while grandpa is in the hospital.

It felt good to come back home, where we at least don’t have to freeze our patooties off. Now I need to try to get lots of work done, both on the computer and off.

It has come time to replace our ceiling fan. Today I tried to remove one of the bulbs so I could replace it, and the glass part came out while leaving the metal part in the socket. There is one other socket that is the same way, and one that is loose and won’t work. Grr.

Yes, they could probably be fixed, but the fan itself doesn’t work very well either. So I’m hoping we can replace it before summer gets here.

I wouldn’t mind having a nice chandelier in its place. Hinkley Lighting has some beautiful ones that I’ve been drooling over. But we need a ceiling fan, especially since our air conditioning doesn’t work. Unless, that is, we find room in the budget for a new one of those as well.