A Work at Home Mom’s Blog

Our new house has a small concrete patio out back. But right now, you can barely even tell it’s there. It’s covered up with leaves and scraps of roofing materials.

There is a concrete table and two benches out there as well. They are usable, but they’re not in the best shape in the world. Sometime after we get done with the roof and get it all cleaned up out there, I’m thinking about chucking them and getting some nice new patio furniture. I don’t know how soon we’ll have the money though, so I guess I’ll just hang on to the concrete stuff for now. At least it’s somewhere to sit and enjoy the sunshine.

For the past couple of weeks, Pumpkin has been coming home talking about her watermelon plant. They planted fruits and vegetables at school, and being the watermelon lover that she is, she chose to plant watermelons.

I went out on the porch to meet her as she got off of the bus today, and she looked jubilant. She was grinning ear to ear, and practically bounced up to the house. I saw a small brown object in her hand, and I knew what it must be.

Her watermelon plant is just barely poking up out of the soil. But to her, it is as big as Texas. I’m trying to figure out where will be the best place to plant it (after it gets done frosting, of course). We have plenty of options, but I would like to find out where it would have the best chance of doing well. If anyone has any suggestions, I’m all ears. I’m not very good at the whole planting thing, but I’m going to do everything in my power to make sure we get some watermelons from the little bugger. I’m not a huge watermelon fan myself, but as much as it means to her, I hope it sprouts a bunch of them.

I woke up this morning with a headache. Not the worst one I’ve ever had, but pretty bad. As soon as I scraped myself out of bed, I headed for the kitchen and swallowed two Aleves. They usually do the trick if I take them at the first sign of pain.

I had to drop Hubby off at his cousin’s house so he could go to work, and we took Pumpkin to school on the way. By the time I had dropped Hubby off, my head was still pounding. I thought maybe if I got a bite to eat it would help. So I picked up a biscuit on the way home.

I came home and ate, and it seemed to help a little. But before long, my headache was back in full swing. I had no other headache medicine here, so I just had to suffer.

It’s well after lunch, and my head is still killing me. I haven’t gotten any work done. I managed to hang out some clothes, but that’s about the extent of my activities for today. When my head is pounding, my brain has a hard time functioning.

I have to take Pumpkin to the school book fair tonight. Maybe I’ll leave a little early and pick up some Tylenol. I don’t know if it will help at this point or not, but it’s worth a try.

I came in from Pumpkin’s game last night and checked the answering machine. Guess whose lovely voice was on there? None other than our former landlady.

Courtesy call to see how we liked our new house? Um, no. She called pitching a fit because the lot rent was due yesterday and our former mobile home was still on the lot. She said it was our responsibility as long as it was up there, and that it needed to be moved by the beginning of the month, and mentioned something about calling the sheriff. Whatever.

I started to call her back and tell her a thing or two. I was actually looking forward to it, because now I don’t have to be civil. But then I thought I had better make sure she was really as full of crap as I thought she was first, so I didn’t call.

Unfortunately I didn’t get a chance to. She called early this morning, and Hubby answered. He said she spoke nicely to him, and that he informed her that the trailer was no longer in our name and it was the new owner’s responsibility. According to him she didn’t argue. A far cry from what she was spouting on the answering machine last night. And if I had been the one to answer, she would have probably been rude and hateful. She likes me about as much as I like her.

Anyway, just to be sure, I called our real estate agent. She said that there was nothing they could do to us, since there was no lease and we have proof of the sale. She advised me to send her a copy of the signed title and bill of sale so there would be no question about it. I’ll probably have to ride by there to get their house number (since I can’t seem to remember it), but I’m going to send it via certified mail so I’ll have proof. Then if she keeps bugging us, I’ll have a case for harassment. Considering all the hell she has put us through, I think it would be more than warranted.

Spring in the mountains is rarely predictable. You know what they say about April showers? Here they often end up being snow showers.

We only got a little skiff of snow this month, but we’ve gotten loads of rain. That’s good and all considering the awful drought we had last summer, but it has really cramped our ability to get things done to and around our new house. I know the world doesn’t revolve around us, but it would really be nice to be able to get some of the more important things done and finally be able to truly get settled in.

Today the weather was rather chilly and the sky looked menacing, so I didn’t hang out clothes. Just some bedsheets that it wouldn’t be a big deal if they got wet. But we only got a tiny bit of drizzle, and the sheets got dry. Now I wish I had hung out a load of clothes. I’ve got to put a dent in the mountain of dirty stuff that’s in our bedrooms, and it’s kind of hard without being able to use the dryer.

Maybe later this week will be better. If so, maybe I can get everything washed up. And maybe we’ll finally get the rest of the junk out of the garage hauled off, if Hubby has the time to do it. Those two things would make me very happy.

My hands and forearms have been broken out for several weeks now. They get that way from time to time, but rarely stay this bad for long. Lotion hasn’t helped like it usually does.

I had psoriasis on my elbows as a kid. This isn’t on my elbows, but I’m wondering if a psoriasis treatment would help all the same. It kind of looks the same way I recall my elbows looking, but it’s not quite as flaky.

I keep meaning to ask the doctor about it when I take Pumpkin in, but I never remember to. I don’t find it bothersome enough to make a special appointment for myself. Maybe if I write it down in a conspicuous place I’ll remember to ask her about it at Pumpkin’s next appointment. If it’s still a concern by then, that is.

I haven’t updated my resume in some time. I suppose that would be a good thing to do. When you’re a freelancer, you can never keep your resume too current.

Most of the gigs I apply for ask for a resume in plain text format. I think that’s the only format that my most current resume is in. But there are gigs out there, even web writing gigs, that ask for a real resume. They see your resume as a reflection of your professionalism, so it’s important to have something nice. I suppose I should start looking at some resume templates.

There are templates out there that come with detailed instructions, helping you put together a great resume. Investing in one could really be an asset to one’s career. As a writer I’m supposed to have a way with words, but resumes have never been my forte. Maybe it wouldn’t hurt to invest in a good template as soon as I can afford it.

For the first time since we’ve been a couple (and probably since each of us has been alive), Hubby and I have a garage. It needs quite a bit of work, and it’s a short walk from the house, but it’s a garage. We both are pleased, for different reasons.

I like it because it represents more storage space. That’s something we have never had enough of. But Hubby likes it because he can pull the vehicles in there to work on them when the weather is bad. I realize that’s a good thing as well, but I just know he’s going to fill it up with tools and stuff.

Tools are a good thing, as long as they’re put to use. I’ve bought him quite a few since we’ve been together, and considered buying him more. I was going to get him an air compressor and a set of air tools for Christmas one year, but something happened. I can’t remember what it was, but at any rate I didn’t get them. But I’m not sure how much he would use them anyway.

Maybe once we get the garage fixed up we can put up another storage building. Then we can both be happy.

I was already thinking about what to get Hubby for Father’s Day this year. I had considered some nice men’s jewelry. He has wanted an eagle necklace for some time, so I thought that might be a good idea. But then I thought it might be best to get him some tools or something.

But now, I don’t have to worry about it. When he got started working on the roof, he asked his dad if he could borrow a circular saw. He said he had several of them, and to come get one. But when he got there, he found that every single one of them was missing the same piece. Probably a result of his brother’s incompetent tinkering, but whatever the reason, he was sawless.

He was all to pieces over it. Then the Light Bulb of Knowledge came on over my head. Knowing that he wouldn’t break down and spend his money to buy one, I offered to get him one as an early Father’s Day present. He instantly agreed, I went to town and got it, and all was well.

So now I don’t have to worry about Father’s Day. I probably will anyway, but it won’t be a necessity.

I thought that even though we were completely unprepared to buy a home, things turned out pretty well. We got a good interest rate, and our payments are less than we would have to pay for rent around here. And that’s including escrow payments on our taxes and insurance. I think we came out alright.

Since we’ve moved in and I’ve gotten my Internet back, I’ve read some stuff about the disadvantages of buying a home. The authors made valid points overall, but they simply didn’t apply to our situation.

For example, a big part of the arguments was that homeowners are responsible for all maintenance and repairs. Very true. But the past several places we’ve rented, we’ve been responsible for that anyway. It was either fix it ourselves or it wouldn’t be fixed. Sure, we could have taken the landlords to court over it, but if we had we’d have had to wait forever to get anything done. Then they would probably have found a way to cause us to have no choice but to move, and gotten some tenants in there who were desperate enough for a place to live that they wouldn’t mind doing their own repairs. There are plenty of those around here.

Then there were the arguments about taxes and insurance that wouldn’t be an issue when renting. Also true. But in our situation we’re not any worse off paying all that than we would be paying rent. We’d be lucky to find a place that’s in decent shape for the amount we’re paying each month, much less somewhere with enough space for us.

And there was mention about the fact that banks are lending to people who are less likely to be able to repay than they would have lent to in years past. Not disagreeing with that either. But if we can’t make our house payments, we wouldn’t be able to pay rent on a home (not just lot space, but a dwelling) because it costs more. So all in all, I think we did okay.

I’m not about to go out and buy up vacation or rental properties. Even if someone came to me with a killer deal on the best real estate Branson Missouri had to offer, I would have to turn it down. But I think we did the right thing by buying a primary residence.