A Work at Home Mom’s Blog

I wish this post could be about my upcoming visit to the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Lots of sun, sand and fun, and no shortage of fun things to do. A good time for myself and my family, just enjoying being with each other and enjoying life in general.

Unfortunately, this post is just a dream. But it’s a rather detailed dream, as you will see. That’s because I already have the perfect beach house in mind for our Outer Banks rental: The Seahawk, which is pictured below:

Nice, huh? But wait until you hear about all that lovely structure has to offer:

• Two master bedrooms with king beds, one bedroom with queen bed, two twin beds, a pyramid bunk and a futon. That’s enough room to bring along whatever part of the family we’re not feuding with at the time! Or better yet, some good friends that we can actually have fun with.
• A private pool, so that when the ocean gets to be a bit much, you can chill with the family in seclusion. And if you want to get even more private, there’s a hot tub!
• Tons of media options, with several TVs, DVD players and VCRs, plus a large video library for those nights in. And don’t worry, die-hard gamers, there’s also an X-Box to keep you occupied.
• A game room/sports bar, complete with pool table, gas grill and more. Sahweet!

So why would my family and I love a week’s stay in beautiful Seahawk, you ask? A better question might be, why wouldn’t we? But here are a few of the first reasons to come to mind.

• My husband and I never went on a honeymoon. As a family, the Husband, Daughter and I have never been on a proper family vacation. We could wrap all of that into one awesome vacation by taking someone who could do stuff with Pumpkin while we did couples stuff, and spend the rest of the time doing the whole family thing.
• My husband and I have been through a lot lately. He has had some health problems that could leave him permanently disabled, and that has led to bouts of depression. I’ve dealt with depression off and on all my life, and was in deeper than I had ever been up until a couple of months ago, when my doctor gave me medication that actually seemed to work. Now we need to get out and have some fun and celebrate life!
• Here’s a nice, practical reason for you. We’re close enough to the Outer Banks that driving there would be a viable option. That means we would only have to budget for gas mileage, not a plane ticket. And we could see parts of beautiful North Carolina that we’ve never seen before along the way!

Well, there’s my Outer Banks dream in a nutshell. Here’s hoping that one day, while we’re all still young enough to enjoy it to the fullest, it comes true.

I was all doom and gloom about the weather in my post from a couple of days ago. Then today got here, the first day of what was supposed to be quite the cool and wet spell, and it wasn’t so bad after all. It was slightly cooler than has been normal around here for a while, but not shockingly cold. If it hadn’t been so cloudy, it probably wouldn’t have been bad at all.

We did get some rain, but nothing to write home about. Just a drizzle here and a sprinkle there. Nothing to write home about.

Now I’m just hoping that they were way off on the forecast for the upcoming week. It could happen.

The weather turned a little cooler a couple of weeks ago, and I thought we were in for an early fall. But then it warmed back up, and today it’s downright hot. I’m not complaining at all – I’ll take all of the sunshine and summery weather I can get. Too bad I have a lot to do indoors today, and nobody to enjoy such a beautiful day with. Hubby’s gone to take his cousin down the mountain and visit with family for a while, and Pumpkin is in school. But maybe I’ll get outside and play with her after she gets home.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like this gorgeous weather is going to last much longer. It’s supposed to cool back down and get rainy by the weekend, and they’re saying that it will stay that way at least through next Wednesday. I hope the sun pops back out by next weekend, though, because that’s when we’re having Pumpkin’s birthday party.

I know the summer can’t last forever. But that doesn’t mean I have to like it. Fall is beautiful around here, don’t get me wrong, but the drop in temperature gives me a sense of impending doom. By the time winter gets here, I find myself wishing I had the money to shop for Outer Banks foreclosures.

But I’m going to try to make the most of these few days of pretty weather we have left. Maybe tomorrow, if Hubby feels up to it, I can talk him into going ATV riding. That’s lots of fun on a hot day, not to mention a great way to cool off. And maybe I’ll take Pumpkin to the park after school. Sounds like a plan to me.

I’m not getting any younger. I know, nobody else is either. And I’d like to think that I’m capable of growing old gracefully. But every time I look in the mirror and find another gray hair, I go ballistic.

I’ve thought about dyeing my hair, but I’d rather do highlights or streaks than dye it all. However, highlights and streaks won’t necessarily cover all the gray. It’s not to the point where it’s noticeable yet, but I’m flipping out over the possibility that it soon will be.

I at least thought that my skin looked youthful. Partly because I still have regular breakouts, but also because the overabundance of oil in my skin helps prevent the formation of wrinkles. But a week or two ago, when I was helping Pumpkin clean her room, she found an unopened box of face cream that someone had given to her with some makeup. She asked what it was for, and I told her it was to help keep you from looking older. She said, “Oh, you can use that then.” Way to make Mommy feel good, girl!

Still, the stray grays are my biggest concern. My mom went fully gray early. Nobody’s sure just how early, because she dyed her hair for many years. I’m just hoping the same thing doesn’t happen to me. If it does, as much as I’d rather not, I’ll be dyeing every last hair on my head.

This month has been pretty torturous in the financial department so far. I made the mistake of getting some bills up to date last month, and that made things pretty tight for the first part of this month. The good news is that the biggest bills are taken care of, and the rest of the month won’t be so bad.

Of course I won’t be going out and blowing every penny we get. That would be stupid. But I might buy a thing or two if I can find a good deal. Like a new pair of shoes for Hubby. He can certainly use those, because the pair I bought him about six months ago is already shot. I don’t know how he goes through shoes so fast, but I need a consistent supply of Foot Locker coupons to keep up with his footwear needs.

I’m also thinking about buying a new printer. The one I have now prints great, but I’ve had to deal with a lot of paper jams and misfeeds from it lately. Ideally I’d like to keep it for color printing and buy a black and white laser printer for printing things that don’t necessarily have to be in color. I’ll have to see if I can find any good Office Depot deals on printers and weigh my options.

Pumpkin’s birthday is getting pretty close too, but thankfully I’ve gotten all of the gift shopping done for that. Now all I have to buy is the stuff for the party. I’ll probably take her to the Dollar Tree today to pick out the plates, cups, favors and such. I’ll wait until a few days before the party to decide whether I’ll bake her cake or buy her one. I had kind of hoped she would think she was too big for a party this year, but in a way I’m glad she doesn’t. They don’t stay kids forever, so you’ve got to make the time while they are still young count.

Well, I should really get to work now instead of rambling on incessantly. After all, money doesn’t grow on trees.

I woke up this morning to a headache and pain underneath my eye. It didn’t take me long to figure out what was going on. The headache was, of course, the result of that stupid sinus infection. The resulting swelling was widespread, and included my lower eyelid, which is where that zit I mentioned yesterday (also known as a sty) is located.

My eye was noticeably swollen. Well, noticeable to me, anyway. Hubby didn’t notice it until I mentioned it, and Pumpkin hasn’t said anything about it. So maybe I’m the only one to whom it sticks out like a sore thumb.

I just wish I could get rid of the thing. I know that my usual zit remedies, rubbing alcohol and tea tree oil, shouldn’t be used in the eye area. So basically I’m just trying to keep it clean and not put anything on it. No makeup, no under eye cream, no nothing until that sucker is gone. I hate to not even camouflage the redness, but I want it to disappear as quickly as possible. I don’t have any big plans for the next few days anyway, so I suppose I can live without makeup if I must.

If anyone has any tips for making a sty go away faster, do tell!

Acne is something that I’ve more or less learned to live with over the years. As a teenager, I tried various treatments, some of which worked and some of which did not. Most of them that didn’t involve antibiotics would work for a while, but then my skin would get accustomed to them and start breaking out again. And I didn’t like the idea of staying on antibiotics for long periods of time, especially for something that was more a nuisance than anything.

Lately I haven’t really been doing anything about my breakouts, except for dabbing a bit of rubbing alcohol or tea tree oil on the most annoying bumps. But over the past few weeks, I’ve been getting zits in places where I’d really rather not have them. Like my underarms, my hips, and certain, er, unmentionable areas. But the worst so far is one that’s coming up on my lower eyelid. Can you say painful?

I suppose I really should read up on some of the best acne products and try to find something that’s not too expensive to try. Constant breakouts are no fun, and when they start getting painful, it’s time to do something about them.

I’m not a fan of paneling. At all. The house I grew up in had paneling all the way through, and quite frankly, it made me cringe every time I looked at it. To me, it looks cheap. Maybe that’s because it is.

The paneling in my current house, for the most part, is actually fairly attractive as paneling goes. The stuff that’s in the living room kind of looks like wormy chestnut. The paneling in my office and the hallway isn’t like that, but it’s a nice, light brown. The paneling that irks me the most is in Pumpkin’s room. It’s dark in color, and it just makes the room look drab. Thankfully, the kitchen and main bedroom have normal (although painfully plain) walls

I’d love to completely redo the walls in the rooms that have paneling. I’ve thought about covering them with wallpaper, because that would probably be the easiest route. But we would have to sand the paneling so the wallpaper would stick, and we’d need to fill in the grooves and pits if we wanted it to look smooth. Or we could replace it with beadboard. I know, that’s paneling too, but I think it’s prettier than regular paneling, and it would go well with the cottage styling of the place.

Of course if I redid the walls, I’d be hankering to do more interior decorating. Like getting new floor coverings and furniture. I love the look of cabin furniture, but I think it would be a bit too much for such a small house. Shabby chic pieces would suit it much better.

But I’m getting way ahead of myself here. We don’t have the money to redo the walls right now, much less do all this other stuff. So, at least for now, I guess I can just dream on.

I’m not really known for my movie reviews. In fact, if memory serves me, I’ve never really done one before. But I watched a movie last night that was so awesome, I just had to share my thoughts on it. That movie was The Wrestler.

I’ve wanted to watch The Wrestler since it was in theaters, but it didn’t play in the tiny local movie house. When it came out on DVD, I stalked the Redbox incessantly, but I was never able to catch it before someone else snatched it up. I finally found it on HBO a few nights ago, but it was half over and I was feeling too bad to even watch a little of it. So I set the DVR to record the next showing, and finally got around to watching it last night.

Now, I’m a fan of professional wrestling, but I think I would have loved this movie even if I wasn’t. The story is that gripping, and the theme is something that I think we can all relate to on some level. I’ll share a brief synopsis, without giving anything away for those of you who haven’t seen it.

Mickey Rourke plays Randy “The Ram” Robinson, a wrestler who had his heyday in the 80s. In present day, he is still wrestling, but he’s not enjoying the fame or acclaim that he once did. He wrestles on weekends in a small local promotion, and works during the week at a grocery store. He finds himself locked out of his trailer park dwelling due to non-payment of rent, and must ask his condescending boss for more hours at his job.

As the stereotypical wrestler, The Ram spends a great deal of his income on pharmaceuticals. Not quick weight loss drugs, but steroids and other performance enhancers. He eventually succumbs to ill health, and is told by his doctor that he should never wrestle again. He proceeds to retire and tries to make connections with the people he cares about, but it never quite works out like he plans. He finally decides that he must return to wrestling, because the ring is the only place where he feels truly at home. And that’s where I’ll stop, because I don’t want to give away the ending.

Mickey Rourke was the perfect actor for this part. I read that Nicholas Cage was the first choice of the producers, and while I like Nick, the movie just wouldn’t have been as poignant with him as the lead. The story followed many Hollywood conventions, yet it still seemed fresh, and was certainly engaging.

I highly recommend this movie, not just to wrestling fans, but to anyone who loves a good drama. Enough said.

My doctor got back to the office yesterday, and not a moment too soon. I called yesterday morning and asked if he could call me in some stronger antibiotics to get rid of this blasted sinus infection. I had felt like total crap for nearly two weeks, and I was ready for relief. They finally broke down and called me in some zithromax today, but said I would have to come in if it didn’t do the trick.

I hope it does. Back before I had my sinus surgery, trying to get rid of an infection in my sinuses was only slightly less difficult than finding a cure for herpes. The doctor I was going to at the time always wanted to give me the weak stuff, and when that didn’t work the next stronger stuff, and on and on until I had been on a zillion different kinds of antibiotics. It finally got to the point where Levaquin was the only thing that would work, and that stuff is ridiculously expensive if you don’t have insurance.

Fortunately the sinus infections have been much less frequent since the surgery. And while I just found out that the weak stuff still won’t cut the mustard, zithromax has worked well on all of the ones I’ve had so far. I hope it gets rid of this one quickly, because laying in bed feeling miserable for the past couple of weeks has left me with mountains of stuff that needs to be done.