Last week, before I started feeling so horrible, I decided to clean out my office. I was working on the taxes and needed to find some old bank statements, so I figured it was as good of a time as any to do it. After all, I’d be rifling through everything anyway.
It took several hours, but I finally got just about everything that doesn’t belong in here out. I’ve filed all of the bills and papers that were lying around (well, except for one pile on my desk that I missed, but I’ll get to that). Now I just need to get all my pictures up on the walls, and it will almost look like a real office.
I found a bunch of stuff that I had completely forgotten about. One of the things I found was a six-pack of lilac candles. They smell awesome, and they’ll look great in my votive candle holders. I also found some of my clothes that should have been in the closet, and some knives that Hubby didn’t even know he had.
Now, all I need is my new computer to make it complete. I’m counting the days until the tax refund gets here and I can get it!
Hubby and I were talking about money issues the other day, and he got to talking about how he wished he could get his own business started. I wish he could too, but he never wants to do anything of the sort except when we’re extremely low on funds. Back when we had money he was interested, but wouldn’t come off of the money to get started.
I think part of his problem is that he doesn’t really know what he wants to do. Sometimes he talks about putting one of those car lifts in the garage and doing oil changes and other maintenance. Sometimes he says he wants to get into masonry. The most frequent thing he talks about doing is yard work and other odd jobs, but he’s already found out that there’s not much money in that around here, especially for a small operation.
At any rate, I would love to see him get his own business started. As hard as it is sometimes, it’s so rewarding to have that kind of control over your life. When the time comes that we have some extra money again, I hope he’ll seize the opportunity and try to get something started.
I still haven’t gotten a couple of my tax forms, but I couldn’t wait any longer. I had to get started on my taxes. Money is ridiculously tight right now, and we need that refund. And seeing how ridiculously tight money is, I decided to bite the bullet and try to do the taxes myself, against my better judgment.
So I went for the TurboTax Free File option, as I’ve done for the past few years. Up until this year I was quite happy to use it, because my taxes weren’t terribly complicated. I had enough home business income to make it a little more complex last year, but at no time did I feel that I was in serious danger of screwing up. This year, however, is a different story.
Not only do I have my business income, but we also bought a home. Now, buying a home changes your taxes a lot on its own, but when you have a home business, it makes it seriously confusing! I had two different home offices last year, so I have to figure expenses for both of them. And then there are the subtle and often unclear differences between owning a mobile home and owning a house, which I’m having serious trouble with. Ugh.
TurboTax keeps suggesting that I purchase the edition for small business owners, and the one for new home owners. Can you even do both? Not that it matters, because I can’t afford it. Both of them combined would be much less than paying a professional, but when you’re rolling up change to buy groceries, it’s just not an option. So I’ll just have to keep wrestling with it until I’m comfortable enough to file.
At least it looks like we’ll get a decent refund. If we didn’t need to catch up on the bills and get a new computer, I’d put it toward some luggage and a much-needed long vacation. But if nothing else, maybe having it to get us caught back up on the bills will make it possible for us to go somewhere this summer. I’m not getting my hopes up, but maybe.
I’ve had trouble with my install of Microsoft Word ever since I got it. It’s very buggy, and I wasn’t able to install anything but the most basic stuff. I guess that’s what happens when you buy an old version for $30. Not saying it wasn’t worth that 30 bucks, because it’s what has enabled me to do my work for a couple of years now. But it has been a royal pain at times, freezing up and being excruciatingly slow at times.
I heard about OpenOffice a while back, but never got around to trying it. But I’ve had an inordinate amount of MS Word trouble lately, so I finally decided to download it. Heck, there’s nothing to lose, because it’s free, and I’ve heard good things about it. So far I’ve just installed it and done a couple of short test documents to see how well it converts files to doc and txt format, the two formats I use the most. It passed those tests with flying colors.
If anybody out there has tried it and has any thoughts to share, I’m all ears. I’ll probably post a review once I’ve used it more.
Yet another reason I hate winter: Snow days when I have truckloads of work to do!
They called school off yesterday, and for once it actually made a little bit of sense. We had an inch or two when we got up in the morning, and the road here hadn’t been touched as usual. Hubby said the walkway was very slick, too. So even though I really needed to work uninterrupted, I didn’t mind that they called it. I don’t want Pumpkin riding the bus, or my truck for that matter, on slick roads.
It snowed rather heavily until around lunchtime, but then it quit and the sun came out. By the time Hubby got home from work, the road was completely clear and there were only patches of snow on the ground. Pumpkin was disappointed because Hubby had said he’d take her up on the hill where the blackberry plants are to sled if it didn’t melt, but I was relieved. Heh.
There was no precipitation overnight. But this morning came, and the radio stated that there would once again be no school. They said there was still snow and ice on a lot of secondary roads. WTH??? The sun completely took care of it here, with no help whatsoever. I realize that some places get very little sun and traffic, but come on! The state had plenty of time to get rid of that. But for some stupid reason they didn’t do it. Par for the course around here.
It burns me up that the salt and scraper trucks are everywhere when we just get a little sprinkling, but if it snows enough to cover the ground, they’re nowhere to be found. Even if we get a pretty good snow, after it quits, they don’t do anything to the back roads (and sometimes even the main roads) for days. It’s so aggravating.
Hope all of you out there had a safe and happy New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day! Mine was pretty good. I spent most of New Year’s Eve working, but I managed to wrap up in time to go to a friend’s house to ring in 2009.
Quite frankly, I’m rather relieved that 2008 is over. It was a very trying year for my family and I. We all had some health issues, we had to move, and our finances became extremely complicated. But we made it through it all, and I’m hopeful that 2009 will be better. The economy going haywire has taken its toll on pretty much everyone, but I’m determined that I’m going to take those lemons that life has handed me and make lemonade. My hope is that each and every one of you can do so as well.
I haven’t made any formal New Year’s Resolutions, because every time I do, I end up breaking them. But I do plan to get more organized. I’ve been working out a schedule in my head that would allow me to get everything I need to accomplish each day done. Maybe if I can get it on paper and post it prominently, I can make myself stick to it. No more surfing the web, reading about everything from ball lock pins to geological formations. I’ve got to take control of my time so I can get more work and housework done and still have time to spend with the family.
I’ve been kicking around some business goals for 2009 as well, but the organization thing is top priority right now. If I can’t do that, there’s no way I’ll get anywhere in the coming year. So quantifiable goals will have to wait.
What are your hopes and goals for the New Year? Share in the comments. Maybe we can provide inspiration for each other.
If you’re a work at home mom, or have been trying to become one, chances are you’ve heard of Alice Seba. She is one of my favorite people in Internet marketing, partly because she’s so smart, and partly because she’s always giving stuff away! 
I just caught wind of a couple of promotions she has going on that you might be interested in. First off, she’s giving away an issue of Essential Biz Notes, a publication for her Sweetie Saturday Report Club members. Click here to download the free Essential Biz Notes.
And if you’re interested in getting an informative report from Alice each month, now is the time to give the Report Club a try! She’s offering a $2 one-month trial now through December 31st. Just join here, pay by PayPal, and use coupon code 28CC4.
When I first got the self-employment bug, I knew I wanted to do something online, but I wasn’t sure what. I was all over the place. I tried direct sales, but I’m just no good at that. I set up a website selling home decor and various other items, but that went nowhere. I was thinking about trying my hand at selling unique baby gifts when I finally realized that writing was what I should be doing.
I started out writing for an entertainment blog and ghostwriting web content, but I planned to eventually get into writing books. That ended up being put on hold, however, because of the downward spiral I found myself in starting when Hubby got sick. In fact, I almost completely forgot about it until last week.
I’m on Alice Seba‘s mailing list, and I got an email stating that she was giving away her Sweetie courses for the asking. I nearly fainted, but was disappointed when I realized that I had missed the deadline. Fortunately she ended up extending it, and I got my hands on a free copy of Information Product Sweetie.
I printed out the guide and read it over at the hospital last night, and it’s full of useful information. I’m hoping that once I get all my medical issues straightened out and get back on track with my regular work, I can add an ebook to my repertoire. A good passive income stream would be very nice. Thanks Alice!
She’s no longer giving out course freebies, but it can’t hurt to watch her blog, because she often gives stuff away. Maybe she’ll decide to do this again sometime!
Today is Bosses Day. I don’t have an actual boss besides myself, so I guess I should wish myself a happy one. Happy Bosses Day, Self! 
I can’t say I’ve ever had a boss I liked better than the one I have now, but I guess I’m a little prejudiced. But I have had a couple of pretty decent ones. The one at my first job was pretty cool, although I didn’t fully appreciate her until I worked for someone else. And when I worked at a discount store, I had a pretty awesome boss too. One night I found out that a girl who had been spreading lies about me and my husband to try and split us up was supposed to be on her way there, and I asked him, half joking, if I would get fired if I clocked out and kicked her ass. He said sure, go ahead, no problem as long as you’re not on the clock. And he was serious. 
(In case you’re wondering, she didn’t show and we never fought. I’m pretty even-tempered most of the time and wouldn’t normally think about violence, but this person had absolutely pushed me to the limit.)
Now I have to answer to myself and my clients, which kind of makes them my bosses too. But I set my hours and oversee myself, which is pretty freaking awesome. Sometimes I need to crack the whip on myself and neglect to do so, but when I can concentrate and am not so tired I can’t sit in front of the computer, I do a pretty decent job of keeping myself in line.
I’ve been over other people and did a pretty good job of it (when my superiors weren’t undermining my efforts). But even though I majored in business management, I’m not interested in bossing anyone else around. Being my own boss suits me just fine.
I’ve got work piled up to do, as usual. I’ve got 10 articles and a report that must be done by next week. Not a lot really, but I also have about 30 other articles I need to get done as soon as I can. Even that’s not all that much, but my brain has been like mush lately.
It’s not that I’m writing about complicated stuff like rocket science or how DNA testing works. It’s fairly easy stuff that I have a pretty good handle on. But I’ve had a lot on my mind lately, and am still having issues with concentration. I made very little last month because of it, and I can’t afford to have that happen this month. We’ve got to get caught back up on the bills.
If I can just get started maybe it will all fall into place. But if I keep sitting here spinning my wheels, it definitely won’t.
