A Work at Home Mom’s Blog

I am a big proponent of not envying others. But that’s easier said than done. This is especially true when it comes to my family. My brother and sister are both doing pretty well for themselves. The economy is affecting them just like it is everyone else, but they were better off than me to start with, and they still are. I’m happy for them, but I can’t help feeling a twinge of jealousy when they’re off enjoying Caribbean cruises and redecorating their homes while I’m barely scraping by.

It kind of helps to know that they envy me a little bit too. Both have been asking a lot of questions about my writing lately, wanting to know how they could get into it. Like me, they’re attracted to the idea of making money while working from home on their own schedule. I must admit that it is a pretty sweet deal. It would be even sweeter if I could get my head on straight and concentrate like I once did so that I could make more money, but I have faith that it will happen.

They’ve asked for advice on getting started with something like I do, and I’ve given them some ideas. I’m not at all selfish when it comes to that, whether it’s them or someone who is scraping by like me. I’d love to see them get started working from home and be successful. Maybe it would even help motivate me to do better. Jealousy is not always a bad thing, you know.

Things are always kind of funky on a holiday week. But this past one has just taken the cake.

Hubby went to the doctor with a sinus infection late last week, and the doctor gave him some antibiotics. All well and good. Then on Sunday Pumpkin’s stomach started hurting her really badly. She was in tears at one point, and we almost took her to the emergency room. But the pain subsided somewhat, and it wasn’t in her side, so I decided just to take her to the doctor on Monday.

I sent her to school, only to get a call around 1:30 from her teacher. Her stomach was hurting again, so I went and picked her up. Her appointment was a few hours later, and I took her in. She said the only thing abnormal she could find was a lot of gas, and told me to give her half of a chewable Mylanta as needed. But she also told me to make a follow-up appointment for 2 or 3 weeks later, and if she was still having problems she would refer her to someone else.

I thought I was done with the doctor for a while, but I was wrong. Hubby woke up on Wednesday with his sinuses much worse than they had been, he was weak, he had the runs and his back was hurting. The first thing that crossed my mind was the F word: that’s right, flu. He refused to miss work to go to his doctor, so I called the urgent care place where my and Pumpkin’s doctor is working now and made him an appointment for after work. And of course I had to pick him up from work and take him up there so I could help him with the paperwork.

Fortunately it wasn’t the flu. The doctor said that he needed different antibiotics for his sinuses, because those weren’t doing the job and they were probably causing the stomach and back problems he was having.

All of that combined with only one day of school this week (one snow day and three days out for Thanksgiving) has not been conducive to me getting any work done. Once again I’m behind. But I’m only half a report away from getting caught up, so I guess I can’t complain too much. I’m doing better than usual I suppose.

Oh, one more thing: I’m going to be having some giveaways very soon. I’ve never done this before, but I’ve been blessed with some stuff to give away to some lucky readers. So stay tuned!

I got a call from my big sister yesterday. That’s a very rare occasion, and at first I thought maybe there was something wrong. But no, she just wanted to talk to me about my ADD diagnosis.

She said she had suspected that she had ADD for several years now. She asked her gynecologist about it a few years ago, because that’s the only doctor she goes to since she doesn’t have insurance and is healthy overall. But the gyno told her that she would have to go to a psychiatrist to find out.

I told her that she either go to a family doctor or ask her gyno about it again, because I didn’t have to see a psychiatrist. Then we got to talking about the medicine I was on, and how one of the side effects was weight loss. She didn’t like the sound of that much. But if I were her size, I might not either. She’s never been one to need to go on a diet or take fat burners.

She did say one thing that makes a whole lot of sense: We probably inherited ADD from our dad. He was one of those people who was always on the go, could never sit still for long. He was forever starting projects, and sometimes they would get finished, but often they wouldn’t. Our mom, on the other hand, usually follows through on things. So does our brother.

My big bro always did have more in common with mom. Big sis was more like Dad, and I was the oddball of the bunch. But I guess I probably get at least a portion of my oddness from my dad.

Gas isn’t exactly cheap, but it is much less expensive than it has been. So as soon as I get the bills paid and have enough money to get groceries and fill up my tank, I’m going to try to head up the road and see my mom.

It’s a shame when you have to put a dent in the budget just to make an hour and 15 minute trip. But that’s the way it is now. That’s one of the biggest reasons I don’t see her much any more. That, and when I am able to go up there she’s usually either at my sister’s or uncle’s. When I mentioned coming up soon, I about half expected her to say she was going to be gone with sis and family on one of those Disney cruises.

But last time I talked to Mom, she said she wasn’t planning on going anywhere any time soon. So maybe this coming weekend or the next I can get up there. Maybe Pumpkin and I will spend the night. We need to make the most of our trip, because who knows when the next one will be.

My cousin had a baby last week. It’s a little girl. I hope I get to go see her before too long, but I don’t know how soon I’ll get up there. She lives near my mom, and as infrequently as I’ve been visiting her lately, it may be a while.

I’d love to be able to get her something really nice and cool, like a Stokke Tripp Trapp high chair. But the best I’ve been able to do so far is pitch in on a gift card for her. And I haven’t actually pitched in on that yet, even though she already has it.

I’d see all of my family more if money were no object. But unfortunately it is. I’m looking forward to the day when I can just pick up and go wherever, whenever I want to. I don’t know when that day will be, but I’m trying to keep the faith that it will come.

Sometimes I just can’t help feeling like I’m somehow behind everyone else, especially my siblings. Both of them have recently built houses (my sister’s being about 10,000 square feet), and are doing quite well for themselves. And here I am, finally becoming a homeowner, but barely scraping by in the process.

While they’re comparing home entertainment systems and considering Caribbean cruises, I’m wondering where the money to pay the electric bill is going to come from. When I get to thinking about it, it really gets me down.

I know, I should be thankful for what I have. And I am. And I honestly know that I’m not worthless just because they have more money than me. I have a great family, I’ve turned something I love to do into a career (although it’s not going great right now), and I have a roof over my head. I really should stop comparing myself to them.

I’m going to be cutting it really close this time, but so far I’ve managed to post every day this time around in NaBloPoMo. Yay me!

So I left off in the saga of the various homes I’ve had where I was moving back in with my parents. I would have preferred to bite copper nails in two, but that’s the one place I’ve always been welcome, no matter how at odds we were. Seeing how I didn’t have anywhere else to go, I bit the bullet and went back.

Things were a little better that time. Mom quit waiting up on me or insisting that I wake her up when I came in, something that drove me nuts when I was there before. I didn’t mind it when I was in high school, but I was in my twenties when I moved out the first time. Come on.

They did want to know if I wasn’t coming home at all, but at least they didn’t raise cane and demand to know where I was so they could come get me (like they had frequently done before). So while things were less than ideal, it wasn’t as bad as I imagined it would be.

My job was in the area where I now live, about an hour and a half from the parents. The pay was horrible, but I was gaining some management experience and decided to keep it until I found something else. But I ended up meeting a sweet young man, and started spending much of my time on this side of the state line. I wasn’t even remotely looking for a relationship, but we clicked and became good friends. I started spending a few nights a week with a mutual friend of ours (whom he was also staying with) to save gas and give me somewhere to hang out that I could stay out of trouble.

That eventually led to me moving yet again, and I’ll tell you all about it tomorrow.

The first place I called home was, of course, where I grew up. My family moved in when I was six months old, so I have no recollection of where I lived before that.

That was the first, and only place my mom and dad ever owned. It was in rural southwest Virginia, and it was right up the hill from my paternal grandparents. They had given (or maybe sold, I’m not sure) my dad some land, and they bought a mobile home to put up there. But it was a three bedroom model, and there were the two of them plus three kids. My big sister graciously shared her room with me until I was about 6, and then they built on.

My dad did most of the work himself. He added on two more bedrooms and a den/dining room. He did a great job, but I’m not surprised. He was one of those guys that could do just about anything he set his mind to. He became a trucker before I was born and made it his career, but he had done all sorts of stuff before that. And the things he hadn’t done just seemed to come to him naturally anyway.

The place where we lived was pretty peaceful. It was on a hill at the end of a dead-end non-state maintained road. We had a big front yard, and nothing but mountains behind us. When I was young, most of the neighbors were awesome. I spent a lot of time at my mamaw’s, and I sometimes went to my cousin’s house to visit his wife (she was a sweetheart, but I never cared much for him). One of the neighbors at the other end of the road had an above-ground pool, and they invited me down to swim in the summers. The ones across the road from them had two girls who were a little younger than me, and I went down and played with them often.

Things have changed in that little hollow over the years. The neighbors with the pool and the kids moved. Not far, but far enough not to be my neighbors any more. There have been a few move-ins and move-outs since then, but one place is now abandoned and the other is now home to some really major snobs. My cousin’s wife died in a car crash. My mamaw also passed on, and they rented her place out for a while and eventually sold it to friends of my dad. They were nice, but they bought another place a few years ago and gave that one to their daughter. And she has let it go way downhill. It’s practically uninhabitable now, but she still lives there.

My dad passed away three years ago. So now it’s just Mom up there on the hill. At least it’s still pretty peaceful up there. She doesn’t have much to do with the neighbors, just keeps to herself and has friends over every now and then. I don’t get up there much because of life and gas prices, my sister lives 4 hours away but gets up there when she can, and my brother doesn’t live too far off from her. He sees her the most of any of us, but he has a busy life too.

So there’s my first home post. Hope I didn’t bore you to death with it. Things will get more interesting with the next couple, so stay tuned.

My sister called me a few days ago. I was sick in bed, but I talked to her anyway. I only get a call from her maybe two or three times a year, and she is impossible to get ahold of, so I take what I can get.

She was calling me to congratulate me on my new home. That’s nice. I’d rather be moving into the place she’s going to be moving into in a couple of months or so, though. Her husband is a contractor, and he built a 10,000 square foot home for their family. He did it a little at a time over several years, so they won’t have a huge mortgage payment. Just a gigantic house to enjoy and truly call their own.

They’ve really done well for themselves. They’ve got nice vehicles, Hilton Head rentals to enjoy every summer, and all that. I’m truly happy for her. But of course I’m a little jealous. Who wouldn’t be (unless they had more)?

Today was my dear mother’s birthday. I was unable to get her anything, but I did call and wish her a happy one. Too bad what little bit of money I have is tied up. I would have loved to get her something shocking, like some hot lingerie. I would have had to deliver it in person, though, so I could see the look on her face when she opened it.

Hopefully things will be better by Mother’s Day, and I can get her two gifts. I know she understands that I just don’t have any money right now, but it makes me feel bad. She always manages to get me something or send me some money on my birthday. And she always sends a card, which I didn’t do either. I’m such a bad daughter sometimes.