I Need More Days Off

When I was a stay-at-home mom I didn’t feel like I got anything done, and now that I’m working part-time, I realize that I did. I got a lot done around the house. My home was cleaner, dinners were ready, made and planned ahead most of the time (we survived without a microwave – something I don’t think I could do now). But, we needed more money. My resources tapped as far as “what more can we do?” —  Every book I read talked about strategies we were already implementing. Chances are we will never be in the position of having so much money we don’t know what to do with it. Adapt.

Make the best with what you have.

Today is my day off. So far I’ve accomplished taking the kids to school, eating breakfast. Checked emails, checked voicemails. Voicemail-checking is a BIG DEAL, because I’ve gotten very bad at it. I’ve never been good at checking voicemails on my cellphone, but checking them on my home phone? Fuggeddabaddit. The only time I did it with real frequency was when we had a telephone that had a speakerphone on the base. I had our voicemail number with a pause, and then a password programmed on the speed dial. All I had to do was hit speaker, push a button and voila. There it was. Once that went kaput, so did my daily checking of the voicemail on the landline. I’m not quite ready to give up the landline yet, but I did shop around for better options. We recently bundled our landline with our cellphone plan, saving $27/month (and adding the option of long-distance). We’ll see how much we still use that line, and maybe – just maybe – we will get rid of it. Slow moves in that direction. Still, the switching of plans hasn’t helped stimulate my checking of messages.

Back to what I’ve done so far today.

Bathroom. Cleaned it. Not the whole thing, just the toilet and floor. This is a BIG DEAL to me, because of my toilet issues. I broke out the pumice stone, the baking soda, I did it all. I hated every minute of it. I almost cried.

One load of laundry; washed.

Shower – soon.

Dinner? I think we will be having chicken patties (the pre-breaded, frozen kind) on buns. Simple dinner. Noting to self that I still need to get the buns.

Pick out senior picture for Dante? Today. Will do.

Balance checkbook. Hate. Will do. Need to write checks.

Need more days off. I don’t know how women who work full-time manage a home, too. Maybe they make such good money that the time spent clipping coupons and pinching pennies (which can be substantial) is out of the equation. True, if we had a better household income my energy could be spent elsewhere. But there is no use thinking about what could, should, or what I wish to be. It is not my circumstance right now. Right now I will be intentional with the time I have off today, try to get some of the items on my To Do list moved to a Ta-Done status, and be satisfied with that.

 

Stranger Danger

I am the stranger, but I’m not too dangerous. Armed with a keyboard and a cup of coffee, I’m just beginning to awaken my morning-fogged brain. Pretty harmless. Pretty inconsistent, too, posting once in a blue moon. I never thought I would be so busy, so distracted, that I would forget some of my online interests. Like blogging. But, time allows us so much and Facebook has completely ruined me with my ADD and its constant motion. However, since the change a few days ago, it has alienated me a bit for now, and I’ll stick to the streets for a bit.

Summer has closed, the kids are back to school. I have a senior, a freshmen and two 7th-graders. I continue to work both outside and inside the home. Don’t roll your eyes. I really do work inside the home. By day I manage an office, but by afternoon and night, I manage a home. It consumes me.

As the reality of the public worker cuts set in and the paychecks grow smaller, my work at home takes on an even more fine tuned approach. Frank took a promotion a couple years ago, and for one year we felt like we were climbing up the walls a bit, making some gains on our debt, increasing our financial responsibility. It was good. It felt good. My hours were cut, and my pay went down a bit, but Frank’s made up for it. The extra time I had at home made up for it. Did I say it was good?

We are still ahead of where we would be had he not taken that promotion. His check is now about the same as it was pre-promotion. I can’t imagine what it would be otherwise. We still have good healthcare benefits, thank goodness. But we’re kind of back at square one.

A lot of my time has been spent online couponing. This was the summer of the coupon. I’ve always clipped coupons, and have done well before, but with in combination with the internet, I’ve been able to hunt down deals a little quicker. But it takes. Time. Time. And more time.

I’ve used my homemade deodorant all summer. There have been times where I’ve been concerned that I smell a little more “natural” I would like. On a really hot day, I’d wash my pits midday and reapply. But I haven’t looked back. I haven’t changed. I don’t plan to.

I’ve been washing my face with honey. Although I use a combination of honey and coconut oil. My face is neither dry, nor oily, and my make-up is gone. Try it. Good stuff.

I’ve gained a bit of weight by paying less attention. Summer will do that to me. A re-commitment to health is in order.

And now I’ve posted to my blog. Something I hope to do a little more of, a little more often.