Tuesday, February 2, 2010

February is here....

Wow ~ I can't believe a month has already passed in 2010. Time has flew by. I haven't updated my blog in a month and I am sorry! Things have been crazy busy. I have hit marketing for my business head on and then...drum roll...tax time crept up. I had to get all my tax forms sent out to people that worked for me last year. Since I am a relatively small business I have to hand write them..lots of time :(

I have backed off on working so much. I have several nights a week that I am done by 5p and am able to spend with my family. That is so relaxing! Taking a ride through the country with my hubby and watching the sun go down and the deer and turkey feed...there's not much like it.

As a matter of fact, I have taken this Saturday off and we are leaving Friday night to go spend the weekend at a hotel with a swimming pool ~ FUN! That is one thing that I made my mind up I was going to do from now on...I have vacation days that I lose every year because I can't take them because we are so busy at work. I get 3 weeks of paid days off a year this year and I plan on using every last one of them.

Oh, hubby ended up not liking the furniture being rearranged so it got moved back to the same way it has been for years now...bummer! I also just now started feeling better since being sick a few days before Christmas. I don't know what got ahold of me, but it sure wiped me out! I think it was a big wake up call being so tired and stressed out. I realized I HAD to cut back on how much I was working for my health. I am going to really market and build my client base and work 100% for myself. I know in my gut I can have a very successful business...it's only a matter of finding the time to devote to it. I'm also thinking that I am going to quit at least one of my part time jobs because we have officially paid off all the doctor bills!! WooHoo!

Had a lot of drama with my oldest and her boyfriend of a year and a half breaking up. Fortunately it only lasted a day or two. I really like him and I hated to see them split. I'm just glad they got back together. They are good for each other :)

We just got done having a really big snow last Friday. It was so big that schools have been out and they are finally going back tomorrow. It was so cute watching my middle and youngest play in it out the window. There is still so much snow on the grass that I think I will go out and build a snowman with my youngest tomorrow...just because! Hubby is going fishing and the other 2 kids will be in school and it will just be me and my little man...sounds like a good afternoon!

I am just finishing up a good book and really need some suggestions on more. I love to read in bed for about 30 minutes before I go to sleep at night. It really relaxes me. Any ideas please leave me a comment or you can get in touch with me on Twitter @coffeeandpjs

I ended up about a week ago taking the girls shopping at the mall with their Christmas money since I had been so sick. There was even a few days that I took the laptop to bed to work and didn't get out of bed all day...I felt that bad.

Well, that's about all that I have to update on for now. It's not much, but like I said I have been so sick and really haven't had much going on...other than slowing down. 2010 is going to be a great year ~ I can feel it in my bones. I promise to stay in contact more with everyone on my blog :)

Grab yourself a cup of coffee, your favorite pjs, curl up on the couch and lets make the world a better place to live...one blog at a time.

Sunday, January 3, 2010

Rearranged the living room furniture - again this morning. We ended up moving it back (to my dismay) last night after 24 whole hours. Hubby just really didn't like it. My oldest daughter and I moved it this morning as hubby is out for the day. Only time will tell if he likes it when he gets home.

Watched Kentucky beat Louisville last night and go to 15-0. Talk about on a roll this year! It got so close I nearly peed my pants with anxiety. My ole ticker can't take that kind of stress! Come on boys...work on those free throws. Give yourself more of a cushion!

Today is Wonderful Sunday! My only true day off. We have a birthday supper tonight so we ended up putting our shopping trip off until next weekend. I ended up sitting on the couch cleaning out the "junk" drawer in the kitchen. What is is with people and a junk drawer in the kitchen? Everyone I know has one. It doesn't even have kitchen stuff in it so why is it in there? Ours gets to where you can't find anything until you do go through and throw things away. It damn near consumes the entire kitchen :) We have a junk drawer and once that gets full it starts to linger on top of the microwave. It's amazing how much junk one thinks they need.

My next task is the cabinets over the fridge. It has all my cookbooks and cooking magazines. For some reason I seem to think I am Rachel Ray or something with my recipes. I look through the magazines and tell my hubby how good this one or that one looks. He tells me the same thing every time....well cook it then and stop threatening :) I am going to give them a once over and put them in a box and sell them on ebay...any takers?? I have hundreds of them that I don't use. Matter of fact, at one time this past year I had about 10 or 12 magazine subscriptions. The magazine rack is full of magazines dating back to last summer that I haven't had time to look at. I have decided that I don't need all those magazines and if I see something I want to look at I'll buy it at Wal-Mart. I'm really more of a book reader anyway. My subscriptions are one by one running out and that's fine with me. Decluttering my life and saving money while I'm at it :)

The kiddos go back to school tomorrow. In a way I'll miss them. Once the break really got underway they started to get along. It's supposed to be in the 20s all week for the highs and I hate to think of them having to get out in that.

Well, I'm gonna go tackle the cookbooks/magazines. Wish me luck! Hope everyone has a good day!

Grab yourself a cup of coffee, your favorite pjs, curl up on the couch and lets make the world a better place to live...one blog at a time.

Saturday, January 2, 2010

The weekend is here...

Ahhh, the weekend! It's a cold 19 degrees out and already early afternoon. It's not supposed to get much warmer. Winter has officially arrived! It was spitting snow earlier and it was beautiful.

I rearranged the living room furniture last night. We have cable and it comes from the floor to the TV. That makes us have to keep the TV in one spot. It makes it real hard to actually move anything around as the TV is always the focal point. I would move the furniture around and my husband would come in and say nope or I don't think so. I admit it did look ridiculous at times. Of course, my son absolutely loved it. Move a couch away from the wall and it automatically becomes a climbing wall so you can dive to the other side and get away from the enemy before they get you. It was fun watching him. I did move some things around and put one of the end tables against a wall with a lamp on it. My hubby hates it :) He told me I should just put it in the middle of the room as a centerpiece. I think I will leave the sofa where I moved it and just take the table and lamp to the basement for now.

If I could move the TV without having to drill holes all over the living room to move the cable it would be so much easier. I am sitting here with a laptop and am completely mobile anywhere I want to go in and around the house. Why can't the cable companies do the same thing? Those cable boxes are high tech enough. You should be able to be wireless for the TVs you use it on. Anyone up for the challenge? Remember, you heard it here first and I want a cut of the profits :)

The kiddos got money for Christmas and I am going to take them to the mall tomorrow to spend their loot. They are excited. It's kinda turned into a tradition with us as they get money every year. I enjoy spending the time with them. Girls day out :) We do it a few times a year and I'd love to add a few more...even if it is just going to eat and get an outfit. I enjoy the time with them.

We have a half-gallon mason jar that we put change in at the end of the day. Once it gets full we roll the coins and take a "mini vacation". It usually consists of spending a night (sometimes two) at a hotel with a swimming pool and doing a few things. It really is more of a get away from all the stress type of trip and the kiddos love to swim. The jar gets full about 3 times a year and there is always several hundred dollars in it. You wouldn't believe how much change one can accumulate. That's a financial tip I thought I would share. You could use it as an emergency fund or bills or whatever. Another one I learned was when you are balancing you checkbook and you write a check for say $50.01 write it down as $51.00in your bank book. You will see your cushion grow in the bank every month. I write a lot of checks (all my pay is direct deposited in the bank and we use absolutely NO plastic, debit or credit) so my cushion grows faster than most. It helps in case you forget to write a check down or need new breaks for your car or when vehicle taxes come due or send to a charity. You could also cash a check for the cushion every few months to put in a savings account or if you're brave enough the stock market. Anyway, just a little something I learned in college and thought I would pass on. Hopefully that will be a trick someone can use that will be beneficial.

Anyone have any other tips, please share :) I'm all about making life easier. Soon I will be going room by room in the house and getting rid of things I haven't used in forever or just don't need. Time to declutter!!

Grab yourself a cup of coffee, your favorite pjs, curl up on the couch and lets make the world a better place to live...one blog at a time.

Friday, January 1, 2010

Happy New Year!!

We started off the New Year like we have every year for the past 12 years or so. We had plenty of junk food, lots of the Stooges and Twilight Zone and in bed by 11. I know...pretty sad when you can't make it one more hour :)

I have the most amazing life! I have a husband who I totally adore. He is truly an amazing man! I have 3 beautiful children who I am very proud of! Even though they can butt heads at times, they get along. They remind me of my siblings and I growing up. I also know that once they are grown they will be best friends. I get to be a work-at-home mom. We have a roof over our heads that will be ours in exactly 14 years. Our vehicles are paid for (albiet one is a 1996 and one is a 2002 so not new by any means although they were when we bought them). We have plenty of food in the kitchen and have never had to go to bed hungry. What more can one ask for?

I truly believe 2010 is going to be a great year! Spend some time pondering on what you are thankful for today. Change the things you can and learn to deal with the things you can't. Always keep in mind if God brings you to it, He will bring you through it. I know there are times when there seems like things are never going to get any better, but believe me they will. Everyone gets tested at some point.

Be sure to eat some cabbage, blackeyed peas and pork today. They are supposed to keep you healthy, wealthy, and wise (although I don't know which does what).

Grab yourself a cup of coffee, your favorite pjs, curl up on the couch and lets make the world a better place to live...one blog at a time.

Monday, December 28, 2009

coffeeandpjs: Manic Monday

coffeeandpjs: Manic Monday

Manic Monday

Ok....feel like I have gotten absolutely nothing accomplished today with the kiddos home. I've had to break up fights, wipe tears, deal with an attitude and that was all in the first hour. Kids this age and any type of break mixed with cold so they are stuck in the house do not go well together! It was a lot easier last week when you could threaten Santa was watching you....what do you say now?

Work has been crazy...of course. There are many people taking off and they are needing to find some people to cover when they are out. I was asked and even though my mind said NO, NO, NO my hands said sure...UGH! That is not what I wanted when I made a resolution to slow down. Start the year off covering more than what I have now....I think I have officially lost my mind. I am so afraid of losing my job that I find it hard to say no when asked to do extra. When I ask to take a few days off I am usually told at that time they can't afford to have someone off that long. All my days off I have to take basically one day at a time instead of a real vacation. Of course, holding down so many jobs makes it hard to get time off at the same time from all 3 of them. This gal I am covering for is going to be off the whole month of January. Must be nice. There is no telling how many days off I actually lose from my full time job. You don't get to roll them over. You either use them or lose them. I know for a fact I don't use them all...so sad!

I did see today that I have checked my email way too much. That takes a lot of time. One thing figured out...now how much time will that add to family time? Only time will tell. I think if I wouldn't have checked my email while I was dealing with all the fighting and arguing going on between the kids I would have probably said no. Would it be rude to retract it? Should I just go on through the month of January and then decline? Should I send an email saying thanks for thinking of me, but I am taking this time to decline any offers of more work from this point on? Well, back to work :) Until tomorrow...

Grab yourself a cup of coffee, your favorite pjs, curl up on the couch and lets make the world a better place to live...one blog at a time.

Sunday, December 27, 2009

Sunday

Ahhh..Sunday. My only true day off. I love Sunday! It's a cool winters day, cloudy, breezy. Sun is peeking through the clouds playing peek-a-boo. It leaves those streaks of sun that go from the Heavens to the ground. When I was a kid I used to think that was because someone had died and their soul was going up to be with God. It used to bring me peace to think there was someplace to go when we died and I guess it still does, to be honest.

I don't like to be out in the cold. Guess that makes me lucky working from home. I had a gal call me several years ago telling me she was going to put her notice in at the hospital she worked at as a medical transcriptionist and wanted to give them someones name that could take her place. She wanted to know if she could use my name. It was a winter day similar today only it was sleeting outside. I was in the bubble bath and told her sorry, but I just wasn't interested in working out of the house any longer. She totally understood (who wouldn't?!?!)

I woke up feeling a little better today. I've actually been pretty sick for about the last week. Sometimes I wonder if I work myself into a sickness not taking care of myself like I should. I guess it sure doesn't make things any better when you are sick and don't take the time to heal. My husband wanted to take me to the ER yesteray (Saturday) and get a shot. I looked in my throat on Christmas Eve after it killing me for a few days and there are blisters. Strep throat I'm sure. Unfortunately, about a month ago I had to take my oldest to the ER as she was real sick and it was the weekend. I got the EOB from the insurance and it has cost us a little over $400 for the doc to basically blow us off. The H1N1 was really going around at the time and they tested her for it and it was negative. He never tested her throat, which is what was hurting her so bad. She literally would not swallow her spit. She was spitting it out. When I asked the nurse why he didn't test her throat for strep I was told "it didn't look bad"?? Okay....anyway, I guess they charge about $100 an hour at the ER because we were there for about 4 hours sitting and waiting. I think we saw the doc for about 5 minutes. Anyway, getting off track there...I'm not about to pay that kind of money for that kind of service. Call me stubborn....I'll go to my family doc in the morning if I'm not any better and get a shot. That is if I can find time out of my day to do it...the work week starts off busy and goes that way until Saturday. Speaking of work week....I actually got called to do jury duty starting this week. That totally pisses me off. I have to take time (which I don't have to begin with) out of my day once a week for a month to go to court. Geez...maybe they can hold special called court dates so I can add more to my plate. Don't worry though....they are going to compensate me $12 a day for my time......I'm still trying to figure out where I am going to spend all that dough when I am done......

I woke up this morning at 9:30.....did I mention how much I love Sunday? It's the only day I get to sleep in and it feels wonderful! I got up and to start the day the kitchen floor had to be swept. I don't know how it does it and I am going to install a spy cam one of these days to find out, but I can sweep the floor at night before bed and wake up and it is dirty. Same with the laundry. Have you ever found that it multiplies at night? Guess it gets "dirty" when the lights go out like everyone else .... hehe. But seriously, it multiplies at night then you wash it and all the sudden there isn't as much as you started with. Where do those socks go to anyway? Every single time I do the laundry I have to pull a sock or washrag or underware or anything else that isn't as thick as blue jeans out from underneath the washing blades. I've had 2 washers in the 17 years I have been married and they have been the same. Why doesn't the manufacturer make those darn blades lower so nothing can get by them but water? I can only image what that does to the sewer system.

I am still trying to rack my brain on how I am going to make more time for me and the family. I watched Joel Osteen today on TV (I highly recommend his service and his books....Joel, you are awesome!) and he was talking about the increase that God wants to give you, but you have to think increase (out of the box) and not think in the box. I think that is where I am going to start. You have not because you ask not, God says. I am going to ask God to help me make the time I so desperately need. Every year at Christmas I want to take the kids to do so much (see miles of lights, make all kinds of cookies, go see Santa) and then I don't have the time. I say, oh well...next year. I was talking with my oldest the other day and technically I only have one more year, one more Christmas left before she is 18, out of high school and old enough to move out or get married or go to college or whatever. One more and I've never done all the Christmas stuff with her that I wanted to. It really makes me sad. It got me thinking that something is going to have to change. No, she isn't going away and will never come back and I still can do those things with her even when she is 30, but it is just the fact that life is passing me by and all I can do is work and watch it.

I'm going to spend the next week going through my daily routine, making notes and sitting down next weekend and deciding what can go. I will start the New Year out on a different note (although I do have to work on New Year's day so that will suck to start if off by working). I have taken Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years off for the past 10 years and decided this year that when they asked who would volunteer to work I would so maybe someone who does work every year can spend it with their family instead. Things are going so bad with my full-time job that everyone walks around on eggshells wondering if they will still have a job in the morning. The ecomony has hit all 3 of my employers and downsizing is what everyone is doing. My full-time company has let go of several employees and then turned around and has put double on the ones left to 'make up' for what the others would have gotten done. They have almost doubled what we are to have completed in a day. There are several days when I have to work a little longer by a few hours just to get my daily quota out and still days when I just can't get it out. Afterall, I still have 2 part-time jobs that I work. Those 2 have also asked that we do a little more too so they don't have to hire someone else and everyone comes out smelling good. Afterall, we just had Christmas and everyone needs more Christmas money. Wonder what their excuse will be now that Christmas is over.

I have thought and thought about what I want to do with my life.....there has to be something out there better than working nearly 14 hours a day, 6 days a week. I buy and sell on eBay and have wondered about making that a full time thing. I would love to spend Monday and Tuesday putting things on there to sell and then the following Monday and Tuesday going to the post office to mail them. Could you image just working a few days a week and having the rest of the week to spend doing whatever your heart desires? So far, I have only put things on there from around the house that we really don't use and need to get rid of for more space in the house. Maybe I can decide that I am going to put "X" amount of my pay aside to buy things to sell. Afterall, they are always having sales at the mall or just buying things in lots on eBay that you could turn around and sell. They make it super easy to open a store too where things can just sit there for like a month and sell. Anyway, that is just an option. You have to have the time to put the things on there to begin with. If you have never listed anything, it can take quite a bit of time taking a picture and then making a description so the buyer is told of any possible flaw there is on the merchandise. People can get real ugly if every "t" isn't crossed and every "i" isn't dotted. All that brings me back to square one....no time.

If anyone has any ideas or helpful hints I would be much abliged. How do you do it? How do you juggle family life with a career? Does anyone else watch shows about the 50s and 60s with jelously...wishing you could be a housewife and mother? Walk around in your dress and heels and pearls with an apron on making supper all day long? Oh, those were the days....I think. Afterall, I wasn't born yet so I really don't know. They sure do make it look good though, don't they? Well, I am going to watch a movie on the computer (my son is watching Sponge Bob Squarepants) and watch the sun go down. I'm toasty warm sitting in the recliner by the fire...Life is good.

Until tomorrow......Grab yourself a cup of coffee, your favorite pjs, curl up on the couch and lets make the world a better place to live...one blog at a time. You can also visit me at http://coffeeandpjs.webs.com