Monday, December 28, 2009
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.
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
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
Saturday, December 26, 2009
The beginning...
I am a work-at-home, multi-tasking, wife and mother of three. I currently own my own medical transcription business (that is kinda stale right now), have a full-time job (for the insurance), 2 part-time jobs (for the income that is lost with my insurance premiums) and have now decided to start blogging (which thankfully is free as I have no time for another job..hehe). To say I have no time is putting it mildly. My motto is to never put all your eggs in one basket. I have made a New Year's resolution to slow down. Now I just have to figure out which eggs to throw away.
My family is absolutely the best and understand all my craziness. My husband is a wonderful cook and cooks most of the time. My 2 oldest kids are great about helping me keep the house in order. My youngest is real good at making the house look lived in (to the oldest kids dismay right after they have straightened up). Life is good.
We lost our jobs about 10 years ago thanks to NAFTA (thank you Bill Clinton). This area of the country relied heavily on manufacturing. Sewing factories kept everyone fed and clothed and happy. Our jobs all went to Mexico (thank you Gap) and everyone around here all lost their jobs, right at Christmas too...great. Fortunately, the government felt bad for everyone and did pay for those of us who wanted to go to college to learn a new trade. I took advantage of it and learned medical transcription. My husband also took advantage of it and is now an HVAC business owner. Thankfully, we were young enough to go back to school. There are so many around here that had age against them and didn't go.
I decided after about 5 years of being a medical transcriptionist that I wanted to become an owner of a company. Nothing big...I just wanted my own clients. I did A LOT of research and finally took the plunge and did it. My clients were all what you call third-party clients as getting an actual physician is not as easy as one would think. So many of them are wanting it done so cheap because they can send it to India as they will do it so much cheaper. The third party clients I could get don't pay enough and when I hired someone to do the work I am only making peanuts and not enough to even make a living on and pay my bills. I was never comfortable just quitting my full-time job, thankfully, as I need the insurance. Although it seems that the insurance rates have gone out of this world and the benefits they give you have gone down. We have a $6000/year deductible for the 5 of us. We get to pick from a $6000, 10,000 or 25,000 deductible/year at my work and that is even Blue Cross/Blue Shield. Once you pay your deductible then everything is covered 100%, which is wonderful if you are planning on having major surgery or something when you would actually use a $6000 deductible. Oh yeah, the premium is costing me over $800 a month...A MONTH. Someone is getting rich and is sure in the heck isn't me. Anyway, that has caused me to have to get a second job part time and I just recently started working on a second part time (and third total) job. This one is a second shift and super early morning job four days a week. It gets a little hard keeping them all straight sometimes as each one has me working on several clients a day. This leaves me no time for my family, which is the whole reason for all the crazy working to begin with. Oh, I miss the days of working in the factory 40 hours a week and getting the weekend (and sometimes Friday afternoon) off to spend with the family. We went to work 7-3:30, were home by 4 and had the whole evening off. Those were the days!
Anyway, kinda got off track giving you a little background on me.....
My New Year's resolution, as I said before, is to slow down. This blog is going to be my documentation of doing just that. I have so many recipes that I want to try and so many places I want to go. Heck, just having 2 days off in a row would be wonderful. The economy has hit everyone in the US no matter race, age or financial status. We are what one would call middle class. Just the 5 of us going out to eat anymore (which we used to do quite often just a few years ago) has gotten to be too expensive that we have had to pull back on it some. It has hit everywhere and no one is safe. Even if you have lots of money you see that the price of all your things has gone up. Groceries are even getting crazy.
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. Hope everyone has a good evening and I'll see you tomorrow. You can also visit me at http://coffeeandpjs.webs.com
My family is absolutely the best and understand all my craziness. My husband is a wonderful cook and cooks most of the time. My 2 oldest kids are great about helping me keep the house in order. My youngest is real good at making the house look lived in (to the oldest kids dismay right after they have straightened up). Life is good.
We lost our jobs about 10 years ago thanks to NAFTA (thank you Bill Clinton). This area of the country relied heavily on manufacturing. Sewing factories kept everyone fed and clothed and happy. Our jobs all went to Mexico (thank you Gap) and everyone around here all lost their jobs, right at Christmas too...great. Fortunately, the government felt bad for everyone and did pay for those of us who wanted to go to college to learn a new trade. I took advantage of it and learned medical transcription. My husband also took advantage of it and is now an HVAC business owner. Thankfully, we were young enough to go back to school. There are so many around here that had age against them and didn't go.
I decided after about 5 years of being a medical transcriptionist that I wanted to become an owner of a company. Nothing big...I just wanted my own clients. I did A LOT of research and finally took the plunge and did it. My clients were all what you call third-party clients as getting an actual physician is not as easy as one would think. So many of them are wanting it done so cheap because they can send it to India as they will do it so much cheaper. The third party clients I could get don't pay enough and when I hired someone to do the work I am only making peanuts and not enough to even make a living on and pay my bills. I was never comfortable just quitting my full-time job, thankfully, as I need the insurance. Although it seems that the insurance rates have gone out of this world and the benefits they give you have gone down. We have a $6000/year deductible for the 5 of us. We get to pick from a $6000, 10,000 or 25,000 deductible/year at my work and that is even Blue Cross/Blue Shield. Once you pay your deductible then everything is covered 100%, which is wonderful if you are planning on having major surgery or something when you would actually use a $6000 deductible. Oh yeah, the premium is costing me over $800 a month...A MONTH. Someone is getting rich and is sure in the heck isn't me. Anyway, that has caused me to have to get a second job part time and I just recently started working on a second part time (and third total) job. This one is a second shift and super early morning job four days a week. It gets a little hard keeping them all straight sometimes as each one has me working on several clients a day. This leaves me no time for my family, which is the whole reason for all the crazy working to begin with. Oh, I miss the days of working in the factory 40 hours a week and getting the weekend (and sometimes Friday afternoon) off to spend with the family. We went to work 7-3:30, were home by 4 and had the whole evening off. Those were the days!
Anyway, kinda got off track giving you a little background on me.....
My New Year's resolution, as I said before, is to slow down. This blog is going to be my documentation of doing just that. I have so many recipes that I want to try and so many places I want to go. Heck, just having 2 days off in a row would be wonderful. The economy has hit everyone in the US no matter race, age or financial status. We are what one would call middle class. Just the 5 of us going out to eat anymore (which we used to do quite often just a few years ago) has gotten to be too expensive that we have had to pull back on it some. It has hit everywhere and no one is safe. Even if you have lots of money you see that the price of all your things has gone up. Groceries are even getting crazy.
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. Hope everyone has a good evening and I'll see you tomorrow. You can also visit me at http://coffeeandpjs.webs.com
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