Hmmm - some other possibilities .....

Hmmm - have been trying (as in racking my brain!!!) to think of other possibilities for earning extra income.... One involves making quilt - and then raffling it off through my company - (maybe even several quilts)- as well as several other similar bt different possibilities! (like - a catered dinner for some lucky soul at work - or breakfast in bed basket - champagne style - no alcohol involved though - for someone else. As I said - several possibilities!

I do like (really LOVE) the idea of the camp - whether or not it would involve piano lessons or whatever - and that might be possible but would need to think it through

Other possibilities include teaching that quilting class in ME or NB like I had talked about.

All of this depends on my job though. And tomorrow our whole section is meeting to discuss some changes in the offing. Shall see! Then shall figure out what needs to happen! (please pray - I do not like meetings like this!!!!)

Oh yeah - on the schedule for today - it is (Gasp!) CLOSET day! Ugh Ugh Ugh! The long dreaded day when I take EVERYTHING out of the closet - clean it really good (that part takes 2 minutes) then figure out what goes in what season~ Now MOST folks would go with a 2 season division - but I'm difficult - and prefer a 4 season division (as in sleeveless in early spring - nyet! Summer is the time for that - EXCEPT under a nice jacket or over-shirt!) So I get to figure out what it what!

Add to that - a short session of living room de-cluttering (don't ask! has to do with remodeling creeping stuff! and the desperate need for BOOKSHELVES!!!!!!) and cleaning out my poor refrig (this is a definitely don't ask - and don't look! just wish I didn't have to!)

Other stuff - an hour's worth of paperwork - can you see how thrilled I'm not?

Re other stuff - like the Spark people diet stuff - I need to check in - and finish up (as in do) my exercises. It won't help that tomorrow (day before our challenge begins) our boss is bribing - uh - supplying us with Pizza while we are listening to the new changes (pizza makes most things go down well! Trust me on this!)

And more to add-on......

ok - add-on's here.....

Son really REALLY wants to get the kitchen remodeled this January - was supposed to happen in December - but funding just plain not there. Since I find myself now in the over committed state of having committed that money 3 times over so far - it should be interesting.....

At any rate - with us doing the major part of the remodeling (excluding what Denis and his team do while hacking up the place)it shouldn't be too bad - hopefully!

Also have some definite whether or not and regardless plans for spending quite a bit of money - which now entails me getting off my duff and earning extra! Not sure how this will work. - HAD envisioned teaching piano to earn extra - however piano's and plaster dust demolition does NOT work out well! Still - should be able to do that come April - however - the timing is really loused up (as in - when isn't it!!!!)

Also have tentative plans to get my sw license re-issued - this will involve me taking the blasted tests all over again - and they are TOUGH!!! Son wants me to go on and work on my Master's - mmmm - probably not at this time - although it depends..

At work - I have been working in a different department - we won't discuss the many ways I've discovered to mess up! Fortunately I'm still in learning stats when in that department! (TG!!!!) Also - have some ideas for our team to work on - don't know if it will work or not - but certainly worth a try!

Oh yeah - I joined the (don't laugh! you CAN commiserate however....) Lemon team for the Biggest Loser in the Winter Meltdown 2010. Not sure how many are on the team - however - am very interested in keeping me accountable for my actions (and for what I eat!) We officially begin December 1. Am EXCITED!!!! I outlined my goals, will have MY info automatically go to Facebook (not sure I want to do THAT part though!), told my dd, was too chicken to tell my son, set up my rewards (a very pretty fabric to turn into a lovely vest to go with a top I already have!) My goal is to lose 2 pounds a week, exercise 6 days a week (3 strength, 3 sorta cardio - I'm including remodeling and intense housework on this), NOT eat out (and THAT one is the tough one!), drink 8 glasses water daily, and take one med at ugly hours of 3 and 4 AM - and the rest later! (that one is a thyroid med)

All I can say with all I have outlined is... ummmmm - pray!

Reply to Zen and the Art of Single parenting

I read an excellent article on a blog entitled Zen and the Art of Single Parenting - and - as per usual - felt that I could NOT keep quiet.

For those who don't know - I'm hoping to adopt a little one(s) - and am hoping this very strongly. The article was written by a single mom of 2 littles - and I definitely understand where she was coming from!

BTDT re adoption by single mom - although it wasn't adoption - bt it was legal guardianship of a little one with multiple multiple special needs (she is back with bparents now), it was raising my son to adulthood with NO help (he did fine, btw - has now put himself through college - dual major and working on his master's plus he has a very well-paid job in computers, it was raising my dd with little to no help (only $65 a month child support) to adulthood (she is now an authoress of 5 books, has put herself through college on her BA, owns and sells books at her own shop)unofficially fostered 6 other littles who are grown and gone and most doing well, 2 official foster littles - one of whom was adopted by another family and 1 of whom aged out of the system but who had multiple problems on arrival 5 months prior to aging out - and who sadly did NOT improve over time before aging out.

YES - it is expensive - BUT not as expensive as many would have you believe. It all depends on what your priorities are. Nike shoes? OK then if that's what the child wants - the child can earn part of the cost. Newest whatever at the mall? Probably not - but then I don't get that either!!! It depends on your priorities!

Braces for the teeth? Dental extraction? Eyeglasses? Hearing Aids? Medical and dental stuff? Definitely yes.

Education? I am a homeschooler from the word go - and my kids do and have recieved the best education possible to give and to teach. As a result my homelibrary is VERY extensive although I could - and did use the public library a LOT! Books are a priority here!

Friendships and friendship possibilities are a priority as well - although that does NOT mean public school necessarily - or even as a first choice. It DOES mean Scouts, 4H, church or religious groups, relatives (maybe), neighbors (maybe) - and it does NOT mean inundating the poor kid with constant "socialization"

Things that ARE hard - when the little one is having royal king-sized temper tantrums (read as rage filled hours - not moments - at all the stuff that has happened in the past) - there might be no one to take over while you step outside for a quick breath - or several - of fresh air and where you contemplate the eternal question of "WHY???!!!!!" and then come back in to continue parenting in the calmed down (hopefully) manner you hopefully usually do.

However - if you have friends locally - or know of other moms who have experienced similar situations - yo CAN contact them - in person, on phone, or in one of MANY MANY email groups - and know that you can cry on their shoulders and that they have gone through the same things as you!

Children DO benefit from 2 parent families and they DO need to be exposed to parenting from males as well as females. Thing is though that while it is ideal if all this can occur within the same family - it does NOT do well for the parents to pull in different directions. The reality is that in today's world that does not always happen for whatever reason. And it is still profoundly better for a child to have at least ONE parent than to have NO parents - to have a mom, or moms or dad or dads who love their little one and can open the doors of what it really means to be a part of a family than to always wonder.

Single parenting is HARD. ANY parenting - whether single or not is HARD - the hardest and most important challenge any parent has ever done - and it is (I think - biased viewpoint here) even twice as much so when you are a single parent. For those who think they can be both mom and dad - no. You can try to be the best mom or dad you can be - you can't be both - but that's ok. You can also make sure you have role models in the opposite sex who are close by, somewhat available - but who may not (nor really should) act in a parenting role. I have my son (who lives 30 minutes from me). I also have my daughter (who lives with her dh about 5 - 6 hours from me). And trust me, either or both have no hesitation about telling me what they think.

Which brings up another question - when you adopt a child - you think of you, your child, maybe your significant other - but what if the unthinkable happens and you, through death or severe physical or mental disability, are no longer in the picture? Single parents HAVE to think of this. ALL parents SHOULD think of this and many don't - whether birth, adopted, guardianship, foster. For me - my adult children will parent my kids. And trust me on this - they make awesome parents!

I love that you, Erin, are mom of two - and am so very very happy for you! And yes, I do believe that you and your littles are so definitely meant for each other.

Helen (who also has counted down the minutes until naptime and then wished that bedtime were earlier!)

Procrastination Tuesday..........

Urghhhh!!!!

Have you ever wanted to do something so badly you could breathe, taste, smell - or just plain BE it? Yup! I'm there! AND am running into challenges - not real blockade blocks - but the kind my feet tend to find (especially my Murphy broken big toe!!!) in the dark at night (and nope - I don't believe in turning on the lights at 3 am! I SHOULD - but I usually don't and just stagger about from bedroom to bathroom anyway! - hence my broken Murphy toe!)

Anyway - after throwing a big homongous pity party - to which Me, Myself, and I attended - I've decided to go ahead and do what I was going to anyway - maybe not quite the same way - but I'm stubborn!

What on earth am I talking about? Well, more later!

Other stuff - much as I hate the idea - I am gonna have to get OFF this chair and head to the kitchen and fix dinner (and clean up the dinner debris as I go!)

Tomorrow should be interesting - Nathan is bringing Mr. McB over to stay for a couple of weeks. Mickey had finally gotten over his freaking out whenever he saw me - and Nathan THINKS that there will be no problem. I really hate to tell him..... no, actually let it come as a surprise! I love Mickey B - but he associates seeing me with his beloved Nathan not being available for him for whatever reason! He's wrong - but that's the way he thinks!

Egads - just remembered - I am SUPPOSED to have created a costume for tomorrow. Ummmm - nyet! Not likely - there are only so many hours in a day - and I'm NOT doing that!

This 'n' That - and then T'other Too!

Yes - it HAS been a long time since I published on this blog!!

Notes up to date - and don't remember if I said before or not - we (son and I) have been renovating bathroom and pantry - which means the mess of all messes in the kitchen, dining room with the living room STILL not being ready to be inhabited!

In fact - I stayed at son's home for 3 weeks while the renovation guys destroyed the old bathroom and pantry (they saved a LOT of wood, etc. and hauled it away.) and they went clear through to the outside wall - leaving just the outside shell - it all went! ceiling, flooring (5 - 7 layers of REALLY old linoleum), ancient insulation (such as it was) - it ALL went! Then they put in new insulation, new tub, etc. and I have new wiring as well. The pipes had been worked on previously so they were ok. The flooring has yet to be completed - which is WHY I AM SO FRUSTRATED!!!! since I can't put shelving units in there until the flooring is done unless I want to haul everything out periodically! So it all sits in my kitchen, my dining room - and who knows where else! I DID localize MOST - but not all - the tools and odds and ends for remodeling though - but kept the paint out of the pantry - that will probably go into the basement - or upstairs in the upper closet - not sure!

Anyway - that was supposed to take place for only 3 days. Three WEEKS after I went for an overnight stay at Nathan's I was able to come home - to a plywood (not the permanent one) floor in the bathroom and no electric in the bathroom. And ftm - no heat (remember, all this was because this part needed to be done BEFORE I had my new furnace installed). 2 weeks later the furnace went in. And by then you KNEW winter was coming - if not already here! (and of course, it warmed up the day AFTER the furnace went in!)

Am I complaining? Not really - just explaining what all went on.

Since then - I've been trying to get this place sort of straightened up a bit.

Oh yeah - next item for re-modeling is the kitchen. I say no earlier than next spring - that lasted until son pointed out some things - so who knows!!!

Quilting - while at son's house - I really did get a lot done - not as much as I would have liked to of course - and I did hit a VERY MAJOR snag on all the charity lap robes I wanted to do. Wanting was fine - but the slice and dice and actual doing - well, let's just say that this would have gone a LOT better and I would actually have something done if I had some hand holding. I don't know WHY I get so hung up on approval and actually getting these things done - but I do!

Oh yeah - FWIW - the time table for all these lovely quilts and such - most are in the state of "won't take much" - some are in the state of "not in this lifetime, Butch!" and some are in the state of .... I can't think of any other states! Anyway - you get the idea! I DEFINITELY have too many down - but then maybe SOME will get done! At least I'll do the best I can and go from there!

Work is doing quite well - and who knows I may be allowed to learn other departmental duties as well as those for the 2 departments I usually am in. Would be interesting anyway. We'll see!!!!

Oh yeah - I've decided in my spare 2.5 minutes a month to lose some weight - or at least to (1) go back to exercising so my body will be sore while my mind is boggled down, and (2) eat what I plan - which happens to hopefully be somewhere in the ball-park of a WW diet - sorta!

That's it for now - I'm quite sure I will think of more later!