Despite waking up with the sore throat from you-know-where, I had to smile when I woke up this morning. My little girl was trying to get on the bed (which is freakishly tall, I have no idea why), and saying "up, Mama, up!". The really funny part was that she had my bra in her hand, and kept shoving at me, as if to say "get your lazy ass out of bed, put this thing on, and play with me!". I guess she's learning the importance of proper support at a young age.
After an hour of wedding speech writing (yes, that really is my current job), I felt like my head was going to explode. I swear, I catch every freaking bug known to mortal man. Anyway, I was sitting on the couch, feeling achy and self-indulgent, when my son plopped down next to me and snuggled. We watched "The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack", which I enjoy more than he does, and lounged for a bit. I can't tell you how amazing it is to see him being so affectionate. He's got a mild form of Autism, and the first couple of years of his life, he really resisted the lovin'. Thank heavens for the Early Intervention services! I feel really blessed to see him progressing, and as I reflected on that, I felt like life was pretty darn good, even if I am coming down with the flu.
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Monday, September 28, 2009
Freelancing
After realizing that we would be better off financially if I quit trying to start up a money-making business (ironic, isn't it?), I decided to get back into the wide open world of freelance writing. As a kid, I always wanted to be a writer, and boy howdy, I got my wish - it's just not quite what I had expected it to be.
I work for an online freelance site called oDesk, where you are called a Provider if you're providing a service (such as article writing), and called a Buyer if you buy those services. oDesk then takes a fee from the buyer to facilitate the transaction. If this business model sounds a bit familiar to anyone, that's because it 's basically prostitution. Now, of course there's no sex involved - get your mind out of the gutter! - but in this scenario, you as a writer are the prostitute, the buyer is, well, a buyer, and oDesk is your pimp.
Now I know that any money is good money, but after busting arse all weekend long, I realized that if I calculated my time spent vs. the amount of money I got for the fixed rate job, I'd just been paid approximately $3.50 an hour. Okay, I might be overexaggerating the crappy pay, but not by much.
I've determined that the only way to make more money is to simply write faster. It's really too bad that I have this whole "commitment to quality" thing going on, because if I didn't, these fingers would be typing so fast you wouldn't be able to see them moving.
Actually, I only get about 45 w.p.m. on a good day, so I'm completely full of it.
I work for an online freelance site called oDesk, where you are called a Provider if you're providing a service (such as article writing), and called a Buyer if you buy those services. oDesk then takes a fee from the buyer to facilitate the transaction. If this business model sounds a bit familiar to anyone, that's because it 's basically prostitution. Now, of course there's no sex involved - get your mind out of the gutter! - but in this scenario, you as a writer are the prostitute, the buyer is, well, a buyer, and oDesk is your pimp.
Now I know that any money is good money, but after busting arse all weekend long, I realized that if I calculated my time spent vs. the amount of money I got for the fixed rate job, I'd just been paid approximately $3.50 an hour. Okay, I might be overexaggerating the crappy pay, but not by much.
I've determined that the only way to make more money is to simply write faster. It's really too bad that I have this whole "commitment to quality" thing going on, because if I didn't, these fingers would be typing so fast you wouldn't be able to see them moving.
Actually, I only get about 45 w.p.m. on a good day, so I'm completely full of it.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Happy Pills
Antidepressants are wonderful... assuming that you're on the right ones! I am currently switching from one that wasn't working (and has heinous withdrawal symptoms) to one that seems to be working (although I can't tell for sure, because I'm still getting over aforementioned withdrawal symptoms). I know that people have some pretty strong opinions about whether or not we are becoming a Prozac nation, but those people that call them "happy pills" have not been in my head. :) Personally, I would use the words "Patience in a Bottle" to describe my experience, because rather than moping around, crying or withdrawing from the world when I'm depressed (don't get me wrong, I've been there too!), I tend to get really, really bitchy. My fuse gets short, I worry constantly, and I yell much more than I have a right to. In my opinion (which is probably not worth much, especially when I'm weaning off of antidepressants), anything (legal) that helps you to be a better, happier, more controlled individual can't be all bad. I think my husband would agree!
Work-From-Home Endeavors
As the title of this post implies, I have some experience with work-at-home endeavors. The fact that I'm using the term "endeavors", plural, shows you that none of these have been successful enough to stop me from trying out others.
I'll be posting summaries of all of my attempts, failed or successful, so that you can learn from my experiences, and thus save yourself a bit of time and/or money, since most of the work-at-home job sites are scams.
In the spirit of full disclosure, I have to admit that this whole blog came about because I:
1. Am trying to make a few bucks.
2. Made a few bucks writing blog content for other people, who then made many bucks off of my hard work.
3. Have either too much time on my hands or not enough. I say this because I am absolutely horrendous with time management, house cleaning and organization; and instead of actually taking care of business (and by "business" I mean laundry, dishes, toilets, etc.), I am instead spending my time posting links and giving tips about taking care of business. This info, compiled at the expense of my housecleaning (whether or not I use these tips personally is not the point!), will be here to help those of you out there who are also struggling with such mundane crap.
I'll be posting summaries of all of my attempts, failed or successful, so that you can learn from my experiences, and thus save yourself a bit of time and/or money, since most of the work-at-home job sites are scams.
In the spirit of full disclosure, I have to admit that this whole blog came about because I:
1. Am trying to make a few bucks.
2. Made a few bucks writing blog content for other people, who then made many bucks off of my hard work.
3. Have either too much time on my hands or not enough. I say this because I am absolutely horrendous with time management, house cleaning and organization; and instead of actually taking care of business (and by "business" I mean laundry, dishes, toilets, etc.), I am instead spending my time posting links and giving tips about taking care of business. This info, compiled at the expense of my housecleaning (whether or not I use these tips personally is not the point!), will be here to help those of you out there who are also struggling with such mundane crap.
Mindless Entertainment
It is a proven fact that a mother's work is never done. I do not, by any means, believe that you are too busy to take five minutes to laugh at something genuinely stupid. So, for the times you find yourself saying, "Man - I could use some mindless entertainment right about now", or even the times you catch yourself muttering, "If that kid doesn't stop whining, I'm going to scream", I'm going to post some links to happy blogs, funny videos, or just about anything that floats my boat on a given day. These links can be found to the right of the page, under the no-brainer tag of "Mindless Entertainment".
Friday, September 18, 2009
Mommy Musings
On my journey through motherhood (so far), I've had some moments where I've felt pretty inadequate. I don't know if I was expecting something more "Leave it to Beaver"-ish, but I'm pretty sure it didn't involve me feeling like a wet washrag at the end of the day. Don't get me wrong - I love being a mom - but there are times when I kind of miss feeling like I actually accomplished something tangible.
Now, I'm not trying to blame the media for this, but I think that this vague feeling of non-person-ness comes from the growing public assumption that you aren't really succeeding unless you're working full-time, running a spot-free household and remaining sexy (and under 400 lbs.) for your husband. Now, I'm by no means suggesting that women shouldn't be paid the same amount as men, or that we should go back to pre-sufferage days, but is there anything wrong with not being Wonder Woman? Shouldn't it be enough to devote the vast majority of our time and talents toward making good, responsible, intelligent children?
Nonetheless and not withstanding, I have finally accepted that I'm not June Cleaver, nor will I ever be. There are days when my poor little Pomeranian can't even extract herself from the pile of laundry (washed or unwashed? I have no idea) that rises up like a wearable Everest. I feel inadequate, because I AM INADEQUATE! Sometimes it helps to just call a spade a spade.
So, despite my near-constant feelings of inadequacy, my horrendous temper and my seeming inability to fold and put away my laundry after it is washed, I shall live as well as I can, and throw myself into parenthood with as much gusto as I can muster; depending on the day.
Now, I'm not trying to blame the media for this, but I think that this vague feeling of non-person-ness comes from the growing public assumption that you aren't really succeeding unless you're working full-time, running a spot-free household and remaining sexy (and under 400 lbs.) for your husband. Now, I'm by no means suggesting that women shouldn't be paid the same amount as men, or that we should go back to pre-sufferage days, but is there anything wrong with not being Wonder Woman? Shouldn't it be enough to devote the vast majority of our time and talents toward making good, responsible, intelligent children?
Nonetheless and not withstanding, I have finally accepted that I'm not June Cleaver, nor will I ever be. There are days when my poor little Pomeranian can't even extract herself from the pile of laundry (washed or unwashed? I have no idea) that rises up like a wearable Everest. I feel inadequate, because I AM INADEQUATE! Sometimes it helps to just call a spade a spade.
So, despite my near-constant feelings of inadequacy, my horrendous temper and my seeming inability to fold and put away my laundry after it is washed, I shall live as well as I can, and throw myself into parenthood with as much gusto as I can muster; depending on the day.
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