Work At Home Musings

Managing home and family while working at home!


Mood Swings

Do you ever get those days or weeks where you have mood swings? Some people have tried taking Ephedrasil hardcore or other diet supplements, but I just found an article that insists that chamomile is great for mood swings. Also suggested was chicory. I supposed you could get either of these in a tea, but you can also order flower remedies and essences from health food stores. It probably doesn’t hurt to try a natural remedy first, just don’t over do it.

We have a new door!

After freezing last year, we decided that our front door was just not keeping the draft out. My husband installed a beautiful new door and a storm door as well. There were a few problems, but we didn’t have to install industrial knobs or anything too complex to make it work. Here is our new door:

front door

Basketball Tryouts are Over!

My high school daughter completed her first Basketball tryouts at the High School and she made the team! She is very excited, but a little exhausted since they have practice every day. She is a little annoyed that a few of her team mates are not taking it as seriously as they should. One girl wants to leave early for another activity, a couple girls didn’t even show up to practice.

If you try out and make the team, you should be committed to doing the best that you can.

Accidents

This year has been filled with accidents. Not for our immediate family, but for many of our friends and loved ones. We have a friend who lost a husband in a scuba accident. Another friend suffered a heart attack (but is recouping nicely). My sister’s brother-in-law fell off a ladder, banged his head and had some motor and memory loss. Another friend is still talking with motorcycle accident attorneys about her brother’s accident. We had some friends who were in a terrible plane accident with many burns, but with a family who is helping them through this difficult time. Another friend celebrated her life with her family and is positive despite knowing that the cancer is eating away at her body.

It seems that our list of those we pray for gets longer every day. We are also praying for a healthy and happy New Year and hope that it will bring more joys and less sadness.

Future Plans

I have three children. So now I am starting to think about college and wedding costs. Things are getting so expensive these days. I often tell my children that a big, expensive wedding is just not in the cards. Good thing I have two girls who hopefully will have their engagement rings paid for by their future fiances! Hopefully, I have taught them that things to have to be expensive to mean something. This ring is beautiful though isn’t it?

engagement

My Daughter has Discovered Reading

I always buy my kids books. Sometimes I buy them from Amazon books, or the local bookstore, or the book fair at school. Partially I do this because I love to read and I hope that they will love to read as well. Unfortunately, my kids haven’t caught the reading bug yet. That is until recently, when my nine year old daughter discovered Lemony Snicket’s “A Series of Unfortunate Events.” She read the first book in just a few days and is on to Volume 2. Hopefully this trend will continue!

lemony

Protecting Your Home

With the huge mortgage crisis going on, everyone is worried about losing their home. Mortgage life insurance, also known as mortgage protection insurance, is one way that your home can be “protected.” In the case of the untimely death of the main bread winner, Mortgage protection insurance provides a death benefit that can be used by the beneficiaries to pay off the rest of the mortgage.

Make sure that you get all the details of the plan, and that the extra cost per month is affordable.

Moving Truck Rentals

A few years ago, I had to rent a truck to move my Mom from California to Utah. I didn’t realize how expensive a truck rental could be! Fortunately, my brother was the one driving that behemoth and not me. I did learn a few lessons though:

  • Always comparison shop. Price out trucks from different companies before making a decision.
  • Look at different sizes. Price out the different sizes of trucks. Maybe you could donate or giveaway a few items and opt for a smaller truck and save money.
  • Plan your route carefully. Try for the shortest route to save gas money. Also, be aware that large trucks are not allowed on some streets. Have an alternate route if construction or other things slow you down.
  • Price out companies that offer to drive the truck for you if you do all the packing. Considering gas prices, this may save you money!

The Dream Curse

Yes, I have what we call in our family - The Dream Curse. My sister has The Dream Curse and so does my nine year old daughter. The Dream Curse is where you have very vivid dreams and then when you wake up you are not sure if they are real or not. Some of the dreams even make you mad at other people, even though it was just a dream! My nine year old has nightmares and we have to constantly monitor what she watches on television!

A couple of years ago, I had a dream that a friend of mine went to Chicago and got in a horrible accident. She even contacted Chicago personal injury lawyers to sue the other driver. Of course, none of this really happened, but she actually WAS planning a trip to Chicago. I told her to be really, really careful, because I was sure that something would happen. Of course, nothing did, but that is how vivid some of these dreams can be!

Do you have The Dream Curse?

Homes for Sale

I am almost through with my vacation and will have pictures to post soon! While I was in Utah, I saw some fantastic homes for sale and was blown away by the prices. Since I live in New Jersey, I tend to think that housing in the rest of the US is just as expensive, but once you head west, the housing prices become much more reasonable. Here is a beautiful home in Utah. It has seven bedrooms, four and one half baths, finished basement complete with home theater seating, covered deck, swimming pool and is one 1/2 acre of property. The annual taxes are $3000 which is LESS than 1/2 of what I pay in New Jersey for less home and less property. The asking price is $650,000. Wow! This home would be over $1 million in my part of the country. I think I need to move!

utah home