Lately things have been stressful at home, with my husband now out of work and here in the house all the time it gets kind of nerve racking.  He talks alot about things he is going to do or needs to get done and then sits here in the office and doesn’t accomplish much other than talking.. 

We closed in our garage a couple years back a made 2 offices spaces with a wall dividing the offices so that we wouldn’t be in each others faces all the time. But then my husband moved his office furniture from our commercial space to the house and moved it to the larger open area of the office and made that his office and now sits right where we can see one another and hear one another, and its like it defeated the idea of seperate office spaces.  So, he lost his job a couple weeks ago now and he is here sharing the office with me and it gets quite annoying at times as I am working and trying to concentrate on work and he just likes to talk alot.   I mean it seems he can’t stay focused on his own tasks he needs to complete and it drives me crazy.

Also, you can forget him getting any work done when either one of his ex-coworkers calls him or he calls them, they get on this rant about the job and talk for hours about something that cannot be changed.  I mean lets focus on the future and make something happen here as we have alot of bills to pay and I don’t have time for him to wallow in self pitty over his job loss when there is absolutely nothing we can do about it but move forward.  I mean I am looking to the future to figuring out how to survive and make money and keep my bills paid and the roof over my head.

I love him but, he has a hard time staying focused and it drives me nuts. We can be eating or something and boom out of no where, he will begin talking to me like we were in the middle of a conversation and I will have no idea what the heck he is rambling on about. Then as soon as I figure out what he’s talking about, he is already on to a new subject having nothing to do with the conversation he was speaking of 2 seconds earlier, I mean its mind boggling at times.

I work from home as an appraiser (broke as hell), and I also bid on government contract with HUD for inspections and I contract work and I run our business for local home inspections and appraisals.  Let me just be honest for a minute business has really just sucked since the crap hit the fan in the summer of 2007 for our industry.  So, with that said I don’t make tons of money, I mean I make some but not nearly enough to support our household without my husbands income as well and with his job loss we can’t afford the health insurance which really sucks, as I have several medical problems and my daughter has  2 holes in her heart that have to be monitored, so it sucks losing my health care.

With all that said my point is I work from home, so I am on the computer or the phone etc. and with my husband here it seems he gets distracted easily and then it distracts me as i can see him and hear him at all times.  I think I am just frustrated that he talks about all these things he is  going to get done or needs to do and then doesn’t do them and it makes me crazy.  He would act like I am not contributing to our household because I work from home and make my money here in the house, and I have to remind him that before he took his office job a couple years ago he also worked from home with me for about 7 yrs and as manager of the company, I contribute, as his wife I contribute, as mom to our daughter I contribute, as the person responsible for the house, cooking, laundry, dogs, fish, pool, etc..I CONTRIBUTE every single day of my life to my household.

To many times men don’t realize how much we contribute to our households, whether it be financially or through other things we contribute.  But I have never not worked and just sat on my ass at home, I work all the time.  Like I said before right now the money isn’t that great but it comes and goes as the contracts I have come and go and as the real estate industry goes through its changes so does my money, but I contribute..

Hopefully now that he is back at home out of the corporate world and back to doing our company he will realize how much I contribute and how much work it takes and descipline it takes to work from home and stay motivated and make your own income.  I am always pushing forward looking for a better tomorrow and praying for a brighter day as I will not let the struggles I face today bring me down.

Well, with all that said my daughter Taylor started second grade this week and some how has managed to break 2 water bottles in 3 days, I give up..I told her to pull out the one she used last year and use that one as it lasted all year with no problems.  She is loving school and glad to be back with her freinds, hopefully she can stay there through the school year as it is a private school and with the loss of my husbands income things may have to change there but since it is such a wonderful school and we know she is getting a good education we will do our best to keep her there. Our children our the future so we have to do our best to provide them the best pathe possible.

Som this is whats been going on in my house this week..what the hecks going on in yours?

Last Friday my husband lost his job, and so now we are both kind of out of work and so its rather stressful time in my house right now, thats why I haven’t posted anything in a while. I have just been bogged down with things that I need to get done and having my husband here each day is kind of stressful and he talks and wonders around and all he talks about is his job, etc.

I am glad we have some money set aside in savings, not enough to last for long but at least I know I am not without any money.  Here it is back to school time and I hadn’t done any school shopping yet and so we have decided that there will be no new school clothes right now, we will wait and see how things go and then purchase little at a time as right now paying our bills is more important that my daughter having a new t-shirt and jeans on the first day of school.  She has plent y of good clothes so she won’t be disgraced and she is only 7yrs old so its not like a major deal to her, she doesn’t really even think about it.  The only thing she really wanted was a new book bag, water bottle and lunch case, so I did buy those items for her and so she is happy with that for now.

Right now I am wishing we had about 6 months of savings but we don’t so all we can do is push forward. Thank goodness we own our own business but we are in real estate and so as everyone knows business has been slow but things right now are picking up so we still have that income coming in and I also bid on government contracts and so I hope to get a couple lined up and if so we should be fine. I can’t imagine how so many people theirs jobs and have no savings set aside and have no other income to fall back on as we do, even though I know what we have it is still scary so I know other people with less than we have must be so stressed out and I just say we have to all pray and stay positive and something good will happen.

If you decided to give up or let yourself get to down and depressed than you will not accomplish much if anything, so it is important to look at this as just another struggle we have to face and to push forward and look at any and all options that come your way and also considered making things happen for yourself.  What I mean when I say make something happen for yourself is that we are so dependant on large companies to give us a job but once you get that job you put all your dependence on that job, the paycheck, etc.. If you have a passion, a hobby or interest in trying your own business than give it a shot, its harder to work for yourself than anyone but you will push harder to make the money and will appreciate what you have much more and then only you control how much you make, when you work, and when you vacation.  Of course not everyone is like me and my husband and aren’t wanting to work for yourself but like my husband jus lost his job, I also was in the corporate world as he was and about 10yrs ago out of the blue I was laid off and it was such a shock to me when it happened that I chose to work for myself and I have every since then and my husband only went to work with the other company when the industy we are in got hit and we didn’t have enough business to pay all our bills.  So, now yes we are stressed over the situation but all we can do now is pray, stay positive and push forward.  No matter what gets thrown at you always remember you can get through it, as long as you don’t give up on yourself you can make it through anything that comes your way.

I would love to hear from anyone facing the same issues of job loss in your family and how it has affected you and what your doing to try and move forward..til next time!

We enjoyed a long relaxing weekend for the 4th of July.  It was good to sleep in and hang out at the pool with my daughter. We cooked out and watched movies and even did an evening swim and watched fireworks from the pool as neighbors put on their own shows.  We didn’t get to go out to watch fireworks as my husband was working on 2 college classes that were both due out Sunday evening, but we still enjoyed our time.

Oh, I also did the fire pit and lit the pool and backyard up with the torches and so it was all very laid back and relaxing.   Something I have realized over the past few weeks with my daughter out of school, is that I enjoy just being a mom and not always being stressed out by work.  I have been doing some re-organization around the house getting things in order and just spending time with my daughter.

I don’t know if I am supposed to feel guilty for not wanting to be working and making money, usually I am stressed that business is slow and that I am not contributing enough to our home. But I am contributing every day by taking care of our daughter, the house, our three dogs and doing what ever work comes along, so I have become content with being here for my daughter and just being mom for awhile until school kicks back in and then I will get focused back on work but right now it just feels right to focus on her for these next few weeks.

Time passes us by so fast, it seems like she was just a baby not to long ago, so I think its important to make time when we can for our kids and so being out of work can both be a curse but also a blessing if it brings me closer to my daughter.  I think some times we lose focus on the important things in life, nothing is more important than our children and our families, so if we struggle a little bit it won’t kill us.  Luckily we are not like some families whom have lost homes, cars, etc..I am out of work but my husband is working and I get some HUD and appraisal work from time to time and so far we keep it balanced out, our daughter is still going to her private school so its not so bad for us.

We have spent this year focusing on just paying off our debt and trying to be prepared for whatever comes along and we are not well off at all so we have to save and prepare because you never know what will happen in todays economy.  

Well, I have said enough about that stuff, so hopefully everyone had a great weekend as I did and lets look forward to many more and please remember that family is everything no matter what you go throug h or what you may lose as long as you have your family by your side you can make it through anything and tell your kids and spouse you love them everyday..til next post!!

Today has been a hectic day with alot of running around.  My daughter to school by 8am, then home for a few minutes and then back to the school for the kids talent show by 9am, later back home to call a couple clients, start the laundry and then off to Wal Mart then Radio Shack, back to the house to put the clothes in the dryer and then off to pick Taylor up from school.  That wasn’t the end of my day after picking Taylor up I still needed to pack her a bag for a weekend with Grandma, and I needed to make sure I had the laptop I was giving my mom was all set up properly for her to use, and then off for the long drive out of town to meet up with my mom and then spending time with her showing her how to operate a laptop computer as my mom has never had her own computer and never even used a laptop and then I was back on the road back home and finally around 9pm, I get to stop and sit down for a few minutes before I begin working on my blog.   So, as you see I have had a long, busy day…

But now its my free weekend, no kids, no phones, no clients, nothing for at least 48hrs, its my anniversary weekend and we are going to breakfast and then off to the lake for some peace and relaxation.  I don’t get many days off to myself of with just time with my husband just the two of us.  So, when I get my 1 free weekend each month when my mom gets my daughter, I try to relax or do something for myself because there isn’t anyone taking care of me and many times that included me as well, I get so wrapped up in taking care of the kids, my husband, the house, the dogs, the fish, our business and now that summer is closing in the swimming pool as well. So there isn’t alot of time left for me and no one seems to think I also need to be cared for, but I guess that is how many women live.

I love my daughter but I also need a little, “me time”.  I think we could all use a little more time for ourselves.  Well, my day was so busy I didn’t get to the gym but I will be back on Monday.  Well, since its been such a long busy day I think  I will sign off for now and hopefully be back on the blog on Monday as I said this weekend is relax only weekend..Til next time..

I don’t know if it’s just me, but my daughter is driving me crazy lately.  It seems she talks non stop and I can’t get any peace and quiet.  I know I must sound awful but honestly I think I am going to pull my hair out. 

This summer will be the first summer that we can’t afford summer camp, and for 9 long weeks we will be together 24 hrs a day and I am wondering if I am going to being to listen to her talk, sing and ask questions every minute of the day.

I am not sure if there is an age when kids go from quiet to non stop talking, and then hopefully back to a little bit quieter?   I am trying to think of all the fun things we can go and do together, so that we aren’t locked in the house all summer, because then I would go crazy.

Don’t get me wrong I love my daughter, she is beautiful and full of energy and she is also a motor mouth.  Am I the only mom out there willing to admit that my childs not stop talking, noise making and questioning me on every thing is a little overwhelming at times? 

Taylor is bright, energetic, smart and out going..She amazes me how she can pick up a new friend any where we go. When we go on vacation and go to the pool, she will walk up to another little girl and say, “hey want to be my friend” and like that she has another new friend.  Sometimes I think its great she isn’t really shy, so she doesn’t struggle to make friends, or struggle to have fun, no matter where we go.

I think I was also the motor mouth in our house, when I was young so maybe she is getting me back for me driving my mom crazy when I was a little girl.  It seems she is alot like me when it comes to being talkative, and also being a tomboy but I don’t think I made friends as easily.

Am I a bad mom for thinking, I wish I could just get a little peace and quiet?  I don’t think so, I think all moms want to pull thier hair out some point, our kids are wonderful but we still need time for ourselves and we shouldn’t have to feel bad for needing space.

I mean I hear my husband say he is going fishing or to play or golf so he can get a little time for himself all the time, I mean ALL the time.  But how often does our husbands think, my wife could use a little time for herself and that they would take the kids for the day, well in my house not very often.

I think every once in a while my husband thinks of having a little daddy / daughter time but more often its me at home while he goes off enjoying himself, while I stay home with the girls. 

So, if anyone else out there faces the same challenges of little motor mouths that make you want to go hide, hit me back and please be easy on me. I am not a bad mom just telling the truth and so hopefully other moms will feel they can share their mommy stories with me, we can talk about anything and every thing.  Kids, family, work, life in general and we can support each other and its okay to tell the things you always wanted to say but felt your freinds and family might judge you on, I won’t judge you for being honest and telling what’s going on in your family! 

So, please join in a let me know, what going on in your life..happy chatting!