Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Rambling

We sprayed both of the boys' rooms yesterday. Sam wasn't paying close attention when I specified that the sprayer had to be handled in a certain way- the flexible spray nozzle was never to be allowed below the level of the liquid in the bottle.

He moved the sprayer onto a stool "because it was in his way". He laid the spray nozzle down beside the bottle, rather than on top of it. I walked by and found a puddle of bug spray congregating on the stool. ARRRGH! Tommy said he was going to learn to sleep sitting up on the stool- it ought to be spider-proof for sure!

In all the cleaning and spraying, we never did find any spiders, living or dead. Maybe the boys swallowed them after being bitten.
*************************************************
I have been thinking and thinking, wondering WHAT I can do to earn some extra income. The Pampered Chef lady thinks I could sell PC. (But all the salespeople for home party companies say that to everyone- they earn a % of the recruits income) The trouble with the home party business, for me, is I have no base of friends or family locally to host parties for me to get started with. If I leaned on family to get me started, all my subsequent parties would be in other states.

I am good at party planning. My Mom and I got dozens of compliments and even a couple of requests for help after we put together Granny's 90th Birthday Bash. Mom's cakes go a very long way to making any party a success- and I am no where near as good at cake decorating as she is. I thought about trying 'gourmet' cooking for others- not truly gourmet, but I figure there is a market among the single guys at the hangar for meals that they only need to heat and eat. I considered Artisan Breads.... Tommy loves to bake as much as I do. Among the biggest drawbacks with that is doing it from home: Heating up the kitchen, with summer almost upon us. The air conditioner just cannot cope!

I really would like to earn money by writing. And the way to do that is to WRITE. It has been years- decades!- since I went about seriously submitting anything for publication.

I had my bi-monthly email from Monster.com this morning. I have the settings for their search agent to scour jobs in the Columbus, Ohio area. Perhaps I should set it locally here again. One job on today's list was something I can do- well qualified for- and I pretty much enjoy doing. But I cannot commit to going to Ohio- unless certain other family members [-ahem-] also commit to going.

And that brings us back to ring-around-the-roses. Paralyzed with indecision. Fear of the new, fear of making mistakes, fear of moving too far away from our grown children, fear of the still-at-home grown children not having the best job opportunities if we moved, fear of the still-at-home grown children not having the best job opportunities if we stay here, fear of the still-at-home grown children moving away and leaving us behind.....
I could go on and on. If you think it makes your brain hurt- I have been here in this high-centered, wheels spinning rut for YEARS now. In my world, there is no such thing as making a decision and not second guessing it endlessly. Should I just take charge myself and force the rest of the family to follow my lead? I try to let Mr C be the head of the household- I think I have done OK at not usurping his position.

Still, it can be a struggle.

Got any job ideas for me? Let me hear them!

1 comment:

Nola said...

Here are some ideas a single mom we know does:

Dinner's Ready!
10 meals, custom made, delivered to your home.
Solves the "what's for dinner?" dilemma!
You relax with your family.

She makes and freezes them. This has worked out good. Her food is GREAT, no MSG, home made. Since she isn't in your area I am sure she would share her tricks.

Buy your fruits & veggies through the San Angelo Produce Coop.
1/2 - 1/3 the price of the grocery store and top quality. Email for info.

She orders wholesale and splits the cases with others. This drops the price of her cooking. She also ups the price a little for those getting the produce, still MUCH cheaper than the grocery store and fresher.

Last but not least she sells Vitamix's. They are awesome
Then go green with a VITAMIX! Use this number to receive free shipping! 06-002448.
http://vitamix.com/