Penny Pinching Mom

Aches and Pains

I had a monstrous backache yesterday. I think it came from slipping on the ice that’s still in our driveway from a couple of weeks ago. Luckily it didn’t come back today. But now I have a headache.

I guess I shouldn’t complain. Knock on wood, it has been years since I had a migraine. I got them pretty frequently for about a year after Pumpkin was born. I never went to the doctor for them, though. I found that I could take care of them myself in one of two ways: I could catch it at the first sign and take two Aleve and ward it off, or if I missed that I could just go to bed and sleep for three or four hours and it would be gone when I woke up.

I sympathize with those who get migraines often. They are one of the most awful kinds of pain there is. Had I continued to get them, I know I would have had to break down and get medication. I get a lot of sinus headaches now, and they hurt really badly at times and can be difficult to get rid of, but they’re nothing compared to the migraines I once had.

Out West

A friend of mine and Hubby’s called the other night, and he mentioned something about going out to Arizona for a while. Lucky him.

I’ve been as far north as New York, but I haven’t been very far south, and have never strayed far from the East Coast. One of these days, I’m going to go out west. I’d love to just hit the road with Hubby and Pumpkin, stopping at interesting places along the way. I’ve always wanted to visit Texas, and we could get a room in a Las Vegas hotel for a couple of nights and hit the casinos, but I guess we’d have to bring someone else along to watch Pumpkin if we wanted to do that. Then we could head on out to California, and come back on a completely different route.

I’m just babbling here. I know none of this is going to happen anytime soon. But maybe one of these days.

Not Even Going to Ask

I went to the store yesterday to pick up a couple of things, and I saw two cars at this adorable little vacation home down the road from us. I thought it was rather strange, since there is rarely anybody there. But when I got closer, I saw three or four people standing in the yard talking.

When I came back through, I saw a real estate for sale sign in the yard. At first I considered calling to see how much they wanted for it, but then I thought better of it. For one thing, we don’t have the money to buy a house right now. And for another, I’d be willing to bet that they would want an arm and a leg for it.

The house is right across the road from the river, and riverfront and riverview property around here is very expensive. A very old singlewide trailer on about a half acre of land on the riverfront just up the road from it sold for $100,000 last year. So who knows how much they would want, and get, for that cute little house?

I Hate the End of the Month

Being self-employed has plenty of perks, but it also has a few disadvantages. For me, right now anyway, one of the biggest is that most of my money all comes in at once, at the beginning of the month.

Right now it’s the end of the month, and we are broke as broke can be. We managed to get the most important bills paid this month, at least enough to avoid any cutoffs or repossessions. But I had to get my license and tags renewed, and had to pay property tax before they would renew my tags, and that took a big chunk out of the finances. Now the cell phone and satellite bills are looming over our heads, and I’m hoping that I get the two small payments I’m expecting this week in time take care of them before they are history.

We could also use some groceries, and we’re having to travel as little as possible because we don’t have much money for gas. I’m just glad it won’t be long until the beginning of the month. And Hubby is going to try to go back to work this week as well, so that will be a big help. Once he starts bringing in money again, maybe I won’t despise the end of the month so much.

No More Chest Pain

When I originally went to the doctor about my sinus infection, I had another problem of concern. I had been having chest pains. They didn’t seem heart-related, but when I mentioned it to Hubby he demanded that I ask the doctor about it. I was rather curious about what it could be myself, so I did.

After listening to my lungs to rule out bronchitis, and listening to my heart and determining that it sounded fine, she started tapping on my chest. The first couple of places she tapped felt slightly uncomfortable, but more like pressure instead of pain. Then she hit a spot that nearly brought tears to my eyes.

She said that my problem was musculoskeletal, and that it was likely due to sitting and typing so much. She said finding a better chair and watching my posture should take care of it. Interesting.

Well, I don’t have the funds to put into contemporary office furniture right now, but I have been more careful of my posture. And I haven’t done much writing anyway over the past week, because of Hubby’s surgery and its aftereffects. And, I’ve noticed that I haven’t had any chest pain. I guess doctors are good for something after all. (Just kidding- Love ya, Cathy, if you’re reading this!)

I am planning on getting a new chair as soon as we can get our bills caught up. The one I have now is a hand-me-down, and it is absurdly unsupportive. The back only comes halfway up my back, and there are no armrests. The seat leaves a lot to be desired too, especially after spending several hours with my butt on it. So I guess a new chair is going to take priority over a laptop.

Look at Me Now

Today I saw a couple of guys from my old factory job. I didn’t speak to them, because if I had, I doubt I could have thought of anything nice to say. They are both major tools, the types who thought they were hot stuff but were really nothing more than pawns in the game. They were major butt-kissers to the higher-ups in the company, and treated everyone who was lower than them on the totem pole like crap.

The last time I saw one of them, I was working at my restaurant job. He looked rather amused to see me working there. He probably thinks I still do work there. Little does he know that I’ve escaped the world of corporate drudgery and am now my own boss.

I may not drive a fancy car or wear expensive Panerai watches, but guess what? Neither do they, and they probably never will. I’m sure the value of this is lost on them, but I am proud that I am doing something I love, and don’t have assholes like them for bosses. While they’re climbing the corporate ladder (or are under the delusion that they are), I’m choosing my own hours and my own work. So there.

Another Unproductive Day

I went to bed fairly early last night, with the plan of getting up at a decent hour this morning and getting to work. But my plans just completely fell through.

I was up half the night coughing my head off, thanks to my sinus troubles. I think the medicine is actually working, but I’m keeping a tickle in my throat at all times lately. So I didn’t get much sleep until the wee hours, and then ended up sleeping late.

I didn’t let that discourage me, though. I got up and ate breakfast, and called the doctor to make Pumpkin an appointment, since she had been having signs of a possible sinus infection too. Then I waited for the cold water to thaw out (it froze up in the bathroom on us yesterday, but ended up thawing on its own) and took a shower. Then I turned on my computer, sat down in front of it, and tried to get started working.

A few minutes later, Hubby informed me that his grandpa needed me to come up to the hospital and read some papers for him, and he needed it done by 1:00. I grumbled a bit, because we would be pushing it to get there by then, but we all loaded up and went.

When we got up there, Hubby’s aunt was already there and had them filled out. So that was a waste of time. And Pumpkin’s appointment was just an hour later. We live in the sticks, so there was no point in trying to come home and work until then.

We got to the doctor early, but she didn’t make it in to see Pumpkin until after 2:30. And Pumpkin miraculously recovered completely by then. She just looked her over and said that if she had any more problems to start her back on her allergy medicine. I asked her about my cough, and was hoping she would tell me something over the counter that would work, but instead she gave me a prescription. So I had to go get that filled.

Hubby decided he wanted to rent some movies on the way to the drugstore, and I didn’t complain because he has been excruciatingly bored since his surgery. So we did that, went to the drugstore and waited about a half hour for my medicine, and came home.

Once I got home, he wanted me to watch a movie with him. So I sat and watched for a while, and cooked supper while it was on. And now, after 6:00 pm, I’m finally getting to work.

Maybe, just maybe, some day, my life will have some resemblance of normalcy again.

Hubby Is Recovering

Hubby had his gall bladder removed this past Wednesday. He was really sore the first couple of days, to the point that he couldn’t get up and down without help. But each day he has improved a little, and I’m hopeful that he will have a speedy recovery. I also hope that he doesn’t try to rush it.

The doctor said he could go back to work after a week, but Hubby neglected to tell him that his new job involves some really heavy lifting. He has to go to his follow-up appointment on Friday, and you can bet I’ll be there and will mention that to him. I’m all for him going back to work and making some money, but I don’t want him to hurt himself in the process. Maybe he can put him on restriction or something.

He did get out of the house yesterday and today, and did fairly well. He says that he’s going out on his own tomorrow, and I’m not sure whether I should stop him or not. He says he wants to buy me a birthday present. He’ll probably go out and come home with one of those skimpy little chemises for me. Just what I need.

My Coat Dilemma

I have a coat with the logo of the restaurant I used to work for on it that I wear a lot. It’s a nice, warm coat, and that’s why I wear it so much. People keep asking me if I work there, and I have to explain that I don’t any more, and it gets rather annoying sometimes.

Actually, I have a coat that is much warmer than that one. It’s down-filled, so it’s made for really cold weather. But it just doesn’t get cold enough for it around here that often any more. It gets bitterly cold at times in the mountains, but every time I put the thing on I get too hot and have to change into the other one.

I guess I’ll never be able to wear any of the stylish and cozy stuff Volcom Clothing has to offer, since my inexpensive down coat is too warm for me. Darn.

All About Recycling

A friend of ours works at the local recycling place. He’s always telling us about different things you can recycle to make money.

The thing is, we don’t have much of anything that’s worth the trouble of taking up there. Copper is one of the most valuable things they take, but to my knowledge we don’t have any of that to spare. Aluminum also pays pretty well- he said a bag full of cans that someone has put through a can crusher can bring nearly $100. But alas, we don’t drink canned drinks.

We do have a fair amount of steel and tin lying around, but they don’t pay worth a hoot. Wouldn’t you know it?

We also have an old stove and refrigerator we need to get rid of, but he said those would only bring about $20 or so. We may take them up there anyway so the stuff can be reused, but I guess we can forget about buying something nice with the money from them.