We have liftoff!

Space shuttle Discovery launched Saturday night from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Whenever the shuttle lifts off, we go outside to watch it light up the night sky. I am always speechless as I witness the glowing orange in the distance, to be followed by a very bright light that moves like a shooting star, but slower. It is amazing how well we are able to see it as we stand in front of our house since it is about 125 miles away. If you've never visited NASA's website, you may want to do so. There is some amazing information as well as some interactive links. If you have a child who is interested in space, this is the site to see!

I love technology!

How exciting is this?! U.S. Army Sgt. David Molina is stationed in Iraq and thought he'd miss the birth of his baby boy. Thanks to the staff at Morton Plant Hospital in Clearwater, Florida, he was able to watch the birth and coach his wife, Denise, via the Internet. Welcome to the world, Javier Alexander!

Photos courtesy of Morton Plant Hospital.

Work-at-Home Moms

How many of you have young children and also work from your home?  Anyone in this situation knows that when they accepted that "part-time" job, it immediately turned into a full-time job as it is very difficult to finish contracted projects while maneuvering mini-fire trucks on a transportation rug, in attempt to avoid parked Hot Wheels cars. We all know that "Mommy, will you play with me?" trumps "How many hours did you bill this week?" every time. As it should.

I find it more and more difficult to fit in my 20 hours of part-time work and keep up with everything else on my things-to-do list. 

Part-time work seems to be bordering on 35-40 hours. I really like what I do - writing and editing - it keeps me in touch with the outside world and gives me more to talk about with my husband at night, instead of how many times I wiped an unidentified purple sticky substance from my kitchen tile.

Like many, I work into the night which is not my best time of day, as is evident by a phone call from a client today who informed me that I made an error in my editing work... I didn't change "at" to "in" for a company newsletter.  Was he mad?  No. I was upset with myself because to me, editor is synonymous with perfection.  In that regard, I am my own worst enemy. When was I working on that newsletter?  Yes, you guessed it - late at night.

It's a balancing act, to say the least. I am curious as to how many of you do the same juggling act?  I write and edit. What are your jobs if you have any?  Um, let me rephrase that.... what jobs do you have other than the FULL TIME job of raising your little ones?  Has anyone stopped working part-time because it became so overwhelming?  Do you have any tricks-of-the-trade to share?  Right now, I am trying to work out yet another schedule in attempt to be all things to all people and not lose myself in the mix.

My Favorite Widget

Anyone out there who is freelancing on an hourly wage is going to love this!  It's a widget that works like a stopwatch and keeps your time for you.  You can stop it, go feed your children and then resume again.  I love this almost as much as I love Jr. Mints.  Almost.

Here is the link for "Time Tracker."

http://widgets.yahoo.com/widgets/time-tracker

If you try it, please post how you like it.

Mess? What mess?

Work-at-home moms often fall into a trap -- "the mess has been there for so long that it looks normal" trap.

The focus these days is on money, making more of it and spending less.  The intensity of our challenging economy and its fallout has forced many of us to channel our energies into generating money, and let's face it -- cleaning the house and doing laundry don't cause our bank accounts to rise unless we're doing it for someone else. 

Most of our work-from-home jobs involve using our laptops, a job in which we can lock ourselves away from the mess; or worse, park the computer right in the middle of your family room and have towers of Legos competing with you for ‘stare downs' all day long... so long that you are convinced they were there when you bought the house.

Is there a winner?  Yes, the mess. It becomes a part of your home and eventually you begin to accept it as such. I say that as I look at a pile of clothes in a laundry basket.  They are clean, but obviously not folded and put away.  The basket has been there for so long that even the dog has learned to maneuver around it.  When a family member is looking for something "white," they go to the basket.  How long would it actually take to fold and put the clothes away?  Minutes.

Is it possible that a messy house could actually cause us to spend MORE money?  Well, if you can't find clothes due to a mound of laundry, you may find yourself buying new clothes rather than trying to play catch-up with the laundry. 

Are your dishes waiting to be washed?  Kitchen messy?That usually results in take-out or delivery.

What about food purchases?  Is your pantry a mess? Are all of those stockpiled items organized, or are you continuing to spend money on stockpiling the stockpiling?  The end result of a disorganized pantry is expired foods and thus, cost more money from your budget. 

Where are your cleaning supplies?  Do you know what supplies you have on hand?  Or do you pick up one extra bottle of your favorite cleaning solution while you are at the store "just in case."  Then you come home and put it away, only to discover that the "just in case" bottles now total 10.

Regardless of your cleaning and organizing strengths and weaknesses, the bottom line is we all need to step away from our computers and keep up with our home responsibilities. So if you relate to any of this, walk away from your computer for one hour a day to clean or organize your home.  

Time spent vacuuming or cleaning a bathroom could actually save your family money -- money we all need for our already stretched budgets.

Photo credit: DeclanTM