sahmjoys

I don’t know about other stay at home moms, but I have had this annoying and illogical feeling of “not contributing to the household” looming over my head.

It’s annoying because I know I do way more than I would be if I were working.  I’m saving us on massive day care costs, I’m spending time building a wonderful relationship with my daughter, taking care of the house (when I can!), bargain hunting for groceries, cooking almost all meals, etc, etc.

So I KNOW I’m pulling my own weight, although at times I get down and feel like I need to do more.  I think its due to the fact that I have always worked, and always brought home a decent amount of money, so now I feel a little lost.

I love my “job” but I need to make a buck!

So I have been searching up all the work at home opportunities that I can!  I have been doing this since my daughter was born, and more so since I decided to stay home–almost two years now.

Do I have a wonderful wah job that brings in $5,000 a day.  No.

Searching for work at home jobs is tough.  There’s a lot of information out there to sift through and many people trying to snatch up the same job.  Competition is fierce and the pay is low.  But there is work.  There are also a ton of scams out there so you have to be on top of the game and research your little heart out!

I got bored and frustrated after about 8 months of searching.  I made some cash on paid survey sites.  There are some great ones out there like MySurvey, Lightspeed, Your2Cents (now changed to Toluna) and many more, but I have made the most with these.

I’ve also been doing Mypoints forever and have received many valuable gift cards over the years.

I worked for two texting places for a short while, made about $50 on each one, then had enough of it…kinda weird.

I am currently a IMShopping Assistant for IMShopping.com.  It’s pretty cool.  I research and answer shopping related  questions.  I’ve only been doing doing this for a few weeks now and have made some money, but I also haven’t been able to put much time toward it yet.

I have applied to Quicktate which is a company who transcribes voicemails.  I really want to get this gig, because I think I would be good at it.  It took about 3 weeks to get an email acknowledging my application and so far it’s been about 3 weeks since I submitted the test, so I’m hoping to hear from them soon.  (*Keep your fingers crossed!)

I’ve also applied to Lionbridge, Leapforce and Google Raters.  But no luck yet.

I’m working on my oDesk profile and will start applying for jobs on that site soon.

And last but never least…I have been recycling!  Helping the environment while earning some cash rocks!

So as you see, I’m back on the hunt!

I had to step away from it for a while because I was getting frustrated with it.  But some time away gave me a new perspective.

I have also found some amazing resources that have helped tremendously.

So to any other stay at home mom’s out there trying to earn a buck…I hear ya!!

Good Luck and I will share any leads I find!

Where have I been??  Lost in cyberspace somewhere I guess!

Lots have changed  since I’ve been here last and I have to catch up!!

Still at home.  Still lovin’ it.  Kid is getting BIG!

Ok there.

All updated!

Maybe not…

I’ll be back soon to fill in the blanks.

Until then…

My boobs are better now.  Just thought I’d let you know.

My daughter is doing very well!  I thought she was going to have a hard time adjusting to being weaned since she was so dependent on nursing, but she’s handling it well.  She’s falling asleep on her own and sleeping for longer blocks of time, which is awesome!

The only thing is that she has been on a tantrum kick for the past few days.  She is either totally loving, or mean as hell!

She went from hugging on me today to screaming her head off and picking up the remote and throwing it at me!

I also had to just lay her down on the floor twice today cause she started having a fit and arching her back and flailing around.

What happened to my sweet little baby??  Where is she?  She’s there one minute, then the next I have a little red faced siren blaring at me!

Maybe she’s just frustrated and doesn’t know how to show it.   Maybe she’s doing well sleeping and eating without nursing, but the comfort is gone so she’s trying to adjust?

I just have to stay patient and ride it out I guess.  I really can’t get mad at her.  I got a little frustrated today because she wouldn’t eat her food and she kept throwing it at the dogs or crying when I tried to stop her.  But what else can I do, but wait for the rage to pass and hug my little baby when she reappears.

I just hope it’s very temporary! We’ll see how tomorrow goes.

So I am finally and officially weaning my daughter!  She’s 14 months old and I am very happy I was able to nurse her this long.

I was never sure how long I would breastfeed for.  I was one of those preggo ladies that thought-well, I’ll try it, and if it works, cool…if not, then ok no problem!  The first two months were very hard and I used formula when I had to.  I didn’t mind that.

Then I had to take her to the ENT  when she was 7wks old to get her frenulum snipped.  It was too short and she would break latch too much, so they fixed it.  After that, we were well on our way.

I thought, maybe I’ll wean at 6 months.  Then 6 months came.  So I thought…ok, 9 months.  Then that came way too quickly.  So I figured, well I’m almost to a year, I might as well stop at 12 months.  When she turned 12 months old, I honestly saw no end in sight.  She is/was so dependent on the boob that I didn’t know how to stop.  Every time I tried, she cried and I’m a wimp, so I would give in.

Then on sunday, we woke up and she nursed and then I told my husband.  I’m not going to nurse her today.  He was fine with it, he was waiting for me to quit.  So we went all day Sunday, and we struggled but it ended well.  I kept thinking, if I make it 24 hours without nursing her, then we did it!  And we did do it.  Each day has been easier, and today we are on day 4, and she’s doing excellent.  She’s taking a nap right now, and fell asleep all by herself!!  Now, once she’s used to this, we’ll think about putting her to sleep in her crib.  But, that’s a whole other story!

By the way, if you still haven’t figured out the subject line by now, then I’m not gonna tell you.  You’ll just have to think about it! 

Since I’m done with my latest obsession, reading the Twilight series, I’ve returned to my other topic of obsession–my daughter!  She’s a lovely 14 month old who has been trying my patience to no end!  I love her dearly, but oh my!

She broke my glasses today.

She loves to tear them off my face, sometimes tossing them to the ground, and other times, she holds them far away from me in her hand, laughing.  She’s such a little bully already!

I actually got mad today.  Not like yelling mad, or hitting mad, of course.  Just mad.  It pissed me off.  She knew it too.  My glasses flew off my face, the arm went one way and the rest went another.  I guess it was the look on my face or something, cause her smile just vanished and she got a serious look on her face.  I looked down at my broken glasses, and walked across the kitchen to sit her in her high chair.  As soon as she was seated she started to cry, more like a whine.  I picked them up and told her that she broke mommy’s glasses.  She just looked at me, then saw something that distracted her and forgot all about me.  I had to walk away for a second.  She was safe in her high chair, so I walked over to the couch and laid down for like 2 minutes.  I could hear her jabbering away, talking to the dogs and giggling.  My anger subsided and I walked over to her.  As soon as she saw me, she half cried and reached up for me.  I picked her up and hugged her and told her I was sorry for getting mad at her.  She gave me the biggest hug, then a big kiss.  Then she looked at me, smiled and reached back to smack my glasses.

This time, I caught her hand.

I’ll be getting them fixed tomorrow, or getting a new pair, depending on the damage done.

I vow that she will never break my glasses again.  I am putting a stop to this now!

NO MORE MOMMY ABUSE!

It’s been forever!  I can’t seem to get here everyday anymore.  Darn break broke me!  So what’s been happening in my world?

I finished both Eclipse and Breaking Dawn!  In my opinion, Breaking Dawn was by far, the best!  I loved it!  This was the only book of the series that I looked back on and said, WOW, when I was done.  I read it so fast that I even want to re-read it, just to cover the parts I sped through.  It was the most “horror” out of all of them, especially since Twilight was more romance than vampire novel.

In the beginning, it had the potential of being ridiculous, but it wasn’t.  It was a wonderfully, entertaining read.  It made me laugh, it made me anxious and it even made me cry!  *blush*

I highly recommend the Twilight series.  You have to read them all to get to the best one!

I still have not seen the movie.  I still don’t have much interest in it.  Not enough to go to the theatre at least.  I haven’t been to the movies for a couple years!  When I was preggo, I couldn’t sit still long enough since I had to pee every second, then I wasn’t brave enough to take a newborn, and now I wouldn’t dare take a toddler.  Thankfully we weren’t big movie theatre people to begin with.  I’ll wait till it’s out on dvd…unless I make hubby babysit one sunday so I can escape by myself.  I’ll let you know if I see it!

That’s all that’s been going on in my world.  I was momentarily obsessed with the Twilight series.  Now I have to become re-obsessed with writing, and find something else worthwhile to read!

Until then…

It feels like forever since I’ve been here!  I had a long busy weekend and a case of the Mundays yesterday, which led to a bit of writer’s block.

I finished Eclipse.  It was good.  I enjoyed it.  It’s weird because while I’m reading it, I’m enthralled, interested and enjoying it.  But when I’m done, I’m like, Ok…it was alright.  Hmmm.  I haven’t begun Breaking Dawn yet, so we’ll see how that goes.

I’m now feeling the error of my ways.  Whatever you do, don’t stop writing for a few days because it’s very hard to jump back in.  I had so many ideas of what I was going to write about on Friday and now I’m drawing endless blanks.

My daughter is crawling around the house like a maniac, getting into everything but she’s having fun.  She’s trying to walk, finally, but still determined to crawl!

I made these cool tarts last night.   You get a sheet of puff pastry, cut it into 4 squares.  About a half inch in, score a square within your square, then poke little holes all over the center.  Cover it and let it sit in the fridge for about a half hour or so.  You can also do this part one day in advance.  Then layer thinly sliced apples, I used Golden Delicious cause they’re so soft.  And I layered them with black plums!  So apple, plum, apple, plum just within the center square.  Brush the entire thing with melted butter and sprinkle with one full teaspoon of sugar.  Pop them in the oven for 20 minutes at 400 degrees.  BEAUTIFUL!   They were so good!  I topped them with a little Cool Whip and they were perfect and light!   You can do whatever fruit variety you want.  I served them warm but I had one this morning and they taste even better completely cooled and room temperature.  I think I’m going to make some for Thanksgiving.  I’m thinking about only using apples and sprinkling cinnamon and sugar.  Mmm, delicious!  And what’s great is that one box of puff pastry has 2 sheets in it, so you can get 8 large tarts out of one pack.

Time to make a shopping list!  Till next time!!

I can’t believe I’m still finding time to read!  Leave it to a good vampire series to lure me in!

I finished New Moon in record time.  I was going to wait a week or so before buying the next one, so I could rest a little, but I lasted a day!  Like a dumbass I was going to just buy Eclipse, then I smacked myself and just bought both Eclipse and Breaking Dawn.

I’m close to halfway through the book and the story is getting pretty good.  I ended up liking New Moon and I’m glad that this next book started off right where the last one left off.  It was an easy transition.

I think I’m a bit tired because I’m not reading every chance I get.  I think this one will take me longer than 2 days to read!  Also, they are getting thicker.  Each one has more pages than the last!

I’m not too anxious to see the movie though.  It might spoil the images I’ve created in my head.  I will see it though…just not right away.

I like that she gave these vampires an alternate personality.  She gave them choices, and I’m enjoying it.  I wasn’t too sure about the whole werewolf thing at first but it’s growing on me.

OH!  And I was watching the news the other day and there were people standing in line waiting to meet members of the cast of the movie Twilight.  The reporter approached some girls who were waiting hugging their books.  So she goes up to them and asks them about the book, and they squeal, “OMG!  We love Twilight!!!!” So the reporter asks…what do you have in your hands?  One of the girls says, “Oh…New Moon, I’m just starting it.”  Then they start squealing again and telling the reporter that they’re going to get Tattoos!!!  The reporter looked at them and said…Real Ones?  One said, “Yes!  I’m getting the line The Lion Fell in Love with the Lamb!!  I love that line!”  The other girl then held up a sticker that had the Twilight logo and date on it and said, “I’m getting this!”  The reporter was kind of stunned and said, “Wow, that’s big!”  Then they went on with the report.

Ok…so you’re waiting in line because you love the books, but you’ve only read the first one.  That’s fine.  But to get a tattoo of a book when you haven’t even read the complete series?  Ok never mind that…TO GET A TATTOO OF A BOOK/MOVIE…WHATEVER!   Silly girls!

I sure hope she likes the next book!

The reporter was chatting with the people in the newsroom and they were teasing her cause she asked…A REAL ONE!  And she said, “Well, I spent $50 on Sunset (Hollywood, Ca) once when I was 19 and it took me $2,000 to remove it!”

Ok Girls…THINK BEFORE YOU INK!!!!!

There are many facets to being a stay at home mom.  Caring for my child.  Taking care of my home, and husband.  Taking care of myself.  Entertaining myself, trying to stay sane.  And of course…cooking!

I made the best dinner last night!  I made “real” chili rellenos for the first time.  I’ve made relleno casseroles before, where you stuff canned chili’s with cheese and put them in a dish and pour an egg/cream mixture over them and bake them.  It’s good but not the same.

My mom had given me a large bag of Anaheim chilies, which is what I used for them.  You can also use poblano chilies if you’d like.

First you have to roast the chilies.  You can do this by putting them under your broiler, which is what I did.  I took about 10 minutes for 12 chilies.  Be sure to open a window and turn your fans on.  You can also roast them over an open flame on your stove top or bbq grill.  You don’t need to blacken the entire chili but try to get at least 70% or so black.  Turn them every minute so they don’t burn.  Once they’re done, seal them in a large plastic ziplock bag and let them sweat for about 15 minutes.  Be careful when handling them right away because they are still hot but start to peel them while they’re still warm.   The skins should be puckered away from the chili and fairly easy to remove.  You can peel them under running water but it washes away a lot of the oils, thus washing away lots of flavor.  I was able to peel mine without water.

Next, you’re going to seed the chilies.  Take a sharp knife and run it horizontally under the stem but do not detach the stem, just about an inch opening, then slice down vertically, opening the chili.  Cut out the seeds and the membrane that attaches the seeds to the top of the chili, and scrape out the seeds in the body of the chili.  This is the most time consuming part, since you have to be careful not to tear the flesh.  *If you do happen to tear them, which will happen, don’t worry, you can still use them.*  Also, if you don’t care about having the stem, which is mainly for presentation, it’s a lot easier to just cut the stem of the chili off, remove the seeds that way.  Just slice across the top, under the stem, just below it so you remove all of it then slice down to open the chili.  MUCH EASIER!!

Now that the chilies are clean, place a slice of Monterrey jack cheese in them.   Use brick cheese and cut the slice so that it fits the chili, and allows the skins to meet up again.

Prepare your pan with oil; use a heavy dutch oven, large skillet or deep fryer.  Pour about 3 inches of oil, and heat it over medium flame.

Now, prepare the batter.  Use one egg for every 2 chilies.  (12 chilies=6 eggs)  You will use the egg whites first, so separate the eggs.  The easiest way I separate my eggs is by cracking all of the whole eggs into a large bowl, taking care not to break the yolks.  Once all of the eggs are in the bowl.  Reach in with your clean hand and just pull the yolk out and set it in a separate container.  It’s very fast and easy this way.  Using an electric mixer (hand or stand mixer) whip the egg whites until they are thick and stiff, this take a little while, but the stiffer the better.  Break the yolks, stir them around and add some salt…about a shake of salt per egg, then fold the yolks into your egg whites.  Do not stir, just gently fold them in until they are incorporated.

Place some flour onto a plate and lay your chili in the flour, patting each side till well covered.

Test your oil before frying the chili.  Drop a bit of batter into the oil.  If it sizzles and floats, it’s ready.

Place your chili in the batter.  Be careful not to break it.  This part is kind of messy but fun.  Once your chili is coated in your fluffy batter drop it carefully in the oil.   They only take a couple minutes to fry to a nice golden brown.  Turn the chili once till both sides are golden brown, then remove the chili and place on a bed of paper towels to drain.  I used a spatula for this and it worked well.

That’s it!  Just continue until all of the chilies are done.  Be sure to “drain” both sides of your chili on a fresh set of paper towels.

If you are going to make rice as a side dish, I highly recommend making the rice prior to starting the chilies, so that it’s done when the chilies are done, because you are going to want to eat them right away!

If you want a sauce to accompany your chilies, you can simmer a can of tomato sauce, seasoned well with salt, pepper, garlic and add cheese.  Keep simmering and stirring till it slightly thickens.  If you want a spicy sauce, use a can of El Pato tomato sauce.  It is very hot, so you can use one can of that and one can of regular tomato sauce to make it spicy not ridiculously hot!   You can also use canned enchilada sauce or taco sauce…whatever floats your boat.

TIP:

If you tear the chili, do not worry.  The batter will hold the chili together and it will look like it’s completely whole.

You don’t have to use toothpicks.  Just meet up all the sides of the chili around the cheese till they’re touching.  The flour and egg batter will hold it together.

Use lots of clean paper towels to drain them, don’t let them sit on the oily paper towels.

Eat them while they’re hot!

This is a fairly economical dish as well, the most you will spend is on the brick of cheese, but you won’t use all of it, so you’ll still have a lot left over for another meal.

I hope you try this recipe and enjoy!!

I was driving around yesterday, thinking, as always.  Something came to my mind as I drove and wrote posts in my head.  (This is something I do often.  I get lost in thought as I drive.)  As I was thinking, it occurred to me, I use the ellipsis, WAY too much.  I think it has something to do with the fact that I wrote academically for so long, that I actually stopped writing for pleasure.  So now that I have begun writing, for pleasure…(hehehe) I write as I think, trailing off, never really in complete sentences, just thoughts flowing together.  Now, believe me, I know I’m not even using the ellipsis in the way it was truly intended.  I think it’s just a visual thing for me.  I even think the dots…sick I know!

So today I read some, really constructive criticism about my very new blog.  I couldn’t help but crack up when I noticed that two people commented on my overuse of this annoying punctuation.  I completely and utterly agree with them; it was like they read my mind!   So here I am, trying my best at reeling myself in.  (You have no idea how many dot dot dots I have deleted in writing this!)  Maybe it helps me think.  It helps me get out what I’m saying if I’m not stopping, as periods make you do.  I don’t know.  I think it’s something of a grammatical slang for me…a puncuational-bad word…if there is such a thing.  (I know, I did it again!)  But as recovering addicts sometimes do, I slip up.

Now, here’s my pledge.  I will edit my posts.  I will rid them of those three little dots that appear throughout my thoughts.  I will replace them with one lonely dot.  And end my sentences properly.

I’m still laughing.  I was even annoyed with it myself.  lol

So here’s to recovery…

Please look forward to future, ellipsis free, posts!  

Oh yeah, and by the way…if you happen to stumble upon more of my posts, you will notice one other really bad habit of mine…especially if I’m excited…

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