Happy New Year!!!!

Just wanted to write a quick note to say happy New Year :) I hope you have a wonderful evening.

Monday update and daily denial

I just knew last week that by this weeks Monday Update I was going to really  have kicked butt! ha! Ok. Well I am falling way behind on that butt kicking as you will see from my lovely statistics for this week. But hey...they don't call me the procrasnination QUEEN for nothing :)

I love throwing kids parties so I just wrote this one on
How to Throw a Kids New Year's Eve Party

I will try to find some pictures from the huge costume party I threw with all four kids and 16 of their friends a couple years ago. Baby Armstrong was about a year and a half old and just loved the party so much!

Here's the Monday Statistics:

Days into project: 19

Days left of project: 346
Total Articles Written: 16
Average Articles per day: LESS THAN 1 per day :(
Articles left to write: 1416
Article views: 759
Article earnings: $1.02

So this is my big insight for this week... I am indead a procrastinator and there is no way I can write 1,000 the night before the project is over, so I best get my booty moving! ...lol...

I hope everyone had a great Christmas.

It's 3:30am on Christmas Day!

Yes I am writing a blog in the middle of the night on Christmas Day.. Please go ahead and post the "your crazy" comments..lol

Christmas last year :( Man I miss you Armstrong!

Well Santa was here to visit out house this evening. After I spent the whole night working on a freelance project that had a deadline I procrastinated right up to. So here I am at 3:30am on Christmas morning hoping to get at least 3 or 4 hours of sleep before my munchkins come shake me awake with their excitement.

I have happy eHow news to share! The technical difficulties have been straightened out and my 5 eating disorder articles have been officially posted. Please visit them, rate them, leave comments :) I would love your feedback on these.

How to Fight Eating Disorder Urges
How to Identify Compulsive Overeating in Your Loved One
How to Identify Bulimia Nervosa
How to Identify Binge Eating Disorder
How to Identify Anorexia Nervosa

I'm going to refrain from getting into daily updates of my article views, earnings, comments, etc. But I will say I am happy with the growth and popularity of these two articles especially!

How to Make it Through the Christmas Season
How to Divorce the Man you Love (Like Elin Nordegren)

Ok, I'm off to bed for a few little zzzz's...

Merry Christmas!

Stupid eHow...grrrr

Well as much as I would like to blame it totally on them, I am just as upset at myself....grrrr!

I wrote a set of 5 eating disorder articles and submitted them a few days ago. Then yesterday, while they were in the midst of some obvious technical difficulties I went in and edited those articles to include links to each other :(

Now all 5 articles have disappeared. Which in a normal world wouldn't be that big of an issue. But in my world where I constantly forget to save copies of articles and instead just type them right into the eHow website :( That means they are officially gone forever!

I emailed the tech support people at eHow, but I'm pretty sure the articles are gone. And I will either have to stop pouting about it and rewrite the darn things. Or move onto the next articles on my list of things to write.

Jackson, Isabella, and Armstrong after sleding down a huge hill in 2007.

Either way, not the coolest way to start a Wednesday... and that means I'm STILL only at 7 articles out of my 1,432 goal....ahhh.... But no defeat here! I will get caught back up on my daily average! After I enjoy my day at work... spend some quality time with the kids... play in the snow... and have a Merry Christmas...lol...

There has to be a better way

So as many of you know I work as a counselor for my "day job". I have always loved helping others and really enjoy my job. But it is definitely not a profession you can get rich at and I knew that as I racked up year after year of student loans.


Last week I went to a great meeting for my work. It was our annual Christmas meeting and we were told of an awesome Christmas Bonus and a raise! Wahoo is what I thought. Super duper a raise :) But as with all money... nothing is never enough ..lol


So again I am back to thinking of better ways to make a living in this world. My first thought is I should investigate my ancestry for a long lost connection to a rich uncle...lol. Or maybe buy a lotto ticket? But then I think about the men and women I know that are truly making good money and enjoying their lifestyle.

They are not working for anyone else!

Money is of course not the means to happiness, and I know that I truly understand that after losing Armstrong. I also know that money does give the means to having more time with my family, which in turn will bring me happiness. So I must figure out this balance of work and money to equal my happiness.

As for project 1432, it is moving forward slowly but surely. My official start day was December 9th (8 months after Armstrong passed away). My goal was to write 4 articles a day, which would add up to more than my goal of 1432 in a year. But here are my stats to date:

Days into project:         12
Days left of project:      353
Total Articles Written:   12
Average Articles per day: 1 :( wow that is really putting it into perspective!
Articles left to write:      1420
Article views:                 348
Article earnings:              $0.22

Statistics are always a sobering fact :)

Now I need to get my but back on track to meeting my goals :) I'll try to give a full breakdown of stats every Monday to keep you all updated (and to keep me motivated!).

Here's your caffeine for Monday and a Daily Armstrong Pic!

This Time Last Year

Well as most of you know last year at this time my little guy Armstrong had just been diagnosed with his brain tumor and finished 2 brain surgeries. Today while at church I suddenly could not stop thinking about this time last year when I had been sitting in the same church with Armstrong on my lap, at the same yearly christmas service.

I was overcome with saddness. As much as the day to day world has gone on. My arms still remember Armstrong as if it was yesterday I held him in them. My lips still remember the touch of his cheek as I would kiss him goodnight. But most of all my heart still remembers the loss of not having him in my life anymore.

On some days I feel absolutely energized to change the world, make a difference in Armstrongs name. But on other days I feel like the loss is too overwhelming and curling up in my bed is the best solution. I'm struggling to find a balance that is for sure. I have a list a mile long of things I would love to do in Armstrongs name, but not nearly a mile of money to follow the list.

Today was a day of sitting in the saddness. Of missing Army so much my body hurt. Today was one of those days I hope not to repeat anytime soon :(

On a Roll Now

Well my eHow articles (a whopping 7 so far) have had a total of 269 views and have earned me a total of $.022 so far :) It's fun to actually see people looking at the articles and awesome to finally see a dollar amount in the earnings section. Even if it isn't actually a whole dollar yet..lol

Today my other half and I have been rearranging our work/sleeping space to make it more conducive for writing the remaining 1,425 articles. I always feel better with a nice new clean work area. But the other thing is I like the fresh start feeling of having my desk in a new location. With a new view (although my view is still just a white wall..lol.

A little blurry, but here's Army in his bed. We still have this blanket and stuffed Dinosaur.

Go Diego Go Self-Stick Wall Applique

My body is exhausted though. My part of the move was to go through a bunch of Armstrong's things I had in the corner of the room :( Made me miss him a whole lot! I can't bear to take down his toddler bed, which we had in our room after he got sick. And now it sits there with some of his favorite stuffed animals, blankets, and old cloths on it. But my favorite part of that area is the Diego clings that are on the wall. Army loved those when we put them up for him and they will probably stay there long after I decide to put the bed into storage and the stuffed animals into a memory chest.

So now here I sit... pondering the benefits of a good nap compared to powering through some articles this afternoon.

I think the nap is going to win out!

Christmas Shopping and eHow

Sugar plums and residual income have been swirling in my head today. I like the idea of writing with eHow and getting a continual payout. Today while looking for the kids Christmas presents I found myself day dreaming about the day when we had enough money not to have to worry if something was on sale. Some day ... some day...

I know I shouldn't do this, but everyday I log into my eHow account hoping to have made some more money, had some more comments on my articles, or at least some more views. But alas, today was a big let down in that department. Perhaps tomorrow will be better.

Let's Get This Party Started!

Ok, I'll admit it. I come up with crazy ideas that even I wonder.... WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU THINKING! And admittedly trying to write 1,432 eHow articles is going to be lumped into that crazy category. But I'm ok with that.

I think I could add to the crazy factor by saying I want to do these articles in ONE YEAR! Yes I said 1...as in Numero Uno :) I'm not sure if anyone else on eHow has written that many articles and if you know of someone please send me their names so I can look them up and say hi! But really it is only about 4 articles a day. I use to write up to 10 articles a day while going through grad school, so I know it's possible. But I think my need for superior articles has increased a lot since my college days, so it might be more difficult for me to write 1,432 GOOD articles..lol. But that's my goal!

This pictures is of Armstrong at the top of a slide at McDonalds. Now any normal 3 year old you know can easily climb one of those slides. But this picture was taken 1 month after Armstrong was diagnosed with Glioblastoma Multiforme, he had 2 brain surgeries within that month and could only use one side of his body. But yet HERE HE IS! Right there at the top of that slide :) How amazing is that! This is the picture I will think of any time I start feeling like I have made an impossible goal.

I'll try to come back here often and tell you of my ups and downs in this process. And maybe share some links to my articles. Please join my blog, visit me often, and leave comments here and on my eHow articles. I can't wait to get moving on this.... So here are a couple links to my first few eHow articles:

How to Make it Through Christmas Season

How to Successfully Run a Drug and Alcohol Therapy Group

How to Tell if Your Spouse is a Text-a-holic

How to Get to Know Roy Disney

How to Identify Antisocial Behavior