FIVE AND A HALF MONTHS OF WONDERFUL!

So, this weekend we hit a huge milestone here at Adventures of a Broken Housewife (and Mom).  We hit 10,000 page views.  When I started this blog five and a half months ago, I thought I might see ten or so a day which would put us at about 1,650 page views. Here we are with 10,000+ and I couldn't be happier.

This blog has literally been a life saver for me. If I hadn't started this I don't think I would be much more than a shell sitting on the couch hurting my life away. (Well, I still sit on the couch hurting a lot, but I am much happier and not feeling as sorry for myself most days) This blog also got me off my butt and working on my novels again.  These novels are things I loved dearly and couldn't imagine not finishing, but somehow I kept avoiding it. Fear, kids, boredom, shyness all kept me from acting on my true desires. 

So Five and a half months ago I was a wreck, not knowing what I wanted to do with my life (besides being a mom), and now I am a self confident blogger and published author.  My life has changed for the better in so many ways.  I have met a bunch of great people, I have become confident, I am finally living the life I want (except for the money which still hasn't come in, and may never come in) without having to go out into the world and worry about not being able to do a good job in my career because of my physical limitations. I feel emotionally, and intellectually fulfilled for the first time in many years.  I always felt fulfilled with love and family because, well, I have a big family, but never in those other two areas. 

So what is next for me?  Well, I'm not sure if it will ever work, but I am determined to make a living at this blogging and authoring stuff!  Most of the places that provide ad revenue for blogs have requirements that I don't meet so I hope to eventually meet them. And as for my books.  I know people love them, I just have to get the reviews coming in to Amazon! Hopefully that will all fall into place with all of the social media hell I put myself through every single day! I also want to expand the blog and my writer's site to include author and  blogger interviews!  That will hopefully not only benefit me with page views, but the writers with publicity.  After all I studied public relations in college so it's about time I used it right?!?! And after that, I just hope to have fun doing what I love to do.  I have many more novels in my future and probably a few non-fiction titles too. 

Thank you all so much for all of your support.  I am so glad you enjoy what I do and I hope that you keep coming back to see what the future holds. If there is something you want to see here on the blog, do not hesitate to let me know MY EMAIL. Also if you are interested in being interviewed please let me know and we can arrange something.  I will be thinking up questions over the next week and then will start the interviews the week after.

Until Next Time...It might take awhile, but you will eventually find something you love to do, whether it is a career, a hobby or just something to take your mind off of things.  Work hard, have fun and live your dreams.

LIFE LESSONS - FOR MY CHILDREN, FOR EVERYONE

Lately, I have been in a lot of pain and pretty much feeling more useless than normal.  I feel like I have been holed up in a little cocoon more than usual lately. So when I am pretty much home bound, what do you think my favorite part of the day is? Any guesses?  My favorite parts of the day are after everyone is safely at school and it is just Mr. Crazy, Little Butt and myself.

 If Mr. Crazy hasn't had a run in with one of his bossy older sisters yet that morning he is an absolute angel and when he isn't playing games on the computer, playing fighting games in real life or playing with one of his multitude of toys, he will sit by me and snuggle with me.  Sometimes he even begs me to let him use my computer so he can sit by me while I write.  He is such a good kid....until others come home and then he can turn into the devil (we figure, he has a new audience to get attention from so he works it, just not in a positive way.  He knows that if he tries to cuddle them like he does me they will shoo him away but if he acts up they give him exactly what he wants - attention.) 

Little Butt is a complete snuggle bug. She likes to sit with me and play games on the Kindle Fire or listen to music on YouTube. And best of all she likes to rock - a - bye in the rocking chair.  That is her favorite thing to do ever. And she will only do it with me if her oldest sister isn't home. (Hey, it's not my fault she started calling Little Butt up on her lap to avoid doing chores and now she is stuck with a mini shaddow who has turned into a typical two year old screamer if she doesn't get what she wants - I know it's mean to say, but I told her so...You can't complain about something your brought on yourself)

So what is my least favorite part of the day?  When all of the kids are here and the fighting and complaining starts.  OMG it drives me nuts.  They fight over the stupidest stuff.  God forbid one of them has slightly more chores than the other that day or gets slightly more food on their plate at dinner.  And the littler ones like to fight about personal space issues.  So I have come up with a list of stuff that my kids need to learn so we can all live in peace together and enjoy each other more when live goes to shit. (And they are good lessons for the future too.  You can't live life complaining, whining, waiting on others or being in control at all times, or your life is going to be awful.)

1. Do not complain about stuff your bring on yourself.  If something you do has consequences  live with it and learn to deal with it. If you created a monster, you need to work on taming it, not making it worse because it annoys you.

2. Life is not fair, not always even.  If you did more chores for a few years, that does not mean that for the next ten the others have to do more than you! It all evens out in the end and all you have to do is what your parents tell you to do and we will all be fine. (Kind of insulting that they would think I would favor one over the other. :/)

3. Worry about yourself! Just because you are

working on a project/homework/chore does not mean the other person has to do it too, at the same time.  They will get theirs done or the will get into trouble. Worry about getting your own stuff done whether the other person is working or not.  

4. You don't have to be in control all of the time. You are children, enjoy it.  Do not always think you have to be in charge of everything because eventually someone is going to get sick of it and call you on it. People don't like to be dominated all the time. If you try to take over someones life, they are going to fight back eventually and the relationship is going to suffer greatly.

So what brought this line of thought on?  With all of the bad stuff going on lately - Boston, West, TX, N. Korea etc., I feel the need to find a way to make our lives better so we can enjoy the good times more and deal with the bad times easier when they come.  We never know when a day will be our last or when someone we love will see their last day, and regrets are really hard to live with.

Until Next Time... Hold your loved ones tight and don't make life so difficult. Enjoy your time together because you don't have forever. <3 Our hearts go out to those affected by the tragedies in Massachusetts and Texas.

THE IN-LAWS ARE COMING, THE IN-LAWS ARE COMING (AND VARIOUS OTHER PEOPLE TOO)

Just wanted to let you all know that I am not sure if this template will stay or not but it works for now.  I have problems with some templates triggering migraines for me lately so I am trying to find one that is perfect for my blog and that doesn't cause me problems.  Thanks for your patience! 

It is that time, we will be invaded by people from out of town very soon. The Senior is graduating and family and friends will be coming to see her. I don't have a problem with this because it is nice to see family and friends that you don't see often enough. (Besides they won't be here too terribly long and only my mom will be staying with us - if she can make it, so it's not like we will be put out in any way) What is my problem with this whole situation? Well, it is my house.


In my everyday life, I don't care if the kids friends, people we know, or others come over and the house is far from perfect. They know we have 5 kids for cripes sake and they know the house is going to look lived in. But for some strange reason, when people are coming from out of town I have this almost obsessive urge to make sure everything is perfect. I mean everything, the hard water stains in the toilet must be completely gone, every last fingerprint must be off of the walls and furniture and if there is any dirty spots on the couch and I can't have them cleaned, the couch covers come out. Every crumb must be vacuumed up and every single toy must be in it's proper place. (yes, i'm a very strange person, but you already knew that right?)


I have no clue why I have this obsession. People (especially family and close(out of town) friends know that I am physically limited and I have teenagers that can't be trusted, helping me out around the house properly. I don't think anyone expects my house to be perfect because of our circumstances. WAIT, STOP, HOLD UP!!! I think that's it. They don't expect my world to be perfect because we are poor and live in the boonies and I am a decrepit old lady and my kids suck at chores and I want to prove them wrong! Holy cow why didn't I see this sooner. (I tell ya, this blog is so flippin therapeutic it's not even funny!) Anyway, yeah, I just want to prove to them that no matter what our circumstances we can be great too. And I think to do that I have to go way overboard. Yep, that's me - my middle name should be overboard (but then I would be JO Ellis and it just isn't quite as catchy as JJ Ellis)


So now that I've made this revelation, can I just sit back and relax and let my house be sanitary but lived in? OH HELL NO! Not gonna happen. We are going to bust our butts over the next month to make sure the house, cars and yard are perfect for when they visit. I know I shouldn't, but I feel like I have something to prove to people who mean the most of me. Kind of warped huh? I just can't not do it, I am a woman possessed in this case.
Until Next Time...Do not follow my lead. You have nothing to prove to anyone. Go about your normal day and most likely your family and friends will love you just the way you are. If they can't accept who you really are, then maybe they aren't as close as you thought they were.


NOTE: NOTE: NOTE: NOTE: The title in no way implies that I have a problem with my in-laws and I am not stressed mostly about them. I stress about all people equally! And admit it the title catches your interest better than any of the others I could have come up with. It just sounded better than the family is coming the family is coming or the friends are coming the friends are coming, you know, because a lot of people stress about their in-laws <3 you John and Alberta and we can't wait to see you again! Hard to believe it has been almost a year! :) (not that they will ever see this unless I put it in my next book because they don't have internet :'( ) Anyway, carry on!

MOVING ON? MAYBE, SOME DAY!

First a quick update. It did snow here...a lot.  (The pictures are about eight hours before the storm ended so we had more than what is pictured) Over a foot I'm sure. And visibility was awful off and on throughout the storm.  And the local school district did...NOT call off school.  Every other district in the area did. I think I've just about had it.  I think I'm done.  Not only does the district not care about people's safety, the city of Casper doesn't either. Ya'll should come see how wonderfully and safely the roads are plowed.  Oh my! I am one seething mama right now. I kept my kids home (although the Senior decided to go ahead and get a ride with her boyfriend). I was not risking my life or that of my two youngest to get the older ones to and from school on a day where everyone else  in this part of the state didn't have to go. Today they had to go back though and The Shooter was back to work so I had to take them out and about. I thought for sure it would be easy because there had been plenty of time to plow the roads. Yeah right!  I forgot this is Casper we're talking about. :/ Make sure to read the blog before this one if you want to find out all about our wonderful school district.  Spring should be back soon right?  We are expecting snow over the next couple of days.  Sigh....Spring wherefore art thou.

So on with today's show.

Are you happy with where you live? I was happy in Nevada, except I wasn't healthy. I was happy in Evanston, but the money and providing for our larger family called us elsewhere, and unfortunately that turned out to be a bust. So now we are stuck here. I want out, off and on, depending on what is happening in my life and the world. Right now I am in one of those major I want the hell out of here stages. This time though I'm afraid it might not go away.  Now, let me make a note that when it does go away it doesn't mean I enjoy living here, it just means that I have accepted how things are and am somewhat content.

What happens if this feeling doesn't go away? I will either have to do something about it or be unhappy.  Well, ever since I started writing and publishing I have been extremely happy and I'm not giving that up! So I guess I will have to do something about it right?  It wouldn't be easy leaving here because I would be leaving the Senior behind with her friends and her college, but she's growing up and would be fine on her own if it came down to that.  Now, the question would be, where to move to and how long would it take to save the money to move.  I guess a lot depends on the amounts of our yearly tax refunds, the amount of money my books make (after repaying initial investment) and what is going on with the hubby's job. Ideally the thing to do would be for him to stay with the same company he's with (even though in my opinion they leave a lot to be desired) and transfer within the company.

As for finding a place to live, I have a few ideas but don't know if we could afford to live in any of those places.  We have it good here in Wyoming as far as cost of living goes. We are some of the luckiest in the country when it comes to that.

There is a lot to think about when it comes to moving.  Do you hire movers or move yourself (I can't drive distances so it is really hard for us to rent a truck and move ourselves without the help of another driver.) You need to find a house to either rent or buy (when our credit was messed up because our business caught fire it has taken us a long time to come out of it.  It still isn't great but it is getting better every day!) There are a lot of initial start up fees to think about too; hooking up  utilities, deposits, school fees, etc. So how much money would be needed to move? I have no flippin clue and it is hard to estimate, but i'm guessing somewhere between 7 and 10,000 for our family.

So okay, it might be a long ass time before we can move, but believe me dreaming about it helps! If it takes us 2 years or 5 years to get the hell out of here, I can always plan and dream and plan some more...and then dream even more. I've been doing it for the last 4.5 years so why not so it some more right? FYI choices of places to move right at this moment - Seattle area, Ketchikan, AK, Sequim, WA. I guess we will see what the future will bring. Someday you may be getting blogs from Alaska, Washington, or somewhere totally surprising! They say the grass isn't always greener in a new place, but it sure might be happier. I might never get to move away from here, but until I know for sure I will make the best of living here and I will try my hardest to make it a happy life for me and my family. If I do get to move, that is just icing on the cake :D

Until Next Time...IF you aren't happy then you have to be willing to at least TRY to do something about it. You might not always be able to afford or to manage making a change in your life, but as long as you acknowledge it and make the best of what you
already have, you will be happy.

NOTHING TO WRITE ABOUT...EXCEPT...

I have no clue what to write about so I just opened up a post and started typing.  It isn't that I am not inspired today, because I have had a wonderful day and am inspired by a lot.  I have received the electronic proof of my book and am waiting for the hard copy to get here.  I have found things I didn't like and have made the changes that are needed. If I like the cover and other physical aspects of the book I will be publishing sometime in the next week.  How exciting is that! And quite inspiring.

I MIGHT GIVE A HINT (IN PICTURES) ABOUT MY UPCOMING ROMANCE NOVEL AT THE END OF THIS POST

My kids are being, well, my kids.  They aren't doing anything out of the ordinary - good or bad.  They are just being themselves.  You know, The Senior and Freshman are fighting all the damn time as usual and I'm about ready to kick them both to the curb (okay not really, but it makes me feel better when I actually use the words.) Miss Crazy is suffering from Middle child syndrome, which she has been for awhile and we are doing what we can to ease it. (see child attached to my side whenever possible)  Mr. Insane is being, um, insane?  He is loud (extraordinarily so) He loves all things weapons, fighting and superheroes and for once I wish I didn't have to listen to him do weapon sound effects! (I want to banish him to his room until he is ready for college, but that just wouldn't be nice.) And Miss Little Butt is driving me up a wall with her attitude (Jeez older girls, I wonder where she got that from! Knock it off or I'll kick you to the curb! Dang it felt even better to say that a second time) And do you know what the worst part of her attitude is now?  It is the speech.  That girl can talk back now!!! The moment all parents dread.  I am spending most of my time these days being disciplinarian. (Okay, most of my time is spent working on the novel, but the rest of it is spent disciplining my kids so maybe, someday, they will grow up to be civilized adults)

What inspired me to write the paragraph about my brats wonderful darling children?  Well you see, Spring break starts at 3:45 tomorrow and I am going to have to be with them all day every day for a week (I won't mention that my wonderful husband will be on vacation and home the whole time too -- oops, I just did!) All I can say is that the weather better be nice enough for them to go outside sometimes or I'm gonna flip my Shiz. Really, try being locked in the house with six other people for a week because you can't afford to go anywhere to get away. We have our spring break so early here that we usually still have snow on the ground and freezing temperatures.  Who the hell ever thought of that?  NCSD has their heads so far up their hineys...but that is another story for another day.

Believe me, In the end I won't complain too much (more) because I will have help at home and I won't have to get my aching hips in and out of the car to chauffeur them to or from school. But seriously, if they fight all. the. damn. time. I am going to lock them myself in a dungeon and they  I will not be seen until they are old enough to move out and get married (was thinking college, but then they tend to come back too often)

Wish me luck folks!  This next week will be a true test of my endurance (and sanity)

Until next time...During spring break, winter break, summer break etc.  Remember you love your kids and hopefully you will survive, and if you don't, at least you will get a nice, happy, quiet place to be :p

Aspects, themes and ideas about the novel! :)

THE MONSTER IN THE DRYER

Have I told you how much I hate having to get up at 4 am to take the husband to work? Wait, what? Oh yeah, that was the blog from Wednesday. Let us talk about missing household items instead then.

Every household has something that goes missing. All. The. Time. (At least I hope so, because if not, that means we are the most unorganized group of Yahoos on the planet.) In our house the main thing that goes missing are hair brushes.  At this point in time we have 5 and today I can not find even one of them. The older two kids are already at school and that means they brushed their hair with their hands instead of waking me up to do a mass search of the house. Damn kids - now everyone is going to think I don't make my kids brush their hair :/

So how do brushes go missing so easily?  My kids, although I have been trying to train them for years, will not EVER put anything back where it goes when they are done. God forbid they have to stop reading, watching TV, or playing on the computer to do something as easy as putting a brush on a bathroom counter. I don't think they realize that their chore time would also be cut in half if they would just put stuff up as they go.  99 percent of their chores are putting stuff away that was left out through the day. I used to try to lead by example, but sometimes I just can't when my hips start hurting and I have to sit down. So now I am all about the old saying, 'do as I say, not as I do'.

I hope someday that it will all click with them and they will understand. (Maybe when they have their own messy house to clean and no one to help them???) I think it did with me so maybe it is just a normal right of passage. I guess we shall see. The Senior is 17 and will probably be moving out in two years to head down state for the last two years of college. I've done my part and now it is up to her to remember what I taught her.

Now, the second biggest thing that goes missing in our house - Pens. And the reason?  Just read above and insert pens where it says hairbrushes.  The third biggest thing that goes missing in our house - socks.  That one I can't blame on the kids though.  I have no clue where those things go.  I've contemplated aliens, a sock eating monster that lives in my dryer, a black hole in the laundry room...but then again, maybe it is the kids' fault.  Maybe they throw them away so they have less laundry to do. Hmmmm now that's an idea. But nah, I could always refuse to buy them birthday and Christmas presents to pay for new socks so I think I'm going with the sock eating monster living in my dryer.



Until next time...Don't blame your kids for everything that goes wrong in your house (although it is kinda fun)  There are just times when you have to blame the monsters that live in appliances.