Mishmash Musings

Okay, I think I need to sit down and read some serious literature about time management techniques. I thought I’d be getting tons of stuff done everyday now that my son is in preschool. I mean, I have six hours of uninterrupted work time Monday through Friday these days, whereas just a couple months ago I could barely go 10 minutes without having to get up from my desk to take care of one thing or another.

But it feels like I’m actually being less productive now. I start each day with a bunch of tasks on my To-Do list, and more often than not, I end each day with a majority of those tasks still undone. Yet it’s not as though I’m lounging on the couch watching soaps or anything. I just can’t figure out why I’m not being productive or how I’m losing time throughout the day.

I think tomorrow I’m going to keep a detailed journal of my day to try to see if I can spot the problem. This is very frustrating and I need to sort this stuff out now!

I’ve been thinking about attending a big blogging conference in Vegas next November. I know a lot of fellow bloggers that are planning on going there and I’ve never been to Vegas, so I think this would be a great opportunity to kill two birds with one stone.

The conference is only for one day, so I would have plenty of time to hook up with friends, go gambling, and take in some shows. I might even use the trip to peek in on a couple of Las Vegas luxury condos since my husband and I have been talking forever about moving away from Chicago.

I know that I can get time off in November, so the only thing left to do is save up enough funds to make this Vegas trip happen. I hope we can do it!

Another week has gone by, which means it’s time for another Tuesday Project. I actually didn’t complete last week’s project of getting all of my financial paperwork in order, so that will be on the agenda for this week as well. I did a lot towards getting organized, but I’m not quite finished yet. I need to print out some records that are currently on my hard drive, and I have to make sure my estimated tax prepayment looks right.

This stuff is extremely tedious, so I’m going to make an effort to stay on top of the whole record-keeping thing for the rest of the year in order not to get this far behind again.

I didn’t grow up in a wealthy family, so the only way I was able to go to college was by taking out student loans and working part-time jobs to help pay for books and tuition. That got me by for a couple of years, but then I had some personal problems and had to drop out before graduating. I was in a real bind at that point because I had to start paying back my loans, but didn’t have a degree to help me land a good job.

Once I realized I wasn’t making any headway by making minimum payments, I checked into school loan consolidation. After speaking with a credit expert, I discovered that I could consolidate my student loans and actually pay less each month. This is what I ended up doing, and I saved a significant amount of money by choosing to consolidate.

Consolidation was definitely the right move for me, and is something that I recommend checking into if you’ve got a lot of school loans that you need to pay off soon.

My son is sick today, so he’ll be staying home from school and I won’t be spending much time on the computer at all. He woke up at about 4am with a 101-degree temperature. I was able to get him to drink some water and I held a cold pack to his forehead to try to make him a bit more comfortable. He slept for a little bit after that, but woke up at 6:30 again.

We’re going to go to the doctor a little later. Right now, he’s resting on the couch with cartoons on. He hasn’t been sick in a long time, but I guess this is what happens after being exposed to all those germs at preschool.

Anyway, I hope this day isn’t too bad!

So my mom is coming to stay with us for about 9 days. Believe me, that’s an eternity when we’re beneath the same roof — especially because my place is so small. There’s really nowhere to go to be alone when we have guests here, so it always feels so cramped and crowded.

But I can’t really blame my mom for wanting to visit. I mean, we live so far away and she can only see her grandson a couple times a year, so it’s completely understandable that she’d want to stay for as long as possible. Still, there’s got to be a better way to do this. Maybe I should look into a vacation home rental or something so we can all still be under the same roof, but have more spacious quarters to move around in.

Well, it’s definitely an option to consider. I’ve got about three more weeks to make different arrangements, so I better start looking now!

So last Tuesday I gave myself the task of organizing my receipts and accounting records for 2007 so that I can make next month’s estimated tax payment on time. Well, I’m happy to report that I was able to do just that today.

I grouped, labeled, and tallied up my receipts to determine how much I’d be able to write off as legitimate business expenses, then I computed my projected earnings for the year to determine how much tax I’d need to pay. Now I have a pretty good idea of what kind of check I have to write Uncle Sam next month…. ouch!!

It took me a long time, but I somehow managed to find the perfect Mother’s Day gift for my mom last week. Now, the pressure is on for Father’s Day as well because my dad will be expecting me to do just as much for him. The problem is that my dad is a lot harder to shop for than my mom because he’s not the kind of person to let on that he wants a particular item. In other words, choosing a Father’s Day gift is an annual task that I usually have trouble with.

This year, I’m thinking about getting my dad a gourmet gift basket from GourmetGiftBaskets.com. GourmetGiftBaskets.com have several themed gift baskets that not only look cute, but are also filled with delicious chocolates, cookies, and gourmet foods that I know my dad would love. For example, I saw a golf gift basket in the shape of a miniature golf bag that would be a perfect way of telling Dad thanks for everything he’s ever done for me.

I’m going to order a gift basket soon so I don’t have to rush to do it when Father’s Day gets even closer. I know my dad’s going to love this special treat!