Mishmash Musings

My son is now at that age where insects and bugs positively fascinate him. In the summer, he can literally spend hours chasing after butterflies and fireflies, or watching ants go about their business.

So today when came across this cool neon ant farm while I was browsing for unique gifts over at Vat19.com, I immediately knew that my son would love it!

The AntWorks Space Age Ant Farm brings a high-tech spin to this old hobby by using a translucent blue gel for the ants to live and burrow in, rather than the traditional sand of old ant farms. This gel, which is based on technology developed by NASA, also provides ants with food and water, so maintenance and upkeep is pretty easy. All you have to do is put some ants in there, and watch them build their tunnels.

I think this AntWorks Ant Farm would make a perfect birthday gift for my son, who turns five very soon, so I’m seriously considering buying it for him.

In the meantime, here’s a short video that gives more details about the AntWorks Ant Farm. Check out how fun this thing looks!

I’ve always been interested in astronomy, so I’m pretty excited about the total lunar eclipse that is set to occur tonight. I haven’t checked the weather reports yet, but I hope the skies are clear around here so I’ll be able to see it!

This will be the last lunar eclipse until 2010, so I’m definitely going to make an effort to get out there for at least a quick peek. Of course, with my son still sick, who knows if that’s going to be possible.

At any rate, if you’re interested, be sure to check it out for yourself later tonight.

With the way the economy is lagging these days, I know a lot of people who are in need of financial assistance. Some of them simply need a couple hundred dollars to keep creditors at bay until their next paycheck, while others are in considerably more trouble and need a sizable loan to stay afloat.

Those who fall into the latter category might want to check out the extensive range of financial services offered by Countrywide. I was browsing through the Countrywide.com website today, and noticed that they have several different programs in place to help people get out of debt.

For example, consumers can get a Home Equity Loan at a very competitive rate, take out a home equity line of credit, apply for a cash-out refinance loan, or consolidate their debts. All of these programs can provide quick financial relief to those who need it the most, so they’re definitely worth considering.

Fortunately, my family is hanging in there for the time being. But if our situation changes in the near future to the point where we need a loan of some sort to make it through the tough times, I’ll be checking back with Countrywide for sure!

There’s not much I can really do today with Alex still sick and all, but I feel so disorganized right now that I absolutely need to work on a Tuesday Project. So today’s project will be a simple one: just work through everything on my Daily Tasks list.

Every night before I go to bed, I write down about 10-15 tasks that I need to do the next day. These tasks range from writing-related assignments that I have to complete to meet my income goals to housework that can’t be put off any longer. I make a concerted effort to find a good balance in my list, as I neither want too much or too little to do every day.

Well, recently, I haven’t been doing well with my tasks. I’m lucky to get through half of the stuff that I write down — and it’s mostly because I’m spending too much time watching DVDs or playing video games. As I’ve said before, I’m having big problems with motivation these days, so starting out by completing my tasks list could be a step in the right direction!

My husband and I have a longstanding argument about doing housework. He thinks that I should do the bulk of the chores since I work from home, but I couldn’t disagree more. Just because I work from home doesn’t mean I have all this extra time to vacuum, wash the dishes, do the laundry, and clean the bathrooms!

Anyway, I think the best way to resolve our difference of opinion once and for all is to hire a professional maid service to handle all of the House Cleaning.

I even went so far as to review the MaidPro.com website to see what kind of cleaning services they offer. It turns out MaidPro uses a 49-point checklist to ensure that the bathrooms, kitchen, bedrooms, and other living areas get a thorough cleaning each and every time.

In addition to general dusting and vacuuming, MaidPro will wipe down surfaces to remove fingerprints, clean the exterior of kitchen appliances, wash dishes, and even change the towels in the bathroom!

I will definitely speak to my husband about the possibility of hiring a maid service to come in at least once a week to take care of the house. We really could use it, and there would be one less thing to argue about!

My son has been sick all day with a high temperature, weakness, and vomiting. It appears that he might have a touch of the flu, something my cousins have been dealing with recently. We were just over at their house the other day after we thought they were better, but there were some lingering symptoms still.

At any rate, it’s been terribly exhausting trying to take care of Alex. He has been on the couch whimpering and crying all day long, and there’s just very little I can do to comfort him. I’ve given him some over-the-counter children’s meds, which have helped a bit, but I hate not being able to do anything more substantial for him.

He doesn’t want to watch TV, doesn’t want to color, or read books… it’s hard to watch him suffer like this .

Is it too early to start thinking about Easter? This was one of my favorite holidays as a kid, and my son really enjoys it too. This will only be the second Easter that Alex is more or less fully aware of what’s going on, so there’s still a lot of eagerness, anticipation, and magic associated with the non-religious aspect of the holiday.

Anyway, I’m already looking for Easter decorations and accessories to make sure I have everything in time. I came across some Lillian Vernon coupons today, so I went to check the site to see if there was anything worth buying. I saw these adorable embroidered baskets on sale for just $7.98 each. Best of all, they can be personalized for free, which I think is a great touch.

There are a bunch of other things that I want to look at on the site too, so I better get back to shopping now!

I’ve been making money from my various blogs for well over a year now, but things have been slowing down considerably in the past few months. As such, I’m looking into different options for making money online.

After a bit of research, I’ve decided to try a keyword/content site that focuses on generating clicks for AdSense and affiliate programs. I know there’s quite a bit of competition in this area and I’ll have to do a lot of work before I can start making money, but I think I’ve got a reliable system to work with. Plus, my income goals are modest, as I would just be looking to make $100 or $200 per month from the site.

I’m not quite ready to reveal any more details at this point, but will definitely post updates in the future. I’ve been doing this sort of grunt work for someone else for a couple of years, so I think it’s high time I branched out on my own to get a bigger piece of the profits.

Let’s see how it goes!