I’m learning that about the only way I can get any freelance writing work done is by sequestering myself in my bedroom. This is really annoying, because the lighting is not good, there is no bookshelf, and most importantly, there is no desk. I find myself sitting in the bed with my laptop, balancing things on my bedside table. I’ve also taken to leaving the air filter on, so that its white noise will drown out the sounds of my son playing with the dog and the blaring television set. What I need is a lap desk, since it doesn’t appear that this situation is going to resolve itself anytime soon. It would be nice to get one with a cup holder, so I could manage my coffee while I do my research.

I do have an office, but right now it is filled with excess furniture from our old house. I absolutely need to get on the ball and clean that mess out so I can have a decent place to write. I was looking at my earnings last night and realized that I could easily double them if I could only concentrate. So for now, the bedroom will be my office, but I’m really hoping that this will be a temporary solution.

I don’t know what it is about my body chemistry, but mosquitoes absolutely love me. They hardly touch Greg and Sage, which means that I am the only one really miserable if we’re camping. Of course, I lucked out when it comes to chiggers. They love Greg, but won’t touch me. Still, Greg and I have been looking at RVs for camping because I can be such a wuss, especially in the summertime. I like my air-conditioning. We’re looking at RVs but we really can’t afford one. It’s a fantasy type of deal. One thing that I recently thought of though, is that we could look into rv rentals and take a trip for a week or so. Then we wouldn’t have to spend a ton of cash that we don’t have for an RV that would sit in front of the house and make the neighbors call the city and complain. (That’s what happened to the folks across the street!) It seems like the best of both worlds–we wouldn’t have to spend all that much money, the guys would get to camp, and I would get to have my air-conditioning and not get eaten up by mosquitoes. I’m off to tell Greg about this.

I’ve mentioned that I got a new printer. I regret not getting a laser printer a long time ago. The ink jet printers that I kept buying after my old one got ruined ate up so many cartridges that it was ridiculous. I don’t understand why anyone in their right mind would decide to print photos from their computer instead of ordering them online. I’ll bet printing even one photo costs about a dollar using those ink jet printers. The laser printer is just fine for printing photos–if you don’t mind them being in black and white. They are crisp and you can print several without a noticeable difference in the amount of toner used. I’ve found that I can buy Ink Cartridges for Dell Printers online as well, for both the inkjet and laser printers. Looking at online prices for laser print cartridges, I feel a little sick, since I just replaced mine for eighty dollars, and I found one online for only thirty-five bucks. At least I’m not having to replace it every month, as I did with the inkjet printer, but still–saving fifty-five dollars would have been nice. Note to self: Buy the laser print cartridges online as well! Next time, I promise.

Two weeks ago, I cleaned out our old house so that we could put it on the market. Hubby had left a few things of ours in there, and I was absolutely dismayed to find that my old inkjet printer had been left next to a window and allowed to get wet. This was a tragedy, because this printer was made before electronic components broke so easily, and had already lasted eight years. It also didn’t use very much ink. In eight years, I had replaced the printer ink twice. That’s not true now. Yes, I can pay half of what I paid for that old printer for one with more bells and whistles, but chances are, it’s going to run out of ink before a month is up. Then I’ll be running to the office supply store and paying half again the cost of the printer just to replace the ink cartridges. It is ridiculous. I’ve quit playing that game. I started getting my printer ink online and that saved quite a bit of money. Then I ditched the inkjet printer altogether and went with a laser printer, which seems to do better on the ink, even though it doesn’t print in color. That baby is fast though! I have to admit I still miss my old printer though. That thing was made to last.

I have said before on this blog that I don’t ever shop for anything on the Internet without looking for a promo code first. Apparently, that was a lie. I shop for hotels and airfare online all the time and never think to look for a promo code or a coupon. In my mind, either it has the motor club discount or it doesn’t, and that’s the end of it. I ran across a site that offers promo codes for a wide variety of things (I love coupon sites!) and noticed at the bottom that there was a section for vacations. What? I checked it out and found a cheapcaribbean.com promo. So the next time I am looking up rates for a trip to Mexico I’m going to do the same thing that I’d do if I were buying my kids jeans from my favorite online clothing retailer–I’m going to check to see if there is a promo code first before I purchase any tickets or hotel rooms. Actually, this new habit doesn’t need to only apply to Mexican trips. I’m sure that I can find some coupons for when hubby and I run down to Houston for the weekend, as well. Since we do that quite a bit, we could end up with some substantial savings. Of course we don’t need airfare discount in order to go to Houston, but I’ll bet there are some coupons for hotels and attractions.

I am so frustrated. I’ve been on a sugar-free diet for the longest time. However, all the baking during the holidays really messed up my diet. I managed to get back on it for about three weeks, and lost a couple of pounds, and then I had the bright idea of baking cookies for my husband’s colleagues. Eating that amount of sugar gave me some awful cravings, and I’ve been off my diet for more than a week now. I gained back the two pounds and now have “carb face.” Ugh. My husband is a sweetie, and has been giving me chocolate-covered almonds–something that I can’t resist. I’m going to have to ask him to get me flowers instead! I have a friend who got a lap band columbus, Ohio and she has lost so much weight it makes me sick! I am so jealous. The last time I saw her was several months ago. We were sitting in a coffee shop, and she ordered the cheesecake while I drank sugar-free coffee. She said, “I just don’t care.” Her butt was definitely bigger than mine. Now she’s the skinny one and I am still struggling with this stupid diet. I wish I had more self-control, I really do.

We still have the queen-sized bed that our friends gave us sitting in the guest room. I’m still debating whether to give it away, keep it in the guest room (which I really want to be an office) or purchase a queen-sized bed frame so that we can exchange the double bed in our room for the larger one. The thing is, I don’t want just any bed frame. Since our house is older, I’m trying to avoid the old lady antique look and buy contemporary bedroom furniture instead. I am really liking some of the platform beds I’ve been seeing. One advantage is that Varmint, my three-legged cat, wouldn’t have to claw her way up onto the bed if there was a platform. A disadvantage is that the room is so small that I probably shouldn’t even be considering increasing the size of my mattress, never mind purchasing a platform bed. Perhaps as part of my home renovation project, I need to knock out a wall or two! I just love my bedroom, but size can be an issue. One thing I’ve noticed about antique furniture is that it is smaller. It is too bad that I like contemporary furniture, because it definitely crowds things. I suppose the answer is to get rid of all the other things, which would result in a truly minimalistic modern look.

The selfish philosopher rages. Now that’s random!

I’m sitting here waiting for a Facebook update, text message or email informing me that our friends’ baby has finally arrived. The baby went past its due date, as first babies often will, and she checked into the hospital today to be induced. So far, we haven’t heard a peep, which is making my husband antsy. He is getting ready to head up to the hospital to see how things are going, nosy guy. I have to say, I’m glad it’s not me who is the one having the baby. Labor is no fun. Neither is the rest of the pregnancy, if truth be told. I remember having not only morning sickness, but afternoon and evening sickness as well. I had it the entire first part of my pregnancy, and actually lost some weight. It’s a good thing to know that morning sickness means that you have plenty of healthy pregnancy hormones, meaning the pregnancy is likely a healthy one. Of course, that’s not what you’re thinking about when you’re heaving with nausea because someone burned toast. I tried eating ginger cookies, but to no avail. These days, there is a device you can put around your wrist to reduce the nausea. Man, I wish they had had that back when I was pregnant with my kids! Of course, I’d have probably been much fatter during the pregnancies. Hmm.

I don’t know about you, but I never buy one thing online without looking for an online coupon code first. This saved me a ton of money when I was doing my Christmas shopping. I found all sorts of promo codes that got me free shipping, a percentage off of my purchase, or $25 back when I purchased $75 worth of products. So that’s my rule for online shopping: Never checkout until you’ve checked out the coupon codes available first! It’s good to have some sites in your bookmarks that aggregate the codes, because that will save you some work looking for them. An example is DealTattle.com - Coupon Codes & Discounts. Along with sites like that one, I also subscribe to a couple of blogs that list “deals of the day” that give you codes that can make your purchase practically free. I have used promo codes to stock up on presents for birthdays, as well as go on totally unwarranted shopping sprees. I once found such a good coupon code combined with an excellent sale that I ended up buying eight pairs of shoes that I didn’t need. So you can’t let yourself get carried away, or what started out as a way to save money becomes a way to waste it. As long as you have the tools you need when you need them though, saving money should be the order of the day when you’re doing your online shopping.