Someday, hopefully in the near future, I will be able to purchase these things.  While they are not necessary, I look forward to being able to purchase something fabulous for myself once again.  And after these two extremely hellish weeks are over, I should be able to cross some things off of my wish list.  Who knew that two days of class could kick my butt so badly?  I am beyond exhausted and I am only in class for eight hours.  Which obviously is a true testament to the fact that I have been out of the work force for far too long.  Well, the “real” work force.  And hopefully, once this class is over with (NEXT FRIDAY!!), I will be able to find a job much more easily.

But then I look at my brand new desk top and feel as though I would be having an affair on my computer should I purchase a lap top. How much of a dork do you think I am now? Maybe we could all pretend that statement was never even written? I love my desktop though and chose it carefully. I wanted a “skinny” computer and a flat screen lcd monitor. Of course, I had to have help with the important decisions made about my computer (thanks Chris), but you get the point..

As a blogger, do y’all feel it is a necessity to have a lap top? Why or why not? Is it an investment that I will come to later love or regret? I have been leaning on the fence for a while, but have not made a decision one way or the other. And for the record– I do currently own a lap top, but it’s useless. There is not nearly enough memory for me to get a thing accomplished.

FREE ENTERTAINMENT FOR KIDS ON SPRING BREAK “STAY-CATION”
10 WEB SITES TO KEEP YOUR KIDS ENTERTAINED AND SAFE

In these tough times, a lot of families are opting for Spring Break “stay-cations” instead of big holiday trips. But if you’re staying home, it can be hard to keep the kids entertained and out of trouble. Many parents are naturally cautious about letting their kids loose on the Internet, but there is a lot of good, free, appropriate content available online – if you know where to look. Here’s a list of 10 web sites to bookmark that can help your kids beat Spring Break boredom if they’re staying home.

BEST SET-AND-FORGET WEB ENVIRONMENT FOR KIDS
KidZui – KidZui is actually not a Web site at all – it’s the Internet made just for kids. It gives kids access to millions of Web sites (including all of the below), YouTube videos, games and photos that have been vetted by a team of parents and teachers. Kids love the cute little avatars they can create and the safe social networking features, and parents love the fact that there’s no chance of enquiring minds stumbling across anything inappropriate.

BEST WEB SITES FOR KIDS
Club Penguin – A snow-covered virtual world where children play games and interact with friends in the guise of colorful penguin avatars.

Lego.com – Ideal for the Lego fan, your child can watch Lego comics and movies, play games and construct their own Web page to show off their creativity.

Nick.com – Your child can pledge to save the world, play games, check out the latest news on SpongeBob or create a virtual life on Nicktropolis.

PBSKids.com – With games themed around Sesame Street, Clifford, Curious George, Arthur, Barney and other kid classics, your kids will have fun “interacting” with their favorite characters.

Poptropica – This virtual online world lets kids create a character, play games, compete with other kids and travel between islands on a blimp to explore new areas.

BEST ONLINE GAME SITES FOR KIDS
Cartoon Network Games – With more than 200 games featuring favorite cartoon characters, your kids can hunt monsters with Scooby-Doo, play Ninja Survival or follow the Path of a Jedi.

Funbrain – Part of the Family Education Network, the site provides educational activities for parents and teachers, as well as interactive games to help your kids with math and reading.

Funschool – This site, provided by Kaboose, is designed for elementary-age kids and offers free educational games as well as printable activities, coloring sheets and craft projects that will help your kids learn while having fun.

Hot Wheels Games – For car fans, Hot Wheels has dozens of vehicle-related games that let kids drive through mazes, race friends and solve puzzles.

KidZui’s Cliff Boro believes that parents needn’t be afraid of letting their kids use the Internet. “The Internet is a wonderful tool that, when used appropriately, provides endless hours of free entertainment for the whole family,” he says. “And more than that, it’s a great way for kids to learn and discover new things without even realizing it!” And what parent wouldn’t approve of that?

Life has just been extremely stressful these past few days, but mostly because I am letting little things control me that I shouldn’t. I am stressed about finances, which seems to be a big topic lately in my household as well as everyone’s, I’m sure. It just feels like we are suffocating all the time and I hate that feeling. We are trying very hard to eliminate our debts, but things come up constantly- mostly having to do with my Aztek or medical bills.

Before the end of this month, I need to come up with $160.00 for our health insurance, $231.87 for our auto insurance, $33.00 for renters insurance, $119.00 to get tags for our truck and of course, the infamous hospital photos I would like to have taken of Addison.  Let me not forget that my car needs repairs again.  The window fell the other day, shredding the window regulator.  I am not positive how much this part will cost, but I do know that we just don’t have the extra money for the repair this month and may not until after the first of the year, unless it is reasonably priced and I am able to scrounge up some money.  I won’t even tell you about our medical expenses due to the craptastic insurance we had through Jeff’s previous employer.  We thought we were finally paid down, only to realize we owe his pediatrician’s office a few hundred more dollars.  Luckily they are working with us and accepting whatever payments we are able to make at the moment.  I don’t know what we would do without our amazingly understanding pediatrician’s office.  They have been very good to us over the past 2 years!

I am trying very hard to do everything I can online to make money, but am falling short. My website is just not popular enough to do work with any major paid posting companies, therefore I am not having much luck.  I love PayU2Blog, but do not usually get more than $25 dollar per payout and while it helps, it is just is not enough.  I have even started doing posts again for PayPerPost to try and earn some extra money, but not getting many ops that way either.  Any helpful hints on making money would be wonderful people, absolutely wonderful.  I have considered auctioning things on eBay, but need some major help in that department.  I have hundreds of items that can be auctioned off, I am just not good with product descriptions or pricing.

Why is it that October, November and December are always my most stressful months? Granted December brings Christmas, which also brings the whole spending money thing. January and February are usually when things start looking up for us again financially, but it just bites the big one to have to wait until it happens.  I am not looking forward to the winter months this year though because of the rise in heating and electric.  How can any of our politicians expect the economy to get better when they keep strangling us with rising food prices, natural gas prices and electricity?

I know fuel prices are currently down, but how long will it last?  I literally chose my class schedule based off of gas prices.  I do not enjoy taking classes online because Ethan usually does not allow me much time to work on my assignments, but this semester I had no choice in order to cut down on gas usage.  I will be taking all of my classes online next semester so that I only have to drive a couple of minutes one way to drop Ethan off with Granny so that I am able to study/go to class.

I am very sorry for all this nonsense rambling, but these issues are weighing very heavily on my mind.  And before you all get motherly on me- I know that stress is not good for me or the baby.  I do know that and am trying very hard to shrug it off and deal with things as they come.  I just feel helpless, absolutely helpless.  I am only venting to you because I am afraid that if I vent to Jeff, I’ll make him feel as though he is not doing enough and that he needs to pick up a second job (again).  And I do not want my husband feeling less than adequate because he is an amazing man.  Plus, the last time he attempted working two jobs he became burned out and actually missed a day from his primary employer.

Things will get better and we’ll continue plucking along, little by little.  We will make things work, we always do.  I just need to learn to roll with the punches, like I used to.  Once this baby pops out and I recover, it is very likely I will become the optimistic spouse again.  I am ending this for now, but I am positive this is not the last you’ll hear from me on these issues.

I paid some bills, finished setting up yard sale items, signed up/joined for a couple of things online, finished my work for pjmommy.com, emailed some people and now am talking to Katy.  While sitting around the yard sale waiting for customers, I plan to write my uncle a letter and finish writing down ideas for efamilyblogger, pjmommy, gishers and of course my dream house.  What can I say people?  Getting up early does wonders!

I also plan on taking a picture of the yard sale and all it’s glory.  As I was finishing up putting price stickers on Ethan’s clothes last night I got a little teary eyed.  I cannot believe my baby is almost 2.  Where has time gone?  Almost 2 whole years!  Jeff reassured me that he’s still going to be my “baby” and that despite selling the vast majority of his baby clothes, I will have pictures to remember his adorable little outfits and how small he once was.  Plus it helps that my favorite outfits are downstairs in a box still, waiting to become a quilt.

But I suppose I should drag myself outside and wait around for my mama to get here to kick off the yard sale.  Will update later on this evening with pictures from the other day as well as the yard sale.  Hope you all have a fabulous day!