Am I nesting?

(c) 2015 P. Lynne Designs

Ok, this is sort of personal, so if you do not feel like getting a big dose of Patricia 101, you can skip this post, and I do not mind.

So, I am part organizer, part lazy person.  I hope you understand where I am coming from.  There are some days where I can look at my condo, my little humble abode, and work my business.  I do nothing but the bare essentials to the house and feel like the world could go suck on something if one person says anything about the house.  I mean it is my house, my life, I am a grown woman, single, and there is nothing you can do about it.  Trust me, I can leave a dish in the sink for a week if I wanted to.

Lately, I have had this burst of energy, and everything in my house has annoyed me.  What has me annoyed?  It is not organized, and I have been starting to toss things, planning for new things (for organizing), wanting to change the furniture, wanting new blinds, bed linens, Towels.  I want a new craft room, planning to redo the kitchen, you name it.  Oh, did I mention that I am preparing to have someone to look at my house?

I will have people looking in my house for two reasons:  the first is I am preparing for a baby/child.  In order for a social worker to deem you fit to welcome a child into

your home, it has to be a safe environment.  This means inspection.  Did I mention that the room that the baby will be sleeping in currently looks like a disaster zone?  It is supposed to be my craft room, and I have basically dedicated that task to my office downstairs, so I am now in the process of making it look like the bedroom it is supposed to be.

The second reason is when I find a new home, this one is going up for sale, which may happen before or after the baby gets here.  Once I move out, my father has to sell the condo and according to new association rules as of October 2015, an owner must live in the condo or sell it.  Well, my parents are perfectly happy in their home, and this home was bought with me in mind.  I no longer want to live here, and they could have my nephew move in, but there have been too many idiots making too many mistakes (like not paying the association fees).  So the condo association decided the “no more tenants” rule needs to be in effect for this condo complex.

So, like the title says, am I nesting?  In case you are wondering, nesting is what a woman in her third trimester does to prepare for birth.  She has a burst of energy to clean, do DIY projects around the house, decorate, and basically change things around.  In my case, I am not pregnant (or preggers as sometimes call it).  I cannot get pregnant.  I am adopting a baby, a child, who may be “in vitro” (womb) right now, newborn, toddler, preschooler, or school-age (up to age 12).  I have no idea until I see her (yes it is defiantly a girl).  I want to make sure that when this kid comes, rather it is in this house or my new one, that she is comfortable and happy. 

So is it wrong for me to prepare right now?  I know I have classes to take for this, make sure that I am financially stable, and that I am not going to go cra-cra on her if she defies me.  I want to make sure she is loved and I know that it is not going to be easy to be a parent.  Heck, it is not easy being an aunt, so why would I expect anything less as a mommy?  It is hard enough when you are raising someone you waited for 9 months to see, it is even harder when that child in not your biological child.  I am up for the challenge.

So, am I nesting?  You bet.  Adoptive mothers to be can nest too.  I may not be in my third trimester, but I have all the signs of a woman, who must prepare for a baby and move in one unfailing swoop.  “Lord, help my finances during this time because they need it.”  I am only in phase one, the “decluttering phase”.  Phase 2 is around the corner.  Happy  Nesting Everyone!!! 

Frustration

I very seldom type negative posts on my blogs.  To me, being negative is a sign of problems, and that you do not want to cooperate with things that are going on around you.  In some cases being negative could be a good thing, I guess.  I really do not know.   I do know this much, when someone is being negative towards me, and does not like my ideas or get what I am trying to do at the moment (say making a living so I would not have to be burden on my parents or society), I get upset.  I start thinking about all the things that I have tried and failed at in the past, and wonder if what I want to do now, is going to be one of those failed attempts to make something of myself.  What I am doing now, has so much invested time and energy into it, I believe what I am doing is the right thing, and I don't want to blow it.  The reason behind this thinking is I do not want to go back to where I came from.  In this case, I do not want to go back to working for people who really do not have your best interest at heart.  It is more about what you can do for them than what they can do for you.   I am talking about the 9-5 job, especially retail.
Now I do not have anything against this type of practice that most businesses have.  I owe learning the skills that I have to working these hours while at these companies.  This country was founded on some of these principles and we would not have had the type of economy that we had in the past,  if people did not work the way that they did.  Without naming companies, I want to show you what I am talking about.
I started working at this place, September 21, 2005, and for the most part, I understood what I needed to do in terms of the hours and the duties that I was given when I was hired.   I did not make a fuss about my hours at first.  The only thing that I as for is to have Sunday morning worship at my church, and if I wanted to have an open house showcasing Longaberger products in my home.  The former manager had no problems with that at all.   She did ask in return that I do work an occasional Sunday, and during this manager's tenure at the store, I only had two open house parties.    It worked out in both me and the store's favor.  I was getting about 32-35 hours a week, and even at the starting pay of $7.25, the pay was not bad.   When she left, I received more of the same from the assistant manager who became interim store manager.   The problems started after this manager left.   First of all, the new store manager did not like my schedule, so she made me work every Saturday and Sunday (which did not set well with being a consultant).  To me, I had a second job, and although it did not involve someone babysitting me, it was a job.  I would explain this to her, and she did eventually cave in, but it came with a price.  Say hello to working 4 hours a week.   I went from working around 30 hours to 4 hours, and making $8.15 an hour. Really, time to make your own living.   Now, I have worked some office jobs, and the temp services were paying good back then.
I started my current business, MDN Creates out of that frustration, so in this case being negative can work in your favor.  It made me get up and do something about my situation.  Now my frustration is capitol, how to get capitol.  I have operated so far with little to no money, and what money I do have has come from the commission of Longaberger orders, some card sales, and constantly taking out a loan at the First National Bank of Mom and Dad. (My other bank PNC is of no help, except they love to tell m e when I have lack of funds).  I have heard of Crowdfunding, and I am willing to give it a go, but most are asking for people to have a cause or a community.  I have plenty of causes, I just do not want to falsely use them as the basis of funding my business, because that is wrong.  I am confused about affiliates, people who want to sell them they system for getting money for your blogs, generating traffic, having ratings on said blog or website, and rather they are legitimate or not.
There are a lot of mom blogs out there, but what happen to all the single with no kids blogs?  I am on a few, but all they talk about are their kids.  I have a niece and 3 nephews (ages 16, 5, 3, and 2), but no one does not want to hear about the frustrations of dealing with them, because unlike  these moms, I get to send them home to mommy and daddy, and they do not.  Well try wanting a kid at 29 and being told that you cannot have one.  If that is not frustration what is.  At least they get to see what it is like to have a sleeping child in their arms.  All of mine are still in the egg stage.  At least with adoption, I get to pick and choose who I want to be my child, so I want a little girl.  Even looking at my niece and seeing her different moods at age 3, yeah, I still want that.  I want to know what it is like to care for someone other than myself.  To have someone so depended on you to make things right so that they can have a better future.  Yeah, I want that.  I was told that it is OK to adopt a baby at 48, so I am going for it.  I want some new firsts in my life that does not revolve around me nor my businesses.  I want to be surrounded by someone who does not call me "Aunty Patti" and giggle because I answered and they same nothing (at least I get answer back from the 16 year old and the 5 year old when I say yes, the 3 and 2 year old however, still needs work, LOL).
So yes, I have frustrations in business like when you hope that a party would have $150 in sales and only 2 people order.  When you hope you would have a day of creativity and to build up your Etsy store, only to find out that your sister needs a ride that the city bus will not take her.  When you find a new marketing system, only to find out that this system tells you to just sit on your butt and watch the money roll into your clickbank account.  No content writing, PLRs, getting on social media involvement, selling products, or interaction with customers needed.  OK Mr. Bigshot, how do you supposed I get the money in the first place, rob a bank?  I sent that email packing back to the owner with a note attached saying that you need to work in order to get money.  Give me a break.
So, I guess having something negative in your life is a good thing, because you can then ask God to turn it around, and make it positive and work in your favor.

I am concluding with this poem called Don't Quit

When things go wrong as they sometimes will;
When the road you're trudging seems all uphill;
When the funds are low, and the debts are high
And you want to smile, but have to sigh;
When care is pressing you down a bit-
Rest if you must, but do not quit.

Success is failure turned inside out;
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt;
And you can never tell how close you are
It may be near when it seems so far;
So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit-
It's when things go wrong that you must not quit.

"Don't Quit,"  Author Unknown

Be Blessed Everyday