Tag Archives: home office

November 30, 2011 · 11:37 pm

Subterranean Homesick Blues

In Dylan terms, that means I miss the basement!

If you have not been following along, I have had not one, but two floods and countless craziness that has misplaced first my stuff and then me, from the basement office.

I am happy to report that there is a light at the end of the tunnel (hopefully not with a runaway train right behind it) and I am starting to believe I might actually get back in the newly renovated office soon. (define soon).

Here is why I have confirmed that working upstairs is not for me. Yesterday would be a perfect example.

8am-10am: House renovations across the street on one side reach a fevered pitch

10am-12pm: House on the other side takes down a tree and woodchipper whines on for 2 hours

12pm-1pm: Fall clean-up with the gardener at the next door neighbor

1pm-3:30pm: landscapers come to roto-till my yard since the waterproofers left a big section of dirt (aka mud) after the drywall went in.

So, pretty much that was a solid 7 and a half hours of white noise.

No can do.

Of course that did not hold a candle to the 5 hours of jackhammering in the basement last Wednesday from the waterproofers. (that my son slept through, BTW)

So my friends, it is almost back to the basement for this noise sensitive lunatic. And I couldn’t be happier.

 

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September 17, 2009 · 9:26 pm

Email. Brisket. Conference Call. Kugel.

There are days when working at home is both wonderful and manic.

Is it hard to juggle it all? Sometimes.

Would I have it any other way?

Probably not.

There is nothing like preparing a holiday while you try to juggle tying up a week of work.

For those who are of the tribe, I wish a sweet new year. And for those who are not, I wish you no lines at the movies or your favorite restaurant on Friday and Saturday night.

I’ll be back on Sunday.

Haven’t had enough of me yet? You can also read me at 50-Something Moms Blog.For photo enthusiasts, visit Leaving the zip code, photos from outside the comfort zone.

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May 14, 2009 · 10:11 pm

Signs you are working too hard

the-job-that-ate-my-brain1. Still wearing last night’s pajamas while sitting at your desk at 10:50 PM

2. When your teenage son asks, “What’s for dinner?” you answer with, “Didn’t you eat last night?”

3. You are pretty sure that the sweatshirt you are passing off for pajamas was purchased after your first pregnancy, and that ‘child’ is now 20 years old.

4. To placate the hungry teen you agree to go with him to the gourmet pizza place – and let him drive.

5. You realize once you get there that the probability is high of running into someone you went to HS with while wearing this lovely outfit, being unshowered and driving your daughter’s beat up old jeep. (loser without a chance to explain). Luckily this did not happen.

6. Going to the bathroom is a nuisance and is getting in the way of you finishing your work.

Oh, I could go on. And sadly I did not make up any of those items (well number 5 was just a fear, but a real one). Working home has its advantages.

Style/personal hygiene is not one of them.

Haven’t had enough of me yet? You can also read me at 50-Something Moms Blog.

For photo enthusiasts, visit Leaving the zip code, photos from outside the comfort zone

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January 29, 2009 · 9:20 pm

Crickets in January

Cricket 01Once again the command center has turned into a little episode of Wild Kingdom. For those who do not read me regularly (shame on you) the command center is my office in the basement. It is safe to say I spend a scant 10 hours a day here on average. Ok, maybe 12, I am just a little embarrassed about that. 

A while back I wrote about the critter that was living in the soffit of my ceiling. I thought that little sucker was gone but it would seem that the freezing temps and snow must have driven the little guy back in there and he – with perhaps a friend or two – were doing the scurry thang all night last night. 

No worries, I am sort of used to it and did not think all that much about it. Until…

I heard and then FOUND a friggin cricket hopping across the floor. A cricket?! In January? WTF, what the hell is going on. Pretty soon I am going to have a petting zoo down here. 

And really, what is up with the dog? She can’t earn her keep and pull a little Where in the World is Matt Lauer and eat a cricket of two?

Thinking she wants to renegotiate her contract.

Haven’t had enough of me yet? You can also read me at 50-Something Moms Blog.

For photo enthusiasts, visit Leaving the zip code, photos from outside the comfort zone.

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November 21, 2008 · 7:17 pm

Blogaholic? Me?

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Uh oh. It has happened. Blogging (and twittering) have now gotten in the way of my real life. Wait, I have a real life, right? I mean my real life did not get up and pack it’s bags while I was banging the keyboard, right?

This could be a problem folks. I may need help.

Here are a few conversations that have taken place in my house lately:

Danny: mom, you are obsessed with blogs.

Me: NO I AM NOT! (the classic doth protest too much response, how cliché).

Gary: I need to say this. I think your personal hygiene has gone down the tubes since you started blogging

Me: What? Are you crazy?

Gary: Let’s see, whenever I call during the day you tell me you haven’t showered yet. The other day I came home from work and you were still in your walking clothes and did not shower till midnight.

Me: Um, in my defense I never get into bed without showering.

Gary: And you did use the sentence, “I don’t remember the last time I washed my hair” the other day.

Me: Alright. Maybe I did say that but I did not mean like it was weeks or anything.

Come to think of it my nails do look like they could be in fashion if I were a rich young thang. And perhaps the fact that I still had sweats on at 3PM AND they were on inside out could all be signs of, what shall I say, a little personal neglect of sorts.

But I have been working at home for years. And have kids for almost 20 of those years (yikes, hard to say that one outloud). I have always spent a ridiculous amount of time in my subterranean office cocoon affectionately known as the command center. I have over-volunteered and fallen victim to the sandwich generation woes many times while working full time, taking care of a family and a home and still was able to take a shower in a timely fashion.

So, what makes the blogging piece the culprit? 

Suggestions, please? I need to be rehabilitated.

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October 21, 2008 · 9:54 pm

Pet Sounds?

I am pretty sure that there is some kind of critter living in the ceiling soffit in my office. Let’s just say I hear the skittering noise of what I am hoping is just a mouse, running back and forth at all hours of the day and night.

It is not like this is a new discovery. I must have mentioned this to the overpriced exterminator I have on a monthly retainer more than once. He reminds me that the office is in the basement and a wall backed by an outdoor staircase is susceptible to rodents. (ew)

I do like the staircase, though, in case I need to make a quick getaway. Of course I would have to move the copy machine to get out, my feng shui is so off in this office I don’t even have feng!

I digress – for a change. 

Every once in awhile I hear the scramble of little feet in the ceiling and think, hey, this guy is much less work than the dog. I mean, I don’t have to feed him and I don’t have to worry about a sitter when we go away. He certainly does not bother either the Fed Ex or UPS guy. And he does kind of ease the loneliness of a solitary work environment.

So, I will let him be. The thing I worry about more is when the pitter patter of his little feet stops there could be a good chance I will have something dead in the ceiling!

Which makes something living in there seem so much more palatable.

Catch me today at Mid-Century Modern Moms where I discuss rabid soccer moms.

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August 6, 2008 · 10:30 pm

Musings from the ‘Home Office’

This is an actual chat with another Work At Home Mom friend, or as the mommy bloggers call it – a WAHM. (funny how we both use dog icons, that is no reference to our looks, we just love our dogs, ok?)

Wham!! (well you know what I mean). I like that. Look, some women want to be MILFs, some like being WHAMs. Wait, can’t I be a WAHM and a MILF? Ahhh, this may have something to do with the need for Spanx. I will have to think about this one.

This chat got me to thinking. What are the best things about working at home? (besides not wearing shoes or having to brush my hair, which would probably disqualify me from being a MILF in most cases).

So, my friends, here is a shout out to all of you that work at home (boys, you can play this game too. you could be DILFs if you want). 

Give me a list of the best things about working at home. I expect full participation here (Riki and Ellen, that means you! And Elise, since your chat made it to the blog you are obligated to participate).

And because I am an equal opportunity everything, let’s hear from the work-in-the-office types who want to defend their choice.

Those of you who are thinking I could use a little fresh air – you are not wrong!

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June 10, 2008 · 2:30 pm

Chairman of the Basement

Those who know me are fully aware of my subterranean life. I work in a home office in the basement. I click the mouse, pick the colors and bang the keyboard for way too many hours a day.

It has its advantages. Let’s see, I am not distracted by windows or changes in weather. I can stay focused. There is no real time, I can simulate night or day at my own whim.

There are times when I think, ‘please G-d get me out of here’. But mostly I am happy with the set-up. Sometimes towards the end of a weekend I get a little heady from being above ground too long. Too much daylight and fresh air maybe. I do occasionally worry that this controlled environment makes me, what I like to refer to as a ‘social recluse’. Don’t get me wrong, I love people, I just prefer extended periods of time with my dog during the week.

This could be why I love this blogging thing. I guess you could say that the social recluse branches out without upsetting the agoraphobic apple cart. (there could also be a good chance that I am certifiably insane, but we will talk about my mental health at a later date).

During a conversation with the First Thursdays (you will hear about them soon) about working women, we got on the topic of breaking the glass ceiling. There is no glass ceiling in the basement (rather dangerous, no?) The conversation went around the table about achievements of women, famous and those we know personally. At times like those I sometimes feel a slight regret about where my career could have gone if I did not have a family.

But then I realize that I may not have climbed the ladder and broken that ceiling (which sounds quite painful, actually), but I have created a balance that enabled me to do what I do (whatever that is), make a good living, feel a sense of professional fulfillment and still be, not only the Chairman of the Basement, but also the kind of mom I needed to be to my kids. (And of course if I carry dog biscuits at board meetings I can get the dog to vote my way).

Net of it all for me? I can always turn up the steam and work my butt off, but I can’t get back my little kids. Or my tweens. Or my teenagers (yes, I happen to love having teenagers. perhaps because they get my sophomoric humor best). 

Don’t get me wrong, I do not preach that women cannot have it all. They can. AND SHOULD. It just needs to be the all that THEY choose. Hey, some of best friends carry the windex up there! (a glass ceiling should always be clean).

I will end this ramble with a plea to all women (and men for that matter). Can we stop being our own worst enemies. Working moms criticizing stay-at-homes for giving up their lives; stay-at-homes criticizing working for not being there enough.

Everyone has their own ride. Let’s support each other for our choices and be cool about it. 

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