“You want me to take your picture for your blog page?”

“You want me to take your picture for your blog page?” My husband asked me the other day with a straight face.

This, as I was dragging around wearing my gown (nightgown, not a prom gown) at 1:30 in the afternoon, with my “Bed Buddy” cold pack on my back.

But, at this stage in my life, I’ve decided I can finally do whatever I feel like. Like, I can lay in bed on a rainy Monday morning, and revel in the fact that I don’t have to get up at 4 am and do a “yard check” in a downpour. Instead, I can sleep in, (which I like to do) or I can get up and watch the traffic report on the news of people traveling to work and saying to myself, “Wow. Sucks to be them…”

It all started when I wanted to quit my “real job.” My mother (may her soul rest in peace) liked to refer to it as, “You know… when you had your breakdown.”

Travel back in time to 2011. I was at my 3^rd different job in less than a year. Wait, it’s not as bad as it probably sounds! I was at a job of 11 years in December 2010. I quit for a host of reasons, and went to a “new and exciting job!” It was much closer to my home, paid a lot more and I could “work less hours.” AND have a 3-day weekend! Every. Single. Week.

Then, my boss quit, or was fired, I never found out the real reason. Things changed. I was working 12 hour shifts. On 2 days a week it was 6 am to 6 pm. Then the other 2 days, 6 pm to 6 am. No more 3 day weekends. Lots of drama. LOTS of it.

I quit. Went to a new place. The boss from this former “new and exciting job!” wanted me to work for her again. I was convinced this was the job of a lifetime. Even closer to home, even more money! But also as it turned out, lots more drama. Lots more. My so-called undemanding schedule of 7:30 – 4:00 went out the window fast. It very quickly became 12 and 13 hour shifts, only this time it was 5 days a week instead of 4. My health was suffering. I had had at least 5 (I stopped counting because it was depressing) surgeries over the prior 5 years. I felt like I never had the time to heal properly because life was so freaking crazy.

Then, my 17-year-old daughter got pregnant. My son moved to Korea. My oldest daughter was pregnant too. I was dealing with helping my elderly parents in my spare time.  Frankly, I really wanted to use my “spare” time for sleeping and blocking out the world. Pressures mounted all around me and I snapped. I called in sick. I WAS sick! I was sick and tired of being sick and tired. I hated my job, I hated my boss, I hated the part of town I worked in, I hated my co-workers, I hated the commute, I hated having to get up and out of bed and dressed when I still needed to sleep for about 4 more hours. Anyway, I quit. Just like that. No notice. Something I have not done EVER in my working life. Well, except for that time in my early 20’s when I worked at a plastics factory for a day and a half. I went to lunch on day two and never came back.

I panicked. I was in a temp job agency the very next day, even though I KNEW I needed a break. I was scared to death that my husband was going to be pissed. I think he was more concerned about my breakdown tad-bit of a personal crisis. I turned down everything they offered me. I just wasn’t ready yet. For years and years, I had dreamt of working at home. But I didn’t know how, and I didn’t know what to do. I dabbled in it. But I never made enough money to justify not getting a “real job.”

Finally, finally, I am to the point of making it work. I don’t make nearly as much money as I used to as a truck-driver supervisor, but it’s workable. I have peace of mind. I don’t have the expenses of driving to work, my work wardrobe is whatever I slept in. stuff like that.

When people ask me what I do, I say, “Oh. I work at home.” “Doing what?” “Oh, a little of this and a little of that.” They probably think I’m lying! But I do. And we will talk about it more as I go along. I’ll delve deeper into my breakdown rambling stroll towards having a self-sufficient occupation.

God, I miss writing! It therapeutic for me. And it helps me avoid breakdowns, an inability to cope with having to work at a “real job.”

Meanwhile, take a look at Swagbucks here. It’s one of the little things I use to earn money from home. And yes, it really DOES earn actual money via PayPal. (My preferred method of cashing out.) I will touch upon the specifics of Swagbucks in other posts, and tips on earning Swagbucks without too much of a time investment.

We will also talk about MyPoints, eBay, Bonanza, eBid, mTurk, Cash Crate, QuickRewards writing “Letters From Santa” and much, much more. In addition, you will have to put up with get to hear me blabbering on and on about my life at MomsOffice.

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