Musings Of A Missing Mom Blogger

March is moving forward fast and it is so hard to believe I have been MIA from my Blog since last year. It's been about 5 months to be exact. Five action packed months of change, growth, new developments and all kinds of things that have kept me away but it's good to be back blogging again.

March came in like a lion, even here in Southwest Florida! We experienced nighttime lows dipping down into the 30's and yes, I even was scraping my windshield. Try that in the Sunshine State where we are not proud owners of our own ice scraper. It's been chilly to say the least, certainly too cold for my thinned out Floridian blood. Thankfully, the warming trend is here and hopefully as it goes March will go out like a lamb.

Today is beautiful and I'm back in my normal Florida attire for my work at home office - a tank top and denim capris. I have spent the morning musing and recapping what life has been like the five months I've been MIA so that I might share it with you.

Daylight savings time is right around the corner. Could it be? It feels in many ways like the Holiday season just left us and honestly I do not know where the time goes other than to say it's been busy, a good busy, and that life has a way of moving at a fast pace.

I am looking forward to the change in the time. While it takes my body clock about a week to adjust, I can not wait for the extra sunshine in the evening. I really do like daylight savings time and it's a sign that Summer is coming and I greet that and the sunshine wholeheartedly!

My last blog post was prior to our move into our new home. We closed the end of October. Redecorating and painting the new house and being a do-it-yourselfer was a big nut to crack. I loved doing it but it was one time this single Mom wished maybe she had a male counterpart to help out?! Did I just say that?

I painted the whole inside of the house myself, did most of the repairs, refaced my kitchen cabinets and so much more. I actually amazed myself with what I am really capable of. We were done and ready shortly after Thanksgiving and began the move.

Ah, the move! Again being a do-it-yourselfer and only moving across town, I decided to do that one myself. The home we lived in was my late Mom's. She had lived there since 1990, myself on and off with her but full time living there since 2000. That was the only home my son has ever known.

As he came into the picture, so did a remodel of that house that included 4 additional closets. Closet space is always great but it's likewise a great way to store stuff you really should be getting rid of! To make a long story short, I relocated much of this to the new home including a lot of family items that I would not part with and my Mom's momentos, photos etc. All this moving to a home minus the four big, roomy closets we custom added. It indeed was an adventure.

Prior to the move, I had two huge yard sales and really had fooled myself into believing I had gotten rid of so much. Daylight savings time is a welcome thing too because there are some big yard sales to be held this Spring as we clean out the garage and continue to find places for those things we want to keep. Eighteen years of "stuff" from Mom, myself and my son. Hindsight says: If you don't use it, get rid of it. Great lesson to live by henceforth!

I've shared a couple of pictures of our new home and we are happily settling into our new digs. There is still so much I want to do until it's "perfect" but I am very proud of how it's shaped up and we are very happy.

With a new mortgage and the economy being what it is, I continue to strive for domestic perfection while balancing my business and how I earn a living. The economy (yes and a new mortgage too) has required that I get a little more inventive in how and what I do. I've looked at many ways to add to the family budget without having to sacrifice what I worked so hard for. I fired the day care and don't want to have to send my son back to it now that our living situation has changed.

Days go by and sometimes I feel like a one armed paper hanger. The to-do list seems to stay a mile long and there are many projects and ideas I have that have yet to come to fruition. Happily though, I work on those daily and it's resulted in a lot of new, fun things with more to come!

CandleDawn is still very much active in her home based candle and mineral makeup business. I am revamping my goals and focus for what I want to achieve this coming year.

Real Estate school is completed and soon I will be joining the brokerage firm I've chosen and paying my dues to rejoin the Association of Realtors. I'm looking forward to it as I've missed the industry.

Several other irons in the fire, lots of website work going on behind the scenes as I have much to share with everyone as I unveil the new things I am doing to create the lifestyle and income I need to stay home with my son while embracing the passions and interests I have. It's a great life when you can take something you love doing and turn it into an income. This economy has made it interesting but where there is a will, there is a way.

The MIA Blogger will be making a commitment to blog more regularly among the many things she plans now that we are settled. So I will be around more regularly and plan to share a lot of good stuff with all my readers that will hopefully help all of us during this crazy economy to make life easier, stretch the family budget and promote all WAHMS and family owned businesses to the masses. That's where my passions lie and I am following them. On this beautiful Sunny Florida day it's good to be back and stay tuned.....