Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukah & Happy Holidays

What a BEAUTIFUL day! The sun is shining, fresh snow on the ground, and Guitar Hero playing in the background!

We got home around midnight last night...we drove about an hour SW out to the in-laws for Christmas Eve (who made a vegetarian entree, so I won't go off on a tangent, I promise) and the kids along with my husband and I were SPOILED! Money, gift cards, iPod docking stations, Nintendo DS games, portable CD players, Hannah Montana everything, Chicago Bears EVERYTHING (the dh and ds have whole new Bears wardrobes). The ds's family is amazing and have so made me a part of their family. I am honored to carry their last name. They truly are amazing.

I had most of the presents wrapped, but dh and I always save some. We have a ritual, every Christmas Eve we put the kids to bed and then we wrap the last of the presents while we watch National Lampoons Christmas Vacation and hang out. This is our 8th year together...(amazing because 18 doesnt seem like it was that long ago, lol). I think we got to sleep a little after 2 and 7 am came BRIGHT AND EARLY! The kids were in awe coming down the stairs. I loved watching their little faces light up (even though ds knows there is no santa, he didnt ruin it for his sisters). They went through all the presents except for a group that was separate marked "family." I took one of the presents aside and let ds and dd open it together, and seconds later, screaming ensued. They never expected that they would get a Wii so their shock made every bit of penny pinching worth it. I feel so blessed to be in a position where we can provide for the kids, give them presents like that, and that the dh and I are both working (espeically that I can work from home). I know that so many families have had a rough year and don't get me wrong, we had our setbacks as well, documented here, so I wish everyone a heartfelt HAPPY HOLIDAY to you and yours!!

They Grow So Fast!

I was reading a blog today about a mom who was going through old photos and how nostalgic it made her, so I couldn't help myself and did the same thing. This is a picture of Naya and I back in 2005 when she was the same age as...ELLA! Unbelievable if you ask me. I don't remember my little girl growing up this fast. I mean this is the same girl who was playing SingStar with me today and singing right along and dancing and beating MY score! She has her own thoughts, her own opinions, her own ideas. She can think independently and knows what she likes and makes it clear to anyone within ear shot what she doesn't like. (She is sure to give me a regular talk about why "Miley Cyrus" is better than "Hannah Montana"). It makes me think because soon Ella will be an independent thinker and like Lanaya won't "need" me anymore. Don't get me wrong, the thought of no longer changing diapers does not make me sad; however, the thought of my last little girl not being a baby anymore is more than I can bear. At the same time, I think of the day when I have all 3 kids in school full-time. I am fairly sure I will be throwing a huge par-tay!


*On a totally random note, why is it I always second guess myself when spelling the word "bear" other than when I am describing the animal, (a Grizzly Bear) or being naked (bare)?? Oh well, I suppose that is why I was poly sci major and not an English major.

We Put the FUN in Dysfunctional

SO this is an identical post from my other blog, but I didnt feel like retyping.

Finally home from our family Christmas. It pretty much went how I expected. Let's see, I was nagged within 2 mintues, criticized in 5 minutes, given a dirty look in 10 minutes, and was crying before the 1st hour was up and telling my husband we were leaving. Its not that my family is that malicious or evil or anything, (at least I like to think so) it is really that most of them are inconsiderate or insensitive or oblivious. I have 8 aunts and uncles and around 20 cousins or so (I think, I cant remember) and then I have my 3 kids. Now, not everyone goes to this family party, some people are out of state, some dont deal with the drama, and some fake illnesses and even death to get out of attending.

My biggest problem today, besides my mother, was the food. The way it works is each year 2 siblings plan/cater the event. Everyone in my family knows we are vegetarians and have been. It isnt a shock or surprise or anything. There are 5 of us and another cousin and her boyfriend are as well (but they never come, probably because of what happened today). There were about 25 or 30 people there I think which means about 20% of the party was vegetarian. Do you think there was anything that me or my children or husband could eat? 1 thing, some rice. Unless you count the bread for the roast beef sandwiches. Maybe I sound like a jerk or a whiny brat, BUT if you are going to host a party and invite people to come and 20% of them dont eat meat, why would not you not have one meatless entree OF 5 and maybe just maybe a fruit or veggie tray?? There was a Ham, a ton of Italian Beef, 3 pots of Ravs ALL in MEAT SAUCE (even though they were made by 3 different people) and sausage weiner things for the entrees. The sides were a ceaser salad and rice and cranberry sauce. While everyone else got to eat, my family could basically eat nothing. Why be so inconsiderate? If we didnt eat meat for religious reasons or allergies or something I bet there wouldnt be this bullshit! Luckily my dh thought ahead and figured people would be jerks so he packed peanut butter sandwiches and bananas. It was humiliating to bring a sack lunch to my family christmas.

Dont get me wrong, I dont expect anyone to jsut cater to me or not serve any meat at all or anything like that. All I am asking for is one thing my kids could eat, one thing. Could you do one set of ravs in marinara sauce instead of meat? Everyone likes that! I am not demanding everyone eat tofu...I really dont think it is such an outrageous request OR let me know ahead of time you have no intention of serving anything meatless and I can make something and bring it. Then, my own mother, asks my 5 year old daughter "Did you eat any of Grandma's ravs yet?" To which dd says no...my mom acts all insulted so I yell from my seat, "Uhhh, mom...you put meat in the ravs. Ummmm....we dont eat meat remember??" And my mom yells at me all indignant "SORRRRRYYYYYYYYY." And gives me a nasty look.

I wont even go into the drama with my sister. Thank god for my dearest cousin (dc), who is my best friend and surrogate sister. Without her I never would have gotten through the day. She dragged me outside and calmed me down like only she can and made it all better (like she always does).

And that, was my family Christmas. Not enough valium and vodka in the world to get through it!

Family Xmas

I am getting ready to go to the dreaded family xmas party...which is probably why I am blogging instead of getting dressed and the dh is rolling his eyes at me. Seriously, every year I hate going more and more. I know I shouldnt be putting my family on blast like this, but most of my aunts all gossip about each other and all of each others kids (my cousins), the cousins are always fighting with someone else, there is just always some sort of drama. The dh's family is so normal it's scary. They are all nice and loving and fun, none of the back biting like in my family. Seems like every year my huge Italian fam just gets worse and worse (with the exception of a few people I am close with). If you read My So-Called Blog you would already know how I got bitch slapped on Myspace by one of my cousins last week. So to try to ease the holiday trauma one of my BFs came over last night with a bottle of Raspberry Smirnoff and a Singstar game. If you dont know what Singstar is, you dont know what youre missing! It is a karoke game for PS2 and PS3 and you sing along with the song while the video is playing, it is seriously sick. So the BF and I are celebrating the beginning of winter break (she's a teacher...trust me, when you thought your 3rd teacher wasn't cool, she probably was). By midnight we're singing "I Wanna Sex You Up" by Color Me Badd at the top of our lungs and taking shots. I am still amazed we didn't wake anyone up. This continued til 430am when we finally lost our voices and passed out. Let me just say for as much fun as it was, I am paying for it today in the form of a killer headache that vicodin probably couldnt even alleviate. Merry Christmas!

Snow Day!

For the past 2 days we have been bombarded by the weatherman on the news that the "big one" was coming..."the first major snow storm of the season"..."a dangerous wintery mix"...and so on. Usually I don't listen simply because we have had a couple of light snowfalls already this month and each one was supposed to be "big." This storm actually sounded a big nasty because there was a lot more ice involved than snow, so even though last night I was dead tired and still fighting off a cold/throat thing I decided to venture out in to the urban jungle and do a Costco run...with all 3 kids. As soon as I pulled in the parking lot I thought to myself, what am I thinking? The place was PACKED, I mean, full parking lot, worse than a Saturday afternoon packed. Tre' was whining because we went straight there from soccer practice and he didnt get to go home, Naya was whining because she was hungry and there are never enough samples, and the baby was in pajamas and half asleep. So I figure I treat it like a mission--make a map in my mind of the store layout, where each product I needed was, and get in and get out. I told the kids before we even went in if anyone asked for anything Christmas was cenceled (I think they believed me b/c no one asked for anything). So of course everyone and their extended family is there and puttering around and looking at every stupid random thing in the store and walking slowly--I wanted to scream at every person who stopped in front of me "Dont you realize I only have a limited amount of time before someone has a meltdown?!?!?" I must have rolled my eyes and said oh my god under my breath about 100 times. Of course within minutes Tre and Naya and fighting and pushing each other through the aisles, in between muttering to myself about what I needed I threw in the standard, "leave your brother alone," "keep your hands to yourself" "stop speaking to your sister like that." I made it to the checkout line with a full cart and no full blown fight or meltdown and thought maybe I was in the clear--I wasn't. I knew baby was getting fussy towards the end, but I figured still had a few minutes to get out. As soon as we got in line, the tears started and of course even though I triumphantly thought I was in the shortest line, I picked the one where someone was arguing that the price of oranges was 9.79 NOT 9.99 (well I dont know if thats what the problem was, but I am willing to bet it was close to being that stupid). So we arent moving and baby just lets loose. Screaming, crying, flailing in the cart--the kind of screaming that is so high pitched you ear drums actually feel pierced and you look around to see if anything is breaking. I cant take her out of the cart because my house of bread I have surrounding her may fall AND I have to get everything on the belt and pay, so of course people are looking at me like I am beating her. Needless to say, it was a very long 8 minute wait for me and about 50 other people in line. At this point I was decided that if there was not a snow storm I was personally going downtown and standing outside the newsroom with a sign (Today show style) telling the weatherman exactly what I thought of him. Well I was woken up at 530 this morning with a recorded phone call from the school district stating school was closed, so winter break started a day earlier! The weatherman got lucky this time.

Bukisa and Random Ramblings

I wrote an article for Bukisa and it was approved yesterday and I have already made money on it! Granted, it isn't much, BUT, it is money and I'm excited. I was a little weary of Bukisa simply because it is new and I really didn't know much about it but it seems really good. Shout out to Jenny and Kimmi for letting me know about it and explaining it to me. :)

The girls are sick today and now I think I am coming down with something. I didnt feel well on Monday, then Tuesday I was fine, today I woke up with a super scratchy throat and nothing can seem to make it go away. I tried gargling with saltwater, taking medicine, cough drops. Argh! I hate this more than a sore throat. I was thinking maybe it came on since we got half a foot of snow yesterday and I was out shoveling the driveway without gloves (I know, real smart)! Oh well, it had to be done, what are you gonna do?

Okay, no more distractions, back to working and writing...I swear I really might be the biggest procrastinator in the world. :)

List of Mystery Shopping Companies

First off, let me say I have NEVER worked so hard on a blog post in my life! I spent hours researching all the links in this list, so if anything is broken or incorrect please leave me a comment and I will fix it.

I have worked off an on as a mystery shopper for about 7 years now and I really enjoy it. It is a great way to earn some extra money and you have the freedom to pick and choose your assignments so that it fits your schedule. I know some mystery shoppers make a full-time income at, but I never pursued it at that level. I think I averaged about $400 or $500 a month and worked about 2, sometimes 3 days a week for a few hours. The trick is to sign up with every possible mystery shopping company and try to get multiple assignments in the same area. If 5 different companies all have a job near your neighborhood with the same date range, you can pick up all of those shops and knock them out in one day, and you could make $50-80 depending on what types of shops were offered. I have compiled a list of mystery shopping companies in (almost) alphabetical order for everyone. As of this writing, it is to the best of my knowledge that all of these companies are MSPA members, which gives them a certain level of credibility. I have performed shops for many of companies, if not most and I have never had a problem. I wrote a step by step article on How To Become A Mystery Shopper so check that out and then come back and apply to as many or all of the companies listed! Happy Shopping!!

Mystery Shopping Companies	Contact Person	Phone
Instant-Replays, Inc.	Jodi Bray	919-861-4541
Advanis	Craig Hiltz	888-944-9212
ClientSmart	Kimberly Peterson	404-542-8882
Coast to Coast Scheduling Services	CTCSS	562-943-0646
Customer Feedback, LLC	Laurie Dortch	425-888-7700
Devon Hill Associates	Barbara Gerber	858-456-7800
Dynamic Advantage, Inc.	Gregory Doomanis	818-238-1251
GfK Mystery Shopping	Maria Noll	(212) 240-5300
Goodwin and Associates Hospitality Services LLC	Brian Calderone	603.485.4111
IMYST, INC.	Michael Hardy	734-786-8468
Management Consultant Group, LLC	Shopper	504-218-5981
Marketing Endeavors, LLC	Aaron Conley	866-445-9117
Mystique Shopper	John Saccheri	888-750-Shop
National In-Store	Carol Hovsepian	941-953-3866
Perception Strategies, Inc.	Brooke Billingsley	(877) 546-0970
Premier Service Inc.	Keren Dolan	800-452-5150
Service Excellence Group Inc	Marci Bikshorn	(800)888-9189
Service Sleuth	Tom Mills	800-723-1150 x 14
The Sentry Marketing Group	David Agius	214-295-2615
TrendSource	Scott Cranford	(619)718-7467
A Closer Look	Chuck Paul	888-446-5665 Ext. 106
A Top Shop!	Lori Niemczyk	720-283-8377
AboutFace	Paige Hall	678.989.2290
ACE Mystery Shopping	Julie Brant	866-240-7324
Advisory Group, Inc.	Shopper Contact	301-907-7470
AIM Field Service	T Lyons	(407)886-5305
Alexandria's Marketing Company	Tony Maichen	574-243-1907
Aloha Solutions	Shawn Kiley	704-989-4709
Amusement Advantage, Inc.	Christine Carson	800-362-9946
Anonymous Insights Inc	Patti Lengel	(614)761-0939
Anonymous Shoppers and Assessments of Pittsburgh, ASAP	Tracy Pavlick	412-831-1227
Ardent Services	Tracey Estes	303-525-8892
At Your Service Marketing	Lynda Childs	(940)644-2893
ath Power Consulting Corporation	M Spinello	(978)474-6464
Automotive Associates	Ron Saetermoe	949-273-6201
Automotive Insights	Jim Murphy	314-409-2206
Baird Consulting, Inc	Kristin Baird	920-563-4684
Bare Associates International Inc.	Gwen Johnson	(800)296-6699 x 3131
bds mktg	Randy Schrock	949-472-6700
BestMark Shoppers		1-800-969-8477
Beyond Hello Inc	Gary Godding	(800)321-2588
Big K Mystery Shopping	Candor Gutierrez Vara	+52 (81) 12 34 33 89
BMA Mystery Shopping	Peter Thorwarth	800-355-5040
Business Evaluation Services	Charles Stiles	888-300-8292
Certified Marketing Research Services		(518)758-6403
CheckUp Marketing	Lori Miller	800-274-9669
Cirrus Marketing Consultants	Monnie Howard	888-899-7600
CKA Group, Inc.	Shopper	800-764-1996
Confero Inc	Elaine Buxton	(919)469-5200
Consumer Impressions, Inc.	Jodi Paul	972-8671956
Corporate Research International	Jenny Miracle-Turner	419-422-3196
Corporate Risk Solutions	Kendra Webb Parker	678-566-0220
Coyle Hospitality Group	Jim Coyle	800-891-9292
Creative Image Associates, Inc.	Shopper Contact	978-582-7005
CRG Mystery Shopping	Tracey Conners	(613)596-2916 ext. 223
Cross Financial Group	Tom Hershberger	402-441-3131
Customer 1st	Carl Phillips	800-288-7408 x 3214
Customer Perspectives	Recruiter	(603)647-1300
Customer Service Experts, Inc.
Customer Service Profiles	Shopper Contact	800-841-7954 x 101
Data Quest Ltd.	Tracey Turgeon	617-437-0030
David Sparks and Associates	Shopper Contact	864-654-7571
Draude Marketing	Nancy Draude	717-371-5310
DSG Associates Inc	Shopper Contact	(714)835-3020
Ellis, Partners in Mystery Shopping (EPMS)	E Slater	972-256-3767
Examine Your Practice	Jodi Manfredi	866.505.3926
Feedback Plus, Inc.	Scheduling Manager	(972)661-8989
Freeman Group Measurement	S Baker	972-479-1345
GAPbuster Worldwide	Suzan Izzet	770.781.3181
Grass Roots Performance Measurement	Jane Edwards-Hall	305-347-4340
Guest Check	Derek Wood	303-991-6173
Harland Clarke	Linda Schrock	800-291-6117
Hart Associates	Mike Hart	419-893-9600
Healthcare Hospitality Consultants	Jesse Rosenblatt	914-307-1717 x101
ICC Decision Services	David Rich	(800)444-1717
ICU Associates	Marc MacGillvray	877-574-6682
Insula Research, Inc.	Brian Baker	614-334-2614
Integrity Auditing Services, Inc.	Lee Chidester	484-364-1033
I-Spy Mystery Shoppers	Cory Jensen	(402) 502-0579
J.D. Power and Associates	Chris Denove	805-418-8000
Jancyn Evaluation Shops	Janis Pelletiere	800-339-2861
JM Ridgway	Bob Reister	(408) 879-7503
Kinesis-CEM	Kathy Harper	206-285-2900
KSS International, Inc.	Lorri Kern	520-615-0888
Loss Prevention Partners, LLC	Charles A Borzellieri	732-588-0728
LRA Worldwide	Jeff Gurtman	215-957-1999
Maritz Research	Shopper Contact	1-877-4-MARITZ
Market Force Information	Ellyn Fill	303-402-6929
Marketing Systems Unlimited Corp	Shopper Information	(319)338-3773
MarketWise Consulting Group, Inc.	Carolyn Nankervis	920-735-4970 Ext 102
Measure Consumer Perspectives	Kimberly Nasief-Westergren	502-499-1139
Melinda Brody & Co.	Melinda Brody	407-294-7614
Mercantile Systems	Scheduler	888-222-8301
Michelson & Associates Inc	Mark Michelson	770-642-2223
Mintel International Group, Ltd.	G Rodriguez	312-932-0400
Muscle Marketing	GiGi	949-713-3904
mVentix, Inc.	Matthew Heck	888.455.2341 x104
Mystery Guest, Inc.	J. Newnum	888-269-9468
Mystery Shopper Pros	Jim Johnson	973-347-1572
Mystery Shoppers	Tiffany Gleason	1-865-450-8841
Mystery Shoppers, Inc./Game Film Consultants	Shopper Contact	866-334-3456 ext 1351
National Investigation Bureau	Jennifer Mullen	781-344-0384
Nationwide Services Group	Laura Unger	440-238-3000
New Image Marketing, Ltd.	Peter Boldrin	239-275-9979
Northwest Loss Prevention Consultants	Douglas Rector	425-271-0312
Omega Market Research	Joe Rodriguez	1-787-704-0917
Opinions, Ltd.	Jennifer Maurer	440-893-0300
People Plus Inc	Elaine Morgan	(901)362-0509
Performance Group	Shopper Contact	847-358-3100
Person to Person Quality	Michael Mitchell	(703) 836-1517
Personnel Profiles, Inc.	Kathy Kelly	800-440-8150
Phonesmart	Tron Jordheim	(866) 639-1715
Promotion Network, Inc.	Mary Marcowka	708-361-8747 x221
PROS	Catherine Bebber	800-741-7758
QSI Specialists	Chuck Kenerson	702-891-0550
Quality Assessments Mystery Shoppers	Mary Furrie	(800)580-2500
Quest for Best/Quest Associates Inc	Chuck Roam	(901)388-7203
Reality Check	Ross Thomas	(206)364-9004
Regal Hospitality Group	Russell Jerothe	813-854-1855
Remington Evaluations	Sarah Leeke	866-485-6491
RitterAssociates	Dennis Richard	419-535-5757
Second To None Inc	Jeff Hall	(734)302-8400
Secret Shopper (Sights on Service)	Paul Wilson	(763)525-1460
Secret Shopping Services	Laurie Hines	253-770-0393
Service Alliance Inc	Judi Hartleben	(303)696-2147
Service Evaluation Concepts	Shopper Recruiting	(516) 576-1188
Service Impressions	Dan Crevin	916-683-9895
Service Intelligence	Dana Conn	704-731-0171
Service Performance Group Inc	Jerry Gulyes	919-567-8300
Service Research Corporation	Brandon Stelling	402-434-5000
ServiceProbe	Christy Nichols	423-443-8602
ServiceSense	Amy Zintl	800-465-1182
Shopmetrics, Inc.	Joseph G. Hashim	419-474-6672
Shoppers Confidential Inc.	Julie Anthony	519-208-4779
Shoppers Critique International LLC	Bill Green	(407)834-3337
Shoppers' View	shopper contact	(800)264-5677
Shoppers, Inc.	Kathy Shook	800-259-8551
Shopping by Mystery	Lorraine Bowring	208-559-1550
Signature Worldwide Inc.	Jeff Scholes	800-398-0518
Sinclair Customer Metrics, Inc.	Sean Barna	(800) 600-3871
Six Star Solutions	Richard Bell	(801)274-2213
Special Interests	Cathy Stucker	281-265-7342
Synovate	Bruce Wells	312-526-4088
Tell Us About Us, Inc.	Kirby Gompf	204-453-4757
Texas Shoppers Network, Inc.	Sondra Pulford	713-984-7631
The Benchmark Collaborative	Ron Welty	888-249-9606
The Buyer's View	Nancy Coughlin	623-594-0544
The Emmerich Group	Annice Miller	952-820-0360
The Seer Group LLC	Clifton Wise	302-478-6369
TNS	Contact	404-257-5860
Vision Client, Inc.	Pierre-Paul Levesque	450-653-7653
Winthrop Douglas Inc	Contact Us	212-594-5727

Writing, Writing, and More Writing

Lucky for me that I love to write, since I have spent the entire day doing it. My latest money making idea seems to be going well and I actually enjoy it. Now that I have the hang of eHow I can say it really is easy, I swear. I have posted 6 articles in the last 24 hours and have several views and comments, which is nice. I am going to post regularly about making money through eHow and Bukisa as well as the articles I am writing so you can see for yourself how easy it is. I am pretty excited about this whole thing, so we'll see how it goes. The following are my eHow articles:

How to Get Pregnant

How to Lose Weight--Fast

How to Remove Green Water From An Aquarium or Fish Tank

How to Buy A Prepaid Gift or Debit Card

How to Remove Nail Polish From Your Carpet

How To Make A Vegetarian Holiday Dinner


See--I told you this was random! If you want to add a residual income I highly suggest joining eHow and Bukisa. I will keep you posted!

eHow and Making Money!

Thanks to a wonderful group of ladies I met online, I have started writing for eHow. This is a great way to make some money, build a portfolio and gain some experience for a resume.

First you need to sign up with eHow and sign up for the Writers Compensation Program. Once you do that, you are ready to roll! It's that easy! You write step by step articles and eHow already has the format all laid out for you. You can write about anything you want! You arent paid upfront for your article, this is residual income, but once you start building it will be a decent amount if you put work into it. According to people I spoken with, the average article earns about $3 a month, so if you write a 3 articles a day...well you can do the math! And your articles continue to earn money AFTER you write them. That's the beauty of it.

ANYONE can do this! Check out one of my articles here to see how simple it really is! You don't have to be an English or Journalism major, trust me! If you are thinking about freelance writing or wanting to make money from I think this is a great place to start. I will keep everyone posted on how much money I make!

Trying to Relax

Fridays and Saturdays are my "days off" from my regular job at Legacy (for which I work remotely) and I try to enjoy them. Each week I tell myself I am going to take some time out and relax on Saturday and do something nice for myself--a manicure, a pedicure, a drink with friends, a hot bath, something. Each week it never fails--I find myself working on other things (writing, blogging, cleaning etc.) and if I do try to do something I have 3 little voices begging to go with me.

I think moms, especially working moms, deserve more than just 1 day a year to be recognized. I think we deserve one day a week just for us! Even if we only utilize a few hours of the day, we deserve some time to regroup and relax.

Kohls Coupon

I know we can all use a little help this Holiday season, so I wanted to post a special Kohls coupon for anyone hoping to save some money!! Happy Shopping!!

I work HARD!

So I think that when anyone hears I work from home they think I lay around on the couch and watch tv and eat and live the good life. It is SO NOT true! I WISH! If anything, it is much more stressful in ways. I feel like I am never off the clock. I am constantly trying to do a million things and think with every down second I should be folding laundry or doing dishes or picking up. It is a lot of pressure and sometimes keeps me from doing anything because it all feels so overwhelming. The DH came home from work last week with a really nice card and inside he wrote how much he loves me and how much he appreciates me working from home so that I can be with the girls and still and earn a living. It was nice and something I really needed to hear. In all honesty, I think he was tired of listening to me complain about how much he doesnt appreciate me, but oh well. It was a nice thought. I think anyone who works from home can probably relate. Please tell me I am not the only out there that sometimes just feels so overwhelmed you just let a lot of things slide...

School from Home

So, I know a lot of people want to work from home and still get an education. OR, maybe you think you don't have time to work because you need to go to school or vice versa. I came across a pretty cool website, The Online Education Database. This organization gives you the complete lowdown on getting a college degree online and even ranks online universities. I have not seen anything like this before I think they have a lot of really good, unbiased information. I have taken many classes online in the past, and although they were through traditional brick and mortar colleges and universities, they were very helpful and really allowed me to balance my work and home life and still get my Bachelors Degree in a reasonable amount of time. I think if anyone is considering going to school online check out this website. There are scams out there and you should do your research!

You Have to Love ebay!

I just read an article that a woman from Chicago bought a house in Saginaw, Michigan for $1.75! She was the highest bid (of 8 bids) but she will also have to pay about $850 in back taxes and yard cleanup costs. How crazy is that? I cannot imagine buying a house sight unseen and not knowing if there were any liens on it or what the potential damage was to the house..not even for less than 2 bucks! I guess that goes to show the power of ebay. You really can buy or sell just about anything on there, I swear!

Craigslist!!

I swear I *love* Craigslist! (For anyone who doesnt know, it is the website www.craigslist.org) I swear I can find anything on there, so I decided to start putting some stuff on there and it has been nuts. I started posting things last week and since then have made almost $300! I put up baby clothes, a jumperoo, double stroller, jogging stroller, play mat, etc. etc. Mostly baby stuff and just junk in the garage I needed to get rid of. It was a nice way to make some extra money adn not have to have a stupid garage sale. I was thinking of putting all that on ebay, but posting on Craigslist is free and I dont have to deal with shipping or anything, people just come pick it up. And, for all the stuff I can't sell on craigslist, I put on freecycle and someone always takes it. Just a thought, if you are trying to make some extra money--see if you have anything around the house you could sell and post it on Craigslist! You never know!

Sick-Sick-Sick!!!

Well, I have been gone forever because it turned out I was still sick! I ended up with Bronchitis from the hospital and it ended up turning into Pneumonia. The last 8 weeks have been incredibly rough and I am just so glad to finally feel better, have some energy back and be back to blogging and working! I missed it!! I learned a very valuable lesson that when you do not feel well you need to trust your body and take care of it so it doesnt get out of control. I am going to be updating like crazy the next few days and hopefully be back on track!

Not Enough Hours in the Day!

I *LOVE* Friday and Saturday, probably because they are my days off! I promised myself that I would get a lot done today (and yesterday) because I was out sick for over a week, summer is almost over, and things just keep piling up! At the top of the list was to go through the garage and get things organized! I planned on going through all of the clothes, books, toys, and random things and whatever does not fit, does not get played with or is not used was getting put up on ebay (a new venture for me), Craigslist or freecycle. Well, do you think any of this got done? No, of course not! And tomorrow is Back-to-Work! I spent the last 48 hours doing a whole lot of nothing, lol. I probably needed it though. Now I am going to have to figure out some time between the kids, the job, the dh, and the housework to get that garage cleaned out! I know my neighbors are sick of seeing the cars parked in the driveway and I am sick of seeing stuff stacked to the ceiling inside!

I guess my spring cleaning doesn't happen until the end of Summer, lol!

Work at Home Transcription Jobs

I know several people (including family members) who work as transcribers from home. Some positions do require experience or education, but others are simply entry level. Here is a list of several transcription companies that hire people to work from home:

Accurate Typing
BTC
Caption Colorado
DRS
eScriptionist
Fantastic Transcripts
Fast Chart
Focus Infomatics
MedQuist
MT Jobs
NTI
Oracle Transcription
OSI
RapidText
Thomas Transcription
TigerFish
TransHealth
Transcription 2000
Type Write
Ubiqus
Vitac

There is also a great thread on this with more companies at wahm.com. I would suggest checking that out as well!

I'm BACK!!! (With Focus Groups)

Well, the last week has been insane! Finishing up classes, working, taking care of the house and kids wasn't enough...my life needed more excitment, so lucky me, I got seriously sick! I was so out of it and busy I thought I was just exhausted and stressed out, turns out I had a kidney infection and ended up needing to be hospitalized. So, I have been on bedrest the week, but I am feeling much better now and am trying to get back into the groove of things. I am really lucky that my Professor was so incredibly understanding and gave me time to get better. As soon as things are going well, something always happens, isn't that how it always goes? LOL!

So, I got a phone call today and wanted to share. A focus group company called and said they had a study they wanted me to participate in next week, it was in the evening and would last 2 hours and for my participation, they would pay me 300 DOLLARS! Can you believe that? I think I am probably still too sick to run around and do that, but just to have the opportunity is pretty cool. Bascially focus groups are a group (obviously) of people brought together to discuss a product or idea for a couple of hours and you are compensated for your time typically with cash or a prepaid gift card. Companies want people's opinions on products or concepts so they can get an idea of what mass consumers might think. The following is a list of focus group companies you can sign up with (FOR FREE of course). This is a great way to make some extra money on the side!

20/20 Research Incorporated · Online bulletin board and focus group (chat) capabilities. In person available for Nashville and Charlotte, NC.

A La Carte Research, LLC · Focus Groups in New York City and Syosset, NY.

Accurate Data Marketing, Inc. · Focus Groups in Glenview, IL.

Adler-Weiner Research · Focus Groups in Chicago, IL and Los Angeles, CA.

Alan Newman Research · Online surveys. Focus Groups in Richmond, VA.

ARG · Focus Groups in San Bernardino/Riverside, CA.

Ask Miami Reseach · Focus Groups in Miami, FL.

Atkins Research Group, Inc. · Focus Groups in Los Angeles, CA.

Boulder Focus Center · Focus Groups in Boulder, CO.

Campos Market Research · Pennsylvania

Consumer Logic, Inc. · Focus Groups in Tulsa, OK.

Consumer Opinion Services, Inc. · Focus Groups in Seattle, Portland, Spokane, Boise, Salt Lake City and Chicago.

Consumer Research Associates CRA/Superooms · Focus Groups in San Francisco, CA and Dallas, TX.

CQS Research, Inc. · Focus Groups in Houston, TX.

Delve · Focus Groups in Appleton, WI; Atlanta, GA; Chicago, IL; Columbus, OH; Dallas, TX; Kansas City, MO; Los Angeles, CA; Minneapolis, MN; Philadelphia, PA; Phoenix, AZ; Seattle, WA; St. Louis, MO.

Digital Research, Inc. · Online research is a specialty. Web surveys and moderated chats. (All North America)

E-Jury · Participate in mock juries and trials conducted online.

Ecker & Associates · Focus Groups in San Francisco Bay/San Jose, CA

Elliott Benson · Focus Groups in Sacramento, CA.

Fieldwork Network · Focus Groups in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Fort Lee NJ, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Phoenix, Seattle, and WestchesterCounty.

Fleischman Field Research · Focus Groups in San Francisco, CA

Focus On Boston · Focus Groups in Boston, MA.

Focus On Miami · Focus Groups in Miami, FL.

Focus Pointe Global · Focus Groups in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, LA, Manhattan, NJ, Philadelphia, San Francisco, St. Louis, London, Paris, and Frankfurt.

Focusline · Conducts web based surveys, one-on-one interviews, and group sessions.

McMillion Research · Conducts interviews on a variety of different topics, with a variety of respondents from youth to senior citizens. Charleston and Barboursville, WV.

Pragmatic Research · Internet surveys and in person focus groups in St. Louis, MO.

Qualitative Insights · Focus groups in Sherman Oaks, CA.

Shifrin~Hayworth · Telephone interviews, One on One interviews, focus groups

FocusGroups.com · Marketing Research Services listed market by market. Database of many companies. Not all want to hear from you as they do not keep a database. This list is for clients to hire companies.

I collected this information from various websites including one of my faves: volition.com.

I'm Tired!

Oh my goodness...what a L-O-N-G weekend! My mom had to have surgery last week, so on Thursday I packed up the kids, the husband, the dog, and my laptop and made the 3 hour drive out there. The surgery was on Mom's ankle, and part of her Achilles tendon had to be cut, so needless to say, she can barely get out of bed. I felt it was important to help take care of her and do whatever I could to make her more comfortable. Needless to say, it is times like these that I am so grateful for my job. I could be with my kids, with my mom and still be able to work without worrying about taking time off. Of course, I didn't want the kids bothering "Grandma" so my husband and stepdad kept them entertained. They went to parks, went out on the lake in the canoe, shopping...I guess for them it was almost a mini vacation, lol! I, on the other hand, am exhausted. I was on-call for mom and she has her days and nights mixed up a bit, so she needed a lot of help at night. I also did all of the cooking for everyone and made some extra meals so Stepdad could just heat them up since she will be out of commission a few more weeks. I tried to clean up the house some too, (even though I HATE cleaning!!) because I know she is proud of a clean home.

I felt so empowered to be able to take care of my family and support my mom and still be able to work. I do not think any mother should have to choose between her family and children or her job and this weekend really reinforced that belief for me. And I am not sexist, Dads too of course! LOL! If I can give just one person the resources to be home with their family and still be able to work, I will have met my goal.

I am finishing up my summer semester courses right now--I have a BA in Political Science/Pre-Law but I am finishing up my Paralegal certification--and I am just swamped! I took 12 hours (4 8 week courses) so I am overloaded! Luckily, all the projects and all the finals will be finished after the 31st (my dear daughter's 1st birthday!) and then I will be able to spend a lot more time researching and posting leads!

Happy Monday to Everyone and I hope you have a GREAT week!!

Work From Home Customer Service Companies:

Okay, so I know not everyone enjoys doing customer service work. It takes a patient person to deal with an angry customer, but would you like it better if you could do it from home for and NOT in a call center? Here is a list of some companies that offer remote customer service positions. I have gathered the list from forums and websites I have scoured, so I want to thank some of the people before me who may worked on compiling these.

If you know of any other companies I should add to the list or come across any broken links, please let me know!



1-800-Contacts

1-800-Flowers


Accolade Support

ACD Direct

Alpine Access (Arizona, Colorado, Texas & Utah)

Affina

American Airlines

Arise

Asurion

Baby to Bee (send resume to deena@babytobee.com)

Beyond Marketing Online

BRG Research Services

Connect2Agent

Connect Plus, LLC

Convergys

Customer Loyalty Concepts

Delta

eCallogy (Utah Only!)

Grindstone

JetBlue Airways (Utah )

LiveOps

New

IncNiteo Services, Inc.

NTI Central -

O'Currance Teleservices (Utah)

RepsForRent

Secure Call Management

Service 800

Sterling Testing Systems

Support Freaks

Time Communications (St Paul, MN)

Teletech

Uhaul

Ver-A-Fast Corporation

VIPdesk

VoiceLog

West at Home (I worked for this company! They are great!)

Working Solutions

XAct Telesolutions

*As always--perform your own due diligence on any company you apply to. This blogger does not assume any responsibility for anything arising from a job search or applying to these companies.

Taking Surveys Online--The Real Deal

I have been doing surveys online for about 4 or 5 years. The first site I ever found to take surveys I paid 34.99 to join. LUCKILY, I did my homework and found plenty of info on it that didn't require having to pay, so I asked for a refund and got it. You should NEVER have to pay any money for anything.

So, here is the deal on surveys. You are NOT going to get rich. Yes, you might average 30 bucks an hour, but that is because you took one survey that paid 5 bucks and only took 10 minutes to take. You are not going to be taking surveys for 8 hours a day. Lots of times I get the survey but I don't qualify to complete it. I would say, in a really good month, I might make about 150-200 dollars. Usually, it is probably an extra 50-75 or so. It really just depends. Here is how it works:

1. You go to the company's website and register (they are going to ask for an email address to send the surveys, I recommend setting up a gmail just for this)

2. The survey comes to your inbox, you answer the screening questions and if you qualify you proceed.

3. You are awarded your "payment" in about 6-8 weeks and in order to get it you have to go to your account and cash out. Sometimes payment is in the form of an amazon.com gift card, or in points you can redeem for products, cash, or gift cards. Or it is cash. I like all three.

Another thing that happens often, you are asked to product test. After the survey is complete the company may ask you to test their product. I had a frozen meal sent to me overnight ups yesterday and I cant say what it was, but it was SO GOOD! Hopefully my feedback will help put it on the market. I also tested baby wipes last month and got an awesome new OPI nailpolish called Nics Sticks. There are all kinds of things. It doesnt happen every day, but probably once a month or a little more for me.

The following is a list of companies I take surveys from that I know pay and that I trust. Some of the links are general, some are my referral link, (just to keep it honest!).

Survey Spot (probably my favorite)

Survey Savvy (another favorite)

The Socratic Forum

Opinion Outpost

My Survey



These are my favorite companies. There are a lot more, trust me. But I do not really use them and a lot of them have you fill out 20 minutes surveys with the only reward being a sweepstakes entry. I don't have time for that! If you want to see a more comprehensive list of companies, you can check out a cool website called volition.com.

Again, if you want to make some easy money, (NOT millions) this is a good way to do it. Just remember to set up a separate email address!

Some Good Websites

These are just a couple of websites I think are very informative and helpful if you are interested in finding a job that allows you to work from home. You can find information, lists of companies that hire home-based workers, and job leads just to name a few. I know these websites have helped me tremendously!

WAHM
WorkPlaceLikeHome
Rat Race Rebellion

You have to play around with them and do some searching, but if you invest some time, you will be amazed at what you can find out!

The other thing that might surprise you is....CRAIGSLIST! I know, there are definitley scams there and you DO have to be careful. Just remember, you should NEVER have to pay ANYONE to work for them, NEVER accept anything that asks to process payments or checks, and keep your personal information private until you can find out more about the company. I work for a decent sized company (maybe 100 employees or so) and I found the lead on Craigslist, so there you go.

I found the best way to search is to go to Craigslist and in the search function type in "work from home" for jobs. A couple others you can try are "virtual" "remote" and "telecommute" There are ways to search Craigslist nationally as well, all you need is Google! In Google type: "telecommuting is OK" site:craigslist.org 2008-07

Obviously, you want to make sure you have the correct month and year. You can also use "work from home" instead of or in addition to "telecommuting is ok"

Hope that is helpful!! I know it made a big difference for me!

Yes, I work from home. Yes, it's a "REAL" job.

So, I am a work at home mom. I have a real job, with a real company, that allows me to work remotely from my "home office" (does your office have a litterbox in it??). I love the freedom it allows, the money it saves, and the time I have with my 3 children at home. Everytime people hear that I work from home I get one of a few reactions--excitment, incredulity, disbelief, and sometimes a little bit of jealousy.

What I hope to do here is provide people with LEGITIMATE, LEGAL, REAL, ACTUAL, ways to make money or work from home that I have nothing to do with. There are so many scams out there and it is so hard to find websites to really find out information. I want to make a one-stop shop here for websites, job leads, surveys, all KINDS of stuff. I am also totally frugal, so get ready for some of my money-saving tips! Oh--and I get free samples all the time. My husband, mail lady and neighbors all think I am crazy--BUT--in the last week I got 2 tubes of toothpaste, a new razor, 3 deoderants, 2 body washes, Cheerios, a diaper, and tampons...for free. So, call me crazy, but now I actually enjoy checking the mail! :)