Yes, I’ve been poking around the Internet this week, and last, ever since I lost my job at this town’s finest pizzaria… the Pizza House. Yay! No more having to work with… oh, never mind. I’m just so happy not to have to work outside my home for a while, I could sing and dance. More about that later.

I’m getting back into the mindset of a blogger and work at home person. I’m re-arranging my life to make Internet income acquisition more feasible. I’m reacquainting myself with my blogs… blowing the dust off, and making them all homey and cozy again.

For the last couple of months I was not only working hard at the pizza place - I was also working toward achieving an online goal. I wanted to be part of the Giant Squid program at Squidoo.Com. (See my lensography.)This may sound strange to many of you, but I love the Squidness of it all.. it shows a complete lack of taking ourselves too seriously. After all, if we’re not online for fun and profit - what are we here for? Okay, so maybe some of you could do without the profit part… but seriously, I can’t. This will have to be part of my required income from here on in, and Squidoo is a place where you can easily earn money online.

Let me be a bit honest with you about my situation.

I’ve given most of my life over to the care of my children, in that I took care of them for more than thirty years. My oldest is 35 this year. My youngest just turned 18 and moved out in July. So for the first time in my adult life - ever since I was twenty (when I had my first baby) - I am suddenly childless, in that none of them live with me. YES, I get to experience “Empty Nest Syndrome” first hand. So far it hasn’t been difficult.

My main income for the last year and a half was via working at the local pizza restaurant. I live in a VERY small town with few job opportunities. I felt lucky to have the job even though it was just part time.

Early in September the woman I worked with, the morning supervisor, suddenly quit her job after being there twelve years. She’d been offered a better job with benefits at the grocery store. I got promoted into the morning supervisor job on September 8. Unfortunately the evening supervisor who had worked there on and off for more than fifteen years didn’t like me. At the time I got promoted she was plotting and planning to get me out of there. I know that because later I ran into someone who told me the other supervisor offered her MY job at about the same time I got the promotion. This woman apparently was badmouthing me to the business owner and undermining me in every way she could. Eventually she got her way and only two weeks after getting promoted, I got fired for no particular reason other than that the other supervisor didn’t want to work with me! Wow, that was a big surprise to me because I was a very good employee. For some reason that old woman (age 69) is very manipulative and always gets her way with the business owner, who seems to be a pushover, letting her run the show even if it is unfair to others involved. I’m not the first person I’ve seen affected by this phenomena.

Anyhow, to my surprise, my first emotions after being fired were relief as if a burden had been lifted from me, and then joy. Suddenly I realized how happy I was that I wouldn’t have to work in that environment anymore, and especially not around that old woman plus her progeny who also work there due to the nepotism that’s so much a part of that business. I blinked my eyes a couple of times, stretched, smiled, and started feeling like I was doing internal happy dances. Like I really NEEDED to be treated so badly? How much money is it worth to go to work daily in a hostile environment… especially one where I have to work with meats even though I’m a vegetarian?

Fortunately I’d saved some money, and am earning a bit online. Since as I said, there are few job opportunities here, I’m not expecting to get another job right away. Of course, you never know and I’m not going to turn any jobs down… but for now I’m exceedingly happy to work at home as a blogger, Squidooer, and ad salesperson. I’m not earning a living wage at this time but it might get better if I keep trying. Right?

The good news is that my expenses are few. I’ve become an expert at practicing economy. My rent is super low - I live in a small backwoods cabin (some might call it a shack)… three bedrooms, but definitely not upscale. I drive an old but economical car so there are no car payments and gas… well, let’s not mention that right now. I just won’t drive it much. I plan to save on gas and ride a bicycle. Plus I walk a lot… often to the post office and back in the late afternoon. Two miles… good exercise. And I’m stocked up on food and continually adding more staples to my collection. There are very few things I really NEED to buy. I CAN DO THIS!!! I mean, I can learn to live on a much lower income.

I know that a lot of you out there in the rest of civilization are going through financial difficulties right now. I know with the bank failure, lots of people have lost retirement funds and home equity. My heart is with you as I feel the pains of so many who aren’t used to having to cut back, suddenly finding the rug pulled out from beneath them. And I guess what I’d like to do now is share some of my techniques for living economically. I feel like I’m pretty close to the bottom of the income scale, yet living comfortably and happily because of the choices I’ve made in the past. Maybe I have some ideas I can share with others - especially the idea that we can stay cheerful and happy in hard economic times.

Enough for now. If you’ve read this far, you must be a saint, and I love you! Thanks for stopping by. I’ll be back.