I am probably without Internet right now and have scheduled these posts, so for this week I figured why not count down to my birthday with items I really want but probably will never buy due to budget restraints … should I actually be a kid that gets birthday presents the next few days will be products I would totally want. Today I feature the Netbook … because not only do I want a Netbook but my daughter does too, it would be a dual purpose gift!

I am in love with all things to do with computers and if I mess them up? Justin is quick to fix them for me, for cheap. We won’t talk about trade offs right now, this is a semi-friendly family place after all. Ha ha ha! Totally joking there, I am still working off my tattoo he paid for so we can’t afford any more trades at the moment.

For my birthday I want a Netbook and if I get one, that would be something I would totally cry about, but for now I will deal with my laptop and PC because after all I don’t really “need” another computer.

Whatever shall I do? I am moving over this weekend and will not have Internet for a whole week. Luckily I have made more than my normal income for a month which means I am able to afford a week off. I am excited that I worked my arse of and get to take a week off but the week off is not by choice.

You see we have to switch to satellite Internet because, well, we are moving to the boonies. I love the country, I am a country kind of gal with very little experience in a city. I love the woods and living in a more private location than I currently live in. The only problem I have is the Internet, I am used to having Comcast Internet.

Luckily we can afford a high end satellite package which will be quite a bit faster than DSL but still slower than cable Internet. I can deal with that. The other thing is that between 2am and 7am we have unlimited usage which means we can schedule any downloads we may have to do during those hours saving us on our usage during the normal times. I have heard mixed reviews about satellite Internet but the company we are going to be using has more positive than negative reviews!

One week without Internet will allow me to get my new private office organized for a more productive fresh start of life and business. I can’t wait but at the same time I haven’t gone more than a few hours without Internet in a long time! I do have my Blackberry so I can still do the tweeting and Facebook stuff which rocks. I also have wifi on my laptop which means I can go to my Dad’s or Mom’s house and hook up should I have any blog posts to do or last minute work that takes a little time but needs to be done.

I am thankful that all my clients are understanding that I am taking a week off. I love my clients!

As we work on getting ready for the big move my mind keeps losing focus, and with lack of focus means it takes longer for me to get any work done. All of the work I do is repetitive enough I should be able to do it with my eyes closed but alas I find I am just losing motivation between the move and the change in seasons. I saw snow, yes SNOW for the first time last week and I wasn’t too happy about this.

Apparently where I am moving is high enough up that we get crappy weather before anyone else. Did I tell you all that I am not a fan of Winter in New Hampshire? Yup, that’s me. If I were to pick one animal to be in the Winter time I would be a bear, hibernating in a cozy hole and sleeping til Winter left.

Oh how I wish I could curl up in a blanket and hide away from Winter in New Hampshire.  Don’t get me wrong, snow is very pretty from a window looking out at it while you are in front of a fireplace! So I guess I have to find my focus and motivation because it is my last week before we have a new place. I have a weekend to move, unpack and organize a 2,000 square foot home with three kids and another adult. The weekend shall be fun and if I see a speck of snow I am going to let everyone else do the unpacking while I curl up in front of a heater register.

At the end of the month we will be moving into a larger home that will be better than our current one. Each child will have their own space, we will have our master bedroom and master bathroom. The kids get their own bathroom, a full bathroom, none of that quarter bathroom stuff. My daughter will get a huge room that she can decorate anyway she wants. I am excited, this is a step in the right direction for the fresh start Justin and I wanted for our family.

I am so excited and nervous at the same time, you see this move will require a school change and we are a little bit into the school year. When I first told my daughter she was a little upset, a tear came to her eyes but then she wanted me to drive by the new house to show her. As we started to drive to this new home we will be living in she saw how close it was to her father, how close it was to other locations she enjoys visiting and well her tears started to disappear and her mind started working just like her Mama’s …. focusing on how this move can be a great change!

My daughter is going to create business cards with her contact information on them for school mates and use a journal to capture her friends information. The great news is that my daughter’s father is on the same page as me and we will be working as a team to transfer her school.  My daughter’s father had a great way of looking at the situation “you will not be losing friends you will be gaining friends” and how true that is. Where we are moving isn’t too far away from where we live now, it’s a change as far as home size goes and the fact that it’s a bit out there so no more forgetting to buy milk while I am in town because “town” will no longer be a two minuted drive down the road.

The new town is close enough so that my daughter can still play soccer for the same team she has been playing on for four years, she will still be able to visit her current friends. The change will be amazing, I am getting excited just thinking of going from somewhere near 1000 square feet to over 2000 square feet of house! We won’t lose land to play in either, the new house has about 5 acres and we have about 6 here. I am nervous going from purchased home to rental home but I have owned a home for nearly five years, I worked hard for it, and am proud but overall we have outlived this home and I am ready to be a tenant for a while. So much easier when something goes wrong.

Will we buy in the future? Sure will, but for now this is our change for the fresh start Justin and I wanted for our family. More space means less headache, of course it also means more space to heat, more places for toys to go … more places for little munchkins to hide on Mama. So much fun, so excited yet nervous … a big step towards a positive future.

I recently read our local newspaper where it stated that our county in New Hampshire has the highest amount of teen pregnancies in the state, they said something like 49.1 per 1000 teen girls between 15 and 19 is pregnant or expecting. That is a sad number to me, not because they are going to give birth to a little one but because they are going to lose the chance to be teens. I think being a teen is an important part of growing up.

During the teen years you are so into yourself it isn’t even funny! I remember those days, I was the queen, I wanted to do what I wanted to do and I wasn’t about to listen to anyone. Although most of what my elders told me was true, I would not believe it. Something about teens and the need to find out for themselves, which is great if the teen actually finds out in a safe way. Becoming a parent is not the end of the world I have seen many teen parents struggle to survive but they did it. I have seen other teen parents hand their child off to their parents to raise, and I have also seen those “grandparents” complain that they were not ready to be parents and due to that they are unable to be real grandparents.

It is sad but we can all work together to change this situation, to make it so more teens in our county can have a chance to be a kid and grow up at the age they are suppose to be grown ups. I recall growing up too fast, really I feel I like I raised my sister being home alone all the time. I am surprised I didn’t get pregnant at a young age because I am the child of teen parents. I think being a child of teen parents made me see what my parents lost by having my sister and me at such a young age. My mother was 15 and then 19 when I was born and then my youngest sister, can you imagine? I couldn’t and that is why when I was young, at the ripe old age of 14 and started having sex I got on birth control pill.

Most people I know started having sexual encounters at age 14, it’s rare that I find anyone who says another age. I think teens in my county are bored and due to the economic situation of most families both parents need to work full and are unable to pay for daycare. I am not making excuses, but this is just what I feel and have seen. Young children walking the streets because even though we have a great rec center and other teen programs it seems the programs are not “fun” or “exciting” enough to capture the teens interest for long. We also need programs to educate parents on how most programs that are offered through the community have scholarship programs so that no kid is left out.

If I were to have it my way I would create a fun, exciting and “cool” place for teens to hang out. We had a “dance club” here in town once but honestly it got so run down that most people there were either high or drunk. That is what people do in this town, I have heard it all along growing up “there’s nothing to do but do drugs and drink”. To me that is a sad statement, truly sad! To think our teens in this area feel there is nothing better to do than get wasted and risk ruining the rest of their lives with crimes on their records or even worse felonies?!

I know that some day I will make more money than I need and when that day comes, no matter where I live I plan to give back to my hometown. I was born and raised here, I don’t like to see it run down but money talks and without money or funding there isn’t going to be the cool, fun place for teens to hang out and be themselves yet be drug free and safe.  I wish I could snap my fingers and have someone build a cool teen hang out where the kids have soda and fun, they could even paint the rooms to their likings. I don’t want some dorky hang out place, I was a cool teen once, I know that teens want an exciting place to hang out where they can have fun and the parents want it to be safe. Someday I will help create a place like this, you just wait!

You know what? The news always seems to be full of negative, it’s almost like I dread watching my nightly news because I know my children will see things I wouldn’t allow them to even see in a movie. So why is it that there are so few positive news stories? Are less people doing good?

Of course not, there are a lot of people out there doing some good and this story caught my eye. MDA Volunteers were locked up at the WMUR studio on Wednesday, August 18, 2010 to help raise $1,600. What a unique and wonderful idea especially for this local area in Manchester, NH which is about an hour or more away from where I live.

Local business leaders volunteered to be locked up to send two children to MDA Summer Camp. I am a sucker for any positive news story that also helps our children. I am a firm believer in the children are our future because they truly are and what better way to help our children than to do unique things to help them attend a MDA Summer Camp. This is going to be a dream come true for two children and I commend those who volunteered to be “locked up” to help raise funds!

Click here to read more and watch a slideshow.

Kudos to you all who volunteered your time, helped covered the story and helped get the situation set up for the volunteers to be able to raise funds!