We purchased an air conditioner. Hurray! It’s the first air conditioner I’ve ever had. It’s the window kind, so we’ve been having *fun* trying to fit it into our old 1855 window frame…. more on that to come. We’re still working on a unique shelf that juts out from the window, upon which will sit the A/C’s bulky butt. Man, those things are bulky. I guess they have to be.

I’m also starting to take more time off from work. I try to get my writing assignments done by the time I have to cook dinner. I don’t always make my goals, and sometimes I wind up staying up much later than I like. But at least I’m not working non-stop anymore.

Gardening is on my mind lately. I bought some hostas and a few blackberry bare roots (all died but one). I have to plug them in sometime.

And of course, I have a lot of loose ends to finish up after last year’s renovation. I still haven’t completed that kitchen bench. And my living room/office needs a lot of decorating help. I have Ethernet and VGA cables strung about everywhere. I dislike cords all over the floor. :-p My intention is to build a very nice modern office with updated equipment (i.e., an i7 core computer with slick video graphics array or DVI cables, and… *sigh* yeah) with nice furniture and orderly shelves! I can see it all in my mind’s eye. Reality is another matter, lol.

All in good time.

How are your summer projects going? Or are you one of those lucky persons that have no projects???

*sigh* To Do Lists....

Sloooowly Starting to Rise Again

Original eloquence at New York Renovator.com. This content is copyrighted, so no stealing! Don't make me angry, you don't want to see me when I'm angry!

Sorry if I haven’t been around. Since I got some new wheels, I’ve been zipping around town with my newfound FREEDOM, baby! Booyah!!! We have a travel vehicle once again! I’m thinking about getting some New York Traveler promotional items. How about a big car magnet with my logo on the side, huh? Or maybe some Mrs. Mecomber Bic Clic Stic pens or groovy GOPromos personalized notepads??? I think it would be SO cool. I actually will be getting some New York Traveler t-shirts for us to wear when we visit museums and such.

OK OK enough teasing. Here’s the original photo of Livvy.

She’s hiding here. Under the island.

Please excuse the dust bunnies. They are taking over the house. :-p

She literally SQUEEZED under the island. It was funny watching her. I only had a split second to snap a photo with the cell phone, so that’s why it’s a little blurry.

So you guys were RIGHT!!!!! You’re all professional kitty finders, you are!

When it comes to getting promo stuff, I REALLY ought to market the cat. I think she’s more popular on the Internet than I am. :-p

The Kitty Finders

Original eloquence at New York Renovator.com. This content is copyrighted, so no stealing! Don't make me angry, you don't want to see me when I'm angry!

I joined SponsoredReviews.com in early 2008. Combined with the handful of other companies that I’ve joined, I make a pretty good supplemental income (enough to be paying off for that huge kitchen renovation we did over the summer). SponsoredReviews asked me to write about my experience with them. I’ll also offer a few tips if you want to get paid for blogging.

When I first joined SR, I wasn’t raking in the dough. Blogging for pay takes some time. That first year, I earned about $250. In 2009, I earned almost $300. I started up a bunch of new blogs and so far for 2010, I’ve earned over $700 with SR. That’s not too shabby, if you ask me.

SR is easy– probably the easiest blogging company I work for. The format is very simple (here’s the link, here’s what you say, boom- done). Some companies make you wrangle with a billion links and requirements and such. I like SR because it’s simple. Secondly, SR gives you 65% of the payment, where other companies take 50% share or more.

I wish there was more work at SR. A few months ago, I was clobbered with advertisers asking for reviews– I think I earned most if that $700+ in about three months over the summer. But work waxes and wanes. That’s the nature of making money online, of course. I like SR, so of course I want more work there.

If you are serious about making a little extra cash in the side, even if it’s just to get a pizza every month or to help pay off the mortgage, you CAN earn money by blogging. SR is one of my main income-producing companies, and they are a reputable one with which to do business. Check them out, you may like what you find.

Supplemental Income for the Household

Original eloquence at New York Renovator.com. This content is copyrighted, so no stealing! Don't make me angry, you don't want to see me when I'm angry!

New York Renovator is my little home on the Internet. I blog about our adventures as we *try* to fix up our 1855 home in Upstate New York. We’ve been here 10 years, but have really only recently begun to update. We’d been running on 1920s knob-and-tube wiring, a 1940s heating system, and 1950s plumbing for TOO LONG. Just a few months ago, we gutted and renovated our kitchen. By ourselves. Yes, I’m exhausted. lol. But not so much that I can’t blog about it. And I can’t believe WE DID IT!!!! Yay!

You can read about our story here. And read about the history of this house and how we got it, here. Or, you can just read about this year’s project, the kitchen and dining room. Or, if you’re looking just to have fun, you can check out my Find the Kitty Friday posts here. My Tabby Point Siamese cat, Livvy, is the star of that show.

When you’re ready to pull away from my riveting posts and photos, continue the Blog Jog to Soul Mate Tips, or check out other participating blogs at the Blog Jog Day Blog.

Thanks for visiting!

Welcome to My Little Home on the Net

Original eloquence at New York Renovator.com. This content is copyrighted, so no stealing! Don't make me angry, you don't want to see me when I'm angry!

It can be difficult finding new blogs. I have joined a good share of blog network communities, and have dropped out on most of them. Spam blogs, or splogs, seek out such communities as audiences to spew their low-quality content amongst more serious bloggers. I’ve been wandering around for some good blog communities to join, and have hit on a few since, but the kitchen renovation set me back on promoting my blogging. Now, I’m ready to begin again.

Blog Jog Day looks like it is very different from the rest. So HOW is it different?

Firstly, you are assigned a partner, and you link to that blogger in your Blog Jog Day post. This is terrific for the uber-busy folks (like me) who, if given a choice, will probably not visit a blog because something else comes up. With Blog Jog Day, I KNOW that another blogger is counting on me to continue the hop, just like I am counting on others to hop to mine. So there’s an actual mission involved. I like that.

Secondly, you pay to participate. In the past I would have been very skeptical about paying to join a blogging community day, but after experiencing the splogs and quibblers from other ventures, I’m ready to make my time worth spending. The pay rate will only draw serious bloggers into the pool, a very welcome feature indeed. For every blog you want to include, it’s $2.00. I entered in this blog and my other blog, FreakyFrugalite.com.

Thirdly, Blog Jog Day is run by Carol, who has a blog and is an author. A lot of writers with blogs joined up for the previous Blog Jog Day in May. So you know you won’t be getting dumb comments from spammers or people just looking to hawk their wares. Definitely a plus, in my opinion!

Blog Jog Day is Sunday, November 21st. Sunday is a difficult day for me, as I am away from home most of the day, at church. Yet I had made plans to be sure to participate, in the evening. So if you are a serious blogger ready to make some new (literate) pals and get some new (serious) followers, check out Blog Jog Day. You can read about it at the Blog Jog Day blog and sign up to join here. Carol has made it very easy to join.

As for me, I’m going to buy my flavored coffee, special chocolate, and prepare my warm blankie in preparation for the big day. See you then!

I’m Joining Blog Jog Day

Original eloquence at New York Renovator.com. This content is copyrighted, so no stealing! Don't make me angry, you don't want to see me when I'm angry!