A Few Short Years...

It occurred to me yesterday that my oldest son is only a couple of years away from being old enough to drive. This seems a bit unbelievable since we just started leaving him home alone for short periods of time. My hope is that he doesn't show an interest in driving for a long time. His sense of direction is not that great which makes me thankful for  gps vehicle tracking devices. The idea of him behind the wheel is a bit overwhelming. Maybe he will mature over the next few years and my opinion will change. I can understand why my parents didn't let me get a driver's license until I was 18 years old. They were in all likelihood protecting me from myself. 

Garden experiment.

I usually have good luck starting seeds inside for my vegetable plants. This year was the exception. After months of battling to keep my plants healthy I ultimately decided to put them in the ground yesterday. Rather than throw them out it seemed like giving them a chance to make it outside was a gamble worth taking. Should the plants not thrive outside I will replace them with starts from the nursery. If they do make it then all my efforts to keep them alive will not have been in vane. The temperatures here have been unseasonably warm for a very long time. It may even be warmer outside than in my house which would make the plants happier.

Chores...

Our children have chores that they are responsible for each week. One thing that we go back and forth on is whether they should be paid to do these chores. Even my youngest son has simple chores that he does such as wiping down the switch covers and dusting. Sometimes we pay our older son for his chores. It really depends on how many other things he is requesting to be able to do. For example, he wants to go to several different camps this summer. I told him that if we were to send him to a few camps then he would need to do his chores without being paid. It only seems fair that if we are stretching the family budget to accommodate these activities that he also stretch his budget so to speak. Do you pay your children for doing chores?

Pan holders...

Over the years I have tried my hand at crocheting a variety of things. Mostly I end up making misshapen hats and scarves. No one ever wears my hats and they sit in the closet collecting dust. Today my mother stopped by and showed me how to make crocheted pan holders. It is really easy and something that fits into my crocheting skill set. I can see where I will ultimately have made enough pot holders for everyone I know. There are only so many that you can use...

Declining health...

My father has been having a great deal of trouble with his health over the last couple of months. For some reason he is having difficulty walking and is now using a couple of canes. He is considering getting a scooter or possibly a free spirit knee walker to help. I really wish that he were more persistent with getting his doctor to figure out why he is having trouble walking. My concern is that he will give up trying to stay strong and need to use a wheel chair. There has to be some reason why his legs would be failing as rapidly as they seem to be. I may have to insist on going to see his doctor with him and see if there are answers that my father is not conveying to me. 

Vision test.

This week I took our five year old to have his vision tested. I had my doubts about how cooperative he would be with the process. As it turned out he loved the eye doctor and responded to him much better than he did the pediatrician who attempted to screen his vision last month. The results of his test showed that he is very near sighted and definitely needs glasses. We ordered a pair and he cannot wait to get them. I feel sad knowing how hard he has been working to see things and that we didn't pick up on this sooner. I can't wait to see how he responds to them and if they make a difference in how he reacts to the world around him.

Looking splendid.

Yesterday we ran into a friend that we haven't seen in over a year. The last time we saw him he was quite heavy. My speculation is the he was pushing 350 pounds at the time of our last visit. I hardly recognized him this time because he has gotten quite slender. My impression was that he must have found some secret bullet for weight loss like safe diet pills that work. The truth was that he simply lost the using good old fashioned diet and exercise. His eating plan consists of low carb and high protein along with daily exercise. I couldn't be happier for him because he seemed so full of life and absolutely healthy. A year ago I felt sad for what his future might hold if he didn't get his weight in check. 

Cold and icky...

Every Sunday morning I go out and run errands. I like to get up early before the stores are crowded and hit the town by myself. This is something I look forward to each week. Home schooling my kids means I have little time by myself which for the most part doesn't bother me. I know that come the weekend I will be taking myself out for a coffee and a leisurely walk around the store. Today I feel like crap which cut my shopping trip quite short. I don't know if it is the change in the weather I feel like I am right on the edge of having the flu. This is not cool and I know there is nothing I can do about it. After I finish some pending work I am going to crawl into bed and vegetate for the rest of the day.

Sticking to a budget.

We are very frugal people. Over the last couple of years we have worked very hard to limit our debts and be fiscally responsible. There was a time in our lives where we had very significant levels of credit card debt. It felt like every week we inched closer and closer to possibly needing car title loans Delaware in order to make ends meet. Thankfully, with a great deal of careful planning we paid off those debts and have made it a point to never incur debt of that level again. Whenever we buy something it has to serve a purpose and be something we actually need. I know so many people who buy things just to buy them. It is a trap many of us have gotten caught in. Things never really make you happy, especially if you never really own them because you have so much debt.

Greening up...

The last couple of days have been really warm in our part of the country. It seems like we have two warm days followed by two or more really cold days. This makes it hard to know what to do with all of the plants. I seem to be covering and uncovering plants on a daily basis. I have been worried about how my new plants would survive given the constant temperature fluctuations but somehow everything seems to be greening up nicely. My gardening habits tend to be a bit like flying by the seat of your pants. Somehow, thus far my instincts have been mostly right on just about everything.

Career planning...

I love my children to no end. There are days when I wonder what their future holds. I really don't care if they ever work for a raleigh nc cpa firm or become a physician. What I do care about is that they are able to live healthy, happy, independent lives. To get to that point they still have a great deal of growing and maturing to do. I have to wonder when my five year old son was offered a career planning class by his cyber school. I have to believe that the email I received about this session is some sort of error. They seriously cannot be pushing kindergarten children to start thinking about a career. My son is still working on doing a good job of brushing his teeth and is nowhere near ready to think about a career path. 

Homemade dog food.

It has been about 3 weeks since I started making our dog food at home. So far the cost has been really reasonable and our dog seems to love it. I usually make enough for one week at a time. I try to keep the food at a mix of 45-50% protein, 30% carbohydrates, and 20% vegetables. My choice of ingredients varies and this keeps things fresh for her. Some weeks the cost is a little more or a little less depending on what we have on hand. At most I have spent three dollars on a week of food and as little as $1.00 using things I already had on hand.

So positive...

I love the attitude that my youngest son has towards himself. He sees his little being as totally awesome. Wouldn't it be great if we all could sit and list our positive attributes on a daily basis? The child told me today that he is creative and smart. He went on to tell me that he is full of good ideas. I felt like he deserved a trophy just for feeling so good about himself. In someone who is not five years old this type of talk might be viewed as conceited but it doesn't seem that way coming from him. What I heard him saying is that we are raising a child who feels positive about himself and his place in our world. I would so much rather him talk affirmatively about himself that to tear himself apart. As he grows older the world will undoubtedly shape his view of himself in a different way. For now I am happy to hear him be pleased with every facet of himself. 

The News...

There are days when I wonder why I read the news. It seems like no matter what source you turn to for information there is nothing to find but negative news stories. I realize that sensational news sells but is the news really a statement on the realities of the world we are living it. To judge the world based on the news would be to say that children are being abused in homes everywhere and public places are no longer safe. I think I need to take a media break for a while.  I know it isn't good to bury your head under the sand but when you start to loose faith in people as a whole it might be a good idea to step back for a while.

Translating...

My oldest son has been taking Spanish lessons since he was in second grade. He is now finishing sixth grade and seems to have a pretty good handle on the Spanish language. I often find him translating things he reads that are written in Spanish into English to show off his skills. It is like his brain is already operating as some sort of converter of languages. I think this is an important skill to have in our ever diversifying world. My hope is that he continues to expand his understanding of the language and his fluency as time goes on. I believe there will come a time in his life when he is glad to have an understanding of the Spanish language. He doesn't always appreciate the work it takes to learn his Spanish lessons but I know that one day he will be glad he knows at least some Spanish. 

Onions and more onions...

I don't know what my problem is but I cannot seem to grow onions for the life of me. I have tried so many times and I keep saying that I am going to give up. This year I decided to try once again but instead of using bulbs or seedlings I am going to use starts that I bought from a company that specializes in onions. My plan is to get them in the ground sometime this week and cross my fingers that something actually grows for a change. I am also going to be trying to grow leeks for the first time. I realize that I can buy onions very cheaply but I hate to be beaten by a plant and refuse to give up until I have tried every possible way of growing them.

Teacher conferences...

One of the many things I love about having my children in a cyber school is the degree of teacher support that we experience. During the month my children and I get to have video conferencing with their teacher's to discuss whatever questions or issues we might be facing. When my children were in a traditional school we were only able to conference with their teachers once a year. Any other communication we received from the teacher was via a note sent home. I never  felt like I had a real relationship with their teacher's in that situation. I now really feel like my children's teachers are truly invested in their education and are evaluating them as a single student rather than in the context of a classroom full of other children. The emphasis is truly on their performance as a student rather than their role within the dynamics of a larger classroom full of children.

Vacation time...

It is finally time for spring break for our children. For some reason this year it felt like spring break would never get here. Despite the mild winter we had it seemed as though this school year went on and on. We did have a fairly long Christmas break but the children and I all had the flu during it. This made it seem as though we never had a break all school year. Luckily we now have a little less than two weeks to relax and enjoy our wonderful spring weather.

Maturing...

This morning I made a big decision for our older son. It seemed like he is finally old enough to stay home alone for wee bits of time. Given that he is almost thirteen this may seem late to some people. It seems like only yesterday I was shopping for  maternity dresses. I trusted him to stay home alone for a half hour today. Of course I lectured him on everything imaginable before leaving and quizzed him on security issues. I feel that the only way kids mature is by being given responsibility. He has always been a little late in the maturity department which made this a tough call. I figure there may come a time when he has to stay home alone and being ill prepared for that would make it harder. By taking baby steps he will be ready for the responsibility of staying home alone for longer periods of time. 

That time of year...

Spring has definitely come to our part of the country. It is really early this year for such warm weather. I can always tell when spring is here by the way my sinuses feel. Today it feels as if I have a bowling ball perched atop my skull. My head feels so full and my eyes are watery. I just know that allergy season is coming fast this year. I love spring but I hate dealing with a runny nose and sneezing. I guess I shouldn't complain too loudly since I only had to shovel snow twice this winter....

Consequences...

My older son has lost his computer and television privileges for the next month. He decided to take some short cuts with his school work and was caught in the process. What is hard with children today is that they still can find ways to access the web using different technologies. I forgot my son could access the web via his cell phone and e-reader until he asked me if he could track down a vlc download. He saw nothing wrong with this because he wasn't using the computer nor on the television. Apparently I wasn't specific enough and should have stated that his internet privileges had been suspended. He is a very literal child and told my statements for what they were and decided to work within those parameters. 

Cheap chicken...

Normally I make a point to buy grass fed local meat. There are times when I bypass this rule and this week I did just that. Chicken breasts were on sale at a local store for a price that I have not seen in 5 years. I decided to make a large purchase of these in order to can them. If food prices skyrocket in the coming months or years I would rather have some meat than not be able to afford any at all. In my pressure canner I currently have 14 pounds of meat and another 14 waiting. I realize that this meat is not ideal but it will provide my family with nutrition in a pinch and will store for a long time in my pantry.

Wedding?

My younger brother is going to be coming home in a couple of weeks. He has been hinting that he has some important news to share with the family. My secret hope is that he and his girlfriend will be announcing their intention to wed. For so very long I have hoped that he would find someone to share his life with and she is a perfect match for him. I would take great joy in contributing to their wedding in any way I could. My husband has already promised a bachelor party complete with pool tables and swisher sweet cigars. We are likely getting ahead of ourselves in planning to celebrate his wedding but it is fun to envision a long happy future for them. My brother is almost forty and has right to find his soul mate. Until, he quite by chance, met his girlfriend I honestly believed he would live his life as a bachelor. His personality is such that he would never settled for just anyone to share his life but promised himself that he would hold out for true love. My hope is that he has at long last found it. 

Eating outside the diet.

It has been four months since we began eating Paleo foods. For the most part this has not been as huge an issue as I might have expected. I know people who say that they could not give up grains, dairy, and sugar but it isn't too hard after the first couple of weeks. We have recently begun allowing ourselves one meal a week that is not Paleo. Typically my husband and I choose to have Chinese food as this meal. Even though the meal is not totally Paleo what we choose to eat if generally protein based. I feel it is important to allow ourselves a meal like this occasionally in order to make life seem like it is not all sacrifice.

Little musician...

A year or so ago my father gave my youngest son a child sized guitar. This has become one of my son's favorite things to play with. Every chance he gets he is in his room strumming on his guitar and singing his favorite songs. His love of the guitar has led to wonder if I should be looking for real used Acoustic Guitars for him. I have been told that children who show such an interest in music are best served by being given decent instruments to learn and practice on. I really want to foster his interest in music as much as possible but I don't want to get ahead of myself. He may well simply be playing with what he views as a fun toy as opposed to really loving music. It would thrill me to have a musical person in our family because thus far we are sadly lacking in that department. 

About a month ago I decided to try and experiment that I read about online. As you might know I am an avid gardener. Specifically I am a vegetable gardener. The project I read about involved re-growing celery from the bottom of the bunch that you would normally discard. I started three celery bottoms by saving the last couple of inches and placing them in a shallow bowl of water. After three day I was almost ready to declare the project a bust but then decided to put the bottom in pots of moist soil. Within a day or so my celery has started to grown new stalks and leaves. The plants are now a couple of inches tall and very much resemble baby celery plants. I am excited to buy more celery in order to repeat the project. I dehydrate the celery and then have the bottom to grow for planting in my garden this summer.

Love...

My younger brother has never been in a serious relationship until last year. Quite by accident he met a lovely woman and they are now head over heels for each other. Given that my brother is 36 years old you can imagine how happy our family is for him. What is awesome is that this woman shares most of his interests. They are constantly going on hiking and camping trips together. She has even camped in the snow with him. That is a sign of true love in my opinion! It wouldn't surprise me to get an announcement in the coming months that they will be getting married. It should be easy to find them the perfect gift given their wide range of interests. I can imagine my brother registering for gifts like bike racks at cracksandracks.com as opposed to someplace like a department store. They are the type of couple who would want gifts they will really use as opposed to things that will just sit around collecting dust. I am just thrilled that he has someone in his life who brings him as much joy as she does. 

Seed starting...

This week is the time of year when I begin starting my garden for the upcoming season. Even though there is still a bit of snow on the ground it is now time for seed starting. This year I am scaling back my seed starting a bit and will be trying more direct sowing of seeds as opposed to transplanting seedlings. This week I started about 30 pepper seeds and hope to have a decent germination rate. Last year I had some germination problems and started my seeds later in the year. This left little wiggle room for starting new seeds. By starting earlier I hope to have more time to start a second batch of seeds if these don't germinate well. Peppers can take up to 3 weeks to germinate as opposed to some plants that only take a few days. This year I am planting heirloom varieties which is something I haven't done before.

Musical passion...

I honestly believe my husband missed his calling as a musician. I have never met anyone who knows so much about music and is not a musician. He know everything from biographical information about musicians to their equipment. I had never heard of a aqua puss until I heard him talking about one. There is literally a radio playing in every room of our house when he is home. Tonight he came home with a stack of records he had picked up at a thrift store. I just find it interesting that he never pursued learning to play an instrument. His family supported him in every interest he ever had. Given what he knows about music it is very clear this passion existed when he was just a kid and is not something he took up in his adult years. 

Little sprouts...

This weekend I got the itch to start gardening. I had been reading about growing lettuce and other greens inside and decided to try it. I started a tray of spinach and a tray of lettuce. It has only been a couple of days but they are already sprouting. I love to see things growing! We were in the process of moving our seed starting equipment upstairs and I figured I might as well put it to use. It doesn't cost much to run the lights for starting seeds. I figure if the lettuce and spinach grows I will not have to buy it at the store. We go through a lot of lettuce and greens and have to run to the store a couple of times each week. Having it at home might save at least one of these trips.

What did she mean?

This week I was speaking with a friend about the size of our kitchens and layout of our houses. She has a house that is much smaller than mine and is always frustrated with it. I think I surprised her when I said that my kitchen frustrates me because it is larger than hers. What she doesn't realize is that this kitchen is half the size of the one at my previous home. In the conversation we started talking about decorating and she referred to my house as eclectic. I don't know if this was an insult or not. I can't judge because her home is decorated in rustic decor throughout. My house is eclectic in the sense that I have no theme. I collect things I like that are priced right. The colors might be atypical but they aren't wild. I just can't figure out if she like my house or thinks it is crazy. When I hear the term "eclectic" I think of the crazy neighborhood lady everyone gossips about. 

Season extenders...

I have been spending my free time reading about four season gardening. This is not something I had previously considered given that I live in zone 5a. After reading about people in Maine being able to garden throughout the year I decided to get educated on the topic. It would appear that with the right preparation I could grow greens and some root crops year round. That would save us a tremendous amount of money considering that we eat tons of salads. My next goal is to get a proper cold frame built for our climate and begin testing this type of gardening out. I have a small hoop house that I have used to get a jump start on my spring gardening but I now intend to refit it such that it can also be used in winter.

Snow at last...

Our ground is finally covered with snow. My children were very concerned that we had not had any snow yet this winter. I promised them that there would be plenty of winter weather and time to wear their columbia jackets but they didn't seem to believe me. Now that the ground is white all is right in their world. Once we are over this virus I have promised them that we will go sledding. Even if they only get to go sledding a couple of times a season that is good enough for them. Personally, I have enjoyed our winter without snow and would look forward to it hanging around for a bit longer. 

Weary...

Having one person in the house with the flu is bad enough. This week we ended up with three people having it. Both of my son's came down with it about the same time I did. It has been a long week of trying to keep everyone comfortable while cleaning up after them and trying to take care of myself. My husband has done his best to help us while he is home but he is also trying to stay away from us and not get sick himself. My youngest has been sleeping with me because he has been so nauseous. I know we will turn the corner soon but I can't imagine there being enough sleep in a day right now.

No snow...

We live in an area of the country where having snow on Christmas Day is a given. For some reason this year our weather has been really out of the ordinary. The ground here is still green and the weather is unseasonably warm. I haven't needed to get out my scarf or even look for Vasque Boots. The weather is a particular concern for my youngest son because he cannot fathom how Santa will arrive without snow. I have promised him that even if we end up having a green Christmas that Santa will indeed arrive but he is still in doubt. It is weird to consider the possibility of no snow on Christmas but I do believe it might happen. I cannot remember the last time we went through the month of December without snow but it looks likely that we will this year.

Concerned...

My husband is generally a pretty healthy guy. He is not overweight and likes to stay active. We eat quality foods and make conscious choices about what we put in our bodies. Despite this he has been feeling less than well. His doctor has run several tests and now wants us to come into the office to discuss a treatment plan. This has me a bit unnerved because I know from experience that doctor's don't usually call you in for a visit to say that everything is fine. I doubt that what is going on is extremely serious but I am concerned nonetheless. I will feel better when this week is over and we know what lies before us.

Entertainment...

My children have officially been on winter break for a couple of days. It is already clear that they are going to have a serious case of cabin fever by the time their break is over. We don't really have any snow to speak of which makes playing outside a sloppy prospect. The ground is essentially a muddy mess. My children would love for me to give them free reign over their computers but I haven't done so yet. I know that this would mean that they would in short order be making use of a youtube video downloader or similar tool to watch everything under the sun. I really want them to figure out a way to entertain themselves for a portion of the day without relying on technology. We will see just how long my plan lasts before we all go crazy.

Lesson learned...

Since going "Paleo" about 2 months ago I have had very little if any wheat or sugar. Today my children begged me to baked Christmas cookies with them. This is a tradition in our house and I felt obligated to keep the tradition going. While baking I liberally taste tested the various batters and ingredients. I am now paying the price for my taste testing. I feel nauseous and my head is absolutely throbbing. I know without a doubt that this is related to eating the cookie dough. I felt fine before eating any of these things. I guess this is one of those learning moments where you realize what certain foods really do to your body. I am not going to be gorging on cookies or flour at any point in the future.

Stumped...

This year I managed to finish all of my Christmas shopping in a couple of days via the Internet. I still have one gift to buy and I am completely stumped as to what to buy. The person I have to buy for is impossible to please. I wish it were as easy as buying socks, cologne, or briefcases for men for him. The reality is that he will never provide any input as to what he needs or wants at Christmastime. Whatever gift we buy typically ends up being returned by him the next day. Most people stress about Christmas in general but this is not true for me. I only stress about buying one gift for one person. I would love to buy a gift card and leave it at that but I know that would imply that we put no thought into his gift.

Blenders...

In our twenty years of marriage I have owned a number of blenders. For whatever reason none of them seems to last very long. Those that have lasted have been disappointing. I have lusted after a Vita-Mix blender for a long time. The reality is that I simply cannot justify the expense of one for the sole purpose of making protein shakes and smoothies. I am in the process of deciding between getting another full sized blender or taking a chance and buying a personal blender with multiple cups and attachments. Since we have cut grains and sugar out of our diet my husband and I have found we really like smoothies. It is kind of inconvenient to wash a big blender to make our unique drink preferences. I am thinking will be the best option for our needs. Any opinions are appreciated.

A little of everything...

My parents are pack rats. It took me a long time to see that they are actually hoarders but the reality is that they compulsively buy things and keep things. Many of the things they buy they have some future intended purpose for. The problem is that they never get around to using most of the things they buy for that intended purpose. On any given day you might find them in possession of an infinite array of unusual items such as Howard-Medical.com hospital carts and arc welding equipment. My dad always seems to have some grand plan for something he is going to build out of something he has bought at a sale. I wish that more of the things he intends to build would actually become a reality. It is now getting to the point that I feel like something needs to be said or done about the situation but I just haven't found the words yet.

Stuffed...

I have not eaten this much food in the last 3 weeks as I did today. There is something about eating with reckless abandon once per year that just makes it seem okay. Of course I feel sluggish and in need of a nap but it just seems like this is the way feasting is supposed to be done. I think too many see every single day as a reason to just gorge themselves and that is the root of many of our diet woes. If people could see the holiday season as a time for feasting that is different from every other day of the year I think fewer people would have bulging waistlines. My waist right now is bulging from the large meal but I am okay with that. In an hour or so I will put on my sneakers and go for a nice long walk on the treadmill to counterbalance my indulgence.

Buying for a girl...

Having a new sister-in-law has added an interesting dynamic to our family gatherings. For so long I have been the only female in the group aside from my mother. This means that I have never gotten to buy a Christmas gift for a female. Each year we draw names and I have never gotten anyone except my dad or brother's name. This year I drew my sister-in-law to buy a gift for. This means that I am free for once to shop for the eyelash growth product and buy pretty girly things. I am going to have a blast because I have always had to buy tools in the past. It will be nice to wrap up a pretty package full of girly stuff for a change.

A day off...

We have been eating a Paleo diet for about 3 weeks. So far it has not been very hard to follow the diet and I have been feeling great. Today is obviously Thanksgiving. It comes just one time a year. I decided to give myself today off and eat normal foods. The weird thing is that it didn't really taste as amazing as I thought it would. It just tasted like it always did not better not worse but simply food that tastes like it always tasted. I am not thinking that I will be craving it later or want to return to eating regular processed foods tomorrow. I simply enjoyed today and will focus tomorrow on once again eating paleo style. I decided that what I am doing is about eating well in the long run and being healthy as opposed to trying to shed a ton of weight fast and not keeping it off.

Metal detecting...

A year or so ago my husband bought a metal detector. It was a fairly pricey investment but it was something that he really wanted. He doesn't get the opportunity to go metal detecting very often but finds things with it occasionally. Honestly I think it would easier to just buy buy morgan silver dollars rather than wandering around with a metal detector. He did find one silver dollar in his mother's yard but not much else of value. I keep hoping he will find a nice gold ring or something. Even if he doesn't find anything he seems to enjoy the process and often takes our children along with him which is a nice bonding time for them. I have yet to take part in their treasure hunting expeditions because I have yet to see what the thrill is. Maybe if I were to find something great I would feel differently.

Meat day...

We haven't bought much meat from a grocery store in a couple of years. How we get our meat is by pre-ordering it from local farmer's. We buy whole chickens a couple of times a year from one farmer and a half a pig and cow from other's. The chicken and beef are grass fed whereas I believe the pork is grain fed. I would like to get some grass fed pork but right now the price in our area has been prohibitive. I believe that at least buying the pork from a local farmer insure some degree of improvement over meat from the store. Today we will be picking up our beef and pork from the butcher. This should total around 300 pounds. I am also getting the fat from both animals to make tallow and lard with. These are healthy fats and I will undoubtedly be spending the next several days rendering down the fat. A lot of work but so worth it to have good healthy fat as opposed to nasty store bought oils.

A day in the sunshine...

The weather here has been pretty nasty. This weekend we were lucky enough to find ourselves with a couple of pretty awesome days on our hands. The weather was perfect for being outside and the bugs were not a bother for once. Usually we end of taking our children out shopping on the weekend to get them out of the house because there is nothing to do outdoors. No one in my family wants to play outside in the rain and cold. They are quite happy going to a store and observing all the POS Hardware they find there. For some reason they are fascinated with this stuff and love to watch things be scanned or weighed. Today we spent the day outside taking walks and playing in the leaves. I know that days like this will become few and far between soon and I want us to make the most of them while we have them.

Good grub...

My husband and I have been trying to follow the Paleo diet. It has been about a week since we started it and so far it is relatively easy. This diet is more of a lifestyle in that you don't just do it for a little while. The idea is that you make changes that are sustainable over a lifetime. We are essentially excluding from our diets the following food groups - grains, dairy, and sugar. You might think this is a tough diet to follow but it really isn't because you get to indulge in things that we have been told are "bad" for us. Eating a meal cooked in butter and a handful of nuts for a snack is pretty great in my opinion. I really don't miss dairy because coconut milk is a great alternative. It really is easy to find things to use in place of traditional foods if you look hard enough.

Printing everything.

My youngest son started cyber kindergarten this year. It amazes me how different his attitude is about school this year as compared to last year. This year he simply cannot get enough of school in the course of the day. He wants to start school the moment he wakes up and not a minute later. He is also totally enthralled by printing every single thing he does on the computer for school and showing them to everyone. I really need to buy a bunch of black ink cartridges to have on hand. At the rate we are going we are going to burn right through the ink cartridge the school supplies us at the beginning of the year. I really don't mind buying ink if it means having a child who continues to be so motivated to learn.

Done and done...

This week I finally completed all of my canning projects for the year. We rounded out this years canning by putting away another 16 quarts of pears. Pears are rather time intensive to can and pretty much my least favorite food to can. They do however taste amazing which counterbalances the work they require. My canning total for this years is over 800 jars of food. During the winter I will likely can another 36 quarts of meat and broth but not much more. I love being able to walk into my basement and throw together a meal in a moments notice because I already cooked so many things ahead of time. It has been a ton of work to put away that much food but I honestly believe it is worth the time and trouble despite the exhaustion I feel at this time of year.

Be happy...

For many years I educated my children with the sole intention of preparing them for college. My thinking has now changed and I am trying harder to prepare them for life. I want them to be able to make it in this world on their own. Our world is full of over educated people who cannot find jobs. I now believe that being skilled at a variety of things is essential to succeeding in our changing world. Honestly, I don't care if my children decide to be plumbers or look into Medical Equipment Preparer Jobs as long as they are able to find a way to support themselves. Ideally, I want to prepare my children to be their own bosses and find a career that enables them to provide for themselves no matter what comes their way. Learning self-sustainable skills is what I now believe to be more important than having perfect SAT scores.

Not crazy...

This year I have canned 779 jars of food for my family. That is roughly 200 jars more than last year. What surprises me is when people comment as to how "crazy" this is or am I preparing for the apocalypse? I am not crazy nor preparing for disaster. What I am doing is making the most of the food that I grow or what is available to me locally for a reasonable price. Yes, it is a heck of a lot of work. No, I don't always enjoy it but it is worthwhile. I can make a meal for my family on any night of the week without ever leaving my home. In fact I can cook for weeks and months on end without leaving my home. I know that in the even of a job loss or something else that my family will be fine foodwise for a while. That is just common sense in my humble opinion.

Harsh winter ahead...

My husband has been avidly reading the Farmer's Almanac for weather predictions for this winter. His reading would indicate that we have a rough winter to look forward too. Last winter was bad enough and I can't imagine a worse winter than it was. We are trying to decide where to store our camper this winter to keep it out of the elements. Last year we almost stored it at the fair grounds and decided at the last minute not to do so. This turned out to be a good decision because the roof of the storage place there collapsed and the contents were crushed. Most of the people who had store their campers there had motorhome insurance but a few did not. We don't currently have insurance on our camper and now realize how important it is for situations like the one I described. If we keep it in the backyard it will be out in the elements but that might be better than being in a building if a heavy snowfall is expected this winter.

Using up eggs...

I love having my own chickens! It means having a constant supply of super fresh eggs always on hand. It is nice knowing exactly what my chickens have eaten and how they are being kept. There are weeks when I find myself with a good supply of extra eggs on hand. This means I sometimes need to find ways to use of a lot of eggs at once. Today I made an impromptu recipe based on a Buttermilk Pie recipe from one of my grange cookbooks. I am not a proficient pie crust maker and decided to just make a custard. It turned out delicious! The recipe was as follows~ 2 cups of buttermilk (cultured), 6-8 eggs (depending on the size), 1.5 cups of sugar, 1 TBSP vanilla, and 2 TBSP of thermflo (use can use corn starch). Everything is blended in the blender and poured into a greased pan for and cooked at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes until a knife come out clean. Simple and delicious. The original recipe would have called for 4 cups of sugar but I found that even 2 cups was too sweet and have cut back the recipe as listed above.

Content...

I am at a time in my life where I am content with how things are going. It is truly a nice feelings. When I was young all I hoped for was someone to enter into my life that I could love and enjoy forever. Thankfully I found that person and although we married very quickly into our relationship it has all worked out just fine. I know there were people speculating that I would be shopping for maternity wedding dresses because we got married so early in our relationship. It likely surprised them that when we didn't have our first child for ten years into our marriage. Our second child didn't come for another 6 years after our first. During those years I spent a great deal of time praying for children and fighting the hard fight to actually have them. It occurred to me that I am now in that time of my life where I am no worrying about having or building a family. I am simply happy and blessed to have the people in my life that I do and content with life just as it is.

Reading...

My youngest son has decided in the last couple of weeks that he can read and read really well at that! He had been reading some books like "Dick and Jane" but showed little interest in anything else. For some reason something clicked this week and he is in a full on reading binge. He has been reading everything put in front of him including my computer screen and the newspaper. It is absolutely amazing to see this transformation take place. The expression that "a light bulb click on" really does describe his activity over the last week. Right now he is reading a book about "Captain America" to me for the sixth time today. I love that he wants to read to me because it is absolutely adorable.

Homeschooling...

This will be our fourth year of homeschooling our children. At this point in our lives it seems like a completely natural thing for our family. Dropping my son off at school is but a vague memory. I love the way homeschooling has given our family freedom to live life on our terms. If my children want to spend time learning more about a particular subject they are not restricted in any way by a particular school schedule. I often find myself looking for scholastic coupons in order to buy more books on topics that they are particularly interested in. I realize that children in traditional school can pursue these interests but typically they must wait until the end of the school day to do so. I love being able to tell my children to go right ahead and research whatever it is they are wanting to know more about on the spot. I believe this makes them more enthusiastic about learning and creates a richer educational experience for them.

Farming fish...

I have hatched a new plan for raising our sustainable lifestyle to the next level. It involves fish and a 55 gallon barrel. Numerous online resources suggest that it is possible to raise fish in your backyard or garage using and aquaponics setup. Since we are heavily into gardening and love fish this seems like a perfect combination of the two. Fish is not something I normally buy at the market because it is never from local sources and I don't trust fish shipped from around the world. We do attempt to fish locally but haven't had a great deal of success catching anything worth keeping. Hopefully this plan actually comes together and next summer I can report that we are about to harvest our own home grown fish!

Expanding the family...

Last weekend my family expanded. My older brother got married for the first time. It is still sinking in that I now have a sister-in-law. Neither of my siblings have married up until now. I don't know if my brother and his wife intend to have children. If they do plan on having a family I would guess they will get started right away given their ages. On one hand I would like to have a niece or nephew and on the other hand I prefer things just as they are. It would be cool to hear my brother talk about his child and ramble aboutgifts for new baby from godmother and extended family. I don't really know his wife well enough to determine if children are in the picture for them. My gut tells me that my brother would love to have a family but I don't know if that is true for her. I guess only time will tell if our family expands by just one or by more in the coming months and years.

Irked...

I realize that most people are not interested in canning. I don't ask them to be interested and I don't expect them to learn. Most people who think canning to the degree that I do is crazy. That is fine for them to think but I wish they wouldn't tell me these thoughts. I honestly think that if people considered for a moment how much food they buy in the course of a year from the store they wouldn't think canning in abundance was silly. I spend my summer putting away fresh local produce that will last us an entire year. I know exactly what is in my food and where it came from. It does cost me money to buy some of the produce but most of it I grow in my own garden for little more than an investment of my time. This is my choice. I don't expect other people to do the same but I do expect them to keep their opinions to themselves. Don't bitch and complain to me about how "you had to can as a child and hated it". I am not asking you to can with me. I don't want to hear how nice my lawn was before I put in a garden. I JUST DON'T WANT TO.

That time of year...

This is the time of year when life starts to slow down a bit for me. I finally have time for myself and am able to work on some personal goals. One thing I need to do is get back into working out. I have gained a bit of weight and need to get in control of my eating habits. I would love to be able to go on a hcg weight loss program once again. I lost a great deal of weight a year ago on this diet but just can't seem to get myself in gear to do it again. For now I am going to focus on eating right and exercising. If that doesn't do the trick I will look into some sort of diet plan once again to kick start things a bit.

Going to seed...

The end of the gardening season is upon us. For the most part it ended up being a fairly successful gardening year despite some setbacks. Our spring was so wet that crops didn't go into the ground until fairly late. Once they were planted we were hit with a lengthy drought and horribly hot weather. By the end of the season it felt good just to be able to harvest anything. I have now reached the point in the season where I have met my goals for putting away food and have started to let my plants go to seed. I am hoping to be able to harvest and save my own seeds this year and not have to buy as many seeds next year. I have never really saved seeds before so it should be interesting to see if it works out at all.

Parent conferences...

Today we had our first parent and teacher conference with my son's cyber school teacher. When I first started having these conferences 4 years ago it was really strange to me to have a conference on the phone. I wondered how the school afforded to make thousands of conference calls a year that might last indefinitely. It then occurred to me that they probably purchased a special package for making cheap conference calls. Today I no longer find it strange at all to conference with a teacher on the telephone and actually prefer it to in person conferences. We love our cyber school so much and enjoy the freedom we are afforded by it. Being able to schedule our day to meet the needs of our family is amazing.

Clearing the land...

We spent last weekend camping and clearing land... My parents own a great deal of land and offered to let us clear some of it to put in a garden. In addition to the garden we are going to be planting some fruit trees. The area we are clearing used to have a garden on it about 15 years ago. Thankfully it did not have any trees that needed cut down but there is tons of brush that have taken over the area. We worked for about 6 hours and managed to clear a 50 square foot section. My mom insisted on using Roundup on the area after we cleared it which does not thrill me but I couldn't stop her. Hopefully by next year it will have washed away from the area...

He loves me...

My husband and I have been married for 20 happy years. It has taken me a long time to realize that he loves me just the way I am. This might sound silly but when you consider how much time most women spend criticizing their bodies you will understand. I am always trying to loose weight and in my mind think my husband must also not be happy with my body. The truth is that he truly does love my apple bottom and all of my curves. He has never said I look like I have gained weight nor has he been overly enthusiastic when I have lost weight. My husband simply takes me as I am and loves me. I wish more marriages had this sense of security because it is truly wonderful when you finally accept that it exists.

Doers...

We have a couple of friends who simply do not understand the life we choose to live. We are a family who likes to be busy being productive and learning new things. Sitting idle is just not something that appeals to us. My husband is always finding something to fix or build or clean. I am always in the kitchen or garden working to bring more food into our house. This isn't something we have to do but it is something we feel good about doing and for the most part enjoy. Today, one of these friends asked my husband if I ever just sit and do nothing. The truth is a do sit but I am never doing nothing. I am looking up useful information on the computer or reading a book to make me better at my skills in the kitchen or the garden. I simply don't feel like staring at the television or the walls. We are "doers".

Vacations...

Last weekend we took the children camping for four days. They absolutely love to go camping and consider it a real vacation. I would love to take a real vacation that isn't work but going some where like table rock lake real estate at pinnshores.com but that isn't in the budget. We have a small camper that we have used for the last three years and it has made camping so much more enjoyable. Prior to the camper we camped exclusively with a tent and it was not nearly as comfortable. The children just love to sit in the camper and play card games and read. That makes them as happy as if we went on a luxury vacation. There is just something about being somewhere else even if it is a space in the middle of nowhere that makes life special. We love slowly down and enjoying the quietness of life in the woods.

Things I won't can...

I am addicted to watching canning videos on YouTube. I love to see what other people are canning. So many times I see things or techniques that I had not seen before. There are times when I see people canning things that I simply cannot believe they are canning. This week I watched videos of people canning very unusual things. One man was canning rattlesnake and turtle. He somehow had gotten a dead rattlesnake given to him and decided that canning it would be a good idea. The turtle was absolutely disgusting because he canned the feet whole. He also had a video about canning raccoon. For the life of me I cannot picture myself canning a raccoon and I have canned many things. I thought canning sausage was weird but that has nothing on canning snake.

Things on my mind...

Today is one of those days where I have things on my mind and I can seem to focus. For some reason it occurred to me today that we don't have the same amount of life insurance on my husband and myself. For some reason his office signed him up for five times the amount of insurance as they did for me. I don't know what we need to do to change that or if we can. I haven't looked into anything life insurance guaranteed issue in several years. Other things popped into my mind throughout the day such as what exactly is in our house insurance policy. I have no clue what our home owner's insurance covers and really need to read up on it. There must have been something in the news recently that has me thinking about insurance for some reason.

Addicted to canning...

I love to can. There is no other way to put it. Canning is work and it is tiring but it just gives me such joy. I love looking at the jars in my pantry and knowing that they are there by my hand. It is so nice to know what is in those jars and who handled what prior to the food being canned. I like to try a new things each canning season. Today I tried something I never thought I would try and that was to make onion marmalade. At first this sounds kind of nasty but when you think about it and how you might use it this marmalade makes sense. It makes an excellent sandwich spread and a good glaze for roasted meats. I will say that is absolutely stinks up the house which is something I will remember next time. In the future I will make things like this on the back porch.

Life in the woods...

Last weekend we took the children camping for a long weekend. My folks own about 75 acres in the woods and we love to camp there. While up there we quickly realize just how different living in the woods is from city life. My parents cannot get high speed internet at their house. They simply live without internet because dial-up is so frustrating. They also cannot get cell phone service at their house or on their property. I have no idea if cell signal boosters would help them or not. As things stand they have to drive about 3 miles down the road to get a faint cell phone signal. My children just cannot imagine how I managed to survive a childhood in the woods without all of today's modern technology. What they do not realize is that most of the technology available today didn't exist when I was their age.

Making marmalade...

I have canned a great many things in the year since I first began canning. Today I entered new territory and made my first batch of marmalade. This was not just any marmalade but a very unusual type in my opinion. When I think of marmalade I envision orange marmalade. In looking through my canning book I ran across a recipe for red onion marmalade. I then remembered that I had a pile of red onions that I needed to do something with. After reading some online reviews of this particular recipe I decided to give it a try. This marmalade can be used as a sandwich spread or a glaze for meats. It smelled absolutely horrible while it was cooking but actually tasted really good. Hopefully it tastes as good when we put it on grilled burgers this weekend!

Geocaching...

Next week there is a huge geocaching festival in our town. We love to go geocaching and cannot wait to head out to the festival. Our children love finding caches and collecting various tokens from them. Sometimes we are lucky and find tokens that are like challenge coins. My entire family will be going to the festival with us because we all love to geocache. It should be interesting to see what activities they have planned for the festival. Hopefully we will also learn a trick or two that will improve our record of finding caches. For some reason we only find about 50% of the caches we set out to locate. I think that part of the problem is that we are relying on an older model gps system. In the future we hope to upgrade to a newer model. Either way we have fun whenever we go out looking for caches.

Rainy day.

Our children were feeling a little stir crazy with all the rain that we have been having. Getting out the house seemed like a good idea but we really didn't have anywhere to go. This didn't stop us from heading out in the van for a rainy day drive. We simply let the children take turns saying "left" or "right" any time that we came to an intersection. This proved to be great fun for them and we saw some parts of our town that we hadn't seen before. We ended up making a great big circle which worked out really well. The day was topped off with a trip to our local thrift store which the entire family loves. My children are absolutely hooked on thrift store toy finds and we love being able to say "yes" to toys for less than a dollar.

Carts everywhere...

I hardly ever go to big box stores or supermarkets if I can help it. Tonight I had to go to Walmart for something I couldn't buy anywhere else in our small town. I couldn't help but take notice of the number of people in the store using motorized shopping carts or scooters provided by the store. Everywhere I turned there was someone on one. The thing that surprised me was the wide range of ages of the people using them. I realize that things happen to people both young and old that lead situations where they are disabled and need social security disability or other types of help. I guess what struck me is that were so many people in a similar situation out shopping on a Wednesday night. In my mind it just seemed like a strange time for everyone with mobility issues to be heading out shopping.

Not couponing anymore.

There was a time for many years that I was considered a coupon "queen". I would use coupons in such a way that I typically saved 70% on my groceries and had a stockpile of stuff that resembled a small store. When we started trying to live sustainably I began to rethink my coupon use. It occurred to me over time that most of the food I had been buying was highly processed an unhealthy. I might have been saving money but the food I was buying was horrible. You never see coupons for salads and healthy protein... My friends don't understand why I have quit using coupons because they are still caught up in convenience foods. They cannot fathom making bread from scratch when you can buy it so cheaply. I have given up and believe that this is a path you have to find on your own.

Feeling his age...

My husband turns 41 years old tomorrow. He looks like he is about 29 years old in the opinion of most people. I don't think you would ever suspect he is as old as he is if you didn't know him. I believe having young children is a factor in this. Most of the people we know who are our age have children graduating high school or heading to college. This isn't to say my husband doesn't feel his age. I have noticed him complaining more about aches and pains in the last year. I think the impact of being in a car accident last year and breaking his leg had a big impact on how his body feels. He may no longer be wearing ankle or donjoy knee braces but that doesn't mean he is as strong as he used to be. It took him a long time to recover anything resembling a normal gait after his accident.Today I can see it in his eyes when he says something hurts. It goes to show that you can't judge a book by the cover. Just because he looks like a younger man doesn't mean that he feels the same on the inside. I am just thankful that he is here and able to walk at all.

Jumping without thinking...

I have a friend who is intent on copying my lifestyle. When we first started down the sustainable lifestyle path she seemed to think everything I was doing was stupid and that there were "easier and cheaper" ways to accomplish various things. Now one year later she seems to have done a 360 degree change of mind and seems to be copying everything we do. She is doing some of these things in my opinion without thinking them through. Getting chickens without a coop or the skills to build one just makes no sense. She is now telling me that she is getting a goat and will be keeping it in her garage. I love when people get enthused about living sustainably but there is a point when it is wrong and she is at that point. What kind of life will a goat have being stuck in a garage?

Biking to work.

For the last month my husband has been biking to work whenever the weather is decent. As it turns out he really enjoys his ride and misses it when he isn't able to ride his bike. We are really fortunate to have a great bike path in our town that lead directly to his office. The only thing he is struggling with is soreness at the end of the week. I don't know if he needs pre workout supplements of something along those lines to lessen his discomfort. I think a great deal of it is because of having broken his leg last year. This is the first time he is actively exercising to this extent. My guess is that his body is just getting used to the demands of biking every day.

Root vegetables.

Our garden this year will face an emphasis on root vegetables. We are stepping into this with little positive experience growing things like potatoes. Our carrots did really well but the potatoes were a total fail. This year we are using traditional planting methods and an arsenal of information. In the morning we will be planting sweet potato slips into grow bags with soil and compost. My hope is that the 24 slips we are planting produces at least 50 pounds of sweet potatoes. To be honest I would be happy with 20 pounds but 50 is the goal. We are also growing several different types of potatoes, carrot, beets, and some parsnips.

The rain just keeps coming...

I cannot remember the last time we had more than two consecutive days of sunny weather. I am so very thankful that all that we are dealing with is rain when other parts of the country are not so fortunate. I keep trying to put my time indoors to good use but there is only so much I can do. I have read everything about gardening imaginable and just need to get my hands in the soil. I am so very bored that I might just start reading colon cleanser reviews in the near future. I finally bundled the children up in rain gear and took them for a walk today just to burn off some energy.

Chitting potatoes...

We just spent a very romantic evening in our house. The children are tucked in bed and my husband and I had a couple hours to ourselves. We decided to put the time to go use and sat around the table talking. As we talked we chitted our potatoes. This is the process by which you prepare potatoes for planting. We are getting a bit of a late start on our community garden plot because of the rain. The ground is just too wet to plow or plant. We are hoping that our potatoes may get in the ground next weekend. Either way it was fun to sit with my husband and decide what is the "rose" end of a potato.

Merit badges...

Tonight is my oldest son's weekly scout meeting. This evening they will be working on various merit badges. We received an email that each boy was to bring a bag of supplies they thought they would need to start a fire. Each boy will then demonstrate his fire starting abilities using these materials. The place where my son's troop holds their meetings is along a busy highway. I can only imagine what a distraction all the fires will be for people driving on the highway. I told my husband it would be a good idea to stay off the main road when going to pick our son up tonight. I really would not want to have to find a Houston Truck Accident Attorney right now. We have enough on our plates right now without that sort of thing to deal with.

A good weekend...

It has rained for so many days that I have lost track. This weekend was the first day the we had an entire day without rain. We decided to take a risk and plant most of our backyard garden. It is still a bit early but the weather may not improve for many days to come. It is nice to look out in the back yard and finally see some green in the garden. After staring longingly out there for so many months I feel like summer really is finally on the way. My hope now is that the rain starts to become more normal and that all my gorgeous plants don't float away.

Life is great...

There are days when I dream of living in the country. When we decided to sell our old house we considered building on property my folks own in the country. We looked a modular home park models and thought for quite a while that this would be a good fit. In the end we bought a house in town and I have to say I am happier than I thought I would be. We have great neighbors and my husband can bike to work. Life is completely different than in our old neighborhood. I would still love the freedom the country offers but at this stage in my life there is little time for raising a huge garden and a barn full of animals. Maybe when the children are older but for now I am happy with my little garden and the three chickens in my backyard.

Romantic gifts...

This afternoon I ordered my husband of almost 20 years the most romantic gift I have ever given him. It is something that he will use joyfully and wouldn't buy for himself. I know that you are dying to know what it is and I won't keep you in suspense. For his 41st birthday next month he will be the proud owner of a .... wait for it....

New Garbage Disposal!!!

Before you think me crazy allow me to explain. My husband has been working fervently to build a cider press and now has it almost complete. He has been scouring the internet to find a way to build an apple crusher. All of the plans he finds seem precariously dangerous to me. I found him looking at apple crusher that appear safe and are made from new garbage disposals. I decided to enable him to keep his fingers in tact and have placed an order for the garbage disposal of his dreams....

Romance at its best...

Starting out right!

This morning I got up at 6:30 a.m. This is about an hour earlier than I normally wake up. I decided to get a good workout in before the children woke up. I was able to burn about 450 calories and walk 3 miles up hill all before anyone woke up. It has made the day seem different. I looked at food differently because I wanted to make healthy choices rather than just eat. I even remembered to take a multivitamin for women with my coffee. Typically I forget to do this because I am so groggy until my coffee kicks in. My workout was pretty intense and left me feeling totally enthused for the day. I really need to make this a habit. It would make eating right so much easier if I knew that I had already started the day off on the right foot.

Dehydrating...

I have spent the last couple of days learning everything I can about dehydrating food. I fully intend to can a ton of food this year but I also want to be able to store some food for a long time. I froze quite a bit of produce last year and wasn't exactly thrilled with the convenience of it. It takes some planning to get a large bag of something like frozen pumpkin out and have it ready to bake pies. I watched a video about dehydrating cooked pumpkin and then hydrating it when you are ready to make a pie. This seems like it would be awesome for my last minute baking sprees as well as to have foods ready to go camping and whatnot. I have ordered a dehydrator and will keep you posted on how this works out for me.

Workplace chatter...

Since this morning there is a constant stream of chatter in my husband's office. He is as concerned as anyone about what the future holds for workers in his agency but doesn't feel this is an excuse not to work. He called me this afternoon to tell me how his day was going. He said that all he wants right now is to get ahead on his work so that he can take a moment to breath at some point in the future. It must be really hard to focus with people standing around talking about what might or might not happen. He told me that he might as well sit and read a magazine or some sensa reviews because he can't focus with all the distractions going on. Typically his office is a great place to work but the prospect of a strike seems to have thrown everyone into a tailspin for right now. At least the weekend is but a day or so away. Hopefully next week they will all return with clear heads and a focus on their jobs.

Registered.

This morning I took my youngest son to register for kindergarten next fall. It is hard for him to grasp what this means. When he watches children go to school on television the message he gets is entirely different from what his school will be like. Attending a cyber school at such a young age makes it hard to explain to him that his school will be in our house. I know that as time progresses he will be able to differentiate between going to school at home and cyber school. I think right now he thinks that we do school work at home but that he is also going to go to a physical school as well.

Up and running...

Next month I will do something I have never done before. I will be participating in my first 5 mile run. There was a time when I couldn't run more than 100 feet without stumbling and falling. I seriously need Black Diamond Z-Poles in my hands to keep myself upright. The prospect of running 5 miles seemed foreign to me. I have been taking a running class for the last 10 weeks and it has been a tremendous confidence booster. I no longer feel like running is something for other people. By starting off small and gradually building my confidence I am now about obtain a goal I never thought possible. My hope is that my children will see me reaching this goal as an inspiration to them. It is never too late to become physically fit.

Making mistakes...

How do you handle it when you know someone is making a huge mistake? I mean a life altering mistake? Someone I know is engaged to be married and it appears that he is oblivious to what he had ahead of him when it comes to his bride to be. The thing is that it wouldn't matter what anyone told him about his wedding plans because he is blinded by love. This particular guy is someone that you would never think would be getting married. I honestly think that he is so overjoyed to be in a relationship that he cannot see all of the issues his bride has. She is a full grown woman with so many phobias and fears it is silly. She doesn't drive, fly, cook, or visit doctors. She is plagued by panic attacks and vague illnesses. There are claims of blindness that can't be substantiated given she is cashier? It is mind boggling that he would overlook all the drama and neediness and find something left for him....

Power tools.

My parents stopped by for a visit yesterday which is rather uncommon. My dad wanted to tell my husband that he got his chain saw working and it was ready for use. I will be honest and say that I am not very thrilled with this. The only thought that comes to mind when I picture either of them using a chain saw is the need for me to call emergency medical assistance. Neither my father nor my husband has a very good track record when it comes to using saws. I have helped them both patch up one too many wounds over the years. I would really have preferred to hear that my dad had not gotten the chain saw running and that it was junk.

Free entertainment.

This week construction began on the road in front of our house. I am not looking forward to this summer in the slightest if today was any indication of what we are in for. The water company is replacing the lines in front of our house and the state is also tearing out the entire road. The work on the waterlines began today. My children stayed on our front porch for the entire day completely entranced by the construction equipment. It was the best free entertainment they have gotten for a long time. From a totally comfortable position on our porch they were able to watch every single move the workers made. At least I know someone is happy about all the dust and dirt.

Not moving enough.

I had been in a fairly good routine for working out up until the last couple of weeks. All it takes it for something to come up and my entire system gets thrown out of whack. It makes me mad at myself when I don't get my workouts in during the day. I have been sick for the last 4 days and can hardly raise my head off the pillow. I am going to need to get on a serious diet plan in the future or look into the best best hgh supplement to get things back on track. I know that dropping a couple of pounds will make me feel better and help me get my motivation to work out back. I need to stock up on protein bars because they always work for me. That is of course going to have to wait until I feel well enough to drive to the store.

Hug your people.

This has been a week of loss in our lives. A friend of mine from high school passed away suddenly. She had just gotten married for the first time and was looking forward to starting a family. Now she is gone. I don't know the cause yet but it wouldn't make it any less sad. My other friend lost his father to cancer this week as well. It makes life seem all the more precious when you see the people around you fading away. My husband lost his cousin this weekend. She was taken quickly by a very rare blood infection that had been initially diagnosed as a sinus infection. Before the doctors could get a handle on her ever worsening condition she was gone. Gone way to early and way too quickly. No one expected this outcome or saw it coming and it has been a tragedy for so many people. Life is tender and we need to take advantage of every moment we have together.

Simple or Not?

My husband is an awesome man who really goes the extra mile to support our family in whatever we set out to do. He will try to build, fix, or do anything that is asked of him. I have asked a great deal of him in the last couple of years as part of my quest to be more sustainable. He has managed to build so many things like rain collection systems and chicken coops. I would like to think that I am a simple girl but he says I am not. Simple would be asking for a new ring or some business intelligence software for my computer. These are things he could buy online. The things I ask of him require skill and knowledge to build or create. They require time and effort to be expended on his part. I hadn't looked at things in that light before. Buying something on my behalf is entirely different from creating something out of raw materials.

Mushroom bust...

I posted a while ago about attempting to grow oyster mushrooms in bags in my house. The project was going splendidly until the last couple of days. The bags had started to show pretty decent growth and I was feeling good about my project. Then I started having a weird reaction on my hands whenever I touched the mushroom bags. I didn't think much about my hands. But them the reaction had become a full blown allergic episode over the last 3 days that wouldn't go away. My nose ran like water and my eyes, face, and tongue were swollen. It occurred to me this morning that possibly I was allergic to my mushroom bags. I looked this up online and found out it was very likely that people growing mushrooms indoors would develop allergies to them. I already knew I was allergic to mold but hadn't considered mushrooms. I immediately moved the bags outside and completely cleaned the house. Within hours I felt better. I will not be growing mushrooms indoors again...

Just a little while longer...

My children are just itching to get outside and play. The weather here has slowly been warming up but it is still pretty cold. Despite the sun shining brightly the temperatures are still around 20 degrees during the day. To top things off we have had flooding. The water is slowly going away but not quickly enough for my kids. Our local playground has been so flooded that you can only see the tops of the commercial playground equipment. There have been ducks swimming around the swing sets. Every time we drive past the playground the children ask me if they can go boating at the playground. I know that all the water will be gone soon enough but my children don't see it that way.

Dirty hands!

At long last I am happy to report that my hands are finally dirty! I have taken a shovel and I have dug in the dirt. It is no longer frozen solid and is at last workable. This is such an awesome feeling when you are a gardener. Sitting inside all winter looking at a frozen earth just leaves you longing for spring and hints of green. My garden has been worked and amended and is just waiting for warmer temperatures and new seedlings to shelter. My basement is full of those seedlings thriving under the glow of artificial lights. I never thought I would love the feeling of earth on my hands. There was a time when it absolutely grossed me out. Today I love dirt on my hands.

Can we go camping?

My children love to camp. There is nothing that they would rather do on a summer weekend than hit the road with our camper. They might feel differently if they had ever been to a Outer Banks vacation rental or on a trip to Disneyland. The only vacations they have ever taken have been camping or to stay in a cabin at a campground. We just love sitting around the fire and enjoying time as a family. Hiking through the woods and exploring nature is a good time for us. We are simple people who tend to need little to entertain us. I love that as soon as the weather gets even the slightest bit warm that my children want to know when our first camping trip is scheduled to take place.

Not total hippies..

It always interests me to hear what people think of our philosophy on living. I know many people who think we must be hippies because we home school our children, have a garden, raise chickens, bike to work, and compost. There are other people who think we are prepper's preparing for the end of the world. Another group assume that we must be ultraconservative Christians trying to protect our children from a sinful world. I have met people who make the judgment before knowing us that we must not believe in immunizations and that are children have to be socially challenged. It all just makes me laugh. The reality is that are just trying to live frugally, sustainably, and raise kids who are happy and well educated.

Out of the loop.

A couple of weeks ago I joined a walking and running group. I thought this might be a good way to meet new people as well as to keep myself motivated to work out. I have completely enjoyed the class but find myself without much to say. I realize now just how much my thinking has changed in the last year about consumerism and other issues. The ladies in my group don't have many hobbies other than shopping. Our entire four mile walk is an ongoing discussion of who bought what and where. I just don't spend much time shopping for shoes, baby gifts, and new clothes. I don't fault people who do this but it just isn't what I am into at this stage of my life. Owning a bunch of the newest and latest styles just doesn't interest me that much. I can't imagine how bored I would be if the only thing I had to look forward to in the future was going shopping each weekend.

Mini hoop house!

Each spring I make a list for my husband of the projects I would like to accomplish with his help over the summer. At the top of my list was building a mini hoop house for one of our raised garden beds. I had looked a number of designs and finally narrowed my choice to a style that was hinged so a could lift it up to work. My wonderful husband used his vacation time to build the frame of the house and yesterday we put the plastic on it. It is already steamy inside and it has only been about 24 hours since we put the plastic on. I am very excited to get some plants out there and see how it performs. Our temperatures are still pretty cold during the night and I need to see just how warm the hoop house stays during these cold spells before putting any tender plants out there.

News headlines.

Flour was fifty percent higher in price today than when I last bought a 50 pound bag in late fall. I checked the news when I got home and found that one of the large mills just proposed a 15% hike in prices for their products. I now wonder if I should have buy stock in flour instead of investing in something like best term life insurance or putting my money in a savings account. What I really wonder now is if I should have bought two bags of flour instead of one while stocking up. While the price of flour seemed high today I know that it will be even higher when I need it again. I could sit back and worry about the price in the future but I would rather be proactive and get a decent supply to have on hand for the future.

Delectable...

Yesterday I made a huge batch of bread. I made a 7 grain bread that is absolutely amazing. I also made a Pain De Mie loaf of bread. The second bread is made in a Pullman pan and forms an absolutely square loaf of bread. This bread is perfect for sandwiches. Tonight my husband decided to try making French Toast with this bread. We are lucky enough to have amazingly fresh eggs from our own chickens. I cannot describe to you the flavor of my homemade bread and our fresh eggs combined to make French Toast. This is French Toast I could marry... so... so flavorful and deliciously simple.

Bird's Eye View.

The weather here has been absolutely crazy. One day it is raining and the next we get a foot of snow. My son has been begging us to take him out to watch the eagles at a local nest we usually go to observer. Since it has been storming like crazy and we don't have waterproof binoculars I have had to tell him that we can't go just yet. I was able to find this really cool remote camera that is trained on an eagle nest in our state. The eagle in the nest is currently incubating 3 eggs and the camera offers and amazing view of her. It is almost better than watching the eagles in person because the clarity is that good. I still can't wait until the weather finally breaks and we can get out there and watch them in person.

From scratch getting more expensive...

Baking from scratch is usually a good way to save money. I have been baking and cooking most of our meals this way for the last year or so. As we are all aware food prices have become increasingly higher. Today I needed to stock up on some of my bulk baking supplies at my local bulk food store. I knew prices would be higher than my last visit about 6 months ago. I have to say that they were much higher than I would have liked. Most of the things I routinely buy had risen in price by about 50%. I realize the prices I had been paying were dirt cheap but this is was a significant change. It is still going to be cheaper to make things myself but not as much as I would like.

Missing stuff drives me nuts!

We all have the experience of things going missing. It might be your car keys or maybe your ipod shuffle that you cannot find. My life seems to be an endless game of hide and seek for something. If I am not looking for my own stuff then I am looking for the belongings of someone else in my house. For whatever reason my husband feels the need to constantly clean and organize. This used to bother me but I now just see it as what he needs to do to feel happy. The only time it is a problem is when he decides to organize something into a new location and doesn't tell me. My kitchen is one of those areas that is off limits. The rule is that if you don't know where something goes then don't put it away.

A capable man.

This weekend I realized just how fortunate I am to have a capable husband. My husband was not raised with a strong male figure in his life. The things he knows how to do today are things he taught or figured out for himself. He is constantly building or fixing something and just has a natural intuition when it comes to this stuff. This is pretty cool for a guy who is a social worker by profession. Over the course of the weekend this man fixed the transmission on our van. When this was complete he fixed the broken coupler on the washing machine. He spent the remaining time during the day building me a double decker dish drainer. I have been messing around with different dish drainer in an attempt to find one that fits my needs and decided that a stacked set would be good. My lovely husband visualized my idea and built one. A capable man!

A lot of flour.

This morning I went to bake some bread and realized that I was just about out of flour. I buy flour from our local Amish bulk foods store in 50 pound bags. The last time I bought flour was in late fall. I thought this amount of flour would last us about 6 months but it only lasted around 4 months. I know you are thinking that we must need chromium picolinate and weight loss pills or something. The reality is that I am baking or making almost all of our food from scratch. This includes baked goods and pasta which require flour. I am now thinking I should just buy two bags of flour instead of one the next time we go to the bulk store. I anticipate that the price will be much higher if I wait until I run out of one bag. How much flour do you go through in 6 months.

Party line...

I may have lost a friend today. I don't know how I feel about the situation but it is what it is. For a long time I have been in a circle of friends that are very, very conservative. They assume that everyone they associate with shares their thoughts on all topics. I have never voiced an opinion in public in this circle of friends. You see I am not a Republican. This isn't to say I don't hold certain viewpoints similar to this party on various topics. I also hold viewpoints similar to the Democrats on many topics. I try to see the world from a variety of vantage points and draw my own conclusions. This makes life difficult at points because I end up biting my tongue constantly. Today I voice my opinion on a topic that hits very close to home and my friend responded as I would have anticipated. I suppose I was finally at a point where I just needed to speak up irregardless of the consequences. I think she has realized that I am not a full fledged Republican. I suppose that now makes me a full fledged Democrat in her eyes. Not necessarily true but she only sees politics as you are either one or the other.

Half a night of sleep.

In prior posts I have mentioned that I have trouble sleeping. For many years I took over the counter sleeping pills to help me sleep. I decided about 6 months ago to quit taking anything to help me sleep. I was convinced that my body could eventually reset its internal clock if given time. For some reason for the last couple of weeks I have been waking up in the middle of the night feeling fully rested. In the middle of the night I find myself awake and staring at the ceiling. One night I got up and redecorated our living room. This has been fine until the afternoon comes and I find myself completely exhausted. Now I am beginning to wonder what I can do get a full night of sleep without resorting to a medicine.

Food prices...

I don't consider myself a doomsday type person. I however believe in preparing for what may come in the future. I like knowing that I have a certain amount of food on hand should something. This week I read information suggesting that food prices will skyrocket in the coming year. This seems completely plausible considering what is happening with oil prices. In case you didn't know there is a link between oil prices and food prices. The higher the price of oil the higher the prices on our supermarket shelves. I personally intend to combat this problem by growing as much food myself as possible and to source local low costs sources to meet our food needs. There have been reports in the last few weeks that oil reserves have been grossly overestimated and that we are very near peak oil levels.

Onion growing~

A couple of weeks ago I started a batch of onions seeds. I have never grown onions from seed before. Growing onions is easier to do when you just buy onion sets. I, however, like to do stuff the difficult way and decided to give onions a try. My onions seem to have taken secratatropin hgh or something because they are huge! I am hoping that they aren't getting leggy or succumb to damping off. Not having grown onions from seed doesn't give any experience to reflect upon. Having grown tomatoes before allows me to judge how my plants are developing. With these onions I just have to hope for the best and consider it a learning experience.

People are amazing.

This week I learned that a term I have used on my various blogs has been trademarked. It would seem that if I now use the terms "Urban Homestead (TM)" that I now need to be sure to indicate that these words are the property of the Dervaes family. They seem to believe that they invented this lifestyle and these words are now their intellectual property. It doesn't matter that the lifestyle they claim to have invented has been around for countless years. The skills used in this lifestyle were employed by our forefathers. No, my grandparent's didn't have solar panels but they did raise a garden and livestock. The skills these people use are heirloom skills that comprise the heritage of everyone. No one I know had a grandparent that didn't can or preserve food. This family now claims that homesteading in the city was their invention. Can we all share a good laugh at that together now?

Cutting electric bills...

At the beginning of the year the rate caps on electric prices in our state expired. We were forewarned that this would happen and were not taken by surprise when our bills jumped significantly. In the months prior to the expiration of these caps we took many steps to lower our electric bills. I made sure to change the power saving settings on our pc desktops and also hook them up to smart strips. We also swapped all of our incandescent light bulbs for CFL light bulbs. The children have been taught to turn off and unplug anything they aren't using in order to prevent phantom drainage of electric. Our future plans are to get rid of our old refrigerator and replace it with an energy efficient model. I would love to install solar panels on our roof but I am not convinced we would see enough return for the investment at this point in time.

Owning words?

I am in a bit of a state right now. Not the type of state due to sadness or joy. I am just miffed about how on earth our world is going to go forward. I learned yesterday that a family who's blog I have read with fervor have successfully trademarked several terms or words. These are words that have been used widely in the sustainable living community to describe those of use who live in an urban setting an practice these lifestyle choices. As things stand I can no longer, nor can anyone for that matter, use certain terms to describe our life or home without giving credit to this family for these trademarked terms. I must now call it an urban mini-farm and can no longer be referred to with the terms used to describe it as a homestead. In retaliation today I bought domains with the name "city smallholding" and "city smallhold". I will now call my mini-farm this instead or until someone trademarks that term as well.

Stock market team.

Most people think that children attending cyber charter schools do not have the opportunity to socialize in school. I have found this is not at all true. Yes, it is true that my son does not have the opportunity to participate in high school wrestling through his school. He can however participate in tons of clubs and other activities. For example in this week alone he has participated in 3 different clubs. One of those clubs is centered around robotic and programming robots. In his gifted program he is currently participating in a competitive stock market investing team. Tomorrow he will be spending time with his novel discussion group arguing the finer points of their favorite books. There are so many things that he can participate in that I have had to set a limit on these activities in order to get coursework done.

Mushroom growing...

Last weekend I embarked on a new project - growing oyster mushrooms. Everyone I know this I am a little crazy to be trying to grow mushrooms in my house. I realize that most people just think it is easier to buy these types of things from the store. Yes, that is true and it is probably cheaper but it really is not as much fun. I now have 5 bags of substrate that have a decent amount of spawn colonizing them. It is too early to know for sure if my experiment will be successful but things look good at this point. It will be another 2 weeks before the bags of substrate are colonized enough to allow them to start fruiting. The biggest thing to watch out for now is molds growing as opposed to spawn.

A night on the town.

The weather has been so utterly miserable that we haven't been leaving the house much. Last night we broke down and took the children out to run errands. Our first stop was the library. We picked up a vast array of books and also ran into some friends while there. As usual the weather changed dramatically during our visit. We received an unexpected shower of freezing rain. When we left the parking lot was completely iced over. I had to hold onto the handicapped signs for a moment to catch myself from falling. The children enjoyed ice skating their way to the car but I can't say that I felt the same way. Once in the car our night on the town was cut short and we promptly headed home. Maybe this weekend we will be able to finish running our errands. I haven't seen the weather forecast for this weekend but maybe there is hope that the weather will hold out.

So I am weird..

Having projects to work on is something that I like. Today I made an announcement on Facebook that anyone that wanted to help me with my newest project was more than welcome to come on over. Surprisingly absolutely no one took me up on the offer. Today's project was to pasteurize a couple of pots of sawdust and shredded paper to prepare it for inoculate with oyster mushroom spawn. Seriously, it was absolutely a good time that everyone would enjoy. Okay, maybe it was so dull even my kids got bored after about 20 minutes. But at least I might just have a bunch of great mushrooms in a few weeks. If I play my cards right we could have a virtually endless supply of them. I will worry about the endless supply part after I get my first flush of mushrooms.

Decorating at last...

When we moved into our house two years ago we didn't do a great deal of decorating. Each and every room in the house needed painting and that was a pretty time consuming process. Between stripping wallpaper and painting we didn't give a great deal of thought as to decorating. This weekend we finished up the last of the painting projects. Every single wall has been painted along with the ceilings and what seems like miles of trim. We are now focusing on giving our home a bit of style that is all our own. My husband wants to cover our hallway walls with pictures of our family but needs a ton of picture frames to do so. I am thinking that for Valentine's Day I will surprised him with a huge box of picture frames and possibly some personalized picture gifts. He estimates that he will need around 50 frames of various sizes to get the look he wants. I haven't had any luck at our local stores finding a bulk package of frames and am going to look online. I know there must be someplace that sells frames in bulk.

Decisions...decisions...

For the last year I have not made very many impulsive buys. In fact we haven't bought very much aside from Christmas presents that was an absolute necessity. It isn't that we don't have the money to buy things but rather that we are trying not just buy stuff for the sake of buying it. I buy as much as possible from thrift stores as long as it is in good shape and usable. There was a time when shopping for new things was a pleasure and came with ease. Now that I see life a bit differently I have have a hard time making a decision about buying new things. I almost over think things. For example we need a new tea kettle. My husband left ours on the burner for too long and it just looks horrible. I decided to start looking for one and ran across what is called an electric kettle. It seems like a perfect solution but we really like the look of a tea kettle sitting on the stove. I just can't decide between the classic look we love and the practicality of an electric kettle?