Adventures in cheapskatehood

Sickies, with good news!

2010-05-16T09:37:00.000-07:00

Yeah, we've been sick here. Initially I thought the kids had developed allergies, but then it hit me too. What started out as a congested head turned into crappy throat and later a stomach issue. Bleah.
The GOOD NEWS! Ironically, the good news here is that Jake got laid off! (I know, ridiculous!) That means that he's going to have enough time to get moving on all those projects that will make our house livable, like the new sewer line and the forced air heating system! w00t!
This week he's going to take advantage of the cash-for-scrap yards, which are only open on weekdays around here. He has an unreal pile of metal to get rid of - a junky old gas stove, old rusted metal kitchen cabinets, loads of pipes from the old radiator system (thankfully he was able to sell off the radiators and oil tank), scads of other stuff that just kept piling up for months... it's so nice to think that we can get paid for making more room in the house! Yesterday he dropped three small trees and started prepping a fourth, today he's continuing the tape/mud/sand project on the upstairs drywall.
I was able to lend a hand with the yard work yesterday for a little while, but I'm under a little pressure from the Census to put in at minimum 20 hours a week. It's surprisingly hard to do - one run through my assigned block took me less than two hours. I've been told to take that extra time to make sure my forms are as neat as possible. This job could lend itself to certain abuses.
Catie went to Camporee with her Brownie troop and (predictably) had to come home early because she ran out of clean undies and pants. Her bowel condition had been improving, but apparently being away from home and using facilities that were a distance away and were buzzing with flies did not help the situation. Oh well.

Effective government and other oxymorons

2010-05-04T20:29:00.001-07:00

God bless my cousin Jennifer! She came up for the week to watch my kids so I could go to census training - and is managing better with Catie than I usually do! And she told Daniel that he shouldn't put anything smaller than his elbow in his ear... so he tried putting his elbow in his ear!
The census training is dreadful, as anyone who has ever dealt with government programs might guess. It's not hard - in fact, the whole thing is fairly simple and easy to understand - but we are being spoon-fed the information at a painfully slow rate. It doesn't help that there are a few people that are fairly dense and incapable of reaching a logical conclusion on their own (which makes them uniquely suited to government work) and that the teacher is easily sidetracked and unable to follow a timetable. I have two more days, and I'm fighting the urge to go up, grab his teaching script and finish the training process myself! It's a good thing that this job pays well!
Catie's first communion was wonderful - she felt a little sad that she didn't have a veil like the other girls, but she pointed out that no one else had a dress that their mommies had made just for them! She took communion again on Sunday, and was just super thrilled to be a part of the mass in a way she never was before.
Jake's getting loads of the upstairs drywall finished off - so excited! If he's laid off by Monday the work will start going like it's rolling downhill.
You know what? Life is good!

Shangri-la, week 2

2010-04-28T12:23:00.000-07:00

The weight loss continues - slower now, especially as I've hit a point in my month where chocolate is lucky to escape intact, but still going.
Day 1 - weight 198, waist 42"
Day 7 - weight 193, waist 39"
Day 14 - weight 192, waist 38"
My appetite is still lower than before - I had to decrease the oil and increase my food intake after feeling very sick and dizzy one evening, but clearly if I'm losing weight the week "Aunt Flo" is visiting something must be working!

Good thing I'm losing weight!

2010-04-26T08:08:00.000-07:00

Now, before I go too far with this post, I should mention that Catie and Daniel's (separated) bunk beds were a cheapy cheap $200 purchase from BJ's a few years ago.
Now, you've read the headline, you've read the warning, I bet you've guessed what happened.
Yep. I broke my sons' bed. I sat down hard, and the long part across the length of the bed broke spectacularly right through the middle. Yeah, it was pressed fiberboard or low grade plywood. Thankfully Jake has an old twin size bed stashed in his moms' attic, but it'll take until this weekend to dig it out. Until then Daniel will be sleeping with a mattress on the floor.
Other challenges this week - Catie's first communion preparation on Tues. and Thurs. with the actual event on Saturday. I have to finish sewing her dress.
I got a call from the census group, and I'm supposed to go in for training next week, May 3 - 6th. The downside is that I have to find someone to watch my kids from 8:30-4:30 those days. The upside is that they'll pay $13.50 an hour for my training and work - and I also have a massage and a focus group booked for that week. So, for the first time in a while, I'll actually be able to build my savings back up and make a few small repairs on my car!
Biggest challenge - the house is still in need of major renovations before the wedding in September. In order,
remove pine tree
replace sewer line
finish drywall upstairs
put in flooring in kitchen and bathroom
install kitchen cabinets/acquire and install appliances/countertop
install new toilet and sink in upstairs bathroom
frame out interiors of windows/ wrap exterior of windows
tear out & rebuild the front porch & porch roof
install new forced air heating system
replace hot water heater
Downstairs -
frame out downstairs bathroom, drywall hang & finish
install sink, shower & toilet
hang drywall/finish drywall in downstairs bedroom
Replace downstairs exterior doors
hang downstairs drop ceiling
Throughout house -
install interior doors, knobs
install lighting fixtures, ceiling fans
paint
put in hardwood flooring and carpet
Plus about a thousand other things that I'm forgetting. So much to do!

Wise use of food stamps

2010-04-24T14:33:00.000-07:00

One of the things that food stamps can buy you is an orchard!
See, food stamps can be used to buy food, but also food producing plants and seeds! This spring I bought (mostly from Aldi and Walmart) 4 grapevines, 3 blueberry bushes, 2 blackberry bushes, 2 raspberry bushes, a few strawberry plants, and an apple tree. Not all of these are staying at Mom and Dad's house - some of them will be transplanted to the new house. I deliberately bought them with the intent of transplanting since after the wedding I won't have food stamps anymore - I intend to buy and freeze next year's garden seeds too.
Why bother with all this? Well, a $6 blueberry bush might not produce much this year, but next year I'll probably get $20 or more worth of blueberries out of that bush, and the year after, and the year after. It's a literal growth fund. The bigger question is why don't more people with food stamps do this? That's more complicated.
When you have only, say, $200 to spend on food for the month, are you more likely to spend it on food you can eat now or a potential source of food that may or may not grow well for you? Let's say you're a forward thinking individual and carefully invested a few dollars in a food producing plant. Do you rent or own the land around you? Can you put that plant in the ground, or will it remain pot-bound? Granted, there's always the Topsy Turvy (which has added pots designed for peppers and strawberries), but my favorite money-saver food plants are the ones that you don't need to start new every year. (Though I do like peppers!)
It's too bad that the people that would benefit the most from a renewable source of food are the ones least able to plant and enjoy them year after year. I do hope more people at least attempt a container garden - it's so nice to have fresh tomatoes and salad greens.
Maybe a community garden plot supplied by food stamp recipients would be a good idea? Food for thought.

Losing weight!

2010-04-21T06:56:00.000-07:00

I was reading Freakonomics about two weeks ago. I love that book - it appeals to my non-linear thought pattern. It was the version that had been updated in '06 with all sorts of extras from their blog, and one of those extras was about a behavioral psychologist who had developed a simple, inexpensive and easy method of weight loss.
The premise of the method is that certain foods have a way of raising or lowering your body's "set point" - the weight that your body wants to be right then. Foods with a high flavor/calorie association (like sweets, Doritos, junk food) will raise your set point, foods with a low flavor/calories association (bland food - plain rice, cottage cheese) will lower your set point. Foods with NO flavor/calorie association (flavorless oil, sugar water) with lower the set point A LOT.
Translation - if you take in a certain amount of calories with no flavor (so your mouth doesn't go "mmmm, more of that please!") you will feel full a lot faster when you consume meals with flavor.
How do you do this? In a two hour flavorless window (one hour after and before having ANY tastes in your mouth, including toothpaste, coffee, gum, etc) you drink either a tablespoon or two of flavorless oil (extra light olive oil is recommended) OR two tablespoons of sugar dissolved in water.
That's it. When mealtime comes, load your plate as usual and marvel at how much you don't feel like eating. Seriously, that plate will look ridiculously overloaded.
I started this 7 days ago. I have absolutely no willpower when it comes to food. I love food. We are having my wedding reception in a fantastic restaurant not for the decor, but because I fell in love with the food. I have stopped snacking. Repeat - I HAVE STOPPED SNACKING. I don't even want to. But the numbers tell the real story, and I love empirical data.
4/14 - Day one. Weight, 198 lbs(!) Bust - 44", Waist - 42", Hips - 43"
4/21 - Day seven - Weight, 193 lbs, Bust 44", Waist - 39", Hips - 42"
I'm 5' 8 1/2", and my initial BMI was in the obese category. The BMI calculator gave me a target weight of 157, which I haven't seen in ten years. If this rate of weight loss continues, or even if it slows down to 2-3 lbs a week, I will hit that target in 12 to 16 weeks. This feels very sustainable - I don't feel deprived or terribly hungry, just that my appetite has dropped off the map.
The only downside? My lovely, simple wedding dress will hang on me like a sack! I'll have to wear something else!

Adrenaline pumping, non-stop action!

2010-04-20T11:38:00.000-07:00

That's how the last month has felt.
Catie's birthday was March 27th. We had 9 little 8-9 year old kids running around our house, eating cake, ice cream, and doing new face paint and hairdos.
Easter was the next weekend. We traveled to my Uncle Mike and Aunt Anne's house in Virginia, which added up to a total of 5 1/2 hours of drive time. Good thing Mike has a lot of property for the kids to run on!
The following weekend Jake, his mom, his stepdad, his nephew, my two kids and I went to Rehobeth beach for a three day weekend to celebrate Jake's birthday. (30th!) We have the use of a very nice three bedroom condo that's 2 blocks from the beach and one block from the "Avenue" of shops during the off-season, which is just lovely. We had a great time.
Last weekend was my cousin Jennifer's wedding. I was a bridesmaid, so my mom, Catie and I all went down a day before so we could attend the rehearsal. 5 minutes after checking into our hotel I was hijacked by my aunt Maureen because Jennifer was threatening to call off the whole wedding. Not because of mixed feelings about her man - because she was worried about all the people looking at her. I was put on Jennifer duty until the actual time of the wedding, which I'm pleased to say happened on schedule.
We came home Saturday night. Today is Tuesday, and we've almost recovered the lost ground in housekeeping. I'm not falling asleep at the drop of a hat. We're getting back on a schedule.
Wow. Non-stop action wears me out.

Feng Shui principles and prosperity

2010-03-11T16:57:00.000-08:00

What an ostentatious title!
Really, what this is about is the fact that cleaning house can change so much all around you. Mom is pretty interested in Feng Shui, mainly as a way to make the living and working environments more comfortable. Now that the weather has improved so much, we have been able to take a serious look at our front and back porches and realized they were cluttered, covered in dead leaves, and unwelcoming. Mom spearheaded a cleanup of not only the porches, but the entrances and hallways, reasoning that chi can't flow where angels fear to tread. After we finished those areas I got three bookings for freelance work! Apparently those sections of the house are the "career" portions.
Clutter is the enemy of any prosperity - clean up and see what happens!

Does it get any better?

2010-03-09T15:33:00.000-08:00

Sun! Glorious sunshine! I'm healing from the rickets as we speak!
It's been absolutely beautiful over the past few days. The snow is virtually gone, the air smells deliciously fresh, and Daniel has apparently been getting high off of it. He smiles all day, shares and takes turns eagerly, and 5 times a day he throws his arms around me and says "Mom, you're the best!" Catie is doing really well too - they're just so pleasant to deal with right now!
And to cap my blissful mood, the IRS sent me a letter to let me know that they owed me more money! Apparently I used the wrong Social Security number for Catie 2 years in a row. (How? I made a 3 into an 8 last year, and when I looked up the number for this year I just used last years return for the reference.) The amounts were so close to what I had figured that I just got it wrong. After all, this year it was only off by $3.27 - but it turns out that there was something extra that I hadn't known to file - a schedule M. So even though I didn't have full credit for my kids, I still nearly had the same refund as I had figured because the IRS filed a schedule M for me. (What is a schedule M? Dunno. Comes after L, I guess. Actually it's something called "Making Jobs Work", which gives low income folks even more back.)
Taking into account the extra owed from this year and last year, I'm going to get an additional $445 that I hadn't even planned on! I know, it was mine all along, but I'm just excited that it's coming to me!
SO - great weather, happy kids, unexpected money, lots of massage bookings - does it get any better than this?

$99 was a wise investment!

2010-02-20T06:08:00.000-08:00

Actually, it was $132 with shipping and tax. My massage table is awesome! The manufacturer is BestMassage, and they make several varieties of tables. Mine is very sturdy, has wooden legs (MUCH nicer than aluminum both aesthetically and when doing energy work), weighs in around 42 lbs, and came with a face cradle, side armrests (for lying on the back) and an arm shelf below the face cradle (for face down work).
It's already gotten some use, but I've realized that I need a good massage myself so I can remember what feels good to the client. I may have to book one at the massage school - they have discount rates around $15 - 25 an hour.
And now for the part that makes me sound extra kooky.
For a long time, I've wanted to receive Reiki attunements. Reiki is a specialized style of energy work that requires a Reiki Master to place symbols in your aura to connect you to to God energy. Once that happens, energy work becomes exponentially easier - the sender no longer has to force energy to flow, it simply flows. I've studied Reiki manuals, but I could never afford the classes so I could have the attunement. Two days ago I decided to Google free reiki attunements, and discovered several websites that offer free distance attunements! They do NOT offer instruction, but as I've been studying for several years, all I needed was the attunement. The site I used was www.FreeReikiAttunement.com , and the master who runs the site offers certification and lists his lineage (shows who taught him, who taught his teacher, etc, all the way back to Master Usui).
At first I wasn't sure how it worked, but I was reassured by several Reiki masters who work individually that distance attunements are about as easy to do as those in person. The only caveat they offered was that the sites didn't teach you the method of practice. No big issue for me, but people new to the idea need more instruction. I've already received Reiki 1, and plan to do Reiki 2 and 3 once I have a chance to review my materials.
Must get showered and dressed - it's AngelFood pick-up day.
Funny - last month I bought my brother and sister-in-law 2 standard AFM boxes to elp them out. I called them last week to see if they wanted me to get them more. My brother's reply? "NO. MORE. FOOD!" They were still overstocked!

Massage table!

2010-02-17T05:46:00.000-08:00

So what if we've been buried in the snow so long that I've forgotten what color grass is. (Blue?) Who cares if we're due for another icy blast later this week? (I've given up keeping track - it wouldn't change much except how deep the snow is.)
Today is the day that my brand-new massage table is coming!
I've wanted one since I had my first professional massage at the age of 15, and thanks to wonder of the free market system and competitive pricing, I can finally have one of my own! See, in the past when I would inquire about the price of a massage table, I was usually quoted $300+, and a lot more if I wanted a "good one". Then while browsing around on Amazon.com I decided to do a search on massage tables. What a revelation! Dozens of tables with excellent reviews under $200! I chose one that only cost $99 plus shipping and tax, and from the pictures and reviews it should be sturdy and portable. The only major quirk? The company that sold and shipped it was named "Pampered Pets and Home Supplies" or something like that. I double checked that this was not a mini table for Shiz Tsu massage - it wasn't, thankfully. I will post a review of the table (made by BestMassage) and one way or another I am going to figure out how to transfer pictures from my phone to my computer! I still want to put up images of my newly painted and tricked out bike trailer.
A note to all those observant friends - it's Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent. I will be doing the Catholic standard fasting today, which according to our church bulletin is one large meal and two small meals. What's more, in the interest of spiritual growth and physical loss, I am giving up sweets and soda. The soda might get tough - I'm a Coke Zero junkie, and the caffeine withdrawal headaches would get tough without home-brewed iced tea.
Why give up soda, if I drink diet? First of all, artificial sweeteners and caffeine have been targeted as things that eventually cause weight gain. I've gotten pretty heavy with sitting at home, baking yummy things and cursing the snow, so weight gain is something I also want to give up for Lent. Secondly, soda is expensive and unhealthy. It's a double standard to tell my kids that they shouldn't drink soda, and to tell Jake to give up smoking, when I continue my unhealthy, expensive habit. (Although Jake is trying to quit with the help of some prescription meds.)
The sweets? As I said before - I'm getting too fat!

Snow

2010-02-07T05:57:00.000-08:00

Wow.
Really, Wow.
Here in PA we were clobbered by snow yesterday, along with a good chunk of the eastern seaboard. I felt the over-snowed mid west and south cheering "Yeah! THEIR turn!"
At last count, the snow was about 2 feet deep - I managed to dig out one car yesterday (my moms') and the kids had fun sledding on our back hill with the neighbors. Today my arms and shoulders are reminding me how out of shape I am, and I'm seriously considering leaving my car buried until the spring thaw!
The great part about playing in the snow is that it tires the kids out almost as much as swimming. Both of them were just exhausted yesterday - the downside was that I was too.
The best news? Another 4 to 8 inches are due Tuesday! I'm really glad we're stocked on food.

Snow

2010-02-05T06:23:00.000-08:00

It's going to drop as much as two feet of snow on us today! I have to make sure we get to the library before it starts - a serious snow like this requires musicals.
Got groceries yesterday... along with the rest of Harrisburg! I went to Karns because they had $1 a pound on chicken breasts, and everyone was milling about. Same at Aldi. Same at Weis.
Snow. Crazy.

CVS fun!

2010-02-02T10:49:00.000-08:00

I am really enjoying the CVS game now. It took me a while to get the idea, but now I'm getting brand names for less than I spent on store brands!
Today I went and got a tube of Colgate toothpaste. They were $2.99 with an extra care buck rebate of $2.00, and I had a $1.00 off coupon. I handed the cashier $1.99, she handed me back the toothpaste and $2.00 ECBs.
Next I got their "free after ECB" special for the week - a bottle of Dove for Men body wash. It cost $5.49, they give $5.49 in ECBs - and I had a $1.25 off coupon. I gave the cashier my $2.00 ECB, my $1.25 coupon, and $2.25 in cash. Then I used the $5.49 ECB coupon to buy another bottle of Dove for Men and got another $5.49 ECB back.
So far, $4.25 out of pocket for $14 in merchandise. But I wasn't done! We needed shampoo and conditioner. There were no serious ECB deals to be had, so I was about to buy a few bottles of VO5. Then I found a double pack of Pert Plus for $5, with an ECB reward of $1.00. I popped that and an extra bottle of VO5 conditioner an a bag of candy marshmallows (Catie was with me) in my basket and checked out for the last time. It cost me another $1.48 out of pocket with my $5.49 ECB.
I now have two bottles of Pert Plus, a bottle of conditioner, two bottles of mens' body wash, a tube of toothpaste, and a bag of goodies for less than $6 out of my pocket, and I still have $1 ECB left!

New method to my madness

2010-02-01T18:14:00.000-08:00

Hey folks!
A few days ago I was despondent. Catie was having a terrible time working on schoolwork at home. Continual meltdowns were the order of the day, particularly if a math quiz or spelling test was set before her. Finally Mom suggested that she might need something for her anxiety - initially I was horrified by the idea. Then I considered it. Catie does get horribly anxious every time there is a paper set before her with a little "assessment" star at the top. I made her a deal - if she can do her math worksheet without help, she doesn't need to take the assessment, and she can take her spelling test on the marker board.
Still, Catie did need something. I asked Mom to pick up some kind of natural remedy that would be safe for children and good for anxiety, and she came home with a Bach's Flower Remedy - White Chestnut. Four drops under the tongue later, Catie pulled out of a full meltdown in only 5 minutes.
I don't know how it works, or if it works for everyone. But it works for Catie, and I am profoundly grateful that she's able to calm herself so quickly now.

just a verification, folks

2010-02-01T18:12:00.001-08:00

How will the mechanic complete another cunning battery?

broke and bummed

2010-01-27T16:12:00.000-08:00

You know, usually I take pride in frugality. I don't have a big problem telling my kids 'no' when it comes to ice cream cones, excessive treats, toys (except for special events), and pricey outings.
Today hurt.
Today I mentioned to my mom that I was out of gas. I haven't had a child support payment since last July, so my cash has been limited to gifts and occasionally buying groceries for a friend with my food stamps and having them reimburse me. Mom wrote me a check for $30 in exchange for doing the laundry (yes, it does sound like I'm high schooler - thanks for noticing!) and I took the kids with me to the bank. While we waited for my cash, Catie started begging to go to Dollar Tree. I told her to calm down - she just kept going on about it. Finally I told her that I would give her a dollar for Dollar Tree if I had change after buying gas.
Before I sound heartless, I should mention that my Saturn Ion sometimes fills up for as little as $27. This time, however, my tank was very empty. The $30 was gone before I even had a chance to ask for a dollar to be held back. I could have asked that only $28 be put in, but I didn't. I put it all in.
Catie took it hard. She's still moaning about it five hours later. For some reason, telling my daughter that I can't afford a trip to Dollar Tree because we need gas cut me to the quick. There have been lots of time when I told my kids we weren't going to the dollar store because it was inconvienient, junky materials, etc. But admitting to them (and myself) that I can't afford a dollar store item stung.
We still go to the library - having the library email me two days before items are due has helped this chronic fine offender turn in her books on time. We go for bike rides on our super-thrifty bikes (that look really good). We bake cookies, bread, and any number of goodies. But that doesn't compare to a bag of Ring Pops apparently.
I try so hard. I make Catie dresses because long play dresses are hard to find in her size. I keep her home on a virtual school because socially and physically school was too much for her. Daniel is easy to care for, but I know the day will come when he turns on me to say that what I do is not good enough.
It would be different if there were money. I still wouldn't take them to Dollar Tree just because, but we would have that option. I would feel like a wise shopper, not a failure, if I walked past the Dollar Tree without buying something.
It's not easy.
I can't wait for this to change.

Ode to Frankenbike

2010-01-26T20:35:00.000-08:00

Oh, my poor Frankenbike. So wonderful, so misunderstood. No one loved you the way I did - they ran in fright (metaphorically).
What happened to my bike? Was it torched by angry villagers?
Boy, I wish it had been! What a story that would make! Can I say that it was and have you believe me?
No?
Oh well.
Frankenbike died as a result of peer pressure. The neighbors saw me pedaling around with Daniel perched behind me on the duct tape covered seat and stopped me. They admired my handicraft, and asked me if I would care for a "real" bike seat. The kind that snaps onto a pannier rack.
To quote the jive talkers from "Airplane", my momma didn't raise no dummies. I gladly accepted the offer and installed the new seat. Daniel loved it immediately and said "It's so com-for-ta-ble!" (yes, he pronounced it that way. Yes, he's adorable)
Yet I had a moment of sadness as I pried the Frankenseat off of my bike. It was ugly, but I built it. Still, the new seat is awesome. So what could I do to remind this world that I am not your average big spending cyclist mama? (not that anyone would dare call me that, but I have to defend my honor.)
Well, the bike trailer that I trash picked some time ago has been bothering me. I patched the holes and partially resovered it with old blue jeans, but the exposed parts looked so ugly, dirty and faded that I was a little embarassed to tow it behind me. I like the weight and the way it handles, but it was ugly. Today I changed that. I finished sewing down all of the patches that I had pinned in place all winter, added a large piece of yellow vinyl to recover a badly faded section on the back, and began to paint over all of the faded parts with bright red acrylic paint. Then I started painting little bugs all over the trailer - ladybugs, caterpillars, praying mantises, and a few ants and butterflies. And on the large yellow vinyl section I posted the warning - SLOW. Somehow I plan to post pictures - for now, I'm content with knowing that my trailer is no longer ugly - it's cute!

More CVS fun!

2010-01-18T06:26:00.001-08:00

feeling iffy here

2010-01-12T09:07:00.000-08:00

I had an internal debate about writing this post. On one hand, it may help others, but on the other hand it is exactly the kind of post that raises the ire of taxpaying citizens. "Get off your duff, stop mooching, and deal with life the way the rest of us do!"

What is this post?

This week, CVS is offering extra care bucks on several food items, including Cheerios, Nature's valley granola bars, Fiber One bars, and Cheez its. These food items can be bought with food stamps, and the resulting ECB's can be used like cash for nearly anything else in the store, like toilet paper, shampoo, make-up, magazines, Snuggies, dish soap, laundry detergent, etc.

Why worry? "Why should food stamps get you luxury items like brand name shampoo while I have to use Suave?" Yes, I've heard those sentiments. You know what? People will buy what they consider important, and the only spending you can control is your own. I will use those ECB's for Suave, Purex detergent, toilet paper, and the cheapest dish soap available. What others do with this info is up to them. I hope that they will use the ECB's to gain the greatest possible benefit.

You see, there was an article in the associated press recently about people who are getting by with only food stamps, and no cash income whatsoever. I'm one of them. I'd love to have a job, an income, and some independence, but my current situation and calling requires me to stay home with my kids. Every time I need to ask for anything from my parents or fiancee - gas money, pull-up money - I feel like Oliver Twist. It's humiliating, even though they understand the problem. I feel slightly better when I can buy groceries - not only can I pick and choose what I want, I am contributing to the household. Now if I can use ECB's to buy other needed household items, I'll not only be able to choose my favorites but I'll pull more of my weight along.

I just came back from CVS, and I bought all the food items that would garner ECB's. They were
2 pack of Chase and Sanbourne Coffee. $5.99, $1 ECB
2 pack of Cheez-Its. $5.99, $3 ECB
2 pack of Ritz. $6.00, $2 ECB
2 pack Nature's Valley Granola Bars. $6.99, $3 ECB
2 pack Fiber One bars. $6.99, $3 ECB
2 pack Special K cereal. $7.99, $2 ECB
2 pack Cheerios. $7.99, $4 ECB
total SNAP benefits spent - $47.94
ECB's - $18.00
Was this the best deal possible? It depends on your point of view. I could get a much better value for my food dollar by shopping at Aldi. However, now I have $18 that have been translated into money that I can use for toiletry items, overnight pull-ups for Daniel, laundry detergent, and "free after ECB" items.
In short, I have seed money for the CVS game. If I use them wisely with coupons, I may even be able to increase my ECBs AND walk home with toothpaste, shampoo, conditioner, etc.
Use this knowledge for good!

not feeling quite right

2010-01-09T21:38:00.000-08:00

Not feeling left, either, wiseguy!
No, it's just that my belly has been acting up, and I don't want to stray far from the bathroom. I've been getting short of breath, a little dizzy, and yesterday in a comfortable warm setting my core temperature dropped about 2 degrees. That really freaked Jake out - he's used to low core temps after a day on a jobsite, but never when wrapped in a blanket watching a movie. It wasn't like a fever, either - my fingers, nose and other extremities were all ice cold.
Other than that, life is good! Jake won an instant game at the Legion to the tune of $350. He handed me $100 so I could get a few things I needed, like pull-ups for Daniel and new undies for Catie. He insisted that I get myself something too, so I have a new top.
Catie had a playdate today!!! She met her new friend in CCD classes, and they hit it off so well I knew we had to get them together. E. came over to play, and I thought we'd never get them apart - this is so wonderful. I had wondered if she would have many friends, or if she'd be able to make friends. Now I know - she'll be great.
Good night, ya'll.

Bum knee

2010-01-07T18:05:00.000-08:00

I think I have myself to blame for this one.

Being a bibliophile extrodinaire, I have a pretty large collection of books. Not as large as my cousins', but more than several people I know. Chrismas day, I had just gotten back my "Twilight" series of books - around 2000 pages of literary junk food - and hung the bag over the back of a tall chair. Catie zoomed past the chair and knocked it over, and the top of the chair connected with my kneecap. I made a few noises of the type you make when you'd like to swear but have small witnesses. It bruised a bit, but I figured I was OK.

Fast forward to today. I must have twisted it weird, because now I can't walk without pain. Bummer.

Good news, my laptop will finally be fixed, and I can pick it up Friday! The computer guy I use is a crusty silent old man who runs a business called Qualitech in Lemoyne. Really, it's such a weird experience, because you walk in the door and he doesn't greet you - his tiny little dog does! It's a small fluffy breed, and very calm even around my kids, so the kids like going there. You take your computer, tell him briefly what's wrong, he prints up a service agreement and tells you "I'll call you when it's ready.". So, in person, not very charismatic. Then he calls me - "Ma'am, your power jack was bent out of shape, not the charger cable. It'll need to be replaced."
"Oh no! How much will that run?"
"$110, but I have a parts computer here - I can replace the jack and double your memory while I'm at it. Sound good?"
"Um, yeah! Sounds great!"
"Oh good, because I already did it." I laugh, he fiddles for a moment.... "oh, ma'am? It looks like your battery is bad too - it's not charging. I can sell you the battery from the parts computer for just $20 more?"
"Wow, OK! I know they usually run around $80 to $100!"
"Yeah, and this one has double the charging capacity of your old battery - you can go twice as long between charges. So, $130."
Can't get those deals at Best Buy! And they don't have a sweet little pup who cuddles your kids while you check out!
Today's moral?
Shop local, support small businesses!

Ahhh, grocery day!

2010-01-06T16:44:00.000-08:00

Yes folks, watch me adjust my neon pink leggings and scream at my kids! Today I got my food stamps!

Actually, I'm told that a larger proportion of the population than ever before is receiving the newly-renamed food stamps. Now called SNAP - Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, the only ones who need to know that you are using SNAP benefits are the cashier and yourself. The benefits are loaded onto a debit card (which is also how cash benefits are received) and a running tally of your balance is printed at the bottom of each sales receipt. No more bizarre looking funny money (which I personally have never seen, but I understand it was very conspicuous), just swipe and go.

Since I got my benefits today, I decided to use them as wisely as possible. I budgeted enough to order several AngelFood boxes for myself and my brother, who is going through a rough patch. (His compter training school closed without warning to either students or their teachers, and he is anxious to see whether he will be allowed to finish school at another location. Meantime, his work hours were trimmed to allow for class and study time.) With my budget in place, I headed to Aldi with children in tow.

Allow me, once again, to state that shopping with two children should only be done at Aldi. The four aisle layout, low prices, lack of brand names (and corresponding jingles), and singularity of purpose lends itself well to shopping with highly distractable children (and adults).

Anyhow, I stocked up on non-perishables. every month I try to buy a cardboard flat of two or three canned goods. Last month it was corn, peas, baked beans and cream of mushroom soup. This month it was tomatoes, and pasta sauce, with lots of doubles and triples on things like peanut butter and pancake syrup. Lots of flour, sugar, other goodies, and we have enough staples to last for a while! The total spent for a VERY full cart load was $135, most of which was shelf-stable. Eggs, butter, milk, bread and meat were the only things that I'll have to buy again in the near future, and I think next months stock up items will be different pastas. I may have to go to Weis to stock up on dried beans - Aldi mainly carries pinto beans - and then I think I'll be pretty close to having 3 months worth of food, even if meals get a little monotonous.
Since I can't wrangle a traditional emergency fund right now, this edible emergency fund seems like a sensible move! I just need to keep rotating my stock!
Stay smart!

Puzzling it all out.

2010-01-05T11:14:00.000-08:00

Have you ever had a day where it seems like a thought keeps running through your mind, but you can't get it to slow down long enough to figure out what it is? I keep feeling as though limitless possibilities are dancing just beyond my grasp, and all I have to do is step toward them. This is usually the mood I find myself in just before finding myself opening a small business, returning to school, or attempting a large renovation project of some type. I have no major plans at the moment - no projects I plan to commit to besides the wedding, the house, Catie's education, earning some money..... oooohh.
Wow, blogging really is cheaper than therapy, isn't it? I just need to slow down long enough to decide where I want to focus all this energy - one project at a time. I also need to avoid taking a job instantly - I'm nervous about finances, and unfortunately in my manic state I might decide to take a middle-of-the-night job tossing boxes for FedEx reasoning that I don't need sleep that badly.
Reading back over this, it sounds (in my minds ear) like a Chipmunk chittering away! And no wonder - I've had 3 Pepsi Ones today. I wonder if that has anything to do with the speeding thoughts? :)
All the same, I'm going to avoid entering any contractual obligations for a while! At this rate I might start my own 501c3 corporation collecting toiletry items for the less fortunate. Slow. Down. Kelly.

Swagbucks and diapers

2010-01-04T12:31:00.000-08:00

Odd combo!
Swagbucks has a $5 gift card for Euphoria Baby available for 10 Swagbucks. Euphoria Baby sells the new line of cloth diapers from Cotton Babies, Econobums - 12 diapers and 3 one-size covers for $50. For 100 searches you can have a set of cloth diapers with no cash out of your pocket. If you can stand to hold off until you have 300 swagbucks, you can diaper your child for free!

Bad Mommy

2010-01-04T12:03:00.000-08:00

It's days like today that make me wonder why I ever thought having the kids home would be a good idea! Daniel is currently climbing onto the bed, scooching across it, dropping down, running around, and doing it again. He's been doing attention seeking stuff like that all day. Catie has been whining and wailing about having to do schoolwork after 2 weeks of vacation, and keep begging me for a break after five minutes of effort. "It's not fair! Why can't I have a break? (Extend the vowel sounds in your mind for the right effect). This is toooo haaaaard! I don't waaaaant tooooo!" I finally had to use my "back to school" card. If she can't cooperate, back to regular school she goes and THEY can suffer.
Bad mommy.
I know she has problems, I know it's too much for her in school. I know that it wasn't for my benefit that she's home - it's the best move for her. If she were at school today, not only would she get nothing done, the nurse, counselor, principal and teacher would all call me in because her meltdown prevented everyone else from getting things done too. But Holy Hannah, these guys are enough to drive me to illegal substances!
Money saving things I did today - we were out of bread, so I baked two loaves. Tonight I'll be cooking chicken legs that cost $.59 a lb.
Wedding planning - January, our goal is to book a venue. After we book a venue, we can puzzle out things like music, food, etc. One of the more interesting options is an airport hangar at Capitol City Airport. Apparently they use it as a banquet hall occasionally - imagine running to the car under a shower of paper airplanes!
House repairs - Jake framed in 4 windows and a transom with cabinet-grade plywood this weekend, which will make finishing and trimming much nicer. Woodstove has been kept burning, which keeps the house at a comfortable temp and prevents pipe freezing.
Things that still need to be done on the house-
Sewer line - dug up and replaced
front porch - demo'd and rebuilt
Oil furnace and boiler pipes removed
Gas furnace and baseboard heaters - bought and installed
Downstairs bathroom installed
Acoustic ceiling hung in basement
Berber carpet and padding throughout house
Vinyl floors for kitchen and bathrooms
New stove, fridge and dishwasher
and of course, hanging cabinets, finishing drywall, painting, cleaning, and we only have until September!!!!!
Deep breaths. Calm.
You know, tomorrow night be better. Daniel goes to preschool, and Catie might concentrate. I might be able to find time to write!
You never know.

Chapped ass!

2010-01-03T18:00:00.000-08:00

Man, it's cold and windy enough to make a caribou take cover today!
We've been fairly lucky on weather here - the week before Christmas we got 8 inches of snow, and some sleet on Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve - otherwise just plain old cold. But when that wind starts blowing, it's enough to bring tears to your eyes.
CVS couponing continues - my mom and I went armed with a pile of BOGO coupons for Always and Stayfree pads, Alli pills, Nivea lotion and body wash, etc. and still wound up spending $80+ before the extra care bucks came spitting out. Ah well. We are stocked on pads for a while - a good thing for my mama! I have my Diva Cup and love it, but she just isn't comfortable with that whole idea of "internal protection" to begin with.
Jake is very tense and worried about getting the house done - specifically, he's worried that we won't be able to afford all the repairs needed before the house will be done. Please pray for us out there. My prayer has been for either the cash or materials and labor.
Oh, and if you're out there, and you read this blog, please recommend it to your friends! Every page impression counts when you have a blog!
Thanks, and stay warm!

aftermath

2010-01-02T06:31:00.000-08:00

Well, we survived Christmas and New Years!
Yes, the kids got so many gifts I thought they would never appreciate anything ever again. Yes, the traveling wore us out. But the kids were (mostly) very well-behaved, especially in Pittsburgh, and not only appreciated the gifts they recieved but started cleaning out their toy box giving old toys to charity! I have to say I'm very proud of Catie - she is a ruthless weeder when it comes to getting rid of old toys and books. With my mom's help, she got rid of three laundry baskets full of stuff she no longer used. Daniel mostly watched.
All this clean out was for a good reason (besides helping the less fortunate).For Christmas, my dad gave up his office so my kids could have separate bedrooms. After the wedding in September, we will be moving to our new house, where the kids will have their own rooms as well. Since my kids need time to get used to changes, Mom thought it would be a good idea to get them used to sleeping separately now. It's going more smoothly than I would have guessed, but Daniel did something that just killed me the first night. Mom and I had been talking about how this is like training a puppy to sleep alone - give them a ticking clock to simulate the mother's heartbeat, a warm water-bottle to snuggle with, etc. so they can sleep more comfortably. The kids have shared a room for a long time, and were a little nervous about being alone at night, so I made sure the nightlights were ready to go and their beds were made with cozy linens. Daniel fell asleep that night very quickly, and I went in to check on him. He had fallen asleep with his (ticking) alarm clock under his cheek!
Catie's classroom is now in her bedroom, which has freed up the dining room for... er... dining, and the toys have all moved up to their rooms too! The downstairs is so nice and clean ! Actually, so is the upstairs - the rooms even seem bigger.
Thank you, Mom and Dad.

Christmas

2009-12-23T06:31:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone!
Christmas is scaring me a little this year. Not because I can't afford fancy gifts - my loved ones know that my time is being spent educating my daughter instead of earning outside the home - but because I feel a tidal wave of gifts coming our way. This year, instead of the basic nuclear family with a few cousins thrown in, I have my future in-laws as well. I have tried my best to get everyone a small token, or at least make them something to show I care.
However. The in-laws-to-be have taken on my two kids as their own grandchildren, which is something I've prayed for from the moment I knew I'd eventually find someone new. It's wonderful.... except now I fear the present wars will begin. Jake, wonderful man, took me Christmas shopping before Black Friday, where we bought enough gifts to make a jolly Christmas on our own. Then I saw the stack that my mom had started to accumulate, smiled and shook my head. The kids would be awfully busy on Christmas morning, I guessed. Then I found out a similar gift pile had been stacked at Jake's moms house. Whoa. These kids are going to be very well gifted - and will probably have the gimmies for months afterward. Because if you give a mouse a cookie, he'll ask for milk, but what happens when you give a 7 year old 5 Barbies? They'll want a dollhouse and an RV and a swimming pool to go with them.
I don't want to sound ungrateful, because I know that I'm blessed to have so many people who love my children and want to see them happy. And I know that in those gifts are things that my children need like sneakers, as well as toys. And what's more, I know that in each gift are the best loving intentions from everyone who loves my children.
Knowing my kids as I do, I know that they will need at least a few breaks from present opening to avoid feeling overwhelmed. We'll be going to church on Christmas eve, and hopefully that will keep us (me) grounded. And I will pray for gratitude, for patience, and for peace, not just for my family, but for all families. Because I know that many people wish they had my problem. And I know that other people are going through the same challenges.
So I will pray for us all - Peace upon us, and thanks be for the Gift that we should really celebrate.

Playing catch up!

2009-12-10T13:57:00.001-08:00

It feels like I'm always trying to catch up around here!
First of all, Catie is doing wonderfully in Agora Cyber Charter School! If they had had this when I was a kid I would have done everything in my power to get my parents to enroll me. Holding breath, hiding under my bed, promising to clean my room... nothing would have been too much.
The breakdown - we recieved about 8 large boxes from Agora containing all our books, worksheets, math manipulatives, science equipment, art supplies, a computer, monitor, printer, peripherials, and I think I saw a kitchen sink fall out of there too. Every day we log onto Catie's school computer and check out our lesson plan for the day. We have language arts and math every day, and alternate between history to science and art to music. The flexibility is outstanding - if Catie's having a good day (it happens) we can get through more than one math class for the day. If it's a rough day (happens too) we can pass on art or history for the day. After all, even in a public school many teachers have days where they just can't get through the material they wanted to.
Yesterday both kids were miserable, cranky and unbearable. Catie had an awful time with her spelling test, wailing the whole way through. They both wound up taking naps from 3 to 5 that afternoon - unheard of for my guys - and I realized that if she had acted this way around someone else they would have assumed she was being rotten. Someone else would not have gotten that my sweet little kids were just wiped out and needed a rest.
On the frugal end of things, I've signed up for 3 standard AngelFood boxes and two specials, which we'll be picking up this Sat. That cost around $134 in food stamps, a pittance considering the amount of food we'll have to wrestle into freezers and cupboards.
In Newport on Saturday there's a church holding a "free flea market". All items have been donated and will be given at no charge, first come/first serve. The craigslist ad suggested that we do our Christmas "shopping" there. Don't mind if I do! The items were described as new or like-new, and I can't wait to check it out!
One more thing before I wrap up. My favorite cloth diaper company, Cotton Babies, have gotten even smarter! They're the makers of BumGenius! diapers, which are high quality pocket diapers that adjust in size to fit from birth to potty training. I always wanted them for my guys, but they're $18 each. Not a very frugal choice. Now the smarties made two new diaper kits, but the onw I'm thrilled over is Econobum. For $50 you get 12 cloth diapers and 3 one-size adjustable wipe-clean covers. That is the most outstanding deal ever - I mean, you can get the prefold diapers and covers, but covers are usually sized - you have to buy new ones every time the kid grows. These - you buy 2 or 3 kits for $100 - $150 when you have your kid, and you don't spend another dime on diapers! Unless you're traveling or sick... that's where the Flip system comes in. A bit more pricey, but still affordable, Flip is a one size cover paired with a super-absorbant insert. Nice. But the clever part is the disposable option for when things go wrong - a maxi-pad-like insert that can be thrown away. Useful for travel, sitters, and when Mom is so sick that blinking hurts, let alone doing smelly laundry.
Almost makes me want to have another baby!
Almost.

More swagbucks!

2009-12-06T08:24:00.000-08:00

Once again, I am compelled by swagbucks! I suddenly realized that if had had done my searches daily, I could have given away all sorts of goodies for Christmas without spending any cash.
Got a swagbucks account yet? No? If you go through this link below, you'll get to start earning points every time you did a search. They give me a few for everyone who links through me, but then you can link your friends and do a guilt free amway-style earning tower!

www.swagbucks.com/refer/tiredmom

Breakfast

2009-11-09T06:02:00.000-08:00

Today I cooked up some steel-cut oats ($1.59 a lb) and a little corn meal ($1.09 a lb) for my breakfast. Mom and I ate it, but the kids stuck to cereal. Steel cut oats are a little odd - they have a very different texture from "regular" oatmeal - even though they get nice and soft, you have to chew them as you're eating. Somehow, the chewing is very satisfying and I got really full on one bowl, where I could usually eat two of Cream of Wheat or quick oats. Good stuff! I guess that's why those damn liquid diets just don't work very well. I gotta have something to chew!
I changed up my medicine lately (Lamictal instead of Prozac for my bipolar disorder) and it affects my appetite and cravings in a weird way. How? I haven't been craving sweets or Diet Coke like I used to. I mean, I still like them and I'll eat them once in a while, but it's not like "I gotta have a soda and some Oreos right now!" I guess I was using those things as mood lifters when I was dragging. Wow. Stablizing body chemistry is awesome!

The joy of grocery shopping!

2009-11-07T10:04:00.000-08:00

Grocery shopping is about the only shopping I ever get to do, so I try to enjoy it to the hilt!
My food stamp benefits finally came through (honestly, I'm not a bum!) so I went to two different stores on the cost spectrum. One was the Healthy Grocer, which is pretty pricey. I stocked up on gluten free foods and baking items so we can try Catie out on the gluten free diet. I've wanted to do this for a while, but I had to wait until my benefits came through because all those gluten free items cost a lot more than their wheat-based counterparts. I kept it as low as I could by buying the individual ingredents by the pound whenever possible (I also bought liquid rennet so I can try making cheese!).
So after getting all the specialty things we headed over to my favorite store, Aldi. Best. Store. Ever. Yes, there are some things that they just don't carry, but for prices on staple goods like eggs, milk, bread, sugar, canned goods, etc., you can't go wrong. Everything is fresh, unlike Amelias Grocery Outlet, and the store is only 4 aisles wide. The Healthy Grocer isn't too much bigger, though I think they have about 18 aisles because they're laid out differently.
We actually have a Wegmans grocery nearby, where I could get everything I need at one stop and probably save some money on a few items. One problem. The damn place is the size of a Wal-mart, packed with every food imaginable - I can't handle the size, the level of choices, the inevitable whining from my offspring... It's better to hit two smaller stores that are close to each other and home. With Aldi especially, I know exactly what they carry, what the price is, and where it will be. I don't have to navigate with a guide map to find eggs - they're in the first refrigerator door, they only sell dozens of large eggs, and they cost .79 a dozen. It's nice to have the choice of free-range, brown or Omega-3 enhanced, but I never buy that kind anyway. When I need eggs, I just need eggs. (Though I must admit free range pastured eggs taste fantastic!)
Back to the shopping - we are totally stocked on every kind of baking item you could need, and our shelves are groaning. It's a comforting feeling to know that we have food.

Homeschooling lite

2009-11-04T17:37:00.000-08:00

Well, we're keeping Catie home, but she'll still be in public school. How do we manage that? The wonder of cyber charter schools! She's starting in Agora k12 as soon as we can process the paperwork.
The upside - prepared curriculum, all materials provided (including a computer and printer), a teacher assigned to help her, she can work at her own pace, field trips, days out, and I can help her without wondering if I'm leaving out a crucial piece of information.
the downside - it is a public school, so she has to log in on school days or face attendance problems. Although she only has to spend about a quarter of her time on the computer, she has to log 900 hours of "school time" in the year - that means a log book chronicaling all the days activities. It still is a good bit of work for me, but not as much as homeschooling.
addendum - Mom was still willing to teach Catie, but her schedule is such that I need to be able to take over the instruction time for 2-3 days in the week. Besides, the quality of these programs online is such that if we went out to buy them as homeschooling materials it would cost two appendages and an internal organ.

Homeschooling and Aspergers

2009-10-26T17:27:00.000-07:00

I have always wanted to homeschool my kids. From the time they were babies, I wanted to be their teacher. Then I started working, figured I didn't know so much, and gave up on the idea. Meanwhile, Catie was getting more and more stressed out by the classroom environment and melting down more frequently. My wonderful mother, who in a previous existence was a teacher and homeschooled my younger brother, offered to homeschool her. When I mentioned the idea to Catie, her face was a picture of relief as she said "Oh, Mommy, that would be so much better. School is so... hard!" I know what she means. The classroom is so distracting for her, the teacher can't talk her through things personally, and overall it's easier for us to adapt to her than her to the classroom.
Eventually that may change, but today was her first day of homeschooling, and there were virtually no meltdowns. I can't stress how great that is. Mom handled academics in the morning, and when Daniel took a nap I taught her how to knit a garter stitch. She's working on her first scarf. She got to play outside, ride her bike, and read 6 chapters of Junie B. Jones. We have her on a two hour toileting schedule (for those of you with no ties to Aspie kids, they often have bowel issues) and had a lot of success! In three days I might cry out "What was I thinking!?!" but today was great.

New bike for Catie!

2009-10-19T15:55:00.000-07:00

My friend the metal guy just dropped by with the bike upgrade for Catie! Turns out he's not just deaf, he's also from Bosnia. Man, what a job - to learn English when you can't even hear it properly, and learn a new method of sign language too! Because in each country and even in different regions, there are different dialects of sign. What means "nice" in one country could mean "bite me" in another. His name is Senad, but people call him "Bos" for Bosnia.
Anyway, he brought a great bike - hand and coaster brakes, good tires, all in all solid. He told me that he had 10 bikes, so if I didn't like that one he could bring me another, but this is perfect. I offered him a loaf of fresh bread, but he said it would make him fat! If Catie decides she doesn't like the color I can always spray paint it - it's red with black and chrome, very "boy".
She just informed me that any color is fine, but blue might be cool.
yay, new bike!

Sun!

2009-10-18T16:14:00.000-07:00

It stopped raining! We had sun! I took the kids out to the playground and went bike riding with them - and not a moment too soon. Last night they were feeling so cooped up that I made a mistake I don't usually make. Chuckie Cheese. Free to enter, and there are a few free things to do, but everyone had apparently had the same social breakdown and brought their children to the overheated noise pit. I could not hear myself talk. For those of you who have gone clubbing, it's like clubbing for the underage. The other children were climbing on the whack-a-mole and basketball toss games. Big kids were blocking the plastic tubes that others were trying to crawl through. In general, there was a sense that instead of a place where a "kid can be a kid", it was "where a kid can get away with murder". I held my tongue for the most part, because this is also a location where police have been called to break up fights between parents. Like I said, going there is a mistake that I don't usually make.
After about 45 minutes I had had my fill and tried to round up the munchkins, which was nearly as loud as the rest of the place when Daniel protested leaving. I had to carry him, while Catie was screaming "But we didn't see Chuckie!!!".
So you can see, I'm grateful for sunshine and the opportunity to play outside. I'd take that any day over Chuckie Cheese.

still raining

2009-10-17T11:20:00.000-07:00

Day 3 of continuous cold rain. Baked peanut butter cookies and some bread just in an attempt to make the world a cozier place. Plus we were out of bread.
I'm getting nervous about the coming winter. Our food storage needs to be heavily stocked very soon, and we need to get firewood cut, split and stacked. Why? I'm not a flu-fearing person, and usually don't bother with flu vaccines, but the outlook this year is grim. It seems that the swine flu may turn out to have a higher fatality rate than the seasonal flu, which was not the case before. We are also going to have some serious weather (so says the Farmers Almanac) this winter, and if lots of people are going to get sick I want to make sure we're ready. Stock up on basic medicines - Asprin, advil, tylenol, vicks vaporub, etc. Buy gatorade powder or know how to make your own electrolyte drink. Check the Mormon websites for emergency preparedness ideas - it's part of their doctrine to be ready for the "end times", and they are supposed to have months worth of shelf stable food. They usually have good tips, just don't act too interested or you'll wind up with two kids on bikes at your door, earnestly trying to get you to "just come to temple once".
Stay warm, stay free

weather...

2009-10-16T17:56:00.000-07:00

This is the second straight day of cold, constant rain. It's like Seattle moved to central Pennsylvania, which is all the convincing I need to never move to the Pacific Northwest. It could be a lot worse, though - some parts of the state are already getting snow. We're used to snow here, but it's nice when it waits until after Halloween.
My mom bought a woodstove fireplace insert to increase the efficiency of our standard hole-in-brick fireplace, but it needs some repairs. The blowers need new wiring, the firebrick needs to be replaced, and it needs new door gaskets and a coat of high heat paint. So it's in our garage, waiting to be fixed, and meanwhile it's been so chilly that I gave up and started burning wood in the regular fireplace again. Even with the fireplace roaring along, we still had to turn on the furnace. Can't wait to get that insert installed! We'll be modifying the walls in that room to allow the heat to pass through to other areas, and hopefully be able to keep from using too much oil for heat this winter. And if we do wind up having another historic PA winter like '96 with the rolling blackouts and weeks on end stuck at home, we'll still be toasty. Folks around here remember that as the winter one of the bridges in Harrisburg washed out on national news.
OK, funny parent moment. My son was just chattering to himself in his bed, and he got too loud. I called to him "Daniel, be quiet." and he didn't quiet down. So then I said "Daniel, do you want a spanking?" His answer - "NEVER!" (heroically).
Stay warm!

Strange new twists

2009-10-14T17:59:00.000-07:00

I could write about the fact that I haven't spent a single dime for the past week, but it really doesn't mean much. I haven't had anything to spend!
I could write about the fresh, homemade bread, cooling downstairs in the kitchen. Really, the biggest thing I've learned with bread is to make sure I mix a little flour in at a time and knead the tar out of it - success.
But what I've been working on lately is a book.
See, I'm a horrific bookworm. Harry Potter volume 7 had me submerged for 24 hours, at which point I finished it and ran to have hours of discussion with my friends. More recently, my sweet non-bookworm fiancee Jake found a great deal on craigslist and bought me the entire Twilight book series. I have about 72 hours that are kinda blurry in my memory - I was later told that my nose was in one of the books at all times. But then I finished, and like a junkie jonesing for more I went to the Twilight website. There I read Stephanie Myers bio, and realized that she sat down one day and started writing. She has 3 sons, and she would write whenever she could. Inspiring. Why can't I write? The answer came - I can.
So now I'm writing a book. It's fiction, but it's structured by my life. It's about a mother with two kids, the older one has Asperger's syndrome and the younger one is a little odd but not diagnosed. It's about the joys and struggles of being a single mom, being a mom of kids who are different, and the little things that happen along the way.
If you're out there, please hassle me and ask if I've been working on it!

Language skills really pay!

2009-10-11T12:11:00.000-07:00

My big girl has mastered bike riding! She can start, stop, turn, coast and pedal with no help! Great news, right? Well, the bike that I grabbed for $5 at a yard sale is too small. It was OK for her to learn how to ride, but she needs a bigger bike ASAP.
I was mulling over this, driving around developments today. I saw a number of cool things by the curb (I have a pogo stick to sell, if anyone's interested) but no 20" bikes.
Then, as I was opening up the garage door, I saw the metal guy driving our way. This guy comes around once a week, collects any large metal objects and cashes them in for scrap. I had a sudden brainstorm. I grabbed a broken bike that I was thinking of fixing, dragged it to the curb, and tried to get his attention. Footnote - he's deaf. Not "old guy can't hear anymore" - deaf. So I dusted off my medicocre sign language skills and asked him if he happened to have a bigger bike in his truck so we could trade. He said "Not now, but I have one at home. I'll fix it and bring it by next week. How did you know I was deaf?" "Lucky guess?" I joked. "Yeah, right!" he shot back, laughing at me. I admitted my dad told me. He then proudly showed me the radiator he had muscled into his truck - that thing was 6 feet long and had to weigh 1000 pounds. Whoa! Then he explained he covered about a 20 mile radius in our area, hitting each neighborhood once a week. I guess he must do pretty well - I've never seen him without a healthy load. So he had no lack of bikes, and would be happy to help me trade up. Yippee! I'm going to have to bake something good for this guy - I want to stay on his good side!

Why I miss washing clothes by hand

2009-10-07T07:07:00.000-07:00

Of all the things in the world to miss, why do I miss my hand operated washer and wringer?
When I left the SOM (in a huff) all the non-electric appliances stayed. After all, they were bought for the Silence. I came home to the wonders that included a dishwasher and a washer and dryer. my life should be easier, right?
I spent less time doing laundry when I washed it by hand. In about 3 hours, all the laundry for the week for a family of three could be washed, rinsed, wrung out and hung to dry. That included bedding, as often as not, and towels. Now, because I can do laundry at any time it feels like I have to do laundry ALL the time. There is no reason to wait for wash day - go put a load in. But I look at the piles and think "I could have all this washed by the time one load would finish in the washer". It would be done. And I could still do it, but without the wringer the clothes would take 3 days to dry. So I'm left, dissatisfied by modern technology. I can still hang the clothes to dry on our limited clothesline space, which helps, but I just want to have my washday back!
Ol' Blue the bike trailer is proving to be very helpful. I picked Daniel up from preschool with it last week, and got some much needed exercise.

Been tired

2009-09-22T19:13:00.000-07:00

Yes, I am a woman who loves my sleep. If I were into tattoos, I'd probably get one depicting the joys of sleep. But this has been beyond my usual sleepy - turning in at 9:30 some nights, sleeping until 7:00, needing a nap midday... a bit much. And then there were my allergies bothering the snot out of me (no pun intended, but I'll go with it). Stuffed up to the point where my ears were clogged every morning. Guess what? It wasn't allergies - I have been living with a nasty cold and had no idea. And I never thought I was easy :)
So today, instead of getting bits of housework done and dragging myself around to do errands like I have been, I embraced the recovery process. It has been a day of tea, Mucinex, and rest. Daniel had preschool today, and both my mom and Jake helped with the child patrol duties so I could rest. I may actually feel better tomorrow, as opposed to the "better" I felt when I was forcing myself to get up and do things.
New project - Jake called me with a curb alert last week - a bike trailer was in the trash near his house. I know I didn't want one, per se, because of the way I thought they rode. I imagined that they would feel like dragging dead weight along the ground, so I made Frankenbike. But I wasn't going to pass on a free frame and wheels, so I grabbed it. I quickly found out why it was in the trash. The frame and wheels were great, but the fabric canopy and seats were torn in several places. So I got out my pile of jeans that weren't earmarked as messenger bags and began sewing a denim cover directly onto the torn nylon one, making use of the original straps and connections. Ol' Blue is nearly done - I have to sew it by hand while the kids are playing outside, so the going is slow. It does need fresh inner tubes, as does my bike and Catie's "new" bike, but what a deal! It hooks up to Frankenbike with no problems, and both kids CAN sit in it together. They shouldn't, since Catie is now learning to ride on her own, but it's cozy fun. Now I have a way to tote groceries and a child, should I want to.
I confess a bit of embarrassment when I ride around with the kids - part of the reason that I covered more than just the torn parts of Ol' Blue was because it really looked faded and trashy, and the Frankenseat looks pretty goofy with all the duct tape. I can't help but wonder if the people around me are shaking their heads in pity. I think it's time to pimp out my ride - I need to make my bike system stylin' as well as cheap.

Score!

2009-09-05T10:35:00.000-07:00

Perfect weather for yard sale scrounging today! I found the ideal yard sale, too. They had piles of vintage and antique kitchen items that they were giving away for 5 and 10 cents! I got two enamelware dishpans, two pizza pans, two cookie sheets, two oil lamps with no chimneys, a bottle opener, a flour sifter, a juice squeezer, a meat grinder, and a pastry edger all for $6. At another yard sale I picked up two loaf pans and two chimneys for the oil lamps for $2.50. At a third yard sale, I found a video of "Into the Woods" and a huge wax candle for a dollar, and at a fourth Mom found a solid pine shelving unit for the basement for $2. Unreal. God is so good to us. Mom then had to go swap cars with Dad to pick up the shelves, and was given a 22lb bag of pork chops by the SOM. We're having roast pork tonight, and we'll try making sausage with our new meat grinder!
I tried my hand at yogurt making the other day - easy! All you do is heat milk until little bubbles form at the edge of the pan, stir in a little extra powdered milk for thickness, allow to cool, then add two tbsp of live active yogurt. Set in a jar in a warm place for 4 - 6 hours, and voila! I also stirred in a tbsp of Jell-o powder to give some extra flavor, and it could really use some more sugar. But it works!

Got my legs

2009-09-04T06:32:00.000-07:00

Thank goodness, my legs are fine from the biking. Too bad my arms are hurting!
See, after my biking I went over to Jake's to help shovel dirt into a better yard shape. I forgot what an upper body and core workout that is - and how unused those muscles usually are.
Using our free HersheyPark passes today. We're planning on feeding everyone before we get there, bringing some minor snacks like crackers along, and leaving when everyone gets really hungry. I just can't face those captive audience prices.
Pray my patience lasts!

It's ALIIIIVE!!!!

2009-09-02T14:43:00.000-07:00

I shall call you... Frankenbike!

I started off with a wooden frame that was structurally similar to the basic bike rack, supported at the seat post and rear axle.

Then I scrounged up some thick foam padding (it was actually too thick, so I sliced it in half with a serrated bread knife) and sprayed the seat with strong adhesive before I put it in place.

I was planning on a vinyl or fused plastic cover, but as I kept working on this I realized that a cover would be a serious challenge, as I have minimal upholstering skills. So, duct tape to the rescue! I used an old belt nailed to the back of the seat as a seat belt, and added small footrests on the sides.

Total cost for project

Bike - $10 at a yard sale

wood frame - scraps from the wood pile

hardware - had some around

foam - found it in the basement

Duct tape - $5.99 for a 60 yard roll

Biking to the library with my son yelling "whee!" - priceless

$15.99 plus personal satisfaction.

I know you're wondering "is it safe?" - I tested it with my full weight on the wooden frankenseat, with no creaking, cracking, or groaning (except for from me - thirty is looming ahead in 11 days). I used solid hardware and wood, and I may have even over-secured it with screws throughout the frame. Plus, it's swathed in duct tape - tell me that thing isn't secure! :) It's perfect for my 4 year old, but I can even carry my (chunky) 7 year old - on level ground. I tried getting up a hill with Catie on there, and all I can say is both of us need to get in shape! Her bike needs a few repairs too, and hopefully we can become more of a cycling family. For my peace of mind, though, I may need to put a bike rack on the car so I can drive us out of our development. I was a little nervous about getting up that steep windy road with Daniel on the back, and I would be more nervous about Catie trying to bike up that way without blocking traffic and becoming a public nuisance.

I did make it out with Daniel, and we rode about 2 miles each way to the nearest library to return an item. Not too bad! Of course, the weather was perfect today. But still, I biked up and down hills, through traffic, and braved weird looks all with an extra 40lbs on my bike!

Tune in tomorrow to see if my legs fell off!

School starts!

2009-08-31T05:11:00.000-07:00

Hear that? That was the sound of a champagne cork popping in parents homes in our area. My little girl started second grade today. I set my alarm (with my 3 snooze time cushion), got up, and prepared to wake a sleepy kid who usually doesn't get up until 8. As I stumbled toward the bathroom at 6:45, I heard "Mommy, did you forget about me?". Catie was up, dressed, and ready to wait for the bus. I reminded her that the bus wouldn't even come for another hour, forced her to eat breakfast, packed her lunch money, reminded her that bouncing won't make the bus come faster, and finally sent her out the door.
Daniel is still asleep - and small wonder. I caught him not only out of bed, but out of his room drawing on a chalkboard at 11:00 PM. I'm a little groggy myself - I might take a little rest while the getting's good.
As for my current project, I'm still trying to figure out a cheap way to Frankenstein my bike into something with a passenger seat. I'm very taken with the xtracycle concept (www.xtracycle.com) which elongates the bike frame and puts passengers on a board over the rear wheel. Not only that, but the stretched-out frame allows for twice as many pannier bags to be hung, so you could concievably bike your kids to school and pick up groceries without using a drop of gas. I really like the idea of popping Daniel on the back of my bike and doing my errands, and of course he's too big for a baby bike seat. "Why not a trailer?" my fiancee asks - the answer is they seem cumbersome. I've watched parents labor with pulling them up hills, struggle through tight spaces, and have difficulty securing them when they reached their destination. Apart from that the kid is way behind you, making conversation harder. Maybe that's what some parents want - I know I'd like a special kid bubble for the car on noisy days - but if I'm on a bike ride on a busy street I want to know that my kids are righttherethankyou.
So why not spring for an xtracycle? Dude, look at the name of the blog! It costs $235 for the conversion kit, and another $350 for the "family van" package. I have a $10 bike! I'm brainstorming using one of the higher end pannier racks as a foundation for my own, shorter version of my mom taxi. I probably won't be able to fit both kids on, like I would if I had the xtracycle, but I'd get at least one on there.

Going to enjoy the peace while it lasts!

Annnd... we're back!

2009-08-29T06:53:00.000-07:00

Camping at Lake Pinchot was terrific! The kids spent all afternoon Wed. and all day Thurs. on the beach with minimal fights and meltdowns. (The first meltdown-free day my kids have, I plan to declare a national holiday!) Of course, Friday we woke to heavy rain. Fortunately, Jake likes to be well prepared for any weather. When we were setting up I teased him a bit about how many tarps he was stringing over the campsite in a makeshift roof. Friday I was very glad that he had taken that extra time. The extra tarps gave everyone a dry place to sit, kept our firewood dry, and allowed us to get out of our camper and tents (which can get a little cramped when everyone is awake and moving) showing the kids that a little rain doesn't mean we can't have fun.
One of the great things about campgrounds is that you get to meet people that you have a lot in common with. Face it - if they're out there camping, already you know a few things about them. You know that they enjoy getting outdoors, that they probably are more thrifty than spendy, and you know that these are people who value a little know-how. Also, when you're camping 20 feet away from someone there are very few barriers to conversation. We met one family from Chicago who had spent the week there, using vacation time to visit the local sights. Another family from outside Philly, enjoying the freedom of time that had come with the fathers' layoff, was trying to camp in all the state parks in PA. A father and 12 year old son camping for the first time, spending "guy" time together away from the other three homeschooled kids and mom. The last were a lot of fun - they shared in our dinner, our breakfast, and our fire, and we had great conversations. I hope they had enough "guy" time alone - I felt a little guilty about that - but we enjoyed their company.
The kids favorite part? Freedom! We allowed them to ride bikes and scooters around the campground. They could swim if one of us was on the beach watching them. They went visiting, making new friends - and the other kids did the same. We went there with 4 kids, and at any given moment they might be 4 kids at our campsite - the trick was they weren't always ours! There was one point that I did a head count and realized that none of the kids I had just fed were part of our group. It reminded me of a note put in the program of the dinner theater I used to work for - "Please don't feed the actors - they may follow you home, and then what will you do?"
Today is my first McGiver class - at least, no one has told me that it's cancelled, so I'm going.
Have fun, live cheap, be free.

Going Camping!

2009-08-26T07:00:00.000-07:00

My fiancee, his mom, his niece and nephew, my two kids and myself are all going camping at Pinchot Lake until friday. It's sorta "cheating" camping, because we now have a pop-up camper, the site has power, and the bathhouse is 30 feet away. Still, the camper is only extra beds - we don't have a fridge, cooking range or bathroom - and last time the people next to us brought a microwave! So we rough it in the sense that we cook over the open fire, and the beach is right across from our campsite. Ahh.
I'm bringing along my plarn rug in the making, so my hands have something to do while I play lifeguard, and I might try to bring my bike along. Besides that, it's the last week before Catie goes back to school - we're getting our kicks in! I actually had to turn down a HersheyPark trip for Monday because I was worried about cramming too much activity into this last week. We'll go Labor Day weekend, curse the crowds, and look forward to a week at a desk!
My fused plastic tent has been going slowly, mostly because I want to have a frame before I make more fused plastic, and I can't decide what size to make it.
See you Friday!

No such thing as a free... house?

2009-08-25T17:54:00.000-07:00

My mom hobbled downstairs giggling (she hurt her knee tripping over lumber she's been cutting up) and told me to come up and see the craigslist page under "free". 2 Houses on 14th street in Harrisburg. You pay the cost for deed transfer and you can have them.
Most people would roll their eyes and say "Must be a crap hole!". We did that, then decided to find out just how bad of a crap hole it was! Both were in really rough condition, but hadn't been condemned. One of them had a notice of taxes owed - about $1800 - tacked to the door. The other one... well, it had a door...
To be clear, we were checking them out for the SOM - not as a primary home or rental. I think one of them MAY be salvageable, but well beyond my abilities. If they weren't row homes I'd seriously consider taking them down and putting up a straw bale home on each lot, but the layout is wrong for that.
It seems like half the block there is for sale, too. I counted no less than 5 for sale signs - and the houses we were checking didn't have any.
I would love to be able to pick up these houses for a song, wave a magic wand and repair everything, and then start renting them out. Too bad my magic wand ran out of fairy dust shortly after I turned 11! The cleanup alone would require 2 large dumpsters, a crew of really strong friends and enough food and alcohol to make sure those friends stayed friendly after that cleanout!
As it is, if the SOM wants the houses, they can acquire them and all the help they need. The Pepsi Bottling Group did a great job of fixing up 1604 (my former residence) and got some nice PR out of it. Besides, the SOM has been running into city issues - the city can't decide what to call the Silence. It isn't a shelter, a rental property, or a boarding house - so they're trying to limit the people in each home to 1 family and 2 individuals. Having a few more addresses to spread the people around in might be helpful.
So , the houses are "free", but I'd have to pay for transfer and taxes, then fix them. Oh well.
The good news is that Jake is making amazing progress on the fixer-upper that we will be living in after the wedding! Of course if you came in and saw it you'd say "what a dump", but trust me, it's come a long way.
Working on a passenger seat for my new bike - the baby seats are too small, and the trailers are heavy and cumbersome - I'll post once I figure something out!
Be prepared!

Diva Cup details - guys, go to ESPN.com

2009-08-22T06:08:00.000-07:00

I promised myself that I would sit down and write more details about the Diva Cup ages ago, and somehow have never gotten to it! Here it is.
The Diva Cup (and its cousin product, The Keeper) are both reuseable menstrual cups worn internally. They catch the fluid for up to 12 hours, at which point it's recommended that you remove, empty, wash and reinsert it.
Inserting it has a learning curve, and so does removing it, but when it's in it's like someone hit the "Goodbye period!" button. I don't even feel it once it's in, and I have no leaks. NO LEAKS. Even with tampons I always had to have a pad as a backup. Also, when I used tampons, I always felt really *dry* for a few days after my cycle. It must have thrown off my internal balance. With my cup, I just feel normal. And of course, when I used pads it was just... bleah. What a mess.

So, no mess, no leaks, and no out-of-balance vaginal issues. Added to that, I never have to worry about running out of supplies or spending money on something that will soon be trash!

OK, all done guys! You can come back from the sports sites now!

Guys?

Hello?

Damn. Never tell them to go away if you want them back!

Blogging - a writing tool or exercise in vanity?

2009-08-21T21:23:00.000-07:00

Well, heck, I just had to ponder that at some point! I just got home from the movies, where my mom and I howled through Julie & Julia. Delightful chick flick, I must say! Maybe it's because I'm still on an estrogen high, but I thought that movie was absolutely terrific. I was especially inspired by the "Julie" part of the story - the one who cooks and blogs about it. Her blog was translated into a book, which became a movie! If you look, there are several books on the market that chronicle the experiments in living (Not Buying It) and they started out as blogs. Will this blog lead to something? Nope. But it is a chronicle of my cheapskatery, and therefore useful to myself, if no one else.

Today Catie's school had their annual uniform exchange - you bring in their outgrown uniforms and get credit toward larger outgrown uniforms. It's the circle of poly-cotton blend life. I had to upgrade most of Catie's things - she's been growing again - but all of her long sleeve Peter Pan collar shirts were disgusting at the cuffs. I don't know how they get so much gray pencil junk on them - she has a gift. So I looked at these blouses, at my meager bank account, and decided that I needed to get as much trade credit as I possibly could. I sat down, cut off all the long sleeves, rehemmed them into short sleeve shirts, and then they were acceptable trade items! I got her two jumpers, 4 blouses and a sweater only spending $7 out of pocket. Then we went to Payless. Her school has everyone, boy and girl, in the same style high top black leather sneaker, which was marked down to $16.99. But wait! They also had their BOGO running - I got her her current size AND the next size up! Now she's set for most of the school year.

Why didn't I get shoes for Daniel with my BOGO? He has shoes! I don't have to buy that kid shoes until he needs his uniform - I'm stocked with yard sale finds. I should get him something, I suppose, so he doesn't feel left out, but he did get a bag of Ring Pops at Dollar Tree for suffering through the shopping expedition.

Why didn't I get shoes? I bought myself a pair of never-worn Candie's pink sequined wedge flip-flops at Salvation Army for $1.99 - my feet are feeling pretty pleased with themselves. I don't want them to feel too important - they might swell, and at size 10 I can barely manage them!

Frugal experiment alert - I've been fusing plastic bags. It's a pretty cool process where you iron the bags until it becomes one thick piece of plastic. Where does my mind go with this? Impermeable, waterproof material = shelter. I am looking at making Geodesic domes from PVC pipe and covering them with fused plastic bags. With a crocheted plastic bag rug on the floor. Jake has been calling me the bag lady (with love, I hope!), and enabling my habit by finding new bag colors for me. Most of them are white around here, but if you know where to go you can find tan, blue, green, and yellow. Why do it? For the po', naturally. Make a house from trash, heat and cook with trash, and you have the freedom of Walden Pond without the extreme borrowing. I may see about making the dome kits to sell - there are plenty of eco-friendly people that might enjoy living or camping in something like that. :Note to self - see if Tiny Free House blogger would like to use fused plastic bags on his pallet construction house instead of Tyvek or tar paper.:

Whoa. One AM. Time for bed. If anyone knows how to shut a brain up for the night, I'd love to hear the tips! I'm going to have a hard time settling down tonight.

If you fuse plastic bags, two tips.
1 - always iron them inbetween sheets of paper
2 - don't breathe the fumes
and
2- don't breathe the fumes

;)

lazy and cheap!

2009-08-20T17:46:00.000-07:00

I've hit a new level of laziness - my car has been in need of a wash for a while now, but I figured since it's summer and there's no road salt, there's no rush! It was starting to bug me a little, though. So when there were torrential downpours forecast for today, I went out just before the rain started and squirted soap all over my car. 5 minutes later, my car was being pounded by water and the suds were rolling down the driveway!

Yeah, it wasn't the most effective wash, but it's not like I have a status car! Besides, it was free!

Can't wait!

2009-08-19T19:46:00.000-07:00

Good news/Bad news time!

Ok, so no one signed up for my survival class at the HodgePodgery - YET. Apparently, there are a number of people talking this one up, and a daycare even asked if I would come and teach their after-school program. So, things are looking up!

That was the good news - the bad news is once again, my child support has dried up. We don't know any specifics, we only know that the ex was "terminated". Who knows - maybe this time they'll arrest him - I'm not really worried about him.

Despite the utter lack of ready cash, I find myself abundantly provided for. Yesterday I transferred my prescriptions to Rite Aid to take advantage of the $50 in gift cards they were offering as an incentive. I got my medication, Caties Miralax, 2 packages of Daniels overnight pull-ups, and a backpack for Catie for a total out-of-pocket cost of $18.99. I needed to get a bike (still not sure why that wouldn't leave my head, but I knew I HAD to get a bike) and found the perfect one at a yard sale for $10. Granted, these things haven't been free, but they have been as reasonable as I could ask for. Currently all my upcycling craft items are made from free materials - I'm crocheting a rug from plastic bags and sewing lunch bags out of Capri Sun pouches.

The latest idea that won't leave my head is an emergency shelter made from PVC pipes and covered with fused plastic bags. (Plastic bag fusing is one hell of a craft where you iron bags together between two pieces of paper until you have one solid piece of plastic that resembles Tyvek.) But what if it gets cold, you say? Instead of pricey Reflectix insulation, what about sewn-together Capri Sun pouches all over the inside of the shelter? After I finish this rug, I'll start experimenting with that - I promised myself that I wouldn't start another big project until I finished one. (Lunch bags don't count - they take 20 minutes to sew.)

Physically, I'm not feeling well. Hoping I don't get sick again - I can't handle going back into the hospital. Probably it's something minor, and I just need my rest. I have too much to do to get sick!

Check out The HodgePodgery online - if you Google it, theirs is the first hit!

Benn a while!

2009-08-10T18:43:00.000-07:00

Well, it's been a long time since my last post. Since then, I've moved back to Mom and Dad's house and out of the Silence of Mary Home. I could do a fantastic blow-by-blow of the incident that led me to move out, but what good would that do anyone? I suppose it would stretch my descriptive writing skills.... nah, not worth it!

A few days after moving home, I had to be hospitalized because of an intestinal problem - I picked up a nasty bugaboo from some contaminated water which caused a serious disturbance in the force. In an attempt to bring balance to the force (to continue the metaphor) I took a good bit of Immodium. Wrong move. Three days in the hospital later, I found out that cryptosporidosis was the culprit, and it would just have to work its merry way out, which would now take longer because I tried to slow things down. But I'm better now! And it was perfect timing in a way: I had just moved back, so when I was in the hospital my kids were well cared for.

One frustration at the Silence was that I was unable to teach my classes the way I had hoped - now I have that chance! The HodgePodgery in Harrisburg is an upcycle shop that operates on a consignment basis - they've taken my "butts of jeans" purses, a messenger bag or two that I made from the legs of the old pants, and I'm teaching an Urban Survival Class - MacGiver Style!
At least I hope I am - we're waiting to see how many people sign up. Take a peek!
http://thehodgepodgery.com/classes-and-workshops/ The Szechuan Sock Monkey class looks like fun too!

Hopefully this can be a small source of income over the next few months as I stumble about trying to find a job that will work around Catie's school hours. It would be nice if I could find something full time, but ever since Catie was diagnosed with Aspergers Syndrome (it really has been a while since that last post!) I've been reluctant to be away from her. It's on the autism spectrum, so it's not life threatening, but her behavior goes right down the tubes every time I try to work. She just needs me home when she's going to school and when school is over - even if I had the coolest sitter or daycare in the world, she'd have a blast but fall apart daily.

A positive note - I'm able to spend more time with my fiancee! The wedding is going to be 9/28/10, and we have GOT to get crackin' on the guest list!

Long post - next one will be sooner and shorter.

And I still love my Diva Cup!

Long week!

2009-05-13T07:00:00.000-07:00

Well, the kids and I made the move the the SOM last week, which unfortunately has no internet access. Therefore, a quick summation.
- The Diva Cup is awesome, and I will never use tampons or disposable pads again
- Filtered rainwater tastes even better than filtered tapwater
- When you shine a flashlight on druggies in the alley, they scatter
- Washing clothes by hand is easy, but in chronically rainy weather it's the drying that kills you
- Kids would rather get up an extra hour early to ride the school bus with friends than sleep in and be driven
- Fruits get eaten quicker when you hide the cookies and put the fruit bowl on the table
- In the city, people don't take turns talking - everyone talks at once, and nobody listens
- 4 year olds think litter pick up is a treasure hunt!
- Wind chimes in the city are great - they add a pleasant sound instead of yelling and honking
- Never assume a basic level of knowledge - start small. These people are here for a reason.

Other than that, I'll have to catch up a bit more on my next post.

Live free!

Things that Diva Cup ad copy didn't mention

2009-04-29T16:37:00.001-07:00

I got my Diva Cup a few weeks ago, and haven't had the opportunity it use it yet - thank goodness! Why? Apparently the cute, colorful carrying bag that they give you to make your period a little more jazzy is also interesting to 3 year old boys! He got up last night and was playing quietly in his room (didn't feel like fighting, so I just let him play) and at some point he wandered into the bathroom, opened the "girly" drawer, found my Diva Cup and thought "this will fit nicely in the toy teapot!". Which it did - a perfect fit. It took me a half-hour of frantic searching to figure out where it was - my only clue was the bag lying on the floor near his toys.

Now it lives in my underwear drawer. :)

On the SOM front, we're preparing to move in later this week. I rigged all the rain barrels to accept water, bought some started strawberry plants for 1604, and I need to set up the first round of classes for next week. There need to be two - one craft and one life skills - so to start I'm doing clothespin dolls and homemade laundry detergent. Both easy, and the dolls can help raise money. Another week we can pour container candles and make "sterno" stoves from wax, cardboard and tuna cans. Baking bread and sewing, knitting and doing laundry by hand - we'll be urban Amish!

On a sobering note, the city of Harrisburg was hand-delivering notices about the swine flu to the Allison Hill district. There is a lot of buzz that Harrisburg will be a hotbed if the swine flu does go pandemic. We're trying to prepare - the biggest problem is that if we do get to pandemic level, as much as 30% of the working people at any given time will not be able to report for duty. This may mean a slowdown or cessation of deliveries, possible utility interruptions, and almost certainly a shortage of many supplies. We're trying to make sure we have enough food, water, medication, and sanitation supplies - just in case.

Eyes on the prize - determine our own lives!

Wipe out!

2009-04-24T17:20:00.000-07:00

You know how sometimes you cruise along in life, thinking "Wow, things are going pretty well! I have some changes coming my way and they look pretty positive!" then life starts laughing and decides to drop a few sandbags on you?

First let me begin last week. Jake, my sweetie, has access to a beach condo during off-season times and last-minute cancellations, so my two kids, his nephew, his mom and stepdad, Jake and I all got a weekend trip to Rehobeth Beach! (Note to those traveling to Rehobeth from Pennsylvania - there are two roads labeled Route 1. One takes you to the beach. The other goes straight into Baltimore. That was rough.)
My kids had never seen the beach before, and the weather was wonderful! We were only 3 blocks from the beach, 1 block from the central shop district, and 2 blocks from the church. They spent about 3 hours running into the (freezing!) water, waiting for a wave, then screaming and running away from it. It was cute. :) We flew a kite just by holding it up and letting out the string - it was like launching a helium balloon. I got good and sunburned, which is par for the course, and we all went out for ice cream after. There's a flavor at one of the shops called "Better Than Sex". Maybe not, but it was a tough call! We played miniature golf, put the kids to bed, went out for a drink, and discovered a new beer that I can only drink one of in an evening. (I'm a lightweight, and it had 9.8% alcohol content)
The next day after church, Jake's mom hands me a bag of bread and says "Why don't you guys go feed the seagulls? It's fun!" Unfortunately, the kids heard her and started yelling and jumping, so we went to the beach to feed the skyrats. It was horrifying! They were hanging in the air over our heads, snatching the bread right out of the air! When we ran out I had to flap a blanket at them to get them to go away - I thought they would develop a taste for human flesh next! The kids agreed that we would not be doing that again.
Ahh, a (mostly) relaxing trip to the beach. What could possibly disturb me after that?

Monday, Jake called to tell me that his grandma had been found by her neighbors after they noticed her back door hanging open. She was alive, but unresponsive. They rushed her to the ER.
Tuesday, I left work early to attend a parent/teacher conference. Only this was a parent/teacher/grandma/counselor/vice principal/principal conference. The jist was because my daughter has a lot of trouble dealing with her emotions, that we should have a psych evaluation done. Once that happens, she would be eligible for a summer camp coaching program that would help her learn to cope better. OK, that's good. I passed my freakitude onto my daughter, but at least there's more help these days.
I left, and tried to process all this until I got another call from Jake. Grandma was fading, and he needed moral support. I packed up my little guy and headed to the hospital, where we settled into a waiting room with a large chunk of his family. I stayed as long as I thought Daniel's good behavior would last, then went home to wait for the school bus. Jake called to tell me that Nana had COPD, pneumonia, and lung cancer. The family decided that it would be kinder to let her go now than to cure her pneumonia, medicate her COPD and wait for the lung cancer to ravage her body. She passed away at 6:12 Tuesday evening.
Wednesday I went to work and told my boss what had happened.
Thursday I went to work and my boss told me that she was distantly related to my boyfriend! Her late husbands brother married Jake's cousin (or aunt? not sure).
Today was the funeral. Jake's father had been drinking heavily the night before, and refused to come to his mother's funeral. I would have liked to make sure he attended a funeral - his own - but it wasn't my place, so Jake and I left him there. He's worthy of his own blog, but that would just be a 10 page rant, so we'll leave it at that.
Jake seems to be doing better now - we all went out to Red Lobster (Nana's favorite) after the burial, ate ourselves silly, and relaxed for the rest of the day.
Tomorrow I have a mountain of laundry to wash and hang after work, packing to do, paperwork to complete for the move to the Silence of Mary home, and the kids are going to want to play with me. Lord, give me patience, please? Help me get through the next two weeks so I can get into a new rhythm in the new house? Thanks!

Never mind living free for free - I'd settle for living!

Great Easter!

2009-04-13T07:10:00.000-07:00

We had an awesome Easter! Granted, I had to work in the bakery until 9AM, but the workload was light. My daughter and I went to 10:30 Mass, came home, and my mom, dad, two kids, my sweetie and I all hopped into the minivan and drove down to see the Virginia side of the family.

You know how sometimes you worry about how a family get-together will go? You're not sure if the weird uncle will corner your sweetie, if the kids will try chasing the dogs to see if they like chocolate bunnies, if you're going to have to answer pointed questions about your career, educational plans, etc. None of that happened! The weird uncle wasn't there, the kids were reasonably well-behaved with the animals (and didn't break anything!), conversation and laughter flowed along with the sweet tea, and my sweetie made a work/play date with my uncle to work on the family acreage.

My cousin now has a sweetie, too, and we must have more similar tastes in men than I realized! Ten minutes after meeting, the guys were hanging out in the back yard with Uncle Mike, talking hunting, guns, hard labor and grunting! Independently of each other, my cousin and I have been doing similar research on money and energy saving practices. We found that we've been reading similar themes but different titles, so we swapped a book or two and promised to send links to each other about online finds.

After visiting my "country" cousins, I wish that I could be out in the middle of nowhere, raising chickens, a pig or two, maybe a cow or a goat for milk, with a mortgage free home on 5 acres. Sadly, my mission is in the city - I have to teach the folks how to fend for themselves in the concrete jungle, showing them how to grow and raise food without the benefit of lots of land. I have to install systems in the homes that will allow life to go on even if all the utilities go down. Oh, it'll be exciting, and possibly even more of a challenge than rural homesteading. It just won't be as peaceful. *Sigh*

Live free for free!

Leap of faith

2009-04-09T13:55:00.000-07:00

I've told Weis that my last day will be April 27th, so I can focus on the Silence of Mary live-in job. This is very scary, because as yet, the position is still unfunded. I know my needs will be taken care of, but it's hard not to worry about having money "just in case". I'm saving what money I can, I'm buying reuseable items like my Diva Cup, I've stocked my prepaid phone with minutes and made sure that I have a good charging cable for my laptop, and I'm making sure that the clothes that I have fit and will last. I changed the oil in my car, prepaid the next 3 months of insurance, and I need to clean out the trunk just so I know exactly what is in there!
The kids are growing like weeds, so I'm trying to go through their wardrobes to figure out what to keep (hardly anything) and what size to buy for the next year or so. I'm going to scour yard sales as soon as I see anything available, but my daughter has hit the hard-to-clothe age of 7. Thankfully she's in Catholic school, so school clothes aren't an issue - I just need to make sure she has enough tights, jumpers, Peter Pan collar shirts and black sneakers. Her civvies, though, go unused so much that I didn't notice she barely had anything that fit until last week. My mom did, and took her shopping. (Thanks, Mom!) My 3 year old little guy is still easy to dress - give him soft, comfy clothes with elastic waistbands, and he's a happy camper. :) Most of his wardrobe is so cozy it can (and does) double as PJs.
Food is never a problem at SOM... unless you consider too much perishable food a problem. That will be one of my duties there - to try to reduce as much waste as possible.
On a side note, Happy Birthday to my sweetie, Jake! It's been an awesome six months, and it just keeps getting better!

Swagbucks!

2009-04-06T18:28:00.000-07:00

I can't believe I didn't know about swagbucks before!

Put simply, it's like Google, only you earn rewards while you search! Yes, it costs 15 swagbucks for a $5 Amazon.com gift card, but you were going to do that search anyway, right? You can also earn swagbucks by shopping online at sponsored stores, but that's not quite flush with my ideology :)

http://swagbucks.com/?cmd=sb-register&rb=446144

If you don't have a swagbucks account, click on the link above to register! You get swagbucks, and just so you know, I'd get matching swagbucks if you use this link. I'm not trying to be shady about it - you can do the same with your friends! Hey, if you Google your own name or address a few times a day, it just might add up!

Tummy bug :(

2009-04-06T06:19:00.000-07:00

Yep, the tummy bug that kept my daughter home on Friday has made itself right at home here. Thank goodness it's only a 24 hour bug - I caught it yesterday, and I'm feeling a lot better now. Of course, my son and mom just caught it in the middle of the night! We're going through a lot of Sprite and crackers, and the laundry situation isn't much fun right now. Hopefully I'll feel up to taking on the cleanup shortly - the achy muscles are fading and I'm not reacting to odors quite as strongly. Bleah.

My mom discovered a flea market near Williams Grove Speedway, which I have to go check out the next Sunday I can get away. One of the items that the SOM is anxious to get is cast iron cookware, and the prices were low there. It makes a big difference when you're looking for cast iron for daily use as opposed to the collectors who are after certain markings - $3 or $4 skillets can't be beat! Then when you consider the nutritional benefit that the added iron imparts to your food and the ease of cooking and cleanup, you start to wonder why those flimsy aluminum pans ever seemed OK.

Oh, and my sister-in-law got some ShamWOWs for Christmas - she says they really do perform the way they promise! That's just what I was waiting to hear - the next baby that moves into the SOM is going to have custom-made diapers with ShamWOW inserts! Even better, a volunteer says that she has a treadle sewing machine in her basement that might just need some WD-40 and a new belt - I've been going crazy wondering where to get one.

Small steps toward freedom!

Donuts

2009-04-04T15:25:00.001-07:00

I've been working at a Weis bakery to pay my bills - I love the job, but not the hours. I have to be there at 4AM to get the bread rising in time to bake for the morning. Up till now I've been woking 3 or 4 days a week, which was fine by me. I'm not getting rich, but I'm staying current on things and I was able to catch up on the sleep that I missed on my days off.

Unfortunately, the older lady who usually fries the donuts just broke her thumb on the job. She's in great pain, and besides her there are only two people who are trained and able to fry donuts. Guess who one of those people might be! Go on... I'll wait!

So now I'm picking up more hours, which means more money (yay) but less time for rest and helping at the Silence (boo). My mom has been swamped at work too, so when either of us are home, neither of us feel able to catch up with housework. My daughter had a stomach bug this week, and my son has been oddly wakeful at night - I'm beat.

Tonight I was so tired that rather than cooking a meal from all the food we have at hand, I ordered pizza. Sure, my brother works there so I got a discount, but I could have made something acceptable from the items in the pantry for less than the discounted pizza.

Let this be a warning to all who think that taking a second job or picking up overtime will fix their money problems. You'll take home more money, but how much will end up being spent on takeout or frozen foods because you're just dead at the end of the day? How much more likely are you to shop at the nearest store when you feel pressed for time instead of looking for the best bargains? How much extra will you have to pay the sitter or day care? How many painkillers will you need to dull your aching back and feet? I am getting these extra hours because of a crisis, but if I had my choice I would take fewer hours in exchange for more time to use my money saving ideas.

Gotta take down the wash and bake some bread - soon I'll rest.

Fun!

2009-04-01T07:15:00.001-07:00

Yesterday was so beautiful here! Yes, I had to work an early morning shift at the bakery (4 AM comes e111arlier than I'd like), but the sun was shining, my tax refund check came, I finally got a new laptop charger cable for only $30, I paid all my debts except my student loans, and everything I wanted to pick up yesterday was on sale!

I bought a camp solar shower a few days ago as a part of hot water rationing plans for the Silence of Mary. It's just a 5 gal. black vinyl bag with a hose and small shower head -nothing fancy - but if you lay the bag in the sun on a sunny day, the water gets to about 105 degrees. My general plans are to fill the shower bag with warm tap water to start off, and tell each person in the home that they can take a shower, but only using the water in the bag. Then in a few weeks we can buy a few more and tell them that on sunny days, they fill their shower with cold tap water and lay them out in the sun. They can take their showers in the evening. The big step will be when they start filling their showers from the rain barrels! Yesterday, that's what I did. I use old pantyhose feet over the openings of the rain barrels to filter out roof debris, so the water is pretty clean, and I showered (indoors) with the sun-warmed rainwater. I was shocked - I keep forgetting how hard our water is around here. Usually after a shower I need to use some moisturizer or baby oil - not this time! The rainwater left me feeling so soft and CLEAN!

I've also put in an order with the Healthy Grocer to get a Diva Cup. I've never had one before, and I've wondered for ages how it would work for me, a gal who was terrified of tampons till the age of 21. A $30 item, even if it is reuseable, was beyond my reach until I got my tax refund. Now I have the money, so I figure an item that will last one year AT MINIMUM is totally worth the investment! I'll post once I get a chance to test it out - I hear there is a bit of a learning curve, and I want to get it right before I opine about it. :)

If I can shower and bathe the kids for free, not have to buy feminine products, wash and dry our clothes for only the cost of the (homemade) detergent, use the solar lights from Ikea, and grow, cook and preserve food, then all I'll need to work on is heat, sewer and the few things we can't make! I'm hoping to get a solar laptop/cell phone charger and a treadle sewing machine, but one step at a time!

Watch this nutty quest to live free for free!

Well, I'm really in the soup now...

2009-03-25T17:48:00.000-07:00

First of all, I want to say that Kmart's prices are so high on their toiletries that even the double coupons didn't help much! The one thing I managed to score lots of for free was a new line of paper towels and toilet paper called "small steps". Everything else was carefully priced to make sure that the store got at least $.50 out of your pocket. Not bad, but not free. I think I'll try out the CVS bonus bucks this weekend.

The BIG news, though, is that my kids and I will be moving into the new SOM home at the beginning of May in a "house parent" kind of capacity! Sorta - we're still trying to figure out what to call the position - personal assistant? utility cop? I mean, I'm already President of Research and Development reporting directly to the CEO! (Translation - I come up with money & energy saving ideas, test them, and tell Sue what I figured out) So, what's in a name? But generally I'll be there to keep an eye on situations, teach people how to cook and clean in unconventional ways, show them how to save money, and keep utility use to a minimum.

Currently an unpaid position, but our grant writer is trying to see what she can do about that!

Live free for free!

Whew!

2009-03-22T07:12:00.000-07:00

Kmart is doubling coupons this week! Up to two dollar face value - a $2 coupon will get you $4 off! I've been hoarding coupons for the past three weeks, thinking that maybe it just wasn't even worth bothering - this week, I plan to head out and pick up as many toiletries as I can for free.

Found a new book this week - it's called "Just In Case" - a book about how to be self-reliant during a crisis. Honestly, when I read the book and took a look at our current emergency storage, I was horrified to realize that in 3 days our family would be out of many things, and within a week we would be in danger of dehydration, malnutrition (eventually), and really rank living conditions.

I encourage everyone to start stockpiling items, even if it's just one can at a time. Buy two cans of tuna instead of one. Baked beans, veggies, shelf-stable milk - just one per shopping trip.

Why worry? Remember those poor folks in Kentucky this winter? An ice storm left them without power for weeks at a time, with no running water, heat, or food. It could happen. Be ready.

2009-03-15T20:26:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm at it again (still). Today my mom, my kids and I took a day trip to Ikea. We live near Harrisburg, PA, so the closest Ikea was in Baltimore - you can see why we made a serious trip out of this!

BTW, this was the first time we've been to an Ikea since my youngest was potty trained - there are few things more exciting than walking into Ikea, signing your kids over to the playroom folks, and getting to shop without having to scold, chase or restrain anyone!

Part of my never-ending quest for the Silence of Mary is to find alternative, energy independent solutions for daily living, so I wandered through the store, letting the different products jog my imagination. I knew I wanted to get a new drying rack, but beyond that I just wanted to see what was there. In the first 15 minutes, I found some outdoor living items - nothing too fancy, but there were solar powered outdoor lights there. I had only ever seen the kind that are mounted on stakes that you stick in the ground, but these new ones are so cool! They came out with strings of tiny party lanterns that are solar powered, and the cords are pretty long. I guess they're meant for outdoor parties and stuff like that, but I looked at those and thought "That's a lot easier than mounting solar panels for lighting!".

I bought one to test - not terribly bright, but it will provide some backup lighting in the hallways and in places where people really shouldn't use candles. And the best part is that for about $20 a room, I can put basic solar lighting in the SOM houses! All I have to do is make sure that the end of the cord with the solar cell is near a window during the day, and we have free light every night!

Lets live free for free people!

It begins...

2009-03-09T16:36:00.000-07:00

I'm out there. In many ways...

I'm researching the most bizzare sounding things for The Silence of Mary Home (SOM) - the woman who runs the home is very concerned about the possibility that electricity, oil, natural gas, food and water may all become unobtainable or unaffordable in the next 12-18 months. For the past 5 months, I have been getting and testing non-electric alternatives to keep SOM going. It started with storing water - each milk jug was washed out and filled to keep our water supplies up. Then I started getting excited. I went to http://www.lehmans.com/ and bought a clothes wringer, picked up big tubs from the hardware store, and started learning how to do laundry by hand. Then we needed to hang it dry - I learned how to do that. Then I was dropping off recycling with my mother when we both noticed some 55 gallon plastic drums off to the side. Now we collect our rainwater!

The latest developments have been a trifle weirder - granted, I bake my own bread by hand, do wash by hand, etc. so my weirdness tolerance is higher than some, but here goes. I am trying to build a solar oven that can be used in the city. It needed to be lightweight, easy to make, and frickin' cheap (single mamas can't shell out the big bucks for something that might get trashed or stolen). So, you can imagine how thrilled I was to find plans for a solar oven made from cardboard, tin foil and plastic wrap!

Yeah, I built one. :) It doesn't work as well as I'd like, so I may have change the design a bit, but it does get nice and warm on sunny days. But that's not the weird part.

I found a way to make my own sterno-type camping stoves out of old candle wax, cardboard, tuna cans and a coffee can! Yeah, that's the weird part! And it works really well, too!

Tune in again to find out how crazy one woman can get in the quest to live free for free!