Mail call

Got an application in the mail from the bank. They needed me to fill it out to go along with my resume I had sent in. Getting excited, yet I don't want to jinks it either. Plus it says that if there are other positions I want to apply for, I can just let them know and they'll add it to my file. Cool!

Spring Fever and Food

I'm on the hunt for a good tried and true pulled pork recipe. Have this picnic roast in the fridge thawed and don't want it to go do waste.

IM'd a friend of mine, she seems to have some really good recipes and ideas. She told me to put it in a crockpot on high for 6 hrs. Pull it apart, remove the fat and nasty pieces. Put the pork back into the crockpot, add BBQ sauce, 1/2 cup brown sugar, and some onions. Cook on low for 2 more hrs. Will try this.

But, I'm hungry for something else. Maybe its my spring fever brain telling me it wants to grill out again. Wanting to find that rub and that sauce you put on your meat that makes it taste like heaven. I'm super picky about food. If it don't smell or look good, I'm not eating it. Drove my family nuts growing up with this pickiness with food I have. Never liked tomatoes when I was little, still don't; grandpa even tried to get me to eat one with sugar on it. YUCK! Why would anyone want to ruin sugar like that. So, if anyone has that tried and true rub and a kick butt sauce, pass it along.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Spring fever has hit me hard. Started last week. My friend P is getting read to close on a house and move. She's telling me about all the cleaning she needs to do to this new house as well as painting and making it their own. Got me to really looking at my home. UGH! Its a mess. Clutter everywhere. This house is smaller than the last house we had. I thought we had gotten rid of things but apparently we didn't or the clutter had babies. Clutter must be like rabbits.

Started in the kitchen Monday. Boy did I do a great job. Decluttered a lot, with a lot more to go. But I can breathe in there. We can sit at the table without bumping into something. Only a few, and I mean a few items on the counters now. Scrubbed the grout on the counters (Why do people put tile on their counters. Makes into a huge cleaning nightmare. Not sanitary at all.) Brought my bakers rack upstairs. It now hold the microwave, toaster oven, and my cookbooks! Yay! Missed my books.

The rest of the week, gonna start on in the cabinets. Remove things we don't use or need, wash them down, etc. Example of the crap we have and don't need......We have 2 soup tureens. Giving to us by DH's grandma and mom. We don't use them at all, never had. But they were gifts. Talked to hubby about them and wonders of wonders, he agreed with me. (He's a major packrat.) I don't need 7 cutting boards either. 1 or 2 will do. So much stuff. Someone could be in need of my junk. Wish I was Amish, they don't have packrat tendencies. Naw, they don't have modern advancements in their homes. Maybe just a little of their tendencies then. LOL!

Still waiting

Applied for a part-time bank teller position on Friday. Sitting here wonder if they will ever call. How long does it take? Job's been posted since January. You'd think they'd be wanting to get it filled quickly. Getting a job is not what I really want to do, but the more I think on it...I'm getting excited. Work 12:30 - 5:30 Mon-Fri and some Saturdays.

Figured I'd make $500 net a month from it. $100 would be for fuel and I'd need $50 of it for clothing. The rest of it, $350 would be for our budget. To fill in the gap and/or snowball. I'm hoping for snowball. Tired of this debt. We are short each month and its all due to medical bills.

We can still homeschool the kids. Schooling first thing in the morning, have lunch and leave for work. Kids can stay at my mom's or help my grandma. They will both love it, seeing the kids daily and getting extra help around the house. If the kids need to finish a project, they can do it at grandma's. Win-win for us all.

Please say some prayers on this. We really need for me to work at this time.

10 More Months

Til Christmas! mawhahahaha *ducks and runs from room*

I've got a sinking fund set up just for Christmas. Yep, sure do. Been on this plan for two years. I take out a set amount each paycheck and keep it in a savings account. During the year, if I find something I know someone will absolutely love it (try to get on sale or clearance, my money goes farther)...then I can get it. I have the money. Instead of waiting until Dec 24th, thinking its an emergency because one didn't have a plan, and whipping out the ole credit card. Nothing worse than getting the bill a month later beating yourself up for the amount it is. Got a plan this year and I'm gonna work it.

Off to stir up more trouble. ta-ta!

Money woes

Dh's check was way below what I estimated. We have a roller coaster pays each week. Highs and lows. They very greatly to the point that its hard to make a budget stick.

Two weeks ago his check was over $200 than I estimated. So I held back $200 because one of the next few weeks it would be low again and we'd need back up. Last week it was $34 over than I had estimated. Ok, fine..I can live with that. Figured this week should be $550. On average it should be $750 ea week but fluctuates so much can't really say that for sure. I was so wrong on both accounts. It was $370. How is a family of 5 to live off of that? We can't.

I just sick and tired. Sick and tired of being in debt, of being on a plan, not getting to have fun, not being able to spend money on things we need, not being able to buy clothes for me because they are cute, not being able to have a freaking life besides worrying about paying our bills on time! Grrrrrrrrrr.....

On of these days I'm gonna come here and yell we are debt free. When I do, you better believe I'm gonna celebrate in style too.

Ok, off my rant. Thanks for listening.

Knitting

Learning how to knit. Thought I could do it by a book. It was hideous, this thing I made. Don't ask, it had issues. My friend Shelby told me to go to this site, http://www.knittinghelp.com/, it has movies to show me how to do each stitch. Ok, but I also have problems with holding the yarn, I'm a crocheter. We hold the yarn with our left hand (if right handed) and knitting says for me to hold the yarn in my right hand. Total foreign feeling for me, just can't do it.

She said to do the continental knitting. Continental knitting is to knit right handed BUT you hold the yarn with your left hand. BINGO! We have a winner. Had to rip out all my stitches of this ting I had made. Poor thing had major issues. Started over with the instructions given via the net, worked a few stitches...oh boy. What a difference. This thing is gonna be pretty now. Making a needle wrap to store my knitting needles. Great practice cause I was bragging to my husband. Yes, I brag. He wants me to make him a black wool sweater for him. Uh huh, ok, I'll get right on that. NOT. Let me practice some more dude. So anyways, I want to say a big thank you to Shelby. Now, onto learning how to read knitting instructions.

Frustrated

So frustrated with the kids and myself. Homeschooling has become a burden with me/us. Its like I can't seem to get them to work, I don't want to sit and hold their hands all the darn day. Why am I feeling this way? Its like the goals we want for our children's schooling don't matter anymore. I just don't want to mess with them anymore. This is such a dis-hearting feeling. I feel like a failure.

Typical day is they get up before me. I can't seem to bring myself out of bed early, shut off the alarm and go back to sleep. Its not like I don't stay up at all hours either. 10:30 is the latest I stay up. I'm tired all the time too. Motivation is out the window with me. The younger boys are watching tv and I plop my butt down to the computer. Its like that thing sucks me in. By 11:30 I'm upset cause they haven't started school and nothing is been done around the house. Is it their fault? NO. Its all mine. So why can't I get organized and motivated?

We were all organized and motivated when school started. Until our "friend's" daughter accused my oldest of grabbing her butt. They made it out to be a sin and crime. It wasn't, my son swears it was an accident. The only person that knows what truly happened is God. I'm leaving that fight up to him. It got so bad that I was talking to a lawyer about it. But because of this, we have our whole schedule thrown out. Never got it back either.

Maybe we need to take a week off and regroup our efforts. I have a program to help keep tabs of our schedule, Homeschool Tracker Plus. Am I making this into a huge undertaking instead of making it simple? Probably. I have a tendency to do that. So, what am I doing wrong? Besides sleeping 10 hrs a day. Taking naps in the afternoon. Wonder if its physical and it can be fixed. Write down on a erase board the kids schedule and tell them this has to be done today. Rewrite it out for the next day each evening? My kids are old enough to be able to work without me sitting with them making sure things get done. So why don't they?

So many questions. Must pray and mediate on this. Any suggestions, please advise.

Hair cuts

Love the look a fresh hair cut. Makes a person look like they take care of themselves. Take a little pride in their looks, as my mother put it. A cut just turns a person into something nice. I see women with the cutest hair styles, you wonder if it take them hours to come up with. I'm sure it doesn't, but you wonder. Like looking in the hair books as you wait. "I want my hair to look like that." In reality it should be, I want to look like that skinny woman in the picture. LOL.

My two oldest boys were in desperate need of them these last 2-3 weeks. Youngest still likes for me to use the clippers and buzz his hair off. To bad the other two want different looks. Guess that's the price to pay as they get older. Today we went to the salon that is a walk in only, no appointment needed. They look so handsome now. While I was waiting, decided that mom needs pampered too. Got mine cut into a cute short do, highlights and a few reddish/brown hints mixed in. LOVE it. Nothing says a homeschooling mom can't look pretty and stylish. I'm gonna keep up with my appearance, that includes my clothing too. Will update later as I go through a style change.

Valentine's Day

Love is in the air. At least that is what the commercial ads tell us today. Heard that Red Velvet Cake is the "traditional" cake for the day. Don't know if they is true or not, but it sounded good to me.

Searched the net for the best one I could find. www.allrecipes.com didn't fail me. :D Red Velvet Cake IV, submitted by Pat in St. Augustine looks to have the moistest one, plus it has be best picture results. What a way to celebrate a holiday than with chocolate.

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

Menu planning

Meal planning is hard enough to do when you don't have kids around. I've found now that we homeschool, its even harder. To make this task easier for me, I make a menu out for the entire month. Lunches are usually leftovers and/or things I pick up just in case there aren't any leftovers.

How do I make a monthly menu plan? First thing is by opening up my blank menu calendar, fill in the dates of that month (I have February's already in as a starter idea). Started by writing down any nights we may be busy, not at home, or birthdays/special events kinda things that happen that still need planned for. Busy days I plan super easy meals such as crockpot, soup, and/or sandwiches. Next I wrote down all our family favorites. While I wrote, I had to make sure we didn't eat beef, chicken or pork two days in a row and we had at least one meatless meal in the week. Third thing I did was asked the kids and hubby what sounded good to eat; asking helped me fill in more blanks. Even planned breakfast for supper a couple nights. The kids love this. Lastly, I looked around in all my cookbooks and the internet for ideas. New recipes to try are fun to plan too.

Breakfasts and lunches are pretty easy. We try to keep a basic staple supplies on hand for these meals. Leftovers are a given in this house. Eggs, oatmeal, rice, cereal, hot dogs, frozen pizzas or pizza bites, chef boyardee for the kids, soup, bread, lunch meat, etc., are a few examples of the staples we keep on hand each week. Don't forget the fruit and veggies. We try to eat a fruit at breakfast and a veggie at lunch. Some times we don't, but not always.

Give it a go. Feel overwhelmed? Start off with a week, save that week and do another. Keep making up a new week and saving it. By the end of 4 weeks you'll have a month's worth of menus. Sneaky way of doing it, but if you have to trick yourself by taking smaller bites out of a big project, I say go for it.

Free Stuff

Found these links for free items. If you are a teacher (I think we all qualify for that criteria) and would like to receive free teaching tools to help your children; fill out their forms and they'll send you stuff. I love FREE things. Most of this stuff can be used in a co-op setting, which is what I'm going to do with my stuff.

http://sanihandsforkids.com - includes a canister of Sani-Hands® for Kids, a Cory & Cora Educational Cartoon/DVD and product literature

http://qa.bookitprogram.com/enrollment/homeschool.asp - Free stuff from the Pizza Hut Book It program for homeschoolers

http://kindergarten.colgatebsbf.com/order/sign_in.php - Free dential kit for kindergardeners from Colgate for teachers. Receive Dr. Rabbit and The Legend of Tooth Kingdom™ VHS or DVD, Dr. Rabbit and The Legend of Tooth Kingdom™ Teacher's Guide, 2-Sided Classroom Wall Poster, My Bright Smile Read-together Storybook (Available in English and Spanish), New! Bright Smiles at Home Family Booklet (Available in English and Spanish), New! Kid's Toothbrushes, Kid's Toothpaste samples

http://www.biography.com/classroom/ideabook.jsp - The Idea Book for Educators is the biannual teacher's magazine created by the Education Department at A&E Television Networks. The Idea Book includes Teacher's Guides for programs featured in Classroom and a printed version of the A&E Classroom Calendar, which features air dates, program descriptions, and copyright information.

http://whc.unesco.org/en/register/ - Receive the 2007-2008 World Heritage Wall Map. You must become a member to receive a free map. Once you have filled in the information, you will receive an e-mail confirming your registration. This large format full-color map features the World Heritage sites. The dimensions of the map are 78 cm by 50 cm (31 in. by 20 in.).

http://www.royalbrush.com/ver3/student/question.htm - Free Art Supplies and Brushes for Educators/Teachers

http://www.history.com/classroom/flag_form.html - History Channel - Save Our History Manuals for Educators. Set includes:
The Declaration of Independence, Grades 2-12
The Missouri River: A Journey with Stephen Ambrose Grades 4-12.
The National World War II Memorial -Grades 4-12
The White House , Grades K-1

http://www.rtsregistration.com/ - Six Flags Theme Parks and Weekly Reader Offer-Read to Succeed Program. Six Flags theme parks, Chase, and Weekly Reader are pleased to offer the 2007-2008 Read to Succeed® program — a free, supplemental language arts program. The program also features the Six Flags Six Hour Reading Club®, which encourages kids in grades K through 6 to complete six hours of recreational reading and rewards them with free admission tickets to participating Six Flags theme parks. All the information you need about the rules and regulations of the Reading Club are in the program guide in the printed kit. You will also receive free wall posters in the package. Free downloadable lesson materials for grades K-1, 2-3, and 4-6. To be eligible to order a kit for your school, your students must be in grades K through 6 and your school must be within a 150-mile radius of one of the participating Six Flags theme parks (see the list below). Quantities are limited so order today.

They WON!

DS3 played in his tournament today. First game they won 31-24. Second game 29-28! It was a well fought game. All teams did great.

Afterwards, the coaches took the kids and their families out for pizza. The boys had a blast. DS3 was grinning ear from ear. Loves his trophy.

Congrats DS3! You worked hard this year for this.

Homeschool Fundraisier

We'd like to take a moment and let you know that our family is now an affiliate of HomeschoolEstore.com, the only online retailer of educational material and audio books in downloadable format. This means that whenever anybody clicks on the HomeschoolEStore banner (see logo on right -->), and makes a purchase, we earn money! It's that simple.

HomeschoolEstore.com carries hundreds of supplemental educational materials, over 500 audio titles, and even downloadable software, carrying the products of over 70 children's and educational publishers. Because their material is all instantly downloadable, there's no waiting around for your purchase to arrive, no shipping costs, and most of the titles are 30% below retail. You can find anything from parenting resources, to preschool, to college and career placement. So, if your child needs help with fractions, or you need an audio book for your next road trip, visit our site, click on the HomeschoolEStore banner and go shopping. You'll end up with a great product, and you¹ll be helping us out in the process!

And our family will earn 10% of every purchase that you make. Thanks for considering our affiliate status with HomeschoolEStore.com the next time you need to make an education or audio book purchase.

Sincerely,
Countrymomma

Happy Chinese New Year -- The Year of the Rat

My son just told me today is the day. He has all the information, from where...I have no idea. Did some digging of my own and this is what I found out between the two of us.

Chinese New Year is a holiday that celebrates the beginning of a new year according to the lunar calendar. It is considered to be one of the most important holidays for Chinese families. The holiday is celebrated with big family gatherings, gift giving, the eating of symbolic foods and lots of decorations. Everything is focused on bringing good luck for the new year and celebrating the arrival of spring.

They must clean their houses from top to bottom. (YUCK!) Doing this is said to clear out any back luck from the previous year and to ready the house to accept good luck for the coming year. (Second thought, add this to my to-do list today.) All cleaning must be finished before New Year's Day so there is no chance of accidentally throwing out the good fortune of the new year. (Crap, day late...wonder if I do it know it will still count.) Also, before New Year's Day, they will buy new clothes or cut their hair in order to have a fresh start. Wearing black is not allowed due to its association with death, however, wearing red is encouraged as the color is associated with warding off bad spirits.

The Rat

Years: 1912, 1924, 1936, 1948, 1960, 1972, 1984, 1996, 2008

Positive Character Traits: Charming and ambitious

Negative Character Traits: Short-tempered and sometimes sneaky

Most Compatible with: Dragon, Monkey, Ox

Famous People Who Have This Sign: Ugly Betty star America Ferrera, dancer Gene Kelly, chefs Mario Batali and Julia Child, actors David Duchovny and Hugh Grant

Lost power

Had a major t-storm last night. Warnings all over the place and tornado watch to boot. Down to the basement we went. Kids were loaded for bear. Brought down the blankets, pillow, coats, and everyone had on their shoes. Power went out about 9:30, with the lighting still going on we saw that our power lined had been pulled from the house and the neighbors tree had fell over. It was laying in the power lines taking a break. We went back downstairs to get our things and found the floor covered in water. Since the power was out, the sump pump won't run. In candle light the kids and I put everything up on tables. It was the best we could do. Why candle light? Because the flashlights were MIA.

By 11:30 - midnight power was back on. Ran down stairs to find about 4-5 inches of water in the laundry room, funance room and storage room. The big room (finished and could be turned into a family room) only had water 1/2 way in. Still, the area rugs were sopping wet, yet the sump pump was working hard pulling the water out. Today, I had the fun of running the rug cleaner to just suck up the water in the rugs. Threw out several cardboard boxes, mop up the concrete floor, and took pics of everything, just in case something broke. The laundry is in baskets sorted and they are soaking wet. Been doing laundry all day too.

About 1:30 this afternoon, our energy company came and repaired our line. We couldn't leave the house with that line down like that. (See pic)

This brings me to the conclusion that we need to get a back up generator for the sump pump. That was a huge mess and I don't want to repeat it any time soon. I'm glad to hear no one was hurt in our area during this storm. Just wish we had planned a bit better for emergencies.

Blessing

I have a great blessing/praise report to share. Today I called the hospital to arrange a payment plan for the bill for DS2's surgery. It was $1826.18 and they wanted it paid in full by 2/12. Sure they do. I worked and worked the budget to find we could squeeze $50 out to pay on this and that was it. The lady I talked to asked for all of our information, including how much DH made last year. Because we are a family of 5, his income was below what it should be per their chart. The hospital is helping us out and shaved off part of the bill. We now owe them $657.42 and I can pay them interest free $50 a month until its paid off.

Holy Cow!!

Been reading

Reading a lot lately on living more frugally. Urban Homesteading especially. We live in the city, just on the edge of the city limits. Have a nice sized house and 3 lots of land to take care of. There is pleanty of yard to grown fruits and veggies on as well as raise chickens. Eggs anyone?

Why do I want to do this? Several reasons really. Save money on food. During harvest time I can freeze, can, and/or dehydrate the crops. Chickens will give us eggs; we go through two dozen a week right now. Plus we know if chemicals were used or not. Organic food at its best. Whatever leftovers we may have, beyond what we need canned, frozen, etc. We could sell to the neighbors or give them away. (I'm thinking more on selling to help pay for our expenses, but that's me.)

Don't know where to start. Want to do it all, now. Yet I keep reading to start small and add more year after year. This means that this spring we need to get clean dirt (not dirt from a construction site) to fill in the hole in the back yard, build raised beds for the garden, and start out with that for now. Next year, we could build a chicken coop and add chickens to the fun. The more we add to our yard, the less we will have to mow. That would be heaven in my life.

Wonder if there are plans or beginners guide on the net somewhere.