Happy Easter!

I woke this morning to a morning like many others, rainy and wet, especially this time of year. What was unlike many other rainy wet spring mornings, was the birds. They were raucous and noisy, but in a cheerful sort of way. It was as if they were spreading the glad news that Jesus Christ lives! And that thought made me joyful indeed, in spite of the dreary weather.

In fact, the weather doesn't seem a bit dreary. It seems like a gentle cleansing rain, and reminds me that being reborn in Christ is the most cleansing thing in my life.

So when my home on earth isn't quite clean enough to suit me, at least I can know that my spirit is clean. And like a clean home that hugs me when I walk in the door, a clean spirit is inviting, loving, and welcoming, even on a dreary day.

Am I frugal enough?

I have read some amazing blog posts this morning!
This one and this one got me thinking this morning. AM I frugal enough? Do I rely on conveniences too much? Do I do enough to save money, and work on a budget during these hard economic times? Because they're only going to get harder. Bad times are comin' y'all, and I'm scared.

This one really drove the point home. And the point for me was that while I can bake my own bread, and sew, mend, crochet, make jelly, and keep house, I don't do enough to be considered truly frugal. And now I'm really scared.

See, I don't grow a garden. I never have. I could, I just haven't. I do flower beds, so I know my thumb is green enough. But I enjoy the convenience of buying my green beans frozen, and picking up a bag of mixed greens for dinner.

I have recently become the co-owner of 7 grown chickens. My husband bought them to use as live bait for a trapping job. (Don't send hate mail, the chickens were kept in separate bait boxes and were not harmed!) Now that the job is finished, we need to build a chicken coop. At first I was aggravated at the thought of just another thing for mom to take care of. But after reading this morning, I am grateful that I have them.

But what about other staples? I don't know how to make peanut butter, or butcher a cow, or use seeds from my own veggies (once I grow them) to grow veggies the next year. How will we survive? When the Great Depression hits, how will I feed my precious family? Because if I dread the "What's for dinner?" rant now, it's really gonna be bad when the economy hits bottom.

I don't live on a farm. And how I wish I did. I've always craved that simple life, while enjoying all my modern conveniences. But to be able to grow and butcher and can and stockpile food for the future... this is a skill that is going to be quickly necessary. I'm going to follow the advice I read this morning, and do all the research I can manage, and print out instructions for things I will find useful for being more frugal and self sufficient, and file them away in my Control Journal. Because last week I thought making my own laundry soap was a crazy idea. Now I feel like it might be necessary.

Baby Boy

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Honesty is his middle name. Actually his middle name is Jordan, after his daddy. But he's a very honest child. To a fault.

Several summers ago, Hubby and I took the boy to go fishing for a day at a nearby lake. It was a quiet early summer day, and I was feeling quite lazy. I had packed a lunch, and snacks, and a blanket to lay on in the sun.

He's always been Daddy's boy, but that day he just wanted to lay on the blanket with mom, as Dad wouldn't be still. Dad's a bank-walker when he fishes. He travels up and down the banks, casting and reeling, and C was only about 5 years old at the time.

So the boy and I were sitting on the blanket. The fish weren't particularly hungry, so the fishing was very leisurely at the time. I was laying back reading a book, and C was playing with some little Hot Wheels. We had a little snack, and chatted a bit, and untangled fishing lines, and recast them.

It had been a good twenty or thirty minutes since the last cast, and suddenly we heard a splash. We looked up to see the end of C's little Spider Man fishing pole swimming away. I jumped up and hollered, and ran into the water, but it had already disappeared under the surface.

I felt horrible. I apologized to little C, and told him I'd buy him another pole, because I should have been helping him watch it. He cried a little, and I kept telling him how sorry I was. I kept glancing at hubby, feeling worse by the minute. I kept apologizing. It was the only fishing pole he had, and it was a Spider Man pole. C loved Spider Man.

Finally, C stopped crying, and I stopped apologizing, and I told him he could help mommy fish. He could hold the pole, and I'd help him. He didn't want to.

So here I go, apologizing again. He said, "Mommy, it's ok. I'll get another fishing pole. You can buy it for me. 'Cause it IS YOUR FAULT. But it's ok. I'm not mad."

I laughed and laughed until I thought I would burst at the seams. My honest sweet caring little boy.

Minutes passed, and C was playing with his cars, and I was reading a book, with one hand on my pole, and suddenly there was a tug on the line. Then a BIG tug. I set the hook and started reeling in. The fish broke the top of the water. It was HUGE y'all. And funny looking. It didn't swim or pull right. I thought, "Weird..."

Y'all, when I got this fish pulled in, it was so tangled in fishing line, and had TWO lures in its mouth. TWO! And you guessed it, one of them was attached to C's Spider Man fishing pole! I was so relieved! After all, I didn't have to buy another pole for C!

When I said as much to him, he said, "Yeah! I got my pole back! Aw Right!" Pause "But it's still your fault, mommy."

Gotta love honesty.

My Fiery Angel

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She is 10 going on 25.

She is baby and child and woman all rolled into one.

She is needy and independent.

She is bossy and needs to be reminded of what to do.

She is fiery when confronted.

She is silent when in her own world.

She is an animal lover.

She loves small children.

She's an artist at heart.

She loves to sing and dance, but she's clumsy, like her momma.

She is passionate at play.

She is serious while working.

She's a helper, through and through.

She's a great student, and wants to be a math teacher when she grows up.

She is beautiful, and precious, and precocious, and loves drama, usually the kind of her own making.

She has a great smile.

She has an angel kiss on her head, a little white streak of hair, present since birth.

She is sweet, kind, loving, and has a temper to rival no other, just to even things out.

She is my sunny, bright, bouncy, beautiful girl-child.

My Son, My Hero

I originally wrote this story in December of 2007, after a terrible ice storm had knocked out all the power in our surrounding area for weeks at a time. Today I have edited it, in order to submit it for the carnival over at "It's Almost Naptime!!".

On Monday morning we woke up to the sounds of tree limbs falling in our backyard, and all the power going out at our house. Within 3-4 hours, power was out all over the neighborhood.Tree limbs were down all over the streets, due to a horrible ice storm that ravaged our area all night. The fire department was going through and checking lines and disconnecting live wires on the ground.

Now y'all know, power outages and kids do not mix. The kiddos were BORED. No TV, no video games, no lights or music, and naturally, no school due to the storm. So bored kids need something to do.

I sat the kids down at the kitchen table where there was plenty of light, and they started to play monopoly. More tree limbs fell, and the kids yelled and got scared. The limb that fell this time had yanked the cable lines from the back of the house, and squashed the fence between me and a neighbor, and had taken out my neighbors power lines as well. I calmed the kids, and went on with making coffee for the fire crews.

Suddenly, Weston says, "Mom, there's smoke coming from the back of Brandon's house!" Brandon is the neighbor to the east of us, and we can see his back door from our kitchen.

So I looked out the window, and sure enough, it looked like smoke, but I thought it might have been steam from a dryer vent. So once again I calmed the kids, told them to stay in the house, and went next door to check. The closer I got the more I could smell smoke, and I got scared. I banged and pounded on Brandon's door, and yelled that the house was on fire, and told him to get out. I called 911, and as I was headed back to my house, here comes Weston with the fire extinguisher from under my kitchen sink. LOL What a smart kid. I handed it to Brandon, took Brandon's girlfriend back to the house with me, and called my hubby.

The fire department showed up, put out the fire, which thankfully did very little damage inside the wall and attic and none to the interior of the house. And Brandon joined his girlfriend at my house. There he shook Weston's hand, in a very grown-up fashion, and thanked Weston for saving their lives.

Talk about one proud kid, and two proud parents. Brandon and Courtney are fine, and we are all thankful for Weston's quick thinking.

Because Elderly Minds Want to Know

Yesterday morning I woke up bright and early... to a puking kid, an itchy kid, and a flat tire on my car. Not a sterling start to my first day on the new job. But, after the application of benadryl for the itchy kid, crackers for the puking kid, and a quick run to the local tire shop, I was well on my way.

I arrived at the home of Mimi a little before 10. Mimi is 87 years young.

I used the hidden key, and let myself in. Mimi was in the bathroom, so I put my stuff down, making a little noise, hoping I wouldn't scare her. I doubted she would remember me from my visit on Saturday.

Finally I called out, "Good morning Mimi!" She answered me back similarly, and the little dog, Abby, went BERSERK! Barking growling, and generally showing me how pretty and white her teeth were. After 3-4 minutes she settled down, and Mimi and I went to sit in the kitchen.

We talked. We laughed. We covered the same subjects over and over again, And Mimi never tired of hearing my answers. She asked about my hair. Was it a perm? No ma'am, i told her, it's naturally curly. "You just don't know how blessed you are," she says. For the eighth time. I didn't mind. It's nice to be reminded that one is blessed.

"You have a nice smile. Did your parents have to pay a lot to get your teeth so nice and straight?"

I said that no, I had never had braces, and that my teeth had been fairly straight since childhood.

"Oh, you're so blessed."

Yes, ma'am, thank you ma'am.

"And what about those?" she asked, shaping breasts in front of her own slight chest. "Are they real?"

Ummmmm....
Is she serious?

I had to laugh. I couldn't help it. I busted. I finally replied after nearly choking in my attempt to tone down my mirth.

"Yes, ma'am, God-Given and au naturale." Since she looked a bit skeptical, I told her the words of wisdom my mother imparted long ago: "Never skimp on shoes or bras. Bargain shop for everything else, but buy only the most supportive bras and shoes."

Sound advice, and I thank you Momma. Apparently that advice has paid off, because I never in my life would have thought anyone would think my breasts were augmented in any way, shape or form.

I'll take it as a compliment, even if it came from a dear sweet elderly woman with failing eyesight, hearing, and slight senility.

Catch up on the weekend

Good Sunday to y'all. I have had a very peaceful weekend, and I'm looking forward to the next week or two.

On Friday, W and M went with their "other"dad for the weekend, C went to a friend's house, and Hubby went out of town for a meeting. This left me blissfully, peacefully, thankfully ALONE! I loved it. I relished it. I took a hot bubble bath, did my nails, my hair, read a book and listened to music. All without the constant interruptions and small crises that make up a normal day for me.

Saturday, I slept in til 10:00 woke to a peaceful, clean house, and an inch or two or disgusting white stuff on everything. But I wasn't going to let a little snow ruin my solitude. I played online for a bit, did my morning routine, and went out to clean off the windshield so I could go to town for a few groceries. After all, that's what southerner do when it snows. We go to town. More accurately, we head for the nearest grocery store to stock up on milk and bread, as if the latest snow fall was signaling the end of the world as we know it.

I got home from the grocery store, and hubby came home just a few minutes later. We said hello, kissed, and were interrupted by the ringing of the phone.

It was my aunt. She wondered if I was interested in helping out an elderly lady for a week or two, and left me a number to contact the Elderly lady's daughter. Before I knew it, I had a job! A temporary, easy job. Just a few hours a day, for a week or two. And all I have to do is be there. No physical labor, no bathing and changing, just companionship! I'm so excited!

Then last night I helped hubby drink two bottles of whine while we each sat at our computers, and then we went to bed.

I wonder what the rest of today will hold? I'll let you know!