New Years thoughts....

Christmas is over and the New Year is creeping up on us. We generally spend the week between Christmas and New Years trying to de-stress from the frantic gift buying season and cleaning the house for the gathering of New Years revelers.

Last year, we went up the hill to our friend's lake house for the holiday. The wife had to work and they wouldn't be able to attend otherwise. I was getting over the flu, and my poor husband started getting a fever on the way up there. So, I spent the weekend nursing him through bouts of fever spikes and soaking sweats, cooking for the crowd, and taking pictures and didn't get to enjoy myself much. This year, the party will be back at our house.

Our kids are getting older now and while that thought is somewhat bittersweet, it is kinda nice to look back over the past year and see how much they have grown. My baby boy will be 18 in March. My daughter, 21 in June. I know that I don't tell them often enough how proud I am of them. They have turned into the kind of kids any parent would be proud to claim. And I love them very much.

My husbands job is still looking ok for the time being, so we are going to focus on getting the house ready to sell. We still have a lot of work to do around here to make that happen but at least we are not pressed for time or money to do it. We still have to do something with the bedroom and our bath, living room floor and kitchen counters. There are a few outside things that need doing, but they will be easy and inexpensive fixes that can wait until later. I am just ready to get out of this place and into my forever home.

The past year has had it's share of ups and downs. We got the house paid off, which is a major accomplishment, all of the vehicles are paid for, the kids both have good scholarships for college, and we have enough saved to be able to do the things we need to do to the house. On the down side, the garden didn't really do well this year and we are starting to feel it in the lack of canned vegetables that are left in the pantry. I may actually have to start buying vegetables from the grocery store again before the first produce comes out of the garden this coming spring.

And our smallest family member, Stuart, a 15 year old house cat passed away the first week of December. He was pretty old for a cat, and had been declining for the past few months. I was heartbreaking to see him getting so weak and know that there was nothing to be done about it. He died peacefully at home and was laid to rest with his favorite things in a spot by the back fence. We will be building a flower bed over his resting place as we did when Katie, our 14 year old Border Collie, passed a couple of years ago. He will continue to be sorely missed for a long, long time.

For the New Year, we will be starting off with a major celebration. Our Alma Mater had a winning football season for the first time in a very long while and has a Bowl Game that will be played the first week of the New Year. We are very excited about it and will be supporting our team in a grand style.

Our son will be graduating from High School in May with very good grades and will be getting ready to go to college in the Fall. Our daughter will be completing her Junior year of college (with perfect marks so far!) and will be starting her Graduate School search.

All of our years of scrimping and scraping are paying off. Our children are moving fully into adulthood as productive, well rounded citizens with bright futures ahead of them and we will have an empty nest. It will be a little odd to not have them underfoot but I think the future they will have will be worth it for all of us.

This New Year, for us at least will be full of new beginnings. And I am actually looking forward to it.

Summer 2011

OK, Almost 3 months without a blog post. I know. I keep saying that I will try to do better but it has just been so busy.

I think I am just about finished canning for the year. Hopefully. Peaches, nectarines, apples, potatoes, meat, tomatoes, salsa, soup, beans, corn, jams, relishes, etc. Not enough, but it will have to do.

And I have been hurting. Alot. My rheumatoid arthritis has been giving me fits all summer. I went to the doctor last week and he upped my meds again. Hopefully it will help. Fall will be here soon and the rain and cooler weather don't help my hands and feet at all. Let's all hope that another surgery isn't needed on the other hand.

We got our daughter moved back into her dorm room with minimal fuss for once. She seriously downsized what she took with her this time and that helped tremendously. Unfortunately, that means she left most of it here. But it is all neatly packed away.

The economy is looking bad so we are cutting back on the spending again. We moved some things around and started looking at what all we will need to do if we have to sell the house quickly. We have a lot more work than money at this point so it will take a while to get everything fixed up and sell-able. Sigh. It is always something.

I have started making lists for things that have to be done. Some things are a given. Dishes and laundry are a daily chore, but things like mowing the lawn and sweeping the floors I can pass off to other family members. Why does it always seem like my list is longer than everyone else's? Then there is the long term list. Getting gutters, paint the bedroom, getting new kitchen counters. That is the ugly list. And getting new floors. The bare concrete in the bedroom is really starting to get old. And the dryer is starting to go out. Yet another expense, and one that we can't put off to boot. We are headed back into broke time.

Well, my feet and hands hurt, but laundry waits for no one.

25 Random Things About Me

1) I have so much useless knowledge in my brain that I sometimes forget what I am doing.

2) I sometimes think I would be much happier if I never had to go to a store ever again.

3) My husband really is my best friend.

4) I would love to have a smoke house, root cellar, berry patch, chickens, and a big garden just like my grandparents did.

5) I know how to build a house, dig a well, plumb a bathroom, butcher a pig, and pluck a chicken. But I can't physically do any or it. And that makes me sad sometimes.

6) I like eggs

7) I like standing in the woods while it is snowing and just listening to the silence.

8) My first job was stuffing envelopes for $4.00 an hour while all of my friends were flipping burgers for $3.15.

9) I don't tell my kids how proud of them I am nearly often enough

10) I am not afraid to try new things even if I often fail at it.

11) The only "stuff" I need to be happy really just belongs in the kitchen. If I couldn't cook, I think I would go crazy. I don't know how people live without cooking their own food. I just get so much satisfaction from getting elbow deep in a bread bowl. I think we would all be healthier and happier if we would all just take the time to cook a big meal for family and friends at least once a month.

12) I make my own soap, laundry detergent, bread, and ham. I can make butter (when I have access to extra milk) salami, and sausage. I sew, crochet, can our food, and make jelly. I think I am living in the wrong century.

13) I get more joy from watching the birds in the yard than from watching TV.

14) I sometimes think that getting sick and not being able to work was actually a blessing. If I hadn't gotten sick, I would have missed so many chances to be with my family.

15) I want a homestead so badly I can taste it.

16) I am tired of the government telling me what I can eat, what I can do or not do, where I can put a chicken coop, what i am supposed to believe, and how to raise my kids. After all, they have done such a great job with the banks and manufacturing sector. I don't know why everyone doesn't adopt the morals the government employs. It has worked so well for them, after all.

17) I think that greed is over-riding common sense. That is why we are in such an economic mess.

18) Learning to be still was very hard to master, but very worth the effort.

19) I think I would be much harder to live with if I didn't have chocolate.

20) Bureaucrats make my teeth hurt.

21) I don't kill things, except ants.

22) I think the two most important phrases in the English language are " thank you" and "I'm sorry".

23) I would like to lose weight, but I just like food too much. If I could lose weight without giving up good food, that is a diet I can stick with.

24) I believe in knowledge for knowledge's sake. If you stop learning, you might as well just give up.

25) I enjoy being silly sometimes. I think that if we take everything too seriously, we forget to take joy in the moment.