The Ramblings of a Crazy Woman

New Vaccine schedule

2010-01-05T09:19:00.003-05:00

According to an article last night on Yahoo News there has been a new vaccine schedule released for children. Boys are now included in the HPV vaccination to prevent genital warts. Sorry, I am just not buying into all that. You cannot vaccinate against STD's. You can teach abstinence and safe sex. The article relates information on the possibilities of measles outbreaks and how there was almost an outbreak in recent years. The efficacy of newer vaccines, in my opinion, has not been proven. The chicken pox vaccine "wears off" by the time many kids reach high school, as one example. So now boosters are required. The long term effects of many of the new vaccines have not been studied enough for the research community to answer questions effectively, again just my opinion. There have been reports of severely disabling side effects and death from Guardisil (HPV vaccine).

A lot of this goes with the effects we are seeing because of the over use of antibiotics, sanitizers, antibacterial soaps, etc. They all have their uses and can help prevent the spread of germs. However, by trying to create a totally sanitary environment we are giving bacteria and viruses the opportunity to evolve into super bugs that are just plain deadly. Keep in mind the way things were "God made dirt so dirt don't hurt." Is a saying from my youth that has always stuck out in my mind. Granted if you are coughing and sneezing cover your mouth and nose and then go wash up. Stay home and away from people when you are sick. This will do more to prevent the spread of common colds, flu, etc than trying to sanitize the world. Open the windows in your home in the winter time, cold air will help kill germies running rampant in your home. Wash your linens regularly, changing them daily if possible if you or someone in your home is ill. Basic cleanliness goes a lot further. Remember that kitchen towels don't get used in the bathroom and bathroom towels don't get used in the kitchen. For me it is more the thought that something that could have wiped someone's butt touches something I will eat off of is just gross. Clean your bathroom and kitchen daily. Germs love humid damp places.

Rambling towards so many different yet related topics.

Light and Love!

Ranting, Rambling and Venting: Not for the meek

2010-01-04T12:42:00.004-05:00

Where to begin with this rambling rant. So many things just need to come out of my head so I can clear it and get back to working.

I guess I will start with Daddy going home from his holiday visit. Life is never boring with this man around. He is larger than life and has a heart of gold. I have come to accept him as he is and stopped trying to change him and I think he has come to the same point with me. He is a piece of work that is for sure but I do love him. His visit started off with a minor car accident. No one was injured during the accident. The woman who ran the red light was not ticketed, why we cannot begin to fathom. Her insurance company, State Farm, gave him such a run around he had a cardiac episode. 2 1/2 days in the local hospital was such a joy. He did wait until after Christmas day to decide to go in. So as usual daddy was here and we had an adventure of sorts. He left this morning to return home to Virginia. The house seemed so quiet just after he left, however, the normal noises are slowly beginning to appear. I always feel slightly bereft when he leaves though at the same time relived to have my house back. He likes to think himself the patriarch and "takes over" when he is here.

We did have an awesome start to the new year though. After searching for so long my Uncle Ricky is now back in my life. We all found each other New Year's Eve. I am going to take this as a very good sign that things will be improving this year and that the light at the end of the tunnel is not another oncoming train. My Uncle Ricky is and always has been someone very special to me. There has never been anything we couldn't discuss and I have truly missed sharing some momentous events in my life with him. We will definitely spend some time catching up on things. I do want my children to have the chance to get to know him as well, I think they will love him as much as I do.

My personal writing projects have taken a back seat to work for my client Demand Studios. We have had to struggle so I have been focusing on writing how to articles, about articles, fact sheets, etc. Most of them are posted on eHow.com or GardenGuides.com. Primarily focused on garden related issues, though for a change of pace I will choose topics under other categories. I love writing in almost any form and getting paid to do it is even better. I am hoping that by February I focus more on my magazine, ebooks, blogging, cook books and of course my fictional novel.

As for things that have really been irritating the living shit out of me lately. My baby can read commercials. Sorry folks, I just don't buy into all that and why should we focus on teaching kids and burning them out on what will already be a long journey of education before they can talk or even crawl. Just plain stupid. Don't ask me where I read all of this but I have seen articles written around studies that any early education looses its benefits by the time kids reach 2nd grade. I can understand the benefits of a program such as head start for kids that do not have parents able to help them for one reason or another (no shame in getting help when you need it for any thing in life). But this huge push to educate our kids so young is just stupid. It will not bridge the gap we are seeing in comparison to other countries. Bob Compton (I really need to find those links) did some wonderful work highlighting the failings of our current education system. I really believe that a return to classical education focusing on literature, art, music, history along with math and science will put our future generations back on track. The focus on sports and leisure activities has gotten to a point where it supersedes basic education. Sure there are a lot of great athletes out there that deserve recognition for their abilities but what good are all those special talents if they can't read or write and don't know the capitals of individual states, other countries, they can't make change, they have no idea what a periodic table is? Maybe I am biased for having spent two years now as part of the homeschool community. I am a product of the factory like public school system but I have chosen to give my children an entirely different education.

Politics in general really get me fired up. Number 1 all the fear mongering that goes on. The idiots on all sides that cannot have a simple discussion on a topic without name calling and deriding each other. Really people, discuss and express your view points but do it without school yard rules. If you are going to state something as fact, have it from a reliable source. Sorry but World News Daily, The National Enquirer, someone's personal blog, Wiki, not reliable sources. Go to the source in question and read the documents for yourself and for the love of god have your own thoughts don't just repeat what someone else has said.

The economy, we all know it sucks. It tanked, tons of reasons for it. But if I remember one thing from my economics 101 class, it is unfortunately part of the business cycle. A very nice sin wave to be honest it looks like a roller coaster. As with any natural cycle the more humans fuck with it the worse it gets. We peaked under the Clinton administration (just a point of reference for time line). Things were great until the very end when we started that downhill slide. In walks Bush, things are getting worse and humans step in to ward it off, big mistake. Instead of the gradual slide we tanked hard and fast. Bad financial decisions made by the powers that be, corporations and individuals. So we hit bottom so hard that we went through the floor instead of bouncing back up. Honestly we cannot blame one political part or another, it was human error, instead of letting things take a natural course we interfered.

Fundamentalists of any kind just piss me off. Any extreme "ist" "ism" and so forth is what people will remember, it is what will get put down in the history books. I am not saying everyone should ride the fence. I am not saying you should stand up for what you believe in, but it has become the nature of the beast that a fundamentalist of any kind really equals fanatic. No, we all can't just get along, again its a human nature thing, but really does blowing up things to make a point really do anything? Does name calling really do anything? Does the whole idea of my way is the only way really make sense? Maybe I am over simplifying. Think about it what is really accomplished by extreme actions? Not a damn thing. Ok, people hurt and killed. In the scheme of things (while horrible) the methods of terrorism by an fundamentalist group has just gotten old. In my not so humble opinion it boils down to "If I can't be captain, I am going to blow you up and call you names." When the old adage of "If I can't be captain, I am going to take my marbles and go home." Would be the better option. Just sit and think about it. To a reasonable and rational person you look like a school yard bully. Ignorant and unwilling to listen to reason.

The new Taco Bell commercial advertising losing weight by going through their drive through. Sorry but fast food of any kind isn't the answer. Exercise and eating in moderation are your best bets no matter what fad is on the rise. Fast Food Nation mean anything to anyone? I am not petite by any stretch and could be in a lot better physical shape. I am not a dietitian, physician or any other health care provider but common sense would tell you that no matter how appealing it looks in the commercial there is still no way around the msg, salt, fat, etc at Taco Bell.

On a similar note, physical appearance. Why is it that these are primarily focused on women and what happened to happy healthy curves on a woman? Aging is a part of life, instead of fighting go with it. Look your best and be happy with who and what you are right now at this very moment. The whole body image thing going on on television and in the movies is beyond ridiculous. The new Nutrisystem commercial where "Amy" couldn't stand to be in her skin 28 lbs ago, sorry but now she looks anorexic where as before she was soft and curvy. Ok, so after two kids and a bunch of other crap I will never dance on a pole or wear a bikini to the beach again. Who cares? My breasts sag, well I fed two babies. I had gone through a period of depression and ballooned up so I have stretch marks (some from having babies). I am not totally happy with my body but it is my body and we have to live together, so I have accepted it as it is. My husband still finds me attractive after 13 years. My kids love to snuggle because mommy is soft and warm. Unless there are health issues involved, accept your body.

I think that is all that is on my mind at the moment. I will post more if something else comes up from the dark well that is my mind. Just be careful and don't fall in there, the last friend that fell in wasn't' quite the same afterward.

Light and Love!

Benefit of a Greenhouse | Garden Guides

2009-12-13T15:56:00.000-05:00

Benefit of a Greenhouse | Garden Guides

Totally and completely insane

2009-12-13T13:21:00.002-05:00

You already knew this though. I have stretched myself pretty thin these days with time to get everything that I want to do done. However, I have never been more at peace or happier. I don't think I have posted regarding our most recent move so here it is.

Sorry if this is an old story for some of you. We had issues with our last landlord. This is the nutshell version BTW. So we went house shopping. Found a cute little beach front apartment in North Myrtle Beach. All utilities included. So on Halloween we moved in. Believe it or not the move went pretty smoothly. The guys had been talking about going to Iraq to work for a construction company and make big bucks. Of course I was being the supportive wife and chose the small apartment because it would be just me and the kids. Well, they have since changed their minds. I am cool with this. We really didn't lose any space, technically a bedroom but even that was an easy problem to solve. The kids are bunked down together and most of the time it works out pretty well. We are now turning the back yard into an edible oasis. Yep, I can have my garden that I have missed so much.

I am writing for real pay these days. Which is really, really cool. I have put some of my other projects on hold or have just cut down how much I can do at any given time with them. But generally speaking I think the whole family is feeling much more peaceful. The kids have really settled in and are truly happy. Even DH is relaxed more, I don't know if he will ever truly relax but he isn't quite as on edge as he had been.

I have started a new journey. Reading and practicing feng shui, reading about zen budhism and generally find a peaceful path to travel. I am not sure I will become a zen buddhist or ever truly reach enlightenment but it is definitely giving me food for thought and chaning my out look on life. I think it goes well with some of my other more "pagan" beliefs.

Well this was a nice break from work writing but I must return to the grind.

Light, love and peace!

Blah

2009-09-20T11:48:00.002-04:00

Yep, that about sums it up. That is how I feel today. I know I should be writing more articles so that I can meet my financial goal but it is raining out and the lack of sleep lately is catching up to me. I feel lazy not doing anything. DD spent part of her morning reading and is now watching some of her anime shows. Daddy has volunteered to tackle the monstrosity of a kitchen. DH has finally fallen asleep after a 10 hour shift and his brother hasn't crawled out of bed yet either. DS is still snoring and passing gas happily.

I am also torn by a potential job for DH. Working for a company daddy worked for years ago. They just got a twenty year contract to rebuild Iraq. Well in and around Baghdad mostly. The money is awesome. But it means him being half way around the world on at least one 18 month contract. If all goes well his intention would be to work at least one more after that. I don't want to let him go, but I have never said no to any job he has wanted to take in the last 13 years, so why start now? The pros are outweighing the cons at this point. While I may not like it, I have a strange feeling he is going to take the job. I will try to maintain the positive outlook that we would be financially more than comfortable, out of debt, and he would come back with a new skill. they told him he could apply for office work but would probably end up a laborer but they would train him in what ever skill he wanted. he is considering heavy equipment operator. So much for him going back to school, he just won't be able if he does this. But he feels "properly" supporting his family is way more important. So I guess I have to ride it out and see what happens.

Now to decided what to do with my lazy self...

So many thoughts, So little time

2009-09-18T19:09:00.003-04:00

Right now time is such a precious commodity. I will be posting some random thoughts and ideas in the near future running the gambit from political to just things that pop into my head. I am happy to announce that I am writing full time and getting a weekly paycheck. Demand Studios rocks. plain and simple. I have also discovered a ton of old writings that I can convert into their preferred format and submit to them, so I will be doing that as well.

If we can manage to do it, I am going to build a simple framed greenhouse and start growing herbs. Not just for ourselves but for sale locally. We will see how it goes. I guess it could be considered a step back into farming for us. We have decided that we really need to find a place with some acreage so we can get back to working on self sufficiency.

Links to some of my currently published links can be found on my main website. As there are more available I will post them there. :)

Light and Love!

Disorganized and Lackadaisical

2009-09-03T17:16:00.002-04:00

I have been very bad about keeping on social media and blogging these days. I have become completely disorganized. I am slowly developing new routines so that I can get my writing work done, be it my regular work for demandstudios.com or on my writing projects. One of the things I would like to start doing here, other than cathartic writing is post some of the recipes I have been using.

Tonight we are having boneless pork chops cooked with cut apples and sweet potatoes. I added some chili pepper powder, fresh garlic, salt and pepper. This will be accompanied by a fresh tossed salad, garlic bread, and apple sauce.

Many recipes that I have designed on my own I do not have measurements for, often times the additions to a meat meal are just based on taste. Baked goods will tend to have measurements.

Well, between checking on dinner and making the rounds of facebook, twitter and at least one more blog entry I will be off from here for now.

Dog Days of Summer

2009-08-12T17:01:00.002-04:00

I really didn't think we had gotten that far along in summer that we would hit those hot, hazy, humid days already. But they have arrived. Today with the heat index we hit 101 before 10 am. Though we had thunder storms come through and have they have cooled things down a bit, it was a pretty big one. Major wind gusts, power loss, the whole nine yards.

I personally love storms, the littlest one in the house still gets scared but he did really well all things considered.

I am happy to report that there were no bike accidents today. The only real injury of the day is little man decided to walk down the hall way with his eyes closed and ran into a door knob. He is just the right height for them to smack him right in the forehead. A nice goose egg but other wise all is well. My baby girl who really isn't a baby is healing nicely from her scrapes from the other day.

All in all nothing major just the general craziness that is our life.

Stretching a roast chicken

2009-08-09T11:58:00.002-04:00

We have been on a tight budget for so long, I have come up with creative ways to stretch food. As an example last night. We had one of the small roasting chickens I had bought on sale for dinner. Even after feeding 5 of us and making one lunch to go, there was still some meat on the bone. So today I put the carcass with some water in a bowl and nuked it about 3 minutes. This made it easier to pick the meat off. Then I took the home made creamy chicken gravy from last night, added about a cup of milk and a cup of water and poured it into the crock pot. Peeled and diced 6 small potatoes, two carrots, diced up some green pepper and onion. I am not adding anything the soup just yet spice wise since there were a lot of seasonings on the chicken and in the gravy last night.

This is just a simple cream of chicken soup that we will have with sandwiches tonight for dinner.

Trying to get organized again

2009-08-08T09:23:00.002-04:00

Well, since my darling daughter has decided she wants more routine to her day and to her education, this means I have to become completely organized again. So I have been laying out a flexible daily routine and working on lesson plans above and beyond my writing work. I have started a new blog that will be completely dedicated to my writings.

I have been playing with widgets and gadgets on it this morning and giving it a fresh new look. The standard skins available are good for basic blogs but as you have noticed I like to dress things up a bit.

Now coming up with any kind of routine with the crazy hours that we keep is difficult, but I think I can manage it. I have ordered new ink cartridges for the printer so that I can reprint my Life Organizer and hopefully stay on track. For me this is like a bible of sorts. When I do use it and keep it with me, I don't forget things, I can keep track of everything. I think I will eventually update it to include some home school organizing stuff in it as well. Or maybe do a version just for home school parents. I am not sure yet.

Well my quiet time for writing and such is almost up. I do want to let you know that you can follow me on twitter and facebook as well. I haven't done much with myspace lately, that might change, we will see how things go.

Right now I am taking one day at a time and building up steady routines. My daughter is actually even happier having a regular routine than just going about her day randomly. My son does well with this also. So we will see how things progress.

Family Day

2009-08-06T12:09:00.003-04:00

Well, daddy has returned to Virginia yet again. He is planning to eventually move in with us permanently. So today's family day consists of Mommy, Daddy, Uncle Randy, Claire, and Morgan.

We are going to the library first and then to the grocery store. After all is said and done, I will then work on my writings trying to get things up on lulu.com and ready for sale. I have already uploaded my life organizer up there and it is available for sale. Next will be the Frugal Cooking Book. Then we will see what will come next.

Well off we go for a day full of family and fun. The kids have already started bickering, how lovely.

This and That

2009-08-03T17:03:00.003-04:00

I have found my way back into second life and reunited with my family there. I will be doing some interesting projects when in world and of course having a great time. I have recently uploaded my life organizer to lulu.com. It is available for digital download.

I had been offered a position with The Household Manager as a columnist and I had accepted it, however, it looks like once again there will be delays. So I am going to pick up where I left off and publish my own frugal living magazine through MagCloud.com. I am also putting together a frugal cooking book and some other stories. I will try and do better to keep everyone posted!!

Have a wonderful week!!

Catching up on life

2009-05-31T12:16:00.002-04:00

I have been so busy lately, I think I could challenge a one armed wallpaper hanger. My writings and blogs have gotten pushed to the side. The kids have been keeping busy as well as my husband. My husband has ventured into real estate so we have been looking for houses for him to get started with. Older homes that are available well below market price that would be of interest to investors. So far we have about 12 in our area that we have appointments to see and assess. We also have an appointment with a local title company to make arrangements to have paperwork and closings completed there.

I have been slowly networking and building my Melaleuca business. I am focusing on product sales. I just can't say enough about their products. My psoriasis is clearing up, I have more energy, and my house smells clean without that chemical smell of bleach and Lysol. We are transitioning all of our general health and household products that we can to Melaleuca products.

As for the kids well I will post that over on our homeschooling blog but they are doing wonderfully.

Light and Love!!

SKYPE!!!

2009-05-19T10:51:00.003-04:00

Ok since it has been requested to pin down a set time to catch me online and not bouncing all over the place Tuesdays from 11 am to noon Eastern I will be on skype, my ID tammy.curry. I will probably add additional days and times. I can do voice and or text chatting, whichever you prefer.

HHmm..not a lot of notice for those of you following me here. I can extend that time today if need be. I look forward to hearing from everyone.

Light and Love!!

Melaleuca!!

2009-05-18T14:53:00.002-04:00

Yes, in an effort to replace a lot of items we use daily and to avoid using major corporations we have gone green. It feels so good to have made this decision. We have done it before but thought we weren't going to be able to afford to keep doing it. I am able to make a lot of our own cleaning, health and beauty aids. However, the cost of doing so comes out so much more than purchasing from Melaleuca. So we are officially switching over everyday items like laundry soap, shampoo, cleaners, vitamins, toothpaste. You name it if you use it daily Melaleuca has a corresponding product for it. In many cases these come concentrated so you are looking at less waste in the landfills. You are looking at better value for your dollar and making sure that your home is the safe haven it should be.

Toxic chemicals found in most household products can exacerbate health problems or create them later on. With natural products you do not have to worry about overall effects on your family or the environment.

If anyone is interested in more information just let me know, as always, I am happy to talk about something I believe in.

Walmart Management Has no conscience

2009-05-11T23:33:00.003-04:00

Our local Walmart store has shown that their management has no conscience what so ever. I will be cross posting this on my other blog and social networking accounts. While shopping Thursday evening, May 7, 2009 a hawk found its way into our local store (#2712, Seaboard Street, Myrtle Beach, SC). The associates chased it with large fishing nets and the local police department had been called. The PD said that there was nothing that they can do. I asked a nearby associate if they were going to call a wildlife rescuer. Well when I was in this evening the hawk was still there. Little access to food and or water, if any access at all. He was sleeping above the shoe department.

I have since sent emails out to the local wildlife rescuers, local newspaper and news station. This is disturbing and cruel. To do nothing and endanger the life of this hawk. I will keep on top of this to see if someone will rescue this beautiful bird. At this point I refuse to shop at this particular store. I have also sent an email off to corporate offices and will be sending one to the local store as well. 4 days is more than sufficient time for them to have found a reasonable solution other than standing by and doing nothing.

I have said it before but I will say it again and mean it. I will not shop at this particular store and possible never at Walmart again. There are plenty of other stores around that carry the same if not better merchandise.

Very excited

2009-05-11T13:51:00.002-04:00

As I was going through and doing my daily routine type of things I got a phone call I had been waiting for from DH's friend's wife. She has a home based business that is working very well for her and I wanted more information. Of course I am an admitted tire kicker. We have tried so many things in the past and well I would have to say they just weren't the right fit. However, not only would my soon to be sponsor be the best support I have ever gotten in the home business realm, I think the products available are top notch. So Friday I will be ordering my products and membership kit so that I can start my own business. Melaleuca has natural products at reasonable prices. I have done Shaklee's in the past my biggest problem was lack of support from my sponsor and I never really could get all the ingredients used in the products, maybe I didn't look in the right places. However, right on the ordering pages the ingredients are listed. Funny thing is I make some of my own products, a big pain in the butt most days. I use many of those same ingredients myself. So am I willing to pay for someone else to put it all together with no guessing on amounts? Most definitely. I will keep everyone posted as to when I have everything set and ready to go. I am very excited about joining this company, I have heard for years people rave about their products. I couldn't tell you why I never bought them myself, it would have saved me a lot of time and money. It will a bit of time but we will be converting all our normal purchases over to Melaleuca products. All of our household cleaners, bath and body, anything you would normally buy over the counter. I know using natural products will make us all healthier.

Light and Love!!

Stories for Mother's Day

2009-05-10T14:53:00.002-04:00

I want to wish everyone a very happy Mother's Day. Here it is a regular day, I got some extra help around the house which was wonderful. Most of all are all the hugs and kisses and cuddles that I am getting. My dad even remembered this year. I picked up the box that contains my mother in law's ashes and told her Happy Mother's Day. I looked at a picture of my mom and told her Happy Mother's Day. Two great ladies that I still feel the need to share this day with they both taught me so much during our short time together in this life. I googled for a story someone sent to me years ago and found it. It is called the Yellow Shirt, one that I love and felt appropriate for today. There are a few others that I came across in the same search and will post those this week in honor of all that moms do everyday for everyone.

The Yellow Shirt ~~author unknown~~

The baggy yellow shirt had long sleeves, four extra-large pockets trimmed in black thread and snaps up the front. It was faded from years of wear, but still in decent shape. I found it in 1963 when I was home from college on Christmas break, rummaging through bags of clothes Mom intended to give away.

"You're not taking that old thing, are you?" Mom said when she saw me packing the yellow shirt. "I wore that when I was pregnant with your brother in 1954!"

"It's just the thing to wear over my clothes during art class, Mom. Thanks!" I slipped it into my suitcase before she could object.

The yellow shirt became a part of my college wardrobe. I loved it. After graduation, I wore the shirt the day I moved into my new apartment and on Saturday mornings when I cleaned.

The next year, I married. When I became pregnant, I wore the yellow shirt during big-belly days. I missed Mom and the rest of my family, since we were in Colorado and they were in Illinois. But that shirt helped. I smiled, remembering that Mother had worn it when she was pregnant, 15 years earlier.

That Christmas, mindful of the warm feelings the shirt had given me, I patched one elbow, wrapped it in holiday paper and sent it to Mom. When Mom wrote to thank me for her "real" gifts, she said the yellow shirt was lovely. She never mentioned it again.

The next year, my husband, daughter and I stopped at Mom and Dad's to pick up some furniture. Days later, when we uncrated the kitchen table, I noticed something yellow taped to its bottom. The shirt! And so the pattern was set.

On our next visit home, I secretly placed the shirt under Mom and Dad's mattress. I don't know how long it took for her to find it, but almost two years passed before I discovered in under the base of our living-room floor lamp. The yellow shirt was just what I needed now while refinishing furniture. The walnut stains added character.

In 1975 my husband and I divorced. With my three children, I prepared to move back to Illinois. As I packed, a deep depression overtook me. I wondered if I could make it on my own. I wondered if I would find a job. I paged through the Bible, looking for comfort. In Ephesians, I read, "So use every piece of God's armor to resist the enemy whenever he attaches, and when it is all over, you will be standing up."

I tried to picture myself wearing God's armor, but all I saw was the stained yellow shirt. Slowly, it dawned on me. Wasn't my mother's love a piece of God's armor? My courage was renewed.

Unpacking in our new home, I knew I had to get the shirt back to Mother. The next time I visited her, I tucked it in her bottom dresser drawer. Meanwhile, I found a good job at a radio station. A year later I discovered the yellow shirt hidden in a rag bag in my cleaning closet. Something new had been added. Embroidered in bright green across the breast pocket were the works "I BELONG TO PAT." Not to be outdone, I got out my own embroidery materials and added an apostrophe and seven more letters. Now the shirt proudly proclaimed, "I BELONG TO PAT'S MOTHER."

But I didn't stop there. I zigzagged all the frayed seams, then had a friend mail the shirt in a fancy box to Mom from Arlington, VA. We enclosed an official-looking letter from "The Institute for the Destitute," announcing that she was the recipient of an award for good deeds. I would have given anything to see Mom's face when she opened the box.

But, of course, she never mentioned it. Two years later, in 1978, I remarried. The day of our wedding, Harold and I put our car in a friend's garage to avoid practical jokers. After the wedding, while my husband drove us to our honeymoon suite, I reached for a pillow in the car to rest my head. It felt lumpy. I unzipped the case and found, wrapped in wedding paper, the yellow shirt. Inside a pocket was a note: "Read John 14: 27-29. I love you both, Mother." That night I paged through the Bible in a hotel room and found the verses: "I am leaving you with a gift: peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give isn't fragile like the peace the world gives. So don't be troubled or afraid. Remember what I told you: I am going away, but I will come back to you again. If you really love me, you will be very happy for me, for now I can go to the Father, who is greater than I am. I have told you these things before they happen so that when they do, you will believe in me."

The shirt was Mother's final gift. She had known for three months that she had terminal Lou Gehrig's disease. Mother died the following year at age 57.

I was tempted to send the yellow shirt with her to her grave. But I'm glad I didn't, because it is a vivid reminder of the love-filled game she and I played for 16 years. Besides, my older daughter is in college now, majoring in art. And every art student needs a baggy yellow shirt with big pockets.

The usual chaos!

2009-05-10T07:01:00.002-04:00

I have been asked on a number of occasions how I came up with the title of "Director of Chaos". Well it is a left over from the days of being a Flybaby. For the best definition of Flybaby you will need to actually read Flylady.net. Really cool stuff there if you are a real SHE (Sidetracked Home Executive). CHAOS is an acronym for "Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome". Not too long ago I would have been completely OCD about how the house looked if someone came over. These days as part of moving into the unschooling life style I have come to realize that a spotless, eat off the floors, drink out of the toilet type of cleaning is not necessary. We need clean dishes, clean clothes and well I am working on the bathroom OCD issue. The "lived in" look of the house is not really a big deal. Simply because we do live here and Better Homes and Gardens isn't ever coming out to interview us in our 40 yr old tin can..excuse me PC term mobile home. Yeah I know a few of you know me pretty well and are laughing, I used a PC term. I do try to be inclusive and know there are a few people who appreciate being politically correct. Why I have no idea but there are people who feel that it is a nicer world to be that way.

As for the usual chaos, the kitchen looks like a hurricane went through, our bedroom is a major catch all again for everything and well the living room, front room to some of you, since Morgan took it over as his bedroom/playroom you can just use your imagination. Household project plan for this week, straighten the kitchen, possibly mop up the floor. Overhaul our bedroom, it is small enough as it is and needs decluttering..oh and a good vacuuming. Claire and I have started on organizing her room. I am hoping that little by little I can make it very girlie in there for her. We have enough things to organize all her projects and make sure she still has some room in there to stretch out and read.

As for my work projects they are coming along nicely. I am still waiting to hear back on a couple of bids on Elance.com for some work there. I am looking for drop ship products that I enjoy or would enjoy and that don't add to an over burdened ecosystem and use natural ingredients. The articles in for the first issue of Independent Family Living Magazine are well on their way to completion. And the bulk/frugal cook book is coming along as well. I didn't realize how many recipes I have collected over the last few years. With more coming in.

Anyway, I have some things to do before picking my brother in law up from work later, this is one of his really short workd days.

Light and Love to all!!

It's been a little while

2009-05-03T15:03:00.004-04:00

Well, things are returning to a sense of normalcy. Translation our regular craziness. My dad had been hospitalized again a couple of weeks ago and we needed to spend our time with him, yet another close call. He is on the mend and will be returning to spend some time with us as soon as he is able to travel.

The UU Homeschooling newsletter is officiall done and if I can figure out how to upload a file for download I will do so from this blog and my homeschooling blog. Other "work" news, I have actually upgraded my account with elance.com and I am awaiting notice of several contracts I have placed bids on. A couple of them sound promising.

I have completed my official rough layout of Independent Family Living Ezine, and have begun writing the articles that I wanted included in the first issue. If I push hard enough I should be able to have the first quarterly issue available the beginning of June.

DH and I are still studying and taking classes on real estate investment and short sales. Hopefully we will be ready to get to work on this new business venture (well not new but we will have a lot more knowledge this time around) by the beginning of 2010. It seems like a long time to wait but we are planning very carefully and getting all our ducks in a row before taking off on this one.

And as always our lives are taken up with our children, their passions and just enjoying spending time with them.

Gardening, magazine update, newsletter update, etc

2009-04-21T18:58:00.003-04:00

Oh my, it seems that I have managed to find a way to work in a garden after all. DH sits and shakes his head and laughs at me. A wonderful man not far from us in Loris has decided to start an organic farm/market garden. He will have a CSA (community supported agriculture) program up and running next year, or at least that is the plan. We read his original post on our local Craigslist. I called him yesterday and had a wonderful time speaking with him. We have volunteered to work in his garden, which he was breaking ground on yesterday. A man after my own heart he is using seeds from my favorite supplier, Baker Creek and organic techniques. The kids are excited and we are all looking forward to truly locally grown fresh produce. I can't wait to taste the strawberries he has going. Hopefully some fresh eggs from time to time as he builds up his flock of free range laying hens. So we will be adding gardening posts to this general ramble possibly starting as early as next week.

I am almost done with the UU Homeschooling newsletter. Layout is taking a bit longer than I expected to and hopefully will be satisfactory to everyone. We are hoping for a few more articles for the next one. It will be a quarterly newsletter and I will post where it can be found as soon as I know. :) I will probably also have it ready for download from my both this blog and my homeschooling blog.

Independant Family Living Ezine will be up and running by the second half of the year. This will be a quarterly subscription. It will include a lot of things including a frugal living section, unschooling adventures, recipes, and other articles. It will have its own website and forum, there will be link off my main website just for the Ezine.

My main website is coming along, I am cheating and using the hosting company's web builder, at least for now. I am still struggling with Dreamweaver. However, I am pretty confident in my abilities with Photoshop and InDesign. I am still going to put a Frugal Cookbook together, though I want to come up with a snazzy name for it. The Life Organizer is still under reconstruction but should be available soon.

I have given both blogs a fresh new look. We will see how long that lasts, it is a bit of work to make sure all my widgets are in place, but it looks like I need to still redo a couple of things. They will get done eventually.

Well, that's it for now. I am off to cook dinner and find my children. We turned them loose on the world.

Another short break

2009-04-18T22:10:00.002-04:00

Normally once I get DH off to work and come home the kids are still bouncing and running. Tonight it seems that they are chilling together on the couch (I haven't pulled the bed out yet for DS) watching cartoon movies on netflix. They haven't been this quiet in ages. But I thought about their activities today. DS played with his best bud next door including splashing in the wading pool. He was very animated while gaming and we all wrestled for a bit. He has eaten a very full meal and had his after dinner chocolate milk. DD did sleep her normal 12 hours and was very active all day, I think she has eaten, I know she has showered and gotten comfortable for the night. So it is extremely quiet and peaceful.

The only thing I have left to do in the kitchen as far as cleaning are the long counter and the floor, but those just may wait until tomorrow. I am waiting for taters to cool so I can make tater salad and take some to DH at work. I am not using my dad's recipe, while we all love it, I am just keeping it very simple this time. Banana muffins have been a hit and I guess I will be baking more of them tomorrow when I do the apple cinamon ones as well.

I have been doing research on three topics lately. Starting a community garden/recycle point is something that DD wanted to do and is very passionate about. The other is yoga, I can't afford classes so I am looking at videos and reading. I think it will be a wonderful way for me to start taking better care of myself. The other one is a business idea we have had before, we attempted to run with it but were dealing with a company that unfortunately wasn't on the up and up. We are learning about short sales and different possibilities for some extra income from bringing sellers and buyers togethers.

Well I do believe the potatoes are ready to be added into the mix for some salad. I will do the rest of the cooking tomorrow and I might even fold some laundry! Hhhhhmmm...who would have thought it!

Light and Love!

Taking a small break from cleaning

2009-04-18T19:51:00.002-04:00

Right now the 4 yr old is happily playing COV. The 10 yr old is riding her bike with new found friends from the opposite end of the trailer park. Her original set of friends here are just too entrenched in the public school drama to even let it go when they get home, I pity them and their parents. But my overprotective ways aren't appreciated. Apparently keeping your kids from being bullied is being over protective. Though in light of the little boy in Massachusetts that committed suicide after being bullied I really don't care to agree that I am over protective.

I have been cleaning the kitchen which seems to at least once a week become a major disaster. I am down to the last little bit. I had some help with some of the major stuff getting done yesterday. However, I want to bake, make potato salad, egg salad and get our monkey platters done. So I need clean work space so I can crap it all up again.

Hubby is stirring from his nap and will start to get ready for work in a little bit, so I will need to get his dinner done. And the sun is setting and the street lights are coming on, so for most people the day is ending. Ours is really just beginning. Granted I was lazy today and took a nap this evening and didn't really feel awake again until after a nice cool shower.

We have done a bit of switching around, BIL is now in one of the tiny bedrooms, as soon as we get a USB wifi card for him the long cable winding through the kitchen to his computer will be gone. He will have his computer in his room as well. The 4 yr old has a "big boy" bed while not the car bed desired he really likes the couch bed and the fact he can watch his shows as he falls asleep, preferably with mommy snuggling. The 10 yr old and I have fallen into the habit of playing her games together at night and then we watch NCIS, Bones, Saving Grace or other similar shows together for a bit, snuggled up in DH's and my bed.

I will have some other random thoughts later on. I need to get some banana muffins made up for DH to take to work and to finish cleaning the disaster that is the kitchen. Hopefully I will accomplish all the things that I want to but then again, tomorrow is yet another day.

Ok that's it this is the final change

2009-04-14T19:58:00.002-04:00

Well not final, final change but the frugal living book that I have been working on that started off as an idea for a quarterly online magazine has come full circle. I am working on the layout now and will be setting up to take subscriptions for it by the middle of May. I really and truly believe that as a quarterly ezine it will be much more useful than as published books. I am going to see about publishing through lulu.com of course. If not I will have a beautifully put together pdf file available from my upcoming website.

I have set my goals and I am actually taking steps to follow through and reach them. Not just a lot of blah blah and then not finishing. What has given me the impetus to follow through? You might ask. Well, I have spent time over the last year re-evaluating my life. I have accomplished some really great things. However, once I prioritized my needs and wants and we started on the unschooling journey and I actually became more a part of my children's lives it has revived quite a bit in myself.

Now the only really big obstacle I am dealing with is getting my health back on track so that I have more energy and feel better. I have allowed myself to become exhausted, I have not eaten properly, and generally speaking not taken care of myself. I had started a regular workout routine but did not follow through with it. Recently I re injured my knee so that left me off my feet. Depression still slips in from time to time so I have had to learn how to handle all of this. I am researching the best way for me to get all of this under control.

I can't enjoy my kids, my husband, or my life if I am not healthy. So one of my top priorities is to take care of me better. It sounds selfish but it isn't really. Everyone is affected by my health not just me. So in order to take care of everyone else I have to be physically and mentally able to do this.

I am going to start with an elimination diet. I need to figure out what foods do what to my body and only add back in the ones that help my energy, metabolism and meet my body's other needs. I am going to include yoga because it is more of an overall body and mind regimen than anything else and will probably be easier on my joints and such.

I will start posting on how this is all going. I am going to pick a start date and go from there.

Light and Love!!

Living the Night Shift

2009-04-07T01:20:00.002-04:00

I really wasn't sure which blog to post this on so closed my eyes and clicked. So here we are. We have completely reversed our schedules. Since DH works night shift the kids and I have had a hard time getting time with him. So we have changed our sleeping habits. It also allows mommy to get close to a normal amount of sleep.

Now this is not easy for my brother in law to deal with since he works day shift. So we are looking at night time activities in the house that don't require being loud. Hard to do with young children but we are managing. We are also waiting for the tourist season to get into full swing and the weather to be warmer at night. There are a ton of night activities coming up soon that we will be able to attend. It is a bit weird (it has been a long time since I worked night shift) to get up in the afternoon instead of in the morning. There will be times when we get up earlier but for the most part we should be pretty cool.

If we weren't homeschooling then we wouldn't be able to do this. But mommy and daddy being well rested makes it much easier to be happy and relaxed with the kids. So we will put all together with all the other crazy things we do. But everyone laughing, joking, hugging and all that is so much better than stressing over everything or feeling that the kids are too loud and trying to keep them from wanting to wake daddy up to show him the latest project or to play. Mommy feeling rested also means mommy has a lot more patience with the kids.

Now this evening DD decided she didn't want to go with us but DS and I went to the park. We went tromping a bit on the nature trail and then looked for tadpoles in the ditch. After which we went to play on the playground. Well there were soccer games going on and a couple of the soccer moms were over by us. They asked DD what school he was going to. He said he didn't (remember he is 4 yrs old) that he home schooled with mommy, daddy, and sissy. I saw the look and then the comments started. What about prom for our daughter? How are they going to learn this and that? I asked them to stop treating my son like a trained monkey he didn't have to show off for them what he did or did not know. Besides he is only 4 yrs old and well their expectations were incorrect. Then there was the fact I was going up and down ladders and slides and enjoying the swings and getting tons of hugs and kisses. Apparently I am a way too permissive parent and my kids will never amount to anything. I simply stated that they have chosen to raise their children in a restrictive manner and that I have chosen to enjoy my children and watching them grow and learn. Then DS and I went back to the nature trail and searching for tadpoles. Leaving them to scowl and of course talk about the crazy home schooling momma they met today.

Well, we had a moment of calm, the storm has picked up again in the form of a 4 yr old and a 10 yr old involved in a pillow fight. there is a pillow calling my name!!

Light and Love!

I have lost the original files.

2009-04-05T21:04:00.003-04:00

Well, after figuring out I needed to wipe down the back up DVDs, I discovered that since I created the original life organizer my doc files are gone. So I will be extracting from the pdf file to do the necessary editing. I just want to spruce it up and make it a little easier to use.

I have come a long way since I printed my first one for myself. I do not use this with the kids it is more or less so I can make it through the day and prioritize for myself things that need to get done. I have gotten feedback over the last few years and I will be incorporating that into the format changes as well.

I hoping to crank up work on my own website again soon. I have a ton of things to do to it to get it ready including listing some rather cool products for aromatherapy and some other product suppliers. Many of which are drop ship companies I have worked with in the past. I am always looking for new reputable companies to work with.

Well, I am going to chill out for a bit and read some of the unschooling books I have checked out of the library. I finished all my fun ones, so a trip to the library and to the recycle place to turn in aluminum cans is definitely in order tomorrow.

Light and Love!

Today is a work day

2009-04-05T13:59:00.004-04:00

I have been busy today working on the One World newsletter layout and web site. This is a home schooling newsletter for the Unitarian Universalist Homeschoolers. I think it is going to be an awesome newsletter once we get it all put together.

I am also working on locating my original files for the Life Ogranizer that I have created so I can put it into InDesign and spruce it up and get it up on my new Lulu.com store front. Right now I am simply going through the back up files I created back in October of last year to find all my original content and start getting it all back up on the web in appropriate places.

For anyone following me on facebook.com or myspace.com I do apologize that I am again neglecting those sites. However, I am sure that you understand how busy it gets around here, so prioritizing some things get left undone. I am hoping this week to get those spruced up and looking good as well.

I may have to finish posting later it looks like my system is not at all happy with a back up dvd I just put in. Rebooting once again!!

Light and Love.

Migraines

2009-04-04T22:17:00.002-04:00

This is the first day out of the last 3 or 4 that my head has not felt like exploding. I get cluster migraines and they leave me pretty non functional some days and just barely functional others. So for the last few days I haven't done much, I may have responded to some emails and I do hope that they were coherent. I will go back and check later on.

In other news we have made it to our 3rd month in our home and have paid all the bills on time. This may not seem significant to many people but for us it is very. It feels so good not to have to worry about if we can put food on the table, much less keep a roof over our heads. This was a tight week, grocery wise, but since we had stocked the house fairly well, it is hardly noticeable. All it means is those little extras we enjoy weren't on the shopping list today. The had to haves and that was it. Still it wasn't as bad as sitting with $50 on hand and thinking how in the hell am I going to make that last two weeks for groceries.

We are still working on looking at the positive side of things. After several years of living in the black hole of existence we are still waiting for the other shoe to fall, most days. We are learning more and more to live in the now and enjoy today. I am not saying we ignore or do not plan for the future but the future isn't as bleak as it used to be.

The whole family is sporting new hair cuts. I cut DH's, DD's and DS's hair. DH and DS ended up with buzz cuts; DD wanted to have all the icky split ends cut off so hers is just above her shoulders now instead of half way down her back. It will be easier for her to care for and she really likes it now. I had DH cut my hair, which is still recovering from a bad home dye job, stress, sun poisoning, etc. However, it feels and looks great. It is about two inches above my shoulders. I did trim my own bangs but he got rid of a lot of the icky stuff at the bottom of my hair. So we will see how it does now that it is primarily healthy hair.

Light and Love!!

Rainy Day Ramblings

2009-04-01T11:05:00.002-04:00

DH enjoyed his birthday. We had a lovely dinner, Claire presented him a hat and shirt that she decorated and to her absolute delight he wore them all day yesterday. So far this morning, DH, Morgan and myself are the only ones awake, well BIL is at work and is supposed to have a half day today, we will keep hoping at this point since we want to go to the library. Sharing 1 car amongst 3 adults really sucks.

Morgan actually only wanted plain milk instead of chocolate and the rare taste for strawberry. So he is chilling on the couch with his pillow and blanket and his sippy cup of plain milk. I played a hand of play money sit and go Texas Holdem this morning. Didn't do too bad. I did better in last night's freeroll than I have before. So I will keep at it, maybe just maybe I will pick up a few extra bucks here and there.

Right now I am doing laundry. I can't do dishes because when the washer empties out it creates such a forceful suction that it will drain the kitchen sink. This is not a bad thing mind you. This time last week the plumbing was backed up. I might even venture forth and clean our closest up. No matter where we live it seems that the mommy and daddy room, closet specifically become catch alls for not just our crap but everyone elses. Some one please explain to me how that happens.

Well off to toss over another load of wash and yes my nice little schedule to keep all the laundry up was blown last week too!

Light and Love!

"If hope and salvation are to come,
they can only come from the children,
for the children are the makers of men."

Maria Montessori

Party Day!

2009-03-31T11:04:00.002-04:00

Well, everyone is getting up except for hubby. He is still in bed, but that's not a big deal, it is his day off and his birthday. So the kids and I are going to get the house in tip top shape and then make a huge mess in the kitchen. Decorations need to be made according to Claire, dinner needs to be prepped and cake needs to be made. She is wanting to do this on her own so we will see how that goes. I will probably won't be able to help myself and will butt in anyway.

We reminded little man that it is daddy's birthday and he wanted to know if there would be birthday cake. Upon hearing that there would be he was excited.

Well, off to make breakfast and get the house cleaned up.

Light and Love!

"We worry about what a child will become tomorrow, yet we forget that he is someone today."

Stacia Tauscher

Well it looks like the trip is postponed

2009-03-30T22:56:00.002-04:00

We were planning on making a trip to North Carolina tomorrow to get our things out of storage. Apparently this is not going to happen as plans have fallen through. Oh well, disappointing in some ways but not in others. Unbeknown to my husband plans for his birthday party have continued. We will be having spaghetti dinner with a nice salad and fresh garlic bread. For dessert, Claire has decided to under take the making of a pineapple upside down cake. It should be interesting. She has also spent quite a bit of time decorating a hat and a t-shirt for him. She is excited about giving it to him. They are definitely interesting to look at but I am sure he will be happy because they came from her.

Getting Morgan to sit and make something for daddy, well he really isn't interested. And tonight it was out of the question after he came in from playing with boo-boo's on his hands. Yes, it was horrible, you would have thought he lost a limb. I know a large part of the ordeal was that he was tired and had scared himself. So a nice warm bath, cleaning his scraped up hands and checking for other injuries and then settled in our bed to watch some of his favorite shows. He is fighting sleep at the moment and doesn't want mommy to snuggle. Maybe we will try in the morning, it will depend on how he feels.

I went another round with daddy the other day on the "home schooling thing" as he calls it. I thought he was finally coming around but apparently not. It came down to I told him he and mommy chose how they raised their children now it is my turn to choose how to raise mine. His major concern is socialization. Trying to explain to him he is using the wrong word to begin with and then explaining that he means what about socializing, well I ended it that whole part of our conversation with, "We have different philosophies on life and children and if you really want to spend money on the kids instead of worrying about school clothes we need a microscope and a chemistry kit." Which got a huge laugh out of him. I had a chemistry kit growing up, he showed me how to make a small stick of dynamite with it among other experiments. I told him I loved him and I know he wants what is best for his grandkids but just being their Pa-Pa is more than enough for them. It is obvious that while I would love it to happen but he just isn't going to get it.

I am happy to say that I have been writing, tons actually. I am hoping to get to the editing part of everything next week. Frugal Cooking is coming together beautifully. I am also working on revamping my Life Organizer to put it back up on Lulu.com. I need to fix the 2009 calendar I did as well. The artwork I made isn't quite the correct size for printing. Another project I am working on is "One World" newsletter for the Unitarian Universalists homeschool group. I am doing the layout for the premiere issue.

Well, I am going to see about some sleep now that the children have settled down for the night. Claire has taken herself to bed after some loving from mommy and Morgan is just about ready to fall out he is literally holding his eyes open with his fingers.

Light and Love!

Just need to ramble a bit

2009-03-28T01:19:00.002-04:00

I think I just spent the last of my energy on my other blog about our homeschooling adventures. But I do feel the need to ramble on a bit about things. We have had two days of nothing but trouble from the drainage pipes and apparently the landlord thinks we did it so he doesn't feel he has to have a plumber come out and take a look. So the guys have been snaking the pipes and using drain cleaner and all that. I think they finally got it. Tomorrow will be the real test, if the washer runs and nothing backs up into the tub they have won a hard battle against the blockage.

As far as homeschooling goes, I am changing some of yahoo groups around. I feel out of touch on some of them. I have nothing to contribute as far as curriculum, supporting schedules, traditional teaching styles, etc. I also have become involved in some pretty OT discussions/arguments that have nothing to do with homeschooling/unschooling. Right now that is not where my interest are. If I am going to have my inbox filled with posts I would much rather read unschooling discussion boards than home school support groups. Discussions provide me with much more information. I have support from my husband and a few home schooling friends that I have found a long the way. Information to me is much more useful. Well information that goes above an beyond how to force learning on children. Not that that doesn't work at all. Some kids thrive in that kind of environment, mine just don't. They aren't running wild and being treated like little adults. Which, to be honest, is what we thought unschooling lifestyle would be. But that is so far from the truth. I am definitely not experienced enough to pass out advice, I am willing to share what we have gone through to get to where we are, willing to learn more to help us get to where we want to be. But this is definitely a family journey. Even my brother in law is finally starting to catch on, slowly but he is getting there. Especially after seeing and hearing about the kids accomplishments today.

HHhhmmm....I must be even more tired than I thought. I just lost my entire train of thought and I am not sure how to get it back. Oh well..if it comes to me later on I will just have to blog it then. I have no plans for tomorrow, well nothing set. I do have a couple of friend type phone calls to make and well, I think I will write. I have tons of things bouncing around in my head so I will need to get them down on paper soon or they will be lost.

Light and Love!!

A thought occurred to me tonight

2009-03-25T03:14:00.002-04:00

Yeah I know it's either late or early depending on how you look at things. Well I did go to bed early, and slept for a while. I am thinking my body doesn't know what to do with real sleep. Anyway, a thought occurred to me while reading email at 3 am. I have been actively participating in several online homeschooling support groups. I think I might just start publishing my comments here to share with others. I have gotten some pretty nice emails lately about some of the things I have said. I do not claim to be an expert, I probably never will. Homeschooling is such a personal thing and is different for every family. I do have a homeschooling blog as well but it is more or less my personal journal of our adventures. So now I will go back and refer to those posts and try to put them up here on a regular basis. I am by far not the be all end all of advice, most of what is said is based on our own experiences and information that has been gathered from those much more experienced and knowledgeable than myself. So I will add yet another project for myself.

Well, I am off to try and go back to sleep. I might even make it back to dreamland.

Light and Love!

I can't believe I missed it!

2009-03-23T22:39:00.002-04:00

I usually do something special for the first day of spring and I missed it. I feel terrible about it too. We will have to make it up when we celebrate Beltane! We were going to plan for a big birthday bash for DH next week, but Daddy has decided that he needs to help us get our things out of storage in NC, so we will do a party of some kind the week after that. We will find some name for the day and do all kinds of fun things. Decorate the house, bake lots of goodies, have a blast generally speaking.

I am very excited about getting all of our things down here to Myrtle Beach. They won't all fit in and I know there will be stuff that needs to get trashed, sent to Salvation Army, Freecycled and a few items might even be sold on craigslist.org. But still it will be our stuff it will be where we can get to it when we want/need it and we can gain a little bit of slack in our budget. The rented washer and dryer can go back to Appliance Warehouse. We should end up with a smaller storage bill. This will offset having a larger than expected electric bill.

Well folks it is getting late and I have a few things to get done before bed. Yes, I said bed. When ever possible these days I actually go to bed before the sun comes up and often times before the moon has risen completely.

Light and Love to everyone!

My Lulu.com store front

2009-03-18T06:31:00.005-04:00

I have decided that a number of things needed a new look. I have redone my lulu.com storefront and actually started a completely new account. We no longer have the farm so the association with it could be mis-leading. I haven't updated the blog over there as of yet and haven't loaded the few works that I have had published through them previously. They all, in my opinion, need revising and updating.

I have also began to put together a new general website that will bring all my virtual parts together in one place. I will probably use free hosting services for now, though not tripod-lycos anymore. I have been looking at some others and since I am no longer using frontpage I do not have to worry about front page extensions which are a major pita now anyway.

I have found my back up dvds and hopefully tomorrow when I am feeling better I will be able to go through them and decide where on the web they will be brought out into the light. At least the ones that have not been published on the web previously. Many will be from Country Family Magazine others will be from lectures I have given in the past. There will be some how to's (they obviously will go up on ehow).

Well, time to take this tired, worn down, butt to bed.

Light and Love!!

List of pending projects

2009-03-18T06:31:00.003-04:00

Oh my this could be quite a list but here goes:

Frugal Cooking Book (I just need to sit and write)
Frugal Cook Book (companion to the above)
Children's Story Collection
Poetry Collection
Articles for posting on ehow.com and articlesbase.com
My own website/logo etc

I think that is just a start. I look to update this list once I get myself going. The time I was dedicating to school is going to be used to dedicate to these works. The first two being top priority, followed by website/logo creation. the Children's Story Collection is going to be a collection of stories that my dad told me that had been passed down to him, I have been doing the same with my own children. We are also collaborating as a family to come up with some new stories.

I may even include some curriculum development but that is going to be harder to do since we aren't using one for homeschooling. Well, it is getting late and I am getting used to having a regular night's sleep these days.

Light and Love!

No I am not awake earlier than normal

2009-03-18T06:06:00.002-04:00

It is actually fairly normal for me to be up this early. I just don't have to pick DH up this morning and I actually slept last night. Still tired though the concept of getting a good amount of sleep at night is still fairly out of reach. I may even go back to sleep for a bit.

I have started the works on withdrawing from school. I sent an email to my advisor. I have mulled this over and over for the last two weeks. I have gotten behind and it is next to impossible to catch up at this point. I will re-enroll at a later date. But I have found myself spending more time with the kids, who are much more important and time with my husband. Generally speaking the stress of cramming all that information into short sessions has just not been my cup of tea. When I return to school it will more than likely be to the local university with the combo of online and regular classroom sessions. I may even wait a little while until DS is ready to sit quietly for a little bit and take the kids with me. DD went with me last time but not old enough to remember and she was interested at that time. We will see what happens. I don't think my inspiration for going back to school would even have a problem with my withdrawing (for those who don't know it is my mom).

I want to get back to writing my own work, though I may do the two papers that I have been assigned just for general knowledge both are interesting topics. For Art History it is to pick a couple of pieces of art work that would demonstrate how politics affect art. For Mass Media I chose to cover 50 years of news broadcasting and how it has affected society and it's political interpretation based on the availability of information.

So here I sit, having woken up because it was simply time to do so and thinking about my life from here on out sans school. I love being in school, but complete online education is just not going to work for me. It is not that I am not internet savvy, or that I haven't a clue about how it all works. A lot comes down to the basic problem I always have, I send myself off in too many directions at once. So something has to give. So far it has been my online time and now school.

I have no fear that I will be bored or lack for things to do, blog postings may become more frequent and well, I might actually finish a few other projects. I think I might even start categorizing my blog so that I can post on different topics and offer up some of the information I have been sharing on my home school yahoo groups. I really and truly feel that I have established the whole, who am I thing in my mind. I know I am more than mom and wife or wife and mom. Self exploration is an awesome thing and I thank my family for their support on this latest journey.

Well on that note some proposed categories:

Homeschooling info based on current list discussions
My current works in progress and their progress
My works available for sale
Frugal tips
Cooking
Baking
Gardening
Recycling
General Ramblings

HHmmm...I better copy that list in to notepad while it is still quiet around here and get going on determining where past posts will go. More than likely at this point, general ramblings. My goodness it feels good to write and ramble on and on without pressure to hurry up and finish so I can go comment on other people's work.

Light and Love!!

Happy St. Patty's Day!!

2009-03-17T11:31:00.002-04:00

Well, the corned beef is up in the slow cooker. We are going to forgo the cabbage and have spinach instead and mashed potatoes and beer bread. My husband's side of the family is a hogde pogde of ancestory. Mine is pretty distinct. Russian Jewish on mom's side and Irish Catholic on dad's side. So today we will be wearing the green and making shamrocks and generally carousing and being silly.
I do have to think of something for dessert, I am just not quite sure what to make. I will be doing some hunting down of traditional desserts perhaps.

Plans are moving forward to get our garden in place, designs have been drawn and are being followed. DH had a wonderful idea to build boxes with plywood bottoms so we do not have to worry about soil contamination. We live right behind the airport so we will still have to deal with jet fuel and all that but keeping the plants in their grow boxes will cut down on the nasties that the plants suck up.

It is our weekend so today and tomorrow will be spend relaxing. I am struggling with my classes and will be taking the next quarter off to get a break and concentrate more on home and hearth. Also to really put time into finishing my writings and various other projects that have come to a stand still.

I miss my online family in Second Life, I haven't logged in in ages. So maybe I will spend some time there as well. I have decided that I am going to go back to just enjoying being there and not worrying about anything else. I have plenty of jobs in real life, I really don't need any virtual ones.

We still have the internet radio stream but more or less are using it for our own enjoyment. I have also become addicted to online poker, Texas Hold Em. Fascinating game actually, there is a lot more to it than I thought. We will see where that leads as time goes by. Right now I am just using play money.

We have had several rainy days and it has been absolutely miserable but I think the rain is abating after today.

Well I am going to get myself together and get today's festivities under way! Oh I know for dessert we could have sugar cookies with green sprinkles!!

Light and Love!!

School projects I am working on.

2009-03-05T12:30:00.002-05:00

I have always loved art. My current Survey of Modern and Contemporary Art class is a blast. I am really learning to understand why I love certain pieces and not others. Until returning to school everything I knew about art came from my own research. So learning the language of critique, how light and form come together, etc has been amazing. My final project for this class I have a choice, I can choose one piece of art work to write about or write about how a particular movement has influenced or been influenced by political movements of the time they were created. Not so easy, either way it means picking from so many works of art. I am slowly gathering my stuff for it though.

Now Fundamentals of Mass Media Communication is a different animal, not entirely though as art is a part of communication. Our final project for this is a 10-15 (minimum) term paper on how mass media has affected society. So I have chosen television news coverage for the last fifty years. A huge undertaking but I think I an handle it. Actually DH helped me to narrow my original topic down to something very specific. I am having a blast researching written materials and doing some interviews to gather information. When I am done I will probably post a synapses of what I have learned.

Anyway, I am being drug outside for today's homeschooling project and play time. It is an absolutely beautiful day outside!

Internet Radio Broadcasting

2009-03-04T03:20:00.000-05:00

Yep, you read that correctly. We have started our own small internet radio. We have yet to determine what format we will follow so for now it is whatever is on the hard drive and it runs the gambit in genre and time periods starting with the 1920's to today. You can go into winamp or real player and add this url http://s7.secondstreams.com:5746/

Well I am off to see what other trouble I can get into in these wee hours of the morning.

Light and Love!!

General Ramblings

2009-03-02T02:11:00.000-05:00

Daddy's visit was great. He was here for a couple of days, partied pretty hard when he came but otherwise we enjoyed our time with him. The kids are looking forward to his next visit the end of this month.

Classes are overwhelming but enjoyable. Ok admittedly the text book for Mass Media Communication is dry but the class itself is very interesting. I am trying to think of the topic I want to research and do a 10-15 page paper on. The 3 page proposal is due on Tuesday. The basic idea that the instructor wants to cover is how society has been influenced by the media. I have a similar paper due for Survey of Modern and Contemporary Art History, how does art reflect political views. I could easily tie both papers together as far as research goes. So that is a thought, it might make things a bit easier for me.

The kids of course are doing wonderfully. We have completely relaxed and settled into our new digs. We are actually planning to have a first garden in over a year. We are going to give lasagna gardening a shot this year. Well, we will cheat a little bit in that we will get compost to use instead of actually layering this year. We will work on that next year. I do need to build a new worm condo and get some new worms. I really want to use their castings.

We now have very little land to with which to work. However, the plan is to go around the base of the skirting and along the "property lines" and make little beds. We have a chain link fence along the back yard so anything needing support will go in there. Though we like to rotate crops, if we do layering with compost we may be able to bypass that or just rotate the areas set up for tomatoes and peas and beans between each other.

Right now we are pouring over online seed catalogs and making newspaper pots for the things we will start from seed. I will be buying some seedlings when they become available. I don't know if we can get our beds deep enough for a lot of root veggies this year but we will see.

The little bit of open space we have the kids want to put in a butterfly garden and have their fort/club house set up. I am thinking a lattice arbor of some kind, almost like a secret garden. It will not be very big but should be fun to build and watch it all grow. We want to put out hummingbird feeders and I need to see if purple martens frequent this area.

We will see how things progress. If I ever get a chance to get a new camera I will take before, during and after pics to post. It should be interesting as we try to beautify what is actually a desolate looking place. Hopefully it will turn out the way I would like. I might do a design layout to post using Photoshop.

Well, it is time for this crazy woman to take her butt to bed.

Light and Love to everyone!!!

Daddy is coming to visit

2009-02-20T11:08:00.000-05:00

AAhhh..the kids are excited and the house is clean in the extreme, hopefully it will last until Daddy officially arrives. We will see. Two active home school kids who are always in to something? Plus we plan on baking today. Anyway, he is coming for a short visit. I think he wants to check out our new digs. As the 4 yr old says..Yeah Yeah, Whatever. We have lived in better and we have lived in worse. But it is home and really starting to take shape that way. Doing a little bit at a time to decorate and get things squared that are logical to me. I know, I am insane, logic makes no sense then right?

I am looking forward to seeing the old man even though he aggrevates the living hell out of me, on purpose I might add. It wouldn't be him if he didn't. He is my dad, I love him, hate him some days too. I guess some things we never grow out of.

I do still have to finish up the kitchen and get the beef stew going. We are going to be baking chocolate chip cookies today from scratch as well. Some fresh "circle" bread aka dinner rolls to anyone else who is not 4 and labels things according to his own brand of logic.

This session in school is looking like a killer. So my time in Second Life will be limited, I really do love my SL family there and miss them terribly. I have a ton of things I would love to be doing in world right now. However, I have two chapters of Modern Art History to read and a small essay to write. Mass Media Communications is also going to be a killer this 5 1/2 week session. We have a quiz due soon and I have to do two lengthy discussion questions. All of my reading material right at the moment is online. This will sound stupid to some but I still prefer to do most of my reading, especially school related, in hard copy. So this is a completely new thing for me and will need my utmost attention. Admittedly Art History is a favorite subject of mine and we are starting with Neo-Classical Art. As for Mass Media Communications, well if I want to do kick ass web sites and other things I definitely need to learn and understand it all much better than I current do.

I was happy to see that I now have access in the student learning center to some basic drawing classes. Until starting in school I have never taken a formal art class, other than that which is offered in elementary and middle school as part of our extra curricular courses. So it should be interesting and I hope that I can perfect what I can already do intuitively. I will be boning up on Adobe Illustrator, I don't know why I just can't click with it like I did with Adobe Photoshop but hopefully soon. I have been learning Dreamweaver on my own as well. I know some where in my course outlines that I will be using it heavily.

I still want to get my own professional looking website going. I am considering doing a business involving digital scrap booking and other digital services. I have the software, what I think is half way decent talent and well as of this week my computer can handle a heck of a lot more. Upgraded video card and increased RAM definitely are pluses. As soon as we have a handle on our exact monthly bills I will look into domain name registration and hosting. Of course going back to godaddy.com. I have used them in the past and had the least amount of trouble with them and their customer service rocks.

Well, time to get the rest of the day going. The kids are happily playing Toon Town, a disney MMORPG geared just for kids. The thought is that it will help the 4 yr old become a better player on some of the other games that we play. Not being able to read quite yet is a hinderance and he wants to play independantly so we will give this a shot.

Light and Love!

Back from the Great Beyond

2009-02-06T12:44:00.000-05:00

I think we have finally settled into a sense of normalcy. We finally found a house we can afford and life seems to be settling into a very nice routine. I don't know if I will make it through all the back logged emails from the last 10 days or so; I will more than likely just pick up where I am and continue forward. However, we are a happy, if not a little crazy, family once again. Things that have been plaguing us for years seem to be drifting away and allowing us to put our lives back in place.

Our daughter seems to be adjusting and calming down. Our son is blossoming, the lucky one in all of this. He was just a babe in arms when things started going wrong in our lives, that he seems to have no ill effects from all the trauma and drama. Now he gets to see Mommy, Daddy, and Sissy happy more often than not.

My husband and I are happier than we have been in years. All the things we fell in love with about each other seem to be climbing up out of the black hole and presenting themselves again. It is true when they say "That which does not kill us makes us stronger." The bond we have always shared seems stronger now than ever.

I had started working out over a month ago and I am finally seeing some results from that, of course that makes me feel even better. We are no longer struggling financially like we had been. We are just so much more relaxed, it is utterly amazing. I do sit at times and wait for it all to disappear as if the nightmare that had been our lives will come back once again. Hopefully, that will never happen again.

Well, I have a ton of school work for myself and the kids to catch up on and I need to get back on track with all my plans for the year. Luckily it is only February and I still have time to get things done within the time frame I set up.

Light and Love!

I entitled this the Ramblings of a Crazy Woman for a reason

2009-02-04T14:16:00.000-05:00

Don't ever doubt that I am completely insane. We spent the last few months once again looking for a house to live in. Figures we finally plan a get away just the two of us and we end up squeezing it in in between moving out of and cleaning the motel room we were in. We still managed to have a wonderful time. We are also very excited about the new dwelling. It is an ancient single wide but there is room for everyone and for the first time since we have been together I cannot complain about the kitchen at all. Except that I haven't filled it full of stuff. I still have plenty of room in it. We just got internet once again about may be 45 mins ago. I am waiting to hear back from my prof at school about an extension to get all my work turned in and rescue my grade.

We skipped upgrades to the computer for now. But we are officially a two income family again. My brother in law started back to work today officially. So all is going well. Will give complete gory details later. I am still trying to catch up with a few people and answer some questions about custom graphic requests.

Light and Love!

Did anyone else hear "We Shall Overcome"

2009-01-20T21:43:00.000-05:00

Amidst tears of excitement and joy on my part and well the rest of the family being excited we had a long discussion regarding President Obama's inauguration speech. It was long, it was beautiful and I truly believe heartfelt on his part. To me it said "We Shall Overcome". There are so many obstacles that we face as a nation that having a president who actually has faith in the American people. Who will do his best to lead us out of one of our country's darkest hours, that we decided the meaning of his speech could be summed up with those three famous words.

It's been a rough couple of weeks

2009-01-17T12:14:00.001-05:00

We knew it was coming, we saw the signs but we were still taken by surprise. Many things have happened to us over the last few years. Up to and including our marriage almost completely collapsing. This takes its toll on adults, but kids it is even harder. They have not yet learned coping skills, well many adults do not have them either, for major life shattering events. Well, our son is still young enough he has been and is unaware, so far as we can tell, of things that have happened. Our daughter on the other hand was dead center in a lot of it. Things came to a head for her and for us two weeks ago. She just couldn't handle everything circling in her head anymore. I wouldn't say she is unstable or danger of hurting herself. She just needed to talk to someone other than her parents or other loving adults in her life. We have gotten the assistance that she needs and that we need as a family to heal and restore our mental health.

Things are slowly getting back on track for us. We are not online in any of our games right now we have turned our focus entirely on our family. Plans for our virtual lives have been placed on hold. While we love our virtual lives and our friends and family we have developed there, we need to focus on our "real lives".

So as my classes have started again and we are proceeding with homeschooling. Keeping the family life relaxed and as fun as possible. We have started searching for a regular apartment instead of the hotel suite we have been staying in. Stability has begun to settle in, counseling is helping a great deal to resolve many issues. I wouldn't say we are any where close to being done with only 2 weeks under our belts and it will be quite some time before true normalcy sets in.

I have been doing some web content writing again, I know I said I wasn't going to do that anymore but the money is still decent. I am also doing some custom web graphics and working on building a full business website. I am not letting out the top secret product that I will be offering above and beyond my writings and graphic arts works. I will also have a few of my tried and true drop ship products available as well.

And so life continues and there is always something new to do or learn every day.

Light and love

The first Monday of the New Year

2009-01-05T12:57:00.000-05:00

Well, things are going well, it isn't a typical Monday by any means. Smooth and relaxed, no hassled running around and things like that. That might be because I get to set my hours for school (mine and the kids) and for work. Taking a relaxed approached and knowing that tomorrow is yet another day to pick up where I left off helps quite a bit as well.

I have gotten a good start on my list of things to accomplish this year both for real life and my virtual world existence. Automating most of the processes and just going with the flow. What is the worse thing that can happen, something doesn't go as planned? I will have to find a different way to do whatever it is.

One of the impromptu adds to my current weekly list is making a list of what bills have to be paid out of our upcoming tax refund. Then we get to play around with numbers and see what fun we can have. I will say that this year we can have more fun than we have had in the past and are still planning to start a savings account. Something we haven't been able to do in ages.

List of have to pays:

Paypal account
Tax advance credit line
Back utilities bill from moving out of the house
Get Birth certficates and marriage certificates so we can get driver's licenses in SC
Get car insurance taken care of
Outstanding check to the grocery store
Tune up, oil change and brakes on car
Pay one month rent on the hotel rooms
Catch up and pay in advance on storage
Pay off the car loan

There list accomplished. Well I have to get some things done around the house, will finish all of this up later.

Light and love!
Sounds like a lot but it really isn't.

It's 2009

2009-01-01T09:32:00.001-05:00

It is still hard to believe that yet another year has passed us by. Hopes for a bright future lay in the air. Hubby woke up with the cold everyone else has had. Hopefully it will not get as bad as when I had it. He has to work tonight so he has been sent back to bed to rest, sleep, whatever. A nice large pot of tea has been brewed instead of the usual coffee and we even have orange juice, honey and plenty of cold medicine. One of these days soon I will stock up on the home remedies I normally keep that seem to work so much better. Holistic approach to healing just sits better with our philosophy on life.

Today is house cleaning today, starting the new year off with a clean feeling, smelling and looking home is a great way to start. Not that it is filthy by any means just those little things that need to be done and maybe some extra heavy spot cleaning here and there as needed.

I have been working hard on my art work and learning how to make things so they can be poster size for sale on my Lulu.com storefront. I have also been working on a book called "Frugal Cooking". Not just a recipe book but tricks I have learned through hard times that might help other people. I had thought about doing a subscription ezine on that and similar topics. However, I may do just a simple newsletter and list accompanying products that I create and where they may by purchased. If I do this it will be a subdomain of the new website I am creating. I have a free site at the moment and haven't done much with it. However, in the background I have been putting together a really kick ass site. It will be much like a portfolio of my work, products for sale, and other things. Pulling together everything that I can do and showcasing it all in one spot. No I will not be moving any of my blogs. I have ignored my myspace page for quite some time, along with a few other blogs I had started. I will probably let all of those sit. I have so much on my plate that keeping up is going to hard enough.

I have been contemplating putting together a plan of action so that I can keep up with all of my endeavors both real life and second life. It will be the only way I can keep track of things. I miss having my life planner, it ended up in storage some how. So I am going to start an electronic version of it. I have all kinds of freebie calendars and such that I have downloaded, not realizing that I have one built into my operating system. So I will be unistalling the others and using that one.

A brief outline to get me started on what I have layed out for myself for the new year.

Real life:

Revamped Homeschool Curriculum
Revamped Homeschool Calendar
Spend time each day dedicated to just writing
Spend time each day dedicated to art
Spend time each day dedicated to class work
Plan fun family activities
Get at least 2 art posters up for sale
Get at least 1 book completed
Get website up and running along with monthly newsletter
Become better at using Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Photoshop
Continue new exercise program that I have started
Start research on fictional book series for young adults that I have talked about for ages.

Second Life and Legend City Online

Finish filling SL Flanagan's schedule and set up weekly and monthly events
Finish setting up store Elegantly Naughty on Flanagan's Island Mall
Get LCO schedule finished and set up
Make sure to get all events listed where appropriate
Start a blog just for SL and just for LCO with events
Get textures stock piled for LCO and art work
Create furniture
Create hair
Get enough staff together to cover all events
Set up storefront in LCO
Publish newsletters for patrons of SL and LCO Flanagan's Inc.

These are just basic outlines of future events. I will write a more detailed outline for myself.

Well, time to get started on today's adventures at least.

Blessed Be!

As The New Grows Ever Closer

2008-12-31T09:56:00.001-05:00

As we count down the hours to 2009 and reflect on the choices we have made this year, we smile softly and see that we have come such a long way. From a marriage almost in ruins to a stronger, more loving one. From living separate lives to going back to the beginning with an equal partnership. From children who seemed lost in all the mis-adventures and tragedies we have suffered to self confident, well adjusted loving children again.

We can sit comfortably and look at what we have accomplished this year. Where we struggled to survive, some days we still do, we see that we are now in the last months of this year we are making it on our own. Every little gain we have accomplished ourselves. There are still days where we end up backwards but we can laugh, learn and move ahead again. The light at the end of the tunnel no longer appears to be another oncoming train, it may actually be daylight this time.

Our successes may seem small to some one looking from the outside in but we know how monumental they really are. We have the one factor now that keeps most humans going, hope. Hope of a brighter future. One where we move through together in the same direction, not going our separate ways and moving apart. As a family in general we have become much closer. In our love for each other we have become stronger not weaker.

Light and Love,

I will post more later on..so much to say :)

What craziness over the last 6 weeks

2008-12-30T13:41:00.000-05:00

As this year comes to an end our family has sat and reflected over the events. The good, the bad and the ugly. We had a wonderful thanksgiving, though we lost our house we were attempting to purchase. We moved around and ended up back in the motel where we started, however, 2 huge kitchenettes this time so we were able to spread out. We saved Christmas for the kids by sheer will power. We will be here until we have completely regrouped financially.

I made it through my first quarter at school. I blew one class, shot my GPA but it is recoverable. The main classes that I need for my core degree I did very well. I have a couple of weeks to recover and get ready for the next round. I will do better, however I won't qualify for most of the scholarships I was hoping for, at least not yet. I will have everything ready to go since most of the due dates aren't until after the next quarter and it gives me a chance to bring my grades back up.

As for what we have been through this year and the past several years, we are hopeful that we are turning things around and next year can only be better. I am going back to writing and adding computer generated artwork to my repertoire. I am going to put forth the effort over break to improve not only my photoshop skills but my illustrator ones as well. Plus take the time to really get to know dreamweaver so that I can actually work on my personal website. Also on my to do list is to at least finish one cook book, the calendar I am working on and a small frugal living book. If I have learned nothing else in the past years it is how to survive on next to nothing.

We did start something new today prepping for the new year. The kids and I went to the hotel across the street and went swimming. Goddess knows I am out of shape. The kids had a blast and are doing well with basic swimming. I wanted to pay for lessons at one point in time but really what is the point? I wasn't an official lifeguard but I am a decent swimmer between my maternal grandfather who was an olympic competitor in the 1930's and my dad's bright idea of sink or swim in the Rappahannock River when I was little, not much I can't do. The pool hours are good enough that I can get my own time in early in the morning and late in the evenings. Who needs to go to the gym when you can get resistance and cardio all rolled into one activity. So hopefully by this time next year I will at least be fit, I may not ever see my post high school weight by I may see that figure again. Cross your fingers on that one.

As for my online time, I will be spending a bit more. I have moved back into second life with my online family there. I am plannig events, hostessing and dj'ing again. I missed it and now that offline things are going smoother it is time to add some things back in. I am not living in world again but still spending quite a bit of time enjoying myself and possibly making some extra cash. One of my dearest and closest friends and I have opened a small store. To begin with we will be doing some reselling of items as we build our own stock pile of items for sale. We are hoping to draw another friend back in world. The three of us together will be an unbeatable team.

Well at any rate, I feel the need for some free association writing coming on so it is time to open up word and see what comes out of my head this time. Well a quick trip over to my homeschool blog that i have neglected as well. I think I will just post our mid-year review there for all eternity.

Light and love to you all!

OH where do I begin

2008-11-14T10:56:00.000-05:00

I guess where I left off last time. We went on a 6 day nightmarish trip with my dad. We had to take him to his doctor appoint in Charlottesville, VA which meant driving from the beach to the mountains. Let's nutshell it, my loving father was trying to set up a situation where his little girl and her children sans DH would be forced to move closer to him. Now normally you would say "AAAWWW" he misses his little girl. Well it's more than that and goddess love my father but it is a serious control issue. He has decided that all of his children's spouses are out to get him and they hate him. You would have to understand he lives in his own world and is actually a diagnosed anti-social personality disorder. He has no real world concept of thigns. We love him but one of the reasons he has been going from house to house through family and friends is because he gets pissed off by stupid stuff and obessess and tells the next family member/friend how he is being mistreated. Well, everyone is finally keepign in contact and we take what he has to say with a grain, perhaps a handful, of salt

It was just so nerve wracking and stressful the kids and I were so happy to be home. DS did nothing but cry for his daddy, DD had no computer access and wanted her daddy. Hells bells I wanted their daddy too, though for different more carnal reasons. Yes, I love my children's father but there is a very healthy dose of lust in there as well.

Anyway, I have started a new writing project. More realistic approach to my fiction writing. Thank you my love, my master, my world for your inspiration and guidance. It will be very interesting to see how this new writing project turns out. I do need to dig out my non-fiction works and finish them up as well.

Well back to free writing for a bit and other thinsg that I need to get done on this dreary day.

Light and Love to one and all!!

A chance for change!

2008-11-05T09:38:00.000-05:00

I think I will paste a post to a yahoo group here and just expand upon it. A true rambling for today. I cried last night at the potential for our country to improve. I think that as a nation we now truly have a chance for change, for our country to finally move forward in this new century and to show the world that we have not yet lost the hopes and dreams that our nation has boasted to the world for so long.

Below was a response to one of my yahoo groups, where several good friends of mine posted about their disappointment and to be honest I was a bit discouraged by their lack of open minded view points.

The current state of affairs in this country need to change. Barack Obama does represent change. Black he is, why does color matter? Muslim he is not; but why does religion matter? Socialism is an economic policy not a form of government. John McCain's concession speech was eloquent and well stated. He was absolutely gracious. Barack Obama's speech was not about himself but about a nation that needs to heal all wounds and move on in the 21st Century. Even the nations, many our allies, are in support. The increase in American futures (stocks) world wide jumped, a chance for our economy to heal.

A chance to change from the old ways and move into the future, a future with hope that any one can succeed in this country. Yes, I am a liberal, a pagan, and an American. Our country is in dire need of social and economic change. The current status quo has lead to unemployment, foreclosures and many other problems within our own borders. This is a time, not unlike the Great Depression, where the country needs someone to lead us out of darkness and into the light. We need to open our minds and see that there is a brighter future where businesses that have been given tax breaks to move their operations over seas taking American jobs away will cease to be able to do so. A brighter future where the average working man has a chance to save his home, provide better for his family, where we will not have to struggle to pay for our children's college and where those who have the larger incomes actually have to pay taxes instead of the middle class and below having to carry the burden. It is a brighter future where we may see peace and prosperity again. We need our allies on our side, not looking at us as a rabid dog.

"If is ain't broke don't fix it." We are a broken nation and need to be fixed. Change is always terrifying, the status quo is even more terrifying. I have watched prosperous people, cities, towns and states fall under the status quo. I have seen small town America become ghost towns. I have seen people lose their homes. I have seen what prolonged illness will do without enough insurance. I have seen what happens when people do not have insurance at all. I have watched seniors lose everything because their retirement has disappeared.

Instead of hoping that there are not fights, riots, etc let us work together as one nation to create a place of peace. Let's work together as a whole people not as factions to make things better for ourselves, our children and our grandchildren. Let's work together to save our planet, to show our children and grandchildren and their children that we as a whole nation can work together to make the world safer, cleaner and more peaceful for them, that we have their best interests at heart.

Another blind ramble in the works

2008-10-29T00:13:00.001-04:00

Today was actually a successful day. I accomplished almost everything on my to-do list. This is a big deal, normally I almost never get anything done. It feels good. DH is off work tonight but is tired from working night shift. He is waiting to hear about his new job we can keep our fingers crossed. I am planning on checking out the local Bingo hall tomorrow night. We will see how it goes.

Right now I am annoying everyone while I type and sing along with my personal play list. I know I can't sing but it's my home so I can if I want to. So there! I am also downloading other songs. Lately I haven't been as into Type O Negative as Finger 11, Buck Cherry, Nickleback, 311, Savage Garden. Of course there is always country music and "classic" rock. We will see where it all leads, it really depends on my mood. Tonight I am just looking for a good mix to work by. I still want to write an article for article base and possibly dig out one of my current works and get it closer to finishing.

One thing on my to do list I haven't done yet is get myself used to using dreamweaver so that I can re-design my new web site, yet again. Well, off to see what the muses inspire this time for a lovely article.

Consolidating blogs and more ramblings

2008-10-28T03:23:00.000-04:00

Good morning to everyone. I obviously couldn't sleep. So here I am when I could be snug as a bug in rug writing. Actually I am consolidating blogs at the moment. It really is silly to have 6+ blogs running around. So this is the thought. Here at Ramblings I will do just that, ramble on and on. Over at Lulu.com blog I will write about writing, makes sense to me. Then I have started a new homeschool blog adjacent really to this one which will chronicle our crazy adventure in homeschooling. I am not sure if I will keep up my myspace page or not, that is on vacation at the moment as my plate is pretty full.

What would be wonderful would be to find a job writing where I can just get paid to ramble on. However, that is not likely to happen unless I start my own magazine again. Very tempting things to do to be honest, though this time it will only be an ezine, I am definitely not going to do start to finish again of a print subscription.

Now if only I could figure out why I am not sleepy at all. Though that could be because I am used to being up at this point. Normally taking a friend to work actually taking him home at this hour. But I have a long day planned for tomorrow and really need to sleep however, my mind is racing.

Thought I can cross off, consolidating blogs from my list. I will probably stop by and post more later. I am done with my homeschool blogging for now and I guess I should probably end this post. I am hoping that my article base account profile let's me put in links. I am going to take my personal website offline for a bit while I revamp it yet again. I don't know why I just can't be happy with it, must be that artsy fartsy part of me I have begun turning loose all over the place.

Well, off to get a drink, another smoke and figure out what I want to do. I do know what I want to be when I grow up, I still have to decide when I want to grow up. I want to design IEM (Interactive Educational Media). Basically, layman's terms, MMO's for educational purposes. However, I am not going to reveal my full secrets just yet on this idea as I would like to keep it under wraps until I can actually put it all into action and it not get borrowed by someone else before I can do it myself.

I am definitely rambling at this point.

Light and Love!!

Playing catch up as always

2008-09-24T11:10:00.000-04:00

Oh my..I knew I would stay behind adding one more blog, oh well. I have been busy with Ancient Greek studies, vocabulary, math and modeling clay. Not to mention book club meeting, park days, etc. That doesn't even cover my writing assignments, my general writings, books in the works, website for shameless self promotion and various other details to get my school career back on track.

Then there is the house work. We were with out a washer and dryer for the last few weeks. I actually was doing laundry by hand. I appreciate my grandmother's hard work ever so much more. We got a new set yesterday so it's laundry catch up time. *Doing a happy dance*

Daddy is coming down tomorrow for an extended stay so we will see how that goes. Major house cleaning to be done.

Well, time to tackle some of that list including my seo research for my website and blogs so that I can see about hitting some top rankings. The only way to truly do it is hard work!!

Light and Love!!

Oh good grief..I am addicted to blogging

2008-09-16T22:57:00.000-04:00

I cannot believe I just started another blog. It is very addictive. I guess this means I am all over the web for sure these days. I can't help it. I am a writer by nature, by choice and I honestly believe by design. Talking, writing, reading three of my favorite past times. This first post here is going to be short and sweet as I wasn't really planning on doing anything. I do have some work to catch up on at textbrokers.com and I need to get my shameless self promotion over at articlebase.com completed as well. As time goes by I will cross post to my personal website and all my other blogs so that everyone can see how crazy I really am.

Light and Love to all!