Saturday, March 30, 2013

End of the Month Goals Update

How's this for some Easter egg decorating? One 6 year old and SIX that were 2 years and under!! Ha The kiddo's had a blast, we all enjoyed watching them interact. Cody Jackson our grand Lab ate most of the eggs shells and all. You would have thought a dog eating a dozen eggs or more would have been one sick puppy but he took it like a man, if you get my drift. Toot toot
I have been piecing the "Won't You be my Neighbor" quilt this morning. It's slow going today as this sinus infection seems to be rearing it's ugly head again, grrr. Check out this video if you want to make one of your own. Jenny has GREAT tutorials that are fun to watch
52 week Challenge is rolling along we are up to $494.00!! Thanks so much Cindy for this challenge!
Another goal for March was to save all we could towards hubby's hospital bill, grand total for the month $2,300.00!!! Only $1,500.00 more to go and that sucker is to the curb! We had 3 paychecks to work with this month the last check being yesterday. I have us on a BARE bones budget until the end of April, we may not have it all saved up but by golly we are a LOT closer now than we were on March 1st. If we can't pull it off I will dip in the EF fund and hope Mr. Murphy stays away until I can get that built back up.

Remember to check out yesterday's post and leave a comment if you want to get in on the blog candy drawing, I will pull a name tomorrow night!

March has turned out to be a pretty good month on all fronts, lots of saving, sewing, grand baby time, and fun with friends. ALL GOALS were meet! Can't say that most of the time! Ha.

As expected I was in bed asleep by 8:15PM last night after a FULL day with kiddo's. Supper last night...cereal, toast, tomato juice, followed by a swig of NyQuil. We seem to be passing this head cold around the family with no end in site.Three of the four grands all have ear infections from it, DD#1 has an eye infection, the rest of us are making due with whatever we can find in the drug store. I am ready for it all to END.

Plans for today is to get Easter dinner started. I am in charge of the ham, 2 sides, and desert. DD#1 will be having us all in at her house, the big kiddo's will fill in the rest of the menu thank goodness. It's hard to make a full holiday dinner "TO GO" for a family our size!! A nap is a MUST have today as this cold needs lots of TLC unless I want to spend the month of April fighting it off. Maybe a little more piecing on the "Neighbor" quilt and for sure another early bedtime.

Hope all of you have a wonderful Easter Sunday!!!

Friday, March 29, 2013

Fast Post Friday

A start on a new quilt! The pattern calls for a layer cake however I would like to use up my ever growing pile of leftovers. The process will be much slower going this route....but I hope to reach 3 goals with this method.
1. Unload some stash
2. Stay on our LOW budget to pay off the hospital bill
3. Have a cute quilt for all my efforts
I received two of these Coin Zip ID wallets from Vera Bradley for FREE after making the purchases before vacation last week. This one is the new "Lilli Bell" line, cute right? SOOOOO how about some blog candy?

Super quick post as I am headed out the door to pick Kara up for the day. We are gonna cram a whole lotta living in one day, breakfast out, Discovery Place for Kids, grocery store for Easter dinner supplies, followed up by Easter egg decorating with all the grands in the afternoon. Plans for tonight....aspirin and early to bed!!!

Here's the deal to get a chance to win the cute zip ID wallet. Share with the rest of us your DREAM girls only vacation. Is it just a dream or are you saving up and planning for a getaway? Do you have a girls only dream vacation in your head for the day when you feel you can do a getaway from the family? Maybe a girls only staycation? Nothing better than sharing that dream with others, seems like once you share your dreams they really do begin to come true!

I will pull from the comments on Easter Sunday so get your name in the hat!!

Thursday, March 28, 2013

Home Sweet Home

I have to say watching the snowfall for two days was a rare treat for us while on vacation!!
A whole lot of good snacking went on by the fire while we watched both seasons of Downton Abby.
We did venture out once for groceries and some antiquing
I decided Hexie's would be my project during the trip
The durn things take sew long to make!
And my GF was able to sort all of her piles of photo's!!! What a huge project!!
 
I gave up trying to post while on vacation, my laptop and their server just didn't want to play nicely together.
 
We had a wonderful peaceful time on our yearly trip this go round and spent next to NOTHING!! Ha, that's not hard to do when you have two southern girls hold up in a warm cabin while the snow was flying. The snow was and unexpected special surprise, staying in PJ's all day doesn't seem quite so lazy when your snowed in!!
 
We did get out and about a little bit to check out some local antique stores but just as we figured the prices were too high, still it was fun to look. We usually take a picnic lunch while riding the Smoky Mt parkway each year but it was a no go with over a foot of snow predicted. Instead we did lots of eating, napping, hand sewing, sorting, and snacking. I didn't even bring my sewing machine in from the car!! I have had a relapse of this terrible head cold the grands keep passing around, sure as heck didn't feel like trying to read a pattern or put things together. Working on hexies it was for me.
 
Back to reality today with a long to do list. First off is to get the snow/salt junk off my car, grocery shopping for Easter, and sort this pile of mail on the counter. I also need to get our spending plan set for the next 2 weeks and return a few calls that came in while we were away. Nothing earth shattering just another normal day at Home Sweet Home!!
 
I do have some blog candy to share tomorrow, stay tuned!

Monday, March 25, 2013

Cozy Cabin Time

My GF decided she will be sorting photo's during our cabin stay. She has TONS of pictures of her own as well as boxes and boxes from her parents after losing her Mom 2 years ago. The goal is to have them all sorted by today (not gonna happen) Then move on to scrapbooking tonight (also ain't gonna happen)
The brook from our back deck. Love this view but I have to go potty before stepping out. The water falls get mine going! Ha
 
 I am setting here in bed looking out the window at a SNOW storm trying to decide if I should jump in the shower now or after we eat a little something. Hard decisions right? Ha
 
We checked the weather yesterday morning to decide what day we might want to do some site seeing or running around. What the heck! a high wind and snow warning for Monday and Tuesday. Since all that was falling from the sky at the time was a cold rain we thought we better go while the going was good. Destination, Harrah's casino as my GF has never been, in addition Paula Deen has a new restaurant in the casino, some fried chicken would hit the spot! Don't you know when I googled the operation hours there was a BIG warning on the first page that a landslide had the road closed with no estimated reopening! My GF will have to wait to knock that one off her bucket list.
 
We called it a day and did nothing but eat, nap, and watch the first season of Downton Abby, perfect day. I did at least get an additional hexie on my quilt but that was the extent of our productivity for the day. GF didn't believe me when I told her snow was coming in for the next two days. After a quick search of her own we debated hitting the grocery store for some snow supplies. We opted out since we hadn't even gotten out of our PJ's all day. Hope we won't regret that decision today as we are not experienced driving around in the mountain's on snow covered roads. 
 
Thanks for all the sweet comments on the tee shirt quilt!! Our server is in and out up on this mountain so posting is a hit or miss deal, replying to comments might not happen until we return home.
 
Decision made, it's a shower, breakfast, then the grocery store as the snow is coming down hard and heavy now. Who wants to be stuck with very little food no matter how cute the cabin is!!

Saturday, March 23, 2013

DONE!!!

It's DONE!!
The Bride and Groom both gave up lucrative jobs over the past two years to follow their hearts as Young Life employee's. How cool is that! The tee shirts are a collection of their High School, College, and of course young life memories. You Game Cock fans (USC) will be happy to know this young couple are both PROUD USC grads!
The sashing and binding turned out HAPPY, didn't want to go too cute as this will be shared by the couple.
I kept the backing happy as well. Lots of fun colors to match this couples personality. I gave Mom a hard time this morning as I turned over the quilt of all the fun the Bride and Groom will be having snuggled up under this labor of love. Ha The kiddo's took a vow of Chasity way back in middle school, they are both looking forward to getting with the program and remind Mom often. Seems more and more young people are opting out of the love connection if you know what I mean until they are married, gotta LOVE that!
Monthly goal of 7 hexies for row #3 complete. I messed up and only put 6 hexies on row #2. After finding that blooper I made an additional hexie to get r done then sewed it on at the wrong place. No big deal I can add the extra one next time and I am ahead of the game for row #4. It will all work out in the end.

Packed up and ready to roll for our Mountain trip, just waiting on my buddy to drop her baby off at "Camp Wagging Tail" then we are off.  Mommy will be checking in on a regular basis's at the site to watch Dexter romp and play with his buddies.

We have several different "Doggie Day Cares" in our area. They provide day camp or overnight camp for our furry friends. AJ the beagle and our grand dog Kody Jackson have been overnight campers in a couple of them over the years but both babies didn't like it!! They are so spoiled they were very put out with the other campers, we even got the suckers a suit with their own TV, spoiled rotten for sure!

These Doggie Daycare are making a KILLING, what a great business to open if you have a love of pets and don't mind poop.

Friday, March 22, 2013

Countdown to Vacation

Dr. Karsyn Ryleigh Kundla spent the morning with me yesterday.
A whole lot of Doctoring was going on
The "Nanouis" (Diagnosis) for this baby is she needs pizza.
I sew should be doing 101 other things but I would like to try and work on these cute House blocks during our cabin trip. I have been pulling out scraps like a mad woman, the sewing room is now upside down :(
While I was dropping of packages to mail this morning I decided to use some of the money I received from a BIG custom order to treat myself to a weekender bag (shame on me) Here's the deal. I had a $18.00 store rewards credit to use and the bag was on sale for 40% off!! How cool is that? Total cost for a $120.00 bag only $54.00!!!! OK so it's last years model but for me it's the first girly travel bag ever. I like it! Ha
With all that savings I sprung for laptop computer bag. Ouch it was $84.00 but I had budgeted $150.00 to spend on a bag so I am still under by paying just using my sewing money plan (not by much) Here is the other cool thing. The shop called back to tell me I should have received some sort of two additional  little somethings by Vera Bradley so come on by the shop and pick them out. It has been a prized full week for sure!! Ha

Here I sit on this PC when I should be busy packing the rest of my things for our weekend trip in addition I have to get the Tee shirt quilt finished today as I am meeting it's new Mommy in the AM for delivery. I sew need to FOCUS!!!

I have a lot of the sewing packed up I will bring along knowing full well I won't make a dent in most of it but I'm not sure what mood I might be in. Sew....I have over packed! I have nothing on my must do list as far as sewing goes, just gonna sew for fun.

I have another lady who wants to commission 3 Tee shirt quilts to give her adult children for Christmas this year. I can't tell you how much I hate doing these quilts, they just seem so messing looking to me when they are finished but folks love them, Sew I will take it on. What the heck it will feed my fabric habit! Before we leave town tomorrow I will be depositing the check from the tee shirt quilt I am delivering in the AM (I have to finish today) into our Vacation/Christmas account. I am trying to fund that account with what I consider found money; refunds, rebates, coupon saving and transfers from our checking account each payday. Some side sewing for profit should be a nice addition.

For our trip this week I won't be withdrawing any cash from the vacation account!! I have enough leftover weekly spending money along with leftover sewing money from earlier this week that I can sit back and watch that Vacation/Christmas account keep growing. Whats not to love!

Alright enough of this wasting time I gotta get it in gear or I will be up way past my bedtime. But here is a question for any of you ladies who Sew for profit.

I have been telling people who want to buy a quilt the general cost of materials for quilts based on the size they request in addition I am charging between $75.00 and $150.00 dollars for my time. A baby quilt is usually less. I have yet to have anyone that seems shocked at the price. Am I under charging? The tee shirt quilt I WILL finish today has 20 hours of work into it 62 X 82 size quilt. What do you think? Here is an example in my area long arm quilters are charging .04 cents a square inch to quilt the top. The quilting alone on this quilt would have cost $205.00. That doesn't include the fabric, batting, backing or piecing the quilt.
I would NEVER want to overcharge someone but undercharging seems not right to ladies who have a real sewing business.

Thursday, March 21, 2013

Amazing Secret Sister!!!!

Look what came in the mail yesterday, my Secret Sister gift hosted by Carla
Pam my Secret Sister loaded this box with every sorta goodie a gal like me would love. The first three packages are to use in the garden this summer. Garden gloves, peat pots, and the cutest ever garden stakes for our herb garden
How stinkin cute are these?
Also included was a cute set of stationary and stickers for the grands to play with! They will be working on cards to send to their Papa. He is going to go gaga over them
.
Not done yet! She also sent a great book, chocolates, and a wonderful soft cuddly throw to curl up with at the end of the day. THANK YOU SOOOO much Pam. Each and every thing is a treasure!
Kara's big girl bedroom lamp I found this week. This should give you a good idea of the style Mommy is going for. A girl can never have too much bling! Ha

I can't begin to say thank you enough to Pam who was my Secret Sister this go around. As I told her in an e-mail this morning I don't even have this many nice gifts to open at Christmas!! Hubby is now on notice he better step up to the plate for Christmas 2013!! If he needs any idea's I will refer him to Pam! Ha

I finally have the GRRR tee shirt quilt pinned and ready to quilt. The machine is setup, all systems are ready to go except me. I don't know why I have such quilters block on this quilt...but it must be done. I need to get my you know what together for our girls weekend, the sewing machine has to be ready for the trip sooo it's time to get this job completed. Ready or not, here we go!

Two friends that were going on the mountain trip have had to cancel due to family issues that have come up :( We are so going to miss you guys but next year is another year. It is hard for we ladies to run away from home sometimes. Being the HEAD of the household and all that goes along with it is a blessing but at times it sure does get in the way of our time off no matter how far in advance we plan. Better not even think about all the wonderful cooking that they share with the rest of us when they are along on the trip. We may be forced to grab a bag of Oreo's as a substitute! Ha

I hear the redecorating of Kara's room is moving right along. For the first time ever I have stepped away from the plate on this one, other than the checkbook I am out! Ha The convertible crib we bought Kara will not work in her room as it converts to a full size bed :( No way will a bed that big fit in her little room. I went on a search for a toddler bed. Found just the thing Mommy wanted on line for $99.00 plus shipping but thankfully before I got home to order it I found the EXACT same bed for $69.99 on clearance at Target!! What a nice surprise after all the unplanned spending I have done for her room. I sure hope the little stinker will sleep in her fancy new room once it's finished!!

Karsyn is with me this morning while her Mommy does some shopping for her friend that will be joining the church at Easter. This is the first time DD#1 has sponsored anyone in the church, she has really enjoyed the experience but sorta dreads the retreat they have to attend this weekend. It's hard for Mommy's to just walk away! Ha Both of the Daddy's have planned to tag team the kiddo's while the Mommy's complete the requirements. Not sure what all this is called as hubby and I are not Catholic but it is a pretty cool deal!

Karsyn is busy in the playroom with her new Doctor dress up. She told me to leave, then shut the door on me because the babies are all sick. Fine by me, I am finally recovering from the last kick my butt cold the grands shared. I think I got some cute photo's of her doing her thing, she is VERY into administering health care these days. How nice would it be to have a doctor in the family? We already have an engineer, plumber, accountant, 2 teachers,  a hair dresser, me the mess cleaner upper. A Dr would round out the mix nicely!!

Off to start that dreaded FMQ, UGH

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Cookbook Challenge

I am soooo far behind in blog posts :( Seems like every time I sit down to blog one or more of the big or little kiddo's show up and get me off my game. Way back in February I started a cookbook challenge, figured its about time to do the update now that 1/2 of March is already over. I wrote up our family favorites from the cook books shown in this photo to transfer to my personal cookbooks. This will be much easier to manage than digging around to find a recipe I want, no more remembering what book it's in and on what page. I also have a problem with remembering the name of the recipe as I always seem to come up with an off the wall title of my own! Ha I would give myself a C- on this part
This pile of stuff I had pulled out to work on but never got around to it. I did however get all the recipes written on the back of napkins, envelopes, pulled from the newspaper, magazines, and printed from the Internet done. I would give myself a B- on this section of the challenge. One thing I have learned is to STOP buying cooking magazines at the check out counter. The covers are just so stinkin appealing to me
Here are the remainder of cookbooks I didn't have a chance to look through :( Maybe someday soon I can take it one book at a time to work up. Gotta give myself a D on this part!
One thing I will give myself a A+ on is our holiday cookbooks. I made these way back when for myself and our DD's. I use to cater our company Christmas party, people would always ask me for the recipe's for different dishes, of course once I got back in the office I was OVERLOADED with work so I would forget who wanted what. I got the bright idea to make up a Christmas appetizer/snack food cookbook I could take along to the annual party that I put on a side table in a stand. If someone wanted a recipe I would direct them to the book and have them make a copy on the PC right then and there, no more muss and fuss for me.
I took the idea a step forward by making one each for our DD's as they were always calling home at the holiday's wanting a recipe. Now each year we pull out our holiday books and we are good to go, no more endless phone calls or digging around for recipe's. I also made each of the DD's a Thanksgiving cookbook. One of these days this old Nanny will be hanging up her apron and sporting a Depends diaper. Our DD's need to know how to feed hubby and I in the style we have grown accustom too!!
Now that I am FINALLY getting to add hexie blocks to the quilt top it was time to reload my zip baggies of "To Do" blocks. It's amazing how many hours it takes to pull out scraps that are just right for the quilt and the coordinating fabrics to go with each block. Maybe I will find some time to work on hexies over our girls weekend.
Four hexies are attached to row #3, on to the last 3 blocks that I hope to complete this week!! I think I have the timing down on the hexie blocks now, 6 hours to complete each block and additional hour to attach the block to the quilt top. Holy Cow what was I thinking!!

As seems to be the case these days DD#3 called just as I had started this post wanting me to meet she and Kara at the Homegoods store to pick out a bedspread for Kara's soon to be big girl bedroom. I of course know the drill by now. I will pull my hair out shopping with a toddler only to end the trip with a toddler hissy fit wanting to go home with Nanny!! Of course I will give in then wonder what the h... I was thinking as this kid needs a NAP. I shouldn't complain as I am lucky to have time with our big kiddo's and little ones but it sure puts a hurt on my schedule!! Ha

The other challenge today will be to squish the budget to cover the cost of Kara's bed ensemble. We have always help with the grands nursery and first big kid room. I wasn't expecting to take this expense on so soon but DD#1 and DD#3 got together yesterday and got a wild hair up their collective rumps to do some redecorating. I am at least ahead of the game with Karsyn's big girl room, back when Mommy set up her nursery I went ahead and bought the comforter for her toddler bed so she won't need anything when Mommy is ready to convert her room. We also bought all of the grand convertible cribs way back when, all that will be needed in that department will be mattresses and box springs that Mommy and Daddy can spring for. We also helped the big kiddo's buy nursery furniture with an eye to the future, dressers, chest and such won't need to be replaced.

Now where did I put those blood pressure pills, I think I could use and extra hit today!! Yep drug of choice at a certain age changes. Ha Just kidding (I think)

Saturday, March 16, 2013

Spring Sewing

52 Week Savings Challenge is up to $415.00 I am so enjoying adding a bit each week to this envelope!
With NOT too much help from Kara yesterday I worked on the massive pile of Dr bills and EOB's. We paid off seven different Dr's. labs and such from this payday. While that is a great step in the right direction we will be responsible for $3,800.00 of the hospital bill, in addition I think we have a few more (what I hope to be) small bills that have yet to come in. My goal is to pay everything off from our regular pay over the next 60 days. I don't want to dip into our EF or HSA if I can help it. Hubby's company owes us a chunk of change for expenses from his last project as well as his trip out to AZ. I have high hope with that reimbursement and living on next to nothing for 2 months we can pull it off.
Latest Hexie block
Two blocks as a matter of fact
Last night I added the sashing hexies to one of the blocks
Today while the sunshine is pouring in the back door I am beginning to attach the hexies I have completed. If I have figured correctly I will finish row 3 on the quilt top from the hexies created this month.

Do you ever get in a mood that you just don't want "To Do" what you should be doing? I am in one of those moods today. I forced myself to clean our bedroom and bath this morning, vacuum the upstairs, and put away laundry. I am thinking the rest of the day will be spent working on the "Grandmothers Flower Garden" quilt. We are having a BEAUTIFUL warm spring day, sitting in the family room with the windows and doors open seems like just the treat I need after a stressful day figuring out all the medical bills we were facing!!!

Soooo, I talked to hubby yesterday and warned him I was thinking of breaking the bank this payday in paying off a heck of a lot of Dr bills. I didn't seem fair to live like a hermit for the next two weeks without getting an OK with him that he was up for the CHALLENGE!! I would love to have hubby at home full time (I think) so we could do our financial planning together but his profession just doesn't work that way :( For the most part he is open to whatever I have up my sleeve when it comes to saving money. However I am not always aware of what he might be needing/wanting to spend money on. For us team work is the only way to go even if 1/2 the team is MIA most of the time. HA

For the next 2 weeks all grocery shopping is off other than milk and eggs. Not much a challenge on that front as we have everything we need to eat like kings. My gas needs to last for the rest of the month, again not to big a deal as I have close to 1/2 a tank left from March 1st fill up. No quick trips to CVS unless I can walk out with everything FREE. Ditto at the fabric store!! I do have rewards points for $30.00 I can use for fabric and what not's. None of that "what was I thinking" spending on the grands or big lids for 2 weeks. We still have money in the checking account, I didn't TOTALLY drain the account but I did run it a whole heck of a lot lower that I ever do. I also made deposits in both EF and Christmas/vacation savings. It feels SO DARN good to have put all those bills to the curb this morning (mail box)

One hiccup in my spending plan is my girls mountain trip next weekend. I should be able to pull it off with what I have in my wallet for our weekly spending. I could always use whats in our vacation account as that's what we set the account up for but......I HATE withdrawing money once its deposited!! One of the ladies going along lives locally, we will split the cost of gas by traveling together. We are each in charge of cooking all meals for one day. I got that covered as I will just bring what I need from home, again no an unusual thing for me to do. We normally eat out the first night we are in town, since that weekend will be the start of spring break for lots of schools we might pass on the eating out as NONE of us are into waiting 2 hours for a table. Shopping just ain't my thing, no worries on that front! I think I can, I think I can.....

Off to enlarge the calluses on my fingers from hand sewing and maybe putting on an additional inch or two to my rear end from sitting all day.

Is anyone else living like paupers to reach a finacial goal this spring or this year as a matter of fact? What changes have you made to reach your goal?

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Food Stamp Challenge Wrap Up

This wrap up on the food stamp challenge has been a long time comin!! Here is what we were left with in the freezer at the end of the month. Lots, and I do mean lots of "To Go" meals. I won't need to be cooking for a long time!! Ha
The top drawer of the food pantry at the end
And the last of the food pantry bottom drawer. Both are looking pretty bare but I could get a meal or two out of it
Nice to be back to the dehydrated, canned, and frozen goodies from the garden!!!
Last nights hexie, slow but steady this week!!

So many thoughts on the month long food stamp challenge......

Lets start with our experience OK?
 Hubby was unaware we were on the challenge until the last day of the month when I spilled the beans. He was surprised in that he had seen no change in the way we were eating other than I spent a lot more time in the kitchen while he was home. Truth be told I spent more time in the kitchen because I was fetching snacks and ice packs for him as he recovered from surgery as well as I was hiding out in the kitchen with busy work so I didn't have to hear what stupid TV show's he was watching!!!

One thing the challenge forced me to do was make a meal plan and shop each week . I don't really do meal plans as we have enough food in the house to see us through for a very long time, this gives me lots and lots of flexibility in what we eat and when.

Buying fresh fruit and veggies was a bit of a challenge in itself as we have sooooo much from the garden frozen, dehydrated, and canned. I haven't thought a lot about buying fresh, out of season, and trucked in food from who knows where in such a long time.

I also dug around in my cook books to come up with some different snacks and such to keep things interesting. I need to do this more often!!

Cooking real meals from real food not the boxed stuff seemed to be key. I'm not sure if box connivance foods would have stretched our dollars more, but I wasn't willing to go the box route as they are nothing we would want to eat.

I did bake lots of different breads and such which is nothing new. Baking bread seems to save some money but it is not something I think most people would want to do. I don't think buying bread from the grocery would have run the grocery bill up to much but you wouldn't have the variaty we had.

So what the heck is going on with the problems in food stamps? 

Number ONE to me is that the government has switch from the real put it in your pocket food stamps to a debit card!!! I think everyone would agree we all spend more when we use plastic. People on public assistance can't afford to spend a dime more than they have too!!!!

Number Two is really a extension of number one. Folks have to cook, no doubt about it. They would need to save every speck of food leftover. Batch cooking is a biggy in that we all know there are days we don't have the time, energy, or desire to cook. Having a meal or two in the freezer would be a money and life saver. I think people have lost the skill too really cook these days. We depend too much on drive thru windows, eating out, and just opening a can from the grocery store.

Number Three. I'm not sure folks even know what a good meal is these days. The old days of the nutrition pyramid is outdated and boring as H... Surely we can come up with something that would get people excited to cook and really understand what a well balanced meal looks like

Number Four. Knowing a good deal on food when you find it would stretch those dollars a whole lot more. Having basic math skills is a must. Having the room for a small garden would be pretty darn nice too.

Number Five. OK here comes the controversy. I think too many people have gotten so use to the government stepping in that they no longer have an incentive to try to make ends meet in there own family budget. That's not to say we don't have folks who have a REAL needs, of course we do!! There will always be poor amongst us, sometimes its no fault of there own, other times it is.

What would I change if I was in charge. Ha

Number One. I would put restrictions on what people could buy. I know more controversy!! I in no way think the government has any business in our pantry's or freezers however.... When you are looking to the taxpayers for food it seems to me you should be using those hard earned dollars of others in a responsible way. Restricting soda's, snack food, and calories that provide no nutritional value should be off limits.

Number Two. The fraud and abuse of the system needs to stop. There is no doubt it is going on when almost 1/2 of our country is on some sort of assistance. There is no way this lifestyle for the poor and those who are working can continue. We are at a tipping point, just look at the national debt counter. The scales may have already been tipped too far.

Number Three. We are going to have to get back to teaching the basics in this country. We should at least teach people how to eat, cook, and do simple math, learn how to balance a checkbook, and do a family budget. What good is a Physics degree if you don't know how to feed yourself when the job dries up?

There was a time in our country when the poor was feed within the community. Families worked together to make ends meet, neighbors would never let neighbors go hungry if they could help it, churches knew the needs of their congregations, community's pulled together to help families in need. We have too many people who have lost the heart of being a GIVER. We too often figure the government is taking our money in taxes, we pay too much as it is, so to heck with it, let the government do their thing.

I do think when you look a person in the eye when giving a helping hand it makes a difference in both of your lives. The GIVER feels their heart get just a little bigger, they have a stark in your face reminder of how really bless they are. The Reciever while maybe feeling a little embarrassed by the hand out see's a real person standing in front of them. They know this real person cares about them and their family. This real person worked hard to have a little extra to share with others. maybe they even admire that GIVER and hope someday to be in a position to be a GIVER too. 

There is an ever growing animosity between the have's and have not's in our country. Our politicians seem to enjoy feeding that animosity, what the heck, a vote is a vote right? Not matter that if  that vote is cast because of the ever growing anger between our own country's men and woman. People need to get back to the basics!! When you see a friend or family member in need we should step up. When you have a friend who is in bed sick, has a new baby, just moves to the neighborhood, has lost a family member is it really putting you out too much to take a meal over?

The people of our country are going to have to make changes within our own communities, we can't and shouldn't look to the government to do what we know is the right thing. I for one would NEVER let anyone in Washington DC balance my checkbook or plan our families financial future!! Ha. I am not sure the NUTS have any idea how to balance a check book.

OK, that's a little of my rant. I could go on and on but the bottom line is we each should just do what we can when we can. The next time you see a food stamp recipient in the grocery line instead of feeling anger over what they purchase maybe feeling blessed for what you do have and throwing in a little something extra for your local food bank could open your heart and put a smile on your face? It's worth a try.

I promise that the wrap up of the cookbook challenge won't be so long winded!!!!


Monday, March 11, 2013

Karsyn Knows How to Shop!!

When I left Sunday dinner last night Karsyn was insistent "I go home with you Nanny" To keep the tears at bay as it was almost bath and bedtime I took her for a ride in my car, went to get gas, and made all the left or right turns she requested since as she says "I da boss of you Nanny, right?" I promised her she could come over to play as soon as she woke up this morning. Needless to say she was ready to rock at 7:00AM, crap. After picking her up we stoped by Target to get new nipples for my bottles as the nut case Kara has bit the end off  the whole durn bunch. Well I have to tell you, Karsyn is a pro at shopping. " Nanny I rike this"  in the buggy it went, "Nanny we needs this", "where is the pretty pacies, I need more" We ended up with a nice haul. I won't even share what we/she spent. A friend of mines hubby took early retirement last year, I have been picking her brain on the what to do and not do's with early retirement. Her number ONE advise was to stay AWAY from the grands!! Ha She is sooo right!
Forgot to do the weekly update on the 52 week challenge over the weekend. Grand total $378.00. nice!
Between all the "tea pardy's" with Karsyn today I finished up the tee shirt quilt top. Shes a huge 64 x 94. Tee shirt quilts are tricky buggers, they seem to grow bigger all on their own.
After Sunday dinner AJ the beagle and I had some snuggle time while working on another hexie block. That's 4 down 3 more to go for the monthly goal!!

What a fun day with Karsyn!! While Karsyn enjoys her brothers, cousin Kara, and her little friends she LOVES having herself some alone time at Nanny's house. For a child that was a nightmare when she was little bitty she has turned out to be a toddler that Mommy's can only dream about. She was a little put out with me as hubby and I took down the portable crib before he left for AZ. "Nanny where my night night bed?" Oops!!

All of the grands have gotten too big for my little crib. I planned of getting a toddler as a replacement but haven't been willing to hand over the cash yet. Looks like a trip to Ikea will be added to the list this week as naps are a must have when the grands end up spending the day. I do have Kara 2 or 3 days a week for the full day but she likes to sleep in the baby swing, or with me in my bed, never has taken to a crib.

Hubby is so funny. He called tonight after his dinner for a little phone visit. I have yet to have my dinner as I am just not in the mood for anything. We talked a bit more then before he hung up I told him its too late to eat. After some discussion and disagreements over the time difference he figured out that yes by golly his wife is right that the time difference is 3 hours not 2. With the change in daylight savings time and his 5 day journey to AZ he lost track of time or even days of the week! Ha

When any of you get the chance check out Sharon's post on the cost of insuring your family, great post!! Insurance is one of the area's of spending we all seem to forget, a check up now and then is a wonderful idea!!!