Loosing of Half of our Income: The Journey Back Begins

With all of the financial issues people are having these days I decided to share our story.

For almost 16 years my husband dedicated himself to building a career in a big box store.  He gave, and gave, and gave and never got anything back from them.  They put us through more hardships than you can shake a stick at including not giving him time off when his dad died, forced relocations without compensation, always having to work the overnight remodels, a forced commute when we couldn't sell the house, bankruptcy, foreclosure, and they turned him down for a promotion because of their own stupid rules even though.  He really deserved it, was requested, he would have done well at it too and they were ready to give it to him before they realized his store hadn't made profit sharing 11 months before that. You didn't dare say anything to them because of a fear of losing your job, they fired people for really stupid reasons.  (And then they wonder why they can't find employees willing to do into management with them?)  Talk about stress!

His job paid well and he doesn't like to start over all the time.  He liked the job for the most part until the latest boss arrived and made his life a living hell.  After several years of the same treatment and no changes occurring even when he told their untrained personnel manager (who didn't report this to corporate), he couldn't take it anymore and he quit without having another job in place.  It was such a hostile work environment I really couldn't blame him, though it would have been nice to have a plan in place before it happened.

Since it was ruled that he quit (even though we tried for hostile work environment) there was no unemployment either. Because his job paid well I didn't need to have a job prior to this happening.  (Except for when they made our tenant move from the home he was renting from us, or the time they made us pay hundreds more in commuting when he was "promoted" with no pay raise, or the time they didn't make profit sharing so we had no way to pay off the credit cards we had been relying on to pay for his commuting expenses.)  That made it really hard to struggle through several months of having no income at all.  Thankfully, we had finally gotten enough of a handle on our budget because of our past trials that we had been able to save some money which got us through the jobless period.  I applied for food stamps and badge care right away even though they had treated me extremely rudely the last time I had been in the office.  Our mortgage company set us up on a forebearance plan that allowed us to pay $25 each for both our first and our second mortgages so our main expenses were paying for gas (to see his mom who was failing in health as well as driving for interviews and such) and my car payment.

Now, we need to adjust to living on less than half of what he made last year.  This is where the real struggle begins.  With a couple of months of work at his new employer in place we are really hitting the budget juggle hard.  We have a brand new car that I bought a little over a year ago, a house payment, 2 kids, 2 cats, and we live in the country about 12 miles from town.

So far his new employers have agreed to pay for his gas, we have applied for a loan modification, and are getting the food stamps and medical assistance that we were getting over the summer though we get much less in food this month and now have to pay a monthly payment for our insurance.  We have many more changes to try to do too in order to come up with a balanced budget as well.  Hopefully we will be able to refinance the car to bring that payment down, I am praying that our mortgage company works with us so we can keep our home with a much more affordable payment, we found a less expensive phone plan, and I will be looking around for cheaper insurance.  I also applied for energy assistance though I have yet to hear back about that.

We have already cut WAY back on energy usage, we rarely ever eat out, we don't exchange gifts with adults so we only have the 2 kids to buy for, we don't attend away sporting events unless we can hitch a ride with someone else who is going, we never go anywhere except to buy groceries or the occassional splurge allowed because we sold something, we never buy anything unless it is either used, practically free (those mail in rebates can come in handy sometimes!), or off the 90% off clearance rack (Man, I have had to wear some very ugly clothes because of that one!).

I will fill you in on some other changes we do as time progresses.  Right now I guess we are still on the forebearance program at the bank until they tell me what my loan modification payment is going to be.  I have been through this process before.  You have to pay EXACTLY what they tell you to (not a penny more or a penny less) by the due date or they will kick you right off the program.  It can be extremely stressful for sure!

Wish us luck and prayers for us would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you for stopping by to chat with me. Please leave me a message. I'd love to hear your thoughts! Cindy

Why try Gluten Free?

Earlier I wrote a post about doing a gluten free trial and some of my thoughts as well as a few things I have read about gluten from various sources that all had a very similar message.  Cut the wheat to improve your health.  It will allow your body to do what it was built to do which is to heal itself when things go wrong with it.  I told you I would discuss with you the reasons for our gluten free trial later this week, so here it is.

We actually have many contributing factors that I think reflect much of what is going on in the rest of America as well.  Brain fog, inability to loose weight, joint pain, hypothyroidism, prediabetic, IBS, low energy levels, bladder issues, ADD, headaches, acid reflux, depression, I could go on and on.

I have been trying to lose weight for years, but I haven't successfully been able to do so since 13 years ago before my daughter was born.  Did I suddenly forget how to exercise and eat healthy?  Well, if you listen to the medical community that is the obvious fact.  I have been told to quit eating so many cookies, to be more active, eat healthier foods, and on and on.  I don't know about you, but I hate being lectured about things I already know.  It's even worse when you are trying to do these things but no one believes you and judges you to be a fat, lazy slob.  They have looked at my food journals and basically said I was lying and I must have forgotten to write down a bunch of food.  Seriously.  Then the medical community wonders why WE have so little faith in THEM?

My son has been a 3 sport athlete for 4 years.  At first the weight just fell off.  Being so active and lifting weights brought about a bit transformation in him.  But he totally stalled out when it came to weight loss for wrestling season this year.  None of our prior weight loss ideas has helped him a bit this year either.  What happened?

I could go on and on giving the back stories behind all of the symptoms listed above, but I think you get the point here.  I have been thinking and thinking about this and it just doesn't add up.  Is it the chemicals and preservatives in processed foods?  Overuse of prescription medications?  What gives?

Several years ago I began by cutting out the ready to eat processed foods that we used to buy from the store.  I began canning, dehydrating, and freezing foods that I grew myself or bought on sale and in season from farmers and grocery stores alike.  It does make more work for me, but it has helped some with things like ADD, but it hasn't completely solved all of our issues.  I continued to search for answers to our health dilemmas.

While studying natural remedies to replace some of the prescription and OTC medications we have been taking I kept coming up with the same information.  Our bodies have natural abilities to heal themselves.  Not that we will ever be able to stop everything completely, but it is a nice goal to wish for.  I began to wonder though, what was stopping my body from reaching it's full potential to heal itself?  The search continued.  I began seeing a chiropractor which has helped to increase my energy levels and clear the brain fog, but I still haven't been able to achieve much in the way of weight loss.

Now comes in the gluten free option.  I read the book Wheat Belly which I saw both on Dr. Oz and a few of my friends were trying it and seeing great results.  That book dealt with EVERYTHING on our list, plus others that weren't even on there.  Wow.  I think it's worth a try.  I mean, after examining our regular diet I noticed that we ate ALL of the no-no foods on a regular basis.  ESPECIALLY wheat.  Really.  Wow.  I never imagined that could cause so many issues, but it really does make sense.  When you overload so much on one particular category of foods, I suppose that is what you get.  I just can't help but wonder why wheat is in everything we eat.  I guess I'll be making MORE of our own stuff.

So, what did we like to eat before going gluten free?  Well, some of our favorite meals include burgers, chicken dumpling soup with a loaf of bread, grilled cheese and tomato soup, spaghetti, pizza, brats, breaded chicken baked in the oven, battered fish, ...  Notice what they all have in common?  Yup.  Wheat in every item there.  Guess who's in for a total meal make over?  Yup.  That's my next post.  So far we have tried a few items that I want to share with you.  I did manage to lose a couple of pounds so far so things are moving in the right direction for me.  Once I can get the rest of the family to jump on the bandwagon it won't be so hard to resist the temptations they keep presenting.

Thank you for stopping by to chat with me. Please leave me a message, I'd love to hear your thoughts! Cindy

Living on One Income

It is hard to believe in this day and age that it can be done, but it has been.  By many people.  How do we do it?  And  why would we want to?

Ever since I could remember I had worked.  When I was 11 I got my first job, a paper route.  I helped my parents clean and paint the apartments we managed after we moved and I could no longer have a paper route. I babysat the neighbor's kids and I helped teach tae kwon do classes.  When I was 16 I got a job at the local Holiday station store.  I worked my way through college working 32 hour work weeks and some quarters I carried 18-20 credits when a full load was 12-16.  I have always worked hard and enjoyed having money to buy things I wanted, why would I want to change the way I lived?

As soon as I graduated from college I found out I was pregnant and went full time where I had worked my way through college.  When my son was born, I only got to spend 6 weeks at home with him.  It broke my heart.  Between all of the hours he worked and never being able to spend much time together as a family, it really started to get to me.  He stayed with his grandparents while I worked, so it was somewhat of a comfort to me that he was cared for my people who loved him so I soldiered on in my full time career.

When he was almost 2 I had to take over paying for the care of my son while I was at work because   his grandparents weren't available any more.  Between having an educational background and the discount I would get on child care I decided there would be nothing better than working at a day care.  I was even the teacher in his room and I got paid to spend the day with him.  What could be better than working with your kids???

I proceeded to have another child and would have probably been content to stay there but for the fact that I wasn't appreciated and my son was going to be starting kindergarten in the next town over in a few months.  I didn't get the pay raise I was expecting so I decided to stop paying all that money to drive where I wasn't appreciated when I would earn a whole weeks' worth of income in 2 days using my teaching license to sub.  So I put in my notice and quit my full time job.

At first I started finding ways to save money since teachers don't work during the summer.  I mean, I had already made my daughter's solid baby foods, finding new ways to save money was intriguing.  Growing our own veggies, making bread, sewing clothes, it was an adventure every day.  The more I learned, the more I wanted to learn.

The more ways I found to save, the more I started to wonder if I could really afford to stay at home with my kids.  I mean, as a stay at home mom the kids would always have someone who could come to watch their concerts, volunteer for their field trips, attend all of their sporting events, there was no end to the amount of time a SAHM could spend with her children.

We quit buying expensive Christmas gifts, we started making gifts for others instead of buying them, didn't spend large amounts of money sending kids to camp, less eating out, stock up on bargains to save future money,...   Yes, we made some major sacrifices, but I really don't think that we missed out on much.

I keep coming back to the  same questions.  Do we need all of the latest clothing styles?  Will my kids suffer if they can't go to art camp?  Are name brands and impressing people worth the extra effort and the time away from family?  The more I think about it, the less I think I am really giving up.  After all, if people just like us for what we wear then they are not worth knowing if you ask me.

The more I think about it, the more I think working outside the home costs a family.  As a working mom, you need nice work clothes, you are tired from working all day so you buy a bunch of convenience foods and dinners out that a SAHM doesn't need to buy, you feel guilty for not having time to spend with your children so many compensate with material possessions which really teaches kids the wrong message.

As an added bonus cutting out the dinners out and prepackaged foods has done so much for our health saving us trips to the doctors too.  Now I just can, freeze, and dehydrate all my own stuff.  After all, I only use recognizable ingredients that I know how to pronounce and it's still fast and easy for those busy nights.

Thank you for stopping by to chat with me. Please leave me a message, I'd love to hear your thoughts! Cindy

Making my First Quilt

I have been talking to my hubby for years about wanting to be more self sufficient.  At first it started out as just wanting to do my own crafty things.  I mean really, no one made any palm tree quilts and I had all of these grand ideas of decorating my whole house in all home made items.  It couldn't be that, hard, right?

I am not relating this tale to make myself look like a bumbling fool (though I'm pretty certain I also do an excellent job of that as well), rather I am trying to prevent you from making the same mistakes I made.

Back in 8th grade home ec we were taught how to use a sewing machine to make a class sweatshirt.   Never mind that I had sewn the stripe on upside down in an over-locking stitch then proceeded to have to tear out all of that thread, I still wanted to sew my own pillows, curtains, and such.  My mom generously bought me a basic sewing machine for my birthday in 2005, almost 20 years after my first sewing lessons.

Over the next year, I began to hone my sewing skills with some simple projects.  I went to work right away making pretty purple curtains (complete with glitter) for my daughter's princess room, pillow covers for our couch pillows in the living room, a swag and some curtains for the living room, shortening pants for our short family.  It was going great!  I even started making some clothes.  I was really proud of my accomplishments and wanted to keep on learning to do more.

Thread tension wasn't right

I bought the fabric I wanted, got it all cut into squares and rectangles using a cutting mat and rotary cutter.  I wasn't going to use a pattern because the last time I used one I messed up and had to undo what I had done then do it right.  No patterns, no problems, right??

Wrong!  The first problem I hit was that we had to pack up and move because Cheesehead got a job transfer.  These beautiful squares stayed locked up in a box for 7 years until they were rediscovered!

4 block squares

Once I found them and felt adequately motivated enough to get going, I started sewing the squares together into my first quilt I ever made.  Well, when the thread tension isn't set correctly it begins to make the material pucker and not lay flat so I needed to adjust that.  Um, I didn't...

I sewed the smaller squares into blocks of 4 alternating the material and reorienting the fabric from the palm fronds into different directions to give the quilt some added interest.  Except apparently I didn't really cut them into all exactly the same size squares...  Note to self, measure twice, cut once, write some notes if you are going to put it away for a while.  Seriously.

Well I was feeling pretty darn good about myself and how wonderfully the quilt was coming together.  I got all of the 4 blocks together, sewed the rectangles into a line that would go down the center or the quilt, and then discovered a couple of other little problems with my process.

Ironing

I washed the fabric when I first bought it, but didn't iron.  I hate ironing because usually when I iron something I iron more wrinkles into the fabric than I get out and it ends up looking terrible.  Well, washing the fabric checks for fraying, but when it's not ironed it doesn't lay quite right, so it can make your pattern go awry.  Plus, you need to iron to make the seams lay flat.  I learned this from some friends I met online who have actually made quilts before.  Well, I ironed to give the quilt a nicer look, see?

I didn't watch my seam allowances closely when I was putting the quilt together AND I didn't make sure the raw edges were completely lined up all the way up and down the entire square so there were some sewing misses that I had to go back and fix.  Bad, this was very, very bad.

Now, when I put the center strip in and started matching up the 4 blocks to be put together the fabric didn't line up right.  Rather than doing what I should have and ripping it apart and beginning again keeping the exact same seam allowance and trimming the squares to be exact matches, cutting extra fabric from the rectangles, I pressed on and did some improvisation.  All to save myself from extra work.

I found this great brown fabric in my fabric stash, isn't it great?  I trimmed it up (thinking I had already washed to check for fraying) and set it in among my mismatched fabric.  Feeling pretty darn proud I showed it to my husband who said he couldn't wait to use it.   Isn't the color combination stunning???   I even found this great sheet at a thrift shop that made for a beautiful backing material, see on the bottom right corner?  I also bought an unopened bag of batting from there. (Or so I thought...)

Mostly finished quilt

Now I was excited to get the two sides put together!  I know this quilt wasn't the queen size that the back sheet was, so I knew I would need to do some trimming.  I laid out the top and laid the backing material over it and carefully pinned it together.  This is when my sloppiness would really shine through.  First I pinned the wrong sides together, when I should have pinned the right sides together so I had to repin.  I also did the batting at that time to save myself an extra step.  I pinned it to the sheet and started trimming.

The pieces I cut from the sheet came off lopsided.  I mean, not even slightly uneven, but majorly so.  I'm thinking I should have gathered up my measuring tape and verified sizes of everything because I obviously didn't remember from one time to the next.  Did that stop me?  Nope, I just kept right on going!

I got the 3 side sewed together, turned it right side out, and finished the last seam.  Then it was time to tack the 2 sides and the batting together.  It was already wonderful, as it sat on my lap I felt so warm!  I decided to just tie the sides together as opposed to really quilting it because I really didn't know the first thing about making a quilt and I didn't want it to look bad.  (A little late to worry about that now, huh? lol)

I decided to use a nice green yarn that I got at a thrift store because if would really stand out against the tan sheet backing. As I worked through I placed a tie at each corner along the row of squares.  The first edge looked great, but the further I went, the tackier it looked.  Places that lined up when flattened together from one way bulged and buckled when viewed from another way.  I don't know how many ties I had to remove to make it look decent again.

Then, came the worst piece of information.  As I proudly viewed my "completed" quilt, I saw some edges coming apart along the brown fabric.  Apparently I hadn't checked it for fraying.  So now this fragile beauty will end up hanging on a quilt rack not to be used, but as a gentle reminder of my failings and of my lack of humility.

Lessons I took from this experience.

1.  If you take a break for any length of time, get back in slowly so you don't make mistakes.
2.  Measure twice (or even more!), cut once.
3.  If it doubt, check it out.  (EX. Meaning rewash if you don't know if you did or not!)
4.  When getting things second hand, check the size BEFORE you do the project.
5.  Follow the correct seam allowances even if you DON'T have a pattern because you obviously had something in mind when you cut the fabric in the first place.
6.  Do it right the first time, even if it isn't the easiest path.
7.  Ask an expert.  Really, there are processes for a reason.  At least use a book for Pete's sake!
8.  Pride cometh before the fall.



Thank you for stopping by to chat with me. Please leave me a message, I'd love to hear your thoughts! Cindy

Storing up For the Winter

All summer our gardens are usually bursting with more produce than we can keep up with.  It is easy to imagine being wrapped in a warm celestial embrace in the bright summer sunshine.   I can almost hear whispered voices blowing through the pine trees surrounding my house when the breeze is blowing.  Abundant flowers, fruits and vegetables adorn the plants in my yard providing all of the senses with more stimulation than my favorite scented lotions and candles.  All summer long it is easy to feel loved and appreciated in my imagination because I am surrounded by so many wonderful things.

Rather than letting that overflowing of God's blessings spoil, we can, dehydrate, and freeze the excess in our household.  I know that some of these things may sound scary to the inexperienced readers, especially the canning, but it really isn't as scary as it may seem if you follow all of the instructions and precautions I promise!  When we still have more left we give them to friends and neighbors because that is one great way to show His love for us in how He takes care of us.

Canning and preserving His goodness from the summer helps to remind me of His love daily while the winds are angrily howling and the cold biting winds bite you to the core.  It makes me feel so not alone.  It has helped me to climb from the depression I had sunk into when the times got tough.  I got a sense of empowerment because I was more in control of our expenses, the only thing that limited me was my creativity.

This summer was not as kind as past seasons have been so we were forced to buy more produce than usual which ends up being more expensive.  It's not the end of the world of course, you can still live frugally if you have to buy the items you can stock up when the items are on sale.  Not everyone has the time or ability to garden anyway, God gifted each of us with different talents.

Thank you for stopping by to chat with me. Please leave me a message, I'd love to hear your thoughts! Cindy

Practical Container Plants

Onions replaced the spikes in
my whiskey barrel

If you've known me for any amount of time, you would know that I just love to have containers of flowers everywhere you look.   Flowers attract beneficial insects to the garden needed for pollination, I view them as an essential part of any garden.  You can also eat many of the flowers or use them for craft projects or medicines

In the past I have used spikes, sweet potato vine, and other items as accent pieces in my flower pots.  The foliage is striking and interesting and it gives a nice contrast to the flowers.  It can be rather expensive to buy these though.  6 packs are much more reasonably priced, but they don't seem to sell these accent plants in 6 packs. Over the last couple of years I have replaced those items with other, more useful items.

Over the last several years I have used many items such as mint, rosemary, onions, fennel, basil, and parsley, but this year I am expanding my repetoire into more new and different things such as cucumbers, mustard and collard greens, and kale.

Shed planter

 My husband built these great boxes for me that sit in front of our shed.  In the past they have been filled with 3 rows of different kinds of flowers.  Last year the back row was made of curly leaf parsley, but I had more parsley than I knew what to do with so this year I am doing something different.  This box shows an alernated back row of both basil and parsley.  The middle row of flowers has been replaces with flowering kale of varying colors.  I asked at the garden store since I have never raised kale before and she told me that this would be a great idea and should last all summer as long as I kept them well watered.

Hanging baskets

My hanging baskets have held strawberries in the past.  Since they have been taken and planted in our berry patch, I will be trying come cucumbers in them.  Of course I will still have the ones out front as well, but they will hold a wildly varied bunch of plants.  Next year I will plant more varieties of basil such as red ruffles because of the interesting looking foliage.  When you limit yourself to what the garden centers grow and have available it makes the selections a bit boring.  One can never have too much basil.

You may recall my hanging tomato planters that I have had in years past.  I have done it with a plant in the top and the bottom.  This won't change, but those bags are rather cheaply made and are falling apart and getting filled with holes.  This year I will be making my own out of 5 gallon buckets.  More on that in a future post.

Ground planter

Planters also abound on the ground around here.  I have grown spinach, lettuce, and herbs in these.  It actually worked really well for me to put the cool season crops into planters last year because when the sun got too hot for them it was easy to move them to a shadier location.

My stevia and patchouli plants did well in containers all summer last year, until they came inside for the winter and my cats mutilated them...  Most of the time you can overwinter tender plants indoors to ensure they come back again next year.  If they are tropicals they would need a warm location, but I think next winter I may try my luck at sheltering them in my garage instead.

This year more tomatoes and peppers followed me home than I have room for in the veggie gardens out back, so some of those will also find homes in those giant pots that you buy trees in from the nursery.

A word of caution about container plants:  They do dry out faster than plants would in they were in the ground because of the added air circulation around the soil, so check them regularly.  That is one reason I won't buy the hanging baskets from the nurseries, they use inferior soils with no water retaining ingredients mixed in.  I like to make my own potting mix and top it off with mulch so the plants stay evenly moist.  This is especially true for the hanging baskets because air circulates all around them.

There, now you can combine both beauty AND utility all around your garden.  Don't be afraid to experiment, just because you've never heard of anyone else trying it out doesn't mean it won't work!

Thank you for stopping by to chat with me. Please leave me a message, I'd love to hear your thoughts! Cindy

I Give UP!!!!

Have you ever felt like you could just collapse on the floor in a huge blubbering pile? Like nothing in the world will ever go your way again? As if you need to take out a white flag and wave it for everyone to see and call a truce? The endless barrage of hardships and difficulties are just too much to bear!

I don't know what has been going on the last 5 years so that nothing will ever go our way, but I am at my wits' end. It just seems like it's one thing after another. As soon as we start to see the clouds breaking up, more clouds roll right in to take their place. It's just one never ending storm after another. I feel empty and hopeless. I am truly at a loss and no one will help us. I feel like I am in a bottomless pit of quicksand from which there is no escape. I have a feeling that the depression is trying to move back in and take back over my life, but I don't want it to.

I am usually a pretty optimistic person. I know it is always darkest before the dawn, really I do. I have made many batches of lemonade out of my pile of lemons, and some earrings, lemon bars, lemon sherbet, lemon bread, lemon meringue pie, lemon drops, lemon chicken, lemon poppy seed muffins, and lovely scented soaps too. But I am running out of things to make with these lemons and I would really like to get something else instead. Did you know that we have had 10 qualifying hardships within the last 5 years? I am sure I could find even more than that too if I tried. Sad. Pathetic. Unnatural.

Why does no one see my pain? Why will no one reach out a helping hand? Why does everyone think my business is none of their business? Even when I ask for help, no one will help. They won't see my need, it's like they put blinders on, plug their ears and sing a merry tune until I have talked so much I can't talk anymore. They change what I tell them to ease their guilt and so that they are able to do their worst to me. I am sick of it.

Bad service, rising expenses, job transfers, job losses, botched rentals, home sale staging, deaths, depression, short sale, foreclosure, credit clampdowns, home repairs, credit counseling, stress, illness, refinancing, medical debt, loan modifications, I could go on and on. All the while I always try to do the right thing and take care of my debts at the expense of our family and our life. It's sickening really. Why won't it stop? Why do these things keep happening to me? I need to put an end to this vicious cycle.

Everyone has a plan, and everyone tells me what to do when they can't help me. When I tell them I've tried that already, they simply tell me that I must have done it wrong or that I need to do X as well. They tell me someone else will help and pretend to act incredulous and disgusted when I tell them that didn't work either.

Can't anyone just listen, support a person, and help them out? Why does everyone feel the need to require documentation of everything even though I have never told any lies about my situation? Why can't we prepare for something bad that is going to happen when we know in advance it will happen simply because it has yet to happen?

Yeah, I know I have a lot of questions. Why can't anyone answer any of them? Doesn't anyone else have these kinds of questions too? Hasn't this kind of thing been happening all over the world? Why is no one willing to help a person simply to be helpful, not just because a law says they have to?

Apparently no business, no government program, and no job performance bonus is going to get us out of this mess. Only God can and only God will. How do I give this all up for him to deal with when all I do is worry about tomorrow? How do I give it all up into God's hands? I want to give up.

Thank you for stopping by to chat with me. Please leave me a message, I'd love to hear your thoughts! Cindy

Insurance Comparisons

My husband just got a newsletter from his work in the mail. In it, there was a summary of our 2010 insurance's annual reports for both medical and dental. We have gotten new medical insurance companies every few years, but have had the same dental insurance the whole time my husband has been with the company. (13 years at this point in time.) I could not believe my eyes when I read the report. How can our health insurance company keep up with their greedy ways in the middle of a recession? It drives me absolutely insane!

Medical premiums paid by employees of his company for medical amounted to $57,042,365.

Aetna paid out claims equaling $48,567,376.

Premiums - Claims = The profit made $8,474,989. This is just from one company's employees.

Yet they need to raise our premiums on a yearly basis by between $40 and $60 per month why? We certainly aren't seeing that big of raises in our monthly paychecks. Deductibles are high and they do not like to actually cover much of anything and find every excuse in the book to make us pay for each service out of pocket.

Curious, I decided to do some math to figure out how much each family paid Aetna to line their pockets. I know my math isn't exactly right as not all people have family coverage or the best plan like we do, but I thought I'd aim for some ball park numbers just to occupy my mind and satisfy my curiosity. I am also unsure of how much they pay their employees or how many they actually have on staff, but I think my guesstimates are fairly reasonable. Here is what I came up with:

We paid $144.10 per week for our family health insurance coverage.

Multiply that by 4 and we paid $576.40 per month.

Multiply the monthly amount by 12 and get $6,916.80 as our yearly premium.

This is where the math might seem a little fuzzy to you, but I wanted to find out my share of the overcharges. Dividing total premiums received by our monthly premium amount gives us the number of families served if all of the payees had family plans. $57,042,365/$6,916.8= 8,246.93 families.

Granted some of the profit is paid to people who use our money to pay our bills, but now to find out how much Aetna charged each family to earn their profits. I took the profits that they made and divided it by the number of families who paid in premiums.
$8,474,989/8,246.93=$1,027.66.

I wonder how many employees it takes to service these accounts? Is 8 a fair number? That leaves each of them to deal with customer issues for 1,031 families. If they were paid a salary of $60,000 per year (just guessing here...) that would take $480,000 out of their profit of $8,474989 leaving them only $7,994,989. Let's say $100K for overhead stuff (utilities, phone, etc) that leaves $7,894,989 profit. We were each bilked out of $957.32 just so they could make a tidy profit. Does anyone else think that companies should not be in the health care business to make money?

I believe that is where all of our problems are coming from. If you are in it to make a large profit you raise the prices of procedures every year, making insurance companies pay you more for each service provided, increasing the premiums of each consumer involved until no one is able to afford anything at all. No wonder our health care industry has so many problems! People are also dropping insurance left and right because they simply can't afford it. Health care clinics are unwilling to work with people who can not afford to keep paying more money toward their bill every year so more people simply don't pay and end up declaring bankruptcy which leaves the company holding the bag so they increase prices some more to cover their losses. Add to that the people who sue places for millions of dollars just because the lawyer told them they have a case and won and you have a perfect way to bankrupt an entire country.

With everyone out there only to get money for themselves any which way they can and no one looking for the common good of mankind, no wonder we're in such a pickle!

In contrast to our health insurance there is the dental insurance.

We pay $4.92 per week x 4 = $19.68 per month x 12 = $236.16 per year.

We each go to see a hygienist twice per year, we only go to the doctor once a year. Hmm...

Premiums paid to Delta Dental by employees of his company $2,580,841.

Claims paid by Delta on behalf of same employees $2,390,665.

Premiums - Claims = Total profit $190,176.

Taking premiums paid divided by how much we paid in premium is giving me the number of families served. $2,580,841/236.16=10,928.358

Taking the profit of $190,176/families served 10,928.358 leaves each family paying an extra $17.40 per year not counting Delta's expenses.

Sorry, I'm not going to do the math here to figure out how much of that goes to employees and such because it simply isn't worth it to me. Obviously they provide some services and deserve to make a little bit of profit. They also do not refuse to pay things like our health insurance company seems to enjoy doing leaving me to pay most of the bill.

I have a much higher opinion of Delta Dental than I do of any health insurance company that I have ever had.

Obviously dentists make money or they would not be open and running their own businesses. (Not run or owned by corporations I might add.)

The dental insurance makes money or they would not be in business. They treat their customers well or they wouldn't have more customers than the medical insurance company has.

I often hear the excuse that doctors are highly paid because of the number of years they went to medical school, but don't dentists and vets go to the same amount of schooling? Sorry if you buy that line, but I don't! Look at you vet bill and dentist bill next time you go to either one and compare it to your own medical doctor. You probably see the doctor at each place the same amount of time, right?

Is there a lesson to be learned here? I think so! Actually I believe there are several noteworthy lessons here.
1. Treat your customers well, they are not just giant ATM's.
2. Profit can be made without ripping off your customers.
3. Work with your customers, when you help them you help yourself.

Thank you for stopping by to chat with me. Please leave me a message, I'd love to hear your thoughts! Cindy

It Makes No Sense

Ten years ago both my husband and I worked full time. We owned a house and had 2 kids, owned two cars and lived in a nice house in the suburbs. He worked an average of 50.61 hours per week and both of us had a 15 minute commute. We made $11,000 less per year then than we do now, but we lived a better quality of life. We had money to enroll our children in activities (well, okay it was daycare but I also had to buy diapers so that counts, right?), we didn't feel the strain of not being able to pay our bills, we had a healthy savings account, retirement account, and owed more money on our house than we owe on the one we are living in now.

Fast forward to today, I am not working. Hubby works an average of 57.05 hours per week. Our savings has been depleted by various events in our lives, we have more bills than we ever have, we never do anything or go anywhere that doesn't involve our son and his school sports, I make tons of our own cleaning and health products, grow and can lots of our food, and home decor items, and people feel they can take advantage of us and tell me what they think I can afford to do. No one seems to think I know what I'm talking about when I tell them about our circumstances, they look at me like I'm an alien life form or that I am talking gibberish. They think they know my finances better than I do? WTH?

Has inflation really increased so much? What is wrong with this picture? Now when I mention any difficulty to anyone they tell me all I need to do is get a job. Should I really have to? What is wrong with everyone? They are saying that I am the problem? Ugh! It drives me absolutely mad!!!

Thank you for stopping by to chat with me. Please leave me a message, I'd love to hear your thoughts! Cindy

The New American Middle Class

It used to be that people in the middle class owned their own home, had money to buy all of the necessities that their families needed, had decent saving accounts, 401K's, didn't need to live paycheck to paycheck, and were able to take a family vacation every year even if it was just going to a nearby campground just to get away. It seems that picture has done a whole lot of changing over the last few years and I am not really liking the direction that our country is heading. Families do not leave their homes, pack lunches for every family member every day, wear the same clothes year after year even after they are tattered and stained, there is no room for any emergencies as saving have been eaten up by increased expenses, homes are on the brink of foreclosure, there is a lot of deficit spending just to keep the same lifestyle we have always led.

Now more than ever we are all finding ourselves struggling. Some of us have never had to put up with some of the situations we are finding ourselves in, and it can be a scary place to be. We are needing to be creative and make some major cutbacks in our lifestyle in order to keep the same standard of living that we have always had. Some are clueless as to how they can do this and are petrified of having to change their lives.

What lead to this state of affairs? No pay raises for years at a time, increasing costs of living, forced job transfers, not being able to sell our homes, decreased credit availability, declining home values, foreclosures, increased taxes and medical expenses, businesses who have no regard for positions people are finding themselves in, banks who are unwilling to help struggling homeowners, job losses, increased disease caused by new stresses that we are not used to dealing with, shrinking 401Ks as well as other savings avenues, and reduced work hours available are just some of the problems that have contributed to this new reality.

It seems like this problem is insurmountable. It looks like a giant mountain that we are both unwilling and unable to climb and conquer. What is there to do but to throw our hands into the air and give up? Now, more than ever, we need to pull together and make some sacrifices. We need to help those that are in need of help even though we may not think they need it. We need to band together and take care of each other. We need to have less focus on our short term profits and more focus on the gains that can be made in the long term.

Being just one person, what can we do to make the world a better place? I will give you some ideas of things that we have done as well as things that could be done if people weren't so hung up on following the highest profit line they can get. Some of these ideas are things that we can do to help ourselves, while others are ideas that we can use to help those around us which may indirectly benefit us as well.

When I found myself with less cash flow than we have traditionally had, I found ways to stretch our budget. I switched out all of our regular light bulbs for CFLs, turn on less lights at night, turn down the thermostat when no one is home, and run all of our televisions and other electronics on power strips so they do not use electricity when they are not turned on. Instead of buying clothes at the retail stores I used to frequent I found myself buying them at garage sale or thrift shops, same with other household necessities such as plates, books, and pot. Recreating clothing that we already own is a great way to save money. Why not make that shirt with the stains on it into an art project that your children can proudly wear to school? Those pants that are too short can easily be turned into a jean skirt or jean shorts. Making our own foods from our homegrown garden has also been a Godsend to our budget woes. Sugar free blackberry jam in the stores was $5 per jar. Picking the blackberries from the woods and making our own saves us a lot of cash. That $5 easily buys enough pectin to make at least a dozen jars of jam if not more. Who ever thought before this all began that I would learn how to make my own green cleaners, sausage, dog food, canned veggies, frozen soups, broths, and dried herbs?

Businesses can help people too. If you can't afford to give them a discount, at least work with them so they can fit your goods and/or services into their budget. If they say they can't afford the bill and try to arrange things to make everything more affordable for them, believe them. Charge an affordable interest rate and don't change all kinds of extra fees just to add to their misery and to your bottom line. Then the business will not loose customers and the customers can still afford services on an affordable payment plan. I think it is despicable when a business tells a person to sell their home at a large loss or spend all of their life savings just to get paid sooner. What will they do the next time? There IS going to be a next time, you DO know that, right? Why can't we spend more time helping others who are also struggling to get their feet under them so they can then pay that kindness forward? If they can afford the payment then you will not have to worry about these customers declaring bankruptcy costing you even more money either.

Banks can lower a current customer's interest rate. If they are already your customer and they are paying their bills in a timely manner why not try to help them make their payment more affordable if they request your assistance? This will free up some of their cash so they can spend it to help stimulate the economy. This will indirectly help a bank as they have invested their customer's money into various stock markets. Increased spending will increase the value of those holdings earning the bank more income thereby helping the bank as well as it's customers.

Insurance companies don't need to keep adding a 10% increase to their customer's charges every year either. If people feel less taken advantage of they will be less likely to take advantage of others.

I also feel that fraud and lawsuits are destroying our country. People seem to be looking for a quick profit around every corner. Taking people to court costs everyone money, as does charging for services not actually provided. Even those of us who aren't even involved in the situation. That is how prices got as over inflated as they have. Businesses don't eat the cost of these lawsuits and payouts themselves, they divide the cost and spread it out as increases to all of the other customers weather it's insurance or some other business. Why do you think our cost of insurance has risen so dramatically over the last 15 years? Certainly not because the equipment is that much better. Think about it. How much does it cost to go to the vet vs going to the doctor? Both went to the same amount of school, but there isn't insurance in most veterinary practices. What about the dentist? I still pay close to the same amount now as I did 13 years ago when we got our dental insurance. Why? Because people are not abusing the dental insurance plans in the same way as they are abusing the other insurance companies. My health insurance cost on the other hand has increased more than 250% over the same amount of time. Are we REALLY that much less healthy?

Start seeing the sanity and refusing to take the easy road, instead take the road less traveled. Help yourself, help others, stop being greedy, and together we will make it through the rough times.

Thank you for stopping by to chat with me. Please leave me a message, I'd love to hear your thoughts! Cindy

Busy, Busy, Busy!

Wow, it's been quite a while since I've gone blog hopping again. I have really been missing hanging out with my cyber buddies, but the recession we are in has caused me to do a lot of looking for more ways to cut our expenses further than I already have. Of course the bank has not helped us at all, so I've had to be very creative in my searches.

I have searched for home health remedies to move us further away from the world of chemicals (for cleaning our house and healing our bodies), recipes for eating healthy without having to spend an arm and a leg on prepackaged (and preservative laden) foods, soap recipes (and yes, I did finally make some soap), and new insurance providers (for everything but our life and dental insurance which are the only products that haven't raised their premiums through the roof). If things stay on track with our finances and we have no other increased or added expenses we should manage to come through this storm in just a few months, then I can concentrate more on getting our health on track (which I have spent considerable amounts of time researching).

I decided about my recent thoughts on how companies who have to do with our health really don't care about the customer, they're way more concerned with making money in the short run. They need to focus on the future and they too could even help us get out of our economic recession.

When my husband and I got married we paid very little (maybe $100? I can't remember for sure) for our health insurance and it was excellent. It included 100% of maternity costs being covered, free yearly well visits, and we only paid 20% of the trip to the doctor costs up to our deductible and insurance paid 100% after that. We also never paid more than the stated office visit copays for other visits.

Fast forward 15 years...

Starting in January we will be paying over $600 per month for our health insurance through my husband's employer who pays half of the cost of this insurance. We still get yearly well visits, but somehow our well visits are never viewed as well visits and I have to fight with the insurance company them to get them to pay. Any trips I make to the doctor almost always comes completely out of my pocket. I have never actually gotten to the point of paying our deductible and then having them pay 80% because we rarely ever go to the doctor.

Besides the monthly insurance cost, I am also paying $78 per month to one clinic and $40 to another for past visits , labs, mammograms (plus 10% interest because I can't afford to pay the bill in full) that my insurance didn't feel the need to pay. Add to that our monthly prescriptions and we are well over $800 per month just paying for our health. That's crazy!!!! Who has any money left for food once we pay for that AND our mortgage? If we could just reduce those expenses for each and every American family by $200 per household, we would all have a whole lot more money to spend on other goods and services.

Any rational human being can see that by having a family pay less money for health care costs, the family could afford to buy healthier foods and health club memberships with the money they are saving. This would reduce the overall medical cost to the health insurance company giving them greater profits within several years.

If people are healthier it would also reduce the number of visits needed to doctor offices giving the doctors more time to concentrate on helping their patients to get healthy and reducing the numbers of malpractice claims. The doctor wouldn't have so many people to take care of that they don't spend the time to get all of the information they should have had. This would give the doctors more money because they wouldn't have to spend so much of their money on malpractice insurance. It would also save the clinics money because they wouldn't be so over run with patients that they need 4 receptionists to check patients in and verify their insurance plans.

Prepackaged foods are very inexpensive, but they are also not very good for us. They have few nutrients in them and lots of added chemicals and preservatives. Spending all of our money on paying drug companies, insurance companies, and clinic and doctor bills leaves us with less money for taking care of ourselves. This actually makes us LESS healthy because we are forced to buy more inexpensively produced foods in order to have enough food and skipping the health club memberships because it's not something we really "HAVE" to have. These foods add to our inability to loose weight, our feelings of tiredness, and lack of motivation to exercise compounding the problems that we already have.

I don't think people in the health care system should be large for profit companies. If everyone could stop being greedy for just a moment and just use the brains that God gave us, they could actually spend some time and energy to help people live healthier lives we would be a healthier, wealthier, and happier country.

Thank you for stopping by to chat with me. Please leave me a message, I'd love to hear your thoughts! Cindy

Stepping Slowly Toward Self Sufficiency

When we moved here almost four years ago I had no hopes or aspirations of trying to produce anything of my own except beautiful plants and flowers to landscape my yard with. It sure is funny how time can change our attitudes.

I am used to being a city girl, I've lived in town my whole life. I never dreamed or imagined how so many things that we use are made, they just came to our house from the grocery store shelf. Well, obviously we all know that's not true. It seemed like such hard work and really we should leave cheesemaking to the experts, right?

As I've lived in the country new insights have come to me through many avenues including nature, new friendships, and checking out books from the local library. Our health has continued on a gradual decline and I have begun to search for alternatives that do not include taking pills for the rest of our lives.

It occurred to me as I was reading one of the many diet books from my own personal library that many people are declining in health, and it's not just the unhealthy people either. What's the cause? I am no scientist, nor have I done any experiments to confirm my theory, but the more I think about it the more I feel that chemicals in our every day products are part of the blame.

What better way to begin thinking about self sufficiency? It's not a program that a bunch of hippies are attempting to implement going back to the 1800's, but it's a way to provide some things for ourselves and to know what's in the products that we consume.

When we moved here we found that we had an abundance of wild blackberries, blueberries, and strawberries growing in the fringes of the woods surrounding our house. It was a nice bonus since my children tend to prefer sweeter fruits to the healthier vegetables. We have since added plenty more plants to help provide us with inexpensive, chemical free food. (To see a list please check out my side bar.) Last year I decided to take it a step further and planted a veggie garden. After much research, I combined a bunch of different organically based garden styles into one with which I had tremendous success. It was so successful that I added two more beds which I just finished filling with dirt this spring. Unfortunately it doesn't appear that this dirt was as rich as the last batch that I used, but I will continue to enrich it and hope for more future successes.

My nine year old daughter has begun to "bud" as well. This perplexes me since no one in our family was early to develop that I can recall. I was talking with a bunch of mothers on one of my many recent field trips about this fact. We came to the conclusion that it's probably due to the growth hormones given to animals whose meat and milk we consume. These same animals are also fed lots of antibiotics which we feel is contributing to the antibiotic resistance that we hear so much about these days. These conversations got me wanting to raise my own meat and milk products as well. I know that this can't happen anytime soon since we can not have livestock in our development, but once we move I think I may just have to look into the possibilities.

While I will never produce my own beer (I hate the stuff and don't feel that it's worth the effort), I can see myself doing many other things on our little homestead. What's even better about this approach to living is the fact that we can all do little things that fit into the lives we want to lead and we don't have to wait for any government's slow wheels to bring a change about.

Thank you for stopping by to chat with me. Please leave me a message, I'd love to hear your thoughts!Cindy

The Garden I Left Behind

I have talked to you often about the garden I left behind as well as babbling on about plants that made the trip with us on our last trip before the fire sale. Well, I finally got access to the old pictures that were on the computer that crashed. Now I can finally share them with you. Unfortunately we had to send the computer to the scrap yard as it was unsalvagable.

We moved into our second home when my youngest child was still a baby, just a three months old. She has no memories of our first home. We decided we needed a bigger yard for our children and a bit more space, so we moved about 5 miles away. It was the 30th of May in 2001 when we moved in.

We had looked at the house in March when the yard was still under snow. I fell in love with the inside, it was perfect for us! We put in an offer right away. It was only on the market a couple of days before came.

Imagine our shock when we saw the grass did not come back. Wasn't that the whole point of not buying new construction? Our first home had been new construction and we looked at established homes so we wouldn't have to do landscaping or finish a basement. The yard and landscaping were supposed to be in already. It looked wonderful in the winter with lots of trees and everything. Did I mention that most of the trees were dead too when spring came?

The back garden area was wonderful looking. I loved the bushes that hid our back yard from the street behind our house. It was a great place on a corner lot and it was close enough to walk to the beach. Inherited shrubs in the back mulch garden included a staghorn sumac in the center of the garden, 2 sensation lilacs, a white lilac, and red weigela, along with a few plants I never did figure out what they were.

The kids had lots of neighbor children to play with too. My son met his best friend when was about to start kindergarten. They seemed to be attached at the hip always either playing at our house or theirs every day after school.

After we lived there for a while and got to know the neighbors, we were told the people that sold it to us had lived there less than a year. The original owners were gardeners and the yard was always the best yard in the neighborhood. (I could tell from all of the earthworms that completely covered our driveway after the rain in spring.) It was just a shame a year of neglect could ruin all of that hard work. We intended to bring it back to it's former glory. After a bunch of hard work I thought it was right back up among the best.

We enjoyed most of the plant choices of the original owners, but the sumac was a total thug. It kept trying to take over the entire yard, sprouts shot up everywhere. I managed to talk Cheesehead into helping me rip it out even though it had beautiful form. To fill in the gap, we added some arborvitae that were passed along from some of Cheesehead's friends at work.

We added a couple of new garden areas including my prized rose garden. I had 3 climbing roses and 2 bush roses as well as creeping phlox at the entry path. The roses managed to thrive all summer and looked gorgeous each and every year. Somehow I was never able to keep them alive through the winter though. They got replaced each year. It sure was hard pulling out those rose bushes! But my was it lovely smelling to sit on that little bench under the arbor. When we were getting ready to move we planted 3 clematis to climb the arbor and two knock out roses to fill in the space.

The corner must have gotten too much salt spray from winter plowing, we never could get grass to grow in there so we expanded it into a large rock garden. We added a raised perrieneal garden as well as a wide variety of flowering shrubs.

There was a wonderful ornamental crabapple tree. The fragrance by our front door was always so sweet in the spring time. It was like heaven on earth between the flowering crab apple and the carol mackie daphne that grew next to the door. I put a bench there too. We also added plants that lined both sides of the driveway. Why in the world would you have all that rock but no plants anyway?

Near the door all plants the original owners had put in had vanished but the tulips they had planted. I filled it with color and various textures. Anything that survived our long absence before the fire sale came with me from this area. So far the monkshood is the only plant that died from the transplant process.

I added a pink weigela in an open space in the front garden, but the rest of the plantings were put in by the original owners. I think the green we chose looked better with the vinyl siding than the original color. I matched the new exterior lighting to the trim too. Looking back, I think we overspent on the improvements we made.

The back yard was spacious and we enjoyed outdoor entertaining here. It tended to get very hot in the afternoons in summer. We had plans of adding some sort of shade structure but never got around to putting one in.

This was the second garden shed we built. Somehow I never managed to get a picture of the whole shed. I am not sure what I was thinking when I planted these things in there, it was such a small space. They got very overgrown after we moved out. We like to landscape around all of our outdoor structures to add more enjoyment to our time spent outside.

Can you tell Cheesehead likes using landscaping blocks?

It was heart wrenching to have to move from our dream home just over three years ago. We had put a lot of blood, sweat, tears, and money into that place to make it perfect for us.

We moved into our "new" home three years ago this July. I guess I still call it new because we never really got the closure of selling our old home, signing papers, and the whole 9 yards. It was finally foreclosed on after being on the market for more than two years. Technically we've only really been rid of the burden of that house for 7 months. I'm sure glad that never ending saga is over!

Right now I wouldn't change our house for the world, it's really starting to feel like home.

Thank you for stopping by to chat with me. Please leave me a message, I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Cindy

Parades and Proper Flag Etiquette

I'm sure most of us will be going to a parade of some sort soon. If not tomorrow, sometime this summer. I am wondering what your thoughts on the following story are.

It happened last year at the forth of July parade. I arrived early at the parade route as usual to stake out a good spot for the kids to chase candy and hopefully remain in the shade so we would be less likely to get a sunburn. We didn't bring chairs, just sat on the curb.

I guess some people came along and decided we had a great spot and set up their folding chairs behind us. When the first flags of the parade passed by, everyone rose and removed their hats so there wasn't a problem with my standing in front of them.

After the next few color guards came by with their flags raised, I stood for those also. They got rather annoyed at me and complained that I was blocking their view. I explained how I was showing my love and respect for my country as well as my respect for their contribution to our country when these color guards came by.

They started sneering and jeering at me when I didn't stand for the cars that came by with their postage stamp flags on them waving from what seemed like lollipop sticks. I tried to explain to them how it wasn't the same, but I really don't think they got it. They just kept up with their rude comments.

Who was right? What is proper parade etiquette when it comes to flags and color guards anyway?

Wishing everyone a safe and happy forth whether they're driving or staying home. Try not to blow yourselves up!

Thank you for stopping by to chat with me. Please leave me a message, I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Cindy

Self Fullfilling Prophecy

I have been doing some thinking as Cheesehead has been on vacation this past week (thus my reduced computer usage and increased project levels). It occurred to me that what I believe will come true usually does.

Take, for example, my indoor brown thumb phenomenon. I seem to constantly complain that I kill any plant that comes into my house. I recently proved that was true by killing an "un-killable" indoor plant. Is it really the fact that I can't grow a plant or is it my attitude towards what I am doing? I grow plants outside and they thrive, is it only my attitude towards them that sets them apart?

If I can't grow plants, then why do my outdoor plants usually thrive? I expect them to. I know I have a green thumb. I take care of them all in the same way and they do their best to please me. I wonder if they can sense what I am thinking?

I can grow anything out side but roses. I wonder if my lack of success with growing roses that aren't knockout roses has more to do with my attitude that I will kill any other rose. If you believe you will fail, you usually will.

My old vegetable gardens in MN were completely covered with weeds before I began my venture. I decided that I would put vegetables there and have a wonderful garden to provide my family with all of the vegetables we could eat. I cleared all of the weeds out until there wasn't a weed to be seen. I then planted my freshly bought seedlings into the rich soil. The only problem was that the weeds kept popping up. Instead of trying to eradicate all of the weeds, I developed the attitude that I'd never be able to control all of those weeds. They proceeded to take over the garden once again and I gave up on my vegetable garden. I may have to test this phenomenon farther.

If all we have to do is to is to change our attitude, then my vegetable garden this year should be a booming success. (As long as I can keep Cheesehead away from it!) After all, I'm extremely optimistic and will have a fresh new bed of weed free soil to plan the seeds (and soon to be started seedlings) in.

Thank you for stopping by to chat with me. Please leave me a message, I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Cindy

Getting My Hands Dirty

Looking at all of the snow still out in my yard is making me miserable. There was some bare ground showing through just a couple of weeks ago, but a cold snap and a fresh snowfall took care of that. Nothing but snow and ice outside as far as the eye can see.



I looked outside wistfully dreaming of the blueberry patch that I long to plant up here in the wooded area near the road. The snow is just as deep in that spot today as it was on the day I took the picture. I need a gardening fix that looking at the snow just won't give me.

Attempting to console myself, I went to the yet to be finished craft/garden area to place soil in the pots I bought a few years ago. I know it will be a while before I should start seeds inside if I know what's good for me, but I need to feel and smell some nice fresh dirt. Just scooping a little dirt won't hurt anybody, will it?

This little tray reminded my of the fiasco that occured a few years ago. I amused myself with remembering the last time I tried to start plants as I scooped the soil into each little cell.

I was a fairly young mom with a toddler that was barely 2 who had an older brother that was 5. I don't know what I was thinking trying to start seeds for the first time with two children who were so young. I suppose it was the mom in me who wanted her children to grow up with the joy of eating fresh vegetables right out of the garden. We didn't have the money to buy many 6 packs of seedlings from the nursery, but I just KNEW I could raise my own seedings just as well as anyone else. I was determined to save loads of money and get some seedlings out of the deal too.

We had this great raised bed in the back yard that was in full sun. It was the perfect spot for my soon to be vegetable garden. I just HAD to get going so I'd have lots of plants to put in my garden. It had been pretty weedy the summer before, but I was going to make it my pet project this year. (You'll have to take my word for it since I can't access my older pictures right now. It was BAD!!!! I don't know what in the world I was thinking.)

I'm sure that may have worked out okay if I hadn't been suffering from depression and the stress of just leaving a job that I enjoyed, but I guess I wasn't really thinking very clearly.

I had this wonderful table top greenhouse that Cheesehead bought me, some top soil, and some seed starting cells and I was ready to plant. I'm sure I set it up WAY too early and did NO research at all before plunging head first into my seed starting adventure. I just got busy. In retrospect I suppose I just didn't feel like I had the time to be reading when I should just get out there and start doing. Little kids don't like to listen to educational books about how to start seeds. All I had time to read was books written for kids to kids at that period in my life. I stressed about everything and had to have my children in my sight at all times too. I probably dove the poor things absolutely crazy with my constant hovering and worrying about them.



I even got a great grow light to go inside of my tiny little green house. Apparently I wasn't thinking clearly as it hung so low inside the greenhouse that It was actually touching the plattic tray. That's how the poor tray got deformed, the light actually melted it. Ooops!

Since I was so inexperienced I also over watered the poor seedlings to death. I wanted it to be nice and moist in the green house. It didn't occur to me that I didn't need to water the flats every day since all of my outdoor hanging baskets needed water every day. I went on watering and waiting for my seeds to sprout.

I didn't think to check the soil or anything either prior to watering. Life was too busy to check for little details like if they NEEDED to be watered or not, I was worried that son might do something to Peanut while I wasn't looking. The poor things were so wet that once I noticed how wet it was inside, the towel under the greenhouse was soaked with water and there was a layer of white mold on every soil surface in the green house. There went that experiment.

That will not happen to me again. This time I am reading every book on vegetable gardening that the library has to offer as well as doing some internet research. Okay, so maybe it's overkill but my vegetable garden WILL succeed! I will be observant and do things right this time. I think I will have to measure my green house and see if I can fit some low profile flourescent lights inside to give my plants the light they need until it's time for them to be put outside.

After the trays were all filled with their lovely dirt and the air packed out of them, I headed upstairs to see if I could find the seeds I had bought when they were on sale at Menards. I can't plant them yet up here, but I'll have everything ready when the time comes.



Guess who I found sunning herself on the kitchen table. Speedy! Here I had told you that Sweetie was the naughty one. She's also sunning herself, but in an appropriate location. Silly cat, get off the table.

I think I'll paint some popsicle sticks for plant labeling this weekend with Peanut. More on that "crazy" project in another post. (Another lesson learned from the last experiment.)

Thank you for stopping by to chat with me. Please leave me a message, I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Cindy

Plans For the Best Garden Ever

It's that wonderfully exhillerating time of year when many of us are in the process of implementing the plans we made over our winter hiatus from gardening. While I'm a little way from being able to carry out my plans and therefore still in my planning stages, I know that many others are out digging in the dirt already. As I read one of the five gardening books I just checked out from our local library, I thought of a few reminders that I wanted to share with you about our gardens.

1. Gardens should bring you joy, not sorrow. Don't worry about what the outside world thinks of your garden. As long as it doesn't intrude on your neighbor's life

2. When planning your garden changes, make them according to the garden aspects you enjoy. A garden should be our refuge from the crazy every day grind of a busy life, we should be able to enjoy our time in them and our work should feel like play, not a chore.

3. Don't expect perfection, because you won't get it. I don't know how many gardeners I've seen that get totally frustrated about the deer that eat all of the pansy heads. (Oh, was that ME?) A plant doesn't have to be pefect to bring us joy. Stressing about imperfections in our garden defeats the whole purpose of having a garden. I know it's hard to just roll with the punches but wouldn't it be nice if we didn't feel that everything had to be just so?

4. Gardens are as individual as it's caretakers. No two gardens can or even should be alike. What one person views as a garden, another person may not like. That's okay. We're all different, our gardens can produce a variety of niches for the wildlife that choose to inhabit them.

5. Plan your garden to suit your environment. I don't know how much work and how many headaches that keeping a simple thing like that in mind would save us. It doesn't make sense to yearn for a yard full of sun loving plants if we are limited by massive amounts of shade. If we plan our garden to fit where it will live, the garden will basically take care of itself and we can spend more time enjoying our work.

Thank you for stopping by to chat with me. Please leave me a message, I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Cindy

The Followers Gadget

I was reading one of my blogland friend's blogs today. I had noticed a change in the "followers" gadger this morning before I even read Tina's post. She posts on In The Garden if you don't know her.

In her post we discussed the idea of followers. I admit that I was rather reluctant to add the gadget myself because of the title. To me it insinuates a following of people who share the same beliefs. I really don't feel that it's the best name for my gadget. It is nice to see who likes to read blogs though, so it is a handy gadget to have.

After our discussion I was preparing myself to remove the gadget from my blog entirely. I seems to be an advertisement for their friend thing to me too, you know, that new add on line at the bottom?

Before I removed it though, when I clicked the tools I saw that many things on it can now be changed. I think I was able to make it look less objectionable, what do you think? I blended words I didn't like so much into my background and changed the title of my gadget.

I would like to know your opinions. For now I have changed the title to "Fans", but I considered many other titles as well. For other considerations please check out my new poll. I'd like to know what you think about that as well. What would YOU prefer to be called? Do you have more creative names that mean the same general type of thing? Please leave your "other" ideas here in my comments!

Thank you for stopping by. Please leave me a message. I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Cindy

A Little Perspective

As I reflect on recent occurrences in our world, I have found that some of them are rather ironic.

Many people in industrialized countries seem to be gravitating back to growing their own foods. I know that it may be partially attributed to the current financial situation, but I can't help but think that some of it is because we are trying to be more mindful about being good stewards of our earth.

The whole world used grow some of their foods before convenience and fast food came into being. Now many third world countries are aspiring to act more like industrialized countries buying these hard to afford things causing their children to starve and making the old ways of life to disappear. It's just not worth it. I don't look down my nose at someone who wears home made clothes instead of the newest designer clothes. It's natural for mothers to breastfeed their babies. Do we really need to buy formula and feed our children watered down versions because we can not afford the expensive formula? We're trying to become like them and they are trying to become like us. How ironic is that?

The current movement hearkens back to the foundation of our country. Our ancestors were prosperous because of their hard work, responsibility, and diligence, not because they took life easy and took every short cut they found. We can only become great if we work for it, opportunities don't just fall into our laps.

What would we gain if we could go back and live that way again? I don't mean I'd throw out my computer or telephone or anything, but isn't it easier to be prosperous when we don't feel entitled to everything? When we know we have to work for everything we have? No wonder the world isn't so prosperous.

We also need to quit blaming everyone else for our problems. We should reflect on what is inside us that helped us to sink to where we are now. I know that others can contribute to bad circumstances, but don't some of the decisions that we make add to our difficulties?

I have recently been dealing with some companies to try to get out of debt. Bankruptcy was out of the question because I did not want to sell my house. I couldn't do debt consolidation because the required payments would be way too expensive. My options were credit counselling or debt settlement. Credit counselling sets up and affordable repayment schedule where you repay your entire debt with lower interest rates than you're currently paying. Debt settlement cuts your bill and allows you to pay back less than you owe.

The debt settlement place tried to get me to choose them over credit counselling by blaming the credit card companies. They tried to convince me that I am entitled to pay them 60 % less than I owe because they have made lots of money from me in the past by having high interest rates. That kind of thinking really upsets me. I decided to borrow the money and I knew the terms of repayment. How should I be entitled to paying so much less? I borrowed the money and I want to pay it back, I just need an affordable way to do it. I chose credit counselling. I'm confident that it was the right decision for us.

If everyone out there tries to pay what they owe in a reasonable way and the banks learn to cooperate with their customers, I really feel that we could stem the tide of loss that has been happening lately. The banks feel entitled to making obscene amounts of money. They refuse to reason with level headed people who are perfectly willing to repay debts that they owe. Why? Because the person agreed to the set terms when they took out the credit card and they feel that they should be held to these terms. Maybe in normal times that would hold true, but would they rather face the chance of loosing a little bit of extra interest over missing out on thousands of real dollars that ended up getting written off becuase those same people were forced into bankruptcy becuase of their unwillingness to be swayed by "sob stories" and "excuses"?

There are companies out there trying to earn a settlement fee for helping you get out of debt. We need to quit spending money that we don't have, make reasonable choices, look at both sides of each situation, and make reasonable choices.

It seems that many people in our current culture have become lazy and used to easy living, causing us to "need" to make lots of money. What if we tried to break even? What if people tried to help each other out of a sense of common decency without thinking of profit margins and greed? What if we didn't have to buy everything that we consumed? What if we could live without buying expensive clothes, fertilizers, soaps, makeups, perfumes, cleaners, and so on? Would we "need" so much money? Could we find something more worthwhile to give to our families? To the world? Think about it.

Thank you for stopping by. Please leave me a message. I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Cindy