Work at home?

So I'm wanting to find a reliable work at home part time job. Anyone out there know of any legit companies? I'm tired of always being SO broke!!!!

Is it bedtime yet?!!!?

Since I've been trying to stay with this I didn't want today to slip away without at least a quick post. The weekend was relatively low key. Princess Bear (PB) lost TV Friday for lying about the wallpaper. This seems to be a problem as she lied again this evening. I'm really not sure what to do about it at this point. I started my B complex supplement today. I was almost hyper for awhile afterwards and didn't nap today. Not sure if that's all because of the B complex though. I'm also doing the happy dance because the November issue of Country Sampler came out. I "read" this magazine for the first time 2 months ago and LOVE it. I love gathering decorating and crafting ideas. My files are FULL of them. This was the big Christmas issue & since I'm a Christmas FREAK I was a totally happy camper to see this. I really do need to subscribe though. Its $5.99 with 10% off at Walmart and $20 for 6 issues if you subscribe. Since the second edition lived up to the first I think that might be my Christmas present to myself. Now I must share this website with you. I saw one of the dishwasher panels in Country Sampler and thought it was an incredibly clever idea. I told my best friend that she & I need to have a few drinks and do some brainstorming like this! Then I caught the price. While I'm addicted to all things Christmas even I can't wrap my head around spending $65 or $70 for a dishwasher panel. Go HERE and let me know..... am I being cheap or not? Like I said- very clever & cute! but I think a bit on the expensive side! Well, I'm off to finish paging through Country Sampler and then study for a bit. Have a lovely evening!

Another day another "crisis"

I have finally come to realize and accept that my mom has no (as in none whatsoever) coping skills to speak off and that everything that happens will result in some major crisis and have her saying that Princess Bear (PB) & I need to find a new place to live. Now I understand that the mess is somewhat a pain but its contained to our rooms mostly. PB has damaged some things in the house and thats not cool. On the flip side of if it my parents house is in need of a major overhaul. Not that it makes PBs streaks of destruction any less horrible. Yesterday PB ripped some paper in the bathroom. It was coming up at the seam and she just couldn't resist evidently. Know I know she shouldn't have done this and then to top it off she lied about it. I meant to tell my parents about it but yesterday was our typically crazy day here. I should have just patched it & things would have been fine (I've done this one other time as well). Instead my mom saw it last night and went completely and totally nuts. Crying ensued and the whole I want you to leave, you're the cause of everything bad in my life thing happened. It wasn't any better this morning. Then PB spilled this morning & it got on some of my dad's papers and glasses. I cleaned his glasses and when I did that the lens popped out. One more thing that is an 8.5 on the Richter scale. Now I'm not going to defend what PB did but I also don't know how much she understands the concept of lying or that it is a really big no no to tear wallpaper. Somethings really click with the child and other things don't at all. I also don't think that this is due cause to want to kick us out. I would like to live for just a little while without that threat constantly being over my head. It would do some much for my mental well being. Now I have to go cancel lunch plans with my 2 best friends who were treating me to lunch because my mom is in such and evil mood and can't understand how I can even consider going out for a few hours when I have so much to do. Ugh....calgon take me away!

Fall- I love it!

Its really beginning to look like fall around here & I'm totally loving it! I love the rich beautiful colors of the leaves changing, the coolness (more would be ok!) the idea its time to start hunkering down. All in all it is most definitely my favorite season. I'm also a big fan of Halloween. Its my second favorite holiday and now that Princess Bear (PB) is getting bigger its becoming even more fun! PB had her heart set on this Good Witch costume It is really cute! No doubt about that but $45 is a bit more than I have to spend right now. A few weeks ago PB found a ghost costume that my mom had made for me or my sister forever ago. PB had a ball running around in it and decided that it might work for Halloween. I've also been going through the Halloween books & magazines I've saved & am looking for craft projects to do with PB for the holiday. Anyone out there have any good Halloween or fall crafts for me to try?

Since I took my "break" from blogging one of the things that has become a huge focus for me is homesteading & learning anything and everything I can about it. I would truly love to have a homestead to settle on with PB. I don't want to be totally of the grid just because I don't think I have the skills needed for that. This years garden was my first step in learning how to become more self sustaining. As I said the other day it was a great learning lesson. I didn't get as much of a crop as I would have liked but I learned a whole lot for next year! How to make my garden space more productive. I didn't compost this year but want to start small this winter so I have a good start for next spring. I was also told that under no circumstances was I allowed to do any canning. As it turns out I didn't have enough of anything to can other than tomatoes anyway. I've also been completely fascinated with the idea of root cellaring. My father has decided if the house stays in "order" for 3 months that we can discuss some of the root cellar options. I also want to try to set up a hoop house in our backyard to start seeds a bit earlier this year.

In this search for a more self sustaining, organic, and hopefully peaceful lifestyle I've been doing a lot of reading. In addition to Mother Earth News magazine (thanks Heather! without Heather posting about it I would have never been turned on to this great magazine!) I've been reading MaryJane's Farm, Countryside & Small Stock Journal, Backwoods Home, . There are a few other magazines I pick up occasional like Herb Companion and Country Woman but those are hit and miss. Mary Jane's Farm is great in that it has some great craft, hobby & recipe ideas. In this months issue there was an article on square inch gardening in your window sill for the winter. I'm so going to try that! I love Countryside & Backwoods home because they are mostly written by the magazines readers. People who have been there, done that and are will to share their advice. Now there does seem to be a trend in most of these magazines that I'm not on board with & that is the idea that you must learn to be self sustaining so that when the government collapses or drastically changes it is the only way you will be able to survive. I just don't see that happening. Perhaps I'm naive but I hope not. I want to be more self sustaining because I do think we're completely to reliant on everyone else for our basic needs. If there was some sort of disaster that made it so trucks weren't able to deliver to grocery stores so many people would have absolutely no back up plan. I'm not comfortable with that. I would like to have enough of my own food (including some grains) put up so that if there is a G-d forbid I'm not completely at someone else's mercy. I also like that when I grow it I know exactly what is or is not in it. I find this comforting. I've been trying to help my dad come up with some alternative heating/power sources. I think this is a direct result of being without heat for more than 24 hours last winter. I truly never want to be that cold again! I can see that having a wood burning stove as their only heat source is not something my parents want to deal with at this point in their lives. Unfortunately my dad won't look at any other options. To each his own I guess. Anyway, this is what I've been up to lately!

Augh!

Sorry this is going to be short & sweet. I've just spent more than 2 hours trying to get Princess Bear to sleep. I HATE nights like this!!! Its a hot night so I know that is playing a part of it but this was ridiculous!!! My nephew fell asleep while I was babysitting him earlier today & my sister got pissed about that & now my kid fought sleep tooth & nail- ever feel like sometimes its just not your day? Well, off to do some homework & then watch the shows I taped tonight.

I love my garden

Princess Bear (PB) & I had so much fun with our first garden. All of the seedlings I planted in the spring had gone to ruin :( It was a great learning lesson though. I really had no idea what I was doing. Since then I've read A LOT on gardening, taken a course at the UofI extension office & am considering taking the classes to become a master gardener. What we wound up with was carrots (still growing), peas- didn't make it for some reason, green beans had some nice sized but the plants didn't thrive as much as I hoped, corn- still coming in!, and more tomatoes than I know what to do with! We are bringing in anywhere from 1-2 dozen grape tomatoes daily as well as a few large (we planted beefsteak, heirloom & roma). Our pumpkins are looking like a bust- oh well better luck next year! I'm not done for the season though! I'm planning on putting in some lettuce in the next few weeks since they say that will grow through October here in Zone 5. I love the idea of fresh lettuce so late in the year! Once we had the garden cleared & tilled it really wasn't too much work. I do know that next year I want to try Square foot gardening so we have more return on our room. My dad says he's also going to give us some more space to plant next year. I figure if I start planning now that I will have a pretty good idea come spring what I want to do & be able to have a good return on all 3 crop times (early, main & late fall). I must confess that the big disappointment was the pumpkins not turning out as I expected. Live & learn right?!!!? Princess Bears main job has been bringing in the tomatoes every day. We learned very early on that once the tomato has some red on it that we needed to get it off the vine & into the house. We let them redden the rest of the way on the windowsill. If we let them get any riper on the vine the critters get them before we can! Not ok with me!!! I also want to try horse trough gardening next year. I used a variety of containers from the dollar store & UFS this year (& got to use a drill for the 1st time!!!) If anyone is looking for a great magazine to add to their reading list consider Mary Jane's Farm I can't even begin to tell you how much I love this magazine & how much I've learned from it in a few issues! I have a few other magazine recommendations to throw your way- another day! Its late & I hear the shower & a book calling my name!!!

Ugh...sickness & whatnot

Soon I'm going to just scream if I can't get back to blogging with some regularity! Over Labor Day weekend Princess Bear (PB) & I house sit for my uncle's dogs. Princess Bear & I are both allergic to dogs but we love them & live with 2 of them so I didn't think house sitting would be a big deal. Yeah, by the time the weekend was over I was the owner of a lovely respiratory infection. My mom has been teasing me that when PB & I move out that we can get a poodle (supposedly wonderful if you have dog allergies). Ok, not to upset anyone that has a poodle but I'm just so not a poodle person! Most of my life we owned sporting dogs. My 2 favorite breeds are English Springer Spaniels & Boston Terriers (yes little but they have a big dog attitude!). I like Mastiffs, Newfies, Great anything (danes, Pyrenees(?)) If you haven't figured it out- I'm not much for small dogs. I think I might consider allergy shots!

Other than that life is still the same here. My mom & dad are threatening to toss PBs room at the end of the weekend if it isn't up to their standards. I'm so tired of this room thing! School is going well. I'm only taking one class, ASL (American Sign Language) 1. I was in a panic the first night of class because the instructor is deaf & there is no interpreter. Its actually worked out well & forced me to learn quickly. So that is the short version. I'll be back on Monday & give a long version of what has been going on! Have a great weekend!!!

Sarah

I'm baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ok so I mentioned back in April that I wanted to get back to blogging. My other blog is still down as well. I'VE MISSED IT HORRIBLY!!! Some of the lack of blogging is my fault but the majority of it is due to my parents irrational thoughts on computer time. They were convinced that my computer time is what was making it so I wasn't getting things done they way that they wanted so they placed a lock on the computer room door. Yes I am serious- not joking even a little bit. We won't even get into the fact that the computer is mine. Its a secret!!! :) Honestly its as silly as them locking the room. One of the things I've been really upset about is the lack of blogging in my life. This blog especially is such a wonderful outlet for me & I'm glad to be back. I don't know if I can do 30 days in a row with the weekends but all weekdays I'm here by myself count on blog posts! I'll work on getting my other blog up & going again sometime in the near future but that is going to take a lot more work. For now I'm just going to say "hi"! I'll do more on filling you in tomorrow!