TGIF or Ugh! Its Friday?

Yes its official! Fall is here! My mom turned on the heat last night (over major protests from me & my father) and I made a "fall" dinner & I'm wearing a sweater today. For the most part I LOVE Fall. The leaves changing colors and pulling out my sweaters. Now there are aspects I don't like as well- yesterday was a perfect example. Yesterday was one of those rainy, gray, very dreary fall days. (I'm not a fan of rain at all- actually I'll go to great lengths to avoid rain). Today on the other hand is a perfect fall day. Its sunny & bright but cool. Just makes me want to go for a walk! Unfortunately I need to do some major cleaning today so I don't think I have time for a walk but maybe I'll sneak one in later. I've gotten Princess Bear (PB) into the habit of walking to and from Sunday school each week so if the weather holds out I'll look forward to a walk on Sunday! Well, I'm off to make lunch & get to cleaning! Have a great weekend!

Stuff you don't know about me (maybe)

So I'm suffering from a bit of the blahs today. I'm completely exhausted for some inexplicable reason & had a go round with my mom last night that is still rattling around in my brain more than I'd like. I'm trying to stick with my blogging so I get back into the habit so I swiped with my from friends Heather's blog over at Wanting What You Have. (I hope you don't mind Heather!)



Stuff you don't need to know about me, but I'm going to tell you anyway

The phone rings. Who will it be?
Lately my cell is getting all sorts of calls from numbers I don't recognize and therefore am not answering. Other than that its probably my sister. House phone probably one of my parents

When shopping at the grocery store, do you return your cart?
Um this is one of those it depends on the situation answers. If I'm alone yes. If Princess Bear is in the car it depends on how close it it. If I can't I try to pawn it off an someone going into the store.

In a social setting, are you more of a talker or a listener?
Talker

Do you take compliments well?
Not usually as I find it rather embarrassing

Do you play Sudoku?
No, because you see my brain doesn't work like that. Also I have no patience, and I sweat when I think hard. DITTO!!! I tried but honestly numbers are not my friends (I reverse numbers so math has always been a challenge). I'll stick with crossword puzzles and logic puzzlers thank you!

If abandoned alone in the wilderness, would you survive?
OK- how long do I have to survive? The night? A day or two? A week? Although most people would say that I'm a princess its often forgotten that I was a Recreation major and did enough camping to know what I'm doing. Consequently I would last awhile (with water please!) but thats all I'll commit to!

Did you ever go to camp as a kid?
Yep. My parents sent my sister & I to Space Camp several times when we were growing up. I then went on to work there as a counselor one summer.

What was your favorite game as a kid?
Clue

Could you date someone with different religious beliefs than you?
In the past I would have said yes now I guess it depends. What are their beliefs? Can they respect your beliefs? What about kids....

Do you like to pursue or be pursued?
I like to be pursued

Use three words to describe yourself?
Funny, caring and outspoken

Do any songs make you cry?
no although bagpipes will often reduce me to tears. Its been worse ever since my best friends fathers funeral 3 years ago. Her mom is from Scotland and her brother is a piper and at the end of the funeral they piped the casket out. I completely lost it.

Are you continuing your education?
Yes I'm taking basic ASL (American Sign Language) and hope to become an interpreter

Have you ever taken pictures in a photo booth?
yep

How often do you read books?
daily

Do you think more about the past, present or future?
I tend to ruminate about the past and fret about the future while spending very little time thinking about the here and now.

What is your favorite children’s book?
I was really into the Little House on the Prairie Books. Can't wait to start reading them with PB

What color are your eyes?
Hazel. As in very moss green at times then brown, amber, and even have some dark blue thrown in. My sister & I are totally a battle of the genes when it comes to our eye color.

Where is your dream house located?
I'm not sure where but I'd love a log cabin that I could homestead in. Maybe Oregon or Canada

If your house was on fire, what would be the first thing you grabbed?
Princess Bear and Fluffy (my cat is a BIG wuss who would hide otherwise) then my digital camera because I have so many photos saved.

When was the last time you were at Olive Garden?
Man its been a long time. Probably more than a year.

Where was the furthest place you traveled today?
To my sisters which is about 20 minutes from here

Do you like mustard?
To a small extent. Its most definitely not my favorite condiment but I do love honey mustard pretzels!

Do you prefer to sleep or eat?
Without a doubt sleep

Do you look like your mom or dad?
Ok- everyone says I look just like my mom and my sister is the spitting image of my dad but that my sister & I look alike. My mom has a medium complexion, dark, dark brown eyes and black hair my dad is very fair with ice blue eyes and had reddish brown hair. I think my sister and I are a pretty good mix but my personality is a bit more like my mom's (more of an extrovert and kind of loud. My dad is very quiet for the most part)

How long does it take you in the shower?
Man I can log some serious shower time. Only because its my only down time but I can stay until the water turns cold. Not very environmentally conscience of me but I don't do it often.

Can you do the splits?
So laughing my butt off right now. Not even on a good day!

What movie do you want to see right now?
My friend Chris & I were saying we should do a move soon (I've been to 2 movies since PB was born & she's 6 1/2.) but that we had no idea what was out or coming out. Kinda sad, huh?

What did you do for New Year’s?
I let PB stay up until about 10:30 or 11pm and then I played on the Internet for awhile & saw that the Cubs traded DeRosa to the Cards & had to call Maria to tell her and then told my dad (if you're not a Cubs fan this was a very very bad trade and NO one was happy about it)

Do you think The Grudge was scary?
I didn't see it. See the about movie ? Plus I do not do scary movies well

Do you own a camera phone?
yep

What’s the last letter of your middle name?
e

How many hours of sleep do you get a night?
Usually between 3-5

Do you like Care Bears?
They're ok. I can take them or leave them

What do you buy at the movies?
Soda & chocolate- 2 staples in my diet!

Do you know how to play poker?
No- I pretty much suck at card games

Do you wear your seat belt?
Yep. Growing up my parents refused to move the car until everyone was buckled up. I've had enough close calls including being in the back seat and having my eyelid split open in high school. Bad enough but if I wouldn't have been buckled I'd most likely have lost my eye.

How many meals do you eat a day?
1 or 2 (I know this isn't good I'm trying to get into a healthier lifestyle)

Do you like funny or serious people better?
Have to go with funny

Ever been to L.A.?
Nope and have NO desire

Did you eat a cookie today?
As a matter of fact yes. My sister always has the Newman's Own version of Oreos- yummy!

Do you hate chocolate?
Big old NO on that!

Are you a gullible person?
Unfortunately yes.

Are you easy to get along with?
Most of the time.

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.