Food Storage Here We Go!

So this rambling post started as a Facebook status update and then I switched to the blog and just started pouring out everything in my brain. I'm sorry for the grammar and formatting, but I just had to get it out there.

Apparently the slow and cheap way of getting my 3 month food storage was not panning out  (been "trying" for 5 years now) so I decided that with all the extra hours I'm working we can afford to do the quick and easy way. So I ordered several preconfigured packages from a couple different companies: Shelf Reliance, Augason Farms, and Wise Food Supply for some variety of contents. At least this way I will have something and can start learning to use it and learn what we like and use and then build our year supply from what I learn. It works out to about 1088 calories per day, which I know is a little low (though I know the kids consume far less than this, I'm dividing calories equally between us all). I'd prefer 1500 cals per person minimum, but with the produce we get from the garden year round  I think that would make up the difference. And this is if we had to rely SOLELY on what was in the food storage. I usually keep a month+ worth of typical canned goods in my pantry at any given time. So I feel comfortable calling this my 3 month supply.

Lucky for Lowla, her dog food has a best by date of about a year after packaging, so I picked up a 3 month supply for her also. Don't forget your pets need to eat too!

Next month I will be focusing on water storage. After all, water is pretty essential and none of that dry food is gonna taste that great if it can't be reconstituted and cooked. I've got my eyes on the Super Tanker. I'd like to get two but I think we'll start with one and see how that works out. 250 gals would be less than a gallon per person per day for 3 months - for our family of 4-not including the dog's needs, which is not acceptable. I think it's a good idea to also have portable, more convenient water, so I plan to also stock up on bottled water and some 5 gal containers as well. I've been wanting to get some rain barrels for a while too. Emergency water for human consumption if needed, but mostly for sustaining the garden in drought and no city water is available or it is contaminated.

Month after will be non perishables(toiletries) and accessories (wheat grinder, potable drinking hoses) and organization tools for rotating and storing stock.

I'm not sure why recently it is really striking me to get my stuff in order, it may have a lot to do with my recent calling to be the Relief Society Secretary, but in any case I know the Lord is providing very well for us financially right now, and though we've been paying down our mortgage dramatically, I think putting our food supply in order is a good use of funds. Today may be high, but tomorrow who knows, better prepared than not.

To many, myself included, this just seemed like a daunting task that would take forever to accomplish and if you need to do it the cheapest way, then yes it will take a lot of time and planning. I don't think it is communicated very well that you don't HAVE to do it the slow and cheap way and that you're not a bad person if you choose to take the short cuts. What's important is that you feel you are adequately prepared to self sustain your family in any situation: daily interruptions (like when our neighborhood lost water for half a day and then was on boil notice for a week in case of contaminated supply), job loss, health complications, local disaster, national disaster, global disaster. Heck, I think this is great insurance for "I can't get to the store today but we are out of eggs and I need to bake a cake...oh hello dehydrated eggs, thanks for saving me!" or "I've been on the couch horribly sick all day but my family needs dinner and my husband is working late. Hi there MRE, I'm so glad you're here to feed my children in 15 minutes."

Whatever the case, I never want to feel like I have to rely on someone else, or the government, to take care of me and my family if I am perfectly able to do it myself. They always say to save for a rainy day, and usually we think of money, but if the day ever came that food was more valuable than money, I want to make sure my bank is full.

If you haven't started yours, go to a site now and just order a sample pack if that's all you can. The rest will follow. Don't sit longer thinking of doing it tomorrow or waiting to be better organized. I testify your desire and interest will strengthen after you take the first step of doing.

Houston Pony Meet 2012

The last pony meet I have been to before this one I think was 2006 in Maryland. I went with me dearest MIL and we had a grand 'ol time. Since the kids have come along, I haven't done much in the way of pony collecting. I have been really out of the loop but I caught wind of this meet and decided Zoey was old enough to enjoy it so I could use her as an excuse to go. I didn't even tell her about it until the night before (to bribe her to go to bed). We referred to it as the Pony Party. She was pretty excited. As I expected she was really shy when we got there. I think she was a little confused at the fact that she was the only kid there. As people showed up her eyes got wider and wider as the ponies began to make their appearance. We all talked and laughed, watched Friendship is Magic, ate lots of goodies, colored, and best of all, played games and bought ponies!

The meet from a 3 year old's point of view.

Zoey plays with some of her new ponies she bought (with mom's money, lol). She must have had about 20 new additions to her herd. Most of those being the McDonald's ponies she won in the raffle and blind bag ponies, but she loves them!

Ponies for sale.

One of her Pony Plinko prizes.

Me and Zoey with our favorite new ponies.

Pony Plinko. Our host did an amazing job with this game, it was quite popular! I kinda wanted to buy the game itself!

More people and ponies, just all havin' a good time.

Zoey mesmerized by FiM.

Didnt get to take a photo of the cake before it got attacked!

Rainbow cookies were Zoey's favorite, I'm pretty sure she ate at least five. My favorite were the lemon bars!

Once she won this color with water activity book she was pretty content for quite a while. We left around 2:30 when she started getting restless. She lasted much longer than I expected.

The few things I bought for myself, except the twins I won in the raffle, woohoo! And my absolute favorite purchase, the hand dyed roving! Look at that stuff, isn't it beautiful?!

I was so excited to start spinning after my crash course at the meet that I threw together a makeshift spindle. It's pretty ghetto but it still gets the job done. I'm pretty awful at spinning, but I guess practice makes perfect. I can't wait to get my real spindle in the mail. My arm hurts like crazy today from all the unfamiliar effort of drafting and spinning on a drop spindle.

We had a really great time and hope we can go to another meet in the future. Maybe next time I'll be better versed in the ponies. Either way, pony people are lots of fun to be around!

Respect for Your Elders

I've been thinking about this post for a while but I couldn't decide if it made me seem too crotchety old lady, but I think I'm gonna be there at some point anyway so I figure what the hey. Growing up when I was introduced to an adult who was a member of the Church, they would refer to themselves or whomever was introducing them would say this is Brother or Sister LastName. That was then how I would always address that person. Adults would address each other or kids by their first names or Brother or Sister LastName.

In my Singles and Married Ward at BYU we all referred to each other by our first names because we were all peers and adults. When we moved back to Texas, I still referred to all the people I knew as a kid as Brother or Sister LastName. It was just too weird to try calling them by their first name even though it seemed acceptable to do so since I was now an adult.

I don't know if it's just our ward or if it is a growing trend among young families in LDS culture (or maybe everywhere?), but just about everyone I encounter introduces me as Mrs. Melanie to their kids. It just seems weird to me. I mean even if we weren't members of the same church I could see it a little more acceptable. I always remember as a kid, if that adult was not a member of the church they were still Mr. or Ms. LastName. The only adults I ever remember calling by their first name were family members, like Aunt Mandy or Uncle Mike or very close family friends, who were practically family, Ms. Crystal.

Maybe it's just me, but I'd still rather people introduce me to kids as Mrs. Masten or Sister Masten. I will typically introduce and refer to myself or others in that traditional manner. Aunt Mel(anie) suits me just fine for family and close friends.

So am I just being lame about this or is there really a decline in traditional respect in the addressing of elders among children? Adults to blame, they're teaching the kids that way. I mean what happens when they become teenagers and they just drop the title all together. I definitely think that can get disrespectful fast.

Yeah, I'm old fashioned like that!

WHAT?!

I am significantly calmed down since this incident, but that was my reaction plus much pouting and growling. I've been an avid FashionStar Fillies collector for a little over 10 years. With the help of other collectors I've built and maintained http://www.fashionstarfillies.com. I've recently gotten back into active collecting when I won one of the holy grails of the line, Prototype Dara NRFB (Never Removed From Box), on ebay. I haven't made any big updates and changes to the site since 2005. I decided it is time to revamp the site and put up new pictures. After going through my collection I found that I am missing quite a few things that I had borrowed before for pictures. So I set off to ebay to look for some missing parts and came across two auctions selling some of the accessories that were rare and that I needed. Long story short, I lost them both in the last few seconds of the auction. I didn't expect anyone else to put in the top price I had. I was really really furious. Now I have to attempt to find someone that will let me borrow the accessories so I can take complete pictures for the new site. It's not a total loss, but it's sooooooo annoying. On the plus side I was able to acquire most of the rest of the stuff I needed in several other auctions.

In my attempt to take nicer pictures this time around I ordered a photo tent and some flood lights. So far I'm liking it but i think I'll have to try incandescent bulbs instead of compact florescent lights as they don't seem to be as bright. So far, I like the outcome:

This is my test subject Janel. I didn't clean her up or prepare her for the photo in any way as she is actually an extra I'll be selling. It seems like I need more forward light to illuminate her hair but without making it too shiny. I didn't like all the reflection of the flash, even when bouncing and using a diffuser. I don't want the subject to be washed out in an attempt to get the whitest most seamless background. I'm not too great at photography, I guess I'm not artsy enough for it, but I guess with a subject this still, I should be able to figure something out. I'm excited for the site relauch. It's still probably a few months out, but it'll be grand when it gets here.

When in Doubt, Throw it Out

I'm sure that phrase applies to a lot of things, but in the context of this post, I'm talking about a roux. For those of you that don't know, a roux is a cooked flour and oil mixture and is the base of many Cajun dishes. It takes skill and practice to know when your roux is just right, and takes just a little hesitation to go past the point of perfection.

When Brandon goes out of town, I tend to cook all the things he doesn't like and just completely indulge. Some months ago my brother had given me some fish he caught on a trip and I've been saving it for just the right day. One of my absolute favorite fish dishes is Courtbouillon, I sometimes call it Fish Gravy. I like it best with catfish, but Brandon abhors catfish and so I never buy it. I can usually get him to eat tuna, tillapia, or salmon so that's typically what I keep around.

Like all things delicious, fish gravy starts with a roux, a dark roux. The darker usually the deeper the flavor. As I was making the roux it was coming along quite well. It got the point where my Cajun sense started tingling and I felt very compelled to add the onions yet for some reason I ignored it and my brain said, just a little darker, it'll be more delicious. So I waited just one more minute and I immediately felt like I messed up. It didn't look burnt or smell burnt, but I was sure it wasn't right. Against my Cajun sense again, I went ahead and added the onions and thought perhaps it would all even out ok. I still felt wrong about it, yet again I went ahead and added the V8 juice and seasonings. At this point, it just really didn't feel right, I pressed on hoping with some simmering it would work out. I tasted, it wasn't right. A few minutes later, I tasted again and it wasn't wrong, but it wasn't right either. Mom's words rang out in my head as they had done earlier: "Oil and onions are cheap, seafood is not." I took it off the fire, dumped it all in the sink and started over.

You were probably hoping that I went through with it all and it was delicious, but no, I started over and finally I felt right again. I cooked up the second batch of roux and I listened to when my Cajun sense told me to add the onions and I obeyed. It was worth the extra time, it was worth dumping those ingredients. When I nestled that fish in the gravy and cooked it just to tender, I knew I'd done it justice.

It was SO good. What a reward. The kids gobbled it down too, always a plus.

Nailed It!

Since I've gone back to work I've done several demos and calls over the web to talk about my awesome application and convince companies that they need it. I get a little nervous about those, but not really so bad since I can wear whatever I want and be in the comfort of my own home while I perform the demo. It takes a lot of stress out of the situation.

I'm not sure how much is appropriate to say about who the companies involved are so I give you this key:

Company G - The company I contract for.
Company S - Our partner company we typically get clients from to sell my software
Company V - Purchased our software while I was not working for Company G
Company C - Newest potential client.


Recently my boss called and asked if I could do a demo locally here in Houston for a rather large potential client, Company C. I of course accepted, then the freaking out began. I hadn't had a haircut in almost 18 months, all of my old work clothes had since been thrown out because they didn't fit, were faded or Brandon found something else wrong with them. He's such a clothing natzi! For this particular demo we were working in conjunction with another local company, Company S, that we have worked with before and I had a pre demo with them to boost their confidence I would do a good job. As it happened, after I left Company G when I got pregnant with Ian, they gave a demonstration of the software to Company V and it was an embarrassing disaster, although Company V still bought the software (yep, the software is THAT awesome...maybe I'm biased). Company S was really upset about how it all went down and did not want the same thing to happen at this demo for Company C. So not only do I feel very frumpy and unpolished, I also have these huge expectations to do a good job hanging over me.

The week before the demo I fretted about trying to find some appropriate clothes, and I'm just gonna take a minute here to rant. Finding nice professional stuff for someone my size is basically impossible. Any normal common store like Target or Kohls or even your big department stores like Dillards and JC Penney have a severe lack of selection for small women. In most brands I wear an XS or size 2 or less. I seriously seriously HATE the marking system for women's clothes. It's perfectly worthless! I would much rather buy my clothes like men do, with a measurement! It makes so much more sense. One of the biggest reasons I LOVE sewing clothes. You can make all the alterations so it fits perfect. It's too bad our local fabric stores just don't carry the variety of materials best suited for apparel. What they do have is so limited. I can't order fabric online, I have to touch it to know I'll love it. Back to purchased clothing. Even when I do find clothes that are my size, the fit usually isn't flattering or comfortable. Hence, I hate, HATE, HAAATTTEEE clothes shopping! Ask Brandon, I think in the almost 7 years we've been married, I've gone seriously clothes shopping maybe 3 times. Thanks to a recommendation from my SIL I went to Ann Taylor LOFT in Kingwood and it was like a dream! I couldn't believe how WELL the clothes fit, and the amount of clothes in my size, the professional grown up styles. I was totally in heaven, but they were pricey, even with their 40% off sale. I picked up a pair of slacks, a pair of jeans, and a classic white button shirt. The next 2 hours I spent at the mall finding shoes and some additional shirts. Sears carried some nice shirts my size. I finally went home exhausted but feeling more confident.

The days leading up to the demo I spent hours going over every possible event in the application to make sure it all worked exactly like I expected. I set up two instances in case one failed I would have a backup. I usually do all my development on our office desktop machine so I ran into several issues when I installed a compact instance on my laptop, but I did get it all working just like I expected. Night before I went to bed quite confident. I'd done everything I could possibly do to make sure this demo went off without a hitch. Strangely, I didn't feel too nervous.

Demo day comes and I don't have a single issue, I find the location with ease, no problems setting up the demo. All the introductions went well. The discussion was great, and the demo worked perfectly, not a single thing went wrong, except at the very end when we were having closing discussions I couldn't stop coughing no matter how much water I drank. Thankfully I decided last minute to bring my "drugstore" I usually keep in my purse and a cough drop saved the day. Company C was very interested and eager to have the software but they required another meeting with corporate. So I'll go back in a couple weeks to give another demo and answer technical questions. Company S's faith was restored in Company G and they were very happy at the outcome of this meeting. It was awesome!

At the end of the day I was completely exhausted from being on high alert for so long but it was worth it. I feel very accomplished and I LOVE what I do! I love being a mom and I love working and I love that I can do both! I couldn't have all this without an amazing supportive husband, who took care of the kids while I was gone, and takes care of them weekly when I work in the evening.

Massaging the Code

Lately I've had a project at work pick up and I've been working nearly every night. The majority of the project involved configuration of an application I already built some years ago. That part was easy. The rest of the work revolves around incorporating some mini programs that were written into my program and installing the whole thing at the client. The mini programs were written in .NET 1.0 by someone with limited coding experience. What that means is the code is 1. outdated 2. inefficient. I liken it to massaging the code. First I copy it all over as is and do the minimum needed to resolve any compilation errors. Then I rewrite obvious ugly code.

For Example:

Dim strSqlquery as String =""
Dim cmd as new SqlCommand()

strSqlquery = "SELECT somecolumn FROM sometable "
strSqlquery = strSqlquery & "WHERE somecolumn=1 "
strSqlquery = strSqlquery & "AND someothercolumn =' " & someVar & "'"

cmd.CommandText = strSqlquery

Becomes

Dim cmd as new SqlCommand("SELECT somecolumn FROM sometable WHERE somecolumn=1 AND someothercolumn = @aVar")

cmd.Parameters.Add("@aVar", varchar).Value = someVar

Technically they both do the same thing, but the second is better for a couple reasons. 1. Less variable declarations means less memory used and less processing. 2. Using parameters eliminates possible errors from building a dynamic query since that variable could be user entered and we don't know if they'll add special characters that need processing. using a parameter will process the content of the variable based on the type of parameter it is to eliminate those problems.

It seems as though we lose some readability by not breaking up the query but that can be remedied by using the & _ between breaks in the string, but that brings me to my third run through massage. 3. I remove all queries and put them into stored procedures. Using stored procedures organizes all your queries into a convenient location, faster execution of the query, and they can be changed if necessary in a live environment without having to cause interruptions with recompiling code.

If the first three massages don't get everything, the 4th step is to re-write objects into classes to group like functions and subroutines for readability. When all the massaging is done, the code is typically reduced in line by half and I can step back and say I'm proud to have had my hands on this code. I love programming!

The Truth About Moms

The old saying "Moms have eyes in the back of their heads." came to mind a couple of days ago. I think perhaps that phrase was coined because it's easier for kids to understand that's how moms know what they are up to all the time. In reality, the phrase should be "Moms have supersonic hearing and impeccable sound recognition." As I have become a more experienced mom I have learned the sound every drawer in my kitchen makes, the sound of every item in the drawer and cabinet. The sound of all cabinets in the bathroom, the creak of any bed in the house, the distinct squeak profile of every door, and the sound of basically any toy or object clattering with any other toy or object or person in the house.

There have been many times I'm folding laundry in the utility room and I call upstairs to Zoey to stop throwing books off of Ian's book shelf and put the rocker ottoman back where it belongs. Other occurances include: to let Ian out of the closet, put all her jammies back in their drawer, and stop banging legos on the TV stand. Without even being in view of her I know she stops and wonders how the heck I know exactly what she is up to. The other saying, "It's not what you hear, it's what you don't that you should be worried about" is also true.  Typically when I realize there is an absence of sound I'll drop whatever I'm doing and brace myself for the worst when I go and find the kids. Nine times out of ten they'll be getting into trouble, like smearing three whole tubes of chapstick all over their faces, but sometimes they're being really sweet, like reading books to each other.

I'm constantly amazed at the new things that being a mom has taught me. They are lessons and skills you can't be taught any other way.

I Should Blog About That

It's been days since I wrote a blog about something, it's not for lack of topics, but rather a lack of remembering my topics. Ever since I started this blog I go through the day and when I see or hear something or that something reminds me of something else I think, "I should blog about that." Then when I actually find the time to sit down and write a blog I can't for the life of me remember one of the things I tried to make a mental note to write about.  I'm just going to have to attribute that to Mom brain, which always remembers that the toddler needs to go take a potty break because it's been precisely 1.5 hours since said toddler last took one though never a glance was taken at the clock. Mom brain also remembers exactly how much of everything is left in the pantry and fridge. Mom brain can even remember a week's worth of events and appointments without writing anything down. Mom brain also knows where every "lost" shoe, wallet, keys, band-aids, etc are. However, mom brain cannot remember the list of amusing blog posts she wanted to make. Sorry folks, but here's a cute picture.

Evolution of Forever Young

 I am completely oblivious to many things, but I guess that's why I have a husband that is so observant and a brain that can store the most insignificant fact, only to recall it some months later and tie in some current event. I don't know how he manages that but can't remember that I just told him minutes ago that  we were out of milk when he pours a bowl of cereal to discover there's no milk.

While watching The Office a few nights ago Brandon makes the comment that the song Andy and his Dad are singing together is the same song that is on the Parenthood opening. I of course dispute this, they don't sound anything alike. So this launched into this huge thing that took about 45 minutes for us to track down all the variations and compare them. Apparently "Forever Young" has quite a rich history in variations. And just so you don't have to do all the tracking down, here's the history for you.

Bob Dylan - 1974 "Forever Young" - The Original

Alphaville - 1984 - "Forever Young" - New song sharing title and similar idea in different words.

Rod Stewart - 1988 - "Forever Young" - New song with similarities, he actually shared royalties with Dylan because of the songs were so close. Rod Stewart was my favorite artist for a long long long time. Love that raspy voice.

Jay Z /Mr Hudson - 2009 - "Forever Young" - Mostly a remix of the Alphaville song. Actually I'd say it's more of a mash up than a remix. I'm not much of an R&B/Rap kind of person but I can appreciate this version.

John Doe & Lucy Schwartz - 2010 - "Forever Young" - Here we come full circle, this is just a cover of the original Bob Dylan song. Though this video is from the original soundtrack for parenthood, it's not the way it is sung in the opening of the show so I included that one too, it's so nasally and annoying, what a way to butcher a good song.

Here's the office Andy Bernard's Brother and Dad version (skip to 1:50)


Andy Bernard and Dad duet


There you have it folks, May God bless and keep you always and do you really want to live forever? Forever Young! For the record, the Rod Stewart version will always be my favorite.

Conference Calls

I've been pretty excited to get back to work since my previous employer called me and asked me to come back for some future projects. I love programming, LOVE programming. I hate conference calls, HATE conference calls. Unfortunately to get to the fun programming part I have to endure many conference calls. "Requirement meetings," "System Improvement meetings," "Team Development meetings," "Feasibility meetings," "whatever the heck you wanna call this meetings." What they usually mean to me is sit on the phone for hours while several people two to three times my age decide if a dropdown should be labeled "Approver" or "Controller." All the while I'm thinking, ok you guys table that and talk about it later because the effort on my part is negligible. Then when it comes to real questions like, "Is is possible to select multiple status in the report'?" I say "yes, that's easy" and then they go on and talk about something so boring again.

I'm certain that desk toys were invented solely for the purpose of keeping yourself awake and somewhat amused during a conference call. I do not have enough desk toys! Thankfully though I don't have to endure too many long winded conference calls. It seems after 6 hours of conversing with people, you'd think I have a significantly sized to-do list. It really only tops at about 10 items, only one involving some significant work. But in the end, I get to meddle around in the code and that's where I'm happy.

Emotional Gardening

There is something about gardening that is horribly addicting. When I started my first garden 3 years ago, I had visions of grandeur, this amazing flourishing garden producing pounds of vegetables and fruits at my will. I've since learned, you gotta keep your expectations low when you're starting out because even if you read all the books written, you have no idea how it works out until you put into practice. The variables are endless. Season one was mostly a bust, except for the gobs and gobs of eggplant. Yet I persisted to try again. Season 2 was quite a bit more fruitful and I gained a lot of confidence. I've now successfully gotten to grow three plantings each year. Right now I'm on the final planting of the year, the fall garden. My favorite things to eat are grown in the summer, but the fall/winter garden is the easiest to manage with the highest yield. If it's green and leafy or grows underground, it's a fall vegetable.

Mustards, Turnips, Radishes, and Peas

This year I'm growing:

• Collard Greens
• Cabbage
• Carrots
• Kale
• Turnips
• Radishes
• Mustard Greens
• Peas
• Broccoli
• Cauliflower

There is a bit of an emotional cycle when you plant a garden. After the ground is prepared and you plant the seeds, you worry. Did I plant them deep enough? Are they too deep? Did I put enough seeds in each spot? What if they don't sprout? How do I know it's the plant I want and not a weed?

Peas

With luck a few days later you'll see tiny little plant emerging in evenly spaced clusters. Then you feel total exhilaration  There's just something about those new little lives beating what seems impossible odds to make it through the dirt and into the warm sun striving to be a big healthy plant. Now you feel exceptionally protective.

The tiny little plants are very fragile at this point, I'm sure this is when the kids dislike me most because I'm completely psyco about them getting too close to the garden and destroying the seedlings. After the first true leaves appear, you relax a little, but continue to check them every day and nurse them ensuring the soil is just moist enough and that they are being properly fed.

Ian tests my patience by poking at the garden with a stick.

After 6 or so true leaves appear, now it's just a waiting game. The plants, if cared for regularly, will survive and over time will produce the fruits they are intended to bear. This is the most boring phase because you don't notice the rate of growth so easily and the plants are strong enough to handle an accidental trample from a child or obnoxious dog. This is also the point where said children and dog lose interest in attacking the garden because you stop paying such close attention to it.

Radishes

For flowering plants, the next exciting phase is when you see all the blooms, they're beautiful and each one invokes a hope that it'll pollinate and become a fruit. All the potential is amazing! You'll scour the garden every day for pollinating bugs and carefully examine each blossom for signs of swelling indicating pollination. Once fruits are set and growing, you enter another boring phase of waiting for maturity. It usually seems like forever, but the wait is worth it. For non flowering plants, you don't get the gratification of seeing the flowers, but you can be more instantly gratified that once a leaf is big enough to use you can eat it right away. Non flowering plants typically mature faster, the leafy types, though the root types take a lot longer and it's really frustrating not knowing if they're ready until you pull them up, so if you plant roots, make sure you plant lots so you actually get to eat some at full maturity.

Turnips

It's essential that all first ripened fruits and mature harvests are eaten on the spot right from the plant early in the morning. The taste will totally blow your mind and all you can think is: I'm awesome, I GREW this and it's SO GOOD!! Take that mega mart! It's totally euphoric and empowering. It makes all that waiting and nurturing worth it.You'll continue to feel totally awesome as you harvest over the next several weeks, storing some, giving some away to friends and family, and eating the rest. You'll find your culinary creativity exceeds your expectations. 

Forest of Rosemary

The last emotional feeling is dread. It's a lot of work ripping out the spent plants and preparing the ground to start again on a new crop. But once you muster up the energy to get it done, the cycle can begin again. I guess that's why it's all so much fun.

Kale

Collard Greens

Look for future posts featuring my fall harvests and delicious recipes.

Garage Sale Savings

My mom taught me from a young age that buying second hand is the best way to spend your money. More product for less cash. I didn't always appreciate it so much growing up, even though I am an only girl, I rarely ever had new clothes. I did love finding authentic 80's My Little Ponies at just .25 or .50, and no matter what you're shopping for it is always thrilling to find that one gem, worth 3 or 4 times what you pay and in new or like new condition. It's that thrill that keeps me going back for more.

Our neighborhood frowns upon individual garage sales but at least recognizes the need people have to periodically get rid of their accumulated things for a little cash. That said, they do allow twice a year a community garage sale where anyone in the neighborhood can have a garage sale and not face the wrath of the HOA. This is great because you can hit a lot of sales in a short amount of time and have more chances at getting the good stuff before its gone. We have A LOT of re-sellers in our area so beating them to the best deals is always a challenge.

I typically spend less than $50 and come home with gobs of stuff. The fall sale is my favorite because I can do Christmas shopping. Yesterday I wound up spending more than usual and felt I didn't get as much as usual. My heart wasn't totally in it, but after carefully admiring and cleaning all my finds, I feel like I did ok.

Retail: 7.99

Paid: .50

I don't usually buy books because I'm so picky about what I read, but the lady was insistent it was really good and it's an amnesia book, and those stories I typically find interesting.

Retail: 14.99

Paid: 5.00

I bought an older model and was jam packed with a few other potato head sets as I got two bodies with it.

Retail: 19.54/box

Paid: 3.00/box

I bought 4 boxes of this resin stone edging to put around my blackberry bed, orange tree, and mint bed to keep the lawn guys from tearing it up with the weed whacker.

Retail: 49.99

Paid: 10.00

The one I bought was very similar in style and all wooden, but not this exact one.

Retail: 9.95

Paid: 1.50

I dunno how much use this will get, but I thought it was fun anyway.

Retail: 14.95

Paid: 2.00

Ok so I guess I can be honest, I lost money on this one since you can buy the book new on amazon for less than 2.00 but the back of the book said 14.95 so at some point it was that expensive.

Retail: 129.00

Paid: 25.00

The set I bought doesn't have the original box any more but all the pieces are there and all the edges are crisp, some tracks still shrink wrapped, it seems it might have been played with only once or twice. The box also included a couple of Thomas trains and cars.

Retail: 109.00

Paid: 10.00

This is probably the most used thing I bought, it needs a couple minor repairs, but overall is sturdy and usable.

Retail: 30.00

Paid: 3.00

This is a large 2'X3' chalkboard, it's old and worn but I didn't buy it to use it as a chalkboard I bought it to be a puzzle board!! I haven't been able to do an adult puzzle in ages because there just isn't anywhere to do one where the kids won't get to it. When I was younger we had a chalkboard similar in size that we used to work on a puzzle and if we didn't finish, we'd just slide the board and unfinished puzzle under the couch to work on later. I can't wait to start a 1000 or 1500 piece puzzle to work on in the evenings and store it under the couch where the kids will never suspect. This was definitely my favorite buy.

I also bought a small wicker basked for .25 and some wire landscape fencing for 1.00.

Total Retail: 444.03

Total Spent: 69.00

Total Savings: 375.03

Not bad. I think I'll keep doing this garage sale thingy.

Sew Guilty

Brandon comes home one day and says he's bought a Christmas present for me already. He said it was too good of a deal to pass up. I'm thinking Christmas is still 3.5 months away, but whatever, I guess it can just hang around until then. About a week later a large box arrives at the door, Brandon swears he has no idea what's in it, even though it is sent to him. Brandon ALWAYS know whats in any box he's ordered. I am skeptical, but he is insistent I should open it. Inside:

Singer Perfect Finish Sewing Machine and Serger Set

I have always been very leery of electronic sewing machines, even though I'm an IT major. I've just always felt like if you're going for durability and quality, a sewing machine should be all mechanical. My 60's Necchi has been a great companion for all the years its has been mine. I still love that thing and man is it heavy. I'm sure you could chuck it down a flight of stairs and it would just sew on like a champ. However I have always been a little curious of the new machines and features they offer. While I get the general sense this is a mid-line machine, if nothing else, the serger was worth the price.

I finally got the chance to sit down with it and explore its features the other day and overall I like its capabilities. I think the real test will come on a sewing project verses some scrap fabric. I have to say as I moved my trusty Necchi to the side of my sewing table all I could feel was horrible guilt as it sat there looking at me longingly as I giggled over the cool decorative patterns the singer produced and the ease at making perfectly sized button holes. I only felt a little redeemed as I told my Necchi she could never be completely replaced because she would let me control reverse speed and the needle threader on the singer was just a ridiculous attachment and when the electronics surely busted a capacitor, she'd still be there to see me through the thick and thin fabrics.

I do have to say I was quite impressed with the manuals for the sewing machine and the serger, they had a lot of useful information and examples on using many of the techniques and presser foots, excellent reference charts, and are overall well written. A horrible design flaw of the sewing machine is the bobbin area. A flimsy little plastic door covers the bobbin and mechanism and the latch to open it is sitting right where you feed fabric through to the needle. No doubt that little door is going to pop open all the time. The bobbin also sits very loosely in that space and tends to bounce around and clickety clack as you sew. Otherwise the machine would be whisper quiet.

While my Necchi will always be my first love, I think I can find some room in my heart for this bobbin-clackity new Singer. The serger and I will no doubt be attached to my hip and I can return my mom's serger back to her. It performed exactly as expected in all tests I did compared to the old Simplicity serger I had been using. The only slightly annoying thing about the Singer serger is to use the free arm is a bit clumsy and difficult to remove the side casing and it completely comes off. The Simplicity machine allowed you to pull lightly on the side casing and it swings out of the way of the free arm remaining attached to the machine. Related to that effort, rethreading the Singer is a little more annoying than threading the Simplcity, but it's a serger, and rarely is threading one not a time consuming feat. Next sewing project will be performed solely on this new duo to see what a perfect finish it really is.

Kicking and Screaming

I don't know why, but I've always resisted change. When Windows XP came out, I really fought installing it for months and months. I didn't care that it was so much better than Windows 98, that it was cooler and had better security (well can't say much for it prior to service pack 2) and yadda yadda. I'd have none of it. Windows 98 never did me any wrong, it wasn't broke and worked just fine. Finally I broke down and installed it fresh and I turned to my friends and said, "You were right, this IS better!"

There was just the conversation I had with Brandon before he left for his business trip to Brazil, "Thanks for making me get this sprinkler system, the lawn is so pretty and the garden is so happy!" And the water softener...the TV....come to think of it Brandon's been right a lot, dragging me along kicking and screaming until I finally open my tight shut eyes and realize, hey this ain't so bad, I think I even like it!

What does that have to do with the price of tea in China? Well, I've fought starting a blog for a good many years. I can't say I've had an excellent reason for resisting, but among them:

• Everyone is doing it and I don't want to be like everyone else.
• Blogs are for people that don't know how to write html or other web languages.
• I don't want Joe Crazyperson reading about myself and family
• It's just a fad and will blow over in a couple months, like Gigapets.
• I'm lazy.

With that said, I've obviously started to open my eyes and think, eehh maybe I'll give this blogging thing a chance. I'm sure you're just dying to know the reasons:

• Blogs are easy, and if I so choose I can even inject a little html just to make me feel better than people that don't
• Security is better these days, though annoying for the end user.
• Many notes I write on Facebook are probably getting missed by people who might have liked to read them
• Dear friends and Family who do not Facebook or live nearby will have many sleepless nights wondering if Ian finally jumped off the TV stand or if Zoey actually learned to play by herself for 10 minutes.
• I don't journal or feel compelled to write many notes on Facebook because I don't want to spam up people's feeds. Here, you visit if you want to.
• I'm lazy, and that needs to change.

I won't promise any certain frequency of posts or number of pictures or details so great you fall asleep just waiting for the punchline. All I say is, I'll give it a try.