Happy New Year

I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas and a happy New Year.
Christmas Eve, I spent the evening and until 7:30 am getting the rest of the knitting done. I had gotten my two kids stuff done, but still had the other fingerless glove to get done for my daughter's boyfriend. I had trouble with the first one I did for him. For some reason, my tension was WAY off and I ended up frogging it back to yarn. It was hard to do - I only needed to cinch down that last stitch and weave in the tail. But...it didn't look or fit right, so...rip it, rip it, rip it. But that upset my timetable. I'm just thankful that I got it finished.
We had our traditional dinner together, but it was a little sad. This was the first time all my kids weren't here with me Christmas morning. My 13dd is still at dad's. I got to see her for about 5 minutes. Long enough to give her her present and wish her a merry Christmas.

Hopefully next week I'll get her back, but you never know what a judge will do. It's actually supposed to be a contempt of court hearing on him, but....the attorney for Child Support Recovery is new to her job and sounded like a rather new lawyer in general. She may not stop my ex from turning this into a custody hearing. He shouldn't be allowed to do that, but....who knows.

Just keep us in your prayers.

The other 2 kids and I spent New Years Eve together. I had the opportunity to attend a single adult dance with other singles of my faith, but instead chose to spend the evening with my two kids instead. We had a nice time. I had bought some different cheeses, a beef stick and some sparkling grape juice. We watched a movie and ate snacks.

This is probably the last time my oldest will be home for New Years. She will probably move out in the next 6-9 months. She'll be 19 and finished school in May and even though we have a very good relationship, she's ready to get her own place where mom can't "pull rank" on her - even though that's only occasionally. She's ready to fly and that is good. It means she feels ready to take on life as an adult - though she pretty much does that now.

As for my boy-o, hopefully he'll finish up the few remaining badges for Eagle scout and get his project done. Mostly he just has to write up the requirements he's already done, they just need to be documented on paper. I think he's already got a good idea of what he wants to do for his project. But there's no use planning the project until the badge work is done. He has 3 that he hasn't done anything on and then about 7 that he's lacking the written part. And for pity's sake, he can TYPE it. But I guess I'm just going to have to tie him to the computer for an hour each day until it's done. Once he starts, he'll get it done rather quickly, but it's getting him started that is the chore. lol

I've started my own small business. I'm doing data entry. I only have one client, but it's a start. And my daughter and I are working on a web business idea we have, so time to blog has been absent. Hopefully, I can make more time now that a lot of the preliminaries are done.

I wish everyone a prosperous New Year, filled with love, laughter and the ability to overcome the adversity that is a natural part of life. May our difficulties be few and our paychecks be many (and well stuffed, lol).

Letting the young eagle fly

Well, it's finally happened. My 18dd spread her wings and took off. In the only working car. By herself. Just for a couple of nights. At the house of her boyfriend's parents. In ATLANTA.

She planned it out with me ahead of time, but wasn't sure if she was going to return late Fri. evening or early Sat morning.
I IMed her late Fri to find out if she was going go ahead and drive back late, but she didn't answer me back.
So I go to bed - at 5:30am and I'm tossing and turning. The fact that HER dog was in MY bed may have had something to do with the tossing! (Chihauhau, but still, I don't sleep with animals in my bed!) Anyway, I'm waiting for her to get in this morning. I look at the clock and it's 9:30.!?! She's supposed to be to work at 8:30!?!?! I call work. Her manager answers and I ask for her. He tells me she's not there yet. Oh, now I'm frantic! "She's NOT THERE?????" "no. She was supposed to be here at 8:30." "Well I'll try and find out why she's not there yet." (did I mention she has the only working car with her?)
So the next call goes to her cell phone. Rings once, then no answer, no busy signal, nothing. (Visions of her car breaking down on the interstate and someone kidnapping her flash before my eyes.)
Next call, (with panic in my voice) is to BF's mom. She says she doesn't know what time, dd left, but it was early. (Former paramedic is now trying to keep from having a heart attack on the spot. Atlanta is only an hour and 15 mins from here.)

At this point I just happened to look at the clock on the computer. I looked again. I looked at my watch, I looked at the clock on the wall. They all agree it's only 8:20. Then BF mom says BF just got off the phone with her, she just got home. (ok, not at the house. But at work)

Mom feels stupid. And I'd swear on a stack of Bibles that my bedroom clock read 9:30! So I go check it and it too reads 8:30.

Please understand this is a responsible young person. And I'm really NOT a clingy mom-type. And I have no earthly reason WHY I read the clock as 9:30, when it was only 8:20 (the alarm is deliberately set 10 mins ahead.)

All I know is this. I'm just not cut out to be the mom of teens. lol I just don't seem to have the stamina for it. I'm fine with pukey, poopy babies. I'm fine with tantrums (hey, Thang#1 was down on the floor from the time she was 13 months old until she was 3 1/2. One day I tried to count how many tantrums she had had. I lost count at noon and the count was 36 times to that point. She was 3 at the time.) I just stepped over her and let her rip. I was fine with cuts, and an 15 month old who followed big sister up a tree some 10'. (Remember the old Kodak Moment commercials. Well, Thang #1 came in shouting "Mom, come quick and bring your camera! It's a cardiac moment! Yup, it was at that.) I'm good at teaching them things - we homeschool. They can all cook and sew - yep, even ds. They all know the "facts of life." They can clean and do dishes. They can all take care of kids from newborns to school-age. They know how to make a flint and steel fire, set up a tent and camp. They know how to check the oil and fluids in a car, mow the lawn and paint. Not a problem.

I never thought I'd have any trouble teaching my kids anything. But this teenage stuff is killing me. Driver's Ed was the first clue I was in trouble. As I mentioned, I used to be a paramedic. I KNOW what can happen in a car. I know this kid. And the combination of the two scared the daylights out of me. I was a nervous wreck and made her one. Now mind you, she's a good kid. Except when she's being a brat. But cars are big and unforgiving things. At 65 miles an hour, you're toast if you hit anything. Like a deer, or a cow, or another car. Thang #1 just got her regular driver's license 2 weeks ago. Yes, she's 18, not 16. But between the two of us, it was just better for her to wait. Plus, now she's paying $104 a month for her insurance instead of the $45 she was paying with me being the only licensed driver. We just didn't have the money to pay the extra.

Now I've got to start teaching Thang#2 to drive. He wants to argue with everything I say. I'm just not ready to have him get behind the wheel and argue with me over how he's driving. sigh.

Can't I just go "poof" with a magic wand and make 'em little again. Just for a while longer. Until I'm ready for them to grow up and deal with them being teens. kwim? lol

Things you don't hear any more

My laugh file is subbing for me while I get over my cold.

Thing you don't hear any more.

Be sure and refill the ice trays, we are going to have company after while.

Watch for the mailman, I want to get this letter in the mail today.

Quit slamming that screen door!

Stay in or stay out! If you keep running in and out,I'm gonna set your fields on fire!!

Be sure to pull the windows down when you leave, it looks like it might rain -- and bring in the clothes off the line, too.

Don't forget to wind the clock before you go to bed.

Wash your feet before you go to bed, (you've been playing barefooted outside all day).

Why can't you remember to roll up your pants legs? Getting them caught in the bicycle chain is tearing them up and I ain't made outta money.

You have torn the knees out of that pair of pants so many times there ain't nothing left to put a patch on.

Don't you go outside with your school clothes on!

Hang up your Sunday School clothes, you know you need to pass them down to your brother in good condition.

Go comb your hair. It looks like the rats have nested in it

Be sure and pour the cream off the top of the milk when you open the new bottle. I need it for baking and Pa's coffee.

Take that empty bottle to the store with you so you won't have to pay a deposit on another one.

Put a dish towel over the cake so the flies won't get on it.

Quit jumping on the floor! I have a cake in the oven and you are going to make it fall if you don't quit!

Let me know when the Fuller Brush man comes by, I need to get a few things from him.

You boys stay close by, the car may not start and I will need you to help push it off.

There is a dollar in my purse, go by the service station and get five gallons of gas when you start to town.

Open the back door and see if we can get a breeze through here, it is getting hot.

You can walk to the store; it won't hurt you to get some exercise. Maybe you will learn to be more careful with your bicycle.

Don't sit so close to the TV it will ruin your eyes.

Don't lose that button, I will sew it back on after while.

Get out from under that sewing machine, pumping it messes up the thread!

Do you want to go get me a switch?

Be sure and fill the lamps this morning so we don't have to do that tonight in the dark.

Here, take this old magazine to the outhouse when you go, we are almost out of paper out there.

Go out to the well and draw a bucket of water for me to do dishes

Don't turn the radio on now, I want the battery to be up when the Grand Ole Opry comes on.

No! I don't have nine cents for you to go to the show, do you think money grows on trees?

Eat those vegetables; they will make you big and strong like your daddy.

That dog is NOT coming in this house! I don't care how cold it is out there, dogs just don't belong in the house.

Sit still! I can't cut your hair with you being a wiggle-worm.

Hush your mouth! I don't want to hear anymore words like that. I will wash your mouth out with soap!

It is time for your system to be cleaned out, I'm going to give you a dose of Castor Oil in the morning.

If you get a spanking in school and I find out about it, you will get a worse whupping when you get home.

Quit crossing your eyes! They will get stuck that way!

Soak your foot in this pan of coal oil so that cut won't get infected.

When you take your driving test don't forget your hand signals each turn. Left arm straight out the window for a left turn, and left arm bent up to the sky at the elbow for a right turn and straight down to the side of the door when you are going to slow down or stop.

It is "Yes, sir!" and "No, sir" to me and your elders young man, and don't you forget it!

While we are at Aunt Mary's and Uncle John's you kids eat when the adults get through and I don't want to hear "I don't like this stuff". You better keep your mouth shut and eat everything on your plate.

If I hear you repeat one word of this I will beat the daylights out of you, do you understand that?!!

What would you like me to blog about next?

I'm feeling like I'm a little short on ideas today. I guess I'm having writer's block.

Do any of you have something you'd like me to address? Any thing you'd like my take on?

I'm sure I can find something to ramble on about, but I was wondering if any of you had something you'd like to see or learn about.

Sourdough mutiny

Well, after feeding my sourdough for a week, I finally got around to making something with it.
I decided to make pancakes. I have a nice recipe for it. I've made it before and I liked it.

Kids! Gotta love them.

I spent 20 mins whipping up a nice batch with extra to freeze. They each took one bite and went YUCK.
Then I tried one. I had to agree. It didn't taste too good.

Rule one.
Don't start this project if you have a tooth ache. You'll forget to feed it a couple of times and it will get VERY strong.
Rule two.
If they kids have never had rye flour before, don't make the start out of it. The taste will come through and they won't eat it.
Rule three.
If you ignore rule one and two, then you're going to have to do one of two things. Either throw out the starter or throw out the kids. I opted for keeping the kids. I'm not sure why. So I tossed the start.

Yes, I could have added some baking soda and sugar to sweeten it, but the damage has already been done. I need to let this subject sit for a while and then try revisiting it at a later date. Because until then, they won't even try it. Especially 18 dd who has a gourmet's set of taste buds and a water budget. (yes, this child CAN tell when the bread will break out in mold! She'd done it before. People have told her, naw, the bread is fine. Then later in the day, they'll find small spots of mold growing that wasn't there earlier.)

sigh

The tooth is doing better. It's still letting me know it's there, but not so badly that I'm taking anything for the pain. It usually only hurts when I have forgotten and chewed on that side, then I will notice a little later that my jaw is sore.
It makes me grateful that we have antibiotics - even though I do detest taking them.

Blog, dog and the phone cord

Ain't life grand?
Just when you think things are flowing smoothly, something happens and there goes you plans.
My plans for this week including making some of the sour dough bread that I posted about a couple of days ago, plus making some waffles for a meal and for the freezer.

So I got my ingredients together, tripled the batter ingredients, mixed 'em up and left the bowl in the prewarmed oven overnight.

I got up the next morning and to my surprise, not much had happened. The mix was still very stiff. (I had used freshly ground, red winter wheat for 4 cups of the flour and then used 2 cups of rye flour. I also added 3 tbs of yeast.) So I added some more water, thinking that my wheat was "extra dry". I left it sitting out and by the next morning, it was too thin. So I went ahead and fed it with 2 cups water and 2 cups wheat. There was about 3/4 cup of left-over flour in the bag, so I tossed that in. I'm going to use most of this for waffle batter, so having so much won't hurt anything.

This morning, it was looking and smelling good. But being the ADHD person I am and with no computer to use, I got side-tracked knitting some dish cloths and didn't get it done. I was also going to add a couple of posts to my blog.

When I got home yesterday I found that my daughter's dog has chewed the cord on the phone. My son, who was home when it happened and working on the computer, said he heard Baxter yelp and then the internet went out. He tried and tried to get it to work and couldn't. I tried also, but to no avail. So we called tech support and they tried to do stuff to get it back going. Evidently, when Baxter bit through the cord, he shorted out the DSL modem. In the end, they were going to send us a new modem. Later last night, I realized that I still have a modem on this machine and I setup a dialup account. Hey, it worked! I had limited internet usage.

Today, my son has been on the computer playing his game and I spent it knitting on dish cloths.
I knew that I couldn't do much downloading with just the dial up - it takes forever and a year!
Then about 30 mins ago, I had him plug in the old modem, just to see what would happen. Surprise, surprise, surprise! It worked. So we've reattached the DSL and here I am.

I don't think the dog will bite the cord again. He found out that it bites back.

Hopefully, I'll get some pics up of my sour dough and my knitting.

Any questions?

Do any of you readers have anything that you would like to see me cover or questions you'd like me to see if I can answer for you?

I have a lot of resources for "make-your-own..." items - like tortillas, soap, easy cheeses, sour dough baked goods, candies with honey, using typical food storage items such as wheat, beans, rice and TVP.

I also have resources for "instant" food that you prepackage at home - such as oatmeal packets, seasoning packets, soups, bread machine and knead by hand mixes, Bisquick-type baking mixes using whole wheat or regular flour with recipes for using the mix, etc.

I have ideas for 72 hour kits (emergency kits), food storage, back to basics, vegetarian cooking (though I'm not a vegetarian, I do make many meatless meals.)

I also have a lot of gardening ideas, I've raised rabbits, chickens and for a while a goat - though I had to get rid of her before she had freshened. So I never milked her.

I have been homeschooling for 14 years. Two of the three have had high IQs and major learning issues. All three have minor learning issues. I have a lot of resources in this area.

I do a little knitting. I've never done complicated things like sweaters or used double pointed needles. (Will you believe this? I can't FIND double pointed needles in the local 3 counties. NO ONE has them, so I can't learn to use them.) Mostly, I've done mittens, gloves, slippers, slipper-socks and this half-glove type mitten. That one is my own pattern. My hands get cold in the winter, especially my right hand. So I made a half mitten to keep it warm. Worked VERY well. All these I knit on round needles. I find them easier to work on than straight one. I don't knit in the round with them, just use them as I would a set of straight needles.

I'm a little more experienced crocheter. I've done hats, scarves, gloves, mittens, doilies and other things. I have trouble crocheting now, it makes my hands hurt too much, so I knit things instead.

I also sew. I make dresses, pants, shirts and household items. It's been a while since I've had the machine out and I'm not an "expert", more an upper-level intermediate sewer. I can do some alterations on a pattern, but resizing the bodice is not one of them. I can move the darts, but not change the size. I always have to get a larger pattern, then cut down the rest of it to fit. I prefer working with knits. (I took a couple of "Stretch-n-Sew" classes back in the late 70's and loved the ease of construction!)

I can fix computers. Both fixing broken ones and figure out why people are having problems using certain programs. I'm not a programmer. I don't know a lick of code.

I'm also a ham radio operator. I mostly use Echolink - I only have a handitalkie (looks like an old police radio) which doesn't have much power to get out, I can only broadcast to about a 20 mile radius - providing one of these beautiful mountains doesn't get in the way.

I'm also a former medic/paramedic as well as have kids that had more than their share of illnesses. I read medical textbooks for fun. One day when I was pregnant, my MD came in to find me reading one of her ultrasound books. She thought it was funny, but they used it a lot, so she wouldn't let me borrow it. lol

I was a "Master Gardener" in north Florida. I've done mostly Square Foot Gardening and container gardening.

I'm a single mom who's been divorce for 11 years. I can pinch a penny so hard, it doesn't squeal, it begs for mercy. lol

So, that's a partial list of what I can do and some things that I feel comfortable answering questions on. If I don't have an answer, I'll look it up or just plain tell you I don't know the answer to that one.

If you have any suggestions, I'd love to hear them. Just drop me a line or make a comment on this blog and I'll see what I can do to help.

Learning to blog

It's funny how life goes full circle.
When my first-born was little, I was responsible for teaching her all she needed to know to start the progression to adulthood. I fussed when her clothes didn't match, cleaned her face when it was dirty, combed her hair when it was messy and in general, hovered about her as mothers are wont to do.

18 years later, the shoe is on the other foot! She now brushes and braids my knee-length hair, says "no!" when I wear something that she thinks doesn't go together and in general fusses over me. I guess she thinks that turning 54 makes me old and in need of fussing over. Or maybe it's just the mother-daughter dance that mothers and daughters do with each other.

Perhaps it's that there are things she is good at that I'm not so good at doing. She has a natural flair for what looks good. She learns the ins and outs of new technology faster than I do. She's well versed on finding and doing certain things on the internet. (Though I am quite internet savvy, mechanically inclined and I can still repair broken computers better than she can!) lol

Then to add to the whole arena of "lack of knowledge", there's the not knowing current slang, current actors and heaven forbid, certain singing sensations. No wonder they think we don't know "anything". We don't - at least, we don't know what is currently in "fashion" and since we have to ask them who or what is..., no wonder they think we don't know squat.

The young don't count all the things we elders know that they don't, they only see that they know things that seem so easy and that we elders have to be shown a time or two to "get it". Since it's so easy for them and harder for us, we must know less than they do. Logical, right? No wonder they alternately fuss over us or ignore what we say. Remember when we felt the same way about our "elders"? Then when we got to about 26, remember how much smarter these "elders" started becoming? And by the time our own kids were teens, didn't said "elders" become absolute geniuses in our eyes?

Today I wanted to subscribe to a blog that I had just found and had no idea how to do it. So guess whom I called to come sit beside me and help me find what I needed. In the midst of trying to find out how to subscribe to the blog I wanted, dear daughter decided that I needed a blog of my own and so this blog was born. That way I could "link it" to my own site.

I'm not much of a writer. In fact, when I was in school I hated composition. I'd get blank pageitis. My mind couldn't think of a thing to write. It will be interesting to see where the blog ends up, to see if a blank page still leaves me staring off into space. Or is that just me taking a quick nap? lol

Hopefully, I'll learn to post recipes, ideas about "old-fashion" skills like making bread, sewing, making soap,preserving foods,food storage ideas, 72 hr kits and other homemaking necessities, as well as, learn to format a page, put up pictures and make links to other blogs as well as have people link to me.

So here's to the birth of a new blog and blogger. May it grow and prosper; may I enjoy writing it and you enjoy reading it.