So, in the past six months or so, I’ve been steadily working at building up our food supply.  When I see food on sale, I’ll stock up.  I haven’t been using our freezer though because if the power goes off for any length of time, I’d loose all that I’d put in there.  So, I’ve been a canning maniac!  ~smile~

So far this year I’ve canned maple syrup, chicken, ground beef, and strawberry jam.  This past week I added carrots to the mix.  They were easy to can.  The local store had the one-pound bag of baby carrots on sale for 50 cents.  Not knowing how many bags would fill a quart jar, I bought 14 bags.  Well, one bag is one quart!  So, I now have 14 quarts of carrots lining my pantry shelf!  They look so pretty.

That’s one thing about increasing the amount of food onhand– you have to have a place to store it.  But if you can use your imagination a bit, I’m sure you can come up with a place to store at least some food.  Even if someone lives in a smaller manufactured home or apartment, they can find a closet or space under a bed.  (Granted, they may need to get rid of a few things first.  It does come down to priorities.  I’ve heard of people who stack cans of food under an end table and cover the whole thing with a floor-length table cloth. 

And you don’t have to can everything you store.  When things go on a good sale, if it’s something you eat, go for it.  We enjoy a particular brand and flavor of spaghetti sauce.  When it went on sale for 75 cents a can, I bought enough to last us a couple years.  Granted, I spent a lot on spaghetti sauce that month, but it’s something I know we all like, and I know we’ll use it.

What about you?  If you or your spouse lost your job and had no income for awhile, would you think, “Oh, if only I had done _________ before now!”  You fill in that blank, and then go do it!  You might never need it, but then again, you might be glad you did!

Eek!

Those of you who know me know that I hate feeling obligated to find a gift for someone.  I’d much rather give a person a gift “just because I saw this special widget and it reminded me of you.”  But alas, sometimes gift giving must be done, and graduation open houses are one of those times.

So, what to give…  Money’s always a sure bet, but that always seems like a cop-out to me.  Besides, most of these kids weren’t going on to school, and I really didn’t want our gift to be used to pay for gas for their car.

Tangible things usually seem lame to me.  A lawn chair?  Really?!? 

Gift certificates are appreciated, but impersonal.

(Can you see why I struggle with gift giving?!?)

Well, we hit on a good idea that both Wayne and I liked.  We gave each grad a magazine subscription to a magazine that God has used to strengthen our faith on numerous occasions.  It’s the “Answers” magazine put out by Answers in Genesis.  Yes, it was a bit more than we usually would have spent, but every other month each grad will be reminded that we are praying for them and wishing them the best in whatever it is they have decided to do– whether that be further education, work, or the military.

So, the next time you need to buy a graduation present, consider giving a magazine subscription.

Now, what to get my daughter for her 11th birthday…

It Is Well With My Soul

When peace like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to know,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

Refrain:
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul.

My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

For me, be it Christ, be it Christ hence to live:
If Jordan above me shall roll,
No pang shall be mine, for in death as in life,
Thou wilt whisper Thy peace to my soul.

But Lord, ’tis for Thee, for Thy coming we wait,
The sky, not the grave, is our goal;
Oh, trump of the angel! Oh, voice of the Lord!
Blessed hope, blessed rest of my soul.

And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,
Even so, it is well with my soul.

Horatio Spafford

We do our best to set aside some money every month to pay for these bills as they come due.  So, while the bills will get paid, things will be a bit tight for awhile.  But I’d rather have things be a bit tight than to fall into the payday advance loan trap.

We have friends who fell into that trap.  They didn’t know how to budget, and so every month they fell a bit more behind and a bit more behind.  Enter: payday advance loans!  Eek!  With these loans, they thought they had the money, and they lived like it, but alas, by the time payday actually rolled around, most of the money was gone already.

This was a big trap, and they couldn’t dig their way out of it.  They had to ask their parents for money to bail them out. 

Did they learn their lesson?  Oh, how I wish I could say yes, but to my knowledge, they haven’t paid their parents back, and they are still spiraling into the cesspool of debt. 

As Dave Ramsey says, “Today I live like noone else (by living frugally), so that tomorrow I can live like noone else (by being debt free and enjoying life).

And then I hop online and someone had sent me a link to a new camera.  With this camera and the accompanying software, I could take a blurry picture and in just a click of the mouse (once the picture is loaded into a computer or phone), the picture would be in focus.  This is supposed to be just as big a change to the photo industry as when cameras went digital.

Wowza!

And I’m left shaking my head, sitting in my rocking chair, and wondering, “What next?!?”

(There… I’m done venting about wacky clocks!)

As people grow older we tend to loose a little bit of our mental capabilities.  Hence, we tell the same stories and jokes.  We go to the basement to get something, only to forget what we went down to get once our feet hit the bottom stair.

But, it’s when people get older that they need to make major decisions.  Decisions about when to retire.  Decisions about where to invest that 401k.  Decisions about health care and medicare supplement plans.  Decisions about whether to downsize in home.  Decisions about when to move into assisted living.  Decisions about when the permanantly hang up the car keys.  Decisions about funeral arrangements.

All of these decisions are major ones.  They either cost a lot of money or they will greatly affect the way that person lives out the rest of their days.

All that to say this, if you know an older person who is having difficulty making decisions, please help them sort these things out.  Simple things like paying bills, can be overwhelming for seniors.  We’ve all heard stories about seniors who were “taken for a ride” because some slick-talking person told them they needed to buy something.  Stay involved in their lives.  They’ll definitely be glad you did.  (And so will you!)

For example, my husband’s birthday is this coming week.  I have no idea what to get him.  Oh, I suppose I could go get him some band saw blades or perhaps a new chain for his new chainsaw.  How special would that be?!?  LOL!

No, I’d rather wait until I’m at the store or out hitting a few yard sales.  I *know* I’ll find something this summer that he will thoroughly enjoy.  But whatever that thing is, I haven’t stumbled upon it yet.    ~sigh~  And his birthday is Thursday…

The other day I killed a dozen mosquitoes after I had gotten in the van.  A dozen!  Gross! 

I prefer not to use pesticides, especially now that we have chickens eating our grass.  But enough was enough.  And I headed to the local drugstore for some mosquito spray.

One would think the spray would be near the door, since most people are terribly annoyed with mosquitoes this year.  But no…  I had to ask for it.  And then I was given a list of directions that was longer than our trip planner for our last vacation. 

“Go down this aisle until you see the stuffed animals.  Then go right.  If you pass the toothpaste and the over the counter acne pills, you know you’re on the right track.  Turn left when you get to the end of that row, and the mosquito spray will be on the bottom shelf behind the dishsoap.”

Argh!

Thankfully I’m pretty good at following directions.  And so, when we venture into the great outdoors of our yard, we smell lovely, and remain relatively itch-free.

Happy swatting!

It’s the other shopping that drives me batty.  Shopping for birthday or Christmas gifts.  I will never understand how people can go to the mall simply to window shop or browse for gifts.  Ack!

Because of this, I love the internet.  I do most of my “other” shopping online.  I don’t spend any money in gas.  I don’t have to fight the crowds.  I can read reviews to see if what I’m thinking of purchasing is of good quality.  And it is delivered right to my door.  What could possibly be finer than that?!?

You can buy books online.  You can buy CDs online.  You can buy cookware online.  You can buy birdfeeders online.  You can buy toys online.  You can even buy cigars online!

Again, what could be finer?!?

Happy shopping!