My family is f***ed up! That's how it appears at a quick glance. 2 kids over 18, with no diplomas or GED's. One's pregnant, and unmarried of course. For good measure we invited her 20 y/o boyfriend to live here. Ahem, then there's my 16 y/o son, who excels at music, and skateboarding, but not academics-not in the traditional sense anyway. The youngest, he is a real gem, extremely smart, but extremely immature, and has terrible work habits.
We're broke. Yes we are. Oh we're getting a little better. I actually have a little money in the bank, and a little money in my purse right now, and a stocked pantry. But, we are still living on a shoestings. Various unfinished projects taunt me around my house every day. They mock my and my husband's inability to budget, mend, and maintain. We have a somewhat messy home as well. But in our defense, we do live here.
But are we really that much of a mess as a family? The kids, they do care about each other. They would defend each other against any adversary. After all, kicking each other's butt's is an earned family right, not something just anyone can do! And the kids care about my husband and me. We see this in small gestures from time to time.
My husband and I are best friends who enjoy spending time together. In this world, that doesn't happen nearly as often as it should. That's got to count for something. And our romantic life is alive and kicking.
Each of us, in my little lion pride has our own strengths. These atypical aptitudes rise up now and then when least expected, instilling a little glimmer of hope, that I am not a failure as a parent. I keep telling myself that life is a journey, not a day trip. The end result is what matters most. Some of the most successful people I knew as teens or young adults are not happy, or not stable. I remind myself of this whenever I am feeling inadequate.
Call these excuses, delusions, folly, but who is to say what success really is, and with what yardstick we may measure it? It's not that I set the bar low, but that I allow it to rise and fall as a means of survival. And that, in the end, is the goal of this game we call life.
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Sunday, June 1, 2008
We're Going Green!
No, it's not just the new color of my page. We're becoming Suburban Homesteaders!
We've started a vegetable garden, and gotten a rain barrel. (we will be getting more) And I've got a cart-full of cloth diapers online to be shipped.
Why are we doing this? We're doing it so that we can survive in the future. Peak Oil is here, and that mean the gas prices, along with everything that is transported in any mode of transportation requiring gas (everything) will be going up, up, and up! And it's not just the regular old gasoline in the car that is going to be affected-oh no! How do you think they make all those lovely fertilizers that grow our food-oil! And what do you think all your plastics are made with-oil!
So basically, you've got two choices, prepare now, or starve in the future!
http://www.peakoil.com/
Anyway, here are some great sites you have to check out to get you started on your suburban homestead:
http://www.foodnotlawns.com/
An excellent resource on why we should not be spending hundreds of dollars, time, and resources to grow-grass.
http://www.terracycle.net/rain_barrel.htm
The coolest rain barrels made from recycled OAK wine barrels for only $100!!
http://www.cottonbabies.com/
This company has a cloth diaper "try-it" kit for only $30, which includes two diaper covers worth $26 alone! Also, you can get a great deal one one-size fits all (babies, that is) Bumgenius 3.0 Pocket Diapers if you buy 6 or 12. Look under "gift ideas". Check out the Bumgenius diaper sprayer and Bumgenius cloth wipe set either. And Bumgenius PD are made in the USA!
We've started a vegetable garden, and gotten a rain barrel. (we will be getting more) And I've got a cart-full of cloth diapers online to be shipped.
Why are we doing this? We're doing it so that we can survive in the future. Peak Oil is here, and that mean the gas prices, along with everything that is transported in any mode of transportation requiring gas (everything) will be going up, up, and up! And it's not just the regular old gasoline in the car that is going to be affected-oh no! How do you think they make all those lovely fertilizers that grow our food-oil! And what do you think all your plastics are made with-oil!
So basically, you've got two choices, prepare now, or starve in the future!
http://www.peakoil.com/
Anyway, here are some great sites you have to check out to get you started on your suburban homestead:
http://www.foodnotlawns.com/
An excellent resource on why we should not be spending hundreds of dollars, time, and resources to grow-grass.
http://www.terracycle.net/rain_barrel.htm
The coolest rain barrels made from recycled OAK wine barrels for only $100!!
http://www.cottonbabies.com/
This company has a cloth diaper "try-it" kit for only $30, which includes two diaper covers worth $26 alone! Also, you can get a great deal one one-size fits all (babies, that is) Bumgenius 3.0 Pocket Diapers if you buy 6 or 12. Look under "gift ideas". Check out the Bumgenius diaper sprayer and Bumgenius cloth wipe set either. And Bumgenius PD are made in the USA!
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