Safety

I'm very much behind personal freedom, I don't like anyone telling me what I can or can't do, in regards to my home, family or body, which is probably why I'm a Libertarian, but I do believe that some things need to be legislated. Seatbelts for minors? Yes. Child restrains for children? Yes. Safety gear & motorcycle helmets for minors? Definitely. Do you see where I'm going with this? I believe that, as an adult, it should be your choice to use these items, or not. It's your life & by not using them, you are only endangering yourself. I would, 98% of the time, even if it weren't the law, still use my seatbelt. I always have. The law doesn't make me use one, my own survival instinct does. I think that's very likely the case for most adults, they use safety gear or they don't, depending on their own desire, they don't usually care what the law tells them to do. I just think law enforcement spends far too much time & money worrying about things that just aren't their concern & need to be freed up to actually enforce the things that matter.

Slackerly

Another two weeks has passed without me updating in here. I know. We got the yard nicely cleaned up, even though the weather was pretty bad in the weekend prior to Spring clean-up. We managed to get most of what we wanted done finished. We have the weed & feed on the lawn to take advantage of the few rains we've had, and I started some seeds the other day. I need to buy more peat pellets if I want to start anymore. I have broccoli & cauliflower already coming up, along with some marigolds. I have planted parsley, dill, basil, calendula, columbine & Shasta daisies as well. I will be getting some more vegetable seeds on payday, more peat pots & hopefully some more containers to start them in (I'm using produce containers that we left after we finished it). We also need to buy some garden cloth, so we can get our raised beds built in the back, so I can plant my seedlings when they're ready. I'm pretty excited about all of this & really hope I can have a productive garden this year.

Spring Clean-up

Spring Clean-up week starts tomorrow, at least for my neighborhood. We managed to get a good portion of our yard debris out & on the street today, and our yard looks a whole lot better, too. I like to drive around & see what people re trying to get away with putting out. Sometimes they throw furniture & appliances out there, even though the rules specifically say that you can't. One year we saw a dining set, a couple of old miller welders and a TV sitting on top of a pile of huge branches & lawn trimmings. I was kind of surprised that no one came along & took the welders, they can be fixed pretty easily & used forever (my brother is a welder, I'm not an expert!). The street crew left all of the furniture & sucj behind on the street, but took the branches & grass. I'll bet that was as ad day when they came home & saw that they still had to make a trip to the landfill. I'll be happy to have it done, that means it'sa one step closer to warmer weather & more flowers growing in my yard!

Silly Dreams

I used to have a dream that I'd be in a rock band someday. It's silly because I'm so cripplingly shy that I could never be comfortable on stage. I can't play an instrument that would work in a rock band (I play the flute!) and I'd have to be a lot more sure of myself to sing in front of strangers. Anyway, I had it all planned out, I'd have two guitars players; rhythm & lead & both would play beautiful Vox Guitars, the bass player would be hot & no one would ever notice what he played & the drummer? Amazing. Isn't it crazy, the things you want when you're young? Now all I want is enough. Nothing outrageous or amazing, just enough to live life everyday, to do the things we want to & go the places we want to go. (none of which are over the top) I live a simple life, I just wish it were a little more simple.

Thrifty Living

I know that my friends & family are very likely starting to really believe that I am, in fact, as crazy as I claim to be. It's because I've been on a huge money-saving, make-it-myself kick lately. I only buy a cleaning or household product, which includes many cooking & baking items, if I can't make it myself. I don't use shampoo, I make my own body wash, dish detergent & laundry soap. I don't buy Hamburger Helper because I can make my own mixes much cheaper, and the same goes for baking mixes, like cookies and such. I wash my face with oil (it's the best makeup remover I've found so far) and use cloth rags instead of paper towels. I'll be making my own emergency candles, a box for home & one for the trailer soon and taking up canning. I'm tired of spending money on things that I can do myself. If that's crazy, I guess I ought to be admitted, but I hope it doesn't cure me, because I'm really enjoying this!

Hopeful

The sun is shining today & yesterday's snow (which lasted until well into the night, by the way) is starting to melt. I'm really, really hopeful that this was the last measurable snowfall of the year & that we can start to live like it really is Spring now. Troy is up on the bedroom roof, shoveling the snow off of there before it melts & ruins the ceiling again. I wish he didn't have to do that, but it's better than the month-long process of getting it fixed again & dealing with the idiot dry-waller they use. I started watching what I'm eating again, and since the only program that works for me is WW, I bought a PointsPlus calculator & am using that. I busted out the scales on Friday & have lost 7 pounds so far. I'm sure that part of that stems from being sick earlier in the week, but I'll take the loss. It's always good to see one on your first serious week. I bought it with a pretty skin for the top, so now it just looks like a nice compact & if I use it in public, it'll pretty much seem like I'm checking my makeup. I'm dying my hair later & then we have to get the yard garbage (leaves, branches & such) out to the street for pick up tomorrow.

Unreliable

Don't you hate it when someone promises to do something with you, pending a certain event happening & then fails to follow through on it? I had that happen recently, where a friend promised to take me out for sushi after he got his taxes back. Taxes came in & I heard nothing from him about it, at all. It's not like he promised to pay my way to the laser spine institute or anything, I know, but don't tell me you want to do something with me when you have no intentions to follow through with it. I've never been a person who makes idle promises to people, not even people I don't really care that much about. If I say I'm going to do something or that I want to do something with you, then I do & am planning it out in my free time. I expect (probably futilely) other people to treat me the same way. I don't ask anyone to do anything that I'm not willing to do myself. Yes, I'm a little angry about it all, but being angry with particular friend has become commonplace these days, unfortunately. I wish he'd pull his head out of his butt, we all miss the man he used to be.

Winter is Still Hanging On

Here it is, mid-April & it's snowing. The birds are distressed & trying to gather as much food as they can & I'll need to send Troy out for the feeders soon, since they're both nearly empty. I'm not happy, this is our last weekend to get the yard done & the resulting trash taken to the street before Spring Clean-up happens for our neighborhood, after this, the cost to haul it off is ours to bear. I guess we'll have to get out there tomorrow regardless of the weather & get it done.

Things are things here at home, some are fantastic, some are okay & a few are just a little troubling, so, pretty much standard, I'd say. I've been anxiously planning our gardens for the summer & hoping for the best. I'm not great at this sort of thing, or even remembering to keep things watered, but I'm going to try my hardest this year.

We have plans to try to learn to can, or at least our son & I do & I'm pretty excited about it. We've looked into the equipment that we'll need & it'll be well worth it, as long as we actually use it.

I'm also looking forward to camping season & really plan to be gone as much as humanly possible when it gets warm enough. Hopefully, my brother or sister-in-law will come up & water the gardens for us if we ask. If they won't, I'll figure something else out, I'm sure.

Meanwhile, the snow continues to pile up in the yard.