Sooo Stressed

I really need a break.  I'm seriously considering checking myself into a mental hospital.  That would get me some time off on the government's dime.  I could also join the Guard and take a deployment.  That would get me some time away, and make the family money.  Of course, that would bring more stress in a different way.  OR, I could go on vacation!

I think that what I'm actually GOING to do is put my kiddos on a strict schedule, and spend less time online.  I think this should suffice for all of us.  We'll see.  Perhaps enforced family time will make us all feel better.

Here's the plan:  The boys will be completely unplugged.  Gary and I will be unplugged until they are in bed, then we will have 30 minutes a day to be online.  We will do more things together, whether it be playing with Legos or raking leaves.  Hopefully, this constant contact will improve our children's attitudes. The rudeness and disrespect has got to go.  So, if I'm not blogging as much, this is why.

The Pain is Gone

I had a filling replaced this morning, at 8, which is way too early!  The dentist must have hit a nerve.  I was in pain all day.  I just realized the pain is gone.  Happy dance.  Dadadada!

Politics, Sex, and Religion

Those are the three things you're not supposed to talk about at the dinner table, right?  Money is high on the list, as well.  But, really, if you don't talk about those things, what are you going to talk about?  Even the weather is political, these days.

I hang out with a group of women that I love.  Our political beliefs range from extremely conservative to extremely liberal.  Our religions come in many forms.  We have Hindus, Christians, Jews, atheists, and more.  We have environmentalists and environmental friendlies.  We have a lot that we don't have in common.  But, we all get along.

I think there are a few reasons for this.  One is that we all either homeschool, or have homeschooled in the past.  That allows for common ground.  The second is that almost all of us have had home births, and those who didn't, wish they had.  Most of us are at least aware of all the stuff that our children eat.  (Really, you just should not eat anything that has an ingredient list of more than 20 things, especially if you don't know what 10 of them are.)  But, mostly, we all just accept the fact that we're all different.

It is very difficult to find a person with whom you agree 100% of the time.  In fact, I frequently disagree with myself.  When you're deciding whether or not you want to be friends with someone, you have to decide whether they are worth your while.  Is there something about them that is a deal breaker?  If not, can you ignore the differences?  Is it worth it?  If it's worth it, stop nitpicking, and start having a good time.  You'll be much happier.

And, if politics, sex, or religion (or money) comes up, tread carefully.  If you get your toes stepped on, forgive the other person.  They didn't mean it.  We all have our opinions.  We love them, and want to keep them.  But, they're not something to bludgeon people with.  After all, friendship is not talk radio.

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My Name is Kristina

"Hi, Kristina."

"It's been two days since I last blogged."

This is the conversation Gary had with himself after I mentioned that I had not blogged in two days.  His little conversation with himself reminded me of this comic that I have cut out and taped to my computer desk.  Enjoy.

Air Conditioner Parts

When we bought our house, we got an appliance warranty as part of our deal with the previous owners.  It came in handy 6 months later, when our air conditioner/heater broke.  One of the things that needed to be replaced was the ac compressor. The problem was that there were a lot of hidden costs.  Sure, the unit itself was covered by the warranty, and that saved us a lot of money.  But, we had to pay for numerous other little things because of the contract between the warranty company and the repair company, things like disposal fees, license fees (that were actually higher than what the city charged for those licenses), and freon recovery fees, to name a few.  We ended up spending close to a thousand dollars.  It would have cost us more to replace the unit ourselves, or we would have dropped the whole thing.

However, if you're able to repair your air conditioner, there is a website called DiscountACParts.com that might be able to help you do so, inexpensively.  All orders come with free shipping.  I strongly recommend investigating all options when it comes to A/C repair.

This post sponsored by DiscountACParts.

Ditherer in Chief

After months of deliberating, President Obama opted not to accept any of the Afghanistan war options presented by his national security team, pushing instead for revisions to clarify how and when U.S. troops would turn over responsibility to the Afghan government, a senior administration official said Wednesday.

What!!!!!!!!!  I swear to you, even considering how close Gary is to retirement, if he were up for reenlistment right now, I would tell him to get out.  It is not safe to be in the military under this man's idea of leadership.

Veterans' Day

Everything that can be said has been said before.  So, today, I just want to say, "Thank you."  Thank you to the soldiers, thank you to the spouses, thank you to the children.  Thank you for your sacrifices.  Thank you.

Laying it all on the Line

There have been several times recently when I have been unable to ignore the news.  Gary and I try to avoid the news, as much as possible.  There is just too much in the news with the potential to hurt us.  We read about soldiers dying much too often for our peace of mind.  Since we know that we'll hear about these things, we attempt to ignore the news.  The news frequently focuses on these.  Or, we read about bills running through Congress that we cannot stop.  OUR Congressmen are fighting, so there's not much we can do.  We've attended rallies.  We've written letters.  We've been ignored.  So, we attempt to keep it from effecting our moods on a daily basis by not reading the news.

However, sometimes something happens that is impossible to ignore, like the terrorist at Ft Hood.  When things of this nature happen, we pay attention.  And, we notice that Obama is not being the Commander in Chief that we need.  We notice that he is not protecting the troops already in Afghanastan by ensuring they have the support they need.  We notice that the only service he gives the troops is lip service.  And we impotently fume.  We notice that he takes every opportunity for a photo op.  President Bush privately spoke to many families of killed soldiers, but rarely was this publicized.  Every time Obama talks to someone in the military or related to the military, there is press on site to record his words and photograph his actions.  Each day that goes by, we loose more and more respect for Obama.  Finally, we have no respect for him.

You'll notice I've stopped referring to him as President Obama.  I will not disrespect his office by calling him names.  But, I no longer have any respect for the man.

Here is an article that expresses so well our thoughts.  Obama Doesn't "Get" the Military He Commands

H/T TRO

Moving Happens

I am on a Yahoo list that discusses moving frequently, because it is a military group, and we all know what the military does- it moves. Recently, we've been talking about 'funny' stories. You know, the ones involving kid happenings right before or during moves.

I don't have any of those stories, but I have my share of stories. After all, in twelve years of marriage, we've moved ten times. We have lived in this house longer than we've ever lived anywhere else- 2 ½ years. When we reach our 3 year mark, it will mark the longest we've ever lived in one state. And, it looks like we're here to stay. But, oh, the stories I could tell you...

Our first move, we didn't have much. The movers insisted on unpacking the boxes that had been packed in Greece. I, being an ignorant 20-year-old, let them. They unpacked those boxes and piled everything in the middle of the living room floor. That was not the best way for a brand new mom to move into her first house.

Our second move consisted of moving from one rental to another. That one was fun. We did it in the middle of a hurricane. Isn't that fun?

Our third move was wonderful. We bought a townhouse and, since it was only a couple miles from our rent house, we slowly moved into it, over the course of a month.

Our fourth move was organized. I took my time packing, writing down every single thing I packed into the boxes. It definitely made unpacking easier. And, mystified all the guys helping us load the truck. I also got my very pregnant self up in the back of that moving truck and organized it so that everything would fit. You should have seen the way that truck swayed as my father-in-law drove it down the road. Scary!

Our fifth, sixth, and seventh moves are unremarkable, other than to mention that Gary was deployed for the fifth and seventh moves, and I was pregnant for the seventh move. The eighth is hardly worth mentioning, except that it happened one week after Dominic was born, and I was packing boxes within a day of him being born. Plus, Gary, Gabriel and Gary's dad went golfing after the move, and Gabriel hit Gary in the chin with a club, giving Gary another manly scar.

The ninth move was remarkable for three reasons. We moved from Cape Cod, MA to Washington, DC. Gary had to leave before we were ready to move. So, I conceded to allow other people to move us. I could give you a lot of http://www.melrosemoving.com/moving_tips.html”>moving advice about watching movers, making sure you empty the trash can before they get there so that they don't pack the trash, etc, but my movers were outstanding. It's a good thing, because I really don't like having other people move me. I'm too picky. The third, and most significant reason it was remarkable is that we had a blizzard shortly before we moved. That's right folks. We had the worst storm Cape Cod had seen in 25 years, less than three weeks before we moved. That meant that we had to dig our way out to our storage shed through four feet of snow. It meant that we had to dig up our swingset. Good times.

Our tenth, and last, move was a good and bad one. We decided to pack ourselves, and load the goods onto a truck that someone else would drive. I think this was the best solution, so far. We most of the goods all loaded, when my mom called to tell me that they weren't going to let my dad leave the hospital. I promptly dropped everything and got online to get airplane tickets for the boys and I to fly to Oklahoma. That night, while I cried, Gary and I finished loading the truck. We got to the hotel at about 10. The next morning, Gary put the boys and me on a plane bound for Oklahoma. We got there on Saturday morning, and my dad died early Sunday morning. Gary got there on Tuesday, after driving our partial-dity to Kentucky. We called the truck company and asked that they store our goods for a few weeks. We called our realtor and asked that our closing date get pushed back. Everyone bent over backward to help us. When we arrived two weeks later, we closed on our house and moved in. The truck company delivered our goods the next day. It was a trying time, but if we had been driving that moving truck ourselves, it would have been much, much worse.

So, for the record, I would say that we have had pretty good moving stories. We have lost a few things, but that is normal, and none of them have been irreplaceable family heirlooms. We're not done moving. Hopefully, our next move will be to a homestead. Then, we will probably be done. Too bad. My grandmother always said, “Five moves equals a burnout. You should move every five years.” I think I've got some of her wandering blood coursing through me.

This post paid for by Los Angeles Local Movers.  You can call 1-800-431-3920 for a free quote.
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All I Want For Christmas

There are so MANY things I want for Christmas.  I always have a big list, but rarely get anything off of it.  Why IS that?  I would totally get someone something off their list if they would JUST PROVIDE me with one!  In the interest of making sure that everyone gets my list, I'm posting it here, on the world wide web.  So, if you truly love me and want to reward me for all the hard work I do to keep you entertained, have at the list.  Or, if you love someone else, and think they would like to get you something off my list would like to get them something off my list, have at it.  To make it easier for you to decide what to get me, I've arranged things by price.  You should start at the bottom and work your way up.  Enjoy.  Obviously, I will take anything you manage to get used or free.  That just makes it all the better, especially the cow.

Out of fairness and in the interest of full disclosure, I will say, here and now, that I copied some of this list from Safely Gathered In, a blog about preparedness that I love.


Under $20
Everything knitting:
needle protectors
wooden needles- all sizes
wooden round needles- don't need size 4 or 6
wooden double pointed needles- don't need size 7
stitch counters
place markers
etc.
Fuel for our camp stove or grill
water storage containers
spices and herbs (I prefer seeds or plants, since I want to grow some this year)
seeds for the garden
bottles/jars for canning


$20 - 50
Water purifiers
Dutch oven
Grow lights (shop lights would work)


$50-100
Ready-made 72-hour kits
55-gallon drum for water storage
Chicken coop
Chicks  (gift certificate for chicks!)
Cast iron pots and pans

$100-200
Rotating shelf systems (small)
Pressure cooker (large)

$200+
Rotating shelf systems (small to large)
Pressure cooker (huge)

$500+
Generators (for information on these, read a Popular Mechanics article here)
Milk cow (If someone actually gets me this, I will be their slave for a day or two.)

Mother Earth News

is definitely a liberal rag.  A couple days ago, I checked a few Mother Earth News magazines out from the library, fully cognizant of the fact that they are a liberal magazine with an agenda.  After all, I used to read the magazine regularly when I was a liberal 'hippie' mama.  But, they had a couple articles about chickens that I wanted to read.  So, I checked them out.

The first one that I picked up was the December 2008/January 2009 issue.  The editorial was called "Three Mountains We Must Climb."  This editorial mentions three things they think are crucial in making a sustainable world.  The second mountain they mention is (and this is the one that got me) population control.  "We'll have to negotiate some difficult routes through political conflicts to reach the top of this mountain."  Forget the first and third mountains, conservation and economic reform, respectively.  Just think about that second mountain for a few minutes.  The fact that a magazine that is so widely read would actually print that is amazing to me.

Next up, What Happened to Global Warming, which blames the severe weather, colder temperatures, and more snow on global warming.  This is actually a joke of ours in this household.  Anytime it is cold, we blame global warming.  In fact, we pretty much blame everything on global warming.  Too bad they're calling it climate change now, trying to trick us into supporting their legislation, control and price hikes, even though we can all see that global warming isn't happening.

But what amused me, and quite frankly threw me into a tail spin of disbelief was a letter to the magazine.  Here is what it said,

I read the letter in the October/November 2008 "Dear MOTHER" accusing you of having some sort of "liberal-enviro" agenda. I can't recall reading anything in your magazine that didn't refer to gardening, homesteading and country living, etc., so I never considered you a political publication. But if advocating for the protection of the environment, our planet and its inhabitants is "liberal," then I'm proud to be in that category and you can count me among your loyal readers...

Wow! Either that person only reads the recipes and farming advice, or they are so drunk on the Kool-Aid that they can't figure out what a liberal-enviro agenda is.  Geez-Louise, people!  Wake up!  Of course, Mother Earth News has some great information.  That information is available elsewhere, though, without all the liberal, political crud thrown in.