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themartianchick

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Everything posted by themartianchick

  1. I didn't realize that Trip was writing, too! I will have to seek his books out on Amazon.
  2. From what I have read... Things are going well and her husband is okay right now. It hasn't been an easy road for any of them, but they are made of strong stuff!
  3. She is doing pretty well now, Virginia. She has a few books out. The one called Cancer Dance told the story of her family's battle with her husband's cancer. There is another one called Easter Chicks that I've never read and Almost Invisible is an end of the world type of story from an unusual perspective that is generally never considered. She has written a lot of homesteading articles on the Homestead.org site but the first one that I ever read was about homestead haircuts! As a former cosmetologist with very little haircutting experience, I found her descriptions hilarious!
  4. For those that remember LunaMother aka Sheri Dixon, I wanted to share the link to her new novel, American Evolution. I ordered my copy on Saturday and plan to read it tonight. Sheri is a talented writer and she always takes an alternative (and sometimes comedic view) of serious situations. Sheri is the reason that I first visited MrsSurvival.com a few years ago, when I followed her here from the Homestead.org site. http://www.amazon.com/American-Evolution-ebook/dp/B00BT6O4WE/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1364680855&sr=8-10&keywords=sheri+dixon Here is the description from Amazon: An 'End of America' story for those whose rose-colored glasses have been shattered, but who refuse to hide behind the barrel of a gun. If you realize that the coming collapse will be more about pulling together and community than everyone becoming zombie road warriors, this is your story. If you know that the world can be a dangerous place and that people can do awful things to each other, but believe that good people do NOT become bad people under stress, but are more likely to become heroes, this is your story. If you've been smacked down by abuse, poverty, discrimination, addiction, violence of all nature and have come out the other side stronger but not callous, even more compassionate than before, this is your story. If you believe in a better America for everyone- not just the powerful and mighty, but also the small and insignificant, and that this can be accomplished by ordinary people who are willing to fight without violence and be courageous in the face of adversity, this is the story I've written.
  5. Good advice, Momo! How is it that you happened to get the refunds? Was it a class action suit or something else?
  6. While so much of this has fallen on you in the past, I am so glad that you don't have to deal with this completely alone. You sound strong...So much stronger than you did before. Mini-meltdowns are natural. This is a trying time for you and for so many reasons. I will definitely keep you in my prayers... God bless!
  7. Lumabean, my husband and I are often found on opposite sides of issues. Over the years, he's gotten me to see his side and I've inflicted my opinion on him. I think that the middle area is probably where "reasonable" resides. That being said, I asked his opinion of this... He feels that it would be wrong for this law to be passed. When I asked him about his rationale, he said, 'What if you were accused of child abuse and you were innocent?' It might be hard to undo the damage. He also said that he didn't think that a kid would necessarily open up to someone that he'd just met. 'What kind of questions would they be asking?' I assumed that the questions would be rather generic in nature. General conversation about sports, favorite subjects, names of pets, favorite doll, etc... He brought up the point that they might ask a child leading questions in an attempt to implicate the parents. I then asked him to compare two homeschooling families that we know. One family is the type where the kids are enrolled in all sorts of activities through their church-based homeschooling organization. For the extra-curricular things like band and sports, they participate in groups that include a mix of homeschooled and non-homeschooled kids. The other family is one where the father is a rather quiet alcoholic and the mother is deeply religious. She is so religious that she had determined that no local church can meet their needs. Her God is vengeful and doesn't seem to have any compassion at all. She doesn't allow the kids to feel pride over anything that they do and always tells them that they are being sinful. She has shut the children's grandparents out of their lives for years at a time, because she believes that their own highly religious view/interpretation of God is wrong. They believe that God has love and compassion for people and are deeply hurt by the fact that they cannot see their grandchildren. At one point, the family moved to ensure that there was no contact with the grandparents.The kids cannot belong to any outside groups for longer than about 2 weeks before the mother accuses the program of being corrupt in some way. The kids are allowed to have no friends because other parents are not so fanatical (yes.. I did use that word!) These kids are completely isolated. Who would they be able to turn to if there was abuse going on in that home? Do we suspect that there might be some abuse going on in that house? That's hard to say...there probably is quite a bit of psychological abuse. We don't know if there is physical abuse. I think that the ideas being proposed in Pennsylvania might give these children an opportunity to speak up. There'd finally be someone around to listen. While NY has grandparent visitation rights that can be won in court, they don't extend outside of the state if the grandkids move away.
  8. Mommato3 boys is such a cheapskate that she washes her aluminum foil in the washing machine and dries it with the towels so that she can reuse it later to bake potatoes in. The potato skins are saved and carefully flattened to make writing paper for her children. She stays up until the wee hours with a ruler and a ballpoint pen carefully etching lines and a margin on each skin so that her youngest will grow to have the best penmanship in his homeschool class! See? I can crazy you up a bit!
  9. Ask Violet...She is our resident canning expert. However, if any of that residue came from a milk or cream-based food, then it is definitely not safe!
  10. I think that the point of this legislation is to provide some outlet for an abused child to speak out. School teachers are mandatory reporters and get to see their students every day to know if they have bruises on them (as an example). Some homeschooled kids don't come into contact with people outside of their family. While I'd like to believe that children live in safe environments and with people that will not abuse them, I do know that it is not always the case. If the family is particularly controlling, then the child may never have a chance at getting help. I don't think that this was meant to be an intrusion, but a safety measure for children that might be unable to advocate for themselves.
  11. I'm not crazy, but I can play crazy on television. Let's see... My family no longer buys expensive breakfast cereal. Instead we clean out the dryer vent and pour milk on it for breakfast. It has plenty of fiber! We don't actually wash dishes. We stack them up on the counter and then add hot water to make soup for dinner. Soup is a yummy and nutritious meal! We walk everyplace that we go. I sent my hubby out to look for spare change along the side of the road in 1998 and he hasn't gotten back yet. I've heard the neighbors snickering about him running away from my cheap-o ways, but it absolutely isn't true. He just doesn't want to come home without enough money to buy that screw that I lost long ago!
  12. Awww...come on!!! Dontcha wanna be FAMOUS for being CRAZY?
  13. I received an email through my website last night from a casting director for TLC. They are looking for individuals, couples or families to appear on the 2nd season of the Extreme Cheapskates TV Show to demonstrate their frugal ways. I've never watched the show but feel the need to caution anyone that might be interested. I would assume that it is one of those shows that tries to make frugal people look somewhat silly. As it was, I could imagine them thinking that I was odd for re-using laundry lint as a firestarter. At any rate... I thought that I'd pass the word along in case any of you are interested. Rather than post the contact information here, I will forward it to anyone that sends me a private message. I am nowhere near a true cheapskate, but I assume that TLC found me due to the large number of frugal-minded folks that follow me on Twitter for homesteading and emergency preparedness info.
  14. I don't see any roots yet, Philbe! I may be able to just let them grow in tap water. The other one was just placed in the water two days ago, but I haven't seen much happening with it yet. I just sliced off a thin layer of the stump at the bottom to ensure that the plant would be able to draw water. I just tweeted this photo out and it got a lot of attention from my followers. In my mind, I am envisioning a low trough with a couple of rows of these stumps growing new heads of lettuce... especially in the winter. If this works, then I might never have to buy romaine again. I have three more heads in the fridge and plan to do the same with them when we're done eating the lettuce.
  15. Awww... I have just got to get another dog!
  16. To answer the original question...Nope! We still have a couple of mortgages on rentals to pay off. No car note, though.
  17. The romaine lettuce has grown about an inch since I placed it in the window. Not enough for a sandwich and only the center portion is growing. I will try to remember to post a photo.
  18. What a nice story! I'll bet that a experience like that will resonate with a lot of the children that got to pet the lamb.
  19. I stuck the bottom bit of some romaine lettuce in a dish of water to see if it would continue to grow... We shall see, as it's only been three days.
  20. Praying for a speedy recovery, Sue...And seconding that your hubby will need to actively advocate for you with the medical personnel. (That means to lie back and allow him to take care of you!)
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