Becca_Anne

Mornin' ya'll! Today looks to be a regular ol' day with nothing exciting planned. We've had glorious sunshine the past couple of days but today is supposed to be cloudy. I sure 'nuff like that sunshine! I haven't been able to do any extra work outside because other things keep getting in the way. Pooh. I am still working on the details of the homeschool co-op registrationa and class schedule. My son and I are staying busy with his homeschool studies. Good news! My older son came home yesterday and said that Maryville College is interested in him playing football for them. They do not have a winning football program but we are looking at all avenues of paying for college. A football scholarship would be great. He has a very high IQ and is very level headed. No sense in wasting that brain! He needs a degree. Poor hubby is dead meat. He's supposed to be off today but has 5 court cases this afternoon. So much for time off. He is taking vacation days on Saturday and Sunday so he can take the boys on a juvenile deer hunt. This will be the last juvenile hunt the older son will participate in since he'll turn 17 in Feb. The younger ds has basketball practice again tonight. Hope everyone has a great day! mommafitz

This will be my last "free" Wed. until Easter. The next two Wed. are regisitration days for our homeschool co-op enrichment classes. The classes will run consecutively after that for 10 weeks. I'm not teaching this semester because it was a little much to handle the business side of the co-op and teach last semester. I worked yesterday on preparation for both registration days. I'll be busy today also. I've decided that I have only been caught up with laundry once in the past 17 years. That was a year and a half ago when I did umpteen loads at the laundromat because my washer was on the brink! Laundry is a neverending chore. So I get to do that again today. Yee Haw. I'm sooooooo excited. Here's a wish that everyone enjoy their day whatever thay must do! mommafitz

I'm looking to pick your brains about anything you know about container gardening. Maybe you know what does and doesn't do good in a container. What type containers are recommended? Is there a particular type of seed/plant that is hardier than another if grown in containers? We are just starting our research about this and I know there's a lot of info on the internet but I'm looking for personal experiences. Thanks for your suggestions! mommafitz

Mornin'! It's me again. I don't think anyone ever gets on here early anymore. I'm always talking to myself. Oh well. It cuts down on arguments that way! ......snicker...... My plans for the day are simple. We'll do our schooling, laundry as usual, and maybe get started on some research. Since we will be moving and don't know if we will be able to plant a garden, the younger ds and I are collecting info on container gardening. I couldn't find anything at the library yesterday so we are going to print info from the internet and make our own folder. Also, I want him to do a science fair project. That will keep him busy for a while if he does it correctly. Supper will be pork chops. That's all I know. I don't even know how I'm gonna cook 'em. Hmmmmmmmmm........I think I'll make some homemade bread. Don't be too impressed with that cuz I can only do it with my wonderful bread machine! This is a hope that we all enjoy our day!!!! mommafitz

My trip to the library was not as productive as I'd hoped. I had to get "Cheaper by the Dozen" and "Cold Mountain" as audio recordings. We found "THe Westing Game" and "Surviving the Applewhites" for my son. None of the Atkins books were there nor the Da Vinci Code. I did find the Reader's Digest Book "Back to Basics". I thought I'd just look through it. It reminds me of my Foxfire books. I also got a book called "The Organized Parent". I don't know if it is aimed at the newer parent or not but surely there will be something of value in it for moi! We also checked out the 6 videos of "Ivanhoe". My son is interested! WooHoo! Kewl, huh? Happy book hunting!!! mommafitz

Good mornin'! I thought I'd start our daily thread while I'm eating my cold cereal. I'm dressed and ready to go to town. School is an hour late becasue we still have some ice/snow covered roads in our very rural county. Hubby is very hard to wake up. I'm still trying to get him up. It was his idea to leave by 8am this morning. The plan is to get done in town and be home before lunch. That way he can lay down for a couple of hours before he has to get ready for work. While we do our homeschooling today, I've got a list of storage companies to call. I need to find out sizes and prices so we can start moving some of our stuff out. My husband said not to put anything of monetary value in one becasue they get broken into all the time. It's sad to say but we don't have very many things of monetary value! Also, I have some letters to write and I'm going to call my boss and let her know I am available to work more hours. I've got the regular household chores too. I've got loads of laundry to fold. I'm trying to keep up with it. I don't know how we do so much dirty clothes! Good grief!! I hope everyone has a wonderful and productive day! I know I'm going to try to!!! mommafitz

westie, I have tried to read "Atlas Shrugged" a couple of different times and just can't get into it. Thanks for the sugestion tho! I forgot to mention that our library offers the card catalog over the internet. When i find a book I want to read I'll check here at home to see if our library has it. The access doesn't have the info if the book is checked out or not. When I use the card catalog computer there, it will show if the book/video/audio is checked out and when it is due. Isn't that cool? Maybe everybody does this I don't know. I just love it!

How horrible!! This would be a nightmare!!!! mommafitz

Howdy! Glorious sunshine is coming through the windows this mornin'. It still nippy outside. We're having homemade chili for supper today. I've had pintos soaking overnight and I'm fixin' to put 'em on to cook. I'm not sure what we will do today. My husband is off from work so who knows what he'll wanna do. Hunting or fishing maybe. I was dead meat last night after I got home from work. I had a days worth of chores to do after a full day of work. I sit on my butt most of the time but it can be stressful mentally. Anyway, I'm going to talk to my supervisor about working 2 more days during the week. We are so strapped financially we are barely surviving. I will have to continue with my homeschooling responsibilities here at home and with our support group. Since my husband doesn't do anything here at home, I'll probably go bonkers! So what's everybody else doing today?

Okay, I have planned for my younger DS and myself to have some library time tomorrow (Monday) while hubby takes care of some work related business . Here's my list so far: Cheaper by the Dozen -Gilbreath The Da Vinci Code -Dan Brown The Westing Game -Raskin Surviving the Applewhites -Talan The Atkins Diet Cold Mountain -Charles Frazier This list includes some books for my son. We'll also just browse the shelves and look for some interesting nonfiction books like decorating and crafts for mom and anything for homeschooling like science projects, history, or crafts. I'll also look at the videos-educational and otherwise! I like looking at the section of new arrivals. I find great fiction there. We might get some snowy, icy weather again Monday and Wednesday. It will be a great time to look at our books! I plan on getting so many that I'm taking 2 book bags!!! (Last year I read the James Herriot books and enjoyed them so much I bought them used! )

Thanks Mare! I'll check all this suggestions. I'm familiar with Fern Micheals. She's okay. It's been a while since i read her stuff. Thanks!!!!!!!!

Frank Peretti is not my normal reading but I am enjoying it. It makes you see things in a different light. i have taken to rereading some of my favorite Stephen King books. I bought a book off ebay............."The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer". It goes with a miniseries King did for tv call Rose Red. It is a great read. Spooky. Fiction of course. I also like the Hamish Macbeth books but I haven't seen any new ones in a while. i have some of them that I will be rereading, too. I like the books that are written by southern writers that use the south as the settings. I've mentioned a few here in the past. Last winter I read the Clan of the Cave Bear series. I liked the first one best. I tried the Left Behind series but I got tired too. Most of the authors on your list have works that I've read. I'm not familiar with The Lion's Game. Hmmmmmmm...Gotta check it out! Thanks for helping. mommafitz

I am looking for a list of books to read. I will be making a treck to our local library and hopefully the used bookstore within the next week or so. I love to read books that people have recommended. Get your thinking caps on please! I'm partial to mysteries, some romance, and also nonfiction books. I have the Divinci Code as number one on my list. I am reading a Frank Peretti book. I'm reading a Ziggy book from the library. I like to have 2 or 3 books going at once. Is that wierd? Thanks, mommafitz

Thanks guys and gals! Anymore ideas out there? I read that old towels can be cut to the size of wash cloths and hemmed. Voila! more washcloths. I am thinking of doing this cuz I have some towels that I noticed are in bad shape. It is amazing how many wash cloths we dirty up in a few days.

Great weallth of information Hill! Thanks! I printed this out to have handy. mommafitz

I thought I'd get our daily thread started for today. I hope everyone's week has gone well as can be expected so far. Since we have returned to school, I don't have enough hours in the day. Studies take up lots of our time. It has been soo cold for Tennessee. Yesterday morning it was 8 degrees at 8 am. It gradually warmed up to 24 and we almost felt warm enough to run around nekked in the front yard. Luckily, our sane side of the brain was in control and we didn't do that! A little snow is in the forecast for Friday.......... Yesterday we had yummy potato soup for supper. Today we'll have chicken pattie sammiches and homemade french fries. Hope everyone has a productive day (stressing the "productive" part for me! ) mommafitz

I haven't read this yet. My interest is peaked so I plan to find this either at the library (if they have it) or at the used bookstore that I love. Hopefully withnin a week or so I'll have it...............

Welcome! I brought napkins cuz this bunch seems to be messy during these little parties. You oughta see the big parties! Sheesh! We have to change the vaccuum bags twice before we can get everything cleaned! (I hate cleaning!) mommafitz

Welcome! Sorry I'm late with my welcome.......sometimes I'm outa sorts! I have 2 sons (12 and 16) and have been married 19 years. Jump on in and visit. I like your name. Kewl. mommafitz

P, I'll be thinking about this today. What about canned fish--tuna, salmon, mackeral? Those are good for ya and can be found cheaply. I saw some canned sausage once but it looked kinda unappetizing. How about those $2 canned hams from the Dollar General Store? Spam or Treet is another canned food. These could be used in a pinch until you could purchase fresh stuff. There's also canned chicken - like tuna. Just go down the canned soup, vegs, and meat isle at a cheap grocery store. That's how I'd start. Also, remember that peanut butter is a great protein. Graham crackers and saltines keep well. Canned fruits would be a must. Anyway, I'll see what I can come up with today............ Your adventure sounds very appealing to me considering the mess my life is in right now. We are blessed with the fact that my husband has a job, though. Good luck. Lisa

Howdy! Yep, it's kinda like a Monday at our house. Older DS has gone to school and younger is getting ready to start here at home. I did do some clearing up in the School Zone (our homeschool area) but I've only touched the tip for what I want done. We will be able to work in there today. It is very cold for us. The high today will be in the low 30s with single digits tonight here on the mountain. I realize that is better than the negative numbers but it's cold for us! Maybe a little snow for the end of the week........ I'm gonna fix a chicken casserole for supper. Using the oven will help warm the house. Hope everybody has a great day! Lisa

Your family and property sounds wonderful! Good luck with the new bebe! mommafitz

Lois, that sounds like a good idea. There are problems with that however. The bank or mortgage company or whoever it is is in Nashville. That's west of our little town by about 2 hours. I am under the impression they would prefer to sell than to keep this house as a rental. Also, we are not really in a position to buy. No money and all that. If we buy a place, we don't want this one. Too many unhappy memories are tied here. This is the house where I grew up. We had the original loan paid down to only owing $4000 when they decided to refinance. Now who knows how much they financed it for. This has not been disclosed to us and I don't want to know. The house payment increased by $300 per month. Gasp! We were told approximately 2 weeks before the payment was due. We still have to pay for any upkeep needed, the property taxes, and the house insurance. It has really hurt us. The kicker is that I have to send the money for the payment to them instead of the bank. Who knows if the money is making it to the bank or if it being saved for them to purchase another piece of property? Questions, Questions, Questions........ This house is in very poor shape. It is a cheaply built 1970's FHA ranch house. We were starting to do some remodeling 2 years ago when all H*** broke lose with the family. That's when I lost my job with my dad after 14 years and our world changed forever. I think we need to get away from here. My heart has been thru too much pain. I found out that the property my dad and the she-monster were looking to purchase was not large enough. It was a mobile home on 1 1/2 acres. They were to pay $3000 down payment and the owner was going to finance. They are back to looking once again. On a selfish note, this is good news. That buys us a little more time to find something. mommafitz

Okay folks. Please put on your thinking caps. I am interested in your special ideas to help with stretching dollars. This time of the year when resolutions are being made, losing weight and sticking to a budget seem to be the most common. Since stress is helping me with the weight loss ( This will serve 2 purposes. Getting rid of excess and saving $ from the grocery bill.) It is very costly to move.I don't want to be caught completely unprepared. For some reason, our water bill is $88 this month. We have no leaks. We don't waste water. I know our water dept has increased their rates but this is ridiculous. It is $20-25 more than usual. It wasn't that high when I had my goats and other dogs. We are now down to 3 dogs and 2 cats. Any ideas how I can get my family to help bring that cost down? I fuss about no long showers. We do not let the water run while we brush our teeth. The outside faucet is no longer being used so we know there is no drip. any more ideas? I spend the bare minimum at the grocery. I shop at our Sav-A-Lot and save gobs. We're friends with the owners so I'd shop there if I was rich! So let's get the ball rolling. I'm sure everyone has some frugal ideas to share.................

Grace, I did get it. I was so impressed with the personalization. great idea! lisa