Tornadoes in Massachusetts

There are many things that you think about when you choose where to live.  Certainly there are considerations about jobs, family, education, etc, but often there is part of you that is searching for safety.  When you live in the northeast, you figure that you are fairly safe: major hurricanes only come by every ten years or so, earthquakes are generally minor, forest fires are usually contained, and tornadoes are usually small and rarely affect the population.  We do have winter storms, but they eventually melt.  All and all comparatively, it seems to be a fairly safe place to be until June 1st of this year, when a tornado swept through Western Massachusetts extending from Westfield to Charlton (almost 50 miles).  It was like the tornadoes that you see on the news in the Midwest except the Midwest doesn't have trees like we do.  The devastation was extreme.

Fortunately, this is not my home.  We were very lucky, but the area near our church not so much.  The impact was unbelievable in width, length, and general impact.  Trees look like toothpicks sticking from the ground.  Areas that couldn't see the sky due to a canopy of trees are now bathed in sunlight and blanketed in the night sky.  Houses are covered in blue tarps, split in half, or town completely from their foundations. The cleanup will not be measured in days but more likely months and probably years.

The one amazing portion that I have been blessed to witness is the coming together of a community to help those in need.  I have worked all of last month at the tornado aide center.  The outpouring of support not just from locals but from those that came miles and miles just to help has been incredible.  One night, one of the people asked, "Do you make all this food?  It is delicious."  While I may have wanted to take credit, I was able to say that no, all the food was donated.  We had not had to make anything.

When people wonder if there are still good people on this earth, I know without a doubt that the answer to this question is a resounding, "Yes."  It is a shame sometimes that it takes devastating emergencies to bring us all together, but you can surely know that in a time of need, we can and will come together.  This is one of the great things about people in general and specifically about the USA.  As different as we all are, we truly are all United.

God Bless the USA!  Happy Independence Day!

10 Things to Remember When You Move

1. The adage ,"you can never have enough", is WRONG! Keep in mind with every purchase that you make and every gift that you get, some day you may need to move it. If that doesn’t curb your enthusiasm on the new whatchmacallit, then you haven’t moved enough to truly understand the implications.

2. Furniture is way overrated. The 1st apartment décor of a couple of milk crates takes on a new allure. At least I could have flipped them over and used them to pack things in. (No more solid wood furniture)

3. Hire a mover. They are worth every penny. Instead we are paying with my husband’s back. Two prescriptions and back exercises later, he still isn’t walking quite right.

4. Put the cat in the carrier first thing in the morning. Moving is as tumultuous for animals as it is for humans. The difference is that we can’t hide in small unreachable places. It is very awkward to have to go back to the house after you sold it to try to coax your cat out.

5. Start saving boxesnow even if you don’t have a move planned. It seems to me to be the epitome of waste to buy boxes, plus it is an added expense when every penny counts.

6. Leave one box unopened from every move and then when you move next time it will be like Christmas. We found one such box. My son said, “Mom, why didn’t you tell me we had this?” As if I remembered that I had it from 12 years ago.

7. Don’t pack too early or risk your husband stripping open all of your nicely packed boxes looking for something or the other option is don’t make ham so that he doesn’t need the KitchenAid meat grinder. And in this market, if your house is on the market longer than you expected, you might need your winter jacket again.

8. Label everything. Dear Husband was pleasantly surprised to find the meat grinder neatly labeled in one of the “kitchen” boxes. He apologized for opening the other 15 boxes without reading what was written.

9. Call the people that offered you help. People will offer help and you will nod acceptingly knowing that you would never impose on someone. Note, they are offering because they have moved and done the same thing and have paid the price.

10. Think small. Instead of trying to conserve boxes and fit more in less, fit less in more. Your back will thank you.

11. Reconcider the move.

Reading Challenge 2009 - The Total Money Makeover

I finished #11 of the Reading Challenge 2009 – A book that claims it will make your life better because you read it. I checked out our new library (which by the way is very, very small- we’ll need to work on that) and took out Dave Ramsey’s The Total Money Makeover. In these difficult financial times, it is always a good idea to keep an eye on your finances. I’m sure just like a food diet certain plans work for some and other plans work better for others, but Dave Ramsey has certainly put together a plan that can help anyone on the road to financial success. The most important message in his book is that it is ok to be debt free.




Can you imagine what a different society we would have if the idea spread across our nation? Instead of a nation of spenders, we would have a nation of savers. The sad truth is that even our nation’s capitol now thinks that spending is the answer. Perhaps I should send a copy of this book to our congressmen!

Let me hear from you guys. What part of the challenge have you undertaken?

Picnik your photos

You have got to love teenagers. Today, DD showed me a whole new website on which to manipulate photos. Mind you, her creativity is far better than mine but here is an example of what you can do:

Original Photo


Remastered Photo

Certainly, my changes are not that extreme but you can add mustaches, Santa hats; change photos into drawings or paintings. There are tons of interesting things you can do. Check it out.

I will say that you can perhaps use this if you haven't managed to get your Christmas Cards out and you can even use the excuse that you are trying to go green.

EconomicTimes Require Open Faced Sandwiches

Ok, that is a cute title. We aren’t really forced to eat leftovers due to our economics, but having been inspired by Owlhaven and the economic times I have been looking for more ways to use our leftovers. It is really disgusting to see how much food we threw away. Small countries would probably be thrilled to take our garbage. While we were eating a BOGO (Buy one Get One) Pot Roast the other day, DH said why don’t you make open faced sandwiches with the leftovers. DS said, “A what?” Leftovers have not been our forte. DH practically refuses to eat them, but now that the kids and I are home during the day alone, I have been trying to use dinner leftovers to create our lunches. And so the next day, he found out exactly what an Open faced sandwich was. I shredded the leftover meat, added some gravy, and toasted up some bread. DS added his trademark pepper and declared open faced sandwiches alright in his book. DD liked them too. A few days later, I had left over turkey. I added a half a can of peas and leftover carrots from the same meal, tossed in some gravy, toasted the bread again. Success again. Not only did they both like them. DS ate all the vegetables too.

I would love to hear any other ways that you have made your dollar stretch a little farther.

Perfectly Simple Sunday

Hannah has blown away over night. We lost power from 2 am to sometime very early this morning. As I heard (or I guess technically the lack of sound) the power go out, my first concern was not for weather, the frozen foods, or the damage Hannah could be doing to my house and yard, instead I worried about how I was going to do my hair in the morning for church. But fresh from my license lesson, I convinced myself that even if I did not have a shower in the morning or the ability to curl my hair, I could rise above my vanity and make it to church. Fortunately, I did not really have to do this. Today was a busy day at church, we had to make pancakes for Rally Sunday, I practiced and sang with the choir, and then I gave the children’s sermon. Now this sounds overwhelming, but church brings me peace especially on week’s that we have communion.

When we got home, dh and I worked on his Woodbadge and made prayer cards for the Patrol Boxes of his Boy Scout troop. As he made them, I thought that we could use a set of the prayer cards for our house and they could make great Christmas presents for families with young children. So I had dh make up a couple extras. Then I sewed badges and badges and badges on my kids’ uniforms and on the neighbor’s uniform (Can you believe she was going to bring it to a seamstress? They charge $5.00 a badge.). My poor little thumb is now supersensitive. Sewing made me think of the shopping challenge on Owlhaven and her overall simplistic ideals. The whole day was pretty low stress and simply wonderful. We ended the day with a delicious turkey dinner, rice pilaf, carrots, and applesauce. MMMMM!

What rejuvinates you?

This Economy - Once A Month Cooking

As the kids and I were checking out the local market, we all noticed that friends of ours were posted as delinquent by the cash register. Aggh! They were already forced to move to a rental because their house was repossessed. Could they be in financial trouble again? I called a mutual friend when I got home, who knew the couple better than I. As we’ve been very busy with moving and such, I wondered if I had missed something in their life – had there been a loss of job or illness. Apparently not. The friend was quite distraught for them and I asked if she knew of anyway that we could help, because truthfully many of us are only one job loss, one illness, one major life change away from being in the same boat.

Anyway, the friend noted that she couldn’t think of any problems with the family, other than they spent a great deal of money on eating out. She said that often they were so busy trucking their children here and there and often could not get dinner ready. Both parents work and while this brings in extra cash, it leaves them very short on time. So I thought what if we all got together and tried some Once a Month Cooking. I don’t think we actually have to achieve 30 meals, but even if we could have one or two in the freezer, all of us could be better off. My girl friend thought it was a great idea. So I am supposed to be looking into the idea and how we can save money, work together, and get some great food.

So here is where I turn to you, I need some ideas. Have you done Once A Month Cooking? Have you done it with a group? What have you learned – good and bad? Do you have any favorite recipes? I appreciate any help that you give.

Doing It All or Living an Inspired Life

I can often be hear singing, “I can bring home the bacon, fry it up in the pan, and never, ever let you forget you’re a man – ‘Cause I’m a woman.” I think it is from a perfume commercial when I was young. And yes I can do all these things. I can do it all, but you know what? I prefer not to!

Can I work full-time be a mom, homeschool, volunteer, keep the house, and cook dinner? Yes. Is it best for me? No! In fact, when I was trying to do it all, I emptied myself. My spiritual flame flickered low. I was moving through all the paces, but I was not living. Time was flying by but I didn’t feel like I was really experiencing it. I was clawing at the passing time trying to bring it back or at least mame it so it couldn’t move so fast.

When life changed and I was forced back in balance, my flame started glowing brighter than ever. Ideas began to flow. Time is slowing down to a savorable pace. Everyone is getting what they need from me (except possibly my pocketbook but I am working on that).

So for now, “My husband brings home the bacon, someone in the family (after I go grocery shopping) fries it up in the pan, and I’m awake enough to you feel like a man. ‘Cause I’m a woman (not a robot).”

Needs vs. Wants

It is so easy need things. I need this fancy new knife in my kitchen. I need a new car. I need a new skirt. But are these truly needs? I have knives in my kitchen. My car is still running and perhaps I can get by with my old skirt a bit longer. We are such a society of consumerism that I think we have blurred the lines between these two words, which have very different meanings.

It may be a very interesting experiment to ask your children to write such a list to see what they may put in both categories.

I found it interesting this last Christmas that my daughter was not even clear on the word “want”. Even a want for me requires some ongoing use, otherwise why bother having it at all. When we had gone with Girl Scouts to PineGrove Dude Ranch, my assistant leader and I became a little side tracked at the air hockey table (Ok, the girls would use the word addicted). The girls are old enough to go off on their own, so we gave them strict instructions to stay in the buddy system and to check in with us at certain time intervals. Of course, the check in location was the air hockey table in the lobby. Sherry and I would both be embarrassed to divulge the amount of money we spent in that machine over the course of three days. Our arms actually ached on the way home, but boy did we laugh. My daughter took this as a sign that I wanted and needed an air hockey table. She began her campaign to make sure that I had one for Christmas. Her campaign was not long needed as my father quickly fell into her web. Needless to say, for Christmas I got an air hockey table. My daughter was thrilled, she thought that she had found the perfect gift. I was a bit distressed. I love air hockey and go right to it whenever I find a table in our travels, but truthfully, who needs a 6’ x 3’ (maybe 8’ x 4’ - I don’t know) table in their house. Who has time to play more than just a few times a month even when it is right there under your nose? Boy, can I think of a lot of other items that rank closer to the need side of my list that could have been purchased for that money.

Needs vs. wants not only do they need to be separated, but wants need to prioritized and ranked against what you may give up in order to fulfill your want. Please understand, I am not a monk myself and recently have done my own damage in wants at Lia Sophia jewelry parties. But especially as we are culling through 12 years of living in our home and packing for a move, needs and wants are becoming very important to me (and very heavy too!). So perhaps my family and maybe yours too need to start really thinking about what the difference is.

If you tried the experiment, let us know your results.