Where O Where are we headed???

If anything gets my mind to "pondering" it has to be....where is our country headed? While I am so not informed enough to really have a political "clue", I do know enough to say if our government doesn't "take the reins" we are in some serious trouble!! Come on, it doesn't take a political genius to understand you cannot spend more than you make and thrive!! We, our country, cannot continue to spend! While I am up here on my soapbox, let me just say we are a country that will pay our "sports" and "movie" stars untold money for our entertainment while there are untold numbers of homeless and helpless in our midst! AND! Yes, guilty as charged.....I love movies and while we do not generally go to the theater we cetainly support those "actors" with plenty of pay-for-view purchases!! As for sports, well other than the PBR, PRC or Nascar I would probably never notice if they disappeared! I have no idea what my perfered athletes are paid, but I do know I've never heard of them "striking" for more money! I've done more "blog-stalking" than I care to admit and I have decided I HAVE to figure out how to thrive with what I have!! I sooooo do not even come close to understanding the phrase "doing without", now I don't have EVERYTHING and I am pretty good at settling, but come on I have more than I could possibly deserve! There is ALWAYS at least a months worth of food in this house, I have more "crafty" projects already bought & paid for than I will probably get done in my lifetime, we have shelves full of books to read and many that I haven't even got to yet, more dvd's than anyone person needs, while my closet lacks fashion I certainly don't have a fear of "nothing to wear" and I am so very blessed with not only a family that would "walk through fire" for me but a community full of caring people and some of the most AWESOME friends a person could ask for! I actually often think of my grandparents.....my dad's parents always worked for farmers, long hard days in the field. I can remember visiting them when they lived on the farm of the people they worked for. Vivid memories of "slopping" the pigs, sleeping on "pallets" with so many quilts you couldn't get up without help and some super good home-cooked meals! My mom's dad....while I don't really remember I think Grandpa worked at a local "smelter" plant.....no idea what that is, I just remember that is what was said. One of the most treasured memories I have of this set of grandparents is they ALWAYS had STORE bought cookies, they traveled all the way to Borger to buy groceries and my"Granny" always told me to..."careful be". My dad's parents were Pa & Granny......my Mom's parents were Granpa Graves and Granny. Just thinking about them makes me sad, how they would've loved to see their great-grandkids all grown up and that great-great grand daughter Miss Tenley!! The legecy they left.....from my dad's family? HARD WORK....giving up addictions to the best of your ability (my "Pa" had an addiction to the " botttle") and loving to the very end. My mom's parents? Also giving up addictions, again My Granpa had an addiction to the "b0ttle", the love of GOD and some sweet sweet love from my "Granny".......she had such a "quirky" love of not only life but all the family! I only wish I had her silly "wit" and love for life!! For now, I commit to living a "simpler" life.......to the best of my ability....give in less & less to the to PULLS of this out of control world I am having to life in.....give in more to the simpler ways of live that are my hertiage!! I have already started.....to the "simpler" life....while I bought the baking dishes I did use the items I had on-hand to etch the glass for some wedding shower gifts....I used some material I had to make a fabric "stuffed" cross to give-away at the quilting guild I recently joined, I used the fabric I already had (okay, I have to admit I did buy "special" ribbon") to make the tag "lovie" I made for Tenley......I have the supplies to make some baking mix, cookies, cornbread mix, and white sauce mix to add to our "supply" and I've got a flat of 48 seedlings with another 48 ready to get started for our summer garden! Good news, all the seeds I have planted have sprouted.....time willl tell if they survive long enough to be transplanted! I sure hope they do because this will save me ALOT of money!!!! I also hope that this year my life will leave me alone enough to actually put up aka.....can, freeze, dehydrate enough supplies to make me at least feel worthty of my heritage!!!! If anyone is actually reading this I sure could use some extra prayers as I am having some health issues.......mostly not enough iron due to the WoNdErFuL "change-of-life"!!!!! How I pray God will allow me to go through this without the need for any surgery!!! How I pray God will allow me to make this transition without the need for surgery!! For today? Good day at work, even with State inspectors making it much more hectic! Finished one wedding shower gift, "lovie" for Miss Tenley, and gift for quilting guild......not bad!!! Goal? I will post more in depth posts about crafts and "stockin' up"! Who knows, maybe I will even get some in depth posts on crafting or stockin' up ideas!

Stockin' up!

Been reading some really awesome blogs lately....mostly about how to become more self sufficient. That's not the easiest thing to accomplish not only because we live within the "city-limits" but also because we have lived such a "gotta-have-it-now" generation!!! So, anyway back to the stockin' up...hubby & I went to the "city" (which means we had to travel 100 miles to the nearest place large enough to have any amount of stores to actually shop at) and stocked up! Stockin' up several years ago meant buying enough groceries to get us through a whole month, but in light of where our country seems to be headed it now means "stockin' up" on some real basics. Today we stocked up on flour, sugar, pinto beans and rice. Just as a little side note....I am praying to our great God that I will not have to survive on only these items, but if we do? Well, we are now stocked up...or at least as much as I know how. I mean.....when hubby asked me how much flour, sugar, bean and rice would it take for us to get through a year? All I could really do was take a "stab in the dark"! We've lived our entire 40+ years with EVERYTHING at our fingertips, sure throughout the years there have been spikes and extreme lows, but never has there been a time where any items where not available to us! I don't know about the general population, but with the rise in commodities, I do fear a shortage.....or at least prices to spike so high we simply cannot afford it or even our local stores not handling those items. Hubby & I both have great paying jobs and can handle a spike in rising energy costs....to some extent anyway, but what will we do when it is everything? Lights, heat, gas for cars, down to the basics of life meaning foo? Not so sure we can handle EVERYTHING! So...we've decided to stockpile, cut back and make due to the very best of our capabilities. So...I've decided to make due with what we have as much as I can. Kinda like the "Chose to Thrive" blog I follow. Instead of running out and buying something...look around, is there something you have that you can make work or something you can re purpose? Just this last weekend found I can re purpose coffee cans (the plastic type) to storage containers for my dried goods, with the help of some shelf paper, a awesome Christmas gift of a "Cricut" and a small amount of time I made a storage container for pinto beans and rice!!!
What happens when we see such a rise in energy costs that it affects the amount of family budget for food? Our electric bill for the month of December was almost $500! Yup, I said almost $500....$483.29 to EXACT! HOLY COW!!!! I almost had a heart attack....I mean COME ON!......our house is over 2,000 sq ft, but REALLY??????? Anyway....hubby & I got to talking about what it would take to survive a whole year without the ability or resources to purchase the basic foods. We are so not there.....but, after today? Well, let's just say we've made a dent in what it will take!