Things that tick me off or I feel prickly

Ok, so if I am really honest here there are actually a lot of things that can really get me upset. Sometimes I don't know why I let it bother me so much. But really, I just don't understand why some people can't just be a little more considerate and pay attention to their own actions. Like this morning I was behind a car waiting to turn left. He chucked an almost full can of coke out the window. It spilled and rolled around on the street. I mean please, can you not just hold onto it until you can throw it away the right way? It's such a small thing is it really too much to ask for? I felt like gunning my engines and ramming the back of his car (which had taped on taillights anyway). But that wouldn't be nice. Then later today an ambulance was approaching from the opposite direction and I immediately pulled over to the side of the road. Some jerk behind me just kept on driving as if nothing was happening. It seems to me that if people can't even be nice, considerate and civil to each other in even the smallest of ways then how can we expect big things to matter. Like being a responsible parent. Yesterday I worked and there was a girl who had a baby and she was trying to decide if she should give him up for adoption or not. The father was apparently being a very uncooperative jerk (surprise, surprise). She already had a toddler at home and she couldn't imagine how she was going to do it alone with two of them. But she really loved her baby and didn't want to let go of him. It was so sad. I can really understand her turmoil because I went through a very similar situation. The thought of handing my baby over to another woman and him calling her "mommy" was too much for me. It is certainly an agonizing decision. So if people could just throw their own trash away and pull over to let an ambulance pass would it be any better? Would all the babies have loving responsible parents?

Self Sufficiency

I am not sure how possible that is with a small house and lot in the inner city. But my goal is to become MORE so. Our garden is not that great this year because we have not had the time to work it. But I plan to build some raised beds and go from there. My dad is going to help me build a portable chicken coop. I have been keeping a compost pile and I need to get more worms. Plus I am trying to squeeze every last drop out of our limited resources. That is just good stewardship. These are some pics of our ghetto garden. Our oranges are about the size of lemons. Last year the grapes got to be large pea size and we're hoping they will get bigger this year. The broccoli is growing well (we planted from seed) and the green beans ain't too shabby either. We did get a late start this year and not a lot of time to work it. But progress is what it's all about.

Too many things to learn...

I love to learn. I really do. Right now I have a list of things I want to learn that is so long I know I will never get to do ALL of them. But the good news is that I truly believe there is more for us in heaven. In other words, God will still have tasks and missions and things for us to learn. It is not just going to be floating around in clouds and singing. Although those things will be nice to do too. So here I am trying this blogging thing again. I want to write about all of my interests that I am exploring and the things I am trying to accomplish. The last few months I have hardly worked (outside the home) at all! YEAH! And I am just starting to get the house under control. By that I mean things are cleaner, more organized and the kids and I have a good routine going. I have several projects I am eager to get started on and now that the above are reasonably tamed I feel like I can tackle other things. It is so exciting. So right now my big effort is to live as frugally as possible. I have always been frugal(even before it was cool). I was taught from an early age to value resourcefulness. So I am trying to make the most of our resources. Plus I get a real thrill out of saving money. And now I want to try to use those skills to make some money too. Here I plan to document the progress of my projects, the things I am learning, the things I am reading about and what I dream about. Maybe you will want to read it and maybe not. That is fine because this is really for me. (These are the super ugly cushions that came with the free wooden couches. I am going to sand a refinish the couches and then find some outdoor fabric to recover the cushions.)