Pencil Thin

For the last month I have been trying desperately to potty train my youngest son. He has absolutely no interest in the potty and it seems that I will be buying disposable diapers for the rest of my life. He knows what the potty is and why we use and can tell you all about going to the potty. The problem is that he simply wants to use a diaper. I know the time will come when he is ready but it just can’t seem to come soon enough for me right now!

Did anyone watch the Jon and Kate announcement episode? DH and I have been watching this on occasion when it first started because we just thought the kids were so cute. Sadly.. it quickly became more sad than entertaining. I just think it is so very sad. I hate to see a marriage break up when it is possible to save it. I think there is a lot to be learned from this couple. A man will grow tired of living with a control freak for a wife.. not that this justifies his affair at all. I am disgusted by that as well.. Married men ( or women)should not be out clubbing… married people should know there are situations where temptations will arise.. especially when things are not good at home. I heard Kate say last night that Jon never talks to her.. but he has said during those interviews that he would rather not do the show anymore. He has been stripped of his manhood and treated like a child for years. He allowed it though.. he claims to be a Christian man..and Christian men know they are to be the heads of their home. Another thing that bothers me is that they kept saying they were putting the kids first. I may be in the minority here.. but DH and I have always put our marriage first. The greatest gift parents can give their kids is to love one another. Yes.. they have 8 kids and alone time must be tough.. but please.. they have help.. they had family they isolated. I really wished that the announcement had been that they would quit the show and talk with a pastor about their marriage.. That would have been putting the kids first as they wish.. saving their marriage is what those kids need. I don’t understand how they justify the show by saying we need to provide for the kids. Kids need $2500 crooked houses? Kids need vacations every year? Kids need huge homes? Kids need a mom and dad who love each other. Just my. Oh.. TLC used to be the channel I could turn to when I had a free minute and always find a show that interested me.. not anymore. So sad.

Last week we went out to watch our son perform in a musical. During the course of the show our camera battery died. My father-in-law suggested we get out a camera phone and snap photos with it. When we told him that neither of us owned cellular phones he seemed stunned. There was a time when we both had them but it just doesn’t make sense right now. I keep thinking I would like to have one for the car but haven’t gotten around to doing so. When you work from home it isn’t a requirement to have a cell phone. My husband has a two mile commute to work which hasn’t made having a phone a priority for him either. I can understand why people need or want them but we just haven’t had a need since moving. Maybe in the future we will look into it.

Hubby told me last night that my cabbage will probably be ready in about 2 weeks and I’m getting anxious…………you see….I have about 35 heads that will ready and I need lots of recipes and canning ideas for them. I would really like to use it all up if I can. I am going to make 2 or 3 turns of skraut which will take about 6-7 heads, but I need more ideas.

I also chop it and add to the meat mixture when we have taco, burritos or quesadillas. After the meat has mostly browned, drain it and return to heat then add spices and the cabbage and cook just a few more minutes.

I get rave reviews anytime i serve this as most people can’t believe the secret is cabbage.

If you have more ideas please HELP!

For a very long time I have had fairly yucky skin. By this I mean that I have experienced adult acne. About a month ago I started being very particular about my skin and it seems to have made a real difference. One thing I did was switch to more organic foods. The other thing I did was started washing my face several times a day and using a product that may be similar to Acnetix. These simple things have virtually stopped my acne breakouts. I don’t know how much the organic foods have contributed but it certainly can’t be ruled out as a factor in improving things at this point.

I recently read that linen is supposed to be an very eco-friendly material. What do you think of linen? As much as I want to be eco-friendly there is just something about linen that I can’t get into. For one thing it wrinkles horribly and after a couple hours I am embarrassed to be seen in public. The other thing is that all the linen I have ever worn is very scratchy. Is this true of all linen or just certain kinds. I would love to find a non-wrinkling or scratchy linen if one existed.

If there is one thing I am really sick of right now it is getting forwarded emails. I am so tired of getting political, religious, or just plain silly emails that people blindly forward to everyone in there address book. I don’t have the time nor inclination to open up all of these emails. Send me something useful like a book, product, or financial tool recommendation. Hey, I would even read a Colonix review if it was something that someone I knew actually took the time to write and review. Please don’t just assume that I want to read every single political item that comes into your email account!

I have been spending my free time getting my life in order. A great deal of this involves setting goals. Having a goal makes me feel like I am working towards something that will improve the quality of our lives. My current goals are these:

My short term goals is……….
less stressful
learn that “everyone” can help out around the house
have a more positive attitude

Long term goals are……….
pay off a couple of large bills in 4 months
pay off smaller charge card in 2 months
start putting MORE money back for future and emergencies

I have always enjoyed camping. Now that we have a pop-up camper I must admit I love camping even more. Our camper has heated mattresses which make a huge difference! I will admit they don’t begin to compare to a sleep number bed but I love then all the same. There is nothing like being warm at night instead of shivering on a cold mat on the ground. The children all wake up well rested and not as cranky as they usually do. It just makes the entire trip so much more enjoyable when we get a good night of rest.

I wasn’t sure if this would be better in recipes, but since everyone is on the move so much in the summer, I just put it here. This is our plan for eating on the road during our trip. We will travel for two days before reaching AZ and I have planned:
Three canvas bags full of munchies-
one has pretzel chips, dried peas, popcorn, and crackers
one has dried fruits of all kinds, banana chips, a bar of dark chocolate, etc.
One has a bottle veggie juice, three kinds of trail mix, a loaf of bread, a bag of apples, and cans of tuna.

In the cooler: (a small “playmate”-also doubles as the perfect “sibling buffer” in the backseat and works well with a pillow on top to lean on!)
veggies and hummus, PB & J, precooked tofu cubes, and some homemade burritos that I froze.

If we stop, we will either find a health food store or get some lunch meat for the kids or a yogurt or something, but I think we’ll be fine getting to AZ. We’ll restock from my mom’s house before the next leg of the trip. We are vowing -NO FAST FOOD!

My Mother-in-law has had cancer in the past and has been very healthy since that time. I know the first thing everyone thinks of when they hear cancer is something scary like Mesothelioma cancer and all the associated problems that come with it. She had very early breast cancer and was treated fairly easily. Last night when she was here she mentioned being at the surgeons office but did not say why she was there. This has me concerned but the children were in the room and I didn’t want to inquire as to why she would be consulting with a surgeon. Soon now I need find a tactful way to bring up the topic. Hopefully there is not a new cancer worry.

Our recycling center takes just about all plastics, even styrofoam, metals of all kinds, cardboard, paper, glass, boxes that things come in. Your best bet would be to call your local recycling place and ask exactly what they will take. That is what I did. All of ours has to be bagged, but my SIL’s boxes have to be bound with twine. They are all different. When I called the lady was very nice and told me everything I needed to know. We recycle so much that I turned in our second garbage can for a second recycle can. They thought I was crazy when I did that!