Bring on 2010!

When I started this blog, my husband had been unemployed for a few months and I was finding it heartening to try and do as much from scratch as possible to stretch our shaky finances.

Now it's almost one year later. Hubby is still unemployed. Our finances are shakier. And yet... we are surviving. For one thing, Hubby was able to get a contract job for a few months which added back in some much-needed $$$. He and I have both been taking freelance jobs whenever possible (print brokering for him; light graphic design for me). He's put his head shots and CV on a couple of casting sites and picked up some acting jobs. I've begun selling hairclips and jewelry at boutiques and craft fairs (www.lillarose.biz/pam). We are making it.

Christmas was fine. It was smaller, but we made it more fun by drawing names to give out stocking presents (instead of Mama buying everything). It meant more out of our kids' pockets, but they had such a good time planning and shopping! Christmas morning was much more fun as we opened our stockings and found a wind chime for me and a mushroom scrubber for Hubby, LOL!

This new year brings uncertainty as to finances, but a firm realization that as a family we can pull through. I've become extremely creative at making dinner out of almost anything. Tonight is calzones using leftover sausage! I'll post some recipes this month of some of our favorites (the spicy seafood tortilla soup on New Year's Eve was a big hit).

Happy New Year!

It's Christmas!

Oh Christmas Tree... Oh Christmas Tree! This is our very first plastic tree. Every year we trek around to tree lots for the perfect Noble Fir, but this year is different. Money is scarce, but our ornaments are plentiful. We sat down as a family and agreed that a 4 foot fake tree was better than nothing (although my teenager is still dissenting).

It's hard to make out individual ornaments in this picture, but some highlights include the rocking horse my friend Janet made me in 1977; the seashell snowman made by Jack's friend Kanji about five years ago; the little butterfly and pig ornaments colored on one side by my mother and one side by my 3-year-old hands; and the jewel and shell encrusted ornaments my grandmother labored over and sold in order to make ends meet for her growing family.

There is no way we could eliminate a tree at our house. The tree skirt given to us by a friend...the funky folk art Santa sitting on the moon as our topper... the shiny Santas in various vehicles (well, we do have boys). You can see the hot air balloon on the right just under the white paper plate angel made by Steve when he was in preschool. That's a favorite of ours!

Best of all, it only took two strings of light to fully illuminate the tree and I could spin it around while I decorated! Lovely.

Ho Ho Ho!!!

The Christmas spirit is alive and well at our house! Even reduced circumstances can't take away from the joy we have in Christ's birth. One of the ways we celebrate is with presents (it's a birthday party, right?), so I've definitely done some shopping. A really neat thing this year is my 12-year-old son who has completely embraced the consumer spirit of Christmas and is doing all is own shopping, even hopping on his bike and hitting Wal-Mart on his own.

This is a big deal to me because we live in a very urban area dominated by SUV's driven by idiots on cell phones. We've gone through all the road safety rules a million times, but ultimately I have to send my child out and pray for him while he's gone. What keeps me going is the knowledge that God had to send out His own son to cope with the idiots on earth. My child isn't divine, but some day he'll live eternally with Jesus, and that is the best Christmas gift of all.

It's a Charlie Brown Christmas Tree!

Well, not quite. This year we haven't got one spare dime for "extras" at Christmas, so we broke down and bought an artificial tree on ebay. None of us are thrilled, but the kind of tree we'd want fresh would cost well in excess of $65. We got the fake one for about $20. It's not great, but we'll be able to hang our ornaments.

Getting any tree at all is a sacrifice this season, but our ornaments are an integral part of our family's Christmas. Our history is on that tree -- no fancy ribbons and themed colors for us, our tree contains hand-made ornaments from various family members and friends. I have the clay rocking horse my friend Janet made me in 1977; Jack has the shell snowman made by his scout buddy, Kanji; we have the exquisite shell-encrusted balls made decades ago by my paternal grandmother... these people are no longer in our daily lives, but they were important to us. Their presence and memories are reinforced when we place their treasures on our tree. My favorites are the pig and butterfly ornaments colored on one side by my mother, and scribbled on the other by me at age three.

In addition we have shiny happy ornaments that we've picked up on various vacations. I also buy the boys a new ornament every year that represents something that they love in their lives. One day they'll get married, and I'll box up their ornaments and make a very precious wedding gift to my sons and their wives. They'll start their own traditions with some that they already love.

Trying to get regular...

And no, I'm not taking more fiber! Life has been somewhat chaotic here this semester with Jack taking two out-of-the-house classes in two different cities. Both classes/teachers are excellent, but I'm doing a TON of driving and our homeschooling has a very different look this year.

I keep thinking back to the pioneers and how they'd walk or ride five or six miles (or more) to visit a neighbor. It keeps me from complaining about the 40 mile round-trip commute twice a week, that's for sure. Of course, their fuel was growing alongside the road while I'm utilizing carbon-based fossil fuels that pollute the environment.

Along that note, it was time to get the old covered wagon overhauled. The "check engine" and "brake" lights have been flashing, so the car was trying to tell me something. I knew my rear brakes needed attention, and had been told by my tire dealer that the rear shocks were worn and needed to be replaced, so I figured it was easy to kill two birds with one stone and do everything at once.

Much to my very happy surprise, my mechanic said the shocks were fine for several thousand more miles, the engine light flashed on at a routine mileage point (he checked all that out), and yes, the brakes needed replacing. Total cost: $250 instead of the close to $600 I thought it was going to be! I LOVE MY MECHANIC. Note to self: don't let the tire dealer anywhere near my car for repairs, just tires.

Autumn is Here!

Hooooraaaaaaaay! I am DELIGHTED to see the arrival of autumn. It is my favorite time of year. I love the colors, and have adopted the fall palate for the interior of my home year 'round, too. Usually I grow pumpkins during the summer so I'll have some fresh gourds on the vine for the back yard, but this summer was too busy with a new business and a new family pet. Instead I bought a couple and incorporated them into my small space decor.

I used what I had: some little mums that I've been cutting back, and dried pampas. I bought the succulents because I just loved the color and the texture of the leaves. Everything here is bunny-safe, as it's sitting on my potting bench in a little arrangement. I forgot that boys can pick up bunnies and put them anywhere... There's Babbitt, playing hide-and-seek amongst the flowers! He's a little grubby, but cleaned up well.

In a small space a little goes a long way. Just two pumpkins + four succulents and the mums I already had made a nice tableau on the potting bench. Elsewhere I have some isolated spots of color along with a ton of green. For some reason everything else in the garden has just taken off lately; I guess it's the cooler weather.

Another fun thing is that the tomato plants seeded themselves and now there are five or six little plants trying to establish themselves. I replanted a couple so they'd have more room and sun, and made a note to NEVER let Babbitt run around the back yard on his own. Instead we bought a pen that we put out front on the grass so he can run around, stretch, and nibble. He is quite the neighborhood attraction!

Back to School!

I can't believe it's been so long since I posted. However, taking a break before the madness of the new school year was necessary and happy! Now I'm back to normal; ready to rock and roll.

The garden is in a different place now. I had to rip out the tomatoes and oleander to accommodate the bunny (whose name has evolved to "Babbit"). We've been learning which things are poisonous to him and getting surprised. For instance, the little peach tree I planted last year with such high hopes has bark that is toxic to bunnies. I may have to pull it out, which depresses me. It underperformed last year, but I've been hoping it would root well and do better this coming year. Not sure what I'm going to do about that.

In the meantime, Babbit does well on his leash (yes, a harness and leash for the bunny), and hops around out front on the grass, where he also snacks.

The pioneer spirit is alive and well as I move into the holiday gift-giving season with my hairclips. I've been working swap meets and crafts shows, peddling, peddling, peddling. It seems to be working and I'm making some money! For a great Christmas gift for your long-haired loved ones, go to http://www.lillarose.biz/pam