What about those headlines?

 I am here,finally after a very busy week ready to fill you in on all of the headlines I wrote about last posting.I am going to jump to the headline about Sol since someone was so sweet to leave a comment about it.

Sol belongs to an after school program called MESA that is funded by one of the local BIG computer companies. What MESA stands for is still a mystery to me but it is geared to get kids interested in careers in  science and technology.Sol is part of a team and this school year they have spent their time building a windmill that would, if built at a larger scale, create power.Sol's team took their windmill to a statewide science fair and can home with 3 medals for the team.They placed 1st over all for presentation,which means the judges did not have to ask the team any prompt type questions about the windmill,they knew their stuff.They also placed 1st over all for weight lift,I am still not to clear about this one.Something to do with the amount of lift the windmill created when running.Both of those earned the team 2 nd place over all.They only lost to the other team by .004 seconds, that's how serious this was. Sol loves to tinker so the club has been a great match for him and has given him a group of like minded kids to hang out with. 

Now for the new guest/hang out room for only $20.We have an extra room off the garage that used to be my studio space and the "big" pantry.We had a bunch of junk and the large freezer in there too.We have friends coming for a week in July.One of which is a Mama to be,asking her to sleep on the living room floor seemed awful so we cleaned out.We have had this project on our list of "to be done someday" projects so it was all good.We compacted my art things into the tidy shelves I have been wanting them to be, got a free futon and frame from friends and took a load to Goodwill. And,gulp, ummm got rid of our big freezer.We were not using it,it was too big and sucked a ton of power.it was a waste over all.We are going to look for a smaller freezer in the coming weeks that will go into the garage.I have yet to spend my whole $20 budget,so far by moving some things around we have furnished the space nicely.I did buy a set of sheets from Goodwill for the bed.The rest of the money will go for new paint rollers so we can paint the room with some left over paint.It took us three days to clean it out but it  is looking welcoming and like a nice spot to house a soon to be Mama for a week.

It was Issac's birthday weekend this weekend.He had a BBQ on Friday night with a bonfire.The rain rolled in and all 12 kids shoe horned themselves into the new room.They had a great time just hanging out and being social.It was a very low key party just what Issac wanted. Saturday Issac went to a BMX thing called a "Jam".Chance and I went to check it out,I forgot the camera so no pics,sorry.There were about 150 kids and adults on BMX bikes at one of the local parks,riding and hanging out.It was niffty to see Issac doing his thing and to say hello to some of his buddies.The event is a yearly event and this year the organizer hosted a raffle for one of the local riders who has cancer and no insurance.They manged to raise almost $500 for the rider and we personally know when it comes to medical bills every little bit helps.This is not the first time this community has raised money for one of its own who was in need.Just shows you,not everyone hanging out at a skate park is up to no good.

We have planted about half of the garden beds.The rest is waiting until this coming weekend to do.We need to pick up a couple of bags of compost type something to add to the soil in the back big garden,we have run out of our own compost here,bummer. The back garden has been a problem child the last few years.it has this nasty weed called pig weed that just won't go away.We keep adding to the soil hoping it will finally be replenished enough the weeds won't be able to come back.Every year we think it may be gone,plant and then once the plants are 3 inches high the weed grows twice as fast as the veggies,choking things out.If anyone knows how to get rid of pig weed without chemicals or renting a pig let me know.

I have a couple of projects in mind that I am hoping to find time to do soon.One is to smoke some hard boiled eggs.We have plenty of eggs right now so it would be fun to try a different way of eating them.I am also looking at making some fermented black beans which are used in many Asian dishes we love.They take a year and a half or up to two years to ferment but it's about the learning to do it verse time with this project.The beans could end up on my "not worth it" list but hey,you never know.

This has all been newsie bits and not much about homesteading but that's what has been going on here.It seems like so much of what we do here I have already written about and finding something new has just not come along.And honestly some of it seems mundane and very routine to me that I can't imagine all of you being interested.I mean really do you want to know that it has taken us 6 weeks to fill our very small garbage can? I could do a whole posting about how we are able to do that if someone is interested.

Rois

Todays Headlines

I have all of these things to do and wish I had the time to write in depth about them right at this moment but the clock is ticking and the sun is only here for a couple more days.So here it all is as headlines with the full stories behind them coming to you at a later time. (Hopefully sooner than way later.)



How to turn your Studio,Storage room into a guest room with only spending $20.

Compost: It's what those garden beds need.

It's Birthday season here,what to do.

Sol places 2nd in State wide Science Fair.

What in the heck is BMX Jam?

See you  later,got to run run run.....

Rois

Today is a good day with a chance of a sliver lining.

The past four years have been one loooong row of some hard hoeing for us,leaving us tired, worn out and wondering how we are going to make it.We've been living upon a choppy sea of medical ups and downs with Issac, trying to make sure we all stay afloat,trying to avoid sinking and making sure that Sol isn't lost in the chaos that can be life.Recently Chance and I fell overboard and gave into the sea of tears that needed to be cried.Tears of frustration,guilt,worry,a few angry ones and many that just felt good to let come rolling down.
  
    Crying did not change anything but it did recenter us. It helped me let go of some habits I have become a bit O.C.D with over the winter,habits that made me wonder if I was going mad.Not mad,just trying desperately to feel like some part of my life was under control.I had become a bit like those funny cards you see with the 1950's clip art but with some smart mouthed line dubbed over.The smiling housewife dreaming of cocktails or telling her family to make their own damn dinner.Realizing my life was becoming one of those cards was eye opening especially when I remembered the one that hangs on my friends fridge that reads "A clean house is a sign of a wasted life" See, I had been manic when it came to cleaning the house,so not me,but there I was looking for control.I kept thinking if the house is perfect no one will know things are really falling apart. 

   I then realized  I needed to stop and think.It was one of those moments of calm and it was as if the universe was tapping me on the shoulder saying "Wake up,Sleepy head."  I found the universe tapping me again when I read Margaret's postings here and here . The first post left me wondering "Hum? Where did my dreams go? Do I have dreams anymore?" The second left me thinking about the past four years.About the choices we have had to make as a family to do what was right for us.Hard choices, that hid my dreams beneath a mountain of doctor bills.
 
  I have decided to take Margaret's advice and not let go of my dreams,they are a gift to be kept.And the later part of paragraph three of the second posting gave me lots of food for thought.The past four years have been about home,family and getting through but, it dose not have to stay those three things only. I don't have to feel torn (the word Torn is in the title of the book in the second posting and is so perfect to me) and guilty. My conflicting  feelings of wanting to be home to care for my family but needing to work so my family can keep going can make peace with each other.

   I did remember what I was dreaming of and working on fulfilling when all things went to hell.I was working towards a degree in Art Therapy and have probably a year and a half maybe two of schooling to go.I remembered how excited I was to be at school working towards my goal.Excited to be working towards something I am passionate about.Today I start the process of returning to school to make it to my dream. 

    I know I can do it. I have learned so much about myself in the past four years.There is my courage to just keep pushing through it, the other side will come at some point.Through building up our homestead I have learned there are many ways to take charge of your life that enable us to care for ourselves.I have learned that some days you can only do what you can do,as long as I gave it my best its all good. I have learned the mantra "Today is a good day" taken from an ad for the hospital Issac was at.I now know that when my house is spit shine clean I need to stop and look inward,some thing is a miss.


  Have you ever had one of those times when you don't really know why now is the right time but it just is?That's where I am,it is just time to get back to school. I guess letting four years worth of tears roll helped me let go and be ok with all of it. Issac's health will be what it will be and the doctor bills will someday be paid off. Today is a good day and remembering my dreams is the silver lining.