Aren't my elflings beautiful?

At least I think they are. Of course, I am a little prejudiced in their favor!

Posted by drgnflymom

Been a while...

Almost a month, since I posted. Time does fly by! Not too much to update here... I am still working, hopefully not for too much longer. My boss keeps saying "We really need you" and then he gives me totally minimal hours. This results in not much money, so little in fact that we had to ask for public assistance on our past-due PG&E account. Thankfully, HEAP (Home Energy Assistance Program) helped out by paying our entire bill. I am not happy about using any form of welfare if we can avoid it, but it did really help us out.

I am trying hard to minimize spending these days, thinking of creative ways to use leftovers, to spend less on odds and ends, etc. I am also trying really hard t get our home life more organized. I need to organize household chores a lot better than I do. The kids are happier, as are M and I, when our house is clean and tidy, instead of semi-chaotic. I tried FlyLady, but the emails were just overwhelming. I spent more time deleting unread emails than I did reading emails. Crazy! I am also trying to organize a little education time for both kids. C.O. is doing well with math, and C.J. is doing equally well with her alphabet recognition.

More later....

My trip to BurningMan

which I realized I never got around to writing about! It was good. The artwork was definately better this year than the last time I went (back when I was pregnant with C.J.). I really enjoyed the whole maze under the Man. There was one room with long silvery stuff hanging down - it was like being in a dense, sci-fi-kind-of, forest. Good weather this year too - hot, but not overwhelmingly so. No major dust storms, no rain - playa mud is something you have to experience to truly understand. I saw a friend that I hadn't seen in a long time (Laurel) and that was good too. She and her friends had a little bar out on the playa.... good (strong) drinks! The drive there was a lot shorter from our home than from where we used to live, which was great since I do all the driving. I kept feeling guilty though that I had left the kids with my mom instead of bringing them with me, especially when I kept seeing other kids running around having a great time. Next year, if we go, the kids will go with us. For those who have never experienced it, here's a link - BurningMan.

I'm "on vacation" this week from work. Just hanging out at home. We'll do some cleaning and some yard work. My friend W gave me a lemon tree that I've got to get in the ground. Later today we might go out to look at a few things we hope to buy for the house soon. I want to price paint now that we've finally agreed on colors for our home's interior. Grey-green for the livingroom; a gorgeous soft blue for M's and my bedroom; a light, somewhat blue-toned gray for the master bath; a warm apricot-toned tan for the dining room and hallway; a darker green for the kitchen that will set off the dark cherry cabinetry nicely; C.J. chose 2 shades of periwinkle blue-purple; C.O. picked blue, red, and yellow for his room, so I will do the bottom 1/3 of the wall blue, then a wide red stripe and yellow for everything above that. The kids bathroom I'm doing in a mural of cattails, frogs, dragon-and-butterflies, etc. Lots of blues and greens. Still dithering on laundry room color (maybe yellow) and the color for the study. I'm sure that whole list made for some exciting reading! When I get a chance I'll post some before pictures, and hopefully, eventually, some after pics!

I'm free!!! Almost....

Well, I got the offer and all the details. It is actually better than I expected, so I sent in the acceptance paperwork today. We can bank 6-8 months of house payments and still have money to catch up on all our utilities, and have a little play money. I may finally get to paint the inside of our house something besides dirty-looking beige. I plan to take about 3 months of before seriously looking for a job. However, in the meantime, I registered as a secretarial substitute with the local school district - just have to go get a TB test and get fingerprinted in the next few weeks, and I need to bone up on my typing speed. I think that will make it easier for me to get a real job later, maybe even in the school system.

I've also been researching health insurance rates, mostly for the kids. Safeway is offering me continued coverage through Cobra, but it's hideously expensive. I can insure us for about a quarter of what they're asking if I do it on my own.

Wow, I will actually be home, if all goes well, for Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas this year!

Too good to be true?

This is almost too much - not only may I actually have the opportunity to quit my job and look for something I'd enjoy more, something with regular (part-time) hours, but they'll pay me to do it. Basically, Safeway Corp is trying to buyout all the old contract employees, the ones that have higher hourly wages and better benefits. I think I may be the only person at work really even considering it. Maybe I am crazy to even think about it, but it's like a door that I thought was locked opening up in front of me, even if only a crack. I'll know the details Monday, so keep your fingers crossed for me!

I've been rereading Hard Times in Paradise - really good book. I find it inspiring. It instantly gets me thinking about how to make our home more self-substaining, and it helps me believe that unschooling is the way to go, at least for the most part.

C.J.'s first haircut...

C.O. and C.J. both clipped at her beautiful curls today, outside, while I was inside washing dishes. Thankfully they didn't cut much and you can't tell unless you really look closely. I hadn't planned on that being the first type of haircut she'd get. In other C.J. news, she has both potty-trained herself and weaned herself in the last two weeks. I am not sure how this happened, but it did. Now I have no babies, only little kids. C.J. has also decided that she wants to be a firefighter for Halloween, which is fine beacuse I already have C.O.s firefighter costume from last year - he wants to be a plane this year. M is crafting a set of bi-plane wings from foam board for him.

I worked in Ukiah this last week, doing a store reset, where we emptied shelves of itmes to be moved elsewhere. It was very dirty work and I am very tired, since I was gone 12 hours a night, and the kids don't understand why I'd want to sleep much past 10 am.

BurningMan is almost here! I am pretty sure I'll have the time off. I only need to buy a few last things (water, some freeze-dried food). Replace a hose in my car. Afterwards, M will be out daily searching for a job. I may look for a new job too, since I am really not very fond of mine. Not sure what I want to do next, but about every 3-4 years I seem to have a career change, so it's about due.

C.J. on Sunday afternoon

Posted by drgnflymom

Daydreaming

Posted by drgnflymom

Rolling on the lawn

Posted by drgnflymom

C.O. on Sunday afternoon

Posted by drgnflymom

Read this blog...

Look in my sidebar under links and go to "children are people". The blog is really lovely, so read it. Yes, that is an order.

I feel a lot better today. Got up and did my exercise first thing, before I could make excuses. I did the entire book of the New York City Ballet workout, and I feel very loose and limber now.

Have to go make our house payment now.

I feel a little better...

Sometimes it just helps to get stuff out. By the way, thank you Laurel! I will check out the sites and ideas you recommended. My sick pay is being processed and should be sent out in the next couple of days. .

Other than that, there's not much new. We're still pretty broke, but we're doing okay. My elflings have spent the last 2 nights at their Nonna's (my mom) house and I miss them terribly. I am working hard on C.O.'s curriculum for September, just some very basic math - Singapore EarlyBird - and some alphabet stuff, mainly reading books focused on a letter at a time.

Working too on plans to go to Burningman. My best friend bought me a ticket for Christmas and M got a discount ticket. Now I just need the time off, gas money and a few supplies. My mom will watch the kids while I'm gone, so that M and I can celebrate ten years of marriage! Also, I won't have to worry about the kids getting overheated or dehydrated. I do hope to take them next year, when they're a little older.

This whole money thing is making me sick....

My stomach hurts every day now. I am so tired of being financially stressed, tired of it to the point where I want to run screaming and tearing my hair out, only that won't fix anything. I am sick of begging relatives for loans. I am sick of worrying each time I buy food for my family that I'll get overdrawn - again - at the bank. M may or may not have a job interview in the next week - please, if you read this, keep you fingers crossed for us. I know it's not entirely his fault he doesn't have a job right now as there are very few jobs around here, but I am exhausted emotionally from being the only one earning any money, especially when they just cut everyone's hours at work. I do think he could try harder to find a job, even something temporary, just to get us through this. He is the one that really wanted to move here, away from a busier, more affluent community where we could both work and my mom could help out with childcare when our schedules overlapped. We don't have that here. I don't trust people I don't know with my kids, so we have to work opposing shifts if he ever gets a job.

I am so worn out....

On another un-cheerful note (if you've read this far I'm sorry for my dismal point-of-view today), I've been wondering lately about the overall importance of environmentally-related decisions I make... just the little day-to-day stuff. You know, like buying recycled (preferably 80% post-consumer waste) toilet paper. Eating vegetarian , unlike the rest of my family (which means making two main dishes some days), recycling everything I can, using animal-and-planet friendly products... it all costs more. Sometimes I wish I didn't care, that I could be one of those people who just buys whatever there is, whatever is the cheapest, like that gross ground beef sold in big tubes. Then I think about the other side - yes, it costs more and it takes more effort, but I am doing something positive. I think my kids are healthier than many. I get a little boost even from remembering my canvas bags when I go to the grocery store.

Why does it take more money and effort to do the right thing for the world we live in?

A day at the river...

Mat and I took the kids out to Cache Creek yesterday. We hiked a ways until we found a spot where there was some fairly calm water - gorgeous spot, with cliffs across the water from us. We spent the afternoon jumping in and out of the very clean, cold water, while Mat wandered downstream to fish. He didn't catch anything, but he still enjoyed it. I showed the kids pollywogs, which they were very excited by. Next time I'll take an old Mason jar so that we can catch some to watch grow into frogs, then we can set them free again. I'll also take sunscreen, since both Cyrus and I burned. Cassia's like her dad - she just gets brown.

Cyrus's cat Ichabod died suddenly. He disappeared for a few days, then Mat found him dead under the front walkway. We haven't told Cyrus that he died, just that he went away.

I set up a blog for my mom. She does doll stuff - see the link in my sidebar.

Hot, hot weather

According to our indoor/outdoor thermometer, it's been above 100 the past few days... uuuugggghhhh. Too hot. But we have filled the old unused hot tub with cold water and we all spend time in it daily, especially the kids, who are learning to swim.

Picked my first eggplant today and we have a bunch of baby tomatoes - we planted mainly heirloom tomatoes and my Cherokee Purple is putting out a lot of little babies. We're looking at investing in some excellent organic topsoil early next spring as the dirt here is too dense and has too much clay in it. A lot of things - flowers, veggies, etc - don't seem to want to grow in the dirt here. Plus we have gophers, so the current plan is to dig about a foot down, put down a layer of chicken wire, then put the dirt back, mixed with the topsoil. That means that next year we will have a real vegetable garden, not just a few plants here and there.

Been sick for the last 4 days - an intestinal flu according to the doctor, who took me out of work for the next couple of days. I applied for sick leave since I really can't afford to miss work. I have used the time to catch up on odds and ends around the house when I'm not sleeping. Applied for financial aid for school today as I desperately want to go back to college. Now I'm dithering, as usual, about my major. I know an Associate's degree in Library Science would be more useful, but the artist in me wants to just go for an art degree, just so I can say I have it. I hate trying to make this decision... thankfully I still have some time to decide while I take all my gen ed classes, if I get the financial assistance.

My serious C.O.

Eating watermelon

This is my kids' favorite fruit this summer....

My pretty C.J.

Just rambling

First of all, being poor totally sucks. We literally have no money at this point, and we owe people money. So, it's going to be a very, very tight month. On the plus side, we made our house payment, we have food, and our electricity is all paid up.

We've been debating back and forth about this house - it has a lot of problems. Plumbing/sewage, electricity, roof... all need work. So we've been debating essentially remodeling or tearing the whole damn thing down and starting over. After a lot of discussion and research, we'll remodel. I do love the layout of the house and some of the unique aspects, but the work... we're actually looking at refinancing to have both lower payments and the money to fix the place.

So, C.O. named our homeschool - OakTree Hill School. I don't have to register it for another 2 years, when he's six, but I like having a name for it and I like the name. I'm starting him on preschool this fall, to get him used to having regular lessons of a sort. We'll work on some math, telling time and I'm getting the book "How To Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons", plus we'll start on writing letters. I'm looking forward to it actually - I think the one-on-one time will be good for both of us. He's been going through a difficult phase lately, where he doesn't listen until I'm on the verge of yelling. It's hard being angry and frustrated so much of the time, but I just have to keep in mind that he'll outgrow this and that patience is the best way to deal with it. I'm trying to upload a picture of him that I liked but the photo publishing bit doesn't seem to be working for me.

Good weather here, at last...

Finally the rain has gone. It's already a little hot and I know it will just get hotter, but right now I'm happy with it! Yesterday, I got my snapdragons, cut and raked the lawns (we have two smallish ones), planted my cosmos seeds, weeded the garden border, and did some dishes, all before going to work (for 5 hours). Today I watered everything, totally cleaned out the fridge, did some laundry, and went to work for another 5 hours. I have so much more energy now that the sun is shining. M says he thinks I have that seasonal disorder to some degree because in rainy weather I honestly get very depressed and lethargic. The minute the sun shines, I feel better.

We also have tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, radishes, some herbs, crane melons, cantaloupe, beans and peas planted and doing well. We will soon be planting corn, cucumbers ans squash as well. I am thinking about planting some soy and garbanzo beans too, plus I need to get my nasturtiums and wildflower seeds in the dirt. Its wonderful having so much property that is ours, not just a rental. We're having to cut down a few trees this summer too - the previous owners way overplanted and some of the pines and one little oak are mostly dead. More firewood though! I am trying to convince M that we need to get about a dozen chickens for eggs and fertilizer...

We have two new additions to the family! Pippi is our Chihuahua-terrier puppy. She is small, mottled black and brown with floppy little ears. Very loving and friendly . She's about 1 1/2.n Then there's Pumpkin, C.J.'s 6 week old kitten, orange striped, very small, and purring. Ichabod is not sure what to make of all these new pets around, but for the most part he's handling it well.

C.O. is showing some interest in reading, so I am ordering a copy of How To Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons for our "preschool" homeschooling in the fall. C.J. is learning left and right and some numbers.

Ha, finally THEY have to deal with it...

We are buying our house & property from my father-in-law. When he and his wife moved to Arizona, my sister-in-law, her husband and her kid moved in here (then moved to AZ too). Both sets of people left all kinds of junk behind - a kitchen playset that was sunbleached and broken, a garbage can full of half-used cleaning supplies, an old car, a couple of trailers, lots of rotting lumber.... you get the picture. Well, anyway, they got cited (since the property is still in FIL's name) for all the crap that they left all over. M has been trying to get the yard cleaned up to the point where the kids can go anywhere in it and to the point that we can start landscaping, but we don't have the money to pay for removing all the junk. FIL called regarding the citation - his wife will come here and pay to have the trailers and car hauled away, and for a dumpster for all the useless junk. Finally, they have to deal with the mess they made!

Other than that, things are going well, except financially. I finally got the front yard garden bed all dug up - now I need to amend the soil so it's less clumpy, then I can plant my native grass and fern garden. I'm working fewer hours the last couple of weeks (part of the financial problem) so I have more time with my kids and time for spring cleaning. I have huge amounts of stuff - clothes, books, outgrown toys - to donate. M is still searching for a job, but we're putting that on hold until the yard issue is resolved in-laws said that they would "make it worth his while" to help clean up. We could really use a month without a house payment! Still waiting for our federal tax return to get here too, which will be of immense help.

Off to clean more now!

My C.O. with a silly smile

My C.J.

Pics of my two elflings

Just thought I'd share a couple of pics!

A day at the park

So, M got called up for jury duty and today was the first day of selection. I drove him around the lake to Lakeport, where the courthouse is, dropped him off, then the kids and I headed to the park a couple of blocks away. The park was nice... lots of trees, open grass space, two playground areas (for different age/ability groups), and it was right next to the water. The kids loved it and behaved beautifully, which was great because we were there for 5 hours!

C.O. can really climb now - he was all over the play structures, climbing the ladders, sliding down the slides, jumping off the little ledges. He made friends with this cool little homeschooled girl and they dug a pit together. When we had to leave at the end of the day, they hugged each other goodbye and she gave him a kiss on the cheek. My little ladykiller! He's really friendly too - he starts talking to all the moms and kids right off the bat. He also rescued a ladybug he found in the sandbox. He let her crawl onto his hand, then he took her over to a group of trees where he set her free in the grass.

C.J's a little slower to warm up to people, but I think a lot of that is her age. She loved the spring-mounted pony and she always loves slides. When I took her shoes off, she spent a lot of time burying her feet in the sand, using her little plastic shovel. There was this bouncy bridge-thing too that she loved - she would hold onto the railing and jump really high for someone so small.

I got a compliment on the kids too - the mom of the homeschooled girl (a really nice woman) told me that she thought my kids are very articulate for their ages.

Thankfully though, M got dismissed, so we don't have to worry anymore about jury duty right now.