Public opinion

I really like quotes. I have re dedicated myself to read the classics, when I have time, so I picked up Walden. It has been 3 days but I have made it to page 20. I know but I honestly don’t have the leisure time to sit and read. I have become more of a car schooler then a homeschooler with all the running around we do. But here is a quote I really enjoyed.

Public opinion is a weak tyrant compared with our own private opinion. What a man (or woman) thinks of himself (herself), that it is which determines, or rather indicates, his (her) fate.
Henry David Thoreau.

I really enjoyed it and wanted to share.

Perspective, Passion and Pitfalls

I have not blogged in a while and that is because I didn’t have anything positive to say. I couldn’t bring myself to come on here and blog about the negative aspects of my life. But let me tell you a very wise lesson I learned yesterday.  Pick up an object you can easily hold in your hand such as a pencil or a penny. Actually a penny works best for this analogy.

Now close one of your eyes and bring that penny right up to in front of your still opened eye. Now try to focus on the penny. You can’t really because it is too close. But with that penny right in front of your eye try to focus on what is behind it. Again you can’t really the penny is blocking the view. So we  can’t really focus on the penny and we can’t really focus on what is behind the penny.

The Penny represents the trials we sometimes face in life and what can happen if we obsess and focus too much on one specific trial. Which is what I had been doing and it had been stopping me from blogging, writing in general, and basic things that bring me happiness.

That trial is my poverty. We are broker than broke. I am not asking for money just a sympathetic ear. We are too broke to have a budget because we never know how much income we are going to receive so we can’t budget and honestly the meagerness that we do have is ridiculous and gone right away. So that is just my trial, the one I have been focusing on. The Penny right in front of my eye.

What am I learning in this trial you ask? Well let me tell you.

1. I am learning that I have a bit of pride and find it hard to accept charity.

2. I am learning that my self-worth is tied up with being broke. I have no monetary value therefore I must have no personal value. (flawed I know)

3. That I am a creative person. I have learned to make things I would never have learned. Such as sewing, making yogurt, making a healing salve for cuts, bruises, bites, and general skin related first aid. Making homemade bread, homemade tortillas, and homemade meatballs. All not very hard but something I took for granted before.

I watched a  TED talk that I found inspiring. It is  12 minutes long I hope you enjoy it. 

He talks about ways to be happy and gives a 21 day program to turn your life around.  I think I will give it a try.

Motivation and Timing

I often wonder why I can’t have the same kind of motivation at 2pm that I have at 2 am?

Wonderbox Cooker

I made a wonderbox cooker. What is a wonderbox cooker you ask? Well it is an interesting thing that helps to finish cooking your food therefore using less energy and less fuel. You bring your food to a boil for a few minutes then place it in the Wonder box cooker to finish.

As you can see the pot fits in snugly, and the food is insulated for hours. I have used mine to make yogurt and oatmeal so far. I plan on using it for potatoes and rice in the future. One website said you can make bread in it. I wonder if I am that brave.

The lid goes on over the pot.

I would give you a fantastic tutorial on how I made one but honestly why reinvent the wheel? Here are a few Fantastic links of GREAT tutorials on how to make your own.

The great story of wonderbox cookers is that they were invented or thought of in South Africa in the 70’s to help women cook with little fuel by charity called Compassion.

Those sites also have links on where to buy one if you are a busy person or don’t feel you have the sewing skills necessary to make one. OR you could go here

They also keep food cold if you are going on a long trip or a day hike.

Untitled

“From there to here, from here to there, funny things are everywhere!”
― Dr. Seuss, One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish

Missing Summer

“In summer, the song sings itself.”  William Carlos Williams

The Weather is nice today. But I miss Summer.

The Etsy Plunge

I did It I got an Etsy shop. Come visit me there.

www.etsy.com/shop/redneckliber

What I have been Creating

Yarn and Fabric and Soap Oh my!!!

Leg Warmers for Under my boots. I think it looks so great so I made some.

My latest Soap creations.

The top one is Spearmint Orange it smells so nice. It helps to get you started in the morning. It is refreshing and through out the day I will go in and smell it to give me a quick boost.

The bottom one is Tea Tree Peppermint Bastille. I learned a new soaping term. Bastille means Mostly Extra Virgin Olive Oil but not all. that one is 70% Olive Oil and 30% Coconut Oil so it lathers.  I made it for sensitive Acne prone skin (like me)

I also made a nice lotion called Breathe Easy but no pictures just yet. I works like Vick Vapo rub but without the yucky petrol chemicals.

So much fun.

Changes, Chances and Challenges

I have not posted for a while now and for that I do apologize. Flylady has gone out the window. I know, I really do try. I do however have a few really good habits from the experience and I may do it again some day. I make sure all dishes are clean before bed, I get my clothes out the night before for the next day and I am decluttering slowly but surely. But on my own time and in my own way.

We got through Christmas. and it was a really nice peaceful Christmas.

I stopped drinking diet pepsi (again) But I do think I have got it this time. I don’t think I will go back. I feel so so SO good. I feel great, my anxiety is all but gone. I have it still but only in certain situations instead of ALL the time, and I am sleeping so well. I am actually scared to try it again. But I have gained 7 pounds. In the cravings I graze, hence the extra 7 pounds, but my main focus is to get over the addiction then to focus on the weight. One step at a time.

I turned 34 and it was a bit of a shock but I got over it quickly. I like who I am right now, I haven’t been able to say that too many times in my life. I like what I am creating. I am being an individual maybe a bit late but I like who it is turning into.

I also am taking a chance with Etsy. I started my own Etsy shop to sell my soaps, potions, and lotions. It was a stretch for me as it was like saying, “I think I am worth something” Which is hard for me to do. But do it I did.

So that’s my life in a nutshell at the moment.

Thanks for reading.

Fain, Fault lines, and Fairness

So I need to confess. I have not been doing flylady quite as religiously as I had hoped. Things were going well I was getting dressed, I was being on time for appointments, hot spots were being put out!

But then it happened. I went out. I got home late and didn’t get my clothes out for the next day, then I slept in.  I woke up late and had to rush, no swiping the bathroom, no emptying the dishwasher, no load of laundry done. It felt as if the day was shot and therefore the rest of the week up in smoke.

So it seems to be a perilous line this being organized. One that takes great balance and some skill.

I do have quite an uphill battle, one yes that I agreed to live and still agree to live. I do have 6 kids, 12 and under, I do homeschool them, we have one income. These are my self chosen campaigns. In which I need to realize they are messy, they don’t clean up after themselves, and dang it all homeschooling is messy, especially if you have a great learning day.

But there are things I can do to help, there are strategies I can employ to assist. I just need to do them. I am quite honestly my biggest obstacle.