169398 Dealing With A Teen

Let's just say, nothing happens in a vacuum, and options were considered. My daughter is moving to VA for a few months. Gas prices are down, but Bus/Train/Plane prices are up for Spring Break! It looks to be much less expensive to drive there and back than to send her one-way alone on the least expensive public transportation. My elder daughter wants to go with us. That's good, because I did not look forward to driving back alone. I'm planning my meals now, which will entail bringing my own butter and coconut oil to add to hot water while driving. Also, I have some dehydrated, organic foods that will fit the diet. My SIL is on the Bulletproof, so while there, eating will be no problem. My girls have their own money, and can buy their own food when I stop for gasoline and hot water. When driving like this, I do well with Polyphasic sleep. I fall into what this article calls the "Everyman Cycle". I sleep for two to four hours, then take several short naps as needed. It keeps me alert while driving, and I don't have to down mass quantities of coffee. On this schedule, I can drive those four days without drinking any coffee at all! Every time I've tried the Uberman version, I just revert to the Everyman. In fact, the Everyman cycle was called "Insomnia" by my doctor, but as long as I can get the naps, I feel fine and healthy! Before I go, I'm going to start some more celery in the camper. When I get back, I should be able to plant it in pots to leave outside.

160211 New Blog

Today, I started a new blog for political posts. This blog will return to just oils, family, and maybe some Bible. The new blog is located at livingandenergetic.blogspot.com

Thank-you!

151214 Rights We Have

Romans 3:22-24

(22) Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:

(23) For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

(24) Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:

We have the right to ask God for help, and He will always supply it. Sometimes, we don't know how to ask, or we don't think we can ask. Some even think that it is weakness to ask. I believe that my ex-husband fell into all three categories.

He never, ever wanted to admit to a weakness. He had to do everything on his own. He also felt so much guilt for certain things that he projected that guilt onto everyone else. That is, he compared his own sins with the "bigger" sins of others. Finally, he wouldn't just let go and let God handle his problems.

It's no secret what happened to him and to us, but is it profitable to discuss it further? Let's just say that in 2010, this stay at home mom of sixteen years was fighting for her life in the hospital while CPS, ATF, and certain state agencies were trying to take her children, her farm, and her freedom over something her unbelieving husband had done.

It's good to have friends, because they helped me to survive. My greatest Friend, however, has been God. He healed me. He made me free. He preserved my children. He it is that prospered me. He gave unto me righteousness, as stated in 1 Corinthians 1:30. He never forsakes the righteous, Psalm 37:25. A person has to walk away from God to lose righteousness. One has to remove himself from God's protection in order to get away from it. God is not a man that He should lie! If He made a promise, He will keep it!

Therefore, with faithfulness and adherence to good nutrition, I shall regain all of my health!

151201 Does Any American Know Poverty?

Stuff It

Were you a fan of stuffed animals or plush toys as a child? Do you still enjoy them as an adult? What was your favorite stuffed animal when you were a kid -- do you still have it? Are there any toys from your childhood that you wish you had held onto?

REPLY3

When my mother was sixty or so years old, my little sister bought her a stuffed bear. It was supposed to be a gag gift from the last child to move out of the house. My mother grew up during the Great Depression. Hers was one of those desperate families that had to grow their own food in a garden order to survive. The only time they had meat was when the milk cow died. Then they didn't get to have milk. The only person to get new shoes was the eldest of her nine siblings, and she was number seven. Clothing was stitched from rags. Few Americans today can conceive of the type of poverty she endured, and this poverty was nationwide.

Between his education and his work ethic, my dad had made a comfortable living. By the 1980s, he had provided my mother with just about every material object she desired from a large house to gold and diamonds.

When my mother opened the present that contained the stuffed animal, she cried. Between sobs, she said that as a child no one had ever given her a stuffed animal, and all she had wanted then was a teddy bear to call her own. That bear was with her when she died twenty years later.

150824 Moving Update

Wednesday, we put money down on the travel trailer. Monday, we set up in an RV resort. After that, we unpack and try to fit into a tiny space. The location is better for walking and closer to my dad. It will be closer to most everything except the old place. :)

150805 The Un-People Person

Proverbs 14:4
"Where no oxen are, the crib is clean: but much increase is by the strength of the ox."

This verse helps me. My personality is ISTJ and Shy-Introvert. This means that if stranded on a deserted island with plenty of food and adequate shelter, I might miss other people in the third or fourth month, but even that's doubtful.

In Proverbs 14:4 God reminds me that, yes, interpersonal relationships are messy, but we are better together than apart. My elder child moves out today.

150801

Moving.
Travelling.
Separating from adult child.
Allowing teen her anime convention.
Verbal fencing with relatives.
Body rebelling in pain.

Add to that, assisting in a detailed video class for many humans in a tiny room with inadequate ventilation and outside temperatures of 102F (39C).

Was that a scream or just hot air?

150702 Sweet Tea Controversy

My dad's birthday party is Sunday, but his actual 90th birthday is on Monday. He's in very good health, walks two miles every day, and takes only one medication. He delivers Meals on Wheels to "old people" who happen to be younger than he is. He didn't want a party, but my older sister insisted. Sigh. I'm not big on parties, either. Here's an incomplete list of tension inducing conditions:

1. People to invite: Dad refused to reveal the identities of his friends. My little sister deviously went to the Senior Center and asked people there, but is that everyone?
2. Where to house out-of-towners: It's the Fourth of July Weekend! There are no hotel rooms. Ten or so relatives thought they could stay in the guest bedroom at Dad's house. Cozy.
3. Menu: Big sis wants a blowout. We have to make everything ourselves, and it has to be perfect.

This is my worst nightmare, and the menu is where the major arguments have started. We don't normally argue. My immediate family has been a shining example of how the diverse personalities of siblings should get along. My brother died when my little sister and I were still in high school, so we simply quit bickering and became best friends.

Who knew that iced tea could be such a divider? My little sister volunteered to make iced tea. I asked if she would be making sweet tea. She said that she was making tea and would bring sugar. I told her that the rules of the South applied here. There needed to be sweet tea. She repeated that people could add sugar if they wanted their tea sweet.

That won't fly.

Both of my sisters left Texas in the 1970s, and have spent all of their adult lives north. I've lived in the South for more than forty years! A decade of that included rural Virginia and Tennessee. While I don't always agree, I do know a thing or two about Southern taste buds. We need sweet tea.

Sigh. I went to H.E.B. and bought some sweet tea. There's not room enough to discuss the okra controversy. Church's Chicken makes fried okra, which I will dump into a serving dish before we get to the party location. I hate big parties.

141127 More Thanksgiving Posts

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, and it's more than just food; I am truly thankful for many, many things! I have your average dysfunctional family where hurt feelings arise and people say stupid things. That's why we confine our festivities to my dad and my sisters. Extended family has their own thing where they devour each other. They might even unite on occasion and say nasty things about us, but we don't care anymore. I get that from my dad. He never said this, but his body language indicates, "You harpies are not going to give me indigestion. Goodbye."

Several years ago, I reconnected with my cousins. We were all hugs and laughs until someone mentioned the dreaded twins: politics and religion. I refuse to lie about my beliefs, so by answering a direct question, I discovered why my father stays as far away from my mother's family as is humanly possible. To my dismay, they found me on Facebook and continued the argument. Oh, how I enjoy those new privacy settings!

Yesterday, I forgot to take a reading after Chinese food (no rice). Then, I blew off readings for the rest of the day. I think my bg was up, because I fell asleep early, and first thing this morning, it was 105. While the menu I made for myself counts carbs and calories, eating out is iffy. I had beef and broccoli, but what other ingredients did they use? What's in the hot and sour soup? I gave the rice and the egg roll to my daughter. 

I count calories, because I have been on the Atkins before, and got hungry. My diet at that time had too few calories, so it became necessary to find carb-free calories and to introduce fats into my diet. My brother-in-law has been an insulin dependent diabetic since childhood, and we go round and round on this. He has a medical degree, and follows the ADA diet religiously. He doesn't like the Atkins and regales me with the benefits of high-carb vegetables and low-fat dairy.

He'll be at dinner today. At least we can agree on the turkey. 

141021 The Fastest Way of Being Hit

I like Robert Downey, Jr. He plays arrogance well, and it seems that his characters have used their arrogance to hide painful weakness. They may have depth, but use shallowness to cover it.

The Judge made me laugh and brought a tear. It also had Robert Duvall in it, as well as a few other familiar faces. Robert Duvall does the "I'm too tough to have weakness."

Downey played a NYC attorney who liked to win at all costs. The rest of the family stayed in Indiana, where the dad, played by Duvall, was a judge. Downey played the middle kid. Mom died, and the two men had to face each other. Fireworks ensued.

Why did I like this movie? I'm the middle kid. Middle kids suffer from not being good enough, and not being cute enough, to have "love". This was one of those movies that spoke to me on many levels. Yes, I realize that I can be a self-centered *** at times, but only when I'm feeling slighted. I promise.

The Judge may find its way into my video collection. No where can I fault the acting, and the story appeals to me. It is neither action/adventure nor SF, but it made my day.

BTW, there is a proverb that applies to birth order as well as the highway of opinion: "Standing in the middle of the road is the fastest way of being hit."

140526 It Will Hit Me on Friday

Awhile back, when I was a teen or young adult, lawmakers decided that it was easier to celebrate all holidays on Monday, rather than on random days of the week. The exceptions were Independence day, a.k.a. "The Fourth of July", Christmas, New Year's Day, and other holidays that were absolutely tied to a specific day of the week, such as those held on Sunday or that one designated as the fourth Thursday in November. (Thanksgiving is one of my personal favorites.)

Memorial Day has been the last Monday in May for decades. Today, people all over the country see today as the beginning of summer, as the day to have roasted hot dogs, picnics, and parties. This weekend, many family trips have started in a race to visit national monuments or to experience the great outdoors. For more than half my life, it has been celebrated on some day other than May 30th, but it is still May 30th when it hits me.

On March 13, 1976, my brother died while serving in the USAF. May 30th is when I mourn his passing.

140422 When Words Collide

My dad disagrees with my daughter's choices. For six years, she has been working towards taking the Advanced Class on the Way of Abundance and Power. She had taken five prerequisites, saved money, allocated time, and is finishing the final testing. It has taken some work  to accomplish this.

My dad and my sister want her to quit because they think it is a waste of money. I never should have told them about it, or else I should have kept them apprised of all the details as they were happening over the last six years. The Word of God is life, and this class will impact the rest of hers. I know. I'm still alive because of what I learned when I took this class.

What to do...

130831 Why I am Unafraid of Miley Cyrus

First, I taught my children the independence of thinking for themselves.
Second, I allow them to make their own mistakes.

The like-aged elder shrugged her shoulders over the incident, and the younger said with disdain, "Who's that?"

Their lives have more important things to consider than the antics of a rebellious brat.

130507 Joy is an Inside Job - Prosperity

Sometimes, we have the wrong expectations. This is cultural. Joy is an inside job; it depends on the Word in our hearts. It doesn't change the circumstances, but it does change what the circumstances do to us. When my children were younger, periodically I would have them write a list of things for which to give thanks. This may sound flippant, but the elder once wrote that she was thankful for air. She was serious. She explained that without air we couldn't breathe, and if we couldn't breathe, we would die, so she decided to thank God for air. It is too easy to dwell on what we don't have and ignore what we do.

Whenever I feel that my finances are not where they should be, I give more. When no money comes in, I give away stuff I'm not using. Sometimes, I consider whether I really need stuff I do use, especially if it costs money to maintain. My Branch Coordinator once asked me how we even paid our bills with our limited income. I simply determined not to have any bills.

I may have attended every Word in Business and Profession Conference there ever was. I know I was at the first and the last. At one of them, a presenter said to a group, "You already make enough money, lower your expenses." I really took that to heart. What I cut would not do for everyone, and what I kept others might cut. A State Coordinator once told me that if one really needs a Lexis, God will provide it. Few, however, really need that Lexis.

We have no TV reception, no cable, no satellite. No packaged dinners, no microwave oven, no home phone, no eating out, no new clothes. If it costs money, we analyze everything about it. We do have a home, two cars, and plenty of food. Often, when we need something, someone else gives it to us. After the divorce in early 2011, my two girls were denied food stamps on a technicality. We had been getting them while married, because his income was so low.

"Fine", I told myself. I had already managed to pay all his debt, and noticed how much freer we felt. I realized that we could live without him and without government help. We depend on God, now.
It hasn't been easy, and I'm still looking for steady employment. An idea I have is to teach other people how to live on less by teaching old fashioned Home Economics classes. We have a large homeschool community, so that would be an ideal place for me to start.

130215 XIX

At 2 am, I said that it was time, and took a shower. After some arm twisting, my husband finally got me to the hospital at 8am, but no room was available! It had been a busy night in maternity. All the while, I was calm and smiling. No one believed that I was that close to delivery, so they told me to walk the halls. I wasn’t reacting in the traditional manner. You see, there was no pain.

By 10am, I had a room with nurses, a special bed, and machines. A doctor named “Bucky” came to see that I was dilating properly, and asked how I felt. Still smiling, I said that there was pressure, but no pain. He told the nurse that it would be at least another four hours. They made me stay flat on my back. And hooked me to machines.

Soon, the pain hit! It lasted for 45 minutes. Bucky appeared. He was supposed to leave at noon, and it was almost noon.. Although barely half of his estimated time had passed, he was able to deliver a soft little blob that opened its eyes at me. My mother-in-law took a picture of that moment. I look like I’m ready to dissect a frog. I was tired, but my heart was filled with love. My first, born at 12:23pm, was absolutely perfect.

During pregnancy, I had prayed for lack of pain, perfect health, good teeth, and that only one of the three physicians would deliver that baby. I wanted Bucky to be there, because he was the one who once told me that I was too old to have a child. He had wanted to give me fertility treatments, but I had said that God would provide. He was the nicest in that practice, and I wanted him to have the blessing of welcoming my dear Elizabeth into the world.

Today, my incredible little girl is nineteen years old! Happy Birthday, Sweetie! You are God’s Best! You live up to your name.

ELIZABETH
GENDER: Feminine

Meaning & History
From  the Greek form of the Hebrew name ('Elisheva') meaning "my God is an oath" or perhaps "my God is abundance". The Hebrew form appears in the Old Testament where Elisheba is the wife of Aaron, while the Greek form appears in the New Testament where Elisabeth is the mother of John the Baptist.

120420 Today's Blah

My daughter blogs. 

The Legend of Me

An exhilarating tale of friendship and conquest.

She writes well. Several years ago, she wrote some fantasy short stories while I was taking a few college level writing classes. I intended to write professionally, and accomplished that goal. It didn't, and still doesn't pay well. Her father read the stories, and made some disparaging comments that crushed her spirit. How appalling! He never wrote more than what was required by basic necessity or coercion, (school).  By the age of 40, he had written two letters, some papers in high school, and a number of short incident reports.

He claimed that as a reader, he should be able to criticize another person's writing. Yes, and no. A reader can say that he likes or dislikes something, but fails to give constructive criticism until he knows how to write something himself. Combining words on a page takes effort. A mere reader is not that helpful to a beginning writer. I tried to tell her that she was young and still learning, but she quit writing stories.

My daughter blogs, and it is good for her. She does well with writing projects at college, so maybe someday she will write fiction again. I don't read much fiction anymore. Maybe, I feel that all the stories have been written, though it hasn't stopped me from writing more of them. I just don't read anything new. When I looked at all the books I have read in the last year, they were almost all non-fiction. If Moon wrote fiction, however, I'd read that.

120415 Praise and Unpraise

My last post praised Moon. Friday night, she breezily asked me to get two books from the library. I said that it would be rather difficult for me to do that. Well, as it turned out, I could not get to the library. I wasn't in SA; I spent Saturday 65 miles from the city, and made it back into town after libraries closed. Sunday, I was a mere 20 miles from the library, but returned an hour after closing.

When she returned, I was still in another town. When I came in, she asked for the books, so I asked her when her paper was due.

"Tomorrow", she said.
"When was it assigned?"
"A while ago."
"???"

She had gone out for hours with friends one weekday last week. She had gone to the movies two or three times in the past few weeks. She spend last weekend home alone, but had use of a car and her library card. Why didn't she get those books then? Why is she blaming me for losing 20% of her grade? Why is a college student asking her mom to do her leg work for her? Why did she stop doing her share of work around the house?

Well, I spent the last two weekends with Agent. It was a change we both enjoyed.

120414 Second Dan

Moon did it!

120413 Updates

• Moon will be testing for her second black belt this weekend. She and the usual suspects will be traveling today and spending the weekend in La. Sensei will retrieve her after classes to take her there. I told her to kick someone for me. 

• My leg is worse, and I can barely walk. I’m tempted to get crutches, because with them I can move a lot faster. Maybe I should have stayed home last weekend.

• Agent talks a lot, but doesn’t say much.

• Should I continue with starting a business? Should I work for someone else? The After School Club summer program has been cancelled. Plan and decide. Decide and plan.

• Should I quit blogging and other online associations? I could be spending my time quite differently without the Internet…