Rebirth

We have moved. Again. The third time in two and a half years.

No, we are not a military family. Far from it! I like to hug trees and make granola.

My wonderful husband got his dream job. Finally. After ten plus years of trying and waiting. After so many times hearing "No", someone finally said, "YES!"

OH JOY! OH RAPTURE! ......oh shit.

We experienced every emotion known to humanity. Excitement, horror, happiness, ultimate stress. Packing and cleaning and purging...we had only two weeks...preparations to move four people (me, husband, two daughters aged 8 and almost 5 years) from Orlando, FL to The north bay area of San Francisco, CA.

Across the country. We had eight days to do it. EIGHT DAYS. We chose to drive. We packed my parent's Honda Odyssey (Thanks Mommy and Daddy!) and a Uhaul trailer full of stuff we thought we couldn't live without (although every time I unpack a box, I can't help but think that most of it could have been left behind).

We left behind all friends and family. Yes, there is social media. Yes, there is live chatting with webcams. Heck my phone is smart enough to do all of that! It is still not the same.

Humans need physical contact. Some more than others, but time with family and friends is biologically necessary. I don't doubt that we will meet new people and make new friends....I just hate the transition period.

Feelings of doubt and uncertainty take over, mixed with loneliness and laced with stress make for bad times.

Yes, I know it gets better. Yes I know this too shall pass.... It still sucks and words don't help. We need actual help.

End if blog post? Nope. I shall leave you with hope. We are not in total despair. By the grace of God, a friend of mine from high school lives one hour from us! We have her and her wife to thank for Thanksgiving leftovers (we arrived in California on Thanksgiving), and watching the kids one evening while husband and I went to an adults-only work event.

More to come. Slowly, as we find some semblance of a routine.

My Baptism

This Saturday at Coastal Community Church I am going to be baptized.  The time is right for me in my path with God.  And it happens to be Easter, too.  A great time to do it!

"But, I thought you were Catholic?" you might ask.  "Weren't you baptized as a baby?  And confirmed in seventh grade?"

"Yes I was."  I will answer.  And I am glad my parents did that.  I am also thankful that I was raised in the church.  Catholic school, however is another story ;)

So as a German-Polish Jew (heritage only) who was raised a Catholic, married a Protestant and takes our family to a non-denominational community church (which I LOVE), I am called in this stage of life to become baptized.

May God Bless me and my path with Him!

p.s. I believe this post is my 101st blog post!

The light at the end of the tunnel...

We are more than half way through "self-induced poverty" and doing well!  It has been a struggle, but we are surviving.  We have run out of our frozen raw milk and trying to decide if I should go and get some the next time orders are due....  I actually got Publix milk (half gallon), mostly just for cooking, and tasted it...YUCK YUCK GROSS YUCK!!!  It was not past it's expiration date and tasted HORRIBLE!  I am NOT drinking that stuff again!  I posted it on Facebook and people reminded me that almond milk exists...duh :P I could have gotten some almonds and made my own milk! I DO have a wonderful Blentec blender from my awesome MIL (Thanks Star!) that I HAVE made almond milk in - successfully, might I add ;)

But besides that - and my husband is sick of oatmeal - we have been home (okay, we have a bit of cabin fever...yes it happens in Florida), not going many places, walking more, enjoying each other and the kids more, taking it easy, catching up with housework and homeschool work. 

Patrick and I have also been loosing weight so much and so noticeably that we had to get new pants a couple of weeks ago.  I went from a size 14 to a 10!  And he went from 42 to 38, and even those are now loose!  So when poverty is over - which is only a couple of paychecks away (we're so excited!!) - we need new clothes :)

And I get a new vacuum, because my current one is being held together by duct tape and hot glue....really.

Extreme Savings mode begins....

Starting later this week, we are starting three months of  "Extreme Savings Mode."  We were calling it "self-induced poverty" but that sounded too depressing.  What is this exactly?  It is a controlled experiment with our family to pay down our debts (mostly credit cards).  All of our debts would have been paid off sometime next year, but we wouldn't have any fun in the mean time.  So instead we decided to hunker down and pay off much more in a quicker time frame, thus ending our debt (except for our house payment) sooner!  What does this mean for us? 

• We are going to be driving one car instead of two.  We will NOT be driving unless it is to the store for food shopping every other week.  
• Chiropractic will probably go from once per week to every other week.  
• Music Together class - we will finish out this session but not continue until the summer. 
• I will not be picking up food at the Co-op in Orlando until June.
• No extracurricular activities (for me or my husband or children)
• No field trips unless we can walk there.  Might also have to miss a few Park Days.
• Walking to the park or library (Thank God they are pretty close!)
• ABSOLUTELY NO EATING OUT!

This is scheduled to end in June.  At that time our credit debt will be zero, our cars both paid off, and we will be able to afford to replace a few things in our house! (like a vacuum, power tools, and a kitchen ;)

We can ultimately thank Dave Ramsey and those who we know have taken his classes in financial freedom. 

Wish us luck!!  I really want need a new vacuum ;)  My current one is being held together (I use the term very loosely) by duck tape and hot glue....

Deep in the Heart....

....OF TEXAS!!!!!  This is where we shall be in the future for a time, then back home again, jiggity-jig.  My husband's paternal Grandfather is turning 90 years old...so the whole family (well, a lot of them) are gathering to celebrate.  Because of the insanity with the scanners at airports and Mamas being harassed for breastfeeding on planes (as I plan to do) and it might end up being cheaper to drive it anyway...WE ARE DRIVING TO TEXAS!  Two parents, a five year old, and an almost two year old......Family of four in my parent's van (thanks Mom and Dad!) from here to there....I think I can...I think I can...I think I can...with lots of books and snacks, and a DVD player for the car, we should be able to survive....right?

Latest Updates in a Mama's life

Dang it!  Time got away from me again and Life handed me way too much to do....well, honestly, I guess I found too much to do...crazy days....

So here is my quick list of what has happened (I know I will leave things out just because it is late and I really should be in bed...):

We have started - and continued - homeschooling our five year old and have been loving that decision :D  If I haven't mentioned it before, we are using Oak Meadow, a Waldorf based school.  It has curriculum and educational tools for K-High School and are really liking

We have not been going to the chiropractor weekly and I am feeling it :(  I hope to be able to get back to it in a few months, though ;)


I went to the Florida La Leche League Conference last weekend...well, just Friday and Saturday, and for just a day and a half instead of three days.  I was there with Sandy Jamieson and Sandy Hill, my ladies full of lactation wisdom.

And I killed three chickens (not our own!) at a friend's "Meat Harvest"...got the war-wounds to prove it!  It was something that I have been thinking about for a while and am in a place in my psyche/life that I can/could/did do it.  One more small step away from the grid....and I will be there again for more "Harvesting" next Sunday!

Confessions of a Homeschooling Mama

There are great days and there are not so great days.  I have only schooled The Older three days and already we have had both.  The first day, we - Mama, Dada, The Older, and The Younger - went to the beach...it was called Paradise Beach, with a park/playground, beautiful sand and it is the only beach in the south part of my county to be staffed year-round with lifeguards.  If it wasn't so far away, we would be there more often. 

When we got in the water, the lifeguard (Georgie) came over and commented on how wonderful that I was using a Fuzzibinz cloth diaper (she used them on her kids years ago) on my littlest and we talked about homeschooling and natural mothering things.  Would have liked to talk to her more but had to watch The Younger because she was getting pummeled by the rough waves (and liking it).

It was unfortunately way too hot to play on the playground (all the equipment was burning from sun exposure), but vowed to come back when the weather cooled off.  But they had a wonderful playground, kids swings and toddler swings, slides, and a large resin boulder with rock climbing handles on it!  So cool!

But not all is so wonderful.  The first week, we are learning to make the capital letter A correctly.  Up until now, she would make good letter As the right way, but lately, she has been getting sloppy....and refusing to accept that the way she had always been making As was correct....

Ah, joys of life!