Daydreaming while waiting impatiently!

[goatgurl]

lets start with the ceu's, do you need them for work? or is it just something you want to study? if its for work then do it. will keep you focused and help with the boredom. if not then don't worry about putting it off. next the cow, you said she is older, how old? jersey milk cows around here are selling for any where from $1,200 to $2,000 each. think about it, pray about it and do what you feel is best for your family.

 

[tortoise]

CE course would be just for fun / something to do. There are quite a few I'm interested in. The one I think has most value at this time is one on teaching 4 - 6th grade math. My son is in virtual charter school, so I'm his teacher. My elementary math instruction was lacking. That was 20 years ago at a private school with outdated curriculum and under-trained teachers. There wasn't a focus on understanding how and why math works, and they didn't demonstrate multiple ways to solve each type of problem (which is a HUGE focus in the current curriculum). I would find it personally satisfying to explore more ways to solve simple math problems so I could do more in my head. I hope it would help me with DS's schooling. His math program is online, so he has solid instruction. I just would feel good about it. The amount of money for the course is not a big deal in our budget, I'm just being neurotic. I want to be much more frugal now that I'm home. When I was home before, our household spending (all variable expenses) could be as low as $600/month. When I was working, that jumped up to average $1,300. Less planning, more gas, convenience food, lots of eating out, weekly shopping mini-vacations, etc. DH doesn't think it's sustainable to have household spending under $800/month. I want to prove him wrong!!!!

 

[tortoise]

No-go on the cow.

I'm working on garden planning. I have a rough idea of where things will go!!! Next I need to figure out spacing, rows, and how much of each seed to buy. I need to learn how to save seeds without ending up with hybrids/infertiles next year. I need to make a plan for preserving the harvest (all new to me!). And I need to make a plan (calendar) for succession planting so that harvesting doesn't come all at once. It's so overwhelming, just going one step at a time.

We're drowning in eggs over here. Gave away 3 dozen last week. Feeding 2+ to the barn cat every day. Fed some back to the chickens today. I haven't been cooking with eggs - or even really trying to cook with eggs. Last week was all about frugal grocery shopping. No need to shop this week, so using what we have (EGGS!) will have to be a higher priority. I am out of lemon juice, unfortunately. I couldn't find it at ALDI. I've been wanting to try the Lemon Curd recipe still!

I'm nearly out of frozen berries. We had a small crop of berries and gave a way a lot! Not going to happen this year! I've like to have about 100 quart bags* of berries so I can have my daily smoothies. That's A LOT of freezer space, so I might need to can it as berry sauce. I've made freezer jam with blueberries and a freezer sauce with raspberries. I've never actually canned something. This will have to be the year for it! *I'm not sure if we'll get that many berries. Young bushes. Only 25 produced respectably last year. 75 more should be producing that much this year. It will be a couple more years before we get blueberry harvests.

This coming week is my last "week" of work. I have 4 appointments. I can't say I'm looking forward to them. But I'm looking forward to it all being over! I'm really past the point of being able to do anything on a schedule. My life pretty much revolves around the number of contractions in the last hour. They tend to stop with rest, so my Dr isn't worried about it. But -- to find out if they will stop with rest means... I have to be able to lie down for an hour at any time.

I signed up for a CE class. I ended up choosing Teaching 4-6 Grade Writing. Writing is DS's weakest area. He gets so overwhelmed with ideas and struggles to organize his thoughts. He needs more instruction than his curriculum offers. My class starts on Wednesday.

 

[goatgurl]

i am a firm believer in Gods timing. it obviously no time for a cow, may never be. maybe it is a goat or two.
i make smoothies with raw veggies and fruit about 4 x a week and you are so right the frozen fruit takes up lots of freezer room. i use to have do lots of ceu's every year for my job and got really sick of them but i can sure see where it would be helpful for home schooling your son and will keep your mind occupied.

 

[Denim Deb]

Are you able to sell eggs?

I don't freeze much fruit. I either can it, or dehydrate it. I don't want to have to thaw it out when I want some, and I hate it cold.

 

[tortoise]

Oh, my, goodness! Lemon curd is divine! Thanks for the suggestion and recipe! This will be a staple item around here!

 

[hqueen13]

Glad you got to fix it, and glad it comes with a good review!
The CEU's sound like a fun thing that you're able to get and work on to keep busy. Having the class deadlines might also help.
There are so many decisions to make, it can be challenging. We had 250 tomato plants last year on the veggie farm and it was nuts. So do be careful that you don't overwhelm yourself too quickly. There's lots of time to integrate all the great ideas, so start small and keep building. Getting overwhelmed isn't a good feeling. I did it to myself last year with just a tiny garden! But I was working the veggie farm on top of that, so that was a challenge. At least you can do all the planning while resting!

 

[tortoise]

Deb, I'm torn about selling eggs. I don't feel like we have a reliable supply. Sometimes they freeze and crack, sometime randomly barely any eggs at all. Today only 4 eggs, we have no idea why.

hqueen, the CE seems great. It started yesterday. I used what was in the first lesson to tweak my son's English/writing assignment. He brainstormed with NO TEARS or anxiety. Huge win! We've been skipping writing instruction (since forever!) because he would get so upset about it. I'm very pleased.

I've been staying away from frugal momma blogs lately. I've been struggling with discontent. It's completely absurd as I have everything I've always wanted. Everything. But losing my joy and having a hard time finding gratitude. I've been stuck in "It would be nice IF..." or "It will be nice WHEN..." And instead of finding fun frugal ideas, I'm getting sucked into comparing myself to the frugal blogger mom's lives. Normally I know it is all filtered, photos are staged and they represent themselves creating an image. But lately, I don't know what is wrong. I want the joy back.

I had my last appointments at work today. Started having contractions 3/4-through the second one. Now having contractions every 5 minutes while I'm on my feet. Not conducive to getting much done around here. I dragged everything out from under the bed a few days ago and it's still on the bedroom floor. Clearing that all up (without shoving it back under the bed!) is my goal for today.

There is one more appointment next week. My employee will be doing most of it. I'll just be there to see that is goes smoothly for her. Then we're CLOSED. It's not even bittersweet anymore. DS is doing so much better - the whole time that biz location was open, he had major behavior problems and it sucked. In so many ways, it was not worth it.

 

[hqueen13]

So glad that you're seeing the improvement from closing down. Sometimes that is really bittersweet, and to be able to move beyond that feeling is good.
If you're not feeling good about looking at blogs, then don't look at blogs. Do what you need to take care of yourself. Sometimes I get in a funk like that, and I don't even want to look at anything let alone clean. Usually its because I'm not getting enough sun or the weather is dragging me down. So whatever you need to do to recharge is a good thing. Do you have a window you can sit in that gets good light? I have a light box that I sit in front of when I do certain work and it helps me I think.

 

[hqueen13]

PS, SO glad about the writing!! That's terrific that he had a great day without tears and anxiety!!