The Great Gas Run of 6:00 am Saturday

This morning as I went outside to feed the goats and bunnies it was a balmy 27°. The sun was just rising, the sky was an astounding robin's egg blue and the few puffy, fluffy clouds that were around were tinged the most beautiful rose-pink and muted-flame orange. It was barely 6:00 am, I decided to check on the gas situation for the machines-lo and behold, less than half a tank in the generator, none in the can for chainsaw, and, of course, an eighth tank in the car...with a pre-dawn Bangor run on the horizon tomorrow...I sneaked back in the house, grabbed my keys, coffee mug, and wallet, and did a Cumby's run. For those of you who read this in New England, that is self explanatory...For those of you who aren't in New England, it is like a 7-11 with gas pumps...but they have the best coffee anywhere...and I am a certified coffee addict...when they open up Coffeeholics Anonymous, lemme know, I'll be the first one there! I love Cumby's for two reasons:
A) At ours, now I'm not saying this is true of EVERYONE'S, but ours in Skowhegan is simply amazing. They have an entire counter, longer than I am tall (5' 4" for those inquiring minds), of nothing but coffee dispensing machines, a flavored syrups dispenser (with TEN flavors! For FREE!), and a machine with REAL Half & Half---none of this "light cream" stuff that is actually "Country Creamer."
B) It is always fresh, and hot. I've worked for Dunkin Donuts AND Irving (Cumby's rival). Our coffees were NOT always fresh. They were NOT always hot. In fact, the DD I worked at had a "secret" policy. Old coffee from the hot carafes was dumped in a holding airpot. It was then made into the iced coffees and coolatas. So, if you think DD is the best coffee, I tell you simply, it's not. THAT would be Tim Horton's...but, that would be another entry entirely.
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For those readers who eat at fast food restaurants, this would include Subway, sorry, what you think you are getting you most likely are not. Everyone KNOWS that those places have "holding cabinets" or "warming cabinets" and after a set period of time the stuff in them is supposed to be thrown away. DOES NOT HAPPEN, FOLKS! Sorry, wake up and take another whiff of that double Quarter Pounder or Angus Steakhouse Special. I have worked at, in order, Taco Bell, KFC, Burger King, Subway, McDonald's, Irving Mainway and Dunkin Donuts. At the McD's where I worked, the common reaction to a time-out sensor going off was, survey says, RESET. NOT throw-it-all-out-and-cook-fresh. NOPE. Reset. As in, let the meat that was cooked 30 to 60 minutes ago sit another 30, being served over that time. This is not really a worry during "peak service" meaning when it seems the busiest. EVEN if there is a wait, during PEAK you are pretty much guaranteed fresh-cooked product. There is no time for it to set around, it is being pulled and served, cooked fresh, all during that time. For McDonald's that is 7-8 weekdays usually for breakfast, 10:30 is the change over so if you have early lunch and don't want to wait in a line, go then to get your cheeseburgers and nuggets. On weekends its 9-10 for breakfast, 1-2 for lunch. Pretty much the same at BK. Dunkin Donuts I wouldn't go near with a ten foot pole after the incident I had there on Wednesday, don't get me started. Tim Horton's stuff is constantly fresh, I know the owners and staff pretty well, and you can count on always fresh there. Subway-you are better off buying your own stuff from the deli. Yeah, they have some $5 footlongs now, BUT those meatballs that didn't sell yesterday, after being on the prep table all day, yeah, they're back out there today. Those "chicken breast strips?" The same ones you can buy in three flavors at the deli case, near the bologna and Lunchables. The meat that comes pre-portioned may be set out on the table and taken back in three days running before it is sold...how often have YOU heard anyone order a pepperoni footlong? yeah. didn't think so. Same with the cheeses. The most replenished item is the veggies. Take my advice, home made is best but every so often an indulgence is nice...go at peak, or right after opening at Subway, and you'll get the best quality food.
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So, after the gas run I got home, fired up the PC, and pulled up my GCU syllabus. I have a PowerPoint presentation as my final project in my University Success class, ending a week from tomorrow. I am SO excited! It is to be 10 slides on plagiarism, what it is, how to avoid it, and why to avoid it. I can't explain my excitement, but I will try...I am a MS Office Addict, too. As well as Paint Shop Pro...yep, that's me...the coffee drinking-document creating-siggy tag designing-computer geek-farmer's wife-with three kids.

So, for fun, while I downloaded a neat template for my presentation, I finally finished our Tiny Farm logo:



This logo is the one we are going to have printed on our booth banner, on our literature, done on our sandwich board for the Common Ground Fair...and on T-Shirts!! Sorry, I'm just really proud of myself, LOL! I've done siggys, tags, blinkies, I've never done a logo...and it has taken me 5 years to complete one that we all like and are willing to use.

Well, that's all for now. I am going to get to work on my presentation and cuddle a kitty...or two...or eleven!

Good Morning!

Well, okay, so it's technically afternoon. I had a lazy morning, all right? I actually spent the early part of the morning putting the final touches on the menu for the week of the 10th and then I drafted the menu for the week of the 17th. I am going to cut things way back for the W/O the 17th because my birthday is the 20th. The kids will be at the other house that week, so it's just me and Danny. I am going to do something special for dinner and we are also going to go see "The Lovely Bones." The book was amazing and all I thought when I finished reading it over a year ago was "gee, I hope someday that one becomes a film." I never expected it too, though. It will be released nationwide on the 15th. If you want more info about it, I'm going to post a book review which will have details about the movie and include a trailer of the movie.

Anyway, the reason I am writing this entry is because I was searching for a specific video on YouTube this morning, and came across something else that really lifted my spirits-a compilation video of Jamba, Jamster here in the US, videos. I subscribe to Jamster on my cell phone, and I just adore the vids. Josh, my 6 yr old ds, is really crazy for "Sweety," who's a cute yellow canary that just loves to bust a move. The compilation features a whole plethora of Jamba characters dancing to Sweety's signature song. It's really uplifting in a fun, act like a kid way.

/div>

Jam on!

Okay, this video just makes me happy. Why? Because it could be me...it is my anthem. My dh doesn't understand WHY I love Walmart...but I do. It is the only store in our town. I used to work there. All the things I bought for my babies-from Walmart. Their diapers, their cute little outfits, their toys, the crib, the stroller/carrier/car seat combo...when my two youngest had to have formula instead of breast milk. Their little jars of baby food...the transition to solids with Gerber Graduates...to all the years of buying groceries at the Supercenter...my maternity clothes, my engagement and wedding pics...my kids baby pics and then their annual photos...our Christmas pics...

For me, one of the highlights of my day is cooking for my family. I get real joy out of it...the menu planning, the shopping, the putting away of groceries...the prepping and cooking and serving.

In short, I LOVE WALMART and I don't care what people have to say bad about it.

My New Year's Policy

All right, a lot of people have laughed at me for this, but my policy on wishing people "Happy New Year!" is to NOT do it...until we are one week into the new year. Today makes an official week-7 calendar days, folks-into 2010.

TODAY is the day I will make my resolutions. I have had a week to spend reflecting on last year, instead of making the same old resolutions that get made-and broken-every year before this. You know the ones I'm talking about...

"I'm going to lose this weight for good this year...I'll start right after this ______" the blank usually being something greasy, or frozen, or gooey, and if you had a lapse in judgement like I did on a family trip to the Texas Fair and had a Deep-Fried Frozen Snickers bar...well, all of the above!

I learned, probably about five years ago now...yeah, 2005 it was...that I have to make my resolutions reflect my priorities. If losing 10 pounds is a "must do" for you, then make it a resolution...if you have a stunning event you need to look fabulous for, or your 10 year high school reunion is coming up (mine was last year, I didn't go...) and you want to set everyone on their heels because you were the picked on one who become a fashion model, or the nerd who ended up developing Sun Microsystems and is giving Microsoft a run for their programming...by the way, if you're think "Sun Microsystems? Who are they?" Well, they developed Java, which runs SO many things it would take me a lot more time to list...lets just say if you have one of those neat cell phones that you can surf the web on and play super-high quality games, yeah, Java's the reason why...me, I know Java because I practically live on Club Pogo at www.pogo.com -

anyhow, back to my original of thought

The basic is this: if you don't really mind that extra 10 pounds, then don't make a resolution to lose it. If you DO miss playing with your kids, resolve to spend at least 15 minutes, a half-hour or longer would be better, and do what they want to do...my hubby is NOT a video games kind of person...BUT I am getting a Wii for my birthday...because at my Christmas Eve doctor's appointment my weight was 224.6 pounds. I used to be a dancer (no, not THAT kind of dancer)...I used to be an equestrienne-we had to give up our horse because we couldn't afford to keep her, but I weighed too much for her, she was 25 yrs old, and I felt miserable...I used to play sports, now I'm lucky to be able to play catch with the kids in the dooryard for an hour without a break every ten minutes. I want to coach on the local youth sports program. I want to help with the gymnastics program...and so, for me, this year's resolutions list was ALL about making healthy lifestyle choices and losing the weight...will I lose 100 pounds in 12 months? highly doubtful. It would be amazing if I did, and that's only 8.33 pounds a month, or a little over two pounds a week. I am sure I can do it, but I am not going to set myself up for failure. This is all new to me. I am working with a nutritionist. I am in a local support group called Weigh To Go. I joined the Move More program. I am actually reading labels, I've learned portion control...a whole new blog entry on that in a bit...I can do this...I WILL do this...

Happy New Year, everybody!

Christmas Times A Comin'

Well, it certainly is...it seems to come faster each year, doesn't it? Is anyone else annoyed by the way the "big box" stores push the holidays now? Literally this year at our local Walmart there was Halloween stuff out in August even before the Back to School stuff, and then a week into October they started shuffling Halloween stuff out and Thanksgiving in, then a week before Halloween you could hardly find Thanksgiving stuff and they were bringing out Christmas stuff...and no one in the store knows where anything else is, or is supposed to be...it is insane!

The kids and I went out on Friday night to get stuff to make a gingerbread house. I also planned to let them each pick one special treat thing besides the candy decorations so they could enjoy them after the house was made...and it was next to impossible to find anything besides candy canes!! They were moving all that stuff nearer to the front of the store...and so I asked the store manager, who was actually doing to the moving, "why?" Well, the answer was that Christmas was less than two weeks away so their "edibles" department was being moved nearer to the checkout to encourage "impulse" purchasing...now, mind you, I parked the complete opposite end of the parking lot from the main entrance because ALL the Christmas stuff is down in Lawn & Garden, which has their own doors! WHY would I, a shopper who PLANNED to buy that type of stuff, hike my butt and 3 kids all the other way to the end of the store where someone who DIDN'T plan to buy that type of item be encouraged to just by seeing it?!? Our Walmart has always been screwed up...for the last ten years, it seems! I did work there a little over 9 years ago and I was in Sporting Goods...I can't tell you how many customers were shocked that there was actually an associate in that department WHEN one was needed...and I understood because usually someone has to paged because SG is like hardwares and fabrics/notions, they are "covered" by someone from L&G or Automotive/TLE...nuts, huh?

Anyhow, I was less than thrilled at the situation...do you know the manager's "helpful" suggestion? A free movie rental from the store's Redbox kiosk, which again, is at the MAIN entrance of the store, a good haul from where the kids and I were, it was FREEZING outside, so we definitely would not checkout at the front, get the film, then walk to the car OUTSIDE the store! I asked how this helped me, I didn't even plan to rent a movie that evening and didn't know if I had my credit card on me!

Well, instead, he offered to have an associate walk to the front of the store, bring back what the kids and I wanted, and that way we didn't have to fight through the crowd...oh, yeah, sure, make a lady with three kids wait for someone to walk there, and back, and risk them not having the right thing? What did we end up doing? WE LEFT. I took the kids to McDonald's instead, we got a Redbox there using the Walmart given code, had a nice dinner, I was a little upset that they have AVATAR the movie toys in the Happy Meals, I don't think it's appropriate, especially since the movie is rated PG-13, and my kids are 9, 6, and 5...I spoke with a manager about that and she was actually able to get some Space Boy and My Little Ponies out of their storage for the kids, and my kids liked them better anyway. She also gave us apple pies and eggnog milkshakes...what a nice lady!! I didn't intend for the kids to get "bonuses" but I just wanted to let the lady know that I felt the toys were inappropriate in a food meal aimed to please kids under 10...and she agreed. She also gave me the info for contacting the office of the gentlemen who is the local Mickey D's franchiser to let him know my feelings, because they have the option of extending the current toys' run, re-running a previous toy, or taking the new toy. She had apparently had a lot of concerned parents comment on it, and hopefully we will make a difference.

Well, that is my rant for the day, which I didn't intend to be a rant at all. If I don't get to post again before Christmas, I hope everyone has a very, very Merry Christmas. To my friends Sue Groffman, Adele Lofthaus, and of course the always amazing man of my dreams, and only in my dreams, Geddy Lee Happy Chanukah and Adele, where's my latkes?!?

Wow, its great to be back!

Well, I took a LONG absence from the internet. Basically, I got truly fed up with waiting around on dial up after having, and losing, cable internet. It really affected me in a negative way and so I avoided the net instead of embracing it as I once did.

Well, after cutting costs and saving up we have cable internet back. I am back on track with my online college courses, communicating with family and friends once again, and re-discovering CafeMom and Facebook.

I also renewed my love of Club Pogo at pogo.com and am laughing out loud again on YouTube. I have fully embraced the audiobook and podcast features of my Sansa Fuze, which have been sorely overlooked.

So, on top of that we have bought our parcel of land. It is located in Piscataquis County and that's as much depth as to location as I am willing to go online, simply because there are some people we don't wish to know the exact location of the land and they could find out if I disclosed more. If you are really interested, email me or leave a note on my wall at Facebook and I'll tell you all you wanna know privately.

We have bought plans for our temporary house which will become a workshop or guest house, possibly even housing for two on-farm apprentices next growing season, who knows.

However, I will post more about the plans in tomorrow's post. Tonight I am going to finish menu planning, check in with my classes, and have a calm night.

We ARE Off The Grid!!!

Sudden lifestyle changes can usually throw people for a loop...like having the power company come and disconnect our service. We have been facing serious financial problems for a bit through no fault of our own. I was thrust into supporting a fully grown family member who has means and, just like everyone else in Maine pretty much, opportunity, to support their household on their own....well, long story short-moved to Maine at a cold time of year, refused to get propane service hooked up, and the trailer they are living in was "piggyback powered" years ago from a double-breaker in my circuit box...my power bill at most runs at $120 a month for a family of five because most of what we own appliance-wise is propane operated...all of the stuff in this trailer across the driveway is electric...my power bill has been skyrocketing since May and we now owe nearly $2000 on it. I have been celebrating our new-found freedom of being off grid. We have a generator with instructions for hardwiring it safely, as well as a mega-inverter to use with 12v (volt) batteries. We have two big marine batteries and this inverter can run my drip coffeemaker (I can't live without my coffee!), my computer, and stereo all at once. We are getting rid of our big, giant, "vampire" fridge and getting a smaller one.
Now, it might sound like I am complaining but I am NOT!! I am REJOICING!!! The Lord put a tremendous emissary in place for me to do something that I could not on my own...to cut this relative off...and basically they will now have to sink, or swim, on their own. They will really need to get down to the brass tacks of prioritizing in their life. Will they scrape up money for their "habits" or will they scrape up money to put gas in the generator my uncle is willing to loan them and have lights and power to cook with? Will they sell their "priceless" electronics to get propane service installed so they can cook and have heat? Or not? I am praying that the Lord will touch their hearts to straighten out their lives because CMP will not be turning my power back on for any amount of money. It is possible to live without electricity. We have had plans to go off the grid for a while but this just hastened the change. We went out and bought our generator, bought our battery bank, our invertor, it is a start and we are getting there. We have money for the first payment on our new land. We are going to sign papers and send them back today. It feels tremendous to finally move forward with our lives!