I had my monthly appointment at the doctor, and then proceeded to clean the house for the showing that is this afternoon. Around dinner time we headed to the land. We needed to get the animals fed and watered, and Rodney worked on the electrical stuff, added a new box, reconnected the well pump, and figured it is going to cost us around $3,000 to buy the wiring to wire the house. Oy vay! I think candles, and the grill are on the cards for a while longer.

We stopped for dinner at a small Mexican restaurant in the town nearest the homestead. The waitress was wearing a little plastic crown on her head, which Hannah noticed immediately. She asked whether it was the girl's birthday or she was employee of the month. I started laughing. Hannah's only 5, but she had watched Spongebob the other day where he was always employee of the month. The girl said she wore it because it made her feel pretty. Hannah thought it was a very good reason to wear it.

Up early to clean the carpets and get the house finished before my 1 p.m. appointment.

I was up early this morning, 7 a.m.! That is almost 3 hours earlier than I normally get up. I am anxious to start a new routine this morning, so it worked out great that Rodney woke me up looking for the hairbrush. I sure don't know why he couldn't have found it UNDER THE COUCH.
The girls were fixing their hair yesterday, and of course it didn't get put back in the bathroom.
I have about six brushes in the house, but can never find them due to the girls dress up parties. Getting them their own brush didn't even solve the problem.

Completed my devotional for the morning out of a devotional book I received for my birthday. The scripture reference this morning was John 1:4-5.

"In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it."

The devotional also encouraged me to think and pray about being ready to "rally for Christ when tragedy comes." We all need each other, Christians, neighbors, family members.

This had my mind whirling again about how I try to "lightly" encourage friends and family members to prepare for a coming tragedy. I am not talking end of the world stuff here, but economic depression, job loss, home loss and such. Even Hannah at five will periodically tell me "if a tornado happens to our house, then we need food, water and shelter right Mommy?" Recently she did start adding me to the basic necessities, to which I am grateful.

I myself have gone from making ends meet, to having a windfall of money that enabled me to prepare, to back to making ends meet. I am truly thankful that I listened to God and stocked up on food, medicines, clothing and miscellaneous supplies. I am thankful I listened to God and read up on medical information, as well as, learning to be self sufficient in the area of farming, heating my home (wood stove), doctoring and more.

It is a very likely prospect that Rodney will lose his job in the near future. When that time comes I will of course worry about how to pay the house payment, but am fully aware it will be foreclosed on. Not much to do about that, so am trying not to worry too much, just preparing my alternative....the land.

With regards to shelter...we have toyed around with many ideas many out of our price range. We are limited by the fact that one of the only restrictions in purchasing the land was the 1200 sq foot housing requirement. At the time it didn't seem like a very restrictive restriction, but it is proving to be a very poor requirement. For cooking purposes we have an outdoor kitchen set up (minus the refrigerator). I currently have a propane grill, a wood/charcoal grill, a fire pit, and a camp stove. I have experience using all the methods, though of course the propane grill and camp stove are the easiest, but the fuel for those two are the most expensive. For sleeping purposes, I had thought of the car, at least for the kids. Take out the seats, put a matress in there and "wa la" a pretty comfortable sleeping place. But...after camping out in the car last weekend that idea sucks wind. I have moved on to setting up bunks in the storage container. I have even actually found some really good ideas for converting the storage container into a livable space for low cost. See this link http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/wayoflife/09/24/container.homes.ap/index.html
or this one
http://www.ocm.auburn.edu/newsmakers/container/photos.html

Now, on to food. I have a good supply (don't know how many months worth) of canned and dried food. I have a freezer full of meat, plus with Rodney hunting now, he has been bringing meat home every other day (dove and rattlesnake). We also have a stocked pond of catfish, perch and bass. Now, if we can just keep the cranes out of the pond and away from our fish.

Water: we have the well, but I am worried in the event of Rodney losing his job, and not finding another that we won't be able to afford the electric bill to run the well pump. I have come across a book on how to build your own windmill, so that is in option. The only other option would be to filter the pond water using a Berkey filter. Rodney's pretty smart when it comes to mechanical stuff, so I am sure he will figure someway to get the water out of the well. (I had wanted to purchase a Bison hand pump, but the price was $1500 and he thought it was too much, though I disagreed.)

In a way I am actually looking forward to something happening as retreating to the land would be good for us. I am the happiest when I am there, it is so peaceful, though a lot of hard work goes into maintaining the property (fence, grass cutting to keep snakes down, animal care, cooking, etc.)

Fuel is a big thing for us too..we use gasoline not just for the cars but for the generator, log splitter, chain saw, water pump to aerate pond, weedeater, and lawnmower. The tractor uses diesel. I don't have much gasoline stored, though this has been on my list, just not on Rodney's. I have two 80 lbs fuel tanks sitting EMPTY because it doesn't seem to be a priority, at this time. This is the one area that will more than likely come back to bite us. I have been trying to get the tanks filled since last December.

Kerosene and/or lamp oil for lamps, plus propane for the grill and stove. These are currently high dollar items, and are only going to go up. While I currently have a small supply, it's not enough, which is why I have the wood options.

I know all of this may seem like it's off topic from my devotional, but the devotional of being ready for tragedy and helping others has spurred me on again.

So once again, I put myself out on the limb with my friends and family to urge them to please take the warning signs serious, and my advice to heart. My preparations have already been proven worthy and useful to me recently, and I can't imagine how others who have no food stocked but a couple days worth are going to deal with the ever increasing food costs and threat of job loss. It boggles the mind.

Thanks again to God for reminding me of my priorities according to Proverbs 31.

Another Snake!

My nephew Blake walked into the house tonight and handed me two foil wrapped packages. One was heavier than the other. I was very excited that they had shot so many dove. But alas, it was not so. They had managed to shoot 12 dove and one rattlesnake. They skinned it and brought it home so that I can cut it up into nuggets and deep fry it....boys.

Apparently, Rodney was running to get on the other side of the pond as a large group of dove were off in the distance. He jumped over the creek bed, where we have the blue tarp, we use as a sleep and slide. He saw something pop out of the grass towards him, so he stopped and looked around. There in the grass was a fairly large snake (with 9 buttons on it's tail). Rodney shot it's head off, and then skinned it (he's savings the skin and rattles) and brought the meat home (thanks honey what an anniversary gift ;-) )

He was very shaken up about though, and was thankful he was running through there at the time. He believes it struck him about waist high (or about hiney high from the back). If he had been walking, he thinks he would have gotten bit.

This makes me very nervous (again) for the girls. We are always running through there on the 4 wheeler, walking through - IN SANDALS-. This area is right near our deck and gazebo, so it is feasible that the snake could slither up that way.

What makes me scared is that we camped out there the other night. Oh, we slept in the car, but we got out several times during the night to potty in the grass. What a wake up call if we had been bitten in the hiney!

I am going to check craigslist for peacocks and guinea hens. They eat snakes. Good thing we are coming up on colder weather, and the snakes will be less active.

Thanks go out to God for keeping me and the girls safe daily, and Rodney safe tonight.

Raising Daughters

I like the blog at www.proverbs14verse1.blogspot.com. It has a lot of great ideas for marriage and child raising. I found this below, and thought I'd copy it here to share with everyone. I think I will begin working on this with Lauren, she recently turned 11, and when she turns 13, I have plans to get her started on a hope chest, and other things, but some we can work on now.

"Instead of squandering her time, a young lady could do many things to prepare herself not just for her future husband and home but also for the Lord's work that He will have planned for her. The most important thing she can do is grow closer to the Lord by spending time in the Word. It will help keep her from going astray and she will be laying a good foundation for herself and her family later. We all know that when the children start coming along it is alot harder to study in depth then---so now is an excellent time to take advantage of that.

It is important to grow her skills in cooking, cleaning, household management, reading books on being a godly wife/ training children and mentoring under older, godly women. She can learn valuable resourceful skills such as sewing, knitting, gardening, playing an instrument and she can devote more time to being missional in her family with her siblings, neighbors and world. She can minister in her local church and help moms there in need---this will give her much necessary practice for later. She can help instruct the little ones in her own family and help mentor and influence them towards godliness, for her first affections and loyalties should first be toward her home she lives in now. A young girl should NEVER waste her time, but she should be a good steward of it, always remembering to bless others with her gifts, time and talents. She should be challenged---perhaps write a book for children, perform a musical piece for church, encourage and help support a missions family in another country---the list is endless."

Happy Anniversary!

It is my 20th wedding anniversary today. I made a roast chicken, green beans, bread and iced tea for dinner. The girls and I went to the land to feed and water the animals, then came back home. The guys went dove hunting, and the girls and I will be making molasses cookies here in a bit.

It is drizzling, which is surprising.

A pretty slow and lazy day all around.

*Hey! I just checked my blog from this same date to see what I did for my anniversary. I discovered that I had a sinus infection last year on my anniversary too! How funny!

I also wanted to thank my friend Marie for calling me this morning. She reads my blog regularly and was concerned with a couple of my recent posts. I haven't been feeling quite myself lately, and it was great of her to call to encourage me, and to pray for me. Thanks Marie!

Friends

I find myself sitting here at 1:00 a.m. in the morning. I can't sleep. I used to have several wonderful friends. These are friends that I knew I could count on for anything. But lately it seems as if they have vanished. I can count four friends that won't speak to me. I am at a loss for what I have done. If any of them would only tell me, so I can try and fix it. I find myself looking in the mirror, and analyzing myself. I replay conversations and situations in my head to see if I can tell where I have offended. It's nerve wracking to speculate on what just is wrong.

Is it me? Are they just busy with life? It's sad and heartbreaking for me. I don't make friends easily, and those I have, I normally keep for years. I'm tired of crying over them, but I can't seem to move on. Pathetic huh?

I have things to share, good news, bad news, and heartbreaks. I feel alone. Sometimes I think this is God trying to get me to depend on Him more, others and myself less, but surely even He is getting tired of me crying and begging for His intervention.

Dove Season

Dove season started yesterday (Saturday). The girls and I camped out at the land last night, and prior to that Rodney managed to shoot 3 dove. He cleaned them and I cooked them on the grill last night for Rodney to eat. Today he and Blake managed to kill 9 dove and shot 125 shotgun shells. Those are some expensive dove let me tell you! Shotgun shells are currently going for $11.92 a box of 25! That is so crazy. I had purchased a case last December, and I am down to 3 boxes now. I am not looking forward to replacing the shells. I thought I had a lot of shells, but they sure do disappear quickly.

The guys cleaned and de-boned the breasts and I have them in the freezer. Taylor gave me five huge fish he caught in Rockport yesterday. I will separate them out tomorrow, and freeze them. Then once dove season is over, we will take all the dove meat and the fish and we will have a cook out for the family.

The girls have a slight cold, and we missed church this morning. I hope they are better, or it will be bed for them tomorrow and school work will be put on hold. I have dosed them with Tylenol and Bendadryl, and they are resting on the couch.

I forgot to post that we attended the County Fair yesterday. We went on a carriage ride with the girls around the fair grounds. They really liked that, and so did I. The girls went on a couple of rides, looked in the goat barn, went in the petting zoo, watched the tractor pull, and collected a few cans. I wish I would have thought to bring a trash bag they could have made a killing from all of the aluminum cans on the ground. Taylor started the craze of collecting cans, which he does to earn the majority of the money is using to support himself. Lauren has caught the fever, and now Hannah. I need to remember to keep a box of trash bags in the car for instances like this....

We looked in the exhibit hall of all the Home Art entries (baking, canning, quilting, photo, flower arrangements and more). I think Lauren and I will enter something in the next fair. She has a lot of pictures that she has taken that I really think she could win something. I'd like to bake something or submit my Wild Mustang Grape Jelly into the contest. Rodney's secretary won first place in the Specialty Quilt division. This was her first year, and she was very anxious, but she did great!

I am opening my blog back up to public viewing, hoping that the threats and pornography won't happen again.

I miss having the positive, uplifting comments left for me, and really enjoy interacting with everyone.

Tammy, Candi and my mom, if you are reading this blog, please call me. Thanks!

Red Rock Pond
The pond at the land

It's a beautiful morning! The sun is out, and the temperatures is in the 60's with a light breeze. I was sitting on the front steps reading my Bible with Hannah working in her handwriting book and it was great. Lauren was reading and doing her handwriting, but Muffin's fleas have increased, and were jumping all over her, so she stopped to go in and bathe Muffin.

Taylor is off with Blake to go fishing at the coast in Rockport. I think they will have a good time.

I will be cleaning this weekend, and we will probably go dove hunting also tomorrow.

I can tell that I am very moody. I alternate between being happy and being decidedly depressed. I keep thinking about my dad, Taylor moving out, Candi being MIA, the house not selling, the house being a mess, laundry everywhere. I can't sleep much at night, which means when I do fall asleep I end up getting up late in the morning. This then puts me late at starting the girls schoolwork, which means by the time we finish it's time to start getting dinner, and I have no time for housework. After dinner we leave to go feed the animals at the land, and get home around 9 p.m. Then it's getting the girls ready for bed.

I really wish I had some help. I wish my mom lived closer so she could help or at least come over and talk to me.

I feel like I NEED to be somewhere. I don't want to get the baby's room ready, just in case the house sells, but then this puts me in a quandary as I like to plan and organize. So, without a set plan, lack of energy and motivation, I feel like my wheels are spinning and I cannot make progress. I am so used to making things happen, that when I can't I get really frustrated.

Doesn't God understand that I am on a time line?

I don't remember mentioning the stray that showed up out at our land two months ago. She's about Muffin's size (chihuahua), and the kids named her Sophie (my vote was Worm - LOL!) Obviously, some kind of rat terrier mix. She's white and tan. Well, she has been getting really chubby, so I wormed her. The past two weeks I was sure she was pregnant (great!). Yesterday, the poor thing look like she was going to explode.

Today, we showed up to feed the animals and water the chickens, and she came out from under the storage container, and she was noticeably skinny! I walked over to her, and she rolled over on her back, with tail wagging. I could see she was bleeding a little from her privates, and knew she had the puppies.

I gave her some dog food. About 3 cups worth! She gobbled it down so fast, and then started walking towards the storage container. She'd stop every so often and look over her shoulder like she was asking me "Are you coming?". She took me right to the spot where she had her puppies, and started whining and wagging her tale. I was so touched that she wanted to show me her babies. Being pregnant myself, I was not able to get down on the ground and look under the storage container to see them, but the girls did. I could hear the babies crying though. I told her good job. She got up, wagged her tale, then crawled under the storage container, and didn't come back out while we were there.

Prayer Requests:

I'd like to ask that you pray for me and my family, my friend Candi, and our church family. Thanks!

I haven't seen Candi privately in about two months, and it has been month since I have seen her at church. I am really worried something is wrong.

Hurricane Ike passed way to the North east of us, and we didn't even get any rain until today, when we received a few sprinkles, not even from Ike.

We had taken the dogs out to the land. We chained the two puppies, Daisy and Duchess, and left Baeta with them. She's pretty good, buy lazy and will stay where we put here.

Duchess has been getting off her chain, so I figured it was only a matter of time before she ran off, got shot, eaten by coyotes, etc. Today, after church we went out to the land, and the dogs were both off of their chains. Daisy was missing, and the rooster had been killed (man I couldn't stand that rooster).

Well, the girls went off on the garden tractor looking for Daisy along the fence lines thinking she was hurt or got on the opposite side. Rodney went and looked out the back of the property and along the road way. He found her. She was apparently hit by a car, and was killed sometime last night after we left or this morning. We haven't told the girls, as they will be really upset. The girls and I left the land early this afternoon, and Rodney was going to bury her.

Rodney is still working on extending the pond, and trying to get his bridge framework in place. It's a huge metal structure, and very heavy. He has been pushing it around with his tractor.

Please pray for us financially, as we are trying to downsize due to the large possibility of Rodney losing his job in the near future. We really need the house to sell, but it is taking a little while longer than we expected. I am calling an investor in the morning.

Also, please pray for my pastor and his family. His daughter had a baby on Thursday, and was originally going to give the baby up for adoption, but decided to keep the baby instead, after the adopted family she had decided on backed out. She just could not see the baby going into foster care, so has chosen to raise the baby instead. This is a difficult time, but she will have lots of support from family, church family and friends.

It's been a long time since I posted anything. My computer was seriously infested with viruses, and I was just this evening able to get everything cleaned up enough to get online. So far so good.

Things have been moving along at the land. Rodney has been cutting grass due to all the rain we have received the past month. A whopping 10 inches! The pond overflowed, the mosquitoes are swarming, and I swear you can see the grass grow.

The septic tank is complete, and Rodney is starting on enlarging the pond.

Taylor has moved in with his grandparents, partly to ease tensions with his attitude problem here at home, and to help his elderly grandparents with their farm work.

Went to the doctor today, and my due date is 2/7/09. The sonogram tech couldn't tell if the baby was a boy or girl, so that will have to wait until later.

Had another house showing last night, and am earnestly praying for an offer, any offer. I'll take anything!

Well, it's late, and I need to get up early to get started with the girl's lessons. Hope everyone has been doing great!

Love,

Amy