Everyone I know is trying to stretch a dollar these days. This year we have saved by turning our thermostat to 62 degrees. We cook as much as possible at home. We research prices, clip coupons, shop online, barter or whatever it takes to get what we need as cheaply as possible. On our cooking web-site, I recently shared a recipe for home made laundry detergent. I absolutely love it. I found the recipe here www.thesimpledollar.com. I wanted to share the site because it has a lot of unique simple ways to save money. I will be adding this site to my side bar favorites.
Check it out, and start saving $$.
Monday, March 30, 2009
Thursday, March 26, 2009
From Missing Mom to Red Headed Liabilities
I have not posted much lately, but there certainly has been a lot going on around here. I have failed to post about the science fair that Hope and Micah participated in. I didn't post about Ethan's 18th birthday or Micah's 15th birthday. I didn't post about the talent show where Hope sang in front of 200+ people and floored us with her voice. I haven't posted about our graduating senior, my husband who's decided he'd better start his own business, or about being interviewed a couple of weeks ago by Ken Beck. I didn't mention that our home school tutorial didn't schedule spring break until APRIL 10th and all of us are experiencing a bad case of BURN OUT. And I won't go into death anniversaries, even though today is a painful one for me. Mom has been gone 15 years today, and yet it seems like yesterday still. I'll just talk about boys and trucks.
About 18 months ago, Ethan purchased a red Dodge pickup truck on EBAY. He and Richard drove to Ohio to pick it up. I won't go into all the repairs that were made on that truck the first year. I'll just expound on what's transpired since October 2008. In October, Ethan's tags were due to be renewed. In Wilson county, our vehicles must pass an emissions test before we can get our tags renewed. Ethan failed the first time. He bought an O2 sensor and installed it himself. He still didn't pass emissions. He continued to drive without current tags. Between Oct and Dec, he had several hundred dollars of repairs done on the truck, and it was in the shop 4 times that I recall. In Dec, on the way to school, his drive shaft fell off in the middle of I-40. We had the truck towed back to Lebanon. We located a drive shaft in McMinnville at a junkyard. Richard got a speeding ticket on the way home. The drive shaft wasn't the right size anyway. The truck sat in our driveway, jacked up for most of January. Since we could no longer get a new drive shaft from the dealership, we had to have one custom built. There went another 400+ bucks. 4 days after getting the truck in working order, Ethan's foot slipped off the clutch and the truck lurched forward, hitting our garage, denting the door, and tearing up the front truck fender. He took the fender off and ordered an unpainted on from EBay. It arrived in imperfect condition. It's on the floor in his bedroom. He has continued to drive the truck without a fender or fog lights or front signals. Last Wed, he called from Mt Juliet. The new drive shaft fell off and some kind but hefty black fellow helped push him out of traffic. To save on towing Richard towed him home himself. The guys who custom built the new drive shaft that just fell off gave Richard all the parts to put it back on again. Ethan had to drive Richard's truck over the weekend. Ethan's friend Josh spent the night here Sat night. Ethan didn't see Josh's car parked directly behind Richard's truck and plowed into Josh's driver's door. Uh Oh Josh's car. Sunday night Richard and Ethan were able to put his drive shaft back on and the truck was drivable. The check engine light went off so Ethan took the truck to get emissions tested. HE PASSED! He got a ticket on the way home for driving on EXPIRED TAGS! Now he has to appear in court.
Micah is studying to get his driver's permit.........
I'm being chased by a psychiatrist
About 18 months ago, Ethan purchased a red Dodge pickup truck on EBAY. He and Richard drove to Ohio to pick it up. I won't go into all the repairs that were made on that truck the first year. I'll just expound on what's transpired since October 2008. In October, Ethan's tags were due to be renewed. In Wilson county, our vehicles must pass an emissions test before we can get our tags renewed. Ethan failed the first time. He bought an O2 sensor and installed it himself. He still didn't pass emissions. He continued to drive without current tags. Between Oct and Dec, he had several hundred dollars of repairs done on the truck, and it was in the shop 4 times that I recall. In Dec, on the way to school, his drive shaft fell off in the middle of I-40. We had the truck towed back to Lebanon. We located a drive shaft in McMinnville at a junkyard. Richard got a speeding ticket on the way home. The drive shaft wasn't the right size anyway. The truck sat in our driveway, jacked up for most of January. Since we could no longer get a new drive shaft from the dealership, we had to have one custom built. There went another 400+ bucks. 4 days after getting the truck in working order, Ethan's foot slipped off the clutch and the truck lurched forward, hitting our garage, denting the door, and tearing up the front truck fender. He took the fender off and ordered an unpainted on from EBay. It arrived in imperfect condition. It's on the floor in his bedroom. He has continued to drive the truck without a fender or fog lights or front signals. Last Wed, he called from Mt Juliet. The new drive shaft fell off and some kind but hefty black fellow helped push him out of traffic. To save on towing Richard towed him home himself. The guys who custom built the new drive shaft that just fell off gave Richard all the parts to put it back on again. Ethan had to drive Richard's truck over the weekend. Ethan's friend Josh spent the night here Sat night. Ethan didn't see Josh's car parked directly behind Richard's truck and plowed into Josh's driver's door. Uh Oh Josh's car. Sunday night Richard and Ethan were able to put his drive shaft back on and the truck was drivable. The check engine light went off so Ethan took the truck to get emissions tested. HE PASSED! He got a ticket on the way home for driving on EXPIRED TAGS! Now he has to appear in court.
Micah is studying to get his driver's permit.........
I'm being chased by a psychiatrist
Monday, March 09, 2009
Things That Make You Go, Hmmm?
Thomas Jefferson in some cases could be called a prophet. Here are some of his quotes for pondering:
When we get piled upon one another in large cities, as in Europe, we shall become as corrupt as Europe.
The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not.
It is incumbent on every generation to pay its own debts as it goes. A principle which if acted on would save one-half the wars of the world.
I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them.
My reading of history convinces me that most bad government results from too much government.
No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms.
The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.
The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.
To compel a man to subsidize with his taxes the propagation of ideas which he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical.
When we get piled upon one another in large cities, as in Europe, we shall become as corrupt as Europe.
The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not.
It is incumbent on every generation to pay its own debts as it goes. A principle which if acted on would save one-half the wars of the world.
I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them.
My reading of history convinces me that most bad government results from too much government.
No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms.
The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.
The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.
To compel a man to subsidize with his taxes the propagation of ideas which he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical.
Thursday, March 05, 2009
The Passing of the Baton
Recently, Hope and I spent a Saturday with my Grandmother Armstrong. Hope has been wanting to learn to knit for a while now. Grandmother taught me how to knit when I was about Hope's age. I got out my needles and brushed up on my own skills, but I didn't proceed to teach Hope. I wanted her to learn from the best. I wouldn't trade anything for the experience of Grandmother teaching Hope how to knit. The pictures tell a sweet story.
Here, Grandmother is "casting on" the stitches for Hope, which is the first step in the knitting process. Aren't Grandmother's hands just precious. She's done a lot of good with those hands in her 90+ years. Hope's hands wait patiently to learn. 
Here, Grandmother is "casting on" the stitches for Hope, which is the first step in the knitting process. Aren't Grandmother's hands just precious. She's done a lot of good with those hands in her 90+ years. Hope's hands wait patiently to learn. After casting on and knitting a row, Grandmother assists Hope with her first row.
I simply love this pose. It speaks to me. Does it speak to you? (Thank you Jordon for photographing these moments!)
Hope needed a little extra assistance from time to time. When Grandmother was pretty sure Hope had learned the basic knit stitch, she passed the pair of needles and yarn over to Hope. Hope did pretty well at her first lesson. She often added an extra stitch to each row without knowing it.
I believe it is so important to preserve our family heritage and our southern traditions. Grandmother, we wil do our best to preserve the heritage you have passed along to us. And we hope we make you proud. We love you Grandmother!
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