Country Critters

Who's Life Is this!

Did you ever wake up one morning and ask "Who's Life Is this"?

"Warning": This is a downer post you may want to move on and read someone else posts.....

That's what I have been doing the past few days.

It all started awhile back after reading some posts about a book called "Created to be his help meet" I decided to step back abit and let my husband make most the decisions for the family. I have always been the one to take care of most everything especially the money in our family, My husband would hand me his paycheck each week and I would work with it (I didn't do a great job of it but the bills did get paid). I handed over the worries & bill paying job to my husband. He has a painting business with a 25 year old as his partner.  He works 7 days a week now, and he says we have no money. He tells me in conversation how they just got this big check from this guy and that job ect. but then there is never any money to work with....

He doesn't pay any of our bills until they are ready to shut it off or it is turned off.  He did tell me once that the 25 year old partner doesn't want his wife to know how much he is making so he wants to leave the money in the business account so she won't know! I would never have thought my husband would think of doing something like that to me but I am leaning towards that is what is happening. He has said to me "What do I need you for now?" & "You don't do anything but take care of the house". The one that hurt the most is: "I'm just keeping you around to babysit the kids so I don't have to hire a sitter, When they are 18 I am out of here"......

Things sure have back fired for me! Instead of getting my husband more involved -  It seems I have worked my way into not being needed or valued any more !

Thank you for letting me vent about this problem, I pray each day that things will get better.

Teenagers ......

Well, I had one of those eye opener nights last night!

My son wanted to go to a football scrimmage last night, my husband didn't go so it was just my son, my daughter & myself. I told my son that he could go join any of his friends that he didn't have to sit with us but he sat with us anyway. He talked all night about plays the team was doing and pointed out players from his football team that were watching the game too. Being that my son wasn't playing in the game I was able to check things out and was amazed at what I saw! The girls had such low cut shirts that they were almost popping out, with a ton of makeup on - they just looked so trashy looking. I pointed it out to my son and wanted his thoughts about it, he said that is how they dress mom! Then I saw some of his football teammates that I know, they were stumbling and were obviously drunk! I pointed that out to him too, He said oh yea they all get drunk on the weekends. I sat there just soaking this all in.... and thanked God that my son is my son!!!!!!! I am so blessed to have him. He is 17 years old, he still only has his driving permit but doesn't seem to upset about it. His father and I have felt that since he plays football which takes up a ton of his time that we don't want him to take an after school job. We don't have any extra money for the added insurance to add him to our policy and for sure I don't have any extra money to buy him a car either. So he doesn't drive around like the rest of his football friends, I pick him up at the football field after practice mon. - fri. which being that I am almost the only mom there must be a bit imbarrising for him. My daughter and I get out of our car and watch the end of the practice which no other parents do.... I am sure that the coach hates that but I enjoy watching and being able to comment on what went on with my son during the evening. Now, for girls - He talks about this pretty girl and that pretty girl but he hasn't mentioned dating. At his age I was already very much dating my highschool sweet heart which I did not end up marring... anyway I am not sure if it is because we live so far out of town that for him to take a date anywhere since he does not drive would be a big project - we would have to drive him and then drop off ect.... so here I have a 17 year old who doesn't drink, doesn't drive on his own yet, doesn't date, who still talks to his mom about things! Could I be any luckier!!!!!! He is in 11th grade now so I have one more year left before he either goes to college or a trade school (He has shown some interest in going to a great automotive school in Orlando). Either way I am just going to treasure this time I have with him! I am so blessed : )

Our Day Today

It is still soooo hot here in Florida, with the heat index factored in I think they said it was like 103 degrees! I think this whole year so far has been so much warmer then past years. Usually you can get your stuff done in the morning before it gets too hot but lately it so hot very early like by 8:30 - 9:00.

My son has football practice out in that weather can you belive it! Today they were wearing their helmet & pads.... they have double practices this week before school starts - They start at 7:30am. end the day at 1:00pm. they have time off in the middle for lunch and a break but still sooo hot to be out there during that time of day!

Well I took my daughter back to the haircutters today! We went yesterday, they washed it and the lady asked me what type of cut? I said clean it up and make it pretty. My daughter is 11, she hates to brush her hair so it looks messy most of the time. The gal cut it in a matter of a few minutes.... I was talking so I really didn't notice her cutting. She left it wet - I thought she did that because it was too hot for it. As the hair dryed it looked terrible, she didn't take anything off, it looked just like we went in but she had cut the bangs. They charged me $12.00 for nothing. I carried on about it so much all night, my daughter hates to have her hair down so when I suggested we go back she said no. But I just couldn't stand the hair looking like that so I took her to another hair cutter yes, another hair cutter - I spent another $11.00! Just when I don't have a dime to spare but this time the cut is beautiful! I am such a wimp I should have taken her back to the first place and told them to do it over again but I wimped out......

I was sitting her by the computer going over the amount we spent today - I am keeping an eagle eye on every dime. My daughter wanted to keep some of the dollar store items we bought that she has to take to school with her on Monday - I told her she couldn't because I don't have enough money to buy her more that we needed to buy her a pair of shorts & her brother a pair and we barely have money for that. She looked me right in the eye and said "Mom why don't you get a job"! I tell you that hurt my heart!!!!

Feeling Cranky Today.....

It is only 7:01am and I am already feeling cranky....

I hate starting the day out like this!

It has just been sooooo hot here!

I didn't sleep well last night, I never had allergies before moving down here to Florida but now it is a constant thing.... I am clogged with a runny nose. My mother-in-law suggested Mucinex and it worked, but now it seems like I have to take more and more of it to get some relief.

Then I checked our banking and a check I wrote out in June just cashed - Of course I had already thought it had and wasn't anticipating that $75.00. Then I saw my husband has been using his debit card & wrote a check out without telling me so we have maybe $200.00 left in the checking! Normally this wouldn't worry me too much but my husband has no job and is trying to pick up work on his own. I can not tell you how gut wrenching it is not to know from day ot day if you will have money coming in or not. He never seems to worry, He alwasy says something will come up but I truely hate living like this! I would rather he had a regular job that he went to ever day and got paid on a regular basis. He feels he can make alot more money if he works on his own instead of working for someone - Which is true but you have to have work to be able to pay bills & live....

Then to top if off, my son is required to sell 20 discount cards for his football team at $10.00 a card. I posted it on my local town forum and sold only 6 cards.... My son will be going out on Friday night to sell with the rest of the guys in front of stores to try and sell more. I sure hope he does, I can't afford to buy the rest of these cards!

Okay, I'll stop cranking now..... I sure hope the rest of the day truns out better. I don't think so though, I have to take my daughter to get her hair cut - I am sure that is going to be an episode too.

Oh well there is always tomorrow !

In search of shorts.....

We went back to school shopping yesterday up in St. Augustine.... as a kid I remember how excited I was to be able to pick out a bunch of new clothes all at once! But as a mom I see things differently, the price - YIKES! I gave my two children (Kristopher -17 & Kelly - 11) a budget of $100.00 each to work with, Well we started off at Target (I usually love that store) but all the shorts & skirts are barely long enough to cover the butt. We moved on to Marshalls, my daughter found two shirts that we picked up, but again those short shorts. Then we were at Beals, my son picked up a couple of shorts & shirts he was happy, my daughter found more shirts but still no regular jean shorts. We come home and they tried it all on - Nothing fits!! Everything but one shirt is going back, not sure if the sizes are running smaller or the clothes are just cut to fit so tight but even the tee shirts my daughter bought in the junior/womens section are too small and they are a large.... She is only 11 years old and barely 100 pounds. Oh well we will have to go all the way back up there today and return and see what we can get. I am still in search of a reg. pair of blue jean shorts.... they have to be out there somewhere!

Have a great Weekend!!

One of "Those" evenings....

As much as I try and make our evenings less stressful & relaxing something always comes up and makes the evening a major stress factor!

Last night was no exception - One of my dogs got loose and went after one of our chickens. The added problem to this is the dog decided to grab the chicken in the horse pen, which then had Chance running around like a wild man just missing by inches of stepping on the dog! So here we have one of our chickens hovering on the ground trying not to move so the dog will not pounce on it again, while the dog & horse are running around it at full speed. We got the horse to settle down a bit and my daughter grabbed the dog, then she got the poor chicken out of the way of the horse. If it wasn't so scary it really must of looked like a cartoon.... Everyone was okay.

Then after we had gone to bed and was fast asleep, I hear my son standing next to me - "Mom, a scorpion just bit me"! I jumped up and sure enough there was a scorpion on his pillow case. He wasn't that large maybe an inch or so but they scare me, my husband took care of him. My son put ice on the bite and said he was sleeping in his chair, We all couldn't sleep thinking that there may be more walking around.... This is the second one we have seen this month in the house - We had a larger one running up the wall in the livingroom - YIKES!

What a night!

I think I am addicted to cookbooks!

I think I am getting addicted to cookbooks!  I get all excited when I see a brown envelope in the mail box which has cookbooks inclosed....

Today I got two new ones:

More-with-Less by Doris Janzen Longacre

Soups & Muffins by Sue Gregg

I can't wait to look them over.

The funny thing is I am a terrible cook! I am 43 years old and never really learned how to cook. I have learned a lot from Crystal's website: http://www.thefamilyhomestead.com/  and have ordered her e-books which have been very helpful .

If you can give me any suggestion on cookbooks that you have enjoyed that you think I would like please post them - Thanks!

Have a great weekend

Donna

Space Shuttle went off today

Here is our view of the launching of the Space Shuttle today.....

We didn't get a very good view! The last Shuttle that went up went right over our house and we could actually see the flames coming out of the back of it, It was breath taking.

I am just glad they got off okay and I pray that they have a safe trip!!

Hope everyone has a Happy & Safe 4th. of July!

What a Blessing Today

It was such a joy & blessing today to look out our front window and see this beautiful site!

I was feeling down in the dumps because my son who will be 17 on July 1st. went off to football camp this morning, He is only going for a few days, but I just hate not having my children around.

Then when I looked out the window there was this gift, It sure up-lifted my spirit.

It never ends.....

 What a day!

Have you had one of those days? Well, I had one today!

We decided to remove the carpet from our living room and replace it with floor tiles - I found one that looked like marble. My husband and daughter started this but the store did not have enough for us to finish the whole floor.

This prompted me to really rip through our living room and toss out things and find a place for everything. I had it looking pretty darn good, well on the way of being a pleasent place to sit again.

THEN I found a post on our freecycle yahoo group for a free couch. The couch we have in the living room is one of those couches that looks good but is all broken, We have a board under the cushions! The gal said to come get it and it was ours, We shot over today to get it. It was is excellent shape, it is a sleeper too. We got it home and we could not get it through the door! It is so heavy that my husband and son struggled with it, they had to get it up on the porch railing and then turn it up on it's side. While they moved it up to it's side they put a hole in it .   We had to move so many things out of the way that we made the living room a total mess AGAIN! They finally got it in the house and I hate it! I was so disappointed - It is a peach color with a valor texture. The couch clashes with the new floor tile and just looks terrible. I just had such high hopes of making my living room look pretty but now it looks so mismatched. My husband struggled with it so much he says we are keeping it - He is not taking it back out, Soooo I have to live with it . I know I shouldn't complain since we got it for free and it is in great shape but my great idea of brining this new couch in has now messed up the entire living room again and the room looks like a hurricane it.

Oh well, maybe I can find a slip cover or something....

Tomorrow I will start all over again trying to clean it all up again - It never ends!

Bad Weather day....

We sure had nasty weather today!

The day started off hot as heck.... then is seemed like we were having a hurricane, the wind was whipping & the rain was coming down in sheets.

We were happy to see the rain but not the thunder & lightning, We were so worried that a strike would start a fire.....

During the bad weather we happen to start looking through the photo albums, the kids and I were laughing at some of the pictures. It's funny & kinda sad how I have album after album of my first child & my second child has hardly one album!

I was listening to what the kids were saying as they were looking at the different pictures and it took me back a bit when they said "Those were the good days". I asked them what they ment by that - They said they liked things better back then.... It pulled on my heart : (   that they don't think these are the "good days".

Never a dull moment....

There is never a dull moment in my home!

Last night we had the airconditoner running again, so we really can't hear what is going on outside. My son said he thought he heard what sounded like a gun shot, So off we went to find out what was going on. My husband started off up the driveway my son was behind, all of a sudden a loud pop noise went off - My son jumped a mile! My neighbor's (I don't even like to refer to them as that - This is the house were the sex offender lives) - Were shooting off fireworks! Not just the bottle rocket stuff the huge ones that go way up and blast into a huge sparkling of color in the sky. Now you might say well what is she complaining about this for.... Well  here in my area of Florida (by Flagler Beach), we are under a major no burn at all warning due to the possiblity of wild fires! Some people are just sooo stupid... One of my other neighbors called the police, but by the time they got there they had already stopped shooting them off. I am sure they told the officer it wasn't them doing it. It just is amazing how little respect others have for each other, they could have started our whole area up on fire just to have a few minutes of fun !

Happy Mother's Day!

I would like to wish all you Mom's out there a very Happy Mother's Day !

Having had my Mom pass away a few years ago, I can tell you to try your hardest to get over to see your Mom's today and give her a big kiss & hug! Don't worry about the gift you bring, the most important thing is spending time with your Mom! I can't tell you how much I wish I could go back now to all those Mother's Days when I had only sent flowers and called her on the phone to be able to spend time with her one more time......

My Mother's Day is starting off just like any other day - Up at 4:30am.! My dogs have gotten into the habit of getting up this early which is a complete pain in the neck for me. I had hoped it with being Mom's Day that my family would have let me sleep and taken over the roll today to get the dogs out - But no such luck !  We will be going over to my mother-in-law's house today - We are getting her a gift certificate for a local  fish resturant that she likes.

Well I sure hope you all have a great day!

Best Wishes,

Donna

Feeling a bit depressed : (

We are going out tomorrow night to watch my son's football game.

I don't have a thing to wear! I own one pair of shorts that have been worn to death.

So off to Walmart my daughter and I went today to get another pair for me....

WELL the pair I have now is a size 14, (I found a nice pair - I like the longer ones that go to just alittle above the knee) I tried on a size 14 couldn't get them even up, then I tried a  size 16 - again I could barely get them over my hips!. I was so discouraged!

My daughter found a size 18 in the ones I liked and they fit : ( 

I really need to get on the band wagon and lose some of this weight!

I am so depressed !

I found this article about weight & depression

http://health.msn.com/centers/depression/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100124161&GT1=8199

Early To Rise, Makes A Man/Woman Healthy, Wealthy & Wize - Not!

I sure am up early today!

The dogs woke up around 3:00am., I tried to settle them but when you have as many dogs as I do once they are up it is hard to get them down again and I don't want them to wake my husband and kids up... So needless to say my day is starting very early : (

We finally had a little bit of rain here in Florida, We are sooooo dry we needed it. Some areas have been having nasty fires (one over by SeaWorld), thank goodness none by us. I so worry about that with all my animals - Hurricanes you have a bit of a warning, but fires - gosh you have to pack up and go.

One good thing about getting up early, I had forgotten to take out of the washer my husbands pants that he wants to wear today - So I just tossed them into the dryer.

I dread my electric bill this month, With all the hot weather we have been having here we have had the airconditoner on ALOT! Even sometimes over night, It has just been so muggy and sticky you can't sleep even with the fans in the windows.

Anyway, Tom  is starting a new job today - Yea! I pray that this one works out for him.

He has had such a hard time finding a good reliable job - He has been finding these companies who are just so unprofessional!

I am not sure if I mentioned about my son hurting his arm at football practice, I took him for an x-ray at the hospital. Two x-rays and 5 minutes of a doctors time cost me $367.00! And they wonder why Americans are in such bad shape!! You just can't afford to go and get checked out anymore. They said his wrist had a severe sprain, that is was not broken - We have no insurance so they gave me a paper to fill out that might help lower the bill if we qualify.

Hope you all have a great day today !

Donna

Scary being out in the country....

Yesterday evening I was sitting at the computer, my husband was watching tv & my two kids were riding bikes out on the road. We had the airconditioner on so the door was closed but I could also hear my neighbors son out on his mini-bike up and down the road. I can count on one hand how many cars go past our house in a day, sometimes it is only the mail lady - We have about 8 families on this road.

All of a sudden I heard this scary plastic braking noise then a loud smash like something has just gotten hit. I jumped up and as I did I could hear one of my kids yelling the word "hit"..... my heart was in my brain pounding. I ran out there to find a car had hit our garbage cans & then hit and destroyed into a ton of pieces our mailbox - But "Thank God" both of my kids and the neighbors kid were okay! This car had fishtailed at the end of the road, both of my kids raced their bikes back to our yard and then the car hit our cans, mailbox, went across the street to hit the neigbors mailbox but they have a major wooden box around their's so they decided to just burn out along their front grass - they were sitting on the gas with the brake on when I got out there digging the hole deeper. As they saw me, they started this horrible nasty laugh which sent chills up my spine. They then road down the road eratic but not hitting anyone elses mailboxes - They came to the end of the road and just kept laughing and buring out and then made a left. We all stood there for a few minutes, my kids & husband were mad as heck but to tell you the truth I was just so greatful that it wasn't one of them that I couldn't even think straight. My neighbor gal jumped in her car and followed them, she seen them almost go off into a ditch and kept following them, she called 911. They then pulled into their driveway which was just a few roads away from our road, she blocked them in with her car... They got out of their car and started taking beer and some other things (not sure if it was drugs ect. or not) out of the car and take them into the house. We got to there, her husband had already got here with her son & brother. The police had still not gotten there yet, I tell you I was a bit worried I wasn't sure if these guys were going to come out and start something. But it takes so darn long for the police to get out by us that you need to do this so that they don't get away.... The police finally came with no lights on and just one police man! One of the guys who was in the car was staggering with his pants hanging low walking back down our road when we went to meet up with our neigbor so we weren't sure what he was up or where he went to but the other two were in the house. The officer asked us what had happened, then as we were talking the driver guy came out and went to the car again, the cop ran down there and when the guy went to get something in the car he grabbed him and put cuffs on him, he was staggering as the cop walked him to the car.. I was a wreak here these guys are all drunk and drugged out and only one officer is to handle this guy and what if his friends decide to come out of the house. The guy got a bit nasty in the officer's car, yelling ect. - The officer came back to us to fill out a report. Two more officers came by now....here is the kicker, since the officers did not view the guy driving the car themselves the fellow will most likely only get in trouble for the vandalism not the drunk driving!! Our neigbor family & us are wreaks now - We fear that when this fellow gets out of jail today he and his friends will be coming after us! My neighbor asked the police officer to drive by our area more this weekend... which made me even more scared hearing that. My neighbor then asked me to watch their house today since I am about the only one on the street who is there during the day! Yikes!

Please send prayers that this is all over with and things do not get worse! It just takes so long for the police to get out to us....

Thank you.

Donna - Florida

Keeping my fingures crossed....

We are a bit uplifted here at our little homestead .

We have lived here going on almost 3 years now, 2 of those years were lovely. THEN things changed, We had a sex offender move in with one of th gals who lives down our road two houses away from us - That changed everything for me......

I could no longer be relaxed, I had to worry ever time my daughter would go outside. I hated that because kids need to be able to run, play & use their imagination while playing outside. This man would drink and be scary, mostly on the weekends - It was just so not what we moved out here away from town to be subjected to. One night while my husband and daughter where gone up north, this man and his friends were having a "party" they grabbed my neighbors big pig and killed it and used it for their pig roast, they also took their cars and burned out & were mud bogging in front of our house which was scaring the living daylights out of me. We notified the police of this man and that he was a sex offender and asked them to drive by our road - We have seen the police car go by twice....

Well, yesterday my son ran into the house and told me the best news! The women that lives with the sex offender has her house up for sale - Yea!!!!!

I pray that the house sells fast and that they move on out of here.

I sure would be able to breath a bit easier when they are gone !

Another year older.....

Today is my Birthday - I am now 43 years old!

Where did all those years go.... it really is a blur on how fast those years went by. It seems like just yesterday I was graduating high school and now I am 43 - Yikes! Of course I am also about 60 pounds heavier & have lots of grey hair......

Nothing special planned for today, I thought of taking a book down to the beach and spending the day there before I have to pick the kids up from school or maybe just take a long nap since my dogs again got me up at 4am. this morning.

Tom & the kids are picking up an ice cream cake for tonight, they asked me what I wanted this year for my Birthday. I thought it over and to be honest I have everything a girl could ever ask for .  So I said just some hugs and kisses will do !

Hope you all have a great day today.

Take care,

Donna

Overwhelmed at the homestead

I have really started April off on the wrong foot! I need to take steps to correct it

I am feeling so very overwhelmed with everything lately.

I am not sure what the problem is yet - but I was reading a blog where the gal said you can be physically tired, mentally tired & spritually tired - I think I am all of them.

My house - Is a mess, I have tried to stay on top of it but it seems after each weekend it is back to being a mess. I would take pictures to show you all but it is soooo bad I am embarrased. It seems as if I clean one room, the other rooms become a disaster area....

Meals - I have been doing horrible with that too! I have meat in the freezer, but I seem to forget to take it out the night before... then I just slap together something that fills the family up but that's not what I want. I have decided I need to just cook with my crock pots - It has gotten very warm here in Florida already and for sure I do not want to put the oven on at all!

Animals - The goats keep getting out, no matter what we do they find a way out, their latest escape was by opening the goat house door from the inside which you would have otherwize thought was impossible to do. Chance the horse, I am still feeling so upset that he might have C.O.P.D. ! Our training is going very slow since we weren't sure if we can contiune to train him while he is coughing...

The chickens are okay, the roosters they could find a new home though. We wanted to get a few more chicks but really I have just been feeling so overwhelmed that I can't think of adding another animal.

Husband - He hates his new job again, he just can't seem to find one that he can stand for very long. He is a house painter, he has worked for a number of people and has gone out on his own and things just never work out. I am one of those people who needs to know we have a pay check week to week, so just hearing him speaking of quiting makes me very nervous.

Well there is alot more to add but as you can see I am in a downer mood lately - My mom always used to say, "If you can't say anthing good just don't say anything at all" so I think I will shut up for now and try and find that positive person I know who lives inside this body .

Take care,

Donna

Happy April Fool's Day

Instead of a joke day, April Fools Day for me is a sad day.

April 1st. was my dad's birthday - He passed away 2 1/2 years ago.

He sure was a special man, I really didn't start to see the emotional side of him until after my mom passed away. I miss him terrible!

I do have to say that being 42 almost 43 and having both of my parents passed on sure has left a hole in my heart. They had me at a bit older age: my mom was 35 and my dad was 38. You really don't know how much your parents mean to you until they are gone. I also feel so sad that my children who are 16 & 11 will only have a few memories of my parents to remember them by. I try my best to keep pictures of them around the house and speak of them often to remind the kids of how special both to of them were.

Can you tell that my parents ment the world to me .