First Day of Spring 2022

 

First day of Spring in 2022!

It’s been a very long winter & a very, very, very long year, so far!

2022 began with my stove’s motherboard suffering a catastrophic failure, just as we were ready to bake pizzas! Less than 24 hours later I suffered an allergic reaction that took nearly a week to get under control. (Note to Self: Always read all ingredients; even when buying from a “safe” bakery!) As the allergy symptoms were fading, symptoms of what was probably a covid infection began. The rest of January was spent being ill and then recovering. As all four of us (3 daughters & myself) ended up ill & 2 tested positive for the virus, it had a serious impact on anticipated income. When you are paid by the hour or by the job and are unable to work due to all the restrictions related to this particular virus it seriously hinders your ability to pay bills and buy food! Now that it’s 2022, almost all of the financial resources available during the first year of this pandemic are gone. As difficult as it was, we all survived January, feeling like February would be better.

For a day or two, February seemed to be a better month. It did at least begin a little better. One daughter was able to get hired on at a daycare center that would happily work around her college schedule. The other two finally got negative tests for the virus and could return to work. That wasn’t quite as smooth as expected. For one, viral infections at her workplace ended up at times closing the store – so no work; or putting my girl on a 5-day quarantine because someone on one of her shifts has tested positive for the virus! And the other one had a few jobs cancel because someone in their home now had the virus! Then the 3^rd one, who was hired on at the daycare and was waiting final confirmation of the job along with her first day of work & schedule for the remaining days that week, opened a message one morning saying she was expected at work in about 1 hour! The manager thought she’d sent an email several days earlier about this. It was later discovered that she forgot to attach the document with all that information. To add to that first week of work, her car died! At first, we had hope it was something simple & repairable. It ended up be total engine failure! So now we’ve spent all of February using one car to get all 4 of us to various jobs & classes, in addition to healthcare appointments and routine errands & shopping needs. We took this one car in for a routine oil change and discovered it would need the brakes worked on within the next 4 weeks or so, the sooner the better. Meanwhile, we’re all (along with many other family members & friends) in search of a 2^nd car again. One that will fit our extremely tight budget! February came to a close with all of us feeling much more stressed & beginning to show signs of reaching our collective & individual breaking points!

So, March simply has to be better! Right?

Well, it’s the 20^th (already) and so far; NO! March is not any better than the first two months of 2022!

We are all stressed in every possible direction life takes!

Efforts to find an affordable 2^nd car are proving to be very near to impossible! A few “near misses” have provided a slim, sliver of hope that is ultimately dashed. Still searching!

Finances are stretched more than they’ve ever been in the last decade! In the last five years, even!

Landlord tells me my 4-year-old stove is toast! It’s not possible to replace the fried motherboard, so it’s not coming back. I will just have to make-do with the very old stove they brought in (to use until the newer one was repaired – the one that different circuit boards got fried 2 times prior to the motherboard going out) as it’s not very likely that they will be buying any new stoves anytime soon.

And for each of us, various health issues are getting worse again and it has each of us wondering just how much more can we take?

Spring is often a time of new beginnings!

Beginning today I am changing how I begin & end each day! I am taking steps to directly improve how I’m feeling, mentally & physically. The plan is to work harder on MY own person and allow that to spread outwardly to my daughters. As I write this I am filled with doubts in my own abilities. At the same time, I am full of hope, filled with an enormous desire, and very much consumed with the idea that (as with past extreme challenges) I will find the right path to bring the 4 of us to a better place in the next 11 days!

This will be challenging; perhaps the most challenging course of action I’ve taken in at least two decades! My intention is to journal about it daily. A daily recall of what I’ve accomplished will be my own sort of accountability. It could also be a way to track those things I’m changing that haven’t been habits before now.

Two years of pandemic restrictions have put a wall of isolation around many of us. I know I haven’t kept in touch with as many people as I would have liked; people that I used to have very frequent interactions with, some even daily. Now would be a good time to reconnect! Many are here online in various ways. My hope in sharing this is to get & give support in dealing with life’s challenges. We all have them!

May we all have HAPPY SPRINGTIME BEGINNINGS!

It is what It Is!

Purpose – schmurpose! LOL 20 days down and I've spent most of it rather down … but not quite out... due to some of life's unexpected troubles. :( The damages are reversing, healing, returning to normal, slowly. But, as usual, it's not going to stop me from moving toward my goals!

And I am still moving ahead WITH PURPOSE! I am determined that even starting my business month 33% behind (so to speak) will not keep me from building my business!

Same for SPARKnEarthlyBest – no progress to report, but no backsliding either!

On the green front... we are doing LOTS BETTER at eating REAL FOODS! I found a few new blogs to follow in this effort of avoiding processed foods more:

100daysofrealfood.com and foodformyfamily.com and eatingrules.com

If you have any interest at all in eating less processed foods, more organic foods, or more local foods you may find one or all of these very helpful! :)

And with ANDEE365 – Wow! Have we been 'thru the ringer' and then some! It wasn't fun. It wasn't pretty. It wasn't supposed to happen this way. :( However, we have had some extensive family discussions about the things that have happened and the things that could yet happen. These have resulted in a number of things improving around here. But there are still some “issues” to resolve ~ aren't there always such things in large families? LOL So, we move ahead! We go forward WITH PURPOSE! We take stock of where we are at; where we want to go; and which path(s) we want to take to get there.

I do have to say this: In the last 20 days I've talked to a number of locals and met some really nice people! This makes me look forward even more to what's ahead as I seek out more and more of the people of my little town and help them understand what a wonderful thing I have for them with my company! :) There are lots of hard-working folks around here who are barely getting by and really struggling to find that “something” that will help them get to the next check, help them get to feeling better so they can do more to meet their families' needs, and give them hope for a brighter future. Before long they will all know! I can't wait to share what I have with all of them!!!

I close with this:

"Your time is limited so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma, which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary."

~ Steve Jobs (Feb. 24, 1955 – Oct. 5, 2011)

100 on Purpose

Today, Tuesday, September 20, 2011 marks yet another beginning for me...

and my family! (little do they know – hehehe)

It's the start of a 100 day countdown to a better life – for all of us!

For All My Earthly Best it's moving forward in becoming GREENER and more completely self-sufficient. This project is ongoing with no foreseeable end as it is my opinion that one can ALWAYS improve upon any given circumstance or situation. But – for 100 days I plan to increase focus on a few matters that will directly impact our environment for the better!

For SPARKnEarthlyBest it's continuing my quest to lose 100 pounds. Yeah, a year has come and gone and I didn't meet that goal. :( I am however 50 pounds lighter – so there is clear and definite progress! Ultimately I will be eating 100% whole foods and absolutely nothing commercially processed or produced. This journey will not really ever end either as all of us, until we can gain perfection, will always have some aspect of our health to improve upon. Given all that – let's just see where we are at in 100 days!

For Andee365 it will become a test to see how much can be accomplished in 100 days! We are all working at ways to gain self-sufficiency; to reach that point where there is no need to depend upon others for that which we need. We need to find another house – perhaps to buy – maybe even out in the country where we are more free to adjust our lives to living more on our own and less dependent upon what others provide. No, we won't move anytime soon – unless we are given a miracle or two. ;-) But we will build up our resources, cut down our wastes, fine tune our wants, and – in 100 days – find ourselves in a better place in many ways. :)

There is a Bible verse that states:

“Whatever you are doing, work at it whole-souled, as to Jehovah, and not to men.” Colossians 3:23 NWT

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not human masters.” Colossians 3:23 NIV

“Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people.” Colossians 3:23 NLT

However it is stated, the idea is the same: whatever it is you are doing (so not just things you do that are specifically religious in nature), do that work in the best way and mood possible (give it everything you've got and give it joyfully), just as if you were being asked by God, himself (by the most supreme being in the universe) to get that task done.

As a Bible Student I take this very seriously. I realize that in this regard too, there is always room for improvement. So this next 100 days as I work towards a better life by making specific, focused efforts in several areas of life, simultaneously I will do so “whole-heartedly” and “gladly” and with my best possible efforts regardless of the obstacles and challenges that are put in front of me!

One of the key factors that will allow me to accomplish these goals begins here: www.andee.ecomomteam.com and if you wish to know more on that just fill in the “Request Info” form and submit it to me. :)

The next 100 days I am DOING WITH A PURPOSE!

All My Earthly Best

It's been awhile

Yes, it's certainly been a long time since my last post! :)


My list of links is growing - so I may just create a post soon that puts them all in one place and then more slowly I will add some info about them. Sorry, there won't be any with this post.


This is just a huge update of all sorts of things.  


First - the new kittens (born June 17th) and their mama got really sick in July and finally in mid-August (just before they would be 10 weeks old) we lost them all.  It's been a hard blow for all of us as we worked so hard and put so much into caring for them in efforts to save them all. :(


Second - in the ever-changing lives of my kids we have been having one crisis after another with different kids.  Of course, they are all adults now - but four still live with me - and just because they are legally adults doesn't mean they aren't still my kids. lol  Cars breaking down; jobs changing - cutting hours, laying off, or just being challenging in new ways; searching for jobs - first jobs, new jobs, different jobs; new health challenges developing; old health challenges getting worse; all in all, it's the same ol' - same ol' - never really changing status of needing more money than we have to care for all the things that come up.  It's not unlike a dog chasing it's tail - totally futile to attempt; but having done so, IF one should catch up then suddenly you find yourself getting bitten!


Third - we're into a decluttering mode - more now than ever.  It began when my sister moved out - and it's taking on a whole new meaning after attending our district convention at the end of July and then our circuit assembly at the beginning of September!  Now, it's not just get rid of things we're not using or haven't used in over a year; it's become get rid of things we don't really need. In other words, let's take a close look at every single thing in every single room of the house, including closets, porches, deck, garage and yard and let's see if we REALLY & TRULY NEED IT for survival. :)


This has become a huge project. One we hope to finish by the end of September. :)


I'm still working on building my business - ecomomandee.blogspot.com and I'm still working on my weight loss goals - sparknearthlybest.blogspot.com/ and like always I'll keep working on all these.  I'm not one to give up!

Spring? Day 2

In just a few hours Spring arrives here in the upper Midwest of the Northern hemisphere! It has been such a long winter!!!

THAT was how I was going to start this post. But I was also going to post this a lot sooner than now, however it was circumvented by Blogger’s / Google’s own little bots somehow concluding that it might be something automated doing this blog instead of it being someONE! Namely, ME! LOL So it was a bit disconcerting to get noticed like this BUT at the same time it is quite reassuring that the people behind this site (Blogger and/or Google) somewhere care enough to protect us bloggers and readers from such unwanted content. Having said this…

SPRING IS HERE!!! Yes indeedy! I am so glad too! (but as I write this – we are under yet another winter storm warning anticipating another 4-8 inches of the white stuff today!) Our first day of Spring was fabulous!!! It was sunny and beautiful and warm… and lots of snow melted!!! It’s all white again now – but soon, very soon it will be gone again!

In my locale we have had at least an inch of snow on the ground for 111 consecutive days! The all-time record is 122 days straight! We are now in fifth place with this winter AND there is still snow on the ground AND another round of snowfall due Friday! My neighbors, especially the older ones, tell me that THIS is what winters used to be like all the time. They tell tales of snow deeper than most adults are tall. They speak of digging tunnels to the driveways and roads. (so what about clearing out those driveways? Where did they put all that snow? And how’d they get all that snow off the roads?) Some of these old guys really make me laugh!

Still, if this winter is any indication of what winters here were like 15 or 20 years ago or longer, then I am very glad we moved here after that. Let me tell you, if my first winter here was like this one, I never would have spent the next 13 winters up here!!!

But on the other hand, it does make one appreciate the coming of Spring that much more! Never in my life have I looked so forward to a new season!

We have some great plans for this springtime as well. The whole family is taking on a backyard garden! Mostly it will be a vegetable garden, but there will be other plants too, like lots of herbs, some flowers, and perhaps some sort of low ground cover to replace the remaining grass so we don’t need to mow in back at all maybe. :) We are starting to see patches of grassy areas out there, so soon we can start digging up things and making plots ready for planting. We’re already starting some seeds, but plan on buying young plants soon too. Though I’m sure we still have a good month, maybe two, to go before that last danger of frost is gone.

We will also be working on a new organization plan to set in place. We’ve tried the Flylady program but haven’t done so well in sticking to it, though a few things have stuck and everyone loves to use my Flylady Feather Duster. I will still keep my Flylady cling where I can see her – there’s power in her purple image! :) This new program does have a few points in common with Flylady. This new plan of mine comes from my latest reading. The book is called Organic Housekeeping. It was printed in 2006 but I just heard about it a few days ago! What I’ve read so far fits right in line with my goals for the immediate future.

Those goals also include building up my [former business] to the point where it’s bringing in enough to care for all our expenses (and then some) BUT what’s even better is sharing all that I’m learning with others who will come to share with me in using their nontoxic products and working toward making a “carbon-neutral” footprint on this earth!

I can’t help but think that if I’d stayed with this company way back when perhaps my body would not now be so broken down, so chronically ill, so constantly in pain and without those challenges so many more positive things could have been accomplished by now! Starting now however, is still far better than never starting at all. It is so important, I think, for people to realize the danger the world is in now and take steps personally to change their futures!

This is now DAY TWO into my new plan... going pretty good so far. Next post will update you in more detail of what steps I've managed to take so far and how the family is accepting them. ;-)

DAY ONE minus two

In preparation for this journey that I am about to blog I am getting everything set up today. Consider this a preamble or preface to the book this is about to become.

The 20th day of each month tends to be a hallmark for me and as it is just two days away I've decided to get everything in place so that I may officially begin this course on Thursday, the 20th day of March in the year 2008.

As I begin designing this blog I inserted a picture a friend of mine sent me from Texas. Texas being my home state and the longstanding home of my mother's family going all the way back to it's glory days as the Republic of Texas; although it's not my physical home now there are many things I do love about it. Namely - BLUEBONNETS! OK, I also love YELLOW ROSES and nearly every other color of rose too. But I still love looking out over a field of Bluebonnets! My friend took this picture last April (2007 many of us had unusual winter-like storms) when a storm brought SNOW to her neck of the woods in Texas and nearly covered all the newly blossomed Bluebonnets! This particular picture just fascinates me!

Seeing snow covering a field of springtime blooms, and in the tree too, seems to be a contradiction in vision. It seems to match my present life: a contradiction in so many facets! If you look into my life, what you see is NOT what you get! What you get fails to match what you expected when you first looked. One must look beyond the obvious in order to see what's really there!

In all the obstacles and challenges I've faced over the years I've learned a few things!
Never say "never" ;-)
Listen before you speak.
Learn something new everyday!
There's more, but those I'll save for future posts. In sharing my earthly best you will eventually find something here for everyone that has ever been a part of a family. :)