Basically I have decided that I am not afraid of the flu, any version of it. I'm not afraid of the H1N1 shot clinics at school where they administer shots or the mist either.
I'm more wary of the vax than I am of the actual illness, which is why we are not getting the vaccination at our house. I have very healthy kids, am taking plenty of precautions (basic wash hands stuff as well as Sambucol for all and apple cider vinegar for some of us), and am really ok with them being exposed to the virus.
Besides, we've already had what we figure was H1N1 go through the house (the 4 year old was the only one who went to the doc, and the ped said that's what it was), and it really wasn't all that bad.
My point is that I'm not worried about K being around other kids who get the mist, even if it shedds on/around her. If she/we get it again, so be it, we'll all be ok. (now I totally understand if someone doesn't want to get any kind of flu or has immuno-compromised children or other health concerns or doesn't have time to be sick, ie: doesn't have sick days to be out with children or whatever. I am blessed to be able to have a flexible enough schedule that I could be home with anyone who got sick and it won't adversely affect the family income, etc. It would just be inconvenient and unpleasant, but not anything more).
I don't enjoy parenting from a perspective of fear, and I think there is a lot of fear-mongering out there. I really do think that for me it just came down to "What am I least afraid of?" and I realized I wasn't afraid of the flu. and I went from there.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
hanging laundry outside
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20091118/us_nm/us_usa_laundry
I do believe we have now come full circle. from having to hang laundry outside because there was no other option to having to demand the right to hang laundry outside. sigh. just when I think I understand the world.
I do believe we have now come full circle. from having to hang laundry outside because there was no other option to having to demand the right to hang laundry outside. sigh. just when I think I understand the world.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
labeling myself
I have never really embraced the idea that I'm a work-at-home-mom. Mostly because I don't really make much money. Sure I preach a revival or do a guest shot at a church every now and then; I do weddings and funerals; I speak to groups on a variety of subjects (on everything from providing pastoral care to survivors of sexual assault to couponing and stockpiling), but I never really thought of myself as working. I don't have an office I go to each day; I don't have office hours; I don't have a regular paycheck. I hope to average $100/month this year, which will include one $800 check in Jan and nothing else until August when I did a wedding.
But I do run a nonprofit. And I have a small business (making various crafts) that is right at a year old. I founded a corporation over a year ago (but I think I'm going to dissolve it because I can't do what I founded it to do). It's not like I don't have productive work happening from time to time.
In fact this is one of the times of the year when I have a "busy season." Today I made and assembled 19 boxes of photo notecards and got all my rice bags ready for the first of two craft fairs at which I'm vending this month. I might make a couple hundred dollars, I might make nothing.
But it has started me thinking. I really do work at home. I have things that I have to accomplish professionally from time to time. But it is in such spurts that I don't see myself as working. I don't totally fit the WAHM model, but I don't totally fit the SAHM model either, although that is the language I have been using for myself. Actually I'm a "seasonal" or "sporadic" WAHM. It is a real luxury to be at this point professionally, where I can take speaking engagements or teaching gigs whenever I want to; I can choose to make and sell crafts or whatever I want whenever I want; I do not need to support our family with a supplemental income as T's job is pretty stable and secure. His job is making money, mine is saving it. It is a good relationship and a good way for us to run our family and household. As much as it is a luxury, I must say I certainly worked hard to get to this point. I have lived and worked on three continents and crafted a rather impressive international resume as well as founded two nonprofits and directed a third here in the US. I pastored two congregations. I spent all of my 20s and parts of my 30s finishing my education and then pastoring and traveling and consulting and founding and directing and writing and speaking. And then I gave it all up when I had children. But not really. I never really left it all behind, although it did feel like that at the time. I have definitely moved away from who I was the last time I lived in Cambodia. And although I still bear some emotional scars from it, I am not the same person who lived and worked in a war zone as a noncombatant. But I still am the same impassioned advocate for women's rights and victims of violence. I am still an expert on the issues of violence against women and children, human rights, clergy sexual misconduct and the intersection of faith and violence. I am the same person who knows how to build a sustainable development project and start a microlending program. I am the same person who can preach and teach and baptize and lead worship. I just don't do any of those things on a daily basis. Or a weekly one. Or even a monthly one.
But I'm beginning to embrace the language of working at home. I'm not entirely sure why I resisted that label for so long (again, it probably has to do with the lack of "real" income on my part). I knew about that label and have had many friends in that category (most of whom do home parties like Tupperware or Pampered Chef or sell for hobby-based businesses like Creative Memories), but I never applied it to myself. And it really isn't so much a resistance on my part as a reluctance to label anything I do in some kind of "normal" or category. I don't have any negative connotations about WAHMs at all; I think I thought I just didn't really deserve that kind of title. But I think I have always been a WAHM. I have always stayed "under appointment" within the United Methodist Church, never taking Family Leave or anything; I just never made any money, so I have not considered myself a real working mother. However, I do work. I spend time planning and booking workshops and writing sermons and curriculum and speches. I travel to places to teach or speak. I write. I take photos. I make art. I'm an artist, a photographer, a consultant, an educator, a trainer, a writer and a speaker. I work. I really do work (from my home). I really am a professional.
Sometimes I'm a little slow on the uptake. Here I have been a work at home mom for the past 8 years, and I'm only now saying that outloud.
But I do run a nonprofit. And I have a small business (making various crafts) that is right at a year old. I founded a corporation over a year ago (but I think I'm going to dissolve it because I can't do what I founded it to do). It's not like I don't have productive work happening from time to time.
In fact this is one of the times of the year when I have a "busy season." Today I made and assembled 19 boxes of photo notecards and got all my rice bags ready for the first of two craft fairs at which I'm vending this month. I might make a couple hundred dollars, I might make nothing.
But it has started me thinking. I really do work at home. I have things that I have to accomplish professionally from time to time. But it is in such spurts that I don't see myself as working. I don't totally fit the WAHM model, but I don't totally fit the SAHM model either, although that is the language I have been using for myself. Actually I'm a "seasonal" or "sporadic" WAHM. It is a real luxury to be at this point professionally, where I can take speaking engagements or teaching gigs whenever I want to; I can choose to make and sell crafts or whatever I want whenever I want; I do not need to support our family with a supplemental income as T's job is pretty stable and secure. His job is making money, mine is saving it. It is a good relationship and a good way for us to run our family and household. As much as it is a luxury, I must say I certainly worked hard to get to this point. I have lived and worked on three continents and crafted a rather impressive international resume as well as founded two nonprofits and directed a third here in the US. I pastored two congregations. I spent all of my 20s and parts of my 30s finishing my education and then pastoring and traveling and consulting and founding and directing and writing and speaking. And then I gave it all up when I had children. But not really. I never really left it all behind, although it did feel like that at the time. I have definitely moved away from who I was the last time I lived in Cambodia. And although I still bear some emotional scars from it, I am not the same person who lived and worked in a war zone as a noncombatant. But I still am the same impassioned advocate for women's rights and victims of violence. I am still an expert on the issues of violence against women and children, human rights, clergy sexual misconduct and the intersection of faith and violence. I am the same person who knows how to build a sustainable development project and start a microlending program. I am the same person who can preach and teach and baptize and lead worship. I just don't do any of those things on a daily basis. Or a weekly one. Or even a monthly one.
But I'm beginning to embrace the language of working at home. I'm not entirely sure why I resisted that label for so long (again, it probably has to do with the lack of "real" income on my part). I knew about that label and have had many friends in that category (most of whom do home parties like Tupperware or Pampered Chef or sell for hobby-based businesses like Creative Memories), but I never applied it to myself. And it really isn't so much a resistance on my part as a reluctance to label anything I do in some kind of "normal" or category. I don't have any negative connotations about WAHMs at all; I think I thought I just didn't really deserve that kind of title. But I think I have always been a WAHM. I have always stayed "under appointment" within the United Methodist Church, never taking Family Leave or anything; I just never made any money, so I have not considered myself a real working mother. However, I do work. I spend time planning and booking workshops and writing sermons and curriculum and speches. I travel to places to teach or speak. I write. I take photos. I make art. I'm an artist, a photographer, a consultant, an educator, a trainer, a writer and a speaker. I work. I really do work (from my home). I really am a professional.
Sometimes I'm a little slow on the uptake. Here I have been a work at home mom for the past 8 years, and I'm only now saying that outloud.
Monday, November 09, 2009
Triples Report
I've made 10 trips to HT. I've spent $82 and saved $231. Horrible savings compared to previous triples. My savings are only 65% and I'm used to saving 90%. It's the year's supply of baking products ($0.99 and $0.89 flour, $1/bag chocolate chips, $0.99 sugar, $2.50 bottles of olive oil) and the healthy snacks ($0.75/bag of Athenia snacks) and the hormone-free beef and HFCS-free syrup and ketchup that is killing me.
Tuesday, November 03, 2009
worthwhile links
Monday, November 02, 2009
grocery shopping
Between SuperDoubles at Bloom going on until Tuesday and Triples starting at Harris Teeter on Wednesday, I'm couponing like mad! Celestial Tea is $1/box at Bloom with the superdoubled coupon, Danactive is $0.50/pack, Aquapods are free. Heinz ketchup will be free during Triples. I went to a coupon clippers club yesterday and will go to a coupon swap tomorrow. Lots of organizing left to do.
Saturday, October 24, 2009
permanently open
I have had it! The children have slammed those doors for the last time. I live in fear of them slamming a finger or a hand in a door. E slammed K's head (!) in the door this afternoon. She's ok, but I am just sick of it. So T and I just took the doors off the childrens' rooms. Both of them. Now we just have to figure out where to store the doors (the junk room/office/hobby/craft space looks promising). No telling how long we have to leave them this way, but oh well, you don't need a door to a room. In fact I'd be perfectly fine without doors anywhere inside our house, archways and openings are enough for me.
other goals
Not sure why I feel like I need to make resolutions here at the end of October, but it seems like I need some new goals to implement in our household. Perhaps because I have reached most of what I set out to do this year home-management-wise. I am in the process of changing over to all homemade cleaners. I've made my own laundry detergent and spray cleaner. I am working on liquid soap next. I think I will probably still buy some commercially made products (Seventh Generation, GreenWorks, etc.), but overall I'm hoping to move towards making my own cleaners to cut down on the chemicals in our house and what I'm contributing to the earth and water supply.
financial goals 2010
We became debt-free in September 2008. We started banking a car payment then (paid off our second car and just kept the money for the payment in our budget, putting it into a savings account each month). My big financial goal for next year is to start banking a mortgage payment. We don't own a house. We live in company-provided housing (parsonage). We won't need a house until we retire, and I don't want to take on a 30-year mortgage in my 60s. We should have been putting aside money to buy a house for the past 15 years, but we haven't. We can't make up for lost time, but we can make serious strides towards buying a house outright in 20 years if we bank a pretend monthly mortgage payment now.
rebates
I just updated my document of grocery store rebates that I've done. Since June I've gotten $200 in rebates and have almost $125 worth of them outstanding (submitted but not yet received). We spend about $300/month on groceries, so that means in 5 months, June-October, I will have gotten a month's worth of groceries for free using rebates. Not bad, considering I'm just buying what I normally would.
Friday, October 23, 2009
Pantry Makeover at EarthFare
EarthFare is having a Pantry Makeover.
Go here to register. Take products from your pantry that have hydrongenated oil (peanut butter) or HFCS (soda, cereal, salad dressing, jelly) and trade it for something healthy!
I am so excited about doing this! I don't have any soda or peanut butter to turn in (ours is already healthy), but I am doing the salad dressing and jelly for sure.
Go here to register. Take products from your pantry that have hydrongenated oil (peanut butter) or HFCS (soda, cereal, salad dressing, jelly) and trade it for something healthy!
I am so excited about doing this! I don't have any soda or peanut butter to turn in (ours is already healthy), but I am doing the salad dressing and jelly for sure.
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