dogmom4

I am a list person too. I have paper lists...lists on my phone...and my computer. They keep me organized and I get a great sense of accomplishment when I check things off. Problem is they tend to take over my life.And they are NEVER done...because I'm that person who keeps adding to the list as it gets shorter. Today is the beginning of my third week of summer vacation. You would think I'd be feeling really rested....instead I woke up this morning feeling like I hit a wall. Why? Because when school was out I created a monster list of projects that I wanted to get done this vacation and I'm already pooped out from trying to do it all. Plus all the other life responsibilities is just making me want to crawl under a rock and stay there. There have to be down times during our days...weeks...seasons of life... Otherwise we get burned out. By nature...as preppers...we tend to always be looking around and see what needs to be done. We just have to remember we can't do it all. Right now I'm sitting and looking at the chickens calmly pecking around the yard. I've decided to I want to be more like my chickens (Where's a chicken smilie when you need it?) I'm going to make sure I have times to be more chilled... And because I want my friends to be around for a long time....I'm hoping you will be too.

Bump for cleanheart...

Bump! Have grapes in the freezer that need to be dealt with...

bump!

bump! I have lots of zucchini coming in....

bump!

Bump!

I averaged 3 miles per day for that week...so 21 miles for the week.

Hope you had a wonderful day!

Where are you on this journey? When I joined this site in 2006 I was feeling....scared. I had been 'kindof' looking into preparedness since the Y2K scare. Certain aspects have been something I had always been into. Girl Scouts, camping, gardening, FFA. In 2006 I looked at my kids and family members and was just terrified that I couldn't take care of them. It's a very stressful way to be. Have you taken steps to be more prepared for any "tough times" in your life? Definitely more prepared than I was then because of the wonderful wealth of knowledge here. Is life beating you down so it's too difficult right now? I've discovered that sometimes life is hard and sometimes it's not. Times are difficult but they will (hopefully) get better. What lessons have you learned? I've learned to rely on God to get me through the hard times. Also learned that a lot of preparedness is mental. Are you teaching others in your life? How? What are you teaching them? Over the years I've talked about the need for preparedness to close family members. That didn't necessarily go over so well...especially with tv shows that make preppers look looney. Now I take the approach of raising chickens for fresh eggs and gardening for healthy food and using a solar oven saves electricity...and so on. Sometimes it's all in the way you word it. Also has helped that food storage has helped through two years of hubby's unemployment and some other difficult times. What might you see as your most difficult challenges? Your greatest achievements? I think the hardest thing is doing so much of it alone. I really envy those of you who have others who work alongside of you. Greatest achievement: I'm still alive and kickin'! Looking back, what have you overcome? Big relationship issues....unemployment...big health issues now that prevent hubby from working. What do you need to continue to work on? I seem to be continuously trying to build my preps back up.... I can't tell everyone enough how much I appreciate the encouragement...the love..and the willingness to help. I love you guys!

WE2, those are the ants we have. they showed up in our area about 10 years ago and are a major nuisance. Right now I'm dealing with them around the kitchen sink. They are looking for water. They're also becoming a major pain in my garden beds and pots.

Yay!

Welcome back home Daisy56! Take it easy on yourself.

Two eggs over easy, toast and some juice.

Kappy, what's your recipe for southern style cabbage?

Hi Snowmom! I have a tracker on my phone now that keeps track of how many steps I'm doing each day. I was averaging about 3000 per day when I first started this back in September. This week I averaged 5200...a little lower than usual because one of the days I was sick and stayed in bed pretty much the whole time. My goal for this month is to get 7000 each day. This week will be about 18 miles.

It's not typical for raccoons to be out during daylight hours, is it? About a month ago a large male raccoon walked across our playground at work at 9 in the morning. Fortunately someone had the sense to get the kids off the yard...although no one called animal control...which I would've done if I'd been out there. Then last week I was looking out on my patio and thought one of my cats was in a bucket....it was a young coon that was getting water from a bucket that had been left on the patio. This was at 7 in the morning...sun was up. Dh opened the door and yelled at it and it slowly ran off. I went around the side of the house to make sure it was gone and it was just sitting there looking at me. Threw a rock and yelled at it and it walked (yes walked) through an opening in the fence...then sat and looked at me. Threw another rock and yelled again (neighbor must've thought I was nuts) and it slowly walked off down the street. Too young and stupid to know better?

Congrats!

I bought these off Amazon last year. I use the smidgen or drop to fill my own pill capsules. Very handy! http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0009X1P9S/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Welcome back S.K! Haven't seen you for a long time.

Has Alan Hagan written other stories?