Money!

Goodness! Things got away from me, and I'm in a bit of trouble in my accounts. I'm working through it, but this is the first time I've had any such trouble in years!

It's scary! And I've worked so hard to have perfect credit, too. I've paid my bills.

I contacted all the folks who tried to dun me, only to find out that they weren't trying to reach me, just someone who lived down the street. I was the only land-line on the block for a while, there...

Then there was St. Mary's Hospital! What a joke! They were trying to reach me - but they had never sent a bill, and the service was less than 45 days prior. I reported them to the Better Business Bureau for their practices, paid them off, and I'll never go back there again.

Bur right now, it's really scary! I don't know if I can pay both the utility bills I have. Never mind getting food for the cats! And my mortgage payment is due on the first, when the billing cycle starts all over again. At least my loans are both pre-paid till June.

Oh well....

I've been extremely lucky (BLESSED) and cared for, and I know that at least one of the quotes I've given will pan out, and I'll have work coming in. I also start my job with the Census Bureau on Tuesday, so there's an end to this in sight. It's just getting through the next few weeks. We'll make it, I'm sure. I guess I just needed to say how scary it is, to not have work coming in. To not have money coming in.

I've been living pretty high for the last couple of years. To be faced with this - AGAIN! - is not fun. I'll have to really pay down all my debt, so that it's just the little things - the mortgage, utilities, food and gas - the living expenses - that come every month.

I really need to start saving, too! Davy Ramsey is right! We need a $1000 cushion for emergencies, and 6 months of expenses in the bank, saved. Then, we can begin to save for other things - cars, vacations, appliances, hot water heaters, furnaces, roofs, and so on.

It's so hard for me to save - I've spent to my last dime for so long, being so broke (poor), that it's hard to have anything in the bank, just sitting there.

A change of mindset is required. Not just a change of behaviors. I need to see abundance, not scarcity. I thought I was doing well, but I see it was not well enough. I need a full paradigm shift....

Driving!

Well, so far only to the end of the alley. Tonight, however, I'm going to a meeting!

Yep! All is OK. As long as I remember to wear the compression belt, I'm not scared to drive. The twisting and turning, that doesn't feel good. The pull of centripedal force, gravity, inertia, and so on - that hurts. Otherwise, all is good.

Feeling pretty good about everything, really! Driving, work, life, love, health, the cats...

If my friend agrees, Missy Bugs finally has a home of her own. I'll miss the little bit, but she really needs to be loved and coddled and my friend will do that for her.

Not much else today. Looks nice outside. I'll walk around the property later today.

Found a cool resource...

http://www.sharedearth.com/

Check it out!

Well, I feel OK.

God gifted me with a full-size bed, including the box spring and frame. It's not brand new, and smells a little of tobacco smoke, but Febreeze and SCOE-10x will get rid of that. I slept in the new bed for the first time last night. I'm not used to feeling the cats get up and down. The bed is MUCH taller than the old one, but overall very comfortable.

God is good, isn't s/he??? A new bed. How cool! I priced beds a couple of weeks ago - about $1200 for a full size bed, and no more than a 2 yr. guarantee. This new one is 1 1/2 yrs old, and is in pretty good shape.

I kept the memory foam pad, and that may be a little too much softness. However, I was able to sleep on my sides for the first time since I got home (my favorite position) and my back was much happier this morning. My right hip is still a bit sore, but not as bad as it was yesterday.

The foam mattress will get covered and go into the hide-a-bed in the living room, that needs a mattress. That was the plan from the beginning. The wood of the frame will make good shelving in the shed. It will discintigrate over the next couple of years anyway, if kept on edge; but I can use it out there with enough supports and flat. It should do well.

The tape is bugging me a lot! It's time to remove the bandages for good, I guess. I'll carefully do that before I shower this morning. The post-op instructions say to wash the incision gently with soap and warm water, so I guess I'll actually do that today. It's been getting wiped clean when the bandages are changed, but that's only after I've already showered, and they are wet.

I also plan to drive for the first time, today. I want to see if I can, and go to a meeting. I miss my meetings and my peeps...

It's been a week since surgery, so at 8 days - not doing too bad overall. Business seems like it will pick up a bit over the next week or so, and the Census training class begins on Monday.

It's amazing to me how things work out. God always meets me right where I need him. He's never early or late.

Garden Photos on Facebook...

I posted the garden photos on Facebook...


http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=159795&id=793282769&l=f5787a9784

HUG Planting Day!

The clock keeps moving forward, regardless of how we feel, physically....

Today is my "Habitat Urban Gardens" planting day. David Craig, the Master Gardener who started the program, was here yesterday to review the plans, plants and choices. He gave me specific instructions to help with the digging today. He'll even plant my grapes for me!

My yard and garden are planned as an exhibition garden, to show the community how to incorporate edible plants in the landscape. I have 5 fruiting trees, along with Blueberries and Asparagus, as permanent plantings. Today, we are putting in the perrenial ornamentals, and the last of the perrennial edibles for this year. There are still more berry plants to come. I hope that in 5 years, the 4-H Club and the local schools will bring groups by and visit my garden, with the intent to practice the same concepts in other gardens around Knox County.

I have a somewhat smallish lot, but it's plenty big enough to do what I've planned for it. The fruiting trees are semi-dwarf, and won't get taller than 12-15 feet, except for the Turkey Fig, which will get about 25' tall. That one is shading my A/C unit, so it doesn't work so hard in the summer. Good planning goes a long way! I'll post photos later today, to show the finished plantings, although the full impact won't be seen for several years to come.

I figure I have a 25 year mortgage, and a 20 year landscape plan. The last 5 years, I can just sit back, pay my mortgage, and enjoy my home; renewing my annuals, tomatoes and cucumbers as the seasons pass.

Back from Hysterectomy

Overnight - only! Wow! No where near 100%, but only sore, not in pain.

Medical Pre-Testing

I went for my medical pre-testing today at the hospital. I go in on Tuesday morning for my operation. I expect to be out of commission for at least 2 weeks.

The testing was fine. We even got a chest x-ray to round things out. They are very thorough at Parkwest.

Garden Progress

I prepared the buckets for the tomatoes. I checked the trees, and they all have buds, except the crape myrtle. Those aren't going yet. I even have two flower buds on the dogwood! YEA!!!

I repotted a house plant, and potted up some Italian Oregano, and the Basil. I'm ready for greens and squash/cucumbers. I re-planted some of the beans, after the wind pulled over the support and pulled up several of the plants. I moved that planter to where it has more shelter from the wind.

I'm deciding where to put the grapes when they arrive. If the posts are in before my surgery, then I can easily have the plants put in the ground where they need to go. If the posts are not in the ground, who knows if they will even get planted!

Oh well, buckets are about $5 each.

I wrote up a list of stuff that needs to be done before I go into the hospital, and assigned tasks to each day. As long as I follow my schedule, no single day is overwhelming, and everything will get done.

I have this great organizing gene inside me, but it only gets to tell me what to do. It can't enforce things. My follow-through isn't as good as I'd like it to be. Well, I hope to post each day before surgery, and set out my accomplishments and cross stuff off my schedule! So, stay tuned...

Garden!

I found an alternative solution for the garden for this year - containers! Not my ideal, but it will work.

I built my first ever rain barrel yesterday. (You are looking at the overflow side.) It ended up costing about $40 or so, and that works out to less than 1/4 of the commercial jobs. I have a source for the white plastic barrels, too. They look better than a brown trash can. Both can be painted, for sure!

The beans aren't doing well in the planter. I may have to start over. The tomatoes will be going into 5 gallon buckets. Lots of drilling holes, and several cubic feet of potting soil. The strawberries are seeded, as is the stevia. I was able to rescue one artichoke and one brussels sprout. I'll need a flat planter for the greens, so I'll just make it up and leave it outside.

Planting outside here in Zone 6/7 isn't generally done till at least April 15-25. With my surgery happening on April 13 (confirmed), all the planting needs to be done before then. I'll have help around to carry the planters outside, but I want the stuff ready so there is produce this year.

As far as the rest of it, I want my house in decent order before then, too. So, I guess I'd better get off my duff, off the computer, and get to it!

See ya!!!!

Planting!

I planted up the Asparagus yesterday. I didn't do it quite "by the book" as I need large bins, and used short ones. Oh well...

I also set up some planters for strawberries and stevia. That was all I had in me to do yesterday. I have more planting mix, humus and planters, along with a lot more seeds. I got some 5-gallon buckets for the tomatoes, but they all have gunk in them. Maybe I'll toss them and get some pristine ones from the Home Depot later today. I need at least 6, with tomato cages to go in them and a bag of soil each. That's for the 6 tomato plants for this year.

There's no way I can get everything into the ground this year. Just no way I can do it, with the soil conditions, my health, the surgery, and everything. So, this is a viable alternative.

Work on the Horizon & Surgery

Work is on the horizon. I've been hired by the US Census Bureau as an Enumerator. I don't start training till the end of April.

That leaves April to have the Surgery. Right now, we are talking about April 13, but if not, it won't be till May.

I'm about half-done with an e-book that I'll be selling on Clickbank about building a website. I hope that leads to workshops, seminars, and more consulting.