Classy Chassis

This events of this month has left me feeling like a big ball of fluctuating emotions. I have been trying to keep myself as grounded as possible but some days are just hard. Even getting the mail leaves me feeling anxious. I can deal with all of the fliers and other insurance marketing mail we get. What upsets me is to find a pile of legal brochures from area lawyers who read about my husband’s accident in the newspaper. I know this is standard procedure for personal injury lawyers but it troubles me nonetheless. I wonder how they found out where we lived? I then wonder if there is something about our situation that warrants hiring and attorney? I have never had a need to contact an attorney and never thought I would. I guess this accident has been a learning experience on so many levels. Fender benders are something we have dealt with but never serious injury. `

The details of the accident my husband was in are just now starting to sink in. I have to say that I can’t help but feel anger at the driver who hit him. I am angry that my husband has to go through this pain. I am also feeling robbed of many things. I feel that because this guy made a stupid decision that our family is paying the price. I truly feel thankful that the accident wasn’t worse and that leaves me feeling guilty about feeling angry. We are now receiving letters from lawyers that want us to pursue a law suit. This is something that we have never thought about in our lives. I am torn as to whether to pursue damages from this driver or whether to let things be. It is hard to know what to do. I don’t want to be a vindictive person but it just doesn’t seem fair that the other driver walks away with a bloody nose and there isn’t something more. My husband has endured a serious car accident, concussion, broken leg, surgery, and internal bleeding. What would you do?

Today my husband went to the doctor and had his hard cast removed. He now has a softer type of cast and feels much more comfortable. Even though he feels better I doubt he going to be ready for me to find a nordictrack coupon and him new fitness equipment at this point. He is feeling very positive about the future but I have to admit to feeling concerned. I can’t help but wonder how having some pins in his foot is going to impact his future activities. We are a very active family and I would hate to think that this accident is going to bother him well into the future. It makes me even madder to think that someone didn’t have the good sense not to get behind the wheel after taking sedating medications. I guess only time will tell how things work in the future.

We have been trying to make more and more of our own food. I like knowing what is going into our bodies. My newest project is to make fruit leather. just did strawberry leather and used 1/2 strawberries and 1/2 applesauce. You can really use any combination of fruit. I also did a 50% applesauce, 40% old jar of peaches (this is how I rotate through my old jars) and 10% strawberries — and it still had a nice strawberry taste. The #10 cans of applesauce are only $3.25 at Costco.

We love fruit leather. My three-year-old son calls it candy!

If you’re planning to make fruit leather often, can I recommend something reusable? I bought a 12″ silicone microwave mat at Amazon (it was $6.39) and cut a hole in the middle to fit my dehydrator’s tray. It’s a good fit for my old Ronco, the fruit leather peels right off with no spray or anything needed, and since I do one tray at a time it’s a snap to just rinse the liner before pouring out the next batch! And since it’s silicone you don’t need to worry about it melting or catching fire…

Over our 20 years of marriage we have had a few fender benders. Until a couple of weeks ago I really knew nothing about cheap car insurance or any insurance at all. I can now say I feel fully educated in the ins and outs of car insurance after the last couple of weeks. It took me by surprise to learn the differences in the types of coverage available through various insurance companies. I now know that there are many things to consider when choosing an appropriate insurance plan for your family. I only wish it didn’t take an accident of the nature my husband experienced for me to gain this education. We are now realizing how important insurance can be when you really need it. We never considered that a driver might fall asleep at the wheel and plow into our car.

With grocery shopping! It just amazes me how much things have gone up in the last year. I find it hard to buy what we need for much less than 100.00 a week. I live in a very rural area with only a Dollar General and a small locally owned grocery store to shop at. If I want a bigger store/chain store I have to drive 45 minutes- 1 hour to a bigger town. The only store anywhere near me that doubles coupons is a Kroger and then it’s only up to .50. By the time I pay 2.85 a gallon for gas for a gas guzzler, then drive that far I’m not saving anything!

Today I bought very little at our little store and spent 74.00! Here is what I got…….

Dollar General

3 bags of Lays chips for packing lunches – 2.00 each
4 boxes of probe covers for our digital thermometer – 1.25 each (these are VERY hard to find in my area this time of year so I stocked up)
2 2 liters of off brand diet cola for dh – .75 each

total 13.03

Little Corner Store

10# potatoes – 2.99
2 # carrots – 2.09(carrots are almost as much as potatoes!)
2.48 # bananas – 1.12
3 cake mixes – .89 each
1 gallon 2% milk- 3.29
1 head cabbage – 1.39
toilet paper – 5.99
2 dozen large eggs – 2.98
1 box instant mashed potatoes – 1.00 ( I use these for making sourdough bread)
1 pack of ham lunch meat – 2.99
1 8oz. block cheddar cheese – 1.99
1 4pk. of biscuits for making monkey bread – 1.25
1 small jar picante sauce – 1.55
2 3# bags of apples – 3.98
2 heads lettuce – 1.59 each!!!
3 tomatoes – 2.92
1 bag of tortilla chips- 1.89
1 pack of boneless pork chops – 4.96

Total 60.37

And my big deal for the day—— 2 packs of cheese, those big blocks with 160 slices in them??? for 5.19 EACH! There was no price on them so I asked the meat guy and he showed me a packing sticker on it and told me it was 5.19. I told him there was no way, it’s usually 13.00-15.00. He told me it said 5.19 and if they tried to ring it up as more to tell them HE told me it was 5.19. So I bought TWO! This will last us a while and I know it’s not really 5.19 and I will never get it at that low price again! A 24 pack of Kraft cheese was 3.19.

I feel like I get nothing for my money. I know I’m just going to have to adjust my thinking to the new higher prices and deal with it though! My family prefers most fruits/veggies raw and our little store charges a fortune for them and so much of the time they are half rotten. That limits me as to what I can buy there.

Until I had two children I never realized how different they can be. I am not talking about just in terms of personality. I have really begun to notice physical differences in my sons. One of my boy’s has really thick hari that is straight as a poker. The other one has super fine and wavy hair that makes you think he needs vitamins for hair loss or something. I keep waiting for his “big boy” hair to come in and it just isn’t. One of them has blue eyes and the other has brown eyes. I guess I just expected that when you have the same parents that you will generally resemble one another but they don’t. As far as I can tell they are going to have totally different personalities as well. One of them is a risk taker and always on the move while the other is a thinker and much more cautious. I bet you can guess which one is already keeping me awake at night worrying what the future is going to hold.

OK…so I have to admit something. I am forever laughing when someone tells me before it snows that we “better go get milk and bread”. Well, I am not laughing anymore, when it snowed a couple weeks ago we got stranded at home for a few days and actually ran out of milk and bread. Before the snow started, we had 2 loaves of bread and a new gallon of milk. So, where the heck did it all go in 2 days? How did that happen??? They’re calling for some even worse stuff tonight and Friday and so I now know to be better prepared this time. I am going to get that milk and bread in the morning!!! Around here, you have to go early if they forecast is for snow, or there won’t be any bread or milk on the shelves. I guess I am not the only person who has learned my lesson about having bread and milk on hand.

The last two days have been about as normal as any I can remember for the last two weeks. Last night was the first night since his accident that my husband hasn’t needed a sleeping aid or a pain pill to get some rest at night. I can’t say that I would be able to sleep at all with a big cast, like the one he has, on my leg. I give him credit for handling the accident and his resulting injuries as well as he has. I believe that I would have cried myself to sleep for at least the first week or so. I definitely would not have returned to work at this point. I wasn’t the one hurt and I am just now starting to feel like the shock of the accident is wearing off a little bit. I am so thankful for my strong and kind husband. He has been a real trooper through all of this.

My entire family went to bed a little early the other night. I stayed up to watch a little of the Super Nanny and quickly found it was too much for me. I watched 20/20 for a while. I liked what John Edwards stood for politically, especially with health care, but I now have to say he is a scum bag!! I don’t know what possessed that couple to go along with the charade either, but whatever, I guess they profited! The story doesn’t paint Mrs. Edwards all rosy either, but I guess if your husband is cheating on you and you have terminal cancer you wouldn’t act very nice either! I’ve heard her talk about the baby before, and while I didn’t always agree with what she had to say about the situation I can’t really blame her for her responses either, with her husband flat out lying to her face over and over! Very crazy situation!! I am so grateful for the family I have! I like my simple, quiet, and uncomplicated life in the country.

My family is not very talkative. I don’t mean my immediate family but rather my extended family. I seriously think that I could lob a part of my body off and no one in my extended family would say anything. On one hand this has always given me some sense of security in knowing that I could do just about anything and not get yelled at. My parents never said a word when I got a tattoo. From another standpoint this has left me crazy just a little bit of positive attention. For example I recently lost a good amount of weight. I never said a word about being on one of those quick weight loss diets. I thought that maybe someone would notice there was 25 pounds less of me but no one has said a word. I don’t know why but I just wished they would say even one little thing to let me know they notice my smaller frame. I realize that I have to do this for me and shouldn’t care what other people think. There is still this little girl in me who was always teased for being chubby that just wants her parents to notice that she isn’t chubby anymore.

I have tons of things to do but wondered what you ladies do when you are stuck at home??

This bad weather has me a little stir crazy. I have alot of things that I could be doing. But I just feel so STUCK! I hate not being able to go where I want, when I want. Not that there is anywhere I want to go today, but it’s the point ya know??

I’ve hardly been able to get out without dh taking me for weeks. I hate that!

Today I’ve been playing on the computer, doing laundry and dishes, talking with dd, keeping an eye on ds as he uses the tractor to plow the driveway(only the flat part up top, dh told him NOT to attempt the hill). I have books to read and of course I can watch tv.

I have to say my kids have been so good with all this snow. They read, watch tv, play video games, ds helps with the household chores and dh helps outside. I was thinking of baking some bread but I am afraid the power will go out before I could get it done and then it would be a waste of all those ingredients.

So how do YOU occupy yourself when you are stuck at home??

The last couple of weeks have given us many reasons to rethink the status of various aspects of our lives. My husband was in a serious car accident on the way home from work. In the weeks since the accident we have focused our attention on getting our lives in order and preparing for the future. One thing that my husband wants to do it secure a different job in the coming years. He has a couple of areas that he thinks would be a good fit for him. I am encouraging him to move forward with his goals and start taking GMAT prep courses. He has been out of school for quite a while and I have no doubt that he needs to brush up on his math skills. There was a time when I wouldn’t have been behind the idea of him changing professions but I see things differently now. The idea that things in life can change so quickly has left me feeling that we need a more secure financial future. If updating his skills is what is needed to make that happen I am all for it. I especially like the idea that he can take these classes from home and that they are affordable. This is the perfect solution for our family at this point in life. Online learning is a wonderful opportunity for busy people like my husband who want a comprehensive program that utilizes the wonderful technology available to today’s distance learning students.

I really like Jillian Michaels 30 day shred. It is a reasonably intense mix of cardio and strength, and not too expensive. The only supplies you need are a couple handweights and a mat if you have a hard floor. I’m in decent shape, but I’ve discovered that I’m a bit on the puny side when it comes to strength. This video always makes me feel like I got a great workout. Keep in mind muscle burns more calories, so you definitely want to try to fit in some strength training and balance with cardio to maximize your workouts. It takes me maybe 40 minutes start to finish, and I haven’t graduated past the first section yet. Also check out some of the 10 minute solutions videos. You can set up a program and do a variety of them if you have more time, or you can just do a 10 minute one. If you don’t already have one, I would consider a small subscription to Netflix. They have a HUGE exercise DVD library and then you can try them out before you buy them…and read reviews on them. Also, you don’t have to get bored of one video! They have lots of fun stuff too…from belly dancing and ballet to Jillian and Carmen Electra…

The last couple of weeks have made me really think about the fact that I am getting older. For some reason I have always felt like I was still in my 20’s rather than knocking on the door to my 40’s. Almost loosing my husband in a car accident two weeks ago was like a slap in the face. I immediately began considering what the future would be like if I don’t take care of myself. I don’t want a life where I am dependent on the best cholesterol medications and medical advances to keep me healthy. I want to be fit and active as long as possible. I realized over the last few weeks that I can’t stop accidents from happening but there are things in my control. My diet and level of activity for example are things I can control. I am now fully dedicated to eating nutritious food and getting a decent amount of exercise in each day.

I just saw the bill for my son’s routine blood-work. $1400 ($890 was just one test). And we do this several times a year. The expensive test is a quantitative test for a virus, so somehow they separate that specific virus and actually count it, so I understand the high cost.

This is a problem of medicine. We want the top care, all the diagnostic whistles and treatment. But all of that care requires research, training, and technology. The people of this nation seem to reject any kind of government interference in healthcare, therefore market forces prevail. No one wants “socialized” medicine, but everyone throws a fit when they get a bill from our “capitalistic” system.

This weekend we spent time with a friend we had not seen in a while. I would like to say this was a pleasant visit but it really wasn’t. This particular person just never seems to have anything positive to say about life at all. She kept talking about not having any social life and hating her job. The topic then diverted to how much she hates living in this area and how she would love to move. I just wanted to say something to the effect that she needs to stop complaining and make changes in her life. If you hate what you do then go back to school and get an online degree. If you have no social life then get out there and try something new to meet people. I just don’t have a great deal of sympathy when people aren’t doing anything to try to improve what is is their control to change in their life.

I’ve got two boys, one with smelly hair and one without. The one with smelly hair is not a sweaty kid, although he’s very active. The other one will do the same activity and be soaked in sweat. His scalp doesn’t stink. I’ve noticed two differences. The smelly haired one has very thick hair, and he has always had a tendency to get a buildup on his scalp, from cradle cap days to dandruff, dead skin buildup as he got older. The other boy doesn’t have either of these. The rest of the time, when my kids are washing their hair, I tell them, “Wash the first time to get the dirt out, the second time to make it shine”. It’s working so far for us… Oh, and just condition the ends of hair…conditioner on the scalp makes it worse–at least at our house.

Since changing our television package we are having a hard time adjusting to our more limited viewing options. We don’t get very many channels that are geared towards adults. Last night we sat and watched a program about people looking for Santa Barbara homes for sale. It was interesting from the standpoint that homes similar to ours cost about 6 times at much in that part of the world. It made me wonder what type of jobs people have that enable them to meet their mortgage obligations. We would love to live in a warmer climate but there is no way we could live the same lifestyle from the way it looks on television and keep our current professions. I really wish they would provide more details on those shows about the people who are house hunting such as what their occupations are and information of that sort.

I love to talk about books and would love to know what other people are reading out there in the wide wide world. Some of my recent reads are:

Wild Swans- a TRUE story about living in China under the dictator Mao- the book is actually banned in China.

“Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns” by Khaled Hossein.

“Alchemist and The Devil and Miss Primm” by Paulo Cohelo. I really like his writing style.

Little Women- Louisa May Alcott.

“March”- I can’t remember the author’s name but it’s written from the Father’s (the Father from Little women) point of view. Really good.

I just finished a great read- “Picking Cotton” which is the true story about a women who accidentally picks a man out of a line up for committing her rape. He spends 11 years in jail and DNA proves his innocence. He forgives her and they are actually friends. They travel around the country speaking about their experience.

One more……Same kind of Different as Me- true story and very very good!