The STOVE

One of my biggest hurdles in my bid to be the happy housewife...the stove. The thing is disgusting. It isn't fit for humans. I have to cook on it day in and day out. It is becoming my nemesis. I have to create loving nutritious meals on a 30 year old stove that has never been cleaned. The inside of the oven is so nasty. I've try chiseling the black stuff off. Nothing works. It bakes unevenly. My job is taking care of my family. One of my biggest tasks is cooking for them. How can one turn out culinary masterpieces from THIS:
Often I'm not cheerful about taking care of this home. It's a rental. And being a rental they don't really see the need to provide top of the line appliances. Also, don't you LOVE the fake brick? It's coming back in fashion. I'm just ahead of the game.

I love it here and wish it were my own. We had our own home before this and there was just a different feel to taking care of things. This is something I must get past in order to be content here. We'll probably be here for several years. I want to grow flower gardens and plant perennials. I hate feeling temporary. So, I'm looking for ways to do the things I want and make this a real home for our family. I'd buy this house if I could. There is over an acre here. The flowers I could grow!!! The veggies! I would update things and paint things and pull weeds, add gardens, trim trees. But, I can't.

In the mean time, I'll just do what I can to make it a loving and cozy home for my family. Maybe Santa will bring me a new stove. In the mean time I can channel all my displeasure into my feelings for The Stove.

A Housewife

I have a goal. I want to be an old fashioned Housewife. Yup. Unfortunately, I don't have the figure or the budget for the tiny waisted form fitting dresses of the 1950s. I can't sew. Cutting a pattern makes my eye start twitching.

I'm teaching myself to knit, though. Please don't laugh. I have a tangled mess of yarn and a lot of determination. I will prevail!

I do a lot of cooking at home. More lately since we are tightening the budget. I love to cook. I do wish I could get two men here to be a little more adventurous. We favor simple old-fashioned meals. There is certainly nothing wrong with that.

I really never wanted a career. I only want a home and a family. (And the occasional trip to Disney World...is that too much to ask!!!) I think a woman is capable of great things but I don't feel like accomplishing any of them right now. I love being domesticated. It is my choice and my right to stay home and follow in the footsteps of generations of women before me. I like the sense of history in the things I do. And I really AM accomplishing great things. Quietly and without a lot of fanfare.

Underrated

As a cake, I think Bunt cake is underrated. It has lots of nooks for icing. Perfect for a six-year-old to cover in sprinkles. AND it fits in my yard-sale Tupperware without the work of all the round pans and layers.

Fear...

Sometimes when I'm reading on the economy or thinking too hard about things, I get scared. I worry about our situation. When I read about gas, groceries and job losses, I want to pick up my family, find a piece of land, put up a shelter and live like the old days. It is so easy to get scared. I find that really gets in the way of being able to be content. There are so many things to worry about.

But, then I remember it isn't time to break out the tinfoil hat just yet. Our lives can not be lived in fear. Sometimes I just want to let the future take care of itself. I just want to live my todays. Worry and fear can get in the way of enjoying the things I have rightthissecond.

We have family members that are dealing with things I can not even imagine. We are SO lucky and for some reason we can never see that.

In other news, we are going to work on paying off our credit cards and such ala' Dave Ramsey. So, it is going to be a tight winter around here. We'll be talking budget and eating beans. Talk of budget is never a happy thing. Especially around the holidays. Also, we've canceled our vacation to Disney World two years in a row. I'm going next year. Let me repeat that. I. Am. Going. Well, OK, we are going. I don't think that is Dave Ramsey approved. I guess we won't be telling him, then!

I'm starting school with N. (the boy) on Monday. I have nothing prepared and the room we use looks like a train wreck. Or a Lego Store exploded. Procrastination is my friend.

My first...

My first post. Not a momentous occasion to be sure. I just kind of thought I would like to have a place to write, to journal and occasionally reach out. I homeschool our son. He's our only child. Sometimes that can be frustrating for everyone. I know he would have loved to have had someone to share his frustration with. It was not to be.

My husband and I are working hard to find more contentment in our life. We always seem to be running and looking for the next thing. The better thing. We've moved 9 times in 8 years of marriage. J. (the husband) has changed jobs about every 2 years. We've never stuck to a Church for more than a couple weeks.

I finally figured out the discontent, the unhappy jobs, house, and everything else lies within us. So, I am determined that we bloom here. Where we are right now.

So, here we go....No more of these!