So Goes People of Faith… So Goes the Nation

I'm really enjoying my new job, which involves research on various topics, but I realize how mis-informed and easily manipulated I've been about a lot things during my lifetime. One of my recent topics has been communism, specifically in the Soviet Union. I try to find websites that present an accurate view, but I've also found a number of websites that continue to espouse that a communist society is the best way for people to live. Some parts sound noble: the classless society; everyone is taken care of with a job and pension and place to live; free healthcare and education. Property and businesses belong to everyone. Sounds good, right? But history paints another story, much of which has been hidden under layers of misinformation and eliminating anyone who might tell the truth.

In studying Lenin and Stalin, I recognized an intellectual arrogance among them. They thought they knew what was best for everyone, but then they had to use tools such as lies and propaganda, ruthless secret police, mass executions, fear, and complete and total control to get the populace in line with their philosophy of life. Have you ever heard of the Gulags? We've all heard of the Nazi concentration camps during World War II and are glad they were closed down, but Soviet Russia used hundreds of forced labor camps to control their people for MANY more years. No one knows exactly how many people Stalin killed; I've seen estimates of 7,000,000 up to 20,000,000, and many of them people of faith.

I found testimonies of people who miss the communist way of life. They felt secure when someone else made all the decisions for them and guaranteed them a job and pension when they got old. They didn't like the insecurity of a republic or a democratic society where the individual had to think and make decisions for themselves. One website, a blogger, said that he'd met people living under communist rule that said their life was just fine. The blogger also seems to think he could continue to express himself freely, study religion, and live however he wants in a communist society.

I also found testimonies of people who suffered tremendously under Stalin's communist rule: practicing Jews, the Christians, creative artists and writers, free-thinkers, land-owners, and more. Nikolai Getman spent seven years in a Gulag just for sitting with some artist friends in a cafe when one of them drew a caricature of Stalin on a cigarette paper. In the year of terror 1937-38, 85% of the 35,000 clergy were arrested; an average of 1,000 people were executed each day during 'the Great Purge' to keep Stalin in power. Why were churches targeted? Did people of faith represent the conscience and consciousness of the nation?

Atheism was the only accepted belief in Soviet Russia. Not in the beginning; in the beginning people were told they could keep their religious beliefs. But it didn't take long for the those in power to start persecuting the churches and people of faith. Again, the arrogance of the atheists in power thought their way was the only way; that an intelligent man would not stoop to believe in the mythological hearsay of a creator god who seeks to have a relationship with puny man. No, man was/is at the top of the totem pole. If man wants to be saved, he must do it himself. And the intellectuals will guide the ignorant, with force and lies, if need be. And that's what it took for communism to work.

I see a disturbing parallel today on all fronts. And too many have already become comfortable with the mindset that a socialist system is the fairest; that the intellectuals in power know what's best for us; that the government taking care of us is the least complicated way of life. And with all of that comes the loss of personal freedom and responsibility.

But take care to watch what's happening to the people of faith. They're slowly being silenced, if not penalized, for expressing or attempting to live out their beliefs. And the culture is being manipulated to stand against them. Rise and shine in love, people of faith, before we lose it all.

What About Medical Menus?

Why can't health providers post a list of prices like everybody else in business? Maybe that could infuse some real competition into health care. I'm not talking about insurance. Health care providers charge whatever they want. Insurance companies decide what they're willing pay, and we're stuck in the middle having to pick up the difference. We walk blindly into the doctor's office for help, and have no clue what we will be charged until we get the bill. Or that's the case with Scott and White in Central Texas.

I went to my dermatologist this past year to get checked for skin cancer, which I've done every year or two for a long time now because we have a history of melanoma in the family, so I try to be responsible about getting checked.

The year before I had a basal cell carcinoma shaved off my leg, which involved two office visits-- one to get checked, the second to come back and get the spot removed. That cost me over $500. So when another place showed up on my leg, I figured this would cost about the same thing.

I was wrong. Scott and White charged me $2,550 for the lab work. The dermatologist charged me  $579. This was for TWO office visits for minor procedures, not cosmetic surgery! I cried when I got the bill. At the time, I was living off my savings so I could take care of my mother, so I saw the $3,179 as costing me two months less time that I might need as her caregiver. 

A friend told me that her doctor occasionally froze things off, but that was included in her inexpensive office visit charge. I don't know how S&W came up with over $3,100 for two office visit procedures. When I wrote the dermatologist to tell her I couldn’t afford her anymore, she referred me to their financial office, saying that since I wasn't working, they might reduce my bill. Even though I had no income coming in, the fact that I still had money in savings and wasn't living on the street meant they denied my request. 

Who do we turn to when someone "legally" robs us? Even my insurance company was no help. They weren’t concerned when I told them S&W had way overcharged me; I hadn't reached my deductible so it was no skin off their backs. I actually tried to pay cash at the time of the service, but the office didn't do the billing so they had no clue what numbers S&W would pull out of the air. I'm insured, but I cannot afford even basic health care with Scott & White now when they charge such exorbitant fees. 

I used to go to a wonderful family of dermatologists in San Antonio, and I'm thinking about writing them a letter asking them what they'd charge for the equivalent services S&W charged me. I really don't want to drive the two hours to SA, but I can't afford to keep going here. 

Why can't health care providers post their costs for the different services so we can actually shop around before choosing? I feel like it's Russian Roulette now when I need medical services. I recently received a letter from the dermatologist saying I needed to come back to get checked, and I thought, "Are you kidding me?!!" I threw it in the trash. 

The Affordable Care Act is such a misnomer. It's not just about insurance or the lack thereof. What about the out-of-control medical charges? I can't afford to have any health issues now, even WITH insurance. 

Pocket Chart Menu Planner

How many times have you faced an empty pot with an empty brain at the end of a long day's work? My kids could tell you they ate a lot of goulash, tuna salad, and take-out during my teaching years because my brain couldn't seem to come up with a variety of meals each evening, much less a home-cooked one. One student told me that his mother never cooked anything at home; they had take-out every evening. Their food budget must've been astronomical. 

And some folks never learned to cook, but like anything else, it just takes a little practice. Some years ago when I was fretting over my lack of culinary skills in the kitchen, a dear cousin (Lee Ann, I'm talking about you) told me, "Just choose a few meals and learn to do them well." That took such a load off my mind to realize that I didn't have to know how to cook everything well to be a good cook.

I created this easy meal-planning kit using a simple pocket chart to display the main meal of the day, which for working folks is usually the evening meal. The cards do the thinking for you, and the ingredients included on the cards give you an easy way to create a grocery list. 

My 14-Day Meal Plan Pocket Chart hangs inside the pantry door

Why plan your meals?

• Saves money - take-out is expensive
• Saves brain power - a meal plan does the thinking for you at the end of a long day
• Saves time - means less time preparing dinner and less trips to the grocery store - I've reduced my grocery shopping to 2 or 3 times a month now, when I used to go every few days
• Your family eats better - you know exactly what ingredients are in the foods you prepare

I keep blank cards on hand to add new dishes when I need to; I color the top of the hand-written cards with a marker to match the type of dish of the pre-printed cards.

You can plan your meals for a week or two weeks, depending on the size of your pocket chart, which you provide. This 22 page digital kit contains: 

• Seven color-coded sheets (105 cards) of main dishes, starch/carb sides, & vegetable sides Basic pantry staples list
• Blank templates for additional cards
• Template for a one-meal card
• Days of the week & reminder cards
• An organized grocery list template - this has saved me so much time in the grocery store
• A cover design that can be personalized, recipe page template, and meal planner sheet for a custom recipe notebook you create that coordinates with the dishes listed on the pocket cards
• Tips for stretching the groceries and time between visits to the store
• Links to good recipe sites online

Spending a little time on meal planning every week or two can help you avoid the frustration of coming up with a home-cooked meal at the last minute, and not having to run to the store for the ingredients. Using a pocket chart system, the meal is already planned, the groceries are already on hand, and you just do it. 

The Pocket Chart Meal Planner is an inexpensive digital file available on Teachers Pay Teachers Web site.

Pretty Patties

My sister makes the prettiest hamburger patties before cooking them. Mine are never round, and often pieces fall off before they're finished cooking. But I finally came up with a way to make the nicest patties.

 Take a nice-size plastic container and cut about   an inch from the top to make a plastic ring.

Put a sheet of wax paper underneath where you'll be working to make the patties on. 

Put a fist-sized amount of ground beef in the ring, or more or less, depending on how thick you want your patties. Remember, depending on the percentage of fat content of the meat, the patty will cook down in size. 

Mash the hamburger meat to fully fill out the ring form; then pull the ring off. Ta-da!

Using a three and a half pound package of ground beef, I cooked a skillet of hamburger meat and chopped onions for tacos for supper tonight, and we didn't even use half of it. The remainder I stored in a zip-loc bag to make a goulash or casserole later. With the remainder of the package of ground beef, I cooked nine patties to freeze for quick lunches or suppers.

I used to hate buying bulk ground beef packages because I didn't want to have to divide it into smaller bags for the freezer, but I think I prefer to cook all of it and freeze it in different forms for quicker meals later. And it doesn't take that long, especially if you have two skillets going. : )

On Blog Hiatus

For the next few months, I plan to focus on finishing book 6, With Liberty and Justice, so future posts will be scanty... unless I'm about to burst about something that would apply to Beans, Means & Possible Dreams. : )

How to Enlarge Your House in Less Than 20 Minutes

Do you remember the old story about the woman who kept nagging her husband for a bigger house, so he started bringing the livestock in a little at a time. After a while, the house was so crowded that they could hardly move. The husband finally emptied the house, and it seemed so much bigger to the wife than before because he changed her perspective about it.

That's sort of what I did today. My 1,560 sq. ft. home seems cavernous now after virtually touring through tiny homes from less than 100 sq. ft. to up to a spacious 320 sq. ft. home on YouTube. It made me realize we have plenty of space in our current house; we just have too much unnecessary stuff. And we need to learn to be creative when it comes to storage.

Here are some of my favorites:

1. Living in 89 sq. ft. -  Jay Shafer of the Tumbleweed Tiny House Company takes you on a tour. House located in California. Love the look of this tiny house.

Designer/Builder Jay Shafer in front of his tiny house

Photo from Itsrusticliving.blogspot.com 

2. Shotgun Shack Redux: Mortgage-free in 320 sf owned by Gary and Debra Jordan of Siloam Springs, Arkansas. Their son's "bedroom" is the loft.

Photo: http://realestate.yahoo.com/promo/5-tiny-homes-youll-love-big-time.html

3. Tiny Texas House at the Homestead Cottages - this one is closer to home: Canyon Lake, Texas

Photo from hillcountryrelax.com

4. There is hope for the future! I'm so impressed with this 16 year old boy who's building his own small home to live in for college. The video shows his work-in-progress, and he's paying for it with his summer and part-time jobs.

Austin Hay showing the 130 sf home he is building

Photo from faircompanies.com

I'm not sure I would ever live in this small of a space if I had the choice, but it's nice to know there are these types of options if I had to drastically downsize financially. One thing I would have to learn to do is recognize what's important to hang onto in life, and let go of the things that aren't. That's been a struggle for me, but I'm getting better at it. Maybe that comes with age. And if you need some inspiration to de-clutter, it helps to watch Hoarding: Buried Alive occasionally to keep one's hoarding gene in check. 

We tend to think bigger is better, but bigger brings on a lot more maintenance, higher bills, and greater responsibilities. One thing I've enjoyed when it came to downsizing from a 2,800 sf home to my current 1,560 sf home is that I can clean the smaller home in a few hours versus taking all day to clean in the larger one. And that's like a gift of time to myself.

Toxic Vanity

Vanity is as old as the mammoth. W.L. George

I loved learning about Elizabeth I, the Virgin Queen, when I was in London last August. I saw her tomb in Westminster Abbey with a full size effigy of her likeness atop it. Our guide told us the face was one of the few accurate likenesses of Elizabeth because it was created from the actual death mask. He said she never liked her nose and always had her portrait painters change it. I thought her face looked fine for a woman of almost seventy years of age. I don't know how accurate our tour guide's stories were, but they were interesting enough to make me want to learn more about England's fascinating history.

The following portrait was painted when Elizabeth was in her early sixties, and I would think that the artist painting the queen would attempt to flatter her with his efforts.  So we can only imagine what she might have actually looked like at that age.

Portrait of Elizabeth I attributed to Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger or his studio, ca. 1595. PD

The portrait below was painted five years after the previous painting, and it is attributed to two different artists, including Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger. Bless his heart. Maybe he felt bad about his first painting. She's a knock-out in the this one, although they do call it an allegorical representation of the Queen. I would love for someone to do an allegorical representation of me.  

Elizabeth I. The "Rainbow Portrait", c. 1600, an allegorical representation of the Queen, become ageless in her old age. PD

Borrowed from Wikipedia

Our guide also told us (which I confirmed) that Elizabeth's face was scarred due to small pox, so she started wearing makeup, which then caused her hair to fall out because the cosmetics were laden with lead. But she had access to wigs and beautiful clothes and obedient portrait artists to compensate for her flaws. I remember thinking at the time that I was glad to be born in an age where makeup is safe to use, and we didn't have to worry about toxic ingredients possibly causing cancer or our hair to fall out, even though my hair is falling out. 

Then I heard a news report about the alarming amounts of lead in women's lipstick. And I told myself that was probably the cheap, unknown brands from China or other countries with less standards of safety. Then I stumbled upon some Websites that say most every well-known brand of makeup and toiletries available in the U.S. uses some toxic ingredients, including lead. 

What?

I did a search to find what cosmetics were made in the U.S., and I didn't find one company that I recognized among the very short list of cosmetics actually made in the U.S. 

I found the following Websites that might be worth looking into. 

http://www.safecosmetics.org/, which created the following Website where you can type in the products you use to see if they contain any questionable or harmful ingredients:

http://www.ewg.org/skindeep/

Cancer and auto-immune diseases are rampant in our culture today, and we need to pause and question if the products we're using or are exposed to in our environment could be related. Somebody else is looking at this, too.

http://www.breastcancerfund.org/reduce-your-risk/tips/choose-safe-cosmetics/

And check out this short video on The Story of Cosmetics:  

http://www.breastcancerfund.org/media/videos/story-of-cosmetics.html

For too much of my life, I've assumed others had my best interests at heart when it came to employers, financial advisors, health care providers, various companies, and even products I used. But getting burned multiple times is finally waking me up. We have to be our own advocates when it comes to our health and safety and stop sticking our heads in the sand assuming everything will be okay if we just don't think about it. 

Finding Strength & Peace

When Mom was diagnosed with ALS, we were devastated. We knew she'd been given a death sentence, and I was grasping for something to hold onto as it felt like I was sinking into a black hole. The day after her diagnosis, I started looking up verses in the Bible that might help us through this difficult time. As I found them, I wrote them on oval-shaped note pad papers and began taping them all over the house to remind us that we didn't face this disease alone. 

Mom told me those verses helped her more than anything else, so I wanted to share them:

God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way, and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, [or though ALS visits our household]. Psalm 46:1-2

Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken, nor my covenant of peace be removed. Isaiah 54:10

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7

Jesus said, 'Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. John 14:27

Perfect love drives out fear. I John 4:18b

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust. He will cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you will find refuge; His faithfulness will be your shield and rampart. You will not fear the terror of the night. Psalm 91:1-5a

The Lord said, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' For when I am weak, then I am strong. [The Apostle Paul speaking] II Corinthians 12:9-10b

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. Matthew 11:28-30

Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, if anything is excellent or praise-worthy, think about such things. Put in practice what you learned in scripture, and the God of peace will be with you. Philippians 4:8-9

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-- and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-- not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. Ephesians 2:3-10

'Because she loves me,' says the Lord, 'I will rescue her; I will protect her, for she acknowledges my name. She will call upon me, and I will answer her; I will be with her in trouble, I will deliver her and honor her. With long life will I satisfy her and show her my salvation.' Psalm 91:14-16

And I added a few verses of my own:

We love you more than words can say, Momma, and we're with you every step of the way. I Family 1:1

We want to help you in any way we can, but remember, we're not good at reading minds, and sometimes we're downright dense, so please tell us what we can do for you; talk to us; let us be strong for you once (and a thousand times). I Family 1:2-3

We prayed for healing, but God chose not to miraculously heal Momma in her earthly body. After she lost her ability to speak, I would dream about Mom talking and wondered if God was still going to do something amazing like restore her speech or make her walk again. But He chose not to. So my prayers shifted to ask for strength and wisdom for Dad and me to help Mom with each new challenge the disease presented, and God did answer those prayers. And He gave us a peace within the midst of the storm.

 

The next few posts will share some of the ways and resources we used to help meet Mom's needs along the way.

Necessities vs. Luxuries

Going through periods of waning finances is a good time to stop and think about what is necessary in life versus what is not necessary. I've noticed many in my generation and younger have a difficult time recognizing the difference between the two.

This article will refer to them as necessities and luxuries.

Necessity: noun. an indispensable thing.
                                [indispensable is an adjective meaning absolutely necessary].

Luxury: noun. an inessential, desirable thing.
                             [inessential is an adjective meaning not absolutely necessary].

Many would say there are only four basic necessities of life (air, water, food, shelter), but that only applies to Tarzan.

Johnny Weissmuller as Tarzan; TomSoter.com

After all of an hour thinking about this, the following is my list of necessities in our day (in no particular order after the first nine):

• God [for many of us, but you have the freedom to not believe if you so choose]
• clean air
• clean water 
• food 
• clothing 
• shelter 
• love 
• knowledge 
• wisdom 
• energy/fuel
• companionship/family/friends  
• basic tools for building, repair & maintenance  
• patience
• means of supporting one's family or one's self
• gumption 

Acquiring these necessities are as varied as there are people. And I'm sure some of your necessities are different than mine, but most are indisputable. 

Examples of luxuries (in no particular order, and there are MANY more than these):

• manicure and/or pedicure
• shopping at a convenience store
• eating and/or drinking out 
• beauty or barber shop visit
• retail shopping
• entertaining in or out 
• liquor, cigarettes 
• vacation
• lawn service
• a new anything
• bottled water
• processed foods;  precut fruits and vegetables
• gym membership
• exercise equipment
• landscaped yard and lots of grass that needs watering
• a bigger house than one can afford
• more vehicle(s) than one can afford
• a university degree with huge loan debt
• impatience
• financing anything with a credit card or payday loan
• buying something unnecessary only because it was on sale

Examples of wrong priorities:

• Overheard in the workplace how broke someone was, then seeing that same person eating out with her children
• Choosing to spend a paycheck to pay for their child's birthday gifts and a party in a restaurant for her and her friends instead of getting their car back on the road by renewing its license and inspection sticker
• Impatiently applying for a $40,000 home improvement loan at an interest rate of 15%*
• Skipping out on the first three weeks of school to earn money for an expensive pair of tennis shoes to wear to school
• Paying more for a vehicle than the mobile home one lives in*
• Not using a budget and hoping for the best at the end of the month*
• A father re-selling a new refrigerator donated to his family so he could take them camping one weekend
• Spending money on entertainment instead of the rent or utility bills
• Getting one's nails done and hair frosted instead of buying tennis shoes for one's child so he could play sports at recess without getting blisters on his feet
• A divorced mother trying to maintain the same previous lifestyle for her sons, and losing their house in the process
• Paying on student loans for months instead of the mortgage payments

A precious lady who's gone on to be with the Lord some years ago told us about her husband selling their ranch unbeknownst to her, and they found him dead of natural causes the day he received payment for it. Unfortunately, they never found the money, and she was left penniless. Those tragedies would completely devastate and paralyze just about anyone, but not her. She found a job as a dorm mother at a college, where she worked for years to support herself and her son. She was the poster lady for 'where there's a will, there's a way.'

When the finances are good, we don't have to spend as much time questioning if something is a necessity or luxury as long as we are living within our means. I'm grateful to have family and friends who would help me out if I found myself in dire straits, but I also have a plan to downsize to living in a camper trailer if I find myself unable to earn enough money to support myself in a regular house. Or I can do what Elizabeth did and find a job that provides room and board. But the most important necessity I have will shelter me in the shadow of His wings, and that's the best place for me to be. 

*Personal experience

This One's Juusst Right

In the first two years of our married life, we lived in a one-bedroom bachelor-pad trailer house. We had to put the crib for baby #1 in the dining room, and by time I was expecting baby #2, we knew we had to make some more room.

Since the trailer was well built and included copper wiring, we decided to add on more space to it. And since it contained a perfectly good kitchen and bathroom, which are normally the most expensive rooms, we decided to primarily add space. I designed a brand-new outside of the house that completely enclosed the trailer house. The new space included a great room, a dining room, an extra bedroom and bath, office, and a screened-in back porch. We turned the old living room into a master bedroom, and I discovered a shower stall behind the paneling at the back of the fancy bar in the corner we didn't use. The previous owner had taken out an existing bathroom and enlarged the living room, so it was easy to convert it back into a small bathroom for our master bedroom.

We opened up an eighteen foot span in the side of the trailer adjacent to the great room we'd added on. The living room ceilings were 16' high with huge wooden beams and clerestory windows. Our builder, Pete Gonzales, kept telling me he wasn't a mason, but he built the most beautiful fireplace I've ever seen. I designed it as a right-angled triangle that stood between the dining and living rooms. It went all the way to the ceiling, creating rock walls on the back two sides. People who weren't familiar with our previous abode had no idea a trailer house was anywhere near our new-looking home.

We had more than doubled the size of our modest home, and it more than doubled the workload, too. I loved our newish home, but it soon turned into a huge source of frustration for me because I hadn't developed good habits when it came to keeping it clean and uncluttered. I never considered that when I was having so much fun designing it.

The new addition after we took the trailer house out; 

I'm sure I broke every architecture rule in the book, but we loved our house

Seventeen years later, we took the trailer house part out and built a new kitchen, dining room, master bedroom, bedroom, two bathrooms with walk-in closets, a large utility room, front porch, and carport. That added on another thousand square feet. I loved this house, too, but keeping it clean was still such a chore.

In the last remodeling effort, I used tin buckets to make the three porch lights to run along the long front porch; I punched different designs in each one of them and mounted them with  inexpensive ceramic light fixtures inside.

I now live in a house that's thirteen hundred square feet smaller than that last house I designed, and this one is a perfect fit. When the bigger house took most of the day to clean, it takes less than three hours to clean this one top to bottom. And I can do all the floors-- vacuum, steam-mop, and wax in an hour! I don't dread housework anymore. I have to say that it makes a world of difference to have the right tools, too, and the most expensive isn't necessarily the best.

Our front porch

My parents and I combined two households to move in together, so we both had to get rid of a lot of stuff. And the only problem we've struggled with is keeping the clutter at bay. One of the handiest features about this property has been the attic above the garage, which we use regularly.

Sometimes our eyes get bigger than our common sense when it comes to buying or building a house. Space is nice, but we also need to consider the cost of running and maintaining a larger place. And if we haven't acquired good cleaning habits in a smaller home, they don't magically appear when moving into a larger one. So when planning to upsize, plan on adjusting to the upsized workload, too. Develop those good habits beforehand, and maintaining your bigger house won't turn into a millstone around your neck.

Show & Tell

I have always been a bit introverted, except for around my family and close friends; I cut up as much as the rest of them. But in social and public environments I tend to feel uncomfortable and awkward.  I remember years ago in middle and high school wanting to be noticed and at the same time, not wanting to be noticed.

But even further back to my 3rd grade class, I always wanted to share on Show and Tell Friday but rarely remembered to bring something. My longing reached a tipping point one particular S&T day, and I looked around my desk and meager belongings to find something to show and tell about. I had a small pencil eraser that had come out of the end of a pencil, and I must've previously played around with it-- covering it with pencil lead and rolling it on paper, which made a track of gray like a printer. I decided I would share that marvelous discovery. So when the teacher asked if anyone had anything to share, I raised my hand.

I still cringe when I think about getting up and showing the class that little pencil eraser and what little it could do on paper. So desperate for attention, and getting it in a pitiful way. I don't remember the other students making fun of me or deriding me for presenting something so lame, in fact, some of them seemed truly interested. But I've never forgotten it, and I use the memory to remind myself today that I'd better not be posting lame stuff just to be posting something for show and tell. I don't want to waste people's time with useless words.

I do realize that one of the reasons I now write is to make connections with people, and writing is a very comfortable way for an introvert to do that. At the same time I am cognizant of my aversion to social settings and the strong desire to live in an isolated, emotional cave away from people, so I am attempting to improve those unhealthy areas of my life.

Writing also helps me sort out my thoughts, learn new ideas, change or crystalize my beliefs, and vent. But these days I find myself reserved about sharing my posts, and it's difficult for me to do any kind of self-promoting, which a writer has to do if one wants to sell one's written wares. A constant struggle for me. But I can promise you today that the stories in my novels and posts on my blogs are not empty show and tell efforts. I have the haunting memory of a pencil eraser to thank for that.

Give Blood - A No-Cost Way to Donate

When I was working in a school district, the Blood Bank bus visited one or more of our campuses several times a year, so it was easy for employees to occasionally donate since they came to us. But since I've been working at home, it was harder for me to remember to donate blood.

Last year I learned that the Blood Bank comes to my hometown two days every eight weeks at two locations in my hometown, so it's been easy to get into a routine of donating blood with them. If I can't make it one day, I can go the next.

I'm currently living off of my savings, and I need it to last as long as possible so I've really had to watch my spending. But giving blood is a great way for me to contribute something important without affecting my savings.

It's a part of my calendar now.

Burning Money

Over $15,000 is the average amount of credit card debt in the American households that have debt. Michael, from BusinessInsider.com figures if a person carries that amount of credit card debt, paying an average current rate of 12.83% over a period of 40 years, they would pay the credit card companies over 2.6 million dollars. Did you get that? 2.6 MILLION dollars!! In interest, which means one has nothing to show for spending 2.6 MILLION dollars. 

Think of what you could buy for 2.6 million dollars:

• A house, paid for. 
• Several vehicles, paid for. 
• College degrees for your children, paid for. 
• Nice vacations, paid for.
• A very comfortable retirement, paid for. 

If people turned around and saved the same amount of money burned up in interest payments, they would be millionaires by the time they retired. 

But no, we've trained ourselves to satisfy our every want, on credit, with little thought to how much money we are throwing away in interest due to our impatience and greed.

In the early years of my marriage, my husband and I paid over 15% interest on a $40,000 home improvement loan. We refused to think about how much money we paid to the bank each year due to our inability to wait until interest rates dropped dramatically or until we saved enough money to pay cash. We thought everyone operated this way, that living with debt was normal behavior. And based on our government's modus operandi and example for us to follow, that's the dysfunctional truth.

I never had $15,000 debt on my credit cards, but I did my fair share of interest payments and late fees and even bank overdraft charges in my younger years because I was ignorant about managing my personal finances. And I wasn't disciplined enough to change my sloppy ways until it finally dawned on me how much money I was throwing away every year.

One of the few people in the media promoting debt free living is Dave Ramsey, and it's exciting to listen on the radio when a person or couple calls in to do their debt free scream. I hope to be able to do that one day. Ramsey is a rare voice of sanity and self-control in our out-of-control, over-indulged culture.

Today, I use one credit card to earn travel miles, and I pay it off at the end of each month. Credit card companies are the modern day loan sharks, and they're laughing all the way to the bank as they prey on folks' ignorance and weaknesses.

Keep sweeping

I remember as a young mother driving down a street of very small and humble houses. I saw a woman sweeping the porch of one house and wondered what motivated her to do that. Did someone tell her to sweep the porch? Did she sweep the porch on certain days? Did she sweep the porch only when she noticed it needed sweeping?

My house and porches and carport at that time were big, and it was easy to get behind when it came to keeping it all swept clean. My biggest motivation for cleaning occurred when company was coming, and I felt guilty that I didn't give my family the same consideration on a regular basis. They deserved better than that.

It's taken me years, but I've finally learned to pick a time to clean the floors, which I do once a week unless we've been extra messy, and then I'll use a whisk broom and dustpan in-between times. Tomorrow morning, I'll vacuum the hardwood floors and rugs and then steam-clean the hardwood floors, (for which I gladly abandoned the mop for a light-weight steam cleaner). With the size of our house now, I can get it done in an hour. The porches take about fifteen minutes. And it feels so good to walk on clean floors for a while. Then I don't give it another thought until next week.

Have you ever watched an archeological dig on television? How did entire structures and civilizations get buried over time? I've decided that somebody got behind on their sweeping.

10 Reasons to Have a Porch

1. A porch is a place of peaceful contemplation and enjoying the flora and fauna. 

2. A porch is the best spot to park rocking chairs, which invite folks to sit down and enjoy some face-to-face, tech-free conversation.

3. A porch is the poor man's counselor's office.

4. A porch is doubly special when it has a swing attached. It's my favorite place to hang out with my grandchildren and rock the baby to sleep.

5. A porch is an oversized playpen for children, pets, and adults alike.

We made a simple rolling gate out of a section of fence to enclose the front porch for pets and little ones.

6. A porch is a great place to read and expand the mind. I don't need my reading glasses when I'm reading on the porch.

7. A porch is a good place to shell peas, eat watermelon, crochet or knit. 

Every time my grandson Finn visits, we find a new stack of sticks on the porch, leftover from his imagination.

8. A porch can be a magical anything to child's imagination. My grandchildren regularly turn the back porch into a food store, or a fort, or a miniature town with wood blocks.

My grandkids think we built the ramp just for them!

9. A porch is a good way to stay connected to the neighbors.

10. A porch is the smile on the face of a home.