Financial Musings

It's harvest time on the old money plantation and all the pickings are going straight to the purveyors of overpriced athletic shoes, must-have denims, and Miley Cyrus's retirement fund.

I remember well the days when I was an active participant in the "Back to School" buying frenzy. It literally made me ill. Outfitting five kids for school, even in the old days, was a HUGE financial burden. As the kids got older it got worse. No longer could you satisfy them with Toughskin jeans and PayLess shoes. I distinctly remember standing in Montgomery Wards (the only credit card that wasn't maxed out) and having a tearful, rebellious, eight-year-old Carl yell at me that "nobody at school wears jeans with elastic!"

My heart bleeds for young parents today who are hit hard this time of year--I really think it's worse than Christmas. You get a few outfits pulled together, buy new shoes, underwear, socks, a lunch box and a backpack, then go to school and get the teachers' must-have lists. I fully expect to find out that first-graders are going to be required to provide their own laptops in the near future.

When we were young and poor I did what I could to stretch the family budget. I shopped for school clothes at the thrift store--Liza and Emily had pink and purple sweater sets one year that I found at the Goodwill. One of my best finds... I carefully stored and labelled outgrown clothes so that they could be passed on to the next in line. And I did A LOT of sewing. For some reason, I felt compelled to sew mostly matching themed outfits. For years, my kids looked like an Irish dance troupe or a bowling team.

I also baked my own bread, grew a garden, canned fruits and vegetables, and NEVER bought packaged or convenience foods (including cereal). And I bet you kids thought I did it just because I was crazy for projects...

In addition, over the years, I found creative ways to bring in extra income. Here is a partial list of my "make money from home" efforts:

1. Babysitting--a reliable source of extra $, but very restrictive. And I could never really warm up to other people's children in a big way.

2. Sewing--Rarely successful. Most people are unwilling to pay for anything that they think they can do themselves, and if they won't do it themselves, they aren't willing to pay what your time is worth.

3. Crafts--Ditto above. One year Lucille Lovstedt and I made stickpins out of pheasant feathers and shells. (Yea, I know...) We marketed them around Port Hueneme at the gift shops and souvenir shops. I think we sold four. To this day, I bet she still has bags of left over pheasant feathers in her craft closet .

4. Newspaper route--Great money...horrible job. But we stuck it out for seven years.

5. Fuller Brush sales--I actually did quite well with this. I put Carl in his stroller and walked all around my neighborhood in Santa Barbara selling Fuller Brush products. Unlike similar companies, the emphasis isn't on recruiting other people. They just want you to sell their excellent products.

6. Cleaning--Remember Mission Enterprises? Our little office cleaning business paid for a big part of Carl's mission. It's actually good work--offices don't get that dirty, and you do it at night when you aren't really doing anything else.

7. Recycling--My current money-maker. Every time my big Rubbermaid container gets full of Diet Coke cans, I trade them in for a crisp $10 bill. It's not big money, but it buys me a couple of fish taco lunches.

I am currently quite impressed with Carol, my poop-scooping lady. She makes over $1,5000 a month scooping poop three days a week. There's no overhead, and her only start-up expenses are latex gloves, a little shovel, a trash can and bags. She's very good at what she does and unfailingly cheerful.

Well, that's about it. Know that I feel for you this time of year. I know that times are tough, but this, too, will pass. Be prayerful and work hard and "all things shall work together for your good."

Thank you, Clare!

Clare recently gave me the heads up on a new (to me) recipe from the French's onion can. It is super easy and very tasty! Just take chicken breasts (Clare likes to use the chicken tenderloins), dip them in beaten egg, then press both sides into crushed French's french fried onions. You don't need to add any seasoning--not even salt and pepper. The can says to bake them at 400 degrees for 20 minutes, but I am kind of phobic about undercooked chicken, so I did mine for 30 minutes. They were perfectly seasoned, crunchy and moist. I'm so pleased with the results that I plan to add French's onions to my food storage. Who knew you could do anything with them besides top green bean casserole at Thanksgiving?

So much Yipppeee!!!!!

There are a lot of things that I am a big fan of; comfortable shoes, jury duty, the chicken flautas at El Sombrero, hot tubs...I could go on, but you get my point. But there is something that I wait for every year, something that I am a HUGE fan of, something that just the thought of makes me SO happy...

http://community.tvguide.com/blog-entry/TVGuide-News-Blog/Todays-News/Amazing-Race-13/800045313

Are you SO happy, too????

Yipppeee!!!

Happy Birthday, Buck!

Tuesday was Buck's birthday, which is always a festive time in Bakersfield. I guess that's why he was on my mind when we went to a car wash today near Greenacres Cemetary, Buck's final resting place. We wondered if we would be able to see his grave from the roadway if we drove through the cemetary. Acres of flat grave markers, and we weren't feeling too optimistic, when we came around a curve in the road and...
Alvis Edgar Owens

August 12, 1929– March 25, 2006

There's Not a Single Vampire In It, But Check It Out Anyway...

I just finished the best book that I have read in a long time (and I read a lot of good books)! It is "The Sister," by first time novelist Poppy Adams. It tells the story of a reunion between two elderly sisters after decades of estrangement. As they begin to rehash old family history they discover that each has a very different memory of events, as well as a lot of secrets. It is truly haunting and thought-provoking. Also, it goes against current tradition by being a relatively short book (about 270 pages). Maybe it could help some of you "Twilight" fans work through your grief now that the vampires have been put to bed.

What's Black and White and Black All Over?

A few of you know my secret. I have "issues" with newsprint. The smell of it makes me nauseous. I almost gag, just thinking about touching newsprint. You would think I'd had a bad experience with newspapers...

In a valiant effort I overcame my repulsion in order to plan and execute an excellent combined Young Women's activity tonight. We solicited newspapers from ward members and had quite a stack of them donated to us. We divided everyone into three teams. Each team got a big stack of newspapers, scissors, and scotch tape. Then, they had 45 minutes to create costumes for everyone on their team, following an assigned theme. The themes were; Clowning Around, Down on the Farm, and Wedding Party.

The girls had a blast! And I, as the designated photographer, did not have to touch any newsprint. During the clean-up phase I held open the trash bags and ran the vacuum. Enjoy some photos from the evening and see if you can tell who is who (or what is what).

A Visit From Flat Susan

We have just had a lovely visit from Flat Susan, a special friend of Livvy White's. Here are some pictures that we took to remember Flat Susan's visit:

Home--Very Sweet--Home

Chris and Clare have a new address! I'm sure that once all the boxes are unpacked and the pictures are all hung on the wall she will post a blog with more photos (and her actual address), but here are a few just to whet your appetite:

Clare, her mother-in-law, Becky, and I were deliriously tired by the time this picture was taken last night. We cleaned all the carpet and painted the master bedroom and bathroom, kitchen, hallway and touched up the office and living room.
Chris, his friend John, Bill, Carl, Chris's step dad, Bill, and Kyle moved the furniture, hung two ceiling fans, changed out all the blinds (these are the old ones) and changed all the door hardware. When they are all done unpacking and doing their various projects (Clare still wants to paint all the outside doors) they will have a wonderful place to relax in their wonderful back yard. Clare wants to have a housewarming party in a couple of weeks. I'm sure I speak for her when I tell you that you're all invited!

What Were They Thinking??!!??

So...Wednesday night I went to Mutual for the first time in about forty years. It wasn't just because Bill was out of town and I needed something to do. I've been called as the second counselor in the ward young women's presidency. This is my first-ever experience working with the young women. Things have changed...

The last time I went to Mutual it was called M.I.A. (Mutual Improvement Association)and I wore a dress. In opening exercises, all of the boys and girls (we weren't called young men and young women) stood together and recited the theme for the year. Then we sang hymns, had a couple of talks and went to our individual classes for lessons. "Fun" was the occasional dramatic production, speech festival, dance festival or the organized Church basketball leagues. Fast forward to Wednesday night...

We had a meeting to plan our activities for the next three months. This is in addition to the already-scheduled roller skating party and beach party that will be on August 19th and 23rd. As I visited with my sweet little Beehives I quickly learned three things:

• Twelve and thirteen year olds are really random in their thinking. (Um, no...I don't think we can go on a 100 mile bike ride.)


• Some twelve and thirteen year old girls are frighteningly boy-crazy.


• I have been away from the parenting game a very long time.

We have made some spendid plans, I think. We managed to make everything fit into some kind of "value experience," and yet still be FUN!!! The planning is the easy part. The harder part for me will be adjusting my attitude. I tend to think that kids already have too much fun and that what they should really be doing is getting up early and working hard all day, taking occasional breaks to read the scriptures. I know that this makes me sound like an old person, and rightfully so. I am, by a good fifteen years, the oldest of the seven women called to work with the young women in our ward. I expect that at the skating party they will figure that out.

Wish me luck.