A Joyful Keeper

Hosted by Biblical Womanhood

Yes, the challenge is on! I’ve been thinking and planning about our financial goals this year. I do not work outside the home, and never have, so my main goals in our finances have been in the area of stretching the income my husband provides. The one area I have most control over is the grocery budget. I used to be really good at this! I can say this because it really is a case of “used to be”!!! Over the past five years or so, I haven’t been as diligent as I used to be, and this year that is going to change.

Now we all know to make very specific goals…. my goal was to spend as little as possible on groceries this year! Not specific enough. I’ve been umming and ahhing about what my goal was going to be. I have $200 a week in our budget, but that was just pulling a number out of the air. I know I can do way better than that. So I thought of $150 a week. But that is not low enough to prove a challenge to me - LOL! So I have come up with $100 a week.

Just in case you think this is another totally random number, let me tell you how I came up with it:

Firstly, I know this is possible to do in Australia because Lightening can do it! Check out her blog for a series of excellent posts on how to reduce your grocery budget.

Secondly, I grow as much as I can myself, which, although it is not much at the moment, still does help. At the moment this is just salad veggies. I hope to soon have chickens so that we can have lovely fresh eggs, and we will also be growing our own lamb soon. At the moment we get our lamb from the in-laws farm, which either costs nothing or very little.

Thirdly, I buy a lot in bulk. A lot of our expenses in the grocery budget over the past years has been from buying ready made things, like cookies, pasta, mixes, etc. With the great prices I get for our bulk staples, and with just a little effort (or a lot!) I KNOW I can reduce my grocery budget drastically.

Last, but not least, it is motivating to set a lower challenge, as long as it is still somewhat realistic. $50 a week would definitely be unrealistic!

With all this in mind, I also plan to make grocery savings part of our whole family life. I want the children involved in this as well. They too easily look at the specials catalogues and say, “Look Mum! Chips are on special! We need some!” (Note the emphasis on NEED!!!) We should all be a part of watching what we spend. I want to teach the children that it is cheaper (and nicer) to bake our own cakes and cookies - from scratch - which will cut down expenses and also the waste that comes with all that packaging.

The grocery budget is the main area where we keepers at home can make a big difference. Do you know how much you have been spending on average on groceries? Will you join with me in setting a goal for 2008 to spend less than last year? The first key in spending less is to set yourself a target amount that you will aim for. Remember the saying, “If you aim at nothing, you will hit it.”

Just in case anyone is interested, I have my school plan for 2008 worked out. You can see it HERE. It is basically an outline of what books we will be reading & using.

What I haven’t written about or planned, is the everyday learning and extra-curricular stuff. I’ll add a bit on that another day. Most of the everyday learning, however, can’t be planned - it just happens! LOL!

I have gone more structured this year, with a lot of things the children can do themselves. These are the basics. On top of this is the things we do together - music, languages, sports and in depth History and Geography. Field Trips will be in there somewhere, and all these things will be linked to English, somehow…. oh yes, by writing about them!

The reason I am aiming for more structure this year, is because last year was so unstructured. I will see how we go. I am hoping that structure in the mornings, will help us to learn unstructured in the afternoons - if that makes any sense at all! I know what I’m trying to say….. lol! I also plan to do outside activities and projects on Fridays. With our main “book work” done in the first four days, this will allow a bit of Friday fun. We will still do Maths on Fridays though.

I’ve printed out a mountain of ebooks, or should I say a leaning tower… Now I need to bind them all! When I am done, I will post photos.

As requested, the recipe for Macaroni Casserole….. actually, it is just one that I throw together, but I’ll try writing it out!

1 pk macaroni, boil till done

leftover meat - I use mince (ground beef) or silverside

grated cheese

one can chopped tomatoes

Mix all these ingredients together. Sprinkle some extra grated cheese on top and pop in moderate oven till the cheese is brown and bubbly. Very easy!

For those of you who have been reading my blog since it started at homeschoolblogger, you will know that I suffer from depression. I’ve written a bit about it here. I’ll be sharing more about it this year, as it is a real thing that I have to face every day, and I know there are many more mums like me who do too.

Depression started for me after the birth of my beautiful little girl, over 11 years ago. I just couldn’t understand why I was always crying and not able to stay on top of things. My dreams were always to get married, have a boy first, and then a girl. I had all of this - why wasn’t I happy? Even 11 years ago post natal depression wasn’t immediately recognized. Many people were telling me to just get myself together. My doctor said it was normal for a young mum to be overwhelmed. Thankfully my dear husband knew that I wasn’t myself and demanded answers. And so started the first round of tablets.

By the time I was pregnant with Matthew and after he was born, I had managed to get off my tablets and was doing “reasonably” well. I say “reasonably” because looking back, I still had many panic attacks and probably should have been on medication all the way through that. I was determined that I didn’t need to be, however, and stayed off tablets until…. we were in the Middle East.

Our first stint in the Middle East was wonderful, albeit it short! We had been working towards going there for years, and once we were there, we were so excited. However, by the end of dh’s one year contract, we were surrounded by chaos. Bombs had gone off around us, there were tanks and military guards everywhere, and most people were in a state of confusion. Embassies told their countrymen to go home, and to cut a long story short, we did.

This triggered my depression once again. The shock (we Aussies are not used to bombs going off around us), and the unexpected return to Australia was too much. This time I knew to go straight to the doctor, and while going on medication was not the only answer, it did help to stabilize me.

All this is just background to why I have depression. It runs in the family, so maybe even without these circumstances I would still have got depression. What I particularly want to talk about here, are the practical results of depression, which are different for everyone.

When I first got post natal depression, I had many kind, well meaning people try to give me advice. One lady who had herself experienced depression told me I had to go out more. This was the last thing I wanted to do! I got a panic attack just thinking about it! I could handle the familiar - going to the shops, visiting friends, but joining in new things and going out more? I think not!

My sister, who years later also had post natal depression after her second child, was like the lady above. She didn’t want to be home. She wanted to get out, be with people, … go shopping! LOL! I didn’t like going shopping at the best of times, so that certainly wasn’t going to help me!For me, when depression hits, I want to hide. In a corner with a book and some chocolate if possible!

My initial post natal depression was nothing compared to the depression that hit me the second time and that I still live with. There are days that I would just like to stay in bed.. but of course I can’t. Small things that I used to take for granted, are difficult for me. Seeing old friends. Going to functions. Even having people over. These can all push me over the edge.

Driving to places that aren’t familiar, freaks me out. Some familiar places too. I haven’t even managed the courage to drive to my parents’ place since I’ve been back, because I have to tackle the “big smoke”.

The strange thing about depression for me is that it affects the things I would normally have enjoyed. I used to beat myself up about it. Why can’t I just pick up the phone and call an old friend? Why can’t I just drive to places I used to easily go? Why can’t I be like I used to be…….?

I’ve learned a lot. I’ve learned to let go. I’ve learned to accept that I may never be the person I was before I was diagnosed with depression. I’ve learned that sometimes I pretend too well, and that many people don’t even know that I suffer from depression. I’ve learned to be more open about it.

Do people judge me because of my depression? Yes, I suppose they do. Some judge me because they don’t know that I have depression. They think I have it all together, and suddenly, when the glue comes unstuck, they judge me because of that. Some people who should understand, still expect more of me than I can give. Others know my limits and accept me as I am. I don’t blame the ones who don’t, because no one can know exactly who I am and what I can cope with. It has taught me, however, not to take people for granted and expect too much of them. Because they in turn may be dealing with difficult things in their lives that cause them to react in the ways they do.

Through all of this, it is God who remains constant. He is the one person in my life who understands me completely. He knows what I can cope with and what I can’t. Sometimes He asks me to go out on a limb, like when I spoke at some ladies meetings last year. He gave me the strength to do something I couldn’t normally do. He understands when I can’t do things that I used to do with ease - like send out Christmas cards… or keep up with my emails! LOL! Simple things that can send me spiraling down into a black hole…. He is the one who is there with me and gives me the grace to keep on going.

After yesterday’s quiet day, I woke up headache free and raring to go! The baking went well and I even managed to stay on top of the dishes and the kitchen. If you head into my kitchen right now, the dishwasher is full, benches wiped, and only a few things in the sink. Amazing! Pity it doesn’t look like that every day, lol!

I made this Banana Cake with a twist - I used my normal recipe, but added cocoa to half of the mix and poured it into the cake tin. Then I added some chocolate chips to the rest of the mix and poured it on top. It made this fun pattern and the kids just loved it.

Since the chocolate chips were out, I made chocolate chip cookies - always a hit. I only baked half of them, rolled the rest of the dough in between some foil, and put it in the freezer. Now I can just cut off enough to fill a tray if I get unexpected visitors, or when we run out of goodies in the pantry.

I also made a chocolate cake for the freezer so that later in the week when the weather hits the high 30’s (C, not F!) I don’t need to do any baking. The roast lamb I had planned for today was absolutely yummy and there is some left for cold meat - I thought for a moment there it was all going to disappear, it was so popular!

In between baking, I muddled around the house today. I did a few of those little chores that needed doing in the kitchen, like filling the salt shakers, making garlic salt, and filling the flour shaker that I use while kneading bread or other dough. Some of these things, like making the garlic salt, I had been meaning to do for so long now.

This is my simple recipe for garlic salt:

6 tablespoons salt

2 tablespoons garlic powder

1 tablespoon rice flour

Mix it all together….. I use this to flavor nearly everything! LOL! We love garlic! It is better when you dry the garlic yourself and make it into powder. I have some powder from the shop, so I will use that up first. Hopefully once I grow my own garlic I can dry some and keep it aside for when the store bought stuff runs out.

I also tackled the master bedroom today. Ok, I know, it wasn’t on my “must do” list. Well, I just got sick of it being such a mess. All the folded washing got put away. I dragged some shelves in from the shed and filled them with my sewing stuff - fabric, notions, & UFO’s. It is so much nicer to walk in there and have it looking tidy.

Tomorrow I will try to set up my sewing machine and do a bit of sewing. I have some ironing to do as well, but the baking and cooking is all done.

Not all my days run this smoothly, but I am certainly thankful when they do!

This morning I woke up with a splitting headache, so I have really not achieved a lot around the house. I have used this time to do quiet things behind the computer, however, … like playing solitaire… um, er, and planning school! Part of planning the new school year is to look back on last year and make a bit of a summary. I have put it on my homeschooling page: Our School Year 2007

Hosted by Tiany

1. Bibles Study/Devotions

Start working through Purposeful Planning by Phyllis Sather. Remember I won this! I think now is the perfect time to do this.

2. Must Do

· Finish packing away the Christmas decorations

· Collect and take things to the opshop

· Clean out the fridge

· Set up my sewing machine and start on some projects!

· Do some baking before the hot weather starts again towards the end of the week.

· Finish mulching the veggie garden, take photos and post about their progress!

· Plan for 2008 school year

· Print out ebooks for school

· Set up household binder….

I know there are heaps more things I need to do… but I’d better stop at that! LOL! We are on summer holidays now, and I want to do a hundred and one things before school starts back! If I get through the above list this week, I’ll be happy! I will come back during the week and cross off the things as I get them done (positive thinking here!)

3. Zone

I don’t think I will do zone work this week. I do however need to wash all bedding and vacuum through the whole house, so that will do!

4. Train Them Up

We’re on summer holidays!!!!!!!! Yay!! While we are not doing any “school work” at all, I do want to continue to train us all in getting back into a routine after moving house and celebrating Christmas. I think this is a good time to do it since we are all getting plenty of free time.

Things I want to work on are

· Getting chore charts back up on the wall in each child’s bedroom. I want to tweak these with different chores this year. Just simple ones that help keep the house and homestead running smoothly.

· Involving the kids in menu planning and grocery shopping. I will do a post on this one of these days, but for now I just want to teach them a few new recipes and kitchen skills.

We also need to work on puppy training! Chewie is a sweet dog, but obedience is lacking! He won’t come when we call unless he feels like it. We took him to puppy preschool for 4 sessions before Christmas where we were told what he was supposed to learn. We were told to teach him the following: sit, come, drop, heel, wait, stay, down… I think that’s it. By the end of the 4 weeks he could sit and drop!

We need to be involved in this training as a whole family. So I will dig up any info that I can find, and try to spend time this week with him. Any suggestions, hints & tips would be GREATLY appreciated!!!

5. Menu Planning

Hosted by Orgjunkie

Monday

Macaroni Casserole & Salad

Tuesday

Roast Lamb & Veggies

Wednesday

Beef Pasties & Salad

Thursday

Cold Meat & Salad (it’s going to be hot!!)

Friday

Homemade Pizza

In an email I received today, these words of wisdom:

People are often unreasonable, illogical and self-centred…
Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives …..
Be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies…..
Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you….
Be honest and frank anyway.

What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight….
Build anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous…
Be happy anyway.

The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow…
Do good anyway.

Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough…..
Give the world the best you’ve got anyway.

You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and God…
It was never between you and them anyway.