Garbage Galore

This topic really should fall under .."thing my parents just don't get"....I was at my parents house this weekend, we had family from Louisiana visiting, and as I arrived, the garbage truck came and picked up their trash. Since I was there, I rolled the cans to the house for them. While trying to maneuver the giant can into the special fenced area they have for their cans, I began to think about the amount of garbage that come out of that house. Inside their kitchen they have a huge garbage can, that comes about waist high and has a domed lid, and they take it out daily or at least every other day. They only have three people living there (although I will give that they keep my niece after school during the week and there is almost all ways extra people on the weekends). At my house we have one small 10 gallon can under the sink, which we take out every couple of days and we only put our can on the street every other week, sometimes every three weeks. The reason for the difference, I think is in two parts. One is we recycle. Anything and everything that can be recycled goes from plastic and glass to cardboard and mixed papers. Second, is most of what we use doesn't come wrapped in a bunch of trash. And as I'm typing this I realize how self approving I must sound, but really I'm just trying to vents my frustrations. My parents don't get it. They don't feel the need to recycle. It's too much of a hassle for them. Curbside recycle is not free where we are, and they don't feel like it's something worth paying for. My dad likes to garden a bit. He grows some tomatoes and peppers, and that's about it. But every spring he spends loads of money on bagged soils. I tried to explain composting to him, but he just nodded along like I was speaking a different language. We compost almost everything..with the exception of meat scraps and anything greasy. More and more I have come to realize my parents just don't get me.

Lemon Balm...One of My Favorites

I am a fan of the citrus scents. Some people prefer floral scents, or musky scents, but I really like the clean, crisp, freshness of the citrus scents. One of the very first plants that went in to my yard when we bought our house was a transplant of lemon balm given to us by a friend. Since that time it has thrived and has become one of my most favorite plants.  Lemon balm (Melissa officinalis) which was sacred to the temple of Diana, used by the Greeks medicinally 2,000 years ago, has also been called the "elixir of life" by the Swiss physician Paracelsus. It is reputed that the fragrant herb was among the regular teas drank by Llewelyn, Prince of Glamorgan, who lived to be 108, and John Hussey, of England, who ,lived to be 116. The leaves can be used in a variety of ways in the kitchen, including lemon balm tea (which I also drink). It is widely used to counter depression in  aromatherapy, but I just enjoy the relaxing feeling it gives me.  It's also good for headaches and menstrual cramps, among other things. It's very attractive to bees, which makes it a great addition for the garden, I also make a natural air freshener with it, which is what today's project is.

Yea New Computer!!!

So, I have been out of commission for a while because our computer finally said it was too old for this Internet thing and refused to load any web pages. Since computer are NOT CHEAP, it took us awhile to get one, but finally we have it and I do say I really forgot what a fast computer was like!. I will be able to share more pictures too since it won't take all day to load them!

The Five Year Plan

My husband and I bought our first house together with the intentions of fixing it up and selling it (hopefully for a profit) or maybe look into renting it out. It was a great opportunity for us at the time, it was a foreclosure, but still in livable conditions. We didn't have the money or know how to do a true flip. We figured it would give us time, and in the future we would invest in land and build our dream house. We gave ourselves a five year time frame. Well, four and a half years later....we've managed to get the place painted. Finally, though, we are making some real progress. This week, we had new, energy efficient windows installed, and a new roof put on the place. Tomorrow we get new gutters, and in the spring, if the rest of the money we have set aside doesn't have to support us through the winter (my husband is a brick mason), then we will get new floors. The funny thing is, now that we are finally making improvements on the place, I am really starting to like it after all. But, that's the way it goes I guess.

Happy Winter Solstice!!

The Cost of Happiness

In the Sept 27th issues of Times magazine there is an article called "The Cost of Happiness" (pg.56 Belinda Luscombe) According to a recent study done by Princeton University, a person needs an annual household income of around $75,000 to be happy. "The further a person's income falls below that level, the unhappier he or she is." This information comes from a poll (how come I never get to participate in any of these polls?) concluding that was the amount of money people felt they needed to live a happy life. That was the magic number that would allow them to do the things they wanted on a regular basis and be happy. I think people need a better definition of 'happy.' STUFF does not do it for me. I grew in a household full of stuff. My dad always had the latest and greatest gadgets, and my sisters and I always had new toys to play with. Don't get me wrong, as a kid I thought this was great, but in retrospect, I believe that all that stuff and my parents desire for bigger and better led to the somewhat broken relationship we have now. My mom has a triple digit salary and I can see the misery and pure exhaustion in her eyes. She turned 50 this year, and is no where close to being able to slow things down in her life. Growing up, she was always at work and the bigger her salary, the longer her workdays. They have four TVs and four separate computers in a house that only has three occupants (my youngest sister is 15 and still lives at home). On the other side of the spectrum, my husband and I claimed 29,000 on our taxes last year. We are by no means rich, but we regularly do the things we enjoy (mostly because the things we enjoy cost little to nothing) and are always able to feed ourselves...and in fact we spend more on groceries than an average family of three. This month I will make our final car payment and will have an extra $513 at our disposal every month. Unlike most people we see paying off our car as a way to be able to save a little more, not as a reason to trade up to a newer one, with a new car payment. A few years ago we made as much as 50, 000 in one year, when I had a job as a restaurant manager. I never saw my husband, I was hardly ever home, and what's worse I was spending 80 hours a week with people I really didn't like. It was the most miserable time of my life. I don't think we'll ever see $75,000, and I think we'll still be happier than most.

My Favorite Time of Year

Today is the first day of fall, and the beginning of my favorite time of the year. Although, right now it feels more like the middle of the summer with temperatures in the mid to upper 90's and humidity just as high. I can't wait for the leaves to turn and the air to get that cool crisp feel. I LOVE this time of the year!