Thanksgiving has come and gone and I cooked. This blog is coming a bit late but I wanted to share. We do Thanksgiving in my home as a time to Give thanks to all that we have in the very moment we are living. Last year we were Thankful that we could cook dinner in a crock pot, and share it with Motel staff.
This year has been an abundant year in our house and for my family. We were going to visit Family this Thank giving and I was very Thankful for that. However, like many things in our ever changing and busy lives those plans were cancelled. I woke up 5AM Thanksgiving morning and began the marvelous feat that is cooking a huge feast. To make it short I cooked at 15lb Turkey, Dressing, Cheesy Green Bean Casserole, Cherry Cream Pie, Pumpkin Pie, Mac n Cheese, Butter Beans, Corn, canned Crane Berry sauce and Rolls.
I set the table with our regular dishes (I don't have "Good China" yet ) and the heirloom flatware my mother gave me one year for Christmas. I used a Table cloth my son had picked out the day before and served real Sweet tea to drink.
We invited a few friends over for dinner and one of them arrived right on time with all of the fixing for a great garden salad. He marveled at my domestic masterpiece and filled himself to the point he couldn't move. I found that a bit of a compliment.
At about half-time during the Dallas football game, everyone wanted desert. I had made a Cherry Cream pie, and a Pumpkin Pie and our Guest brought along some wonderful Chocolate chip cookies.
The highlight of the evening however was the pumpkin pie. Never mind that I had taken the time to prepare it with the pumpkin that I had processed myself. It was great. I am no gourmet, however, I usually get a recipe and change it up to meet my needs.
I used the Libby's Pumpkin Pie Recipe. However, this recipe calls for a frozen pie crust. I never frozen pie crusts. I simply made mine using a recipe I developed all my own.
Pie Crust
2 cups All Purpose Flour (unbleached is better than bleached)
1 tsp of Salt
1/2 cup Vegetable Shorting
1/4 cup Unsalted Butter
2 tbs Ice Water
Sift Flour and salt together in a large bowl. Cut in Shortening and Butter. Add water to the mixture to help incorporate the flour, Shortening, and Butter. When well mixed roll into a ball and Freeze until firm.
Rolling.
On a floured surface, sprinkle 1 tsp of Ground Cinnamon. Roll pie crust dough over "Cinnamon Flour" surface until its larger than the pie plate. (Should be about 12 inches in diameter) Put dough in Pie Plate.
Cooking
Using a fork poke air holes in the bottom of the dough. Bake at 350 degrees F, until golden brown.
The cinnamon and butter give the crust a great flavor that compliments the pie filling. This crust is also excellent to use with Apple pies.
I also made some other Changes to the Pumpkin Pie Recipe
The Recipe calls for 1 can of Pumpkin, I used 2 cups of Fresh Pumpkin.
I always use ground my own Cloves, instead of using ground Cloves. In the past I have also ground my cinnamon.
That's really all for now. I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving no matter what you served and who you share it all with.
Showing posts with label family fun. Show all posts
Showing posts with label family fun. Show all posts
Monday, December 1, 2008
Monday, September 22, 2008
Mini Van Madness
Like most every middle class family my family needs two cars. My DP drives nearly 20 minutes to work every day and our family home is also 20 minutes from the nearest incorporated town. With one vehicle my son and I are stranded at home. Before we moved, we got a long perfectly with one vehicle. I rode my bike into town. Now ,we simply live too far out with too many speeding drivers on the road for me to ride my bike safely.
So about 3 weeks ago we started the heavy search for a vehicle that was somewhere around 10 years old, with less than 150K miles, and had three rows of seating. At this point in our lives, fuel economy will have to wait. We settled on getting a mini van. It would be big enough to haul all of our camping gear and the kids could ride without touching each other.
Its been more than a week since we found our diamond in the rough. We scored a great deal on a 1999 ford Windstar SEL. I wasn't too overjoyed in the sense I knew we'd have problems we were buying it from a private seller. No big deal we were several hundred dollars under our budget, and nothing short of major engine repair or a new transmission would break the bank.
The madness with our new mini van didn't start until after we got it home. First we realize that one of the sliding doors will not unlock. At first this was frustrating. However, my first and only minivan had only one door and some how I survived a year with the single door. Now then some other things happened like the alarm going off one morning. My DP and I wasn't aware of the system or how it could possibly be armed. My DP shuts it off, but calls me later to ask if the lights were on in the van. I opened and closed the doors with out any problems. Later, that same day the I caused the alarm to go off, and this time the battery died.
The madness continued the day that my DP and I were in the yard working. I decided to clean the van. It needed some detailing and vacuuming done to the inside. In the 30 minutes I had the doors open the battery died again.
I have a Radian80 Child Passenger Restraint. The significance is that it can be very difficult to install in some vehicle. So far I have found vehicle made by Ford to be the most difficult and I happen to own a Ford Windstar. SO knowing the difficulty before me I took my van and the seat to a Safekids carseat check this past Saturday. I get there and first have a Tech try and tell me my son is too big. (Can someone tell me how someone can go through standardized training but is completely clueless about High weight Harnesses?) I had to get out the Manual, and I asked specifically for a more qualified tech that I knew would be there. She and I both agreed that the install was going to be extremely difficult. The local Policeman thought that the whole thing was funny, because it was evident I know a little something about Child restraints and especially the one my son uses on a regular basis. The seat wasn't the big issue, the BIG ISSUE was my car was leaking a great deal of water onto the ground. When I first pulled into to get my seat checked I could smell the odor of hot Anti-Freeze. So not only did I have the worry of getting the seat installed properly somewhere in my car, I also had the mechanical problems of the vehicle. The police and techs were great though. The techs helped me get my seat into the car. The policemen tried as best they could to see where my vehicle was leaking from and also caused the alarm to go off AGAIN!!! I also couldn't get the tailgate to pop, but I have since learned the tailgate is just heavy and requires a big tug. So the car seat is installed in the middle of the very back of the van. I was disappointed when the head tech recommended I just use a booster. I quickly told her my DS is not mature enough to sit correctly every single time, and with the harness I know he's properly secure the entire time we're in the car.
The car on the other hand, I had to move and park it in front of a big box store. I did the only reasonable thing there was to do in this situation, go shopping. I bought a few supplies for my DS's learning environment, and we looked at Halloween decor, and I bought two gallons of water. I also looked a car seats and thought long and hard about buying another one, so that it would fit in the one of the captains chairs in the middle row of the van. Alas I skipped that idea. I left the store, put water in the van and went home. The first fill up of the Radiator only took a gallon of water. So the leak was bad but not so bad that I had to use all of the water I had purchased. I drove the 15 minutes to the next town and bought some auto stuff for another car, added more water and continued home. Much to my surprise the leak at the point wasn't so bad that my vehicle ran hot.
Of course once I got home I had to drive the van again to go get some replacement parts for our other vehicle. Yet, before I could do this I killed the battery Again, while doing some detail work. While I was at the auto parts store I had the battery and alternator checked, and again it was fine. Now a crazy thing happened while the hood was up on the van. The employee of the auto parts store that was testing my electrical system, thought he'd take a look at the leak. Now he found the actual leak and assured me the part we were looking at was the water pump. So what do I do, I order a water pump. Later however, my DP tells me that is not the water pump, but instead is the power steering pump. Now if I had been thinking I would have looked at the diagram of the pulley system that is under the hood. From this diagram I would have known the leak was coming from the power steering pump and would have saved myself the purchase and return of a water pump.
To ice the cake that is my "new" mini van we have to move the Child passenger restraint back to our old car while we put the van in the shop for a complete over haul and tune-up. Did I mention that although the seat is installed in the van, it didn't go in with ease, and require two people. So all of the difficulty and frustration I experienced at the Car seat check, and the worry I went through driving the van back home while it was leaking was all for NOTHING! I now know how to install the seat in the back of the van, but who knows if I will be do it.
That's really all, we'll see what happens after we put a few hundred into simple repairs and an owners manual.
So about 3 weeks ago we started the heavy search for a vehicle that was somewhere around 10 years old, with less than 150K miles, and had three rows of seating. At this point in our lives, fuel economy will have to wait. We settled on getting a mini van. It would be big enough to haul all of our camping gear and the kids could ride without touching each other.
Its been more than a week since we found our diamond in the rough. We scored a great deal on a 1999 ford Windstar SEL. I wasn't too overjoyed in the sense I knew we'd have problems we were buying it from a private seller. No big deal we were several hundred dollars under our budget, and nothing short of major engine repair or a new transmission would break the bank.
The madness with our new mini van didn't start until after we got it home. First we realize that one of the sliding doors will not unlock. At first this was frustrating. However, my first and only minivan had only one door and some how I survived a year with the single door. Now then some other things happened like the alarm going off one morning. My DP and I wasn't aware of the system or how it could possibly be armed. My DP shuts it off, but calls me later to ask if the lights were on in the van. I opened and closed the doors with out any problems. Later, that same day the I caused the alarm to go off, and this time the battery died.
The madness continued the day that my DP and I were in the yard working. I decided to clean the van. It needed some detailing and vacuuming done to the inside. In the 30 minutes I had the doors open the battery died again.
I have a Radian80 Child Passenger Restraint. The significance is that it can be very difficult to install in some vehicle. So far I have found vehicle made by Ford to be the most difficult and I happen to own a Ford Windstar. SO knowing the difficulty before me I took my van and the seat to a Safekids carseat check this past Saturday. I get there and first have a Tech try and tell me my son is too big. (Can someone tell me how someone can go through standardized training but is completely clueless about High weight Harnesses?) I had to get out the Manual, and I asked specifically for a more qualified tech that I knew would be there. She and I both agreed that the install was going to be extremely difficult. The local Policeman thought that the whole thing was funny, because it was evident I know a little something about Child restraints and especially the one my son uses on a regular basis. The seat wasn't the big issue, the BIG ISSUE was my car was leaking a great deal of water onto the ground. When I first pulled into to get my seat checked I could smell the odor of hot Anti-Freeze. So not only did I have the worry of getting the seat installed properly somewhere in my car, I also had the mechanical problems of the vehicle. The police and techs were great though. The techs helped me get my seat into the car. The policemen tried as best they could to see where my vehicle was leaking from and also caused the alarm to go off AGAIN!!! I also couldn't get the tailgate to pop, but I have since learned the tailgate is just heavy and requires a big tug. So the car seat is installed in the middle of the very back of the van. I was disappointed when the head tech recommended I just use a booster. I quickly told her my DS is not mature enough to sit correctly every single time, and with the harness I know he's properly secure the entire time we're in the car.
The car on the other hand, I had to move and park it in front of a big box store. I did the only reasonable thing there was to do in this situation, go shopping. I bought a few supplies for my DS's learning environment, and we looked at Halloween decor, and I bought two gallons of water. I also looked a car seats and thought long and hard about buying another one, so that it would fit in the one of the captains chairs in the middle row of the van. Alas I skipped that idea. I left the store, put water in the van and went home. The first fill up of the Radiator only took a gallon of water. So the leak was bad but not so bad that I had to use all of the water I had purchased. I drove the 15 minutes to the next town and bought some auto stuff for another car, added more water and continued home. Much to my surprise the leak at the point wasn't so bad that my vehicle ran hot.
Of course once I got home I had to drive the van again to go get some replacement parts for our other vehicle. Yet, before I could do this I killed the battery Again, while doing some detail work. While I was at the auto parts store I had the battery and alternator checked, and again it was fine. Now a crazy thing happened while the hood was up on the van. The employee of the auto parts store that was testing my electrical system, thought he'd take a look at the leak. Now he found the actual leak and assured me the part we were looking at was the water pump. So what do I do, I order a water pump. Later however, my DP tells me that is not the water pump, but instead is the power steering pump. Now if I had been thinking I would have looked at the diagram of the pulley system that is under the hood. From this diagram I would have known the leak was coming from the power steering pump and would have saved myself the purchase and return of a water pump.
To ice the cake that is my "new" mini van we have to move the Child passenger restraint back to our old car while we put the van in the shop for a complete over haul and tune-up. Did I mention that although the seat is installed in the van, it didn't go in with ease, and require two people. So all of the difficulty and frustration I experienced at the Car seat check, and the worry I went through driving the van back home while it was leaking was all for NOTHING! I now know how to install the seat in the back of the van, but who knows if I will be do it.
That's really all, we'll see what happens after we put a few hundred into simple repairs and an owners manual.
Monday, August 11, 2008
From "Being Domestic" to Being Domestic
There was a time in nearly every Domestic Engineers life that we weren't a Domestic Engineer. At some point we were all just kids having fun, good fun that was funny. There was a life before we had children and home that we joked about "Being Domestic". I don't know how many times I would tell friends that I was "Being domestic" when I washed dishes for my dorm room or cleaned up at my parents house. One of friends called her self "being domestic" when she washed clothes for her boy friend. To us it was all a joke, most of were in college by that point just having a good ole time. The fact we were a majority at our school and that the vast majority of us were planning a life on the career path made the joke of "Being Domestic" all the more funny. NONE of us had the intention of really "being domestic".
What brings this on is an Innocent camera that I took to my local one hour photo processor. This particular disposable camera had been with me since before my DP and I ever called ourselves a couple. We were talking at the time I bought this particular camera. Still the same, this camera and its contents were over 5 years old and it had keeping the secrets of my previous life. Now before your little head drops off into the world of weird sex or illegal activities (okay underage drinking is illegal), that's hardly the case . I had actually forgotten what was on this camera, I just knew I might have some explaining to do. Was it the camera that had me funneling beer, or was it the one with me passed out drunk. I truly didn't know. What I did know is I didn't want the kids to see.
After about an hour I go back to the photo processor open the envelope and I was surprised. It was pictures from a Spiritual retreat. I was relieved, what wonderful pictures I had of some old friends from the Christian group. After about ten pictures BOOM!! The reality hit, I was suddenly shot back to a place when I wasn't ever having children and there was nothing peaceful and serene about the pictures. I was in my dorm room on what appears to be a typical Thursday night in college. 5 or 6 people in my room with all of us passing the camera around taking pictures of each other. My initial reaction was Oh My God! the photo processor had seen these pictures. The reaction the followed was surprising, I missed those college days...or did I? At the time I when I was a single, independent female, doing what ever she wished day and night. It wasn't as if I had eased my way into my current life, it was more or less I was flung from one life style to another in a single menstral cycle.
Suddenly I found myself standing there with kids all around and my DP reflecting on a by gone era of my life as if I had missed something. I critiqued the faces of my old friends, friends that after I had my son disappeared from my life. I looked at the contents of my dorm room, which was really a mish-mash of objects I had collected. I still remembered joking with some of the girls in the pictures about "when we get married". Honestly it was the biggest running joke among many of my friends at the time.
My thoughts at those moments were suddenly confused why wasn't I wanting to rip a hole through time to be childless and man less after all it wasn't like I was ready to leave the party scene behind when I moved in with my DP and got pregnant. So I was conflicted. I was sprung out of the childless man less "being domestic" world of a 20 year old the day I found out I was pregnant. It wasn't that uncommon. A couple moves into together, one wild night, and nine months later. Yet it happened to me, though what I did wasn't normal. I still laugh that my DP and I decided to have a kid. Its true. Although I wasn't the only domestic engineer I had met that moved in with their partner and got a big surprise. It was more than that, they fell in love with staying at home. They love being dedicated to their families more than anything else in the world. That was exactly it; I love my life as it is right now. It took nearly two days of reflecting to sort out these feelings that I didn't truly like my independent life. I had been taught as many women in my generation have that Working and living alone are best. You can do what ever you want. Being Domestic is more than our mother's and Grandmothers had told us about. Honestly I like that I can spend my days with my children and realize at 4 in the afternoon I am still wearing my PJ's. If I had actually followed the first path I was on, I am sure I would be up at 4AM on a research vessel somewhere with people I didn't really like to begin with or worse staying up nights on end crunching data. What ever the case may be it wouldn't be sitting here blogging and wondering if I should eat Fruit loops or actually go fold the clothes that's been in the dryer since Friday. In all reality I am still doing what ever I want. I cook what I want, tell the the childern to do what I want, sleep in nearly as long I want to, stay on line as long as the house is still standing, decide to go shopping when I want to. I am the boss of no one else but me.
Too all of the Domestic Engineers out there who are just like me, good luck!
What brings this on is an Innocent camera that I took to my local one hour photo processor. This particular disposable camera had been with me since before my DP and I ever called ourselves a couple. We were talking at the time I bought this particular camera. Still the same, this camera and its contents were over 5 years old and it had keeping the secrets of my previous life. Now before your little head drops off into the world of weird sex or illegal activities (okay underage drinking is illegal), that's hardly the case . I had actually forgotten what was on this camera, I just knew I might have some explaining to do. Was it the camera that had me funneling beer, or was it the one with me passed out drunk. I truly didn't know. What I did know is I didn't want the kids to see.
After about an hour I go back to the photo processor open the envelope and I was surprised. It was pictures from a Spiritual retreat. I was relieved, what wonderful pictures I had of some old friends from the Christian group. After about ten pictures BOOM!! The reality hit, I was suddenly shot back to a place when I wasn't ever having children and there was nothing peaceful and serene about the pictures. I was in my dorm room on what appears to be a typical Thursday night in college. 5 or 6 people in my room with all of us passing the camera around taking pictures of each other. My initial reaction was Oh My God! the photo processor had seen these pictures. The reaction the followed was surprising, I missed those college days...or did I? At the time I when I was a single, independent female, doing what ever she wished day and night. It wasn't as if I had eased my way into my current life, it was more or less I was flung from one life style to another in a single menstral cycle.
Suddenly I found myself standing there with kids all around and my DP reflecting on a by gone era of my life as if I had missed something. I critiqued the faces of my old friends, friends that after I had my son disappeared from my life. I looked at the contents of my dorm room, which was really a mish-mash of objects I had collected. I still remembered joking with some of the girls in the pictures about "when we get married". Honestly it was the biggest running joke among many of my friends at the time.
My thoughts at those moments were suddenly confused why wasn't I wanting to rip a hole through time to be childless and man less after all it wasn't like I was ready to leave the party scene behind when I moved in with my DP and got pregnant. So I was conflicted. I was sprung out of the childless man less "being domestic" world of a 20 year old the day I found out I was pregnant. It wasn't that uncommon. A couple moves into together, one wild night, and nine months later. Yet it happened to me, though what I did wasn't normal. I still laugh that my DP and I decided to have a kid. Its true. Although I wasn't the only domestic engineer I had met that moved in with their partner and got a big surprise. It was more than that, they fell in love with staying at home. They love being dedicated to their families more than anything else in the world. That was exactly it; I love my life as it is right now. It took nearly two days of reflecting to sort out these feelings that I didn't truly like my independent life. I had been taught as many women in my generation have that Working and living alone are best. You can do what ever you want. Being Domestic is more than our mother's and Grandmothers had told us about. Honestly I like that I can spend my days with my children and realize at 4 in the afternoon I am still wearing my PJ's. If I had actually followed the first path I was on, I am sure I would be up at 4AM on a research vessel somewhere with people I didn't really like to begin with or worse staying up nights on end crunching data. What ever the case may be it wouldn't be sitting here blogging and wondering if I should eat Fruit loops or actually go fold the clothes that's been in the dryer since Friday. In all reality I am still doing what ever I want. I cook what I want, tell the the childern to do what I want, sleep in nearly as long I want to, stay on line as long as the house is still standing, decide to go shopping when I want to. I am the boss of no one else but me.
Too all of the Domestic Engineers out there who are just like me, good luck!
Thursday, July 3, 2008
On Moving
As much as my family has moved in the past 5 years one would think we are a military family. Well not really we moved 4 times in one county. Still moving takes a bit of fortitude and organization. The first 4 times we moved I had the help of my DP. It was easy he and I packed boxed and moved our things together across town. We packed and unpacked like a dual machine.
The last time I packed up a house I was primarily on my own. My Dp was working full time and it was all on me to find boxes, schedule a storage unit, and pack up the house. For this particular move I had about 4 yard sales leading up to the move.
Now six months after we moved our things across the state of North Carolina we are moving half back in the direction in which we came. Once again its up to me to pack up our mountain home, schedule a U-haul truck and find a storage unit in our new location. Now this isn't the norm. This move is happening super fast. We don't even have time to find a place to rent in the mean time. So we'll be seeking a Hotel for accommodation for a few weeks and then move into a rental.
I realize there are domestic engineers who have the benefit of calling the local moving company. I am not really sure how to go about finding a reliable moving company. In fact I wish we had the luxury of it but moving three times in one year doesn't afford me the joy of watching someone else move my things.
This move is starting like the last successful move. It will start with me cleaning each room as if we were going to live there long term. I would move furniture, clean and polish furniture, toss anything I don't want and then start packing. This method I adopted from the world renowned Flylady. She is the one who taught me the baby steps to house keeping and home organization. The benefit to this method is that you don't move with anything you don't want and you don't have a lot of cleaning afterwards. Twice I have moved and it felt like it took me longer to clean the house after our things were packed and moved than it did for the actual packing and moving. So for me cleaning my home as it is, is the first major step.
The next thing is the "box hunt". It maybe tempting to go down to the local U-haul and pick up a few packing boxes for nearly $7 each but please save your money. There's LOTS of places to get cardboard boxes for free. The number one place in most places in the U.S. is the local liquor store. Now unfortunately for myself, I live in a liquor free county (unless you count the moon shine stills hidden in the hills). So I don't really have the option of stopping by the liquor store for boxes. My other option is the grocery store. I am lucky our local grocery store offers boxes at the front of the store. They are there for a good portion of the day but sometimes they are taken to the compactor. I have lived in places where fire codes prohibited retail facilities from keeping boxes in the store. They either had to be compacted or disposed of in a cardboard recycling bin. Now if you aren't willing to spend money on boxes, you live in a dry county and local fire code prohibits card board boxes from hanging out in the store, you are going to have to suck up your pride and go diving. Dumpster diving! Before you do that put out a line on freecycle or craigslist. You might be fortunate enough that someone is willing to pass along their moving boxes. Now back to dumpster diving. This is one of those things that sucking up self pride and saving a dollar really counts. Just think you are doing the enviroment a favor by not buying a new box, and you are saving yourself a bit of money as well. First and foremost there are some rules for dumpster diving for boxes everyone should know.
#1 Never get in a dumpster if you are alone. You may be able to get out !!!!
#2 IF the dumpster doesn't say "card board Only" don't waste your time. There might be a box in there but its probably got some really disgusting food on it.
#3 Do this in the day time. Most Dumpsters are located behind stores that are poorly lit at night. If you have to go at night take someone with you.
#4 Don't dive in a dumpster after it has rained. Now this a no brainier right? I wish, but even several days after it has rained the cardboard in the dumpster can still be water damaged. Its best to wait until you know the dumpsters have been emptied and its hasn't rained for a few days.
#5 Medium sized Collapsed boxes are the best boxes. At first looking in a dumpster of flattened card board can be a little upsetting. However, you can rebuild any box that has only been collapsed to flatten it. Just a roll of packing tape you are on your way. Also, you can get a lot of collapsed boxes at one time in your car.
#6 NEVER get in a dumpster when you are a lone. I realize this is a the second time I have mentioned this, but its VERY IMPORTANT. If you do get in a dumpster when you have help with you, its also important that you can get out. Yes free boxes are tempting but if you get stuck in a dumpster it would be pretty embarrassing for that to show up in the police blotter (Jane Doe 29 was rescued from the local dollar store card board box dumpster Friday evening after she went in for some free boxes. ) Now moving is also a good reason to grabbed a refrigerator box for the kids. I will get to what I do with my kids when moving day comes.
With every move I have spent lots of money of good quality tape. The last time we moved our things stayed in storage unit for nearly 8 months. Its important to purchase tape that will make through the move. Ideally duct tape is a bad option. The adhesive on these types of tape don't hold well in heat and humidity. Scotch tape for gift wrapping is too weak to really hold a heavy box together. The best option is clear packing tape but even that can be cheap. Its not a bad idea to buy the good quality stuff. I personally like the clear tape that gets damaged if it sicks to itself. If tape sticks to its self and pulls a part easily its probably not very good tape.
Now I have been fortunate with my last move. We decided while unpacking that we should keep all of our boxes. We had intended on moving from our current home into something bigger.
If you have childern moving can be difficult. The emotional toll of moving shows in each child differently. My DS said he didn't care that we were moving. My step kids were sad we moved over 4 hours away from them. One of the things Have done over the past few years is pick up a Large box for the kids to play in while I am packing. Its up to them what the box becomes. The first time I gave my DS a box for moving he was just over a year old and destroyed the box in only a little while. The last time we moved, the box I gave him was a master piece of coloring and scribbling. I was also surprised how much time he spent drawing and playing in the box. It was his on little world away from all of the chaos of moving.
So I am off to start on my home I have less than two weeks to make this move happen as smoothly as possible.
The last time I packed up a house I was primarily on my own. My Dp was working full time and it was all on me to find boxes, schedule a storage unit, and pack up the house. For this particular move I had about 4 yard sales leading up to the move.
Now six months after we moved our things across the state of North Carolina we are moving half back in the direction in which we came. Once again its up to me to pack up our mountain home, schedule a U-haul truck and find a storage unit in our new location. Now this isn't the norm. This move is happening super fast. We don't even have time to find a place to rent in the mean time. So we'll be seeking a Hotel for accommodation for a few weeks and then move into a rental.
I realize there are domestic engineers who have the benefit of calling the local moving company. I am not really sure how to go about finding a reliable moving company. In fact I wish we had the luxury of it but moving three times in one year doesn't afford me the joy of watching someone else move my things.
This move is starting like the last successful move. It will start with me cleaning each room as if we were going to live there long term. I would move furniture, clean and polish furniture, toss anything I don't want and then start packing. This method I adopted from the world renowned Flylady. She is the one who taught me the baby steps to house keeping and home organization. The benefit to this method is that you don't move with anything you don't want and you don't have a lot of cleaning afterwards. Twice I have moved and it felt like it took me longer to clean the house after our things were packed and moved than it did for the actual packing and moving. So for me cleaning my home as it is, is the first major step.
The next thing is the "box hunt". It maybe tempting to go down to the local U-haul and pick up a few packing boxes for nearly $7 each but please save your money. There's LOTS of places to get cardboard boxes for free. The number one place in most places in the U.S. is the local liquor store. Now unfortunately for myself, I live in a liquor free county (unless you count the moon shine stills hidden in the hills). So I don't really have the option of stopping by the liquor store for boxes. My other option is the grocery store. I am lucky our local grocery store offers boxes at the front of the store. They are there for a good portion of the day but sometimes they are taken to the compactor. I have lived in places where fire codes prohibited retail facilities from keeping boxes in the store. They either had to be compacted or disposed of in a cardboard recycling bin. Now if you aren't willing to spend money on boxes, you live in a dry county and local fire code prohibits card board boxes from hanging out in the store, you are going to have to suck up your pride and go diving. Dumpster diving! Before you do that put out a line on freecycle or craigslist. You might be fortunate enough that someone is willing to pass along their moving boxes. Now back to dumpster diving. This is one of those things that sucking up self pride and saving a dollar really counts. Just think you are doing the enviroment a favor by not buying a new box, and you are saving yourself a bit of money as well. First and foremost there are some rules for dumpster diving for boxes everyone should know.
#1 Never get in a dumpster if you are alone. You may be able to get out !!!!
#2 IF the dumpster doesn't say "card board Only" don't waste your time. There might be a box in there but its probably got some really disgusting food on it.
#3 Do this in the day time. Most Dumpsters are located behind stores that are poorly lit at night. If you have to go at night take someone with you.
#4 Don't dive in a dumpster after it has rained. Now this a no brainier right? I wish, but even several days after it has rained the cardboard in the dumpster can still be water damaged. Its best to wait until you know the dumpsters have been emptied and its hasn't rained for a few days.
#5 Medium sized Collapsed boxes are the best boxes. At first looking in a dumpster of flattened card board can be a little upsetting. However, you can rebuild any box that has only been collapsed to flatten it. Just a roll of packing tape you are on your way. Also, you can get a lot of collapsed boxes at one time in your car.
#6 NEVER get in a dumpster when you are a lone. I realize this is a the second time I have mentioned this, but its VERY IMPORTANT. If you do get in a dumpster when you have help with you, its also important that you can get out. Yes free boxes are tempting but if you get stuck in a dumpster it would be pretty embarrassing for that to show up in the police blotter (Jane Doe 29 was rescued from the local dollar store card board box dumpster Friday evening after she went in for some free boxes. ) Now moving is also a good reason to grabbed a refrigerator box for the kids. I will get to what I do with my kids when moving day comes.
With every move I have spent lots of money of good quality tape. The last time we moved our things stayed in storage unit for nearly 8 months. Its important to purchase tape that will make through the move. Ideally duct tape is a bad option. The adhesive on these types of tape don't hold well in heat and humidity. Scotch tape for gift wrapping is too weak to really hold a heavy box together. The best option is clear packing tape but even that can be cheap. Its not a bad idea to buy the good quality stuff. I personally like the clear tape that gets damaged if it sicks to itself. If tape sticks to its self and pulls a part easily its probably not very good tape.
Now I have been fortunate with my last move. We decided while unpacking that we should keep all of our boxes. We had intended on moving from our current home into something bigger.
If you have childern moving can be difficult. The emotional toll of moving shows in each child differently. My DS said he didn't care that we were moving. My step kids were sad we moved over 4 hours away from them. One of the things Have done over the past few years is pick up a Large box for the kids to play in while I am packing. Its up to them what the box becomes. The first time I gave my DS a box for moving he was just over a year old and destroyed the box in only a little while. The last time we moved, the box I gave him was a master piece of coloring and scribbling. I was also surprised how much time he spent drawing and playing in the box. It was his on little world away from all of the chaos of moving.
So I am off to start on my home I have less than two weeks to make this move happen as smoothly as possible.
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Save Money: Find a Fruit Tree
A week or so ago I noticed that my neighbor had a rather loaded cherry tree. The fruit wasn't ripe just yet but I have kept my eye on it since then. This morning while I was running I noticed the fruit was wonderfully ripe. I made it a personal mission to ask my neighbor if I might have a few pounds of cherries for my family. I was even willing to pay a small price ( a $1/pound).
On the way to story time who should I see out side but my neighbor. He was outside picking cherries so I had to stop and ask him if I could have some. His deal, take as many as you want. As soon as I returned from story time my son and I headed down to the neighbors house and we picked half a basket of wonderful and delicious cherries...FOR FREE.
In this economy a Domestic Engineer needs to save as much money as possible. Now we can cut cost on toilet paper and cutting back on the junk food. However , it comes to the over all nutritional needs of our families we shouldn't skimp. We should seek out those long forgotten fruit trees hanging out in the neighbors yard. It may be the fruit tree you want is on a vacant property in that case its best to find out who the owner is and ask them if you can pick. Don't go about picking fruit that doesn't belong to you though. After you have established that you can pick fruit from someone else's tree find out what the limits are. Some people probably wouldn't mind if you are return several times, some might only allow you to pick a few basket worth. The main thing here is to have some class and grace about yourself and go by the limits.
Ask what the boundaries are. Some of these trees are old and probably haven't been pruned in years. It would be best to avoid climbing the trees for your own safety. If you have a step stool or ladder that might be best. Make sure though before using a ladder that its o'kay with the tree owner.
Finally once picking is underway be careful not to cause damage to the tree you are packing from. I was picking cherries this morning and over bent a tree limb. I plan on telling my neighbor what happened. I doubt the damage is permanent though. I do know that next time I will avoid pulling branches down for so long.
I have saved about $14 by asking my neighbor to pick from his trees. I have also found two apple trees in a ladies yard. I plan on asking her if I can pick a few apples from her trees as well. I plan on seeking out other neglected fruit trees and grape vines for the remainder of the summer.
On the way to story time who should I see out side but my neighbor. He was outside picking cherries so I had to stop and ask him if I could have some. His deal, take as many as you want. As soon as I returned from story time my son and I headed down to the neighbors house and we picked half a basket of wonderful and delicious cherries...FOR FREE.
In this economy a Domestic Engineer needs to save as much money as possible. Now we can cut cost on toilet paper and cutting back on the junk food. However , it comes to the over all nutritional needs of our families we shouldn't skimp. We should seek out those long forgotten fruit trees hanging out in the neighbors yard. It may be the fruit tree you want is on a vacant property in that case its best to find out who the owner is and ask them if you can pick. Don't go about picking fruit that doesn't belong to you though. After you have established that you can pick fruit from someone else's tree find out what the limits are. Some people probably wouldn't mind if you are return several times, some might only allow you to pick a few basket worth. The main thing here is to have some class and grace about yourself and go by the limits.
Ask what the boundaries are. Some of these trees are old and probably haven't been pruned in years. It would be best to avoid climbing the trees for your own safety. If you have a step stool or ladder that might be best. Make sure though before using a ladder that its o'kay with the tree owner.
Finally once picking is underway be careful not to cause damage to the tree you are packing from. I was picking cherries this morning and over bent a tree limb. I plan on telling my neighbor what happened. I doubt the damage is permanent though. I do know that next time I will avoid pulling branches down for so long.
I have saved about $14 by asking my neighbor to pick from his trees. I have also found two apple trees in a ladies yard. I plan on asking her if I can pick a few apples from her trees as well. I plan on seeking out other neglected fruit trees and grape vines for the remainder of the summer.
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