So I was sitting here watching the news, and thinking about the homeless shelters not only for street people but for young mothers. This led me to wondering, why are we donating tons of food that will be gone in a matter of months? Why can't we donate seeds, soil, fertilizer, and land and teach them how to grow their own? Why not have a working farm, where homeless folks can live, build, and tend the land? They live in a large dorm type setting, so why not convert a farm house into the same ordeal? Have a huge barn, like back in the day, with animals to care for, and land to plow. They can grow their own food, raise their own meat/eggs, and actually contribute to their own well being? They could learn to preserve what they harvest, sell their excess, and be productive. They could have a site manager who would ensure they keep the buildings in good condition, the animals fed, and the equipment running. Could this even work????

Ok, so I'm a spoiled brat sometimes. But I think people should stick to their word, and when they don't I get pouty.

See, today was a family gathering (again) and last week my MIL had said "If you go get the DSS, I will take him back." Ok, agreed. Well, it just so happened that the other grandparents of my stepson were in Dubuque already, and said they would bring him back with them. Sweet! So he arrived, albeit late, on Sat. evening. Ok, thats fine, less stress for me. Anyway, I find out last night that the MIL has decided that she just can't take him home as she had said, "I think I'll just be too busy"...um, shit. The last thing I want to do on a Sunday is make that 6 hour round trip drive. Its boring and I don't like it. Not to mention we'd already had an agreement. It is not my fault my end was covered by his other grandparents. Yes, I should be the good stepmom and take him home, but hey, a deal is a deal.

So today, as the time drew closer, I got more and more pouty. I sulked, I sighed, and I openly admitted to the DH and one of the SILs that I wasn't happy. I admitted to my inner 5 year old taking over and pouting horribly. So my DH said "I bet I can get mom to take him back if I put them up in a hotel".....of course I didn't argue but encouraged. Five minutes later he came back and said "No worries, she'll take him, I'm booking a room now"......he has enough hotel points that he could do it for free. WOOHOO!! So I got my bratty ass out of that stupid drive. *happy dance happy dance*

In other news, I also went today with a bitch in my heart. Yep, since one of my SILs had decided to completely ignore me (she is the one who is the wife of the BIL who had a fit about the horse) at a nephew's birthday party, I went to this gathering determined to play this game and be a bitch right back. Well, it worked, she was following me around and finally sat beside me in the grass under a tree and talked. We didn't talk about the past, we just chatted about other things,.....things we used to talk about before all this shit went down. I'll admit it was nice, but I didn't trust her with any information. I didn't fall for the "I'll be your best friend" tactic she was trying to pull. I chatted, gave her just enough info to keep her baited, and now she's texting me and thinks all is right with the world. Well, between her and the other SIL, I'll let them both think I'm that stupid. Karma, in the end, will prevail and I'll be smiling. I do my good deeds, and their games will bite them in the ass in the end.

Anyway, enough bullshit. I'm playing Wii with my son, enjoying the time, and just chillin out.

Hope all the dads out there had a great Father's Day :-D

As we all know my life can go from 0 to overdrive in less than a day. Lately its been no different.

This past Sunday I picked up my son, and it seems we've been on the go ever since. I had purchased tickets for Steamboat Days so I can take him to see Zach Brown Band. We were supposed to also see Billy Currington on Tuesday. We got there and after getting our seats and a hot dog, it started to rain....then pour. We tried to sit it out, but he looked at me and said "Mom, lets go, we can go home and watch a movie." Great kid, right? So we ate soggy hot dogs and fries on the ride home, and of course it cleared up after we left. He didn't seem to mind.

Yesterday we played Wii and cleaned house, then went to the woods to try our hand at building an outdoor kitchen. It turned out well but I noticed my son is lazy. He lives with his dad in a subdivision and has no clue about life outside the pavement. I asked him "Have you done dishes at home?" his answer was "Yeah, I put them in the dishwasher and press Start"....ugh. So there was a lesson in hand-washing dishes properly. After watching me take clean ones out of the drying rack, he asked me "Mom, where do they go when I get done rinsing them off?" DUH, right where I just took the clean ones out of! He had no idea. When we were in the woods I told him to mix me up some mud....you'd have thought his hands were fragile. He acted as if it was a problem, and did the whole thing half-assed. When I would make him hold something, or try to show him how to tie a knot, he would sigh as if he was bored out of his brain. He won't do anything by himself unless its watching movies. If I'm beating him at a Wii game, he just quits and goes to watch a movie. But if he is winning, he wants to play all day. He has no desire to actually practice to get better, he just stops and pouts. I've been trying to encourage him to practice things, and get involved with projects, but hell, he acted as if picking peas in the garden was a complete hassle. He's killing me!

I've got another week with him, and plan on seeing a movie or 2. He loves the horse, but if I get her out, he'll only mess with her if I do, and again, then its only half-assed. I show him time and again how to brush her, and its a lost cause. Same for the dog...he had no clue how to scrub him. Anyway, if I had more time, or if he was in my custody, this would be rectified, or it would never be an issue.

Now his dad is another issue. He's been very deceitful about things lately, and I'm not sure why. We've always been on the same page with things, but it seems he's siding now with my family. Yep, the bitch that gave birth to me, and her daughter. The ex has decided to not only befriend them but also allowing my son to hang with them. He also has chosen not to tell me about it. HELLO! ITS MY FREAKIN RELATIVES WE'RE TALKING ABOUT!! Why would you not tell me? And why would you not consult me on this decision? They are freaking criminals!!! I sent him an email explaining my feelings, and I'm sure it will do one of 2 things.....it will either make him stop and think about his choices, or cause him to get pissed off and cut my visitation, or have me put in jail for being behind in my child support payments. All I can do is hope its the former. I wish I had joint custody. I don't quite know how to go about it, and damn sure don't have the money for a lawyer and court fees, but bet your ass if I could file for it I would.

In other news, Royalty seems to be getting worse about her attitude. So I've got a friend's son coming out sometime this weekend to ride her and see what I need to do to get her brattiness adjusted.

Beyond that, I don't have much else. Its horribly humid, which means I just don't want to be outside, which means the garden is getting out of control. I just need to suck it up and work on it. I wouldn't mind it but there is no breeze so the flies are horrible.

Anyway, hope you all are having a great summer...or winter, depending on where you are! :D

Misc. bullshit is the topic for today. I really have nothing exciting to blog about, but then again, do I ever?

Yesterday I spent all morning on my hands and knees crawling through the 6,000ft garden pulling weeds. I should be out there this morning again to run the mini-tiller but I'm just not in the mood. So instead, I've opted to clean house and do some general pick up. DH and I are going to pick up my son on Sunday, so I really need to get things in order here. Not that he cares, he's 11 for crying out loud, but his allergies can get bad and I need to make sure a majority of the dust and dog hair is cleaned up.

In other news, DH applied for a local job. He would be working in a warehouse running a forklift and also delivering orders. Its for a fertilizer company here, and hell, it can't pay any worse than his trucking job he has now. Not to mention he'd be home every night, weekends off (usually), and better hours. Obviously there would be room for advancement. He goes for an interview on Monday.

The past 2 Monday's I've been taking Friendship Bread to the Farmer's Market, and have NOT done well at all. I was going to try to take some veggies to sell this Monday, but have decided just to forgo the whole thing and just put up what I harvest. Yesterday I canned 2 pints of peas. Not a lot, but its the start of the season. Soon the green beans will be ready, as well as the tomatoes and potatoes. I'll have my days filled then with canning it all.

I have decided to sell my horse. She is too 'barn sour' to do anything with. I took her out to the very far end of the pasture and started working with her stops. She wanted to go back to the barn so bad she threw several tantrums. Rearing up more times than I can count, prancing, head throwing, etc. I just can't have a horse like that. I've also sworn off mares. Geldings only for me, thank you very much.

I'm hoping that one of my meat rabbits is pregnant. Yes, I said meat rabbit. I will be raising rabbits for food, so no reason to get all "cute fuzzy bunny" on me. As I've ranted before, things are going to go downhill fast before long, and we'd all better have food and skills or we'll die. I was thinking I should let one of my broody hens go ahead and hatch out some eggs, just to replenish the stock. I need to run that past the DH and get his thoughts.

We are still looking for land. We want some with both timber and clear ground, in equal parts, and evidently its a rarity.

I turned 39 this past Sunday....and really, unlike many people I know, I don't get depressed at my age. What I mean is, I know some people who are obsessed with coloring their hair to hide the grey, wearing loads of make-up and using creams, lotions, and potions to get rid of wrinkles. Not me, I say let 'er rip! I'm not dyeing my hair, I'm letting the grey just go crazy. I don't wear makeup any more, nor do I have a nightly ritual of wrinkle preventors. I view them all as well earned badges of life, signs of wisdom and knowledge, and could really care less what anyone has to say about it all. After many trips around the world serving my country, having a kid, and not to mention putting up with everyone else's bullshit, I can do what I please and don't need anyone's approval or judgement for that matter.

I guess thats all the rambling I have for today. I think I'll crank up some tunes and get after this place. I feel the need to purge it , but have nowhere to take the crap to at the moment. I'd really like to have a yard sale, but not sure when that will come to pass.

So, off I go. Hope everyone has a good day.

After spending most of the morning...ok, for me, it was most, I was out from 0730-1000.....driving from yard sale to yard sale, I finally got groceries and made it home. I then found myself sitting here on the couch, wondering what to do! I should have worked on the quilt, but didn't. I should have bathed the dog, but didn't. I should have done some cleaning, but didn't. Instead, I snacked around, watched some TV, and napped on the couch. LAZY!!

After my nap I felt a bit motivated, so I did the dishes, and went to the garden. I initially started out to just pick some peas, but found myself on my hands and knees pulling weeds around the beans. I should have kept going and worked around the tomatoes, but decided to call it a day. During my breaks (it was hot!) I had my goat out, changed out water for the chickens and goat, and brought out my horse to tether and graze. Once my weeding was done, I put the horse back out to pasture, the goat back in her pen, and brought the dog inside. Good timing, I must say, since it started a light rain just as I stepped inside!

A nice shower and some good homegrown eggs with sausage and I'm good to go. Now to chill out and relax. DH will be home tonight, sometime. Might do some yard saleing tomorrow, but will go to a nephew's birthday party tomorrow night. Sunday I'll spend baking bread for the Farmer's Market on Monday afternoon. Also on Monday, the farrier will be here to trim and shoe my girl. I can't wait, maybe then we can get some good riding in..woot!

When SHTF

Look around people, if you don't believe me, just look around. Its not a matter of IF but WHEN Shit Hits The Fan. I am hoping for a later time, but the arrows are pointing to this year. I don't just mean the economy of the USA. I'm talking Mother Nature as well. Still don't believe me? Just Google 'earthquakes' or any other natural disaster around the world. Sink holes are everywhere, earthquakes that the news doesn't tell you about, extreme temps in places around the world.

I hope some of you wake up and take a look at whats going on. I sure have, and let me tell ya, I may not be ready for any given situation (nobody can be prepared for that) but I'll have the skills and supplies to get by for 6months to a year. After that? My skills will get me through. Will yours? Can you live without your Blackberry? Your laptop? Your SUV? How far can you get in your high heels or Italian leather loafers? Well that Coach purse help you? How about that Armani suit? Laugh at my lifestyle now, but I'll be laughing in the end. I have no problem peeing outside, not showering for 3 or more days, and eating wild game/plants.......do you???