Tomorrow is Mother's Day. I will be going to my mom's for dinner with the family. It's a celebration that is celebrated at Mom's every year, and it's almost as big as Christmas at her house.
I love my mother. We've had a lot of ups and downs. We fight. We make up. And, we love each other even when we are mad.
Mom never stops trying to be mom, even though I am 50 years old. I've come to understand that that is just her. And, that is what I need to love about her, as much as it drives me crazy.
It's when I feel that she isn't being my mom that she and I have frictional moments. So, I've resigned to love my mom because and in spite of the fact that she is my mom.
She will never change who she is. I accept that, and I hope she never does.
Have a blessed day, and enjoy your mom this Mother's Day. One day, sooner than you know, she won't be there.
Me and my housemate were arguing about gun control the other day; particularly, whether churches and schools should be allowed to have armed guards including trained teachers that are allowed to have weapons on the campuses. The argument got heated. He doesn't believe this should be allowed. I argued that had a trained teacher had a gun the shooters would have not got as far as they did.
His argument was "What if a teacher gets mad and starts shooting at the students?" I thought that argument was absurd and told him so. A trained, law-abiding teacher who got the job because they had no record or any mental problems that would endanger the kids, being subject to background checks before they even get the job is unlikely to do such a thing. I mean, how many cases of this have we had? Period.
He claimed that his training in martial arts was enough. I told him that martial arts wasn't going to save him from people who are ten or fifteen feet away shooting everyone in their sites. And, it was doubtful his skills could save a person the shooter was shooting at 20 feet away unless you had a gun to stop him with.
He wanted to argue that no one has the right to own an automatic weapon of any kind. I told him to go talk to the survivors of that church in Texas down the road from where the church that got shot up was that a man with an automatic weapon used to kill the man who shot them and saved countless lives doing so.
The argument got heated. I told him we needed to agree to disagree and leave it alone. He was not going to change my mind and I obviously wasn't going to change his. He wanted to continue until I told him "Look, if you refuse to allow law-abiding people the means to protect themselves, their family, or their property when the opportunity presents themselves, then you are as much a murderer as the shooter you refuse to let people defend themselves from." I told him once again to agree to disagree and "Get out of my face because you are P**ing me off!"
He shut up and went to his room for the rest of the night.
A casserole dish. 2 cups of rice in the bottom. 2 Cups of water. 2 Cans of Cream of MUSHROOM soup. Stir. Make sure rice is evenly distributed and soup and water are mixed well. Throw in half a bag of Meatballs from the freezer section (I bought Great Value). Place in the oven for an hour.
When you pull from oven, heat up a can of Spaghetti Sauce.
Dip the meatballs and rice onto a plate, top with spaghetti sauce. Sprinkle with cheese (I used parmesan, Fred used shredded cheddar) and eat.
IT'S SO GOOD.
I gorged myself. Fred ate a HEAPING plate full and Gary had NO complaints.
Watching Dexter and playing with Traffic exchanges the rest of the night.
The last few days I've been struggling with my sleep hours. I'm so used to sleeping during the day, I guess, after working the graveyard shift for the last two years, that sleeping at night is a struggle.
Fred and I have been enjoying episodes of "Dexter". We are in the third season now.
I took Gary to the Bank yesterday so he could pay his rent. And, I paid my lot rent for the month with that money, as well as the house payment. He bought us all chicken to eat, and gave the dogs the wings (as is our tradition). I spoke to the trailer park owners about my unemployment, and they were really supportive. He used to work at the Prison, too, and said I should have no problem at my new place of employment that I am only waiting on the background check for now.
Last night I snacked on sausage and pancake "corn dogs". I dipped them in my pear preserve syrup and it was AWESOME. Fred enjoyed it, too.
I am still waiting on my last checks, so money is way tight, and I had to break down and use the credit card to buy groceries with yesterday. I also got the dogs some flea drops -- it's that time of year. They were thankful for it, I think.
Still struggling with depression, but I see the light at the end of the tunnel...I think.
It's just a flicker, but it's there. I'm looking hard.
Got lots of news to post today at The Ponder. Also, gotta keep an eye on my stocks on E-trade.
Last night my phone went crazy. It keeps flashing on and off. I think it got a little wet. I'm afraid it won't straighten itself out and I may have to get a new one. My leave check and commissary money hasn't come in yet, and if that happens, I will have to use my credit card. I will have to have a phone if I have nothing else, in order that potential employers can call me.
Once I get my leave and commissary check from my previous employer, I should be okay for another couple of months until I can get some checks coming in again.
I still have about $3,000 worth of unused credit if I absolutely need it, on top of that, though. I am SO glad I made the choice to get it!
Yesterday, I gave the dogs a bath. They were, surprisingly, very good baby-dogs. They didn't run away. They sat in the tub like big boys, and when it came time to get out, they waited patiently for me to get the towel and then let me wrap them as they got out. I dried them off real good and powdered them down, and then watched them get all playful and excited running around the house feeling good, until they plopped to take a nap. They certainly smell better!
We had chicken nuggets and corn on the cob last night for supper. Fred got the bright idea to give them a cob eat when he got done. They LOVE that! Otis is being very territorial with his, and Milo carries his everywhere he goes.
All I have left to do is the carrots. Everything else is cut and stored. Today, I'll finish up on that. Last night I snacked on the pepper jelly and cream cheese crackers as we caught up on episodes of Supernatural, The 100 and then I couldn't talk Fred into watching Game of Thrones. He wants to wait until the whole season is out so we can binge watch it. I told him that's fine, all I ask is that I am home and watching it with him when he does.
I tried to start my lawn-mower, but I couldn't get it started. I need to clean my yard...I just don't have the energy...or is lack of motivation? Not sure.
I feel like I am starting completely over again, and I am praying I don't have to give up everything - again - and start over with nothing - again. But, if that happens, I know my God. I will survive, and I will be able to endure. I am blessed no matter what.
Yesterday, I canned my first pear preserves and they turned out awesome! So, I thought I would try my hand at some pepper jelly.
When I got done, it tasted great, but it was WAY too hot. I think I used too many peppers. So, I only have one jar of those, and the rest of the peppers, I am going to cut up and throw in the freezer.
I am out of jars. So, I'm prepping the oranges today and throwing them in the freezer for later as well, the carrots, too.
I have learned that if I work too hard on my web site, I make less money. So, I'm not going to try so hard from now on. I'm only doing what I have time to accomplish. But, I am not neglecting it. I have plenty of time, I just won't feel as rushed.
Playing the stock market is a challenge. I have lost more than I have gained. But, I have also LEARNED. It's a very strategic game you play with that, with real consequences, so I have to be careful. But, it's also fun.
I use the E-trade website. And, what I have learned is that commissions you pay when you buy stocks are what costs you the most. The only one really making money right now is the bank. LOL. But, I have also learned that it takes a LOT of patience and playing by the rules, and on a good day, there is money to be made. I have also learned that you have to have money in order to make money on Wall Street.
I have also learned that sometimes you just got to cut your losses.
Well, other than waiting for my new job to call me in, telling me I passed the background check, that's it for today's projects -- other than cleaning house, which is a never ending job (especially when you live with two bachelors, LOL)
Thursday was a big day for me. It is the day that I go to Texarkana and get free produce from Flower Acres Baptist Church. They get produce every two weeks to give out to the public. No income verification is needed. Harvest Texarkana provides the produce from farmers who have an abundance and if it is not given away, it rots. So, we are blessed.
When I get there, I have to get in line, in my car as each car goes through the line. Each car should have it's trunk open as it goes through the produce line, slowly, so the volunteers can pack it with what is portioned out to them. When the last volunteer places his produce in the trunk, he shuts the trunk and tells you to have a blessed day, and you drive off.
I never know what I get until I get home, but it is always worth it.
This time, I got 2 grocery bags full of pears, 2 grocery bags of oranges, a bag of potatoes, two grocery bags full of seranno peppers, two bags of carrots, a pint of milk, a plastic serving of butternut squash noodles, and two bundles of bananas and two gigantic cabbage heads.
I gave half to my mom and sister.
The other half, I am using to can orange marmalade, pear preserves, saurkraut, carrots (every way I can do it) and we ate the bananas.
I have cabbage in bags in my freezer, and carrots, too. I am also going to make some pepper jelly. I'm cutting the rest of the peppers up to put in quart bags and store in my freezer for cooking with later.
Last night, I did a big boo boo. I cut some peppers and bagged them and wiped the seeds off the cutting board and forgot about it. Then, I cut up a pear to munch on.
Don't ever do that. Wash the board. Trust me. I couldn't taste the pear, my mouth was burning so bad! It was an hour before it finally died down completely. LOL
Today I made the saurkraut.
Tomorrow I have to make a trip to a memorial for my Uncle Bobby who died in 1994. He was the only man in the history of my little town of New Boston, Texas who got elected to office after he died. The city is going to put a memorial for him in the city museum.
Then, I'm going to come home and make some pear preserves and cut up some carrots for storage.
Well, it's late. I've updated my website and played around with PTCs and Traffic Exchanges while watching TV long enough.
Today is canning and cleaning day here at The Ponder home. I'll be making a trip to Flower Acres today to see what new produce I can gather up.
Yesterday, we had pizza from Little Caesar's, and I did some shopping at Cash Savers for the 6 for 22 deal in meats. Gotta save money any way I can, right?
Don't know if I got the job yet officially, but since she said we are just waiting on the background check, I am going to assume it's in the box. Of course, assuming always gets me in trouble. But, I'm stepping out in faith, anyway, so I decided to celebrate and also get us some stuff to make strawberry shortcakes with to celebrate. The guys enjoyed that!
I am going to do some changes at The Ponder News blog, as well. I'll be focused more on issue-oriented posts rather than solely on press releases now. I feel it is time to step up my game. I have enough sources now. Now I need to focus on traffic and my readers.
Need to give them a reason to keep coming back.
ON the website, I'm focusing on affiliate marketing. Anything you want will be found there eventually, all filed neatly for easy searching.
Eventually, I'll be making my own advertising banners to display on my news posts, rather than sending you directly to each affiliate, you'll be sent to a page with all the affiliates that fit that category, for a more complete shopping experience.
Wow. This is time consuming. But, what else do I have to do?
For the last three weeks or so, as I sat at home, praying and reflecting for the most part, I was doing my best not to question God's wisdom for my life.
In the past, God has always taken care of me. I have never gone hungry. God always gave me a way to get food. It may not have been the way I would have chosen, but I never went hungry.
I have always had shelter when I needed it. Even when I had to sleep in a homeless shelter. And, even if I didn't, God saw that I stayed alive and healthy.
God brought me out of a very abusive situation. He blessed me and everything I did.
I am now buying my own home.
When I needed healthcare, He made sure I had good insurance, so the bills were minimal. He gave me just enough so that I could wonder how, and then watch Him do.
I have always tried to bless others with the extra God gives me. I have two bedrooms I am not using, so I have rented them out to my two homeless friends. I am glad I did, because at least I know my house payment is going to be made, now that I am unemployed.
God has blessed me for blessing.
My heart was broken at having to leave my last job. But, I've tried hard to maintain my faith, to believe that God knows best.
Me knees are about as healed as they are going to get. My health is good. And, I've had time to do some internet marketing I've been putting off, to help me get through the NEXT time.
Today I go in for an interview at a place I sent my resume'. The job would be perfect, I think. The hours not near as long and the pay not near as good, but I've done what I can to cushion that. I will miss the insurance and retirement, but I know God has my back there, too.
