We buy from a local farmer as well. The price is way better than the markets, and the beef and chicken are from very well cared for, ethically raised animals. But we are cutting back a lot. I will get 12 whole roasters for each of our adult kids, and 13 for us, but instead of a half beef, we will get a quarter in mostly ground beef and share that among the kids. Mark and I are just getting a beef bundle which is about 30 lbs of lb packs ground beef, and five packages of stew beef for $140. I can't believe the price had stayed this low. Eggs have dropped in price recently so I am trying to make that a primary protein source for Mark and I.

Restaurant food. I used to like supporting local places, but the prices have gone up almost triple. With increases in grocery prices, a near doubling of the winter propane bill which we have been offsetting with wood, and my college classes, it is not wise to throw money into eating out. We travel with a cooler and food bag now, and only buy coffee on the road. Of course my fabric habit doesn't help. But we have two new babies in the family, and sewing for them means more to me than eating out. I also will not be buying the moisturizing shampoo and conditioner that my hair stylist wants me to use. It has more than doubled in price.

Me, nope, never!

This is absolutely lovely and heart warming!

Those are some cheeks in serious need of kissing! 😁

I love this! Wonderful!

Thanks. I hunted all over for those, and found them in a little historic harbor town that had an old fashioned dry goods store, and had a unique inventory of craft items.

Today we tortured and ultimately savaged a not insignificant amount of coffee beans from the episode of Starbucks. A boiled egg a piece for breakfast. Lunch - large salad and homemade bruchetta Dinner - large, grilled portabella sandwiches (ports rubbed with vegan butter and herbs, tossed under the broiler on low, Swiss cheese, red pepper also roasted, ranch dressing, toasted buns), mashed potatoes with vegan butter and chives, green beans.

I accept the nomination. My 180 day agenda is: eliminate daylight savings, seize all the chocolate from Nestle and Hershey and redistribute the chocolate evenly among the people, therapy bunnies for everyone, and launching rockets from the rose garden. 😁

Melts my heart! So darn adorable!!! 😍

Pic of baby bubble overalls for our honorary grandgirl due in May. Her shower is the first weekend of April, so I am working on one or two more outfits plus a baby quilt for her.

16 days until I start my tomato and peppers plants indoors from seed. Next week I am going to the nursery to order top soil for delivery in April. The sun is shining and today is supposed to get up to 44°/7° C. I feel a little hopeful that spring might actually come!

It is okay to feel not ready, and queasy about it while also deep down knowing it needs to be done. Take a really deep breath, have a moment to quiet yourself, and then make yourself do it. I am so sorry. Many, many hugs.

Old Navy has some cute sundresses. Maybe you could find one or two that you like for dressing up in the evening. Otherwise, your casual clothes are probably just fine. There is a simple black one right now that could be worn back to back evenings if you just changed accessories like scarves and bracelet. For bathing suit, I have a tankini top that I wear with swim capris. I have a large, damaged, swollen, ugly knee that is a left over of the car accident 8 years ago and I am self conscious. The swim capris keep them covered and also keep me warmer. I really like them. When I want to look "cuter", I have a retro swim dress I wear with the capris. It looks nice. Mostly I think people will be very casual during the day and wearing whatever makes them happy. You do you.

Totally awesome Bill!

Very much so. And for a week every March, I feel like I have jet lag. This whole Daylight Savings time is crap. We peasants need to revolt. Next year, don't do it. Every, absolutely everyone, go to work at the wrong time, take kids to school at the wrong time, just do.not.participate. If even 1/3 of the country participated, it would bring the system down, congress would get the message. Power to the people!!! 😉

Sanity and common sense are currently so rare, I consider them super powers! I am glad you grabbed that top soil. That is so precious to the environment. According to my physical therapist, drink a lot of water. This apparently is a big assist to sore muscles.

Okay, I am going to tell you an incident from, "Mark's Rocketry Chronicles". Setting, kitchen of our small house in mid-Michigan about 20 years ago. I left the house to grocery shop leaving rocket man in charge of his young offspring, ages 2, 4, 5, and 10. I came home to find the most disgusting, rotten egg smell emanating from the kitchen, and the 10 year old asking rocket man if they could have the windows open in the dead of winter. Entering the back door of the home, arms laden with groceries, I proceeded through the mud room into the kitchen, gagging the whole way, to find Mark stirring something in my electric skillet. Unsure what human food he could possibly be cooking that would produce such a vile cloud of olfactory offense, I asked him what the heck he was doing to which he responded, " Cooking rocket fuel." It was sulfur rocket candy: sulfur, potassium nitrate, and sugar. Marshalling my most mature, wifey energy, I evicted him from the home. He took up residence WITH THE ELECTRIC SKILLET and a 50 ft extension cord in the driveway. At this point, having put the children to bed, I went out to check on the mad scientist only to find that the neighbors were outside recoiling in horror from the smell having let their cocker spaniel out for his 10 pm wee on the lawn. Finally, one of them gained the courage to approach and ask what Mark was doing hunched over an electric skillet in the dark and bitter cold madly stirring. "Making rocket fuel." To which, the even larger group of extended neighbors who had assembled began gingerly backing away from the property. I spent 48 hrs waiting for Homeland Security to show up and confiscate my husband and skillet. But they never came. Odd looks from the neighbors followed Mark for the remaining 5 years until we moved. The skillet, after about three of these exploits, corroded rather badly and he had to get another one for his adventures. Since then, he has altered his recipe to remove the sulfur, and for several years any students 7th-12th grade who signed up for our 32 week 4H engineering class, made rocket fuel as part of our unit on chemical engineering, packed their motors, remote burned them from a vise with a remote ignition rocket motor igniter run on a car battery. He always had the fun stuff. I did all the research and taught the lecture portion of the class, graded their notes, and lab reports. He lead the labs. Mr. Disneyland 4H leader while I ended up being Professor McGonagle. This same man, when we taught environmental science, brewed alternative fuel "ethanol" in the fellowship hall of a church allowing our group of 35 to meet in their facility. On Saturday night. The church reeked like a beer hall on Sunday morning. My life is NOT dull with him, and I wouldn't have it any other way even if occasionally his exploits bug me. He isn't the only rocketeer in the house. I was the educator for NASA Student Launch and successfully put brought my team through that program with Mark at my side. I then mentored them through Battle of thre Rockets entering my high school gram in the college level challenge and they came 2nd in the nation, beat out by 2 pts by Rensessaleur PolyTech, beating out U.V.A. I am HPR Level 1 certified, and building my Level 2 rocket for cert launch in the fall. We will then be the same level, and while he is going to pursue his level 3, I may not. It is about $1000 to pursue it, and it isn't necessary for both of us to attain that. I actually have a stronger aerospace engineering background than he does now that I have made it through my introductory aerospace engineering college classes. He comes to me to find out the best options for reinforcement of booster section walls, and a lot of the materials science. 😁 Currently, rocket man and I are working with a university team. Our 4H program was gutted during 2021 by a change in leadership who was not interested in supporting any non-agricultural 4H programs. So on to university mentoring. There are OTHER tales to tell. 😂

March unhealthy eating: Pi Day report. Not good. Enough java to cause an Aztec war for the beans. Salad for lunch which would have been okay were it not for the pepperoni and luxurious cheese I put on it being of low mental energy after completely messing up a pair of baby overalls and had to rip out two seams. So ya. Adding insult to injury and sending me here for confession, a supper of huge hamburgers (Mark's fault, he had a beef craving and cooked them over a wood fire outside so totally NOT my problem, right?), with mushrooms and swiss, a small salad which really doesn't make it better, and a huge piece of chocolate pie because it is pie day. So total, utter fail. But it tasted good!

He is on board. Pizzas in space. He would do it! 😂😂😂

Chocolate pie. I have no kids at his me, and am not in Alabama with the grands, and since we are retired from 4H, no math activities to organize. Pie. Chocolate. That's good!

We soak the ground heavily at the base of the weeds (not near trees, this is an area near our stone fence that has an invasive plant that keeps coming underneath that wrecks havoc - an invasive to the state plant) so that the roots are actively up taking water as soon as they come out of dormancy so sometimes it is done immediately following the spring thaw. Quick burst of flame thrower causes the mud to get very hot which causes significant injury to the roots. We do it because we are not willing to spray Round Up. It keeps it under control. The farmers burn the ditches, but that is a bit dicey. More than once the fire department had had to be called for grass fires because the farmers do not have a water source to stop the spread. We only have a small patch, and I stand out there with our 125 ft hose so nothing can escape. But because the ground is so wet, it has never been a problem, and there isn't any dry tinder around because it is before anything is really growing and established. These things are common in farming/agricultural communities, controlled burns. Ours isn't even classified as a controlled burn since it is so small. We don't need a permit as long as we follow the burn rules.

Band, my husband has a flame thrower for weeds and frankly I have had to actually say, "We are not cooking food with that." 😂😂😂

My husband would absolutely do it! 😂 I have a little cooking butane torch for browning meringue. Something like that could be used to do this and be quite safe.

So sorry. Thinking good thoughts for you.