I looked at various eReaders a little while back. For some reason, I still had trouble with eInk. Reading on the Kindle Fire was easier, but I just couldn't make up my mind to spend the money. One of my kids is considering a Kindle Fire or a Nexus 7 (?). Maybe I can just borrow from the kid. ;)

As a lot of you know, I've fallen into some really hard times. *Depression over dh's treatable medical condition which he's in denial about. *The collapse of our finances including probable business failure within the next 4 months, and no personal savings buffer because the business had been successful for so long that we relied on it and rolled our money back in for 25 years. *Dh's year-long emotional affair which was over before I ever knew about it, but still has made me despondent almost to the point of self-destruction. There's more, but that's the basics, for those of you who might have missed the complete devastation of what was previously a completely non-tumultuous life. I am working on the depression, there's nothing I can do about the business failure, and dh and I are surviving the repercussions of his actions with the help of marriage counseling. Thankfully, we never did have horrible relationship problems, and we never have been angry and combative towards each other. We are caring for each other with great tenderness, and holding hands as we walk this difficult road. Anyway, I mention all of that as background for my real question: I'm struggling to deal with all of this in a healthy way, but am finding that I have nothing fun going on, and I can find absolutely nothing to look forward to. I know part of that is the depression, but I *really* *need* *something* to think about, or to look forward to. Vacation has never been our thing, and even if we wanted to try a vacation now, I don't think I can see it as a wise use of money. I used to read suspenseful novels as a bit of an escape from reality, but as I've gotten older, my eyesight is just not what it used to be. Yes, I have glasses, but it's just not as comfortable, kwim? I do listen to audiobooks while I do housework, and I enjoy that, but there's only so much of that I can do. I used to cook & bake for fun, but because I do that professionally, it's lost it's luster for me. I used to look forward to planning a new school year, and found delight in searching for curriculum and planning the details ahead. Honestly, I've done it for so many years now that I have everything we need, and school pretty much runs itself. I know that I should go back to the exercise that I gave up on, and that I will feel much better both emotionally and physically if I do, but I'm looking for something else...something interesting in my life, something that can divert my attention from some of the miseries, maybe something I can do while sitting next to dh on the couch while he watches the evening news, maybe another thing I can do during the day while he's at work, something....well, I don't know. I need some fun, or some joy, or something to look forward to, and I'm having trouble thinking of anything to try. Think creatively for me, would you? I'm just not up to it, but I know I need to find something or even a couple of somethings to bring back some interest to my life, both for me, and so that I can be a whole person again for dh. I know that we will not survive if I allow depression and despondency to rule my life. Yes, I'm treating the depression, but I need help thinking of activities and/or hobbies that I might enjoy. :bigear:

For myself, it would depend on whether the friend would have other help, or if I thought maybe I was the only one. If you know they will also have other people bringing them meals, then I'd bring it frozen, with directions. If you think there aren't many people who will be helping the family, then I'd bring it baked and ready to go. Usually what I do (when I can), is call the family in the morning and ask if it would be convenient for me to bring them a meal. I usually ask what time they usually eat, and then arrange to bring it shortly before that time, all ready to eat. Either way is fine though, and I'm sure it will be appreciated!

Dh did actually discuss the symptoms with the doc. Though the doc was willing to give an rx for the meds I think are definitely needed, dh declined treatment. Because it's not a life-threatening condition, there's nothing more to do, no matter how devastating it might feel to me personally. :( Thank you still, for the prayers and the hugs.

I will ask him about this. Right now he's considering selling off the herd and equipment and leasing our land to nut tree farmers. If he (and his brother) decided to do that now, we'd probably be able to keep our house and have a bit of money left over. Dh says that he thinks we will be alright until about October--we have feed to last until then, but in Sept-Oct will need to pay farmers for 2nd and 3rd cutting hay, and will need to pay the chopper guys to get the corn silage off the field (480 acres). If nothing is better by then, then paying those bills will tip us over the edge. I will ask him if he thinks beef would help at this point. Feed costs are killing us though. Grossed over a million dollars last year, but ended up with nothing to show for it after feed, fuel, machinery/maintenance, and then things like insurance (insurance alone ended up well over $100,000 last year). It just seems so hopeless. I am thinking we should consult an attorney in order to clarify if there's any way to keep anything at all if the business fails completely. To be completely truthful, I'm wondering if it wouldn't be better for it to just be over. I cannot see that dh can survive much more of this level of stress, and I mean that literally. :(

$1.00 (not organic)Wow, it is just awesome that your grocery has prices online! That would be a dream thing for me.

It was a very good box this time. :drool5:

My dh has an appointment with the doctor in 3 hours. Please pray with me that he will actually *Tell The Doctor What Is Wrong*, and that he will do it without downplaying the symptoms or the impact it has had on our relationship. I need dh to be insistent that they search for answers, in spite of the attitude of the doctor, and even though dh is mostly in denial himself. A lot hangs in the balance on this. :sad:

$36.80 per week, and it is generally all *beautiful* produce. :001_smile: I don't really think I could do better than that, even if I found everything on sale at the thriftiest grocery store, even buying conventionally farmed produce. Here's a picture of one of our bins in the past. I confess that I had a harder time with the winter/spring veggies because I just don't love turnips/rutabagas or chard (Though I promise, I tried!).

I need to pretty much use "found" materials, so I'll see what I can come up with. I'll need to be very open-minded, I'm sure! :001_smile:

Thank you so much. In the past, we wouldn't have been considered a small farm--we milk around 1300 cows. Nowadays though, that's *small*, and no longer really viable, I guess. Dh has 6 brothers, all dairy farmers in different locations in the west. Some of them are smaller & organic producers, and I believe they are in the same straits. I don't think most of them expect to survive the year. We are not organic, but have tried to strike what we consider to be an ethical balance in methods, using no hormones to increase production, staying with natural breeding methods, and treating the animals as humanely as possible within our capabilities.

Actually, we *are* a farm family, and are close to losing everything. While I appreciate the benefits of the CSA, my purpose at this point in time is not to minimize my impact on the earth, but to feed my family economically and pray to survive until things either turn around, or we go bankrupt. At this time, bankruptcy is exceedingly more likely. Yep, the farmers are having a bad year, and yep, I'm more than a little bitter, and slightly angry about the situation. My dh, with his farming heritage and almost 50 years of personal experience, can't make agriculture work to support our family anymore.

Actually, I'm just curious what other people would pay for that, wherever they live. Along with my decision to keep or drop, I'm interested in the variations of what people spend in their location.

In my efforts to economize, I'm trying to determine if I should continue my csa veggie bin subscription. I love getting the bin every week, but haven't actually priced what the produce would cost from the store. What I'm getting is organically grown, but since I'm not completely opposed to conventional farming methods, I'd like to leave that out of the equation. If I bought these items from the grocery or other store, how much do you estimate that it would total? Here's what was in my bin this week: 4 lbs. large peaches 4 lbs. large nectarines 1 lb. purple eggplant 2 1/2 lb. cantaloupe 1 lb. beets 1 3/4 lb. young summer squash 2 medium cucumbers 2 medium green bell peppers 1 basket strawberries 3 lbs. small red potatoes 1 1/2 lbs. ripe tomatoes large green leafy lettuce small bunch (appx. 8) young radishes small bunch of chives

I like all of these ideas. I might be able to ask on Freecycle if anyone has an umbrella or EZ Up to get rid of. I'd have to put it on something to raise it up though, I think, or it would be too low. Maybe some cinderblocks or something. I like the tarp & shade sail ideas too, but we don't have any trees or *anything* around the pool, so we'd have to do something about that. Not sure I could manage that myself, though I tend to be fairly handy. Hmm... It's in the high 90's & low 100's, and I want to enjoy the water. {Where's the pouty-faced smiley when you need it?}

We have a large above-ground swimming pool. I never go in the pool, and I realized it's because I just really don't like being in the sun. The area is pretty dry and barren, with no shade in sight. I've heard not to plant trees near a pool because of leaves falling into the water, so what do people do to have some relief from the sun? Is there some easy fix that I haven't thought of? -Because even if I ignore the problem with leaves and plant a tree *today*, it's going to be a long time before there's any shade at all. :001_huh: Oh, and did I mention that the fix needs to be relatively easy, and really inexpensive? ;)

Ha! You beat me to it! This is the one I use, and the one I was going to recommend. :drool5:

Yeah, I did Google copycat recipes, and while I did find one for Prego (I think), the recipe I found for Ragu just didn't sound right to me. I may still give it a try though. :001_smile:

Well, that sounds good and I'll definitely give it a try, but for today, all I'm trying to accomplish is not to have to go to the grocery, and to use up what's in my pantry! :tongue_smilie:

My family likes Ragu spaghetti sauce. When I use it, I always add ground beef, crushed red peppers, garlic, onions, and a few more things. In my pantry right now, I have no Ragu, but I do have a #10 can of tomato sauce, and a #10 can of tomato puree. Which of those should I use, and what should I do to it to get it as close to Ragu as possible? No, I'm not going to add HFCS, but I'm assuming I will probably need to add a bit of sweetener, and probably some tomato paste to thicken it up, and probably more of the italian seasonings I already add to the Ragu. Any suggestions? :bigear: (And don't suggest to me that I should get my family to eat better sauce to begin with! They are decidedly lowbrow in their culinary preferences, and I'm not going to fight this one. ;)) P.S. They also like canned chili :ack2:, but I found a recipe that tastes like "canned", and still allows me to use quality ingredients. Now we're all happy. :tongue_smilie:

Thanks! I'll check it out.

I currently keep a price book where I write down each item I buy, the size of package, and the price. Then I make columns where I calculate the price per oz, and make myself a note of how many oz. per cup for the item. Makes it easy for me to calculate the exact cost of each recipe I make. I wish though, that I could do something like scan the bar code and have it automatically enter the item, size, and calculate the price per oz. Is there anything like that? :bigear:

One of my dc is considering buying either a Kindle Fire, or some other tablet. I'm thinking that I don't really understand the pros & cons of each, so could someone help me understand what advantage one would have over the other? We do have Amazon Prime, if that makes a difference. So, about getting books onto either one--you can only do that if you're within range of a wi-fi, right? They'd both need that? Regarding the cost of books, does the Kindle lending library make it worthwhile to get the Fire instead of a different tablet? With the Kindle Fire, you're restricted to using apps from Amazon. Does that make a difference? Does it matter? If one wanted to plug a keyboard into the thing in order to, say, make it easier to type some sort of checklist/to-do list, the Kindle Fire won't do that, right? -But a different tablet would? So the Kindle Fire can watch Amazon Prime free movies, can't another tablet do the same thing? -And they both would need to be in wi-fi range to do that, right? You can't, for instance, download a free movie to watch in the car on a trip? {Sigh} I'm too old for all of this. I pity my poor dc who will have to try and explain the world to me as I get even older. :001_huh: ETA: Thought of one more--Does the feature of having a removable/replaceable battery factor into this decision? Isn't there a tablet that has a replaceable battery? ETA (again): So I just read another post about using a stylus on an iPad. That would be even better, if this dc could *write* their own to-do list, or draw simple diagrams on their gadget. Is that something they could do with an iPad, but not any other type of tablet (or the Fire)?

Had to Google that. Yeah, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't get it down without the cream part of the drink. :tongue_smilie: