The Things They Say

Responding to a Question
I learned/heard about the three month food supply in FL from the friend who said he would do a year anyway. Since talking about the Articles of Faith "issue" he has been concerned about the whole issue. I learned yesterday that there are many states that have laws about how much food a family can store. For instance, in Hawaii there is a law (difficult to find) that states that if a household has more than 1 week of food stored it can be seized and disposed of as the gov't sees fit. Strange, but with the documentation that went along with the information, it seems true! The thing about these laws is that they are NOT easy to find. I've looked for, literally, HOURS thus far and not been able to find the law referred to for FL. I have asked around and an older man I spoke with told me that he lived here (in FL) when the law came about. Initially the powers that be were trying to pass the law to be for one month supply of food, but there was an uproar about that. So, they compromised at 3 months. I wish it wasn't so terribly difficult to determine the validity or situations under which this would be the case. Some of these laws are set up in such a way that the action becomes illegal only during times of duress... which is why you would store! So, if you store and it's in the law that it's illegal during the time for which you need it... you're wrong! ARGH! So frustrating.

More Pleasant Thoughts
Ria has been saying this phrase lately that just tickles me to no end! As with most children, Ria LOVES to help. It seems she most loves to help when it is difficult or impossible to find a way for her to help, but still... it's nice that she wants to! :) I needed to move a 20 lb. bag of rice from the kitchen counter (about the height of Ria's head) to the closet in which I store most of our food stuff at this point. I was feeling super weak and my tummy was very upset after going through some boxes looking for chili for Jess. So, I was just sitting there waiting until Jess was done washing his hands so I could ask him to bring the rice to me. Jess asked what I was doing and I told him. Ria said, "Can I help! I have lots of help!!" That is the phrase that she has been using pretty regularly lately. I just am so tickled by it! :)

Seed Saving
I've been collecting the seeds from the Easter Lilies that are growing in our front yard. So far I'm about 1/4 way through filling an old couscous container. I'm so excited! I want to get it half full so I can send some seeds to my Mom and still have lots to start the flowers going next year. I love having my yard full of those blooms!

Our landlords have mowers who come regularly (though not as regularly as I think they are supposed to). I am happy they don't come often when the flowers are in bloom. The last time they came I wasn't available to ask them to leave some of my flowers. I wanted to ask them to do that so they would go to seed and I could collect the seeds. When I saw the yard I was deeply touched because they'd left about 1 foot by 8 feet patch of the flowers! So, I've been actively collecting the seeds from those flowers for the past week or so. How thoughtful, right!??

Last year, when the flowers were such a comfort during some really stressful times I asked them a couple of different times to leave a big area of the flowers for me to enjoy and they did. They didn't care about NOT cutting some grass. But then, the fact that they REMEBERED! I just think that it's one of the nicest things that someone who doesn't really know me has ever done for me! ^_^

Food Storage
Just because it is occupying my mind I wanted to share that as part of my food storage I'm going to be purchasing some heirloom seeds to can at the Bishop's Storehouse. I'll probably buy from Burpee, but there are some other companies I want to check out. Just in case you don't know why I would go that route: heirloom seeds are REAL seeds. They don't just grow up to be what the picture shows, but you can get seeds FROM those things you've grown and reliably get the same crop from those seeds you claim from your growth. Lots of seeds sold in grocery stores and WalMart are hybridized. That means that the only way you can get what you see on the package, consistently, is to use the seeds from the package. No seed saving! That's not really a problem if you have money to buy seeds every year. It's also NOT a problem as long as things stay as they are... but since we know they will change (just don't know when), it's much safer to go the heirloom route so that you can have what you want when you grow and seed save!

Happy Memorial Day
Jess has had the morning off from the Cafe today. He worked on the car and determined that he would not be able to remedy the problem(s), so he's going to try to sell it for a bit to reclaim some of the money we've just put into it. He says the engine is worth $1200 by itself. So... we'll see what happens with that.

Currently, he is grilling hot dogs and hamburgers because we HAVE to have hot dogs on Memorial Day (according to Jess). I'm not feeling too stable in the belly, so I'm having a hamburger and some chips.

It Happened
Saturday Jess spent most of the day working on the car again. That's problem enough in that it means the girls aren't getting Daddy time and we are not having family time. Selfishly it's REALLY horrible because it meant that I felt like I had to take the girls on my long walk because he had to make dinner while I was gone. Jess doesn't cook too well with the girls underfoot unless I'm around the clear the floor around his feet.

I was preparing to go on my walk and Jess said, "Would it be so bad to skip one day?" No, one day wouldn't be so bad, but since I'd already skipped Thursday because he was home (unexpectedly) my response was, "Yes, it really would be so bad!" I was upset about the whole thing so I didn't talk to him about the subject until I got home. YES it really would be SO bad! I've come to LOVE my walks! It's an hour during which I do NOT feel guilty for ignoring my daughters every whine and whimper. It's an hour during which I'm not going to be touched unexpectedly at any given moment. It's an hour, the ONLY hour of the day, during which I'm doing something good for myself. It's an hour after which I see myself differently when I look in the mirror (LITERALLY!). It's an hour, after which I feel better, happier, calmer, than I do in the evenings on the days I do NOT walk. So, YES, it really would be SO bad to miss walking an extra day. I still want to try to get that 6th day because I know it would be another evening I would feel better in general and like how I look more! But I'm trying not to be upset with my good accomplishment of 5 walks a week, especially with the increased minutes.

Breakdancing
Jessie's new obsession! Go figure, right? :) I will try to talk about this more in the future. Lunch is ready and Jess is antsy.