This Old Farmhouse, Saving Money and Obama

I am still getting acquainted with this old farmhouse. 

It's taking time and was rough at first, for I'd forgotten how important drawers are and kitchen cupboards and hooks for hanging damp things. I spent months collecting what we were missing and too, creating what we didn't have. 

And a funny thing-- only two weeks ago did I realize our kitchen stove had a drawer at the bottom! Good grief. I'd thought it was a broiler because of the broiler pan sitting down there and because of all the distractions inside my head which come from moving twice in one year when one is in ones late 40's. Alas.

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You know how They say, "There's no great loss without some gain?"

Well, I think of that each time I see tv and online news segments on How To Save Money In These Times of Recession. Man, they've been everywhere--and I love them all! In the thirty years of my marriage, I have majored in saving money. From the early years till these late ones, I've scoured magazines for helpful hints, clipped coupons, learned how to cook something from nothing and how to craft what I need to run a household. 

And now all those hints are everywhere I look--and I'm happy others are learning money-saving ideas, also.

Partly, I enjoy learning all this saving money stuff because I'm a cheapskate at heart. heh. But the other part is that I'll do nearly anything in order to keep my job as a Happy Homemaker. Man, I cringe when I think of working outside of my home, but alas, if I had to get a job, I hope I could do it with an appropriate, good attitude. 

Again, I hope I could.

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Tom and I can't believe all the Obama Talk there is on tv. 

It's like, "See Obama and his family choose a dog, a church and a school. See Obama's wife choose her clothes. See Obama choose his Cabinet and his breakfast cereal. See Obama pretending he is already in Office." heh.

And when we hear folks both on tv and in our very own little world speak about their glorious hopes in Obama? Tom and I joke to each other along this tangent--

 "Hey! Don't worry about our money difficulties. I hear that Obama is gonna fix everything. He will solve all our problems." or "Aren't you glad Obama is going to save us all from America's messes?" and "Won't it be a wonderful day when Obama is in charge of everything, when we officially become an "Obamanation?"

Heh. You've got to have a sense of humor, especially in 2008. You've just got to.

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I got up at 5:00 this morning and was, like, "A new day!" Suddenly I felt tons of hope that today was when I'd finally stop acting like a time-wasting, dessert-eating, non-exercising, tv-watching, procrastinating slug.

It felt like a whole new day. A whole new me. As though I could--with God--conquer any lousy habit out there and for the first three hours all was right with my world.

And then I opened our daughter's cell phone bill, the only bill of hers which Tom and I still pay.

$324!! Ack! Ack! Ack! Usually it runs around $61.

Well, I emailed Naomi and asked what in the world??? I asked her to get back to me asap. But man oh man, I did not want to tell Tom. Bills make his stomach hurt. シ

I am the bill writer-outer in the family, though if there's a big bill problem, he is the fix-it-over-the-phone guy.

Naomi emailed me and asked, "Are you kidding me?" She had no idea what had gone wrong. So there was nothing left to do but to tell Tom.

And the morning had started out so well. Darn.

But alas! After all these years, I've figured out a few things. I'm no fool. I realized this was just another test. Would I mope around and mutter, "See? This is what happens when you get a tiny breakthrough!" And would I bang a few pans around and say, "See if I ever let myself feel hopeful again!"

Or, instead, would I, (as I did) say, "This is just a test! This is just a test! My faith in this being a whole new day for me is only being tested. To see how real it is within me."

Sometimes I almost feel like I am cheating at Life. Like I stole some answers from the teacher's briefcase, or something.

So what happened? Tom did the phone call thing, found out the huge fee had to do with Naomi's eating away of the rollover minutes for three months--and after some finagling and promising to start a two phone account in January (instead of a single one, long story) and after lots of mercy on AT&T's part, well, they are only charging us $104.

We can handle that.

This is just a test! This is just a test. Words that can change everything. At least, that's what I've found.

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re: The above photo.

 Remember that ash try stand thing I bought at a yard sale this summer to set glasses on while sitting at our coffee-table-less love seat? Well, now that we have enough end tables for that, Tom had the terrific idea to make it into an umbrella stand. I love it!



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Way back when I was a sorta-kinda counselor at church, I usually spoke with two kinds of people: those who really wanted help and those who only wanted pity and to be told "just keep doing what you're doing, you poor dear, even though what you're doing isn't working."

The first group was lovely to spend time with. They'd listen to me, nod their heads in agreement, ask questions, let me pray for them and then often they'd go out, smiling new smiles from a little bit of new hope.

The second group, though, those pity-seekers? Argh. They made me crazy. For every bit of advice I'd give, they'd give me two reasons why it wouldn't work for them. We'd talk and they'd squawk and blame God for what actually satan was doing (or their own lack of wisdom) and see themselves as special cases where Bible truths would not work for them. I couldn't convince them otherwise.

Frankly? I hate it when people accuse God of doing the bad stuff. Hate. It.

Here is a favorite passage of mine:

"The fruit of righteousness will be peace; the effect of righteousness will be quietness and confidence forever." Isaiah 32:17

Wow. A person could get a little tipsy on a verse like that. I could live off a verse like that for a week.

When bad things happen to me, I sooo want to be the kind of person who remains calm, quiet and confident that God is perfectly able to fix things. I so desire to hug Him to me closer than ever when my circumstances turn tragic or just plain dark.

And if you ever see or hear me blaming God for what satan is doing or making my stomach sick because of worry or falling to pieces or believing every negative report as gospel truth? Well, you have my permission to shoot me. 

Because really, I'd find it hard to live with myself anyway if I distrusted God like that after what He and I have been through. After experiencing Life with this One who sticks closer than--and is a better friend than a brother.

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"The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows)." John 10:10

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I found this woman inspiring. Maybe you will, also.

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