How much money ya got?

If you've been reading along over the past year or so, you know there's been a few major changes in our life: geographically (a move 5 states away), emotionally (my brother's unexpected death), physically (pregnant) and financially.  According to this scale, I'm about 80% due for a health breakdown!!

I probably haven't talked a lot about finances- for a variety of reasons, including that this is America and we only talk about achieving the dream ;).   I'm not too comfortable posting details online either.  The basic gist is that our income has taken a dip compared to two years ago, and that it's wobbled along the way.  There's not one factor (is it ever just one?), and we're not in dire straights, thank God.  But we are paying attention to money in a much different way than we did before.  I don't say this for sympathy (probably another reason not to talk about it!) but just as a way of saying: this is how it is, for now.

Tonight, JimDad and I were talking about a few unrelated things, and started remembering our time doing a year of full time service (in a faith based Americorps program).  We worked 40 hours a week at a non-profit in St. Pete (FL).  In exchange, we were part of a cool group of people who gathered for retreats and fun. Oh, and we received a 2 bedroom apartment with utilities, health insurance, and a stipend of $400 month (each).

Now, we didn't get to choose the apartment.  It was in a.... er, sketchy neighborhood.  The walls were so thin, sometimes we debated if we should call the cops on our neighbors (do we smell pot? is he hitting her?).  We didn't have to call the cops, since they made a drive thru of our parking lot every weekend.  One weekend, we saw ambulance lights and went outside- turns out some guy was drunk and tried to jump/flip from the 3rd balcony to the 2nd balcony- only he missed, and fell into the bushes on the ground floor.  Amazingly, he was okay.  We found all this out by neighbors calling back and forth between buildings.  Quote of the night?  A neighbor remarking "who needs cable when you've got entertainment like this!"

It wasn't awful, by any means.  Our eat in kitchen was in the back, and the window over the sink looked out onto a fenced in Buddhist Temple - no lie!  We could watch the monks walking the property or praying next to the amazing huge backyard pond.  One weekend, there was some kind of festival where they had canoe races!  Yes, a boat full of monks tipped over!  I've always regretted that we didn't walk around the block and say hello...

And the health insurance was pretty basic- it covered us fine, but we did need to visit the Health Department once or twice.  Not a place anyone willing goes.  And the stipend worked okay, as long as we thought about it (we started making Christmas gifts in October!).  We didn't have much to splurge, but we didn't have car payments either- and we had worked for a year or so to build up some savings so we had a cushion.  Which was awesome since our very first weekend in "the city"... our car was broken into and we had to replace the window.

Anyway, we weren't talking about all this specifically.  What we were remembering the most was how we could tell what general economic plane people were on, just by their reaction to what we were doing.  Generally, we got to know folks (co-workers, clients) before the volunteering thing came up.  And it's not *exactly* volunteering, since we were being reimbursed in other ways!  .

There was one of two reactions to our situation.  One:  Wow! How can you survive on just $800 a month?
Two:  Wow!  You don't have to pay rent or electric the whole year?

The first reaction was from comfortable folks.  You wouldn't know they were comfortable, per se.  They might be complaining about lack of money, or maybe they were a refugee from another country, or had some other rough upbringing.  But they were definitely used to a certain standard of living!  Some of the other volunteers were in this strata too- the ones who had trouble not eating out with co-workers, or who kept their monthly hair and nail appointments.  Once we get used to something, it's hard to give up for any reason (health, finances, morals, whatever).

The second reaction was from folks who were struggling.  They might not talk about it, or maybe they did complain about money too.  But they were just amazed at thinking what they would be able to do with $800 a month if they didn't have to pay for rent or utilities or health insurance.  You could see them calculating in their heads, a little smile on their lips, before they asked for more details about the program.

Anyway, we were just talking about all this to help us put this last year into perspective.  And then I remembered this website I had seen, where you could enter your annual income and it would tell you where you ranked on the world's "richest people" list.  Try it yourself- http://www.globalrichlist.com

We don't do it often, but it's a great tool for perspective.  That, and remembering the fun of the crazy, young, newly married days.  Things seemed less complicated, which definitely tells me I'm getting old.  But knowing that we had little in the way of 'stuff' and lots in the way of fun/ fulfillment/ friends and family... it's a great boost for any current slump.   That, and the blessing of having friends older that we are, who can write a short note to say "we've all been there, it will be fine, YOU will be fine."  

So how much money do we got?  Enough.  Enough for now, and enough to share again.  Thanks be to God.

"All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well" - Julian of Norwich

Apple of my Eye

We headed to a local orchard last weekend, to pick a half bushel of apples.  How many?  Er... a gigantic bag full?  Enough to eat some, bake a pie, make 6 pints of applesauce AND have a dozen left over - which will soon be turned into cider.   Soon-ish, anyway.

JimDad was on the hunt for the perfect apple:  big and red.  He would always spot the 'perfect' one near the top, and try to convince Kaden to climb / jump / fly up there to go grab one.

Wonder boy was much more comfortable with two feet on the ground.  He loved going under and through the trees, and at one point declared himself the "lower picker upper".   

He was also less concerned with finding a 'perfect' apple, as he was with grabbing ANY apple in his reach.  We did convince him not to grab the half rotted ones, and to try to find ones with more red than green.

It was fun all around.  Though it is getting chilly for our Florida blood, and so we probably shouldn't be headed out for field expeditions in shorts.  Slow learning curve we have sometimes!

Worth it, though.  Since we're here, we might as well embrace Fall !

Philosophy... or Fair Trade Coffee?

I've been in a bit of a philosophizing mood lately... (quick, put on an Indigo Girl song!).  None of it extremely productive.  I was remembering college days, when we had (almost) no experience and lots of time to sit around a solve the world's problems.  By sitting around!  for hours!

Anyway, there's half a post rattling around in my head, about 'wanting more' and adjusting expectations and.. oh phooey, it sounds more like a middle age lecture than an insight.  Sigh.   Well, it did coincide with a neat memory of finding a cookie in the pocket of winter jacket.  I'll go think some more, and maybe it'll finally come out a bit more coherent?

In the meantime, how about a chance to win some Fair Trade Coffee?  It's the Green Mountain brand, and it comes with one of those single cup coffee machines.   Good luck!

(oooh, there's another post:  Fair Trade Coffee and all the other ways I'm a sellout lately!)

Garden- for real, this time.

Okay, so I finally got some photos!  A few friends have been curious about the patio garden we have.  It's not incredibly productive, but it has been fun.  And I feel like my Dad would be proud of some of the stuff I'm trying (sub irrigation).  Anyway, I'm describing the garden here, and welcoming any feedback for improvement-- or even what to do in the winter here in the (almost) Artic Circle.

Above, a photo of most of the plants.  Left to right, there's a wooden box planter that Jim built for me.  It's 3 foot long, and about 12-16 inches tall.  In front of it, there's a Lowe's bucket that has various uses- right now, its storing garden tools.  Behind the bucket and to the right of the wooden planter are TWO large plastic bins (maybe 16 qt?).  Then, along the brick wall is a plastic shelf (5 shelves, over 6 ft tall).  There's a few decorative plants up top- a bromeliad and a donkey tail cactus.  Not pictured, to the right of the shelves, is a wooden desk my dad built and I use as a workshop area for potting or puttering :).  There's a houseplant arrangement on that area as well.

Above, a close up of one of the watermelon.  We've about 3 this size, and I think that's as big as they'll get.  We bought the smaller ones since they're better for containers, and I've loved watching the vines grow all over.  I've used both the shelves and a few strategically placed sticks to guide the vines back onto the porch.

Above is a closeup of one of the watermelons when it was first starting.  Kaden- heck, all of us- have really gotten a kick out of watching stuff grow from seeds to green leaves to tiny something to: food!  Look closely in the back left of that photo and you'll see what looks like trash... a plastic water bottle.  It's actually part of our irrigation system.

 Above, here's a photo of the sub-irrigation system BEFORE we planted anything.  It was quite fun researching this and then figuring out how to make it work (I used pinterest for the initial research).  I got a few 2 liters from some family members, then asked at a garden place for the smaller trays they were going to throw away.  A detailed explanation is here.  Basically, the plastic forms pocket for air and water under the soil, and the roots can suck up what they need without drowning. Except, I didn't drill any overflow holes, but I just checked the water level from the outside (also didn't pretty-fy the outside of the clear plastic, lol).

One of the bins had carrots and watermelon - plus somehow a parsley plant that snuck in.  The carrot greens were gorgeous, and the carrots were small and tasty- but I don't have any pics of those.  Above, is about 3 watermelon vines, with celery sticking up the middle.  I'm trying to get it to go to seed so I can collect for next season (or maybe spices?!).

Here's a close up of the celery flowers.  The neat thing about this plant is that I bought organic celery at the store, and when I was done with the stalks, replanted the bottom!  Details here.  The celery certainly wasn't as  large as the store version, but it was rather tasty- even Kaden had some, and he normally doesn't eat it.

Above, a photo of a wine box we got at a really cool Habitat ReStore (find one near you) and planted tomato, basil and nasturtium in it.  Below is a close up, but since it's late in the season the basil is leggy, the flowers are half dead and the tomatoes are gone.  Look closely to the left most stalk and you'll see a nice yellow tomato blossom- I'm tempted to see if we can nurse another fruit out of it, but it's a bit late for that.

Oh, and the sticks above are just part of our collection...  pay no attention to them...

I had a brief fling with miniature gardens this year.  The end result being that I had extra decorative stuff laying around.  To clean up, I made some of the plant pots a bit more pretty-fied :)

Oooh, here's a close up of our pepper- above.  What you can't tell from the photo is that this is a CHOCOLATE pepper.  I can't remember what that means.  Will it taste chocolatey?  Will it turn chocolate brown if I let it ripen fully?  The other thing you can't tell from the photo is how excited Kaden gets over this- almost every day.  I'll be lucky if I get a taste!

Above to the right, a wee pine tree seedling.  It's just started to have the needles turn yellow, but I'm not too focused on it yet.  Mostly because I have no idea how to over-winter it (no room to bring indoors).  In the middle is a fine rosemary plant- I love to put clippings in the car as an air freshener.  And to the left is the parsley plant- this thing will grow no matter what.  It's good for my green ego.

Above, another shot of the pepper plant- here you can see it's surrounded by a (chocolate) mint plant too.  I keep cutting the mint back to try and give the pepper some room.  You can see how well that's working!

 And here's the most adorable sight so far-- a baby bunny.  This one made it, thank goodness, but its siblings weren't as lucky- a lawn mower ran over the nest, we think.  But seeing this one hop around really made our day (and night!)

And finally-- a photo of our fresh basil, fresh tomato sandwich.  Add a little provolone to Italian bread, warm and... sigh.  I'll leave you with that good taste in your mouth!