Sunday, November 30, 2008

Score!

Ok, so I am a spendthrift, but I'm a spendthrift on a budget. Nothing makes me happier than when I find what I want cheap, cheap, cheap. So, this week I am on cloud nine because I was able to score on some things that I've wanted for a long time.

I recently have gotten into canning. I scored an amazing deal on canning jars at my local thrift shop. I've noticed they've become harder and harder to find. I got 2 1/2 dozen quart jars for $5. Yesterday, I went to the Re-Use Barn. I found some old candle jars and mandolin slicer. About the mandolin slicer: I had no idea those things were so expensive! I've seen them upwards of $60, and there are some that are even higher. I bid on a Pampered Chef mandolin on ebay a few days ago, but someone outbid me. Good thing, because I found one at the Barn and the good thing about the Barn is that you can name your price. I paid $5 for my slicer, and I also found some cute jars that I could use to make candles. The only problem is I've never made candles. Again, I had no idea how expensive everything is. I guess expensive is relative. It's cheaper I'm sure to make candles than to buy pre-made ones, but when you are on a budget, $60 for candle supplies can really set you back.

Even though I had my 50% off Michael's coupon, something just kept me from parting with my money. Good thing because when I woke up this morning, someone was Freecycling candle making supplies! I emailed the lady, but wasn't hopeful because lately I've been striking out on Freecycle. It used to be I almost always got the things that I responded to, but the last few months Freecycle has exploded. I guess it's the economy. At any rate, imagine my surprise when the offeror called me and told me to come and get 'em. The ad said a couple of boxes, but when I got there it was 4 large boxes of candle stuff--including the melting pots and all! Boy, I felt like I'd struck gold.

I'm sure some people will think I'm being trite with this next sentence, but honestly, I thank God for that find! I love it when He opens doors like that for me! So now, I can start on my next new hobby of candle making :)

Sunday, November 23, 2008

The Accidental Homemaker

Since I can remember, I have wanted nothing in life than to be a wife and mother. My childhood was filled with carrying for my baby dolls and fantasies about the man I would marry (until I was 10, I figured I would marry Michael Jackson).

My mother taught me all of the domestic arts: cooking, washing, ironing, sewing, crocheting and knitting. Honestly, my mother should have taught home ec. For her, homemaking is in her genes. Unfortunately, I apparently did not inherit those genes.

Oh, don't get me wrong: I love a clean house and a well cooked meal. But when it comes to actually doing those things, well I'm a bit lax. Ok, I'm a lot laxed. I think I'm just lazy. However, I'm trying to overcome my lazy ways.

I can pinpoint when I began to loathe domesticity. It was 1984. I was 16, and babysat not only my brother and my cousin's son, but the two neighbor kids, plus the two kids of a friend of a friend of the family. That was also the year my father played Farmer Ted and planted a huge garden. We literally had mountains of greens! We had tons of green beans and beets and probably some other vegetables that I've blocked from memory. I was in charge of cleaning and freezing said bounty. Since both of my parents worked, I was also in charge of the house till they got home. I had to make lunch for the kidlets, make sure the house was in decent order, and whatever else needed doing.

That was the year that I decided that I did not want to be a housewife. There was no way I was going to have 6 kids and stay at home cooking. No way, no how. So, I ran in the opposite direction. Fashion magazines and makeup were where I placed my interests. I set about to become an executress (see "Boomerang" for the origin of that term). It wasn't until my daughter was 8 that I began to listen to God's silent nudging that I was missing out on what it really meant to be a woman and a mother.

And so began my journey to embrace my inner domestic diva. It's slow going, and there are many days when I would just rather not deal with it all. But, as with everything, I am a work in progress.