Month: November 2009

This post is linked to the weekly blog carnival Tackle it Tuesday. Click on the banner to see what everyone else is tackling this week. This post is also linked up to Two Cents Tuesday over at Not The Jet Set. I don’t recall if I have mentioned the Living Like No One Else forum here yet. It is a forum dedicated to Dave Ramsey followers (boy does that sound like a cult or what!?) who are working their Total Money Makeovers (TMMOs). The Living Like No One Else (LLNOE) forum is free knock off version on the real TMMO forum that costs $$$ to join. When you go to the LLNOE homepage it really doesn’t give you a lot of information. I just took the plunge and signed up – and I’m so glad I did. It has really help me to get back on track financially and overcome my struggles with the farm finances. A couple weeks back I made out a real, official, Becker Farms budget. People always stress the importance of having a budget: every dollar needs a name, tell your money what to do, if you aim at nothing you will hit it every time,

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5:45 PM: Still peeling apples! I’ve got a full load (7 quarts) processing and lots to go. I’ve been doing some here and there and want them DONE. Of course I’ve taken a few breaks. I read all 3 parts of the “how we came to be” story over at Who Says 8 is Enough? I give them a lot of credit, I don’t know if I could ever handle being a foster parent! Other than reading that I’ve just had the DR show going on my laptop or iTunes playing. 6 PM: Brian called and said he’s going to be at the field for awhile yet. He went to take a load of soybeans to the elevator for the neighbor that we work with and he’s going to haul more than he thought. I did chores: fed the horses some hay, threw in hay and corn for the 2 steers, and checked the chickens. They usually only need their water and feed refilled every few days but we check them and look for eggs once or twice a day. The chickens are hilarious. I bring them kitchen scraps and goodies so often that they come running to the edge

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Hopefully this will be about as typical of a Saturday as we have around here so I thought I’d share “a day in the life”. 7 AM: Brian’s up, I say, “Are you staying up already?”. Dumb question! 7:15 AM: I’m up now too. Might as well start a loaf of bread. After over a year of trying to use our local whole wheat flour I’ve finally figured out how to turn out decent loaves of bread! I use Phoebe’s favorite recipe and let my breadmaker do the mixing, kneading, and rising. I think I was overkneading and adding way too much flour when I was doing it by hand. 7:20 AM: I stare at the bathroom cabinet and contemplate how hard it will be to refinish it. Brian took the doors and drawers off awhile ago and I’ve been slowly taking the paint off them. Ugg. I’ll think about this later! How about some blog reading instead… 8 AM: Time to do something useful. I take the huge stock pot of out the fridge and put it on the stove. It is half full of applesauce all ready to can, it just needs to be brought back to a

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I don’t have much in particular to post about. I just wanted to put it out there that I’m still here! I had posts all ready in my head for the past week and never got around to any of them. The menu plan was a bust. Brian has been so busy that I ended up riding in the semi with him quite a few nights just to see him. That means lots of leftovers and grilled cheeses. I guess he just gets in that mode and works, works, works. He’s up for work by 6 and got home after midnight two nights I think. I’m either sleeping in the passenger seat by then or falling asleep at home. I used to be able to work like that but now it seems like I need so much sleep or I’m tired all the time. It doesn’t help that I have trouble shutting my mind off and falling asleep and have nightmares so often that keep me tossing and turning. I’m about ready to look for a sleep therapist or something but I’m trying a few other things first. I.E. reducing stress/stressful thoughts, cutting back the caffeine (tea) before bed, trying

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