It is quickly approaching the end of 2012 and time for reflecting on the past year. So much has happened and sadly, I did not reach all of my goals that I had planned for this year. However, there are some things that I did accomplish, so here is my annual list. LOL.
1. Read the Bible more. I did not read through the whole Bible this year but I have definitely increased. I have a daily devotional book that has a "read the Bible in a year" system that I want to try to use this year.
2. Get organized. I still have a ways to go but I have definitely cut down on the clutter and got my house and classroom more organized. It makes me smile to wake up to a clean house, clean laundry, a clean car, and a clean classroom. I have embraced the idea of "putting the house to bed" each night as well as putting my "classroom to sleep" before I leave work each day. It makes mornings go so much better.
3. Reach out to people more. This has been a difficult one for me but I have made progress. Situations have caused opportunities for me to be more of a help to others and I may not have jumped in every time but I did jump in some. That is an improvement for me.
My goals for this year:
1. Read the Bible all the way through.
2. Take care of myself. I wound up in the hospital with pneumonia because I did not take care of myself as well as some other health issues I am having.
3. Live simply.
4. Continue to help others in need.
5. Get even more organized and cut down on the materialism. Pretty things are nice but I do not need a houseful of stuff to be happy!
What are your goals for this year?
Peace,
Southern Ladye
Thursday, December 27, 2012
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
A New Addition
At 5:20 this morning, I got a very intertesting phone call from my oldest son who recently got married in May. He and his wife announced that they are expecting their first child, which will be our first grandchild. I am having very mixed emotions this morning about becoming a grandmum (that is going to be my grandmother name I think, I am still praying about it) especially since my husband and I have been praying about having one more baby. My children are 19 and 13, so we have been wavering on what to do but I think we have decided to try one more time. We had tried about three years ago but it did not happen. I just don't know if that is a sign from God that we are through or if the timing was not right. I always felt we should have had one more child but I just don't know if that was my wishful thinking or if that is what the Lord impressed on my heart. We will continue to pray about it and see what happens. In the mean time, I have a grandchild to get ready for! What fun I am going to have!
Peace,
Southern Grandmum (fomerly known as Southern Ladye)
Peace,
Southern Grandmum (fomerly known as Southern Ladye)
Thursday, August 30, 2012
Could I Be Self Sufficient?
As I am watching what is now Tropical Storm Isaac pound away outside my door, I wonder, could I be self sufficient if necessary? In some ways, I think I would be ok but in others, I realize how dependent I am on public utilities and being close to the shops and having my car to drive. This storm has made me realize that I need to find ways to be able to do things without having to depend on others.
It's funny. My hubby and I were designing our dream home last night. . . nothing else to do in a hurricane, LOL, and I told him that I just needed space for a washer that I did not need a dryer but he insisted on including space for one. Why is it we think that dryers are a necessity? I haven't had one since May and we have not had to wear dirty or wet clothes yet. My mom and I were talking yesterday and she commented that this weather makes it difficult for me to do laundry. I laughed and said, "What do you think I am doing now?" I was hanging laundry on my indoor clothesline. Yes, it takes it a little longer to dry and I have to do laundry EVERYDAY, including Sunday because I don't have enough room to hang a lot of it at one time, but it works just fine for me, and guess what, I don't have to spend my whole Saturday doing laundry because I work during the week and I let it pile up. My sister, a stay at home mom, only does laundry once a week and when she does laundry, it is an all day thing. Me, including washing, sorting, hanging, folding, etc., well I spend about 5 minutes sorting, 10 minutes hanging, 10 minutes folding, and the washer takes about 30 minutes for a cycle. I do two loads a day, one white and one dark. All of the clothes that hang up are immediately put on hangers when they come out of the wash and put on a stand up metal clothes rack so once they are dry, they go straight to the closet. (Minimizes wrinkles too!) White clothes, towels, etc, and hung on a wire clothesline stretched across the length of my laundry room. (I have a good sized laundry room.) I have a fan in there, (that's the air circulation) and it's not air conditioned (it gets hot here where I live) so presto. . . almost free drying! (Of course, I pay for the electricity the fan uses, but it is very minimal compared to a dryer. As a matter of fact, our light bill has dropped to almost half!)
Of course, on the weekends, I do use my outside line in nice weather. Sliding into sheets that have been dried in the sunshine is absolutlely wonderful and the sunshine helps kill germs so I do take advantage of that, but during the week, because I do work, I use my indoor clothes rack and line at night and by the next night, my clothes are perfectly dry and the rack and line are ready for the next load. Yea, it does look like my laundry is never ending, but hey, what are laundry rooms for and isn't everyone's laundry never ending!? LOL. So, I guess this post is just to let others know that line drying can be done even if you are not a stay at home mom. It just takes discipline to do the laundry every night and trust me, there are some nights I would rather just go to bed that hang up that last load in the washer, but I know that if I don't then I will have to spend about an hour at the laundromat down the road the next night because I don't have enough room to dry everything and it will mildew quickly here where I live. . . that usually motivates me enough to get it hung up before bed!
Just some food for thought. Have a blessed week and stay safe.
Peace,
Southern Ladye
It's funny. My hubby and I were designing our dream home last night. . . nothing else to do in a hurricane, LOL, and I told him that I just needed space for a washer that I did not need a dryer but he insisted on including space for one. Why is it we think that dryers are a necessity? I haven't had one since May and we have not had to wear dirty or wet clothes yet. My mom and I were talking yesterday and she commented that this weather makes it difficult for me to do laundry. I laughed and said, "What do you think I am doing now?" I was hanging laundry on my indoor clothesline. Yes, it takes it a little longer to dry and I have to do laundry EVERYDAY, including Sunday because I don't have enough room to hang a lot of it at one time, but it works just fine for me, and guess what, I don't have to spend my whole Saturday doing laundry because I work during the week and I let it pile up. My sister, a stay at home mom, only does laundry once a week and when she does laundry, it is an all day thing. Me, including washing, sorting, hanging, folding, etc., well I spend about 5 minutes sorting, 10 minutes hanging, 10 minutes folding, and the washer takes about 30 minutes for a cycle. I do two loads a day, one white and one dark. All of the clothes that hang up are immediately put on hangers when they come out of the wash and put on a stand up metal clothes rack so once they are dry, they go straight to the closet. (Minimizes wrinkles too!) White clothes, towels, etc, and hung on a wire clothesline stretched across the length of my laundry room. (I have a good sized laundry room.) I have a fan in there, (that's the air circulation) and it's not air conditioned (it gets hot here where I live) so presto. . . almost free drying! (Of course, I pay for the electricity the fan uses, but it is very minimal compared to a dryer. As a matter of fact, our light bill has dropped to almost half!)
Of course, on the weekends, I do use my outside line in nice weather. Sliding into sheets that have been dried in the sunshine is absolutlely wonderful and the sunshine helps kill germs so I do take advantage of that, but during the week, because I do work, I use my indoor clothes rack and line at night and by the next night, my clothes are perfectly dry and the rack and line are ready for the next load. Yea, it does look like my laundry is never ending, but hey, what are laundry rooms for and isn't everyone's laundry never ending!? LOL. So, I guess this post is just to let others know that line drying can be done even if you are not a stay at home mom. It just takes discipline to do the laundry every night and trust me, there are some nights I would rather just go to bed that hang up that last load in the washer, but I know that if I don't then I will have to spend about an hour at the laundromat down the road the next night because I don't have enough room to dry everything and it will mildew quickly here where I live. . . that usually motivates me enough to get it hung up before bed!
Just some food for thought. Have a blessed week and stay safe.
Peace,
Southern Ladye
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Wedding is Over!
The wedding is finally over and I must say it was absolutley beautiful and went smooth. The night before was very stressful as we were not able to finish until six-thirty Saturday morning so I had two hours of sleep for the wedding and on top of being exhausted I was also very emotional, so there were a lot of tears. They are now a beautiful married couple sailing the Carribean Ocean and spending time getting to know each other. Now, I have to get used to having only one child at home. It won't be many more years before he is gone the route of his brother and then it will be just my husband and me . . . . I don't want to ponder that. Letting go is hard, even if they aren't going far, but the Lord will give me strength and I will make it through this transition in my life and I will be a better person because of it.
Peace,
Southern Ladye
Peace,
Southern Ladye
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Busy, Busy
It has been so busy since my last post! We are finishing wedding preparations, I am preparing my students for state tests, and we have been living life in general. I have finally learned how to make liquid laundry detergent! Yay! I have been using a powder version for a couple of months, and I like it, but I prefer a liquid and to me, it goes further, so this past weekend, I played around with a few ingredients and came up with one!
I had run out of washing soda, but I had some natural dishwashing liquid on hand, so I substituted that for the washing soda. I grated my bar of soap, added one cup of dish liquid, and two cups of hot water to a pot, put it on the stove, and stirred until it became hot (but not boiling) and the soap had completely melted. (That is an important part, I have learned.) Then I mixed one and a half cups of borax and a half cup of baking soda to the mix, stirred until dissolved and mixed throughly, then poured it into a one gallon bucket. I then filled the bucket up the rest of the way with hot water and let it sit for about six hours.
The gel was so thick I had to divide it into two one gallon buckets and fill them both up with hot water. I then stirred the gel until it dissolved into the water and then let it sit again overnight. This was still a thick gel and I had no more buckets, so I scooped out one cup of the gel, put it in a quart mason jar and then filled it the rest of the way with hot water, stirred until mixed, and let it sit. I got a perfect liquid laundry detergent. It is not too watered down, but it is pourable. It smells good. It is all natural. It is low suds. It cleans great and I have enough gel to mix up for quite some time. Very frugal. I am happy.
Peace,
Southern Ladye
I had run out of washing soda, but I had some natural dishwashing liquid on hand, so I substituted that for the washing soda. I grated my bar of soap, added one cup of dish liquid, and two cups of hot water to a pot, put it on the stove, and stirred until it became hot (but not boiling) and the soap had completely melted. (That is an important part, I have learned.) Then I mixed one and a half cups of borax and a half cup of baking soda to the mix, stirred until dissolved and mixed throughly, then poured it into a one gallon bucket. I then filled the bucket up the rest of the way with hot water and let it sit for about six hours.
The gel was so thick I had to divide it into two one gallon buckets and fill them both up with hot water. I then stirred the gel until it dissolved into the water and then let it sit again overnight. This was still a thick gel and I had no more buckets, so I scooped out one cup of the gel, put it in a quart mason jar and then filled it the rest of the way with hot water, stirred until mixed, and let it sit. I got a perfect liquid laundry detergent. It is not too watered down, but it is pourable. It smells good. It is all natural. It is low suds. It cleans great and I have enough gel to mix up for quite some time. Very frugal. I am happy.
Peace,
Southern Ladye
Saturday, March 10, 2012
Frugal and Self Sufficient
It has been a while since my last post. Things have been busy! It's spring time where I live (not that we have much of a winter anyway, which I hate because I love cold weather, but I enjoy the spring as well.) Today was so nice that it made me want to pull out my clothesline and hang my sheets outside to dry after I washed them, but I have a son that loves to play with things and he has misplaced my clothesline, imagine that! *smile*. I have taken a real interest in laundry lately, particularly with making my own homemade laundry detergent. I prefer liquid so I tried a couple of versions I had found on the internet but it just would not do like it was suppose to, so I tried a powdered version but I did not like it as much so I combined the ingredients of one liquid version with the measurements of a powdered version, and voila! a detergent that I am happy with. It is a powder but it dissolves completely in cold water, cleans well, and smells heavenly. The ingredients are almost completely natural, it does not bother my son's ezcema, and so far it has cleaned very well. I like the fact that when I run low on deteregent, I have the ingredients on hand to whip up another batch (which takes less than 10 minutes) and it is VERY cheap! So, I am now taking another step toward living simply, frugally, and self sufficiently. I was telling some of my friends about the detergent (Hey, I was excited *laugh*)and one of my friends accused me of becoming a regular Susie Homemaker. I told her thanks for the lovely compliment.
Peace,
Southern Ladye
Peace,
Southern Ladye
Sunday, February 5, 2012
Family Time
My sister came yesterday to cook an Italian dinner for us. She made gourmet meatballs and pasta with butterscotch sauce and ice cream. I made homemade jalepeno cheese bread to go with it and then we taste tested the Italian cream cheese cake that my son's fiance is having for her wedding cake. (She said it was good, even though she does not like cake, LOL) It was a good day. We had good food and good fellowship and that's what matter mosts. I am learning to slow down and enjoy the simple things in life and I must stay, life is good. I am not where I want to be yet, but I am getting there. I am tired of the consumerism and commericalism of our way of life and I am just beginning to understand that there is more to life than things.
I was in the store with my family yesterday, picking up a few necessities that I could not get at our local dollar store, and when we walked down the aisle with all of the storage conatiners, I told my husband that it's so funny that our society makes such a big deal out of "organizing" our clutter and junk. Why not just get rid of it? He looked at me and said, "Well, then, what are you waiting on?" That struck a note with me. Why am I waiting to get rid of my junk? I have started the process of letting go, but I know I could do better. I didn't accumulate it in a day, and I won't be able to get rid of it in a day, either. However, there is nothing better than a simple, uncluttered area that soothes the soul and calms the heart. That is what I want my home and my life to be. Right now a beautiful bouquet of wildflowers sits on my kitchen counter in a plain green vase. To me, it is the most beautiful thing I have in my kitchen and I have a lot of beautiful things in my kitchen. That bouquet is so much more to me than any artfully arranged vase of roses would ever be because my wonderful husband took time to go out in the field, pick them, and arrange them himself. (He does it every year when a particular wildflower starts blooming because I love them even though he hates the smell of them. :)
Enough of my rambles. Have a blessed week. Peace
Southern Ladye
I was in the store with my family yesterday, picking up a few necessities that I could not get at our local dollar store, and when we walked down the aisle with all of the storage conatiners, I told my husband that it's so funny that our society makes such a big deal out of "organizing" our clutter and junk. Why not just get rid of it? He looked at me and said, "Well, then, what are you waiting on?" That struck a note with me. Why am I waiting to get rid of my junk? I have started the process of letting go, but I know I could do better. I didn't accumulate it in a day, and I won't be able to get rid of it in a day, either. However, there is nothing better than a simple, uncluttered area that soothes the soul and calms the heart. That is what I want my home and my life to be. Right now a beautiful bouquet of wildflowers sits on my kitchen counter in a plain green vase. To me, it is the most beautiful thing I have in my kitchen and I have a lot of beautiful things in my kitchen. That bouquet is so much more to me than any artfully arranged vase of roses would ever be because my wonderful husband took time to go out in the field, pick them, and arrange them himself. (He does it every year when a particular wildflower starts blooming because I love them even though he hates the smell of them. :)
Enough of my rambles. Have a blessed week. Peace
Southern Ladye
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Simple Things
This morning the alarm clock went off and I went to turn it off, just like I have everyday for the past twenty years. Only this time, I knocked over one of the crystal stem glasses that my sister had given me on my tenth wedding anniversary and shattered it. I was a little upset about it, but then I realized that it really served no purpose in my life other than something nice to look at and dust once a week. It had never been used and most likely would never be used, so why get upset about it? I cleaned it up and went along my way.
We have a knack for letting things take the place of what is important. I have been reminding myself lately that things are not important, my relationship with God, my family, and my friends is what truly matters. As long as they don't shatter like the stem glass did this morning, then I can say my life is good and has a purpose. It's when one of those relationships are shattered that things matter and need to be repaired and fixed. I can't just sweep those up and go along the way.
Just something to think about today.
Peace,
Southern Ladye
We have a knack for letting things take the place of what is important. I have been reminding myself lately that things are not important, my relationship with God, my family, and my friends is what truly matters. As long as they don't shatter like the stem glass did this morning, then I can say my life is good and has a purpose. It's when one of those relationships are shattered that things matter and need to be repaired and fixed. I can't just sweep those up and go along the way.
Just something to think about today.
Peace,
Southern Ladye
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Letting Go
Today my oldest child paid the first month's rent on his first house. *sniff* I cannot believe that it was just not so long ago that I brought him home from the hospital wrapped in a knitted blanket and I was so scared that something was going to happen....
Fast forward a year or two and then I had to begin the process of letting go. First it was with learning how to walk, run, ride a bike, go to school, get his driver's license, and now.....getting married. Letting go is a process that begins from the day they leave our womb and it never gets easier. I am happy, I am excited for them, but at the same time, I am sad and I am scared... to let go and let him take his place in the adult world but I must let go so that he can become the man he needs to be.... just like his father.
Peace,
Southern Ladye
Fast forward a year or two and then I had to begin the process of letting go. First it was with learning how to walk, run, ride a bike, go to school, get his driver's license, and now.....getting married. Letting go is a process that begins from the day they leave our womb and it never gets easier. I am happy, I am excited for them, but at the same time, I am sad and I am scared... to let go and let him take his place in the adult world but I must let go so that he can become the man he needs to be.... just like his father.
Peace,
Southern Ladye
Monday, January 16, 2012
Where Does the Time Go?
Can you believe half of January is already over? I am amazed at how time seems to pick up speed. A lot has happen since my last post, which was about the wedding. Things have finally smoothed out, plans are made, and we are, can you believe this, finished with EVERYTHING for the wedding except for paying for the food! The wedding is not until May and we are ready! I LOVE being organized. It makes everything go so smoothly.
My son and his fiance have found a small place for their first home. It is little but she just thinks it is the cutest thing ever and she is happy, so he's happy, which makes ME happy. :) Someone asked him if he was going to go ahead and move in before the wedding and he told them no. They were amazed that he was willing to pay rent on something for three months but not live in it to which he said that it was THEIR house, not HIS house so he did not want to stay there before the wedding and he also told them that by renting it now, they can take their time in cleaning, moving, decorating, etc. so that when they come home from their honeymoon, everything will be brand new, sparkling clean, organized, and ready for them. I think that is wonderful!
I have been visiting flylady.net daily for the past week and she is the most organized and amazing person. She takes our disorganized, cluttered, chaotic lives and shows us how to make it organized, calm, and peaceful using baby steps and you are not overwhelmed. The first assignment was to shine your kitchen sink and I don't think my sink has ever looked so good. By creating little habits that over time become a routine, your life becomes manageable and even, dare I say it, peaceful! If you have never visited her website, you owe it to yourself to hop on over there and take a look around. http://www.flylady.net/
Peace
Southern Ladye
My son and his fiance have found a small place for their first home. It is little but she just thinks it is the cutest thing ever and she is happy, so he's happy, which makes ME happy. :) Someone asked him if he was going to go ahead and move in before the wedding and he told them no. They were amazed that he was willing to pay rent on something for three months but not live in it to which he said that it was THEIR house, not HIS house so he did not want to stay there before the wedding and he also told them that by renting it now, they can take their time in cleaning, moving, decorating, etc. so that when they come home from their honeymoon, everything will be brand new, sparkling clean, organized, and ready for them. I think that is wonderful!
I have been visiting flylady.net daily for the past week and she is the most organized and amazing person. She takes our disorganized, cluttered, chaotic lives and shows us how to make it organized, calm, and peaceful using baby steps and you are not overwhelmed. The first assignment was to shine your kitchen sink and I don't think my sink has ever looked so good. By creating little habits that over time become a routine, your life becomes manageable and even, dare I say it, peaceful! If you have never visited her website, you owe it to yourself to hop on over there and take a look around. http://www.flylady.net/
Peace
Southern Ladye
Sunday, January 8, 2012
Wedding Stress
My poor soon to be daughter in love! (That's our name for her rather than daughter in law. I stole it from a book I read on raising children!) The wedding stress is starting to get to her. We were in the bridal store yesterday getting all of the girls (10 of them in all) fitted for their dresses and it was total chaos! She and my son are getting married in May (a very popular month in our neck of the woods, LOL) and I think every girl and her mother were there trying on bridal dresses. Our poor little consultant was run to the earth trying to fit ten giggling girls and then one of the mothers was unhappy with the color choice of her daughter's dress for the wedding AND she didn't want to use the bridal store for alterations, which my DIL told everyone they were going to do. I got to missing her (my DIL) and found her in the corner, crying. She'll be OK but she admitted that it is starting to stress her out a bit. I laughed to myself and thought, "Sweetie, we haven't even got started, yet!" Then she and I spend the afternoon shopping for the reception, which I am in charge of. (She's making such a wonderful effort to include the mother of the groom, even though she doesn't have to, which I just think is grand.) We then went to my mother's for the evening, which was her first time to be with all of the family, including my brother, whom just got home from his job.
So, we had a busy day and the wedding is starting to shape up nicely. Hard to believe that my son is old enought to get married, but he is and I have to admit, I think he chose well. Of course, he spent time praying about it and counseled with our wonderful pastor, who was in agreement. That's what makes the difference: knowing you have found the one God intended for you to have. I know I did and I am so thankful, each and every day, for him.
Peace,
Southern Ladye
So, we had a busy day and the wedding is starting to shape up nicely. Hard to believe that my son is old enought to get married, but he is and I have to admit, I think he chose well. Of course, he spent time praying about it and counseled with our wonderful pastor, who was in agreement. That's what makes the difference: knowing you have found the one God intended for you to have. I know I did and I am so thankful, each and every day, for him.
Peace,
Southern Ladye
Monday, January 2, 2012
Happy New Year!
I am looking forward to a wonderful year. I have spent the last few days reflecting on the past year and what I would like to do differently. Now it is time to put that plan into action! I am a great planner, reflecting, and organizer but sometimes I have a problem actually carrying out the plan. I have promised myself to do better with that this year because the best developed plan doesn't mean anything if it's not carried out to the fullest. I think I do that because I am such a perfectionist and if it doesn't go exactly as planned, I have a hard time coping with it so therefore, I just don't do it because I don't like failing or having to switch gears and go at it a different way. I am committing to changing that this year.
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