Archive for Community/Family
An Interesting Adventure!
Posted by: | CommentsSunday July 15th, I went down to New Mexico for the Sisters of Honua Grandmother’s Summit. I had cleaned all of the accumulated rubbish out of the car, had the oil changed, the fluids checked, bought new tires, got a wash and wax, and filled it up with gas. It was a wonderful (if a little too hot) day, with the clouds rolling across the blue bowl of sky and very light traffic. I love to take long drives with myself and I hadn’t had one in a long time. The road was smooth, the car road like a dream; though my gas got low quicker than usual since I was using the AC.
At Wagon Mound I stopped for gas and filled her up. Putting the trip gauge back to zero to see what kind of mpg I was getting, I wrote the mileage on the slip, and took off. Humming along the highway, going 80 on the 75 mpg road, the miles melted away as I got closer to Rowe, NM. I was going to spend the night at my friend Winnie’s home. She and I had met when I came to build a labyrinth on her land. She and her husband are truely self sufficient, no power lines go to their home. So I was looking forward to being out on their isolated piece of dessert paradise!
Suddenly there was a loud crack, bang noise! I had never heard anything like it before! Instantly I said to myself “You’ve just blown your engine!”. Then my ‘Carbaby’ began to shake and wobble on the road, and it took a lot of strength to keep her going in a straight line while I slowed down as quickly as safety permitted.
“Maybe I blew a tire?!” I said hopefully.
I was shaking, especially inside…a full adrenalin rush going through me. I turned the car off when I was as far off the road as I could get, rolled to a stop and I just sat there limp, gathering my wits. After breathing for a minute or so, and watching the steam lazily spiral out around the edges of the hood, I relaxed a little when that disappeared completely. Having lived in a dessert, the sunshades went up on the windshield immediately. Black topped convertible in 100 degree weather is a bit uncomfortable after awhile.
OK. Call AAA. Any bars on the cell phone?? Yes. Where am I? Oh yes…I’ve gone 14.3 miles south from the Wagon Mound exit. (So grateful I hit the trip button!)
“We’ll have the truck there in two hours or less.” Holy Heat!
I called Winnie so that she could meet me in Las Vegas, NM at the repair place. Then I sat there. Intermittently cars and trucks whizzed by at 80 or so miles per hour, rocking the car. I opened the windows despite the traffic noise to let a breeze in, and prayed for some more clouds to cover me. Sitting there dripping sweat, I realized that because of cell phones, no one stopped anymore for a car with blinkers on beside the road!
Now here’s the surprising thing – I felt no drama. I didn’t go into the future, and every time I started to, up came the “I don’t have enough information yet” statement. Wow! Have I come a long way! Instead of the old thoughts, I found myself saying “Isn’t this interesting! I wonder what will happen next?” I also hoped it would be soon as I was out of water!
An hour and a half later, I was delighted to find out the tow truck was a comfortable roomy double cab with air conditioning! The driver’s wife was with him, and we chatted while he loaded my car up. I snapped pictures of it through the rear window, wondering if she would be leaving my life altogether. I was so glad I’d cleaned her out! Only my camping gear, clothes, and give-aways for the Summit were in the car. We talked about where to take the car, and I voiced my doubt that a transmission place would be where I needed to go. That was the only suggestion AAA had. I went with the suggestion of the tow truck driver and found myself in the suburbs at a talented home mechanic.
He opened the hood and looked in. “I’ve only seen this a few times in my career!” He said. Then he started pulling walnut sized hunks of cast iron block out of the engine and showing me. The rod had punched a hole in the block. I knew that meant a rebuilt engine. Since I liked him immediately, I asked him to do a quote of rebuilt engine vs bluebook value of my car.
Then Winnie took me to her home! Ahhhhh!!! Nothing like relaxing in the wood fired hot tub, gazing up into a clear dark sky filled with a million stars, unclouded by light, haze or smog! I slept well that night.
After we walked the labyrinth in the morning and packed ourselves into Winnie’s jeep for our week at Taa-naash-kaa-da Sanctuary, we returned to the garage in the ‘burbs. James had my figures: bluebook value $2700.00; rebuilt engine and clutch (no sense doing the engine and not doing the clutch) $2700.00. I rounded it up to $3000.00 immediately. Something always comes up. I was pretty sure I wanted to rebuild the engine, and I also decided to think on it for the week I would be at Taa-naash-kaa-da.
Well, I just put 4 new tires on my car, a new battery, a new top…now a new engine and a clutch? Versus what kind of car I could get for the $3000.00? Hummmm…sounds like a no-brainer to me! 150,000 miles? For a Toyota Celica, that’s only half of its expected life! I said “James, fix it!”
My sisters at the Grandmothers Summit offered me four different rides home to Denver! My oldest daughter was also very generous and kind and immediately told me to go ahead and use her car while she was on vacation. However she came home Monday so I really need mine back. Time to ask James how long it will be.
OOPS! I don’t have his number because I had to get a new phone (the screen was not working right), and somehow it wasn’t on the SIM card?? I had called him on my old phone, but that one was gone. After a few attempts to get a message to James, or find the number on line, I finally used the yellow pages to find the tow truck driver. We talked a minute, then he asked if I was Kate Armstrong! When I confirmed this, he gave me his friend James number.
So I am tentatively planning to return to Las Vegas, NM mid month to get my car. The only ‘flies in the ointment’ are no short block available for my car until next week; and there is the Denver County Fair that I’m part of August 9th – 12th, so I can’t get back ‘on the road again’ until after the 13th. In the mean time let’s add winning the Publisher’s Clearing House money to my manifestation list! YAY!!
You Can Afford Clean, Healthy Food
Posted by: | CommentsThere has been a lot said about organic foods being too expensive and good, clean foods from local farmers at the farmers market costing too much. Well, it’s not really true for many reasons including our health costs, our subsidized AgBiz, our waste of 40% of all we grow in this country, and the hidden costs to us and our planet from all the chemicals used, transportation costs, etc. Now I may be talking to the choir here so I want to focus on how to do it instead of a discussion on any of the other side issues.
There was a time in my life when there were five children at home and one small income. My intent was to give my children the healthiest foods we could afford because we also had no healthcare. So I began by implementing a buying priority system for the family. Here was the question: What do we need to have to eat in order to be as healthy as possible? Where can I cut things out of the budget to save money? I’ll tackle the first question in this blog. Second question, next blog.
The order of the questions was vital to me, actually. How did I boil it down to the absolute necessities for strong bodies? We need vegetables, fruits, grains, legumes and some dairy (or the equivalent). The best of each of these is whole and does not have an ingredient label, or the list is very short and doesn’t contain items we can’t understand or pronounce. This changes the grocery list, the menus I used, and the amount of money that is spent at the store.
First get it on sale! I looked at all the grocery sales and only picked those things that fit into the whole plain foods category. Most grocery stores have sales on organic foods now, and list them. Organic has become so popular that they are found at the discount grocery stores as well. I went to three grocery stores almost every time I shopped – and still do!
Buy in season! This means we are buying the freshest food for less. Last week, organic strawberries were 2/$5.00. Depending on which store you went to the container was either one pound or 1/2 pound…for the same price. I got enough to make a batch of jam which will last me for the rest of the year after giving half of the batch to my granddaughter since she helped me make it.
Put food by. Organic asparagus for $1.99 a pound? Freeze a pound or two. I’ve gotten local, free-range minimally processed whole chickens for $1.99/lb. And how much do you pay for cut up AgBiz chicken??? I can cut it up for that savings! After any big national holiday there are always sales of the ‘main meat’ – ham, turkey, roast beef, corned beef – get it then and eat a meal then freeze the rest in portions. We also spent years as vegetarians because meat is a big ticket item. It is also not essential to a good diet, which makes it a luxury item.
Make your menu from what is in season and on sale, not the other way around. Since I worked full time, I made an enormous meal on Saturday and another on Sunday. The left-overs from these two meals made new meals all week long. When you cook rice, potatoes, and/or pasta make enough for at least one more meal. Don’t get any prepared side dishes, they are very easy to make yourself.
Have meals be a time when the whole family gets together and participates. Kids learn to cook, Mom gets help, everyone gets to talk about their day or whatever is on their mind, and a loving community around food is born. Go to Slow Food events as a family. The movement that started in Italy has gone international and is a great resource for local good eats and finding a larger family type community around food.
Remove packaged snacks from the shopping list. Have a container of cut up fruits and another of veggies ready to go. Make popcorn. Have dried fruits and nuts on hand. Let the older kids make their own snacks out of peanut butter, coconut, dried fruits, and nuts. Roll them into balls and put them in the freezer.
And the last bit for today – have specific things for the kids (and grown-ups) to eat! Portion control is key to maintaining a good food budget and a slim waist line. Never allow ‘free foraging’ in the pantry or ‘fridge! Let your family know you have this for snacks and that for a meal. If s/he eats the food for a meal, don’t go buy more, make do and let them connect money with food with being responsible!
More on saving money while eating well next time! Chao!
