Blessings, Darlings!
As the bulk of you know, Christine O'Donnell, the Republican running for senate in New Jersey said, about 13 years ago, that she dabbled in Satanic witchcraft when she was in high school. Unsavory folks, blood on altar, etc.
It seems that all the big name Pagans have their panties in a bunch over it. Which makes it a particular shame that Isaac Bonewits has passed on, since he was active in a Church of Satan group while in college and no one was up in arms over that. Here's Isaac's "I was a teen aged Satanist" story: http://www.neopagan.net/SatanicAdventure.html.
And here is the clip from Politically Incorrect with Ms. O'Donnell telling her story: http://www.politicsdaily.com/2010/09/18/christine-odonnell-on-politically-incorrect-i-dabbled-into/
And now for MY editorializing.
Christine O'Donnell said NOTHING about religion in the clip that's being shown. She said that as a teen she dabbled in WITCHCRAFT, and they had a Satanic altar. So let's say that it was Satanic Witchcraft.
She did not say that she studied Wicca, or theistic Satanism, or any other religion. She did not say it was religious at all.
The only folks who are equating her "unsavory folks involved in Satanic Witchcraft" have been some Wiccans.
Yes, the press probably called a few BNP's up for their opinions, but just saying "She said it was Satanic Witchcraft - talk to them. Not all witches are Wiccan." Of course, if they had left it at that ... they'd not get their names and quotes all over news articles.
There certainly are a whole lot of pagans, especially some Wiccans, who talk as if we have copyright to the word 'witch'.
We don't.
Satanists of all stripes are entitled to use the word for what they do, some atheists are, Jewitches certainly do - I don't see any reason why all users of magic/potions/etc shouldn't be entitled to use the word if they so choose.
Actually
Now that I think about it, we might not want to use it around our ancestors if you're inviting them to the party. Most of our paleopagan ancestors were pretty much anti-witch, when you come down to it. They'd have put us iin a coracle with no oars in it and left us beyond the 7th wave, if you get my drift. Witchcraft was forbidden by the Celts, the Greeks, the Romans.... those 'spiritual ancestors' we love to lay claim to.
Back to Teen Witch
Now, while I'm overdue for my Croning, I DO remember being a a teen. Don't you?
As a teen there were certain things on our minds. Sex. Partying. Our growing sense of in dependence and power, and pushing other people's (especially adults) buttons. All of which make witchcraft and generic Satanism attractive platforms. I didn't do Satanism, but I can tell you that my friends and I didn't do our seances for religious purposes. We didn't do love spells for religious purposes.
We didn't do folk magic for clear skin for religious purposes. We didn't do divination of our future husbands for religious purposes.
We were after Power, Knowledge, and maybe personal growth ... if you're willing to say that getting the boy or girl we wanted was about personal growth. I'm not willing to say that, but YMMV.
Witchcraft is NOT RELIGION
Witchcraft is not a religion. It is a set of skills that is religion-neutral. They can be used by folks of any or no religion, duotheist, monotheist, atheist, polytheist or, as a Ceremonial Magician I know says she is, Polyatheist.
The religion you hold does not matter in Witchcraft. Witchcraft might matter, negatively or not, to the religion you hold, but that's a different matter.
And Satanism might or might not be a religion, depending on the branch. Church of Satan is atheist. Temple of Set and the Luciferians are theistic.
Christine O'Donnell mentioned what they DID, not what they BELIEVED or WORSHIPPED. Thus, we're back at a-theism.
Again, Back to Teen Witch
So, we're still at generic COS-style atheist Satanic Witchcraft for Christine O'Donnell as a teen. We know that now she sees the ids she hung with as 'unsavory', and that there was blood on the altar she had a midnight picnic on.
Oh, the Crowleyan thrill of being edgy!
Let's assume that by now she'd have turned them in if they confessed to murder to her when they told her what types of things they did.
Let's assume that animal sacrifice would have left more blood, because even dealing with a chuck roast in my kitchen leaves a trail of red goop.
What's left?
Teens having sex on the altar while the girls is on her period (because she isn't using birth control & doesn't want to get pregnant), some guy cutting himself to annoint the altar with blood, or, my vote, some girl doing a love spell using menstrual blood. But copywriting choices make it better to spin it to sound like some 'unsavory sacrifice' rather than "a tampon was here".
In Summary:
Christine O'Donnell has said NOTHING that link what she did to Wicca OTHER THAN WICCANS GETTING THEIR PANTIES IN A BUNCH OVER IT.
She dabbled in some sort of Satanic Witchcraft as a teen. So what?
In fact, she seems to have grown up to be a reasonably functional adult.
She's a testimony to teen witchcraft, even teen Satanic Witchcraft, being a long-term positive force for teens.
Church of Satan should use her as a poster child.
Frondly, Fern
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Monday, September 20, 2010
Handfasting - Pagan for Marriage
Blessings, Darlings!
Over the past few days I've been thinking about marriage. Over the years I've watched couples unite and part, and I'm watching some total train wrecks on Twitter (I just unfollowed a second one of them). Mostly I'm thinking about the role of clergy in performing the ceremony, and clergy responsibility to help identify potential problems.
The chubby hubby and I got married back in 1980. The rabbi gave us a tiny bit of premarital counseling, pretty much only asking how we'd work on religious differences (I was still nominally Jewish at the time while CH is Christian). Like - how would we raise the children. That's ALL I remember, but it was thirty years ago!
On the other hand there was a woman I knew online who had a whole intense list of activities she demanded the couple do before she'd do the ceremony. Combine finances for the year before, train a puppy together, paper a small washroom together, etc.
Being me, and (obviously) into social media, I took the issue to Twitter. Got a lot of interesting issues brought up there.
Personal or Group/Tribal/Societal?
First question - is marriage, as an institution, more about individual/couple's spiritual development, or is it more about things that are 'for the good of the tribe'? Certainly, if the couple is involving clergy, they are taking vows before the Gods.... or are they?
In today's paganism, most folks see every individual as a priest or priestess, able to have their own relationship with the High Ones. Most don't see clergy needed for issues of personal spiritual development (altho' most agree that in some situations they can be helpful). Personal spirituality is, in fact, seen as the individual's responsibility, not the responsibility of clergy/HP's.
Involving clergy in a handfasting, not to mention family and invited guests, says to me that the rite is not about a path of personal spirituality, but of tribal status. Thus, it's ultimately about the good of the tribe.
The Good of the Tribe, Then
So, what about it was for 'the good of the Tribe'?
Back in the day, I think it's obvious that much of it was about fertility. Go forth and multiply, make our tribe stronger in numbers so we have workers/fighters/etc. In the ancient Irish Brehon laws there were something like 17 different types of marriage, but the bulk of the legalities, as I understand it, were about inheritance rights of the children that resulted from them.
Another aspect was building ties between tribes/clans. Marriages between other tribes and clans was seen as a good way to 'invest' and solidify good relationships, prove goodwill, etc. The ties broadened networks that could be called on in times of trouble, and were hoped to make it less likely that there would be wars between connected tribes/clans.
The Good of the Tribe, Now
This is rather more nebulous.
Yes, it still is a public rite of initiation/change of status in the community.
But what about marriage is 'for the good of the tribe'? We all know the 'Defense of Marriage' folks have their view, which I think is self-contradictory, and, since most pagan clergy do gay and lesbian handfastings, not applicable.
Breeding more little pagans isn't necessarily what is needed, both because the earth is past carrying capacity and because most new pagans convert from other religions. We may brag about our growing numbers, but we're not really called to make converts of the world. And certainly lots of folks don't concern themselves with getting handfasted or married before having children.
What's left, it seems to me, is clan relations. Two families intertwining members. If it works, it strengthens the community, even if it works for only a while then ends with respect.. If it ends acrimoniously, it is toxic for the community. And in that being toxic for the community, the
So What's the Role of Clergy?
They help the community. In this case, I'd say that they need to do reasonable premarital counseling to help them screen out couples that are not 'marriage material'. Too immature, too many issues, whatever. Ask questions, devised screening tests, refer couples or individuals not ready for marriage or too toxic to be married to options for solving the pre-existing issues. Just saying 'no' to couples where there is deemed to be too likely a toxic ending, when it can be quantified/shown by screening, etc.
A pro-active clergy.
What say ye?
Over the past few days I've been thinking about marriage. Over the years I've watched couples unite and part, and I'm watching some total train wrecks on Twitter (I just unfollowed a second one of them). Mostly I'm thinking about the role of clergy in performing the ceremony, and clergy responsibility to help identify potential problems.
The chubby hubby and I got married back in 1980. The rabbi gave us a tiny bit of premarital counseling, pretty much only asking how we'd work on religious differences (I was still nominally Jewish at the time while CH is Christian). Like - how would we raise the children. That's ALL I remember, but it was thirty years ago!
On the other hand there was a woman I knew online who had a whole intense list of activities she demanded the couple do before she'd do the ceremony. Combine finances for the year before, train a puppy together, paper a small washroom together, etc.
Being me, and (obviously) into social media, I took the issue to Twitter. Got a lot of interesting issues brought up there.
Personal or Group/Tribal/Societal?
First question - is marriage, as an institution, more about individual/couple's spiritual development, or is it more about things that are 'for the good of the tribe'? Certainly, if the couple is involving clergy, they are taking vows before the Gods.... or are they?
In today's paganism, most folks see every individual as a priest or priestess, able to have their own relationship with the High Ones. Most don't see clergy needed for issues of personal spiritual development (altho' most agree that in some situations they can be helpful). Personal spirituality is, in fact, seen as the individual's responsibility, not the responsibility of clergy/HP's.
Involving clergy in a handfasting, not to mention family and invited guests, says to me that the rite is not about a path of personal spirituality, but of tribal status. Thus, it's ultimately about the good of the tribe.
The Good of the Tribe, Then
So, what about it was for 'the good of the Tribe'?
Back in the day, I think it's obvious that much of it was about fertility. Go forth and multiply, make our tribe stronger in numbers so we have workers/fighters/etc. In the ancient Irish Brehon laws there were something like 17 different types of marriage, but the bulk of the legalities, as I understand it, were about inheritance rights of the children that resulted from them.
Another aspect was building ties between tribes/clans. Marriages between other tribes and clans was seen as a good way to 'invest' and solidify good relationships, prove goodwill, etc. The ties broadened networks that could be called on in times of trouble, and were hoped to make it less likely that there would be wars between connected tribes/clans.
The Good of the Tribe, Now
This is rather more nebulous.
Yes, it still is a public rite of initiation/change of status in the community.
But what about marriage is 'for the good of the tribe'? We all know the 'Defense of Marriage' folks have their view, which I think is self-contradictory, and, since most pagan clergy do gay and lesbian handfastings, not applicable.
Breeding more little pagans isn't necessarily what is needed, both because the earth is past carrying capacity and because most new pagans convert from other religions. We may brag about our growing numbers, but we're not really called to make converts of the world. And certainly lots of folks don't concern themselves with getting handfasted or married before having children.
What's left, it seems to me, is clan relations. Two families intertwining members. If it works, it strengthens the community, even if it works for only a while then ends with respect.. If it ends acrimoniously, it is toxic for the community. And in that being toxic for the community, the
So What's the Role of Clergy?
They help the community. In this case, I'd say that they need to do reasonable premarital counseling to help them screen out couples that are not 'marriage material'. Too immature, too many issues, whatever. Ask questions, devised screening tests, refer couples or individuals not ready for marriage or too toxic to be married to options for solving the pre-existing issues. Just saying 'no' to couples where there is deemed to be too likely a toxic ending, when it can be quantified/shown by screening, etc.
A pro-active clergy.
What say ye?
My Husband's Still an Ebay Virgin
Blessings, Darlings!
Being frugal combined with having a home business means looking for bargains on products. A product that saves hours of time and frustration is an asset, and usually worth buying - but we still want to get it at it's best price.
Husband has decided that we need PowerPoint 2010 only from Office 2010 (hey, BTW - I'm not getting paid to promote any products, and I'm up front when talking about products we sell that, hey, I own that business) that works with Camptasia 7 and makes it easier to create then relocate full slide shows. Okay, but what's the best way to do that? We have Office 2003, and the Evil Empire of MicroSoft won't let us do a cheap upgrade to 2010 directly, which would be our choice to do. They WILL let you have a free upgrade if you have Office 2007, but only thru' the end of this month.
So, off to Craigslist, Ebay, and Google to see what's available in at what price for Office 2007 Pro. Found one suspiciously cheap, couldn't find out a THING about the company, decided it was too likely to be a scam. Found a good looking one on Ebay, but some of the fine print on the MSFT end of the deal makes it harder to use with Ebay purchases, and this was a lab bench copy. Craigslist didn't have anything. Amazon prices were sky-high.
So, husband is buying Power Point only, not the full suite, for whatever point one of the local office supply stores has it at. He can get it today, which is nice, it won't cost what a full copy of Office (either 2007 or 2010) would cost.
I just hope he doesn't bring home a fax machine - story about THAT some other day!
Frondly, Fern
Being frugal combined with having a home business means looking for bargains on products. A product that saves hours of time and frustration is an asset, and usually worth buying - but we still want to get it at it's best price.
Husband has decided that we need PowerPoint 2010 only from Office 2010 (hey, BTW - I'm not getting paid to promote any products, and I'm up front when talking about products we sell that, hey, I own that business) that works with Camptasia 7 and makes it easier to create then relocate full slide shows. Okay, but what's the best way to do that? We have Office 2003, and the Evil Empire of MicroSoft won't let us do a cheap upgrade to 2010 directly, which would be our choice to do. They WILL let you have a free upgrade if you have Office 2007, but only thru' the end of this month.
So, off to Craigslist, Ebay, and Google to see what's available in at what price for Office 2007 Pro. Found one suspiciously cheap, couldn't find out a THING about the company, decided it was too likely to be a scam. Found a good looking one on Ebay, but some of the fine print on the MSFT end of the deal makes it harder to use with Ebay purchases, and this was a lab bench copy. Craigslist didn't have anything. Amazon prices were sky-high.
So, husband is buying Power Point only, not the full suite, for whatever point one of the local office supply stores has it at. He can get it today, which is nice, it won't cost what a full copy of Office (either 2007 or 2010) would cost.
I just hope he doesn't bring home a fax machine - story about THAT some other day!
Frondly, Fern
Friday, September 17, 2010
Cheap Eats
Blessings, Darlings!
The Spawn has just driven off to his job at Popeye's, which brings food and lack of income to mind. And I realized that while I've talked about gardening, cooking from scratch, and foraging wild foods (which reminds me, I should check the persimmon trees in one of the parks in town to see if they will be worth checking when ripe) I have NOT talked about other food resources that may be available.
Since I already mentioned Popeye's, we'll start with "food from work". The Spawn gets one two piece chicken meal with a biscuit, a small side, and a drink every shift he works. That's a heck of a lot of his daily calorie need, and a lot of fried food. What he does is bring his lunch 4 out of 5 days - a sandwich and a piece of fruit - and have that with the drink and side dish (about evenly split between the fries and the red beans and rice). He tucks the two pieces of chicken in his cooler and brings them home. Once a week we have Popeye's chicken as a family dinner.
It used to be that if you worked at a grocery store you'd be able to get items that were past their sell-by date. That is far less common now, but in some ways that's a good thing - when I dropped off some garden-fresh tomatoes at the food pantry today I saw that they had out a whole bunch of pre-cut/packaged fruit from a local grocery store for their clients.
Many folks I know online like the monthly food from Angel Food Ministries: https://www.angelfoodministries.com/about/. I find that I can do just as well buying groceries at the store as I'd do thru' them, but as always YMMV (your mileage may vary). You get a box of food for a reduced price. It's a bit high on breaded fried foods for me, even more so now that we have a weekly dose of fried chicken!
The SHARE program is one that I like a lot http://www.sharedc.org/about.htm. This is the DC area link, but I know that there are other areas in the US where it operates as well. For SHARE, you pay a reduced price for our food as you do with Angel Food, but there is one more requirement - that you volunteer somewhere for 2 hours a month. It's still not 100% food I'd buy myself, but it's closer to my tastes than Angel Food.
Let's not forget that there are also food banks available. They are under more pressure than ever, with donations down and people in need up, and they, unlike the previously listed places, often require that you prove need. Back in the day I worked at a shelter than gave out some food, a typical bag for a family of 4 would be a box of cereal, a quart or two of dried milk, a box of crackers or a loaf of bread if we had that, two cans of soup, three cans of veggies, two cans of fruit, one box of jello, one can of tuna, a jar of jelly, a jar of peanut butter, a box of mac & cheese.
Dumpster Diving ... you know, at least one of the grocery chains here locks their garbage so no one can root thru' it for out of date food. They say it's because of risk of lawsuits.
Road kill - my husband hasn't let me do this yet. But, sheesh, last Saturday we passed not one but TWO dead deer on the road. I wasn't dressed to butcher them, but that would have been a whole lot of good venison. Why should the crows and buzzards be the only ones getting them?
Clearly this is not an exhaustive list. I've not looked into soup kitchens and other sources. But none of my posts are exhaustive!
Frondly, Fern
The Spawn has just driven off to his job at Popeye's, which brings food and lack of income to mind. And I realized that while I've talked about gardening, cooking from scratch, and foraging wild foods (which reminds me, I should check the persimmon trees in one of the parks in town to see if they will be worth checking when ripe) I have NOT talked about other food resources that may be available.
Since I already mentioned Popeye's, we'll start with "food from work". The Spawn gets one two piece chicken meal with a biscuit, a small side, and a drink every shift he works. That's a heck of a lot of his daily calorie need, and a lot of fried food. What he does is bring his lunch 4 out of 5 days - a sandwich and a piece of fruit - and have that with the drink and side dish (about evenly split between the fries and the red beans and rice). He tucks the two pieces of chicken in his cooler and brings them home. Once a week we have Popeye's chicken as a family dinner.
It used to be that if you worked at a grocery store you'd be able to get items that were past their sell-by date. That is far less common now, but in some ways that's a good thing - when I dropped off some garden-fresh tomatoes at the food pantry today I saw that they had out a whole bunch of pre-cut/packaged fruit from a local grocery store for their clients.
Many folks I know online like the monthly food from Angel Food Ministries: https://www.angelfoodministries.com/about/. I find that I can do just as well buying groceries at the store as I'd do thru' them, but as always YMMV (your mileage may vary). You get a box of food for a reduced price. It's a bit high on breaded fried foods for me, even more so now that we have a weekly dose of fried chicken!
The SHARE program is one that I like a lot http://www.sharedc.org/about.htm. This is the DC area link, but I know that there are other areas in the US where it operates as well. For SHARE, you pay a reduced price for our food as you do with Angel Food, but there is one more requirement - that you volunteer somewhere for 2 hours a month. It's still not 100% food I'd buy myself, but it's closer to my tastes than Angel Food.
Let's not forget that there are also food banks available. They are under more pressure than ever, with donations down and people in need up, and they, unlike the previously listed places, often require that you prove need. Back in the day I worked at a shelter than gave out some food, a typical bag for a family of 4 would be a box of cereal, a quart or two of dried milk, a box of crackers or a loaf of bread if we had that, two cans of soup, three cans of veggies, two cans of fruit, one box of jello, one can of tuna, a jar of jelly, a jar of peanut butter, a box of mac & cheese.
Dumpster Diving ... you know, at least one of the grocery chains here locks their garbage so no one can root thru' it for out of date food. They say it's because of risk of lawsuits.
Road kill - my husband hasn't let me do this yet. But, sheesh, last Saturday we passed not one but TWO dead deer on the road. I wasn't dressed to butcher them, but that would have been a whole lot of good venison. Why should the crows and buzzards be the only ones getting them?
Clearly this is not an exhaustive list. I've not looked into soup kitchens and other sources. But none of my posts are exhaustive!
Frondly, Fern
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Colbert a Satire? Who knew?
Blessings, Darlings! 
Stephen Colbert announces that "The Wørd" of the night is truthiness, during the premiere episode of The Colbert Report.In satire, truthiness is a "truth" that a person claims to know intuitively "from the gut" without regard to evidence, logic, intellectual examination, or facts.[1]
American television comedian Stephen Colbert revealed this definition[2] as the subject of a segment called "The Wørd" during the pilot episode of his political satire program The Colbert Report on October 17, 2005. By using this as part of his routine, Colbert satirized the misuse of appeal to emotion and "gut feeling" as a rhetorical device in contemporaneous socio-political discourse.[3] He particularly applied it to U.S. President George W. Bush's nomination of Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court and the decision to invade Iraq in 2003.[4] Colbert later ascribed truthiness to other institutions and organizations, including Wikipedia.[5] Colbert has sometimes used a quasi-Latin version of the term, "Veritasiness".[not in citation given][6] For example, in Colbert's "Operation Iraqi Stephen: Going Commando" the word "Veritasiness" can be seen on the banner above the eagle on the operation's l.
Apparently, not everyone understands that the Colbert Report is satire. His promotion of 'Truthiness' instead of truth, of everyone being entitled to their own "facts" rather than evidence, logic, etc, is NOT meant to actually be the ideal to be worked for.
I've been told that there was an ancient Pagan Celtic Potato Goddess. And that the "traditional Irish and Welsh practice of growing potatoes solved the great Famine in Ireland". Now, actual EVIDENTIARY FACTS show that potatoes were not grown in Europe during Pagan times - it came to Europe after Europeans made it to the Andes in the Americas and brought them back to Europe some time after Columbus ran into the Americas in 1492. And actual EVIDENTIARY FACTS show that the Great Famine was caused by failure of the potato crop - which is why it's called the Irish Potato Famine.
Facts. Lovely things. They describe - accurately - the world around us. Beliefs/dogma/religion/spirituality are different from facts. They work to describe some transcendent reason underlying facts. They are, literally 'metaphysical', beyond the physical. Everyone is entitled to their own beliefs. They are NOT entitled to their own facts.
Frondly, Fern
Truthiness
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
American television comedian Stephen Colbert revealed this definition[2] as the subject of a segment called "The Wørd" during the pilot episode of his political satire program The Colbert Report on October 17, 2005. By using this as part of his routine, Colbert satirized the misuse of appeal to emotion and "gut feeling" as a rhetorical device in contemporaneous socio-political discourse.[3] He particularly applied it to U.S. President George W. Bush's nomination of Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court and the decision to invade Iraq in 2003.[4] Colbert later ascribed truthiness to other institutions and organizations, including Wikipedia.[5] Colbert has sometimes used a quasi-Latin version of the term, "Veritasiness".[not in citation given][6] For example, in Colbert's "Operation Iraqi Stephen: Going Commando" the word "Veritasiness" can be seen on the banner above the eagle on the operation's l.
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Harvest Time
Blessings, Darlings!
As all y'all who have been reading this for a while know, it's been a long, hard slog the past few years. Money has been pretty non-existent. Well, non-existent in a first world way, at least. All clothes except undies and socks come from Goodwill. The only thing I go to Starbucks for is coffee grounds for the garden. Haven't bought books at all, one meal out a month at most, if things around the house get repaired it's by us or not at all unless it's the car, etc. Bills have been paid a bit late on occassion, but always paid in a reasonable amount of time. Spas? Facials? Nope. Movies? Nope. Vacations? Nope.
Not exactly living the American Dream of the American Lifestyle, but there is NO question that we are living richer than most of the world, right?
It's paying off. Not that the business is pulling in mega bucks, tho' consulting is doing well. But, you know we have to move, and move fast. Landlords/management companies pull credit reports on prospective tenents. We applied to rent a WONDERFUL house, and the agent renting it immediately told us we were the #1 prospect (and 2 other families applied the same day we did) because of OUR STELLAR CREDIT RATING. The weeping, the stressing, the juggling needs/wants/desires, everything has worked to make us, if not financially secure, at least look great to potential landlords.
I hope we get our #1 choice in houses. Once we are settled after we move (in any place we move to!) we get to work to amass savings for later house/land purchase. And of course, we will keep knocking off the debts the business has. But at least the hard work has shown SOME results.
Most amazing has been the magical working aspect. I have NEVER before held back from micromanaging magic. I have declared what I wanted and worked for it. This time, since the awful day in December that the landlord's bank slapped foreclosure papers on the front door, I stepped back and did magic aimed "at the highest good of all involved". One of the results: living 10 months rent free. Holy cow - I'd NEVER have worked for that. That monetary aid alone allowed us the opportunity to work on bringing out a new product rather than just doing consulting.
I did it this way because I knew I was too emotional to see all options, and too pissed at some of the people and institutions involved to focus well. But it paid off incredibly. I'm still in awe.
Frondly, Fern
As all y'all who have been reading this for a while know, it's been a long, hard slog the past few years. Money has been pretty non-existent. Well, non-existent in a first world way, at least. All clothes except undies and socks come from Goodwill. The only thing I go to Starbucks for is coffee grounds for the garden. Haven't bought books at all, one meal out a month at most, if things around the house get repaired it's by us or not at all unless it's the car, etc. Bills have been paid a bit late on occassion, but always paid in a reasonable amount of time. Spas? Facials? Nope. Movies? Nope. Vacations? Nope.
Not exactly living the American Dream of the American Lifestyle, but there is NO question that we are living richer than most of the world, right?
It's paying off. Not that the business is pulling in mega bucks, tho' consulting is doing well. But, you know we have to move, and move fast. Landlords/management companies pull credit reports on prospective tenents. We applied to rent a WONDERFUL house, and the agent renting it immediately told us we were the #1 prospect (and 2 other families applied the same day we did) because of OUR STELLAR CREDIT RATING. The weeping, the stressing, the juggling needs/wants/desires, everything has worked to make us, if not financially secure, at least look great to potential landlords.
I hope we get our #1 choice in houses. Once we are settled after we move (in any place we move to!) we get to work to amass savings for later house/land purchase. And of course, we will keep knocking off the debts the business has. But at least the hard work has shown SOME results.
Most amazing has been the magical working aspect. I have NEVER before held back from micromanaging magic. I have declared what I wanted and worked for it. This time, since the awful day in December that the landlord's bank slapped foreclosure papers on the front door, I stepped back and did magic aimed "at the highest good of all involved". One of the results: living 10 months rent free. Holy cow - I'd NEVER have worked for that. That monetary aid alone allowed us the opportunity to work on bringing out a new product rather than just doing consulting.
I did it this way because I knew I was too emotional to see all options, and too pissed at some of the people and institutions involved to focus well. But it paid off incredibly. I'm still in awe.
Frondly, Fern
Friday, September 10, 2010
I'm a bad blogger
Blessings, Darlings!
I know - I've been missing in action, and not blogging. But it's because life has had SO VERY MUCH action.
I've been canning and drying food. I've been balancing paying creditors while my husband (and thus our business) has been working on bringing out a new product line instead of doing consulting which actually brings in cash. Yeah, new products will pay off 'someday' - but Baltimore Gas and Electric wants their bill paid NOW.
And - get this - our landlord stopped paying the mortgage a year ago April. The house we rent has been foreclosed on. We just got our formal notice that we have to move. By law we have 90 days. But we will lose consulting income during a move, since we have a home-based business.
Right now we don't even know what state we want to move to. Stay in Maryland? Move to Pennsylvania? West Virginia? Indiana?
I'm a bit overwhelmed, and part of why I've not blogged is that EVERYTHING I typed seemed too whiny to publish.
In good news, the spawn has officially dropped out of college, but has finally gotten a job. Part time, slinging chicken at Popeye's. It's a good thing. And the garden is producing huge amounts of tomatoes and cucumbers, as well as marvelous grapes. I just planted fall crops before we got notice to move, dang it ..... ooops, heading towards whining.... The torn meniscus in my knee is doing better, I'm working out on the exercise bike and regularly increasing the resistance.
But ... having a ton of canned food isn't a great thing for moving. So I'm stopping the canning and dehydrating instead, and we're going to push eating canned foods at every meal up to the move. Which is a shame to have to do when veggies are still cheap and available! Fresh beans are 79 cents a pound this week, and we're eating canned beans instead of saving them for when fresh beans are $2/lb or unavailable. Le Sigh.
Well, that's the summary. I've got all sorts of ideas for what I'd like to be posting here, but time's going to be scarce for the next few months.
Anyone have a house with some 2200 square feet of living space available to rent, for $1500 to $2000, east of the Mississippi and from DC on north?
Frondly, Fern
I know - I've been missing in action, and not blogging. But it's because life has had SO VERY MUCH action.
I've been canning and drying food. I've been balancing paying creditors while my husband (and thus our business) has been working on bringing out a new product line instead of doing consulting which actually brings in cash. Yeah, new products will pay off 'someday' - but Baltimore Gas and Electric wants their bill paid NOW.
And - get this - our landlord stopped paying the mortgage a year ago April. The house we rent has been foreclosed on. We just got our formal notice that we have to move. By law we have 90 days. But we will lose consulting income during a move, since we have a home-based business.
Right now we don't even know what state we want to move to. Stay in Maryland? Move to Pennsylvania? West Virginia? Indiana?
I'm a bit overwhelmed, and part of why I've not blogged is that EVERYTHING I typed seemed too whiny to publish.
In good news, the spawn has officially dropped out of college, but has finally gotten a job. Part time, slinging chicken at Popeye's. It's a good thing. And the garden is producing huge amounts of tomatoes and cucumbers, as well as marvelous grapes. I just planted fall crops before we got notice to move, dang it ..... ooops, heading towards whining.... The torn meniscus in my knee is doing better, I'm working out on the exercise bike and regularly increasing the resistance.
But ... having a ton of canned food isn't a great thing for moving. So I'm stopping the canning and dehydrating instead, and we're going to push eating canned foods at every meal up to the move. Which is a shame to have to do when veggies are still cheap and available! Fresh beans are 79 cents a pound this week, and we're eating canned beans instead of saving them for when fresh beans are $2/lb or unavailable. Le Sigh.
Well, that's the summary. I've got all sorts of ideas for what I'd like to be posting here, but time's going to be scarce for the next few months.
Anyone have a house with some 2200 square feet of living space available to rent, for $1500 to $2000, east of the Mississippi and from DC on north?
Frondly, Fern
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