So glad it's Friday AND I finally went food shopping!

 

So glad to have food again - fresh produce and cheese and butter!  I also bought the ketchup and baking powder I needed for salad dressing and pancakes.  :-)  I also found EGGNOG for this holiday season.  I try to have at least one package each year.  I love it.  I hope going back to eating these foods does not make me ill again.  I am waiting to see if it does.

I spent one of my four budgets for a week.  I want to see how long this will last.  

I will now be able to try pancake recipes and use up the homemade syrup I have.  I am still trying to use up my older supplies.  This will be a different version of my food challenge.

Buying my treats again may be a wrong move.  I am not sure yet.  I am not fully plant-based.  I don't know that I want to be.  BUT, I do feel the difference when I eat too much meat and dairy.  I don't have a solution for that yet.

I watched some videos from a channel about foods to eat on the way to being plant-based.  The recipes are really interesting.  I am going to try some of them.  She likes sweet potatoes.  Cashews are a favorite of vegan people.  I can't afford a lot of cashews in my budget.  I did like her roasted tomatoes recipe.  She cuts them in half for roasting.  Naturally there is a cashew dressing.  :-)  

This is a big weekend for sorting more stuff.  I hope to get through a lot of my storage containers and decide on what to donate.  It is hard to get rid of things, especially when there are important memories attached to them.

I need to go.  I'm heading to sleep early.  

Weekend plans.

Another day is over.

I can see why it is taking so long to get my downsizing done... It gets so repetitive.  Hopefully, I will get this all done by next week.

I look for the current news on YouTube and it is a challenge to find anything worthwhile.  I end up seeing all the violence, crime, political smears, and "fun" stuff like that.  I do like the way some stations make separate links to each report.  I can choose what I want to watch.

I am getting more critical of the topics that get more attention from the media.  It all seems like a waste of time now.  It really becomes a question of motives and evaluating for real truth.  Everyone is biased, claiming not to be.

The internet makes it harder to trust, but necessary to find out if there are different sides to an issue.

I didn't go shopping yet, for reasons that aren't about the challenge.  I don't have the energy, mostly.  But I am still trying to create more foods from what I have and thinking about what is most important to stock my next pantry.  I am seeing how much longer I can last with the right foods.  This would be like how many meals I can make with a jar of dry goods like beans, quinoa, flour, etc., will make.  I am seeing the need for instant options like potatoes, and condiments that don't need refrigeration.  I am changing the goals of my weekly shopping lists.  

This is a great prepping experience.

When I get to the end of this effort, I will share more details with you.  I may also share some of my own favorite recipes, and other notes.

This will be a short post.  I am out of energy for this day.

I hope to get a lot done this weekend.

Storytelling.

I listened to my "new" audiobook on storytelling throughout the day.  Seven disks!  In the background while I was doing other things.  The main point was we respond to stories.  Three stories are needed for whatever you are trying to share with people... to sell them something, to convince them of something.  

THE STORYTELLER'S SECRET : Why some ideas catch on and others don't

The author was the reader - Carmine Gallo.

The copyright year is 2016.

I found it at HamiltonBook.com - where I have been buying used books (and more) for a long time.  The don't have good descriptions so you are taking a chance, especially if you are sending books to someone else, but I haven't had problems.  I check out the titles and whatever description they do provide.  I tend to buy items at the lower price point.  I rarely go above $5 - $10 per item, usually choosing things that are less than $5.  Inflation has hit every business, so their base prices seem to be rising as well.  Right now they have a standard shipping price of $4.00 (I think that was it).  This means whatever you order ships for that same price.  I bought up to four books and the shipping price was still $4.

Two of my sons have been in jails and prisons.  Books become their gifts for birthdays and Christmas.  You can filter for softcover books, the only thing allowed in correction facilities.  Hamilton Books is set up for that.

The other book I bought for myself this time was US founding documents like the Constitution, Declaration of Independence, and the Bill of Rights.  I wanted to have these to read and think about as our nation struggles through the problems we are seeing.  Maybe I can find a way to share my own views.

I didn't make it to a grocery store yet.  My sorting project really makes me tired and weak.  I will have to get that done soon.  I ran out of the onion bits I have been using instead of fresh onions, and popcorn (a serious deprivation :-) , and my real butter is nearly gone.  I think I have three tablespoons left.  Margarine is just not the same, but it does work for some things.

We don't realize how much we depend on our favorite foods, any foods, until it is gone.

I will survive, but it is about all I get to do with my budget... buy food and household items I need.  

I am hoping to get out more.  The local art museum has a free day each month.  The public library has things going on I will try to attend.  I can find new books and DVD's and audio books there.  Once I am able to sell online, and increase my income, I will have more options for things to do.

Finding things while I am sorting is becoming an adventure.  Lots of memories.

The reality of my age and health changes so many things.  I have been trying to be brutal in shredding as much as I can.  It's hard to let go of our dreams and hopes for our lives.  

I turn my focus to GOD and try to think of heaven.  I will be glad to live there for eternity.  Whatever my life has been, I have trusted GOD and done what I thought He wanted me to do.  GOD's Will is the bigger issue.  He knows what it has been about, why things have happened, and what they mean to His Plan.  

You will be glad to know I am finding my writing notes from so many places.  As the winter gets here, I will be working to improve my blog contents.  :-)  There is hope!

Pray for our nation, and the world.  

I just watched a video short where someone decided to pass around a fake voter campaign at Yale asking to get rid of the Constitution.  There were too many people who signed it.  It tells me they don't understand where their rights come from, why they are free.  They don't understand how the lack of freedom affects life in countries who don't allow it, countries who are run by dictators and violence.  It's hard to believe they are at Yale and don't understand these details.

When I was attending the University of Oregon I was in a history class where the teacher-in-training was from Germany and taught the students that Germany was right somehow, saying America was not right somehow.  It has been so many years now I can't remember the details.  Maybe I will find a note somewhere - :-)   I just remember he was teaching them wrong information... which was against America.  That was around the 1980's.  Who knows what has been taught in the "privacy" of classrooms all over the nation.  We are being destroyed from within.

I heard a sermon or other video that shared all the major civilizations didn't die from outward attacks like war, they died from the moral decay of their leaders.  One by one we are dying in the same way.  In God's eyes, America has fallen away.  It no longer represents GOD and goodness.  GOD is not responsible for caring for us, for protecting us, as a nation.  I have always felt that the 9/11 terrorist attacks were GOD telling us His Hand of protection has been taken away.

This is also the path to fulfilling the prophecies of the End Times and the Antichrist.  We just don't want to believe that we could suffer GOD's judgment for our national sins.

Pray for us.  Pray for all Christians.  Pray for our families.  Pray for our nations.

May GOD have mercy on us.

Getting to the end of my food challenge and my downsizing.

 

Finally!  I am about done with my food challenge and ready to buy food again.  

I am so low on everything.  

I still wonder what to buy first, and what eating my missed foods will do to my body.  I may try to return to my "normal" diet slowly.

The battle is over plant-based and meat/dairy choices.  I will have to decide before I buy my groceries.  This is really a hard decision.  I like some parts of a non-meat or dairy diet.  I also like my treats, chicken, and cream cheese.  I need to decide if I'm willing to die "happy" or reasonably happy.  :-)  

I sorted through so many papers today.  Watched some videos about food, shelter, survival, and things like that.  I will be sharing more about the topics and information I have rediscovered in this process.

I found a small note about a 2021 AARP article on Social Security and Medicare anniversaries.  Social Security was turning 86 that year, Medicare was turning 56.  It seems Social Security was the main income for 34 million people at that time.  Sixty-two million people were covered by Medicare, and half had incomes less than $27,000.  I have only broken the $10,000 mark once in my life.  

When I see reports about the median payments of Retirement Benefits, I wonder why people think they are suffering.  It's about lifestyle.  They have nice houses, cars, and better food.  Probably more medical insurance/payments.  I don't really know the details of the lives and choices and problems of anyone wealthier than myself.  I guess.

I wonder how they use all that money they have.

I sometimes wonder what I would do with that much money.

I wonder what downsizing would mean to them.

We assume others are living happily, but they could be struggling more than we know.

It is really great to be getting through my stuff.  I think I have emptied over 12 of my plastic storage containers and still have more to sort through.  When I finish donating to various places, I might have lots of space for my crafting supplies and activities.  Finally.

By next year I expect my life to change.

I am also watching more crafting and selling videos.  Making business plans.  Trying to find a new path to greater income.  That is the real goal of all these efforts.  :-)  

I wonder how much I will be able to make.  

Lots, I hope.  Blessings from GOD for many of the activities still left to do.

That is what I keep praying for.

The Food Challenge Continues.

I barely see the outside of my room.  :-[  What a life!

It's a season, soon it will be over. 

It is getting harder to stay away from shopping for groceries.  I don't think I will last much longer.  The shelves are very bare, and I am working on a list of exactly what I want to buy first.  I am still amazed I have lasted this long and learned what I have about what I really need to keep in my emergency pantry.

I have been watching a lot of short YouTube videos on food and economic issues this weekend.  I'm always looking for ideas.  Just in case I am still alive when anything happens.  There is no easy way to prepare.  

Everything we hear in the news, in YouTube videos, and any other place we turn to for information, is stated in general terms:  

• The bank has closed.  
• The business has closed.  
• The economy is in trouble.  
• The stock market has fallen.  

The general view doesn't really share what that event means to you, personally.  

One person loses their job - what does that mean to everyone listening to the news?  Nothing.  It's someone else, someone I don't know.  Hearing about other people's job loss may cause some fear, but deep down we never expect it to happen to us.

But when you lose your job it threatens your home, your savings, your retirement income.  It is a huge struggle for you and your family to keep going.  It is a huge change of lifestyle.  Many hard-working people think they deserve a special answer from GOD because they have "done it right." 

A global event happens to everyone.  There are no special exemptions. 

We only have history to compare the events of our time with.  The Stock Market Crash in our past took days to happen (after years of choices leading up to it) and, from what I have discovered, ten to fifteen years to recover from.  That is a lot of time to suffer and struggle through.  

In every version of the future we see, scared and starving people get angry and violent.  We don't know what will happen in our immediate area.  Urban and rural responses to money problems will be different, but the same human natures will exist.  The need for food and water is urgent for basic survival.  The threat of suffering changes people, even people you have known all your life. 

I don't have much time left on this earth.  I am old.  Death is a fact of my life.  But I still want to prepare for unexpected events while I am still alive.  

My food challenge as a senior is different than what it would have been as a single parent of three children.  It is different as a poor person compared to a wealthier person.

I am realizing I don't need to prep as heavily as I thought I would.  That changed my path forward.

I don't have all the answers I want yet, but I am still looking for them.  I hope you are preparing survival options for yourselves.  It is better to have some supplies than none.  It makes a crisis less frightening.

In Christ,

Deborah Martin

https://work2gather.us

Slow, but moving forward.

 

I found this in my archives.

It is really appropriate for me and my life.  :-)  

I hope to "win" before I die, but going to heaven is the best prize.

This weekend has been a long battle.  I haven't gone to the store yet.  I have found new things to make out of the supplies I have.  It is hard to not have all the goodies I am use to having.  I think it is better for my body, but I still like the "treats" I have been enjoying.  Not sure how long I can last, but I will "keep going."  haha

Today I got up and cooked two bags of dry beans -- red for chilis, black for mashed burrito beans and bean dip and veggie burgers.  Later I made some rice with dehydrated soup veggies to go with my burrito beans and as a side for mashed beans and other uses.  yesterday I made some TVP sloppy joe mixture when I started the beans to soak.  It is amazing what you can make once you start looking for new food options.

I have food for now and frozen food for later.  My son decided to give me some of his garden harvest... peppers of various kinds.  I am thinking about making some tortillas.  Not sure I want to, but I am thinking about it.  I found a pancake recipe and a cornbread recipe.  I have garbanzos waiting to be made into hummus.

I am really wondering how long I could last with this food if I have to.  I am seeing what I need to buy when I get to the store to replace it.

We start our lives with the foods and habits of our parents.  Now that my life is nearly over, I wish I had known more of this when I was young and when I had to buy for my children.  I wonder if I could have provided a better life.

My family moved a lot.  I always wanted to live in one place.  It didn't turn out that way.  I think I moved more than my original family did.  We just don't get over these things.

Sorted through more of my papers today.  There are still some memories I want to keep.  I don't have much left to remind me of my past efforts, but I have some things. 

I think this process is helping me make peace with my life and getting me ready to die.

Life is quite repetitive for me these days.  I will try to find something more important to write about.  Of course, that may mean the Presidential Debate.  I hope I can find a place to watch it on YouTube.  I don't watch TV anymore, except the video options on YouTube.  LIVE will be great - hope I can find an option. 

I watched a YouTube movie called FULL COUNT before starting this post.  It included an angel that looked like a regular human being.  The verse about being content in whatever circumstances your life becomes came up.  It has me thinking.  I tend to accept what GOD does, but I don't think I can be content in poverty, homelessness, hunger, need.  I am wondering what I should do about it.  What would contentment look like in my life right now?  I don't know.

Let me know if you have any ideas.

Keep Going. Trusting GOD. Looking for Miracles.

 

I woke up this morning and realized I didn't write my Friday post, so here it is.

I guess everything is the same.  

Sorting and shredding papers.  

My food quest to use up the supplies I have so I can replace them with new items.  

Working on my budgets. 

Dreaming.

Listening to sermons and music on YouTube. 

Downsizing even more.  

Looking for answers to my lifelong prayers before it's my time to leave this earth.

I always have more than I can do, and not enough money to do most of the items on my list.

Trusting GOD for the end of the story, for the details, for the path.

Tired.

Not hungry, thankful for that.

Looking toward this Christmas.  Hope to make it a good one.

Going through the records of my past brings up a lot of memories.  We all wish we could change some of the parts of our lives.  I am glad the ones GOD has forgiven will not be held against me when I get to judgment.  Those will be covered by the blood of Christ.  GOD will not see them anymore.

I will just say that trying to use up the food supplies I already have is a huge challenge.  I am wondering how long things last, what I can make out of what I have, and if I should go to the store JUST for the missing items I need to make more foods out of what I have... like ketchup for my homemade dressing, baking powder for pancakes, and things like that.  

The problem is, if I go to the store I will break down and get a lot of things and that will change the challenge.   :-)   This is what I do.  Debate things like this with myself.  Not going to the store forces me to find other answers, uses up my old foods, and helps me to see what emergency foods can do in real life.  

I have more pasta than I want to eat.

Lots of dry foods like oatmeal, rice, quinoa, beans, lentils, peas, barley, and more.  I barely eat these foods when I have other things instead.  I can make my own bread, even tortillas if I have to, and have bouillon to substitute as part of my proteins.  

I am slowly eating less and hope to lose just a bit more weight through this.  I would like to get down to two meals and a snack -- maybe -- and need to eat more soft foods for my aging body.

These are a lot of issues wrapped up in this small challenge.

I hope nothing catastrophic happens while I am doing this.  That would really be a huge problem.  Not a good thing.  I would never recover.  

I guess I will work on my solution/s and let you know where I am in the process next week.

PRAY FOR ME !!!   :-)