Got my Bicycle Back!

My bicycle sat in storage for months because we didn't have the time or money to fix it. It had no brakes and the chain kept falling off so it was very unsafe. We finally found the time to get it to the shop and thought we had the money to pay for the repairs. But it turned out to be one of those months where unexpected bills pop up and surprise you. The shop agreed to hold onto it for another week while we scrounged up some money. Today - finally - we were able to pay the shop owner and get our bike back! Well, my bike. Originally, it was the bf's but he decided he didn't want it anymore so I "inherited" it. The bike is a very cheap mountain bike from Wal-Mart that the bf bought long before he met me. You can really tell how cheaply made it is and he doesn't like putting up with "cheap crap." He wants to buy this $500 bike he saw in the store and swears up and down he's going to save up for it so we can ride together ... but I know how unlikely that is.

Anyway, I am happy and mobile now. I hope to be able to ride to work a few days out of the week but it's about an hour's worth of biking so I don't know how feasible that will really be. I need to get my legs used to pedaling again. I just went around the block today and my legs were hurting. I feel pathetic. -lol-

While I was riding I remembered a game my sister and I used to play when we were younger. All girls want a pony at some point; it's just a fact of life. We were no different, but of course we couldn't afford a pony so we would pretend our bikes were our horses. We turned our playhouse into their "stable" (which my dad thought was awesome because we ALWAYS put our bikes away when we were done riding -lol-) and gave them names. We would have races with them and we would hitch up our little red wagon to the back of mine (I was the older, supposedly more responsible sister) and use it as a cart. We'd pull each other around on roller blades as well, using jump ropes for reins. We would play outside for hours! Riding today made me wish she had been with me so we could play again. I know so many people miss their childhood but how many people actually try to bring it back? If my sister and I remember something we used to do we'll usually pick it right back up for at least an hour or two. Tea parties with stuffed animals, anyone? =)

Farmer's Market Frugality

Is that a word? Frugality? Anyway, nothing amazing here but I was proud of myself because I legitimately found a way to arrange errands so that I could get to the Farmer's Market (which is hardly ever on the way to anything for us). I not only found time to do all the driving but also to go to the bank like a grown up, do the shopping at the market, come home and clean and put away all the groceries, get to school JUST in time to take a mid-term which I'm pretty sure I aced, and ... well, I think that's it. But that's a lot! Really, it was. And the best part out of all of that? I filled a shopping cart at the market and it cost me all of $25.00 - true story. Want to see a picture?

I must have bought 7+ heads of lettuce! The eggplants were on "special" so they were BOGO which was awesome. And I decided to get one thing we've never tried before. After browsing for a bit I decided I'd really like to know what cactus pear tastes like so I bought two.  =)

When I got it all home I started washing and storing it all. If I don't do it the day I buy it I just don't do it period and then it goes to waste. We have a little black and tan dachshund that thinks he's a rabbit. He's always sharing their food and playing with them and he's young so he's about the same size as them. He will gladly and willingly eat lettuce. In fact, he gets upset if you try to take it away from him! I dropped a piece of chard while I was washing and he snuck off with it. Isn't he cute?

So that's about it for today. All the cool bloggers are doing this "Food Waste Friday" thing but I can't keep track of weekdays. I cleaned out the fridge today so I'll do my food waste Friday on a Wednesday. I'm happy to report that out of a well-stocked fridge, the only food waste we had was a few little key limes and 1/3 of the smallest bag of shredded cheese (which bf bought for tacos and couldn't finish). That's it.  =)  We're pretty good about keeping track of stuff and using it up. We're too tight on money NOT to keep track. -lol-

The "what's in it for me?" View of Community

I received a call from the office of our community today, informing me that "several residents" (most likely my downstairs neighbor) have been complaining about our dogs. First of all, we don't have dogS. We have dog. No S. But we do foster dogs when a nearby rescue needs us to. So, yes, occasionally we have dogS.

The current foster dog is slightly larger than the others have been, and he did slip his leash once. Apparently, this has caused "several neighbors" to go into a panic. The office is receiving reports that the dog is allowed to run loose all over the community and is "unruly." They've been told we don't clean up after our dogs and that we're just generally breaking ALL the rules. In actuality, the only rule we're technically breaking is the one-dog-rule. We own only one dog, and the apartment community has been overlooking the fosters since they come and go. But I was told today that we must keep only one dog in the apartment.

The funny thing about all this is that the downstairs neighbor (who is not very friendly and is afraid of dogs) has only said something to me about the dogs ONCE, at which point I gladly took care of his concerns. That's it. Now I'm hearing that the office is receiving complaints frequently? What's up with that? What happened to the days when neighbors HELPED each other? Why does no one stop for a friendly chat "just because" anymore? Nowadays we only talk to our neighbors if there's a natural disaster or some large event that forces us to rely on one another. There is this pervading "what's in it for me?" attitude. If there's nothing in it for them, they're not going to bother with you. We recently had a squirrel rip into one of my delivered food packages and destroy $40 worth of food. The neighbor knew about this because he had asked me when I returned home if that was my package that the squirrel was getting into. Why in the world didn't he shoo the squirrel away and bring it inside until I got home? Where I used to live, people did that for one another all the time. We had an elderly neighbor receive medications in the mail that we gladly took inside for her until she got home. She was very grateful for our help and everyone was happy. There was nothing in it for us but we didn't want her medications to get stolen or overheat in the Florida sun. Why couldn't our neighbor have taken our package inside? Losing $40 worth of food for us is a HUGE deal. It means we pretty much go hungry for a week. We were very upset.

And now this dogS business. What the neighbor doesn't understand is that the dog we're currently fostering is a difficult dog. He is aggressive towards male dogs and that makes him very difficult to place, but in addition to that he was never taught how to properly walk on a leash and he has a LOT of energy. He's a big dog! He's been passed around from foster home to foster home for months now, and he's finally found a home where he fits in. He even gets along with our MALE dog! That is a HUGE deal! Because this dog has had no stability in his life up until now, his behavior issues were only getting worse. We're finally making progress - even getting him to walk noticeably better in his harness - and he has to be uprooted again. By not being a little tolerant, this neighbor is forcing this dog to loose his home. In fact, the dog may have to go into a boarding situation because there are no other suitable foster homes available right now. Sitting in a metal box 24 hours a day except for walks is NOT going to help this dog improve or find himself a home. And I seriously doubt that the neighbor would care about any of this even if I had the patience to explain it. :(

Anyway, my point in all of this is that we should work to form a REAL community where everyone is available to help one another. Not some false sense of community where, because all the buildings look uniform and everyone has a designated parking space, everything is wonderful and lovely. No. Life doesn't work like that. We NEED one another. We can't just go into our holes and pretend the neighbor next door doesn't exist. Be a little more tolerant than you're used to and expect the neighbor to do the same. This would work, people. It would make things a lot easier all around the country. Americans are too selfish and we need to get over it. Ask not what your neighbor can do for you, but what you can do for your neighbor.

"Thrifting"

I've been reading this wonderful blog lately, about thrifting and finding great (used or previously-owned) items at thrift stores. And since money is SO tight for us right now, I've been trying to do my christmas shopping at various thrift stores and online home-made craft sites like etsy (www.etsy.com). Thus far I have my brother's gift and I just finished my sister's gift tonight. My step-mothers gift is on order and I am still working on my dad's gift. I found two things today that I'll be giving him but I'd like to give more. I am working out some gifts for co-workers and friends, but it's taking time.

So, what is my sister's gift? What did I make tonight? Well, she and I have both been cursed with very painful periods ever since we started having them several years ago. My mom was the same until she gave birth to all of us. After that, her periods didn't hurt her anymore. But, since my sister and I do not want to be pregnant yet, we've been battling the horrid cramps and aching for years. My boyfriend and one of his ex girfriends discovered that if you apply pressure to the area just above the pubic bone (and/or heat) it makes most of the pain go away. I thought that was ridiculous at first, but he offered to lay with me and put pressure on my stomach. "Maybe it will help," he said. So, I let him and I was amazed when, after mere seconds, my stomach felt so much better. Every time he had to get up, the pain would come back in a wave. So, we searched the house for something heavy to put on my stomach. David came up with the idea of filling a half-gallon jug with warm water; lo and behold the jug was just the right size and weight! Plus, the warm water really helped to relieve the pain as well.

I thought my sister could benefit from this as well so I found an extra half-gallon jug, made up a cutesy label for the front (just for fun), and sewed a fleece cover for it. The cover is made from a child's night shirt that we found at a thrift store for $2. I cut off one of the sleeves and stitched up the bottom, added a drawstring and voila! A yard of fleece fabric at the craft store costs $9 right now... And the material is so cute. It's got little sheep all over it with fences and floating numbers as well as the words "counting sheep." I figured since she'd be going to bed or laying down with it, that was perfect.

Here are a few pictures:







I also found a very nice vase at the thrift store for 50 cents. There were TONS of vases, but I just bought one to see what I could do with it. Turns out it'll make an excellent gift for a co-worker or friend. I saved clippings from one of my larger house plants several months ago and have been growing them in cups on the window sill. They're getting to be a decent size now and are really looking lovely. I took one and put it in the vase with some shiny stones and river rocks. I'm going to hunt down a big bow to go around the neck of the vase, but you can get the general idea here:



I would love to get a gift like that so I'm sure someone else will, too. And it only cost me 50 cents since I already had everything else lying around the house from various other projects.

I found this ADORABLE (hand made!) penguin mug for $2. The other mugs were 50 cents to a dollar, but I love penguin mugs and I had to have it. (My boss got me a really tall penguin mug for christmas last year and it's been my favorite mug ever since. I drink my tea in it and hot coco on special occasions.) I had thought about giving it as a gift, but I don't think I can part with it. Besides, I don't know anyone that likes penguin mugs as much as I do... :)



I also got a giant bag of MEGA blocks for $3. I debated for a while about whether or not it was worth it, but David and I both agreed that it probably was. Turns out we were right. When we got it home and opened it up there were other little toys in there as well. I put everything into a big bucket with a bleach and vinegar solution to kill any germs. All in all we got about 100 giant lego blocks, a full-sized play telephone, some little people and various rattles and random items. That bag is heaven for our Umbrella cockatoo, Snoball. (His blog here .) He'll get to play with everything tomorrow as I'm letting it all soak overnight. I've no idea where that stuff has been and since they were childrens' toys ... well, it's even more scary to think where they might have been. -lol-

Honest Blogger award and Frugal...ness

I have been reading some blogs that discuss living cheaply and being frugal. Because of the economy it's becoming an ever-more-popular subject, but us college kids are experts at this sort of thing. And when I read some of the frugal blogs out there, I read and think, "I'm not even TRYING and I spend less money than that!" So when I went to the grocery store this evening I decided to take stock of what I bought and for how much. Everything pictured above cost me $26 (and 42 cents). That is enough food to feed myself and my boyfriend as well as 4 VERY hungry bunnies for several days. I read blogs where someone will spend $60-$90 on two people for a week. That sounds good at first but when you realize how much that is per month, well, it doesn't seem so great.

To cut costs, we buy stuff when it is on sale - that's a no-brainer. If pasta is on sale 60 boxes for $5 (damn, I wish they had sales like that, huh?) we buy all 60 boxes. There will always be a use for them later. If the Jesus-Christ size Ketchup bottle is on sale, we buy it - even though we RARELY use ketchup. By shopping this way, we ensure that there are always "ingredients" in the house; stuff that we can use to make a meal. All we have to do is buy the fresh ingredients to go with it. Also, we do not eat meat. David will have some occasionally, but it's usually when we go out for special occasions. We don't have to buy it for the house and that saves us a ton of money. Price of a salad from publix: $3 (serves two); price of chicken from publix $7 (serves two). So you see, not eating meat adds up to a lot of savings over time.

The bunnies don't need the freshest, best, most organic produce on the market. Yes, I would LOVE to be able to give that to them, but that's just not feasible right now. They have a warm place to sleep with space to run around and they get fresh hay and green veggies daily. I don't think they mind that it's not organic. ;) I will offer to buy wilting produce at a discount because the buns don't care that it's a day past its prime. If I'm shopping at Whole Foods (which is rare due to driving time and money restrictions) I usually get GREAT bargains this way. I've had the produce manager just GIVE me (for free) an entire basket of withering greens before. I told him it was for the buns and I'd take it off his hands if he gave me a discount - can't sell it that way anyway, right? And he just gave it to me. I was REALLY happy that night. -lol-

The biggest money-saver for us is that we generally don't eat a lot and we generally don't want a lot. Small, simple meals are better for us than large elaborate ones. I read a bumper sticker once that said, "Insatiable is not sustainable." Of course, it was talking about global warming and the environment but I think it also applies to our kitchen and our money. If we were the type to snack mindlessly every night, we'd be spending a LOT more money. Instead, we make a meal together when we're hungry, sit down, eat, enjoy, and relax together.


This was tonight's dinner. Home-made eggplant parm, pasta, and salad. I ended up eating mostly just the salad and giving the rest to David. -lol- I get full easily.




Now then, in other news, this luverly lady right here: http://lovinglifeandlaughing.blogspot.com/ (I don't know how to do nifty hyperlinks) honored me with the "Honest Blogger" award (which I thought was SO cool) because the only other award I can remember getting - EVER - was 2nd place in the elementary school spelling bee. So, here are 5 honest things about me. I will post another 5 at a later date. For now, I gotta be quick because David is waiting on me to watch TV.

1. I have a thing for rabbits. I adore them and have always felt "connected" to them. Being around them just puts me at peace. That's why I have 4 of them, and I struggle on a daily basis to resist the urge to bring home more. All but one of mine were rescues. One was abandoned outside my work in a shoebox, one was being bullied in a petstore and the employees didn't know what to do about it, and the other was found in a box on the side of the road with some little boys.

2. I would like to change careers but I am afraid of the interview process and being rejected, so I have been hesitant to submit applications. Up until today, my low self-esteem has kept me from even trying for the job I'd like. What was different about today you ask? Not much. David inspired me to "just do it." The worst they can do is say no, right?

3. I hate wearing make-up because it makes me feel oily, but I wear it fairly often because I feel ugly without it. Everything I buy is cruelty-free (not tested on or made from animals) which makes it expensive so I wear it sparingly. I cannot live without a decent concealer and some eyeliner.

4. I LOVE plants. It's almost freakish how much I love plants. I am trying so very hard to grow a garden right now, but I am not so good at it. I can start them great and if a plant is already mostly-dead I can bring it back in no time flat. But the in-between is hard for me. I don't understand it. I wish I could fill my house from floor to ceiling with house plants!

5. I want to travel but have never been able to. I want to see Canada and Norway. I want to go to Ireland and all sorts of other exotic places but A- I can't afford it and B- I'm a little afraid of culture/language-barriers. Maybe one day...

Well, right on cue, David is hollering at me from the other room. As I said, 5 more truths will follow later. I wish I could pass the honor on to someone, but the only bloggers I know of that deserve it have already received it one or more times. If I come across a new blog, or if I'm forgetting someone, I'll honor them with it. :)

On "Stuff"

Ok, I readily admit that the room above does not look very "zen" or organized. BUT, I promise you that it is. During the day time the whole room lights up so well, and that cluttered patio becomes a balcony garden with plants all over the place. Couple that with the animals and my apartment is just SO full of LIFE! I love it that way. There are cages (not prisons - more like homes) for the animals everywhere instead of furniture we'd only use if company came over. And we don't have many possessions because most of our money goes to the animals. But I LIKE it this way.

The reason I've brought this up is because my dad asked me today what I wanted for my birthday. I only have one thing I'd like for my birthday and that's a bicycle. Well, there's a perfectly good, old and used bike here. It just needs new tires. So I asked for new tires for this used bike as my birthday gift. "Why don't you just let me buy you your own bike?" my dad asked. - "Because we don't have room for another one, Dad. And this one is perfectly good. It's still in great condition it just needs new tires."

"Well, fine. But what about new clothes? Don't you need shoes or clothes?"

"No, Dad. I have all those things. I only need my two pairs of shoes - work shoes and dress shoes. And all of my old clothes still fit."

"But don't you want new clothes?"

"No, Dad. That's not necessarry. If you REALLY want to get me something more than tires, buy me some toys for the birds or pay for one of the bunnies to get fixed. We've been needing those things recently."

"But that's not for YOU, that's for the animals."

"Yes, but the animals are what make me happy and I can't always afford to give them everything they want all the time. If you buy things for the animals, it will be like buying things for me. It will make me happy."

"Well, why don't you get rid of some of the animals. Then you could afford to buy more things for the ones you keep."

"Dad, you're missing the point."

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As you can see, my dad doesn't seem to understand the idea that I don't want "stuff." I appreciate his thoughtfullness, but I don't want things that are going to take up space in my apartment. I like having "life" in my space, not "things." The animals are like my children and I love taking care of them and spending time with them. Honestly, all I want for my birthday is bicycle tires. And donations sent to Save a Death Row Dog. It's a rescue group that I've been volunteering with lately and they are all so awesome. They have a number where you can call and donate any amount you want - $1, $5, $300 - to the store where they get all of their dog supplies from. I've had a message with the number to the store and an explanation that says if anyone would like to gift me something for my birthday to please donate to the dogs - they need it more than I do - posted on my facebook page for a while now, and so far no one has donated. I don't think people understand that I really DONT want anything for my birthday. Christmas will probably end up going the same way. Every year I go through this with my family. Does anyone else have this problem?

Moscovy Ducks

If you don't live in Florida, you've probably never seen a moscovy duck. You're not missing much. As far as ducks go, people consider them the bottom-of-the-barrel, run-of-the-mill, common, boring duck. Personally, I think they're cute and have character. They always have these tumor-like growths all over their face. It's a genetic thing, not harmful to the duck at all. It's just that extra skin grows on their face. Do a google search, you'll see what I'm talking about. But I like them.

The other day David and I went to Moe's for lunch. It's a southwestern grill type of joint but they have the BEST bean/tofu burritos I've EVER had. Get one. You'll love it. Anyway, we were sitting down eating when I noticed this group of ducks outside. It was a momma duck and 9 youngsters (not babies - slightly older). They knew that when you went IN the door that you had no food, but they also knew that when you came OUT the door ... food was usually involved. So they waited outside to ambush anyone leaving and what an ambush it was. Several people were chased down the sidewalk when they refused to share their doggy bags. The ducks tried to enter the restaurant twice - much to everyone's amusement. David and I decided to help the ducks so we ordered a basket of corn chips and crunched them up into bite-sized pieces. After we'd finished eating we fed the ducks out by the nearby canal. They were so tame they practically sat in our laps! I brought spinach over for them too (we'd come from the farmer's market) but they only wanted the corn chips. I guess they like carbs.

There is also a group of ducks near our apartment that I've been feeding. Ducks seem to suddenly be very involved in my life. I'll have to research what they mean as an animal messenger/totem.

In other news, I have joined a rescue organization called Save a Death Row Dog. I'm not "official" yet but I seem to have a such a strong attachment to the group already. They rescue dogs that still have great potential but are scheduled to be put to sleep (usually due to lack of space in the shelters). Please, if you have $5 or even $10 to spare, donate to this great group. There are over 40 dogs for adoption currently. The adoption price ($100) allows the group to rescue 2 MORE dogs! Each time a dog is adopted, two more get a chance. They're increasing their rescue numbers exponentially. I think it's wonderful. Just search for "Save a Death Row Dog" and all of their various websites should come up. I am going to the ranch tomorrow to help clean kennels and photograph the dogs for posting online. I'll let you know what it's like when I get back. :3