I Guess I Chose "Truth"

Sorry, just my little attempt at being punny. I joined Bloggy Moms' Blog Dare group around the middle of the month and posted about a week ago. They have a prompt for each day of the month and all I managed was one entry. But I'm counting this round as a win because it ended one of the longer dry blog spells for me of recent memory.

I find the daily prompts extremely valuable for a couple of reasons. Everybody has dry spells. And with my recent surgery, etc, sometimes my motivation lags more than usual. I am also looking forward to February and more consistent blogging.

As for my knee, there is more soreness than pain now, and rather limited range of motion. I can neither completely straighten nor bend my knee very far. But I start pt tomorrow, 3x per week for 4 weeks.

Pink-Haired Butterfly Princess

OK. So I subscribe to an email newsletter called "$5 Dinners".

OK. So today's post referenced a challenge on the "Motherload" blog called the "No-Spend Challenge".

What...MY family not spend money unnecessarily? Don't make me laugh. *cough* *cough* *sputter* *choke)

It's hard to say "no" on payday when we've done without...and I mean WITHOUT...for the previous several days.

But I am tired of living paycheck to paycheck. I am tired of renting a house from someone else. I am tired of barely being able to afford the copay for the doctor visit, and then NOT being able to afford the meds or referrals. I am tired of going to work and being the one that can't participate collections for people when a relative passes.

It's time to do something about it. So I am doing this challenge. And my family is coming along for the ride. Now I just have to tell them. *ROFL* Luckily my birthday is in October, so that's far enough away that they might feel like actually celebrating for/with me by then.

I think I've started making some changes already. My daughter's 6th birthday is Monday. I'm making her cake. After work, my rider and I went to the store and I had to get a bundt pan, but that can be said to be an investment, as it will last for just about ever. That was about $11. The doll was $6 (because it is an actual toy, not just the head and torso on a stick made for doll cakes). The cake mix was 88 cents. The frosting was $1.26 (I think); it was low-sugar because my hubby's Mamaw is diabetic and I'd like for her to be able to have a little nibble at the party. Decorations ran about $5.

I don't count the doll towards the cost of the cake, because it is really meant to be a toy. And, say for the sake of argument that the bundt pan "expired" after 10 uses, that would mean a per cake cost of $1.10. Add that to the other figures and the cake will cost about $8.24 when a comparable store-bought cake would probably be about $20.

And I DEFY any store to carry a pink-haired butterfly princess cake that is decorated with pink sparkly gel icing, and heart, Tow Mater and Lightning McQueen decorations!

It's Getting Easier

My problem right now is not so much a lack of subject matter to blog...but time to do it.

I go to work today, leaving the house at about 1pm. I say that because it's 12:56 now and I don't think I'll be out the door in 4 minutes. I work at a residential/teaching facility for adults with mental retardation and developmental disabilities. (There are other medical and psychological diagnoses involved, but the first two is what gets them into "our place".)

In my cottage, we have 7 ladies on one side, 8 gentlemen on the other, and share a kitchen and laundry facilities. There are 17 other "cottages" on the facility. They also have a Coffee Shop, Beauty Salon, a gym with swimming pool and various classrooms where the residents can learn everything from making furniture from wood to craft items to independent living skills (setting a table, cooking, etc.) On the whole, it's a great idea.

My trouble comes on days like today. It's like low 20's. I bundle up and go to work. It's my job. Not the most ideal weather to go traipsing about, but I do it. Will it affect my health? Most likely not in the long run. Our residents (or clients, a current "preferred" term) are not so lucky.

One lady has trouble keeping her body temperature up. Her average temp is 95. They have her in several layers of clothing and have a special heater in her room that keeps the room at a minimum of 80 degrees. If her temperature falls under 92, she goes to the hospital. But 9 times out of 10, they will send her out to class in weather like this! While I'm not sure how much she actually gets out of classes and activities, I have to hope that it reaches some part of her. It's certainly better than being in her wheelchair in the living room or in bed all day. Some days, it just seems like the administration is more interested in showing the regulatory agencies that all the residents are out engaged in "meaningful activity", over what is actually good for the resident as a whole.

I better stop there. I can feel my soapbox getting taller and taller.

Happy blogging, y'all!