Looking for the positives from the recession

Ok those of you that read my blog are probably beginning to think that bad luck just follows us around. We have had more than our fair share of problems lately. But I know there are alot of people out there who are struggling as much as we are and that there are also alot who are worse off than we are. So I decided to find a few positives out of all the changes that this recession has brought to our lives personally and financially.

The grocery bill has went down... that's a big yahoo! This isn't because we had to cut back on the amount of food we bought, but because now that I am at home, I have the time, to look thru all, of the ads and find the best deals and I am using coupons again. I know it wasn't an excuse before but when times were better financially and our lives were so hectic, I didn't have time to look at coupons or even the weekly grocery ad. when I had a few free minutes I would make a mad dash to the store and just buy what we needed. I didn't have time to go to 2-3 different stores getting the best bargain. I think we all in good times tend to take things a little too much for granted and it was all about speed and convenience before. Also since I'm at home I can actually cook a real meal every day and that saves us alot of money. The quick convenience meals at the store cost so much more than making it yourself. When I used to get home at 6:30/6:45pm at night , it was all about throwing something quick on the table.

Family time.... My youngest daughter will be graduating from High school this year, so its been very nice to be at home with her to spend more time with her before she goes off to college next year, too. Also she plays tennis and i will actually get to go to her home matches this year and actually watch her play!!! With getting home so late from work I always missed, all of my girls tennis matches. My oldest played soccer and her games were more in the evening, so I caught more of her games, but the younger 2 play tennis and their matches start almost immediately, after school and I couldnt ever get there in time. I have alwys felt bad about this, as I know I was missing out on so much and the girls have grown up so fast.

New hairstyle..... Yeah I know thats an off one to think about, but the recession and job loss made all of us cut back, on going, to get our hair done, as often as we used to. I used to go and get a haircut and color every 2 months, now I have had to space it out every 4 months. 4 months is a bit long and by the time I get there it is in desperate need of help. Luckily I wear my hair long so it tends to grow out more gracefully between cuts compared to someone who has a short do, that needs constant shaping, to stay looking good. I also am not afraid to trim my own hair, so that helps alot. I also started using a root touch up product, to stretch out the times between full color jobs. I had been wanting to grow my bangs out for a long time but you know how that goes, they would start to grow out just to that annoying stage and when I was going in to get my hair done, every 8 weeks i would just be frustrated enough with it, that I would just have my bangs trimmed short again. So waiting every 4 months has gained me bangs, that are now down past the end of my nose. Almost to the chin length that I went them to be. So I gained a new hairstyle and saved money as well.

Stay at home mom .... One surprise that came about and I know my better half is still reluctant to admit to it, because its hard for him to visualize that a one household income can run almost as well as a household with 2 incomes. Common sense would say 2 incomes have to be better, but now that I lost my job we are living off of one income and its surprising how much my income really isn't missed. By the time they took all of the taxes out of my check and the health insurance costs, and I paid for the parking garage and all of the extra gas, I was really bringing home next to nothing. Then since I have been off other things have been noticed like the grocery bill going down. I don't have to buy prepackaged convenience foods to take to work anymore or bottled water or juice to take to work. I don't have to invest in the business world attire, shoes , panty hose, etc that was required for work. My car is taking less oil changes since its not driving over a 100 miles a day. Which in turn saves on the wear and tear of the car and the tire replacement. Im not saying some extra income wouldn't hurt, and as you know I'm trying to work towards that goal, but if you really take a hard look at things it can be very surprising how little the second earner is really adding to the bottom line.

Cleaner and more organized home .... My house is always clean but as you know I now have more time to do more in depth cleaning and I have had time to get some much needed items done that I didn't have time for before, Like painting, and cleaning the carpets more often.The flower beds and gardens this summer will also benefit from more TLC this year.

I'm sure I could come up with more things to be positive about that this recession/downturn in our lives has caused but I think thats enough for now.

Changes....

So we have still been wading thru the mess of disentangling ourselves from our business partner and the business, that will take a while yet to finish resolving. In the meantime we have had to get on with life and pick up and start all over. I'm still trying to figure out my career moves but I would really like to get this Farmers market, produce, floral, crafts, and holiday Bazaar business up and running to the point where it can at least pay a chunk of the household bills and I can just stay home and work this business. I still believe the concept of the nursery we started can still work. So we are coming up with a new name and starting over. We wont have a greenhouse to work out of this year but plan on having one next year. So we start out slow this year and rebuild. We will only move as fast as customer demand will allow us to and as far as financial means will allow us. I plan on doing this all without any debt this time. We still are getting such positive feed back from customers and interest in buying products from us, that I really believe had this darn recession not hurt us so badly the last year and a half and the partnership either hadn't went bad or had never existed in the first place, that this 3rd year would have been a big turning point to the positive for the business. So I am reluctant to give up the idea yet. I just have to scale it way, way back and start over. So I have a few business name options floating around in my head and soon will have to decide for sure. I plan on working the farmers market 2 times a week from June 1 thru Oct 31 and then the holiday Bazaars start in October and run thru December so I believe I can get a very good running start on this new venture, by the end of the year. So the first business activity we have coming up is for Mothers day. So The last week of April I will be very busy getting my plants all prettied up to sell at one of our farmers market locations. So hopefully things will start to turn the corner for us.
We have decided tp put in 2 gardens this year back by the house. Last year it was behind the greenhouses, but we cant do that this year. One garden will be for Pumpkins, gourds, and long term viney growing items. The 2nd garden will be for tomatoes, beans, radishes, lettice, onions broccoli and cauliflower, beets, etc, etc. Now we just have to get the ground worked up and tilled. That will be the next project. I can work the garden once its prepared but until then I am kind of stuck until my better half finds some free time form his job to get the ground worked up.

Are you starting your garden yet or are you in the planning stages yet, like us??

The snow is going......

So the weather has been freaky to say the least, we had over an inch of rain on Sunday then 4 1/2 inches of snow fell Sunday night! Schools were delayed on Monday. Now just 2 days later and the temps are back in the 50's and the snow has melted off except for a few patches here and there. Please, please let it get warm and stay warm soon!

Still dealing with a sick family

Sorry I am still fighting my infection, (it is finally getting better though) and my youngest daughter called from school today and asked me to come and get her, because she wasn't feeling well. I'm afraid that she might be coming down with a sinus infection now. Its a good thing they only have half a day of school tomorrow and are off on Friday. She can get some extra rest and hopefully kick this thing before its gets any worse. And if she doesn't feel good tomorrow she would only miss a couple of hours, of school, since they get out before lunch. I love summer and really hate winter but the transition from Spring to summer here is hard on everyone. Alot of people end up sick this time of year.

Can I just please have a break????

I guess my plate was starting to get a little too organized and and on the way to being emptier of some of our problems that we have been battling. The plate has been overwhelming full for awhile now and it figures as soon as, we start to see an easing of problems and see that things are starting to move into a different direction, life decided I needed something else to worry about. I have battled with a blocked tear duct for a year and a half now, in my left eye, that likes to get infected off and on. But I had went 7 months with no problems, other than that eye waters a little more than normal. Then I get a sinus infection this week and the sinus infection drains down into this tear duct and infects it. Massive problem! I ended up with another very aggressive bacterial infection, in my sinus cavities, and tear ducts. So I'm not feeling so hot, very tired and run down. The eye is not a place you want an infection. I look like I was a boxer that lost his most recent bout. Ha Ha! So I will be hiding out at the house, as well until all of this swelling goes down! So the posts will be slim again for a bit while I try to get over this.They have me on high doses of antibiotics for at least the next 2-3 weeks and the Drs are talking surgery again, to go in and rebuild the tear duct, to give me better drainage, so that things don't get blocked and infected all the time. But I just cant do that right now since I have no Insurance! Hopefully we can get this infection cleared up and I can go another 7 mos without problems and maybe things will financially be better by then or we will have insurance. I just keep hoping it will just go away and not come back!!!!

Ahhhh how pretty! The first flowers of the season. We don't have any daffodils or crocuses or tulips blooming yet, bu they are breaking thru the ground, so it wont be long. These beauties I picked at my daughters college, 2 weeks ago. She goes to school 3 hours south of us and 3 hours south is all it takes to make a huge difference in the weather. It is several degrees warmer there all the time and they have alot less snow. The winters are alot milder! So they get to see springs beauty before we do. I picked a few of these daffodils to bring home to enjoy. They lasted almost 5 days.

April is financial aid package month

So here we go!! My youngest daughter has been accepted now by 6 colleges and the final choice will be hugely influenced by which school offers her the best financial aid pkg. April 1 is typically the start date of when most colleges start mailing out their offers. So in the next couple of weeks are mail box will start being flooded by mail from all of these schools and we should soon have a better picture of where she will end up going to school. I know she is excited and also worried, as shes pretty sure her first and maybe even her second picks aren't going to offer the best deal, they are private colleges and they typically just don't offer as much aid. But we sill soon know. are you waiting for financial aid packages in your homes as well??