Can't believe its been a year since I've posted!

I finally figured out which email address and password I used to create this blog and when it finally came up and I saw that it has been almost a year since I have posted, I couldn't believe how the time as passed.

A lot has happened over the year. My oldest daughter is in the last year of her college experience and will graduate in December with her Bachelor's being an Intervention Specialist. There will be many children who do not even know how much she will affect them. She is the most perfect person for this job.

My middle daughter graduated in December with her Bachelor of Fine Art in Visual Communication and Design and started her Master's program in January in the same field. She is also working at a student-run ad firm and doing an individual investigation with an urban design collaboration firm in Northern Ohio.

My youngest daughter is a sophomore in college studying Audio Production but is making the move this fall to study Culinary Arts and Pastry. This has been her love and has decided to make it a career. I am so proud of all of them and look forward to see how their futures unfold.

My husband and I have put our dreams of moving on hold for a little while due to the housing market fiasco. We have wanted to sell our large house in a development to move to a smaller house with some land so I can enjoy the country life again. I am really interested in the organic gardening practices, permaculture and sustainability. I am trying to do it on a small scale so as not be so overwhelmed but can't wait to try all the things that I have been reading. The icing on the cake would be to have a pond also.

We are in the process of starting a home-based business but it seems that no one wants to lend even a small amount of money due to the economy. The one company we spoke with needed us to have a salary of $100,000 to even consider lending us $18,000. If I made that much money, I wouldn't need the loan. We have enough interest in our product that we would have this loan paid back very quickly but with the economy it seems everyone is scared. I don't know what it will take for the economy to turn around.

Well enough for now. I hope not to be so long in writing.

Not enough time

Every Thursday I actually sit down and get on the computer. I put it off during the week because I feel it's such a hassle to set it up and wait for the slow internet connection to come up. I am sure it is me that makes it slow but I get frustrated in the time spent waiting. I know I can get up and do other things while I am waiting but I did that over the weekend and ended up watching a movie and then said the hell with it. I try to make a list of items of interest that I would like to look up when I finally sit down but once you look up one thing another thing looks interesting and you start reading about that. The afternoon has flown by and I haven't really accomplished what I had started out to do.

The day started out bad anyway. I have three African Dwarf Frogs and two fancy guppies. The newest ADF had not been acting well last night and we thought that maybe because he was shedding his skin for the first time. He was very pale in color and would not leave the spot underneath the filter. After a few attempts, we managed to get him out and he slowly made his way to safety under another plant. I checked the ammonia level, etc. and everything tested perfect. The water was just right and they had been fed flakes the last two days. When I woke up this morning and looked all over for him , I finally found him floating at the top. He had no marks on him and was not bloated or red. I took him out and held him and he made no move at all to fight me. I said a little prayer and put him at peace. I had named him Caspian as the other frogs are Meridian and Orion. We had lost Luna previously before giving Caspian a home. For now I will wait to buy any more frogs as I hope that Meridian and Orion have babies. I have another smaller tank set up waiting for their arrival.

I searched for awhile today looking for a way to heat an aquarium for fiddler crabs. I know what I want in my mind but searching for it is much harder. I finally ordered a mini flat heater from Dr. FostersSmith website that I am going to try. It is enough to heat a 10 gallon tank. It is used to heat the roots of plants in your aquarium and should work perfect for the small amount of water I will use in designing the crab tank. I am now going to focus my efforts in looking at 10 gallon tanks that are longer than they are tall.

I am still hoping to put out a small vegetable garden. I ordered two potato bins from the GardnerSupply company. This way you can grow potatos in a bag instead of digging long trenches in the ground. I also want to have tomatoes, lettuce and possibly cucumbers if I can make the trellis I have seen that lets you grow them up the netting instead of taking up a lot of space on the ground. We will see. I feel a trip to GlassGardens is in order.

Looking forward to camping out with my family in the near future. Just to sit by the fire and enjoy the sounds of the lake and the woods and being together. We hope to plan more small trips like this over the summer. Working day in and day out gets old and having little things to look forward to makes it seem tolerable.

I hope to write more often and learn how to upload pictures in the near future.

When will Spring come?

I have been excited thinking of ways to save money. One being having a small vegetable garden like we used to. The soil out here is horrible so our only option would be to have a raised bed. I have been looking on the internet looking for ideas. There is nothing better than fresh tomatoes and lettuce and cucumbers. Would like to buy a small freezer also to start freezing produce from local farmers markets. I saw another post on the internet that Kroger's has a magazine that they mail to certain customers that has many coupons in it. It's called My Magazine. People just receive it in the mail but didn't know why. A number was posted of the headquarters in Cincinnati so I called to inquire about how to receive it. The person on the phone told me that they only send it to loyal Kroger Plus customers that spend $100's of dollars at their store. He took my address and my Kroger Plus card number and said if I was eligible they would send it to me. So I guess you have to spend $100's of dollars to receive a 20 cent coupon on pizza rolls. Whatever.

My computer class for Quickbooks has been going well. There are seven of us in the class. We all have about the same computer experience which isn't much. I find myself typing ahead because a couple of people are just not catching on. The advanced class starts one week after this one ends and so far I am the only one scheduled for it. I have really been enjoying going to class and hope that there are more classes for computer that I can sign up for. I do want to know more. I am interested in purchasing a small digital camera that I can learn to post pictures and movies of things that I enjoy.

I am looking forward to next week when all three girls will be home from college. It's great that their springbreak happens to fall at the same time. We don't have too much planned yet but it's just great to be all together.

choosing a blog title

I found that choosing a blog title was harder than naming my children. The title has two meanings. Definitely the most important is that it is what is in the inside of a person that matters. My husband and I have instilled in our daughters that it is important to remain true to themselves and to stand up for what they believe in whether it is popular or not. They are beautiful inside by the way they care about others and their environment and for all living creatures that depend on them for their care. I have learned so much from them myself that it has made me a better person. Too many people are all about themselves and I want to do my part to make a change.

The second meaning goes back to when I was a child. My mom packed my lunch everyday when I went to junior high school and she always cut the crust off my sandwiches because at home I always left them on my plate. She would load the sandwich up with so much jelly the bread was almost transparent. With every lunch would be a napkin or folded up papertowel with the words Love Mom and a heart. This simple gesture meant so much to me that I have remembered it always. Whenever she sends me something in the mail, it is always wrapped with a sheet of paper that says Love Mom and a heart. You are never too old to want this. To this day I still leave the crust because I am too lazy to cut it off myself.

Today is a rainy Sunday but a good day otherwise. Spent the day on the internet learning about Fiddler Crabs. When we went to the pet store to purchase another African Dwarf Frog for my tank, there was a tank set up with the most wonderful crabs that can live underwater. They do need a log of some sort to be able to climb out from time to time. Because I am allergic to dogs, cats, birds, etc., I have fallen in love with all things aquatic. My next step is to learn more about the crabs so I am prepared.

Well enough rambling. I will see how my first attempt at blogging is received.