The Repression

It is hitting close to home and some are falling and others are searching yet so many of us feel at a lost. It is a challenge to lose control of the future we thought we had clearly planned, isn't that what the "dream" was all about? A well planned itinerary, a fund for the children's college, retirement, a shiny car, perennial gardens, vacations that bronze the skin with a free drink in one hand and many hands massaging out the "kinks" of the life you escaped, low interest rates, diversified everything, assets, a boat for summer, ski gear for winter, the best preschool, time to volunteer, crisp, clean clothes, fresh sheets, a lawn where all the dandelions moved next door, matching silverware, a china cabinet and a piece of tupperware for every leftover you will never eat, isn't that what we were going for? This recession, depression -that I like to call the repression is changing us forever, my friends are without work, my friend's husband has left for 4 months to work- his son misses him, my friends are crying, wondering, growing food, despairing, taking sleeping pills, drinking on weeknights, my friends are leaving their husbands.......I am holding on to hope, I am called to help my friends. I am called to swap summer squash for tomatos, I am called to say thank you so it is heard, I am called to be available to hug,to listen,to care. I am called to give what I don't need, I am called to dig my feet in the earth and stand tall, I am called to count each and every blessing (even the blessings that hurt- the ones that grow roots while my branches are trimmed).

Rice and Beans Amen

Well what to do when the work slows down and the bills keep on coming in? Pray, Hope and don't worry....................and cut back, way back! So we are starting off the new year with a challenge, spending the absolute minimum, no dining, no bowling, no new clothes, nothing on credit, money into savings etc. I hope to document the year, how many loaves of bread I bake, how many pounds of beans I soak.