Looking for a New Job

 

I am blessed to be employed. I have a pretty good job and have the luxury of having my summers off. However, I did just graduate from college and thought it couldn't hurt to see what is available. 

Let's just say looking for a job is daunting at best. I mean do you go the traditional route by looking through the newspaper, use monster, go to an employment service, linkedin, google it. I just have no idea. 

With unemployment at an all time high, how do you make yourself stand out in the sea of applicants?

When you are searching how do you know what is true, and what is a scam.

Sigh.

Skunk!

I am a city girl. Born and raised about a half mile outside of Detroit Michigan. I married the love of my life who loves the country. Meet my new neighbor. The skunk. At first glance I thought it was a large black squirrel this morning. Admittedly, I did not have my glasses on. (I am blind as a bat without them). Thankfully I was looking out the window and my wonderful husband said, "No, that is a skunk".

I tell you...I would never have had this conversation in Michigan.

We watched the skunk go up the hill and didn't think much about it until tonight. As we were watching tv we got a horrible whiff of skunk. Then we realized that one of the dogs was still outside. Hubby looked out the front, I looked out back. Then I spotted the new neighbor, said skunk, walking under the clothes line.

Thankfully the dog didn't get a full spray. But, the dog, did get some. For now she is allowed to come in the house but will not be sleeping in our room.

Hopefully Mr. Skunk will move on, so we don't have a repeat of Pepe' Le Pew's perfume.

The amazing plastic milk jug ring

 

 To some the ring will look like trash. However that plastic milk jug ring has many uses:

1. Use to expand your closet space. Place the ring over the hook on the hanger. Then hang the second hanger on the ring. Forgoing the cost of specialty hangers for your closet
2. Pull dirty socks through the ring and toss in the laundry. You will have matched socks when you take them out of the washer. Remove the ring before going in the dryer.
3. Cat toys
4. Cover with ribbon or fabric and use as napkin rings.
5. Use them to close up chip bags just pull the open end of the bag through the ring.
6. Slide the stems of cut flower through and place in a vase. Be careful not to break or crush the stems.

Middle Class Americans and Poverty

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NOTE: The poverty guideline figures below are NOT the figures the Census Bureau uses to calculate the number of poor persons.
The figures that the Census Bureau uses are the poverty thresholds.

2012 Poverty Guidelines for the
48 Contiguous States and the District of Columbia

Persons in family/household	Poverty guideline
1	$11,170
2	15,130
3	19,090
4	23,050
5	27,010
6	30,970
7	34,930
8	38,890
For families/households with more than 8 persons, add $3,960 for each additional person.

Dateline aired a series called "Lost in Suburbia".  As I sat and watched the show I couldn't help but wonder how many other American's are facing the same thing.  I know many well educated people that are currently working somewhere not in there field just to be employed,

According to the poverty guidelines I am "poor".  I don't feel poor. I feel very blessed. All of my families needs are met and than some, yet I do not receive any government assistance.

Instead we have chosen the attitude of making due, doing without, or repurposing items we already have. We waste nothing and do everything in our power to add to our existence instead of detracting from it. (Cook at home, garden, fix our clothes, use everything up, line-dry our laundry, etc.)

I find it very odd that many people do not know how to cook. You can get a cookbook at the library, search on the web, or ask a trusted a friend. Not to mention all of the cooking shows aired on TV. Cooking at home saves you a fortune.

I have always been thrifty. I think I was born that way. Plus I was blessed with a family that believed in doing for themselves. I am also blessed with a husband that has the mechanical touch (most machines tremble when he comes near them) and I am very crafty.

I will start to include some of my favorite cost cutting strategies in the blog posts to come.

What to do with an unwanted Wedding Dress?

On my list of things to get rid of is my wedding dress from my first marriage. Although it was beautiful in its time, it is now very outdated. I also had had it preserved and now the fabric feels funky.

I have been searching the web for ideas and came across 3 that stood out from the rest.

1. The Mary Madeline Project.  They turn wedding dresses into burial outfits for stillborn babies. The website brought tears to my eyes. Check it out here  http://marymadelineproject.org/
2. Turn the dress into a family heirloom by making it into a Christening gown for my future grandchildren.
3. Trash the dress. (This one has some hidden appeal. I can burn the dress in effigy. Have it go up in smoke just like the marriage did).

I'm open to suggestions.  But, this is one I would like to take care of by the end of July.

Thanks!

Bill and Hillary

My kids and I found these in a discount book store. Yep! It's the former President and first lady. The whole idea just cracked me up especially since the Monica Lewinsky scandal. 

I hope it brings you a chuckle.

Bread in a crock pot?

I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't tried it myself! Although I wasn't crazy about the texture, I did count it as a success. I used a standard white bread recipe, let it rise one time, and put it in a greased oval crock pot on high for about 2 hours.

I have read that it works better in a loaf pan set in the crock pot and cooked but I wanted to try to cook it without any additional dishes.

The bread was moist and a bit dense in texture. It reminded my husband and myself of cornbread.

I might experiment with this again.