I did a little quilting between Christmas & New Years, but contracted strep somehow over the weekend. Woke up at 3am Sun w/it. Went to church (thought at that time it was just a sore throat, never had strep before:( ) & came home & prepared sit-down dinner for 20. Our final Christmas celebrating w/my sister & her brood/spouses. When they left I took a nap & thought the worst was over. No such luck. Dr appt in afternoon confirmed my suspicions. Hopefully all the kisses the DGSs gave me didn't give them strep too. What WAS I thinking? Actually, w/20 in the house, I wasn't thinking much at all! lol Once I get all the decorations put away, I need to find out where I'm at w/all the round robins, swaps & such. I'd love to lock myself in the sewing room for a week & only come out for food & potty breaks! Just think of all I could get done! Wow!! Back to reality, I need to continue the un-decorating process. :( :( I work at it an hour, then need to rest - feel like I've been hit w/a truck! What a way to start a new year!:(

Obviously, you're looking at your shortterm problems. As you should. However, for the long term? if your husband is a school teacher, there's absolutely NO reason why you couldn't get a parttime job in the evening. Work a couple of nights a week at a store, or in a restaurant, WHILE your husband is a father to his children. Being a teacher, he has regular hours. You wouldn't be the first couple to work opposite shifts so that the family can be taken care of. My sister worked days, my brother worked the overnight shift for YEARS when my niece was little so that they DIDN'T have to use daycare. There's a huge added benefit, too--your children should have the enormous opportunity to spend time alone with their dad. It's a good thing for you to be out of the house several hours a week, so they can have that. Actually, whether or not you have a job, you SHOULD be making sure there are several opportunities a week for them to spend time alone with their dad--it's vital to them both. And what about working from home? I know many, many women who have found ways to make money from home, so they can raise their children AND help with the family finances. I used to smock children's dresses that sold in upscale boutiques, some women I know make between $50,000-100,000 a year recipe contesting. Another woman was doing work at home on her computer for a local mortgage company. Others have done done things like: call the subs for the local school district or hospital; made crafts throughout the year and had a home sale before the holidays, in home childcare, yes--can collecting or picking up stuff from the trash on trash night to resell at flea markets or on E-bay. Assess your skills, and then put your thinking cap on and figure out a way to make them pay. You have to be a little creative to make it work, but it's definitely possible, and if being home with the kids is important, you have a lot of incentive to make something like that work. Also, have you spoken to someone who can help you with your budgeting? I don't know what kind of expenses you have, but it does seem a little unreasonable that a teacher's family is in this desparate a financial situation. Teachers generally start at $50,000/year (around here, it's more like $60,000) and their salaries just go up and up---especially if they take on extras like clubs, independent studies, coaching and other activities. But in any case, teachers make good money--and many have other good paying jobs in summer. So it may be that having someone who can help you organize what you've got coming in would be a very important step for you to take at this point, so that you can get back on track. Look, I totoally 'get' that you want to be there to raise your children yourself--that's admirable, and I think--very important. IF (and only if) it is doable. From what you're describing, right now, it's not for your family. You DO need more money coming in. You do need to sit down with your husband and brainstorm what solutions you can come up with that will let you make a little extra money, that will have minimal impact on the kids. They are out there. And once you get through the next 2 weeks, it is time to really figure out what you're going to do to prevent being in this same situation over and over and over. Good luck to you

Nextdoor includes my neighborhood (1400 homes but I think about 250 are on the app which seems pretty good) and several surrounding neighborhoods, so it does encompass a fair amount of people. We were recommended to join from our neighborhood association (voluntary, not an HOA); Our crimewatch police officer is also on. It is very helpful to get updates from him, too, regarding car break-ins, etc. You can join with Facebook or just your email. You can just give your street and neighborhood vs. your numeric address. I don't use Facebook, so I just use email. People post all sorts of things: for sale, yard sales, farmers markets, recommendations for contractors, lost/found pets, crime-safety, etc.

Glad everyone is getting much needed rain! We got more last night too. I don't have a rain gauge still and when I check with neighbors, they report widely varying amounts in their gauges. For instance, a neighbor to my south reported 3 and a quarter inches in her gauge and a neighbor to my north reported 2 inches. Moni, I have a couple of sweet potato recipes. I'll try to remember to respond to your post at FB OGNetwork with them. Nancy, glad you had an enjoyable time with your guests and a good conversation with your dear friend. I look forward to your report on the school garden. Around here... I woke up fairly early for a day off. Everyone is starving in the mornings and start their antics to get me up. They got fed and I got my workout done. Then went into town to run a few errands. TSC was busy this morning! My friend and neighbor, Marilyn, planted fall beans but has enough from the spring, so we trade eggs and beans. I went to pick another basket yesterday after visiting with my friend, Deona. (Deona lives in north OKC so it's a bit of a trip.) I didn't get as many beans this time, but it is still a nice batch. Rick and I will share them. I didn't get my share blanched and in the freezer yet, but maybe tonight. Our beans were such a disappointment this year. Most of the melons were cut up last night. Half of them were mushy, so went to the chickens. But, they're off my list and countertop. There's a few more in the garden that will need to be picked tonight. (I am so ready to get all the garden produce off the countertops and replace it with the KitchenAid and begin baking!) We cooked a small chicken on Monday night, so the bones and carcass have been on "low" in the crockpot. It's a good way to make broth for sure. I rarely have to buy chicken broth. Then, the leftover bones are soft so can be mushed up and fed back to the chickens. Really, we should eat it ourselves....but no. Rick is coming over tonight with replacement plants for the ones that got trashed on Sunday night. He hasn't seen the gardens since last week. Really, most of the plants are fine. It was the smallest ones with few leaves that were truly damaged. His "plant math" is much like "chicken math"....sorta like..."oh, 20 plants were destroyed....okay, I'll bring over 100 to replace them." lol It is good that the stores finally have cool season things now. He will cover plants tonight in case of a frost. I'll clean stuff up. The coop needs its fall clean to get ready for winter. It's a bit muddy to do a true coop clean today, but I did bring in all the chick/momma hen waterers and feeders. I have a bad habit of throwing them into the coop storage area while still filthy. So...I brought them all in and bleached/disinfected them all. They'll be ready for next summer. Some of them are beginning to wear out and might need to be replaced, however I'll keep them just in case they're difficult to buy next year OR too expensive. Have y'all noticed that everything has gone up in price this year?! Wages/salaries haven't. We are going to have to relook at our budget and spending very soon. Tom is smoking meat tonight for a friends' huge party tomorrow. He hasn't done such a large batch in a long time. Those are always long nights because some of the meat has to smoke for hours. Anyway, I'm rambling. But, yeah, I will do some garden clean up and start the coop "winterize".