Thoughts From My Experience of Being Pinned Under a Trash Bin

I sit here, typing an entry because I am too sore to do anything else. I tried and FAILED miserably at completing a SUPERWOMAN task yesterday that has left me bruised, bare-knuckled, and unable to bend.

It may be that I am in my 30's and have this grand desire to be "the best" at everything. I may be trying to overcome these things called "age" and "growing up". It may be that I am tired of certain people telling me that I am a "wimp" (this list includes a parental unit and at least one offspring, just to mention a couple). For whatever reason, I thought that I was strong enough to roll out the 200 pound trash bin and, with no luck, ended up on the concrete pinned under it.

So, screaming like a baby I cried for anyone. My husband was at work, my oldest son was away at camp, my middle son was in the bathroom, and the little guy was busy eating his cereal. There is no neighbor living next door to us. The side gate was left open with a clear view to the neighbor across the street and I imagine that they could have been taking pictures or laughing at my expense, but it was obvious that no one heard me at 7:30 in the morning. I mustered up what strength I had left and was able to lift the top of the bin off my chest and shimmy-ed my way out from under the dirt and weeds.

Superwoman, I am not. I have learned an important lesson. It is my husband's job to take out the heavy trash...and he does it so gracefully (part of the reason why I thought that it would be a "cake" job). I think that I just need to suck it up and live with my gold-plated, "wimp" crown on my head and enjoy NOT taking out the heavy trash. I have found other things that I can be "SUPER" at. I make "SUPER" greeting cards and "SUPER" pillow covers. My son loves my "SUPER" chicken soup and my husband loves my "SUPER"-toned thighs. I happen to think that I have a "SUPER" singing voice but save it for car rides and showers. I actually am striving just to be normal....Normal would be pretty "SUPER"!

So if you are interested in taking advice from a 30-something that is struggling to be normal, I'd say, "Don't get pinned under the garbage and remember to turn off the vacuum before you lean down to grab the pencil under the bed."

Time Warp

I haven't blogged in a while. I've been a little caught up in my little time-warp. It started with the garden....it grew to having chickens, and now, we have technology holidays on Sunday. Just yesterday, I was thinking, "Where did those overalls go? I could really use them right now. Hee-haw!"

These technology holidays consist of us not watching tv or using the internet. My husband and I turn off our cell phones and we use as little electricity as possible. We don't consider ourselves Amish....yet. We still use our fridge and enjoy the blessings of what Thomas Edison gave us every time we switch on a light. We do though, try to use natural light as long as we can and spend time outside. Last night we tried to play Yatzee by candlelight until I couldn't handle the flickers of the candles anymore(They were messing with my one good eye).

As we continue to thrive through this simple life for one day of our week, we have found that it has brought us closer together. We spend time gardening as a family. We have been eating lunch together. The kids have more interaction with each other...or fighting, if that's what you want to call it. We all pick up these spinal-bound things called books and magazines. Maybe it's out of sheer boredom, but everyone is about ready to go to sleep once the sun goes down.

A day of rest. Be it Biblical, or just to get back to a more simple life, it has been refreshing. We were able to survive without 4G and Survivor at one point in our lives. Our family plans ahead on most weekends (Friday and Saturday) to complete as much work for meals and house-cleaning so we can concentrate on what is most important: Our relationships with each other and our devotion to the One that gave us each day to live.

So...if you see my green light on my profile picture on FaceBook on a Sunday, I might have some explaining to do.

Homesteading

Every morning I walk into the living room and I stare at the yard. For many years it was concrete slabs. Then it turned into a dirt-biker's heaven. After years of neglect, we have finally brought some life back into our outdoor space. It started with 2 planter beds. Our first season gave us corn, an abundance of broccoli with worms, and zucchini. It was amazing that we could actually take care of this living-breathing plant life. Our garden is increasing and over-filling our planters. We plant in buckets, straight into the ground and now, have added a 3rd planter bed.

Through this year transition, we have also gained a compost box and 3 chickens. It is not unusal to see the entire family out in the yard on the weekend: my husband and me, all 3 boys, 3 chickens, and the sassy bunny. Not everyone enjoys being outside, and eventually my oldest son and the bunny go and hide somewhere else, but it has become a relaxing and family-oriented ritual.




Just the other day I was replanting the potatoes and got so excited about the numerous worms that kept appearing. My husband must have felt my excitement because he told me that we could take a worm census (Yes, an actual count of worm members in our garden, and probably just as accurate as the US census).

Today I noticed the dirt stains around my nails and I was sad for a moment. Normally when I see that much dirt, it's in my boys' nails and I get so grossed out, but this is something natural. It is something that I should be proud of. I may need to scrub better in the shower from now on, but I know that I am doing my part to increase the oxygen supply around my home as well as to lessen my little carbon footprint on this earth.

Homesteading has been a most humbling experience for me. Normally I would not be caught dead sweeping up chicken poop from the patio....who would? I am constantly dirty, which some of you know, will effect my showering habits. An extra shower on some days, one less on another....but I still maintain a 100% average on my New Year's resolution to shower every day. We eat from the garden which is more nutritious than the items that they grow in the chip aisle of Target or even the bulk bins at Sprouts. I am learning to make nice with animals that eat everything beautiful in my garden. Somebunny keeps sneeking under the netting to eat the cilantro, but I have learned to live with that cycle of life. In return for my kindness, I get a little nip on the cuff of my pants as I water the buckwheat. She speaks to me in her silent way saying something like, "I forgive you. You are not so bad either. Keep those chickens away from me!"

So it's a step back in time, this homesteading. We are stopping to "smell the roses" (but it smells a lot more like almost fully-ripened onions). I see so many parallels to my life as a parent and my garden. Most of the time, it's chaotic and in need of weeding and cleaning. I need to water it often so it can prosper. We set barriers to keep plants from growing the wrong way and we put netting up to keep bad things from happening to our precious fruits. The one that gets me the most is that I won't see the hard work that I put in until many days, months, and years later.

It is a precious thing, raising kids, plants, chickens. a bunny......

It is also a most-rewarding thing!...Especially on those days when I sit on my patio and I see the new green sprouts and the blooming flowers, the chickens strutting their stuff across the pumpkin vines, the bunny nibbling at the hay, my husband turning the compost, and the kids giggling, throwing dirt clods against the tilting wooden fence.