We had an awesome Easter! Granted, I had to work in the bakery until 9AM, but the workload was light. My daughter and I went to 10:30 Mass, came home, and my mom, dad, two kids, my sweetie and I all hopped into the minivan and drove down to see the Virginia side of the family.
You know how sometimes you worry about how a family get-together will go? You're not sure if the weird uncle will corner your sweetie, if the kids will try chasing the dogs to see if they like chocolate bunnies, if you're going to have to answer pointed questions about your career, educational plans, etc. None of that happened! The weird uncle wasn't there, the kids were reasonably well-behaved with the animals (and didn't break anything!), conversation and laughter flowed along with the sweet tea, and my sweetie made a work/play date with my uncle to work on the family acreage.
My cousin now has a sweetie, too, and we must have more similar tastes in men than I realized! Ten minutes after meeting, the guys were hanging out in the back yard with Uncle Mike, talking hunting, guns, hard labor and grunting! Independently of each other, my cousin and I have been doing similar research on money and energy saving practices. We found that we've been reading similar themes but different titles, so we swapped a book or two and promised to send links to each other about online finds.
After visiting my "country" cousins, I wish that I could be out in the middle of nowhere, raising chickens, a pig or two, maybe a cow or a goat for milk, with a mortgage free home on 5 acres. Sadly, my mission is in the city - I have to teach the folks how to fend for themselves in the concrete jungle, showing them how to grow and raise food without the benefit of lots of land. I have to install systems in the homes that will allow life to go on even if all the utilities go down. Oh, it'll be exciting, and possibly even more of a challenge than rural homesteading. It just won't be as peaceful. *Sigh*
Live free for free!
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