1. It’s cold outside. Really, really cold (-8 overnight low is not typical for us here in VA) and our 7 inches of snow from days ago hasn’t melted a bit. Thus, planning a garden with a wool blanket over my lap and a coffee mug in hand is partially therapeutic in addition to being practical. I love paging through the heirloom seed catalogs as part of my planning. It’s going to be a challenge to garden organically and keep away all the pests, not to mention deer, but the pictures in the seed catalogs are intoxicating.

2. I read Rich Dad, Poor Dad yesterday, in just a few hours. I’d picked it up years ago but we were doing Dave Ramsey to get out of debt then and for whatever reason I put it back down after only a couple chapters. Mad at myself for that now, but the second best time to start is today, so here goes. Takeaway: Acquire income-producing assets. Do not work for wages your whole life; use your wages to build your assets and thus financial independence. I think I have one small asset, a set of articles on a large company’s website earning royalties — it’s only $50-$100 a month, but it’s 100% passive. And it’s a start. Next step: research potential assets and find a way to buy them.

3. One by one, I am organizing my closets. We’ve only been here six months, but deep cleaning is still needed. The first one I tackled was the pantry. I love organizing with wire baskets. And yes, I even made all the plastic bags showing in the organizer on the right the same grey color.

4. Little Thad (2.5) has had a fever at night for four days running. After day one, he was typically okay during the day, but very clingy. We don’t dose fevers with Tylenol or anything that would reduce them — believing that the fever is healing the body and working to rid it of virus or infection. I just wish this one would work more quickly, already.

5. I read an article about a Dad of 12 Who Made Them All Work Hard (ok, the real title was Made Sure They Could All Pay for College) and it’s worth the quick read if you have a moment. Takeaway:

“Even though we have sufficient money, we have not helped the children buy homes, pay for education, pay for weddings (yes, we do not pay for weddings either). We have provided extensive information on how to do it or how to buy rental units and use equity to grow wealth.” Hmmmm…..

6. I’m going through clothing bins ahead of the spring kids’ consignment sale in my area. My goal each season is to cover my shopping trip (which is in the hundreds of dollars for five kids’ clothes, shoes, etc.) with the earnings from whatever I sell at the same event. We do hand-me-downs from one child to the next IF the items are in good shape, correct size, and right for the next child. But I purge a ton each season too, clothes that are stained or ripped or missing matches or not what I like. Obviously the damaged clothes are not the ones I sell. I do pick up extras throughout the year at yard sales etc. to resell.

7. I made sourdough pizza crust Saturday night and it was delish. I’ll have to post the recipe later this week, as I actually measured flour and wrote down exactly how much of each ingredient I used. And it turned out great — no added yeast, just the sourdough starter, water, flour, salt and olive oil.

Those are my quick takes from the week — would love to read yours, so leave a comment and I’ll check out your blog.

See Also:
Best Rubber Boots For Farm Work (Men And Women)
7 Best Dump Carts For Lawn and Garden Tractor
Best Crops for Fall Gardening
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