I have an ebay store and we just reached "Top-Rated Seller" Status. We reached "Power Seller" status earlier in the year, and I am just proud as punch about it!

I have my brother to thank, in part, because since I turned over my password to him and let him list some items (he has over 3,000 items listed) we have the volumn of sales that qualify us. Also, our excellent customer service has led us to be highly rated.

I checked the other day, and we have sold in excess of 1,000 items in the last 12 months, which is incredible. And alot of what we have sold was found at yard sales and thrift shops. However, I've even sold some things that were left behind in the barn when we moved in!

One man's junk is another man's treasure...

And it is still raining. We've had a month of rain. Lots, and lots of rain. My last entry, 11 weeks ago, was entitled "water, water everywhere", and it is still!

Lots has happened. The biggest thing is that I have managed to successfully get P moved into another school, after 6 months of trying to do something about the problem, and thanks to a little push by my Namista, they actually listened to me. She told them that we've been trying to work with the woman to resolve the issue for 2 1/2 years and needed to know what we would need to tell our lawyer.

Oddly enough, after mentioning the "L" word to them, they agreed to meet with me and the resulting meeting effected the transfer of the girl from the prison system into another elementary school. Her new school, in Farmington, does not have isolation booths and seems to address behavioral problems a little differently.

I got the girl a mulligan!

Let's hope that this, and the entire summer filled with behavioral adjustment techniques, will be enough to ensure a smooth transition from the misery at Wilton to a pleasant learning environment in Farmington.

I had to meet with a social worker yesterday, regarding my plans for employment/education for the future, and I so confused her that she is going to give me some time to straighten out a few "issues" before putting pressure on me to succeed at anything. My quest for reasonable employment is not succeeding, and the DOllar Tree job is just getting in the way of the self employment success, therefore I have come to a decision:

I'm giving notice at the Dollar Tree. I ran the figures, and I made more from my online sales for the last three months than I have working there, anyway, and they keep scheduling me for evenings. As I have no reliable child care (reliable being the operative word), this is slightly more than inconvenient, and I have little hope of getting this job to be the daytime job that I was hoping for in the first place.

They had a meeting at the store a few weeks ago, where the district manager came in and talked to us about direct deposit or debit cards rather than paychecks. The district manager implied that the debit card would probably be better for us, as we were only earning enough for MacDonalds, anyway, and that is when I started reconsidering my continued employment there, to begin with.

Add to that being scheduled last week for Sunday, when I told them when I was hired that I cannot work on Sundays, and being scheduled for only Thursday two weeks in a row then suddenly being scheduled for Friday, as well, on the one week when I have nobody to sit with the girl for the evening as my brother is going on a road trip, leaving Friday morning. When I asked them to switch it, I was informed that I was going to have to "forfeit" the shift, leaving me with yet another week with only 4 hours total.

I ran the figures this morning, and made more from online sales for the last three months than I have working there, and that without much in the way of effort. If I devoted my efforts to increasing the online business, as well as getting things organized for the next phase of the total business (namely, getting the store in order to apply for the "Ebay Trading Assistant" status), I have a much greater chance of success becoming independent of this "social worker" business and becoming self sufficient.

It's all about focus. The social worker was right: I'm all over the place here. I need to focus on the goal and stop wasting time and energy with this job, which hasn't really paid off very well to begin with. There is a niche right here for the trading assistant, and a good number of people that will be more than anxious to get some money for their stuff, because we've had quite a number of major layoffs up here, as there have been all over the place, and those people will need to raise money somehow.

So, today, after my doctor's appointment, I'll be going to the Dollar Tree to give notice.

1 1/2 cup sugar
5 cups milk
8 eggs
10+ cups flour
1/2 cup melted butter, warm but not hot
1 pinch nutmeg
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/4 tps orange extract
1/2 tsp salt
1 grated orange rind
1 cup yellow raisins

heat milk until lukewarm - mix 3/4 cup milk, 1/4 cup sugar, and yeast. Leave warm and let rise

beat eggs and 1 1/4 cups sugar.

sift together flour, nutmeg, and salt. Make a well in the mixture and pour in the yeast mixture. stir, and add the butter and milk, extracts and rind. add more flour until thick enough to knead. knead 14-20 min, until rubbery and add raisins (knead them in)

let rise in a large, warm bowl coated with butter (or cooking spray), covered with a towel - leavfe 3 hours in a warm place (like the oven).

When it has risen 2ce it's original size, knead 10-15 minutes more, then seprate into 5 loaf pans. Let it rise, covered for 1 more hour then bake 45 minutes at 350, 15 minutes at 300.

Makes 5 loaves.

1 lb of meat with bones
10 med potatoes - mashed w/salt, pepper, milk, and butter
6 - 10 fresh beets
2 tbls of vinegar
12 oz sour cream (or plain yogurt)
crisp, crumbled bacon (optional)

You'll need a pound of meat with bones - lamb or pork is best. Brown it in large sauce pan, then add water to cover. You want all the meat to fall off the bones.

Take about 10 medium potatoes, and boil them in a really big pan - then mash them. Add salt, pepper, a little milk and butter.

Take 6 to 10 medium beets, wash them, then boil them until tender - Pour the water, which will turn red, over the meat, then when they are cooled off, peel them and grate them iinto the pan with the meat, then add about 2 tbls of vinegar (recommend balsamic) to the broth.

In a bowl, put a 12 oz container of sour cream (or plain yogurt), then slowly add some of the broth, stirring so as to not curdle the mixture. Once you've added about half the broth to this, pour the rest back into the pan with the meat and beets.

Then pour the whole thing over the mashed potatoes, top with crumbled bacon, and serve.

I have been so busy - the work at the Dollar Tree has increased - more people quit, leaving more open shifts for me to fill, and I've been dealing with some outragous behavior from the girl, and trying to start the spring cleaning.

My entire kitchen needs to be redone. I'm starting on the plans for renovations/redecorating, but I have to wait a little longer until the snow all melts, because I have to fix the roof before beginning interior work. It's ok, because that gives me more planning time.

The girl has her first basketball game tonight, and is oh so sure that her team is going to lose, but I'm looking forward to it anyway. I picked her up at practice one day last week, and saw her take an almost perfect free-throw shot. She needs to work on control, naturally, but she is somewhat natural at this activity.

Hopefully, I can get her into girl scout camp this year. I think that a week in the company would be good for her. Otherwise, I'm going to try to get her into some other camp, because I don't want her getting to bored all summer.

Things seem to be going well.

yesterday, we took P to a cabin at the top of a mountain up near Sugerloaf so that she could sled down it. She had a great time, and I got to see a magnificiant, 3 story log cabin, built in the 70's by a former hippie.

Only a former hippie could have built such a cabin. It was built with hand-hewn logs found on the property when the only way to get there was a narrow jeep trail. It is huge, with tons of rooms, decks all around on each level, and everywhere a fantastic view.

I was a great admirer of the hippie movement, but too young to participate. Think how different my life might have been if I had been just a little older then? Some of my DIY policies in life stem from the same principles.

I resist conventions, preferring to do things myself, and would have loved to be part of a community that did something like build an extremely large log cabin on a remote mountain in northern Maine.

Of course, DIY only goes so far if you don't know what you are doing! I never would have attempted to change my plumbing, for instance, becaus, while it was a huge mess before, if you do it wrong you can do alot of damage. Done correctly, however, it can cost you a fraction of what you pay a "professional", and sometimes the so-called professional doesn't know what they are doing, either.

I finally, finally, finally have my water back! You have no idea! I have not had running water since the 18th of January! No more hauling buckets! No more pouring water over my head with a sauce pan to shower - and the shower now works properly!

And while digging around in my yard, they have unearthed some lovely rocks! In the spring, when it all thaws, I can use those rocks for the parimeter foudation on the barn!

The new well is right outside in my front yard, about 20 feet from the house, and I'm going to use the lawn-art logs from the ash tree (for those of you that don't know, ash doesn't like to split for firewood) as seats around the well and put a table over it, like a little picnic area.

I'm actually so excited that I can't stand it - the first thing that I did was laundry. Then I did dishes. Next, I'm taking a shower. Yippee! Running water!

TTFN

They have started the work on my new well, and are still drilling. I don't know, exactly, how long this is going to take or how long it is supposed to take, but they started pretty early this morning, and have been working pretty steady all day.

While they have been working, I took a bath, cleared up the dirty dishes (which i couldn't do yesterday, because I pulled a thigh mussle and was in agony yesterday), so there were quite a lot; I did a load of laundry, and I listed almost all of the remaining dishes I got on my last trip onto ebay.

Meanwhile, they delivered more kerosene, so I will be sure to have heat for the rest of the month - I expect that I should only need 2 or 3 more deliveries this year before the final delivery which will last until late spring.

I'm looking forward to taking a shower, doing laundry the old fashion way (by turning the washing machine on), doing dishes, and washing my hands like a normal, 21st century person in this country.

I understand now why you always see 18th century homes having servants - they needed someone to spend the time and energy to haul the water about - it takes quite a bit of your day to do things this way. I've got a new appreciation for indoor plumbing, now!

My leg feels much better today, which is good because I have to work tonight, and I'm looking into materials for the projects I'll be working on as soon as the water is once again flowing normally. Believe you me I'm going to be doing alot of work to insure that this kind of thing never happens again!

I've been doing pretty good under this pressure, which really surprises me. Maybe it's given me an excuse to stop looking for the non-existant job I'm supposed to be getting for a while - I'm just too busy. While I really do want a job, I really, really don't want to go back to the "full time job; fll time home life" scenario I was in when my children were small. Bloody exhausting, juggling all of that!

So, cheers for now!

PS: my younger daughter finally, finally, oh my goodness finally, got her driving permit today! Way to go - only a little over a decade late, there. But, better late than never...

Yes, I have gone out to eat by myself, and had to force myself to be comfortable with it. However, I've been out to eat with other people, and felt more alone with a companion than I've ever felt by myself.

I've found that when you are by yourself, you can converse with others more comfortably and this can make it so much more enjoyable. Sitting at the bar to eat, for instance, can be extremely entertaining.

Well, I haven't heard from the well guy since Friday. He hadn't heard from the adjuster since Wednesday, when he faxed the itemized listing over to them to get authorization to complete the work installing the new well.

So, it's been almost 2 weeks now that I have been hauling buckets of water in order to bathe, wash dishes, cook, etc. and boiling water for drinking and washing up.

My bck is killing me, but we are managing. I even got the girl to take the bucket into the shower and clean herself (and her hair), and she volunteered to allow me the rare priveledge of brushing her hair. No smell, no mess, no fighting, she just took her bath and let me brush Bob away! Wow, what a relief!

I'm about to go in and bathe myself, but I can't tell you how tiring it is and I have alot of more physical labor ahead of me to redo the area affected by the disaster so that it will better prevent a reoccurance. I also plan to go down into my disgusting basement and see if there is anything that I can do down there to better insulate the pipes which froze.

I'm fairly pumped about these renovations and really, really hope that I can do a good enough job of it to create a better living environment while, at the same time, raising the value of the place so that the potential salability of it will be increased.

Who knows, maybe it'll work!

There is always hope...

When the well guy was here, discussing the plans for fixing my current lack of running water problem, I asked him a few questions - questions which I also discussed with my counselor this morning, for improving the conditions underwhich I live.

They mainly concern the heating system, the lack of heat throughout the entire "shed" portion of my house, and the lack of a bathtub.

The "shed" portion of my house, the section between the original house and the barn, is 15 to 20 feet wide. It is separated into 3 sections, with the "water closet" in the middle. The water closet is about 8' x 8', and the interior walls are insulated. There is a heating element inside this room, but there is no ceiling - it is just insulation.

The well guy agreed with me that it was not so smart to have insulated the interior walls of this room, as it keeps the heat from the rest of the area out of the room, and should the heater inside that room malfunction or fail, there would be no heat getting into the most important room to have heat in - the primary water supply.

If I take the insulation on the interior walls of this room and put it into the rafters (not far above where it is hanging right now) and use the sheetrock that is currently creating these walls to create a ceiling, I can dismantal the room and open up more usable space - enough space for a bathtub!

Also, the other interior wall, which separates the third "section" of the "shed" from the back hallway could be similarily deconstructed in order to insulate and create a ceiling in that section, as well. It would become one big room, and with a little rearranging of the heating elements present, one big heated room. I can easily double the space of my bathroom, creating room for a bathtub/shower instead of a shower stall, as well as separating the area for the washer and dryer.

This would also have the effect of raising the actual value of my home (not to mention the quality of life), as it is kind of dismal right now.

And, the best part, almost exclusively using materials on hand! Very little cost, if I am carefull. It would solve a huge problem that I've been having staying warm and heating the place...without costing an arm and leg. It's just alot of work - but it is doable work!

For some strange reason, I'm pleased with myself today. I hope to stay pleased with myself!

Thanks for listening.

I accomplished something today.

I finished filling out the taxes, and brought them to the social worker, who reinstated my cash benefits, food stamps, assured me that the Mainecare would continue until I earn over $23,000 per year, and put money on my EBT card.

She apologized for her error in dropping me off, and I'm good for another year before the threatening letters start up again.

Whew! Maybe we can survive the winter...

This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:
- I make no guarantees that you will like what I make!
- What I create will be just for you.
- It'll be done this year.
- You have no clue what it's going to be. It may be a song. It may be a something costume-y. I may draw or paint something. I may bake you something and mail it to you. Who knows? Not you, that's for sure!
- I reserve the right to do something extremely strange.

The catch? Oh, the catch is that you have to put this in your journal as well. We all can make stuff!

Location: 04227

Well, I spoke to the insurance adjuster, finally, and everything is covered (past my deductable), so I'm good to go. She spoke to the Well guy, who was under the impression that the plumbers were the ones who were going to fix the underground break, but the plumbers don't do that, which is why they told me to call the well guy in the first place.

I called the plumbers to get them to fax the bill to the insurance adjuster, and spoke to the well guy, who got the claim number, is going to work up an estimate and contact an excavator guy, and they can get started pretty soon. Once the estimate is prepared, he'll fax it to the insurance adjuster, and we'll be good to go.

They actually can get started as soon as everything is prepared. They don't have to wait until spring.

Everyone has been really nice (and patient) with me, and nobody is trying to say that this is a lack of maintenance problem, so it is all covered. I was a bit worried about that, because my last insurance claim (many years ago when the sewer pipe blew up under the floor on Chalkstone) the adjuster tried to say that it was a lack of maintenance on my part (lies, all lies - the damage came because of the maintenance (the plumbers broke the pipe forcing water down the drain) and dropped me from insurance because of it.

Anyway, except for an extrordinary amount of fetch and carry in the meantime, we will be up and running within the forceable future.

Well, I am in deep do-do here.

The plumbers got the repairs done to the plumbing and heating system - the heat is up and running in all zones. They had to patch 3 heating pipes that burst, and most of the pipes leading into the bathroom plumbing had burst, but after thawing out the pipe bringing water into the house, they could not get the water flowing.

So, the well guys came, and they have confirmed my "worst case scenario", a pipe has burst underground, needs to be excavated, and cannot be excavated until Spring. So, he set up a by-pass so that I have enough (non-potable) water to fill up buckets, and left.

I will not have plumbing until spring. No showers, no drinking water, nada.

I've been able to do laundry by filling up the washing machine with buckets, and I can flush the toilet. I heat up water to do dishes, and can sponge bathe, so its not a total disaster, but will have to borrow a shower at least once a week or YUCK!

It'll take more work, but I can manage. The insurance has assured me that it's all covered under the policy, including renting a motel room for the duration, but at $1,200 per month to do so (minimum), I think it would be better to tough it out here, as much as possible.

I've made alot of progress getting the place cleaned up after this disaster, but really, really hope that the insurance really comes through to get this fixed.

The pumbers had to replace or patch the heating pipes, as well as the water pipes that burst. They have completed their work, and I'm waitign for the call from the insurance adjuster. The well guys are working on getting the water supply working from the well, and once we have water, we'll be up and running (or shivvering, as the case may be) again.

It has been one hell of a weekend, I can tell you!

Well, let's see how the universe is treating me this week:

We had 2 days where the temp overnight reached -24, and the pipes froze when the furnace was off for 6 hours early Friday morning.

I managed to get the furnace running again, but the kitchen zone stopped working - there may be a frozen pipe in the basement, or the thermostat is broken.

I had run out of easily cut wood, so we had no wood fire, and the kitchen and back hallway were freezing. There was a crust of ice in the toilet, so I mean really freezing. As the water pump and storage tank is right behind that wall, the pipes froze. When they thawed, some of them burst.

So, I have limited heat, no running water, and have to use my circular saw to cut down the wood small enough that I can bludgen it with my axe in order to keep the wood stove going. We have 2 space heaters that run on Kerosene (thanks, Uncle Lou) in the back hallway, a propane heater running in the back storage room, and the heat is actually working in my bedroom - which is quite unusual.

And it is snowing. Couple of inches so far. Good news is that that gives me a fast, ready supply of water to melt on the wood stove to do the washing up and flush the toilet.

At least the drains are still working...

I am going to have to get a plumber in asap to fix this, and he'll have to deal with the utter mess of plumbing that the amature who set it up made of the utility room.

Well, I submitted my resume for a job in Lewiston, which is an hour away, for an office administrator position and they have scheduled me an interview for Monday. I am really hopeful that I can pull it off and get the job - $14 to $18 per hour and right up my alley.

Also, my new counselor has diagnosed me with Post Traumatic Stress, which has been diagnosed for me before, and set up a treatment plan for me. I'm hopeful, however, he seems to be falling asleep as I'm talking to him so I'm slightly concerned about that.

When I got the letter telling me that I was being reviewed for eligibility for the Mainecare, as well as the food stamps (which were cut off, but I now get the transitional food stamps so I'm not starving yet), It freaked me out, and I have been really out of my mind about it since, so I am finalizing the annual financial statement so that I have lots of records to bring down to them to show that I really do need the assistance, and the job is only 5 hours per week, and may not last much longer in the meantime.

I have set the short term goal of finding a job that will help dig out, provide medical insurance, and get the state out of my face. No wonder to me that there are so many homeless, destitute people in this country because this is an awful lot to go through just to get starvation wages from the state.

While I am working, my brother can keep the ebay going so that we will have the income from him that we need to suppliment what I get from the job and P gets from the state of RI and maybe we can start to recover from this. There is always hope.

So, if my journal hasn't been calm, rational, etc. I apologize but it has been a really hard month! It'll get better! It pretty much has to!

December 23, 2008 my Uncle Lou left this earth. One could hope that it was for a better place.

Most people seem to hold the belief that when one departs they go to a better place. Me, I'm not so sure, but he is gone from this one. I attended his wake and funeral this weekend, and said my final goodbyes.

At the wake, it was a bit difficult - well, no matter who the dearly departed is, that can be difficult - but I'm really going to miss him. He's been a part of my life since I was a small child, and we shared many, many things.

When I was living on Indiana Avenue (I was married, he'd just gotten divorced) he would bring his children over to visit - frequently. After my divorce, when my parents had their car accident and I was moving up to Maine (1995), and my ex had abandoned our house on Indiana Avenue, he came over with me to get some things out of the house that had been left behind and actually drove me (and the stuff) to Maine. He went with me to visit my father in the hospital.

Over the last year, he has given me boxes full of things to sell for him. Things he'd collected over the years, and I started my ebay "business" because of it. He and I had some exciting times, as some of his items took off and sold for a great deal more than either of us expected. We talked on the phone frequently, and I visited him almost every month. He got alot of joy out of this partnership, partially because he felt vindicated in collecting these items, because he'd been told that they were worthless and he should have thrown them away.

Uncle Lou wasn't an easy man. He had a quick temper and was changed by his divorce. He never quite got over it, and was very sensitive about certain things. (I once made the mistake of showing him simpathy because he'd been sick - big mistake!). But I really, really liked him.

On the drive home, I thought about it alot. I realized that of my three uncles, he was definately my favorite. I don't just feel that way because I've just lost him, either. I feel that way because he and I had a bond that spread over decades.

Bonds are rare for me - doesn't happen often. I had a bond with my father, and my brother (both of whom I've lost over the last decade), but they were immedate family, and I'd actually lived with each (or both) from time to time. But I never lived with my Uncle Lou.

He and I had one very important thing in common - both of us have spent most of our lives unappreciated - especially by immediate family.

I appreciated him.