FAQs

Lately I have been getting lots of questions regarding some of my previous posts. Since there are currently 1400-ish emails in my Inbox it seems easier to just answer everyone here and then I can continue to ignore my Inbox :).

A few people asked about the budgeting consequences of my organic food conversion.  Is is much more expensive? Yes and no. Yes because, unfortunately healthier food choices are a lot more expensive. Fresh fruit and veggies, especially organics, are a great deal more money than a box of cookies or Hamburger Helper. Organic meat is also very expensive and packaged in very small portions which can make things even pricier for my larger than average clan. So in that respect yes. But I also buy a great deal less of packaged food and since I am trying to bake more and cook from scratch there are less snack foods to buy. I have also cut way back on the amount of paper products we buy. I have been using old cloth diapers as cleaning rags and I only buy paper pplates and cups when we host our family rosary night or some other large-ish gathering. This has also helped keep the budget in line and has reduced my garbage output a bit which is all to the good.

What also helped was ordering the cow. the price of the butchered meat worked out to be about $3.00 per pound. That sounds expensive for ground beef but I also received many cuts of steak and other high end portions so it evened out to be relatively inexpensive compared to the organic meat in the market. I also make use of Trader Joe's which is a really good supermarket for more natural food choices.The prices are pretty good. When it's just too expensive to buy an organic product I will go for the most natural (least amount of ingredients) as possible. It's important to be flexible and to take this in steps.

Another question I received was with regard to my bracelet. Now, let me preface this by saying that I have received many, many beautiful gifts in memory of Ryan. People from all over the world have sent us the most beautiful and meaningful things with the purpose of memorializing my son or just to cheer us and make us smile. It is, without a doubt, the kindest and most precious thing that could happen. I have not posted about these things simply because they are mostly very personal, almost intimate, and I have a great fear that by posting some I would offend others whose lovely gifts I did not  post.  But many people, some of whom have lost a child asked about the bracelet so here goes…

the photo doesn't do it justice. Photographing a bracelet? Tricky that. The bracelet was made for me by the dear Kimberlee of Beads of Mercy. The charms she used have great meaning for me, the Autism puzzle piece, a guitar, a music note, a claddagh, a miraculous medal and a crucifix. She nailed my Ryan.

It's beautiful, isn't it?

Last question for today.. (actually I have been working this for two days believe it or not) from Heather. Heather asked me to explain about our homeschool mom's support night. We actually decided to call it a mom's retreat and it was a lot of fun.  About 15 moms gathered here on Wednesday night to pray together, laugh, chat and share. the ladies wanted to know how our morning basket worked so I pulled it out and showed them. it's nice to actually "see" what other people do sometimes isn't it? I am a visual learner so I understood the need to see how things worked.  We decided to plan the evenings for once a month and use the time to share whatever is working in our lives at the moment.  The next one is already planned at another friend's house.

Thank you to all my dear readers for your interest in our doings here. I am very blessed my your sticking with us!