Hello to my few readers who are still here. I always have at least five views every month, and so for those few I continue on. I want to reach out and help who I can, where I can.
It's been a very hard month for us. It actually started in October when we had our semi-annual appointment at the welfare office about our food stamps. First, let me back track. Two years ago my husband worked for a contractor as a painter for houses. He worked for him for a number of years. Since painting is a seasonal job here, and I felt I needed to stay home with our two handicapped children, we applied for and received food stamps. They agreed to help us with about $600 a month. Last year the man that my husband worked for decided to retire. Being that we are both over the age of fifty, my husband didn't think anyone would likely hire him. He worked out a deal with his boss and now the painting company is my husbands. If our family car hadn't broken an axle and the car company given us money for it, we would have never had had the money to get the business off the ground in his name. Last fall it was time to renew the food stamps again. As a new business, my husband made much less money than he did the year before. What did welfare decide this time? We only qualified for $189 a month this time. I was nervous as we went into last winter as to how we would handle everything with a loss of $400 to our budget. Some how we survived. Now last month, it was time again. This year, our income wasn't any better than last year and guess what? They said we don't qualify for food stamps any more. I'm terrified. We only have a handful of bills, gas, electric, rent, our COX bundle and the business insurance. All of them except for the business insurance are behind at this point. Most likely we will lose our COX bundle in an effort to keep surviving. Could your son survive without his computer AND his tv??? This so isn't good. However, when things get bad, I try to find something good to think about.
I'm grateful that I had the experience for voting with my son for the first time this year. That's right, he exercised his right to vote for the very first time! We had great discussions about how our government works and what the current issues are. I have never been more informed before an election as I was this year and I owe it all to my son. It was wonderful seeing him deciding what he thought was right for our country. I got a glimpse of the man that is inside him getting ready to come out!
I'm grateful that my church has a welfare program of it's own and we are able to get a limited bit of food if we really need it. This pains me because I want to be the one helping others, not the one getting the help. We do what we have to do for our kids though. Humility is a hard lesson to learn.
I'm grateful that my church has an employment program and that they are going to try and help me be job worthy again. After being at home for eleven years, no one is hiring me and I apparently am in need of a huge redo.
I am grateful for my health. I've had a good year health wise. I am on new medicine for my blood pressure and I feel much better now. Keeping your health is so important. Along those same lines, I am thankful that I have a plot now at the community garden. As our budget shrinks, I still have some green beans in my freezer and some tomatoes ripening in my window. It makes me feel a little less helpless and the fresh food is so much healthier for you.
I wish I could stay positive but did you hear what President Obama said in his press conference this past week? I've been worried that I might lose my health insurance and will have to pay for my pills, I'm worried that my kids SSI payments may be reduced. Then Pres. Obama says that if the physical cliff thing doesn't go well, he doesn't want to hurt the woman on SSI with handicapped kids. That means that I am his next target. We can't afford any more loses here. We aren't making it now. Please pray for me and my family, for your family. I've been homeless once and it was awful.
As I am struggling to find positive things to be thankful for this year, I am also thankful for my friends and for you. For many years I thought I was all alone. Then I found facebook and My Autism Team and all of a sudden my world opened up a bit. I'm grateful for you all. Next week we have the opportunity to sit around our tables and give thanks for what we have. May we all be able to put our fears aside for that short period of time and find something positive to hang on to. Happy Thanksgiving all!
Here's my older daughter's Pumpkin Pie recipe. She got it off a web site a few years ago, but I don't know which one. It's my younger daughter's favorite pie!
PUMPKIN PIE
1 15oz. can of pumpkin
1 12oz can of evaporated milk
3/4 cup of sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 pie crust of your choice
All you need to do is combine all the ingredients above and turn it into the pie crust of your choice. I use the ones in the dairy case, but you could also use a ready made crumb crust or even make your own if you are that talented. Place it into a 425 degree oven for 15 minutes, Then reduce the heat to 350 degrees and bake for 40 to 50 more minutes or until an inserted knife comes out clean.
As I've said above, this is a huge favorite at my house. We make it year round when when we can. I hope your family enjoys it too!
