Welcome to my slum

I was a college student for 7 years.  SEVEN FLIPPIN YEARS.  (Actually, now that I think about it, it was probably 8 years).  I could practically be a doctor.  Instead, I chose International Studies (totally unemployable.  Read: I smoked a lot of pot in college and needed a major that didn't involve a whole hell of a lot of studying.  Twenty-one year olds are excellent decision makers) as my undergraduate major.  I taught overseas (rewarding, fun, an amazing adventure, but I made $175 a month).  I came back to the US, picked the lice out of my hair, and I decided to go to nursing school.  A two year program that would let me make mad bank at the end, and care for people?  Heck yeah!

I've been a nurse for almost three years.  In that time I've learned that "mad bank" is not nearly as "mad" as I thought it would be.  Not even close.  I would actually make more if I became a sanitation worker or a manager at Arbys.  But, I love being a nurse.  I love my patients, I love the doctors I work with, I love my little rural clinic and attached hospital.  But the money sucks.  My husband is a compassionate and skilled personal care worker.  He loves it, and his clients love him, but the money sucks.
Why I am telling you about my financial woes?  Well, that's how I got started in "homesteading." 

I actually kind of feel like a pretentious ass when I refer to "homesteading."  Pa Ingalls was a homesteader...walking across hundreds of miles of uncharted lands, building houses, breaking land, almost dying of malaria...he was hardcore.  I just got a glass of ice water from my fridge and my lunch is cooking in the microwave.  A homesteader I am not. 
Unfortunately, that's the most recognizable way to sum up what I do: make things myself instead of buying them at Walmart or Target; saving money, and being a little greener.  I love Mother Earth, but I'm mostly in this to save money.

This blog will be a resource for others who want to start "homesteading."  I will chronicle my successes and miserable failures, so hopefully you won't waste time repeating my mistakes.

I do not claim to be the author or inventor of any links posted or referenced in this blog.  Other people were pretentious asses long before I jumped on the train, and the internet is rife with useful information. 


***FYI, I have friends who work at Walmart and Target, and I do still shop there.  I have nothing against these corporations, I just hate giving ANYONE more money than I have to.***

***I also should put the disclaimer on this entry that though I mention pot smoking, I haven't done this since well before I became a nurse.

***Also, I have nothing against ghettos or slums.  That's just what I call my part of town.  It's a joke, take it easy...my town has 9000 people, there is no ghetto.  But if a drug bust is to be found in this little burg, you can bet your bottom dollar it'll be at one of my neighbor's houses.