Day Thirty-Four, Jump Rope for Heart

I've been a bit overwhelmed with how sick I am but I spent most of the day chatting with family until my throat was too sore to talk anymore!  I had been thinking about my mom a lot and how she is eating out so much so I called my brother to see if he would be interested in doing "Once a Month Cooking" with her.  This is when you cook one day for the entire month...something that really helped me before I started the meal co-op I'm currently doing.  There are several books, including recipes that have everything laid out for you if you don't know how to get started.  It is a great way to save money and eat more healthy.  He told me about this 94 year old lady who was on the news because she is able to make great meals on a tiny budget...she lived through the depression and just put out a cookbook.  I can't personally recommend it, as I haven't tried it, but it is getting amazing reviews.  You can check out more info at "Clara's Blog".  Apparently she has her own cooking show and tons of video's on YouTube.  Wow, that's pretty amazing..ninety four years old, I can't even imagine it!

My brother was absolutely thrilled at the idea (he loves to cook) and he thought it would be a great way to spend time with my mom.  So I excitedly called my mom to let her know the plan so that she can use the money she saves to pay off debt.  I'm sure we all think we won't have any debt at retirement, but it comes so fast!  Tim is thirteen years older than I am and will be retiring in fourteen years...so we are majorly focusing on getting our debt paid off before that time.  He is one of the blessed few that have an amazing retirement plan - a true "pension", but I want to make sure he doesn't have any debt to deal with at that time either.  Justin and Jamie are "forever children" meaning they will never move out, so he will have to keep supporting them.  We are working on getting our student loans and house paid off in full.

While I was talking to my brother, my sister beeped in.  We had a nice talk and we got laughing pretty hard, which was difficult considering I can't really breathe, but so worth it!  Her and my brother are really excited I'm helping mom get ready for retirement but they are quite sad that she is moving away from them to live with us.  My mom and I have a conspiracy to try and get them to move down here too!  My sister told me I need to build several more guest houses in the back yard...she told me it would be "my gift for the day"...She informed me I have the resources to do it and she's right!  While, I can't build guest houses in the back yard, I would be so blessed to be surrounded by my small family right in my community.  I'll keep praying on it!

My mom was ready to work on finances when she called but my throat couldn't take any more talking.  Sorry Mom!  While we were on the phone, one of the neighbor children stopped by with a fundraiser.  She is doing "Jump Rope for Heart", a program where the kids jump rope to raise money for charities promoting a healthy life and heart.  I thanked her profusely for providing the opportunity for a gift and gave her $5.  She was very grateful and I was happy to know I had gotten my gift done even though I was so sick.