The Crunchy Life

It's April and I definitely see the end of this semester in sight. After this semester (I'm taking Sociology and Business Law now) I'll only have one class remaining in order to graduate with my degree in Business Administration. I've been hemming and hawing over what the next step from here is. When I first decided to get a degree in Business I figured I would open a healing practice using my Reiki/energy healing skills. (I'm a Reiki Master.) However, since then I've felt the Universe pulling me in another direction, but I can't quite see what's at the end. The next thing I thought I might do was become a Certified Professional Midwife (CPM). I am still considering this option although I'm also trying to weigh what other possibilities are out there.

In my very first blog post I wrote about WWOOFing and since then read that most places (in this locale, anyway) expect WWOOFers to stay on for the entire growing season (from April - October) and work basically full-time Monday through Friday (and sometimes more!). It's not that I wouldn't enjoy that, it's just that its not feasible considering I already work part-time/go to school part-time. BUT, since then I discovered there is a college near here called Hampshire College in Amherst, MA that has a really awesome Agriculture program that has a distinct focus on sustainable and organic farming, agriculture, and food sources.

I have read so many articles about families that have created their own sustainable, off-grid homesteads and I think that's SO admirable and I would love to be able to do something like that but I just DON'T have the skills to do that! If I were to go to school for agriculture it would really be with the intention of using it toward that end, rather than towards a career, per say. I haven't really decided yet if I think that would be irresponsible! It seems silly to go to school for something and spend all that time and effort on something that, in the long run, won't equal out to enable me to generate income. So, I think I've decided ultimately that I might like to volunteer at a local farm on weekends (assuming I can bring my LO along) and go to school for something else.

On the KnottyBoy website they offer a lotician program where you can become certified by and affiliated with their company as a dread stylist. I think that's some pretty cool $h*t, but at the same time I'm not sure I can make a career out of that! Plus, I'd have to drive up to Canada to do it... not my cup of tea. So, I guess that leaves me back at midwifery, which I think no matter WHERE we end up is a marketable and, obviously, valuable skill. The more I talk about it the more excited I get about it again! Assuming I don't come up with something else again I will likely start in a distance-learning/apprenticeship program through a midwifery school in Vermont next Spring after I graduate with my degree. The last thing I want to do is load my plate TOO full.

Originally I thought I might become a Doula in the meantime to sort of get my foot in the door, but who knows if I'll do that or not. All I know is that despite how awesome of a boss I have (I mean... he doesn't care about me having dreads!) I am really looking forward to a change. The only thing I am hesitant about when it comes to midwifery is how unpredictable the schedule can be. With my own children I worry how that could affect us as a family. I always would need to have a back-up... someone who could watch my LO last minute if I had to run to a birth. But, everything else I think I would love!

In other news, my mom put an offer on a house that we would all end up in. It's pretty dinky, though, so my hubby, LO and I will end up living in the garage. Glamorous, right? It's our only option, unfortunately. We are selling our condo and it's only been shown ONCE.... not exactly encouraging. It's probably going to be a short sale. The scary thing about short sale is that if it doesn't sell within an allotted length of time they will foreclose. When you are foreclosed on you can't buy a home again for NINE YEARS.... that's a LOOONG time! I want to have my family living in a house, goddamnit!!! The American Dream has become something rivaling an impossibility for most. I just want my baby to have at least as much as I did growing up... it's not moving in that direction just yet.

So, yeah, as far as living in the garage, I think my mom should renovate it to turn it into part of the house (insulate, frame, and dry-wall the walls). She could put in a third bedroom, half bath, and a living room and turn what is the living room now into a dining room.... or vice versa, whatever. The cinch is that things like that cost major money and you have to have all kinds of permits and crap like that in place to be able to do such a thing.... On the PLUS side, the house has a WONDERFUL, large yard that will be a great place for my LO to play in. I'm hoping to start a small vegetable/fruit garden, too, with all the space back there. The only problem I can see with that so far is that a lot of the ground is covered with moss suggesting that in the spring and summer it is most shaded... we'll see!

I think in my next blog I want to do it on washing dreadlocks since a lot of you have indicated you would be interested in seeing me write a blog about it. I am due to wash my hair Friday so I am going to attempt to take a video of it then... but I have to get my camera fixed first... >.> I have to get my butt in gear!!! If anyone has ANY other topics (related to dreadlocks, preferably, LOL) they would like to see me write about PLEASE don't hesitate to ask! And, as usual, please follow my blog or subscribe to it if you like what you see! I really love knowing that there are people out there who care what I have to say!!!

Blessings!!!

~ KnottyMama

Welp, here I am. I have been tossing the idea of starting a genuine blog up recently and I have made a small leap in the right direction by getting so far as to even post this. Amusingly, the idea first hit me while watching 'Julie and Julia' on Netflix but was presented to me once again when I met someone on Facebook (Betsy) who is a sponsored blogger by DreadHeadHQ. Granted, I have a regular job so its not like I need the income, but I thought it would be a fun and productive way to capitalize on my newly-found passion for DREADLOCKS! I started my own dreads 8 weeks ago today! I had been considering dreads for a couple of years, but wasn't ready to take the plunge. I felt pretty strongly that dreads was a one-way street that you don't just change your mind about. That was the biggest deterrent for a long time. Then, one day, I was visiting with some friends who have dreads and I just felt something click and I just KNEW I was ready to do it!

At first my hubbins was very against the idea. He felt that I would change my mind about it a couple of months in and want to take them out and then be upset that I had short hair. He worried about how short my hair was, too. While I was still deciding one way or the other I had let his opinions sway me, but when I clicked all of that fell to the wayside. In the past he had always said that whatever I wanted to do he would support, so I figured even if he didn't like it he certainly wasn't going to leave me over it. At first his biggest complaint was my dreads poking him up his nose in the middle of the night when he was trying to snuggle me, LOL.

I, unlike many, only wash my dreads every 7-10 days. The wonderful dread heads who put my own dreads in for my recommended only once every two weeks. I haven't worked up to that yet, but I definitely can see how my choice to wash less often to this point has worked in my favor. At only 8 weeks my dreadies are looking pretty awesome, especially compared to some photos I've seen of others with dreads the same age. Here is a brief photo-history of my dread progression so far!




I am constantly and dilligently maintaining my dreads.... as you can probably tell I REALLY like them to look neat and clean! I'm sure as this blog continues on living I will discuss the particulars of my maintenance for other people to benefit from. PLEASE feel free to ask me any and all questions about dreads, mine, yours, or otherwise! I sent an email the the honorable Knotty Johnny Clean (KJC) about the possibility of becoming a sponsored Team Member of DreadHeadHQ. Here's hoping that my message is well received!

My name here is KnottyMama because although I do love my dread babies, I love my ACTUAL baby infinitely more! She is the love of my life. I subscribe faithfully to the philosophy of Attachment Parenting (often abbreviated "AP"), of which the main components include breastfeeding, baby wearing, and co-sleeping/bed-sharing. I am very opinionated about these matters and about the horribly medicalization of birth that is and has been going on in the U.S. As far as I'm concerned anything less than a minimally AP parenting style is almost like torture to a young child. (This is not just an arbitrary belief, either. It is based strongly on 'The Continuum Concept' by Jean Liedloff.) I know it sounds extreme, but that's just my humble opinion. I assure you that in person I am actually quite tight-lipped about voicing my opinions too much because I don't like to offend people by insulting their parenting! Anyway, there is a good chance that this blog will contain ramblings about my adventures in parenting my baby/toddler, too!

In the title of the blog I mentioned WWOOF, too. The name of this blog is 'The Crunchy Life'. Lest you should think this is the blog about HOW to be 'crunchy' (which is a slang term meaning green, eco-friendly, liberal, etc.), I should clarify that it is more accurately intended to be about how we TRY to be crunchy. Granted, I consider myself pretty 'crunchy' already there is always room for improvement!!! WWOOF is the World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms. My understanding is that you can use this network of organic farms to find farms you can stay on for a vacation or extended stay in which you lodge and eat for free in exchange for working on the farm. It's a great way to teach your children about sustainable living and learn how to garden organically. I really want to begin growing a lot more of our own food, but I admit that I know little to nothing about it beyond what I read. I learn pretty well by reading but I feel like learning about it in a more structured, kinesthetic way would be HIGHLY beneficial for me. Ideally, I would love to someday be able to live off the grid with completely renewable energy and sustainable living. We have a LONG way to go, however. So, I will keep you updated as I attempt to learn more about that.

Finally, there is one last thing I think is important to mention here in my initial post. In addition to trying to live green and crunchy, we are looking at a severe cut in living space. In December of 2008 we moved into this condo and I was 8 months pregnant. Previously we were living with my mother in her two bedroom condo with her and my 11-year-old brother. I was absolutely unwilling to live in her condo (in which the air quality is highly questionable because of mold) so I rushed into moving out and we ended up in a condo we couldn't afford. I could give all the details of why, but suffice it to say that certain factors that were supposed to fall into place to assure we could comfortably afford this mortgage did NOT fall into place. Most notably, was my husband finding a job in his recently chosen job field; medical assisting.

So, now we are officially 9 months behind on our mortgage and the mortgage company (who has been wonderfully helpful and understanding to this point) officially advised us to SELL, SELL, SELL!!! So, we listed our condo on the market. Because we are so horribly behind on ALL of our bills (especially our credit card bills) the only way we can afford to live at this point is with my mother again. Fortunately, she is in the process of concurrently looking for a new house/condo meaning that we are looking to all get a place together. However, she has only been pre-qualified for $120,000. So, looking for a house/condo with at least 3 bedrooms for under $120 thousand in this part of the country/state is difficult at best. That means that we will most likely end up living in a basement or garage while we are with her. That means a seriously loss of space. I love my mom... and sometimes my little brother, but I am generally much happier when I DON'T live with them so I know its going to be very important that I have my own space some way or another. I don't know what's going to happen just yet, but that is by far the biggest issue weighing on my consciousness lately. To compound things, hubbins lost his job a week or two ago. Before that I considered the vague possibility of renting a small, cheap apartment instead, but that possibility was completely shot when I became the only employed member of our family.

I mentioned to DH that perhaps the reason he lost his job is that he is meant to go back to school so he is vaguely looking into the nursing program at one of the local universities for this fall. So, we'll see where the chips land. In the meantime there are lot of things up the air. This blog should allow me to keep tabs on things and organize my thoughts about what's going on.

I guess I've rambled enough... keep checking back frequently for updates! I hope to post at LEAST once a week!

Blessings

~KnottyMama