Investments

We've made a lot of investments over the years.  We come from a generation where the simplest thing often yielded great results and I think that a lot of people in our age range came to expect that everything they touched would turn to gold.  I mean really, try explaining Beanie Babies as an investment to someone who didn't live through it.

Our parents bought homes for less than we pay for used cars, and we bought homes for what one year of college might cost our children.  Homes were investments that we almost always could count on to be good.

And then there are emotional investments.  Those were always a little more shaky.  We've all had relationships that have gone bad or gotten emotionally invested in something that didn't work out the way we hoped, but we've survived those and there were probably lessons to be learned along the way.

We're also physically invested in a lot of things, whether it's our health or a competitive sport or even just working hard at a job that we love.  Physical investments almost always pay off since we alone determine our success and, quite frankly, we just abandon those physical investments that aren't working out.

Getting our home ready for sale has been a gut-wrenching trip down a trail of poor investments.

We're certainly not alone these days when it comes to watching our home go from good investment to bad.  It could be worse - our home is worth about the same as what we purchased it for nine years ago, not including the improvements we put into it. And we are fortunately in a position where we at least know we won't have to put money on the table to walk away from this home. We will be able to sell it and have some change jingling around in our pockets as we walk away.  For that, we are grateful.  And the reality is, it has been our shelter for the past 9 years and investment aside, that same shelter would have easily cost more than $100,000 if we had rented.  So really, we're way ahead of the game if you think of it that way.

Emotionally, we haven't been invested in this home for a long time.  Maybe really never.  For reasons that I can't really put into words because I'm not sure of what those words would be, we just never connected with this area.  Or this house.  We've done a lot to try to make it our own, but it always retained the stigma of the former owners (for whom we have some very inappropriate and definitely not family friendly names). 

Physically, we've put a lot into this house.  And continue to do so as we are preparing to move forward and onward to something else.  That's probably the hardest investment to ignore.  We've come to terms with losing what we would normally expect from a financial investment and we've come to believe that our emotional investment will never pay dividends here, but the physical investment that we have put into this home is a bitter pill to swallow.  We could have done so many other things with that energy, and we could have earned those sore muscles and bumps and bruises in a much more rewarding manner.  Even worse is that it's an investment that has to continue - even harder than before - so that we can cut our losses on both the financial and emotional investments we have.  The unfinished projects have to be finished - and finished quickly - if we hope to list the home for sale in the narrow window of time that will bring us the most buyers.  And the return on that physical investment will literally be handed over to the new owners.

We hope.  Please let there be new owners.

Lab Tested and Approved

Labrador retrievers, for the uninitiated, aren't known for being picky eaters.  In fact, mine have eaten everything from ropes to glass.  Jackson has a real fondness for lip balm, especially the rather expensive Burt's Bees.  I would estimate that he has eaten at least half his weight in lip balm.  He weighs over 100 pounds. Burt's Bees owes me big time.

Unfortunately, rope, glass, and lip balm (sorry Jackson) aren't especially good for meeting the nutritional needs of large breed dogs so I try to limit those special treats.  Instead, I've discovered a homemade treat that not only tastes great but is good for them too.  It also doesn't hurt that from the moment I walk out of the pantry with a can of pumpkin and a jar of peanut butter in my hands, my dogs think that I'm the cat's meow.

Today was baking day.   Jackson doesn't leave the vicinity of the oven the entire time that I'm mixing them up and baking them.  (ignore the big box of garage sale crap in the background - we can talk about that later)

My labs have given these treats the Labrador seal of approval, so I'm sharing the recipe here.   It's one of my favorites because it doesn't require any special ingredients and I almost always have everything on hand.

Peanut Butter and Pumpkin Dog Treats


2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour (although I've also used all purpose flour)
2 eggs
1/2 cup canned pumpkin
2 tablespoon peanut butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon


(Note: A regular can of pumpkin is about 1 cup, so I usually make a double batch at a time, but break it down and mix it 1/2 at a time unless you have a really heavy duty mixer)


Mix all of the ingredients until mixture is well mixed but dry and stiff.  I have found that when I use organic pumpkin I need to add significantly more flour as I'm mixing.  Organic pumpkin tends to be much thinner.  (Hey, don't judge.  My dogs like to eat healthy too.)

 Either roll out the dough and cut with a cookie cutter or roll into a roll and cut off 1/2 pieces.  I may feed my dogs organic pumpkin treats, but I tend to be lazy when it comes to actually forming the cookies, so I just tear off little ballish shapes about the size of a tablespoon.  I don't even try to smooth them into balls.  My dogs seems to like all the crunchy bits and I think it's great for their teeth.  Plus, at this point in the process, I'm seriously questioning my sanity, so I justify the fact that I'm actually baking my dogs organic pumpkin and peanut butter treats by cutting a corner or two.  But don't tell the labs - they think they are supposed to be that way.

 

 Bake at 350 for about 40 minutes.  They should be absolutely cooked dry so they are hard and crunchy.

This recipe doubled makes about 11 dozen tablespoon sized treats. 

Just call me Martha freaking Stewart.

Aren't they fetching?

I often talk about my Labrador retrievers, Lincoln and Jackson, but I've never really posted a video of them in action. Of course, that's partially because Jackson, our chocolate lab, is rarely IN action. He was a lazy puppy that would rather have you carry him than walk, and he remains a lazy senior citizen.

Both dogs are 9 years old now, which is getting up there in age for a large breed but a good rousing game of fetch can usually stir Jackson into a few minutes of playtime before he goes to find a warm spot to sun himself in.

They were really young puppies when we moved to Uno Acres and one of the main attractions was the large yard (just a portion on the side of Vern's shop is shown in the video, but they like to play over there because they aren't usually allowed in that part of the yard and it's a special treat for them). I wonder how they are going to adjust to moving to a much warmer climate with a much smaller yard and possibly living in an apartment for a few months.

Jackson will be fine as long as there is sunshine. Lincoln, however, is pretty much going to demand a swimming pool.

Change

So I thought about just sneaking back into blogging and not even mentioning that it's been almost two years since I last posted an entry. After all, I wrote one every day. In my head. While in the shower. They just never actually made it all the way to the blog. I'm sorry you missed them though - they were hilarious. Truly. Some of my best writing. I solved every single one of my problems and at least half of yours. Oh well, better luck next time.

The truth of the matter is that I think the last two years went by in kind of a blur. I'm not really sure where they went or what we did although I could probably make a few good guesses. Maybe some of those blog entries will actually make it to the tips of my fingers and I can capture for posterity some of the last two years.

Nevertheless, there have been some changes at Uno Acres.

Most visible is that it's apparently been so long since I blogged, that I actually have gone gray.

Which is sort of a lie because I've been gray for the past 30 years. The reasons are many and it was a decision that was both difficult and easy and one that I'm still processing my feelings about. I won't bore you with the "why" of it, but I will give you one very strong "why not." This is not about letting myself go. I haven't given up on myself or my appearance. I'm okay with who I am. And I'm asking that you be okay with that too.

Lot of other changes around here too - We've bought some stuff, sold some stuff, lost some stuff, and gained some stuff. We've been places and done things. We've made some decisions and decided not to make other decisions. We've walked towards some things and away from others. Nothing particularly earth shattering and yet every stone that is cast sends out ripples that are far reaching.

And while I'm sorry that you have missed all of my witty and insightful blog posts over the past two years, what you haven't missed is the completion of our renovation. We've made some progress in a few areas and even finished a project or two. We've probably started a project or two in that time also. But the good news for me is that I will have plenty of material to blog about in the next few weeks because this house will be finished - come hell or high water - in the next couple of months.

Because we are selling it.

See - I told you - changes.