The Miraculous Hand of God in my Life

So often when we think of God intervening in our lives, we only consider or recognize it when something bad does not occur; absent its total prevention in our lives, it's easy to lull into the lie that God does not exist or care about us.

I am choosing today to praise God for all the miracles He does in my life. Providing a safe haven, work for my family, food on the table. 

Last night I worked until 9:45pm. Through a string of circumstance, my DH did not come meet me at work, but went straight home (he was riding his motorcycle; his plan was to leave it at my work and ride in this AM with me.) By the time I found out he had forgotten to meet up, he was too far down the interstate to return.

I ended up leaving work about 10:15. I-30 is reasonably populated until you pass Rockwall. Once you pass Rockwall, there's "a lot of Texas country" until you hit the next "big" metropolis, Greenville. In between Greenville and Rockwall for us TMobile city folk, there's a lot of dark and a lot of dead cell phone space.

About 11pm, I hit something in my car, which took out my oil pan (I'm hoping that's all it is anyway.) As I pulled over to the side of the road, I realized this could turn out badly. Instead, the events unfolded to demonstrate the power of the miraculous hand of God.

1. Rather than the middle of dark nowhere,  I broke down over an overpass surrounded by a 24 hour gas station, Taco Bell, McDonalds, and for an added coup de grace, a Holiday Inn Express. Did I mention the Almighty has been nagging at me for a week to start packing a backpack of emergency essentials in the trunk of my car? (backpack, food, water which I normally carry anyway, a sleeping bag.) I was "too busy" to put the stuff together, so God landed me here.

2. We got paid yesterday, and I was too busy at work to pay bills immediately (my normal MO) which would have brought my account to near zero.

3. The accident occurred a little outside Rockwall, still a TMobile service area. Four miles to the north, you're in a TMobile dead zone for about 10 miles; I would have had no way to get help.

4. AAA is big in Texas, and they refuse to just pull you off the road (too many state highways), they have to take you to the nearest repair station. My plan comes with 7 free miles, after that you have to pay per mile. Guess where Kia of Rockwall is located? 6.6 miles from where the accident happened.

5. The tow truck driver (I am in Texas, after all) really went the extra mile; staying with me until my family could arrive to take me home, getting all the drop off paperwork at Kia and putting it in the drop box for me while I stayed in the truck (about 200 yards from the locked gate, did I mention it was 40 degrees last night?)

6. I ran over a piece of engine from a semi-truck. The tow driver goes, "hey, you could take this metal and turn it over to a scrap yard and maybe get $60-80 for it." (He was serious.) I'm like, dude, you've already gone the extra mile. You keep it and sell it. He was like, "wow, really? Are you sure?" Yes dear, I'm sure. I don't even know where a scrap yard is, lol.

7. Have I mentioned Texans are the most polite people in the world, EXCEPT when they are driving. Usually no matter the conditions: rain, sleet, snow, fog, etc., they drive 80 miles an hour right on your **** tail. Not last night. Closest car behind me was 100 yards, well back enough for me to pull over safely.

8. You already know DH quit his job two weeks ago, the one with a company car provided. They were supposed to come get it last Wednesday (before Thanksgiving) but haven't yet. The battery died, but other than that, it's in excellent condition. 

9. Our Go To neighbors (who live 15 miles from us) have been gone all week. They got home yesterday morning. My DD was able to reach them last night (at near midnight) have them come jumpstart my husband's company car which he was then able to use to come get me in Rockwall. They were willing to drive all the way from Greenville to Rockwall (that's 45 min one way) to come get me if need be. DH came and got me, you know, with the car which was supposed to be gone a week ago.

10. This morning I'll be able to either rent a car or get a loaner from Kia. Either way we will have transportation. My Go To neighbors just stopped by to see if the company car starting was a freak occurrence or if it is still good (it's still good.) But I wouldn't have even occurred to me to follow up if the situation was reversed!

We live in a fallen world. God can not and does not usually intervene in all the bad that happens. But more often than not, He extends His hands and softens the blow, we just have to choose to see it.

¡ Adios California !

DH and DD moved Herculean mountains this past weekend. They flew back to California, rented a 26 foot Uhaul, loaded it with our stuff out of storage. Then they drove it over to our friend's house who was storing what little furniture we had left. Then they UNLOADED the Uhaul, and re-loaded it in to a semi- (moving van) did I mention all by themselves? And then flew back to Texas. Poor DD didn't even have time to get the massage I'd promised she could have. We were finally in a position where we could cash flow it all: the flights, the moving costs (including short rent and long haul), and have enough left over for DD to go to a massage and medical visits with her doctors for a checkup. It was a lot for them to cram in, in only three days.

The moving company called Monday after they picked up. They asked, "wouldn't you like your things this Wednesday evening?" Holy moly that was fast. We opted "NO," and went for Black Friday AM instead. Where it promptly rained, all day. (I've learned when Texas meteorologists say it's gonna rain, it's gonna rain.)

Still, even with the rain, the four of us (DD, DH, DS20 and I) managed to get the truck unloaded in about 4 hours. Our third bedroom, which used to be a one car garage, is back being a "garage" again: we put all our boxes and crates in there, so the three kids are in the 'master' bedroom now, DH and I in what was formerly DD19's bedroom. DS20 is hardly here anymore anyway, so it's not a big deal.

It feels weird: all of our belongings are out of California. Like, forever. Like, we're really moved. After so long (six months) it doesn't quite seem real--almost like we've forgotten something or left stuff behind. I still feel bad about not getting a chance to go place flowers one last time on all the various family members' gravestones. Maybe that's it. I mean, I even had DD go get our medical records for all the kids while she was there this time, along with DH and DS20's birth certificates so they can apply for a Texas driver's license.

It's nice having all my canning and dehydrating stuff here. It's nice having what little remains of our food storage here. It's nice having a four day weekend where we can get the bedrooms and living areas situated. I'm looking forward to getting rid of even more stuff. After six months of living without it, it's amazing what you really don't need. I wish this had been our last move, rather than our second to last move. Maybe then it would feel more final.

But that's ok. We're here our stuff is here and we are doing amazingly well here. Here is where we will make our stand and start rebuilding. ¡ Adios California !

The Road to Righteousness

I had an interesting, special experience yesterday. I debated about sharing it with anyone, let alone a cyber audience, but the nagging feeling that I should won't abate, so here we are.

It's been a hectic week or so. At work, we let the temp in our department go, and my bookkeeper quit without notice last Thursday, just as I was starting the re-build of our computer system. On top of that, my DH announced Thursday night (after he had forgotten about our anniversary...again...) that he was quitting his job the next day. I am grateful that I can recognize that all of these are not my problem. They may impact me, but they are not my problem. Here's why.

A few months ago, my BFF Wendi sent me a set of tapes/workbooks from a seminar she had attended. It's entitled "Becoming Spiritually Centered and Overcoming the World," by James B. Cox. At its core, its basic premise is that all of our problems are created, live and thrive in a "temporal," mortal world. All of the solutions to those problems, can be found in the "spiritual" world. 

The temporal world is where you eat, work, exercise, watch TV, go to church, pay bills. He points out that it takes very little effort to be(come) temporally centered. All problems are found in the temporal world. 

Bridging the two is your (personal) world: a physical body and a spiritual body, your temple (1 Cor. 6:19). The physical body is part of the temporal world. Your spirit is part of the spiritual world. The two faculties of this world are your heart and your mind. One can focus his/her thoughts so you you can become spiritually or temporally centered.

The spiritual world is where your best friends are: Heavenly Father, Heavenly Mother, the Savior, the Holy Ghost, angels. In this world you find the powers of the priesthood, high feelings of self worth, peace and joy, forgiveness of sins. The Holy Ghost, the revelator and comforter, operates in this dimension. All solutions to all problems are found by accessing this world.

His encouragement: when we are faced with difficulties, injustice etc., the faster we are able to shuck using the temporal world to obtain solutions, and seek the spiritual dimension to find solutions, the sooner we will be at peace and back on the road to righteousness. 

What he teaches is not something new to me, but the mechanics and logic of "why" you would want to do so, was eye-opening. I had a lot of opportunities to put this in practice this week. I opted for example, to not remain in darkness (anger) when the employees quit. I opted (consciously) to bask in anger Thursday night when DH told me he had quit his job, but I also made the conscious decision that I was only going to wallow until the morning, at which time I would let it go, and seek a spiritual solution. During those 12 hours, I also made a point of being in constant mini-prayer, expressing gratitude for the solutions and kindness the Almighty had already given me. I am grateful to apply the lesson I have already learned: DH has stewardship issues, meaning, a general inability or unwillingness (and I don't judge which it is) to fulfill stewardship assignments given to him by God. It doesn't matter whether he is asked to visit families in our church, teach a class, or provide for a family, he has developed a habit of dropping the stewardship ball. That's not my problem. That's his problem with the Lord. I don't ask him to shoulder those stewardship assignments, the Lord does. Therefore, the solution to fixing those issues is not mine, it is DH's and the Lord's.

Do you see the difference?

Friday morning as I was ready and prepared to let it go and Let God, of course, the Adversary did not want me to. He wanted me to stay in his world: anger, depression, 'righteous' indignation. But I knew that solutions to my problems aren't found there. I chose to start back to peace by expressing my gratitude. I am keenly aware that my God is aware of my DH's stewardship issues. Consequently, He blessed me with work in California which allowed me to fulfill my righteous goals of being a stay at home Mom, but also fulfilled my righteous desires of getting out of debt. He inspired me to look for a job in Texas while we were still in California, and then fixed it so that I could get that job (seriously, the guy made two other hires who came and went before he decided it was worth the spend (I'm not cheap) on me.) This job pays enough to support my family, and has some flexibility so my kids can continue to do homeschooling.

I choose to focus on the Lord's hand in my life, rather than Satan's. I am grateful to be able to discern the difference. It paved the way for the blessings I received yesterday.

Saturday (yesterday) we went to Oklahoma city to visit the temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It's on my DD's bucket list, and since she just turned 19, we went as her birthday present. It's a bit of a drive: 4+ hours if mapquest doesn't send you on the back roads (5 if it does. Our drive took 5.)

Satan would have me believe that my life as a SAHM compared to what I could accomplish "in the world" has been a failure. After all: 3 of my 5 children are not where "I" would like them to be in life if I was writing their script. God wants me to know the truth: that "I" am not writing their script: they are, and the Lord is, but not me. It's easy to buy into the lie that "I" am a failure as a Mom, especially as a Chinese mom.

At the temple, I met a 70 year old woman who was attending the temple for the first time. At 70, she made the decision to travel a better road to righteousness. As I pondered my apparent failures as a mom, and also the fact that I am now out of the home for the majority of the day, the truth was revealed to me that I am not a failure in the Lord's eyes. I understood that in a few months, my daughter will also be visiting the temple for the first time; the scripture Luke 2:22-38 came to my mind. This is where Joseph and Mary present Christ to Simeon at the temple. I understood in just a few months I will be presenting my daughter, and escorting her back into the Lord's presence. Within the next few years, I will repeat this with both of my sons.

I am grateful for the revelation that the Lord is pleased with my efforts to be a righteous mother. Could I have done it better? Can I do it better? Of course. But my efforts to be a righteous parent do not go unnoticed by the Lord, and they are appreciated. I am grateful for the vision that in a temple we see life go full circle: I will be able to bring my children to a temple, just like Mary and Joseph, present them to the Lord's representative just as they did, ask for them to return to the Lord's presence, and have that wish granted. What greater gift can a mother have?

They say the road to hell is paved with good intentions. I say, the road to righteousness is paved with good decisions. I am grateful for the chance to choose better ones every day.

TEOTWAWKI? Thoughts on the "new" LDS Church gay & straight family policy

This LONG post (more of an essay really,) may not sit well with the vast majority of people who read it. That's ok. I''ve been called worse than what I anticipate some will say. It needs to be said.

Why are you here on this earth? Is mortality all there is, or did you live in a cosmic existence somewhere else in time before you were born? Will you live in another dimension after you die? These are questions people have asked throughout time. 

This is the doctrine of Jesus Christ: we lived before we came to mortality with our Father in Heaven (God.) He created our spirits, our souls. (Jeremiah 1:5) In order for us to grow and progress, we would come to earth, gain a physical body, re-learn about God and His ways, learn to be obedient and faithful to God; learning how to consistently make right choices, and in the process, become Holy. Because we would make mistakes, some of them grievous, He would provide a Savior and Redeemer for us to help us return to our Father in Heaven, and perfect our path of Holiness. This plan, is called the Plan of Salvation. 

A key element in this plan is one of agency. You have to choose to follow Christ and the path of holiness. In the pre-earth life, you chose to follow Christ, or at a minimum, accept that you needed to. Not everyone did, in fact a third of those living in Heaven did not. They chose a different plan, with Satan as their leader. A war broke out, and those following Satan were cast out of heaven, and will never gain a mortal body or have the chance to return to Heaven. (Revelations 12:7-17) But YOU voted to follow God's plan. YOU can still vote to follow God's plan with your faith and your behavior, and in the process, become Holy.

To give us a better chance at returning to our Father in Heaven, we have been organized in Family Units, with a mother and a father who have been charged with the responsibility of leading and directing their family unit in the way they should go. Look around you. Throughout time, how has mankind been organized? Singularly? Or as a family unit? That's not an accident, that is design. Regardless of religious affiliation (or any at all), the family is still the vehicle which gives us the best chance to learn, grow and progress. To be sure all sin and come short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23) and this is reflected in families too. 

Why a traditional family unit? What's so important about it? You intuitively know that it is important, even if you can't put your finger on why. Logic would tell you it must be super super important, because Satan works night and day to destroy it. 

I believe it is because the traditional family unit mirrors the doctrine of the Plan of Salvation. That we lived there and live here, with a Father and Mother. We learned/know there and here that we are their children. There and here, our parents love and care about us. They taught there, and parents teach here, by listening to, and following the counsel and example of, our parents, we can succeed. If we choose wisely, as a family unit here, we have the opportunity to return to our eternal family unit and reunite with our family unit there.

Enter the not-really-"new" policies of the LDS Church on same sex "marriages" and its impact on those families. What the haters will ignore is that this is not new policy, rather it is an expansion of policy already in place. Children who reside with polygamous parents are not able to be baptized until after they reach the age of majority etc. Yesterday, the Church expanded this to include children residing with cohabitating parents (gay or straight) and children residing in same sex "married" households. Lest the haters forget: the children of a single gay parent are not impacted. It is solely the households whose parents are modeling parenting and households which are contrary to doctrine. The same standard it has been for 100 years, for straight households.

Haters (in and out of the church) are going to scream how mean and vile it is "to the kids." So here's what I don't get:

1. How do you (as the parent engaging in sinful behavior) flip the bird with one hand to the Church ("you can't tell ME how to live, screw you") and simultaneously demand with the other fist that your underage children be allowed to baptized? In the Church you're saying bite me to. 

2. If you're actively participating in a behavior (gay or straight) which "your" Church holds is contrary to doctrine, and you're proud of that...um, I'm sorry, why do you claim to be part of that Church? Further, why would you want your children to be bound by covenant to something you don't want to follow yourself?

3. Baptism, missionary service, ordinations to the Priesthood...they're not checklist items people. They mean something because they mean something: like, THIS is the Church of Jesus Christ. You get that right? What sets LDS/Mormons apart is that they believe that Jesus Christ (not Joseph Smith etc.) established this Church. As in: it operates under His (God's) authority.

So if it's God's church, again I say, why exactly are you modeling an unGodly parenting pattern? The whole point of this life, is to mirror and pattern our lives to God's holiness, not demand God mirror our decadence.

4. "It's mean" when the kids reach majority to have to choose between God and disavowing an unholy lifestyle.

That sentence is self explanatory right? It's not mean to demand an adult to choose (for real) whether they are going to commit to follow God's plan to holiness, or not. In fact, it's rather the whole point of this journey we call life.

5. It's odd one demands access to priesthood ordinances (baptism, sealing) while simultaneously rejecting that priesthood authority. A same-sex "married" couple can not enter into a temple and be sealed for eternity, neither have their children sealed to them. This is also true for a cohabitating straight couple. Guess what? Neither can a straight couple when one is LDS and the other is not. But the fact that you and your choices put your family at risk is your decision. Sometimes our choices have serious consequences.

To be clear: children caught up in this situation are not being "punished" no matter what the haters say. Their blessings, should they choose to get them, are being deferred until they are able to make that decision on their own.

6. In case you were wondering if it's TEOTWAWKI**, you shouldn't be surprised: God promised he'd start cleaning in his own house first (1 Peter 4:17):

"For it is time for judgment to begin with God's household; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the Gospel of God?"

Do I feel bad for children caught in this situation? I sure do, just like I felt bad for my daughter who was caught up in my bad situation. But just because I thought I was doing the right thing didn't mean I was doing the right thing. My daughter would have been better served by someone waking me up sooner, setting me straight, and helping me get back on the path. 

I hope this is a wakeup call for us all. The time is short, the Lord is cleaning His house, and we need to remember that the Plan of Redemption requires us to walk in His Holiness.

**The End Of The World As We Know It

A screen shot of changes to be made to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ Church Handbook of Instructions

A screen shot of changes to be made to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ Church Handbook of Instructions

What a Wonderful Miracle !!

What a wonderful miracle to wake up to.

Some of you may not know that I am bi-racial. One of those halves is Chinese (my dad's). Most of you will not know in my non-genealogy life I worked for decades for organizations which operated on a need to know basis. I'm more comfortable in the shadows: my email account doesn't have my full name, my twitter account has a complete pseudonym, it took a lot for me to adjust to having a full LinkedIn profile. I didn't let my kids have Facebook or Instagram until they turned 18, and even then, they are prohibited from having their full names on their accounts, and they stress to their "friends" not to tag them in photos.

I am also a fervent genealogist, for my own lines as well as assisting others (probably more than for my own) in hunting down their ancestral lines. I am skilled, talented, advanced, and don't even try to hide how genealogically skilled I am anymore. Yeah, I'm that good.

In my travels I have researched and assisted (usually for free) people from all walks of life and occupations, including academic researchers, the casual inquirer, others who live far far away and need a vital record transcription etc. I have volunteered as a Beta tester for every genealogy rollout the LDS church has ever put out for FamilySearch as well as third party software systems such as PAF (yes, I'm that old), FamilyInsight etc. Like many of you, I have volunteered as an Indexer for the 1940 census transcription, still volunteer as an Indexer and as an Arbitrator.

I tell you all this not to brag or give you proof that I'm paranoid, but to set the stage. While there is always more work to do on my mom's side of the family tree, it's leaves look nice, green and full. On my father's side however, it looks a lot like a tree in winter: bare, brown (lol), the occasional dead leaf attached to a branch (that's a pun!) 

My father's grandfather was the "mother" of the Republic of China (that's what they call him!) While Sun Yat Sen was the military face of the Republic overthrowing the empire, my grandfather was the political face and arm, equally well known in and out of the Chinese and white communities. I have been fortunate to gather snippets of information here and there about him. I was able to gather documents on him at NARA in San Bruno California before they locked the facility down and made research all but impossible. I found a Chinese organization which connected me with articles written about my great grandfather. 

Unfortunately, 97% of these articles are in chinese, and my language skill is a shadow of what it once was. I have longed for the day when I could research the chinese side of my family, and my great grandfather particularly. 
  Then I found that he had written a book (in Chinese) written to the Overseas Chinese people, but geared toward the President of the USA promulgating the reasons why the USA should support the overthrow of the Chinese Emperor. UC Berkeley has the lone surviving copy. They would not interlibrary loan it to me, nor make me a copy. A professor at the University of New Mexico, for whom I had done some research, managed to get Berkeley to scan and send a copy to him. So now I have it. (Haven't gotten it translated, but it's at least in hand!)

Getting this copy ignited my desire to research this line. My children and I traveled to the Bay area just before we moved to Texas. I ran into people who actually knew who my great grandfather was; found a picture of him hanging in the Sun Yat Sen museum; hit a major roadblock at NARA (we could help you but we won't, we don't have to, we're NARA.) 

THEN THIS MORNING, THE MIRACLE. I got a TWEET, a TWEET mind you via my "my real-name-is-not-attached-to-my twitter-account" Twitter account from an academic in China which said:

"Kathryn. Just to say hello and tell you I'm preparing a Ph.D. thesis on your great grandfather Tong, King Chong. Will tell you more later."

A total stranger, PhD candidate, in China reached across (practically the dark-in-China) web, to call me by name, and tell me they are writing a thesis on my great grandfather. I am so excited by the thought, and even more importantly, am thrilled to find out there is enough material out there, surviving the communist purge, to even withstand defending a PhD.

It gives me hope. It brings home the reality for me, that there is more to eternity than this life. That our ancestors are as keenly aware of us, as we are of them, perhaps more. 

I wait with baited breath to receive and share any and all information which will help expand my knowledge of my family, and bring us closer to each other.

God is great.

Common Core Idiocy Comes to the Workplace

Ok so it's been awhile since I've blogged. Sorry. Still here, just been incredibly busy. In the past month:

DH has moved here to Texas...kind of. He's in outside sales so he's pretty much gone from Monday through Friday. That kind of cramped us money wise, as his company "reimburses" for expenses...except they only do that once a month it seems like. But, it's a job, what can I say?

DS just turned 20 and was able to get hired on as a travel EMT. He bounces from station house to station house...but it's good work, and even better is that they are going to sponsor him for paramedic school in January. At least that's the plan anyway.

DD18 was back in California for close to a week attending a wedding. It was good for her to go back and see her friends. She has come a long way since February. She has taken over managing DS15's schooling, and drives him to and from his baseball commitments for the most part. Not on Texas freeways though...the backroads. Texas freeways are another blogpost. DH's travel schedule combined with DS20's work schedule preclude her working outside the home until we can get another vehicle. That's just going to kill me...4 drivers 4 cars, but it's going to have to be done, because....

I'm back in the workforce. I run the accounting and IT divisions for a manufacturer in the DFW metroplex. The drive, even though far, is pretty nice. Texans complain about their "rush hour" traffic. You need to understand that the complaint is that they travel from 75 miles per hour to 45 miles per hour. Yeah. That's a real hardship...50 miles in 60 minutes. Versus commuting to LA: 45 miles in 2+ hours.

The good thing is occasionally (like yesterday and today) I can telecommute. As I type, we are in a lightning, thunder and rainstorm. You have not experienced lightning until you've lived in Texas. It comes so fast and furious that it is as bright as day for quite a few minutes at a time.

Anyway, the subject line of this blogpost. I received an email from an admissions recruiter for a graduate Accounting program. One of the rationale's as to "why" you'd want to go back to school? So you can get more training to become more versed in ... "the trend which is:

A shift from rules-based to principles-based accounting

Principle-based accounting places a greater emphasis on critical thinking and writing abilities so you can justify your choices and document them."

Yeah, that's what we need more of in the accounting world. Common-core (math) accounting--doesn't matter WHAT the answer "ought" to be, just be able to justify it. We don't need to adhere to Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP, the rules which govern accounting), we just need to be able to justify what we did. My career including my current job has been correcting the mistakes of people who didn't care about adhering to GAAP, and justified what they did. I guess I'll always have a job if this "trend" becomes reality.

What's scary? Millions of U.S. brick and mortar school kids who are growing up indoctrinated in exactly that philosophy. 

Geez, in my day we applied adjectives like fraud, embezzlement etc. to that mentality. Just saying.

It just astounds me.

A Ham + A Radio =

...a new learning experience!

It's tough being without a computer and the internet. My EMT son has it while he's in training at his new company. And I don't have internet at home yet, so I am limited in my hours.

Volunteered for ham radio communications at a local bicycle race this past weekend. "The guys" were able to chirp (program) my ham radio, so now I have a working radio: that's a plus. I was able to get on the radio, so I'm over my fear of talking on it: that's a plus. It started to rain, and the cloud cover and rain blocked my signal (with the little antenna I have). That's not so good: in an emergency, that's actually when you'll need it, not just when the skies are sunny and blue.

So now I get to add a bit more "stuff" to my prepper list. Like it's not long enough already.

Ok, short post today. Really need to catch up on some genealogy before my 1 hour of time at the library runs out.

Acquiring stuff vs downsizing

It's interesting. After 6+ months of downsizing, I am loathe to fill up our house with "stuff." I can't even imagine where I am going to put the things that are in storage in California; (answer: the third bedroom which was converted from a one car garage.)

But it is really impressive how much "stuff" you can do without. We were able to obtain a couch set in good condition for free this weekend; a TV stand, dresser, washer dryer set, record player, coffee and end table for $190. 

And with that, the house is pretty much full. A pot to boil spaghetti so I don't have to make it in the pressure cooker, maybe another chest of drawers and we are done.

Egads. Tiny House mentality is really freeing. I hope we can keep it up, and downsize even more once the "stuff" gets here.

Rebuilding the Stockpile

It's ironic and true that you really don't appreciate what you have until you don't have it anymore.

I was fortunate to borrow a pressure canner from a woman at my church so I could put up some chicken. It was on sale for .97/pound (rib attached) which is a California price (weather, beach, chicken prices....the only 3 noteworthy things in California.) As all of my jars are still in California in storage buying chicken to put up means I have to buy jars too.

40# gets me about 24 pints. I know there are ace canners who can get more but I'm not one of them. I forgot I should have looked for an aluminum separator "plate" when I was getting jars. Yes, I've been told you can stack them on top of each other. I'm too chicken (get it?) to try it.

So this becomes an all day project. At least I know I can use a Presto pressure canner on my glass top stove. And I happen to have one of those in storage! Still, it's going to be mid October before all of our stuff in storage gets out here. So I started adding to our stockpile. Money is still tight but I added 50# of rice last week and 24 pints of chicken this week. DS19 loves chicken salad sandwiches so those pints won't last too long. Still, better than nothing.

I started looking into beekeeping. There a group which meets the first Thursday of each month about 2 hours from me. Yikes. There's a drive. I really need to find one a bit closer.

Mostly I am grateful to be in a house in Texas where I can start working toward getting a garden in and re establishing a stockpile. Even if I have to buy produce by the bushel to put it up (or by the can if commercially done) SOMETHING is better than NOTHING.

Dust is Settling

We are getting closer to settling in to a routine. We go to the library daily to use WiFi and do school work, apply for jobs, watch Netflix (the kids do anyway), do genealogy. 

DS19 had a bit of a scare with his EMT job. They thought he had caused the 5 car pileup which totaled our Honda Pilot, so they retracted his job offer. He asked them to research it, and they discovered that he was not at fault so they reinstated his job offer. It's ironic and sad that the 5 car pileup occurred because all five drivers were trying to avoid hitting and killing an idiot pedestrian who had run out into the road suddenly; but of course because HBPD can't label the idiot pedestrian "at fault" someone else (the 5th driver) gets stuck with it. I guess it's a good thing DS19 was driver #4.

DD18, DS15 and I are going to a hiring fair today for Aldi's Grocers which is opening up in our town. I imagine the entire town is going to be there as well. I would be surprised if any of us were hired, but I was surprised when I got hired at Ralph's (Krogers) too, so you never know.

DS15 captured another field mouse in my house. GRRRR!!!!!! They seriously need to leave me alone.

Super1Foods (a grocery store) has chicken breasts on sale for .97 a pound. I'm hoping to get 40# and buy 2 cases of pint jars and can up some chicken. I borrowed a pressure canner from someone at church...and realized after I asked that I have one of those ceramic/glass stoves. Fortunately, she has the same brand I do, Presto, so it "should" work. Fingers crossed. Otherwise I have to buy a hot plate too. I'd can more, but I just don't have the money since I have to buy both chicken and jars.

DH is in Kansas training at his new job. He is enthusiastic about it and feels it is a good company and product. I'm glad. I hope it sticks for a few years....I would love to get out of debt, build up a Fully Funded Emergency Fund, and sock away enough to pay cash for a house out here.

Well that's about it. Grateful to be in a place where we are getting settled to the point we can plan to rebuild our food storage and supplies. Purchased 50# of rice for $27.99 at Costco the other day. Then came home and realized I had brought 50# in a bucket all the way from California with me. That's ok. Now we have a 90 day supply of rice <grin.>

There's A Mouse In My House!

I love everything about Texas except for the heat and the critters!!

My DS15 thought it was hilarious that his Mom, known for being willing to throw herself on a grenade for her family, would run screaming from a little field mouse.

Yeah hilarious. I'm glad I could provide some needed comedic relief for him. And it turned out there wasn't just one mouse, there were two. After much effort my youngest was able to catch both of them and take them out to the drainage ditch out by the road. They can scamper in to the pipe and keep dry. Or not for all I care.

It rained yesterday and cloud cover kept it nice and cool: Huntington Beach weather!! Same for today. We are SO happy!!

On another note, all the deposits we've had to fork out for everything have finally caught up with us. We are completely tapped out financially until DH gets a check from the job he's leaving, likely not until late next week (they're 'mailing' it to him.) And I'm not sure he'll get a check in time from his new company which pays around the 28th.

The good news is I got the babysitting gig in Dallas (OK in our present situation that kind of is a two edged sword.) I go there Monday. I am hoping they will write me a check that day which I can deposit and at least keep us in gas money.

It's a blessing that I brought as much food storage as I did. It wasn't much but it's enough to keep us going until money starts coming in. I may take back the Shark cleaner I bought for the time being. Or the blender. Anything to keep us afloat.

A New Life In TEXAS!

Well we did it! We escaped from California and moved to Texas. Compared to California, the housing prices here are astoundingly low. Rent is significantly less also, although not as cheap as we thought it would be. 

I've always taken the position when moving and have to decide between taking food/storage or furniture that you can sleep on the floor but you can't eat furniture so take the food/storage. 

Maybe I should have rethought that. My kids made me keep their bed stuff although I got rid of ours. It's a good thing I kept theirs. $800-2500 for a mattress? $300 ish for a chest of drawers? (Yard sale prices btw) $350-800 for USED washer and same again for a dryer? $495 for a used couch and that's half of what a new one is.

Before you yell free cycle, the closest ones are 75 miles away. Ditto for craigslist and their prices are just as bad. I haven't even started looking at bookshelves.

I admit I am super spoiled by the great farmer market in my town of Huntington Beach where I can get scads of product for .33/lb. But I was unprepared for the sticker shock of sale prices of $2.99/lb for produce here. I found a place which runs about half that, but that's still a LOT for me. I will definitely be planting a garden and when produce is on super sale buying it by the bushel and canning, dehydrating or freezing it. I found a Sprouts in Dallas, near where I will be twice a week, so I will stop there and see what's what. And the "Asian community" is not much further up in Plano so I will be stopping by there to see what's up next week. I heard there's a Ranch 99 (we had them in California) so I'm hoping the prices are similar to ours. Plus I'm dying for some oyster sauce to make chinese food.

I have been flummoxed as to why no one grows a garden here, and now having seen the prices I am truly confounded. Even if you have to pay to bring soil in for raised beds, it will pay for itself in one season.

The great news is we CAN put in a garden where we are at, if I can find someone to scrape off the grass (we are in a house now BTW) and find someone who wants to dump wood chips. I can see I might have to use some weekly feed on it also. I'm going to start with container gardens though. I'm really looking forward to getting my greenhouse here.

The house is north and south facing which is wonderful and only 1 bathroom window on the west. No need for lights all day. DS15 and I installed a small solar light on the carport which stays "on" all the time. It charges in the day and shines through most of the night and works really well. I wanted to buy a worm composter but for $109 off amazon and $45 home made from a place in Dallas I guess I will have to make my own.

Gas is cheaper though! A far cry from the $4-5 per gallon we were paying in California it is around $2.20 for the car and $2.50 for the truck. Longer distances to drive though, so it might balance out. But it sure feels better at the pump.

Two miles outside city limits so our internet is very limited. We pretty much live at the library from 10am to 5pm. Air conditioning, Internet, printer, fax, comfortable chairs more or less, bathrooms and a snack/eating area. Plus our phones work here, lol. I am looking forward to getting a television and installing satellite though, I have to confess. By 8pm I am ready to sit and veg.

I met someone in my son's homeschooling group who lives in Forney, that's about 8 miles outside Dallas. I can see the appeal of a "city" lot which is 1 acre. As we plan our moves going forward, I think this  would be about the right size, although we did find the perfect place near Tyler which was on 6 acres (Internet issues though.)

Well that's it for now. It's time to leave the library and go explore the grocery stores. Somehow, I don't think I'll be finding oyster sauce locally anytime soon.

Oh the Genealogy Life I'd Lead...If I Had a Trailer !

There are SO MANY little tiny town cemeteries! 

It's astounding how many we passed on the way to the DFW area. I just know that they have not been documented or anything. It was all I could do to just keep driving and ignore them. Really. Okay, it helped that it is a freaking 97 degrees on a cold day out here, and there's not a cloud in the Texas sky. And that I know that even a small cemetery is pretty close to an all day project, even if you cheat and just snap electronic photos and do the transcribing later.

Not to mention I would have absolutely NO CLUE how to document where I was on the road.

But OH how I wished I had a trailer so I could roam the Texas state highways and byways, memorializing these loved ones for time and for all eternity. I guess I can start with Bridgeport's and then also do Point, Wills Point, and maybe Decatur.

It would be fun :)

The Devil's Revenge

Not happy with our escape from California, the devil took his revenge. My DH is still in California. Crashed on his motorcycle the day we crossed over into Texas. DH is okay, bike....will be okay.

We arrived late (10pm) last night after leaving at 530am from Albuquerque. 

We could have stayed elsewhere, but after 3 days of getting up at 4am, I was ready to sleep in until 730am, which we could only do if we got all the way to the DFW area. I had a child care job interview Monday afternoon. After rethinking it, I determined it wasn't the right fit (2-3 hours a day M-F in the heart of Dallas.) Since we are going to be tenting it from a distance of 70-85 miles, I figured that wasn't the best use of mileage. Although in retrospect, it might have been.

We finalized our entrance and food arrangements at 6 Flags over Texas (6F). We now get free entrance, free parking, and two free meals a day per person, and unlimited free drinks (soda, powerade, lemonade, water.) Today alone, our meals were the equivalent of one "season dining pass." We still need to get our timing down; after all, we won't be just dropping in for the heck of it from 70-85 miles away. But we have to look for jobs in air conditioning somewhere. Might as well be at the local Arlington library or Starbucks as the one far far away. But in this heat, I'm LOVING not having to cook, even if it is heating up hot water for freeze dried food.

It is way the heck hot in Texas. OK, we lived four blocks from the beach in California and caught the cool afternoon sea winds every day. So anyplace is going to be hot by comparison. But since we get free electricity at our campsite, I am seriously thinking about buying a small air conditioner and running it in the tent <grin.> Sigh. An air conditioned trailer would be so nice. Although, as a friend of mine pointed out, so would a house or an apartment <grin.>

The weather is a small price to pay for living free. Coming down State Hwy 287 we passed a whole lot of churches (one tiny town had population 195 and 10 churches!), a whole lot of "God loves you" signs, a passel of "God Bless America" signs; things you never see in California. Ever. Everyone is friendly, says hello, goodbye and punctuates the end of their sentences with Sir and Ma'am.

I'm already over carting stuff around in the cars, so I think we are going to rent a small storage space somewhere convenient. (Do I really need to cart my 2000w generator with me every where I go? Prepper types may remain silent on that issue.)

So far, we are healthy, happy and looking forward to our new life of freedom. And we thought it a good omen that even the food says TEXAS!

We Beat the Devil out of California....

Rest assured, he's still there, but we managed to escape over the border even despite his best efforts. Reminds me of the Irish saying, "may you be in heaven a half hour before the Devil knows you're dead."

We got a late start this morning, compounded by a shopping mis-queue at Walmart. Yesterday they had the tent we wanted, this morning when we went to buy it at 6am it was completely sold out. Really, in southern California, the whole county decided overnight to go camping? We ended up buying a much larger tent that we had planned--still an "instant" but we'll see how cumbersome it turns out to be. We may or may not be returning it, the whole point after all, is not gigantic, but quick up and quick down.

We were about two hours out of Huntington Beach when my son (who was in the second car behind me) called to ask if I would step on the brakes. It turned out my brake lights had failed. Of course they did. So I pulled over, found a place at 8am who could look at it. Fortunately I asked "could it be a fuse?" and it turned out it was. A pretty fast fix and we were back on the road.

Shortly thereafter, the check engine light came back on. My mechanic has assured me (this is a repeating problem) that it's "just the EGR sensor and don't worry about it." And I did happen to see this last time around that the EGR sensor cord is very frayed, so I am hoping that this is all that it is. The car seems to be running fine otherwise, so we are continuing in faith to Texas.

While in Ludlow (about 90 minutes inside the California border) we realized we were well off track of our plan to be in Flagstaff tonight. I figured I better make a motel reservation sooner rather than later, so we stopped in Needles about 60 miles inside the California border. Why was I surprised to find EVERY hotel in Flagstaff sold out? Our choices were stay in Kingman (2 hours shy of Flagstaff) or Winslow (90 minutes past Flagstaff.) I knew our energy level wouldn't get us to Winslow, so here we are in air conditioned comfort in Kingman. 

This means it's unlikely we'll make it to Amarillo tomorrow as hoped, and likely stop for the day in Albuquerque New Mexico, nearly a 7 hour drive from Kingman. And that's if we get out of here by 5am as planned. We're not in a hurry to get to Texas (obviously), and I don't like crossing deserts in the heat of the day if I can avoid it. and we're passing through a lot of them: Mojave, Sonoran, Chihuahuan: three of the four American deserts in the United States. So we're taking it easy (oh, to be listening to the Eagles as we pass through Winslow Arizona, lol.)

Grateful to God we are not forced to travel on a shoestring, particularly with gas prices a whopping $5 a gallon out here. Grateful things are going smoothly. We didn't quite make it out of California before the Devil realized we were trying to escape, but are are well on our way to Heaven <grin.>

A New Blogpost-- And My Family Dwelt in a Tent

This is still my main blog, but I have started a new one. It's called "And My Family Dwelt In a Tent" and can be found here: andmyfamilydweltinatent.blogspot.com.

It's about our adventures as four of us (mom, 2 boys, 1 girl) live 24/7 in a tent. We are moving to Texas and the house we were going to purchase fell through after being in escrow 90 days. Since all our stuff is storage anyway, rather than jump hastily into another bad buy, and since it's summer, we are going to live life in a tent for a while, in a structured timeshare/campsite, while we regroup and figure out the best housing solution.

That may end up being a tent. It may end up being a 30 foot trailer. It may end up being a traditional home or apartment. But for sure, for the next 30 days, it's going to be a tent.

I don't want to spend too much time recapping on this blog. Once we arrive in Texas and settle in, some posts from that blog will be replicated here, as this blog has a pretty large following.

But in the meantime, please mosey over and take a gander as we embark on this exciting journey enabling us to become even more prepared for the last days.

Choosing Oppression or Courage

We were fortunate to be able to stay with family while we were in San Francisco last week trying to do some genealogy. We were blessed to have been helped a great deal by the Ethnic Studies Library at UC-Berkeley while researching the life of my paternal great grandfather, Tong, King-Chong  唐瓊昌

唐瓊昌

Most non-Chinese are familiar with Dr. Sun Yat Sen, the military face and leader of the Revolution which overthrew the Chinese empire, leading to the foundation of the Republic of China (a democratic Republic, not to be confused with the current communist government of the 'People's' Republic of China.) Most (older) Chinese know my great grandfather was the political face of the movement, leading the authorship of the ROC constitution, calling upon overseas (and mainland) Chinese to rise up and overthrow the Empire and establish freedom in China. Tong, King-Chong as Editor and publisher of the Chinese Free Press, the largest Chinese newspaper in the USA, wrote many essays and was widely published in english and chinese languages, and the most recognized Chinese person here in the USA by all white and chinese communities. He became the first Chinese lawyer in the US, and when Sun Yat Sen was arrested for treason here by the US government at the behest of China's Empress Dowager, served as Sun Yat Sen's lawyer successfully arguing for, and obtaining Dr. Sun's release.

Tong, King-Chong was born in China, a second son. In old Chinese culture, a second son is worth barely anything. Knowing his future in China was limited, he set out to America to seek his fortune and determine his own destiny. In this, he was similar to millions of other Chinese. 

The Chinese Historical Society of America, headquartered in San Francisco, tells the "story" of those "other" Chinese (although, they do reference my great grandfather in one of their publications--largely relating how his family was arrested in China for treason.) I was disappointed, but not entirely surprised, that the "Chinese story" told by CHSA is largely one of oppression, discrimination, racism, victimhood. To be sure, all of those things were true. But where are the stories of those 'other' Chinese who like my great grandfather, despite, language barriers, discrimination etc., rose up to live out the American dream: successful, contributing members in the own culture and American society at large, prospered because of the freedom afforded to them in America, and left a legacy of triumph for their children, grandchildren and great grandchildren?

To hear CHSA tell it, we were and are, a poor, oppressed, illiterate, woebegone people, waiting to be rescued, unable to lift ourselves out of our circumstance, forever to be slaves. WHAT A LIE. 

Tong, King-Chong is only unique by his fame. His story of arriving with nothing, believing in himself, and having the courage to live out his dreams is shared by millions of others. My other paternal great great grandfather, also a second Chinese son, arrived on the shores of America to pan for gold, and was reasonably successful (though not hugely.) He saw how the Chinese (and other) miners were being charged ridiculously high prices for mining equipment and supplies, so he gathered his gold, bought inventory cheap due to volume and then resold it at half of what other suppliers were charging. He became a millionaire in the process, eventually owning one of the main shipping lines from San Francisco to China.

Where are those stories, CHSA? Why not tell the stories of courage, of hope, of determination, of success? It can't be because you don't know those stories.

I know why CHSA (and organizations like them) don't tell those stories: they don't fit the narrative that America is bad, that white America oppresses, that the little man can't get ahead. The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 required that you 'prove' you were entitled to come into this country. Was it a racist, oppressive law? Absolutely. But you know what came out of it? Millions of pages of family history, treasured stories, photographs and pedigrees which I, and other descendants of these wonderful people, would not have if it weren't for this "racist, oppressive" law (thank you National Archives for preserving them--btw, change your viewing policy!!)

You can choose to be a victim in your circumstance, or you can choose to be courageous and change your path. You can decide your destiny rather than believe the lie that your destiny has been chosen for you.  You like my ancestors and your ancestors, can chose courage when the choice is placed before you.

Overcoming Obstacles

Despite numerous medical setbacks, including spending the last four days in the hospital with a bacterial infection, my DD18 managed to graduate from college yesterday. She was pretty excited to be able to graduate with her class; bouncing off the walls, effervescent, full of energy.

We recognize what a miracle it is that she is still with us, let alone graduating. For us, it illustrates the importance of being prepared. DD18 went into the semester at nearly a 4.0 GPA. She didn't graduate summa cum laude but she managed to graduate cum laude (that's the yellow Honors stole you see her wearing), even with the tumbles that kept her out of school for nearly half the semester. Being so well prepared before the emergency hit meant that the impact of the slide down was not nearly as deep as it would have been if she'd taken the slacker party route through college. Her heretofore hard work and dedication bought her grace with her professors also, who were more inclined to work with her because of her previous performance, versus if she'd demonstrated she was a slacker.

The importance of getting and being prepared is one of the many takeaway lessons we have learned these past few months. We have seen the importance of getting out of debt and having a savings; we have seen the importance of having a familiar relationship with God (there are no atheists in foxholes) before the tragedy strikes; we know the value of friendship and the effect of lending a helping hand. 

We have internalized the wisdom of listening to 'that still, small voice' rather than the roar of panic. Did I mention we have to move out of our rented place by Sunday, there's problems with the title for the house we're buying, AND our truck blew a head gasket yesterday morning?) In all, we stick with the plan, make adjustments as necessary after luxuriating in a few minutes of self-pity, then move forward.

On the plus side is: we may be lake FRONT rather than lake SIDE with all the rain in Texas (higher property value, lol? I'm trying for humor here), DD18 gets a few more weeks with medical checkups and tests (we've decided she's truly more Asian like her mom after all--she's passed every medical test with flying colors!). We've been tossing, donating or selling stuff left and right. Still way too much for TinyHouse living, so I guess it's a good thing it's a regular house.

And once DS19 and I get work established post-move, we'll be able to buy a truck. In the meantime, one of us will get a lot of driving time :) At least that vehicle is reliable.

I'm not complaining about the 4Runner. We bought it very used for $2,500 two years ago and it has served us well. Overall, we are grateful that it blew NOW versus on the road in the middle of nowhere, stranding us towing a trailer.

We are grateful for the loving hand of God who has softened the blows of life for us. Others may think unless God prevents or erases all blows and setbacks that this proves there is no God, like the guy who is falling off a roof, prays for God to save him, gets caught on a nail which stops his fall and says "never mind God it's handled." 

We choose to recognize the nail for what it is: intervention. Softening the blow. "If it was going to happen" at least it happens in our favor, or the least impact. That life is often a series of obstacles which can be overcome with work, faith and prayer. 

That there is much joy and happiness to be found if we will simply stop, and take the time to recognize it.

Mahalo.

Dave Ramsey's Every Dollar budgeting tool

I've gone through a 'one month cycle' and at least from a systems analyst Point of View, I see where, why and what the problems are. I hope someone from Dave Ramsey Financial Solutions reads this blog and gives their tech team a heads up.

Despite the fact that much of this blogpost will be (justified) criticism of the software, I am thrilled that Dave Ramsey (DR) and his team have come up with a budgeting tool. Named EveryDollar, after DR's motto that "Every Dollar should have a name," it's strongest point is that it mirrors the DR Financial Peace program. If you have read The Total Money Makeover, or attended Financial Peace University, Every Dollar follows the Monthly Cash Flow budgeting worksheets, although not in such cumbersome detail as those sheets. Every Dollar can be found at http://www.everydollar.com, and the basic program is free. The paid-for version ("EveryDollar plus") ties in to your bank account so that transactions can be downloaded. It costs $100 a year, and it seems like a great idea (can't be worse than Mint.com), but the Basic/free version is buggy enough that I'm going to wait until the bugs get worked out before I start shelling out money and my bank account transactions.

So. Biggest upside? Enough line items to make a nerd crazy. Planned categories, actual expenditures, and remaining money categories. Those are nice columns, although the remaining money one doesn't work so well.

Let's start with a Tutorial. Actually, we can't. There isn't one. And I'm fine with that, but the flip side (in my not so humble 25+ years of designing software systems opinion) means you better have a really good, intuitive system then. Alas, intuitive is not an adjective which can be laid at Every Dollar's door.

But I do know why that is the case. I can see clearly that the DR tech team has fallen victim to swimming "too close to the product" test pool. If you know ahead of time how it's supposed to work, and you live and breath the DR FPU system, then their design is understandable. Transactions, a major component of this program, really fails due to the 'too close' syndrome.

Once you have set up your budget (which you can't really do until the first of the month if you want everything to square up), your budget will show planned line items. One would think you could simply tap the planned line item, enter an actual transaction amount, and save it. Nope. A window does pop up, but it doesn't save the information. It takes another 3 or 4 tries, executing the line called budget category, re-entering the data a few times, for it to finally "save." That's ridiculous, and counter-intuitive. On the other hand, if you look in the far right, upper right corner, you'll see a tiny little transaction icon. Clicking on that brings up the same pop up window as on the line item, which when you enter the amount, enter the "vendor", choose a category, then click on add expense, it will save it. 

You got that, right? FOUR steps to add a single transaction, and you have to hunt for the icon to get there in the first place, versus something which ought to be intuitive at the line item (but doesn't work either.)

Debt, another major component of the DR program, is a category which needs some overhaul. Say you start setting up your budget at the end of March. You more or less know what your outstanding balances are going in to the month of April, so you plan to start the month of April with a clean slate. Can't do it. You get this annoying error message which says "No Cheating. You're not in April yet, so you can't enter outstanding balances." I almost fell off my chair. If the EveryDollar system was tracking my interest rates, % of payment applied to principle and % applied to interest, that would be one thing. Then I could see why it wouldn't let me mess with its algorithm. But it doesn't. So why should it matter that it's March 28 and I want to enter the balances starting April 1? I actually have to remember to come back on April 1 and enter starting balances. That's ridiculous. And user un-friendly. And the trick to entering the balances as a line item isn't intuitive either.

Remaining balance. Once I figured out what it was doing, I calmed down, but this and the income are columns which need some major overhaul IMO. Or the DR tech team knows about the hiccup, but couldn't figure out a better way to do it, so they left it. 

Here's what happens: you plan/lay out your income for the month on April 1. For us, that's two of DH's salary checks, one of mine, and a low ball amount for irregular income which fluctuates. The first three are calendar items, for example, 1st, 15th and 30th. The income category algorithm treats all of the income as arriving on the same day. So your planned income is say, $5000 for the month, made up of two $2000 salary checks, one $500 salary check, and $500 in irregular income.

First check comes in and is short by $60 because you took an unpaid day off. The income column treats this shortfall as though the $60 is still outstanding and is owed to you. There's no way to get rid of it, other than to go back to the planned column and adjust it downward, which defeats the whole purpose. 

So you leave it.

You pay rent on the first, which in theory should leave you with a zero balance, but instead you are $60 to the good (rather than being $60 overdrawn if your entire check is used for rent as ours is), because Income thinks you are still owed the $60 and just haven't been paid yet. Because you actually paid out $2000 in rent, it matches the planned amount, so it doesn't show a deficit, and because all of the income is counted April 1 versus when it is actually received, your pocketbook doesn't register an overdraft, which is actually the case.

That's a major flaw, IMO.

Second check comes in, and it's time to pay the bills. So I pay all the bills, and by my math, I should have $145 left in the bank. Not according to EveryDollar I don't. According to EveryDollar I have $800 remaining (Remaining is the category name) because it assumes that ALL of the income comes in Day 1. It took me a while to figure that out...

Now, I'M a nerd. With an accounting degree. So when the T columns don't balance, I go looking for the reason why. But my DH is a free spirit. He sees "$800 remaining" and is likely to shout out "wooo hooo" and throw a party or buy stuff for his motorcycle with that "$800 remaining" balance. And that's a very real danger in every household, not just mine.

So my choices are: NOT plan for EveryDollar at the beginning of the month like I do with my spreadsheet (I have check 1 goes to x, check 2 goes to xyz, check 3 goes to x, irregular income goes to abc), and have it not balance correctly until the end of the month, which IMO is way too late to course correct, OR

come back MULTIPLE times in the month as the money comes in, and work it in reverse (because I will have already planned for the expense.) So now I am applying INCOME to the expense, rather than expenses to the income. It's a viable work around, but it is a huge design flaw if you are accustomed to working the DR plan.

Yeah, choosing either option defeats the purpose and is likely to get me to throw up my hands and give up if you're a regular non-budgeter. Me, I chose to go back to my spreadsheet.

EveryDollar is a great idea whose time has not quite arrived. It needs some major tweaking, which will be a painful upgrade given its successful download/launch. Many of these problems would have been avoided by better testing from non-employees of DR. I hope the tech folks undertake the changes. Dave Ramsey's Financial Solutions are phenomenal, and he deserves way better than this.