Yes, I’ve been poking around the Internet this week, and last, ever since I lost my job at this town’s finest pizzaria… the Pizza House. Yay! No more having to work with… oh, never mind. I’m just so happy not to have to work outside my home for a while, I could sing and dance. More about that later.

I’m getting back into the mindset of a blogger and work at home person. I’m re-arranging my life to make Internet income acquisition more feasible. I’m reacquainting myself with my blogs… blowing the dust off, and making them all homey and cozy again.

For the last couple of months I was not only working hard at the pizza place - I was also working toward achieving an online goal. I wanted to be part of the Giant Squid program at Squidoo.Com. (See my lensography.)This may sound strange to many of you, but I love the Squidness of it all.. it shows a complete lack of taking ourselves too seriously. After all, if we’re not online for fun and profit - what are we here for? Okay, so maybe some of you could do without the profit part… but seriously, I can’t. This will have to be part of my required income from here on in, and Squidoo is a place where you can easily earn money online.

Let me be a bit honest with you about my situation.

I’ve given most of my life over to the care of my children, in that I took care of them for more than thirty years. My oldest is 35 this year. My youngest just turned 18 and moved out in July. So for the first time in my adult life - ever since I was twenty (when I had my first baby) - I am suddenly childless, in that none of them live with me. YES, I get to experience “Empty Nest Syndrome” first hand. So far it hasn’t been difficult.

My main income for the last year and a half was via working at the local pizza restaurant. I live in a VERY small town with few job opportunities. I felt lucky to have the job even though it was just part time.

Early in September the woman I worked with, the morning supervisor, suddenly quit her job after being there twelve years. She’d been offered a better job with benefits at the grocery store. I got promoted into the morning supervisor job on September 8. Unfortunately the evening supervisor who had worked there on and off for more than fifteen years didn’t like me. At the time I got promoted she was plotting and planning to get me out of there. I know that because later I ran into someone who told me the other supervisor offered her MY job at about the same time I got the promotion. This woman apparently was badmouthing me to the business owner and undermining me in every way she could. Eventually she got her way and only two weeks after getting promoted, I got fired for no particular reason other than that the other supervisor didn’t want to work with me! Wow, that was a big surprise to me because I was a very good employee. For some reason that old woman (age 69) is very manipulative and always gets her way with the business owner, who seems to be a pushover, letting her run the show even if it is unfair to others involved. I’m not the first person I’ve seen affected by this phenomena.

Anyhow, to my surprise, my first emotions after being fired were relief as if a burden had been lifted from me, and then joy. Suddenly I realized how happy I was that I wouldn’t have to work in that environment anymore, and especially not around that old woman plus her progeny who also work there due to the nepotism that’s so much a part of that business. I blinked my eyes a couple of times, stretched, smiled, and started feeling like I was doing internal happy dances. Like I really NEEDED to be treated so badly? How much money is it worth to go to work daily in a hostile environment… especially one where I have to work with meats even though I’m a vegetarian?

Fortunately I’d saved some money, and am earning a bit online. Since as I said, there are few job opportunities here, I’m not expecting to get another job right away. Of course, you never know and I’m not going to turn any jobs down… but for now I’m exceedingly happy to work at home as a blogger, Squidooer, and ad salesperson. I’m not earning a living wage at this time but it might get better if I keep trying. Right?

The good news is that my expenses are few. I’ve become an expert at practicing economy. My rent is super low - I live in a small backwoods cabin (some might call it a shack)… three bedrooms, but definitely not upscale. I drive an old but economical car so there are no car payments and gas… well, let’s not mention that right now. I just won’t drive it much. I plan to save on gas and ride a bicycle. Plus I walk a lot… often to the post office and back in the late afternoon. Two miles… good exercise. And I’m stocked up on food and continually adding more staples to my collection. There are very few things I really NEED to buy. I CAN DO THIS!!! I mean, I can learn to live on a much lower income.

I know that a lot of you out there in the rest of civilization are going through financial difficulties right now. I know with the bank failure, lots of people have lost retirement funds and home equity. My heart is with you as I feel the pains of so many who aren’t used to having to cut back, suddenly finding the rug pulled out from beneath them. And I guess what I’d like to do now is share some of my techniques for living economically. I feel like I’m pretty close to the bottom of the income scale, yet living comfortably and happily because of the choices I’ve made in the past. Maybe I have some ideas I can share with others - especially the idea that we can stay cheerful and happy in hard economic times.

Enough for now. If you’ve read this far, you must be a saint, and I love you! Thanks for stopping by. I’ll be back.

Should I, or shouldn’t I?

I think I should.

I’ve noticed that even though I haven’t posted here since September ::blush:: I’m still getting lots of wonderful comments, especially on the Cinnamon and Honey Weight Loss Tea article. And yesterday someone from Cheshire Kitchens left a heart-warming comment on my Lentil Tacos - Tortillas Made From Rice Flour recipe article.

Thank you, comment-writers! You make me so very happy!

So I took another look at this blog. I love the topic. I love sharing my recipes. The reason I quit writing is that I was feeling overwhelmed with responsibilities, work on other websites, and writing aspirations. So I thought maybe cutting down on the number of blogs I had might help — but I see this blog continues to grow and inspire people despite my absence, so I’m going to come back and give you more of my attention and time.

Yes, I am the sleeping giant of this blog. The woman behind the words…. and I am delighted to know that there are people out there finding gems of value in the postings I’ve left here.

May there be many more postings, visitors, and comments in the days to come!

It is my honor to introduce some of the finest new blog posts about vegetarian eating and cooking. The dedicated vegetarian bloggers who contributed to this carnival look forward to your comments about living life, vegetarian style.

International Pleasures

Michael, The Vegetarian Foodie, described the Vietnamese Sandwiches he buys. His article will make you wish you were in Seattle.

On the other side of the country, VnV, who blogs at Vegetarian Monologues, tried a variety of international-style vegetarian restaurants and wrote A Vegetarian in New York City.

The Harvest Is In

Stephanie at Stop The Ride has a great Zucchini Strudel recipe online for us: Too Much Zucchini?.

Lucynda, blogger at Quietly Into The Night, has been harvesting her Roma tomatoes and setting them out to dry. Her post on Making Sun Dried Tomatoes tells the story of how she makes and uses them.

Recipes To Try Out

I’m impressed by the Expat Chef’s culinary confidence as he explains Roasted Ratatouille — No Rodents (thank goodness) at The Expatriate’s Kitchen.

Annette, the Frugal Journey cook, gives us a great pasta recipe: Bowties With Black Olives and Sun Dried Tomatoes.

Stretch Mark Mama suggests hearty lentils with rice as a taco meat replacement for new vegetarians: Food Fixin’ Friday: Mexican Style Lentils and Rice. I have to agree with her; I’ve been vegetarian many years and still love lentils with rice in corn tortillas.

Lisa, who blogs at Lisa’s Kitchen, shares a mouth-watering recipe for Paneer Cheese and Vegetables in a Creamy Gravy. I admire this kind of gourmet cooking.

The Conscious Mom, Shrijnana, plans to share her kid-friendly Sunday brunch menus with us regularly. This time she gives us the recipe for a vegan form of quiche and Garlic-Thyme Home Fries in Vegan Sunday Brunch 8/5/2007.

Amanda, the foodie at Eat… and Be Merry suggests a simple and summery pasta recipe, Penne with Vegetable Marinara, in her post: Quick and Easy Monday Night Pasta. Her photo makes this look so good!

Gillian Polack is a Food History expert who offers two classic Australian recipes for biscuits in Biscuits from the Barossa. Very helpful and intriguing.

A Special Treat

Leo at the Organic Test Kitchen tells us the secret to making the best organic Cookies and Cream Ice Cream. Thanks, Leo!

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Thanks to everyone who contributed to this carnival. I am inspired by your cooking and menu ideas and amazed by the vegetarian food blogging talent out there.

The home page for the Vegetarian Blog Carnival is found at Veggie Chic’s Blog and the next carnival will be hosted there on August 27. You can participate! Submit a vegetarian post at the carnival submission form by August 26. See you then!

Vegan Visitor is a blog that invites you in with scrumptious recipes and colorful photography. The author starts her introduction by writing, “This is a guide to fill you, satisfy and demystify vegan cuisine.” Then she tells the story of her consternation at learning her fiancé’s parents, who were coming to dinner, were vegans. She had no idea what to serve them and had to research in cookbooks to figure out what to cook. That was a while back; now she’s a regular at vegan cooking and shares her recipes on her blog.

This blog is nominated for the Blogger’s Choice award. It would be nice to take time to vote for it while you’re checking it out.

One major thing I feel is missing from the blog is more description about the writer. I really prefer blogs where you can get to know the person who’s doing the writing. She’s got a great writing style, but there’s no name or picture to go with it. Still her personal stories are interesting and her talent for cooking is obvious. I recommend a look at her recipe blog, for anyone who enjoys vegan food.

Now I’ve got to hurry to get ready for work, and I’ll be out of town this evening and hopefully tomorrow. Today is my birthday and my boyfriend is taking me out on the town in the Eureka, California area. Have fun this Friday night.

On Sundays I take time to give thanks. Today I’m thankful for my financial independence. After almost 18 years of being a SAHM (stay at home mom) I’m now working outside my home again. I’m working part-time in a pizza restaurant, and am very grateful for this opportunity. It doesn’t matter to me that there’s other things I trained for in the past that I could be making much more money at. I’m excited to be cleaning off tables, rolling pizza dough, and waiting on customers. It is a thrill to be able to get a paycheck, rather than what I was doing before.

Well, what I was doing before included work-at-home businesses that weren’t working very well for me. I own a web design business, and got very frustrated by constantly working on ‘other peoples sites’ rather than my own. It took all the fun and excitement and creative freedom out of my web design work, and I totally wasn’t happy doing it. Now that I’m working outside my home again, I’ve transformed my web design business into something I’m doing for me - by building up some blogs and improving sites that I started long ago.

I also had a profitable small town news website which I’m in the process of selling. I am so excited to be able to get out from under this small business. It had become like a ball and chain to me. What started as a community service project years before became unmanageable and frustrating. Too many people in my community wanted to diss the news editor (me!) and even though others here were positive and enthusiastic about the project, it wasn’t enough to make it worthwhile to me anymore. So part of my personal declaration of independence this year is to unload the site. The good news is that my best friend here, an experienced news writer, is buying the site. I’m training her to maintain it, and she’s looking into getting a grant for it so that she doesn’t have to constantly sell ads. Good for her! Good for me!

So my ongoing financial worries are for the time, defeated. I’m feeling great about working for someone else, and grateful that my youngest child is now 17, so I can do this.

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Inspired by: Independence Day at Create a Connection