I was so tired last night that I forgot to write! I lay down at 4:oo pm, and woke up much later. Once I woke up, I baked some bread and canned some turkey. Then, back to bed, where I was awaken at 11:00 pm when Martin and Aunt Cheryl came home from Jaybird's first game of the year. I must have been tired, because I didn't wake up until 8:30 am when Becky called.

So, I forgot to write, and today has been fairly uneventful. Martin is doing better, breathing better, but it is still so obvious that he is ill. How I hate that. He deserves so much more. He is tickled over baking bread, and has been playing with my bread machine. He should have been an engineer, he loves to see how things work. Today, he stood over the bread machine as it mixed a batch of bread, and waited to see what would happen when it stopped mixing. He was really disappointed because he realized that the bread would have to rise until something else happened. It turned out very good, and tonight Martin and Aunt Cheryl had roast pork with vegetables and homemade bread.

All week long I have been thinking about making bread. Something has happened each day to put me off my goal, but finally, on Thursday, Martin ground the wheat and I made some bread. The recipe called for too much flour, and so I should say that I baked a brick. I know that I received clear knowlege from Heavenly Father to start to use my wheat storage and hone my bread-making skills. That is what I will do. When I feel a prompting like that, I don't hesitate, but just get started. I will say that it will be more involved than I thought, but I am going to be a regular "Little Red Hen".

I went back to Walmart today. I just couldn't not match the prices I had found, and wound up with lots of tuna, (3-1.00), onions, (4lbs-1.oo), pasta,(4 bags-1.00) and other good stuff. I also got some chicken for a great price, and tonight it is cooling in the canner after I canned 8 jars of boneless chicken.

I guess I sound like a nut. I hope not, but I am really determined to get a food storage together as Heavenly Father asked me too. I use the food that I store, and rotate it. It has made a huge difference in our finances, not having to go to the store everyday, and I believe in the future, we will need it more and more.

Aunt Cheryl and I re-organized the food storage room today. It was a lot of work, but the storage is much easier to utilize and I even found some things I had forgotten about. Each time I go into my food storage room, I feel so complete and confident. It is wonderful to see the bounty that Heavenly Father has helped me accrue. The other day, Natalee told me that she wanted to contribute as well, because we often eat together as families, and they want to be sure that we always have what we need. She called my food storage room, "Aunt Jodie's grocery store" because I often offer her items when she is in need. My main goal is to have enough for all the family in times of need, and I don't mind prodding them when a bargain is to be had.

I will keep adding to it. I don't want to go overboard, but I plan ahead to look for sales on the things I am growing short of. Besides, it is so much fun to have a reason to go to Walmart and match prices!

Well, enough of that, I hope that everyone is taking seriously the idea to prepare for the future. It is great to save money for emergencies, but if things really get tough, the stores will sell out and people will have to do without. I don't think that our diet will be a gourmet delight in that case, but we will have the basics, and cornbread tastes great with homemade jam. I hope that the future will find everyone prepared, but in any case now is the time to start if you have not already done so. The family is calling me one of those "preppers" (those people who are preparing for a disaster of global proportions), but I don't think a sudden disaster will be the reason we should prepare. I think it is for a situation like ours, where your income