Tell Me What You Need ...

 

I don't know if anyone will scroll down far enough to see that I have written something with this one, but we will give it a try.  This picture is kinda like the story of my life.  Well, one of the stories anyway.  I have become the queen of substitutions and making due with what you have.  Had to be.  And today is no different.  

Today we are making due without running water.  Yeah, what fun.  Fortunately I spent three years living in the middle of nowhere with no running water (or electricity, or phone, or much of anything else), so this is a cake walk.  Not only did they tell us exactly when we would have no water, they even gave us two days notice ahead of time, and a they gave us a reasonable time frame for when we will be getting it back.  The kids are a little flustered by it, but they are amazed at how little of an inconvenience it really has been.  Mother was prepared.

It really is amazing just how creative one can become when you have no other choice.  I have baked cookies and casseroles in a propane bar-b-Que.  I have recycled clothing to repair furniture.  And while I have never had to make tomato soup from ketchup packets, I have been forced at times to become pretty creative in finding something to feed my family for dinner.  Some of those "Mother creations" have turned out to be pretty damn good.  Others, not so much.  Had a couple even the dog wouldn't eat, but at least I tried. 

The one thing I have learned in all my years of making due though is this:  It is a lot easier to "make due" when it is a matter of choice, than when it is a matter of survival.  And sometimes, convincing yourself that it is a "choice", can make all the difference in the world.  It really all boils down to attitude.  Most things in life really do.  No matter how bad things may be, a good attitude will go a lot further in getting you out the other side than a bad attitude will.  A bad attitude will never get you anything but misery.  Some people seem to enjoy that.  I don't.