Biting off more than you can chew?

posted by Melissa Baumgart

Homemade pita.  Don't bite off too much.

Have you ever bitten off more than you can chew?  And then choked and almost died, but finally hacked whatever it was out, breathed again and sighed with relief?  Totally, me too.

Homesteading month was kinda like that.  I had warnings from friends:
"Take it easy."
"You don't have to do everything in three days."
"You're gonna burn out."

"No, no, no," I replied.  "I can do this, see I was created with a strong constitution.  I can do everything, and hardly ever say no to any invitation to go out and have fun on top of it.  In fact, even if you don't ask me to have fun with you, I am at home having my own party-of-one, thank you very much."

And so went urban homesteading.  Doing, doing, and doing some more...sometimes feeling guilty for not doing enough.  Seems I was also created with a penchant for guilt.  It makes for an interesting mix...overdoing everything and guilt about not doing enough.  I could list off all the things I have done since I last posted, but I won't.  (I will say that I discovered pasta making is challenging, and that my daughter Lily is a much better pasta maker than I.)  Suffice it to say, I continued on with homesteading and having fun until I could do no more.  Literally.

Lily, master-pasta-maker.

As of this past Sunday, I have barely homesteaded. (I even ate fast food!  Not even like food out that was well made, by someone else's hand)  I did manage to learn to knit. (Finally!)  But that was only because I was stuck somewhere with nothing to do but watch A Perfect Storm repeating on the television.  It's an entertaining movie, but really?  Twice in a row?

Right now, soup is on the stove, and it is the first home cooked meal I have had since our second paella feast of the month this past Saturday.  I don't think I have any photos of the yummy event, since I left my camera outside and it rained that night.  Wow, everything just keeps looking up.

Today, a friend of mine at school gave me some water kefir grains, milk kefir grains and a kombucha baby (or scobee, as I believe they are called.)  (check out my cousin, Margaret Hurley, demonstrate how to make your own kombucha)  This will constitute my last ditch effort at homesteading, to make those three things.

That reminds me, school has started again.  I am taking Anatomy & Physiology 2, Microbiology and Statistics.  (Must get 4.0's)

Life is full of lessons, and it seems like the one glaring me in the face right now is "Slow Down, or I'll make you slow down."  (I don't want to, believe me, I feel just terrible about it.)  I thought urban homesteading would be that, I thought it would slow me down, but it didn't.  It totally did not, at all.  So much so that Amy and I both are reconsidering our choice for next month.

It is in line with life being "digestible", as in not biting off more than you can chew.  And less about going out and wine tasting and beer tasting and spending a ton of money on supplies to make our own, which sounds super fun, don't get me wrong.  But with this new lesson being thrown my way, it seems like going out and drinking all month is not slowing down.

Check back to see what October brings...
It would be fun to hear what you would pick if it were you.  Let us know here on the comments, or on our Facebook page!

Thanks,
Melissa