New Worms

     We added two more buckets of worms yesterday to our compost.  This means we now have up to 165 worms under our sink.  Yippee!  They all look good, squirming and moving through the compost.  

     We have two pallets for our fence and/or big compost.  We only need two more for the compost, and a bunch more for the fence.  

     Wedding plans are going very well.  We are meeting with our friend tomorrow, she will be performing the ceremony.  I'm not sure I want to write my own vows, I'm sure someone else has said what I want to say, much more eloquently than I could ever come up with.  So she is going to bring some examples of ceremonies and things, and we can "tweak."  We are going to the Renaissance Festival in a couple of weeks, hopefully we will be able to purchase Scott, Jason, and Isaac's wedding apparel.  We are doing really well at keeping everything within our budget.

     The honeymoon to Hawaii is not going to happen.  Scott and I decided to put the money towards our life after the wedding, and we are working towards purchasing a house/land.  So the money we would have used to go to Hawaii is now going to pay off all the little yuckies on our credit reports.  Good news - we will be almost completely debt free by the end of this year!  Yippee!  and Yea!

Worm Update and Money

     I checked on our worms today.   I had some eggshells and onion peelings to give them.  When I opened the bin, everything was covered in mold.  No smell, though.  The worms are alive and well.  I think there is too much food in there right now.  So the eggshells went into the trash (until the big compost is put up).  Scott and I think we need more worms, so perhaps tomorrow I will go back to Petco and get another container of red wigglers. 
     Today I did a budget.  Very boring.  Very necessary.  I feel so much better now!  We made some decisions regarding our wedding, and our honeymoon, and our monthly spending.  There will be no honeymoon.  That was the decision.  We decided that our goal for owning our own house was more important than spending a bunch of money on a trip.  We are also trying to put as much money as possible a month towards cleaning up our credit reports so that we can purchase a home.  Ugh, money!
We live pretty much paycheck to paycheck.  We have a thousand dollar emergency fund, but that is it.  We are hoping to get rid of most of our debt before purchasing a home.  I can't wait to have a home of my own!

Feeling Blah

     Hooray, another week!  The wormies seem to be doing fine.  I’m trying not to check on them too much.  I know they like the dark.  I did add some more food to the bin; some fruit that had fallen on the floor, a banana peel, some onion peelings.  And some more stuff that I cannot remember now.  The drying rack and solar dryer are working well, I’ve been using one or both for every load. 
     Well, I’m back to feeling a little overwhelmed about the nebulous future.  I know that I want to own a home on some land.  I know I want to live sustainably and as self-sufficiently as possible.  I know I want to live simply.  But how on earth do I get from here to there?  I have to work to stay at the house I live at now.  And if I want to get a teaching job, I have to go back to school part time.  Which is going to cost money and time.  Money and time that I would much rather put towards my land and house.  What to do, what to do?
     I’m feeling a little overwhelmed by it all.  The children talking, the dog barking, the tv going off, too much noise!  Ahhhh!  I can’t concentrate at all. 

Goals and Plans

     The worm bin is finished.  We have 45-55 red wigglers wiggling around in our small under sink bin.  I got to use my power tools.  My drill.  I even changed from one bit to another.  Scott sanded it down to make it safe for the little wormies, and we laid down newspaper for bedding and wet it down.  We had saved some broccoli stems and I had two out of date breakfast luna bars, and we had one apple that was soft.  So all of that has been chopped up and fed to the worms.  I really have to contain myself from checking on them every five minutes.  They are so cute!  Abby named two of them, Franklin and Bob.  The fattest one is Franklin.  I’m still not sure which is Bob. 
     I feel like I am making progress to living the way I want to live.  We have been eating at home every day, except Friday.  Scott made homemade french fries, which were absolutely delicious.  We steamed some broccoli and had cheese sauce.  I even ate a few bites of steak.  I’m not a big fan.  Friday night we went to Olive Garden.  All of us.  Three kids and two adults.  We had decided ahead of time to not order sodas.  But still, Olive Garden is expensive.  Two of the kids ended up ordering off the adult menu, we also got an appetizer, and we split two desserts between the five of us.  The total bill came to $90.  We left a $15 tip.  So our evening meal cost us $105!  That is a weeks worth of groceries.  I’m feeling a little guilty now, well, not guilty necessarily.  But I really want to take a closer look at my actions and make sure they are lining up with my goals and my choice to live in a more conscious way.  Because eating more than a day’s pay in one meal does not seem like a good way to live. 
     I’m now re-examining my goals, and I want to write them out and post them around the house, so I remember what I am living and working for.  I asked the kids to be thinking about their life goals, and we are going to talk about it again next week.  I told Scott what I was doing.  He said he thought we were pretty clear in our goals.  I explained to him how I was feeling and he supported me.  He also said that he didn’t want us to become so goal focused that we lose capability to be happy now.  It’s all about balance.  Because I don’t want us to become so hedonistic that we never strive for better.  So I am working on that.  I’m also looking for inspiring quotes about living simply and things like that. 
     On a happier note, we purchased a drying rack and put it in front of the heater to dry our clothes.  We also have a small clothesline out back, it won’t hold a full load or anything, but on nice days I have been hanging some out to dry.  I call that my solar dryer.  I haven’t named the drying rack.  I’m hoping to save some money on electric, as well as extend the life of our clothes.  It’s better for the planet, as well, by not using up precious energy.
     I have a list of projects that we would like to start soon.  Among them are a garden; a larger, outdoor compost; and a fenced area for the dog.  These are all things that I can do at the place I am living right now.  Oh, and I’m making a patchwork quilt out of old clothes.  Nope, I’ve never done any of the above.  Well, I did attempt a garden  last spring, but it never grew.  I got some weeds.  Nothing edible.  Yippee!  This time will be different. 

Ready, Set, Go!

     Welcome to my four day weekend!  Woohoo!  When I came home, I really needed to be outside and do some work.  So I went over to the Yurt in the Holler spot, and cleared up the trash and put the fallen wood in the wood pile by the chiminea.  I looked at the water that needs to be diverted, and tried to imagine how to accomplish water diversion.  Build a dirt bank?  Dig a ditch?  Hmm.  Both probably would be good.  I need a shovel!  And a wheel barrow.  I have this strange desire for tools.  Lots of tools.  A machete, an axe, a rake.  Time to hit the yard sales, I suppose.  I can’t wait to start the compost and the fence projects.  And the vermicompost project, as well. 
     Okay, talked to the family.  We are starting our worm bin tomorrow.  As well as getting a drying rack for our clothes to put by the heater to dry.  Woohoo!  I feel like I might actually be getting closer to living the way I want to live.  Choosing instead of autopilot.  Doing what everyone else is doing, just because I’m not thinking about it.  I like action.  Don’t get me wrong, I like planning also (okay, a lot), but I love seeing the fruit of my plans also.  It felt incredibly good to see the Yurt in the Holler place cleaned up.  And I felt incredibly good working toward one of my dream/goals. 

Fires and Towels

  All the dishes are done.  I’m working on laundry now, I’ve folded two loads already, and have two more to do.  Scott fixed us all a delicious dinner of nachos.  The girls made us cake.  Abby got rid of one shirt. 
     I washed all of the towels.  We have a lot of towels.  A plethora of towels.  We have a myriad of towel choices when we exit the bath.  In order to narrow down our abundance of towels, we are each choosing one towel to make our own.  We can sew or embroider whatever our hearts desire on our one towel.  This one towel will find a permanent home in the bathroom, preferable on the towel rack.  This one towel will never be on the floor, or lost in the bedroom, or pushed to the back of the cabinet.  We are also keeping a couple of extra towels for guests.  The rest of the towels are going to ASPCA for the animals.  I am tired of washing towels!  I am simplifying my life by making less work for me washing, drying, folding, and putting away all of these towels every week!  Yea, and go me! 
     We did have a fire last night.  It was a lot of fun.  And a lot of work.  All of the wood and tinder was wet.  We thought we were just going to have a paper fire, because I had four phone books and some old tax forms to burn, but the three logs ended up drying out enough to burn!  And the cabinet, as well.  We sat out there, watching the flames until well into the night, and had dinner at 11pm.  That was certainly not cool, because everyone had to get up early and go to work and school the next day.  That means tonight is early to bed.  Our friend did come over for a little while, which was nice.  We got to catch up for a few minutes and watch papers burn.  They donated a couple of logs to our fire.  It’s nice to have time to do things like this with my friends and family.

Communication is Key

Today Scott and I sat down and had a talk with our roommate.  It can be hard to share living space, especially since Scott and I have children and a dog, and our roommate is a single guy, no pets.  We hashed a lot of things out, it was a good experience.  I certainly feel better about everything, and Scott says he does, too.  We have to work on being better about training the dog, and be clear with the kids and with our roommate about expectations.  Communication is key, as usual.  Sometimes it is just easier to focus on the negative, but then I have to live with the consequences of my negative energy, which in turn affects my family, which in turn affects me.  It can be a never-ending spiral of negativity, until someone takes a step to break it.  So even though it was hard for me personally to confront my roommate, afterwards, it was so much better!
     Scott and I are still working on cleaning the house today, focusing on getting the laundry all caught up and the dishes.  Well, the dishes are all done, since yesterday, actually, but I want to make sure they don’t get out of hand again.  We’ve done a good job on keeping up with them so far.  I’m just worried about what happens when we are both at work again. 
     Tonight we are going to have a chiminea.  We have a bunch of papers to burn, and an old cabinet that is falling apart for wood.  We invited over a friend, and we will have s’mores.  Yummy!  It’s not too awful cold outside.  I’m being deliberate about my activities today, choosing to have a relaxing evening before returning to work, instead of trying to cram in a bunch of meaningless tasks.  With my laundry being done, I will have clean uniforms, so will Scott.  The girls will have clean clothes all week.  Scott and I did plan a menu for the week, so we know what we are having for each meal, each day.  Shopping is being done by my roommate in exchange for cleaning. 
     I’m still excited about the yurt in the holler by our house.  We probably won’t be able to do any work on it today, but maybe tomorrow after work we can begin.  We did watch a video on vermicomposting and a video on the Loveable Loo.  Yea!  I’m kind of wondering if we could install a Loveable Loo on top of our existing toilet now in a way that would be easy to remove when we move, and would not be a permanent structure because we rent.  I guess we could just put some wood around the current toilet and put in a couple of stairs, and have the Loveable Loo on top of the old toilet.  Then we come to the next problem of not having a current compost bin to put the compost from the Loveable Loo.  We need pallets!
     It looks like Wednesday nights are going to be family meeting nights.  This Wednesday will the first.  Well, the first with Scott and Isaac present.  Tori, Abby and I have had meetings in the past.  We are going to talk about starting an electronics free time every week, starting with maybe an hour on Wednesdays.  We are so hooked on electronics, like me and the computer, the boys and their video games, the girls and their movies.  It’s a tough cycle to break, but we are making a step in the right direction.  I also don’t want the kids to feel forced into making these changes.  I want them to be as excited as I am to living a life that is fulfilling and fun and purposeful.  They are older, and they certainly have their own opinions about these things, but I want there to be a balance.  I don’t want to be the dictator of my family, and force them to do the things I want to do.  I also don’t want to encourage them to be little dictators and decide what is best for the family.  Communication is key, after all.  I suppose that is what I am learning about today.  Asserting myself, while still being attuned to the needs and desires of those around me.  Not only is my life a deliberate adventure, it is a permanently open school.  I love it!