Tuesday, August 31, 2010

I'm baaaaaack!

After an amazingly short (and cold) summer, I have finally wrapped my head around the fact that it is indeed over... after all, tomorrow is September 1st!!!  As I alluded to in my last post, I spent most of the summer on our lot in Nordegg, living in a holiday trailer with my two-year-old, while my dad, husband and mom made intermittent trips to the lot to work on building the cabin.  In a lot of ways, it was indeed a summer of 'living with less'... less water (we didn't have running water), less power (we only had a generator that ran for about an hour a day), and by default, less spending (pretty hard to spend money when the nearest centre is an hour away).  Some sacrifices had to be made however, and I ended up having to buy a lot of the foods that I would normally make: crackers, breads, sauces, etc.  On the other hand, I did manage to get to the farmers market on most of the weekends, and my husband regularly brought us goodies from our garden back home.  I also managed to get out berry picking on one of my brief trips home, and I now have raspberries and saskatoons in my freezer that will hopefully last me most of the winter.

With all of those positives to reflect upon, it is with some dismay that I share with you some of my 'failures' as it were from the past few months.  First of all, my work.  I work from home, and as such, I needed to have access to the internet over the summer months.  My cell phone contract came due in June, and, I decided to replace my phone with the latest gadget, and yes, I am talking about an iPhone.  I know, I know, that doesn't fit in with living with less AT ALL!  To make matters worse, my old laptop kicked it a few weeks ago in August, forcing me to replace it as well.  So, two BIG hypocracies on my part.  However, rather than beat myself up about it, I have decided to just roll with it, as these two items allow me to stay home with my son and keep up with all of my other 'living with less' duties!  My next 'cheat' involves my son.  While living between the two homes all summer, I decided to leave most of our clothes back in the trailer to make things a little bit more efficient while travelling back and forth.  All was going brilliantly until towards the end of the summer when my little guy had a major growth spurt.  I brought him home, only to find that not a single item of clothing left in his closet fit him anymore.  I hit up the local consignment shop, only to find a single pair of pants that fit him.  So, after allowing him to run around in a t-shirt and diaper for two days (he loved it), I finally gave in and bought him a few new things to get us through until I could find some more consigned clothes for him.  Boo.

So, now dear audience, I have a poll for you... Given my 'cheats', do you think it would be apropos for me to start all over again (ie. reset the timer for another 365 days), or just leave the timer running and roll with it?
I leave it with you to decide...

Can't wait to hear from you and see where the next season takes us,

All the best!

Marebare xoxo

3 comments:

  1. OK, I'm late to this party I know because the poll is already closed. But let me get this straight... You spent the summer living in a trailer with no running water and only an hour's worth of electricity per day, and you think you've somehow ruined your "living with less" challenge because you didn't do all of your own baking and bought a few essential items?!?

    I'm starting to think you're even crazier than I am!

    Seriously, all decisions involve trade-offs, and I think that if you could somehow do some sort of scientific "impact comparison" you would come out WAY ahead. I know that not buying new things was part of the deal, but I think you have to look at the big picture here. Compare the impact of a computer and and iPhone to that of commuting to a job every day! Or the impact of buying some pre-made items to that of using virtually no electricity at all! And your child needs clothing even if a few things do need to be purchased new!

    And even if one of your "transgressions" can't be somehow justified in the "court of green decisions" I think that everyone is entitled to a few luxuries. The trick is recognizing them as luxuries, and trust me, you've got that one down pat!

    Glad you're back and looking forward to reading your posts again.

    XOXOXO,
    Rebecca

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  2. I love your blog, but I missed the poll!

    You've got a good friend in Rebecca, she's definitely got your back!

    Just cause I like to stir the pot . . . I'd say YES you have to start over, but I know that you're a lifer anyways! ;o)

    To the Revolution!!!!

    Love you,
    Darcie

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  3. @ Rebecca: Darcie is right, you do have my back... Thanks for the guidance and support! You are my 'green mentor' of sorts!

    @ Darc, love you too, and you were always a hard @ss!!!! See you tomorrow!

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