how i spent my day

I was summoned to report for jury duty today, so naturally I spent all day reading a book. Not going to bore you with the details of the jury selection. But I will highly recommend the book, especially if you're a fan of all things Chinese like I am.

Obviously, it's the story of an American who goes to the Shaolin temple to, among other things, learn kungfu. D liked it okay, but I absolutely loved it. I finished the book today and I was actually sad that it was over.

Tomorrow at the courthouse I will have to continue reading Bill Bryson's A Short History of Nearly Everything. This is another great book. However, I stopped reading it to read Shaolin because it was getting a bit depressing. I'm one of those people who the more she knows the more she thinks and worries about the things she knows. I swear I was so much more carefree in my twenties when I didn't know anything. No wonder I'm getting more wrinkles.

So Bill goes through humans' quest for knowledge of all things (chemistry, physics, astronomy, geography, among others). He did tons of research and is very good and dumbing it all down for the reader. He actually makes learning fun. What is so depressing is that he also talks about global warming, threatening earthquakes, deadly meterorites, and how Yellowstone is actually one humongous supervolcano waiting to blow and kill everyone.

Looks like I have more to worry about than whether or not I'm selected for jury duty.

Yeay! It's Christmastime.

It's so much fun to decorate our house. I love our house, and I love making it beautiful and festive for different occasions. I try not to go overboard; D and I both like the 'less is more' or minimalist look.

Today we finished putting ornaments on the tree and I put some other Christmas decorations around the family room.

We didn't have a tree last year because we just moved into the house in December and it was too much trouble. About half of the ornaments we opened I would ask "is that new?" like I never saw it before. I guess that's part of the fun of decorating the tree; you forget where some of the ornaments came from and each one has a story (if you can remember it).

We do have a minor complaint. For some reason our frasier fur tree doesn't smell. Nothing. Even going right up to it and sniffing the branches gets you nothing. Why is that?

how we don't spend our money

A family member recently made a comment about how 'it must be nice' to take such nice vacations. Yes, I understand that D and I do go on some awesome trips. Besides Croatia earlier this fall, we went to Chile in November 2005 and China/Thailand in August 2004. Taking trips like that is important to us. We both really enjoy visiting new places and meeting new people, not to mention eating new foods. It's a time to unwind, relax, enjoy each other's company, experience something new together. So what if we spend more money on these trips than other people?

We actually didn't spend that much on our most recent trip. I was surprised to find that we spent just under $5000 for both of us over three weeks. Yes that is a lot, but when you think about how much we experienced during this time it really doesn't seem that much to us. Besides, we make little "sacrifices" (in quotes because they may seem like sacrifices to some people, but to us they are things that don't matter) in order to be able to do what we truly love.

Here's how we can afford it:
We cancelled our cable TV about 6 months ago. That's $540/year in savings.
I take public transportation to work about 3 times a week. That's about $700/year in gas savings.
Our mortgage payment is lower than a typical household of our income level. It's at least $7000 less per year.
We have low home energy costs. Our power bill averages about $72/month. Our gas bill averages about $47/month. The average American household spends about $2100/year on home energy. That means we are saving $670/year.

That is not even considering the fact that since we don't have kids, we have a lot more disposable income. Children are expensive! We also only have one car payment, so while it may not be a savings per se, we have a lower insurance premium and lower car costs in general.

Anyway, adding all that up brings us to almost $9,000/year in savings just by altering our lifestyle a little bit. Small price to pay for such huge rewards.

I want I want I want

Marketplace has been running a week-long series called "Consumed". I just love Marketplace. I love Kai Ryssdal's voice; it is so soothing and reassuring. Sigh!

The series addresses Americans' over-consumption habit.

D and I try not to consume too much, but sometimes we're not that good at it. He loves outdoor gear and clothes, and I get caught up once in a while in a clothing shopping 'frenzy'. Still we try.

Our friend Magali hit the nail on the head with her most recent post. People just want to buy buy buy. How much stuff does a baby need? I am adamant that if and when we have a baby, I am going to insist on getting everything used (except for maybe a breast pump!). There is no need to register for stuff, no need to make such a big deal and spend hundreds of dollars buying stuff and no need to spend time and money doing over-the-top decorations for the baby's room.

Another example is Christmas. No longer a day for enjoying family and the spirit of giving, it is now spent opening one present after another. There is not even time to look at a present for more than a second before attention is turned to the next wrapped box. What is going on here?? Our children are no longer grateful; they're demanding and expectant.

Off of my soapbox...anyway, the "Consumed" programs have been extremely enlightening and alarming. I now have even more to worry about in the middle of the night. Check it out.

By the Way...

Is it terribly apparent that I love lists?

5 things I do that help the environment

1. I don't buy bottled water. I bring my own (filtered tap water) in my very own SIGG bottle. Doesn't leach and doesn't go into landfills!


2. I don't rinse dishes off before putting them in my awesome energy-saving dishwasher. And I don't heat dry, I air dry.


3. I don't use bleach or other harmful chemicals while cleaning my house or my clothes. All natural, baby!


4. I take MARTA (the crappy public transportation here in Atlanta) about 2-3 times a week to and from work. It's sometimes hard because I actually have to travel around the city for my job.


5. I recycle like a madwoman. I even have my own recycle bin at work for office paper that I have to take home in order to recycle.

Now that I've tooted my own horn, of course there are so many things I do that are not so good...but I'm working on them!

5 things I do that don't help the environment so much

with my justifications...

1. My last car purchase was not a hybrid or a compact. It was a wagon. (justification: It is actually a Subaru Outback, and their environmental record is incredible as far as car companies go. I also take public transportation a lot)


2. I travel by plane quite a bit. (justification: I need a break, man!)


3. My showers sometimes take a little longer than they should. (justificaton: I put big bowls at my feet to save some of it!)


4. Sometimes I forget about food in the fridge and end up throwing it away (justification: OK, I don't really have a justification for this just an excuse. I really don't like leftovers! But I'm getting better.)


5. I am running a space heater at my feet right now. No justificaton. I am just damn cold here.

HH the DL

I played hookey from work on October 22nd, for a once in a lifetime experience.


He is humble, funny, smart, amazing at the same time. I'm so glad I went.

There

We've finally planted vegetables in our garden!

Our garden is located in our side yard along the garage. It's nice so we don't have to walk too far to water and check on things. It also makes the side yard look a bit nicer! We planted broccoli, white cabbage, red cabbage, bibb lettuce and lavender. You can see Sadie's new favorite place on the deck.

Five awesome things that happened on my vacation

5. Learning the basics of sailing
4. Buying a Playboy magazine in a foreign country
3. Hanging out with such kickass people
2. The FOOD!
1. Getting to spend quality time with the love of my life

The crew

Before I go into how amazing our vacation was, I'd like to introduce the members of our crew. These are such cool people, and I know that the sailing part was so incredible because of these guys. You can be pretty miserable in close quarters with some people, so I'm glad we got along so well. If it sounds like I'm bragging on these folks it's because I am so in awe of how much these people have accomplished. They are all in the early 30s and are just doing really cool things.

Rigel: our fearless captain. He was incredibly patient with all of us, teaching us the basics of sailing and not getting mad when I kept referring to on deck as 'upstairs'. Considering he's sailed around the world and written a book about it, I think he was experienced enough to be our captain.

Ariel: Rigel's wife. She has her own graphic design company and even designed the City of Savannah's new logo.

Michael: Canadian. Went to college with Rigel and Ariel. He does freelance photography and writing. Probably one of the most hilarious guys I know. He is also an experienced sailor.

Kelli: She was part owner of a coffee shop in Savannah for about 4 years. Sold her half to her partner earlier this year, and has been traveling through Europe for a few months. She is planning to move to Argentina for a year to do some social work, then she'll go to grad school.

Shannon: She introduced us to everyone and is responsible for making the sailing trip happen. After working in the corporate world for too long, she decided to do what she did on her own. Successful business owner; avid world traveler. She also did Peace Corps in Cote d Ivoire.

Katrina: four-time ironman athlete. Need I say more?

I am so excited to have met Katrina and since she lives in Atlanta, I hope to hang out with her more. Cool chick.

Sailing Lesson #3

Points of Sail:
Beat (close haul) - closest to wind
Reach - wind is on beam
Broad Reach - wind is at rear quarter
Run - Wind is directly on stern

Our Boat

Uh, I need to add that this is the boat we chartered, not a boat we own.

3 weeks to go...

We're going sailing on the Adriatic with this guy in 3 weeks!

We'll start out in Split

And end in Dubrovnik

So far, all I know about sailing is:

1. The wind is always up

2. You wind a winch clockwise.

Hopefully that's enough.

I ran the Peachtree!

I am so not a runner. Hate it.

Still, somehow my friend Sandra convinced me to run the Peachtree Road Race this year. For those of you not in Atlanta, it is a 10K held on July 4th, and it's hot hot hot. Despite the heat, it's the largest 10K in the world, with 55,000 participants. Runners, apparently, are a sadistic bunch.

Did I mention it's hot?
Now, I've struggled through a few 5Ks here and there, but I've never done a 10K (notice I said 'done' and not 'run'). I'd like to say I trained rigorously for this, gradually increasing both my speed and my distance. Unfortunately I can't. I ran a grand total of 6 times since signing up for the race back in February.

Despite the lack of hard work before the race, Sandra and I ran together slowly but surely - with a few bouts of walking - and I finished in (a respectable?) 72 minutes.

Oh well, I did it!

big ambitions

I had every intention to write something before this. Alas, as my dear husband knows, I am not exactly good at following through with big ideas. I thought that might be an interesting topic...

Just in case you didn't know, I am a serial job-hopper. I go from one job to the next, then I may go back to a job, then I leave again. I don't want to say I'm never satisfied, but maybe that is actually my problem. My excuse is always something like, 'too boring!' 'too stressful!' 'too much work!' 'not enough work!' 'too far!'. I am at my third go-around at my current company, promising myself that I have to put in at least two years this time before I check out again (I'm at 9 months and counting).

I've thought of joining the Peace Corps, starting an eco-business, running an eco-lodge, working for an NGO abroad, teaching high school, helping my husband's business from home, teaching Chinese, working on a farm, going back to school, anything that is different from my dreary life between kissing my husband goodbye in the morning and greeting my dog in the evening. I've come up with so many ideas that whenever the words, "you know what I think is a good idea, honey?" come out of my mouth, my husband is already halfway through an eye-roll, checked out. "No really! this is really good!"

Our latest trip to Savannah has further inspired me to pursue something out of the ordinary. We met some really interesting people (our age!) who do some pretty amazing things with their lives. They took chances and those chances paid off. It makes me want to leave my current life and just start over in a small town with a lower cost of living and less materialism. We would sell our house, sell tons of junk on ebay and be free...

More on that later.

not just another blog about the environment

Most of my friends know that I am pretty passionate about the environment. I think it started when I went to Portland to visit my mom back in 2000 and, after commenting on her elaborate recycling system (Portanders don't mess around), she gave me a horified look and asked, "you don't...recycle?" I admit, I recycled only when it was convenient. Apartment living is not the most conducive to sorting garbage. Looking back, I didn't exactly spend much time in the kitchen anyway, so maybe I didn't have too much to recycle (justifying...). Upon my return, I began recycling in ernest, begging my roommate, "can you please just peel off the label from your cans before putting them in the bin?"

My moment of total realization came when I took a class on sustainable development at GA Tech. My professor, a model for moderate living, inspired me to look at how I was living in a whole new way. Called an 'ecological footprint', it measures the impact my way of life has on the earth. From that moment on, I became a bit crazy about eco-living. Not that I do everything right, mind you. I love traveling so much and I know it's bad for the environment. So I try to travel in ways that aren't as destructive. And let's face it, sometimes I just get lazy.

I am lucky that my husband has very similar values when it comes to living. We try not to get caught up in keeping up with the Joneses. Cars, clothes and toys aren't as important. Our house, way to big for us at 2400 square feet, is the only source of slight embarrassment for us (our last home was 1300 square feet). Luckily we justify (again) this because not only did Darren build it, but he built it so that it included many green (and clean) features. More on that later.

Anyway, this blog is for friends and family who have asked me about eco-living, and who just want to keep up with my life. Mostly it is for myself as I document my life and remind myself what's important. Enjoy!