It’s a Long Road… March 24, 2012

Well, that’s it! Finally our little beach house is sold, and our little bit bigger rural house is bought. We move in the middle of April. Mr. went hunting for boxes already, and I’ve started filling them. We freecycled an Ikea desk that just won’t fit, and the box stacking has begun.

Side note: I used to hate moving because I couldn’t stand seeing how pitiful my life looked packed into a bunch of boxes. Now though? I kind of like it. It’s a good opportunity to purge stuff, and it’s maybe the only time my house is super organized.

So we’re heading up to the Sunshine Coast. Mr. has been trying to get me up there for 7 years. But I’m stubborn, and a wannabe city girl. (Another side note: autocorrect accepts wannabe as a word. Huh.) It took the arrival of Tiny to realize the there were more important things to life than how long it takes to get to Granville Island.

I have had this dream of making less impact in the earth for a long time, and have been working towards it. But the place we’re in right now doesn’t have any space for a garden, and our neighbours would freak out if we got chickens. Those were two big things I’ve been wanting for a while. So, that was part of the deal; we move there, and I get a garden and chickens. Of course, Mr.’s going to say yes, because he gets more room, a garage, a shop, and the Coast.

So now we’re talking about all the different ways we can reduce, reuse, lessen our impact, etc., etc. What I’ve found is that if Mr. is unsure about some of the ideas I suggest, I just have to reframe them in the context of the “zombie apocalypse”, and he’ll reconsider. It’s a dirty trick, but it’s also kind of funny.

So I’ve been pinning like crazy these days – most ideas and plans for gardens, chicken coops, and other cool home stuff. I can’t wait to put some of this stuff in motion! It’s an exciting move, much more exciting than I had initially thought it would be. I’m looking forward to being closer to my mum, and to taking Tiny to all the great beaches and lakes I grew up on. I’m really excited to start my own garden again, and to using that fabulous kitchen to preserve all the (hopefully) extra stuff we grow.

I “borrowed” the photos off the realtor’s website, so for now, here are a few shots of the new house! There will be more, I promise.

Much love to all!

I’m a Hypocrite. February 22, 2012

I want to preface this post with the following: I am what a friend calls “an urban hippie”. I guess that means I recycle, eat organic and fair trade where possible (and affordable), avoid chemicals, and generally try to live simply. I would like to head further down the path, but am intimidated by the commitment.

Mr. and I watched a documentary the other night about the ELF. It was interesting but disturbing. I can appreciate these people holding such strong beliefs that they feel that their actions are justified, but I cannot understand or support the destruction of property that also causes environmental harm. I feel like the tactics that they use (arson and property destruction) end up clouding the issue for many conservative folks who might pay attention to a well laid out argument for environmental conservation. Anyway, Mr. and I had a bit of a conversation about it afterwards, and he was all hot under the collar about companies cutting down these beautiful giant redwoods in order to make profit, and then about companies raping the environment to gain shareholders etc., etc. I’m usually pretty non-committal when these kinds of discussions come up, because they usually end up in loud heated conversations, and I’m just not up to it these days.

However, after he went off for a while, albeit with really good points, I finally said, calm as can be: “We cannot sit here and say anything about any company doing anything to make profit, because we support many of these companies in the consumer choices we make. We could choose to spend more money on clothing and furniture that is made locally from sustainable materials, but the fact is, we don’t. We choose to purchase consumer goods that are less expensive, and therefore, generally more environmentally harmful. I know I could get my clothes from the thrift store, but I don’t. I order from one of those big conglomerates that delivers the stuff to the house. I know that I am remiss in my choices for a large part, and so are you. Our investments are in oil and gas. We are voting with our dollars to support companies that add to the destruction of the environment, so we can’t call anyone else out about it when we are part of the problem.” Then I sat back and continued my game of solitaire with my heart pounding wildly in my chest. (I’m really bad with confrontation of any kind.)

He was quiet for a second and said, “You’re right. I didn’t really realize, but now that you’ve said that, it makes all the sense in the world.”

We discussed a little further, and got into the whole “we as a society” thing, which I think is a terrible way to look at things, because it separates us from society, and I feel like it reduces our personal responsibility by saying, Well it’s okay that I do this because I’m just one, but look at society, they’re all doing that. So, we decided that a big part of our responsibility “as a society” is to get out and appreciate nature as much as we can, and to foster that kind of appreciation in Tiny so that he can pass it on down the line. We’ll take visitors to hiking areas rather than tourist traps, and cultivate a love for gardening and free, environmentally friendly things to do; biking, kayaking, walking, etc. We’ll try to be more aware of our purchases, and buy second-hand a lot more. There are so many lifestyle changes that we can make that will make a difference, and I guess that’s the key: one thing at a time.

I know we’re going to have ups and downs with the path we’re on, but if we can live comfortably with less, and be role models for a simpler lifestyle, we can be comfortable knowing that we took responsibility for ourselves and our actions. That was originally part of my plan for this blog; to talk about my contribution to the world, and to hold myself accountable to someone. So far, I haven’t made many changes, and I feel like a bit of a hypocrite. Time to get back to it, I think.

Much love to all!

Signs? Please? October 27, 2011

Since Mr. has been back at work, we have been discussing at length the best way to be together as a family more often. Clearly, our idea about winning the lottery isn’t coming to fruition, so we’ve had to go back to square one. Well, it seems we’ve got a few different options, and I really only like one of them. So every morning when I take Tiny and the little brown dog down to the beach, we say hi to God (the universe, Allah, Buddha, whatever you want to call the higher power – we are comfortable with God). We say thanks for having great family and friends, and for always having more than enough, and for living in a beautiful part of a great world. And we ask to remember to be patient, kind, and grateful. Also, we ask for Daddy to Please Be Able to Work Here. This is a big one, and we spend a lot of time thinking about how great it would be to have him working from home. We try to be more thankful than asky because, well, we kind of have the world by the balls no matter what the work situation is, but we always tack it on the end of our little talk.

So today, we were on our way down to say hi to the beach, and one of the neighbors pointed out that if we walked a little farther down the beach, we would have a treat! And we certainly did! Tiny loved him/her/it, and we named it Sammy:

Isn’t that the cutest thing? And he has his own Private Dock!

I started thinking that maybe this is some kind of sign from the universe. (Grasping at straws much? Yeah…) I really hope so, because the alternatives are bearable but not ideal, and I’d really like to have Mr. home more often. Let’s keep our fingers crossed, okay? And we’ll keep talking to the universe, and being thankful for what we do have instead of regretting what we don’t.

Much love to all!