Mayday!

This May began in a circus of energy that has not slowed down for one second! I have had mini-pockets of peace here and there, but for the most part I have been running to and fro like a crazed energizer bunny. (or is the energizer bunny already crazed?) The picture is my cousin's daughter, who with her fiery hair and energy is almost the embodiment of my month so far.

It started with our book fair, which I already mentioned briefly. This is a huge fundraiser for our library, a week long event that involves a lot of overtime on my behalf -and the hard work of my family and friends who are kind enough to assist me. It paid off this year for certain, we made more this year than any other year previously. I hope that this is a sign that the economy in our area is boosting a little bit. Michigan could certainly use the boost!

It is also nearing the end of the school year, which involves a change from my normal routine at work - we are adding in ordering for next year, inventory, and most importantly, the rounding up of all overdue library books. Doing this always makes me feel like the meanest person on earth, hounding students for their books or their money to pay for a lost book. Unfortunately, if we didn't follow up, the school would be out at least $1500 in books a year! And considering that is just a bit more than we make per fundraiser, we would never have any new books. So, it is a dirty job but a necessary one. I have also been working more assignments in my role as a freelance contributor for the Wyandotte Patch, where I shot the city's Spring Fling event, Cinco De Mayo Festival, and most recently the city wide garage sale. I love going out and mingling with people; I have found that most are pretty accommodating about having their pictures taken, much more than I would be! I hate having my own taken.

In between all of this working that is going on, Billy and I have been carving out moments of peace. We had a perfect weekend a few weekends ago, when we visited nearby Crosswinds Marsh. We left our home early in the morning, and managed to catch the marsh at a perfect time. We saw Barn Swallows, gaggles and gaggles of goslings, swans nesting, an eagle near his nest, and the weather itself was exactly right- warm with a breeze. It was a great day, and I hope that this weekend we will get a chance to go to Oakwoods Metropark - I find that when my life turns hectic, a walk through the trails there are enough to clear my head and reconnect with Billy and the natural world around us.

If only it doesn't rain! It has rained here almost everyday, so fingers crossed for another beautiful day over the upcoming weekend!

A Simplified Life

When Billy lost his job in December, two weeks before Christmas and in the middle of our adoption home study, we had to do a reevaluation of the way we were living. Due to the timing, Billy and I were financially tapped - we had spent our savings on the home study and on everything we needed to do for it, and were using whatever extra we were making for Christmas gifts. We went into financial lock down until we could create a way to live on our reduced circumstances, and we learned a few things along the way.

After reviewing how we spent our money in the past, excluding the adoption of course, we were shocked to see how much we were wasting in our lives - energy, food, money. We would leave lights on in rooms we weren't using, leave the heat cranked to 70 degrees even when we weren't home. I would grocery shop with a menu for the week in mind, and then not stick to it, allowing the fresh ingredients to turn slimy and spoiled in our refrigerator. We ate out too much. We had a pretty hefty entertainment budget as well. We just were not careful or smart with our money, and didn't even realize it.

Obviously, things are not the same - we had to put our adoption on hold until Billy secures employment (anyone hiring?), but we have evolved. Perhaps we had gotten stagnant, and needed this to get us moving in other areas of our life, to teach us to not live so carelessly and wastefully. And now, we only keep lights on in the rooms we are in, and if we need them. If natural light does the trick, we don't flip the switch. We turn down the heat when we are not home and at night. I plan dinners and stick to the plan - and even plan on eating the leftovers, which were formerly tossed. But the biggest change of all is how we spend our money recreationally - rather than going to the bar every weekend, we have been spending more time with friends at someone's house, socializing there, or watching movies. We had always taken advantage of our area Metroparks, but now we are there every weekend. We cook more together, read more together, and I find we have more to talk about, all of a sudden. More ideas, revelations, excitement about different things. It is like we are tapping into the creative sides of our brain more often, the side we may have left the light on in, but never visited.