Has it been a year?

I think its been about a year since I started this blog, which is crazy. Looking back at our goals, we've done ok in some areas, not so good in others. We drive quite a bit, although we do bike more now. We never could buy only in bulk, although we try. So not buying packaged stuff is pretty much impossible for us right now. Also, since food prices have gone up so much, we've had to stop buying as much organic stuff, which is really too bad. But the price difference is sometimes just too much to swallow.

Still, we do only put out a small garbage can once a month, sometimes one and a half per month, we do still compost and recycle everything, still use cloth diapers, etc. And its only may and we are already eating out of our garden, with the expectation that we wont have to buy any produce from the store between june and october, and possibly beyond depending on how much freezing/canning we get done. We have simplified life enough that we have been living on substitute teacher wages and jay's part time work, and have paid off 1/3 of our car's payment in a year. We do ok on water conservation and line drying our clothes when the weather permits. we make our own laundry soap and are using bar soap for shampoo, conditioner, pet wash, hand soap, etc. We have zero chemical cleaners in our house and wash everything with vinegar, baking soda and castille soap. So i feel pretty good. We could do a LOT better if we didn't drive. We have kept our thermostat low all winter, and i think the car is our main carbon output, which i feel bad about. its just SO hard to motivate yourself to ride your bike when its rainy and cold, which is pretty much always is.

I applied for a lot of jobs, and got interviewed at 2, Corvallis and Gresham, and ended up not getting either after getting through 2 rounds and was #2 in both jobs (doesn't really help to come in second when there is only one job) and that was bit disappointing and frustrating. So i'll keep applying. Jay is interviewing for a job in two weeks, but i'm trying not to get my hopes up, because the disappointments in the job-area have been a bit much this past year and I don't want to feel that way again.