Caballeros UnPlugged: It's been a week

After a week of living an unplugged lifestyle (for the most part), I am beginning to get used to it.  Life isn't so far removed from what it was before.

The one main difference is that I don't sit in front of a television, and neither do the children.  Let me tell you! Today, I am feeling it!  I've got Tinkerbell, again, since it is a school holiday.  With three kids in the house, I am reeeeally wishing I had a remote controlled baby sitter, if only for a few minutes.  I did allow an episode of Diego, and an episode of SuperWhy (I had to cook, and they were either fighting, or under food while I was dealing with hot grease).  I know, I know.  Bad Mommy!  I explained it away with the fact that it is educational content.

We are all having serious withdrawals from television, and the kids are missing the video games.  Jr. carries around his controller and pretends to play, while he and BabyJ talk about Mario and Luigi.  I am seriously missing Sony and Connie, and wondering what happened to Johnny.  Do any of you know if Johnny is alive?  Did Connie kill him?...  *sigh*  If none of you can tell me I guess it's hopeless.

I have watched a movie or two, via Netflix, after the kids have gone to bed.  I am also using the net to write for pennies (eventually, it will add up and I'll have a nice chunk of change), and research next year's home school plan.

I am ashamed to say that I've not done any more laundry since my last post.  Which means I've got a lot of catching up to do.

I finally tried that 3 mile hike to the library.  With two kids and a shopping cart.  Jr. had his bike.  The problem:  rain.  We got about two miles and had to stop at Wal-Mart.  I attempted the rest of the trek, but had to stop less than half a mile away because the rain started up again.  We took a taxi home, after waiting until after dark for the rain to stop, and seeing no change.

The next time I try to take that trip, I will not be taking a buggy (shopping cart, for all you yankees).  Instead I'll take the stroller or just have each boy hold my hand.  Oh, and rain won't even be a remote possibility!  By the time I got up the next morning, my everything hurt.  Some might say I'm getting old.  I think I'm just out of practice.  Soon, I'll attempt to take a shorter walk with the children, and work my way up to three miles.  Here's a question:  why are our cities and towns so spread out, these days?  I'm sure there was a time when all the businesses were right next to one another.  In the westerns, everything a body needs is in one area.  However, home is much farther from it all.  I guess it balances out.

We do have a grocery store closer to home, but it isn't my favorite chain.  I may just have to learn to shop at the one near here.

I am hoping MacGyverAsawa does not have to work this weekend.  I'd like to visit Smiley's Flea Market.  Hoping to get my hands on some seasonal, home grown produce, and a pen for my dear BrutusDawg.

According to animal control, he is not allowed to be on a runner, even if he has more than 75 ft. of space/slack to do as he pleases.  Currently, I am putting him on the runner for short periods of time, or walking him down the block and back.

I am committing myself to walking him at least once each day.  I will work up to more.  And, I'll even take the kids if it isn't too cold!

For the rest of today, I'll be catching up on the laundry (here we go again.  If I'd just kept it up...), cleaning a few things that I've procrastinated against, and working on more of next school year's home school plan.  I'm also going to research ways to "do-it-myself" for things around the house.

Check back tomorrow, for my findings and my next challenge (for myself).

V.

Here is a taste of some of the do-it-yourself stuff I'm talking about.  Enjoy!

Later this week, I'll let you know how my plarn making experience goes.  ;)  Wish me luck.

Caballeros UnPlugged

     Well, today hasn't gone anything like I'd planned it!  That is not a bad thing.  Though I've still got a lot to do this week, I've accomplished a great deal today.
     I started off not wanting to get up at 5AM.  Who does?  So, I lay in bed awake (couldn't go back to sleep) until 7, at which time BabyJ came in asking for chips.  I figure it's time for breakfast.  I find Jr. In front of the living room television.  It's Diego, so I let it slide with a "After breakfast, no more t.v. for anyone.  Remember what we talked about?"
     I wake the MacGyverAsawa for breakfast.  Wouldn't you know it, he lays in bed until I am starting lunch, watching Netflix on his phone!  When I start cleaning breakfast up, I think potty break, then catch my breath.  By the time my hands are washed, my mind is spinning on the chance to get to the library.  Instead of a MommyMinute, I start packing lunch for three people and a diaper bag.  I'm so excited, I could sing!  In the nursery, I am putting the wipes in the diaper bag when Jr. Runs in, "Mommy, somebody's here!"  I do not believe him.  I question him on it, and he continues to tell me he saw someone in our driveway.  I work my way to the front door, still not believing there's anyone here...  it was my niece and her Mommy.
     Tinkerbell had a fever of 101 this morning, and the pre-school won't let her come.  Her mommy has work.  So, I agree to watch her, and tell her about my plans to walk three miles to the library.  This.  Does not.  Make her happy.  I say she can ride in the double stroller.  She still does not like it.  I reluctantly say I'll change my plans, we can always go tomorrow.  Oh, but the school won't let her come back until Wednesday.  Great.  Weather.com says it may rain Wednesday, and it's almost certain to rain (and get 20 degrees colder) Thursday and Friday.  Sigh.  Okay.
     First thing I do is feed Tinkerbell, and tell her that Mommy won't let us go to the library (she was sad we couldn't go, and complaining in the way I wanted to).  I send everyone outside, and take the apples out of the lunch box, and open blinds and windows.
     I take wet laundry from the washer, and go outside.  The dog loves that we're all outside with him!  I hang the wet clothes, fold the dry ones, and come inside to put them away.  I do a little kitchen/dinrm. Clean up, getting interrupted by this child or that.  Someone isn't sharing, someone threw dirt.  I lose my cool and threaten to put them all in bed (at ten in the morning).  They straighten up just in time for me to cook lunch (decided against the deer meat, and for chicken, last night).  By 11:45, we are all at the picnic table in the back yard.  Fried chicken, griddle cake (flower, egg, water, milk left over from coating the chicken), and mashed 'taters.
     The kids all help clean off the table.  Tinkerbell trips over the dog tether, and my very favorite glass gets broken (she is not cut, but her pride is bruised).  Hugs, kisses, everyone stay outside away from the glass.  I put away lunch left overs, and sweep both dinrm. And the kitchen (may as well, since the broom is in my hand).  Hang another load of laundry, and fold/put away those that are dry.  Get the wild eyed idea to rearrange my dining room/pantry area (it's just a stand alone wire shelf). Realize it's nap time.  Kids want to camp out, so I lay sleeping bags out on the porch, and decide it's time for a MommyMinute.  I get them settled, and start to read Water for Elephants.  Tinkerbell's Mommy must have felt the need to make sure I didn't take that three mile hike with her baby, after all, because she showed up with snacks for the kids.  LOL  Well, maybe she just didn't want to have her lunch alone, either.  (I wouldn't take someone else's child some place they didn't want their baby to go, because I wouldn't want them to do the same to me.)  We had a great visit, then she went back to work.
     I swapped laundry again, and rearranged my dining room, when the kids' nap time was over.  (No one slept.  They were up and running around 2:30.  I put down the book just before 3.)

I delt with another wet load, and put away the dry ones. Then, I sat down to rest (I was running out of steam) for about an hour. Then it was time to reheat left overs for din. Tinkerbell's Mommy picked her up, the boys got a bath, ate, and whent to bed. I brushed my messy hair, showered, and now I'm posting this update. Today, we didn't use lights (until after dark), the boys used less water in their bath, and I took a 5 min. Shower (pretty quick, seeing as I washed my mass of hair), and am rewarding myself, in a few minutes, with a movie from Netflix. In a real SHTF situation, I would have dried my clothes indoors, and the kids would have played inside (wouldn't want to tell looters we're home, and we've got food). In a homesteading situation, we would really rather have solar lights (for after dark), and our own well. But, we make do with what we have. Since we have electricity, and can't afford the $180/panel price tag on the solar panels (just panels, no battaries to hold what those pannels collect) right now, we're tethered to the grid. Our dream: get land w/ a well (a good one) already drilled, set up an off grid cabin, plant crops for our family (maybe grow enough to sell), and keep stock (chickens for meat and eggs, ducks for meat, goats for milk and cheese, pigs for meat, sheep for wool). Yeppers! Oh, about the clothes we wore today: I will be washing them by hand in the morning. I'm too danged tuckered to do it, tonight! V. P.S.-- Sorry about the lack of music video. I will make it up to you tomorrow. Or, you could search YouTube for the one I want to post (my phone won't let me... yes, I typed this entire thing on my phone). It's called Does Anybody Care About Us and it's by The King Blues. It's so nice... *grin* --Vic.

Caballeros UnPlugged

When I actually got my day started, I discovered that I had a garden tub full of laundry that needed to be washed.  So, I took out a few hand fulls, and designated them my test subjects.  I was going to do our laundry by hand, and would be starting with that average sized load.  Well, I started out with a bucket of soapy water, and a tub with enough cold water to cover the top of my feet.  I discovered that I'll use more water that way, than with the washing machine.  The bucket of soapy water gets cold before I can wash an entire load, and the wrince water must be replaced much too frequently.

Were I doing a small load, for example the amount of clothes my family wears in a day, it would make sense to do our laundry by hand.  However, as I do not have all the "new fangled devices" for hand washing, it is a waste of water.  Once I get things caught up where my laundry is conscerned (by Tuesday night), I will wash by hand.

Using the washing machine doesn't mean I'm totally giving up and going back.  I've washed two loads, and am allowing them to hang out on a line in the back yard.  Tomorrow, I'll take them in, and put out two more loads.  From then on, I'll be hand washing, and line drying everything.

In a real emergency situation, say if we suddenly had a power outtage, I'd be unable to use either the washer or the dryer.  Which is why it is important that I keep everything washed and caught up.  One never does know when a disaster may hit.

Today, I also started using what we have in the refrigerator and the freezer.  Things that have just been sitting there, waiting to be put to use for months, are now being used.  As a matter of fact, I'm going to soak and defrost some deer meat that my brother gave me, once I'm finished with this post.  By morning, it should be ready for the crock pot.  I'll put in beans (going to soak them tonight, as well), and a small can of vegies.  We'll use the rice cooker, tomorrow evening.  That should make an excellent meal for tomorrow night.

Tomorrow morning, I'll rise at 5 AM to start my day.  I'll get another load of laundry washed, and spin it out a second time.  I'll make biscuits in the toaster oven, and we'll have apples and cereal for breakfast.  I'll clean up those dishes, and will take my wet clothes out to the line.  I'll bring in the folded dry clothes (may as well fold them as I take them off the line), and put them away.  By 9 AM, we will all be dressed and loaded up (in the stroller) with diapers, bottled water, and a sack lunch+snack for each of us.  We will be walking the three miles to the library, so that we can home school.  The reason we are leaving so late in the morning, is that the library does not open until ten.

At noon, I'll take the kids out to the grass, and we'll spread out their McQueen sleeping bag as a picnic blanket.  We'll have lunch, and read the books we've checked out.  Then, at 2:45, we will be off to the grocery store for a few items that we need (vinegar, soap, etc.)...  It is the same distance from the store to home, as it is to go from home to the library.  We're just going a few blocks south from the Library.  Once we have what we need, or by 4 PM at the latest, we'll head home, where I'll put away groceries, serve our evening meal, give the kids baths, and put them to bed.  Tonight, they are tired a little early because they missed naps.  I bet they will be exhausted by this time tomorrow, after all the activity.

I think I'll turn in a bit early, tonight, so as to start tomorrow off on the right foot.

About thee youtube video:  I already posted one for you guys.  Now, it's your turn to leave a link to one, for me, in the comments.

Goodnight!
V.

Caballeros UnPlugged

      So many of us are never more than five feet from a screen, or a remote control that will operate a really big screen. We've got a television in the kitchen, one attached to the treadmill (without that one, we'd never get any exercise), a cell phone that has an app that allows us to watch movies while we're on the toilet or in the car... We are also never far from electronic friendships. You know the friends I'm talking about: the FaceBook friends, the Twitter fans... Some people are seemingly dependent on their electronics; addicted even. Then there are the homes with lighting options that are unreal energy hogs. What do we really need eight bulbs in the bathroom for? Why not take a mirror to the bedroom, open the blinds, and use natural light to do our make up, ladies? Or, and here's an option I really like, opt for only moisturizer and a little chap stick, when we're not going to a party at the Ritz. For those of you who work, some of you could still use a little less product, while looking as fabulous as you always do. Back to the light bulbs: Why not use one energy efficient bulb, in place of five with incredibly high wattage? Don't get me started on cooking and other kitchen tasks! Why do people use large ovens, when a toaster oven will work? I mean, I've two kids, a husband, and myself to feed, but my very small toaster oven usually takes care of whatever task we need done. With a little forethought, I'm sure it could even make water for coffee!
      You may be wondering where all of this is leading, or if I've finally lost all of my marbles. Look, I love technology just as much as the next Stay At Home Wife and Home schooling Mother (for those of you who aren't SAHWAHMs, we reeeeeeheeeeally love gadgets). But, they're taking over my family! And I'm tired of it!
      I'm tired of having to shout "time to eat!!!" for the kids down the hall over three televisions, just for them to ignore me because "one more level, pleeeease?"
I'm tired of thinking I'll finally get some couple time with my hubby, just to end up sitting on different cushions of the "love seat" (is it, really?) watching another horror movie with the same premise as the last three we saw!
      I'm tired of saying I "just don't have time for play group" because I've got to get caught up on my show (General Hospital, if you're wondering), on line. [Yes, I am aware that this makes me both a cliche and the devil, in the eyes of some of you other SAHMs, out there... watching Soaps.]
I'm tired of being tired, all the time, because I don't get enough exercise, and because I just can't turn off late night television and go to bed!!!
So, here's the plan, folks!
      Starting today, if it lights up, it gets unplugged. If it heats up in the kitchen, it becomes off limits (except for the crock pot. we don't want to starve)...

Things we'll be keeping (because Mommy doesn't want to go ape-guano-crazy) :

• The Refrigerator (there's food in there that cost a lot of money, and we need to eat it)
• Crock Pot
• Kids' individual DVD Players (for when I need a few minutes of sanity, or for educational vids, or as a reward for a great day)
• Our Cell Phones (they go on line, mine blogs here, they also provide the best walking maps on Google for where we want to go, and provide a life line in an emergency)
• The Dishwasher (if by some freak chance we end up with a large load of dishes, it's a more conservative way to wash them... freak chance means a Tuesday, some times)
• Laundry (all of it... groan... the entire mountain that I didn't get a chance to wash yesterday) will be done by hand in my large bathtub... Aaaaany body wanna come do that for me? No? Eh, had to check.

Some lifestyle changes that will have to take place, in order for us to "survive":

• Use of the Library. They have movies, books, computers, and now (sweet!) Wi-Fi. I can print out worksheets and such for home school, allow my little ones to utilize educational websites, check out books for both education and leisure... basically, anything we need in the education department, I'll find it here. We can make a day of it, a couple times a week. PLUS, (here's the best part) it's three miles away, and we're going to walk to it. Granted, that means that a trip that normally takes ten minutes will actually take an hour, but I need the exercise.
• We'll also be walking from the Library to the grocery store, and from our house to Grammy's (my mom's) house. All three miles away, which means I'll end up with six miles under my belt each day we have places to go. Once I get really good at this, maybe we'll even go to Church on foot. Obviously, because I have two small children, and I actually have a vehicle at my disposal, if it's raining (or going to rain cats and dogs), or really cold we will be taking the van.
• MacGyverAsaway would only have a 20 minute walk to work (1 mile), but he works on his feet for eight hours, on a concrete floor, in a factory setting. So, I'm not even going to ask him to walk to and from work.
• I will be going on line here at home, in order to bring the blogosphere updates on our little social experiment, and what friends and family think of it all. However, if the quality of education for the kids doesn't suffer, and the rare time we watch a DVD on one of the kids' portable players is good, then I may just have the internet and NetFlix accounts cancelled.

      Not only do we want to spend more time with one another, but we are hoping to get closer to living a simpler lifestyle that helps us to be prepared for any type of situation, and makes a smaller impact on the environment. The biggest up side: It should save us money, too!

      So, come along with us, as we start this new journey, today. Maybe, you'll find there's something you'd like to do, as a symbolic way of joining us (turning off lights that you don't need, walking to work one morning a week, shorter showers). If you do decide to make any changes, let us know. We'd love to hear about the difference it makes in your day.

V.

P.S.--Each day, I'll post about one of the changes, and my experience in coping with it. That's right, I said coping, because I believe I'll be posting on Laundry, later this evening.

Oh, did you think I'd forgotten the music vid?  Yeah, right!  Here's a little motivational music...  I think I'm going to need it, in order to get all that laundry done by hand...