The Holiday Spirit in the U.S.A.

I just saw Jeremy off to work for Black Friday, and it I can't help but feel bitter that someone else's consumerist greed is pulling my husband out of bed before dawn so they can make extra money on cheap goods brought in from China. I'm angry that he had to go to work on Thanksgiving only to go to bed right after dinner so he could be up in time for the next morning. He had no less than five customers ask him why he was at work on Thanksgiving. His response? "So I can answer your question, my good sir."
  It doesn't have to be this way. We can shop at a local store, buy online, or make gifts ourselves. I will not buy holiday gifts from stores that make their employees jump through these early morning hoops with out a bonus. These corporations are making money off the tired backs of their workers, who in turn see no benefit.
  I am disgusted by the people who pile their fat pampered asses into their giant SUV's with heated seats so they can stand in line after line to acquire more and more STUFF only hours after they proclaimed to be thankful for what they already had. Thankfulness is just a formality in this country, and that makes my stomach churn.

No car

So Jeremy and I have been thinking seriously about saving energy. We'd tossed around the idea that we should just get rid of our car and walk everywhere. Seeing how we live less than three miles from work and shopping, it seemed like something that we could totally do, we just never got around to it. Having a car is easy-it takes five minutes to get to the store, and almost no physical effort to haul the groceries home. Who wouldn't love having one?

 When the car died, we saw our chance to begin the great experiment. Because Jeremy works at a grocery store, and I volunteer at the Co-op, obtaining groceries hasn't been too difficult. As long as we break the shopping down to a few items every day instead of one big trip a week, we only need to catch a ride or take the bus for big (i.e. heavy) purchases like dog food once a month or so. 

 We finally got my bikes back from my father (for a clue as to why it took so long, see the post about my wonderful father) but they're in terrible shape. I really think it would be cheaper to get new ones than to fix these up. It makes me really sad that I won't be able to ride my little cruiser again. For Christmas I think we'll gift the family a bike trailer as well as a new bike. I'd love one of those giant trikes with the basket in the back, but we'll see. 

 Jeremy is walking an average of sixteen miles a week, and I'm averaging nine. More if we decide to go out to dinner or rent a movie. 

 So far it hasn't been terribly difficult, it just takes a lot of planning ahead. 

The Busy Life

I have so much going on right now. On the 21st I'm hosting the local food swap at my house. I don't know if I will have anything to offer as I am so busy with keeping the house clean. The next weekend I'm teaching a food budget class. I don't know if it will be at home or the Hub, a lot of people said they're coming.

The Budget Class has me most excited right now. It has been a very long time since I've taught it, and I'm feeling rusty. Having just begun prepping for it, I don't know how smoothly it will go. The method I teach is not a strict meal plan or coupon clipping. It involves taking one day to prepare all your staple ingredients and using a type of cooking matrix to build meals around it. It works really well for the people that try it, and I hope the people coming can get as much as they can out of it.

In other news. I've been volunteering at The Hub more, and it is so much fun. Mostly I sort and price the meat when it is delivered. Not too exciting, but at least I'm out of the house. I'm hoping this turns into a full time job, but that can be years down the road because it is such a new business.