This is our third summer, in the deep south, living without AC. This time through has been so much easier than the first one!
What has contributed to the improvement? Well, I do think the temperatures have been slightly more temperate. But it's still been quite hot many days with no relief from an evening rain. We love evening rains around here! (They do an awesome job of overall cooling and, if it's late enough in the evening, it doesn't get all gross and sticky hot muggy before the sun completely sets, which, in iteself is hugely cooling!)
Also, we have learned that we need to close the house up early in the morning to preserve whatever cooling the night has brought about within it. On super sunny days, this only lasts until about 2:30 or 3pm, but by 6 or 7pm we're able to open up the house and find some relief from the outside coolER air. Even with the 21 foot high ceilings in our living room (which are a definitely saving grace to living without AC), the house can get oven-hot by about 4-5pm!
Covering windows has helped. It would help even more if we could get real curtains that actually blocked a majority of the sunlight. We're making do with a blanket over the hottest window at this point. It definitely does help, though, as redneck or ghetto as it is. (Every little bit!)
This year we didn't really start turning fans on during the day until late July. YEAY! We sleep with them on through the night from late Spring, but still cover up with a light blanket. Jessie still uses a blanket by about 2am, but I'm compeletely blanket-free through the whole night almost every night currently. It's hot, I tell ya!
Showers are integral. Cold showers. We do turn the temp guide for the shower head to warm to start, but then turn it all the way cold for the majority of the shower. This makes a distinct difference in heat perception through the night. Without a shower every night, it just feels hotTER through the night of a missed shower. Honestly!
Keeping the house more closed also helps with mold and that sort of gross stuff. The items that just sit for a long-ish time still have a problem and get moldy. But I haven't had tons on walls thus far, which is a great blessing!
So, contrary to opinions expressed by most people who consider living without AC... it can be done without a great deal of discomfort. It might take a few years to get used to... but who said anything in life would be fast and easy or that we'd get it just our way? Oh, well, besides Burger King, of course!
Showing posts with label living without AC. Show all posts
Showing posts with label living without AC. Show all posts
Saturday, August 25, 2012
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Living Without AC: mold
It's something most people don't think about because we don't have to think about it. But air conditioning is a form of slight refrigeration, which is a preservative. If you do not use AC, as we do not use AC, you will learn, at some point during a tremendous summer as we have down south, the truth of "moth and rust doth corrupt" and understand more fully why we should not lay up our treasures on earth where those things (AND MOLD) will destroy those things we value.
The mold started about a month ago. August hit and so did the mold. On the walls. In kitchen cabinet. In boxes: on shoes, clothes, and other random things. It showed up on cavas containers, inside of plastic containers, on containers.... It's everywhere. And it doesn't smell good. Of course, it doesn't look good either. The most upsetting place I found it, though, I think, is on my couch. Behind the big cushions. I found it on a Sunday. So I broke the Sabbath. I felt like it was an"ox in the mire" issue because I was told as a youngster that I am allergic to mold. I would imagine my kiddos may be as well. Anyway... It's been interesting. Frustrating... and on top of all the other trials that have hit over the last month or so... almost debilitating.
Thankfully, as I write, I have begun to feel a lightening of the heaviness and darkness that has hung around our home and the peoples within it. So, things are still difficult (mold is showing up in new places), but I'm managing better.
I hope you can use AC. It's SO much nicer NOT to have to deal with THIS issue!
The mold started about a month ago. August hit and so did the mold. On the walls. In kitchen cabinet. In boxes: on shoes, clothes, and other random things. It showed up on cavas containers, inside of plastic containers, on containers.... It's everywhere. And it doesn't smell good. Of course, it doesn't look good either. The most upsetting place I found it, though, I think, is on my couch. Behind the big cushions. I found it on a Sunday. So I broke the Sabbath. I felt like it was an"ox in the mire" issue because I was told as a youngster that I am allergic to mold. I would imagine my kiddos may be as well. Anyway... It's been interesting. Frustrating... and on top of all the other trials that have hit over the last month or so... almost debilitating.
Thankfully, as I write, I have begun to feel a lightening of the heaviness and darkness that has hung around our home and the peoples within it. So, things are still difficult (mold is showing up in new places), but I'm managing better.
I hope you can use AC. It's SO much nicer NOT to have to deal with THIS issue!
Friday, August 20, 2010
Burning
The whole "living without AC" thing has been going pretty well. It's been hot, but we have been favored with many clouds, good amounts of rain, and many clouds. A body cannot appreciate overcast days until you have to endure a good handfull of Florida Sunny ones with NO AC. I'm tellin' you, the days when the sky is clear, the girls and I roast. It's burning hot, for serious!
So, yesterday was one of those days. Burning. Hot. We endured. And roasted. And sat a lot in front of the fan. And steamed. Seriously hot. Even with 21 foot ceilings in the main living area it is seriously hot. Lately our general area has been experiencing record highs. Yeah. I know. Seriously not cool given our circumstances. But we have been favored (please re-read above if you're not sure how we could be favored whilst living without AC).
I think yesterday I wasn't feeling so grateful. And so, the Lord showed me how it could be worse. (I'm pretty sure I was feeling sorry for myself in the burning heat and feeling like it couldn't get worse.) Well, it did. You see, even during the hottest days of not-a-cloud-in-the-sky and/or no rain, we have the cooler nights to look forward to. It generally gets mostly comfortable by around midnight. Which, because of Jessie's work schedule, is usually when we're going to bed (even though I totally want to fall asleep by 9pm every night lately!).
So, last night, Jess and I were in bed by midnight. Yeay! We weren't up any later! I fell asleep quickly, for me, but woke with a bit of a start right at 1am. I felt super confused. Why did I wake up? What was wrong with my environment? Cause I knew there was something amiss. And then I knew: the fans were not rotating. It was burning hot - already. I'm sure the electricity was off a total of 1-2 minutes. Within that time ALL of us were awake. Ria and Kat to use the toilet, Tea, Jess, and me because it was just THAT dang hot. Tea was screaming in discomfort. Jess and I were snappy. Not a nice night.
The electricity did not come back on until 5:07am. I know the exact time because I checked my phone (THANK YOU EVES!! the one I rolled over in the van gave up the ghost, at least with my SIM card in it, a week ago!) when I felt the fan begin to blow on me.
Between 1am and 5:07am I woke up at least 4 times to spray myself with water from my haircutting spray bottle (just water, of course). Poor Jess had to get up for work within 2 hours after the electricity came back on. During the time of the outage, he got up at least as many times as I did. He got wet fabric and wiped our girls off and tried to make them more comfy as well as himself. Since I'd been kicked out of bed by Tea, I didn't know any of that until this afternoon.
Even if I had known, I don't know that the story would be much different. Jess is a MUCH better night-time parent of older than 1 year olds than I am. Our children are completely and totally my responsibility from birth until around 13-18 months old. After that Jessie takes over and does a bang-up job! It's really a lot less intense if you remember that night nursing requires between 6 and 8 wakings when exclusively nursing and planning to do so for two years. At least, that's the way it's been for me. And that 6-8 times only decreases at around 10 months old - but even then the nursing wakings are between 4 and 6 times per night. Anyway, thankfully Tea slept a while after Jess left for work and then all our girls got along quietly for a while, so I got a bit more sleep than he did.
So, living without AC is really not all that bad. Living without fans... now THAT would be hellacious. Seriously problematic! Thankfully, as a result of the fine-tuning of our electricity consumption, we've been able to reduce our electric bill just below the budget allowance and I'm hopeful we can get it even a little bit lower since we're turning off our water heater daily. We'll see!
The point is, it's working... this whole living without AC. It's endurable AND it's helping our finances. Difficulty in the short-term... sacrifices and all, so that later in some unforeseeable future time, we can maybe have things a bit easier AND have no debt to worry about! So, as long as we can run the fans, it's working. ^_^
So, yesterday was one of those days. Burning. Hot. We endured. And roasted. And sat a lot in front of the fan. And steamed. Seriously hot. Even with 21 foot ceilings in the main living area it is seriously hot. Lately our general area has been experiencing record highs. Yeah. I know. Seriously not cool given our circumstances. But we have been favored (please re-read above if you're not sure how we could be favored whilst living without AC).
I think yesterday I wasn't feeling so grateful. And so, the Lord showed me how it could be worse. (I'm pretty sure I was feeling sorry for myself in the burning heat and feeling like it couldn't get worse.) Well, it did. You see, even during the hottest days of not-a-cloud-in-the-sky and/or no rain, we have the cooler nights to look forward to. It generally gets mostly comfortable by around midnight. Which, because of Jessie's work schedule, is usually when we're going to bed (even though I totally want to fall asleep by 9pm every night lately!).
So, last night, Jess and I were in bed by midnight. Yeay! We weren't up any later! I fell asleep quickly, for me, but woke with a bit of a start right at 1am. I felt super confused. Why did I wake up? What was wrong with my environment? Cause I knew there was something amiss. And then I knew: the fans were not rotating. It was burning hot - already. I'm sure the electricity was off a total of 1-2 minutes. Within that time ALL of us were awake. Ria and Kat to use the toilet, Tea, Jess, and me because it was just THAT dang hot. Tea was screaming in discomfort. Jess and I were snappy. Not a nice night.
The electricity did not come back on until 5:07am. I know the exact time because I checked my phone (THANK YOU EVES!! the one I rolled over in the van gave up the ghost, at least with my SIM card in it, a week ago!) when I felt the fan begin to blow on me.
Between 1am and 5:07am I woke up at least 4 times to spray myself with water from my haircutting spray bottle (just water, of course). Poor Jess had to get up for work within 2 hours after the electricity came back on. During the time of the outage, he got up at least as many times as I did. He got wet fabric and wiped our girls off and tried to make them more comfy as well as himself. Since I'd been kicked out of bed by Tea, I didn't know any of that until this afternoon.
Even if I had known, I don't know that the story would be much different. Jess is a MUCH better night-time parent of older than 1 year olds than I am. Our children are completely and totally my responsibility from birth until around 13-18 months old. After that Jessie takes over and does a bang-up job! It's really a lot less intense if you remember that night nursing requires between 6 and 8 wakings when exclusively nursing and planning to do so for two years. At least, that's the way it's been for me. And that 6-8 times only decreases at around 10 months old - but even then the nursing wakings are between 4 and 6 times per night. Anyway, thankfully Tea slept a while after Jess left for work and then all our girls got along quietly for a while, so I got a bit more sleep than he did.
So, living without AC is really not all that bad. Living without fans... now THAT would be hellacious. Seriously problematic! Thankfully, as a result of the fine-tuning of our electricity consumption, we've been able to reduce our electric bill just below the budget allowance and I'm hopeful we can get it even a little bit lower since we're turning off our water heater daily. We'll see!
The point is, it's working... this whole living without AC. It's endurable AND it's helping our finances. Difficulty in the short-term... sacrifices and all, so that later in some unforeseeable future time, we can maybe have things a bit easier AND have no debt to worry about! So, as long as we can run the fans, it's working. ^_^
Saturday, August 7, 2010
And Then There Was...
A phone in my yard.
Yes.
Strange?
Yes. Especially to my wondering eyes!
It should not have been, since I actually DO know myself quite well. And for those of you who know me pretty well, you will likely not be surprised at all when you consider who is writing.
*sigh*
Okay, so... my old small silver phone that has SO many phone numbers I could not have otherwise replaced has been recovered! On top of it all, it's been recovered by none of than me! Weird, right?
And how?
Well, a few days ago I felt that I absolutely must mow the lawn. At least half of the front yard lawn. Our mower is a Reel mower - THANKFULLY under the circumstances about which I'm going to tell you, at least. A powered push mower probably would've sucked my phone right up and spat it out in millions of small pieces! Seriously.
In addition to being in our own yard, which I could've only found AS I was mowing, it was squished into the ground (mostly sand, which one could only be thankful for having a mostly sandy yard in circumstances like these!).
How? Why?
Well, the night I "lost" the phone, I honestly do not remember putting my phone back in my pocket after using the toilet. Rather, I clearly remember putting it on top of a TP dispenser in a public bathroom (and if you know me, you KNOW memory is an issue at times!) and NOT picking it back up because I was dealing with Tea, too... well, obviously I did pick it up. It promptly fell out of my pocket when I raced from the van to the bathroom upon arriving home. We have a turnaround spot in our yard, off of our driveway, into which we turn when we arrive home, so that we can pull into our carport in reverse. This makes future departures much easier because our driveway is rather long and we're more used to backing IN to it than OUT of it - since that's what we've mostly always done since we've lived here. Anyway... the phone fell out of my pocket when Jessie pulled into the turnaround spot and I hopped out to race to the bathroom in our house. It had obviously been run over a couple times after it fell to the ground there in our sandy yard. Thanks be for sand there for these circumstances, right!? But the only thing amiss was a small piece which seems squished out of place. I pushed it back in line with the phone (where it was supposed to be) and the phone seems to be fully functional. Love my OLD phone! It is one durable piece of technology! It's a Nokia five faves phone... maybe not quite 8 years old. Jessie thinks it is more like 5 or 6 years old. But that IS ancient as this technology goes... isn't it?
So, all of this worry and weirdness and world-full-of-lonliness for the few days of torture I endured living without my phone would have been averted if only Tori's (my) memory was sure and clear. Let me tell you, living without AC is CAKE, even here in the heat of the deep south, compared to living without a phone!! And the craziest things about THAT is that I haven't used the phone to speak to anyone other than Jessie since I've had it back! Seriously.
I've been observing Blackie some more and she's taught me another valuable lesson that is sort of related to this phone-less experience... stay tuned for that!
Thank you to those who acted as angels in my life by offering me their no-longer-in-use phones! I was offered four different phones by four different people and I am SO very grateful for the blessing you are and the miracle you brought to pass in my life! Seriously. Really and truly!
Yes.
Strange?
Yes. Especially to my wondering eyes!
It should not have been, since I actually DO know myself quite well. And for those of you who know me pretty well, you will likely not be surprised at all when you consider who is writing.
*sigh*
Okay, so... my old small silver phone that has SO many phone numbers I could not have otherwise replaced has been recovered! On top of it all, it's been recovered by none of than me! Weird, right?
And how?
Well, a few days ago I felt that I absolutely must mow the lawn. At least half of the front yard lawn. Our mower is a Reel mower - THANKFULLY under the circumstances about which I'm going to tell you, at least. A powered push mower probably would've sucked my phone right up and spat it out in millions of small pieces! Seriously.
In addition to being in our own yard, which I could've only found AS I was mowing, it was squished into the ground (mostly sand, which one could only be thankful for having a mostly sandy yard in circumstances like these!).
How? Why?
Well, the night I "lost" the phone, I honestly do not remember putting my phone back in my pocket after using the toilet. Rather, I clearly remember putting it on top of a TP dispenser in a public bathroom (and if you know me, you KNOW memory is an issue at times!) and NOT picking it back up because I was dealing with Tea, too... well, obviously I did pick it up. It promptly fell out of my pocket when I raced from the van to the bathroom upon arriving home. We have a turnaround spot in our yard, off of our driveway, into which we turn when we arrive home, so that we can pull into our carport in reverse. This makes future departures much easier because our driveway is rather long and we're more used to backing IN to it than OUT of it - since that's what we've mostly always done since we've lived here. Anyway... the phone fell out of my pocket when Jessie pulled into the turnaround spot and I hopped out to race to the bathroom in our house. It had obviously been run over a couple times after it fell to the ground there in our sandy yard. Thanks be for sand there for these circumstances, right!? But the only thing amiss was a small piece which seems squished out of place. I pushed it back in line with the phone (where it was supposed to be) and the phone seems to be fully functional. Love my OLD phone! It is one durable piece of technology! It's a Nokia five faves phone... maybe not quite 8 years old. Jessie thinks it is more like 5 or 6 years old. But that IS ancient as this technology goes... isn't it?
So, all of this worry and weirdness and world-full-of-lonliness for the few days of torture I endured living without my phone would have been averted if only Tori's (my) memory was sure and clear. Let me tell you, living without AC is CAKE, even here in the heat of the deep south, compared to living without a phone!! And the craziest things about THAT is that I haven't used the phone to speak to anyone other than Jessie since I've had it back! Seriously.
I've been observing Blackie some more and she's taught me another valuable lesson that is sort of related to this phone-less experience... stay tuned for that!
Thank you to those who acted as angels in my life by offering me their no-longer-in-use phones! I was offered four different phones by four different people and I am SO very grateful for the blessing you are and the miracle you brought to pass in my life! Seriously. Really and truly!
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Life Without...
So, I've willingly given up a lot pretty recently. They were things I would've had to let go or do without (once I got the electric bill!), but giving it up of my own accord certainly made it easier. I definitely know the difference since we lost AC in the house we used to rent about 2 months before we moved out of it. So, I already knew what it feels like to lose something I like and didn't want to give up.
As of today... I am without phone. Oh, the pain! No... SERIOUSLY! My anxiety level has about tripled. So, what did I do? I watched a movie. I've said for some time now that TV is the middle-class man's opiate. So, once more I prove myself super weak and ineffective. But at least I didn't do what I first thought about doing! Wathing the movie definitely DID the work I hoped it would do. Now... need to borrow many more movies from the library... No, not really... but maybe. *sigh*
Obviously, it has not been easy for me to lose my phone. One of my first thoughts was that I would just return to FaceBook use a little earlier than I'd planned. Well, I've talked myself down from that skyscraper, but it's still really tempting! So, you see, I really have done better by watching a movie than my first thought!!!! ;)
Don't we all feel a bit safer because of phones? I mean, we can call for help at home or abroad and know that someone will answer almost immediately! We can call and check on our loved ones when they have been absent a bit too long. We can SPEAK to another adult using large-ish words AND be completely understood... or at least, with a phone we have the ability to do so at any given moment.... Even if we don't actually make any of those kinds of phone calls... we could! Now, I can't. I think that's among the top reasons my anxiety has increased so dramatically. Thankfully my modern-day opiate is still effectively working even though the movie ended a few hours ago.
I was able to return to my current "extra" work with the opiate soothing my jangled nerves. The work? Helping Jessie find restaurants to which to apply in person as well as and applying on his behalf online. It's time consuming work and the online applications can require some writing (but not the fun kind)... so it can be stressful on top of the effort to simply maintain things around the house.
Pray for us. We are praying for a miracle, really, at this point. Jessie will submit his two weeks' notice in about 5 or 6 days. So, I'm sure you can now understand more fully the number one reason for my anxiety level to be anything more than the regular mild stress of home-stay-Mama-ing.
The Lord directs and we do. THAT is the reason for the upcoming submission of notice and that's all there is to it. I honor my patriarch and must trust in his understanding (after questioning much). So, I'm sure it'll be all right. But I'm equally as sure that your prayers will carry us some... or, maybe, I'm hoping they'll lift me. I could really use it right now. Thank you, in advance, for caring enough to send a few good thoughts and words of support to our Father in Heaven on my little family's behalf!
As of today... I am without phone. Oh, the pain! No... SERIOUSLY! My anxiety level has about tripled. So, what did I do? I watched a movie. I've said for some time now that TV is the middle-class man's opiate. So, once more I prove myself super weak and ineffective. But at least I didn't do what I first thought about doing! Wathing the movie definitely DID the work I hoped it would do. Now... need to borrow many more movies from the library... No, not really... but maybe. *sigh*
Obviously, it has not been easy for me to lose my phone. One of my first thoughts was that I would just return to FaceBook use a little earlier than I'd planned. Well, I've talked myself down from that skyscraper, but it's still really tempting! So, you see, I really have done better by watching a movie than my first thought!!!! ;)
Don't we all feel a bit safer because of phones? I mean, we can call for help at home or abroad and know that someone will answer almost immediately! We can call and check on our loved ones when they have been absent a bit too long. We can SPEAK to another adult using large-ish words AND be completely understood... or at least, with a phone we have the ability to do so at any given moment.... Even if we don't actually make any of those kinds of phone calls... we could! Now, I can't. I think that's among the top reasons my anxiety has increased so dramatically. Thankfully my modern-day opiate is still effectively working even though the movie ended a few hours ago.
I was able to return to my current "extra" work with the opiate soothing my jangled nerves. The work? Helping Jessie find restaurants to which to apply in person as well as and applying on his behalf online. It's time consuming work and the online applications can require some writing (but not the fun kind)... so it can be stressful on top of the effort to simply maintain things around the house.
Pray for us. We are praying for a miracle, really, at this point. Jessie will submit his two weeks' notice in about 5 or 6 days. So, I'm sure you can now understand more fully the number one reason for my anxiety level to be anything more than the regular mild stress of home-stay-Mama-ing.
The Lord directs and we do. THAT is the reason for the upcoming submission of notice and that's all there is to it. I honor my patriarch and must trust in his understanding (after questioning much). So, I'm sure it'll be all right. But I'm equally as sure that your prayers will carry us some... or, maybe, I'm hoping they'll lift me. I could really use it right now. Thank you, in advance, for caring enough to send a few good thoughts and words of support to our Father in Heaven on my little family's behalf!
Monday, July 12, 2010
AC Free
So, we're getting into hotter months. All right, one, but still. I perceive time differently when I remove and/or reduce use of modern day conveniences. Somehow, it's slower. In a nice way.
Of course, on the days (thankfully only a few so far) on which I feel a desire to ONLY sit in front of a fan, the slowness doesn't feel nearly so nice! :) But, the niceness is true, generally.
Heavenly Father has truly been merciful. Even though Jess has always touted his preference for the heat, he hasn't done all that well with it when he's been home. It's been really interesting. After the one pretty bad day, each weekend he has had to be home, the weather has been REALLY cool... well, at least relative to what I've been dealing with through the rest of the week. This seems to me another confirmation that this is definitely what Father would have us doing right now... AND that this "testing" time is more for me than Jess. Interesting, right?
In other "living AC free" news.... I've been doing REALLY poorly at maintaining our yard (even just the front). The reasons are myriad. Suffice it to say, "Man plans, God laughs." ^_^ This is definitely true for my experience of maintaining our yard with tools powered only by our (my) efforts. It's disappointing... I'm disappointed in me, but I'm hoping to get things back under a semblance of SOME control in the near future.
Thankfully, laundry with no dryer is still going well. I've only "cheated" once. Jess needed some shorts and I couldn't find any that were already ready (he was home REALLY early from work one Sunday and I wanted him to come with us to an activity, thus the shorts were needed in an unexpected manner and time). So, I stuck 'em in the dryer and got them mostly dry before we had to leave. These particular shorts of his normally take 1 (very hot dry) day or 2+ (muggy) days to dry. So, I feel like, given the circumstances and all, it was kinda an ox in the mire situation. ;) Otherwise, the laundry has continued to remain low to completely maintained (no full load of laundry to wash) during the past few weeks. This is a WINNING streak for me! ^_^ And I DO attribute it to the method of hang drying that I need to do with our space and such.
I'm becoming less internet crazy again. (Also an AC-free type thing, in my opinion.) I haven't been thinking about posting blurbs on FB every day or every time something cools happens. I didn't think to post about our chickens until yesterday and decided I'd rather write to a friend and hang out with another In Real Life friend instead. And there were two days last week that I was just busy enough to forget to get online. :) Nice.
So, we continue to progress in our efforts to live as the Lord would have us do! Oh... and I'm less blustery lately. I've read some good parenting books and am feeling more confident in my dealings with my girls. I'd been feeling really unsure and generally frustrated with them before. So, I'm using my not-on-the-internet-time very well! ^_^
How is life treating you!?
Of course, on the days (thankfully only a few so far) on which I feel a desire to ONLY sit in front of a fan, the slowness doesn't feel nearly so nice! :) But, the niceness is true, generally.
Heavenly Father has truly been merciful. Even though Jess has always touted his preference for the heat, he hasn't done all that well with it when he's been home. It's been really interesting. After the one pretty bad day, each weekend he has had to be home, the weather has been REALLY cool... well, at least relative to what I've been dealing with through the rest of the week. This seems to me another confirmation that this is definitely what Father would have us doing right now... AND that this "testing" time is more for me than Jess. Interesting, right?
In other "living AC free" news.... I've been doing REALLY poorly at maintaining our yard (even just the front). The reasons are myriad. Suffice it to say, "Man plans, God laughs." ^_^ This is definitely true for my experience of maintaining our yard with tools powered only by our (my) efforts. It's disappointing... I'm disappointed in me, but I'm hoping to get things back under a semblance of SOME control in the near future.
Thankfully, laundry with no dryer is still going well. I've only "cheated" once. Jess needed some shorts and I couldn't find any that were already ready (he was home REALLY early from work one Sunday and I wanted him to come with us to an activity, thus the shorts were needed in an unexpected manner and time). So, I stuck 'em in the dryer and got them mostly dry before we had to leave. These particular shorts of his normally take 1 (very hot dry) day or 2+ (muggy) days to dry. So, I feel like, given the circumstances and all, it was kinda an ox in the mire situation. ;) Otherwise, the laundry has continued to remain low to completely maintained (no full load of laundry to wash) during the past few weeks. This is a WINNING streak for me! ^_^ And I DO attribute it to the method of hang drying that I need to do with our space and such.
I'm becoming less internet crazy again. (Also an AC-free type thing, in my opinion.) I haven't been thinking about posting blurbs on FB every day or every time something cools happens. I didn't think to post about our chickens until yesterday and decided I'd rather write to a friend and hang out with another In Real Life friend instead. And there were two days last week that I was just busy enough to forget to get online. :) Nice.
So, we continue to progress in our efforts to live as the Lord would have us do! Oh... and I'm less blustery lately. I've read some good parenting books and am feeling more confident in my dealings with my girls. I'd been feeling really unsure and generally frustrated with them before. So, I'm using my not-on-the-internet-time very well! ^_^
How is life treating you!?
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Good Stewardship
I believe I have yet to share a part of our effort to be more frugal, natural, and better stewards of the blessing that is our earth. We have purchased (I KNOW, RIGHT! we rarely purchase much of anything new, so this is huge): a swing blade and a reel mower.
Do you know what the first tool is actually called? It amounts to a handle with a blade on the bottom which is bent so as to be parallel with the earth as you swing it like a golf club to beat down (cut) the really TALL weeds/grasses before you Reel mow them. I've gotten quite good at weilding the swing blade, if I do say so myself (which, of course, I am!).
The Reel mower is fun. As long as there are no sticks in the way, it REALLY IS fun. However, unfortunately, there are LOTS of sticks in the yard. I think there were plenty to start with, but then the tree that fell on our house was piled in our yard for a while and LOTS of sticks remained when most of the tree was hauled away. This week I was able to get the front yard into some general order ALL by myself! What did this take? I know you want to ask mehow I did it (since you know how huge our yard is (almost 1/2 an acre all told - front and back), so I'll tell you!
It all started on Wednesady. I decided the front yard was starting to look unsightly again. The Mimi-grass (okay, most people call is grama-grass) was about as tall as Tea's hip, which is just under my knee (I think). Thankfully it was not as thick as it was the first day we hacked at it (actually, Jessie hacked at it then). It took me a bit more than 1.5 hours to get the tall stuff down in the LEFT HALF of our front yard. I DO think that is the larger side of the yard, but still! As you picture me in your mind, you must consider that I am still a very heavy girl even after losing the weight I have gotten off. So that amount of continuous effort was significant for me. I was definitely red in the face for some time after I was finished.
Thursday, I mowed that side of the yard. That took me only about an hour.
Friday, I hacked away the tall stuff in the right side of the yard. I think that took me about an hour. So, either I'm getting a LOT better or that side of the yard IS smaller!
And today, I reel mowed the right side of the yard (which is also the side that held the felled tree for about a week). The mowing should have taken a lot less time, but because of the branches, it was another hour.
I have a plan to use the mower BEFORE the high stuff sets in... probably at the end of next week. That way I can, hopefully avoid the use of the swing blade. That thing has given me lots of blisters!
"What do you do with the kids during all this outdoor work!??" I can hear you, ya know!!!
Well, anyone that might try to attack me about how much time my kids play outside would be absolutely telling tales and trying to make something out of nothing in the past AND now. The kids play in the yard while I'm working ON the yard. I AM only working on half of it at a time, afterall! Also, there is a big long wide driveway in which they can play!
Now, if someone who might choose to accuse me were to look to my children's complexion for proof that they are outside about an hour a day at least 4 days per week (my minimum requirement is 20 minutes per day at least 5 days per week, but striving for 7 days pers week)... well, they would be just foolish to try to see that as proof or disproof. You see, my kids turn a sweet and BEAUTIFUL golden color. They do NOT become tremendously dark, neither do they turn red like their Daddy. I think their lovely color is a gift of the combination of Jess and me cause I can get a bit darker than they do, but it's still more like their color than Jessie's is.
Their coloring remains darn consistent whether we are outside at high noon or later in the evening - at least it's true thus far. Their hair turns blonder faster when we're out in the heavy sun. However, because I am aware of the dangers of high/hard/heavy sun exposure, I try to DRASTICALLY limit their time in the sun between 10am and 4pm. Today and the last three days we've gone out for Mama to work on the lawn at around 5pm. That works out PERFECTLY because when we're done they can get into the shower, snack, and it's bed time! It's been working out exceedingly well.
I'm so glad because next week I need to begin to tackle the BACK yard. And it's not going to end after the back is somewhat under control! In the back, though, talk about amazingly crazy high grasses. I REALLY want to get pictures before I start on it again. Yes, you read correctly, I've already tried to begin to manage it back there and have been unsuccessful in putting much of a dent in the highness. I wish I could get a goat or three NOW!!! And some ducks and chickens. They would take care of this lickity-split! *sigh* That darn fence! I'm sure it's all for our good. Just have to wait on the Lord! :)
The whole process of constant maintainance (laundry, dishes, and yard specifically) has got me thinking a LOT about the "one eternal round" thing that Father God references quite frequently in scripture. And I can't help but feel so joyfully thankful that our Father would design our test to include such activities that move us ever so gently into doing what He is about! I mean, that's how it seems to me, anyway!
I do have a plan of attack regarding the yard. I'll try to remember to let ya know how it's working/worked out! :) So, far the seed of my planning is producing good fruit. Not only is the front yard looking mostly pretty (I don't yet have a hand tool for weeding... neither do I have any other kind of tool for that work), but dishes and laundry are basically caught up! Whenever this has happened in the past (I start to feel like I have things mostly under control, I mean), I end up preggie. So... here's hoping! ;) ^_^
Do you know what the first tool is actually called? It amounts to a handle with a blade on the bottom which is bent so as to be parallel with the earth as you swing it like a golf club to beat down (cut) the really TALL weeds/grasses before you Reel mow them. I've gotten quite good at weilding the swing blade, if I do say so myself (which, of course, I am!).
The Reel mower is fun. As long as there are no sticks in the way, it REALLY IS fun. However, unfortunately, there are LOTS of sticks in the yard. I think there were plenty to start with, but then the tree that fell on our house was piled in our yard for a while and LOTS of sticks remained when most of the tree was hauled away. This week I was able to get the front yard into some general order ALL by myself! What did this take? I know you want to ask mehow I did it (since you know how huge our yard is (almost 1/2 an acre all told - front and back), so I'll tell you!
It all started on Wednesady. I decided the front yard was starting to look unsightly again. The Mimi-grass (okay, most people call is grama-grass) was about as tall as Tea's hip, which is just under my knee (I think). Thankfully it was not as thick as it was the first day we hacked at it (actually, Jessie hacked at it then). It took me a bit more than 1.5 hours to get the tall stuff down in the LEFT HALF of our front yard. I DO think that is the larger side of the yard, but still! As you picture me in your mind, you must consider that I am still a very heavy girl even after losing the weight I have gotten off. So that amount of continuous effort was significant for me. I was definitely red in the face for some time after I was finished.
Thursday, I mowed that side of the yard. That took me only about an hour.
Friday, I hacked away the tall stuff in the right side of the yard. I think that took me about an hour. So, either I'm getting a LOT better or that side of the yard IS smaller!
And today, I reel mowed the right side of the yard (which is also the side that held the felled tree for about a week). The mowing should have taken a lot less time, but because of the branches, it was another hour.
I have a plan to use the mower BEFORE the high stuff sets in... probably at the end of next week. That way I can, hopefully avoid the use of the swing blade. That thing has given me lots of blisters!
"What do you do with the kids during all this outdoor work!??" I can hear you, ya know!!!
Well, anyone that might try to attack me about how much time my kids play outside would be absolutely telling tales and trying to make something out of nothing in the past AND now. The kids play in the yard while I'm working ON the yard. I AM only working on half of it at a time, afterall! Also, there is a big long wide driveway in which they can play!
Now, if someone who might choose to accuse me were to look to my children's complexion for proof that they are outside about an hour a day at least 4 days per week (my minimum requirement is 20 minutes per day at least 5 days per week, but striving for 7 days pers week)... well, they would be just foolish to try to see that as proof or disproof. You see, my kids turn a sweet and BEAUTIFUL golden color. They do NOT become tremendously dark, neither do they turn red like their Daddy. I think their lovely color is a gift of the combination of Jess and me cause I can get a bit darker than they do, but it's still more like their color than Jessie's is.
Their coloring remains darn consistent whether we are outside at high noon or later in the evening - at least it's true thus far. Their hair turns blonder faster when we're out in the heavy sun. However, because I am aware of the dangers of high/hard/heavy sun exposure, I try to DRASTICALLY limit their time in the sun between 10am and 4pm. Today and the last three days we've gone out for Mama to work on the lawn at around 5pm. That works out PERFECTLY because when we're done they can get into the shower, snack, and it's bed time! It's been working out exceedingly well.
I'm so glad because next week I need to begin to tackle the BACK yard. And it's not going to end after the back is somewhat under control! In the back, though, talk about amazingly crazy high grasses. I REALLY want to get pictures before I start on it again. Yes, you read correctly, I've already tried to begin to manage it back there and have been unsuccessful in putting much of a dent in the highness. I wish I could get a goat or three NOW!!! And some ducks and chickens. They would take care of this lickity-split! *sigh* That darn fence! I'm sure it's all for our good. Just have to wait on the Lord! :)
The whole process of constant maintainance (laundry, dishes, and yard specifically) has got me thinking a LOT about the "one eternal round" thing that Father God references quite frequently in scripture. And I can't help but feel so joyfully thankful that our Father would design our test to include such activities that move us ever so gently into doing what He is about! I mean, that's how it seems to me, anyway!
I do have a plan of attack regarding the yard. I'll try to remember to let ya know how it's working/worked out! :) So, far the seed of my planning is producing good fruit. Not only is the front yard looking mostly pretty (I don't yet have a hand tool for weeding... neither do I have any other kind of tool for that work), but dishes and laundry are basically caught up! Whenever this has happened in the past (I start to feel like I have things mostly under control, I mean), I end up preggie. So... here's hoping! ;) ^_^
Friday, June 18, 2010
Siesta
I now understand the practice I learned about in my high school Spanish classes. I had an awesome teacher, by the way, but I never could understand why a whole country, basically, would close down in the middle of the day for lunch.
Well, I understand now! Living without AC, one begins to understand MANY things, both temporal and spiritual that are directly and tenuously connected to physical comforts. Specifically regarding siesta... It begins for us around 2pm and ends sometime around 5pm. Why? Well, unless it's cloudy all day: because it's basically rediculous to keep moving! Okay, so I haven't actually begun it officially because there are lots of days we simply must work through those hours, but I can see WHY a whole countrty would close for those hours! Seriously.
My Spanish teacher told us that between those hours (or something similar), when she went to Spain, she could not find a single shop open. The people went home to eat and then nap after eating. (I'm guessing the people who were napping were probably NOT the Mama.) ^_^ She soon learned that the reason for their absence from operation of their shops was really more of a necessity than a leasure sort of thing. And I add my understanding to that which she gained. The weather, when we live in it more than in opposition to it, maybe should define a lot of our lives... and why not!? I mean, we are created from the earth. We are to be in dominion of it, but I don't think defining things one does based upon weather is allowing the earth to be in dominion of us... rather I think it has MUCH more to do with living in harmony WITH the earth.
What do you think?
Well, I understand now! Living without AC, one begins to understand MANY things, both temporal and spiritual that are directly and tenuously connected to physical comforts. Specifically regarding siesta... It begins for us around 2pm and ends sometime around 5pm. Why? Well, unless it's cloudy all day: because it's basically rediculous to keep moving! Okay, so I haven't actually begun it officially because there are lots of days we simply must work through those hours, but I can see WHY a whole countrty would close for those hours! Seriously.
My Spanish teacher told us that between those hours (or something similar), when she went to Spain, she could not find a single shop open. The people went home to eat and then nap after eating. (I'm guessing the people who were napping were probably NOT the Mama.) ^_^ She soon learned that the reason for their absence from operation of their shops was really more of a necessity than a leasure sort of thing. And I add my understanding to that which she gained. The weather, when we live in it more than in opposition to it, maybe should define a lot of our lives... and why not!? I mean, we are created from the earth. We are to be in dominion of it, but I don't think defining things one does based upon weather is allowing the earth to be in dominion of us... rather I think it has MUCH more to do with living in harmony WITH the earth.
What do you think?
Monday, June 14, 2010
Living Without AC
We have decided, in our effort to reduce electricity consumption, for reasons previously expounded upon including our effort to become better stewards, and do things more naturally (along the same lines as "living AC free") we are currently living without use of our electric dryer. We started this about three weeks ago and it's going really well. Only three weeks in, of course, but the GOOD of it is really surprising to me!
I feel I must reiterate here and now that CHOOSING to go without a luxury is MUCH easier than being in a position that we MUST go without it. When we first moved to Florida, we didn't have a washing machine or dryer. We did take our things to a laundy-mat for a while. But we just didn't have the money for the amount of laundry we produced. (Cloth diapering exclusively at the time... if you've done it, you'll TOTALLY understand!) I definitely had more time than we had money! So, I ended up washing loads upon loads of laundry by hand in our bath tub. Let me tell you, doing such a thing grows a new perspective in a person! I could see SO clearly how the women of the past might THINK about how their situation was not just and THINK about how they should have certain rights that only men of the time enjoyed... but they didn't have TIME to do anything about those thoughts!
Washing by hand is way too extreme for me at this time - given all that I have listed in my mind that must be done (including unpacking, tiling, kitchen cabinet cleaning and replacement to name some of the HUGE time consumers). Still, we want to do something more (than living AC free) to reduce our electric bill. To that end, we turn all things off when not in use and try to unplug most of them. So far I've only forgotten the computer turn-off one night and MAN I was P-Oed when I realized I did such a thing! We do not use lights unless it's dark night out and they are pretty necessary (at least, I'm trying to teach our girls to do this!). AND, of course, we are trying to avoid use of the dryer as much as possible.
So far (only three weeks, of course), I have been 100% successful at NOT using the dryer! :) I, as yet, have only my laundry room, dining room chairs, and my patio table on which I can lay or hang things out to dry. I'm hopeful that we might get one of the really NICE drying racks I've found online. I like these TWO because one I could see being for most of our wardrobe items and so forth, while the second would be better for towels and linens. We'll see....
So far my laundry time really has been only a little bit more time consuming than it was using an electric dryer. Hanging or laying our things out to dry is a bit more time consuming. Checking on them before removal to put away is a tiny bit of work. But putting things away is SUPER fast! Remoal from drying, folding and moving to put away is almost the same thing so it feels like so much LESS a burden than the loads and piles of dried laundry I'd have pile up before I could get to fold them previously.
Now, one might think and even suggest that such piles could be reduced simply by folding upon completion of the drying process. And to them I would say, "Yes, that worked some times. And when it worked I felt SO good about my endless laundry job. But other times... well, you must either be TOTALLY anal (which I'm trying to overcome in myself) or you just do not know what it's like to homeschool with three children!" Heck, take out the homeschooling part and most Moms... and then especially Moms of three or more would understand that sometimes you can get the stuff out of the dryer, moved from the washer to the dryer and then just NOT be able to fold 'em!
Really, at this point, I feel much MORE enjoyment of the whole laundry process than I felt when we were using the electric dryer. What a gift, right!?? I'm actually REALLY surprised by this new feeling in me and haven't been able to quite figure out the reason for the change. Any suggestions?
I'll try to remember to revisit this subject again and address any reasons I may be able to come up with to explain my newfound enjoyment of doing laundry. Feel free to remind me, if you think about it and want to hear what I've come up with!
I feel I must reiterate here and now that CHOOSING to go without a luxury is MUCH easier than being in a position that we MUST go without it. When we first moved to Florida, we didn't have a washing machine or dryer. We did take our things to a laundy-mat for a while. But we just didn't have the money for the amount of laundry we produced. (Cloth diapering exclusively at the time... if you've done it, you'll TOTALLY understand!) I definitely had more time than we had money! So, I ended up washing loads upon loads of laundry by hand in our bath tub. Let me tell you, doing such a thing grows a new perspective in a person! I could see SO clearly how the women of the past might THINK about how their situation was not just and THINK about how they should have certain rights that only men of the time enjoyed... but they didn't have TIME to do anything about those thoughts!
Washing by hand is way too extreme for me at this time - given all that I have listed in my mind that must be done (including unpacking, tiling, kitchen cabinet cleaning and replacement to name some of the HUGE time consumers). Still, we want to do something more (than living AC free) to reduce our electric bill. To that end, we turn all things off when not in use and try to unplug most of them. So far I've only forgotten the computer turn-off one night and MAN I was P-Oed when I realized I did such a thing! We do not use lights unless it's dark night out and they are pretty necessary (at least, I'm trying to teach our girls to do this!). AND, of course, we are trying to avoid use of the dryer as much as possible.
So far (only three weeks, of course), I have been 100% successful at NOT using the dryer! :) I, as yet, have only my laundry room, dining room chairs, and my patio table on which I can lay or hang things out to dry. I'm hopeful that we might get one of the really NICE drying racks I've found online. I like these TWO because one I could see being for most of our wardrobe items and so forth, while the second would be better for towels and linens. We'll see....
So far my laundry time really has been only a little bit more time consuming than it was using an electric dryer. Hanging or laying our things out to dry is a bit more time consuming. Checking on them before removal to put away is a tiny bit of work. But putting things away is SUPER fast! Remoal from drying, folding and moving to put away is almost the same thing so it feels like so much LESS a burden than the loads and piles of dried laundry I'd have pile up before I could get to fold them previously.
Now, one might think and even suggest that such piles could be reduced simply by folding upon completion of the drying process. And to them I would say, "Yes, that worked some times. And when it worked I felt SO good about my endless laundry job. But other times... well, you must either be TOTALLY anal (which I'm trying to overcome in myself) or you just do not know what it's like to homeschool with three children!" Heck, take out the homeschooling part and most Moms... and then especially Moms of three or more would understand that sometimes you can get the stuff out of the dryer, moved from the washer to the dryer and then just NOT be able to fold 'em!
Really, at this point, I feel much MORE enjoyment of the whole laundry process than I felt when we were using the electric dryer. What a gift, right!?? I'm actually REALLY surprised by this new feeling in me and haven't been able to quite figure out the reason for the change. Any suggestions?
I'll try to remember to revisit this subject again and address any reasons I may be able to come up with to explain my newfound enjoyment of doing laundry. Feel free to remind me, if you think about it and want to hear what I've come up with!
Friday, June 11, 2010
It Goes RIGHT Along
My Mom is just awesomeness incarnate. She suggested a quote that goes right along with my previous post. So, I'm going to share it in it's very own post. I hope you can see how totally it ties in. If not, perhaps you can reread the previous and then see it. If not, sorry!
"Inner strength is a muscle you build by not giving in to your urges." -Dr. Laura
I completely agree. My inner strength seems to be on the decline right now and it feels CRUDDY. BUT... I keep telling myself... every time I feel failure, it's proof of EFFORT! If I wasn't trying, there would be NOTHING to feel I was failing at/in!! ^_^ Lookin for the thing to be glad about and trying to find the silver lining!
What do YOU think about that quote by Dr. Laura?
"Inner strength is a muscle you build by not giving in to your urges." -Dr. Laura
I completely agree. My inner strength seems to be on the decline right now and it feels CRUDDY. BUT... I keep telling myself... every time I feel failure, it's proof of EFFORT! If I wasn't trying, there would be NOTHING to feel I was failing at/in!! ^_^ Lookin for the thing to be glad about and trying to find the silver lining!
What do YOU think about that quote by Dr. Laura?
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Death to Self
Mom and Meg, THANK YOU for commenting. I really LOVE comments! It helps to know that I'm not just writing to the ether. ;) I'm glad, also, Meg, that I could help you in your time of transition. Perhaps it is more difficult for you to endure the heat positively because you are waiting for the time when you will have AC? I think that not being ABLE to have or us AC was way more difficult than choosing not to use it for the various reasons I shared previously.
So, I've been having some really stimulating discussions with a homeschooling-Mom-friend of mine who is not a member of the same church as me, but who IS an amazing Christian. In her most recent note to me she said, after telling me that she'd lived without AC as a child, "I'm not sure if I totally understand going there as a choice unless there is something spiritual to be gained by it, but if that is where the Lord has called you, I trust that His grace is sufficient." Amen to the last grouping of words starting at 'but'. His grace is totally and always sufficient for anything we are called to do!
I include the quote from my friend because I've been thinking SO much about the sort of underlying purpose in so many things the Lord has called me to do/experience/endure. That purpose? Death to self, of course!
To respond directly to the first part of my friend's statement, also, is the other of my purposes in sharing it here. I've already responded to my friend, so I share it generally because I think it is something important and valuable. I hope you do, too!
So, my friend couldn't see living AC-free out of choice, unless there was something spiritual to be gained from it. I say to that: Everything temporal IS spiritual. So, every act of self-denial (death to self) is an act of directly and with specific effort giving control directly to our Spirit. Each act of purposefully dying to self is a way of putting the Spirit more fully in control of the body and making the Soul (combination of Spirit and Body) a more holy unit. I think that this fruit (the result of death to self) is, at least in part, why I feel so compelled to do many of the things I've felt we must (my family and I) do that others think I'm just nuts for even considering... much less DOing.
Death to self. What IS that, anyway? I've been aware that I'm on this amazing journey for the past few years and, perhaps, more especially in the last 20 months or so... Part of what I'm learning (that I'm sure you already know!) is that death to self is more about giving up something, hopefully permanently if the Lord sees fit that it should be permanent, that I like/want/feel I need so that I am able to be more fully of service and to more fully accomplish the Lord's purposes in/for me. As in the AC-free thing... I want to feel cool and super comfy in the hot humid summer. But as I struggle to be nice when I feel uncomfy (by the way, I fail at this miserably most of the time... BUT in failure is proof of effort!) I feel my Spirit growing stronger and more able to be REALLY in control when I AM totally comfy. Ya know?
Chocolate is another death-to-self thing that there has even been someone in a leadership position who has tried to counsel me, in a totally unofficial and INdirect manner, that I'm doing the wrong thing. Seriously? I mean, I'm certain that there isn't a body out there who has sincerely prayed about whether the Gollihughs should be eating chocolate or not... so there aint any of those bodies who should be counseling us about it! But anyway... sorry for that rant.
Reducing electric consumption is another.
Homeschooling is another.
Please keep in mind that each of these choices has NUMEROUS qualifiers. There are tremendous lists of reasons why we do what we do (generally). The most important being that we have determined it is the Lord's Will for us and our family, but there are other things on the "list" that even unbelievers would see are purposeful, logical, and reasonable. They are here also because as I learn more about "death to self" I see how Father has been using SO much in my life to create opportunities for self denial! What a gift, right!?? :)
How do you see death to self alive in your life? I'd love to hear about it!
So, I've been having some really stimulating discussions with a homeschooling-Mom-friend of mine who is not a member of the same church as me, but who IS an amazing Christian. In her most recent note to me she said, after telling me that she'd lived without AC as a child, "I'm not sure if I totally understand going there as a choice unless there is something spiritual to be gained by it, but if that is where the Lord has called you, I trust that His grace is sufficient." Amen to the last grouping of words starting at 'but'. His grace is totally and always sufficient for anything we are called to do!
I include the quote from my friend because I've been thinking SO much about the sort of underlying purpose in so many things the Lord has called me to do/experience/endure. That purpose? Death to self, of course!
To respond directly to the first part of my friend's statement, also, is the other of my purposes in sharing it here. I've already responded to my friend, so I share it generally because I think it is something important and valuable. I hope you do, too!
So, my friend couldn't see living AC-free out of choice, unless there was something spiritual to be gained from it. I say to that: Everything temporal IS spiritual. So, every act of self-denial (death to self) is an act of directly and with specific effort giving control directly to our Spirit. Each act of purposefully dying to self is a way of putting the Spirit more fully in control of the body and making the Soul (combination of Spirit and Body) a more holy unit. I think that this fruit (the result of death to self) is, at least in part, why I feel so compelled to do many of the things I've felt we must (my family and I) do that others think I'm just nuts for even considering... much less DOing.
Death to self. What IS that, anyway? I've been aware that I'm on this amazing journey for the past few years and, perhaps, more especially in the last 20 months or so... Part of what I'm learning (that I'm sure you already know!) is that death to self is more about giving up something, hopefully permanently if the Lord sees fit that it should be permanent, that I like/want/feel I need so that I am able to be more fully of service and to more fully accomplish the Lord's purposes in/for me. As in the AC-free thing... I want to feel cool and super comfy in the hot humid summer. But as I struggle to be nice when I feel uncomfy (by the way, I fail at this miserably most of the time... BUT in failure is proof of effort!) I feel my Spirit growing stronger and more able to be REALLY in control when I AM totally comfy. Ya know?
Chocolate is another death-to-self thing that there has even been someone in a leadership position who has tried to counsel me, in a totally unofficial and INdirect manner, that I'm doing the wrong thing. Seriously? I mean, I'm certain that there isn't a body out there who has sincerely prayed about whether the Gollihughs should be eating chocolate or not... so there aint any of those bodies who should be counseling us about it! But anyway... sorry for that rant.
Reducing electric consumption is another.
Homeschooling is another.
Please keep in mind that each of these choices has NUMEROUS qualifiers. There are tremendous lists of reasons why we do what we do (generally). The most important being that we have determined it is the Lord's Will for us and our family, but there are other things on the "list" that even unbelievers would see are purposeful, logical, and reasonable. They are here also because as I learn more about "death to self" I see how Father has been using SO much in my life to create opportunities for self denial! What a gift, right!?? :)
How do you see death to self alive in your life? I'd love to hear about it!
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Living Without AC
I've been thinking about starting to, periodically, write about our experiences with our efforts at becoming more frugal and better stewards of that which we have. I think I'll probably use the title "Living Without AC" to sort of highlight such subject matter when I feel inspired to write about that sort of thing. Why would I title it so? Well, because we have decided to, literally, live without Air Conditioning! Yes, seriously. Here in Sunny Florida... not really near water... we have decided to live without AC. Crazy? Yeah, it does feel a little crazy. But not.
The decision was not ours when we still lived at our rental - only about two weeks ago, in reality. The motor of the AC unit totally went kaput and our landlord, knowing we were vacating, did not have enough money to repair it. The repair would've run him around $900. He is no longer working in the firm he was employed in and he may not be working at all! Additionally, he has had a lot to shoulder in his extended family (monetarily and otherwise). He does not have a wife and children, so "at least" the stress they would've added is not there. Anyway... we were all right with it, though, at first, it was way more of a trouble than I would like to admit. (But I just DID admit it!) So, we've sort of gotten used to no AC. We started out in the NO AC world when the Lord gave us our van, via my Aunt Barbara and Uncle Mark and their family. And THAT hasn't been all that bad.
In the beginning, the days that we were home in the rental were SO long because of the heat! Truly, time is relative in the way that everything tends to be at some time or another. But, bit by bit, and probably because we had to, we did get used to it. And we lived that-a-way for about two months in that house. When we were moving into our house (this one), we did use AC. I'm not really sure why... because we could? Silly. I wish we hadn't. But I guess I wanted to give us a break....
So, as of June 1st we have had the AC in the OFF position out of choice rather than circumstance. Okay, so it's sort of circumstance, too... one of the units works fine. The other probably needs some of that stuff added... the "free" stuff that's not actually free.... ahwell... I hope you can figure out what stuff I'm talking about cause I do NOT know how to spell it and I'm not looking it up for ya!
Anyway, we were worried about overworking the working AC unit. Also, we want to save money. (Add in falls a tree and there goes THAT effort!) We want to save money so we can slowly work our way out of student loan debt AND contribute to the work going on in my Mom's kitchen... we'll see how our ability to do either work out given the more recent development of the fallen tree that did NOT make a sound. We're really not sure how we're going to deal with the deductible for our homeowner's insurance. We're praying and hoping that the owner of the house next door will end up responsbile! If you feel so included and inspired, I hope you will join your prayers with ours to that end.
Back to the title... I DO want to write about our experience of living without AC... especially in a hot/muggy climate like ours. Virginia, I promise, you have nothing on us! Seriously.
Okay, so... it gets sort of tolerable after about a month, atually, at least for me. And in that, I'm referring to the little "short" rental house we lived in before. But then you have to go places that are air conditioned. That, I will admit, makes returning home sometimes difficult. One thing that has helped me is being absolutely "sure" that when I open the door to our house I'll encounter an oven. Thus far, when I have been "sure" of that, I find a draft that feels rather cool! :) Probably, it actually IS cool... our house is really airy and I imagine that offers some buffer to a smaller-to-the-ground house heating up super fast (like the last one did!).
My experience of temps struck me even more today at church. My first day with my new Ward and it was lovely, by the way! ^_^ I met some lovely people and enjoyed a beautiful testimony service. And in Relief Society I felt completely comfy (emotionally, spiritually, mentally, AND physically). In looking around, there were a few women who were fanning themselves. I guess I'm able to be more comfy in a warmer room/building because I'm not used to any temp modification other than a fan blowing whatever kind of air it finds. What a gift and blessing, right?
Also, since we've been living AC free, I've actually worn a shawl in the temple. I do think this is another symptom of our AC-less-ness. It used to feel totally perfect, the temperature in the temple, I mean. Now it's rather cool! Funny, right?
So, I'm wondering if this next winter will be super-duper cold to me even if it doesn't get as "cold" as it was this last winter! (Now, winters do NOT have anything on you, Virginia... but relative to the change... it's hard to endure... at least for me. And THAT is coming from a girl who loved the cold!) I'm guessing the answer will be YES, just because of my experiences thus far.
Would you go AC-free? What would spur you to such a choice?
The decision was not ours when we still lived at our rental - only about two weeks ago, in reality. The motor of the AC unit totally went kaput and our landlord, knowing we were vacating, did not have enough money to repair it. The repair would've run him around $900. He is no longer working in the firm he was employed in and he may not be working at all! Additionally, he has had a lot to shoulder in his extended family (monetarily and otherwise). He does not have a wife and children, so "at least" the stress they would've added is not there. Anyway... we were all right with it, though, at first, it was way more of a trouble than I would like to admit. (But I just DID admit it!) So, we've sort of gotten used to no AC. We started out in the NO AC world when the Lord gave us our van, via my Aunt Barbara and Uncle Mark and their family. And THAT hasn't been all that bad.
In the beginning, the days that we were home in the rental were SO long because of the heat! Truly, time is relative in the way that everything tends to be at some time or another. But, bit by bit, and probably because we had to, we did get used to it. And we lived that-a-way for about two months in that house. When we were moving into our house (this one), we did use AC. I'm not really sure why... because we could? Silly. I wish we hadn't. But I guess I wanted to give us a break....
So, as of June 1st we have had the AC in the OFF position out of choice rather than circumstance. Okay, so it's sort of circumstance, too... one of the units works fine. The other probably needs some of that stuff added... the "free" stuff that's not actually free.... ahwell... I hope you can figure out what stuff I'm talking about cause I do NOT know how to spell it and I'm not looking it up for ya!
Anyway, we were worried about overworking the working AC unit. Also, we want to save money. (Add in falls a tree and there goes THAT effort!) We want to save money so we can slowly work our way out of student loan debt AND contribute to the work going on in my Mom's kitchen... we'll see how our ability to do either work out given the more recent development of the fallen tree that did NOT make a sound. We're really not sure how we're going to deal with the deductible for our homeowner's insurance. We're praying and hoping that the owner of the house next door will end up responsbile! If you feel so included and inspired, I hope you will join your prayers with ours to that end.
Back to the title... I DO want to write about our experience of living without AC... especially in a hot/muggy climate like ours. Virginia, I promise, you have nothing on us! Seriously.
Okay, so... it gets sort of tolerable after about a month, atually, at least for me. And in that, I'm referring to the little "short" rental house we lived in before. But then you have to go places that are air conditioned. That, I will admit, makes returning home sometimes difficult. One thing that has helped me is being absolutely "sure" that when I open the door to our house I'll encounter an oven. Thus far, when I have been "sure" of that, I find a draft that feels rather cool! :) Probably, it actually IS cool... our house is really airy and I imagine that offers some buffer to a smaller-to-the-ground house heating up super fast (like the last one did!).
My experience of temps struck me even more today at church. My first day with my new Ward and it was lovely, by the way! ^_^ I met some lovely people and enjoyed a beautiful testimony service. And in Relief Society I felt completely comfy (emotionally, spiritually, mentally, AND physically). In looking around, there were a few women who were fanning themselves. I guess I'm able to be more comfy in a warmer room/building because I'm not used to any temp modification other than a fan blowing whatever kind of air it finds. What a gift and blessing, right?
Also, since we've been living AC free, I've actually worn a shawl in the temple. I do think this is another symptom of our AC-less-ness. It used to feel totally perfect, the temperature in the temple, I mean. Now it's rather cool! Funny, right?
So, I'm wondering if this next winter will be super-duper cold to me even if it doesn't get as "cold" as it was this last winter! (Now, winters do NOT have anything on you, Virginia... but relative to the change... it's hard to endure... at least for me. And THAT is coming from a girl who loved the cold!) I'm guessing the answer will be YES, just because of my experiences thus far.
Would you go AC-free? What would spur you to such a choice?
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