Thanks for the encouragement.

It has been nice to have so many different people offer encouragement to us as we undertake this project. The funny thing is that most people aren't nearly as hard on me about mistakes/cheats as I am on myself. Funny how that is. There are still lots of ways we could be doing better, but I am noticing our daily habits slowly changing and my thought processes are shifting as well. I am gaining a new appreciation for people that live their lives like this every day and don't think twice about it. One thing that I have noticed is that if "the rules" were all that were important in this, we would be missing out on a lot of relationship opportunities. Sometimes a rule is worth bending for the sake of people. It's easy to forget "people" and focus only on the "rules".
I think the biggest struggle I have right now is coming up with interesting, filling dinners for two hungry and growing boys. They see a plate with no meat and assume they are going to starve. Breakfast, lunch and snacks have been easy - I guess in the big picture, that is pretty good for the first couple of weeks.
It's also hard to not go for my regular comfort food when I'm stressed. I need to replace those foods with new things so that I'm prepared when the cravings hit. Being prepared is the main key to success in this project - especially with food. It's easy to take things away, but it's hard to replace them. One thing at a time though, right?
The car has been used less and less - yay! But, do you know how expensive it is to take the bus? I'm not a fan of the bus at the moment. To go a measly 12kms during the day (and back home again) would cost two of us $8.50! I like public transit if we're going somewhere for the day and we're going to make use of a day pass, but to just hop on and off... it's ridiculous! Who has that kind of money? Anyways, the bikes are good for anything under 20km- I'm still getting used to that though. 20km is a LONG ways! I have to admit, I've definitely chosen to stay home over riding my bike somewhere, but the boys just hop on and go. Good for them, I say! (and they are going to become quite competent at errands this summer - might as well put them to use if they're out and about!)
Once Brendan is done exams(end of this week), we will work on some projects at home- like building the solar oven, cleaning and resealing our windows (to get ready for fall) and researching what to plant in a winter garden.
I am missing using the internet with a normal amount of regularity. The library sucks for internet! (the boys aren't happy either) It is VERY slow, facebook doesn't work and the security settings are so tight it makes it hard to search things. It's fine for email, but I'm missing paying my bills online. That leads to a thought process I'm working through... there are lots of things that I'm finding I need to weigh out the "greeness" of compared to the alternatives. For example, would I be better to have the internet at home, use the electricity for the computer or have paper bills, with a paper trail at the bank? At the moment I'm leaning towards internet at home with usage restrictions (to avoid any of us with the computer up and running all day).
I'm starting to nod off while I write this, so I can only imagine how bored you must be reading it. I'll leave you for now - hope you have a happy and somewhat greener day!