Welcome Home

I know that I have been away for a while, and in truth, there was a period of time where I was not certain if I would come back.  There are many reasons for this, but when you spend the majority of your 10-hour work day doing research and writing on a computer, that is normally the LAST thing I want to do when I get home. I thought about my goals here. I questioned whether or not I was actually unique enough that people should care what I have to say. I considered re-opening at a web location where I would be completely anonymous and no one would know me. I considered re-opening just for personal communications, on the complete 180. I decided that in the long run it probably doesn’t matter too much. (We all know that if you don’t want people to know what you are doing, 1) don’t do it, and 2) don’t put it on line, but since I normally follow rule one, and am not stupid enough to hand out my address and social security number, I think I was probably being hyper paranoid.) I also had a computer break down recently… so after 4 weeks of having no computer at all I am feeling refreshed. And my computer also now has beautiful Windows 7, with upgraded RAM and Antivirus software, to play with.

While I have been gone from the blogging world I have had a slappy fantastic time. I’ve had an international vacation and a short Okie staycation. Our dogs went through and graduated from advanced obedience! I’ve built a jury-rigged lily garden, a nice raised bed garden, and compost bins. I’ve worked (a lot) on weatherizing the house and I’ve completed my Green Home Loan process (hooray, new HVAC and insulation!). Most exciting, our year long bathroom re-model is finally completely finished and I’m excited to show it to you, with our fantastic eco-upgrades. I’m slowly working on spreadsheeting all my utility bills for the past few years so that I can mark the dates we made efficiency improvements, graph the usage, and figure out quantitatively if our improvements made a difference. (I already have the costs spreadsheeted… you know… I keep a budget! But that’s not truly indicative of use over time, as utilities initiate rate changes over the years) I started enjoying my first CSA membership with Berry Creek Farm, and have been learning how to cook vegetables I previously never cooked (and in some cases, never even tasted before). And, even though I am almost thirty years old, I am teaching myself to ride a bicycle. Yes. I am. Don’t judge!  And I’m sure you’re well aware that we’ve been experiencing simultaneously one of Oklahoma’s most intense droughts AND most intense heat waves in generations… So we have lots to talk about, you and I.

I was also impressed and surprised to see that over my web hiatus, I gained a subscriber and my site views increased. Certainly odd for a brand new blog that has been dormant for a few months… but encouraging. Thank you! When I checked my web stats I completely expected and deserved to see that my little web home had fizzled out while I was away, but instead found that I had even more reason to stay. So here I am!  Thanks for sticking around. I’ll be back on the ball soon.

Meanwhile, here is a picture from my vacation last March… I love this one because I look like I’m on a fantastic adventure! Hiking through the Arctic Circle all alone… or something like that.  This was on Inisheer. And it was a lovely adventure. Especially that morning, when we saw no one but us for several hours. Just me, my sweetie, and a beautiful, sparsely inhabited island, all alone.