Week 2: Loosening our Grip on Self-Reliance
5:36 PMOkay, beginning week two. Food is still abundant. Cars are at just over half tank of gas respectively.
January 8 - I went climbing after work for a half hour of power as I like to call it and Elliot picked up Tory and met up with the guys for a longer climbing session later in the evening. We have been spending a lot of time in the house together (from the cold and not going anywhere that involves money) so I think it was good to spend time doing different activities. We are running low on yogurt, so I used a small portion of it to make more. My mom used to do this for us growing up so I am looking forward to seeing how it turned out. And I made more muffins!
Tory and I had our first disagreement about the experiment when I figured using discover reward bucks to order our year in review book online was a clever loophole and Tory thought it was betraying our goals. Apart from that, the experiment has been very unifying and I think it will continue to be.
January 9 - We had a low key evening in. Discovered that the yogurt making experiment didn't work out. It definitely solidified but tasted more like milk pudding than yogurt. I'll have to dig up my Mom's recipe and use the ingredients she does after the spending freeze.
January 10 - Tory started his early morning carpool with Jonah this morning, so we got home at the exact same time for the first time ever. As for our evening, our friend Claire aka La Manchita aka amazing GRRRL PRTY lady got us on the list for the close out show of their Icehouse Residency, hosted by Dessa. My buddy Reid agreed to shoot the show for them and Tory and I helped out, manning a camera here and there and grabbing free drinks backstage (thanks GRRRLs!) - the show was AWESOME. So many highlights and exceptional talent, but the way they finished the night really solidified their intentions with what they do - sang and rapped along to Beyonce's Drunk in Love and then cut it halfway through JayZ's section just before he makes a reference comparing himself to Ike Turner - and played Tina Turner instead.
photo by Mark Hanson
Reid and his friend dropped us off at home around 2am, and much to our excitement, Micah and Jo were getting dropped off by their friends at the exact same time. Which resulted in an extension of the fun for the night, cheese-itz, coconut cream pie, and tea for wind down time.
January 11 - Cleaning, house projects and reorganizing. I am eating the yogurt from the sides of the container for the first time ever. Tory had a free dinner with the sales reps for Landscape Structures in town for their annual sales meeting and brought me home some fancy tasty cheesecake.
January 12 - It was such a nice day, Tory and I took a 4.5 mile walk loop through the broader neighborhood, across Wirth Beach and along the Theodore Wirth Parkway, which tired us out more than we expected. I wanted to go to Cuppa Java before we walked home but alas! A small sacrifice to make. Since food is so much more abundant than gas, Tory's parents came over to our place Sunday evening instead of us going to Bloomington, and Tory made a huge chili that will keep us going all week.
January 13 - So far this month has been a good exercise in letting go of control and self-reliance and being willing to ask friends and family for help, for fun, for carpools and more. Monday night, we didn't even ask - Melissa offered to get us all free tickets to see Her at the the Lagoon theater through her work, which we had really wanted to see but resigned ourselves to waiting at least until it came to the Hopkins theater. We parked for free a quarter mile away and took a short walk to the theater in the big fluffy snow flakes. We are still mulling over the movie - in a good way - highly recommended! After the movie, we met up with Elliot and Ryan at the climbing gym and and then stopped by Ryan's house to pick up some shower and tile caulk - our only tube of it split open right after Tory started finishing up the shower resealing project. We can shower again!Tory and I had our first disagreement about the experiment when I figured using discover reward bucks to order our year in review book online was a clever loophole and Tory thought it was betraying our goals. Apart from that, the experiment has been very unifying and I think it will continue to be.
January 9 - We had a low key evening in. Discovered that the yogurt making experiment didn't work out. It definitely solidified but tasted more like milk pudding than yogurt. I'll have to dig up my Mom's recipe and use the ingredients she does after the spending freeze.
January 10 - Tory started his early morning carpool with Jonah this morning, so we got home at the exact same time for the first time ever. As for our evening, our friend Claire aka La Manchita aka amazing GRRRL PRTY lady got us on the list for the close out show of their Icehouse Residency, hosted by Dessa. My buddy Reid agreed to shoot the show for them and Tory and I helped out, manning a camera here and there and grabbing free drinks backstage (thanks GRRRLs!) - the show was AWESOME. So many highlights and exceptional talent, but the way they finished the night really solidified their intentions with what they do - sang and rapped along to Beyonce's Drunk in Love and then cut it halfway through JayZ's section just before he makes a reference comparing himself to Ike Turner - and played Tina Turner instead.
Reid and his friend dropped us off at home around 2am, and much to our excitement, Micah and Jo were getting dropped off by their friends at the exact same time. Which resulted in an extension of the fun for the night, cheese-itz, coconut cream pie, and tea for wind down time.
January 11 - Cleaning, house projects and reorganizing. I am eating the yogurt from the sides of the container for the first time ever. Tory had a free dinner with the sales reps for Landscape Structures in town for their annual sales meeting and brought me home some fancy tasty cheesecake.
January 12 - It was such a nice day, Tory and I took a 4.5 mile walk loop through the broader neighborhood, across Wirth Beach and along the Theodore Wirth Parkway, which tired us out more than we expected. I wanted to go to Cuppa Java before we walked home but alas! A small sacrifice to make. Since food is so much more abundant than gas, Tory's parents came over to our place Sunday evening instead of us going to Bloomington, and Tory made a huge chili that will keep us going all week.
January 14 - This morning I brought Tory to a conference downtown on my way to work - it's a rare day that we get to carpool together.
My boss decided to cater lunch to the office just because. We've been living in luxury this month!
I've eaten most of my salty snacks at work and have had to move on to the purely healthy stuff - apples and peanut butter and almonds.
I have a habit of regularly checking our bank, and it's been very strange to have no changes to speak of.
One of the best things about this month has been that its long enough to break habits (ones like stopping at the thrift store on the way home from work, going out for coffee or tea, and our frequent restaurant bills)
And it's long enough to starting new habits - keeping homemade food on hand for lunches, making healthy muffins so I can grab one to go in the mornings, finding creative solutions since buying a fix isn't an option, finding free activities and hosting people at our place, and grouping our excursions together to save on gas. The funny thing is that it doesn't feel very different from normal life. We're just not spending any money.
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