Sunday, September 28, 2008

An Epiphnany about cars...and how to torture Katie and Thomas



Many of you already may know that in an effort to save money, we have strictly been using the bus for the past month. It has been an adventure, with a few sprints to catch it as it pulls away, and lots of fun conversations while riding or waiting (and even a round of dots on the tablet while riding...can't do that in a car!)... but overall, I have found it to be almost as convenient as car travel, and FAR less expensive. The bus is almost always on time, and waiting is usually very short. Using google maps public transit feature, we have also been able to get detailed bus instructions to every place we have wanted to go. Liam and I especially like that we don't have to drive in crazy Waikiki traffic, we just sit and relax.

We do realize however, that there are certainly conveniences that car ownership brings especially after a baby arrives. So on Friday, Liam had a light bulb go off in his brain (or on?) and realized, that for much less than the price of owning a car, we can rent one every other weekend(we are thinking we will just do this once a month, with gas prices, we would probably drive any car about this much any way!). So we rented a truck, picked up all of our murphy bed stuff, a couch, some chairs, took a walmart and sams club trip and had a lot of fun! And...no car repairs, no insurance costs, much less worry about accident liability, always driving a brand new car, no breakdowns or up keep, it keeps us more conservative on gas and errand running...its just great!

So where do Katie and Thomas come in? Well, we dragged them along on all of these errands, and put them to work, on the pretense that we would then go on a crazy camping and kayaking adventure! Unfortunately, the errands took about 7 hours longer than we expected and we were all too exhausted for the fun part when we were done. But they were such a big help, and made the experience so much fun! Nevertheless, we are so sorry for tortureing you Katie and Thomas! We thank you for all your help, and will certainly find a way to make it up to you!

Welcome Fall!


Why are there pumpkins hanging on my lanai? Thats right, its fall! Welcome Fall! Fall is my favorite season for homemaking... when it starts to get a chill in the air (in most places, but I don't miss it too much) and the family gathers inside for warmth and joy. Hearty stews, pumpkin and apple ladden everything and many other tasty recipes abound. Thoughts of Christmas giving, and Christ' Birth also seem at the front of my mind about now. I just love it.

So happy fall everyone! You can be sure to see more posts to come about fall recipes I've tried, activities we have done, and decorations I have put up. I hope you all enjoy this special season with your families. I can't wait until we add more special beings to ours, and in turn even greater reasons to celebrate.