For bike to work day we celebrated with a ride to the local coffee shop and bakery, and then rode on to Kyle's work to deliver him and his coworkers some donuts. It's an absolutely stunning day, warm and sunny with a nice breeze, and certainly a great day to celebrate the bicycle in all it's wonders, even if you don't necessarily ride to work!
There's no doubt that it's hard to afford to be a one income household these days, we do however make what some might call sacrifices, for me they include; having a cell phone that just makes phone calls (odd concept, I know), not getting my hair cut every 6 weeks, shopping at thrift stores for clothing and other household items, being thrifty with name brand grocery products and using my bike as transportation. With the exception of bike riding, I did all those things before Jack came along. Now they are necessary and I'm happy to keep it up, the time spent caring for Jack is priceless and I firmly believe in these critical developmental years it is a priority, far above fancy clothes and vacations.
Speaking of fancy clothes, I picked out Jack's cycling jersey that we won courtesy of the 30 days of biking and Bike2Power- we got to pick out our choice from Kanu Bike and decided on this one HERE. We will look forward to seeing Jack sport it on in a few hundred photos sure to come soon!
What a great blog! Please keep it up, help spread the velo-love in the 253....
ReplyDeleteHello Tacomee-
DeleteThanks for reading! Cheers!
Yepp,sacrifices...all 4 of our cells only make calls (ok...one of em texts,Jamie's),I cut my own hair (I've kept a military legal haircut since my ARMY days,which were from '91 through '94,LOL!),the thrift store bits (we donate as well as shop them)...though we try to never sacrifice what foods we like (actually...every month we wonder why we're so tight,then we sit and go through receits from the month and see we really SHOULD avoid eating out...),the Wife donates plasma twice per week (how many more weeks before we get that free TV? :p I tried to donate,but they rejected my veins...good thing I'm no druggie,eh?)...it's hard some times,even with a TWO income family. Since I've been biking more* for utility/errands,we've definately saved on vehicular costs (gas,upkeep),though we're still a 2 vehicle family (both her can and my Mercky Van are paid for though,no payments,just $600 per year or so insurance),and as I incorporate my rides into needs than driving,that will get better...what I need to do to help out is give up my pack every 36 hours of little cigars...besides the health benefits,that's a monthly bil we could certainly live better without. Sigh...I'm hijacking your lovely post again,aren't I? Sorry (insert a blushing smilie here) :)
ReplyDeleteI admire your family's dedication to having one parent always available and there with Jack,greatly. That's a priorety here as well,but not too sure we could pull it off if I wasn't receiving SSDI benefits,as that's the bigger half of our total household income (though a nearly quadrupled that amount when driving long haul trucks...).
Y'all keep it up,you and Kyle-you're great parents,and every little thing you do will teach Jack as he grows how to be a better person in general,as well as how he chooses to make his way in the world,choices he makes on how he lives,and be proud that you both have come together and standing firm,standing tall,I am (proud of the two of you) :)
The DC
Hello TDC- So how is your xtracycle going- are you loving it? I bet it's awesome! Did you see the new sidecar they came out with? Pretty awesome- I love it. There is no doubt that cycling saves a ton of money. Since my mum had surgery and we've been taking her grocery shopping, checking on her and doing her laundry etc- Ive noticed a difference already in the costs going up. Kyle hadn't really been driving much, and now it's adding up! We're trying to get it all done every Sunday- bring her here for dinner, then I do her laundry and we hang out for bit, eat, take her grocery shopping and then for an ice cream cone and home...good for mum to get out! And Jack loves it of course, he's very close with my his Nanny.
DeleteAnyway- thanks for the props and always commenting!
I quit smoking the day I found out I was pregnant with Jack,it's been just under 3 years now I guess- anyway, I love how much better I feel and even though we tried tons of times to quit- it was totally worth it when we did finally do it. We finally realized we had to quit one at a time, so the day we found out, I quit and then 3 weeks later Kyle did. That way I was over the most critically cranky stage when he was entering it haha. It made it easier.
Anyway- it can be done, its just hard, but totally worth it.
L