Returning to the 21st century.

Paul and I have been going back and forth about whether we wanted to move into a different house. One came available, but it wasn't ideal... but then again, what is? The house is in a complex, so there would be people to befriend and pile cookies upon. We would have unlimited electricity and water. There are these beautiful green things called trees, and the kids would have a yard to play in. Unfortunately, this move would mean an even longer commute for Paul. We already spend way too much money a month on gas, and during the week he is home an average of two hours a day. We finally decided to just go ahead and do it, and that very night I was given a sign that we had made the right decision.

Since our house is solar powered, our water is gravity fed from a cistern in the roof. We run the pump to fill the water during the day while we have sunlight. To fill the electricity gaps, we use a generator. Well... I take a shower with the kids to try to conserve water and keep from using it all up during the night. I had the generator going since it had been cloudy all day. Just as I shampooed my hair, I noticed the water was slower than usual. I jumper out and turned on the pump and then frantically tried to rise the shampoo out. The hot water went completely out, and using cold winter water was out of the question. Luckily I had gotten most of the shampoo out.

I waited for the water to fill back up and proceeded to finish cooking dinner for Paul and myself. As I was cooking, I noticed the lights were getting weak and the generator sounded funny. Long story short, our generator crapper out, and we didn't have enough battery power to refill the water. Needless to say, we moved into the new house the next day... in a snow storm.

Now we have lights, water pressure and I can use a microwave to cook dinner if I am feeling lazy. We have been in the house just shy of two weeks, and I have already made fudge, cookies, chocolate covered pretzels and banana bread. My refrigerator and freezer are big enough to hold more than 5 things, and I feel like I am living the high life.

Living off the grid really helped me put things in perspective. I thought I needed a big house with big rooms and lots of stuff. It turned out I just really need water, electricity, neighbors and my family to be a happy lady! The dogs love the nice big yard and neighbors coming by to pet them. The kids like the extra space to explore. Paul is fine with the commute, because happy kids and a happy wife make for a happy Paul. He is such a trouper. Oh and we got to keep the chickens, too. That just makes me extra happy.