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woodwindy

The event overall was incredibly well run.  I had the rare treat of being there with no kids, all day (Owen took them to Toys-R-Us and a birthday party), and no responsibilities.  I went with the intention of making myself useful, but everything was entirely under (someone else’s) control.  Props to suba_al_hadid the event steward, and the too-many-to-name-even-on-LJ who did it!  Also a shout-out to baronessjuliana, who cooked a fabulous feast I didn’t get to eat nearly enough of (because I kept wandering off to talk to people). 

auntiero

kevinarcher

 I got to catch up with people, including gustavvs and bearassed, whom I don’t see often enough, and have conversations that consisted of more than “howhowareyougreattoseeyougottogochasemykidbye!”

Being at loose ends at one point, I went and poked my head into the Musician’s Room (have I mentioned how well-run the event was?  A whole room for musicians and our stuff?  Dude!).  E.G.I.S. handed me a sheet with a song I’d never seen before, in a language I don’t know, and said “Here!  Want to sing this at dinner tonight?”

… and that is how I wound up at High Table, singing a Sephardic love song, in Ladino, for the King, Queen, Prince and Princess of the East, the Queen of Northshield, Duquessa Isabella of York, and our new Baron and Baroness, while EGIS played backup on the oud.  All things considered, we didn’t sound too bad.

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Between rising gas prices, rising food costs and the ongoing need to be nicer to the planet, here’s the list of stuff we’re working on to save money and energy.  How about you?  Suggestions are most welcome...

Things we already do:

• CFLs in all the lights
• Electronic thermostat for the heat
• Foil on the windows for summer; plastic for winter
• Clipping coupons/shopping the sales aggressively (and shamelessly trash-picking the Sunday circulars on Wednesdays when the recycling goes out…)
• Bake bread
• Pack lunches for all of us
• Do a carefully planned major grocery run for staples every 2 or 3 weeks to save time and gas; fill in with fresh stuff picked up via a walk or on the way to/from somewhere else (like work)
• Plan meals to take advantage of sales and pantry, to make ordering out a deliberate choice, not an emergency measure
  due to either exhaustion or empty cupboards
  

New or newly re-emphasized things:

• Looking into buying a scooter for O’s commute (which is too far to bike thru less than stellar neighborhoods, else he’d do that) – this will cut our gasoline costs quite a bit.  At the rate gas prices are going, the thing will pay for itself in a year and save energy, too.  (I already take the train to work.)
• Consciously reducing/reusing/recycling a bit more (I got the hairy eyeball from a grocery cashier at my not-favorite-but-walkable market the other day for bringing bags, but at my regular market they give us $0.02 credit per bag!).  Less packaging = good.  (I admit I can’t bring myself to go as far as ditching juice boxes and kids’ yogurt cups, however)
• Switch out to eco-friendly soaps and cleaners, including trying some home-made ones – not always cheaper, but definitely greener
• Buy locally:  shop the food co-op/farmers markets/etc. more often (I don’t miss much about working downtown, but I do miss shopping at Reading Terminal).  The co-op also has quite a bit in bulk, saving on packaging.
• Less meat, more vegetarian meals (grain and bean salads!  hummus!  tabbouleh!  ah, summer...)
  
• Growing a few herbs and veggies
• Drying some clothes on a rack rather than using the energy-guzzling electric dryer (sadly we can’t hang outside, too many trees…)
• No leisure travel more than 1.5 hours out (and we have to think REAL hard about more than an hour), unless there’s carpooling involved.

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What a cool holiday weekend!