We're Baaaaaaack!

And we're back to kick off another year of family projects!

Suffice to say, 2012 was not all that memorable, at least not in the blogging universe of things.

We did have our family garden, but due to a lack of time and energy, not much was harvested from it, although some zucchinis deserved an honorable mention in July for becoming large enough to scare the neighbors...

My husband partnered with a family friend and learned the ins and outs of beekeeping, coming home with minimal stings (only three times out of the year!) and ten quarts of honey at the end of it...

But, other than that, we did not decide to do any family projects. It wasn't something that we meant to do, but the year just slipped past before we could do anything about it.

Things are about to change in 2013 - the family projects have been decided! We will be trying new things, and revisiting family favorites to give them another go.

A brief synopsis of the two new family projects for 2013 are:

1. Beekeeping: Scoutmaster Chris thoroughly enjoyed his experience beekeeping last year, and thus we have decided to make this a family project this year. We will have one hive. The bees have already been ordered and will be delivered in May. The guidelines and details on this family project will be coming soon!
Start Date: February 2, 2013
Run Time: Year-long

2. Recycling: Yes, I know, we should be doing this one already. Obviously, we have not been. Considering as we are concerned about the environmental issues that plague our lives and times,  though far from being what I consider "eco-actvists" (none of us is in shape or really interested in waving signs), it's almost surprising that we have not been recycling all along. However, we will make a go of it for this year. Guidelines and details, like the project above, will be forthcoming soon!
Start Date: March 1
Run Time: Year-long

We will also revisit our original family project of energy saving. Back to it and better then before, new guidelines have been fleshed out at family meetings and decided upon.
Start Date: February 18, 2013
Run Time: One billing cycle (28-32 days), possibly longer

So there you have it, folks! The 2013 Family Projects (at least the longest-running and decided upon ones) have been announced!

More projects will, of course, take place out of the course of the year, whether out of personal curiosity, desire to change, or just to see what happens. Remember, we've only got one lifetime, but there are so many projects that can be done!

Thanks for reading, everyone!

Day Two...and Other Updates...

Well, Day Two was, just like Day One, "not so bad", though I think, again, stove usage got us. The oven was on for about 1.25 hours or so while I baked some potatoes as a midnight feast for the hubby and myself. I did, however, do a steak and peppers on the grill, so that wasn't so bad.

I am, however, getting a little worried about the oven. It seems like it takes forever to reach temperature. I haven't timed it, so I don't know for sure. It could just be me agonizing over every minute that something is in production. Further updates as events warrant (as Calvin and Hobbes like to say...)

We also had to have the air conditioning on for a portion of the day, about 5-6 hours, since the daytime just got too hot and humid to deal with otherwise. After dark it got cool enough that we could turn it off, so we did, and it has been off ever since (and is still off into Day Three! Hooray!)

Now, about those updates.

The project was reset two days ago, and suprisingly enough that's about when the usual monthly regards came from DTE Energy, our local energy provider, not surprisingly demanding what feels like a king's ransom to an already-stretched budget. In fact, my husband and I joke that our budget isn't a budget, it's a dishcloth. We stopped stretching years ago when it became more efficient just to wring it out over two weeks and then add more.

This energy bill, however, was actually eagerly anticipated, as it would show us actual meter readings and let us know how much energy we had saved by unplugging our appliances, if any.

Energy Bill, August 2011, Page 1

Energy Bill, August 2011, Page 2



Well...as you can see, the family has managed to decrease its energy usage over the last 30 days by unplugging appliances. Our average usage per day of kWh decreased by 9%, from 34.9 to 31.6. This bill was also helpful in that we used the actual meter reading - 54655 - as the starting point for this 30 days, when we will do further experiments on usage and cutting down to see where we can save even more money and energy.

Okay, so I know that what we saved as far as energy doesn't seem like a lot, but hey, every little bit counts - especially when it counts towards the bill.

So, for now, we're enjoying a nice day without air conditioning, and hopefully we'll be able to say that we saved even more money at the end of the month! :)