Gas prices have rediculously risen to now $4.35+ for premium gas here in the Northern Virginia area! I'm tired of the oil company executives in the U.S. as well as the oil suppliers overseas become richer and richer while Americans pay the brunt for corporate oil executive's luxuries and lavish lifestyles. In my little way to help lessen their profits, I chose to implement "Plan B" for my car.
I sold my 2006 Infiniti M35X (a gas guzzling, 19 mpg car) and bought a 35 mpg highway Mini Cooper S Clubman. What a great decision, too! Not only is it a great handling car with good gas mileage, but it makes me smile every time I sit in the car and turn on the ignition. I'm pleased when I think of all the other people who are having the same epiphany and are now implementing their own "Plan Bs" to change their modes or size of transportation!
Okay, so it took me 2+months but with so many passwords buzzing around, I couldn't remember which one I'd set this blog up with. So...I'm back in business now. Time to catch up...
Sara did move to Boulder and is loving it (although I think she has a bit of homesickness). Can't blame her as it's not the same around here without her either! She's made some nice friends (including a "special" one that we're looking forward to meeting in August when we visit her)! All her efforts have been focused on job hunting and hopefully she'll get some good news next week!
We had a fantastic trip to California in April! Met our new grandson, Ezra...what a cutie! And Zoe just keeps getting more amazing as she grows! (Her Papa is going to have to screen those boys carefully when she gets older!)
Shortly after we returned home, Holly and Erich found a wonderful house to rent not far from their apartment. We'll be visiting once again 4th of July to see the new place and to celebrate Zoe's 3rd birthday!!!
So, where are we now on our Plan B route? I've reconnected with a friend in Colorado Springs and am hoping to get a job in late summer/early fall out there. Mark will continue to get the house ready for sale or rent. This will give me the opportunity to decide if Colorado is the place for us to retire. If that appears to be our retirement location, then Mark will look for a job there, too. (We still want to work a few more years before we retire, retire.)
We are really ready to leave the East Coast--too much traffic and too many people who think their time is so much more important than anyone else's! Not to mention a general lack of customer service in many retail stores and restaurants. And, there is way too much focus on politics (all too depressing thoughts).
We want to live where there is space and you can walk outside on your deck and hear birds instead of airplanes flying directly overhead. We'd like clean, fresh air, and a community that cares about the environment. (Unlike what we've seen happen in Fairfax County over the past 18 years, where every tree is removed and wall-to-wall townhouses are erected to maximize builders' profits and fatten community officials' wallets.)
Yes, I am very apprehensive about moving further away from my Mom & Gene, sister, Julie, Ray, and the boys, and my brother, Larry. It's a decision I don't take lightly, but think for us it's the right thing to do at this stage of our lives.
