It’s that time of the year again. The kiddies are out for the summer starting this Wednesday, our lives are spinning around us – its time for ye olde overhaul.
None of this has been taken lightly, but Kim and I are in the process of reorganizing how we live our lives. Some of these changes are specific to ourselves, and some as a family, but the goal here is to live our lives closer to their fullest (not quite at their fullest, because to be frank, we’re just starting out, but you have to start somewhere). So for those curious about the microcosm of another household, here goes:
- Writing. Yeah, I know, this is cheating, its something I began in earnest months ago, but its still part of the whole overhaul of the self.
- Gym. Mentioned this weekend, our family has joined the gym. Its something my doctor has been urging for a while, but it took Kim driving me out there last Friday to force my hand into making it a reality. In a weird way, this has benefits outside of general health for both of us. For starters, it gives Kim a chance to set the kids aside and get some time to herself, and gives the kids a chance to play with other kids (something our neighbourhood really lacks in).
- Cable. Chiefly, the fact that we have made the decision once and for all to drop down to basic cable. As a family, we aren’t addicted, but as individuals, we each have our vices. The kids in particular see TV as a viable option to too many things, and Kim and I agreed that we ourselves don’t need it. With our renewed subscription to Netflix – and the fact the xbox can play Netflix streams – we’re pretty satisfied that we won’t be missing too much. Yes, there were some show sacrifices involved for both of us, but the net gain outweighs this. We tried this last summer and it won’t all right until I caved at the start of the Fall season. No such buckling this year anticipated – I have enough keeping me busy with writing.
- LUGing it. Yes, that’s right, after years as a Gentoo dev, then a few years in quiet obscurity where I rarely touched a linux desktop consistently, I’ve let my friend Dan talk me into going to the FredLUG. It was enough fun I’ll be heading back 🙂
Is this it? Will there be more to come? Count on it. We’re stepping into new territory for us here, and while others may have comet his way before, we’re finding our way. We’ll make mistakes, take back some of the changes, make new ones. Is the economy to blame for some of this? Nope. Ironically, it isn’t about making do with less (adding the gym membership kind of negated the savings of dropping cable) – its more about making better choices with what we’re going to do.
What’s next? I’ve no idea, but I look forward to finding out!