Still can't get my sidebar to actually BE a sidebar. So for now, it's a bottombar. Whateva.

Got to take a nice long walk with my husband this morning (kids with grandma); it was a good thing. We got a chance to talk about all these looming changes and how we're both sometimes scared but mostly excited.

I really do think that there is going to be a large scale economic downturn unlike any in our lifetimes. I think it will necessitate huge changes in how most Americans live their lives. I'd like to make some changes now while it's still a choice and not yet inevitable. I'd like to teach our kids how to live a life more sustainable and not so tied to outside forces. I don't want to need the utilities or the banks. I'm not saying we're going all out right now, but I'd like us to have the backup there if need be. I'd like to know how to live this way before we might have to.

That sounds like I'm this crazy conspiracy theorist with a full bomb shelter. At the same time, I can't believe how many people are just ignoring all the signposts and assuming things will always be the way they are at this moment. It's not possible that things can and will remain this way. We complain about gas prices, not realizing that they're not going to go down for quite a while, at least not down for any long period of time. Moderates are saying we've got another 10-20 years before we hit Hubbert's Peak which is peak oil production. Sure, we've hit that before in 1970 but then more large oil fields were found shortly after. There are no more fields like that to be found these days. And it's fact that our consumption today is far more than it was in 1970. So when we hit this peak and prices explode upward, are we all going to be able to afford it? No way. And this is just one example of the ways in which our lifestyles are going to be impacted by our disregard for the environment. So getting into that conservation mindset now, before we're forced to, is very important. And anymore, I'm not worried about people saying I'm crazy.

I think I'd rather be crazy than unprepared when changes do happen. And you know, even if changes don't come about, it's better to live in a cooperative way with nature rather than opposed to it. I hope I'm wrong, but without major changes that I don't see on the horizon I can't imagine everything continuing as is.

So...where are we?

Letter is in the mail from HI guy. Check is in the mail from Mr Loan guy. Loan that we'll pay off with the sale of our house (which I'm even worried about although existing home sales are way up). Everything is coming together. And as Mr. T used to say, I love it when a plan comes together.