Some Battles Are Not Worth Fighting

Ten years.  As of last Wednesday, I have owned my small house in one of the best small towns anywhere in the world for ten years.   Yea, I'm a bit biased, but I love it here.  Overall, these have been fantastic years, years of joy and tears, many friends closer to me than family, lots of gossip and secrets, as is true in any small town.  I love it here in Calhan, Colorado.  Even more, I love my house.

I *love* my house, my home, my sanctuary, my pride, my blessing, my curse.

In about three weeks, I'll be putting a for sale sign up in front of this cozy little place I've called home for the last ten years.  It has been, without doubt, the single hardest decision I have ever made in my life.  I have ten years of my life invested here, not just in my home, but my community.  When I bought this home, I said this was the place for me for the rest of my life, I will never move again, here I draw the line and say "This is home, forever. Here I will live, here I will die."   I had no doubt at all that buying this house was exactly the right decision. 

Water is a precious commodity, why flush it away?

Three years ago, I was using an average of 6,200 gallons of water a month for an average water bill cost of about $78.  And I live alone.

$78... more than I actually was spending on gasoline every month! That is a lot of water.  Enough to fill a 12-foot swimming pool every month.  And, as it turns out, most of it I was simply flushing away.