Reed was so excited that he was getting to go to Miss Jennifer's today. He got dressed in his cute little red onesie and did a quick photo session with mommy, complete with fake smile!
I am so blessed to work at a place where I am also friends with many of my coworkers. Abbey is also pretty close to some of my coworkers, so it makes things really great.
Tonight, we went to a baby shower for one of my friends and coworkers, Klista. Klista is a new grandmother to a beautiful little blessing named Mia!
The shower was at my friend's Jan and Ken's house. They have a beautiful new house. Papa Ken really hit it off with Reed. We never really saw Reed for most of the night after supper, because Papa Ken had Reed outside for most of the night.
Reed loved their swingset!
Jan and Ken live on the complete opposite side of the Music City from us, so it was a trek for us. With gas prices, we have really been limiting how much we travel. Abbey has not used her van nearly as much. One thing that we are doing is "hypermiling." We read about it on yahoo the other day, so I've been trying it. That means, driving the speed limit (which is hard for me), not using the AC, taking my foot off the pedal while going down a hill, accelerating slowly, etc.
So far, the hypermiling seems to be paying off. I am up to 26 miles a gallon in my Jeep, which is pretty good for a Jeep.
Tonight, on the way home, we had to get gas for Abbey. Now, we have tried to reduce to $30.00 a week in gas, but since gas has hovered around $4.00 a gallon, we have up'd our limit to $40.00. I ran in to get a coke, and when I came out, it was already at $50.00. I figured that I would just go ahead and fill completely up. That was $75.00!!!!
We had about 20 miles to go when we got gas, and so far I am up to 26 mpg right now in the van, up from 18 mpg usually.
So, what are you doing to fight the gas price crunch. It is really straining our budget, but we are doing as much as we can to conserve it.
And now the guest of honor for the event who was well worth the gas spent, Mia and her daddy Brett!
Regarding the gas prices...We are hovering both sides of $4.00 here which means you can still pay a few cents under $4 when I fill up...if you know where to go. I have definitely stopped making "frivolous trips". One of the things that I have enjoyed doing is driving across the bay and enjoy the water, the pelicans, and the sunsets. Not anymore. I try to run all errands on my way to and from work so that I can conserve on gas. I like the idea of "hypermiling" but thinking about turning off my ac in the FL heat makes me break out into a sweat. Of course that also happens every morning when I walk the 30 yards to my car to head to work.
ReplyDeleteMaybe I'll get some good ideas on other things that I can do...as long as it doesn't involve turning off my air!
I had this nice, long post written out about what we're doing and Caroline hit the esc button. Of all the buttons she could have pushed...
ReplyDeleteEssentially it said...
We have $400/month budgeted for gas. Two months ago, it was $250.
I read about hypermiling several months ago and I am seeing a big difference. Brad has always driven that way, so there's not much for him to change.
The biggest change I've seen is keeping my tires in good shape. I got new tires several weeks ago and got nitrogen put in them. N2 keeps your tires properly inflated for longer, which helps get the most out of a gallon of gas. I'm consistently getting 30 mpg in my 02 Camry.
I agree with Jane, we'll melt if we don't use the A/C here in MS! We do, however, plan our outings for early in the morning or later in the evening as much as we can trying to miss the hottest parts of the day.
Reed does not look happy holding those pink balloons!
ReplyDeleteTo conserve gas, just do what I do...Don't go anywhere! So sad, I know!
ReplyDelete