June 2009

June 1-3, have been working on programs quite a bit, did a program on June 3rd for the Night Lights program. It went well, but it did not start to get dark until about 9:15, 9:30! The program started at 8:45! So I am going to have to figure out how to tweak it a bit to talk more about the night sky and less about the environmental factors as why we can't see the stars. I know they can not change the time, but really, even 15 minutes later would be better. 

Sasha has been going to the beach more often, especially when I am working. He is getting a bit of a tan! And thankfully, he is doing quite a bit of walking.

Due to someone asking me to change a day of work with them, Sasha and I will be off for a LONG weekend June 11th through the 14th. So I am hoping to see more of North Carolina, maybe taking the long ferry down to southern North Carolina. We shall see with that.

Well, we did go down to Topsail for the long weekend, it was great to get away. It took us over 8 hours to go down using the ferries, which was WAY longer than we thought we would do. So on the way back we drove back, and that took 5 hours. Down in Topsail, there is less beach but since we were on a great deck, it did not matter.

The prices for food are much better down there, I guess because the mainland is so close. We also went blueberry picking when we were down there. I guess we went at the end of the season (around here) so there were not as many blues to be had. We still managed to get about 10 lbs, but it was not as good picking as we have done in the past. I did try drying at least half of them, it turned out just OK. Really, they need to be done differently, I just am not so good at that.

So we had lots of blueberries left over, which made the cereal really good. And if you can sometimes get a peach to go with it, Yummy!

The second night we had a fabulous dinner with Shrimp and veggies, really the shrimp were more like prawns they were so big. And the next night was flounder, and sautéed veggies.

We had eggs for breakfast each morning, must say that we ate very well the entire time we were there. Very relaxing and very enjoyable. Thanks Batal Family for allowing us to use your home!

We got home late on June 14th for the work days.

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This month had better be less expensive than last month! - YES!

Well, as you can see, our food expenses are pretty high. We hardly go out to eat, but the grocery prices are continually higher than anywhere else. We have also gone through some of our provisions, especially things like oatmeal, almost all of our dried fruit that I did last year, tuna fish cans, soups, sauces, tea, and coffee. I thought I could get Sasha off of coffee, but he still wants and needs it, so along with the coffee, is hot chocolate and sugar. I thought I had a large supply of teas, but I had to buy it here.

We also ran out of regular necessities, like Toilet Paper and dish washing soap and other stuff. And no matter what, the Walmart, while it has cheaper prices, still is not as good as a Super Walmart or Costco/Sam's Club with the better prices.

We did go to Farmer's Markets - mostly roadside stands, to pick up shrimp, blueberries, and peaches. Shrimp was excellent, blueberries were gone quickly and the dried ones are almost completely gone, and the peaches were eaten up quick. I am happy to the fact that I have pretty much stopped eating candy, as I have found the fruits of summer to be a better substitute. If I want something sweet, I usually eat dried mango or pineapple, but they too, cost a bit. 

Two sets of volunteers left in June, so we went to one event, and I went to the second one. Sasha started volunteering for the maintenance on June 23rd, so he did not go to the second party as he had to get up real early and was slightly worried about getting up (had to be at work by 7 AM - I don't think he ever got to work that early, let alone, getting up at 5:45 to get to work, most often it was waking up at 7 AM....So slightly unusual for him!)

But we still did not go out to eat very much, since the prices to go out to eat are also high. The cheapest thing around here has been pizza. So we have gone out a couple times for pizza - mostly during those volunteer dinners.

We did get a bunch of provisions this past month, mostly things like coffee, hot chocolate, granola bars and such for lunches. Now that Sasha is volunteering during the week, he needs lunches too. 

Transportation: Well, as we went down to Topsail, there was some cost in the drive and ferry, but as it was a beautiful weekend, not too bad a deal. We have been really good, I have been walking to work most days, sometimes getting a ride from the rangers or volunteers who see me on the side of the road. It is a mile each way, so the walk is good in the morning, but the afternoon can get warm. Sasha got gas for the motorcycle, but has not ridden it much. He isn't doing the long walks on the beach as much as he used to because he now works.

The truck had to get registered again, usually done in the summer. So we paid it, but have not gotten the stickers yet. Hopefully they will come soon.

Utilities: We hopefully will not be paying rent starting in July, the one week that Sasha worked in June will be applied to a week at the end, or something of that nature, but they were not able to get it for one half the pay period. Since he is working, I told Sasha "Since you are saving us ~ $150/160 a month for rent, you can get a kayak for play." He will order it next month. 

We had so much fun at Topsail that Sasha managed to forget a few things. So he had to go to the dollar store and get them. Thankfully, very cheap things - a mirror for shaving (the beard was starting to get pretty long!) He also got some things for his motorcycle - what they are I do not know, but important for the moto, so he got.

Communication: is starting to get higher, because we talk on the phone to everyone, they are not used to communicating via email. And since we now have the Verizon card, we are being diligent not to use more than 5 GB per month. It has cut back on our watching of shows, but we have been reading more, so that is good.

Health: This was the first month that Sasha had to pay for his health insurance. Because he got it through COBRA, he had to pay the first two months. So what you see there is a double price for him, normally it would be around $193. July will show the correct amount.

Last but not least, the fun stuff: We took the ferry ride over to the southern Outer Banks. That was fun, but the entire trip down took 8 hours, not fun. And then for staying at the Batal's house, we paid $100 for the cleaning. Hey, that's not bad for four days at the house.

Check out Next Month: July, the start of the HOT season....and no hurricanes, YET.