Happy Memorial Day!

Happy Memorial Day! What a great time for a holiday- a long weekend during the most beautiful time of the year! In honor of this special day, the Johnson's went on strike. Just to see if we could, we refused to use our computer, drive our car, or spend any money for the entire weekend. And it was fabulous! Let me explain.

Every once in a while I go through periods where I refuse something just to see if I can. Past examples include cutting off television, coffee, curling irons (that was a weird one), etc. Lately I've been feeling a little weird about my home computer because I realized how addictive it can be. I started to add up how much time I was wasting in front of the screen instead of putting my few minutes of down time to use doing something more productive. So that explains why I have not been doing much blogging lately.

Feeling on a roll, and to protest the outrageous price of gas in Chicago (hello $4.40 a gallon!), Russ and I also went the entire Memorial Day weekend without using our car. We walked and biked everywhere and had a great time! If there was something we wanted to do or have that was not within walking or biking distance, we went without or got creative. That even means no Dairy Queen, and any of you who know me realize how large of a sacrifice that was for me. (Not to worry-- having biked to get ice cream for me at a grocery store near us, the store owner told Russ he was planning to open a brand new Dairy Queen just blocks from our house. Hear the angels rejoice!)

The final arm of the Johnson's three-pronged attack was a strike against spending money. We went three days without spending a penny and boy was that interesting. Actually, for me that strike started last Monday and mainly included bringing my own coffee to work, taking the train, and packing a lunch. We did cheat a little this weekend when I broke down and insisted on buying ice cream with some money slipped to Russ from his Dad. But other than that we made our own food, rented movies from the library, played outside and generally had some good, clean, cheap fun! I stole this idea from a book my Dad lent me about spending little to no money and enjoying life more. The author was hilarious and I agreed with a lot of what he had to say. Check out his web page if you have time. http://www.ultimatecheapskate.com/ I swear this is not my Dad in disguise. Although the resemblence is scary, this author does not have nearly as sweet a tan as my Dad does.

Anyway, it was one of the best weekends we've had in a while and I feel so lucky to live in a town that is so beautiful and has so much to do within blocks of our house. At times it was a struggle to get through winter, so being outside and spending time at the lake again is amazing. If I never write again its because I quit my job to become a homeless beach bum and continue this strike forever.