Some newly dyed fiber:



(I'm just doing this to capture your attention!)

I won't lie... this week has been tough. As I'm inching closer and closer to going part-time, I'm starting to feel scared. A bit grumpy. And, to be honest, a step or three further away from my goals.

I really need to stay focused, but my mind keeps wandering. Reading through my last month's worth of blog posts is helping, but there's a lot of help I still need.

There are positive developments. One, I made my own seitan. I won't say it was a pretty or a fun experiment, but it sure smelled good. I froze the entire batch and learned a valuable lesson: use wheat gluten next time. I started with whole wheat flour and it takes forever (not to mention the water waste that was created by all the rinsing). Next time, I'll use gluten and I can skip all those water-wasting steps.

Still pulling through Walden. Interesting man, that Thoreau. I can't say I agree with everything--and he's a bit contradictory in places--but reading his philosophies really helps center my mind.

My goal for the next month: to start a dinner co-op. I've got several friends that are interested, but what better way to save money and eat home cooked meals every night? The crock pot easily cranks out a meal big enough for multiple sittings, or people, as the case may be, and I think it would be a fun thing to look forward to every week.

I really need to start cutting down on things and stop pretending that our lives aren't going to drastically change. Otherwise, this time next month is going to be really, really tough.