I feel pretty satisfied with my accomplishments during my first week of unemployment. The past two days have been spent painting what will be our bedroom and living room as of next week. My parents graciously offered to let me and Kenny move in with them and save money for a house of our own. This is absolutely the best possible scenario for us right now, in terms of paying down our debt and saving a substantial amount for a down payment. I feel pretty lucky to be able to do this. 

I've been applying for jobs, only one or two of which I'm genuinely interested in. That one is a veterinary assistant job at the vet hospital less than 5 minutes from my parents' house. 

I did my taxes, e-filed both federal and state last night. My first though upon finishing was that I should have waited until AFTER tax time to quit, because I ended up with a pitiful $27 federal refund, and I owed the state $56, plus the cost of the tax software. 

I'm making my first visit of the year to the county Farmer's Market this weekend. Buying local food as much as possible has become a main priority in my grocery shopping. Local AND organic is even better. My moral dilemma comes from wondering if, for example, its better to buy that organic box of strawberries that was grown all the way in California, or the conventionally grown box that came from a field a few miles away. The first batch was grown without pesticides, hopefully with sustainable growing practices, but had to be shipped across the country, which uses energy and contributes to pollution. The second batch put pesticides on the fruit and into the ground, but used far less energy getting from the plant to my kitchen. 

Usually I try to strike a nice balance by purchasing a mix of local foods and organic foods, buying locally grown organics whenever possible. I've done most of the grocery shopping since Kenny and I have lived together and I've become more interested than ever before in how my food is grown and where it comes from. That's why I was inspired and excited to start a vegetable garden at my mom's house this year... you don't find food more local than what's grown in your own backyard.

Tomorrow... more painting, maybe the dog park for an hour or so, and hopefully planting the blueberry bushes if the ground isn't too soggy from two days of steady rain.