Life Transplanet

My salsa dancing legs

Last night you could say we had a “Latin Night”. We decided to get together with some friends and go out to dinner and then go salsa dancing in Denver. We went to Los Cabos II, a fun Peruvian restaurant and then we went to La Rumba, a great salsa club afterward. At dinner Britton and I sat in the middle of the table with half the conversation on one side talking in English and the other side talking in Spanish. I thought it was great…and even Britton was catching the gist of quite a few Spanish words.

Shana, Adriana, Kelly, Me, Rosario and Ofelia before dancing

Then we danced till about midnight at La Rumba. We had been there before, but it was still great fun. We took a short lesson and then watched a performance by some salsa dancers in West Side Story-type garb. When the live band started my friend Kelly said it reminded her of the Ricky Ricardo band/orchestra. They had a lot of great musicians and there were a ton of people dancing. My feet started to ache (the price of fashion I guess) and we were ready to go anyway. It was a great night out.

Read and give your feedback on this proposed ordinance. Is it just me, or is this a LOT of excess mumbo jumbo?

Chickens Chapter 18 52 035 FINAL DRAFT 12 29 092

I had been thinking about making a new website/blog for some time. Something I am very interested in is personal finance and our money system. But it doesn’t just stop there. I am interested in disecting the reasons we do the things we do and how we are manipulated with marketing, advertising, regulations and social norms. Part of our pull and desire to move to Puerto Rico is the feeling that we are so tremendously manipulated and essentially hypnotized into the American “standard” way of life.  We want to expand our horizons and go forth and be fruitful in a new culture and a land of never-ending summer.

If you are interested in following along in some of my disections and discussions of these issues as well as tips and tricks I have learned along the way, check out Fruitfulista.com from time to time. The name is a play on words that mix being fruitful with fashionable frugalista. I have added it to the Transplanet sites link to the right on this website. If you have some feedback about different things I should cover that relate or have a magazine, book, or movie I should check out that speaks to these, I would love to hear from you. If I think it fits, I will then write a short summary/recommendation. If you’ve had any “aha” moments related to these things, help make the discussion even more well-rounded!

Well the city council has decided to put it back on the agenda for Feb 16 where they will hear public input and vote.

We are on a chicken rollercoaster.

We are getting very indifferent on the issue. Either situation isn’t completely desireable. The current code isn’t good but the proposed code is almost worse because of all the micromanagement and bureaucracy.

Reminds me of a saying. “The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: ‘I’m from the government and I’m here to help.’”

After the chicken ordinance spectacle, Britton and I received an email from the city that said we could come into compliance within a “reasonable schedule of attrition” which we are taking to mean that we can keep them until they die. Which leaves us back where we have been for the last nearly 2 years…with our chickens. In a way we are relieved…the way that the code was going was turning into a bureaucratic nightmare with inspections, fees, permits and government nosey-ness into our business. So in a way, we have bittersweet feelings about how the whole thing turned out.

There are some people who worked on the process with us who really want to push to get this back on the city agenda and to appeal it. I…am just not really feeling it. I am tired of fighting for something that I think was going down the wrong route of micromanagement anyway. I am bitter in that I fully believe people should be able to raise their own food, pets and utilize their property in the way they so choose, but it is sweet that they allowed us to keep our chickens anyway AND we don’t have to get a permit to keep them!

One of my favorite songs and by a great Colorado band!

Bittersweet feelings goes further than just this chicken ordinance thing. We have bittersweet feelings toward Greeley in general. We feel sweetly about this being our hometown and appreciate everything that it has allowed us to do and the personal growth we’ve attained here, but bitter that it doesn’t seem to want to change with the times and feels like it is pushing us out. That is part of the reason we want to move and live in Puerto Rico…we have grown out of shell here and are looking to expand our horizons.

We went to the 2nd out of three bee classes yesterday and decided to wait until we are living in Puerto Rico to get our own colonies. We do want to go learn hands on with some beekeepers in the area however. We just figured that we should be clearing out things from our lives here rather than bringing more in that we will only have to get rid of before we leave anyway.

Yesterday was also Britton’s and my dad’s birthday so we went out to lunch after the bee class and discussed their lives on this earth. My dad is exactly double the age of Britton! Strange coincidences in life.

We are still not sure what our exact ETA in Puerto Rico will be but we are still thinking 2010 will be a year of many changes. A lot of it depends on my job, Britton’s ability to work remote or find another job and whether or not we want to start our own business or just live down there.

It is beginning to feel more and more real, this change that is coming over us. And while I am tremendously excited, it is still that ambivalence, that bittersweet feeling, that makes it all the harder. If it were all bad or all good, life would be so much simpler. But it’s the complexity that makes it interesting.