For the past 8 months or so, we’ve shared a single family car. It wasn’t a deliberate eco decision; when we moved from Arkansas, we sold the crappier car and drove the CRV. The Hub had a rental courtesy of his company.

When his company no longer provided the car, we thought, why get another? I work from home, and he soon joined me, so daily commutes weren’t part of our landscape. We’ve saved money and put fewer emissions in the air, so I feel good about that.

Searching online, we’re not the only ones downsizing to one car. In these economic times, I’m surprised more people aren’t doing it.

And to make it clear, we don’t really have the benefit of taking public transportation. While San Diego has a trolley and bus system, none of it is really convenient from where we live (and Max couldn’t take the 3 mile walk).

Nor do we bike everywhere. I didn’t realize how steep the hills in our neighborhood were until I got a cruiser and tried to bike up one! We do try to bike to the grocery store for a few items every week or two.

We simply adjust our schedules. Like today, before I knew Max was sick and needed to stay home, we’d worked out how to get to The Hub’s meeting and my massage. I wouldn’t have minded arriving a bit early. Or if we have conflicting events at night, I usually prefer to stay home. We’ve even rented a car sometimes when schedule adjusting is impossible.

We’ve finally paid off our car, and have only $50 or so a month in car insurance costs (love California for that). We plan to put money aside so that we’re ready to buy our next car to either join the family or replace our CRV in the next year or so.

If we can do it, so can you!

I’ve always been the odd duck among my friends who dyed her hair pink or wore weird clothes. As I’ve gotten older, I at least look more like my friends. But in many ways, we’re very different.

Don’t get me wrong; we’re alike in all the important ways. We have similar values in terms of family, friends and life. My friends here understand the importance of language and culture for our kids.

But none of them blog. Or read my blog. Or use Twitter. Or run their own businesses. Or really know what it is I do all day.

Come to think of it, no one really has fit into this category with me. It doesn’t bother me, truly, but it’s interesting to think about.

I’ve made friends online, through social media, and at blogging conferences who get it. They know the feeling of being judged as “doing nothing” all day because they work from home. Or having someone belittle their “mommy blog.” They know the itch to check in on FourSquare the minute you hit a restaurant, and like me, they check Yelp before going anywhere.

I’m not complaining, really. I love my friends, and I love what makes us unique from one another. I just wonder what it would be like to have a real life digital friend.

I’ve finally got the hang of this aging thing. I see that the older I get, the more self aware I become.

What I mean by that is: even though I still lose my temper, think I’m smarter than everyone or get road rage, I’m aware of it and can do my best to get out of the situation the smart way.

Ten years ago, I would just blog up at The Hub and storm off. Now I try to catch myself mid scream and realize that it’s not worth this. I do my best (not always successful) to take a deep breath and calm down.

The older I get, the more I realize that my happiness is really, really important. I enjoy making my family and friends happy, but I’m working on saying no to things that don’t make me happy. A lot of that has to do with the work I do right now, but it spreads to all aspects of my life. Do I feel obligated to go to that party? Do I even want to?

The older I get, the more I realize I don’t know how much is left. I want to enjoy every day. That means drinking wine and eating fun cheese. It means having lunch with girlfriends. It means taking time for me. Doing yoga. Doing karate with my boys. Reading a book. Writing.

Life’s too short to live up to other people’s expectations.