The goal that I set for myself when I moved in to my new apartment was to try to live as simply as possible. This meant, mostly, trying to use as little energy as possible. I did a pretty good job during July – my total energy bill ended up being just over $30. I knew I could do better though, since I hadn't even replaced all the bulbs in my house with more efficient compact fluorescent bulbs.

And up until Monday night I was on track for an even better month. Being more conscious of turning out unneeded lights, taking shorter showers, still not running the air conditioning at all. And then.. the flood.

It's amazing how one broken appliance can completely screw things up so immensely. And it's hitting on so many different fronts.

• First, all the hot water that the dishwasher decided was best used to attempt to create a swimming pool in my kitchen and living room
• keeping the lights on all night and all morning as I cleaned up the water
• the blower that's been running nonstop to dry out the carpet
• the extra loads of laundry that i'm doing to wash the towels that i used to try to soak the water out of the carpet
• and, the last thing that comes to mind right now – having to turn on the air conditioning to dehumidify the house, since drying the carpet doesn't do any good if it's still humid enough that mold starts to grow

Maybe it won't be as bad as I think. I hope not, because I'm not sure how I'll afford the extra expense. But all I can do is wait and see how things turn out, and hope for the best. The washing machine just started filling, and I have to admit, the sound of running water on the other side of this wall just freaked me out for a second.

Anyway, this is where I'll put the updates, so if you care, keep reading. 🙂