Travel woes

It was not my week for efficient travel, I can tell you that much!

I'm back from my journeys, and very, very jet lagged this morning. A quick recap:

Our Friday flight to Denver was cancelled right before boarding. That led to so much chaos, picking up our checked bag (Nick's ski boots), getting a hold of United, getting the car out of parking, driving to SFO in the middle of Friday afternoon traffic, and flying into Denver at 12:30 am, instead of the 7 pm expected. Of course, I called Avis & let them know about our delay & they "added a note to our file" & promised to hold our car for us. Spoiler, they overbooked by over 100 cars, so when we got to the Avis counter at 1 am, they had no cars. We were told we could rent a 12 passenger van. Folks.... that is an absolutely huge vehicle. M did an admirable job driving it to my friend's house. Luckily, we weren't staying in the city, and my friend let us borrow her car for game day & Boulder on Saturday.

Intermission to the traveling woes. We had an incredible (but short) trip with Nick in Boulder. So, so much fun meeting his friends, spoiling him a bit, taking everyone to lunch, attending a frat party (I smelled like beer afterward), getting him some skis for the winter, meeting the roommate, stocking them up on drinks & snacks (not beer, just sparkling waters & protein drinks). ;-) We also attended the big football game, and had an absolutely wonderful weekend. It more than made up for the fact that we got no sleep on Friday. Miss that kid. 

On Sunday, M, my BFF & I went for a walk while the teens slept in. Then we left reasonably early, got the skis, took Nick, another friend & a roommate for lunch. It's so fun chatting with teens. They are so innocent & lovely & energetic & such good kids. M & I returned the rental car, which, as you can guess, was a total fiasco on Sunday, because they had sold out of literally every car that weekend, and most people were returning on Sunday.

My flight to London was pretty uneventful. But, I landed, headed to my hotel & immediately had to get on calls & work until 7 pm. Do not recommend. My body doesn't like jet lag. The work week was okay. Nice to spend time with everyone, but always difficult to juggle the actual work with the meet & greets, social events, & the sessions we were attending.

On the flight from London to SFO, we were advised to get to the airport early due to the cyber threats, outages, etc. So, we left London at 12 pm, as another coworker & I both had flights leaving around 4 pm on Friday. Stopped by the lounge, had lunch at the airport, and then boarded the plane. An international flight boards about an hour early, so we were all on board ~3 pm. Pilot comes on at expected departure time to announce that there is a problem with a fire detection system, and they would need to have the mechanics fix it. Four+ hours of sitting on the tarmac on a very warm plane (they couldn't use the auxiliary power to keep the plane cool) & the crew timed out & the flight was cancelled. Now, i'm stuck at Heathrow on a Friday night, with no way to get home. 

Folks, you also have to exit the aircraft (people were freaking out, so this took longer than normal) & go through CUSTOMS again. I get why it's required, but I was so frustrated by that point.That took another 90 minutes. 

Because I was in business class, I was "lucky" in that I got a reservation at a hotel at the airport. Took another ~60 minutes to get from customs through the airport, multiple train rides & then standing in line at the hotel for my reservation. Got on the phone with United when I could finally check into my hotel room, as my phone was dead & I needed a charger. It was nearly 10 pm by that point. When I got a hold of the very nice individual at United, and he mentioned that the following day at 12:15 was the soonest available, and there would be only an economy middle seat, I'm embarrassed to admit that I cried. Not with him. I was really nice, did not have a melt down on this guy, booked the flight, & carried on. But friends, I have all of the hormones coursing through me right now (have to assume I'm going through/about to go through menopause), it was a VERY long work week, with 12-14 hour days, some challenging people conversations, and all I wanted to do was get home. I'm not a princess, but my company books business class, & it was very frustrating that for my $10k flight, I was stuck in a middle seat in economy for almost 14 hour yesterday. I try to drink a lot of water on flights, and get up a lot to go the bathroom & stretch my legs. As you can imagine, that is not super conducive to a middle seat in economy, vs a full bed recline in business class. My body is so, so jacked from that experience. One of my rules as I approach 50 & have lupus & feel all of the aches & pains is that I will only fly business class for work international flights. Luckily, that aligns with my company policy for folks at my level. If I'm expected to roll off of a full day of traveling & be productive... 

Anyway, I really needed the weekend to recover, but definitely going to have an abbreviated version of that now. M picked me up yesterday (landed around 5 pm, local time). I came home & put a few things away, then we sat outside & drank a glass of wine & chatted, I got to give Sam a hug before he went to work, and then I showered & went to bed. 

Today is going to be rough! But, the week ahead is going to be very difficult. I have some tricky people stuff, and a huge project due on 10/10 that I'm really struggling with figuring out how to approach. Anyway, on to today. Here's what I need to get done:

• Work out. Going to the 9:30 workout class. I missed my team triathlon yesterday, as I was stuck in London. Another thing that frustrated me. I haven't worked out (other than walking to & from the office) in a week, so it's going to be a rough go for me. 
• Laundry
• Finish unpacking
• Menu plan
• Schedule for the week
• Maybe carve out an hour to work on my 10/10 project. Emotionally, not sure I'll get to that.
• See if I can squeeze in a massage at the very functional place near me. My back is seriously messed up after yesterday's flight & super long day. 
• Call Nick
• Call a friend who left me a few messages when I was in London
• Provide a job reference for an old coworker

I suppose on the frugal front, I'm going to receive a lot of United credits & travel vouchers? So far, here's what's happened on that side. Also, I'm just going to say that I would ALWAYS prefer a smooth travel experience, but here's where I'm at so far:

• $150 travel voucher (from Denver flight cancellation)
• 10,000 United miles (Denver cancellation, the "reimbursement" for having to pay for parking in SFO, after our flight was changed to that & we had already paid for parking at San Jose. We had to provide a receipt for this).
• A $15 food voucher, which I put on my Starbucks card, to avoid waste.
• We had paid to change our flights to leave much earlier on Friday, as we wanted to avoid the airport scramble on Family Weekend, and get more time with Nick & avoid being tired ahead of my international travels. I asked United to refund us for that change, as we obviously left even later than our original flights. They agreed, so we received a total of $635.98 back in a credit card refund. 
• A $650 travel voucher (from London flight cancellation) 
• I'll be getting back a check (?) I think as part of the UK travel laws, for around $700
• I assume my company will get a refund for the drop in service from business class to economy middle class. But, not sure how that all works out. Given I'm the one who got to "enjoy" the great reduction in service, I'd love the reimbursement as a future flight credit, but I'm guessing that's not how that works.

On a positive note, I did get to do my first London "touristy" thing last week! We had a team event & got to go on the London Eye. It was very fun and nice to see the city from that view. It was also a super gorgeous evening, & there was champagne! ;-) 

I'm hoping that you have all had much better weeks than me!

Frugal Friday

 Another wild week on the books, with a one night trip to San Diego, soooo many early meetings, and leaving for Boulder today. Then London on Sunday. I've got this. Last international work trip of the year!

Saving on things we buy

• I met up with my original 9:30 am workout class group of women for dinner one night last week. I can no longer go to that class, but we try to meet up for the occasional coffee or weekend workout. One of the women is heading to the east coast for three months, so we got together to see her off. I once again had a credit card offer for the restaurant we went to. I forgot about it by the time we were there (saved several weeks earlier), but received a $5.72 cash back credit. 

Earning money

• Regular W2 income, so nothing too exciting. 

Avoiding spending

• Eh, not confident we've done really well at this, and in fact I ordered delivery the night I got home from San Diego. I did use a BOGO coupon, a free delivery offer & a $10 credit, but it still wasn't the same price as eating what we have at home. 

Eating what we have

• For dinner last Friday, M & I weren't hungry for much, and instead hung out on the patio by the pool enjoying a bottle of wine & the last of the summer sunshine. It was a gorgeous evening. For dinner, I baked up a tray of prepped Costco samosas, which were easy & delicious, & served that with a salad. 
• I seriously thought of picking up lunch on Monday, on my way back from my workout, as we didn't have any easy protein options to go with my salad. Instead, I came home & made a perfectly serviceable salad with almonds (protein), had a small amount of cheese & crackers & fresh berries. It was "free" (already paid for) & reduces the potential for food waste.
• I made a broccoli beef dish to use up some extra broccoli about to go bad.
• Similarly, I prepped the slow cooker on Monday am, putting everything in for chicken & dumplings, and just pressed "slow", which made it really easy to get dinner together. It also meant that i have both dinner leftovers, as well as lunch options available in the freezer. Two birds, one stone & all that. 
• I did manage to turn the delivery into two dinners and two lunches, so I'll take it. 

For others

• Can't think of anything this week.

What about you? Any wins to share? 

Fitness (or not) Monday

 It's been awhile since I've posted a fitness recap. That's a good sign that I've been: overwhelmed & stressed, and not focused on my fitness. The travel + jet lag have been a terrible combination. For me personally, getting enough sleep is the cornerstone to having enough energy to work out. Working out also gives me a lot of energy, so it's a really terrible spiral when I don't work out. I got a flu shot last week, which also led to me skipping yet another workout. 

Anyway, that's the quick catch up of why I'm behind on these posts. Last week was very "meh". Better than a few previous weeks, but way off the standard that I like, and how I was able to manage my schedule when I wasn't working. Go figure. ;-) 

Weight: I've gained 3 lbs in the last six weeks, and while I'm not 100% sure that's accurate (weight is often a bit higher on Mondays, thanks to more weekend splurges), I am not surprised to see that my weight is up a bit. It's disappointing, but definitely unsurprising, as I have not been working out at my regular rate, ate very different food that are not on my plan, and not nearly enough sleep. 

Calories: I'm estimating this at 1500/day, although honestly I didn't do a great job of tracking. I'm back on with my calorie tracking this week. 

Steps: in a similar story, my watch hasn't been charging well (can you tell that it's all of the things, this week?), so I'd say this is off by at least 10%, but I'd rather have some benchmark than none. My steps were 8,764/day, which is well off my rolling average & target of 12k/day. 

Workouts:

• Two 60 minute workout classes
• A 2 mile walk
• A 7 mile hike
• A 20 minute elliptical workout

On to this week! I have a one night trip to San Diego that's going to be a real challenge to squeeze a workout in/around, given my flight leaves at 6 am, and I have meetings all day + dinner with my boss. We shall see where I net out. I'm also heading to Boulder on Friday, and fly from Boulder/Denver to London on Sunday. 

My goals for the week:

• Increase steps back to my standard
• 6 workouts (2 runs + at least 2 workout classes)
• Drop the calories down a bit

What about you? How are you doing with your health & fitness goals? 

Menu Plan Sunday

 It's another busy week, so throwing together a menu plan always helps.

• Friday - M & I weren't very hungry, so I baked up a tray of the Costco prepped samosas, and we had that with a salad. 
• Saturday - Dinner at a friend's house
• Sunday - garlic noodles with beef and broccoli
• Monday - slow cooker chicken & dumplings (me) & M will have salmon (freezer), as he's not much of a soup fan. I know, I don't understand it either ;-) 
• Tuesday - leftover garlic noodles with beef & broccoli
• Wednesday - taco salads (prepped meat from the freezer)
• Thursday - any remaining leftovers
• Friday - we are flying to Boulder to see Nick for family weekend, so likely something at my friend's house, once we land. 

What about you? Any new recipes to share? Are you transitioning over to more fall recipes? What are your favorites? Would love any slow cooker favorites!

Saturday Happenings

 It's been a very full week! I had a late night call on Thursday with Tokyo + London (hence the need for the call until 11 pm) & then early starts (6 am) all week. My body was feeling the drag, especially with the post travel jet lag, getting a flu shot & having some minor responses to that, etc. 

I got so much done yesterday, and felt like I really turned the corner with a three month work project. HURRAH! I should have a draft to share with my boss next week, when I make a one night trip to San Diego to meet up with her. The only real downside is that might flight leaves at 6 am, so I can make it to my first meeting at 9:30. Wish me luck! I fly back the next day, so it's very much an in & out trip.

Things for today:

• A short run
• Menu plan 
• Grocery list
• M will go to Costco, and I'll go to the local store for a few smaller items we need (and, oat milk, as Costco doesn't carry it, AFAIK)
• Meet up with a friend for a hike & chat, as we haven't been able to catch up for months due to various schedule challenges
• Pick up a cake from the bakery
• Maybe get a pedicure? Will depend on timing. My toes are in rough shape from running
• Laundry
• M & I are having dinner at a friend's house

Time permitting, I would love to get another two hours done on my project, but not sure how realistic that is. We shall see how productive I am!

What about you? What are you up to today?

Frugal Friday

 It was a busy week, with all of the jet lag & a pile of work that seemed to just multiply over night. As is the trouble with work travel, my standard work (e.g. not the whole meeting each other, spending time understanding what the local team is up to) just piles up in my absence. So even though I'm absolutely working on trips, it's not the same type of work, which means unfortunately a lot to catch up on. 

Saving on things we buy

• I go through my credit card bonus reward offers each month, and save them to my card. I use the offers infrequently, and only when it's part of a regularly planned purchase, but sometimes I'm pleasantly surprised when an offer comes through. This week I received three: a Southwest reward of $15.62 & a $6.92 reward from Seat Geek (where I allowed Nick to purchase football game tickets), and Google Play (a Spotify subscription, which was a gift to Nick) for $1.19. The money gets credited back to your account as a payment, so it works great. I also used a Southwest credit for part of a flight. The tickets are for my flight to Las Vegas. 
• I uploaded all of our receipts to Fetch, and one receipt (CVS, for my prescription) to iBotta. I rarely use iBotta for anything but CVS, but they have a recurring cash back offer that is super helpful. Saved $.22 on my prescription. 

Earning money

• My paycheck felt very hard-earned with the travel last week!

Avoiding spending 

• Promptly returned clothes that I purchased & didn't need for my work trip, which saved some money. To be clear, I kept the items I did need, so this was just the stuff that I wasn't going to use. 
• About half of the order I'd placed for work clothes didn't arrive on time, despite paying for expedited shipping. I used the customer chat function and asked for a partial refund. They credited me back for the entire amount of shipping, which was helpful. 

Eating what we have

• On the Uber ride back home from my flight, I'd sent a Door Dash lunch to myself at home. We arrived at the house at the same time. However, Sam hadn't answered the phone when I called to see if he wanted me to add anything to the order for him. He was sick, but also very hungry, so he ate 90% of the chicken salad I ordered. You might be asking how this relates to eating what we have, but the good news is that I was hungry enough not to care, so I ate microwave popcorn and an apple & called it a day. (The lunch was purchased using monthly credit card rewards for Door Dash, plus a gift card.)
• M made me a gorgeous breakfast using a lot of odds & ends in the fridge, when I woke up like a bear from hibernation on Saturday morning. Given how much I slept, that analogy felt right. The last of the bagels & eggs, some leftover melon & part of a pear. 
• Used two packages of Boursin cheese, well past their "best by" date. We ended up making this pasta/chicken dish, as Sam asked me to make enough for leftovers for him to eat when he got home late from work. The base of the recipe was okay, but it needs a couple of tweaks, IMO: add broccoli or another veggie at the very end, to steam. And, I think it needs a bit more spice. 

For others

• I used an Alaska gift card (purchased on sale at Costco at Christmas time) to buy my sister's flight to Las Vegas, as her birthday gift. 
• Two neighbors randomly reached out on Saturday to ask if we could pick up packages off of their porch & keep them in our garage until they are back in town, so we did that over the weekend. 

What about you? Any wins to share?

Thursday things

 I'm going to channel my inner Kim (at Out My Window) & make a list today. Things are wild here, with work. I know the timing of this role could never have happened unless we had kids of independent ages. M is working in the city, with a long commute. I have lots of travel, super early mornings that would prevent me from any school drop offs, etc. And, just overall volume of work on both sides is intense.

Here's what I need to get done today:

• Meetings start at 6 am, which is always a treat ;-) 
• Get 3 items done off of my 90 day work plan
• Figure out why I can't add any Japanese colleagues to expense report. This is blocking me from getting it submitted.
• Sort out schedule for next week, including impromptu overnight trip to San Diego, for work.
• Talk to Sam about: his schedule for the upcoming weeks, get access to college billing, and make a final decision about family weekend & if he can go
• Workout class. I felt terrible yesterday after my flu shot, so didn't work out. Not getting in consistent cardio leaves me feeling like a slug, so it's a must do today.
• Talk to the accountant about my IRS "fun"
• I've hired a cleaning service & they come every other week. Today is the day. Juggle rooms, so I can stay on calls & stay out of their way. This is money well spent for this season of my life. 
• Change flights for next weekend, to arrive earlier. 

If I get all of that done, I will be incredibly thrilled. 

September Goals

 Definitely late to the party for September, but as with many things, better late than never!

Family:

• Finish 401K max
• Check in on 529 contributions & max
• Meal plan, & use up 3 freezer/pantry items

Family:

• Enjoy Family Weekend with Nick
• Start cleaning out the closet of "things" leftover when Nick moved out
• Help Sam with the start of fall classes
• One date night with M

Fitness:

• Lose 2 lbs
• Get back to regular fitness checkins
• 15 & 15 (strength training, no S days)
• Half marathon training plan
• Stay on track on trips (Boulder + London)
• Average 12,000 steps/day

Personal:

• Get together with friends x2
• Finish planning November concert trip
• Say yes to adventure & trying new things
• Continue to explore work/life balance
• Declutter 50 items
• Work on planning travel & budgets

What about you? What's on your goal list for September?

Another haphazard menu plan

 Things were again a bit nuts around our house, and I have zero clue what M & Sam ate while I was gone. ;-) I'm back now, and trying to sort life back out. I'll start with a menu plan, as that always helps.

• Friday - I wasn't in the mood for dinner (body clock was way off), so sat with the boys while they had a salad, grilled chicken (freezer) for M & taquitos (freezer) for Sam
• Saturday - Philly cheese steaks
• Sunday - chicken fajitas (using the rest of the peppers from the Philly cheese steak recipe
• Monday - leftover cheese steak & peppers on salads
• Tuesday - chicken with Boursin cheese (have some to use up), so trying this recipe
• Wednesday - leftover chicken fajitas
• Thursday - leftover chicken with Boursin cheese
• Friday - remaining leftovers, or wings & pot stickers

What about you? What's on your menu this week? Any recent recipes to share? 

Saturday Happenings

 I'm back & slept for close to 12 hours yesterday. I could have slept longer, but my back protested. I'm feeling very groggy this morning!

It was a lot of transportation for a trip, and I'm still bitter that I had to fly into Narita (the airport much further from the city) vs Haneda. It had probably been 10 years since I flew into Narita, and I was very much reminded of why, as the logistics of getting to/from the airport are terrible. I'm not up for the train after such a long journey, with my bags. When I landed, after a delayed flight, the next available bus ride was almost two hours wait. Followed by a two hour bus ride. :-( I will protest mightily if my company requires it again. 

The weather in Tokyo was extremely hot & humid, which being a west coast girl, I'm not used to nor a fan of. Then, a typhoon was expected to hit on Friday. I don't know if it actually qualified as a typhoon, but it was an absolute insane amount of rain & wind. I'm grateful my flight left, but it was also delayed. 

It was good to spend time with various team members, and the hotel I stayed at was perfectly acceptable, but the location of this office was not as convenient to the hotel vs previous trips. Given the weather, that was a hassle. I also got to meet my nephew for ramen & a beer one night, as he happened to be in Tokyo visiting a friend. It was fantastic to get to see him & we successfully navigated the train to go a few stops away. I do not miss the Tokyo weather in the summer.

I'm back for two weeks, and then we head to Denver for Nick's family weekend. I will leave Denver & head to London for my last work trip of 2025. HURRAH. 

When I woke up this morning, I hadn't eaten in 18 hours, so M made me a lovely breakfast while I inhaled two lattes (double my standard amount!) 

Things I need to do today:

• Work out
• Sign up for workout classes this week
• Work on my schedule & plan for the week
• Sort out Las Vegas schedule with friends
• I bought a bunch of clothes for the trip, not knowing exactly what I would need. I can now return almost everything I bought online, and a few things I bought in person. I ended up with a very good work capsule wardrobe, perfect for one week trips. Unfortunately, I was in London recently enough that my manager (a bit of a clothing person) is likely to remember my outfits as the same. ;-) May have to add in something different this time. 
• Laundry
• Finish unpacking
• Catch up on bills & the budget
• Start expense report
• Pick up my prescription

What about you? What are you up to today? 

Saturday Happenings

I had an incredibly productive day yesterday, as I scrambled to get all of my work wrapped up, try on conservative office attire, get packed, work out, & plan logistics for next week. I also was able to get much of the coordination done for my pre-birthday friends trip to Las Vegas, which needed to happen, so the reservations can get booked. We are going on Halloween weekend to see a concert, and that's a busy time there & we need to lock in the hotel & dining. 

We also had a neighbor who inadvertently received a large delivery of frozen food, but was out of town. She called for help, so M & I brought the package to our house & quickly determined that there was zero chance everything was fitting in our freezer. We then went over to our elderly neighbor, and she was able to make freezer space. While we were there, we helped her with a couple of chores that she couldn't do. Initial neighbor was thrilled, food was saved, elderly neighbor had a few bonus chores done. It was a bit of a time hit, but nice to help people. 

Nick was at the Boulder game. While they didn't win, it does appear good times were had by all ;-)  

As for today, here's what's on my plan:

• 5  mile run
• Last minute packing
• Laundry
• Pick up the house
• Ask M to take me to the airport for my flight

I'm unenthusiastic for the time at the airport, followed by a long flight, and then... the commute from the airport to the city. I've previously flown into Haneda airport, which is so much closer to the city. This time, I need to fly into Narita, which necessitates a 2+ hour bus or train ride. After the very long travel day, that's the last thing you would want. Hopefully things go smoothly, and I will be in my hotel by 8 pm, JST. 

What are you up to today?

Frugal Friday

It was another not frugal week, as I discovered that I needed conservative business attire for my trip to Tokyo. In my previous company, we were much more tech, so while we dressed up a bit from the standard California office attire, it was not as my boss described would be appropriate for my trip next week. So, I picked up a few things on Sunday & also placed a couple of online orders. I'll return anything that doesn't work, but it wasn't cheap & I had to pay to expedite one of the orders, to get it here on time. Sigh. 

Nick has also had a lot of "new school" expenses: application fees to rush, climbing gym add on to the gym, game tickets, school supplies, books, etc. We are sharing some of these expenses, as he didn't have a chance to work many hours over the summer, due to the prolonged restaurant closure, so we are also helping him with some of them as well. For example, we definitely want to encourage him to work out, and he & his roommate are both very into using the climbing wall at the school. The gym is free, and the add on for the climbing wall is $35/semester, which is pretty reasonable. 

Also not fitting into this frugal category, but worth noting - I called the IRS & got a 30 day extension (a missing tax form that didn't get uploaded when I did my 2023 taxes). While I hope not to use it, it takes the pressure off with all of the traveling. I have an entire rant about how I used Charles Schwab's tax import feature, and clearly not everything was imported, but that's a story for another day, and now I have some breathing room to get it resolved. 

Saving on things we buy

• We are going back to Boulder for family weekend. I needed to cancel my return flight, as I'm heading to London instead on Sunday, rather than flying back home with M & Sam. When I cancelled the return segment of the flight, United popped up a note that I wouldn't be getting a credit, because the outbound price was miraculously the exact same price as my original round trip fare, down to the penny. I did a quick price check, and proved that was incorrect. I spent some time on the phone with United & the system glitched out when trying to pull the right price for the single flight. I will be receiving a $270 credit to my card (even better than a flight credit!), so I was thrilled that I 1) noticed and 2) took the time to track down & correct their error. 
• I used $4 of Subway rewards when I bought lunch for myself + Sam. Now, I have $40+ of Subway gift cards, and had planned to pay with those, but the app kept glitching & I was on a tight timeline, so I paid with my credit card, which was irritating. I have gone back in & verified that my gift cards are in the app, so looks like it was a momentary problem. At first I thought they had disappeared altogether, which would have made me very displeased. Luckily, problem averted. 

Earning money

• Received my $1500 employer HSA contribution, as well as contributed $250 of my most recent paycheck. (It takes some time to set up on the back end). 

Avoiding spending

• Filled out my work expense report promptly, as I'm paying with my own card & getting reimbursed. (I can request a company card, but haven't jumped through those hoops yet.) It's $2600 of expenses (not including flight, which is covered on the back end by the company), so plenty of motivation to get it submitted quickly. 
• Speaking of hoop jumping, went through a lot of steps to get Nick's health insurance for school approved. This saves $2800, so it was definitely worth all of the hoop jumping. Although, given this is my second kid in college, I will add that this process is unnecessarily hard compared to other colleges. 

Eating what we have

• Made a creative breakfast on a day when I was pretty hungry (jet lag). Used a brioche hamburger bun, a piece of provolone cheese from a pack that needed to be used up, a sliced tomato from an earlier dinner & two eggs. It was delicious & filling. 
• Use chicken leftovers in a salad, for a quick lunch.
• Made my way through some protein bars that Nick left behind for breakfasts.

For others:

• A package arrived at our house, addressed to our specific address, with another name. I posted about it on our neighborhood group, but got no takers. So, I opened the package & gave away the items (100 Solo cups) to a woman who is hosting a community event. 

What about you? Any wins to share?

A haphazard menu plan

 It's not really much of a "plan", but here we are!

• Friday - I got to go out with an old coworker to one of my favorite restaurants in London - Dishoom
• Saturday - I ate lunch on the plane, and went to bed early. I believe M had salmon & salad, and Sam ate after work
• Sunday - I baked up the last part of a pizza & we had that with chicken
• Monday - M grilled burgers
• Tuesday - edamame, grilled chicken & cauliflower rice
• Wednesday - leftover burgers
• Thursday - chicken samosas & edamame
• Friday - the last of the burgers, or chicken wings & gyozas, if those are all gone

It's a real "winging it" type of week! What are your go to "I don't have time to plan or prep" menu options? 

Monday things

 I've been up since 4:30, as I fell asleep at 7 pm. There's really not much point to getting adjusted before my trip to Tokyo. I've been incredibly productive this morning, as the London office is closed & I have no early meetings. Yay for bonus productivity time.

You'll notice this isn't a menu plan post, or a fitness post, but I am slowly getting back on track with my life. 

Goals for today:

• Work out class -- treadmill version
• Build running schedule for the week
• Work calendar for the week
• Figure out menu
• Go through & update the budget
• Call TurboTax
• Make a list of all the AIs I took while in London, & start breaking them into next steps
• Call Japan Airlines & sort out why I can't view or access my flight for Saturday
• Laundry
• Wash all of Nick's bedding
• Return a pair of slippers I bought Nick
• Sort flights for Las Vegas
• All of the work & meetings

What about you? What are you up to today? 

I'm back & jet lagged

Unsurprisingly, I'm very jet lagged today. :-) I arrived back home yesterday afternoon, after a long travel day. 

Backing up a bit, we dropped Nick off at college! It was emotional & wonderful, and we also got to see my BFF, her daughters & their partners. I met her oldest daughter's BF for the first time, which was so fun & he's wonderful. Her youngest daughter & her BF will be spending a lot of time with Nick (I'm guessing), because he attends Boulder & has been so gracious spending time with Nick, walking him through the rush process, etc. 

We spent a ton of money last weekend on dorm prep stuff, and helping Nick get settled in. His dorm is the oldest on campus, so it's very hot. The small fan we brought was not going to help, so we ended up at Home Depot buying a much larger one. His room is actually pretty spacious, so once we saw the size, we also bought a three tiered rack for him + the roommate to use to store things like: laundry soap, extra toiletries, & other supplies. They each have their own closet. The roommate arrived after we left on Sunday, so we didn't get to meet him, but my BFF's daughter has already spent time with the roommate & describes him as "very similar to Nick". ;-) It was hard to drop him off, and a bit emotional, but no time to worry about that, as we headed back to the airport, & I flew to London.

I successfully navigated the tube, even after a long flight with no sleep. The Elizabeth Line is super straightforward, and I was able to take it almost directly to my hotel. Got off at the correct stop & everything & made my way to the hotel (by now it was Monday afternoon). Checked in, ordered room service & vegged out, & then caught up on some work. Slept for 3 hours & then was basically awake the rest of the night, bringing me to 2 days with 3 hours of combined sleep. I also had to be up at 4:30 on Saturday am for the flight to Denver. 

Work was good, but very intense. Lots of "opportunities" to fix things & transform the team. Which, is great, but stressful & very time consuming. I'm still in learning mode. Went to dinner with some folks on the team, had a night of room service. And, one night had a meeting until 8 pm. (What.a.treat.) On Friday, met up with my old direct report from my previous job, and we had dinner at one of my favorite places - Dishoom. So delicious, as always. I was in bed early, and back up at 6:30 am to make my way to Heathrow & get on the flight. According to Oura (it's a ring that you wear that tracks things like sleeping, etc) I got in a two hour nap on the flight, vs a full night of sleep. 

I did sleep 10 hours last night, so let's hope I recover quickly. I leave for Tokyo on Saturday. I'm dreading it. I'll be home for a week and then back to Boulder for family weekend, where M & Sam will head back home on Sunday & I'll fly again to London. This is so far from ideal it's nuts, but I actually don't think my job will typically involve much travel. This is just poor timing, combined with onboarding. I hope. Otherwise, this is a no for me, for obvious reasons. 

I've gone for more than a week without working out, which I'm pretty sure the last time that happened was a decade ago. I feel like a slug! I'm heading to my workout class shortly, which is sure to be difficult, after my week. 

And, a photo of the Boulder freshman class! 

Frugal Friday

 This is a bit of an abbreviated Frugal Friday because it's been too crazy for me to really even think of anything. I'm usually pretty good about dropping in things as I go, but this week has been wild with work, preparing for my trip to London, and getting Nick packed & ready to go.

Saving on things we buy

• I went to CVS to put together a little "first month" kit for Nick, including some gift cards & extra things he might need. A mom & daughter had just received vaccinations, and there was a $10 coupon associated with that. They handed me the coupon as they walked out, and I was able to apply it to my order. So sweet & thoughtful. 

Earning money

• I received $168.27 from Rakuten, which is much more than my normal amount, thanks to a credit card sign up offer I received ($150). 

Avoiding spending

• We actually bought several small things for Nick's dorm room (extra socks, underwear, a lock for his filing cabinet, etc), so we spent more than normal for sure. 

Eating what we have

• Sam & I greatly enjoyed the leftover Persian takeout for lunches. So delicious. 
• We also ate the kebabs & rice that M made as leftovers throughout the week.
• By yesterday, we needed something different, so I baked some chicken & M made gyozos for us, both from the freezer. 

For others

• Hosted a few more events for Nick & his friends, so they could get lots of time together, before everyone heads out to college. 

What about you? Any wins to share? 

Fitness Tuesday

I'm a bit delayed this week (story of the week, for sure!), but better late than never.

Weight: no change on my weight

Calories: 1,675 - yikes! Too much Persian food over the weekend

Steps: 12,126

Workouts:

• 3 cardio + strength classes
• 1 strength focused class
• 4 mile run
• 3 mile run
• 45 minute treadmill workout
• 30 minute treadmill desk walk

Overall nutrition/goals:

• I'm still trying to find the right balance on getting workouts in during the work week, which remains challenging. 
• I also have had so much going on with the family, and lots of celebrations, which has impacted my eating. Overall, I feel like I'm doing "okay".
• For this week, goals are to keep eating really balanced & get in plenty of running, before I head to London on Sunday night. 

What about you? How did you do with your health & fitness goals this week?

Menu Plan Sunday

 This isn't as much a menu plan as a loose list of meals, because things will be pretty crazy over the next few days, leading up to heading to Boulder.

• Friday - M & I ate the last of the chicken curry
• Saturday - M, Sam & I unexpectedly went out for Persian food. It was so much fun & we had such a great evening. The food was delicious. 
• Sunday - tonight, M is making Persian kebabs + rice for Nick & his friends, as a going away dinner. I'll make salad, and cut up watermelon to go with it, and we have ice cream for dessert. 

Other meals that are available:

• Leftover Persian food (including the Saturday dinner out + the kebabs & rice)
• Hot dogs + buns
• Grilled chicken

It's not a great meal plan, but I don't envision Nick being home much this week, and Sam heads to Portland tomorrow. 

What about you? What's on your menu this week?

Saturday Happenings

 It's our last weekend before Nick leaves for college, so we have so much to get done!

Sam did a mini orientation at a restaurant for a new job last night. It's Nick's job that he has to leave when he goes to college & about half of their staff is headed to college this year & they need a lot of replacements. He also finished finals yesterday & is thrilled to have a bit of a break before school starts again. His plans include: Kendo (a type of martial arts) classes, the gym, working, & hanging out with friends. He is also headed to my parents house on Monday for a week. He didn't get a chance to see his cousin this summer, as he was with his other side of the family. They will hang out together, go mountain biking & chill with the extended family.

On the list for today:

• Go for a run before it gets too hot. I ran at noon earlier this week, and it was 80. It was not a great life choice.
• Go to a strength training class
• We are going to a going away "mehmooni" (Persian party) for one of Nick's closest friends. I need to pick up a gift & find a bottle of wine to take. 
• We are hosting Nick's friends for a going away dinner tomorrow night. Need to sort the plans for that. 
• Go through a bunch of tasks with Nick: sort school health insurance, pay tuition (gulp), sort out automatic book charges, review schedule, make reservations for next Saturday, PACK!
• Meal plan & create a shopping list

Tomorrow will be even crazier, as we are hosting, & I have a bunch of work/work to do. 

Our house is also a pit of disorganization, as we have things all strewn about in order to get Nick packed & sorted. 

For visual interest, here's a view from our patio last week when we were in Napa. 

That's it for me! What are you all up to today? 

Frugal Friday

This is unrelated to frugality or any of the below, but wanted to share that M's dad passed away over the weekend. It was especially painful, as we haven't been able to see him in 15 years. That was the last time his parents came to visit. After that, we tried to put another trip together, but his father was getting older, and international trips became very difficult (visiting the US requires a lot of pre-work, including a 2 week trip to Dubai to try & secure a visa, as there are no embassies in Iran), then the ability for them to visit the US changed. By the time we worked out options for us to visit in another location, even a trip to Dubai (relatively close for them) was too difficult for him to manage. It's been very hard for M. When he left home as a very young man, I don't think he or his parents could have imagined that some 40+ years later, it would still be so difficult to spend time together. 

Saving on things we buy

• I picked up two of my favorite sunblock (the spray, but non-sticky Neutrogena ones) when I went to pick up my prescription at CVS. I had a $10 reward, plus another $4 reward expiring that day. And, the sunblock was BOGO40% off. I also then uploaded my receipt to Fetch, as well as iBotta. iBotta pretty consistently has a 4% off CVS receipt offer, so I saved another $.50 that way. 
• Used a $10 grocery store to offset the cost of some dinner ingredients I picked up.
• Nick and his close friend group had their "last hang" last night at our house, so I splurged & ordered pizza to be delivered (it was well after standard dinner time, as Nick had to work). I used a promo code for the pizza. 

Earning money

• Just the regular W2 income this week. 

Avoiding spending

• Took advantage of free lunch & a sparkling water at work, when I drove in this week. Lunch isn't normally free, but it's temporarily being provided as an incentive to come to the office during the ongoing construction. 

Eating what we have

• Made a huge batch of taco meat for dinner on Sunday, and then froze four additional dinners worth. It took a bit more time, but saves a lot of time in total, compared to making & preparing each dinner individually.
• Used jalapenos from the garden in the guacamole I made to go with our tacos. 
• Used up a bunch of vegetables from the fridge in the chicken curry dish we had on Tuesday. Prepped by cutting all of the veggies & chicken ahead of time, so I could still make it to an   afternoon workout class. Bonus: used up coconut milk & red curry paste in the recipe. Also, the recipe is so quick & easy & absolutely delicious. Highly recommend it, if you haven't tried it. 
• As part of the coconut milk used in the chicken curry, after dumping the coconut milk into the pan, I had some coconut milk around the edges of the cans & lids (as you do). I decided to rinse the cans with some water, but didn't want to add that much liquid to the recipe. Instead, I used the liquid in my coffee the next day. It was more of a blend between coconut milk & coconut water. I would have liked it to be thicker, but it was fine. I steam my oat milk typically for coffee, so just subbed in the coconut milk/water. Tomorrow, I'll do half oat milk, half coconut/milk water, for better consistency. 

For others

• Finished my final project for the college counseling program I volunteered for this year. 

What about you? Any wins to share?

July Goals Recap

As expected, July was a really busy month, as I transitioned to a new role. I mostly got done what I wanted.

Financial:

• Spend sign on bonus per the plan:
• Max 401k, HSA & 529 contributions to get full match - this didn't work out as planned, due to payroll processing issues, but I believe it's all in motion now. The HSA requires a 30 day review, and my sign on bonus was paid out in my first paycheck. The 529 process is very complex, so I *think* I have this set up, but I'll need to see after the first contribution trickles in. 
• $5000 to nephew for college fund - yes, done
• Create a new budget - I've kept this very high level for now, so done
• Meal plan & avoid takeout unless planned. - we've done a very good job of this, despite some eclectic meals. 

Family:

• Get Nick's college prep sorted & finish required orientation tasks- still some things left, but all required July items got done. 
• Have a fabulous visit with my sister + BFF - despite it being short, we had so much fun!
• Help Sam decide on fall plans - while I'm still waiting for him to verbalize this, he's registered for classes at the local college. I think he has a bit of a block on saying he's not going back to OSU in the fall. We are very supportive of this change, and I think it will be really good for him. He's also applying to a job, as his summer job just ended. 
• One date night with M - we ended up going to Napa for a mini getaway, when my office was closed. 

Fitness:

• Lose 2 lbs - I gained .4 lbs in July, so definitely not the direction I was hoping
• 15, 15, 15 (strength, No S days & meditation) - 11/15 strength workouts, 8/15 No S days, 0 meditations 
• Figure out a new workout routine for my work schedule - while not perfect, I've actually adapted pretty well & gotten in more workouts than expected. 
• Average 12,500 steps/day - 12,451 - I'll take it! It's very close, and very pleased with this, given my new work schedule

Personal:

• Get together with friends x2 - went for a couple of hikes, & did the mini trip with my sister + BFF
• Say yes to adventure & try new things - yes! Agreed to do a half marathon in October (work schedule permitting) & started planning a trip to Greece next summer. And, decided to do a trip to Las Vegas for a concert. 
• Figure out new work schedule & get settled into new job - this is largely going well
• Declutter 50 items - definitely no, but I did get rid of 10 items, including 4 items of eWaste that have been in my closet for over a year, waiting for me to find & remember to deal with them, plus Nick's BMX bike, which M has been begging to get out of the garage. So, good progress despite the numbers. 

What about you? How did you do with your July goals? 

August Goals

 I feel like July absolutely whipped by. Here are my goals for August.

Financial:

• Keep working on 401k contributions
• Ensure HSA & 529 contributions are properly set up
• Meal plan, & use up 3 freezer/pantry items, preference to those things that are Nick's favorites & we won't eat. 

Family:

• Finish all of Nick's college prep & drop him off at college. (Cue all of the emotions)
• Help Sam decide on fall plans
• One date night with M

Fitness:

• Lose 2 lbs
• Start back with fitness checkins with friends
• 15, & 15 (strength training, no S days - dropped the meditation, as I haven't been prioritizing this at all)
• Start half marathon training plan
• Average 12,000 steps/day

Personal:

• Get together with friends x2
• Say yes to adventure & try new things
• Figure out new work schedule, & get settled into new job
• Declutter 50 items
• Work on planning fun travel & budgets

What about you? What are you hoping to accomplish in August? 

Fitness Monday

 Ooof, it was not a great week on the fitness front. Here's the recap of how things went. I knew it would be a rocky calorie week with Napa, but I was expecting better workouts & not a challenging weekend. (More on that in a separate post, but we had a death in the family, and eating well took a back seat to a lot of other things.) 

But, accountability is helpful, even when it's not the message you want to share, or wish it were. 

Weight: I did not weigh in, but will do this week.

Calories: average of 1,835/day

Steps: average of 12,621/day

Workouts:

• 2 mile outdoor run (my first in a long time) + 45 minute strength training class
• 1 regular workout class (combo of cardio & strength)
• 1 7 mile hike
• 2 - 30 minute elliptical workouts (Napa)
• 1 hour treadmill walk

Overall nutrition/goals: I'm becoming much more aware of my protein intake, which has been really helpful. I've also found a yogurt that doesn't bother my stomach, which is a huge win. I've been enjoying that + a protein granola & berries. It's very filling & a great meal option. 

Goals for the week:

• Back on track with the nutrition
• Get into my running training plan
• No S days

What about you? How did you do with your health & fitness goals last week? 

Menu Plan Sunday

 Things have been a bit haphazard, as we all adjust to various schedules (Nick is back from Lake Tahoe & working again, Sam has the end of college classes but no work, etc). 

• Friday - grilled chicken (freezer) + quesadillas for the teens. M had the grilled chicken + salad. I found a one serving dinner of a chicken & rice dish in the freezer & made that.
• Saturday - Philly cheese steaks + fruit
• Sunday - tacos
• Monday - lemon pepper chicken + pasta
• Tuesday - chicken vegetable curry + rice
• Wednesday - leftover tacos (late day in the office)
• Thursday - leftover lemon pepper chicken
• Friday - leftover chicken vegetable curry

What's on your menu for the week? 

Frugal Friday

 Another week is flying by! Here are a few things we've been up to. 

Saving on things we buy:

• Used a $20 grocery store to pick up items we needed. As a bonus, they also had $1 off peelie stickers for the oat milk I was buying, so total saved on the trip was $22. 
• As noted in my travel post earlier this week, I was able to use very old British Airways miles to cover two premium economy tickets to Greece (for myself + my sister) for next June. Although it's a long way out, they had limited availability. We're pretty fixed on dates, given my BFF's job at a school, so these dates seem likely. If not, I've checked, and we can adjust to other dates with availability with no penalty. 

Earning money:

• Nothing out of the ordinary here. Sam is finishing his last week of work for the summer, as his job supports summer interns. He was so lucky to find a job that paid well for someone with his experience, and was full time. He was able to save quite a bit of money. On the flip side, the restaurant where Nick works was supposed to undergo a couple of weeks worth of renovations. Instead, they have been closed unexpectedly for five weeks. He had a limited number of weeks to work in the summer anyway, so his savings has taken a major hit. He's enjoyed the time with friends, but is stressed about his college savings & is considering getting a job first semester. We would like him to put that off until at least second semester, so he can get used to college & classes - he's taking very challenging classes as a freshman. We shall see. I like the independence. :-) We will probably provide him a bit more support than planned for his first semester, to dial down the pressure for him. 

Avoiding spending:

• Drove our electric car to our mini vacation getaway in Napa, and charged for free at the hotel, thus eliminating the cost of gas. 

Eating what we have:

• I had a very eclectic dinner that used up a lot of tiny bites in the fridge. Leftover beef kebab with a tiny portion of Mediterranean takeout lunch. One small scoop of remaining tzatziki & hummus. One naan bread. It was delicious all together, and allowed me to clean up the fridge & reduce waste. Always a win. 
• Had unexpected guests for dinner again (oh, teens ;-)), so rather than our planned leftovers, I turned to the hot dogs & buns in the freezer, and we had that with potato salad & fruit. DH also made gyozas, which was Sam's request, despite them not quite fitting with the rest of the menu. Everyone was pleased & full after, which I suppose is the only real goal. It was nice to get the buns & gyozas out of the freezer, and create a bit more space as well. 
• Made banana blueberry muffins for M, using 6 freezer bananas, +1 overly ripe banana from the counter. He requested the addition of blueberries, so I used a combination of fresh, and a small amount of frozen I found in the freezer. 
• Nick's friend's family went fishing in Alaska, and brought some fresh halibut & salmon for us. What a tasty gift! M is the big salmon lover, so he's been working his way through that, and I've had the halibut. 
• I finished up the last of the fruit I cut up with our unexpected guests earlier in the week. Sam wrapped up the gyozas for another lunch. 

For others:

• Booked a flight for my sister for Greece, but in reality, this is a gift for myself, because I absolutely want her to be on the birthday trip!

What about you? Any wins to share?

Fitness Monday

It was a pretty great workout week, and this is basically how I'd want every week to be, in terms of fitness. Eating was not bad, but the working out was both 1) what I'd planned and 2) challenging but doable. 

Weight: my weight is up .3 lbs, which is frustrating. But, weighing more often helps me see trends & stay on track, so I'll try not to be too frustrated & instead look for tweaks to refine what I'm doing. 

Calories: 1,609/day

Steps: 12,096/day

Workouts:

• 4 combo cardio/strength workout classes
• 1 treadmill class
• 1 strength class
• 1 7 mile hike
• 1 15 minute walk + 15 minute elliptical 

Overall nutrition: my nutrition was pretty good. Minimal snacks, no sugar, pretty balanced choices. 

Goals for the week: we should know by today if we can go to Napa for a few days (my office will be closed). I'll assume so, for purposes of goal setting:

• Set up my first week of the training plan. Waiting to hear from my manager about upcoming travel, but hoping to do a half marathon in October with my sister & BFF. Get in consistent workouts, despite the mini trip.
• Keep the calories very low for all non-Napa days, to offset indulgences.
• Avoid sweets 

What about you? How did you do with your health & fitness goals for the week? 

Menu Plan Sunday

 We all might be out (minus Sam) later in the week, as we wait for M's schedule to stabilize a bit more. Nick is also going to Lake Tahoe with friends, so we will take that opportunity to have meals he doesn't prefer. ;-) 

Friday - baked salmon + cauliflower rice Unexpected guests again, so we turned to hot dogs (always on stand by, some buns I found in the freezer + potato salad. And, fruit. 

Saturday - Philly cheese steaks

Sunday - Sesame chicken + rice

Monday - chicken wings & gyozas

Tuesday - leftover sesame chicken & rice

Wednesday - possibly out of town for dinner. If not, something haphazard from the freezer. 

Thursday - possibly out of town for dinner. If not, something haphazard from the freezer. 

Friday - grilled chicken (freezer) + caprese salad

What about you? What's on your menu for the week ahead? 

Special PS for Nelson: I realized your comments have your email address in them, so I will delete them, so they are not published for everyone. But, wanted to share the link you requested. I believe you are looking for this post, where I shared some of our favorite recipes. 

Travel planning + dreaming

 The next year is going to be big for travel, as we have a lot of milestones. We've planned this into our budget, but we still want to maximize points, miles, etc as much as possible. I've really enjoyed playing around with dates & hotels & flights to find the best deals.  

We are currently thinking of the following trips:

• Trip to Las Vegas with three friends + my sister to see a concert (50th birthday) in November
• New Zealand hiking trip with M, for our 20th anniversary in February
• Trip to Greece in June with sister + BFF to celebrate our joint 50th birthdays (yes, a double celebration). 

I've used United miles to cover one flight to New Zealand, as well as Hyatt points for our hotel before we fly back from Christchurch. The rest of the trip will still be pretty pricey, as we are doing a hiking tour, and staying at another hotel after the hiking trip, doing winery visits, etc. There's not much we can do about offsetting the rest of those costs, so we've just budgeted accordingly.

For the trip to Greece, we're having a lot of fun discussing & planning. My BFF works at a school, so days off are very specific, and there's no flex to move things to lower cost dates. That makes planning tricky. We think we've come up with a plan that might work, and maximizes fun, while minimizing cost. We're doing a call this afternoon to further discuss, which is always a good time.

• Flights - you remember M's expiring British airways points from last summer? I bought a pair of workout pants through their shopping portal, & thus extended their expiration date. I didn't pay close attention to how much they were worth, short of going through & verifying they were worth keeping. I was price checking United (all of my miles were used for NZ trip) & flights were insanely expensive. As I was flipping through my spreadsheet where I track all points, miles, credits, etc, I happened to see the British Airways points & decided to go plug them in & see what we could do. We have enough points for two economy plus tickets to Athens from SFO! This is huge, and a savings of about $7k, vs paying through United. I'm so thrilled. We need to lock in the dates soon ish, as one of the dates we are thinking of leaving on only has two seats left. 
• Hotels - we want to minimize logistics & transit, but maximize what we see & do. Here's what we're thinking on the transit side, and corresponding hotels.
• Athens - We will stay at the Grand Hyatt Athens 1-2 nights when we arrive, and I'll use Hyatt free night awards for that. It is a category 3 hotel, so I should have plenty of Hyatt awards I can use. BFF also may have awards to use, so that will be covered.
• Santorini - we will then fly or take the ferry to Santorini. We do want the white building/Santorini type experience, but we also don't need a lot of night life, and are not exactly going to be club kids out there. The Hyatt has a property on the other side of the island that is supposed to be fantastic, and much quieter. I will likely have enough Hyatt points to cover this stay, and/or will combine points with BFF to sort it out. There are three of us, which always makes room booking outside of the US tricky, as you typically need 2 rooms, or a suite. 
• Paxos - from there, we will take the ferry to Paxos. There are no Hyatt properties on the island, but Marriott has a hotel that looks like a good fit. Between myself & BFF, we will transfer points from our other travel cards & can hopefully cover most of the Paxos stay with points. 
• Athens - we will stay the last night in Athens again, ahead of our flights home. We will use free night awards to cover this as well. 

I've always been so stingy with my time off, needing to use it for the kids spring breaks, ski week, and between Christmas & New Years. A few things have changed: no more ski week, & I'm not delusional enough to think the boys will want to spend their spring breaks with me. ;-) Also, they have different spring breaks, so a family trip isn't an option at the moment. The company I work for closes during Christmas & New Years, and I won't need to use vacation days. And finally, I'm going to be 50, M is close to 60. . . why not enjoy the time we have & travel? It feels a little strange to plan to use all of my vacation days, but I also remind myself that I have a huge bucket list of places I want to visit, and should make the most of this time in our lives. 

M says travel planning is my hobby, which I somewhat agree with. I love: thinking about fun adventures, playing around with rewards to minimize cost, and having fun things to look forward to.

What about you? Do you enjoy travel planning, and hacking to keep costs low? 

Frugal Friday

It's been another busy work week, but a wonderful weekend with my sister & BFF, which was really fun. We also hosted: Nick's GF, Sam's GFx2, Nick's x2 friends for dinner, so plenty of food was made & consumed!

Saving on things we buy

• Our car insurance switched hands (on the back end, I can't really take credit for this, as our policy was transferred to another provider), and the cost dropped by $391/year, which is fantastic. It costs a lot to insure two male teen drivers, so any drop is exciting. 

Earning money

• Just the regular stuff here. Nothing too exciting.
• My office is closing Wednesday-Friday next week, which means I get three "free" vacation days, as I don't have to use time off, but also don't have to work. This is particularly precious time, as I don't have many vacation hours accrued yet, of course. 

Avoiding spending

• We decided to have Nick try first semester without a car in Boulder, which saves the cost of parking permits. It also means that I needed to buy flights to move in weekend for M & Nick. I used a credit for M, and Nick's flight was very inexpensive. Given we are saving on gas + one night of a hotel on the drive, we definitely are still coming out ahead. 
• My schedule has been all over the shop lately, given that I'm normally a morning workout person, but my coworkers are all primarily in London. I'm one of the first California based hires, with a goal of building out the team. That means that my days skew VERY early. But, haphazard later in the day meetings crop up with the US team as well. The spoiler of that is I am trying to find a good workout slot, but meetings often drop in last minute, even when I plan well ahead. My workout studio charges you if you don't show up or cancel before 8 hrs. I couldn't make my lunch class on Thursday, but was able to move it to later in the day. While I don't prefer a late afternoon workout, it saved me $15, and still allowed me to get my workout in. 

Eating what we have

• We worked our way through the snacks leftover from our weekend entertaining. Crackers, cheese, fruit, chicken salad, etc. 
• I pulled together two quick meals of spaghetti & meatballs + garlic bread, on nights we had unexpected guests, but not enough other leftovers. 
• We worked our way through the buns, burgers, kebabs, almost all of the rice, & the chicken shawarma. Oh, and the tzatziki sauce. 

For others

• Can't really think of anything here, other than plenty of hosting & feeding friends & family, but that is always our treat & we are so happy the teens & their friends want to spend time with us. 

What about you? Any wins to share?

Fitness Monday

 The week went pretty much as I expected, with the first half being pretty good & the second half being much higher calories. 

Weight: I didn't weigh in the back half of the week, but my weight has been holding steady & the scale is really trying hard to stay in place. No progress again this week. 

Calories: 1,732/day, thanks to plenty of indulgences in the second half of the week during the mini girls trip at my house. 

Steps: average daily steps was 14,012! Yay for a big hike on Saturday, plus we went for mini walks around the block 3 nights last week. 

Workouts:

• One combo strength/cardio workout class
• One treadmill class
• 2+ hour hike with friends
• 30 minute elliptical
• 45 minute walk
• 30 minute walk around the neighborhood
• One day without a workout

Overall nutrition: the first half of the week was really good. The back half was filled with more indulgences, treats & alcohol due to entertaining. 

Goals for the week: I want to get in a few more harder core workouts, and improve my nutrition/decrease my calories. Pretty much the basics for the week.

What about you? How did you do with your health & fitness goals for the week?

Menu Plan Sunday

 I'd assumed we would have lots of leftovers going into the week, but I'm a fool! Sam had his girlfriend over for dinner on Thursday, Nick had two friends for dinner on Friday, and Sam's girlfriend was back for dinner last night. Plus our two house guests. We love hosting, and it was so nice for my sister & BFF to meet the boys friends, but it also means that my menu plan is... not going so well. ;-) 

• Sunday - M is going to bake a piece of fish that a friend brought back from an Alaska fishing trip. He's jazzed for the coho salmon. Sam & I will have the last two burgers. 
• Monday -  We have enough chicken shawarma & kebab leftovers, if everyone has a variety of food. A smorgasbord, if you will.
• Tuesday - spaghetti & meatballs
• Wednesday - tacos? I need to see if there is any prepped meat in the freezer. If not, I will make some
• Thursday - leftover spaghetti & meatballs 
• Friday - Oh my, who knows at this point. So much for my well laid plan. ;-) I do, however, have an absolute ton of cheese & snacks, so maybe we will have more of an appetizer meal, with some sort of protein.

What about you? What's on your menu for the week?

Frugal Friday

 It's been a very busy week, but I'm looking forward to spending time with my sister & BFF, who are in town for the weekend. 

Saving on things we buy

• Can't think of anything in this category for the week. 

Earning money:

• I got paid $1200 for the last of the class I taught (I missed two classes due to senior events for Nick, so smaller than the previous paycheck). They have asked me to teach again in September, but I'm leaning towards not doing it, and just being available as a sub. My work schedule has me traveling a lot for the first few months, and I'm also pretty tuckered out by the end of the day. Running a class from 6-8 pm is not particularly appealing after a long day of work. But, on the flip side, the huge time investment was the first class, and after that, it takes so much less time for each subsequent class. We'll see.
• I also received my first paycheck, & my sign on bonus. The paycheck was quite small, as it was for just one week of work, and I have an extra $500/check withheld for taxes, particularly because of DH's severance, which isn't taxed nearly high enough to avoid a large bill. I'm also trying to max my 401k, and I'm about 1/2 way there, after the sign on bonus & first check. I'll need to run the math, but I think I'm on track to max at this level of withholding. 
• Received $200 back as a credit card bonus, plus another $10 in rewards for the spending required to earn the bonus (Chase Freedom Unlimited card). The $150 earned through Rakuten is still pending, but will also be credited. (Insert standard disclaimer that you should never open a credit card for rewards unless you are capable of paying it in full each month, & will not be tempted to spend more than normal.)

Avoiding spending

• The big win was cashing in probably six years worth of accumulated United miles (600k) for a business class flight to New Zealand. The actual value is around $10k. I took a LOT of international work trips for that, and can't think of a better way to redeem it than the planned 50th birthday/20th anniversary trip. :-) That said, we started looking at these flights a few months ago, and it was 1/2 the redemption value. We waited to see what would happen with my job, and the price doubled, which was unfortunate. 
• I also redeemed points for two nights at a lovely hotel in Napa in a few weeks. My work has the Wednesday-Friday off, so M & I are going to go enjoy wine country for a few nights. 

Eating what we have

• M made delicious grilled chicken & rice on Sunday, which always generates lots of delicious extras.
• I made a broccoli/beef dish on Saturday, which used up some elderly broccoli. There was enough leftover for Sam to have it as lunch one day, which he enjoyed. He's definitely a leftovers for lunch person, whenever possible.
• We all ate a lot of fresh summer fruit, because it's so delicious right now. Pluots, nectarines, melons, berries... So many delicious options!
• On Friday, we had kind of a smorgasbord of appetizers. I made a caprese, using tomatoes & basil from the garden. I baked up a tray of Sam's favorite samosas, and served that with a few coconut shrimp (end of the bag). It was just the right amount (samosas leftover for Sam's lunch the next day) & it was delicious. 
• Defrosted the last of the fajitas for dinner, and chopped up some sliced cheese to serve with it, as we were out of shredded. Also served with our garden tomatoes & green onions .

For others:

• As part of a work event, I volunteered with my new coworkers at a non-profit. They do multiple things (focusing on preventing homelessness), but we helped with the food pantry section. I packaged & loaded food into cars for people picking up. They happened to have flowers to give away (so cool that a store donated those before they were beyond use) & people were so thrilled to receive fresh flowers. 
• Gave away Nick's old BMX bike on Buy Nothing. Another mom was absolutely thrilled to have it. 

That's it from my side. What about you? Any wins to share?

Interview prep

I'm late to answer this anonymous reader comment, but wanted to get to it.

7/11 Any particular podcasts to listen to for my own interview prep?? I have researched the company and taken one of their community outreach classes. I am a SAHM/contractor who Kent back to FT work several years ago. They sent the benefits package to me as soon as they set up the interview. Very good insurance and a continuation of the plan we have always had at a fraction of the rate. How to convey my interest appropriately. I am way overqualified.

I'm not a podcast listener (I wish I was - I have so many great recommendations), but here are a few things I would do in your shoes. 

• Run your resume + the job description through an AI service (I prefer Gemini, but Chat GPT should also work). They are both free. Add something in the prompt around, "How could I update this resume to better match the job description?" There will likely be plenty of recommendations about how you can best tailor your resume to suit the role.
• Also use AI for research on the company. It helps aggregate all of the disparate sources of information about companies, and does a good job summarizing.
• Reach out to anyone you know who works there, or in a similar field. Get their take on the company, any priorities that would be helpful to know ahead of the interview. 
• Research the interview panel on LinkedIn. Get the recruiter to send you the names of anyone you will be interviewing with.
• Similarly, many companies (when asked), will send you the focus areas ahead of each interview. That is incredibly helpful, and you can then use your own brainstorming to think of situational based questions, "tell me about a time when you...". I usually also add those questions to AI to ensure that my prepared answers hit the mark. 
• In terms of conveying interest appropriately, be prepared to answer why you are legitimately interested in the role. If you are overqualified, this can get tricky, but a few things I would do:
• Be honest, but discrete. You don't need to share your life story, but be prepared to explain why this role is a great fit for you at this moment in time.
• Share why you are interested in the role & the company. Have specific examples of what interest you.
• Highlight all of your transferable skills. 
• If it's accurate, make sure you emphasize that you are looking for a long term fit. One of the hesitancy companies have about hiring someone who is overqualified, is a concern that they will jump ship as soon as they come across something better. Reassuring them that's not the case (assuming it's true), would be very helpful. 

I hope that's useful, and if anyone else has questions about the current job market, happy to share my thoughts & experience!

Fitness Monday

Despite the scale not moving, I felt pretty good about last week. My calories were pretty close to target, and I was really close to my step goal (thanks to the 7 mile hike on Saturday). I am still experimenting with finding consistent workout times, and at this point, I think I need to give up on a consistent time, and be comfortable with ever shifting workouts, depending on my meeting schedule. 

Weight: my weight has stayed the same again, which is disappointing, as I had a pretty good week. 

Calories: 1,521

Steps: 11,942

Workouts:

• 7 mile hike
• 3 workout classes (one strength focused, one treadmill class, and one mix of strength & cardio)
• 45 minute elliptical workout
• 30 minute slow walk (using the treadmill desk, so not sure this really "counts" for anything other than getting in extra steps

Overall nutrition: Overall nutrition was much better this week. Hormonally, there are a few days a month where I really crave sweets & chocolate, and that wasn't this week, so I was able to keep my eating focused largely on healthy options. I ate a lot of protein, minimized carbs & ate plenty of fruit & veggies, which is always the goal.

Goals for the week: continue the first part of the week as is, and balance what I'm sure will be extra calories when I have guests later in the week with much harder/longer workouts. Keep the calories in check, even over the weekend.

What about you? How did you do with your health & fitness this week? 

Menu Plan Sunday

 I'm excited to have my sister & BFF join us for a mini girls trip on Thursday. They will stay until Sunday, which will be fun. We are all planning to work remotely from my house on Friday, so as soon as that wraps up, we will likely hang out by the pool & have a glass of wine. Should be great!

• Friday - shrimp + caprese salad
• Saturday - grilled chicken & rice
• Sunday - garlic noodles with beef and broccoli
• Monday - leftover grilled chicken and rice
• Tuesday - leftover garlic noodles with beef & broccoli
• Wednesday - spaghetti & meatballs
• Thursday - likely takeout Greek food, as we are having guests
• Friday - chicken shawarma 

What's on the menu at your house this week?

Saturday things

 I'm meeting a friend for a hike this morning, and am excited to catch up with her. We were "funemployed" together, and have spent a lot of time hiking, and she's the friend I went to Moab with. She's a lot of fun. We both went back to work at a similar ish time (a month or so earlier for her), so we haven't been able to catch up much. 

Other things I'm up to today:

• Menu planning, particularly for the tail end of the week, when my sister + BFF will be here
• Travel planning for my 50th birthday. Can't remember if I've mentioned it, but we are likely to cancel our anniversary trip to Hawaii, as that would likely come at a time when M will just be onboarding to a new job (he's still interviewing, but fingers crossed) & I likely have to go to London for work. Instead, we are thinking of pulling the trigger on a joint celebration trip, and doing one of my bucket list items - an 8 day hiking trip in New Zealand, followed by a couple of nights at a winery. Lots of logistics to figure out for this.
• I'm also going to do a light clean on the house. I did find someone to clean the house, and she is going to start coming every other week, on Thursday (perfectly timed ahead of our guests arriving), but the house needs a cleaning ahead of that.
• Budget updates. I got my first paycheck (although, just one week, given how the pay periods fall) & need to do some budget tracking & overall planning.
• If it cools off, I need to get some gardening done, and deadhead our potted flowers.
• Shopping list for Costco + the grocery store. M will go to Costco (he loves it?!), and I'll go to the grocery store.
• Plan my schedule for the week. This involves looking at my work schedule, trying to slot in workouts, & looking at any other personal commitments.
• I might try to get ahead & finish up two work trainings, so I can flex my time a bit more on Friday.

From previous posts, you might remember that M has been buying 2lb packages of green onions at Costco for $5. He loves green onions, but we definitely can't get through that much, so I've been planting the extra. However, given he keeps buying them, we are also struggling to eat the planted ones. It's quite a vicious green onion cycle. ;-) I finally pulled out one that we'd planted, and the thing was a beast. It was actually delicious.

What about you? What are you up to today? 

Frugal Friday

 It was a pretty quiet week on the frugal front, minus Nick's AP credits, which were the big winner. 

Saving on things we buy:

• Uploaded receipts to Fetch, & earned more grocery store rewards. This time one of the coupons was for a free Kind (protein) bar, which I'll redeem next time I'm there.

Earning money:

• Still working through my benefits & perks at work, but hoping to find a spot to charge the car for free at the office when I go in. 

Avoiding spending:

• Nick earned 20 credits through AP testing, which saves about $20k in college costs. Most of his credits will satisfy classes towards his current major, and a few will give him general Ed credit. This is super helpful to give him a boost towards graduating in four years, while also keeping the number of credits he needs to take each semester more reasonable. His classes will be hard!
• Nick & I also went through the items we brought back from Sam's dorm room, and he will be able to reuse the vast majority of it, which is awesome. This not only saves costs, but avoids waste, which I love. Our list of what Nick needs to buy is pretty minimal. I also love that the school provides a mini fridge/microwave, to keep the kids from having to buy new ones & then figure out what to do with them when they move out. 
• M dropped Nick & a friend off at the airport for their flight to Hawaii (senior trip, take 2). 
• Drove to the town our office is in, and met a few people from my new team for a picnic (free lunch) + a volunteering event. It was nice to meet some of the folks in real life. 

Eating what we have:

• I made a chicken skillet dish on Saturday, and ran out of shredded cheddar cheese, but I was able to dice up some pepper jack cheese & that worked out great. It was all melted anyway, & I liked the additional flavor the pepper jack provided. 
• Used up lots of garden goodies in our meals, including making a caprese salad with garden tomatoes & basil.
• Bought healthy snacks & meal items, and did a good job of working our way through those.
• Used up the rest of the burger patties, and chicken skillet, with nothing going to waste.
• Nick & his GF joined us unexpectedly for dinner one night, so I pivoted & baked up a tray of the Costco breaded chicken tenders, made a pound of pasta, and cut up a ton of fruit & veggies. It was enough for everyone, with leftovers for me for a few days, which is always a win. 

For others:

• When M went to the Boulder orientation, one of Nick's classmate's family also joined. They will be flying their daughter to Boulder for move in, so we've offered to take some of her extra items in Nick's car, when he & M drive to Boulder. It will save them the cost of mailing things. 
• My sister put together a medicine kit for Sam, and he didn't end up needing it last year. Nick & I went through it, and pulled out a few duplicate items. We gave those away on Buy Nothing, and he will add a few of his preferred options. Fingers crossed that he also doesn't get sick, but best to be prepared. 

What about you? Any wins to share?

Healthy eating

 I've been really working on healthy eating, because I know it has such an impact on my energy, not to mention weight & overall health. It's not easy some days, and grabbing easy snacks can be tempting. We stocked up on fast & healthy options over the weekend, and that's definitely helping.

What I'm eating lately:

• Sourdough toast with natural peanut butter + a banana
• A salad (bagged mix) with a sprinkle of feta cheese + 2 diced boiled eggs 
• Avocado toast. I like to mash my avocado with some lime juice, spread over sourdough bread & top with a little feta + tomatoes
• Lots of fruit as a snack: cherries, strawberries, & melon. We tend to have a lot of cut fruit ready & available for a grab & go option
• Sourdough toast (it's a theme, I love sourdough bread) + fresh mozzarella & tomatoes, sprinkled with salt & pepper
• Protein bars. Barebells are most certainly not the cheapest option, but they taste like an actual treat. If you ever find these on sale, they are worth it (IMO). Trader Joes sells them.
• Dinner leftovers

I need to make more hummus, because that is delicious to add as an option with veggies, or on a salad.

And, we are also enjoying all of the produce from our garden (a small sample), but the very clear winners are the tomatoes. Tomatoes on everything!

I warned M that those jalapenos are *spicy*, but he didn't believe me & cut up too much for his salad. He had some regrets. ;-) 

What are your easy grab & go meal options? Bonus points for healthy + plenty of protein!