Frugal Friday

 Here's what's happening in our world, on the money saving front. 

Saving on things we buy:

• Used another $5 of CVS rewards to buy Nick some treats to accompany his cash birthday gift. iBotta has a very regular CVS cash back offer (entire purchase, not specific items), so I uploaded my receipt & saved a bit extra. 
• Used $20 of grocery store rewards to pick up items we needed for dinners & four bottles of wine that were on a very big discount. Downloaded the digital coupons to my app before shopping as well. I could go on a tangent about how much I dislike digital coupons, but I'll skip that for you. ;-) Uploaded receipts to Fetch. 
• This is more along the lines of "use what you pay for", but I went to yoga on Saturday, taking advantage of my Y membership. My goal is to go 2-3 times/week, to make the cost very reasonable on a per visit basis. 
• We have been keeping a much closer eye on our power usage, after an unfortunately high true up bill from our solar. One of the easiest things (file this under the category of "why didn't we do this before") was setting our dishwasher start time to after midnight, at which time rates are much cheaper, and also just running it less. It helps that Sam often works during dinner & it's mostly just the two of us, so we can go longer without using the dishwasher. 

Earning money:

• I received a $3700 "true up" 401k contribution from my employer, due to the way they calculate 2025 contributions. That was a nice surprise. 

Avoiding spending:

• I bought a subscription to Calm (it's a meditation app) when they had 100% cash back through my credit card offers. I prefer Headspace, but free is a pretty great price.
• Requested reimbursement for the sports medicine massage I got on Saturday. My company offers a $480 per year reimbursement that you can use for the gym, massages, etc. Definitely going to make the most of that! I'm really working on my health & fitness & pain reduction for my back & hip. I love a massage, but this particular massage was one of the most painful experiences I've ever had. That said, I have so much more flexibility in my hip! So, worth it. 
• Used an Amazon gift card to order things M needed to change the oil in the boys cars. He does almost all of the maintenance himself, unless it's a really tricky issue. 

Eating what we have:

• I researched dinner recipes using items I needed to get out of the fridge: a large container of cottage cheese (I love it, but my stomach doesn't like it uncooked), spinach, and leftover mini tortillas. Gemini recommended a recipe, so we had that for dinner on Saturday night, and used up a bunch of leftovers: spinach, mini tortillas & cottage cheese. Hurrah. It was also delicious. Highly recommend to blend cottage cheese with salsa & use that up as a creamy & high protein sauce. This recipe was deconstructed enchiladas & was really delicious & easy. 
• M made up a large batch of grilled chicken, and used lemons from our tree as part of the marinade.
• I made coleslaw, using up extra coleslaw mix from our egg roll in a bowl dinner. I chopped up a green onion to add to the dressing, which always increases the flavor. We have an endless supply of green onions in the garden. 

For others:

• One of my consistent things I do is return abandoned grocery carts that block parking spots at the grocery store. I don't know why people do this, but the lot has very few spots in front, and the store attracts a lot of older residence, so parking further out is not convenient for them. It always makes me feel good to round up a few & put them back in the correct spots. This is a tiny, tiny thing, but I hope makes someone else's day a little bit better, when they find a close spot at the store. 

What about you? Any wins to share? 

Looking forward to Friday

 And, not just for the typical "work week ending" reasons, although certainly that as well. Nick comes home for spring break on Friday (hurrah), and my boss theoretically returns from her sick leave on Monday of next week. So, Friday is the end of my filling in for her (+ one other person). I'm still filling in for three other people, but... she obviously has the most stuff going on, the most challenging stuff to navigate & just generally the biggest priorities. Not managing her work will be a huge gift! I am also falling behind on all of my own work, which creates stress, as I'm a real "get it done/check it off the list" kind of person.

As for today, I'm heading to the office for a summit, and we will have a team dinner tonight. It's important & I need to be there, but it's also a 14+ hour day, which is just.. a lot. Luckily, this dinner prevents me from having to drive into the city for another dinner I was invited to for work, so I suppose small blessings, as I'll save a few hours of additional drive time. 

M & I have been looking at our budget & expenses, and using a lot of double checking of our numbers to determine when I can quit & not have a career job anymore. (I might do something part-time, or because I really want to, but not for a career job salary/stress.) I definitely need to complete one full year, and would like to get to January. July of 2027 would be ideal, but... unless I fill some of these open roles, January feels more likely. 

We are also planning our next "big" trip. No idea when we would take it - 2027, or later, but we have a lot of fun options on the table, including Tasmania for the Overland Track, or Torres del Paine in Patagonia. If time is a challenge, we are open to Banff as well, which has been on my bucket list for years.

That's what's up in my world. What about you? What are you looking forward to today?

March goals

 I'm very overdue, but better late than never is my motto on this. 

Financial:

• Continue to pay for both boys college expenses
• Stay on top of food waste by using up 3 pantry or freezer items
• Be more intentional about saving & spending
• Find one expense to optimize
• Finish taxes

Family:

• Continue to help the boys navigate college & life
• A monthly date with M
• Have a fabulous & on budget trip to Las Vegas/Zion with friends
• Enjoy having Nick home for spring break & his birthday
• Finalize summer plans for everyone
• Book summer travel
• Figure out next big adventure with M

Fitness:

• Start therapeutic massage appointments
• Get hip dry needled at Stanford
• Lose 3 lbs
• 10 positive days in a month (strength train, No S, meditate)
• Come up with a general workout template (strength, cardio, Pilates/yoga)
• Positive eating: track protein & produce
• Average 12,000 steps/day

Personal:

• 10 days of language lessons
• Declutter 50 items from the house
• Get together with friends
• Try something new
• Say yes to more adventures
• Get to know our neighbors
• Try a new recipe

What about you? What are our goals for March?

Fitness Monday

 First off, it's generally such a lovely group of readers/commenters (thank you!), but sometimes... 

AnonymousMarch 8, 2026 at 4:10 PM

Are you making comments on the Iran war? Or is that too much for you too? Loving the high gas and food prices. So much for savings!!

There are so many things I could say in response to this, but I'll just go with... you obviously don't know me at all, and you must not be a reader. 😂

Okay, back to the regularly scheduled programming. 

Weight: 161.4 (basically flat, or down by the tiniest .1 amount)

Calories: 1,548/day. 

Steps: 9,635/day. Oof. So low. With a focus on getting in different types of workouts & less cardio focused, this is causing a pretty big drop in my steps. I had a ~10 mile hike yesterday, so this is particularly crazy given how much that offset the rest of the days. I really need to find time throughout the day for small walks. 

Workouts:

• 1 mile treadmill walk
• 1 cardio/strength combo class
• 1 strength training class
• 1 stretching class
• 30 minutes on the elliptical
• Yoga class
• 9 mile hike + walk & talk chat with friends

Other: as part of my quest in 2026 to improve my health & dedicate time & money to resolving the issues that really bother me (notably, my chronic back pain that interferes with my sleep & the tendonitis in my hip that interferes with many things), I got a deep tissue sports massage on Saturday, that focused on trigger point therapy, myofascial release, and active release techniques (ART). Let's just say that, short of childbirth, it was one of the most uncomfortable experience I've ever had. That said, I will go again, because while we only had time to focus on my hip, I regained quite a bit of additional mobility & my back & hip pain are both noticeably better! Next up I will go & have them focus on my lower back pain. The tendonitis in my hip is causing a lot of tightness elsewhere in my right side, which is pretty uncomfortable. 

I have also been adding a lot more stretching & yoga, which is awesome for me, but reduces my cardio output & step. I'm still working on the balance there, but I'm happy I'm making time for things other than cardio. 

Goals for the week ahead:

• Drop calories to 1400/day. I saw a suggestion to eliminate breakfast a few days/week, which I will likely try. I don't typically snack during the week days. I also need to reduce portion size by 10-15% at dinner, to see some progress.
• Increase steps.
• Add in another cardio workout

Unfortunately, this is going to be another intensely busy week, requiring two trips to the office, and one or two work evenings, as I'm still filling in for my boss. That means I need to "make hay while the sun shines", or get in the workouts when I have the chance & really focus. I also need to be creative this week, perhaps commuting in earlier than my 7 am time & bringing my gym bag & clothes & working out/getting ready before my day starts. Daylight savings is not my friend in this endeavor!

That's it for me. What about you? How are you doing with your health & fitness goals?

Menu Plan Sunday

 It's that time again! My goal this week was to use up the following ingredients: spinach, cottage cheese (it's getting used in the sauce of a couple of dinners, below) & coleslaw. 

• Friday - leftover grilled burgers, over salads
• Saturday - grilled chicken & rice
• Sunday - green enchilada skillet (new recipe)
• Monday - creamy spinach & chicken alfredo (new recipe)
• Tuesday - leftover chicken + coleslaw
• Wednesday - out with a work event, M will likely have salmon
• Thursday - leftover enchilada skillet
• Friday - leftover creamy chicken & chicken alfredo

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

February Goal Update

 February was quite a month. We had our incredible trip to New Zealand, quite a lot of stress with M's family & reimmersion to life. My manager is also unexpectedly out due to a health issue, and that compounded with other people being out means I'm currently covering for five people. It's a lot.

Financial:

• Continue to pay for both boys college expenses - done
• Stay on top of food waste by using up 3 pantry or freezer items - done, broth, soup & cauliflower rice
• Be more intentional about saving & spending. Move savings to account for Nick's college & track for motivation - I set all of this up, but it's been a very expensive month
• Find one expense to optimize - canceled my Kindle Unlimited subscription, saving $11.99/month
• Prep for taxes - did a lot of work early in the month, then finished Sam's taxes, but need M's input on a bunch of stuff & haven't made progress on that recently

Family:

• Continue to help the boys navigate college & life - yes
• A monthly date with M - New Zealand!
• Have a fabulous trip to NZ - it exceeded all of our expectations
• Finalize logistics for Greece trip - yes, booked additional flights, activities & ferry travel
• Sort out/finalize move out trip to Boulder - yes, booked
• Bucket list travel planning - we keep adding to the list, but generally yes!

Fitness:

• Two medical appointments (menopause & hip) - yes
• Lose 3 lbs -up roughly two pounds
• 10 positive days in a month (strength train, No S, meditate) -5 strength training, 7 No S, 3 meditations
• Positive eating: track protein & produce - did not track well during February
• Average 12,000 steps/day - 13,384

Personal:

• 10 days of language lessons - 3/10
• Declutter 50 items from the house - 62 items out of the house!
• Get together with friends - yes, a hike, a workout class & a champagne/charcuterie meet up
• Try something new - went on an epic adventure, tried a guided tour for the first time, tried a few new workouts
• Say yes to more adventure - see above, plenty of adventure!
• Get to know our neighbors - no progress this month
• Try a new recipe -made a chicken tostada recipe that we liked

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

Frugal Friday

Honestly, money hasn't been anywhere near the top of my mind lately, but going through the motions of real life helps me feel a bit more grounded. 

Saving on things we buy

• Used $13 of CVS rewards to pick up some vitamins, a birthday card for Nick and eye makeup remover. I still paid out of pocket, but it was nice to have the $13 of savings. Additionally, I uploaded my receipts to both Fetch & iBotta, and iBotta had a cash back offer off of an entire CVS purchase that I took advantage of. I had to go to CVS to pick up a prescription, so this was a nice way to double up on an errand. 
• Used $30 of grocery store gift card money (earned from buying gift cards at some point in late 2025) to pick up things we needed: coconut milk (must get this at Trader Joes next time, due to cost), coleslaw mix x2, carrots, sandwich bread for Sam, discovered we didn't have enough chicken). 

Earning money

• I had a mammogram done in January, and my insurance company offers a once a year $75 reimbursement for standard screening & health care checkup. (It's a high deductible plan.) Filled out the $75 claim form. 

Avoiding spending

• Packed my lunch on Wednesday, when I went to the office. After more than a decade of working at a company that provided lunch, plus the first six months of my current employer providing lunch, I was out of practice. Luckily, I was busy enough at work that this made sense, even though I was surprisingly the only person to do it out of my work group. Saved $7 over the salad I would have bought. 

Eating what we have

• Made protein pancakes, and used up the remainder of a container of oats, as well as three overly ripe bananas that were otherwise destined for the freezer. Definitely liked these (made a large batch) & will make them again. 
• M & I teamed up for dinner on Sunday, and I made a delicious egg roll in a bowl recipe, and he made rice to go with it. We typically just serve the egg roll in a bowl on its own, but I needed rice for a weekday dinner, and opted to go ahead & have it made on Sunday to make things easier during the week. It was fantastic together & dinner was a hit. 
• Used up green onions from the garden, and we have a lot more where that came from!

For others

• A teacher on BN was looking for a Roomba vacuum for an area where their custodian doesn't clean, leaving the teachers to need to vacuum between planning periods, etc. It just so happened that I had a Roomba a friend had given us when they moved, and didn't really know if we would use it. The teacher was so excited, and she + the other teachers sent me a lovely note. It was very serendipitous that I could help them out. 

What about you? Any wins to share?

Quick update

M has been trying to call & message his family, but yesterday I decided to try WhatsApp, as I feel like that sometimes goes through when all other messaging doesn't. I heard back from his sister today! Everyone is okay, but of course it's a very scary situation with lots of bombing. She is also in contact with M's mom & the rest of the family.

I am so grateful to hear back & to relieve anxiety for this immediate moment, knowing it's still a very dangerous situation.

Wanted to update you all, as you have been so lovely with your support and good thoughts. 

Fitness Monday

Still no word from M's family. I'm trying to keep myself busy with my normal tasks & activities, but it's obviously very challenging. 

On the fitness front, this was a challenging work week, which made everything else difficult. 

Weight: 161.5

Calories: average of 1,553/day

Steps: average of 10,417/day. Very far off track most days, as I hiked this weekend & made up some ground & still didn't get to 12k/day.

Workouts:

• 1 strength training class at Orange Theory
• 1 boot camp class
• 1 yoga class
• 1 7 mile walk (pretty easy terrain)
• 1 7.5 mile hike (harder terrain)
• 40 minutes on the elliptical
• A few short walks midweek

Other: didn't do a good job tracking protein or fruits/vegetables, but did try to eat a balanced diet. Had 4 No S days

Goals for the week ahead:

• Daily workouts
• Increased steps/day to 12k
• Track protein & fruit/vegetables

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

Menu Plan Sunday

 This post was scheduled a few days ago, but no news on M's family. It looks like phone & internet are currently unavailable. 

As part of my "use it up" goals for February, I was looking for a higher protein way to use freezer bananas than typical banana bread. Banana bread, while delicious, isn't exactly great for my waistline at the moment. I'm going to try & make this recipe for high protein pancakes with bananas. I'll report back.

• Friday - random fridge leftovers
• Saturday - eggroll in a bowl with Persian rice
• Sunday - grilled burgers, take 2. M didn't think his previous efforts went well, so he wants to try again. 
• Monday - slow cooker chicken satay with leftover rice
• Tuesday - leftover eggroll in a bowl
• Wednesday - leftover burgers
• Thursday - leftover chicken satay
• Friday - likely something very easy, as it's going to be a crazy week

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

Saturday Happenings

M has been reaching out to his family, but has not heard back. We are very worried about the situation in Iran & the safety of his family & extended family. (If you have a political comment on this, please keep it to yourself. I'm not interested in a debate on this topic.)

I was originally planning to post what I have on my list to do today, what I'd like to get done, and how great it felt to have a really productive week. Maybe throw in some moderate complaining about how stressful work is at the moment, and how much worse I expect it to get over the next few weeks, but... that is all really silly stuff that doesn't matter. I guess that's a good reminder to me about life in general. 

Frugal Friday

A few frugal things this week to share... On the frugal fail side, I forgot to pack lunch yesterday, so I ended up buying a salad at work. Luckily, it's the assemble yourself kind, and subsidized, so I got a large salad with lots of protein & veggies for $7. Not the end of the world, but I also had leftovers in the fridge. Need to do better next time. This is the first time I've been to the office since you have to pay (previously free), hence why I forgot. 

Saving on things we buy

• Used $20 in grocery store rewards to offset part of my shopping this week. I picked up sandwich fixings for Sam, to save money on his lunches. And, picked up some dinner ingredients. I also uploaded my receipt to Fetch.
• I earned another $45 in grocery store rewards by purchasing $300 of Southwest gift cards from the store. We will use these for our flights to Sedona, most likely. 
• I rarely see "good deals" anymore at the grocery store, but found canned beans for $1 and pasta for $1 as well. Bought two of each. 
• I get $480 in "wellness reimbursement" through my company. Submitted $250 worth of expenses for joining the YMCA (more on that in an upcoming fitness post) & a massage. Really trying to get on top of my back pain. 

Earning money

• Had my Costco credit card rebate direct deposited into our savings account, to go towards our 2026 savings goals. 
• Had just enough time to get to the bank before my grace period ended for a CD that was maturing. Made a change from a 10 month to a 3 month CD, and over 3 months I'll make an extra $375 due to a much better rate. It does mean extra work when the CD matures again, but the longer duration rates are terrible right now. 
• Filled out Sam's tax forms & got him close to a $1k refund, which will go into his long term savings account/investments. 
• We get random Amazon packages (with our name & address) every few months. It's some sort of drop shipping scam (?). Anyway, Amazon doesn't want them back & the versions we get are for healing oils & stuff we don't use. I typically list them & sell them on eBay. I made a whopping $6 this time, but these expire & I wanted them out of the house before then. I used recycled shipping materials to mail them. 

Avoiding spending

• Returned a couple of items we didn't end up using on our trip. 
• In a big money saver, I had a flight credit for Sam that I couldn't use before the expiration. My standard approach of booking further into the future & cancelling to extend didn't' work in this case. I wanted to book a flight a week after the cancellation, so I was able to get United to help me when I called, which saved $566 that otherwise would have expired. 
• I cancelled my Kindle Unlimited membership. I'm a voracious reader, but am going to try out the library for a while. I can always go back to Kindle if the library doesn't have enough options for me. 

Eating what we have

• Or, drinking, rather. There were two bottles of wine with one glass each from hosting, so I had a glass of wine from each of those bottles & finished those off. M dug out a margarita mix he made a while back, and served that over ice for himself. 
• Made an orzo chicken dish on Saturday, and used a lemon from the garden to add seasoning, plus feta from previous recipes. In addition, for M's salad, I used chopped cucumbers, onions & garbanzo beans from the protein bowls we made earlier in the week. I'll add that the chicken orzo dish was particularly dry and not great as a leftover, but... we won't repeat it.
• I meal prepped on Sunday, to get ahead a bit for meals during the week. 
• Made chicken broth from rotisserie chicken we bought this week. Used some of the broth to thin out a chicken noodle soup that I'd added too many noodles to, which made it a much better consistency. Froze the rest of the broth. 

For others

• Giving away a lot on Buy Nothing, having some career conversations/references with folks job searching. 

What about you? Any wins to share? 

Thursday happenings

 It's been a busy week, as my boss is out unexpectedly ill, and I'm covering for her. I also went in to the office yesterday, which adds about 90 minutes to my day, but was necessary for a few things.

I've been reasonably productive & am excited to try out a new YMCA class today - boot camp. I actually joined the Y to get access to lower cost yoga & Pilates vs a specialized studio for either. Of course, I know the quality will not be the same, but I'm not at an advanced level of Pilates or yoga, so it doesn't really matter to me. I'm looking for stretching, mobility & to build my strength in my core to help work on my ongoing back issues that keep me up at night & make me uncomfortable during the day.

I've also had a few other wins that I'll share tomorrow in my Frugal Friday post, and wanted to share a recipe that I swapped out & wasn't on the menu plan - Pulled Chicken Tostadas. We loved it, and used rotisserie chicken. I forgot the adobo Chiles, so we added a jalapeno from the garden. It's not the most frugal recipe with the addition of the bacon, but we really enjoyed it and the recipe made a total of 6 dinners (3 diners, x2 dinners). I made 1/2 of the coleslaw with lime the first night, and 1/2 the second night, to keep it fresh, which worked well. Anyway, thought I was share, as rotisserie chicken has been a staple on our side.

I also made a lemon chicken orzo dish & it was not good & tasted like "cafeteria hospital food", which was super irritating. I made it, so no one to blame but myself. Going to have to remember not to repeat that one!

I'm meeting a couple of friends from my morning workout class (pre going back to work) this evening for a glass of wine & dinner, which will be nice, as I don't get to see them very often anymore. 

And, for visual interest, here's how we enjoyed our Valentine's Day. This is a picture of the winery/hotel we stayed at, and the cheeseboard I put together. ;)

Fitness Monday

 This isn't a very exciting Fitness Monday update, but I wanted to get back into the rhythm again & get back on track, post our vacation. I'd summarize February so far as being very hot & cold. I had some 36,000 step days, and multiple days without a workout. We were sore after the big hike, hiked on a much smaller scale other days in New Zealand, had travel days without a workout, etc. 

We also ate plenty in New Zealand, and shared a bottle of wine most nights, and the calories of that certainly added up. My weight is up about 2 lbs since the beginning of February. I also went on HRT medicine, and that is causing a lot of other fun stuff. So, I'm hoping everything with regulate a bit by the end of this week, so I can get a good sense of where I'm at.

I did do two of my class workouts (Saturday & Sunday) & am signed up for a strength class today. I need to come up with a workout schedule for each week, to give myself a bit of structure.

For this week, here's what I'm thinking:

• Monday - strength training class + a walk of some kind for steps
• Tuesday - cardio/strength workout class
• Wednesday - work out at the office gym at lunch
• Thursday - run outside
• Friday - workout class
• Saturday - hike outside with a friend or M
• Sunday - workout class

It's also my goal to drop my calories, keep alcohol to the weekends, and move back to the "No S" plan (no snacks, no sugar, no second portions), as well as keep a close eye on produce & protein intake.

I do feel like I'm doing a good job of working to resolve my health issues & staying on top of things. I saw a  sports medicine doctor last week (super hard to get into the clinic at Stanford) & have an appointment to get my hip dry needled at the end of March. I'm also trying to get into a regular massage routine, in order to solve some of my ongoing back issues. I still need to figure out a reasonably priced yoga/Pilates option, as I definitely need to incorporate more strength & core workouts. I'm thinking of getting more details on the YMCA near us, to understand the pricing & class availability. 

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

Menu Plan Sunday

 We've been freewheeling the menu plan over here (we haven't had one), so it will be nice to get back onto a schedule again. 

A brief recap, plus planned menu items:

• Tuesday - chicken tzatziki protein bowls
• Wednesday - pizza delivery (parents request)
• Thursday - leftover chicken tzatziki protein bowls
• Friday - leftover pizza + salads
• Saturday - creamy garlic chicken
• Sunday - burgers
• Monday - leftover creamy garlic chicken
• Tuesday - pulled chicken tostadas
• Wednesday - leftover egg roll in a bowl
• Thursday - leftover chicken tostadas
• Friday - leftovers or something from the freezer

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

Saturday Happenings

 I'm back & slowly easing into life. Yesterday was a rocky work day, and next week promises to be more of the same. As a result, despite it being a short week, I need the weekend to recharge & prep for what is sure to be an intense week ahead.

Everything I own feels tight after a few weeks of indulgences. The hiking food was shockingly good & they fed us very well. Time to get back to serious business on the exercise & fitness front.

Here are my plans for today:

• Workout class
• Return a few items to REI that I didn't need for the hike
• Work on our taxes. Yuck. I did manage to complete Sam's taxes yesterday, but his tax situation is pretty easy. Two W2s, and nothing else. ;-) 
• Menu prep for the week ahead
• Work on calendar & scheduling for next week
• And, workouts for next week
• Find a bottle of wine & a card for my friend. We are meeting up tomorrow for a workout class & coffee. Her birthday was this week.
• Call a friend who is struggling

What about you? What's on your list today? 

Frugal Friday

Let me start by saying that this trip was not frugal - it was a milestone 20th anniversary trip, planned to coincide with my 50th birthday as well as a bucket list travel item. We most certainly made the most of it! Here are a few frugal things that happened along the way, or over the past few weeks:

Saving on things we buy

• I almost never buy anything that's on iBotta's list of branded name items for cash back, but they have been running $.10 or $.20 off of any receipt lately, so I've been taking advantage of that. 
• We had some leftover NZ cash on our last day, and our hotel accepted that towards our payment (rest on credit card), which was super convenient & avoided any transaction fees. 
• M & I shared lunch a few times. 
• My parents requested pizza on their final night, so I used a $10 off coupon to get dinner for everyone. 

Earning money

• Nothing interesting to report here other than we were both on paid time off.

Avoiding spending

• Aligned with Sam's work schedule, to get a ride to the airport. This flight was out of SFO (all of the international ones are), which is further from our house & a more expensive ride share option. 
• On the way back, we used our Uber credit (purchased from gift cards) to get a ride home. The weather was terrible, and our flight landed at 6 am, so no desire to ask anyone to pick us up. 
• Ate at the lounge ahead of our flight home. 
• I didn't end up wearing my hiking shorts, so I will return those. 
• Took advantage of the free breakfast at all three of the hotels we stayed at. 
• Didn't drink a bottle of wine given to us at the winery, so I wrapped it carefully in clothes, and then put it inside my backpack, which was inside of another bag. Made it safely home, and drank it with my mom once we were back.
• We got free checked bags due to airline status & keeping the bags under the weight guidelines. 

Eating what we have

• Made tzatziki bowls again, using Costco rotisserie chicken. We didn't have hummus, but they were otherwise delicious. 
• Had a bowl again for lunch.

For others

• M set up a photo album for our fellow hikers, and we were able to send that out to everyone to allow for photo sharing. People loved it! 

What about you? Any wins to share?

We are back

 I'm tired, but mostly from not sleeping on the return flight. M managed to sleep quite a bit, and I was envious! All logistics went very smoothly, from our short hop flight from Queenstown to Christchurch, and our much longer flight from Christchurch to San Francisco. 

My parents were here visiting Sam on his birthday, so it's been nice to see them. We went to lunch yesterday on my last day off, & they head home today. We made an easy dinner of chicken tzatziki bowls yesterday, using rotisserie chicken from Costco. M made tzatziki sauce, and we diced up: feta, tomatoes, cucumbers, red onions & served with artichokes & garbanzo beans. It was easy & delicious, and healthy as far as things like this go.

I'm attempting to get back on track with my eating, after all of the indulgences on vacation. My jeans definitely felt tight one of the days, so time to be focused on eating well & getting back into a more consistent workout schedule.

I'm feeling very behind on life, but much less stressed about work, which I suppose is one of the goals of vacation!

And, for a few extra pictures, we went to Mount Cook on one of our last days. We felt spoiled by our pristine hiking (no tourists) for the earlier hiking trip, but Mount Cook was still lovely. Just more crowded. The water is actually that blue (or, I think it's a reflection off of the clouds?) Not sure what causes the color, but it was stunning.

Back to regular programming soon!

Milford Track

 Impossible to pick photos that capture the experience, but it was incredible. Met amazing people, saw amazing things, wore out our legs, had pretty much perfect weather... Spent my birthday on the hardest uphill & then downhill. M brought champagne to the halfway point (and, hiked with it for three days!) to surprise me.

More photos to come, but a few of my favorites.

More to come! Switching hotels soon. 

Queenstown

A quick update that we made it to New Zealand. All flights were on time, everything went as smoothly as you can expect on a trip of that duration. My back is bothering me from all of that sitting time, but otherwise all is well.

The hotel is fantastic, and our room got upgraded. What a treat. Photos below are the view from our room. We stayed awake until 7 pm local time last night, and then crashed. Both of us slept around 4 hours on the flight here (red eye), so we were pretty tired last night.

Next up is breakfast, stretching (me), heading to town for the pre-hike briefing. We have dinner reservations as well for tonight. 

LOVE Queenstown & the entire place is gorgeous. 

Two days to go

Two work days left until we leave on our trip. I've been closely guarding my PTO since I started my new job, as new hires have to accrue vacation days. Having long tenure at both of my previous companies, it's an unusual feeling to not have time off. Knowing I had both New Zealand & Greece in 2026, I've been very sparing with my days off. 

I have taken a total of one day of PTO (split into two four hour chunks) to accommodate an early flight for Christmas, and similar flight for the Las Vegas trip in October. I got "lucky" in that I also had to travel on a holiday 2x, and earned a comp day for each. At my previous company, you also received a comp day if you missed an entire weekend day. Not the case here, which is... not the best, let's just say. Anyway, whatever. 

This is the longest trip DH & I have ever taken, and I'm pretty sure it's my longest vacation from any job I've been at. I'm excited & looking forward to relaxing. I've been at the company for 7 months, so I'm definitely looking forward to the break.

I've been mapping out other planned time off, and here's what's on the agenda. Reviewing this helps me track my PTO, and creates mini milestones to look forward to.

• February - New Zealand. President's Day falls during this trip, saving me one day of PTO
• March - Nick will be home for spring break, and then I'll fly to Las Vegas & spend a night there + hike at Zion with a couple of friends
• April - at the very end of April, I'll fly to Boulder & hang out with Nick & help him move his college stuff to my BFF's garage (bless her) & then Nick & I will fly back together
• May - nothing currently booked
• June - likely US work travel + Greece
• July - likely Tokyo work travel + our company closes for three days. If everyone else can make it, we will rent a house at the Oregon coast. If that doesn't' work out, M & I will likely take the boys to a California national park. 
• August - Nick's move back to Boulder
• September - family weekend in Boulder
• October - I'm tentatively running a half marathon with my sister + BFF (assuming I can get my hip issue treated) in Portland, which will be a long weekend. And, then M & I are going to Sedona for a hiking trip.
• November - Nick flying back for Thanksgiving
• December - Nick flying in for Christmas, Christmas at my parents house. 

That's it! As we move into the mid point of 2026, I will likely start mapping out potential trips for 2027. We would absolutely love to see M's mom again, but there is no option for her to travel right now, given the situation in Iran. We always worry that by the time a window opens up, she will be unable to travel. 

What about you? Do you map out your travel in a similar way? How do you use your vacation budget, or PTO days? 

January Goals Recap

 The month is over, so how did I do? As a reminder for myself as much as anyone else, I was out of town for four days for personal travel, and eight days for work travel. 

Financial:

• Continue to pay for both boys college expenses - yes, made a large tuition payment for Nick & signed a lease on an apartment
• Stay on top of food waste by using up 3 pantry or freezer items - gave away pantry items we won't use, and used up a lot of leftovers: chicken parmesan, an orzo dish, and a chicken & rice dish
• Be more intentional about savings & spending. Establish a goal & benchmark savings. - I've done really well at this, and have been intentionally saving into a new college account for Nick, as I would love to not pull from long term savings to fund the rest of his college expenses. 
• Find one expense to optimize - after a frustrating experience, I cancelled the $5.99 subscription to my Oura ring. I actually really like the health details they provide, but can get a lot of the sleep information from my watch for free. 

Family:

• Continue to help the boys navigate college & life - yes, they are both doing well & we have weekly calls with Nick. Maybe we should arrange something with Sam, as even though he lives with us, his schedule is quite crazy with studying & working. A dedicated time together might be useful. 
• A monthly date with M - M & I were in Las Vegas together at the beginning of the month, and had one date night & several long hikes. 
• Continue planning our New Zealand trip - we are ready to go!
• Bucket list travel planning - M & I are going to Sedona in October, and I'm going to Zion in March. Sedona with M is on my list, and we are also talking about some bigger future trips (Iceland, Patagonia, Camino de Santiago), but nothing firmly established yet. I think we're also both very curious to see how this trip goes. 

Fitness:

• Dry January - I had three days with alcohol this month, but I did make it through my entire work trip with no alcohol, which was quite a feat. I shared wine with M on a date, and had two nights last week. Not perfect, but I'm very pleased. 
• Lose 3 lbs - I lost 2.5 lbs
• 10 positive days in a month - strength train, No S, meditate - 7, 11 & 6, respectively
• Positive eating: track protein & produce - I did pretty well at this earlier in the month, but sort of fell off in the last week or so. Eating a lot of protein & produce does indeed keep you healthier & reduce snacking!
• Average 12,000 steps/day - squeaking in at 12,078

Personal:

• 10 days of language lessons - 13/10
• Declutter 50 items from the house - 65/50
• Get together with friends - met friends for a workout, a hike, and went to a dinner party
• Try something new & uncomfortable - tried a Pilates reformer class!
• Say yes to more adventures - general travel planning for adventures continue
• Get to know our neighbors - went for another walk with one neighbor, and continued to help our elderly neighbor across the street
• Try a new recipe - made a buffalo chicken recipe, at Sam's request

I'm surprised by all of the green, but I'll take it! What about you? How did you do with your January goals? 

Menu Plan Sunday

 An abbreviated plan, as we leave mid week.

• Friday - we shared a cauliflower crust pizza + chicken (freezer) for extra protein
• Saturday - out at a party, where they served Mediterranean catering
• Sunday - high protein chicken tzatziki bowls (using rotisserie chicken) - new recipe
• Monday - lemon dill chicken cakes 
• Tuesday - leftover chicken bowls
• Wednesday - leftover chicken cakes

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

I managed to hit my step goal for the month, thanks to an 8 mile hike yesterday. I knew what I needed to do when I added the numbers, and had planned time for a hike. I also did a lot of my packing for our trip, but still a few pieces to put together. And, somehow fitting everything into our bags. We went to a really lovely party with friends, and it was nice to catch up with a few people we know.

As for today, I again need to be very productive:

• Long hike with M, although I'm not options to bring my big pack, as I'm in the midst of packing it. I will probably try to weight my day pack & use that.
• Video call with my sister + BFF to catch up + do some Greece planning
• More packing
• Laundry
• Get a pedicure ahead of the trip. M laughed a bit at this, but my nails are too long at the moment, and I am hoping there will be at least a few days where I can where sandals - it is summer after all. The weather mostly looks quite similar to a bay area winter day in the current forecast, but I'm optimistic we will get more sun. 

Hope you have a great Sunday!

February Goals

I need to run the numbers to finalize my goals for January, but thought I'd start focusing on February as well. 

It's going to be a month of adventure!

Financial:

• Continue to pay for both boys college expenses
• Stay on top of food waste by using up 3 pantry or freezer items
• Be more intentional about saving & spending. Immediately move all savings to account for Nick's college & track for motivation
• Find one expense to optimize
• Complete our taxes

Family:

• Continue to help the boys navigate college & life
• Monthly date with M
• Have a fabulous trip to NZ
• Finalize logistics for Greece trip
• Sort out/finalize move out trip to Boulder (Nick)
• Bucket list travel planning

Fitness:

• Continue with my focus on solving/resolving medical issues. Have two medical appointments - menopause & hip
• Lose 3 lbs
• 10 positive days in a month - strength train, No S, meditate
• Positive eating: track protein & produce
• Average 12,000 steps/day

Personal:

• 10 days of language lessons
• Declutter 50 items from the house
• Get together with friends
• Try something new & uncomfortable
• Say yes to more adventures
• Get to know our neighbors
• Try a new recipe

What about you? What are your goals for February?

Frugal Friday

I'm testing out a new category for my Frugal Fridays. I love travel savings & it's easier to read everything in one place, I think. This will be optional when I've booked something. 

Travel savings - I'm doing a March trip to Las Vegas (one night) & St. George/Zion with friends. I set a very limited budget for this trip. Here are the things I'm doing to keep the cost in check:

• I booked a promotional offer in Las Vegas, which makes the room free, provides $50 in gambling money (hilarious, but maybe I'll win big) & $200 of resort credit, which should cover lunch & dinner for both of us, if we're careful (food at the hotel we're at is expensive, and we don't have transportation to get around, but might walk - weather dependent). 
• Used a $500 credit card cash back statement (only for Southwest) to book my flight. Because I have A list status (also through my credit card), I got to select seats for free. I still have $70 or so of the credit to use for another flight.
• My friend has a house in St. George, so we will stay with her for free. She is also renting a car, and I will reimburse her for 1/3 of it (another friend is also going). 
• My friend is staying in St. George longer at her house, so we had the choice to fly in/out of the smaller regional airport, rent a car ourselves for the trip, or book a shuttle. The shuttle was by far the most economical choice, coming in around $57. 
• The rest of the small budget I set will be used on food in St. George, a hostess gift for my friend, etc.

Saving on things we buy

• Nick cancelled the digital book subscription that is charged automatically each semester, as he could buy the required books for much less. We received a refund of $225. 
• Used a gift card to buy Sam some jeans & a shirt for his birthday. Made sure to click through to Rakuten to save a bit more in cash back. 
• Similarly, used a $20 grocery store gift card to pick up a few of Sam's favorites for when we are traveling. Uploaded my receipts to Fetch & iBotta & saved a couple of dollars. 
• I also used a CVS $10 reward to pick up a pack of Valentine's Day cards + a birthday card. 

Earning money

• Filled out my expense report quickly, so I can get money back from my employer for my London trip. Not quite "earning money", but getting reimbursed quickly.
• My paycheck was again hard earned this week. 

Avoiding spending

• Tried a free Pilates class

Eating what we have

• Our menu plan didn't go as expected, as M forgot to pick up the stuffed peppers from Costco, and the street tacos only lasted one meal. For Monday's dinner, I defrosted chicken noodle soup & a piece of salmon. I had the soup, M had the salmon. Sam was at a study group. 
• The following night we had a chicken/rice/black bean/salsa combo (also from the freezer), which was pretty good & enhanced by the cilantro crema leftover from the street tacos. 
• Another freezer meal was consumed on Wednesday - chicken orzo + veggies. It was a little bland, but everyone was fed. I suppose the benefit of my menu plan falling apart is that we used up some freezer meals & created a bit more space. ;-) 
• When I woke up on Sunday like a bear from hibernation, I'd eaten very little the previous day & slept a lot. M made me a large breakfast sandwich, using up the last bagel, a slice of cheese, tomatoes & eggs, which was all from the fridge & easy to whip together. 

For others

• My mom does a lot for my special needs aunt, particularly after my grandmother died. I fund part of this, to help them both & because I'm not around enough to take my aunt out for lunch, or treat her to an extra splurge grocery run, etc. I increased this contribution for 2026, because it's such a small thing but helps both my mom & aunt out so much, which is awesome. 
• Helped my sister with a long travel booking using my dad's miles, a mileage transfer, a code share... it was an adventure, but saved her a lot of money! :-) 

What about you? Any wins to share? 

It's Thursday

 The week is going by exceptionally quickly, mostly because I have a ton to get done ahead of next week. But, time marches on, so here we go! Work has been absolutely wild & crazy, which is the biggest challenge. 

I did manage to serve dinner (orzo from the freezer) last night, and make it to my workout class, and send a request to get a bid on fixing our solar. I also picked up my prescription + ordered new jeans for Sam & picked up Valentine's & birthday cards. Woohoo for progress! Otherwise, it was all work, all the time.

As for today, it's going to play out in a similar fashion. Started the work day with an urgent call from my boss before 6 am, closing with a call that ends at 6 pm. Yuck.

Here's what I'm hoping to squeeze in around the fun:

• Sort out yet another creative dinner option
• Meditate/duolingo
• Work out
• Get in some steps
• Mail Nick's card
• Sort out transportation & logistics for my parents + the week we get back
• Make the to do list of everything else that needs to happen between now & next Wednesday

May the force (and productivity gods) be with all of you!

Wednesday things

I have no themes to my posts this week, so please bear with me. I'm usually more organized than this. This week is all about survival mode! I'm catching up at home & at work after having been at a four day all day work summit last week, which of course is part of work, but took me out of my day to day productivity. I'm jet lagged (although almost over that, hurrah), I have a team member leaving at the end of the week, another one going on PTO, a huge work project due this week, and I need to wrap a bunch of stuff up for my PTO that starts next Wednesday afternoon. So, just a bit to manage. ;-) 

I did call around yesterday to try & sort out our solar production, and found out that our panels haven't been sending power to the grid consistently all year. So frustrated by this, as our solar company went out of business. We were previously sent monthly reports where we could track production. They went bankrupt a few years ago, and the reports stopped. We could then only track our production through the "true up" power bill at the end of each year. It was a bit higher last year (our true up is in February, and the panels stopped sending to the grid in October of 2024), but we chalked that up to increased prices & more usage. This year, I got the true up & it was crazy high - because it's our entire power usage for the year, and we are also paying $15/month to send power to the grid, which we are not doing. Anyway, because the company is bankrupt, we have to try to find a solar company that maintains these type of grids. Please wish me luck! As someone who hates waste of any kind, I'm very frustrated we didn't catch this earlier, and/or there is not better alerting. It took some effort on my part to track this down, so I suppose better late than never? I really hope there's an easy solution here.

I did go to my workout class yesterday, and sorted out dinner for tonight & last night (freezer leftovers), so that was progress. Still working on the library. For the Y, I don't want to sign up until next month, due to our travels, so I may put that one off a bit & focus on a solve for the solar panels instead.

Okay, on to today:

• Workout class (I'm on the wait list, so if not, find another workout)
• Meditate/language lesson
• Be incredibly productive at work
• Start getting items ready for packing (we leave in a week!)
• Track down my parents travel while we're in NZ, so we can coordinate with Sam for airport rides
• Decide on birthday gifts for Sam

What about you? What's on your list for today? Hope everyone is staying warm & having a productive &  positive day. 

Tuesday things

I've got a full day ahead, but the good news is that the London jet lag means I'm up early in the mornings! Of course, I've been going to bed around 7 pm, so that's not sustainable either. ;-) I'm an early bird as is, but the jet lag makes it hard to stay awake until my normal 9 pm bed time.

I tried out a free Pilates class yesterday & really liked it, but the cost was absolutely eye watering. I'm going to see if I can find an alternative (the Y, maybe?) that provides most of the benefit at a much lower cost. I want to focus on adding in strength & core workouts (yoga, Pilates) in 2026 to help with some of my back & hip pain, so maybe the Y would be an option as the one near me has both. I need to call & see what they offer & their monthly cost.

M forgot to pick up the stuffed peppers from Costco, so I'm back to the drawing board for dinner tonight. I'm heading to a workout class this afternoon, so it will have to be something easy. I'm thinking meatballs. Sam & I will have them over pasta, but M will likely just have them on the side. 

Things I want to do today:

• Continue working on tracking down the drop in our solar production
• Call the Y for pricing & schedules
• Get the library app hooked up to my kindle
• Revise menu plan 
• Workout class
• Update my January workout numbers
• Follow up on summer vacation plans
• Go for a walk. My 12k step target is a ways off after my work trip, and I want to boost that back up

What about you? Hope everyone is staying warm! Nick reports that it's been very cold in Boulder!

Something different

I'm going to give this a try & then shut off comments, because I'm hoping this will be a one time note about this topic. Frankly, I was also really inspired by The Frugal Girl, who often says the things I'm thinking, but in a much more coherent way.

I wanted to address the comments regarding my lack of posts about the current administration - even those comments that have followed me around the blog space, with some commenting about how complicit I am all over the internet. You are totally entitled to your opinion. Here's mine.

I am heartbroken and exhausted & I have been for a long time. For those who somehow tied me together with being complicit and talking about who I voted for - well, you are incorrect. I stopped talking about all of that when my children became fodder for discussion & racism entered the discussion, and that was the end of my attempt to tie any amount of politics into this blog.

But, for the record, I loathe what I am seeing in the news, but I am currently walking a very thin line regarding my own mental health and energy management. I do not have the emotional strength to process this publicly or to curate a political discussion on this platform. Please understand that this blog is where I go to work on what I can control (money, my forever attempt to get healthy, balance & achieving personal goals) because the rest of it feels too heavy for me to carry. I like to focus on tangible things we can do in a world that really feels like it's gone crazy. That's how I handle this publicly. What I'm doing privately is not up for debate or discussion, but I do take action in my private life. I'm not open to sharing that here.

All of us handle things like this differently, and I respect that. Please respect my choices on this.

Menu Plan Monday

 I'm late, but definitely need a plan. Lord only knows what the boys ate while I was in London.

• Saturday - I went to bed at 6 pm, and M had a salad.
• Sunday - street tacos from Costco
• Monday - stuffed peppers (also from Costco)
• Tuesday - taco leftovers turned into a salad
• Wednesday - stuffed peppers
• Thursday - crockpot buffalo chicken + coleslaw
• Friday - lefotvers

It's a pretty uninspired menu plan, but it's something!

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

I'm back

 I got in yesterday afternoon. The sunshine was a nice treat after a week in London. ;-) I managed to get two load of laundry done, and my suitcase unpacked. Oh & I made lunch for Sam before he went to work. That's basically the full list of my accomplishments yesterday.

My flight left London at 10 am (aka 2 am in my current time zone) & I had to be up at 6 am to pack, check out & walk to the train station/take the train. I managed to stay awake until close to 6 pm PST, which meant I was awake for 20 hours. I did attempt to stay awake longer & have dinner with M, but that was just not happening. Traveling is very difficult on sleeping - I don't sleep on flights, I got about 5 hours of sleep a night thanks to jet lag in London. According to my sleep tracker, I'm running a 16 hour sleep deficit! Yikes. My goal is to get that down to zero before New Zealand. Interesting, NZ is so far ahead that it's only a three hour time zone difference, which is much more manageable for me than the 8 hours for London.

Things to do today:

• Call Nick
• Go on a hike (probably no backpack)
• Pick up the house
• Make a menu plan
• Go to bed early
• Bills 
• Create my schedule for the week 
• Add in my workouts for the week
• Call my mom 

What about you? What are you up to today?

Saturday Happenings

 M & I had a lovely date night last night, combined with a quick errand ahead of time. We got up this morning & did a 13 mile hike - my legs were definitely feeling it coming up the last incline. The last time we did this much distance, we didn't have our packs, and that makes such a difference.

When I get home next weekend, my goal is to do a trial backpack run & see exactly how much I need, anything I can remove, etc. Then there's just regular packing for the trip, but I have more time & don't need to worry as much about that.

I head to the airport in about an hour, and I guess I don't have to feel guilty for sitting & watching movies for the rest of the day on my flight, as I'm at 30k steps already for the day!

I'm hoping to finish a load of laundry & squeeze in a call with Nick before I head out.

Hope you all have a great weekend!

Frugal Friday

 For whatever reason, I have plenty to report this week! 

Saving on things we buy

• Uploaded a receipt to iBotta to earn $.10 off of any receipt
• My grocery store had $50 Uber gift cards generating $10 in grocery rewards. I often need to take Uber to the airport for work (we try to avoid it for personal travel, but also occasionally for this). I bought $200 worth, generating $40 in store rewards, which you convert to cash off your next purchase. Their rewards program is pretty simple, and we will definitely use $40 in grocery money. I'll have at least one if not two trips to the airport for my upcoming work trip, and $60 is about average for going to San Francisco from our house. These will definitely get spent. 
• Bought a couple of protein bars I like at Trader Joes, & applied two iBotta offers, saving $3 across both.
• Noticed that installing the New Zealand evisa app saved $3 over the cost of filling out the application online, so I did that. Once approved, I will remove the app. M did the same, saving us a whopping $6. 
• Used a $2 CVS coupon & combined with my $10 monthly credit to buy the last few straggler travel sized items we need for the trip. 
• Used a $20 Trader Joes gift card (won at a game at Christmas) to offset the cost of breakfast items for home + snacks/breakfast I'll pack for London. While I can technically eat breakfast for free at the office, I'm usually much better off calorie wise if I eat a protein bar in the morning & grab the free fruit cup. Not ideal, but trying to make it work while traveling. 
• Ordered delivery pizza for Nick and his friend on his last night before he went back home, and used a $5 credit.
• Used a Subway coupon as well for $2 off of a sandwich for Sam. 

Earning money

• Listed a few things on eBay & one of M's watches sold pretty quickly, and after fees I made just over $100. I'm starting a new savings challenges for 2026, where I'm working to save enough in a short-term account to reduce what we need to pull from our longer term savings to cover Nick's college. We're still using his 529, but I want to be prepared when that runs out (likely spring of next year). 
• Found $50 worth of gift cards when I was cleaning up & organizing our "incoming" mail area, which clearly doesn't get dealt with enough. ;-) 
• On the similar clean up, I cashed in a bunch of change for a Southwest gift card. The fees to exchange for cash on CoinStar are absolutely bonkers! Turned that into $33 that we will use for a trip in the future. 

Avoiding spending

• I was going to buy a travel size lip cream (this is not a vanity item, as it keeps me from needing to use a steroid on my lips thanks to my secondary autoimmune disease) to save some weight over the the full size cream. It felt very silly to consider, but we are at the point of packing where every ounce counts when you will be hiking for four days carrying your packs! I scoured my toiletries & came up empty, but went through them again, as I was reasonably confident I had a travel version that came as part of a purchase. Sure enough, found a new travel sized tube! Avoids waste, postage & $14 or so. And, I saved an ounce or so from my backpack weight. ;-) 
• M has spent a ton of time on appliance repairs lately. And, when it rains it pours. He's done two dishwasher repairs (our dishwasher is about 5 years old & he's probably repaired it 6 times), as well as replacing a problematic ice maker in our fridge, and a leak in our washing machine. He also replaced a part in the dryer over Thanksgiving. I'm so grateful he's handy & able to extend the life of our appliances. The washer & dryer are quite old & due to be replaced soon, but we will keep them out of the landfill as long as we can. 
• On the flip side of the gift cards, used one to buy myself + Sam lunch on a day when we both had a packed day. He picked up Subway for us (one of his favorites) using the gift card. I had enough for a second lunch. 

Eating what we have

• Nick & his friends left a few items in the fridge after their dinner party, and I've been steadily using up what was left over. There was heavy cream (most of a large container), as well as parmesan & parsley, so I took 1/2 of the meat from a rotisserie chicken & turned that into chicken Alfredo. Sam and his GF loved it, and each had 3 servings! 
• I also found cilantro tucked back into the fridge, so I have diced that up & put it on M's salad.
• For the other half of the $4.99 Costco rotisserie chicken, I first made broth, then took the broth + the rest of the chicken meat & made chicken noodle soup. I used part of a bag of noodles that were hanging out in the pantry. The broth & soup both used some very old carrots, so those are now gone. The $4.99 chicken is so incredibly cheap for a huge amount of chicken + the ability to make your own broth. 
• I have another set of chicken bones in the freezer, but need to wait to clear out more freezer space, so I can make more broth. Freezer space is currently in high demand at our house. We bought a few things for the teens to eat while we were gone, and they didn't seem to go through most of it. Getting the freezer into a more manageable state is a top priority. 
• Defrosted hamburger buns & hoagie buns for various buffalo chicken sandwiches for Sam. Bonus points that the coleslaw I made to accompany the buffalo chicken used up more of that heavy cream I'm trying to wrap up. Sam had the buffalo chicken on the buns on Saturday night after work, and I made him a quick lunch with the hoagie buns on Tuesday between classes. 
• Left Sam a plate for dinner another night, using up the rest of the fettuccine Alfredo. He has a much more intense class schedule + labs + work this quarter. 

For others:

• I picked ten bags of lemons from our tree to share with neighbors. There were so many interested folks! Love sharing & avoiding waste. 
• My sister & I share management of my special need's aunts admin tasks, as my parents get older. She largely handles health related issues & I handle finances & bill paying. I noticed her savings account did not pay interest (of any kind!?!!) & moved it over to a 6 month CD paying the best rate. She doesn't have much money, so it's even more important to optimize what she has. 
• My parents wanted to visit Nick in Boulder, so we used our Southwest points to buy their flights.]
• Gave away a bunch of clothes from M on Buy Nothing. 

What about you? Any wins to share?

Personal Goals for 2026

To the person/people adding all of the political comments, please know that I moderate all of the comments & I won't publish them. You also shouldn't make assumptions about how I feel or what I do outside of the blog, because you are likely incorrect. But, for my own mental health I choose to keep this blog largely politics free.

And, second update because commenter just can't let it go....You need to take a breath & focus on your own mental well being. I'm going to delete all of your posts without reading, so please stop wasting your time. Also, if you want to engage in a valid discussion and expect me to have one with you when I have 10+ years of content associated with this blog, please stop commenting anonymously. You have zero credibility and come across as a troll or a bot, regardless of if you are one. This isn't about whether I agree with you or not - it's about what I'm choosing to publish on my own blog. Get a grip.

Now onto regularly scheduled topics.

___________________________

As always, I have a lot I'd like to try personally in 2026. While I'm rarely able to accomplish the entire goal I set out for myself, I usually make solid progress against most of my goals in a year. Setting up each of my goal categories reminds me of what I want to focus on in the year ahead.

Turning 50 in 2026 has reminded me that there are plenty of personal & fun things I can accomplish, even when I'm busy at work. I don't have to be retired to meet my neighbors or say yes to adventures. 

My personal goals are about trying to get a little better about things I'm not good at (meeting the neighbors/new people, hosting at our house, cooking complex recipes) & pushing me out of my comfort zone (taking a class, trying new & uncomfortable things & saying yes to more adventures). 

I also just really want to learn another language, and Sam's GFs family speaks fluent Spanish (older relatives speak minimal English), so if we ever meet that group, it would certainly be useful. It is a fantastic life skill to have where we live, and I'd also love to have a bit of language competency for traveling, etc. 

The decluttering feels like a battle to stay on top of things that come into our house, and ensure we're slowly but surely whittling down our belongings over time. I know items come into the house, and unless I have dedicated goals to remove them, they tend to just accumulate!

On the friendship side, my friends are such a critical part of my life - they are my social circle, the people who listen when I am struggling, and I have more casual friends who meet me for a workout, or make me laugh over a glass of wine. I feel very lucky to have so many amazing women in my life, and friendships take time & effort, so I always want to prioritize that. 

The new grad career chat is a new one for me in 2026, and mostly because the job market for kids just getting out of college is terrible. I figure I can carve out a few hours to give them some advice, offer to introduce them to people, and make it just a little bit easier to navigate a challenging job market. I'll be curious to see how this goes in 2026. 

Recap of my personal goals for 2026:

• 100 language lessons
• Declutter 500 items from the house
• Take a class
• Get together with friends
• Try something new & uncomfortable
• Say yes to more adventures
• Get to know our neighbors
• Host at least 4 events at our house
• Master a complex cooking technique or one difficult recipe
• Offer to have two networking chats with new grads

What about you? Do you have personal goals on deck for 2026? Anything new you are trying this year? 

Fitness Goals for 2026

 Another topic that takes quite a bit of mind share, and I would like to make easier in 2026, as well as make progress. For those of you who are newer, I have two autoimmune diseases, so staying on top of my overall health & wellness is an absolute P0 for me. It's challenging, as lupus has no cure, and is a constant monitoring of many different systems & processes in your body. There are no clear answers, and any time you feel slightly under the weather, it can either be a normal & standard not feeling well, or the beginning of something more serious. 

I'm also at an age (cough) where there is more general maintenance and monitoring. I'm going through menopause & also experiencing just general symptoms & "getting older" type of changes, such as additional struggles maintaining my weight & shifting of where that weigh is on my body.

All that to say that I'm looking for balance & progress in 2026, making sustainable changes for my health for this year & beyond. 

I am looking for new tactics & tweaks to help drop some weight, manage stress, and of course manage my overall health & well being. 

As I mentioned in December, I'm also looking for positive habits I can make on a daily basis, as I tend to do very well with goals like "get in 12,000 steps/day", as I can remind myself at lunch or between meetings to squeeze in a few walks. I struggle with bigger/more nebulous "lose weight" goals. So, working to unpack these a bit. 

Lose 10 lbs:

This will really be about No S (no snacks, seconds or sweets, except on Saturday or Sundays) days, tracking calories & increasing my protein. My goal is to eat well the vast majority of days, to keep calories under control. When I eat lots of fruit & vegetables, I have less "room" for other food & tend to drop weight. So, that's another thing to focus on.

125 days:

I tried to think about what's a reasonable number for the days where I have reached my goals of strength training, meditation & healthy eating. Although, I want to continue tracking my calories every day, as per usual. 

Working out:

I want to continue my 12,000 steps/day goal, as I found that very motivating & also encouraged me to get in more basically activity on a regular basis (e.g. a quick walk between meetings, etc). 

I also really want to try new workouts, including getting back into yoga, perhaps something like a Power Core style workout, or something to help me build more core strength & hopefully reduce back pain. 

I also have lots of hiking planned, and maybe a half marathon in the fall. We shall see about that, based on the tendinitis in my hip. 

Overall health maintenance:

And finally, a few other things I will do to maintain my health.

• Get more massages (these really help)
• See a sports medicine doctor & get some solutions with my hip & back
• Get a mammogram
• Have regular check-ins with my lupus & primary doctors
• Complete all blood work regularly
• See a hematologist about some results

How are you approaching your health & fitness goals in 2026?

 

Fitness Monday

 It's the first official Fitness Monday of the year! I found it a pretty big struggle to get back into the groove last week, coming off of the time off & our various travels. But, starting around Thursday, I got my mojo back & was feeling better & more "ready" to tackle my new years plans & goals. 

To kick off the new year, the below covers the first 11 days of the year. 

Weight: 159. 3

Calories: 1644. This has been trending down since the first 5 or so days of the year, so heading in the right direction after a lot of splurging in Las Vegas.

Steps: 13,356

Workouts:

• 2 elliptical workouts
• 2 workout classes (one was a new class format & I burned 100 calories more than usual in the same 60 minutes - it was crazy intense!)
• 2 8 mile hikes
• 2 shorter walks (~1.5 miles)

Other:

• No S days - 3
• Average serving of fruit & vegetables/day - 6.8
• Average grams of protein/day - 68

Goals for the week ahead:

• 5 No S days
• A workout every day, including on Sunday when I arrived jet lagged in London. An easy going workout typically helps with the jet lag very much.
• Calories at or below 1500/day
• Boost the # of fruit & veggies to 8/day
• Get the protein up to 75 g/day
• Continue with no alcohol

What about you? How did you do with your health goals the first week of January? 

Menu Plan Sunday

 It's going to be a busy week, as I'm leaving for London on Saturday (drat) & have a lot to do to prep for that trip. I come home & have not too long & then we leave for our New Zealand trip (yay). Lots to do & get ready for!

Sam never has requests, but I pushed him to give me some ideas this week, and he requested buffalo chicken (never made it before) & chicken Alfredo. They are both on the menu this week.

• Friday - salmon & salad
• Saturday - buffalo chicken
• Sunday - chicken alfredo
• Monday - buffalo chicken
• Tuesday - leftover chicken alfredo
• Wednesday - chicken Dijon (didn't end up making last week)
• Thursday - leftovers
• Friday - TBD

What about you? What's on your menu this week? Do you have trouble getting menu suggestions/requests? Do you enjoy menu planning? I feel like it's a necessary step, but not at all something that I enjoy. 

Frugal Friday

 We are slowly getting back to real life around here. 

Saving on things we buy

• I save gas cash back offers (from my credit card) whenever they come through, as the teens are known to gas up at a variety of places. One was just redeemed, which saved us $1.99 in cash back.
• Nick was able to make it to the bank in person (required) to swap his accounts from a high school to college account. If he didn't get this done, he was going to start being charged $15/month, so a big impact to someone with a limited budget. 
• Uploaded a $.10 offer from iBotta

Earning money

• Sam got a small promotion at work, where he will be getting a larger part of the tipping pool, which is a nice benefit. 

Avoiding spending

• Nick gave us a ride to the airport, and Sam was able to pick us up, saving us the cost of parking or a ride share. 
• Returned a Christmas gift that Sam wasn't sure he would use. I did have to pay return shipping of $5, but decided I'd rather do that than have a store credit, so it's gone now. 

Eating what we have

• This was a bit of a frugal fail, but Nick picked up takeout Greek food on Sunday when we got back from the airport. I always order a few extra sides of protein, which helps us stretch the food out for multiple extra lunches (typically three lunches). Not ideal, but stretching what we did buy, at least. 
• Made spaghetti & meatballs + garlic bread, using up largely pantry & freezer ingredients.
• Nick hosted a dinner party on New Years, and there were some leftovers in the fridge from that, so we are working our way through a few extra (peeled) potatoes, parsley, bacon & the like, to ensure that doesn't get wasted. I used the potatoes with some additional veggies to make a sheet pan bake for dinner one night, and I've been adding the parsley to M's salad. 
• Defrosted chicken parmesan (freezer leftovers) & served that over the leftover spaghetti & sauce from the meatball dinner. 

For others

• Made some small donations, and gave away a lot on Buy Nothing.

What about you? Any wins to share?

More on family goals for 2026

 I keep my yearly & monthly goals organized by category (finances, family, fitness & personal). This year, I'm trying to do more of a deep dive on what I want to accomplish on each one. Happy to share if useful for others, but this is also for me, as I figure out my approach & how I want to break down these lofty yearly goals into tangible monthly (& often more frequently) goals.

For the "Family" bucket, my goals are to enjoy life with the boys, M & of course my parents, sister, nephews, etc as well. I have an amazing family, and spending time together always makes me happy. I know not everyone has that luxury and I also am aware that my parents are 75 & 73, and we are so lucky that they are healthy & active. One of the reasons we invited them to join us in Las Vegas a week or so ago was just to take advantage of their good health while we can.

My specific goals are as follows:

• Help the boys navigate college & life
• Monthly dates with M
• Travel
• Plan & have two fantastic & reasonably on budget international trips - New Zealand & Greece
• Plan a trip to Rocky Mountain National Park
• Go on four local hiking trips
• Continue bucket list travel planning 

Help the boys navigate college & life:

Oooh, 2025 was an adventure in this category for sure! We had Nick choosing colleges, moving in & all of the angst and decisions, and Sam making a swap with his college. At this point, our role is to be coaches & guides to the boys, while helping them make informed decisions with their own lives. This sounds well & good, but there are days I really want to strongly tell them how do to things. ;-) Somehow, that's just not a recipe for success! 

Nick is reasonably well settled & enjoying Boulder, but he needs to sort his housing for next year (super pricey & challenging to lock down in Boulder), as well as stay the course with grades, ensuring his engineering program is all set, and make good decisions. He does not need a job during the school year, but did work over both Thanksgiving & winter break, and will work again over the summer. Our expectations for next year will perhaps be a bit different, but adjusted based on what he can fit in, as his courses might be quite challenging. He also goes to the gym every day (I'm so impressed!) & is in great shape - taking care of himself is good for his study habits as well, he says, as it adds structure to his day & gives him energy to study.

Sam is also enjoying his college time, although works quite a bit during the week & is still really honing in on what he wants to do. He is a bit further behind Nick on executive functioning tasks, so I do still provide some support on helping him think through things like how to navigate the degree & (eventual) transfer process. The level of support he gets from his academic advisor vs Nick is stark, as it's almost impossible to get the same level of guidance, so I'm filling in some of the gaps as I can.

Monthly dates with M:

Honestly, this is a pretty easy one now that we are empty nesters, but I keep it on my list because it's such an enjoyable goal and our relationship is so important to me. Our New Zealand trip has provided so much opportunity for planning, training, prep & has really brought us even closer together. I've loved it!

Travel:

Oh, I could have an entire travel blog about the places I want to go, but alas, I'm a really terrible photographer, so that would probably not be terribly interesting for anyone to follow along with. 

New Zealand - we are less than a month out, and things are really under way! We have just a couple of very small elements to iron out, and then the epic packing to reduce our backpacks to the absolute lightest weights will commence. We will have a second bag that we can store at the hiking company, so we have regular people clothes & shoes post hike. 

Greece - also mostly coordinated, although we need our inter island flights taken care of & to coordinate a few additional details. We haven't booked any tours or activities, but our primary flights & hotels are taken care of. The fun part of making lists of restaurants, and looking at activities will begin soon, & I love that part of travel planning!

Rocky Mountain National Park - I love hiking & want to visit more national parks, so I'm really hoping I get to add this one to the list in 2026. We shall see, as it's near(ish) to Nick, as well as my BFF. Much of my 2026 plans are dependent upon work travel, but I'd love to connect a trip to Nick with this. 

Four local hiking trips - we are lucky & have so many great options! We are thinking Joshua Tree (local-ish) for a long weekend, Pinnacles National Park (day trip), and Sequoia and Redwoods National Park. That would be amazing. There are closer hikes we can also fit in, as well. I'm considering a March trip back to Utah & Zion with a friend, and M & I are discussing Sedona in October for our anniversary.

Bucket list travel planning - this is really about identifying my top choices, and trying to slot them into appropriate years & budgets. Given M is close to 60, we are also looking to heavily prioritize the active adventure type trips sooner rather than later. At the top of the list currently: Patagonia, Iceland, Camino de Santiago, Dolomites, Banff/Lake Louise, and a big Yosemite trip. More to come here, as M is also making noise about the Maldives, due to the length of the travel trip (would prefer to do it now, when we can more easily handle it.) Stay tuned, as we continue to plan & budget for these bigger trips!

What about you? Do you have family goals in 2026?