Tokyo, by the numbers

 I sometimes get asked what a standard work travel day looks like, so here are some details:

• Up at 5:30 am (Sunday, PST). Coffee, finished last minute packing
• Made final notes for the teens/M for the day
• 30 minutes on the elliptical
• Lyft picked me up at 8 am
• Got to SFO just before 9 am. Made it through security & went to the lounge.
• Filled my water bottle, & had some fruit & eggs for breakfast.
• Got to the gate at 9:40, exactly at the pre-boarding phase. I board ahead of "group 1", which I'm not sure if that's a blessing or a curse. Always room for your bags, but more time on the plane!
• I was flying business, which was a gift, despite not sleeping. 
• Flight was delayed, so we didn't take off until 11:30. I try to stand up (it's a single seat, and I'm not in the aisle, so there's room to stand) & walk around a bit until the flight actually leaves.
• Flight was approximately 10.5 hours long. I watched two movies (some really awful Jennifer Lopez/Josh Duhamel wedding movie + the original Fast & The Furious), plus a bunch of episodes of House, which I liked. I also read a bit.
• On the flight, I had my pre-ordered meal (chicken curry + salad), skipped the dessert & alcohol. It was hard to say no to a glass of rose on the flight! I skipped the snack & breakfast service. I mostly had tea, because it was freezing on the flight, despite wearing pants, two layers on top, and having the blankets. 
• Landed at approximately 2 pm JST. Got through security & customs by 2:45, in a taxi by 3. (The taxi line was super long).
• Got to my hotel around 3:30. Unpacked, and then headed to the gym. This is all part of the plan to stay awake until as close as possible to evening in Japan. 
• Did an hour on the elliptical, and read on my Kindle.
• Back to my room to do some work, catch up on family stuff & watch some Netflix.
• I also ordered room service & got a new menu item (I've been to this hotel many, many times) - the Power Bowl, which was a bunch of veggies, quinoa & chicken. I was starving, and hadn't eaten in maybe 15 hours, so I also had a side of truffle fries. Both were great. 
• Stayed up until 7 pm, and I tried to make it to 7:30, but no chance. Woke up at 3 am JST, because #jetlag.
• Finally got out of bed at 4, admitting to myself that I wasn't going to fall back asleep. My back was killing me, after the plane time, plus the generally inactive day.
• Worked from 4-6 am. The espresso machine in my room wasn't working, and I had a wicked caffeine headache. Hotel restaurant wasn't open, so I had a Coke Zero out of the mini bar. I do not regularly drink soda, but my body really appreciated the caffeine.
• Ran on the treadmill at the gym. Let's just say that they don't have the AC on (it's 90 degrees currently in Tokyo), the treadmills don't have fans, and they still have the COVID protocol plexiglass shields surrounding each treadmill. It was like running in a sauna! 
• Picked up a to go latte at the restaurant on the way back to my room. 

Off to shower & head to the office, where I have meetings from 9-7. After that, my goal is to stay awake & sleep from 8-4 tonight (then, 9-5 tomorrow, if possible). I'll likely pick something up on my way back to the hotel. Typically, I have work dinners every evening, but this trip was unplanned & I'm the only "visitor" in town, so no dinners! I'm ever so grateful I can relax a bit in the evenings. 

A day(ish) in the life on a work trip!

Saturday Happenings

I'm trying to hit the right balance of productivity & relaxing today, as it's my only weekend day. My ride is picking me up at 8 am tomorrow, to head to the airport for my trip to Japan. Long travel days are definitely not relaxing.

I got up this morning, and went to a workout class. Came home, showered & went to Sam's soccer game. Sam has been playing soccer for 12 years, and as far as I can recall, this is the first time he's ever needed to sub out due to injury. Both boys have been incredibly lucky in that regard. He got elbowed in the face, and had a bloody nose that lasted for most of the second half. 

What else is on the to do list for today?

• Finish my last minute packing
• Read by the pool for a bit?
• Make dinner - I'm trying this chicken & orzo skillet recipe 
• Package up a few returns
• Laundry. Sam has a second game tomorrow, so hoping I can get all of that blood out of his uniform. 
• Do some budget management & spreadsheet entry

What about you? What are you up to today? 

Frugal Friday

 Here's what we've been up to lately:

Saving on things we buy:

• Used a $10/$50 grocery store offer, plus two $2 salad coupons at the grocery store, and picked up the Friday Freebie. Uploaded the receipt to iBotta to save another $2.85. I also played the Monopoly game, and earned another $.50 back. 

Earning money

• Nothing to report here

Avoiding spending

• Used a gift card to buy a gift

Eating what we have

• My taste buds are definitely still out of whack, which is making eating a bit more unpredictable than usual. I also still wasn't feeling great last weekend, so I ordered another (hopefully last for a while) delivery dinner. I did have leftovers, and ate that for two meals. 
• Made the boys some creative meal options last weekend. If I have food that needs to be used, as long as I prep it for lunches or whatever, they will eat what i'd like them to. If I leave it to them, they go for the first visible item in the fridge or pantry, and often not as healthy of options. ;-) 
• Made a huge batch of applesauce, out of neighbors apples she was giving away. Turned 1/3 of that into two dozen muffins.
• Also turned a bunch of overripe bananas from the freezer into another two dozen muffins. 

For others

• Helped my family (x2) with travel logistics, when their flights were diverted en route to my nephew's 21st birthday trip. Spent at least two hours on the phone with Southwest, to ensure they had flights home, and to get them the credit for the diverted flight. 

What about you? Any wins to share?

September Goals

 I have a crazy September, with an unexpected trip to Japan (work) & my sister's 50th birthday trip (France). I'm very excited for the France trip, but the Japan trip got added last minute & is making September feel particularly nuts. As a result, I'm trying to keep my goals realistic for the month.

Financial:

• Stick to our budget
• Use 3 "hard to use" freezer/pantry items
• Stay on track with travel budget

Family:

• Have one date with M
• Take Nick out
• Set up weekly kid/mom meetings

Fitness/Health:

• Lose 3 lbs
• Run 60 miles
• Follow the No S diet...entirely, when not traveling + in Tokyo, and loosely in France

Personal/Creative:

• Do something social with friends
• Practice French on Duolingo
• Have a fabulous trip to France

What about you? What's on your list of goals for the month? 

August Goals Recap

 Wow, August was a wild ride, closing with the running relay & COVID! Here's what I accomplished for my goals this month.

Financial:

• Stick to our budget - we did "okay" this month, but had a lot of back to school expenses. 
• Use six "hard to use" freezer or pantry items - I used a ton of bananas, to make muffins. We also ate through quite a few freezer leftovers, when the boys were with my parents. 
• Make $100 in side hustle - I made $0 in side hustle in August

Family:

• One fun activity with the kids - I did a breakfast & a lunch out with Sam, but Nick & I didn't get to anything this month (unless you count those doctor's visits ;-)). That's on my list for next month! However, I did get Nick to deep clean his room, which was a crazy time investment, and so very worth it! He got rid of about 1/3 of his room contents. 
• Prep & get ready for back to school - Done. All registrations, sports physicals, & forms complete!
• Work in the yard - I did okay with this. Some garden work, but not as much as I'd have liked. 
• Two dates with M -  Yes! We had a long weekend together in Las Vegas, and several afternoons with cocktails by the pool
• Prep for September travel - yes. Made a lot of progress on this

Fitness/Health:

• Complete my running plan for the month & successfully finish my legs at Hood to Coast - yes & yes! Despite not feeling well
• Follow the No S diet - yes, this is still going well
• Meditate 3x - nope
• Have a colonoscopy - yes, and what a treat that was ;-) 

Personal:

• Do something social with friends - yes, I met a couple friends for coffee, walks & a hike
• Practice French on Duolingo - yes, most days
• Finalize all France activities - yes! we are 95% of the way complete
• Give away 20 items on Buy Nothing - I probably 3x'd this target
• Try new garden recipes - Not a new recipe, but I did make pickled jalapenos for M
• Get back into journaling - nope

That's it for me. How did you do with your goals for August? 

Menu Plan Monday

Getting back into the swing of things, post COVID. There was a lot of takeout, and I'm happy to get back into eating home prepped food. 

• Friday - ground beef tacos 
• Saturday -  orange chicken & fried rice
• Sunday - chicken fajitas
• Monday - creamy chicken & orzo skillet
• Tuesday - leftover tacos
• Wednesday - leftover fajitas
• Thursday - leftover chicken & orzo
• Friday - any remaining leftovers, or pizza

What about you? What's on your menu this week? It's expected to cool off this weekend, which makes prepping & cooking food a bit more appealing!

It's Sunday

 I was moderately productive yesterday, but definitely didn't get as much done as I would have liked. 

I did a video call with my friends, to finalize some our France trip details, then ordered a few things I'm still missing, and booked our train travel while we're there. I made two dozen muffins, did some laundry & cleaned all of Nick's junk out of my closet & listed almost all of it on Buy Nothing. That was a big time hit, but I'm thrilled to have made progress on that. I also worked out, and while it was tiring, it felt good to get back to a routine.

As for today:

• Clean the house. For real. It's so messy, after I was out of town last weekend.
• Laundry
• Make a chicken dish (find out who will be eating)
• Work out
• Send revised France itinerary to friends
• Work on budget/bill paying
• Coordinate Buy Nothing pickups
• September goals
• August goals recap
• Make banana muffins
• Clean freezer

What about you? What are you up to today?

Saturday Happenings

 M(tested negative before he left, phew) flew to Las Vegas on Thursday to meet up with my dad, uncle, sister's partner & my nephew, for my nephew's 21st birthday celebration. The Portland based crowd attempted to fly in yesterday. They got within 100 feet of the runway, and the visibility was so bad that the pilot aborted the landing. Eventually, they ended up in LAX, with no possible flights to Las Vegas, and not even an option to get home that night. You also don't get hotel accommodations if your flight was canceled/diverted due to weather. 

After reboarding the flight again, and then it being cancelled, they ended up driving to Las Vegas, and got there at 1 am. I'm so grateful they made it there safely! What an adventure they've already had, and the trip hasn't even started. Fingers crossed that the rest of the trip is awesome.

I'm thrilled to have a long weekend. I'm very far behind on life & work, after the past week. Here's what's on the agenda (and, as always, some will spill over, so think of this as more of a weekend vs today list):

• Virtual happy hour call with my sister & BFF, to discuss our France plans.
• Make 3 dozen muffins. Maybe more, if I get the freezer organized.
• Use/freeze the applesauce that I made last night. Some of it will go into the muffins. I turned a huge bag of fallen apples from a neighbor's tree into sauce. They were thrilled to get rid of them, and I was able to use 90% of them. Some were a little too far gone, but I caught most of them in time.
• Vacuum
• Clean the kitchen
• Clean the bathrooms
• Scrub the shower
• Laundry
• Wash all the sheets
• September goals
• August goal recap
• Figure out what I'm packing for France
• Give away at least 20 items on Buy Nothing
• Sort out math tutoring
• Sign up for Farsi language practice
• Clean the fridge
• Catch up on bills/budget tracking

What about you? What are you hoping to accomplish this weekend?

Frugal Friday

It was definitely not a frugal week, as it involved a lot of takeout while I was isolating from everyone, medicine & COVID tests. 

A roundup of a few things that saved money:

• I didn't eat much at the relay, save for the packed snacks, as I didn't have much of an appetite.
• I ate nothing at the airport (either way), & filled my water bottle for free.
• M dropped me off & picked me up at the airport, saving on the cost of transportation
• I used a Panera gift card to order myself a couple of lunches, as well as a family feast to feed everyone one night. We don't do delivery meals often (crazy pricey), but there are times when they are exactly what you need.
• I also used DoorDash credits (from my credit card) to order another dinner for myself one night. I locked myself into my bedroom & tried to avoid being in the main living space as much as possible.
• I found burgers & buns in the freezer, so M could pull together a quick dinner for himself & the teens, in between tutoring & sports practice.
• I made myself an egg burrito, using the very last of some shredded cheese, & a tortilla I found in a drawer in the way back of the fridge. It's always nice to use up some containers. 
• I had another creative lunch (strawberries from the garden, 1/2 a bagel with fresh leftover mozzarella cheese that needed to be used up + a garden tomato & the last of a large container of soup I ordered earlier in the week). 
• And, I loved the 1/2 bagel + fresh mozzarella + garden tomato combo so much, that I had it for dinner another night. There's still quite a bit of fresh mozzarella left, so maybe it will be back for a triple repeat :-) 

I'm hoping to be back, with more energy & more frugality next week! 

No menu plan, but an update

Starting off with the positives - I completed my relay & had an awesome time with the best group of van mates you could ever ask for! It was a fun & supportive bunch.

My first leg was near Boring, OR & was not only incredibly hot (90, and 100 on the pavement), it was also high AQI thanks to a nearby wildfire. That run was by far the most challenging for me, and way hillier than expected, with a lot more elevation than described in the course guide. When I could see my team waiting for me at the top of the last hill, I almost cried, I was so grateful. 

My second leg was at night, as we moved closer to the Oregon coast. It was the "very hard" leg, and lived up to its reputation. Tons & tons of very steep hills, but I was lucky that it was paved. The guy who I handed off to ran a very similar leg, on gravel, which is just so much harder to run on. I appreciated the cool temperature so much, but running at night with a head lamp & on pitch black road (this was WAY out in the country) freaked me out a little. I was worried about falling, but made it happen.

My last leg was the easiest of the bunch, and the first leg that I finished below my expected pace time. The other two I came in around 10 seconds over. I was ever so grateful to be done, and my quads were killing me, as I wrapped up the last mile (on a huge incline, because of course).

On the bad news, I felt terrible starting on Thursday, tested for COVID before I left. I was negative, but got progressively worse throughout the weekend. It was only thanks to TheraFlu, and lots of cough drops & tea that I finished at all. Came home last night, and tested positive. I feel terrible for all of my van mates, and my parents, who we met for brunch yesterday. I picked up COVID at the work offsite we had last week, which apparently became a super spreader event. 

I'm so happy I finished, but really want to do it again. I was well trained, but all of the training in the world couldn't overcome how fatigued I was. I felt like I was running in slow motion, even though I was giving it 100% effort. I'd love to run again, when I'm feeling at my peak. We're discussing signing up again next year, and/or finding a one day event, and adding a half in for 2024. 

And, no cooking or menu plan for me this week. I'm isolating in one bedroom, to hopefully avoid spreading this to M & the boys. 

Stay healthy out there, everyone!

Frugal Friday

 I'm setting this up to publish automatically, as I'll be out in a van, running my relay, hoping to survive on zero sleep & sore legs!

Saving on things we buy

• I used a $20 grocery store reward to pick up items Nick wanted. He made a birthday cake for a friend, and also asked for a few snack/smoothie items for back to school. 
• We have been wanting a generator for awhile, and found a used one via the for sale group at work.
• I used a credit card offer to save a little bit off of two tours we booked for our France trip. 
• We typically do delivery pizza as a first day of school treat. I had a $5 discount code in my app, that I used to cover a bit of the cost.
• I picked up free apples on BN. Now, I need to make apple sauce!

Earning money

• I received a check of $18 from Rakuten, for online purchases (most of which was from a purchase of 2 pair of running shoes, I believe).
• I received a full refund from USPS for the lost eBay item, so while I didn't earn any money, I was able to keep the money I earned from the original sale. (I refunded the buyer, of course.)

Avoiding spending

• M is able to take me both ways to/from the airport for my trip, saving the cost of a Lyft.

Eating what we have

• Sam & I went to lunch together on Thursday (after his senior picture appointment didn't happen), & I had leftovers for breakfast one day.
• Made a triple batch of pickled peppers, to use up some garden produce. 
• We've been eating lots & lots of tomatoes from the garden

For others

• I volunteered at a food bank. We had a work event, and were looking for a way to spend time together & get to know each other a bit more. I suggested a food packing event at a food bank (we've also done a huge garden clean up at a school, which was a lot of fun). It's free for us, helpful to others, and I always enjoy it more than getting together over drinks & snacks. I think most of my peers felt the same, which is great!
• I made donations to the school on behalf of both boys, and submitted for a match via the company I work for.

What about you? Any wins to share?

Menu Plan Monday

Honestly, there hasn't been much cooking happening around here, for several reasons. I'm working a lot, particularly in the early evenings, as I work through a large project with Japan. It's also been hot, and I hate using the kitchen in the evenings. Finally, we never know who will be around for dinners, so we frequently have leftovers we can eat instead. 

Nonetheless, we usually have a rough plan:

• Friday - I had leftover chicken & rice, with tomatoes & strawberries on the side (garden). M had salmon. I made Nick taco quesadillas, using up the last of the taco meat.
• Saturday - chicken yakisoba
• Sunday - steak & scalloped potatoes
• Monday - first day of school! We may do delivery pizza, as a celebration
• Tuesday - caprese salad (tomatoes/basil from the garden) with grilled burgers (freezer)
• Wednesday - leftover yakisoba
• Thursday - I'll be eating with my sister & BFF, after flying to Portland. The boys will have leftover pizza 
• Friday - I will be eating van food. M & the boys will be having leftover burgers, assuming anyone is home!

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

Saturday Happenings

 It was a really, really long work week. I'm happy to see the end of it. Still reading about the horror stories in Maui, and now thinking about NWT in Canada. M's cousin lives in that area. Our wildfire season typically starts in October, so to be having this kind of fire in August is really scary. 

I leave on Thursday for Portland, and our relay starts bright & early on Friday (6:30 am). I'm in the second van (there are 12 people, six in each van) & the first van starts at Mt. Hood ski area. I'm the first runner in our van, which means I will need to figure out who the runner from van 1 is who is handing off to me. I'm expecting to run my legs at: Leg 1 at 1 pm on Friday, Leg 2 at 12:15 am on Saturday, and Leg 3 at 10:20 am Saturday. I'll also be the first one done in our van, which is kind of nice. On the flip side, it's been incredibly hot in Portland, and I'm really dreading running in the heat. Luckily, I have only the first leg where it could theoretically be hot, which is nice. Some of my van mates may be running both legs 1 & 3 in the heat. The race finishes in Seaside, and then we'll be staying the night at a local beach town. It's also the town where we used to have our vacation house, so it will be so very nice to see Manzanita again! I've missed that place. I do not like running after I've eaten (another reason why I prefer to run in the mornings), so I'm trying to figure out easy food options for the van, that won't be hard to run on (PB&J & bananas, maybe?) My hardest leg is leg 2, and I'm not much of a night owl, so that 12:15 am start time will be quite a challenge. ;-) It's six very hilly miles, through the Neahkahnie mountains. Regardless, it's going to be an adventure!

What am I up to today? Plenty to do, as always. And, some items on this list will inevitably shift to tomorrow, as needed:

• Go to an early workout class
• Review the family rules with the teens. We've always had family rules (curfew, electronics usage, chores, etc) & review them before the start of each school year
• Pack for the relay. It involves a bunch of odd stuff, lots of layers, and you have super minimal space, due to six people in a van. Luckily, I've done this before, and have done the walking version many times, so at least I have some experience.
• Laundry
• Menu plan
• Make shopping list
• Go to TJs & the grocery store
• Vacuum
• Clean the bathrooms
• Clean the kitchen
• Give away a few things on BN
• Review our car insurance
• Go through school supplies with boys/have them clean out their backpacks
• Download books to my Kindle, for the flights to/from
• See if I can make a prepayment on a France hotel, to take advantage of a credit card offer
• Work in the garden

That's it on my side. What about you? What are you up to today? Any food option recommendations that might work to have in the van, & would be easy on my stomach?