Sunday plans, & February challenges

I'll be recapping my goals soon & setting new goals for February, but wanted to start thinking about some sort of food/pantry goal in February. 

I received two very discounted offers for food delivery services (Blue Apron, Hello Fresh) for the month, & have decided to try them & see what we can do to fill in around them. We spent zero dollars on dining out in January, so I'll roll that money forward into February dining out. We also have a couple of birthday in February, and we will be doing takeout (selected by the birthday person) & the delivery service meals will certainly mix up our norm. For Hello Fresh, we opt for the 2 person serving, and Blue Apron will be a 3 person serving. We'll plan to fill in around the gaps with one additional planned meal a week, and then frozen leftovers.

M & I are also fasting two days/week, which will reduce food needs a bit further (total of four skipped meals, x2 people, per week). 

Here's what I'm thinking for the menu this week (Blue Apron starts the following week)

• Friday - Baked chicken & green beans (I had the last of the sesame beef)
• Saturday - Nick was supposed to cook, but finally got an open tennis court with Sam, so I handled dinner & changed plans at the last minute. The kids getting any outdoor time together is a big win. I made pad thai with gluten free noodles (details coming) that was awesome. I served it with shrimp (M) & chicken (the rest of us). 
• Sunday - Nick is making chicken mango tacos. I'll make chicken yakisoba, for myself & leftovers for the week. The Hello Fresh tacos tend to serve 3, so if we can make it stretch, the yakisoba will just roll forward to another day. I like to have food for the week prepped ahead of time, regardless.
• Monday - I have a late meeting, so Nick will make taquitos. M can't eat taquitos, so he'll have salmon.
• Tuesday - yakisoba, or if we need another option, dragon noodles & turkey meatballs for protein.
• Wednesday - taco slaw (freezer), with additional cabbage
• Thursday - leftover dragon noodles & meatballs (salmon for M)
• Friday - either the new Hello Fresh meal, or leftovers

Factoring in the cost of the delivery services, I think I can cut $250-275 off of our spend from January. It's not sustainable to do this with delivery services, as these are special one time offers, and they will be cancelled after the promotion period. It would be great to get our February food spending so low, so that's my challenge for the month.

On to what's happening today:

• Run
• Vacuum
• Clean the kitchen
• Take Nick to volleyball
• Go to Target. Pick up a couple of freebies.
• Work on another hat for the homeless
• Start my new strength challenge (the January one only had 30 days, and the February one also comes with 30 days, as they are month agnostic)
• Plan my schedule for the week: work, workout, & fasting days
• Mail/package up an eBay sale
• Set February goals

For those of you who are gluten free, or looking for low carb options, I wanted to recommend these "Healthy Noodles" that we bought at Costco. We used them to make pad thai (the recipe is on the back) & they were delicious & had very few calories (30 calories/serving). This is not a sponsored link - I just really liked the noodles & know there are quite a few low carb/Keto people out there. Enjoy!

What about you? Are you doing any fun February grocery challenges?

Good things

Good things feel few & far between in COVID times, but here are two things I'm celebrating on this Saturday.

• Long time readers may remember that Sam was hit by a car while biking to school last year. It's taken ~18 months & lots of calls & emails, but both asks that I made to the county/city/freeway people were finally approved & implemented! You can no longer make a free right on red, in the midst of an incredibly busy intersection featuring many bikers & pedestrians. And, the people exiting the freeway on a short exit ramp are now warned about entering a heavy bike/pedestrian area. The only reason the required work could be done was because...no kids are currently biking/walking to school due to COVID, so I'll take my blessings where I can. Sidenote: still can't talk/write about the accident without crying, because...it was an incredibly close call. We are so blessed to have a healthy (almost) 15 year old.
• I've been experimenting with intermittent fasting, and have realized how important it is to distract yourself during periods of intense hunger. Combine that with my parents (both 65+) being unable to locate a COVID vaccine in their very rural community. In an attempt to distract myself from feeling hungry, I started researching. And, several hours later, I found an appointment for both of my parents! They will need to drive 3 hours each way, wait for an hour between appointments, but they are so incredibly excited to get an appointment. My dad's biking buddy is in their "bubble", and they were able to get him an appointment at the same time, so they will all get a vaccine next Friday. I can't describe how happy & grateful I am to know that my parents will be able to get a vaccine. Woohoo! Yeah for being hungry & needing a distraction. Also, what a milestone. One step closer to normalcy. My parents have been spending hours each day attempting to locate a vaccine appointment, so this is such an exciting step for them.

And with that, it's Saturday! Here's my list that I'd like to accomplish today:

• Make ham salad. I've never had or made ham salad, but I have a package of ham that needs to be used up, and it looks intriguing.
• Use up lemons/limes that neighbor dropped off
• Package & mail eBay sale
• Work out
• Get refi papers sorted. We're a week or so away, and have the final items to complete
• Pick up a few things at the store
• Clean the house
• Laundry (always)

It's a pretty short list & I'm feeling good about it. What about you? Tell me one good thing that's happened lately. 

Frugal Friday

Hello, frugal friends. I'm continuing to focus on our grocery budget, while also looking for other wins. I've added a new category around food, to try & motivate myself to use up things that are otherwise just lingering in the freezer & pantry. I organized my freezer & garage pantry & can say that the time investment has already paid off, making it easier for me to find things & remember what we have on hand. 

Buckle up, there's a lot to share this week! :-) 

Saving on things we buy

• M found two of the vitamins my doctor requested I take, on sale at Costco for a great price, saving $5/each off of a normally inexpensive Costco price. Double win. 
• I contacted Rite Aid about an order that was over a month late, and damaged. They credited me back $32 (full order price), which was awesome, as some of the items were still savable. I then used the credits (they didn't refund my credit card, but instead gave me Bonus rewards) to take advantage of the spend $50/earn a $15 offer this week. I bought $95 worth of toiletries and other things we need (plus, things to donate to the local high school) for $60, and earned another $35 in bonus rewards. I was able to get a year's supply of dental flossers, two large packs of toilet paper & paper towels, etc, so it was quite a deal. I did mess up on one of the deodorants, and missed out on another $4 off, but I don't due these drug store hauls often, so didn't expect total success. I'm no Sluggy ;-) 
• I went back to Rite Aid with my $35 in bonus rewards & bought a bunch of grocery items for free, and earned another $22 in rewards. I noticed on my way out that I was $1 away from another $3 reward, so bought a box of cereal to donate for $2 & made $1 off of that deal. 
• Uploaded all of my receipts to Fetch

Earning money

• I've continued to list & sell things on eBay. 
• Sold this week:
• A race workout shirt
• An outgrown hoodie
• A necklace charm
• Two books I picked up in a freebie pile
• This one is for Nick to earn money, but I picked up two bikes for him from our neighborhood group. He is practicing his bike mechanic skills, and will fix them up & sell them. 

Avoiding spending

• Spent a lot of time (2+ hours) with Amazon on two incorrect charges that were appearing on my credit card, but not tied to my account. Eventually received credit for the $14.99 + $9.99, and turned off the erroneous services. These were subscription services, so the time effort will pay off indefinitely.
• I used a Target gift card to get $50 worth of groceries & Valentine's Day treats for $0, as well as a large bottle of ibuprofen. I also used $.59 of Target rewards to drop the price a little bit more.
• Through a planned combination of using Target gift cards on groceries, and keeping our shopping list to the minimum, we had one of our least expensive weekly Costco shopping trips in a long time - $81. Yay!

Food savings/eating everything we have (trying this out as a new category)

• I went through & itemized our freezers. (We have two fridges, both with lower freezer areas.) I made a list of frozen meals, as they are building up & I want to incorporate them into our menus. Things that came out of the freezer as a result:
• Ham & bean soup 
• Chicken & dumplings 
• Carnitas (on top of lunch salads)
• I made roasted potatoes to stretch a dinner on Friday, which had the double benefit of using up potatoes that were getting past their prime. I then used leftovers of the roasted potatoes in three breakfasts.
• Used the last of slivered almonds (Thanksgiving) & dried mango (lingering in pantry) + pureed pumpkin (freezer) to make a batch of granola.
• Using my lemon curd in plain yogurt (which, I don't prefer, but is healthier & happens to be in the fridge) with the granola
• Used overly ripe bananas to make chocolate chip banana bread
• Organized my garage food storage area, to make it easier to see what we have. 

For others

• Continued working at my volunteer job
• Requested a match for volunteer hours worked in January (my company makes a cash donation)
• Gave away books on our local Buy Nothing. Kids books are hard to find right now, with libraries closed, so I'm happy to give some of our books away for others to enjoy
• Gave away extra lemons I couldn't use up, when people picked up the Buy Nothing group (I asked if they were interested first)
• Used some of my Rite Aid rewards to stock up on food bank donations
• Shared banana bread with our neighbor
• Reached out to a friend who was the original inspiration for this activity. She was thrilled to hear that she'd motivated me. 
• Gave away an "aspirational" craft I was never going to use

What about you? Share some frugal wins or things for others this week. 

Big plans ahead

Since I took my sabbatical & returned to work, I've largely been focused on seeing how things evolved, and not setting a particular end date. This has been helped tremendously by no international travel in 2020, and unlikely travel in 2021. Removing this from my plate has brought so much balance back to my life (despite all of the other noticeable COVID tradeoffs.) Once it is safe to do so, I will be required to travel internationally again (6-8 weeks/year), as my job is global. 

One of our big financial goals for 2020 (and, carried over to February, 2021 as we're in the middle of a refi) is paying off our mortgage to the half way point. This is my disclaimer to add that, even at the half way point, it's a huge mortgage. We have plenty of equity in the house (more than 60% currently), but there's a big mental milestone involved in getting below the half way point of the mortgage we originally took on in 2017. Paying half of it off in four years would be awesome. 

I'm now ready to set our next big milestone, and I'm really, really excited about it. My plan is for us to have the full mortgage paid off in early 2023, and for me to leave my job. M would keep working, and could easily cover our non-mortgage expenses, with plenty to save. I won't need to work a big "career" job once the house is paid off. That means we'll pay off the same amount (half the mortgage) in half the time as we paid it off last time, which is why this is quite an aggressive goal. But, I think we can do it. A few things are working in our favor:

• We paid off our vacation house
• We sold our Seattle house
• Because we're at the half way point of the mortgage, each payment goes a little further towards the principal & we're about to close on a very favorable refi rate
• I'm making more, as is M
• When we bought the house, we used all of our available money to pay for the house. I mean, all available money. Because of that, it took us a while to get a large emergency fund going again (I like a huge emergency fund, given our expenses, so 6-12 months worth). We're not starting in a hole this time, which will be tremendously helpful.

Assuming we can hit the goal of 2023 for paying off the house, I'll likely plan to quit in early 2023. I get my bonus in January, so I'd definitely stay until then & stay flexible, but am eyeing February, 2023 for a potential exit. I can flex as needed, if we're a little short on the mortgage. Right now, the math adds up to having everything but $180k paid off (special shout out that this is a bay area mortgage, so this is, unfortunately, a small amount of the total), but I'm hoping with some dedication & creativity, we can hit an early 2023 payoff date.

What will I do once the house is paid off? While I will probably "work" in some form, it's more likely to be flexible: volunteering, consulting, etc. I'm not interested in switching to another big "career" job, unless something drastic changes in my life. 

What big goals are you setting right now?

Weekly Wednesday - Week 3

I'm trying something new this year, and will be checking in weekly on my goals (or, that's the hope), with an eye towards paying attention more regularly to my progress.  

Financial:

• We're close to being able to achieve our mortgage 1/2 way point goal. We'll wait until our refinance closes to complete this, but I keep making small payments with all of my side hustle. I paid an extra $280 this week, through extra budget money & side hustles. 
• I achieved my monthly side hustle goal of $200, and have made $210 so far for the month. Woohoo!
• No clothing purchases for myself

Family:

• In lieu of traditional date nights (made challenging by COVID), M & I picked up our wine again (we were behind in December, we normally don't go 2x in a month), sat by the pool & had wine together, and another day played cards & had cocktails
• I'm largely off the computer (minus reading) by 7:30 each evening
• I'm working on plans for both February break & Spring break for the kids. Options are really limited. I don't want them at home, playing games all day, or on electronics much at all. Everything is closed near us, so I've been researching options that might be available. Most our weather dependent, but fingers crossed there is both good weather, and a few fun options for each break. 

Fitness/Health:

• I haven't lost any more (1 lb so far this month) & I've run a total of 5 times. 
• I had one not great day, but otherwise I'm doing really well at tracking my calories & have been working out each day. The not great day was the result of having a lot of blood drawn (I was very overdue for a variety of lab work) & having to ingest a drink for a test that made me nauseated. I came home & didn't move much & certainly didn't work out. Also, I ate all of the carbs & nothing super healthy. The rest of the days have been much better. 
• I'm making progress with my food allergy/stomach issue. I've had a doctor's appointment, completed about 1/2 of my lab work (too much for one appointment), & have a follow up with my doctor to discuss the results. 

Personal/creative:

• I'm practicing Spanish most day
• I've been consistently: volunteering, doing a virtual girls happy hour, & journaling
• I've been pretty spotty on the crafty stuff, still
• I'm always a work in progress on the improve myself bucket (judge less, listen more) but have made really good strides on the "stop swearing". I've added it to my daily checklist (I mark off days when I haven't sworn & I'm 18/21. Considering one of those days was the Capitol Riot, I'm feeling pretty good about my progress. 
• I'm continuing to think of things I can do for others. 

What about you? How are you doing on your monthly or yearly goals? Any progress you'd like to share, so we can cheer you on? Or, challenges you're having, so we can crowd source ideas? 

Checklists, templates & getting more organized

I do well with tracking & reporting on my monthly goals, but as we all know, it's the steps we take each day that lead us to those goals. 

Borrowing an idea from Laura at The Occasional Nomads, I've been experimenting with a weekly checklist. The checklist is a simple grid, with days of the week as columns (one week at a time), and a daily set of tasks as the rows. I check off each daily task when complete. 

I've been getting a lot of mileage out of the grid, and taking some input from my sister, I'm going to uplevel my tracking & record how many of the items I complete on a weekly basis. There are 15/day, and 7 days/week, for a total possible of 105. It will be interesting to see how I trend over time. My sister recommended creating incentives for specific targets (e.g. weeks where I am over 100, or whatever), but for now, I'll start by just tracking. Last week, I completed 77. I do really well during the week days, and less well on weekends, when I tend to get sucked into other chores around the house.

I also have a daily non standard check list. This includes my meetings for the day, any boys activities I'm trying to keep track of, calls I need to make that day, etc. 

And, for those who are curious, or looking for their own inspiration, here's what I have on my daily checklist:

1. Journal
2. List something for sale (eBay, FB marketplace, etc)
3. Complete a non standard chore (no laundry, dishes, etc, as I do those anyway). This is my motivation to organize, declutter, clean a fan, etc. Tackle those projects I don't get to on a regular basis.
4. Complete one lesson in Duolingo
5. Get 12k steps. I've noticed this is much harder for me during the winter.
6. Do three rounds of my posture exercises
7. Meditate
8. Work out
9. Make salad. There's a story behind this, but basically, I find the salad making process (this is for M, for dinner, every day) irritating during dinner. If I get it done earlier in the day, it's no sweat & takes just a few minutes. If I save it for dinner time, while I'm in the midst of trying to get the rest of the food on the table, I do not find it enjoyable.
10. Complete a daily strength challenge
11. Task for Sam. I help him review his homework. This is specific to online learning tools. 
12. Task for Sam. I help him review upcoming assignments
13. Track & complete my calories for the day
14. Check in on my volunteer role/do a kind deed
15. No cursing

That's it from my side. What about you? How do you organize & plan your day?

A weekend recap

Wow, it's Monday already. Yesterday went by very quickly, somehow!

I was quite productive, actually. I went to Rite Aid to use my $35 of rewards, spent those on food (some for us, some for the food bank). The kids were very excited to see cereal come into the house. We don't keep it on hand, but I sometimes buy it as a snack. I now have $22 in rewards in future weeks. 

I made a one bowl chocolate chip banana bread to use up some overly ripe bananas, which was quick & easy. I kept 2/3 for the hungry teens & gave the rest to our lovely neighbor. 

I helped Nick make another loaf of the Frugal Girl's French bread, which is a new staple at our house. I worked out. I cleaned the house. We dropped off the basketball hoop (which, was pretty difficult to manage, down a hill) to our neighbors. I listed a few items on eBay & FB market place. I reached out to a friend, chatted with my parents, updated Nick's high school registration, made a somewhat disappointing dinner recipe (not enough flavor) & watched a movie with the kids. 

As for the rest of the lemons, I gave some away with my Buy Nothing pickups (people were thrilled for the bonus), juiced & zested some for the freezer, & had to toss one that got squished in the bowl. They are finally off of my counter/out of the fridge!

And with that, I'm off to work out & get ready for the work week. Hope you all have a lovely Monday!

Before the rain

I'm hoping to get outside today before it starts raining, hence the title. We're expecting rain every day for the next ten days, minus Monday. I suppose it's a good thing I have some indoor exercise options (DVDs & an elliptical).

I was reasonably productive yesterday, and made a trip to Rite Aid to spend some rewards & take advantage of their $15/50 offer. I now have $35 of new rewards & plan to go back today to pick up a few things.

Nick made this creamy garlic parmesan chicken (Keto friendly) recipe yesterday & it was delicious. It took him a while to complete all of the steps, but luckily, he had made a loaf of bread earlier in the day, so he & Sam polished that off while dinner was in motion.

As for today, here's what's on the to do list:

• Make granola
• Finish off the lemons
• Clean the kitchen
• Vacuum
• Work out
• Track down Nick's high school registration, which seems to have gone missing
• Rite Aid
• Figure out my work/work out schedule for the week
• Print my weekly template for tomorrow
• I'm making dinner - a sesame beef crockpot recipe

What about you? What are you up to today?

All the tests, and Saturday happenings

I'm thankful it's Saturday. I need a day without work. It's not supposed to rain today or Monday, but the forecast calls for rain all of the other days. As much as it makes being outside harder, I know we need it, so I'll be grateful for the rain. 

I need to deal with all of the rest of the lemons today. Sparkling water included for size reference. Also, you can see my tomatoes ripening on the window sill. :-) 

On Wednesday, I had some tests done for an ongoing stomach/food allergy problem. When I went for my labs, I forgot that I was supposed to have blood work done to check on my lupus. Because of COVID, I'd put that off & forgotten all about it. As a result, it was a ton of blood work, plus a stomach test. I didn't feel great all day on Wednesday (a combination of being anemic & having lots of blood drawn, plus drinking a nasty tasting drink so they cold measure the impact on my digestive system.) I've received most of the labs back, and the good news is that my lupus remains under control. I do continue to have the same issues as normal: anemia, low vitamin D, low iron, and low vitamin B12. I've added in some additional supplements, at my doctor's request. As always, I feel lucky that my lupus is well managed, without medication. That's a rarity. The low vitamin D explains why I've felt a bit more run down lately, so hopefully the supplement will help.

Other things for today:

• Package and mail 2 eBay sales (a shirt & a hoodie)
• Go for a run
• Dinner will be this new (Keto) chicken dish
• Take Nick to outdoor/masked/socially distanced volleyball training. It's actually not volleyball (they can't share balls), so just general fitness training
• Perhaps a trip to Target while Nick is at volleyball
• Check in on my dad, who hasn't been feeling well
• Deal with the lemons
• Finish up my limoncello
• Talk to our neighbors about trimming a tree

I think that's mostly it. I do still need to organize my eBay closet today, but I'm not sure if I'm up for it. We'll see. What about you? What are you up to this weekend?

Frugal Friday

Another reasonably frugal week under our belts. Here's what we've been up to this week. 

Saving on things we buy

• As I mentioned in the gift card post, I used Target gift cards to buy some fill in grocery items this week (snacks, & items we needed for meals) that they don't carry at Costco. All told, I bought $58 worth of groceries for $3.72 (I only brought a few gift cards along). I also was able to use $.27 in Target Circle earnings, which I didn't know I had. The boys were thrilled to see an influx of new snacks. I try not to buy too much, and just have a few options at any given time. With two teen boys, if I had an endless amount, they would definitely eat it!

Earning money

• Continued to list & sell things on eBay & FB market place
• Sold:
• a pair of soccer cleats that were outgrown during COVID
• an oven element that we never used (we had stacked ovens, and only one worked). We replaced both during the remodel. 
• A fold up/carrying picnic table 
• A Star Wars hoodie (a gift)
• A really old vintage JCrew beach bag

Avoiding spending

• Picked up the Friday Freebie at our grocery store (1.25 liters of sparkling water)
• Used the oranges from the yard in cranberry orange muffins. Juiced the extra (I needed zest from two, but juice from only one) & then juiced the remaining zested orange. Added that to an open container of apple juice the boys use for smoothies
• A neighbor was giving away 200 lemons from her tree. We picked some up & made a double batch of lemon curd & have a batch of limoncello going as well. Yum!
• Another neighbor had a huge box of mandarins out (as you can tell, citrus fruit grows really well here), with a big free sign. I picked up four, and will make more muffins with them. 

For others

• Made lemon curd from the lemons a neighbor gave us. Dropped off lemon curd to the neighbors who picked up our mail while we were gone (unexpectedly) & to our other neighbor across the street. Share the wealth!
• Used the Box Top app to scan my receipts & earn a little back for Nick's school
• Worked at my volunteer role
• Donated money to the local middle school 
  
• Offered our basketball hoop to our neighbor. Our boys rarely play & are ready to give it up. Her boys are the perfect age for it. 

What about you? Any frugal wins, or things for other to report?

Weekly Wednesdays - Week 1 & 2

I'm going to try a new system where I post weekly updates on my goals. I've seen this work on a few other blogs, and I'm hoping it will keep me motivated. 

I'm going to uplevel my goals into the categories, to keep things easier. 

Here's how I've done with these buckets for the past two weeks (week 1 & week 2 of 2021).

Financial:

• We're close to being able to achieve our mortgage 1/2 way point goal. We'll wait until our refinance closes to complete this, but I keep making small payments with all of my side hustle.
• I've made $157 in side hustle income, and chased down a refund due to us, and filed a dispute with our credit card on a service we never received.
• No clothing purchases for myself

Family:

• M & I picked up our wine club wine & ran errands one day. We have also gone for a walk 2x to chat, and both times the kids magically wanted to come. When a teen wants to spend time with you, you don't say no.
• I'm largely off the computer (minus reading) by 7:30 each evening
• I've made a video for M's family, which they loved

Fitness/Health:

• I lost 1 lb in the first two weeks, and ran 3 times.
• I'm doing really well at tracking my calories & have been working out each day.
• I'm making progress with my food allergy/stomach issue. I've had a doctor's appointment & have lab work scheduled. 

Personal/creative:

• I'm practicing Spanish most day
• I've been consistently: volunteering, doing a virtual girls happy hour, & journaling
• I've been pretty spotty on the crafty stuff
• I'm always a work in progress on the improve myself bucket (judge less, listen more) but have made really good strides on the "stop swearing". I've added it to my daily checklist (I mark off days when I haven't sworn & I'm 11/14. Considering one of those days was the Capitol Riot, I'm feeling pretty good about my progress. 
• I'm continuing to think of things I can do for others. 

Bonus Monday

 We had a lovely day yesterday, with another day of beautiful weather. It's certainly not normal to have a 75+ day in January, but we enjoyed it when it happened.

I got a ton of stuff done yesterday, but we also enjoyed our day off. M & I picked up our wine delivery, and sat outside for a bit (at our own house, the winery is closed except for contactless trunk pick up), drinking a glass of wine together. A neighbor posted that she had 200 (!) lemons & we were welcome to as many as we wanted. We took a couple of small bags & now have Meyer lemons galore at the house. I'm excited & have plans for them today. 

M also cut both kids hair, & they are looking decidedly less shaggy. Nick made dinner (Warm Taco Slaw) & I made muffins for the freezer. 

We've been watching Cobra Kai in the evenings, & Sam in particular has enjoyed it. 

What am I planning to do today, on this bonus Monday?

• I'm making a sesame orange chicken dish for dinner
• I also want to pickle the last of the jalapenos
• And, make lemon curd & possibly limoncello
• I need to make more vanilla
• And, work out
• I have to package & mail an eBay sale
• I didn't get to deep cleaning the kitchen yesterday, and figured I should wait until I was done with all of my cooking today. 
• We will also talk at dinner tonight about the significance of this day, as it unfortunately has much applicability in our current life 

If time permits, we may go somewhere for the kids to ride bikes, while M & I walk. 

I hope you all have a lovely day. Share what you're up to.

Tiny babies

M somehow found a photo of the boys I've never seen before. For whatever reason, lately we've been talking about how challenging those first few years were, with a one year old, & a brand new (surprise) baby. M traveled a lot back in those days, I was working full time, and we were both exhausted! One of the things we both remember was the phase where the boys "discovered" each other. The first times they played near/with each other, and spoke to each other & responded.

So, a throwback to a time long ago... If I showed you pictures of how M & I looked those days, we both looked crazy young & exhausted beyond words. :-) 

The boys are turning 14 & 15 in a few short weeks, and my how the time has flown by. Parenting teenagers has its own challenges, but at least we are not sleep deprived!

Here's what I'm up to today. And, the beauty of a three day weekend is that some of these items can slide into the other two days, as needed:

• Pick up a few grocery items
• Costco
• Work out
• Take Nick to outdoor volleyball training
• Pick & juice oranges
• Juice lemons
• Make muffins
• Organize my eBay closet a bit
• Package & mail eBay sale
• Dinner - warm taco slaw

I'm sure I'll come up with a few other tasks, and I definitely want to get out & enjoy the gorgeous weather we're expecting to get this weekend. What about you? What are you up to this weekend?