Monkey Mama*s Monkey Money Blog

Today is going to be HOT!

We hit 100F a couple of times, but it hasn't been bad at all. It has cooled off rapidly overnight. IF we run the air just before going to bed, and can make it through the night without breaking a sweat, I have no complaints.

BUT, at 6am I can I already feel the heat permeating the house. We have been so spoilt this year. This is usually how most of July/August feels. Welcome to summer!

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With all the heat - we will be doing some swimming I am sure. In the mornings and the evenings.

We were going to go to the family cabin for the weekend, but that kind of fell through. I Was exhausted thinking about it, so am relieved.

The train museum is putting on a big event this Saturday and it is free to members, so we will probably go to that tomorrow.

I will probably take the kids swimming tonight. I hear LM is doing amazing in the pool. BM is working on diving and the back stroke. She's got LM jumping in the pool, floating on his back to catch a breath, turning over, and swimming to the side of the pool. (Similar to some method they teach babies so they know what to do if they fall in the pool). I have got to see this. Just a week or 2 ago he has no fear, but just sunk when he jumped in.

The kids have one more lesson left. Then it will be practice practice practice. I'd prefer not to pay for any more lessons, so don't want LM to forget what he learned, this time.

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Our space museum (that I only recently knew existed) has an awesome Star Trek exhibit at the moment. They have original sets and stuff like that.

SO, I am hoping we make it to the exhibit the following weekend. LM is free due to his age, BM got a free pass from school, and it will be about $30 total for dh and I. The kids love Star Trek and are all excited about that.

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Our Denver trip is FAST approaching. I still need to reserve a rental car. Ugh!

Target offers 5% back on purchases

http://blogs.consumerreports.org/money/2010/06/target-offers...

Considering that our local Target now has a full grocery section, and we have been utilizing it a bit, this is a department store card that probably makes sense for us. (I also do a fair amount of shopping there - household items and most of the kids' clothing). I suppose I will apply! 5% is pretty darn good. If we spend $50/month at target, we would save $2.50/month. All for just getting a Target card.

My general credit strategy is to utilize one card for rewards, and keep a backup. We have always avoided specific department store type cards, though I know we opened a Sears card 2-3 times for big purchases (instant discount - pay off and close the card immediately). That is just how we do things - we have always both had 800-ish FICO scores. I prefer the simplicity of only managing a couple of cards, AND, the only reason we even utilize credit cards in the first place is for the rewards.

So, my strategy would be to take advantage, as long as possible, though I'd close the card once the 5% went away (as good rewards always do go away, eventually). For now, our Chase Freedom is 3% on everything, so this would be better, for Target specific purchases.

Of course, right now I have 3 credit cards because I have been waiting for Chase to stop their rewards program (they have cut off a lot of people). The second they get to me, I am closing it. I have already opened a credit union card to replace it. In the interim, we may become a 4-card family. (Dh and I share all our credit cards - applied for jointly).

Nothing terribly exciting to report about 10 years ago today.

I just saw the question posed in another blog.

"How is your debt today, compared to exactly 10 years ago?"

Exactly 10 years ago, I had been a homeowner for about 6 months, and we were planning our wedding.

Debt? $208k to mortgage. That's it.

Today? $208k to mortgage. That's it.

So, debt wise, not much has changed.

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However, in 2000, we had just bought our condo. Our PITI was $2100/month. It was a steal compared to renting.

Our original mortgage was $208k, and I am sure we weren't paying much to principal.

Fast forward 10 years, and I am not thrilled to still owe $208k on our mortgage. But we do own a very nice home, in comparison. With lower interest rates, and less HOA fees, our PITI runs about $1600/month now, for over twice the house (+ land, etc.). I might have said $1700 before, but our property taxes have been decreasing with the economy and all.

In 2000 we drove much older vehicles. We sure didn't own much stuff. & we didn't really have very many assets to our name. So, all in all, I think we have made some improvement in 10 years. As we should.

By the end of the year we should be back to about $206k on our mortgage, which was where we were when we last refied. We will be somewhat breakeven, I suppose. Going forward I look to making more forward progress. We had paid our first mortgage down to about $200k before we bought our second home. SO, psychologically I really look forward to breaking the $200k barrier - down to $199,999.

When we could refi in our first home we took on a 15 year loan at $1800/month. We were both working. If we could pull that off today, $800/month would be interest, and $1k per month would be principal. So I am starting to think that would be a good 2-income goal for mortgage paydown. I remember paying down the loan what felt like lightning fast with that 15 year amortization. But it was a pretty big payment - I would never tie us to that commitment again. Ah, to be young and naive. Extra principal payments for us, this time around.
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So, where was your debt, 10 years ago compared to now???

Not a whole lot going - same old same old.

This week is amply full with birthday parties and such. Probably will go to the cabin this weekend (should check the weather though).

I promised BM I would take him roller skating (a chance to try out my new skates). My parents gave me $30 to buy him skates (birthday) but I haven't picked them out yet.

The skating rink does not take credit cards, which is a PITA. This WAY messes up my budget - but will figure it out. Helps to not rent skates, in addition to admission.

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We'll probably become a "2 movie rental service" household. No surprise really, considering movies are dh's passion.

We have been going round and round on that one, but though we could certainly live with less disks from BB, we would only save $3/month to give up unlimited in-store exchanges and free game rentals every month (grandfathered). Maybe $6/month if we go for their more bare bones. For now, we will just keep it. It's too good to give up for the long run.

We decided another perk with Netflix is we can stream it at his parent's house (when we stay there or the kids are there, etc.). We tried that out this past week. In fact, we can pause a movie at home, and pick up where we left off, at his folks' house. It's pretty cool. (I think they are streaming it through their Wii).

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In other dh news, he already has a loose job offer at the TV station. Holy cow! I was pondering that maybe the timing is good. He has just been letting people know at his volunteer positions that he will have a lot more time come fall. A higher up at the TV station would like to hire him. Just not sure if it will work out (funding, timing). I don't want to get too excited, but sounds promising. Dh feels rather "eh" about the whole thing. It would be his dream job, to work for the public TV station, but they are laying off so many people. For whatever reason, they just started hiring more volunteers though. They usually don't really do that. So I am crossing my fingers. (All I could figure in this economy is with the slew of resumes that it was easier to stick with people they knew - who have a good work ethic, etc.). Keeping my fingers crossed. It wasn't really our wish to jump headfirst into employment the second LM started school, but we wouldn't say no to something like this! The commute is nothing, the job mentioned would be very part time.

Of course, dh hasn't worked on any movies or anything since Ms. PReschool moved. He has had way LESS free time the last 18 months. But, an opportunity has arisen, and he is working on a short film at the moment.

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On my free day Sunday, I watched Precious, and Slumgod Millionaire. I also finished reading the Golden Compass series. I figured I would have WEIRD dreams that night. Story overload!

I am trying to take a breath before I dive in to the giant book series dh insists that I read. But, it's the obvious next choice. Time to dive in!

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ETA: Oh yeah - got a heads up about another focus group company in town. Dh and I signed up the other day - no calls yet. The one we usually go with has been calling like crazy, though we haven't qualifed for anything lately (primariy because of doing too many recent focus groups).

MIL took the kids for a couple of days. I am relieved, I am whooped after their parties yesterday. I need a day to recover. I think I am going to find a shady spot and take a nap by the pool today. Maybe read over there. Never really been much over there without the kids, but it sounds DIVINE.

Killed 2 or 3 birds with one stone. So, I guess that's it. Maybe worth it, but I just wanted to collapse last night when everyone left.

Their party was a BLAST! I told dh - "Maybe in another 5 years." It's funny because we are known for the most low key/smaller parties. Since it was the 2 kids and a lot of people brought siblings, there were 21 kids, and everyone kept commenting how BIG the party was. If you figure 10 per kid, it wasn't huge, but it was a pretty big turnout for the middle of summer.

The facility created a CD - I hadn't realized they try to gouge you $20 for it. I said no thanks (& I meant it 100%, we had tons of video and pictures from the day). My MIL was appalled and bought it before they shredded it. Whatevah. I didn't really want support that type of gouging, so wasn't thrilled. IT was something they slapped together in 5 minutes, I would guess.

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The weather is still on the mild side. All our Bay Area relatives (think "70 degrees year round") were quite whiny during our 100 degree day yesterday. They kept asking us how we possibly survive. Dh and i were like, "Don't go outside," and "There's this thing called A/C." I just think it's funny how dramatic people get. I keep telling my mom (who doesn't do well in heat) that she'd probably like it BETTER here because everyone cranks the A/C up super crazy high. It's always 100 outside and 60 inside, if you walk into any store (or home, for that matter). BAck home, when it randomly got over 90, you just had to sweat. As such, I think we experience less heat, here. I don't even really have much of a summer wardrobe. For work, it's sweaters year round (A/C!).

I just found the whining funny. The weather has been DIVINE. It has generally been 55 degrees in the a.m., 100 degrees in the afternoon. YEsterday when we went outside at 8pm it felt like it was 75 degrees with a nice breeze. Aaaaaawwwwwww... So I just stay inside from noon to 6:00 or something. Eh. The reward is a mortgage 1/3 the size - the penalty isn't as bad as you would imagine.

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Anyway, all in all, birthday insanity is over. Phew! BM's birthday is this week - not much going on. Dh has some books and video games for him. Will be low key.

If I am good, I will take care of the thank you cards and get them all done today (while the insanity is fresh and I can still decipher somewhat what came from who).

I've got a book to finish, 2 movies (rental) I never have time to watch (one dh has had for over a year - LOL), and I do have to do some financial chores. But, I think I am going to mostly lay down and take it easy. If I work a couple of hours on financial chores and invitations, I can laze around for about 12 hours.

This is like the polar opposite of yesterday. Phew!

No, I do not understand why so many 6 year olds are walking around with brand new/small gaming systems. How many times have we been out and someone is looking for the $100 game system that their child just lost? OUCH!

That said, dh collects game systems. We have more DSs and GameBoy type things than I could possibly count. At least 4 of the GameBoy things, because then you can play 4-player games, of course!

So, dh lets the kids run around with these things (still not sure I would, I suppose) and all the while, I am still wondering what the heck these parents are thinking. The difference is ours are mostly free.

That is my intro, because LM is spoiled ROTTEN this year. Ah, the year of FIVE.

Dh was in charge of gifts because he had all the free stuff he collected from Scholastic and Craigslist/Amazon/Ebay buying/selling. I didn't think much of it. I am sure dh told me what he was thinking somewhere along the line, but seeing it all piled together was a bit much.

SO,

LM gets:

DS (used)
3 DS Games (one new from Scholastic/2 used)
A pile of books (Scholastic)

& a board game from BM.

OF course, Grandma also intends to spoil him rotten, and they have the kids' party tomorrow too. When they were younger I said, "no gifts please" on any party invitations. I wish I still could, but the kids don't quite agree. (No one ever respected the no gift thing, anyway. Like, I must not have really meant it!).

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I guess it is official that he has outgrown the Leapster. I suppose I should ask dh if he intends to sell that one now. We have one zillion games - I don't know where they come from, just that my paycheck hasn't been touched for them.

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Of course, that is not all. When we bought his bed and nightstand, dh got him a clock radio (with a CD player). He keeps asking for songs, songs and more songs, so dh tells me he thinks it is time for a MP3 player. (He's burned him a handful of CDs, in the interim). I suggested he at least wait until Christmas. That he should just give him mine though (same as BM's) because I would like a bigger one. I told him I really like mine, but wouldn't mind doubling the size of it. This was a good reason to make my wish come true!

Of course, that particular MP3 player has been on sale, and dh could not resist. It hasn't arrived yet (the new one) but I told LM today that he was getting one of his own.

The Mp3 player is not free, but the fact that it is a hand-me-down makes it kind of free.

So, LM is spoiled rotten though we didn't really spend a dime on him!

& so I live in a dichotomy where I would find it absurd to buy all this stuff new, but shrug my shoulders when it is all mostly "free."

Oh, dh also had a free movie pass (not sure from where) so they went to the matinee today.

I bakes chocolate chip muffins and dh will make his favorite dinner.

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Just got 2 more RSVPs. Lord help me! We are at 20 kids. Any more will bust my budget. Crossing my fingers that only 20 kids show up this weekend. Yeesh. (I didn't put a RSVP deadline - kind of my fault I suppose. But we are within 24 hours of party - kind of rude if you ask me. Well - learned my lesson!).

On the flip side, family party is insanely cheap. Picked up some salad fixings, a melon, and some lunch meat (already had most of the condiments and compliments). I am running by the bread store after aerobics to get a few loaves of bread. They average about $1 - $2, even for the really high end stuff. We found a way to feed 20 people for $20 or so? That's good, because the kid party will be expensive at $10 per head over 15! (Though in the end, not too bad - I get to kill 2 birds with one stone - or 2 birthdays with one big party, so to speak).

The kids have like 3 other birthday parties this week, and there are 3 other family birthdays next week, besides BM. Thus, my blog title.

I had a chance to sit down and see where I Was, financially.

I transfer $2200 to savings the first half of every month, but I hadn't sat down and decided how much I needed to pull out of savings. The $2200 includes $1200 for short-term (within the year/very expected) expenses.

Wouldn't you know, I needed to pull $2200 from savings. No transfer this month; was a wash.

Sounds worse than it is. Included a little over $1100 in airfare. I knew that would hurt. (+ swim lessons, auto insurance, dh's present, etc., etc.)

But it's paid and done. TV, house paint, airfare, medical bills, check. All paid in cash. Now maybe I can actually move forward on some cash savings goals...

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I am not very happy with the extreme last minute RSVPs rolling in for the kids party. Blech. I am still crossing my fingers that there are some no-shows, so I don't have to pay the $10 per child extra.

A week before, I had the perfect 15 RSVPs that I had room for. Then I got 3 more yesterday.

In other news, everything is so hectic because of the "family party." I made the party simple as pie, and now we have to feed and entertain dh's family. OF course, we just did it all the same day. Because they live out of town, and some would want to go to the kid party, too.

Minor annoyances. I will get over them. I will gripe a bit, though I know in the end we will have fun. Even before the events of this year, I have been a little better about putting aside all they annoyances and just being grateful we still have all of our family. It's easier to stay on the mindset, with all the health problems of the past year. It isn't easy, and it isn't all fun, but a birthday party full of parents, aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, and GREAT-grandparents is a TREASURE. So though I have been a little gripey with all that needs to be done this week, deep down I don't really mind so much.

Symbolically, Saturday is the 1-year-anniverary of my dad's heart attack. So, we have a lot to celebrate (with him still being alive!).

Thankfully, dh is handling most of the shopping/cooking. We were going to get pizza, but dh remembered that we would have pizza at the kids' party. Pizza is the go to food. What else could we possibly serve 20 people? We decided on sandwiches.

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Speaking of birthdays. IT's birthday party central around here. Two of BM's best friends also have July birthdays. So he has two parties the week after his. One of them is cute - it is a party for 2 kids with the same (unusual) name. It's probably a good idea to team up with some of them, next year. It's been birthday birthday birthday, lately.

**My expectations were high since we had such a good swim instructor for the kids past years. Well, phew! These lessons are a lot more expensive and out of the way, BUT well worth it. They have GREAT teachers and the kids loved it. (I don't know why - teacher seemed all business, but they loved her - she's got some hidden charm I suppose). After one lesson, both kids are where they left off last year.

The nice thing is that it is an indoor pool. I may consider getting LM a set of lessons next spring. To refresh him before summer starts. Though really, this year may be the last year he really needs it. BM is very comfortable in the water, so he is working on swimming technique. He could also work on diving. He can stay very buoyant, but is not very good at diving down to the bottom of the pool.

It's funny because we had a private swim teacher come to our community pool the last 3 years or so. (We MISS her!). If you go down to the pool, the kids of all ages swim like little fish. She was a VERY good teacher. Good with the little ones.

Outside of our own community, everyone is just in awe of my kids' swimming skills. We were at a pool party the other day and everyone was shocked we let BM in the big pool without us. We were keeping an eye on him, but wasn't too worried about him. Was just thinking about it because dh and the kids and ran into one of LM's many girlfriends, at the pool yesterday, and dh was telling me she was a really good swimmer. She's 4. At first I Was surprised. & then I thought, well, yeah, all the neighborhood kids are pretty good swimmers.

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I did some more school shopping. Stocked up on shorts, and got LM a backpack. I suppose he is ready.

Will have to buy some pants in September, I suppose.

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I am behind on my financial chores. This week is kind of crazy busy. I suppose Sunday I will have to look at my June totals. MIL is taking the kids for a couple of days.

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I am still always amazed at the bad wrap that TV gets. I don't quite understand why reading is good/TV bad. If you could describe my family in one word, it would be, MODERATION. We like our TV and our video games. Thing is we probably lean heavily towards educational, anyway. But it always puzzles me when TV is painted as the evil of the world, TV watchers being overweight couch potatoes. It's laughable because we are probably the most active people we know.

ANYWAY, I feel behind. I am behind on household chores and financial chores and everything. BEcause I have been reading. I finished book 2 of the Golden Compass series, over the weekend, and started Book 3. Half way through.

I was musing how it is socially acceptable to neglect everything for a book, but the very few hours of TV watching I do is so often poo pooed.

I am not sure I am ready to jump into the 3000-4000 page Game of Thrones. I am not sure I have the time to get sucked into that!

Literally.

Street behind us held a block party.

There was too much food and way too many fireworks. We did bring a small side dish, but I don't think it even got noticed in the feast.

We only learned recently that a neighbor catty corner/behind us, is a pyromaniac of sorts. Mythbuster-ish? Ignorance is bliss?

Needless to say, we had quite a show. Surprised no one called the police or anything (giant fireballs in the air???).

I could relax a little bit because it wasn't my street. Fireworks, small lots, and bone dry grass, seems a little insane if you ask me. But where we grew up, fireworks were VERY illegal. I never even saw any sparklers or anything as a kid. So I am probably a bit of an extra party pooper.

As such, my instinct was to tell the kids, "hell no" when they asked to play with sparklers and such. I did lighten up and they got a talking to about being careful. Thankfully the 4th is only one day a year.

Ironically, though I still think all the fireworks are insane, with such small streets and dry grass and everything, everyone was mostly sticking to the legal variety. Even the pyro family.

Of course, that was too boring. Someone came along with some monster fireworks, and someone else had to top that. Was the most spectacular "home" fireworks I ever saw. I told dh, "I could enjoy this because they weren't shooting them towards MY house." Not that the "house behind ours" is much better.

Anyway, I was excited when this party was mentioned, because it brought back memories of our annual 4th block party, as a child. This topped it by a mile though. They blocked off the street and the kids ran with water guns and water balloons up and down the street all afternoon, and went up and down with various wheeled toys, without any cars to worry about. The kids just had so much fun.

A big year I suppose, with another one entering grade school.

I picked up a lunch box at Walgreens the other day. Same one that BM has - I like the size for our tupperware, and it has been holding up well. $10.

Today, I did some shopping at Hanes.com. Cheapest place I can find all the school shirts/sweatshirts. We do the polo shirts (school dress code), sweathshirts for winter (thankfully those are allowed) and a jacket. I bought 8 shirts and 5 sweatshirts in the next size up, keeping in mind I want them to last for 2 kids. They don't really need so much, but the small size had lasted BM for 2 grades. Moving on to medium for him.

They averaged about $5 per shirt, shipping tax and everything. Phew!

I found a jacket for $24.99 at Sears. I can't find any free shipping codes or anything, so may send dh to look in person. I got a similar jacket for BM, and looks like he may get 3-4 years out of it. (Probably bought on the large side!)

Will need a backpack, and then will have to consider the pants/shorts situation. Probably can hand down BM's and buy bigger stuff for him. He still has shorts from 2 years ago...

Getting there.

Anyway, I like the easy online shopping. The rest won't be so easy. Pants and shorts will need to be tried on. I suppose I should peruse backpacks online.

Eggs: 15 cents
Potatoes: $1
Smoothie ingredients: $1?

Breakfast $2.15?

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Of course, I did use all of this for breakfast (more than the bigger/stand alone/easy to price items):

2 eggs (dh/BM not into the eggs)
sprinkling of cheddar cheese, some milk
salt, pepper

3 potatoes
paprika, garlic, salt pepper

plain yogurt
1/2 can frozen juice
bit of apple juice
frozen strawberries

We had a nice feast today - scrambled eggs, fried potato wedges, and smoothies. YUM!

I only share, because we too often hear that "eating healthy is SO expensive." I won't win an award for healthy eating, but it is hard to get much simpler/cheaper than this. It doesn't get much more basic than eggs and potatoes. My smoothies have the processed juice (sometimes) but sure beats plain juice or soft drinks, or whatever else the average american drinks every day. We are mostly big water drinkers. We did have tap water with our smoothies.

On the eating out end of the spectrum, the kids are actually now free at IHOP, indefinitely. (You just have to ask, when they bring you the bill). Home made it much cheaper, much healthier, and WAY tastier though.

Okay, kids are signed up.

Phew. Got 10% off for signing up 2 kids. A nice surprise. (Doh - didn't think about sibling discount).

They will both have lessons over a period of 3 weeks. With the economy, was able to sign them up last minute. Another perk I suppose. A selfish one, anyway.

It's not very convenient, and will cost us far more in gas than the old swim lessons that we could walk to, but oh well! Gives them something to do.

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I finished my first book of the year. IT took me just under 2 weeks. Think I read about 4 hours at camp, and then some over the weekend. It had been really busy, so I didn't get any reading in this week. Last night everyone was kind of doing their own thing, so I decided to read the last 50 pages.

My goal was to read 12 books this year, so I am well on track, even with my late start.

Dh is talking me into the Game of Thrones. It is a huge commitment (over 3000 pages for the first 3 books?). But I am realizing it may be possible to knock it out before the end of the year. In which case I will count pages over number of books, as far as reaching my goal. 5000 pages read or something like that, seems fair.

But, first things first.

I will read the other 2 books in the Golden Compass series. (Just finished the first).

I want to read A Wrinkle in Time (have started once or twice but haven't made it through - just wanted to re-read it, haven't since I was a child).

& THEN, I might begin the Game of Thrones.

I haven't started it because I didn't want to commit to that. Dh (& everyone) says I won't be able to put it down. I was thinking maybe next year, but dh has been working on me, trying to get me to start sooner...

I didn't plan to just stick to one genre of reading for the year, but oh well. FANTASY. It's what we got laying around the house.

Oh, I also need to finish a non-fiction book I have been reading on and off all year. It is good - I should aim to wrap that up this weekend. "Survival of the Sickest." VERY interesting read.

"In this insightful book Dr. Sharon Moalem demonstrates how conditions that are considered unhealthy (such as hemochromatosis, diabetes, and high cholesterol), or even deadly in extreme cases, might actually put their carriers at an advantage in combating other life-threatening illnesses. For example, he explains that hemochromatosis, a disease that, if left untreated, will kill you, may have actually been a defense against the deadliest pandemic in history--the bubonic plague during the 14th century. It turns out that this genetic mutation, which continues to be passed down through generations, actually helped spare many lives at one point."

The economy seems to ebb and flow a bit.

All I know is,

**I have about five $5-off Round Table Pizza coupons. Usually those are gems. I am swimming in them, at current.

**Jiffy Lube. I've never seen so many $10-off coupons. I keep collecting them because they expire quickly. Dh's car will need to get an oil change by end of July.

**A few people I know have bought GREAT cars in the $4k price range recently. From DEALERS.

**I keep forgetting to mention, but the last handful of times I drove from the Bay Area to Sacramento, I have passed very few semis on the 4-lane stretch on the interstate. I can't tell you how many times I set my cruise control to 70/75 and drove the last hour without passing more than 3 or 4 large trucks. It's WEIRD. Usually it is just truck truck trucks. I couldn't help but wonder if the decline in truck driving was due to the economy.

I mentioned to dh once and he told me it must have been the time I was driving. I have driven that stretch all days and times. Usually it's a little more treacherous, navigating the mix of slow trucks and speedsters. But, lately I have just cruised most the way home in the slow lane.

Just, random observations...

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ETA: Just heard a Marie Callendar's location is closing. I never eat there - but there goes the memories.

Hard to believe it is July already!

In July we celebrate both our kids' birthdays. It also marks 15 years since I began dating my dh.

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**Birthday party RSVPs up to 15. Mind you, we invited about 50 kids and hoped for about 15. Phew... About 10 more days, but I can live with that. We can squeak in 25 if we pay "per child" over 15. Seems best, since I know people won't show. There are always the flakes... Crossing my fingers that 15-20 is the magic number that shows up. Any more will cost a big premium.

**LM's graduation was a bit over the top. Ah, but it was SO CUTE!

I never much got into the whole thing. I don't think any one of us did. We all missed Ms. Preschool WAY too much. She was one in a million. I suppose all of our hearts were too broken to dive in head first into this new preschool. The hours were weird so I was the most removed. I never much went to the preschool. LM attended for 18 months.

People all talk about this preschool in about the same esteem as the old one. But, we feel rather "eh" about it. We will probably feel the same letdown when BM finishes with his current grade school teacher. It's hard to go up from the BEST - they have been so blessed. If this had been our only preschool, I am sure we would be in love.

SO, last night was quite an event. The sang a lot of songs, showed off their preschool learned skills (some we didn't know he had learned???). They did quite a production, ending in gown wearing and "diploma" handing. The kind of thing I'd probably roll my eyes at, but we all had fun, so we just went with the flow. LM, in particular. He could have easily been a sour puss, but he was so excited to stand on the stage with his girlfirend for the evening. (Phew!)

His teacher had like 20 graduating kids, and made them each these big, huge scrapbooks. Holy cow. (She actually did 2 ceremonies - so the one we went to had about 10 kids).

I think I made a good call. Out of nowhere, I just had the urge to get flowers. I know a lot of teachers, and they usually just give away their abundance of never-ending gifts. Gift cards and cash get boring after a while. So, flowers popped into my head. Something to enjoy but "disposable," all the same. The flowers went over very well.

& so ends a chapter...

I hadn't updated lately, but I have only been eating in, per usual.

In fact, I only ate out once (lunch date with dh) which is not necessarily good. Means I have been anti-social. Then again, have been on vacation and eating "out" too much nights and weekends. So, probably works out.

We haven't initiated much eating out, but camp meant LOTS of food, we were invited to 2 dinners, a couple of BBQs, and as I always say, my waistline is always in line with how much I Eat out. It doesn't matter if I get salad with dressing on the side, when I eat outside the home, I end up with more inches and pounds.

I believe I worked 20 days, in June, and only bought one meal. 20 days would be easy peasy, but I squeezed in a lunch date with dh while the kids were still in school. Lunch dates will resume in August. I neglected my other 2 lunch buddies this month.

-----------------------------------------------

TODAY...

Ate apple sauce and mixed nuts for breakfast. Leftover sloppy joes and salad, for lunch. Someone brought in cupcakes, so will probably be my snack.

------------------------------------------------

Not much to report. Dh is beginning his 6 full weeks home with the kids. I could tell they were driving him a little crazy yesterday. The heat didn't help. Well, they were definitely cooped up. I told them it would be cooler today so asked daddy to take them to the park, or to the pool.

That said, I was feeling lazy, so appeased BM with Yahtzee and scrabble the last couple of nights. (The 100F+ days didn't help). Tonight should be considerably cooler so many the park or pool will be an evening activity.

Oh yes - BM's summer camp got cancelled. No surprise. They actually offered to transfer him to another park, but it wasn't appealing without being right down the street. I told dh it was up to him, but he passed. He'd have to drive him, but would be stuck with him bouncing off the walls, too.

I went to Walgreens on the way home the other day to grab a Graduation card, for a relative of sorts. I couldn't find any. Geez. I walked out with a lunch box for LM. Thankfully, Mr. Picky loved it.

I saw Hanes was having a great sale, but I am not quite sure what we need. I need to get organized this weekend and figure out what the kids need for their school wardrobes. I think BM still has all the shorts he wore for Kinder, and those could go to LM. (HE still wears them because he grows up more than out). Which means I may just need some XS shorts. Or I need to find some with elastic waistbands. (They have belts, but the shorts/pants can run pretty wide and useless).

BM probably needs some bigger shirts too. I could probably hand ALL his clothes to LM and just start over. Ugh.

The school has a clothes closet that I usually just leave for the less well off. BUT, this year I may be able to donate some stuff, so feel less guilty trading for some bigger sizes. We may try that.

They have a dress code to "help the poor." You know how I feel about that, from prior posts. I am not sure why the "poor" want to buy a second set of clothes for their kids. I sure as hell spend as little as possible on the "second bland wardrobe." IT helps to know they really aren't that picky, so I don't have to shop for hours or spend a fortune on getting the correct colors, etc. Will be much easier picking out a backpack this round. Will respect the "no character" rules (that no one else seems to respect), but I am not going to freak out if I can't find a plainer than plain child's backpack for under $20. If a character backpack is on sale $5, I may ignore the rules entirely.

They sent me a catalog, for the Kindergartener, for the expensive store they want us to buy our clothes at. I rolled my eyes and threw it in the recycle bin. Thankd Goodness for Hanes. I can get most the stuff for $5 apiece. Not sure where I will get shorts. It just occured to me LM we need more bland shoes too. He's got light up character shoes from Payless and all. The plain shoes are always more exensive too...

Learned something interesting.

What do you call the @ symbol used in e-mail addresses?

http://www.coolquiz.com/trivia/explain/docs/atsymbol.asp

There really is no name for it, but "at." So I feel like less of an idiot trying to figure out what that symbol is called.

----------------------------------------------------

For the short summer, dh signed up for a free trial of Netflix. Now that we have the internet/HD TV.

Netflix - their streaming service sounds really awesome.

We currently have Blockbuster online. The blu rays do not cost more (huge plus, to dh). Their shipping is lightning fast, we get free game rentals (in-store) and the store exchanges, and free in-store rental coupons, are uber convenient.

Oh, and dh can't stand to wait for new releases. Blockbuster makes them available immediately - Netflix has to wait a week or something? Do I have that right?

Clearly, Blockbuster is the better service. BUT they don't do streaming.

SO, I am worried dh will want BOTH. That said, he may just get a more bare bones Blockbuster subscription and the barest bones netflix one. It's probably not horrible. I suppose he could also just go back to in-person renting at BB, occasionally, if it is cheaper than a full subscription.

Though he did tell me he may want to subscribe to HBO for a few months next year. It's hard to tame the beast. You would never imagine how patient his nature is when you talk to him about stuff. He couldn't possibly wait until it came out on DVD.

Anyway, I can only hope the netflix sucks. But, he figured it would be good to subscribe with the kids home for the summer. For now, he is just trying it out, and we will go from there.

I will be pushing to choose just one service - of course. If it were just me - I'd probably take the streaming. I could care less about the rest.

Busy, busy, busy.

Good busy.

The weekend flew by. I worked a bit (as to not obliterate my vacation time). Made it to aerobics (lots of stretching, some yoga, always VERY relaxing). Squeezed in a hair cut (chopped pretty short - thank goodness), and took LM swimming.

I had planned to take the kids to San Jose over the weekend. Dh had a volunteer shift, late Saturday. BUT, then BM really wanted to go to a birthday party. Camping was tiring, and I felt rather eh about the whole thing. Tried to talk dh into a small trip next weekend, instead. He didn't want to go anywhere next weekend. Then, got invited to a graduation party in San Jose. (Rather last minute, really). I still wasn't convinced, but the 100+ degree forecast swayed me.

We ditched the heat for a forecasted 86-degree day or so. As usual, the heat followed us. Last time we planned a day out of town (mind you, a hotter inland area), it was like 10 degrees more than predicted. Yesterday, Sacramento was 101, exactly as predicted, but we decided to spend a day in San Jose, mostly outside, nowhere with any AC, and it got up to 95 degrees. Ugh!!

We took the kids to a zoo that recently re-opened. We ate there and baked quite a bit, and then took our smelly/sweaty selved over to the party. Thankfully, it was in a much better shady area. They had an indoor area, but there was the whole no AC thing. Blech.

The only reason I survived was I chopped off piles of hair, Saturday. Thus, the "thank goodness" for that! They never cut my hair as short as I ask, and it had gotten quite long. BUT, this stylist was overly aggressive. Which was actually kind of refreshing. I paid $9.99 with my coupon, paid a generous tip, and am definitely ready for summer. I would have been so uncomfortable otherwise. I just have so much hair. Piling it on top of my head just makes me bake, in comparison.

We ate well and the kids swam. If I really thought it would be that hot, I would have brought my swimsuit.

We had time to see my parents for a bit, which means we got home really late. But we saw like the entire family and had fun, so was a good use of our 8 hours there. 4 hours in the car. We rarely make it a day trip, but the kids are so used to the drive, was no biggie. They are pros. Dh and I always get good talks in on the long drives.

-----------------------------------------------------

This week is preschool graduation, blood drive (I haven't made it in 9 months, but hear July 4th is a big blood needing time - accidents I suppose). Fourth of July festivities.

I can't believe I have 5 or 6 weeks to get LM all squared away for Kindergarten (need to buy a backpack and some clothes? lunch box?). I still need to reserve a vehicle for our Denver trip.

Never boring!

Looked this up because remembered it had been discussed:

http://www.savingadvice.com/forums/general-discussion/46626-...

Not what I Wanted to see, particularly since giftee lives in insane high cost area. I used to live there - I know people are accustomed to bigger gifts.

So, though $50 or $100 would be more appropriate, she is going to have to live with $30. Dh wanted to give $20. I told him I felt we should give more. In fact, offered $25 as compromise. But he preferred a round number, even if it meant more.

The funny thing? She is an adult (later)adoptee who belongs to a cousin our age. If you gave me 5 more years, maybe I could swing a nicer gift. Just kind of hit me that "aunts" tend to be a little older when their nieces and nephews graduate high school. But, at age 33, all the other kids in the family are ages 0 - 7. As such, I don't think they expect much from us. Phew! I will have lots more time to prepare for the rest. This was kind of like, "What the heck? Graduated from high school? When did that happen???"

I love these little father/son articles:

Isaac Learns the Meaning of Penny-Wise

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB127759276673110965.html

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I've personally ridden the Greyhound to save money. Not half way across the country. I'd do it again, (particularly if broke), but do remember a particularly uncomfortable bus ride from Tennessee to New JErsey. Much of the trip we had extra seats to ourselves and we were quite comfortable, but for the overnight stretch we ended up in a packed bus with unsavory characters. Not only that, but they were very large and I couldn't sit with my friends. We got separated and I got sandwhiched between a bunch of extra tall characters (legs, everywhere. Not so much girth).

Taking the bus from New York to Boston, was quite pelasant, in comparison. They even showed a movie. But both these trips involved more airfare than bus fare. Phew! I think I would too take from the experience that anything more than 12 hours requires a train or a plane ride, if I had the money! For my TN to NJ ride, can't say I had any money. So it was okay.

No more preschool!

Eh. It actually isn't that exciting...

Since, LM has been on the waitlist forever for more hours at his current preschool. 18 months exactly - well, nevermind about that. The $150/month is no small beans, but I also have a one-time $1200 flood insurance increase, this year (due December). It will be more exciting next year, I suppose.

(At some point we were paying $300+ per month, which was when I was more excited about this day arriving).

That said, I am glad to be done. The place was nice enough - nothing would compare to their last preschool. BUT, there was another dad in LM's class who has a fatal disease, and I just got an e-mail that the young father who died in our community (5 month battle with cancer), was also a parent at said school. I didn't even know.

Oy vey. Is it something in the water?

I am happy to disassociate myself from the place. They are nice enough, but I could do without all the dire disease. She's probably glad to be rid of all of us too - it must have been a heavy year for the school.

----------------------------------

Oh, it is pretty nice to have one less monthly bill. What have we got left?

Gradener, mortgage, health insurance? electric bill, county utilities and Surewest. Is that it? We charge everything else. (These are the only ones we can't charge. Or too many hoops to jump through to do so). Makes bill pay day very simple.

**So, camp was great, as always. This time we had our niece, and LM was more open to the little kid activities (he refused to do most of them last year and freaked out a bit). Thus, we actually had a LOT of free time, since he would go off with the other little kids. Very relaxing!

All we heard was that the water was too cold and swift to go anywhere near the rivers. I figured the lake wouldn't be much better (temperature wise), so we didn't take swim suits over there. Which was also relaxing (since I am the only one who will go in the water to keep a close eye on the kids). That said, the kids just jumped in the water with their clothes on. I had to tell BM that "chest deep" was not "sticking in your feet." But they got diverted to sand castle making, and I did get a nap in, on the beach!

One of my goals this year was to read 12 books. I love reading, but never make time for it, it seems. As of June, my book number is a big fat 0! But, I did read 200 pages at camp. Dh has all sorts of "kid books," laying around the house. I grabbed The Golden Compass, which is, interesting... 200 pages to go.

I have been wanting to re-read A Wrinkle in Time, and dh tells me to read the Spiderwick Chronicles, too. I figure I will start there. I can still read 12 books - I am a fast reader. Especially if I do the others - which are much smaller books - to start. I presume I can finish my firt book of the year during the upcoming 3-day weekend.

Dh highly recommends some series he is reading currently, but it is about a million pages. I am worried I will get discouraged. Wonder if I should read that when the kids are out of the house or something... I just don't want to get sucked into something so time consuming.

Camp was more of the same, as far as last year. Not much new. LM decided he really liked hiking, though. I don't remember how or why we talked him onto a short hike. BM usually LOVES hiking, but had no interest at all. So the next night at dinner, LM tells me, "I think I can go for a hike by myself." Mind you, he is 4 years old. Oy vey. So we had a little talk about how dangerous that was. But he was all excited to go for a hike with a partner, then.

We haven't done a lot of hiking with him not being much up to it, but I suppose that tide is turning. (BM will go on any hike - the more treacherous the better - since he was 3).

It would just figure if BM no longer sees the allure in hiking. But, will have to try and do some more hikes now, see if we can all get on the same page.

--------------------------------------------------

**Dh had 2 free tickets to see Toy Story, so we went out to see it last night. I really liked it, but wished they had more of some of the new characters. I think the Prickly Pants guy had like 2 lines. From the previews and all the hype you'd figure he was some main character.

I think this is the 5th time that dh told me the "3D was useless." I said, "So why would we pay for 3D again?"

I don't get it. He said, "we won't." But I think that's what he said last time. I didn't even know it was a 3D movie, until he handed me the 3D glasses.

------------------------------------------------

**I've been in a generous mood, I suppose.

Well, not entirely. I bought a zoo membership (a San Jose zoo just re-opened after being closed quite a while. I can't stand our local zoo, so we take a membership elsewhere). That just happens to be tax-deductible though it is more of an entertainment expense.

As far as camping, MIL insisted on paying for us. I didn't argue. It's been a year... While there, they were asking for money for improvements. I told dh I was probably just going to donate $100 since we hadn't paid a dime. I'd be open to donating more, if it hadn't been such a year. We mostly had the $700 for it. But, maybe next year we will donate $500 or something.

In addition, I read a touching newspaper article a couple of weeks back, about foster kids and such who were accepted into great colleges, but had no personal belongings for the dorm rooms, etc. They were asking for money for the kids to go "dorm room" shopping. IT spoke to me. My dad went through college with no support (for the most part) and whereas the standard reply to my own college experience was, "Your parents don't support you? They aren't footing your college? You pay your own rent??? You WORK???" I knew far better than that. I knew I had far more support than a lot of college students have - even if it wasn't much financial support. I was always appreciative of the hand-me-downs and the emotional support. The money my parents did give me for college. Who cared about the rest? I could handle it on my own. Reading the article I remember when I rented my first apartment and my mom bought me a couple of items for my new room.

The least I could do was donate to such a great cause.

I just thought this was interesting.

I saw this discussion a while ago:

http://gracefulretirement.blogspot.com/2010/02/are-we-failin...

It was in reference to the "Blogging Away Debt" blog which was featured here in the past. (Maybe still is, but haven't seen it in a while).

She wanted to delay her debt repayments to go on a very pricey trip to Europe with her family.

So, today I saw this post:

http://www.bloggingawaydebt.com/2010/06/financial-waffling/

I just wanted to gag reading all the comments on the post.

The jist of it being: "You only live once - do it do it do it!"

Having been debt free (except mortgage) my entire life, I just can't take the side of said blogger. Being debt free buys you tremendous freedom and opportunity. I don't buy that putting off that freedom for a trip that "can't wait one year," makes any financial sense. A little patience means you can have your cake and eat it too. I am pretty much agreement with most of the commenters on the first blog post I linked. (& as they allude to - there is MUCH more to the story, like unsteady employment).

That said, I don't think one trip will necessarily make or break them. I don't think it's 100% black and white. These comments run extreme both ways, but not much middle ground.

IT doesn't really matter what I think. I didn't share this debate last time, because she seemed to have been beat up enough by the blogosphere. I just had to gag when I saw 20 comments cheering her on today, with no dissent.

I suppose I find it interesting how different of a mindset people can have on the same subject.

I just don't think it is so black and white. I have personally given up many expensive travel opportunities, with little regrets. I don't think any were "once in a lifetime," in nature. & it doesn't mean I have never made my passions a priority. In fact, traveling is not much of a passion of mine.

If traveling is her passion, or this is truly, "once in a lifetime," so be it. I just find myself a little skeptical. You do only live once, but it doesn't mean you should live recklessly and give in to every whim.

Not sure how it is in another areas, but a lot of the cities in Northern California run "family camps." They own campgrounds around Yosemite or Tahoe, or elsewhere I suppose, and hold camps in the summer with lots of activities and very reasonable room and board. (You can attend any camp you wish, but is discounted if you are a resident of the city it belongs to).

This was our third year in a row. We had no choice this year since the San Jose camp was shut down due to some structural issues and water quality issues. Which is fine - the amenities at Sacramento camp are WAY better. HOT showers, and nice little cabins. Anyway, we kind of travel with San Jose relatives, so we have gone to both camps (dh went to SJ camp as a child).

We went with our parents and our niece.

We had a great time, and more on all of that later.

But, we were lucky we didn't get snowed out. They had these pictures up from just a few weeks ago. Up to a couple of weeks ago they still had 4-5 feet of snow hanging around. They were very busy clearing it all out in time, and the kids got lots of snow play.

These pictures were on their website, from end of May:





I'll show pictures later of how it was when we were there - you will see how busy they must have been, clearing out the snow! There were just a couple of snow piles remaining by the time we arrived.

Someone would say, "I guess we came a lot later last year." Um yeah, July 1? Yes, we came so much later last time. The snow was a wee bit unusual, but there had been some big storms in May.

Anyway, they cleared most of it out in time for camp. We had to contend with a lot of mud though!

In the end, the weather was divine. If not for the cabins, we might have really FROZE. Weather was still hitting in the high 30s overnight. Thankfully we had good shelter. The days were beautiful, sunny and warm. Even the beach ended up being a nice 80-degreed day. I have lots of pictures of the kids playing in snow piles in their shorts and flip flops - hehe.

At home I set the thermostat to 87, for the cat, in case of freak heat wave. I am extra careful about that after a friends' house got up to 100 degrees in an unexpected heat wave, while they were on vacation. It killed their fish. SO, I always set the air, and this was the first summer it looked like it didn't kick on at all while we were gone. The house was 80 degrees upon our return.


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ETA: I am linking an old post about family camp since I got so many questions last year - answers some questions...

http://monkeymama.savingadvice.com/2009/07/06/questions-answ...

**Dh's stars must be aligned on the friendship front, lately. He had his grade school reunion last night, and one of his old friends is a "stay at home dad" who lives a couple of blocks from us. (Keep in mind, we live 110 miles away from said grade school, but then again it's not the first "neighbor who used to be a neighbor." Happens all the time in our affordable mecca - our neighborhood attracts Bay Area types. Our next door neighbor grew up down the street from dh, for example).

**Looking at the weather for our impending camping trip, and am glad we are staying in cabins. Night time lows in the 30s? Yeesh. Not necessarily prepared for that. Looking on the bright side - don't think we will need mosquito spray.

We will just have to do more active things, to keep warm. Looks like one of the days will be warm enough for the beach, but too far ahead to tell. I won't hold my breath!

**Yesterday I ran to the grocery store. Frozen mango orange juice was all on sale for 99 cents. I bought 2 more (and then found one in the freezer) for smoothies. I generally just grab what is on sale, and that is the best kind anyway. But, none of the fruit was on sale. I thought I had some strawberries already, so grabbed blueberries and peaches.

We have so many cherries left from the farm, that I should probably freeze some of those too.

I cut up and froze some browning bananas.

We picked out a tub of strawberry banana yogurt.

I didn't get frozen mangos so I couldn't use my recipe:

Thin/sweet (juice) version:

8 oz peach yogurt
1/2 can mango-orange concentrate
8 oz water
1 cup frozen mango pieces
handful of ice cubes

Thick/less sweet version:

8 oz peach yogurt
1/2 can mango-orange concentrate
1 cup milk
1 cup frozen mango pieces
1 frozen banana (peel and chop before freezing)

I suppose I forgot the peach yogurt, too.

SO, we tried this:
some strawberry banana yogurt
1/2 can mango-orange concentrate
some milk
some water
4 frozen peach slices
1 frozen banana (peel and chop before freezing)

I was pretty tempted to throw in some blueberries, but didn't want to go overboard. In the end, they probably would have been good. The kids told me it was the "best smoothie ever." It wasn't near as sweet as it can usually get with the mango orange. I think peach/mangos does better to bring out the awesome flavor of the mango orange juice, but this worked quite well for that we had.

Oh, I also let the kids get watermelon juice. Maybe we will try to do watermelon smoothies today. I probably should have gotten some plain or vanilla yogurt for that.

**I supppose it is Father's Day. Dh is the clever/thoughtful gift giving type. I am not. I let him buy a new monitor (already got it) and forgot today was the big day. I could have the kids make a list of why they love their daddy - something like that. He is not home since he went to the Bay Area for his reunion. He won't have to know I FORGOT. I suppose that is good - we have a crazy/busy day otherwise. Some last minute kid cuteness will have to do.

**I have been catching "Til Debt Do us Part," show that everyone has been talking about. I had never noticed it before (current episodes first aired in 2005???).

Two observations:

-I think I have come to understand the "Head in the Sand" types a bit and have an extra understanding how frustrating that could be. I don't know - I don't think I could do it. It just hit me one day watching that show - how nice it must be to not have a care in the world - let someone else worry about all that. A terrible thing to do as a person (in a marriage), but I can see the draw. Especially if your partner lets you get away with that! Anyway, I suppose this may be the first show of this type that really focuses on the financial dynamics of married couples. Kind of fascinating.

-The money jars. It always strikes me that their "cut it to the bone/get out of debt" budget strongly resembles our budget. Usually something in the $1k range for variable expenses like food, transportation, eating out, etc. Not that we follow is strictly, but we generally go $800 for food and gas, $150 misc, and maybe $300-ish per month for a few other variable items. We are not trying to get out of debt, but are trying to not get into debt, and also would like to be able to retire some day.

So, I had been perusing used options (very open to them), but I have unusual-sized feet. So basically, if I were a size 6 womens, I'd have my pick of Craigslist. (I literally saw at least 10 pairs for sale?)

Of course, I was no where near giving up. I've only been skate shopping a few days! BUT, while perusing skates I did find brand new ones for $30 (on sale, at amazon). I couldn't resist. They were 40% off, and rated very highly.

A good deal. Now I only have to go to the rink 15 times to breakeven.

My parents agreed to buy BM some skates, for his B-Day in a few weeks. I didn't see any for sale, and next month I will probably run him by the used sports shop. It's one thing to spend $30 on a pair of skates I intend to keep forever. As far as BM, he may outgrow them in 5 minutes, BUT at least LM can use them too. I am just buying BM skates, and LM will have endless hand-me-downs if we stick with it. I do hope it is easier to find his size used. Looks unlikely, but will see! Even though it won't be my money, I will still try to get the best deal.

I did get Men's skates, for my big feet. Works out, since I liked the colors better anyway.

"It's not that cold but the wind is COLD."

My work hosted a dinner last night at a nice restaurant, on the patio. Someone mentioned that they had heaters, and someone else laughed and made fun of them a bit, actually. Having been trying to go to the park in the evenings, I told them, "It's been chilly at night."

That said, I didn't think ahead, and ended up being pretty cold (they had put the heaters away for our hot summers - of course). IT was probably a perfect 65 degrees or so, but there was a very chilly wind.

I suppose it's so unusual, that I just thought it was a freak thing.

Driving home from aerobics this morning, I was pondering what to do today with the kids (outside chores). I thought, "We should go swimming in the afternoon." I got out to fill my gas tank and was met with a very chilly wind. "Um, nevermind!" I suppose we will stay indoors.

I looked at the weather and there wasn't even a day over 90 degrees predicted for the next 10 days - which is absurd. IF May was a record, for no 90+ degreed days, then June will be quite a record, too.

Of course, our camping trip is approaching, and I am not very excited about how cold it is going to be. Bah. We will have fun - but definitely no swimming or sun bathing. With the recent storms, we hear there is patches of snow on the ground, and the water is unusually/dangerously cold.

Something in the middle would be nice. I appreciate not sweltering yet, this year, BUT freezing my butt off at 9am and 7pm isn't what I would sign up for. I suppose I should just keep a jacket in my car until this craziness passes - it is kind of nice. I would have planned our trip for later in the summer, but other than that it is kind of nice (when prepared).

---------------------------------------------

Anyway, I am going to cook breakfast and we will probably do chores today.

Dh has plans, so I Was thinking of taking the kids to the store and making smoothies (I need to pick up some stuff to make dinner, too). I know, I see the blue skies outside, it's June, and I can't get it into my head that it is COLD. LOL. I keep making hot weather plans!!

Well, I am freezing some bananas, in case it warms up.

Lunch In: 13
Lunch Out: 1

Friday
------
Breakfast - granola bar, cherries
Lunch - Frozen pizza
snacks - TBD


Thursday
---------
Breakfast - apple sauce, sourdough walnut bread (yum!)
Lunch - Frozen pizza
snacks - nuts, banana

-------

So, dh got these frozen pizzas on sale. I tried one yesterday and it was so good, I wanted to eat the other one today. Bad bad bad. While my frozen chicken nuggets are all natural, these pizzas are full of preservatives and "no no"s. Which I really don't care about once in a while, but why I am beating myself up a bit about it today - two days in a row and all. Oh well!

I need to remember to clear out the fridge today - I brought some leftover I never ate (will go bad soon, if not already), and I have cherries in the fridge still, etc.

Work provided the sourdough bread, and some lunch meats and cheese for a meeting - which I am sure I snacked on the last couple of days. Not sure I have ever had sourdough walnut bread before, but it is delish!

Great idea for a post! You never know who is lurking, or who will google and find your blog (even if a lot of other SA bloggers don't live near me).

So, I decided to copy HouseHappy and do a similar type blog post.

I will try to make my list from least expensive to most expensive, mostly thinking of things to do for a family of 4 (which is my own experience).

**Go for a walk or a bike ride. Pack up food and make it a picnic.

-One of the many parks in the area (playgrounds, basketball hoops, tennis courts, open space, trails, wildlife viewing, etc.).
-State Capitol/Old Sacramento/Downtown
-Anywhere along river trail. American River bike trail is 32 miles long - longest bike path in U.S., I believe. Easily accessible. Trail spans from downtown (close to us) to Lake Natoma, to the east...
-Lake Natoma (free parking, swimming, biking, hiking, GORGEOUS).

There is almost always enough wind to fly a kite, too. Lots of kite flying with the kids...

{picture credit:

http://kstreetgallery.com/Tuthill_limited_editions.html }









**Davis Farmers Market, "Picnic in the Park"

Wednesday evenings, 7 months out of the year. Free live performances and water feature for kids. Bring a picnic and have a great free night. Or shop the market and order food from vendors (usually local restauarants - GREAT food).



**Free/discounted arts/museums

I wouldn't even know where to begin as far as free/discounted concerts and plays for youth, as well as free/discounted art museum admissions throughout the year, etc.

**Rite Aid ice cream, 99 cent scoops, in the old Thrifty locations. All I Can say is, "YUM!" I do not want to go out for any other type of ice cream - there's is the best, and cheapest, too.

**See a Ballgame

Discounted field seating area, and Value nights with $1 hot dogs and $1 ice cream - minor league baseball

**Local Parks & Rec

Tons of activities and camps, for adults and kids, at very low prices. (i.e. there is a summer camp at the park for $15/week - under $1 per hour for grade school kids. We have taken swimming lessons, karate classes, toddler time, workouts/yoga, etc. My aerobics class is $2.50 per hour.)

**Fairytale Town

$55 per year for family membership

IT's a little zoo and park that the kids LOVE. We go there at least every other weekend when the weather is nice - definitely get our money's worth. (It's like $4 to get in, otherwise, per person).

Last time we went they were shearing sheep and handing out free juice.

**Railroad Museum

$60 annually, for family membership. Play area for kids (Thomas the Train tables), and free historic train rides, plus 2 guests outside family, any time, with membership. Plus, the museum is really cool. It's like a giant warehouse with several retired historic trains to explore.



**Discovery Museum

This is a real little and low priced science museum. The kids always LOVE it. We have seemingly unlimited free tickets for this place too (usually from school).

**Aerospace Museum

This is a new gem that we just found. Haven't even been there yet. They have a really cool Star Trek display, at the moment, kids 5 & under are free, and BM has gotten some free tickets at school, too.

**Roller Skating

Family skate - $10 for up to 6 people

**Bowling

$1 games, Sunday mornings and some weekday afternoons

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Of course, day/weekend trips would include:

San Francisco (1 hour) - hiking, beaches, good/low cost zoo, lots to look at.
Monterey/Carmel (3 hours) - beaches, hiking
Yosemite (4 hours) - hiking, camping
Tahoe (2 hours) - hiking, rent a cabin with others, rent a boat with others, winter snowball fights/sledding/tubing
Reno (2 hours) - gambling for adults, cheap food and hotels
Northern Coast (I haven't traveled up north much, but hear it is gorgeous)
Disneyland/LA (6 hours)
Vegas (10 hours)

Which reminds me, Washington/Oregon is not a far drive, either. Very scenic.

I know that Disney doesn't jump out as terribly frugal. But, being able to drive there in 6 hours, cuts travel costs considerably. We can do Disney with a very minimal budget. (Vegas is similar. Can drive - airfare and room can usually be found dirt cheap).

On the cheap end of the spectrum is camping, camping, camping. There is a campground about 1/2 hour from us that is very low cost and great for some real star gazing away from the city lights. There are great/affordable public campgrounds all over the state.

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For us, personally, the family owns a cabin half way between us and Tahoe. We also have a community pool with our HOA. SO, we can squeeze a lot of "free" activity out of these perks. We are planning a weekend at the cabin in July, with the cost being very minimal.

The sad truth is I just donated some roller blades that I bought about 15 years ago.

I could never get into them. I could NEVER figure out how to slow down or stop.

Of course, I tossed them a few months ago, and now we are becoming skating regulars. I held onto them 15 years, just to toss them when I could probably use the rink to practice up - maybe even take some lessons.

But, maybe it is for the best. I look forward to buying some good old fashioned quads.

Anyway...

We went to family skate night last night. BM and I would be $12 (including rentals). $16 since LM joined us for a bit. ($8/$10 if we had our own skates).

We had a BLAST! The empty Sunday session had been nice to get our bearings, but was not near as fun as a good old fashioned family skate session.

All of our skating had improved dramatically since last time. LM was a little easier to cart around the rink (though I tripped on him once - not pretty). BM was a whiz, and I started to feel 10 times more comfortable on the skates, myself. It's coming back to me.

(As far as BM, he was walking/running at 9 months, and seems to master any new balancing act at lightning speed - skating no exception. IT probably helps that he is not cautious in the least - LM being the polar opposite).

You would not believe how packed the rink was. I would say it was "just right." IT wasn't too crowded to enjoy, but I Was impressed how well the rink was doing on a weeknight. Wow.

I can buy a pair of skates for around $50 (1 month allowance for me), so I will just buy some next month. Probably online.

BM's birthday is coming up so will suggest my parents may want to get him skates. If not, we can buy some. Seemed fitting thought since my dad is the rink rat. I don't think he has skated much since we've grown, but we used to go skating all the time. He is so excited to skate with the kids now.

I often think that I am quite cautious and boring, but then there is dh, who refuses to do anything like skiing or skating. Oh well, for now I Can look on the bright side that it makes the activity much cheaper. BUT, for the long run, we have got to get him onto some skates.

Lunch Tally...

Lunch In: 11
Lunch Out: 1

Wednesday
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Breakfast - cookie, soda
Lunch - salad, BBQ
snacks - TBD

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Boss brought in cookies. They will last a few more days...

Going to the school for a BBQ at noon. Kids will be released for summer, after the feast.

Told the kids we could go skating tonight, to celebrate.

Unfortunately, I don't have any vacation time to spare, so am stuck at work after BBQ, until 5:00. Oh well! (I could make up time later, but we are leaving for vacation and all that jazz. So, will suffer through).

Last year I had the day off and we went to the water park. This year, too much time off for sick people, precludes that.

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It's nice for things to let up on my family (maybe?), but the news is still pretty depressing, of late.

There was a Month 9 *miscarriage* in the extended family. *sigh* I seem to know too many people who have gone through this. (I suppose the appropriate term is stillborn - for any baby lost after 20 weeks).

The boy missing in Oregon is a "friend of a friend." I can't open Facebook without being reminded a family is missing their 7-year-old child.

Maybe it's just all too much, but yesterday I read in a community blog that a young father had just passed after a 5 month battle with cancer. I looked at the picture of his young face and little kids, (though I didn't know them from Adam), and just broke down. It just struck me as so tragic, and yet maybe a little too close to home. (As it was exactly 5 months ago we found out 100% dh did not have cancer. So, we were celebrating while another family was broken terrible news the other way).

Of course, the blogs have been filled with their own tragedies, lately.

I always hug & love my husband and kids, but extra hugs & love lately.