Whoopsie daisy...

I fell off the wagon! I've been eating waaay too much the last 3-4 days. I'm quite peeved about that since I'd actually made some progress in the weeks before. I've learned that whenever I do that it's a sign that something is off balance inside, and I think I have a pretty good idea what it is. Roy has been working a lot of OT lately, which means I do too. Still, we can't afford to pass the OT up since there's a huge budget crisis at the hospital and overtime opportunities have become much more difficult to come by. We also happen to have some big bills coming up- my Lasik , our annual life insurance premiums, our annual property tax assessment and our car insurance.

Sigh. We've done a great job cutting some costs (we've slashed our rent by moving in with good 'ol mom and pop, and we've slashed our entertainment and transportation budgets since we never go out or drive long distance anymore). But other costs seem to have skyrocketed- our medical has more than tripled (both our employers covered us in CA, but here we pay over $650 a month for our premiums alone), and our food and household costs have also gone up by about 30% since the cost of living is a bit higher here.

But I want to be clear- I'm not complaining...we feel extremely fortunate to have a solid income and the ability to have one of us stay at home with Rizzle. But we're also feeling like we're not making any progress toward our goal of banking up cash to buy a home. Instead of that happenning a year or two away as we'd planned, it looks A LOT more like it will be 3-5 years away. Which ah...kinda sucks. We're currently negotiating whether or not we should even go abroad this year. Last year was the first time we didn't do it since we figured Ryan was still too young and we'd already taken off a lot of time from work. So we were really looking forward to going to either Vietnam, Cambodia or the Philippines this winter, but now we're looking at the numbers thinking maybe we shouldn't. :-(

On the plus side-

I'm now trying to run 2-3 days a week and walking two miles a day in my MBTs the other days. The race is next weekend, so my final 'long run' (if you can call it that) will be a 4-miler this weekend, which just so happens to be the exact distance from my house to town (so I'll have Roy meet me there to pick me up). I've always disliked running around a track on up and down the same old path, so it's extremely liberating and motivating for me to have the option of running on the road. Running again is tough, but I'm starting to feel for the first time since Ryan was born that something is 'uniquely mine' again. It's awesome. (Oh, and Deanna- I get the shot bloks online from Amazon. They have a great price and usually have free shipping).

I'm also trying to focus on the fact that living at home is the best thing for Ryan (and I) right now. He and I get to see his cousins and grandparents on a near daily basis- which is wonderful for him, and I also benefit from the company as well.

Race day is in a week and a half! My time will be atrocious, but I don't care! It's something different to do and I'm very excited to run in a race again!

We're going camping in a few weeks! I'm making the menu/grocery shopping list as we speak! (It's kinda hard becauseI have to take into account my carnivorous father, my 'we only eat noodles' nephews, my 'I only eat mushy food and finger foods' son and my diabetic mother!)

The Ukulele Festival is this weekend and Roy is going to take a class by Roy Sakuma! I know he's excited, so I'm excited for him. And after that, we have a birthday party to go to. Again- something different!!! It's amazing what a stay-at-home mother looks forward to!

Roy & my mother both got me li hing mui gummy bears for Girls Day yesterday! My favorite! I also scored some popcorn, poi and chi chi dango from Roy! All my favorites, and tellingly enough- they're all food! And you wonder why I fell off the wagon!

I got my weekly issue of Us Weekly today! This has gotten no less exciting with each passing year.

And finally, everyday that Ryan is healthy and happy is a day that I am genuinely appreciative for. I take nothing...nothing for granted. I hope.