Ugh - I overslept this morning!

This past weekend was mostly about decompressing after my vacation. The weather was amazing - sunny, high 70s, no humidity. The light is definitely starting to look like fall and I'm not ready for that!

On Saturday, I went for a long walk with my neighbor A, started to unpack and regroup at home, and then went for a boat ride on a nearby lake with A and her husband. It was a beautiful evening for an outing. We stopped for local ice cream on the way home, but I didn't have any money with me, so A paid. No money spent that day. On Sunday, I spent time with my friend M and her 7-year-old daughter J. We went blueberry picking ($8.04 for about 3 pounds) at a place with gorgeous views and then attended an event at a local farm, where we met up with my neighbor A and her husband. There was a live folk music band and the farm offered meals (local hamburger, hot dog or sausage or a veggie burger plus two sides and a beverage). I chose a hamburger with mac and cheese and a delicious cabbage salad that was made with the farm's own buttermilk dressing. We all hung out enjoying the food and the music and then A and I took an afternoon three-mile walk near a lake. I scored some free garden veggies when I dropped her off at home - three yellow zucchinis, 2 cukes and a bunch of flat leaf parsley.

The farm meal was $11 and then I bought a $2 giant cookie to split with A. This food spending was totally unnecessary - I should have brought my own snacks, but I didn't take the time to prepare. A goal this week is to spend $0 or very little on food. My fridge is pretty empty since I've been away, but I have the free veggies from A, a bag of free kale from another neighbor, the freshly picked blueberries, and some leftover travel food - two Jersey tomatoes, a few New York white peaches, some salad ingredients, some cheese, salsa and chips. I also have dried grains and other staples that I can prepare. I had planned to prepare some food for the week when I got home yesterday, but ended up falling asleep instead, so this morning I had to scramble to put something together for lunch at work. I made a small salad and packed a peach, blueberries and almonds. I just had the peach and some almonds for breakfast, will eat the salad for lunch around 1:00p and then will have blueberries and more almonds for a snack around 3:30. Hopefully I will refrain from buying a candy bar at that time instead. Not only do I not want to consume the calories and sugar, but a regular size Snickers bar costs $1.06 at the store near my office. Sometimes I get on kicks where I buy one there each afternoon. I think they are probably only 69 cents downtown!

So, looks like my weekend spending was $21.04, all on food. Not bad for all of the enjoyable activities that I did, I felt like I extended my vacation, but I would have preferred to have just spent the $8.04 on the blueberries. I was glad to reconnect with friends since I had been away and to enjoy my beautiful surroundings in these final weeks of summer.

A few things I'd like to do this evening after work:

*Walk for at least 30 minutes (and catch up with a friend via phone while I walk)
*Figure out how much I owe my neighbor who mows my lawn and pay him this week using leftover cash from vacation
*Write check for next payment of bathroom renovation and mail tomorrow
*Eat a light, healthy dinner
*Make lunch for tomorrow

Hope everyone is having a good day!