Input

My morning mass endoggenment
I have the ipad and coffee right there,
but it takes two hands to pet two dogs

As our world is burning down around us, I've been thinking a lot about modifying my consumer behavior - both where I spend money and where I get news and entertainment. I've had a ritual for a number of years now, in retirement, where I rise relatively early, let the dogs out while making coffee, and then settle down with my ipad to check in with the world. (First the dogs pile on me for a morning pet fest, topping up my oxytocin levels that decline overnight.) I have my routine: texts (they don't wake me up if they come in while I'm asleep), emails, blogs of people I know in real life. Then, a deep breath and the news. 

The news is bound to upset me, and I've learned to meter my input, checking my arousal level, and sometimes just walking away for a while. But this morning checkin is where I decide on my civic actions for the day. I write or call my federal representatives, or my state and local ones, almost every day first thing. (Not many calls, while I know they are supposed to be more important than emails, but I am very thoughtful in my phrasing in emails.) I might enter comments on some federal or local issue that has a public comment form available. I have a weakness for having to actually research a topic before commenting on it, clicking through to read source documents and think about it, so this is time consuming.

This is my main ipad screen with my news sources,
recently enhanced and rearranged so I can get at my most used
Links to email reps at the bottom

I have subscribed to the New York Times and the Washington Post for years, and since I got the ipad, I actually read or at least skim them every day. I am disappointed in their performance right now, but I still believe they have legitimate investigative journalists doing good work. (Their headline writers, on the other hand, suck.) Not only am I reluctant to deprive myself of these papers' content, but I am willing to pay to support them. I am working with many additional news sources as well, and increasingly I'm paying for them as well.

 I subscribe / pay for Vox, Pro Publica, the Baltimore Banner, the New Yorker, the Atlantic, New York mag, Heatmap, Wired and Rolling Stone. These last two have a surprising amount of relevant investigative journalism right now. I'm considering contributing to the AP - I only just realized it's not-for-profit. Heatmap is a climate newsletter someone I know writes for, I only read it sometimes. I subscribe to a large number of newsletters, most through SubStack, and I pay for a few of them.

I never watched TV news, ever. But I used to live on public radio. I've been contributing since right after college (the tote bag and coffee mug collections have finally been whittled down.)  I owned a radio for every room in my house. On weekends, I would turn them all on to the local station (WAMU, Shout Out!) while I did chores and projects. Now, I have Amaz** Alexas in many rooms, and I can with a voice comment turn them all to the station and hear it as I move throughout the house. But I want to meter my input of upsetting news, not allow random voices to appear and hit me in the gut with something with little warning. And so more often I tee up a podcast from my list, or a book, using the devices as bluetooth speakers for my phone. 

I will also play music throughout the house, either directly with a voice command, or again bluetoothed to  my phone. I also still have my big, dumb, ipod, loaded with many LPs and CDs I loaded into my computer as MP3s. Its battery has no staying power, but I have it plugged into a charger, and wired to a high quality speaker. Often I will put it on random shuffle from my entire collection of songs (about 100 hours worth!) and play it loudly while going about my business. It's pretty much guaranteed that every song on the ipod is something I liked enough to own at one time, and sometimes there is an unexpected pleasure from hearing something I remember only from long ago. Sweet!

Book options

Books are my big thing. I have a kindle and a kobo which are "epaper" readers. I much prefer them to long reading on the ipad - the screen is easier on my eyes and the device is much lighter to hold, and it's a great battery life for travelling. I find the epaper devices seamless to read on, a better experience than the printed page because I can adjust the font size and backlighting to the conditions. I'm trying to unwind myself from Amaz**, and it's hard. The public library offers a kindle option for most of their ebooks, and I usually go that route. In addition, a Prime membership gets me a couple extra free books (limited selection) every month. And many independent authors, self-published, are only available there. The kobo has fallen into dis-use. Recently, Bookshop.org has offered another alternative for buying ebooks. Their website allows you to choose an independent bookstore to profit from sales to you on their site. I've designated "Loyalty Bookstores", located in DC and Silver Spring. But their catalog is not extensive - especially in a back catalog if I find an author I like and want to catch up on all their books. And books bought through them have to be read on my ipad currently, though apparently they are in discusssions with Kobo. I have discovered there are some untethered chrome-operating system generic ereaders made. I was excited, until I researched on Reddit and found they are mostly made in China, system messages are in Chinese, and they require some savvy shenanigans to use. I'll stay tuned, but not ready to purchase yet.

I also listen to books a lot. Audible is the obvious choice there, and I've been on a subscription there since I bought my first ipod. Now the app is on my phone, but I can also download to my kindle, which can save phone battery while traveling. The Audible subscription level I'm on gives me access to a lot of no-extra-cost books, mostly back catalogues or indy authors. The library audiobooks are Libby, which works very well on the phone. I also use Libro.fm, which is affiliated with Bookshop.org and has the same deal of designating a local bookstore to share profits. I am currently also subscribed to Libro, but it has the same issues as Bookshop's ebooks in terms of fewer choices and no back catalog.

I use Goodreads to keep track of my reading, and to get updates from other people. It is owned by Amaz**, and when I finish and rate a book on the kindle, it automatically is registered in Goodreads. Books read elsewhere, or audiobooks, require entering manually. There are other social reading sites, Fable and StoryGraph, which are frankly better. Except, they don't have the automatic updating. I am a voluminous reader, and I like the convenience of the automatic updates. So I'm still on Goodreads for now. If my kindle reading declines, perhaps the convenience factor will too. (Both StoryGraph and Fable allow importing a Goodreads export, which captures all your history up to that point. But, that's a one-time thing and all future books have to input manually.)

John Scalzi has an excellent post that covers the nuances and pains of trying to disentangle from various Evil Empires run by oligarchs.  Two notable quotes: "Boycotts are a fuckin' slog, y'all" and "No ethical living under capitalism is a real thing". I'm sorting my way through the mess. I'm on Facebook and Instagram regularly, where I see posts from people I know in real life and want to keep up with (I post very rarely). But I'm not on Twitter nor Threads, though I have IDs there. I've been a Prime member, and I'm not turning that off right now. But I'm trying to go to other sources for things, with mixed success. Covid tests available for same-day delivery via Amaz** took eight days to arrive when ordered direct from the manufacturer. A maintenance item I needed was only available via Amazon - the manufacturer's website pointed only there. Whole Foods has been my major grocery store (visited more than once a week last year). I've joined the local food coop and checked out Mom's Organic Market (local chain, twice the distance). Both are less convenient - I often would drive to the WF parking lot, where I could also go to the farmer's market, hardware store (employee owned!), CVS, and library all in one trip. Shall I spend more gas driving around for errands? Nuance and trade offs, guys.

BlueSky has definitely hurt my sleep. I've turned on controls on my ipad - BlueSky is limited to 25 minutes a day, and the whole ipad turns off at 10 pm. Controls are easily over-ridden, but at least it's a conscious decision. 

Report Card

 The last time I published a report card was in January of last year, looking at 2022. I actually have kept up tracking myself primarily through apps and devices, and from time to time I sit down and go through the data trying to glean some meaning or insights. I haven't felt like I've learned that much recently, certainly not something worth sharing. I still haven't got any wisdom to share, and it's not that pretty a picture, but the data is what the data is, and there is a certain value in simply showing it. Keeps me honest with myself.

First, to get it out of the way, my weight is high and stable. No need to share a graph. I gained a bunch of weight in 2022 (Fuck You, Intuitive Eating!) and it's stayed on. I haven't been motivated to any kind of a big push to change it. And it's been remarkably stable - plus or minus four pounds. I do plan and track my food most days, but it's more part of planning how to spend my time than trying to morph it into fewer calories. And then, keeping me conscious of what I'm doing, to do away with mindless eating. I still weigh myself every day and it gets recorded on the internet, for whenever I feel like reviewing the history in detail. I chuckled one day recently when I got up and peed several times during the night and found the next morning I was two and a half pounds down from the day before! That's why I can't get excited about day-to-day fluctuations, the range I'm seeing is just water weight. 

First up: Activity. As always, darker is better. January was knee recovery time, and I give myself a pass for everything but workout days. My "workout days" focus on functional fitness, either in my home gym or with physical therapy (my PT experience the past couple of years has been a solid hour of working out followed by 15 minutes of massage and stretching). With PT from the knee replacement added to working out in the home gym, I was really doing a lot. It also paid off, as now my calories and steps are back to where they were last year (which was NOT a stellar year for activity, I admit). The walking mileage shown here is from taking a deliberate walk where I activate my GPS, not an accumulation of steps during the day. I'm currently pretty active in the house and garden, which keeps my steps up, but I haven't been feeling the walk as a way to spend time (and I only do short and slow training walks with the dog, not worth tracking.) I've added a new row since the last time I posted, "stand time". My apple watch tracks this - how much time do I spend on my feet all day. It seems worth looking at, since my goals involve being less sedentary. Here, I'm moving in the right direction!

Next, some health parameters. These are both controllable and uncontrollable things. The big worrying trend is migraines, which are up. I have fallen off the meditation bandwagon, and that might be a contributing factor. But my doctor thinks that perhaps allergies are acting up - and there is a connection between respiratory inflammation and migraines. So I'm trying to be more faithful on OTC allergy remedies. "Alone days" (still looking for a better descriptor) are days I don't talk to anyone. I might be texting or emailing, but it only counts if I talk to someone either in person or on the phone. I really enjoy days on my own, but I am aware it is not healthy to have too many. And besides, I enjoy my family, friends and neighbors! I continue to be a sleep champion, with a normal seasonal variation of less sleep with longer daylight hours. (These sleep hours are separate from time in bed, as the watch purports to distinguish between lying awake versus truly asleep. I am awake at least 45 minutes during the course of the night - but apparently, that is less than average for a woman my age.) Heart rate variability is meant to be an overall measure of stress, with a high number being better. I haven't been looking too much at it, but the apple watch keeps track, so I decided to add it to the list. Resting heart rate, as a reminder, measures resiliency, with a lower number better.

Lastly, how do I spend my leisure time? (Ok, it's all leisure time. I do a minor amount of volunteer work, but I'm not tracking that here.) This whole category is not necessarily "more is better", but it is what it is. I also struggle with whether the "year" column should show an average of the months, or a cumulative total for the year. It's currently a mixed bag. I've actually wanted to read fewer books this year, because I read a lot of fluffy entertainment and it gets in the way of doing more productive things. My TV watching is up recently, as I indulged myself with a season of my only reality TV show, "Below Decks". I haven't been watching movies, neither at home nor out. I have been traveling a modest amount this year, more shorter trips, which is suiting me right now. And I'm hoping for more sailing, as my partner has retired, which multiplies the number of possibilities of aligning our two schedules and the weather.

So that's the story in numbers. Looking at this does motivate me to move, so I'm off to do that now.

Excelsior!

Impulse Buying

I spend lots of time on the internet, and that allows the internet to track me and target ads. It's a little pathetic, like a neglected puppy, I show the slightest interest, and a product / product type is all over me. Sometimes, it's amusing. Sometimes, it actually works on me. I am very suggestible, I have money, I have time, I have endless optimism about whether I'll use something, and I'm always seeking the new and novel. In fact, I subscribe to some emails (including Wirecutter from the NYTimes) so I'm getting "push" into my mailbox. If I didn't want to buy anything, I wouldn't do this.

For budgeting purposes, I have a list of possible big purchases (defined as over $100) and things have to be on the list for a while before I act. I have to do at least some research, and be sure I want it. But there is an amazing array of things one can get for less than a hundred dollars, and I have been known to just push the button and buy. I try not to - I will go so far as to put things into my shopping cart on a site, and then close the browser thinking I'll come back tomorrow with a clearer mind. Sometimes that even works and I don't buy the thing. But more often than I like to admit, I do.

Clothing is an obvious category. For me, its not so much party or dress up clothes, or any kind of bling. Things that catch my eye are specialty clothing for adventures I hope to have some day. So recent purchases include a merino wool tshirt from Woolx ("the only tshirt you will ever need") and, in contrast, a quick-dry cooling long-sleeved tshirt from Arctic Cool ("like wearing an air conditioner"). They are nice. I already own a bizillion tshirts. Now I have a bazillion plus two.

Anything to do with travel catches my eye. Gadgets, of course, luggage, purses. I have disposed of enormous numbers of suitcases and bags and backpacks, and yet I'm constantly browsing, looking for something new. The ideal is small, has a million tiny but capacious pockets, holds everything, weighs nothing, and transports itself. Such a thing, The Luggage, exists in Discworld (by Terry Pratchett). But I keep searching in this world. Each trip planned is likely to generate some wistful looking, if not an actual purchase. Right now, I have storage space set aside for all the bags and backpacks and suitcases I own, but any more purchases will drive another round of purges. I also have bags to put in bags, of course, more than a few. Which leads, when traveling, to endless hours of unzipping things to see what is each one. I just went through all that have, got rid of the most tatty, and washed all that remain. Ready to go someplace!

Lately, I've been tempted by food things. A young blogger, Athena Scalzi, has written of several things she has tried and I've jumped in behind her. I got Honey Pops (a Maryland company, Waxing Kara, makes them) and found them a lovely treat - not one I want all the time, but something to savor. I got a "box" of treats from Japan. It was so fun: the whole family sat around after dinner and sampled the twenty things in the box. Weird and sometimes wonderful, great entertainment.  This strikes me as really expensive for what you get, but this is not food to shovel in mindlessly, but to taste and explore. The whole package - literally packaging and all - makes for a lovely experience.

Eating Well

Countertop lettuce

I am eating very well, food cooked at home. I have lowered my food cost, mostly by postponing trips to the grocery store (and, eating at home). I postpone shopping by managing my fresh food inventory much more efficiently, with constant notes to myself on what I have and what I need. I also have had a constant supply of lettuce from my countertop garden for a daily salad.

While the way I'm eating is relatively healthy, big on mostly fresh vegetables, it's also big on sauces, dairy, incorporates starches (mostly whole grain, or beans or potatoes) daily, and does not stint on meat. The meat is probably 70% chicken, 20% pork, and eggs, lamb, and seafood make up the rest. (I stopped buying beef for carbon footprint reasons.) Olive oil is my go-to fat ingredient. I keep lemons and limes, and fresh herbs, and have realized how those things can totally elevate a dish. Daily, I have some kind of sweet, candy or cookies, rarely ice cream. I only buy stuff I love, but I love a lot of sweets!

So, I'm not eating lightly, and really not eating "lite", but it's relatively healthy. Processed junk food is nearly non-existent in my diet. I shop the outside aisles at the grocery store.

Roasted brussels sprouts and a
lime squeeze elevate this lunch

I have confirmed to myself that I don't like daily cooking. I don't dislike cooking, no more than I detest vacuuming.  Both can be pleasant, and I like the results. Sometimes, I will plan cooking as entertainment, trying a new recipe or leading to a special favorite. But generally, just like other household chores, I'd rather spend my time doing other things. And, like vacuuming, the results are ephemeral, and then you just have to do it again.

I thought this long-standing feeling would change when I retired and have more time. But no, while I am eating food prepared at home much more than when I worked, I don't really want to spend more time in the kitchen. 

I'm cooking for one so much of the time, and I've learned a lot more about managing quantities to reduce waste. I buy smaller quantities (a single sweet potato) and I cook smaller quantities. When I get home from the grocery store, I write on the fridge what perishables I bought. I have learned leftovers are the best way to continue to eat home-cooked without actually having to cook. (In my vocabulary, re-heating is not cooking.) I've learned I can eat many dishes for up to three days before losing interest, and I'm focused on how long ago I cooked what is in the fridge. So now I'm pretty good at freezing individual portions of my leftovers, and I keep track of what is in the freezer.

Organized freezer

I had done some stocking up for the freezer when the pandemic shutdown was starting last year, and then I continued to stock the freezer as time went on. I finally emptied everything out of it, only needed to throw away a couple of things, and I put things back with a detailed inventory on the whiteboard on the freezer front. 

I also stocked the pantry, with beans, rice, pasta and broth. Also cans or boxes of soup - thinking that if I got sick, I could still heat those up. I discovered Mikes Mighty Good instant ramen, and bought a case of it for the pantry. I feel like I've got food to handle any kind of a shutdown for now.

I still buy prepared foods, mostly from Whole Foods or Trader Joe's. I have frozen boxed dinners (Saffron Road is a great brand) and "fresh" prepared foods such as turkey bean chili. Yes, I could make these things, but see above for how I feel about spending the time to do that. Right now, I've got the money to trade for commercial kitchen's time, and I'm good with that.

I'd like to lose weight. To do that, I need to focus on a couple of changes to the way I'm eating now, I think. The first is portion control, at every meal. I want to reduce food waste, but one of the many podcasts I listen to pointed out that eating more than you need at a specific meal, versus tossing the food out, have the exact same impact on your food budget. Eating more than you need at a meal does not generally reduce the amount you eat the next time. So it's "waste" either way. So when I do actually cook, and I almost always cook to have leftovers, I am trying to portion the whole dish out into decent portions at once, and freezing what I'm going to freeze. Then, whether it's a commercially prepared dish, or one I've done, I do not need to clean my plate by eating everything there. This last point is really hard for me. I can dish myself a reasonable amount of food, but the urge to eat everything on my plate is very strong.

The other thing I need to work on, and the subject for another day, is late night eating.

2020 Report Card and Final Wrap-Up

 Herewith is my final report card for the year. After this, 2020 begone! I'm only looking forward!

 

First up: Activity. This past year was not great for my moving. Kim's friend Chris would be sad for me. I expended fewer calories overall, had fewer high activity days, fewer steps, more days very sedentary, and what I'm saddest about, many fewer days working out with weights. I got the bike out once, and tried running once. Only in "intentional miles" walking am I up slightly - and I think that is because I was more assiduous in tracking those miles. (In order to be logged, a "walk" needs to be at least 1 1/2 miles - no counting the incidental miles in the course of living my life.)

I have reasons and excuses, of course. The main one is I felt bad much of the time. Joint and muscle pain, headaches, upset stomach, all the things that are elusive and not subject to definitive diagnosis or fixing. But I'm extremely optimistic that I've now got a firm grasp on the mind-body approach to this, and this next year will be much better. 

 Next, my weight. I didn't achieve any big goals here, but I guess in the quarantine context I'm doing ok. I weigh slightly less than last year at this time, and (not shown) slightly more than I did in November, my lowest point of the year. Not coincidentally, I'm planning and tracking food much more often. I'm also really tuning into my hunger and satiation signals. I think I'm on the right track here, and again, I'm optimistic things will be even better next year.

 

On mind-body, it's a mixed picture. Not shown or tracked, I started serious therapy this year for the first time ever. First, in January, for twelve weeks I was in a structured (zoom) group, and following that, I started individual therapy over facetime. What I'm doing is geared towards somatic issues, specifically to address those with chronic pain of the types I have. On those things I do track, I'm meditating, less than last year (huh, if I didn't track it, I would have guessed different). My migraines are up for the year, but there were NONE in December and I think this is an effect of the emotional work I'm doing to re-train my brain. I am generally a champion sleeper, I certainly have plenty of time. My resting heart rate, which generally shows an overall fitness level, is slightly better than last year.

On the category I might term "self-actualization", if you are a regular reader, you know for sure I was a reading fool this year. I blogged more than last year, less than I would have liked. I started tracking "trips downtown" last year after I retired - generally trips last year were social, catching up with former work friends. Most of this year's trips were solitary dawn walks, reminding myself the city even exists. It feels like I sailed a lot this year, but seeing that it's less than last year, it must feel like more because it stands out so clearly in such a mass of otherwise undifferentiated days. Other accomplishments include a tap dancing class at the local community college (surprisingly effective over zoom) and several seminars and on-line short courses. I also got into sewing masks, and really engaged on the design and engineering creativity side while doing it.

I think I'm going to add movies watched to this list for next year - I would like to see a movie a week. This seems so very do-able, and I find setting a quantitative goal and reporting it here would be helpful. I want to do even more classes and short courses, tap class again, and sit down at my piano sometimes. I don't know I'll be tracking quantitatively here, though tracking can be part of the reward system that encourages me to keep going. I aspire to travel, but you know...

On the money front, I've spent some time working on the budget. My goals for this year were to get a handle on where the money goes, and specifically to reduce costs on food and clothes. Missions accomplished! This is the one area where the quarantine really helped. I cut food spending by 25%, mostly because I'm not eating out. Clothing was down by more than a third. (There was really no reason for me to buy any clothes at all this year, but I get bored and just want something new.) 

As another couple of money accomplishments, I did a final distribution to my family of the money from my mother's estate, and cut down on the number of different bank accounts I have. My mother's probate estate was something of a nightmare to deal with, and the IRS combined forces with the US Postal Service to screw some things up that created a great deal of angst for me. So when I close the estate's last bank account next week, I'm going to do a happy dance.

I tend to be analytic and want to be intentional about how I live my life. My current focus is trying to engineer my days to build good routines. When do I do what kind of exercise or other work? I've learned about habit formation so I'm thinking about this as another design challenge. What is my trigger to make me go work out? What might be the barriers? How can I make it easier to start? I know I hate going outside on days like today (grey and drizzling) so what can I do to get over the hurdle? Or is there something I can do indoors instead? Stay tuned!

Summer Report Card

Here is the July and August updates to the report card. I feel better about this than I did in June. Remember, more green is better, and we want more red in the 2019 column than the 2020 - the red indicates the worse average.

First, Activity:

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug		2020	2019
Avg Calories Exp	1,847	1,959	1,839	1,799	1,894	1,837	1,872	1,849		1,862	1,930
Days >2,000 cal	8	10	6	7	12	5	4	4		7	10
Avg Daily Steps	8,050	8,950	6,706	6,934	7,808	8,217	9,132	8,023		7,978	8,811
Days <5 span="" steps="">	9	6	8	8	7	6	7	4		7	3
Miles Biked	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-		-	1
Miles Walked	25	22	14	21	13	29	54	31		26	23
Miles Run	-	-	-	3	-	-	-	-		0	4
Workout Days	13	10	5	1	9	2	3	4		6	11

I was a champion walker in July, enough to bring up the yearly average to beat last year. But, now I've reverted back to a more "normal" number of miles, but this is still a focus. If I can't do anything else, at least I can walk. And sometimes in July, that is all I did for the day. The number tracked here is "intentional" walking - go out the door for a walk and track it - as opposed to steps that just happen as I go about whatever is happening in my day. Steps overall are up, which is a good thing. I still need to consciously work out, body weight and with weights. I know I've lost strength.

Weight, and food tracking:

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug		2020	2019
End Weight (trend)	167	167	165	165	165	164	163	163		164	167
Days Food  Tracked	27	16	19	11	25	25	23	18		21	4

This is one area where I am doing better than last year, because it is something I'm focused on. I am not just tracking after the fact, but planning out what to eat in advance for the day. (This also helps to reduce waste, as I pay attention to what I have already in the fridge.) Mostly, I'm just paying attention to whether I am truly hungry or not. Because I have the privilege of nearly totally setting my own schedule, I can eat whenever and whatever I want. I do not eat anything I don't like, and mostly try to only eat things I really really like, not just "ok". I try to be careful on portion sizes I dish out, because stopping before the plate is clean is very very difficult for me. Truly, I am shocked at how little it takes to fill me up if I slow down and eat mindfully. I am eating sweets I like every day, sometimes more than I planned. If I were able to cut back on the indulgence to more reasonable amounts, the weight would come off faster.

How's my head been?

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug		2020	2019
# Min Meditate	215	155	144	135	120	117	213	138		155	222
# Times Meditate	14	18	15	9	12	14	26	31		17	21
Migraine Hours	22	38	28	35	29	3	44	15		27	14
Sleep Hours	7.8	7.5	7.7	7.7	7.6	7.4	7.3	7.3		7.5	7.2
Resting Heart Rate	61	61	61	61	60	60	60	59		60	62

This is mixed. I'm meditating more now than at the beginning of the year, partly because both my therapy and my mindful eating lend themselves to that. I'm also doing a lot more informal checking into my body. Migraines aren't great, and probably somewhat related, my sleep isn't great either. I'm still sleeping more than last year, and I've come to realize how sleep deprived I was when I was working. My resting heart rate is down, which is good. Fitbit reports most people who stay at home for covid have had their resting heart rate go down, which is not expected as exercise and fitness is supposed to be the driver of lower heart rates.

How about things I do for fun?

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug		2020	2019
# Books Read	8	9	14	19	14	14	20	13		14	6
# Blog Posts	4	5	12	9	13	10	8	3		8	6
# Trips downtown	0	1	1	0	0	0	2	1		1	2
# Days Boat	1	0	1	0	2	2	3	2		1	2

I am a reading fool this year! I slowed down on the blogging (trying to get back to it). Obviously, I didn't go downtown for a few months - those trips I show recently were either ferrying one of the kids between here and middle boy's apartment, or else a dawn solo walk. Sailing is a bright spot - while we are not doing any overnight trips this year, we are regularly getting out, at least ever other weekend.

Lastly, money.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug		2020	2019
Total Food Spend	$   487	$   513	$   806	$   721	$   667	$   474	$   571	$   669		$   614	$   872
Groceries Spend	$   380	$   358	$   646	$   476	$   610	$   386	$   509	$   424		$   474	$   611
Clothes Spend	$      -	$   364	$   181	$      -	$   301	$   214	$   132	$     42		$   154	$   178

I still spend a ridiculous amount of money on food and groceries for a person alone (hello, Whole Paycheck!). I'd blame some of it on stockpiling. I still have reserves - after six months, it's time to look at expiration dates and eat the stuff that won't keep forever. At least I'm spending less than last year. And, as my weight has gone down slightly, I haven't felt quite as much need to buy new clothes that fit my fatter size. How many pairs of yoga pants can a person have? You might be surprised. I haven't focused on other budget line items too much, but if I want to feel really good, I might have to look at how little I'm spending on gasoline!

In the words of my girl, I'm pretty sure no one really cares about these numbers like I do, but it gives me a sense of accountability to not only track this, but also post it. I think the formatting will not look great on other computers, but I spent more than I planned fiddling with this, and I'm done for now.