Moment of Zen

Life is always going, going, going.

When there are rare moments of Zen, they're precious.

It looks like my MIL and FIL are finally going to sell their beautiful vacation condo in Nor.folk, VA where T and I went on our "babymoon" of sorts, before E was born last year. It's a gorgeous apartment with large windows that overlook the ocean. We had the windows open all the time, even though it was April, because it was so warm. The apartment was constantly filled with delicious ocean air. We watched ships moving back and forth across the landscape, walked along the boardwalk, walked to the next town over for coffee.... Walked, walked, walked. If I could pick one place where right now in my life, I feel most relaxed, and most like a carefree adult, it's there. (Of course, we missed D like crazy and talked to him every day on the phone, but still.)

They've been talking about selling for years, but they've finally come to a place where it no longer makes sense for them to keep two houses. They just don't get enough use out of it. I know these things. I'm still sad though. I'm sad for them, because they love it too, and I'm sad at the thought of losing my Zen place.

There's not enough Zen going around these days.

Spring cleansing

Spring is in the air here in the Northeast! It's a beautiful, breezy Friday and we're going to take a walk this afternoon. :) That makes me very happy.

Here are some updates for you, since I know you've been waiting eagerly for me to post. ;)

*D is a WAY better 3.5 year old than 3 year old. I've heard from a lot of people that the "first half" of each year is tougher than the second. He still has his moments, but for the most part, he amazes me almost on a daily basis with his sweetness.

*E is doing great. She is a little ray of sunshine, pretty much all the time. She's very seldom grumpy, and it's a joy to be her mom.

*Las.ik consultations in January= no go. I am not a candidate for Las.ik right now based on the severity of my astig.matism. I can only hope that over the next few years the lasers will get more advanced so they can handle me. I'm a little bummed that I stopped nursing E, in part, so that I could have this surgery, but at the same time, with the supply issues I was having, it might have been a blessing in disguise.

*T and I just started this wacky cleansing diet on Tuesday. (Still struggling to get off and KEEP off those last few pounds of baby weight, and then some!) The claim is that you can lose 12-15 pounds or more in 17 days. I'm not usually a fad diet girl, but I figured this can be like a detox before starting to eat more carefully. Eating healthy foods is always easier as the weather improves because more delicious produce is available, and at better prices! I'll let you know if I'm still standing after 17 days.

*I appreciate the feedback on my last post. I did end up starting my money-saving blog up again. The main store I'm covering is regional, so if you're not from around here, those posts won't be of interest. However, if you'd like to visit my site for the other tips I'll be giving, or for the links to good coupon and deal websites, you can e-mail me at Wheresmywhitepicketfence@Hotmail.com and I'll send you the web address.

The money thing

Something that I almost never talk about on this blog is my (obsession) with saving money. Yes, sometimes I feel like in my real life I'm sort of "that person" who's always talking about the last deal I got, but I won't apologize. With one income, it's really helpful to save money wherever we can.

I've always used coupons, but about two years ago I began to really concentrate on trying to become a coupon queen who saves ridiculous amounts of money when I shop. I've had varying amounts of success over the two years, depending on how busy life has been, but now that E is getting a little older, I've been getting the "bug" again. I'm ready to start making some changes in the way we shop and eat to make an even bigger impact on our budget that I've made thus far.

I have a deal/money-saving blog. I have intentionally kept that blog separate from this one for obvious anonymity reasons. I haven't updated that blog for quite a while because it was SO time-consuming, and SO unrewarding. (People rarely comment on a blog like that unless you have an unbelievable number of followers.) I'm thinking that I want to start it up again and am wondering what you ladies think. With regard to blogs, does it turn you off when a blog isn't updated every day? Would you still be interested in reading a savings blog that was updated often, but NOT every day? I feel like I have a lot of good ideas and I'd love to share them, but I just don't have time to update all the time and keep up with every circular.

I have more stuff to update on, but I don't want to make this too long so I'm going to leave it at that.