November Finance Report: Spending outside of babysitting cash came to---
$297 in savings, which meant I could send another check off to my IRA! Woo-hoo. Look at me planning for the future.
$203 on healthcare- rubber mats to get the back room set up as a workout area- of course so far it's only been a gingerbread storage room as I get ready for my class coming up in a couple weeks here
$128 on life insurance- bleh
$80 on house maintenance
$24 on food
$7 on entertaining- probably some lingering Halloween expense. I can tell you there won't be any more expensive entertaining for some time with the state of my finances.
$6 on entertainment- see, I can be good when I have to be
$5 in work expenses- corn syrup for the gingerbread class

Grand total for November was $750, about half of the previous month. Which is good, because the coffers are dry. I'll have money coming in during December, but the savings are down to just a few hundred dollars, I'll probably have a big expense on the truck this month, and I don't know if there will be much more coming in during January. Lean times in the Wohlers household here.

October Physical Report:
14.5 inch neck- the same
43.5 inch shoulders- down a half inch. To be expected since I've done nothing.
39 inch chest- the same
34 inch waist- up an inch. Arrgh!
37 inch butt- down an inch. More than anything else, my butt wants to be non-existent and will continue to deflate unless I get back to work on it.
14 inch arm- up an inch. Because I actually use these during everyday life.
23 inch thigh- same as last month.
16 inch calf- the same.
Body fat is at 21%, up a little bit. Not dreadful considering I've done no exercise of any kind, but still not great either. This will be a very busy month, so I don't know if we'll see any big improvement on this until the dead of winter.

October Finance Report: Spending outside of babysitting cash came to---
$980 on entertaining- my Halloween party was a huge success and I'm so happy!
$145 on entertainment- various stuff- seems like it's more than it should be- need to work on this
$75 in savings- way down from last month, but I worked considerably less so that makes sense as there was less money coming in to save
$61 on food
$57 on transportation- up from last month- mostly parking my car while I flew out to visit my grandma
$46 on gifts
$35 on phone
$34 on work expenses- mostly a flu shot so I don't get the baby sick

Grand total for September was $1433, which is actually down from last month. Nonetheless, November is going to be a lean month. All my Halloween preparations meant I didn't work a lot in October. I'll have to get by on what I already have during November and not expect a lot more coming in.

October Physical Report:
14.5 inch neck- how this went up a half inch I couldn't say, since I've done nothing in the way of lifting weights this month.
44 inch shoulders- down two inches. OK, so here we get the rub.
39 inch chest- the same.
33 inch waist- also down two inches, and that's a welcome change. I'm finally back down to a standard six inch drop from chest to waist.
38 inch butt- down an inch. It's clear that my shoulders and butt want to be little and will be so unless I force them to be otherwise.
13 inch arm- down an inch. It's amazing the amount I've shrunk in just one month. I'll be looking into getting the rubber mat flooring for the back room soon so we can get my equipment in here and get back to work on the magically shrinking body.
23 inch thigh- same as last month.
16 inch calf- the same.
Body fat is at 20%, way up, back into "Average" territory. I suppose this is to be expected after a month of nibbling on party preparations of puff pastry and sausage. At least it didn't all go to my waist.

I feel totally OK with this result. It's expected, and I think I look OK. I will start working out again once I can get my equipment set up in the back room.

September Finance Report: Spending outside of babysitting cash came to---
$72 on communications- two phone bills paid in one month.
$737 in entertaining. This was all getting set for my Halloween party. Yes, I'm out of control and I don't care. I love Halloween.
$32 in entertainment. This has come under control nicely.
$80 in home maintenance. I paid the cleaners one day.
$171 in insurance. I've decided to keep the stupid life insurance because apparently Eric may need to take time off work if I die in order to recover emotionally. Whatevs. If it makes him feel better to have it, it's not a huge expense for me.
$761 in savings. This is excellent.
$50 in transportation. Stupid car licensing. But really not stupid because I think people should be discouraged from using cars. Apparently I'm not discouraged enough because I continue to sink money into it. I was so busy with my get-in-shape plan this summer that I hardly took the bus at all. And my babysitting job is in a development where I'd have to leave two hours earlier and change buses twice to get there, so I probably won't be bussing a lot in the winter either. Oh well.
$15 in work expenses. Listing fees on ebay. Got rid of a lot of the toys. Which really felt good. It's much cleaner down there.

Grand total for September was $1918, which is up quite a bit, but a lot of the Halloween expenses are one time purchases which will not need to be replicated next year. If you haven't seen Target's Halloween stuff for this year yet, you should check it out. Superb.

July Physical Report:
14 inch neck- down half an inch. Blah. I was starting to get some consistent neck, shoulder and arm cramping from a couple of the exercises I was doing, which limited how much I could do on the really useful exercises. I'll be interested to see how this goes once I've weeded out the bad stuff from my get-in-shape plan and just start doing the useful things again.
46 inch shoulders- up an inch.
39 inch chest- down an inch. Similar complaint as the neck.
35 inch waist- same as last month. That's OK, but a 4-inch drop from chest to waist is pretty pathetic. I am just coming off a weekend of gorging a bit yet I really hope I'll be able to get my waist back down to a reasonable 33 inches at least.
39 inch butt- down an inch. Arrrgh.
14 inch arm- up an inch. That's welcome. I think these will be easy to bump up some once I get back to exercising them.
23 inch thigh- same as last month.
16 inch calf- down an inch, but they're still looking decent.
Body fat is at 14%, down another percentage point and still in the "Good" category. A couple of those measurements that went down could have been partially fat loss, so that's nice. I would like to eventually get back into the "Athletic" body fat category. Being off of this heavy eating diet should help with that. I just need to find the balance that also will provide me fuel to grow once I start working out regularly again.

Speaking of which, that should probably happen today, but I'm still feeling a little soreness in my neck and shoulder and would really like to get my Dracula cape made before I start devoting time to lifting weights again. Knowing that I'll be moving my weights inside in a month makes it especially hard to go out to the dusty, cold, smelly garage to exercise. We'll see. I've pushed myself all summer and am ready to be a little more casual about this.

The increase in brain power and general energy since I started eating carbs again is amazing. It's like I was a different person on the high-protein diet. I'm much happier now, but I'm still glad I gave it a real try and stuck with it. It was really interesting to see how my body & mind changed on a highly regimented plan. No wonder Marines seem barely human sometimes.

August Finance Report: Spending outside of babysitting cash came to---
$618 on entertainment. Yes, it's out of control. I've learned my lesson.
$270 in savings
$170 on food
$55 on healthcare
$53 on home maintenance
$51 on gifts
$50 on transportation
$34 on clothes

Grand total for July was $1301.

July Physical Report:
14.5 inch neck- up half an inch! I'm seeing some good progress here.
45 inch shoulders- same as last month.
40 inch chest- "
35 inch waist- down an inch from last month. At last that's heading in the right direction, and my drop is getting close to where it should be.
40 inch butt- same as last month.
13 inch arm- down a half inch. Boo.
23 inch thigh- same as last month.
17 inch calf- up an inch. I've definitely been noticing the change here as well. Which is great. Hopefully I can banish chicken legs forever. Bwock bwock.
Body fat is at 15%, out of the "Average" range and back into "Good". That's a relief.

September will be the last month of my official get-in-shape plan. My habits will have to change as the commitment I've had to food purchasing, preparation, consumption, and cleanup is just not sustainable time-wise. Plus I love my carbs and the energy they give me too much to abstain the rest of my life. I have to say that going back to eating more normally will be a big relief.

Right now I'm feeling pretty successful with the plan. My overall muscle mass is bigger than it's ever been, and I have a butt for the first time ever. I'll be interested to see how things shape up as I transfer into a more sustainable eating and exercise routine at the end of September.

July Finance Report: Spending outside of babysitting cash came to---
$130 in savings
$102 on entertainment
$43 on healthcare
$35 on phone
$15 on clothes
$15 on transportation

Grand total for July was $320, the least it's been since I started keeping track almost a year ago. That's good.

July Physical Report:
14 inch neck- same as last month.
45 inch shoulders- up an inch from last month! Hooray. I'm in the strength building phase so I'm not expecting a lot of growth and this is a welcome surprise.
40 inch chest- also up an inch from last month! This is great.
36 inch waist- also up an inch from last month. Not such a pleasant surprise.
40 inch butt- down an inch from last month. Boo.
13.5 inch arm- up a half
23 inch thigh- down an inch. Boo. Clearly my upper body got the better part of this last month.
16 inch calf- the same.
Body fat is at 21%, which is still average but five percent up from last month. Hefty, hefty Helga. Need to get this under control. Going to cut back on the standard training menu right now.

Well, let's see here.

In money, I spent:
$962 in savings- this may actually all end up going toward the garage we're going to build by autumn
$500 on an espresso machine- extravagant sounding, but its normal price is about 2000 so I couldn't pass up the deal
$304 on entertainment- honestly I don't where all this happened
$100 on bus pass
$82 on weight equipment
$35 on phone
Grand total for June was $1983. A lot. But most of it for long-range durable purchases, so...

I can't believe the first month of summer is already gone! Go slower.

Physical development:
14 inch neck- down from last month and I can tell. I miss the Cuban presses.
44 inch shoulders- also down from last month. Those two weeks I had to take off for my back really threw things out of whack.
39 inch chest- same as last month.
35 inch waist- same as last month, still pathetic.
41 inch butt- up an inch! This has been the one true success story of my workouts so far. For the first time in my life, I have an ass and I love it.
13 inch arm- the same.
24 inch thigh- up an inch.
16 inch calf- the same.
Body fat is at 16%, which is still just average but down from last month. So, things are on the right track again. I think I'll cut a little more food from one of my meals to try to whittle down that waist a bit.

First, DOLLARS
Above and beyond what I spent from my cash money:
I put about $300 in savings
$94 on transportation
$63 on birthday & graduation gifts
$60 on our yearly membership to the MIA
$45 on a new "breakfast pan" which makes the best omelets I've ever made, good for all the egg whites I'm supposed to eat now
$35 on phone
$25 on food
$11 on fat calipers, to observe the effects of my weight gain program. I started looking chubby about mid-May, for the first time ever, and believe me it wasn't a pretty picture. Hard weight gain is good. Soft weight gain is bad.
Total spent aside from cash purchases- $633. This is way down from last month. Excellent.

Next, BOD
14.5 inch neck- the Cuban Presses definitely made a difference and this is slightly up.
45 inch shoulders- this is two inches up and I'm so excited! In just one day's workout of my new growth phase I can already see the difference.
39 inch chest- same as last month
35 inch waist- this is up an inch but at least down from what it was about mid-May. I'm still getting used to eating so much and will have to closely monitor my fat level to make sure I'm not putting on the wrong kind of weight. The fat calipers will help me keep track of this a lot better. It's amazing how changing food intake on just a couple meals a day can affect things. I'll be dropping a couple more meal intakes down. A four inch gap between chest & waist is below average, below where I was, and well below what I want.
40 inch butt- also up an inch! Hooray. While the first month on my get-in-shape plan was less than successful on my upper body, my lower body is definitely feeling stronger and looking better than it ever has before.
13 inch arm- the same
23 inch thigh- an inch bigger from last month
16 inch calf- first time measuring these
Body fat is at 18.4% which is waaaay up, all the way into the normal range. OK, so going into the normal range on fat isn't anything to panic about. Many people would be happy with this. But such a large jump in one month definitely means I'll be cutting back on a couple of meals.
All told, I'm pleased. The newfound strength and size in my legs and butt are new to me in this lifetime. True, I'm chubbier than I've ever been and my waist is larger than it's ever been, but that was coming up from scarecrow, so as long as things don't get too out of control there I should be OK.
June is month two of my four month get-in-shape plan, and the first month focusing on muscle growth. The first workout was really enjoyable. I was lifting at my maximum and grunting and straining but in a safe and controlled way. I felt very accomplished at the end and pleasantly worn out. Here's hoping I stay safe and sound and that the chest-waist ratio gets a little more gap between em.

Spending in April went well above & beyond what I made in cash. Non-cash transactions included:
$357 for food. I started stocking up for my get-in-shape diet.
$293 for healthcare. The gym equipment for my get-in-shape exercise plan.
$225 in savings. Go me.
$128 for insurance. This is a stupid payment which I'm putting on the kibosh next month.
$70 for phone. Two payments in one month this time.
$47 for entertainment.

Since the healthcare bit is a one time expense and I still put a fair amount in savings I don't think this is too out of line. Still, $1120 is more than I should be spending in a month. At least it's down from March.

In other goals, let's check my measurements:
14 inch neck, the same
43 inch shoulders, an inch more!
39 inch chest, two inches more!
34 inch waist, also two inches more. That's not supposed to happen.
39 inch butt, an inch more!
13 inch arm, the same
22 inch thigh, actually smaller
I'm assuming body fat is still around 12.8%. I'll get it checked again later this month.
Weight is still 160, so apparently mass has just moved from my thighs to my upper body. I started goofing around a bit with some of the exercises which will comprise my new get-in-shape routine and the lower body bits are killer for me. These chicken legs will have some work to do. I hope I don't blow anything out. The first month is mostly just getting things properly aligned and stretched out but even the yoga-type leg exercises are tough, tough, tough. Bwock bwock.

I start the new plan tomorrow. It's going to involve a lot more packing lunches and the resulting doing dishes, but hopefully I'll slide into things fairly easily. I've already been trying to eat more and have been doing at least light stretches or practice exercises every night for a couple weeks to get my mind in the groove. Speaking of which, I should go do some stretches now so I can get to bed at a decent hour tonight.

Here's hoping for a tighter, more aligned and smoothly moving me by next month's wrapup.

SPENDING IN MARCH
$1152 in savings
$96 for entertainment
$79 for food
$30 for gas
$22 for healthcare
$8 for art supplies
$1387 total

HEALTH IN MARCH
14 inch neck
42 inch shoulders
37 inch chest
32 inch waist
38 inch butt
13 inch arm
23 inch thigh
12.8% body fat
160 pounds

By this time next month most of my money should be gone & my other numbers should be in the corrective phase toward heading on up.

It's been a while since I've made an actual "dinner" for the evening rather than just making one item or cobbling together leftovers. So I'm rather proud that tonight we had roasted red pepper & cannellini bean dip on carrots & celery for an appetizer and then flank steak skewers with chimichurri rojo, simple black beans, & citrus salsa. Now I'm enjoying some burdock tea, and I'll follow it with a little homemade apricot cordial a friend gave us for dessert.

I also have some chicken stock bubbling on the stove that's going to become soup later in the week, and some chocolate meringue hemispheres baking in the oven that are going to become desserts later in the week. Productive day!

Since I now get paid in cash, my monthly expenses appear to be smaller. Which is great. Cash goes into my pocket, cash goes out of my pocket, and my bank account is none the wiser. So, February expenses were as follows:
$402 in savings
$115 for art supplies
$115 for clothes
$85 for entertainment
$35 for phone
Total spending in February= $752. At last where it's supposed to be, although the number's a little imaginary since food & other stuff came out of the invisible cash fund.

Since this is my once-a-month checkup on myself, I'm also going to start tracking my physical status. I'm now doing a light workout every other morning and noticing some definite improvement in what was becoming a shockingly cuddly physique. So, as of right now...
Shoulders- 46"
Chest- 38" (this is the largest it's ever been & I'm quite proud)
Waist- 33" (this is also the largest it's ever been & I'm not quite as proud about that)
Butt- 39"
Arm- 13"
Thigh- 23"
Here's hoping all those numbers but one go up.

January's expenses:
$624 in savings
$359 for transportation (mostly truck check up)
$75 for clothes (all long underwear)
$70 for communications (two phone bills)
$8 for food (I'm a sponge)
$7 for entertainment (iTunes)
$5 for personal development (an inspirational magnet for the fridge)

That makes the grand total $1148, which is much more than I can expect to keep outgoing in the future. But for now everything looks good since my notoriously bad bookkeeping is almost always in the direction of thinking I have less money than I actually do have, resulting in my being able to keep more outgoing than I thought I could and still have a bank balance.

By the way, Spring Awakening should be called Spring Nightmare. It's a maudlin, one-dimensional, textbook 19th century melodrama with a pop band, exploitative sex, and swear words added.

Every word that comes out of his mouth is gold, and did you see how they were dressed today? Him with the maroon scarf and smart black leather gloves and her in that brocaded green suit? I thought people were ridiculous when they mentioned Jackie O in the same breath with Michelle but I can see it a little bit now. Of course, Michelle Obama also has a brain so that helps even more. I'm not in love-in love with her inaugural ball gown but it does sort of strike the fairy tale mood that they've brought to town with them of innocence and purity so I'll just basically give them both 100% and call it a day.

In spending that is! For the first time since I started keeping track in August, my monthly spending was under $800, where it should be for my revised income in '09. Here's how it broke down:

$230 in savings (yay for me)
$190 in food (I sponged off my parents for the last week or so which helped)
$101 in toys (boys will be boys)
$63 for clothes (yes, that's a single pair of pants at Banana Republic, with a coupon even...)
$56 for work expenses (bleh, I'll be happy when the Whole Grains class is over with)
$48 for transportation (updating drivers' license & gas)
$32 for entertainment (I don't even remember what this was so it must have been VERY entertaining)
$26 for communications (mostly Christmas cards)
$16 for gifts (I had em mostly done before December)
$16 for house maintenance
$12 for health care (including the last measly $7 for my tooth surgery of months ago)

Hooray for me. Now, I have much chores to get caught up on after three weeks away. I have to get my new insurance sorted out and schedule eye, bod & tooth exams. I need to get my truck winterized. I need to cash a pile of checks that have piled up over the last month. I really need a haircut (should I go buzz cut just to see what it's like?). I have to get all my baby care notes entered into a legible format. I need to enter the notes from my mom's history book into my general chronology. And I need to figure out what I'm going to do with my life. M-hm.

Hooray. For the first time since I started really keeping track, my spending went down to its lowest levels last month.

November:
$303 in savings- over twice what I put in the month before- hooray for working more
$230 for food- up from last month- I eat out when I work at the store
$86 for postage- selling stuff on ebay
$83 for transportation- down significantly- I now have my plane ticket home for Christmas paid off
$80 for entertainment- down slightly from last month
$72 for phone- I think I may be counting this twice each month- it can't possibly be this much, and each month I think I've just doubled up and won't have any the next month but then have another $70 added up
$55 for gifts- Christmas prezzies are almost done
$36 for clothes- new gloves for cold weather
$20 for house maintenance- down a LOT from last month thanks to having no big insurance payments
$13 for work expenses- down a lot from last month as I'm done practicing gingerbread- class is next week!

Grand Total of $978 which is within my planned spending limits for a change although still higher than ideal.

is... polyvore.com

You get to make clothing collages. You can check mine out there under Marcus&Gabanna.

Bisoux.

I don't know that I particularly care about British celebrities, but I did enjoy watching these two Adorable-with-a-capital-A British boys talk about them. See if you agree:

http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-9611.html

Got this on American class structure from a British blog:

In American politics, "middle class" usually means working class but not queueing up at soup kitchens. But AP reports a new meaning: "those earning less than $75,000 a year and who have graduated high school or have some college education." So, if you graduated high school and earn $12,000 a year for throwing luggage or ripping the innards out of a dead chicken's arse, you're middle class. Such a vacuous definition is deliberately constructed to produce a middle class majority [although] heavily skewed toward the lower end. Interestingly, the US Census Bureau has a "reportable upper limit" of income, which means it pays no attention to the super rich [at all].

Adventures by Disney is designed to take families to places they might be too timid to visit on their own — without loading on the schmaltz. Hiking Machu Picchu with an 8-year-old would be daunting for most travelers. With Disney promising to handle everything, it might seem doable.
[...]

Travel agents say the company is also bringing a degree of comfort and attention to detail that is missing from most family tours. Each day, guides surreptitiously take photos of families enjoying activities and slide copies under their hotel room doors during the night. Ice is carted around in Europe to make up for restaurants that lack it. After river rafting in Peru, guides surprise guests with hot chocolate and a warm towel.

[...]

While Disney characters do not populate the tours, the company relies heavily on what it calls “local storytellers.” For instance, in Venice the Disney tour guide might say, “Some people believe that you can even see the ghost of Marco Polo wandering these streets.” Around the next corner, Marco Polo, a local actor in historical garb, awaits.

Yeah, having someone cart around ice for your Fanta sounds like a real adventure, doesn't it? God forbid you step outside your comfort zone when traveling. I pity the suckers who drop over $4,000 per person NOT INCLUDING AIRFARE for a week long trip to big bad Italy. Save your money and just go to the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas. They have gondolas, pizza, employees dressed in silly costumes, and drinks with ice. It's probably the same experience you'll get with "Adventures by Disney", but for thousands of dollars less.

1. Where is your cell phone? on the floor where it belongs
2. Where is your significant other? at work, God bless him
3. Your hair color? brown
4. Your mother? yes
5. Your father? he's laid up with a bum knee which I hope gets better soon because if he can't tramp around the mountains he's going to drive my mother quite literally insane lying around the house watching TV
6. Your favorite thing? beauty
7. Your dream last night? Wow. I had some crazy ones. In one, Barack Obama was great friends with my dad and the Obamas were staying with us right after the election announcement and he and my dad were talking about his cabinet and his kids were getting ready for bed. The other one I only partially remember because I woke out of it, but it involved some friend and I playing this kind of war game at my parents' house against all these people wielding actual bows and arrows (and he got stuck by one but it apparently only hurt a little) and then great herds of animals started running through the yard and nearby fields.
8. Your dream/goal? to be gorgeous
9. The room you're in? front
10. Your hobby? kind of between hobbies right now
11. Your fear? wrecking everything I have with stupid choices
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? redecorating a new house
13. Where were you last night? election party at Doctor Paul Bock's- he's such a sweet guy
14. What you're not? lost
15. One of your wish-list items? squat rack with lat attachment
16. Where you grew up? Gold Creek, MT
17. The last thing you did? started varnishing a gingerbread house, but emptied the can and made a mental note to get more later today
18. What are you wearing? slippers, shorts, t-shirt
19. Your TV? in the basement
20. Your pet? nope
21. Your computer? one desktop, one laptop
22. Your mood? expectant and happy
23. Missing someone? my Ericus of course- I wish he didn't have to work so much
24. Your car? a truck
25. Something you're not wearing? a bra
26. Favorite store? Tangletown Gardens
27. Your summer? glorious
28. Love someone? a few people
29. Your favorite color? white
30. When is the last time you laughed? last night
31. Last time you cried? it's been a while