Goodby April, Hello May!

The month of April has absolutely flown by. I’m not entirely sure why but there were quite a few things going on, from the eclipse (a dud here thanks to storm clouds) to Brett’s birthday to trying to get in as many walking miles as possible. Anyway, on to May!

We celebrated Brett’s 74th birthday with a fancy brunch with the grandkids and DIL, and had dinner that evening at P.F. Chang’s. He got several fun gifts from the kids and grands, and I gave him another pair of his favorite L.L. Bean pants. Brett continues to look “youthful” for his actual age; he helped a neighbor move out of her apartment mid-month, and she guessed his age in the mid-50s! I have had to accept that I will always look older than he does, but he got the good genes.

• Keep grocery spending under $500. We went over budget this month because of a stock-up trip to Trader Joe mid-month. Regular grocery spending came to $486.90 and the Trader Joe’s trip added another $218.24 to that (no discount this time ☹️). About a quarter of what we bought at TJ’s though was non-food items, things like shampoo, toilet paper, laundry products, and dog treats and other products will be used over the next couple of months. We won’t need to go to TJ’s again until right before I leave for Japan in June, mainly to pick up easy things for Brett to eat/fix while I’m gone.
• Aim for zero food waste. Yet another month with almost no food thrown away – a cucumber spoiled before we could use it.
• Have one full no-spend week. We didn’t spend on anything from April 14 through April 21.
• Have four no-drive days. We almost didn’t accomplish this goal this month as unexpected stuff came up on two Sundays and the car was needed. But we were able to squeeze in a couple of no-drive week days and hit our goal. We are at xx days for the year, happily way ahead of where we need to be.
• Try one new recipe. I tried a new recipe I saw on Instagram this past month: I loved it, Brett didn’t. We had some kimchi left over from the girls’ visit this past Christmas, so added that to the rice cooker along with the rice and some chicken potstickers. The rice cooker did the work; all I had to do was mix it up at the end. Brett felt it was too spicy for him but I loved the mix of flavors and textures and will be making it for myself in the future.
• Walk at least 40 miles. I walked 56 miles this month! I have been trying to increase my endurance so I can manage in Japan and the heat/humidity. I’m happy too that my summer clothing from last year is all a little looser than it was last year.
• Visit one natural or historical site in the area. Brett and I walked the final trail in Smith Park one day with our granddaughter. I need to find more level hiking paths these days though – the ups, downs, and rocky terrain of the Smith Park trails did not agree with my hips and left knee.
• Read four books. I read seven books this month: The Fraud by Zadie Smith; Normal Rules Don’t Apply by Kate Atkinson; The Distance from Slaughter County: Lessons from Flyover Country by Steven Moore; Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil: A Savannah Story by John Berendt; The Librarianist by Patrick deWitt; The Shining by Stephen King; and End of Story by A.J. Fine.
• Study Japanese every day for 30 minutes. Another month with both a grammar and kanji lesson every day. Duolingo remains as frustrating as ever, and it feel like I am learning and retaining more from the kanji app, as it’s now focusing on kanji pairs and their meanings, with a lot of repetition. I’ve decided, thanks to reader Denise’s advice, to ask the kids if they will fund a year of the Duolingo Super edition for my birthday and Mother’s Day next month (when they ask what I want). Hopefully that will keep my frustration with the program tamped down a bit.

Here’s how our month went:

Funds going into our change/$1 bill jar in April totaled $34.55, almost the same as last month.

May’s goals remain the same:

• Keep grocery spending under $500. 
• Aim for zero food waste. 
• Have one full no-spend week. 
• Have four no-drive days.
• Try one new recipe. Not new, but I plan on making a couple of favorites from my big recipe notebook!
• Walk at least 40 miles.
• Visit one natural or historical site in the area. 
• Read four books.
• Study Japanese every day for 30 minutes.

Our son arrives today for another long-ish stay, until the school year ends at the end of May. All of them will then head over to Japan, with our DIL returning to the U.S. the same day I arrive. I still almost can’t believe I’ll be back in Japan in less than two months.

Knock on wood, so far this year I have not had any of the allergy issues like last year. Not sure what’s different, but I’ll take it! Last year was miserable, and hopefully a one-off.