Its a Beautiful Day

Today is one of those days that I just love.  I have no concrete plans and I can do whatever I want.  Oh, there are plenty of things I should do, but I don't have to if I don't want to.  That's the beauty of being an adult.  So I'm just sitting here at my computer, looking at my still-decorated tree (which may or may not come down today) with the snow outside my window, and a cup of hot coffee to sip on.  In this moment, life is pretty good. 

Last night I made some homemade bread.  After taking a bread class last week, and going to my friend Warren's house over the weekend, I was just inspired.  Warren made 8 or 9 different kinds of bread in the span of 6 hours and it was just amazing!  Variations on flour, yeast and water are limitless! So last night before dinner, I whipped up a sponge (flour, sugar, yeast and water) and let it do its thing.  And something about kneading the dough is very therapeutic.  But the best part was the still-warm-from-the-oven bread.  Words just can't describe how good it is.  I must say I haven't been this proud of myself in quite some time.  I can see this will be bad for the diet...

Tonight, I'm going to do something I haven't done in over 25 years:  play in a band.  I'm joining the West Michigan Concert Winds so that I can play in the same band as DD#1.  This will be the only time in our lives that this will happen (that I can foresee, anyway) and its only going to last for 1 semester.  But its something I want to do and I'm all about doing something for me, for a change.  And surprisingly, I can still get sound out of my trumpet!  I can't play longer than 5 minutes at this point, but that should come back.  It will be fun. There's something almost magical about playing music with other people who like to play music. Hard to explain... 


Progress
Goal #1  I'm running this afternoon (or sooner, if I'm so inspired).  So far this week, my goals are on track.  And I feel so much better when I exercise.

Goal #2  Payday is today.  Hallelujah!  I haven't been very diligent about getting the Quicken up and running though.  I have it installed, but I still have to fill in the necessary sections in order to actually use it.  So that's also a goal for today.  And then I need to work on a budget.  I'd rather go to the dentist!

As part of my money-saving efforts, I've committed to the Eat From the Pantry Challenge, hosted by http://www.moneysavingmom.com/.  The only thing I'll be buying at the store this week are milk and produce.  (Oh, and anything I REALLY need.) I'm not a nut about this, just trying to use up my stash.