Not only are these unrelated topics, but the thoughts within each topic are scattered and unorganized. Welcome to my brain right now! Buckle up!
Working out. I used to work out four times a week. In the past year, I started working out five times a week. This summer, leading up to, and after, travel I was working out 6-7x a week. This was ostentatiously because I knew that while I was traveling I would work out a lot less and I was trying to “make up” for missed days. But I was only traveling for two weeks this summer and I worked out some on both trips, so in the end I think I just worked out a lot more than I ever have before. I do think going back down to five times a week is probably best, especially since most of my workouts are 45-60 minutes long these days but I think it might be harder to do that than I would have expected. The good news is that my knee still feels okay, my shoulder hasn’t acted up in a bit, and I feel really strong. The other good news is that I didn’t gain any weight this summer, which is impressive since gaining weight is so easy to do these days!
Last day of summer. Wednesday was my last day of summer break. The 16yo and I met the husband downtown for lunch and later in the day, the husband and I went to the Valkyries game. In between I got some stuff done around the house and worked out. I also went to my last Executive Members hour at Costco, which I have been enjoying very much. I had a nice summer and I guess I’m as ready to go back as I can hope to be. I didn’t get everything done around the house that I wanted to (both kids’ rooms still have way to much shit in them that they don’t need), but with the garage cleaned out, I really can’t complain. Summer always feels too short, and yet our trip to St. Louis feels a million miles away. Time is a flat circle, I say whenever time feels weird in ways I can’t explain.
Back to work. Yesterday was my first official day of the 2026-27 school year. I thought we had a ton of meetings but it looks like they moved that day to next week, so after a staff meeting we were able to work in our rooms for five hours. I felt overwhelmed and couldn’t figure out where to start, so I went to the copy room and made hundreds of copies that I’ll need in the first weeks. It might not have been the best use of my time, but at least I got something concrete done. Today I have a few more concrete things on my to-do list, including my windows, which I honestly don’t want to do, but I know I will be very relieved once they are done.
Budgeting. In Hawaii, the husband talked a lot with his friend about Simp.lifi, a budgeting app that he uses to track his spending. We don’t have a budget, and while we do track our expenses and our balances, we have never looked at how much we spend in any specific categories. I feel embarrassed admitting this, but we honestly don’t have any idea how much we spend on groceries in a given month, let alone a year. I am also embarrassed to admit that I am the weak link when it comes to finances in our family. I definitely spend more than my husband, and think less about my spending than he does. Honestly, thinking too much about money makes me feel bad – it brings up all sorts of shame and guilt I feel about what I buy and why I buy it. I’m honestly now quite sure where my negative feelings around money stem from – I grew up with more than enough and never experienced financial insecurity. I’ve never paid interest on a credit card balance, and I’ve only incurred overdraft fees a handful of times (all in my teens and early twenties). But I also had a LOT of financial help from my parents and I never had to be very frugal to make ends meet (we lived lean when our kids were young and we were paying for our health insurance out of pocket, but it never felt like a lack of money was the most defining factor for our family). Basically, money is hard for me to think about, let alone talk about, and I am both dreading and excited about taking a closer look at how much we spend.
Q1 goals. Speaking of budgeting, I am working on my Q1 goals (better said, I wrote “write Q1 goals” as one of my three main focuses for this week) and attempting a jump start of new planning procedures this week. You will not be shocked to learn that I am struggling with… all of it. I originally wrote Q1 goals in January, but then realized that the beginning of the school year was a more natural start to the planning year for me. So I was able to kick that can down the road, but it just slammed again the wall and I need to shit or get off the pot, as they say (apologies for the mixed metaphors). I definitely have some vague ideas, and some more concrete ones, I just haven’t been able to sit down and write them out. I really should have gotten this done BEFORE going back to work. And I tried! But whenever I sat down to get it done, I let something else lure me away. Blerg. I don’t know why I’m so bad at this stuff. Truly,
The working out thing will be hard because it is part of your self regulation program. AND YOU VALUE IT. I fully understand, see myself. Best wishes.
Please say more about the budgeting app. Knowing how much it costs to be housed, clothed, transported, life-lived is eye opening and important. AND, next year your eldest will need to be tracking their own costs. You are teaching something VERY VERY IMPORTANT so your children will know how to “not 4 years after leaving high school be 20 or 50 thousand dollars in debt from pizza/beer or buying party clothes or expensive temporary habits”. That 4 cups of Starbucks coffee daily habit ….
ANYWAY! Congratulations on moving forward and really taking care of your self this summer. The Family Reunion and Hawaii were marvelous times and I thank you for taking us with you! Now for another school year!! Fingers crossed re your student composition in every class.
Money! I recommend Ramit Sethi’s podcast, “money for couples”. There’s an interesting variety of episodes (young, old, gay, straight, couples that are nearly bankrupt, couples with more money than they need etc); something for everyone. Basically, his thesis is always that it isn’t the money per se, its how we feel and talk (or don’t talk!) about money that’s the issue. Also that people inherit and recreate the money culture of their parents/community, just as much as other aspects of culture but usually not explicitly stated or recognized.
Good luck with your back to school week. I’m in a similar boat, but much less pressure as my back to school gig is in my house. I had to declutter and work to clean the boy bedroom before setting up 2 pack and plays and one tot cot in there for my daycare. I will miss the freedom I have in summer, but I also don’t mind making money again and getting the younger girls back to school/life back to a set schedule. We do not track our spending and that might be a mistake. Our ‘budget’ includes things like Don’t spend money on things we don’t need. Well, I do buy clothes and shoes at times whether or not I NEED them, but when things are on sale – I struggle to pass them up. We spent four nights in hotels last week on our trip to drop Curly off at college – all different cities, do not recommend. Then Coach stayed in a hotel when he dropped Reg off a few days later. So sometimes life dictates we spend money on stupid things and we were def not staying at fancy hotels. We also packed meals to eat on the road. Could we do better? Yep. Is this time of life a tough time to stick to a strict budget? Yep. I do want to do better though. My sitting money is supposed to be for college tuition, but we are not always able to live off of Coach’s income. It sucks to have to transfer money from my sitting stash to the main account, but needs must.
No comments activated on your Sunday back to school year post.
WOW THAT IS A LOT OF STUDENTS!!!! A huge job to keep track of them all. Are you also on year book again? I am now reminding myself I am decades older than you andyou have much more energy. But still. WOW.
Glad there was good news re the kids and school. So sorry re the electives for your daughter and hope it turns out to be a huge success that the preferences did not happen. (Will cross my fingers the frenemeiss has matured in major way over summer in positive ways!)
Wishing you good health henceforth and lots of lucks in instituting your new goals this fall. They do seem clear and like they will make your life much easier over time. IF you have time more comments on the budget software as you use it (pros and cons/wins and loses). THANK YOU.
Hope this school year is filled with positive surprises and lots of wins. Glad you are posting!!! You keep my spirits up.
Noemi, we also don’t have a budget. I don’t put it out there on the blog but my husband and I cannot get on the same page with money. He has a lot of anger and insecurity about it, so whenever we talk it feels like an argument. This is NOT A GOOD SITUATION. I’m not actually sure how we’ve managed to make it through life this far. So, don’t feel bad- at least you’re addressing the situation now.