Balancing Act

This weekend has been a balancing Act in more ways than one......

Balancing work and ..... not work
Balancing family and friends
Balancing calories in and...... in
Balancing vacation budgets with savings......or not

And I did pretty well on most counts.

Our friend (who happens to be an actual chef) made us a wonderful meal and it was lovely to catch up with him on Friday night while Lindsay was at home with a friend and David was at the Lions Football game with Papa.  

I worked out with my friend Sue at Jazzercise on Saturday morning which was great....both catching up with the always lovely Sue and to get a sweat on.

Then Lindsay and I headed out to a dreaded grocery run to Costco and Save-on so we consoled ourselves with a nice breakfast to fortify ourselves.

You can see how the calorie balancing may be going awry at this point although I had lost 1.6lbs this week.... until this point....

We did the groceries. unpacked, made soup and grilled cheese for the victorious soccer boys and then drove Lindsay to a babysitting gig and David went off to hang out with friends.

At my request, and although he is super busy with many things, I asked Allan to sit with me and go through our trip - the details and the finances.  We went through a list of what is done, planned and paid for and what is not..... and we reviewed the money in our vacation account which I have babied and managed and built up over the last 5 years for this very purpose.  My absolute goal was to do this trip entirely on cash we already had saved....including all the technology we want to take, the luggage, the insurance ..... every.last.thing.

Turns out that was a bit of a pipe dream.  

I know #getarealproblemsister...... but it was hard for me, I even shed a tear or two.  But as usual my calm and level headed spouse was reassuring and realistic and did not mock me.  As he pointed out we have a generous budget, this is a once in a lifetime trip...... so a few things will have to go on a credit card.... 

Allan will help me not freak out when an opportunity presents itself that costs money.....but is worth doing..... I don't want to come home regretting not doing something for the sake of a few hundred $.  

I am grateful we had the time to go through the 31 days we have on the road, to share some of my burdens and to get some clarity on the things that still need to be done.  We called my SIL and talked through our budget and things to do when we are with the family and that was helpful too...thanks Wendy!

It's all going to be OK!

We ate a very unbalanced meal for dinner on Saturday night - yummy but not....colourful..... as per the Canada Food Guide shall we say!(aka vegetable deficit)

I stayed up until 10:32:58pm to bid on a bookcase for work on the bidding wars site - I WON!  Wondering if that might count as overtime?

This morning David had to do a shift at the school car wash for his Explorations Program.....and by car wash I mean some enthusiastic but unskilled teenagers with soap and sponges...... the car has swapped the dirt for soap residue :) and I happily parted with $7 for the privilege!

After that I went to Chinatown with my friend Emily who was on the hunt for lanterns for the upcoming West Richmond Community Centre Lantern Festival on October 17th...... I took the big camera and we had a fun time buying lanterns and strolling around this old and fascinating part of the City ..... we found a swap meet on Hastings which was interesting.

We stopped at THIS delightful, funky eatery on the way home and had a great long Americano (OK I had 2) and delicious flat bread for lunch on a hot, sunny Fall day.  We talked non-stop as we always do and it was just what I needed to get out of my head space for a bit and enjoy time with a dear friend.

My household were holed up doing homework most of the day but Lindsay got done early and hit the kitchen to bake for the long weekend coming up at the Cabin, Allan mowed the lawn in the sunshine and David built robots while I booked Ostrich rides...... yes rides..... which I am really hoping is covered under allowable activities on our emergency medical coverage.......and the day after the Ostrich rides we ride elephants into the bush..... I have my fingers crossed our B&B has laundry facilities and soft seats.

We went out for a Thai Food feast with my parents tonight which was lovely and the children serviced the grandparents iPhones for them at the dinner table!  

A weekend that, though some things were not exactly as I planned or hoped, was , nonetheless, a very pleasant one.......I am looking forward to an early night.

Oh..... we also found a new way to torture obedience train Spanner..... Do NOT read his eyes - they say bad words in dog.  Hats are not his "thing" apparently.