What I'm learning from saving money and how I'm actually enjoying being thrifty:
I can make interesting lunches and snacks
I started giggling today about how when I make snacks at work I feel like I'm camping or playing house. I have my tiny Tupperware container of butter, my compact click-together cutlery set and my Pokemon inspired plate on which I serve myself raisin toast.
My crafting and artwork is becoming more creative as I have more time to spend on it and I'm rummaging through the library to find art books that I normally would pass by in search of the newest, greatest thing.
I'm spending more time with my family. I'm home, not thinking about shopping, I'm finding great movies, playing fun games with Teagan, relaxing on the couch more and just generally less frantic.
All in all, I've come to settle into cutting back on expenses. I'm not seeing it as a threat so much as an opportunity.

Rainy weather

I woke up this morning with the attitude that the day will be depressing and dull as Mondays tend to be and the rain is continuing until who knows when.
Then I started thinking. What if I turn all of that negative thinking around and think of Monday as an opportunity to start the week fresh? Why can't rainy days with heavy cloud cover be considered a beautiful thing? When I watch my four year old get excited to break out her umbrella and pink rainboots at the first sign of a shower, I get reminded of when I was small and ran around in the forest behind our house stomping on wet moss, smelling the earthy scent of the dirt under my feet.

Podcasts
I have recently "discovered" the wonders of podcasts. Not sure what took me so long. I feel like a whole new world of entertainment has been offered to me. I don't run full tilt ahead into technologies unfamiliar to me. Instead I let everyone else in the world test them out and then I use their tips and reviews guide me. Silly I know. Really what it means is that now I've missed out on years of testing out cool stuff.
So far I've enjoyed a couple episodes from Comedy Death Ray. I ended up laughing my face off at work while I listened. As well, I've been learning a lot about American culture from This American Life.

End of Summer:
I love Fall, I really do. I love the way that the air just feels crisper, cleaner, and a bit more electric. I can't wait to pull on a snug cardigan, some cashmere blend socks and sit in front of the tv without feeling like I need to get out and do "summer stuff". Every Spring I think to myself, "Gosh, I have so many ideas for this summer" and most of those ideas get pushed to the wayside by the exhaustion that the heat induces in me or the fear that I may actually get skin cancer.

It was my first working at home day today, it was very hard to not be distracted by tv and eating all the food I could find. I even ended up taking a nap because it's hard to resist the comfy pillowtop mattress calling to me.
Ed and Teagan and I just finished watching the opening olympic ceremonies. Up until a week ago, I would not have envisioned myself watching it, I was against Vancouver hosting the olympics and still have many issues with it, but I figure that there is not much we can do about it now and seeing the amount of spirit and togetherness that comes with something this big is pretty awe inspiring.

Resurrection of a blog.
I've had the urge to write more lately, so here I am back at it. Posting Facebook status updates and Twitter "bits" is okay, but not so satisfying.
I am really looking forward to spring this year. We've had an amazingly mild winter thankfully, but seeing all of the little buds hanging out on the trees is making me really happy. I walked by one tree the other day and the way that the dew was sitting on the branches and the buds, it looked like the tree was filled with tiny Christmas bulbs.
I've been thinking about trying to be more grateful for the things I have and am able to do. Things like: I can go to yoga class and do my best at the poses, I can cook a mean macaroni and cheese and my kid is one of the funniest people I know!

I challenge you to tell me what you are grateful for!