.: bistan.net :.

While I’m posting numerical updates, here is my updated running chart.  I’m beginning to rebound from my February marathon recovery, but I’m not up to where I was in the fall.  I wish this heel pain would go away!

I have been going to the local running club’s speedwork session every Tuesday evening. I’ve also ran a few races lately.  As always, you can follow My Running Saga by clicking on the link under my picture on the right. You can see all of my races, PRs, etc.

March is over and we didn’t eat out, except for the two exceptions noted in the original goal post: one trip to Chick-fil-A (because of the monthly calendar coupon), and free food at work.  Although I can’t quantify any health benefits of the hiatus, I can certainly quantify the financial aspects.

The difference in food expenses from 2009 to 2010: $549.78

Below is a screenshot from my (now obsolete) Microsoft Money report, comparing this March with last March.  You can clearly see, that in the Fast Food category, my expenditures dropped from $206.86 last year to only $19.30, which was the aforementioned Chick-fil-A transaction.  My Dining Out category, which is generally any restaurant food other than fast food went from $375.15 to Zero!

I didn’t have School Lunch expenses last year, because Tristan wasn’t yet in Kindergarten.  His food was built into day-care expenses for 2009.  As for the Misc for the month, that $7.00 went to a snack for Mackenzie at the ballpark and purchasing a bag of boiled peanuts to support a non-profit.

It is worth noting that for three days last March, we were at Walt Disney World, so the Dining Out expenses for 2009 may be a little higher than the typical month.  Even if I scratched out $50.00 due to the high cost of food at Disney, I still saved right at $500.00.  Imagine if we did that every month.  That would be an extra $6,000.00 in our pockets!

One thing that amazed me looking at the report was the negligible increase in Grocery expenses: only a $10.00 increase.  I guess I have been the coupon king lately, but I didn’t realize that it was paying off that much!  We haven’t been eating any differently.  On Sunday I grilled some steaks.  We’ve had fish several times this month and red meat about twice a week.  I’m not sure how the Grocery costs remained the same even though we ate many more meals at home.

Beautiful Day + $1.00 at Wal-mart = Lots of fun for a 3-year old.

I snapped this photo this morning from the roof of the law school.  It is one of the highest points in central Georgia and it is always fun to go exploring on the roof or up in the clocktower. 

The face is permanently “stuck” at noon (or midnight).  Of course, we are going to try to “fix” that this summer.

This weekend, we took in parts of Macon’s Cherry Blossom Festival.  We usually go the Thursday night before and ride things for free (like we did last year), but Tristan’s first t-ball game interfered with those plans.

We didn’t ride anything this year, but we did visit the Arts & Crap (crafts) Festival, the park, and Ocmulgee National Monument, where during Cherry Blossom weekends, you can explore the park at night.  I would highly recommend those Lantern Light Tours.

I wanted to take the kids this year because Macon is dying a quick death and the Festival might not be around much longer.  Besides, if I get my way (a new job), I won’t be around here much longer either!

In a previous post, I talked about our restaurant addiction and how we are giving it up for March.

I’m happy to report that today is day #27 and we are sticking with it.  We did use our Chic-fil-A mulligan on March 6 and I have been extremely creative at finding free food at work.

I failed at the no-Coke goal.  I have had three so far this month: one with the Chic-fil-A meal and one after each 12K that I ran.  I am happy to report that the last two didn’t even taste good.

(On a separately related goal, I have not posted a Facebook status update since February 28! That one was easy!)

I have tried to talk Kimberlie into calling this silly goal quits.  It’s not like we’re doing it for lent or anything worthwhile.  This morning we were at the Cherry Blossom Festival surrounded by fair-food.  It was horribly tempting.  Same story two weeks ago at the Forsythia Festival.  But, I think the hardest times though have been the nights where Tristan has games right after work and we don’t get home until 9pm.  Stopping at Zaxby’s would be so much more convenient.

This goal really was pretty silly.  We are not eating healthier.  We are still pressed for time when it comes to preparing meals, so unhealthy frozen foods have become a staple. Maybe that’s better than restaurant food, but probably not.

On a positive note, we have saved tons of money this month.  I was more than thrilled at my credit card statement.  We only have four more days.  I can’t possibly screw it up this late in the game.  The hardest decision . . . is where to go eat on April 1.

Tristan had the first two t-ball games this week.  The games are SO much better than the practices.  They are shorter and more interesting.  In the first game, his team lost but in the second game they won.  Tristan scored twice.  We are so proud of him.

Below are a few photos from the two games:

To my loyal reader(s), don’t worry.  This blog will not become a play-by-play of the t-ball season.  I’m just not that interested in it.  I have, however, included a short clip of one of his hits below.

I think I sent Tristan’s t-ball schedule to most people who might be interested, but let me know if I missed you and I’ll send it along.

I decided to plant a vegetable garden this year.  I’m not quite sure why.  I don’t really need something else to do and I don’t eat anything that I’m planting.  I guess I was just up for the challenge.

I’m attempting to grow peppers and pumpkins from seeds and tomatoes from store-bought plants.

I built this raised bed last fall to accomodate the vegetable garden. Here’s a PROTIP for you from Farmer Jonathan: When you build a food garden out of landscaping timbers, you should always let it sit for at least six months before adding your soil. This keeps the chemicals used to treat the wood from compromising your soil.

Even Farmer Kimberlie decided to get in on the action with sunflowers. We’ve planted sunflowers several times in the past and they always rock.

And we scored a nifty little rain gauge freebie this weekend at the Forsythia Festival . . . right before it rained on us!

Hopefully we will have a bounty of fresh veggies — even though we don’t eat them!

I temporarily removed the previous post (Why I Hate T-ball) until I had the chance to add this one. I was a little harsh on the coaches and other parents.  Not all of them are like I described.  Many of them are very nice and giving people, unlike me.  After all, they are putting in several hours a week to make the experience for my child.  They should be commended for that.

I was just mad about having to fundraise for the little league organization because I don’t like asking people for money and I don’t like being asked for money.  I was also mad about the fact that we still haven’t received a schedule and the games start in 2 days.  I also exagerated some Lizella stereotypes to add humor to the post. Again, there is nothing wrong with the coaches or other parents.  They are just different than me.

I’m not making this apology post out of fear that one of them has read or will read my blog.  That’s very doubtful.  I just felt I needed to right a wrong.

Hopefully the next post will be more positive (and therefore not about t-ball). It’s also been a good while since I’ve included pictures and/or video.  Let’s see if I can change that.

About a month ago, I blogged about Tristan trying out for t-ball.  Let’s just say that the whole experience has been less than fun.  Here is why:

T-ball should be a learning experience for kids who are interested in trying out a team sport or learning the game of baseball.  Unfortunately, it is not.

When it is 40 degrees outside and the wind in blowing 30 miles an hour, practices should be cancelled. Unfortunately, they are not.

There is no praise for the kids.  No “Good Job, Tristan”.  Nothing.  Just screaming non-stop at kids who don’t even understand the game.  One kid ran off of the field when told to “Run home”.  Tristan walked around in circles when told to play shortshop because he was never told where or what that was.  No explanations, just expectations.

The “coach” coaches a “kid-pitch” team as well, so he’s at the field at least twice as much as we are.  That’s how much these folks love little league.  For me, it’s just one of the “balls” that I juggle.

Speaking of balls, Kimberlie and I are the oddballs at practices. To fit in better with the other t-ball parents, I would need to do at least a few of the following:

• Get a blue-collar job.  So blue-collar that it would borderline red-neck.
• Trade my CR-V for something that consumes much more gas and has much bigger wheels.
• Get a trophy-wife who is a stay-at-home-mom or who works a dead-end job.
• Give up grocery shopping. Apparently all necessary food can be found in the woods.
• Preserve the unetible portions of said food and display them in my home.
• Grow facial hair and a beer-belly and get lots of tattoos.
• Start smoking and communicate using more colorful language.

I’ve discovered that little league system has been designed to nickle-and-dime you.  We paid $110.00 for registration, thinking that would be it.  It included the hat, shirt, and socks and I was to provide the pants, cleats, etc.  No problem.  Then they decided that they needed an additional $5.00 to have the letter put on the back of the shirt.  If every kid is required to pay that, why not just include it in the registration fees?

Yesterday, we were handed ten BBQ plate tickets and told that if we didn’t sell them all, our name would go on a list for everyone at the ball park to see. What???  If it truly costs $150.00 per kid to run the ballpark (for the entire 3 months of the year that it is operational), then charge us $150.00 up front.  Or give us an option to pay more instead of sell BBQ plates.

I told Kimberlie we should consider quitting now and we would only be out $35.00.  We paid $115.00 but we could then sell the $80.00 worth of BBQ plates and pocket the cash. She wouldn’t go for it.

Thankfully, I never had dreams of retiring early thanks to a professional-baseball-playing-son.