Ahh….I love Sunday mornings.  I feel oddly well-rested despite the fact that I set my alarm for every 2 hours all night long to re-apply eye ointment, woke up a handful of times due to eye pain, and had to nurse H at 3:30AM.  My task today is to see what I can do to elevate endogenous estrogen…I really think that’s the culprit.

On Friday we had another very enjoyable playdate with my new pal Susan and her little one Ella.  The babies are only a week apart, and are just now starting to be aware of each other when we get together.  They took a little nap together:

Looked lovingly (and skeptically) at one another:

Posed for the camera like good little babies:

And modeled their first-ever Halloween costumes:

Yesterday we ran assorted errands in the rain while today (because it’s nice and sunny out) we will focus on having fun.  I just baked some “Morning Glory Muffins” with shredded carrot (from the garden) and apple.  Yum.  We’ll probably take a stroll around town once H wakes up from his morning nap.  And if I’m lucky, I’ll work on my job talk and hop on the treadmill for 30 minutes.   A perfect Sunday.  

The other project I have for today is to do some grocery planning for the week.  I usually just wing my grocery purchases and never pay attention to how much I spend.  I have always figured that we have to eat, so why bother meditating too deeply on that part of the budget.  I cook pretty much everything from scratch and hardly ever buy prepared foods.  But I have now presented myself with a challenge.  I’m going to try to budget only $100 a week for groceries, including any lunches or coffees that Rob or I happen to get during the week.  Part of this is motivated by my desire to lose some weight.  My first step in getting a bit healthier (and saving some $$$) is to 1) limit desserts and alcohol to the weekends, and 2) eat more vegetarian meals.  Last night I made a casserole of baked butternut squash, VT breakfast sausage, tart green apple, and sage.  Tonight I’m doing a creamy tomato ravioli with carrots from the garden and homemade french bread.  I still have to plan out the rest of the week, but I see some homemade curry and hearty soups in our immediate future.  Mmmmm.  This plan should work well for us, as Rob’s compulsive need to establish and graph goals of various kinds is really rubbing off on me.

I’m off to eat some homemade muffins!