Progress: it's not all bad

Back again!  I have made a bit of progress on the self improvements I wrote about in my last post.

I have been working out three times a week for the past two weeks, each day including at least 20 minutes of cardio and 20-40 minutes of strength training.  I can definitely feel stronger and more muscular, although I still need to watch what I eat more to reduce the fat that will be covering my ever-increasing muscles!

Even though I haven't done much weight lifting for a while, I was proud of what I can do.  For instance, I can easily do 160 lb. on the back extension machine, and 115 lb. on the squat machine!  The arms are a different story, although anyone that has seen my T-rex arms will not be surprised.

I have definitely saved money on groceries, and we have saved on eating out to a degree, but it is still tough to stay within a budget.  (Or, at least the stringent one we set for ourselves.)

I haven't yet started planning any trips, although I was thinking on my morning commute about going on a wine tour in California, or eating food in Vienna, Austria.  Sigh.

I still need to install Rosetta Stone German on my computer - I am so excited about this one!  I had a CD that I was listening to in the car every now and then, which was fun, but my goal is to finish Rosetta Stone German in the next 12 months.

This weekend is the Chicago Beer Society picnic, so we're pretty much eating and sitting around all day tomorrow in a park. I am bringing New Mexican chili pepper salsa and some type of vegetable dish to the picnic, not sure what yet.  Last year I brought a dessert and a salsa and did not win, but I didn't really care because all of the other food was so good!

OK, this post is not very focused, so I'm going to leave off here, but that's pretty much what's going on with the project at the moment.  Wish me continued luck!