Why I'm So Passionate About Being Active

The tools of my running habit - water belt, energy supplements, hat, sunglasses and a Garmin wrist watch to track time, distance and speed.

My husband and I share a passion for being active, understanding it is the key to staying fit, retaining energy as we move into our middle and senior years, and being able to move through each day with vitality and contentment.


If you are not currently active, I encourage you to read the last part of the above sentence again - being able to move through each day with vitality and contentment. I know of no other way to ensure that I will receive a flood of feel-good chemicals than to break a sweat doing something active I enjoy. Being physically active is much, much more than its own reward for me at this point in my life, and I would love nothing more than for others to discover same, regardless of how old, young, thin or heavy. It's never too late to reap the benefits of being active, and trust me on this, the rewards for doing so begin immediately.


When I first began working out, after the birth of my first daughter almost 30 years ago, I did it primarily to get my pre-pregnancy shape back. Along the way, though, I discovered that it also left me feel pretty darn good. Slowly over the ensuing decades, the physical benefits of being active began to take a backseat to the emotional benefits I was receiving. No matter how stressed, how grumpy, how tired, how cruddy I might be feeling, heading out the door for a sweat inducing activity came with a 100% guarantee that I would return feeling 100% better. And in 30 years of being active, not once, not one single time, has it failed to deliver.


Being active is also a wonderful way to structure a day. It's generally inexpensive, it can take up a major portion of the day, and it leaves me with a glow that carries me through the remainder of my day. Oh, and it also allows me to sleep each night like those proverbial logs!


How intense we are in our activity varies, depending on the day or the goal being worked on. This last week in Lake Casitas, as an example, our intensity during our 25 mile bike ride probably varied from 60 - 70%. We alternated between putting the pedal to the metal, and slowing to enjoy a particularly scenic vista. 


This immediate past weekend however, my intensity was closer to a sustained 80%. My daughter and I met at the beach to do a 12 mile training run for a half marathon we are signed up to run together in two weeks. I felt fantastic for the first 10 miles of the run, and closer to exhausted for the last two, when I was probably closer to a 90% output. But regardless, the moment we finished, a cloud of exhilaration descended on me, and stayed there for the rest of the day. 


It's important to note that my 80%, 12-mile run may be somebody else's 80%, 3 mile race walk. The distance isn't significant, nor really is the specific activity. What's important is that whatever you do, you do it at a level that makes you reach a bit beyond your comfort level, and break into a sustained sweat. Because, assuming there are no health issues indicating otherwise, you need to sweat. Being active doesn't deliver cardiovascular fitness benefits until you do so at a sustained level of 70% or greater. How do you know you are at 70%? Generally you are there if you're sweating lightly, and can talk while doing your activity, but you'd really rather not. You'd really rather just concentrate on your activity, and on breathing through it.


My experience with intensity levels is that the higher they are, the greater the release of feel-good chemicals I receive in return. And at this point in our lives, that really is what it's all about for my husband and I.

From left to right - Mike,  a friend, my daughter, and me in the middle of a day long hike at Rocky Mountain National Park. The valley in the background is the same one featured on the Colarado state quarter below. How thankful am I to be able to put in the hiking sweat equity necessary to experience this view, feel fantastic, and spend precious time with my daughter in the process? You can probably guess.

Lake Casitas/Ojai RV Trip Report

Lake Casitas

The last four days surpassed expectations, as so often is the case when we go out on RV trips. I think the reason for this is that we constantly underestimate how stimulating it is to be out in the fresh air all day, enjoying the sights and sounds of nature. The other reason, I believe, is that RV'ing requires just the right amount of work and relaxation to make for a very balanced day.

We had an easy drive from our home to Lake Casitas, about 2 1/4 hours total going at our standard 55-60 mph towing speed. Aside from being the posted speed limit for vehicles towing trailers, keeping the speed down a bit helps to maximize fuel economy - we averaged 20 mpg over our 280 mile round trip drive. Once Mike retires in three weeks, we'll likely not be doing these type of lengthy out and back trips any longer. We'll either stay closer to home for quick out and backs, or turn these type of long-pull trips into one week or longer stays, in order to improve our average per day gas costs.

Costs
Our four day/three night costs for campsite, gas, food and entertainment were as follows:

• Lake Casitas electric/water site: $35 x 3 nights, plus $7 reservation fee: $112
• Gas: $65
• Groceries:  No change from what we'd spend if at home
• Restock ice for ice cooler: $3 (we keep produce in our ice cooler as it tends to get freezer burn in most indoor fridges due to uneven air distribution)
• 25 mile bike ride along interconnecting Ojai and Ventura biking trails: $0
• Fish & Chips lunch at Andria's Seafood in Ventura Harbor: $15.86
• 6 mile scenic run along shoreline of Lake Casitas: $0
• Wine tasting at Old Creek Ranch Winery: $10
• Picnic lunch at Old Creek Ranch Winery: $0
• Wine tasting at Boccali Vineyards and Winery: $0
• Olive oil and balsamic vinegar tasting at Ojai Olive Oil: $0
• One bottle of 18 Year Aged Balsamic Vinegar from Ojai Olive Oil: $12
• One cheddar cheese-dill scone from Knead Bakery in Ojai: $2
• TOTAL FOR TRIP: $219.86

That averages out to $54.96 per day - not bad considering we "wasted" gas by doing such a quick, long out and back trip. If we had stayed a few more days, our per day costs would have likely dropped to about $50.00.

Lake Casitas Trip Report

On our first day we arrived into camp at 2:30 PM, and began set up, which we finished by 3:30 PM. And yes, sigh, we had a few more "learning moments" about our rig . . . primarily having to do with understanding the way in which the electrical components worked together. Honestly, why couldn't either of us have been born with a bit more mechanical know how! 

After getting all the electrical hook up kinks worked out, we poured some wine and got to work on some serious chair sitting, scenery gazing and reading for the remainder of the afternoon (we'd worked out at home prior to hitting the road for Lake Casitas). For dinner we enjoyed homemade pumpkin sage ravioli, salad and toasted rosemary sourdough garlic bread. After dinner we did the dishes, and then joined our camping club friends around the campfire for some campfire socializing. We stayed there till 11:00 PM, laughing and talking with everyone, before turning in and sleeping for eight straight hours.

One of our favorite parts of RV'ing - ending each day sitting around a campfire. We talked and laughed for hours each night before turning in. And that's our new trailer in the background!

On day two we awoke to the sound of birds calling, and beautiful sunny skies. We lingered over several cups of coffee before going into the trailer to make toasted bagels and grapefruit for breakfast. We then loaded up our bikes, and headed out to ride a 25 mile portion of the Ojai-to-Ventura River and Coastal bike trails.

We left sunshine and 93 degree temperatures in Lake Casitas, pedaling into fog and 63 degree temperatures in Ventura, just ten miles away.

The interesting restroom configurations at Santa Buenaventura State Beach in Ventura.

Coastal flowers, very crepe-ish in texture, along the Ventura Beach Trail.

Coastal Ventura rock art, with surfers in the foggy background.

I did a double take when we first pedaled by this cluster of oranges, returning for a closer look since there were no orange trees anywhere in sight. It's actually a sculpture - the oranges are made out of concrete and fastened to the ground!

When we returned to camp after our invigorating bike ride and a tasty fish and chips lunch, we discovered our camping loop had been invaded by a Vintage Trailer Club. What a bunch of cuties these trailers were! 

This beautifully restored vintage Shasta, purchased for $100, was being used as a chicken coop and almost unrecognizable as a trailer when the current owner first saw it!

This inside of this adorable turquoise Shasta was even more charming . . .

The owner maintained the original turquoise theme down to the salt and pepper shakers!

The kitchen galley with it's original turquoise appliances and white washed cupboards. Note the vintage lamp hanging over the stove.

I expected Lucy and Desi to step out of this trailer, it was all so authentically restored and staged.

Day two concluded with what was supposed to be pre-dinner wine and appetizers with our camping club, followed by dinner in our trailer and another group campfire. The appetizers, however, were so delicious and filling we somehow never made it back to our trailer to make dinner! We did, however, make it to campfire, again staying up late talking and laughing with everyone before turning in around 11:00 PM.

On our third morning we followed our normal morning coffee routine, but we then went for a run around the lake before having a quick breakfast of cereal and bananas. Day three was going to be a sedentary day - nothing but wine and olive tasting on the agenda - so it was vital we do something to get our blood moving in the AM, ensuring we'd be de-energized enough to enjoy the laid back portion of our day. Which we were . . . 

Our first winery stop - Old Creek Ranch in Ojai. We enjoyed nine wine tastings and were the epitome of relaxed by the time we left!

Enjoying the beautiful day and scenery at Old Creek Ranch.

After returning to camp and showering, we joined our camping club for a group supper. For tonight's event, each camper brought their meat patty of choice (veggie burgers in our case) and then grilled and topped them with one or more of the 16 different fixings that had been provided. That, plus seedless watermelon, pasta salad, corn on the cob, grilled artichokes and strawberry shortcake made for a stupendous supper. One of the advantages of being in a camping club would most definitely be the group suppers! 

Unfortunately, day four consisted of waking up early for break down so we could get back home in time to make a 2:00 theater show we had purchased tickets for before planning this campout. Had we not had to rush off, we would have enjoyed a walk around the lake, followed by a leisurely breakfast, before starting breakdown. 

Oh well, next time for sure!

RV Trip to Ojai/Lake Casitas, CA - Departure Day

After much rushing around this morning to load up suitcases, groceries and our ice cooler, we're headed out to Lake Casitas in Ojai, California, where we have a site reserved that overlooks the lake and it's beautiful oak-strewn hills. Daytime weather projections for our four day visit are all in the high 70's/low 80's, absolutely perfect from a camping/RV'ing perspective. We'll be joined by four other couples from our camping club, which should make for a very lively stay. The folk in our camping club are an absolute hoot, and we are looking forward to seeing what mischief arises . . . because it always does with this group!


Lake Casitas is owned by a municipality, and though it seems to be a bit of a hidden secret for some reason, many municipality-owned campgrounds offer wonderful views, large, generous sites, and bargain rates. As an example, we're paying $35.00 nightly for our electric and water hook up site, about half of what state-owned and privately-owned campgrounds here in California are currently charging. 


Our plans for the weekend include biking the Ojai-to-Ventura bike trail (Free!), running the trails surrounding Lake Casitas (Free!) and visiting some of the wineries, bakeries and olive oil tasting rooms that line the Ojai Valley (Almost free! Actually, I've budgeted @ $40 for tasting fees and wine/fun food purchases. :-). Yum!


This trip, number two in the new trailer, will also give us an opportunity to engage the electrical components in the trailer and make sure everything we didn't get to try on our first trip out last month works as expected. (Our maiden trip to the ocean last month was "dry," meaning we operated off of battery and propane, rather than electricity.)


And away we go!

If It's Spring It Must be Strawberry Season!

One of the pleasures of my early retirement is having the time to fashion my culinary efforts around whatever fruits and vegetables happen to be in season. This month, therefore, I'm on a mission to enjoy and take full advantage of April's beautiful, bountiful strawberry crops. 

Last week I picked up three pounds of strawberries on sale for $1.25 a pound each at Sprouts, which I used to make seven 8 oz jars of low sugar strawberry jam, and a pound of macerated balsamic strawberries. The low sugar strawberry jam is very tasty, super easy, and keeps for about four weeks in the refrigerator, so I generally keep a couple of jars and give the others away to family and friends. The macerated balsamic strawberries, which are absolutely delicious, keep for just two to three days in the refrigerator, so plan accordingly. (A note that macerated balsamic strawberries served over vanilla ice cream seemed to be last summer's pricey "it" dessert at many restaurants here in California. They were so easy to make, so inexpensive, and so delicious when I served them to my family last Sunday, that I intend to make them my "it" dessert for the remainder of strawberry season!)

    Low Sugar Strawberry Jam

    (Makes enough to fill 6-7 half pint jars)

    2 1/2 tablespoons of low or no sugar needed pectin (I used Ball)

    2 pounds of hulled, coarsely mashed strawberries (I used a food processor)

    1/4 cup sugar

    1 1/4 cups no sugar added berry juice

    1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

    1/4 teaspoon butter (prevents foaming)

    1 additional cup of sugar

    Combine pectin and 1/4 cup sugar in a 5 to 6 quart pot. Stir in berries, then berry and lemon 

    juices and butter. Bring mixture to a brisk boil over high heat, stirring often.

    Add remaining 1 cup sugar. Return jam to a brisk boil, stirring. Cook, stirring constantly, 

    1 minute. Remove from heat.

    Ladle jam into heatproof jars and close with lids. Let cool to room temperature then 

    refrigerate. Keeps chilled up to 1 month.

    Macerated Balsamic Strawberries

    (Makes about 3 cups) 

    1 pound strawberries, hulled and sliced

    1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

    1/4 cup water

    1/4 cup sugar

    2 Tbl orange or lemon juice

    A sprinkling of freshly ground black pepper 

    Pour vinegar, sugar and citrus juice over the sliced strawberries and let sit in the refrigerator

    for at least two hours. Before serving freshly crack some black pepper over the strawberries.

    

    Mix well to redistribute the juices and serve as desired: over pound cake, vanilla ice cream 

    or anything else you can think of.

Next up are double-strawberry scones for a book club meeting I'm hosting at the end of the month. If they turn out to be a success I'll be certain to post the recipe here for others to enjoy!

The Joy of To Do Lists

My recent post about the one year anniversary of my early retirement generated a number of very kind responses, one of which resulted in my leaving the follow-up reply below:

One of the most wonderful aspects to retirement that I'm discovering is the pleasure of making up a To Do list each morning that includes a number of "fun" To Do's in addition to "chore" To Do's. As an example, today's To Do list includes 1) practice Swing Dancing, 2) practice "The Pink Panther Theme Song" on the piano, and 3) Free wine tasting at Total Wine (a popular retail wine store in our area).

Actually, one doesn't need to be retired at all to approach life in this manner - I just get to do it every day now instead of just on the weekends!

I was thinking about that reply this morning as my husband and I were chatting over coffee about what we wanted to accomplish today. Prior to retirement, our To Do lists were almost exclusively chore oriented, the result, of course, of having to compress a week's worth of errands into just a couple of days.  


Now, because we have seven full days to plan out as we feel appropriate, the chores are more evenly spread out, and there is ample time and energy each day to include activities we enjoy in our To Do list. And many times even the chores themselves become enjoyable, because we approach them differently and with the luxury of more time.


Here is today's To Do list to share how we're trying to do things differently:

• Walk three miles to the market and back with our dog, to pick up beets for this evening's dinner that I forgot to buy when I did the grocery shopping earlier in the week.
• Try the free hot coffee samples when we get to the market to see if we can find an acceptable less expensive alternative to our current $11.95 per lb Starbucks coffee beans. (Which we didn't, though we did find one that we're going to mix in and test, to see if we can stretch out our Starbucks coffee bean purchase from every seven, to every 14 or so days.)
• Make banana walnut pancakes for breakfast to use up one very ripe banana sitting in the fruit bowl.
• Take advantage of the beautiful sunny day and make Sun Tea. 
• Harvest some fresh mint from my herb garden to keep in the refrigerator and enjoy with the Sun Tea.
• Ride our bicycles four miles to a local wine store and back to attend the store's free afternoon wine tasting session. (If we have to walk the bicycles back home due to having enjoyed ourselves a little too much, so be it!)
• Make quesadillas and guacamole for lunch to use up one very ripe avocado also sitting in my fruit bowl.
• Wash and vacuum out our two cars.
• Turn on our backyard water fountains so we can sit outside and enjoy both the sound of the running water and the beautiful day while we do our Book Club reading. (Currently our Book Club is reading the Pulitzer Prize winning novel Empire Falls by Richard Russo)
• Make a batch of low sugar strawberry jam to take to an upcoming RV trip. (We're the "wagonmasters" for this event, and traditionally that means bringing a small homemade goody to give to the folk in attendance, in addition to planning out the actual weekend event.)
• Practice the waltz moves we learned at last night's group ballroom dance class. 
• Watch Lecture #3 of From Yao to Mao: 5000 Years of Chinese History, a 36 lecture series on DVD from The Great Courses we are slowing working though to prepare for our upcoming October trip to China.
• Try out a new potato-heavy recipe for tonight's dinner, Beet, Wild Mushroom and Potato Casserole, to use up some of the 10 lbs worth of potatoes I bought earlier in the week for just $1.49. (I couldn't pass them up at that price!)
• Do a Blog Entry on To Do lists!

If you read this list carefully, you'll notice that it's really more about enjoying our lives as we move through our day than it is about doing chores. And while we don't go through every day bound unyieldingly to our To Do list, we have learned that if we start off our day by consciously thinking about what we hope to do and accomplish, we inevitably end the day more deeply satisfied by how it was spent. 

Which when you get down to it, is really what life is all about, regardless of whether your retired or still working.

One Year Anniversary of My Early Retirement!

Today is my one year early retirement anniversary and I can't believe how quickly it's gone by! It's been a year filled with lots of exciting changes, plus one minor identity crisis, and I can't wait to see what year two brings, particularly with Mike joining me in our early retirement journey beginning next month.


So here we go . . . highlights of my first year in early retirement! 

April

• I spent my first week of retirement RV'ing along the Monterey coastline with my youngest daughter, Megan, and dear friends Tom and Arleen. Enjoyed running, hiking and kayaking in Carmel, Monterey, Big Sur, Moss Landing and Santa Cruz. (Mind you, I took our trailer up all by myself as my husband had to remain home and working!)

Alene and I hiking in Garrapata State Park along the central coast between Monterey and Big Sur.  Sadly, Garrapata is now closed, due to the ongoing California budget crisis.

• Full blown identity crisis! It felt like going through a mini mourning process, which I guess is exactly what it was. Goodbye job, hello new me, whoever that was! Thankfully it lifted after about five days.

May

• Returned to the Bay Area to run San Francisco's legendary Bay to Breakers 12K race with my daughter Megan. What a total blast! Just a rocking party from start to finish, plus a few nude runner dudes thrown in for a little local flavor at no additional cost.
• Started piano lessons at the bargain rate of $10 per class through our local community center. My first assignment was Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. After 20 weeks of lessons I'm up to a simplified version of Beethoven's Fur Elise.
• Learned how to make jam. I found some wonderful low-sugar versions in Sunset magazine and made every single one, much to the delight of my family and friends - all gracious recipients of my first "crop." 

My proud, first efforts!

June

• Ran the San Diego Rock n' Roll Marathon with my daughter, Kelli. I burst into tears as we finished, overwhelmed with both exhaustion and the emotion of sharing something so special with my daughter.



Kelli and I, completely exhausted but elated, after crossing the finish line at the 26.2 mile marker.

• Celebrated my husband's 55th birthday, and our 29th anniversary, by taking in Garth Brooks at the Encore hotel in Las Vegas. These tickets were purchased well before my retirement, and are probably the last time we will blow a wad of cash on crazy expensive theater tickets. It was fun while it lasted, but early retirement's better!

In our seats at the Encore, excited'y waiting for Garth to come onstage.

• Traveled to Washington DC with my husband, who needed to be there on business. My first time in the city and I walked it, literally, from one end to the other, starting in Georgetown and ending at the Capital. I visited five Smithsonian museums, saw all of the wonderful monuments, sailed up the Potomac to Mt. Vernon, and took a "Sites of Washington DC" photography tour. I also enjoyed being able to stay at the Ritz-Carlton hotel on somebody else's dime!

In front of the White House

July

• Spent 4th of July weekend in Big Bear, camping lakeside in our RV with our older daughter, Kelli, and some good friends. Enjoyed hiking along a portion of the Pacific Crest Trail and 4th of July fireworks over Big Bear Lake.
• Enrolled in Spanish language classes through Adult Education.
• Enrolled in tennis lessons through our local community center.

August

• Hiked all 10,064 feet of Mt. Baldy in the San Bernardino mountains with my hiking club. 

• Spent an amazing 16 days hiking over 102 miles through the Alpine passes of Switzerland with my husband and another couple. We gained and lost countless thousands of feet in elevation over the 16 days of hiking, suffered through two bouts of altitude sickness (first me, then Mike) drank countless pints of Swiss beer, ate countless ounces of Swiss chocolate, consumed countless pounds of cheese and salami (our daily lunchtime routine, general eaten while looking at some incredible vista) and still came home about five pounds lighter each. An absolutely amazing trip that surpassed our every expectation, and then some!

Day one of our Swiss Alps trip, backpacks loaded and ready to go!

September

• Signed up for extended learning classes at our local university through OLLI, the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute. Began attending lectures on topics ranging from the study of early religion, to the origins and function of the human brain.
• Spent a late summer weekend RV'ing at Crystal Cove Moro State Beach, along the Newport coastline.

Need I say more about why we enjoy RV'ing at Crystal Cove Moro State Beach?

• Football season! Attended several games over the 2011-2012 season at the Rosebowl in Pasadena, where the UCLA Bruins play. There's nothing like the energy of the crowd at a college football game!

October

• Enjoyed apple picking, fresh apple cidar and hot apple pie at Los Rios Rancho in Oak Glen
• Spent a weekend RV'ing in Calico with our camping club, enjoying the ghost town's Halloween-themed festivities.
• Learned how to make risotto. Wondered why I'd waited so long after tasting my first yummy efforts!
• Hiked to Ontario Peak, 8,693 elevation, and got hit with altitude sickness on the way down. Walking like a drunken sailor by the time we got back to the cars I was so out of it. I'd do it again though!

At the top of Ontario Peak with my hiking club. I'm in the back on the far left, in shadow.

November

• Took our RV to San Diego over the Veteran's Day weekend. Enjoyed the San Diego Air & Space Museum, ballroom dancing at Champion Dance Studio (owned by none other than Mary Murphy of So You Think You Can Dance) and the Birch Aquarium in La Jolla during our visit.

Enjoying life at the Birch Aquarium in La Jolla during our San Diego RV'ing weekend.

• Spent Thanksgiving in Texas with my dad, doing all things Texan - enjoying ribs & beer, shooting pool, and of course, pistol range firing!

When in Texas . . I was so-so, hitting the target about 50% of the time. Pretty fun though I have to admit!

December

• Ran the South Pasadena Tiger Run 10K with my husband and daughter Kelli, and had a blast in spite of two butt-kicking hills!
• Joined the Interfaith Council of Orange County. I'm passionate about the need to be more understanding and tolerant of each other's religious differences, and this organization is dedicated to doing just that.
• Adopted a family for Christmas through our local Salvation Army
• Scaled back Christmas significantly in an effort to bring more meaning to the holiday season. Had our most meaningful holiday celebration to date as a result, and plan to keep our focus on celebrating family and friends, rather than giving presents, going forward.

January

• Spent Martin Luther King weekend RV'ing in Malibu with friends, enjoying hiking, fish and chips, and dolphin sightings.
• Became vegetarian in an effort to lead healthier, more energetic lives.
• Bought our beautiful new little hard sided folding trailer . . . a key component of our early retirement travel plans in the years ahead.

February

• Learned how to dance Country Two Step and decided we loved it!
• Enjoyed a wonderful, luxurious two week cruise to Hawaii on Cunard's beautiful Queen Victoria. Highlights were seeing whale leaping everywhere in Maui, and getting to ballroom dance with Mike every night of the entire cruise. And we came home the same weight we were when we left!

Overlooking the lush interior valleys of Kauai, Hawaii

March

• Our new trailer arrives.
• Mike submits his retirement notice.
• Spent our first weekend at the beach in our new trailer, working out the kinks and getting to know the in's and out's of our new rig. Made a few mistakes, figured everything out eventually, and came home confident we were going to have years of enjoyment in our new trailer.

April

• Spent a massive amount of time planning out our early retirement RV'ing trips for the next two years, beginning with a 12 day trip up the Southern California coastline next month.
• Made the decision to cancel both cable and our land line phone, which should lead to a less technology driven life, and save us over $1,200 a year.
• Learned to make fresh, stuffed ravioli pasta . . . after a faulty start or two!

The trick, as I learned after my first batch fell apart, is to knead the holy heck out of the dough before you roll it. Minimum of 10 minutes, more if you have the stamina.

As lengthy as this post is (sorry!), it really only covers the highlights. There was so much more to my first year in early retirement than the items I've been able to share in this post. Most importantly, I had to learn who I am without my job. It took some doing, but I no longer feel the need to justify to anyone my decision to retire at age 48. I'm comfortable with both my decision and myself.

And I suspect that even after such a wonderful year I've just scratched the surface of what's out there waiting to be discovered and enjoyed. Having Mike join me next month is going to be fantastic. I can hardly wait to get started on the next chapter . . . Early Retirement Journey for Two!

Cable and Landline Free!

No, we didn't really toss out the TV . . . but we have decided to cancel our cable service and our land line telephone service effective April 24, saving ourselves a pretty impressive $1,200 a year in the process. 

With both my husband and I increasingly using our cell phones to transact our personal business, I'd been pretty committed to dumping our land line once our bundled internet/cable/landline contract came up for renewal this year, but dumping the cable was not originally going to be part of the plan. What changed my mind was the discovery of a spiffy little device called Roku, that for the first time made it easy and feasible to stream internet content through the TV via our internet Wi-Fi.

I was anticipating a difficult phone call to our service provider as I am aware that they have an entire department devoted to preventing and turning around cancellation and downgrade requests. However, by using a few key phrases, I actually came away very satisfied about the deal we struck for the one remaining service we still wanted with them - internet connectivity.

When my call got transferred to a customer retention representative after 10 minutes or so on hold, I started off by explaining that our contract was up for renewal, and we no longer wished to continue with phone or cable service. The customer service retention representative asked if there was anything they could do to retain these services for us, and I explained that no, we simply no longer wanted either one, regardless of price. I then asked how much internet service alone would run and she gave me a price of $52.99, about half of the $99.99 we'd been paying previously for all three services (our monthly bill actually came in at $134.81 after taxes, digital recording and two additional cable hookups were added in). 

I paused and then asked if that was the best she could do. She likewise paused for a moment and then said she could offer me a monthly rate of $44.99 instead. I didn't say anything (I was actually trying to quickly calculate the annual savings to see if it it was worth it), so she then offered me a rate of $39.99 monthly, conditional on agreeing to an automatic debit bill pay.

I have an absolute policy against giving any company permission to put their hands into my checking account, so I said, no, I wasn't interested in that option at this time. I then thanked her and said I would need to call around to see what other options for internet service might be available before committing to the $44.99 price she had quoted. That was apparently the golden phrase, because she immediately offered me a much lower monthly rate of $29.99 . . . which I immediately accepted!

I'm sure it will take a little getting used to being without a land line, and having to get used to "doing" TV in a different manner, but I'm thrilled that we were able to reduce another of our fixed expenses without much disruption in our quality of life. 

Update on our Vegan Journey

We're about 12 weeks into our vegetarian and vegan foray, and it really has been a big success so far. Eliminating or cutting back on meat, dairy and processed sugar has dramatically boosted our energy levels. Also, without necessarily trying, both my husband and I have each lost five pounds with this cleaner way of eating.

The transition took about 8 weeks. I started off by simply going meatless, which involved investing in some new cookbooks. I landed on "Vegetarian. The Best Ever Recipe Collection" by Linda Fraser and "Veganomicon: The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook" by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero. The first book, "Vegetarian." was full of recipes that looked tasty yet simple to make. The second cookbook, "Veganomicon" was one I'd pined after for some time, ever since my daughter's boyfriend had used it to make an amazing spinach linguine with roasted pinenuts and freshly made pesto.

The move to veganism took a bit longer. We started off by transitioning off of dairy milk and yogurt and switching instead to almond milk and soy yogurt. The almond milk was very nice with our coffee, but I had a hard time visualizing it in cereal or baking because of it's fairly distinct almond taste. We tried unsweetened soy and rice milk next, before finally settling on unsweetened coconut milk as the most mild and satisfying of the lot. The soy yogurt was easier to adapt to - although the absence of the normal underlying dairy yogurt tartness threw me at first, I got used to the difference in a couple of days and now enjoy it just as much as it's dairy yogurt predecessor. 

Slowly over the next few weeks we incorporated vegan sour cream, mozzarella, margarine and "faux" bacon and sausage into our lifestyle. All were surprisingly easy to get used to. We also tried soy deli meat slices, but found them a bit odd tasting, so we'll likely forego faux meat lunch sandwiches going forward, and just make them with straight vegetables instead.

Cheese has proven to be a bit of a dilemma. Some vegan cheeses, like mozzarella, are easy to find and very similar to their dairy counterpart, but some, like Parmesan are not. I will therefore continue to use dairy cheese sparingly when I feel taste would otherwise be compromised. I've also decided that there are really no good alternatives for eggs in baking, so at this point, though I'm no longer buying fresh eggs, I am keeping Egg Beaters on hand.

Here's a sampling of a some of the meals we are now enjoying:

Breakfast

- Oatmeal with walnuts, bananas or apples, cinnamon and coconut milk

- Wheat toast with organic peanut butter and honey

- Soy yogurt with strawberries, bananas and toasted sunflower seeds

- Organic peanut butter breakfast bar with a glass of coconut milk 

- Granola with blueberries and coconut milk

Lunch

- Soy deli ham & veggies on wheat bread 

- Bean and rice burrito with lettuce, tomato, avocado and vegan sour cream

- Vegetable soup with whole grain bread

- Vegetarian chili with whole wheat flour tortilla

- Whole wheat quesadilla with vegan cheese, tomato and avacado

Dinner

- Eggplant Parmesan

- Vegetarian pizza

- Mushroom, asparagus and lemon risotto

- Mushroom & spinach lasagna

- Pumpkin sage ravioli

- Sweet & sour bell pepper pasta salad

- Boca "meat" tacos with all the fixings

- Vegetarian fajitas with all the fixings

- Spaghetti primavera

- Spaghetti Boca-bolognese

- Boca-burgers with all the fixings plus baked sweet potato fries

- Spaghetti with faux sausage, mushrooms and olives

In spite of vegan products being a little more expensive than their non-vegan counterparts, we've seen a 15% decrease in our overall grocery spend,  primarily due to our heavier reliance on fruits, vegetables and grains for the bulk of our diet.

Although we've learned a lot in the past 12 weeks, and eaten some wonderful food, I'm still on the hunt for additional vegan recipes to try, particularly cookies and desserts. If you've stumbled on any interesting vegan websites, let me know - I'd love to hear about them!