And then there’s physical health. You know, the Feather family is just not having a great year, so far. Mom has been diagnosed with uterine cancer – her appointment with the oncologist is this Thursday, so we’ll find out more about what type of cancer it is and where we go from here, but it’s kind of rough. She is, after all, over 800 miles away from me and RC, so it’s just her and Dad down there, goin’ it alone. As for me, I’ve been battling this ridiculous stye now for the past week, and it just doesn’t want to go away. I hate styes. There’s no reason for them, no reason at all. And there’s no cure for them… just put a hot compress on it, they say. BAH!!

On the physical fitness front, though, I’ve been going to the gym regularly since they opened in February – at least three times a week for cardio work. I am SO out of shape… I made the mistake of glancing at the treadmill next to me the other day to see what the little chippy was doing, and she was walking at a brisk 4.0 miles an hour. Hmm. I’m really hoofing it at 2.8 miles an hour, on an incline, even, to get my heart rate up. But it’s more active than I’ve been in a long time and it feels fantastic. I actually *like* going to the gym. And as soon as I hit 3.0 miles an hour, I’m going to start adding some weight-training into my routine.

Now if I can just keep my mental health on an even keel… I think I’ll be alright.

I guess I don’t have enough going on right now to provide much blog fodder. Between playing with Facebook, sleeping over with the girls, and cleaning up after the animals, I’ve barely had time over the last week to catch up on TV (except for Battlestar Galactica… only 3 episodes left!), let alone write in this space. The only really new thing – and it’s not really new – is that I’ve put myself on an austerity program. I’d already decided I wasn’t going to spend unnecessary money for most of January and all of February… and I’ve kind of extended it into March. Just like the company I work for, no new spending in Q1! I guess you could argue that the nearly 10 lbs. of gummy bears purchased over the last 2 months aren’t really necessary… but my tummy would argue right back.

Anyway, I figure if the likes of these bloggers can do it, so can I. I found out yesterday what my raise will be this year, and what I’m getting for a bonus… it’s generous, given the state of the economy these days. And I’m not going to waste it… I’m going to save it. I have all of these things to save for – home improvement projects, upgraded technology, wardrobe enhancements – and now is the time to do it. Oh, don’t worry. I’ll spend some of it and do my part to boost the economy, but I’m going to try really, really hard to limit frivolous spending.

To help me with my savings goals, I think I’m going to try out SmartyPig. It doesn’t cost anything to set up an account, and right now it has a better rate than my ING Direct savings account. You get incentives if you cash in your savings with one of their preferred merchants… say you’re saving for a TV, for example, and you’ve reached your savings goal. Rather than withdraw the money the old-fashioned way, you turn it into a Best Buy giftcard, and you get up to a 6% boost to your savings. Friends can also “donate” to your savings goal, which is kind of different.

Now I just need to figure out what to save for first.

I was thinking earlier this week about my resolution to be more financially responsible, and I kind of decided that for this month, that would mean not buying anything new. I hadn’t really put it into practice, and now I’ve blown it. After a bloody nose every morning this week thanks to the dry, winter air, I broke down and bought a humidifier. It was on sale for $29.99, and it came with three additional filters, so it was a pretty good deal. I could have ordered replacement filters for the ancient humidifier I have in the closet, but I’m not sure it would still hold water since it’s been several years since I last used it. Not to mention that it would cost more for shipping than it would for the filters, and I just can’t deal with that! I figure I’ll either sell it in a garage sale this spring or donate it to Goodwill.

On top of the humidifier, my toaster died this week. I don’t eat a lot of toast, but I need it frequently enough that I needed to replace it pretty quickly. Hey, I have a whole package of english muffins languishing uneaten in the cabinet! I can’t let those go bad, can I? I didn’t buy a fancy-schmancy model… I don’t need more than 2 slices at a time, and I don’t toast a lot of frozen items, so I didn’t need anything with multiple settings.

In addition to those things, I bought a new planner for my purse, and these really cool new Post-It Pockets. I always get the urge to get organized at the beginning of the year, and I’m sure these will work for a while, but eventually I’ll neglect them entirely. I figured I could at least stuff receipts in one of them – I’ve got to keep better track of what I spend on the foster bunnies this year. I almost always have a pile of things that need to be filed, and I can use one of the others for that. The third… I don’t know yet what I’ll use it for, but for now it’s stuck to the side of the kitchen cabinet.

I think I’m done… maybe I’ll just start not buying anything new on Monday? I’m just so tempted… Target has a bunch of new home decor stuff, I’d like to buy some more Wild Thangs, and I’m really wishing for some new houseplants. But for the sake of financial stability and home improvement, I’ll suck it up.