What I Spent: June 2026

As a reminder, my husband pays the "big bills" like mortgage, phone, car, and electricity. I pay for groceries and the pets and that somehow evens things out. Only, to be honest, this doesn't actually work out evenly. We had a discussion recently about how I make a lot less than he does and he has agreed that he's going to take over the Costco runs. We'll see if this works out.

Groceries ($893.73, 42.8%) - Look, we keep eating. 

Pets ($374.17, 17.9%) - Once again I am asking who thought it was a good idea to get a dog? (Me, it was me. I'm my own problem.) Litter, food for the dog AND cat, flea and tick prevention for the dog, litter for the cat. The list never ends.

Savings ($300, 14.4%) - Boo.

Bills ($168.37, 8.1%) - Insurance. It went up by eight dollars AND DON'T THINK I DIDN'T NOTICE, insurance company.

Cars ($142, 6.8%) - I gassed up once and paid for registration for the new car.

Clothing ($131.71, 6.3%) - I bought some stuff for work. 

Personal care ($27.20, 1.3%) - Some face lotion. 

Eating out ($24.17, 1.2%) - Okay, this is where I splurged this month (outside of HAVING PETS). I got coffee A LOT. June was rough at work and some mornings I just need a pick me up. 

Entertainment ($13.70, <1%) - Spotify subscription. 

Gifts ($12.63, <1%) - A couple of greeting cards.

Why am I broke all the time? Well, I think we just need to look at those first two categories. *sigh*

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What's something fun you spent money on last month?

June 2026 Accountability Buddy

June is my absolute craziest month at work. Because of this, I made a goal to try to do some sort of strength training for ten minutes a day, so I would at least prioritize this one thing. I also tried to really hit that 80% mark for 30 minutes or more, but sometimes that 30 minutes was ten minutes here and ten minutes there. I am not going to win for endurance this month, but I did what I could. 

Monday, June 1

10-minute upper body dumbbell workout

30-minute yoga for flexibility

Tuesday, June 2

30-minute full body dumbbell workout - I stuck with ten pound weights with this. It was challenging, but felt good. There's not a lot of rest, so my heart rate really went up. 

Wednesday, June 3

45-minute yoga class at the community center after work

10-minute legs with dumbbells - I really worked up a sweat with this!

Thursday, June 4

20-minute total body dumbbell workout

12-minute dumbbell deadbug workout with Caroline Girvan - Every single time I do a core workout on the  mat, it hurts my quads way more than my core. I'm pretty sure that indicates a weakness in my back and/or form, but if you're ever curious why I do standing ab workouts, it's because this one doesn't really work for me.

Friday, June 5

10-minute standing arm workout - This is an interesting video with some moves I don't normally see. I used 7.5 pounds and it was HARD.

10-minute yoga for lower back

Saturday, June 6

10-minute standing abs with dumbbells

35-minute deep fascia release yoga

Sunday, June 7

30-minute Pilates dumbbell workout

10-minute gentle yoga

Monday, June 8

10-minute standing "abs" workout - Look, all respect to Caroline Girvan, but this was a hip flexor/balance workout. Thumbs down for false advertising. 

30-minute yoga to reduce stress

Tuesday, June 9

20-minute chair yoga at work during lunch

30-minute fully body dumbbell circuit - Three circuits. Usually I don't like circuits, but this one went by fast. I did five pounds on lats, but otherwise was at 10 or 12.5, which was pretty heavy for me. 

Wednesday, June 10

45-minute yoga class at the community center after work

Thursday, June 11

15-minute full body workout

10-minute standing abs - I used ten pounds here. 

15-minute upper body dumbbell workout

10-minute yoga full body stretch for stiff bodies

Friday, June 12

15-minute legs workout (bodyweight, but my legs are on fire!)

30-minute yoga for low back and hamstrings

Saturday, June 13

30-minute full body AMRAP workout - I am so sweaty.

20-minute morning yoga flow

Sunday, June 14

15-minute leg/glute/thigh workout - Bodyweight, but I got warm!

30-minute yoga for flexibility - Maybe not the best option for right after legs! Lots of one-legged balancing here. 

Monday, June 15

15-minute stretch class at lunchtime*

15-minute standing abs

15-minute full body dumbbell workout 

Tuesday, June 16

10-minute leg workout - I used fifteen pound dumbbells. My legs are really shaking!

15-minute gentle yoga for flexibility and relaxation

Wednesday, June 17

15-minute stretch class at lunchtime

45-minute yoga class at the community center after work

10-minute standing abs

Thursday, June 18

30-minute no repeat strength training - I really liked this format.

10-minute post-workout stretch

Friday, June 19

15-minute stretch class at lunchtime

15-minute chair yoga at work - A rare day in June when my calendar was not back to back to back, so I took some time for myself. 

Saturday, June 20

33-minute walking workout

10-minute standing abs

10-minute post-workout stretch

Sunday, June 21

30-minute full body dumbbell workout - I did standing abs for the last two ab exercises. 7.5-15 pounds.

25-minute yin yoga

Monday, June 22

10-minute quads and calves - I am sweaty and out of breath. Good video. 

30-minute deep stretch yoga

Tuesday, June 23

10-minute standing abs

10-minute yoga after work

Wednesday, June 24

15-minute stretch class at lunchtime

45-minute yoga class at the community center after work

Thursday, June 25

20-minute no repeat full body dumbbell supersets

10-minute arms and shoulders

15-minute post workout stretch - Look, the music is terrible. Pretty distracting for me. 

Friday, June 26

15-minute stretch class at lunchtime

Saturday, June 27

We did a couple of hours of yardwork. The less we say about this, the better.

Sunday, June 28

30-minute total body with dumbbells

30-minute somatic stretch - Look, I laughed at loud at the thought of doing the "thigh stretch" and "plough" and things got silly with "ear massage," but I was a good little soldier with this and do feel a lot better about *waves hands around* the world and my body after doing this.

Every attendee at the outdoor class. 

Monday, June 29

15-minute stretch class at lunchtime

45-minute boot camp class after work at a local park - Ha ha ha. It was like 90 degrees. There was a breeze, though, which made this doable. I feel like I should get bonus points for this, though. 

Tuesday, June 30

15-minute standing abs with dumbbells

15-minute cardio - You want to make cardio boring and tedious? Do this video. 

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*Our local healthcare organization does free stretch classes virtually three times a week. Sign up here! It's free. It's fun. We regularly talk about candy and what's for lunch. It's a delightful break in the middle of the day. You do not have to have your camera on. She has the classes out there for the rest of the year, so you'd only have to register ONCE. 

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Total: 26/30 (86.7%) days doing thirty minutes or more

Cardio/strength: 14 days

Yoga: 12 days 

Short stretch classes at lunchtime: 6 days

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I managed ten minutes of strength-based activity on 26/30 days, too, so that's not too bad. I will not be repeating that, though, because I hesitate to tell you how often I was doing that right before bed, which isn't exactly the most relaxing thing in the world.

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What I Read: June 2026

6/1: The Orchid Thief by Susan Orlean (library ebook, 1998) - What a snoozefest. 2/5 stars

6/2: Dog Show: Poems by Billy Collins (library, 2026) - Perfection. No notes. 5/5 stars

6/7: The Wonder State by Sara Flannery Murphy (library, 2023) - I sped through this book in a day. Lovely. 4/5 stars

6/10: Alex & Me: How a Scientist and a Parrot Uncovered a Hidden World of Animal Intelligence - and Formed a Deep Bond in the Process by Irene M. Pepperberg (library, 2008) - Super interesting look at the life of an animal biologist. I think this would be an interesting book for some of our STEM students to read because there's a lot about trying to get funding for work with animals. 4/5 stars

6/13: Into the Blue by Emma Brodie (library, 2026) - Sometimes you just need a romance novel. 3.5/5 stars

6/14: Sweep of the Heart (Innkeeper Chronicles #5) by Ilona Andrews (library ebook, 2022) - This series is so good. There were a lot of characters to keep track of in this book, but the author kept us paying attention to the main plot. I really am enjoying this series. 4/5 stars

6/19: How to Solve Your Own Murder by Kristen Perrin (library, 2024) - The middle third of this book was such a bore. And the main character was an idiot. And I do not think I understood the ending. The premise was actually pretty good, but the execution was not. 2.5/5 stars

6/20: Picking Up: On the Streets and Behind the Trucks with the Sanitation Workers of New York City by Robin Nagle (university library, 2013) - I love shit like this. The more niche an anthologist embeds themself, the more I love it. 5/5 stars

6/24: In a Dark, Dark Wood by Ruth Ware (library ebook, 2015) - Look, thrillers are not for me. I was annoyed that so many pagers were the main character just going through possible scenarios. I KNOW THE SCENARIOS. I want action to happen. Also, I sort of knew what was going on from the beginning - like the bad person was clear? Ugh. Not my jam. I know this about myself, but I still can't help but want to read thrillers like the other cool kids. 2.5/5 stars

6/27: Of Monsters and Mainframes by Barbara Truelove (library, 2025) - In 2026, I am not a fan of anthropomorphizing AI. This book was batshit insane (werewolves, aliens, vampires, mummies!), but I just felt sort of dirty reading it. 3/5 stars

Total: 10 books (although Dog Show is a very short poetry collection, so do with that what you will)
Average star rating: 3.45/5 stars

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Did not finish:

The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese - I listened to 2.5 hours of this book before giving it up as a bad job. It's 31 hours long, so I was at about 8% when I gave up. Maybe I need to read it with my eyes.

The Comfort of Crows by Margaret Renkl - This was far too cozy for me. Maybe a winter read? DNF at 15%. 

The Summer of Broken Rules by K.L. Walther - I am not a lady who can read instalove YA romance. There. I said it. I dropped this book like a hot potato as soon as another book became available on my Libby app for me to borrow. DNF at 36%.

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I read three non-fiction books this month and a poetry collection. Who am I? What sort of middle-aged person have I become?

Have you read any of these books? Which one would you like to read?

The Chew, Part III

This is the last of miniseries on food. I have been loving the discussions in the comments!

Part I

Part II

What food did you think you would hate but end up loving?

The first time I had kohlrabi, I did not have high hopes for it. But kohlrabi is good, yo. 

What food combo sounds weird but is actually amazing? 

You know me and I'll always rep a Midwestern "salad." Consider strawberry pretzel salad or Snickers apple salad. Those things are legitimately delicious, even if they should never be called a salad.

What food should NEVER be eaten together? 

Whatever the nastiness is that makes green bean casserole. Gag.

What’s your go-to dish when family or friends come over? 

Oh, this is fun! I almost always have fresh-baked chocolate chip cookies. I keep frozen dough in the freezer so I can have cookies whenever I want. I also will almost always make popcorn with my Whirley-Pop. There will always be a charcuterie board with cheese, nuts, and jam. If I have any date balls around, I'll pop those on the table. That's all snack-y stuff if I'm hosting book club or something.

If people are coming for dinner, I'll make my regular berry and lettuce salad and then we'll have a frittata or soup or something that can easily be made ahead of time and just heated up when people arrive. 

For years I would serve turkey tacos with a Rachel Ray recipe we had, but since we don't cook meat in the house anymore, we've really steered away from tacos and burritos. I'd like to bring Mexican back into our rotation, though. 

If you were dating and a potential partner was NOT a foodie, would that be a dealbreaker? 

Obviously not. *sigh*

 

What’s on your food bucket list? 

I want a bubble waffle cone again. I could probably make this happen by just going to Milwaukee, but it's not fun to go with my husband, so I need a partner in crime to do this.

But, not really. Since I've been married to my husband, I stopped having food-related aspirations. It's for the best. 

Would you consider frozen food as good food? Why or why not? 

Frozen fruits and vegetables are just as good as fresh. But after that...I'm a bit of snob.

On a scale of 1-10, how picky of an eater are you? 

There are some foods I won't eat - pork, Brussels sprouts, and beets spring to mind. Drinking milk makes me gag. I find a lot of convenience food (think frozen dinners or canned soup) is overwhelmingly salty. I don't love to eat meat, but if I went to dinner at someone's house and something beef or poultry was served to me, I'd eat it. So, I'm not without particularities, but I'm pretty open-minded. 2.5/10 for pickiness? (Edit to add: I asked my husband how he would rate me over breakfast and he said 4/10. I don't know how to answer this.)

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This or That?

Doughnuts or muffins? Muffins, but this was a hard call.

Pizza or ramen? Pizza and it's not even close.

Sushi or tacos? Oh. Wow. Tough. Tacos, probably, but if you want to go get sushi, I'll go with you.

Chips or popcorn? Popcorn, but I'm not a food snob. I'll take either.

Ice cream or cake? Ice cream.

Coffee or tea? Coffee, but I am a daily tea drinker who only gets coffee as an occasional treat.

Wine or beer? Neither.

Breakfast or dinner? Breakfast.

McDonald’s or Wendy’s? Wendy's.

Sweet or savory? Sweet.

Crunchy or chewy? Crunchy.

Sparkling or flat water? Sparkling.

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What's your go-to dish when people come over? Are you picky?  McDonald's or Wendy's?

What I Wore to Work Last Week

FRIENDS! REGISTRATION SEASON IS OVER!! Yes, that does deserve all caps. July is a slow month at work, so I'm getting pumped up for that. Meanwhile, I enlisted my co-worker's help to take photos of me last week. Here's what went down.

Monday - The day between events. I was mostly just in my office all day inputting appointment summaries from an event on Friday and preparing for Tuesday. I'm wearing a tank I bought at Macy's approximately fifteen years ago and some linen pants. 

Tuesday - Registration event. I need to be prepared to walk across campus, complete my presentation, kneel on the ground, and move furniture. I'm wearing a Happy Earth dress from several seasons ago (love this dress) and a bolero from Ann Taylor about ten years ago. It can range from boiling to frigid on building across campus, so I have to be prepared. 

Wednesday - You guys. It was cold and rainy. I hate that. On the plus side, the rain does fabulous things for my hair. I have on a Passion Lillie dress and I spent most of the day wearing a duster from Rowan Grey Clothing.

Thursday - Last registration event of June. Woot woot! Another Happy Earth dress. The white tank is from H&M like a billion years ago. It has held up quite well considering its origin. 

Friday - We had another event on campus for prospective students. *sigh* This was less intensive work, but I still had to be prepared to move tables and cart half our office across campus. It was also quite cool. The shirt is from LL Bean and was a FANTASTIC purchase at the beginning of the summer. The pants are more of the Athleta linen pants. The H&M tank is in play again.

Accessories: I wore Mephisto Helen sandals all week (on the rainy day I had Vionic flip flops in my bag), a silver bracelet from Twisted Silver that I got from Dr. BB as a present before we were married, and my two little purple bracelets from Tobias. I'm still rocking my permanent bracelet that I got in Seattle and my permanent anklet I got with my niece. I have a pair of sapphire earrings and Hey June hoops. LOOK, I like my jewelry. 

Outtakes: Sometimes I think I sound like I am NOT FUN on this blog. But here is proof that I am an utter goof.

Full credit to my co-worker LB who took each and every one of these photos when I would barge into her office with my phone outstretched. 

Five for Friday Plus Extras, Edition #45: Another Happy Things Edition

This month has been A LOT at work, but I've worked hard to find lovely things. They're almost all about food, but let's all admit that food is one of the best things in life. 

1) Potato chips: One of my besties in Wisconsin has dual citizenship with the U.S. and Canada. I once made an offhand comment about how much I loved all dressed potato chips, which are a Canadian delicacy that one cannot find easily in the States. Now, whenever she goes to Canada, she brings me larger and larger bags of this chips. Last week, I got a giant, Costco-sized bag. What a dream. They're also labeled as gluten-free, so Dr. BB can also eat them. (Note: Dr. BB referred to them as a low-rent BBQ chip, so he's banned from eating them. He doesn't GET IT.)

I'm included for scale. The bag is the size of my torso.

2) The public library: Recently, my library stash started getting a little low and I went on an absolute rampage ordering things from the library. Look at this pile!

3) Late morning: We were having someone come over to the house to look at something and so I was hanging around to help with Hannah on a workday morning. Here are the good things that came out of that.

    a) It was raining, so it was a perfect opportunity for Zelda and I to sit on the couch together. She was purring and I was "reading." 

    b) When the workman pulled in the drive, we put Hannah in our downstairs bathroom. Hannah barked for about a minute AND THEN STOPPED. She did no damage to herself or the bathroom. Maybe we can have worker people in the house for small periods of time without me having to just take her out of the house. 

    c) My workday was two hours shorter. Yay!

4) Dunkin?: A Dunkin has opened in the town where I work. It's actually kind of sad because they bought out a location that once housed a local coffee spot, but it's great news for me because I'm hoping it puts the Starbucks across the street out of business. HOWEVER. They are definitely not operating at 100% yet. I was so excited last week to treat myself to an iced decaf americano. When I got to school and looked at it, I saw this. 

Maybe you can't read it, but what it DOESN'T say is decaf. The last time I had a caffeinated americano, I thought I was going crazy because I could not control my racing thoughts. I was already at work, though, so I didn't want to turn around. I instead just put it down the sink (after offering it to everyone else who was at work - no one wanted it) and sent my husband a sad text.

And then!

He made a special trip in to work to bring me one! (Note that the tag says "Hot" - he had been given a hot one and had to go in to exchange it for an iced one.) What a super husband.

5) Ice cream: One very lovely June evening we walked over to the local ice cream spot where I got myself a turtle sundae. It was perfect. 

Yes, I do wear this white gauze shirt over everything this time of year. Don't judge me.

Bonus!

6) How gorgeous is the place where I work?: Just look at this place. Even on a stormy afternoon, it radiates beauty. It really shines in the summer and it's a real sadness to me that more people aren't here to see and enjoy it.

7) Things I've seen that have made me laugh:

   

 a) This sign/Post-It note at the gas station. What does it mean? I love that there are mysteries in this world still.

    b) Why do we need patriotic dog treats? I don't know, but a chain hardware store that rhymes with Tenard's sells them. I did not buy any if you were wondering. Also, a very lovely young man named Alex helped at this very hardware store and I sent an email to the store telling them what a great job he did and they emailed me back that he was going to get a small monetary bonus because of my email. Alex also made me very happy this week. I hope good things for him. 

    c) My friend Rob played a clip on his episode "Hips Don't Lie" on the 60 Songs that Explain the 90s: The 2000s podcast that literally made me snort laugh and have to bend at the waist when I was pan frying potatoes cooking dinner. Imma just going to leave the clip here. 

Not particularly relevant, but I am hot and cold on The 2000s remix of my friend Rob's podcast. (Tangent inside a tangent: Do you think Rob Harvilla would think it's weird that I refer to him as my friend Rob?) The "Feist" episode? SO BORING. I DON'T CARE ABOUT FEIST. (Sorry Canadians.) But this Shakira episode? NEW RESPECT FOR SHAKIRA. Do I need all caps? Sure, why not? 

I think this post is probably long enough. Have a super duper weekend, friends. If you have a dog or military veteran in your home and you're an American, it's the last okay weekend of the summer!

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What made you happy this week? Did you have ice cream? Buy patriotic dog treats? Do you want 10% off in a Mexican desert?

Yoga Gear

For months now I've had a note that somebody asked me about my yoga setup at home. I don't remember who asked and if it was you, I'm sorry that I'm not organized enough to keep track of such things, but I appreciate the topic suggestion/question.

At home I have a yoga mat, two blocks, a blanket, a bolster, and a necktie I use as a strap that my husband will no longer use because it has a stain on it that's invisible to everyone on the planet but him. I also ALWAYS light a candle when I'm doing yoga. Yes, even when it's ninety degrees and seventy percent humidity. 

All of it gets put away in a plastic egg crate and is tucked under a table in our music/sewing/workout room when I'm done with it.

I've been known to grab pillows and blankets off of beds if I need more padding and/or elevation. What can I say? I'm a high-maintenance kind of yoga girl. 

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At school I have a mat, two blocks, an actual yoga strap, and a blanket (no bolster). I actually have THREE mats because I like to have extra in case someone comes to the yoga program I put on without a mat of their own. 

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How many yoga mats do you own? Do you have all the yoga gear or are you strictly a mat kind of person?