My Small Successes XLII

1. We made our first batches of strawberry jam! So far we have four pints of strawberry jam and seven pints of strawberry lemon marmalade. The harvest is later than last year, but hopefully we'll still have a good one. Last year's was great, but I was too tired to can as much as I had liked. I tried a new recipe for pickled watermelon rinds, too, just because we had them. Kansas Dad is outside picking strawberries today so hopefully we'll have some strawberry sauce soon! (We also had strawberry smoothies for breakfast. Yum!)

2. We ordered a Wii Fit Plus with Balance Board. So far I've managed at least 30 minutes of exercise on all but one day. (That's 12 of the last 13 days. I didn't exercise on my birthday, more because I was worried about getting four adults and four kids to Mass on time than because it was my birthday.) I haven't noticed a difference in tone, strength, size or weight yet, but these things take time, right? I have been sore, so something must be happening. At the very least, I haven't exercised this much since I was playing basketball in high school.

3. I bought something for myself just because. I've wanted a Kindle for a long time but have never wanted to spend the money on something I so obviously didn't need. I had just enough birthday money for one, though, and my parents were encouraging me to order it. After consulting with Kansas Dad, I did. It should arrive tomorrow. I'm posting it as a success because it's the first time in (probably) years I haven't spent my birthday money on something for the kids, something for the kitchen or something for our homeschool. Not that I don't like spending money on those things, but Kansas Dad thought I was due to buy something for me. Now I'll be downloading all those classics I haven't read that are available for free. (Recommendations welcome.)

Head over to Chocolate for Your Brain for more Small Successes.