The ups, downs, and occasional sideways bits of trying to be mortgage free

Had one of those lovely weekends where it was cold but sunny, so we spent most of the weekend in the garden. I even got a couple of loads of laundry pegged out and dried, although I've had to give in this morning and take the remaining load in and stick it in the tumble dryer because it didn't dry before the rains came in.

Then I treated myself to a bath after a great run, and because I didn't have any bath foam or salts or anything, I chucked in a few drops of lavender oil and some bicarb of soda and it was blissful. Who needs money.

Have decided I need to get a bit more serious about getting fit, instead of just going for a run once a week or so, so have downloaded a training app that is apparently going to design workouts for me. I did this last night and it wanted me to start off with jumping jacks, but since I'd had my bath and my bra was off for the night, that wasn't going to happen!

June goals:

1. Spend no more than $10/week on frivolities (coffees, mainly)
2. 3 x workouts plus one long run a week
3. Catch up on business admin and start putting tax return together
4. 3 x Passion Project sprints per week

That sounds like a lovely arrangement, but I can't talk and run at the same time!

Sun is shining again today and I intended to go for a run, in fact, but Little Girl had forgotten her library books for school so I used up my free morning time delivering them to her. Drove all the way back to school imagining how stressed and worried she'd be about the prospect of missing out on library day, and fond her cuddling a guinea pig and feeding it a carrot. School seems like a more fun place to be than in my day.

Nothing much else to report. Am still trying to persuade Mr Expert to change over our mobile phone plan, it's costing us a fortune and it's the only bill that's not in my/joint names so I can't do it. He hates talking on the phone though so he keeps putting it off.

Had lots of leftover roast pork yesterday so I made a gorgeous Cuban pork thing with smoked paprika and black beans and capsicum with rice and sour cream and coriander. Tuna and potato patties with salad and lemon dressing tonight.

Am struggling to find time to do all the things I want to do, though. I wanted to do some lunch box baking last night but by the time I'd finished off some paid work, helped Mr Expert write a speech, done the evening rounds of various animals, done the daily instalment on the passion project and folded a couple of loads of laundry it was bedtime. Meanwhile, Little Girl's library bag sits there waiting for me to get out the sewing machine and decorate it, I haven't touched the hat I cast on two months ago and it wasn't even an exercise day. I read diaries and get motivated to be tidier, more organised, more frugal - but then I come up against the immovable fact that there are, in fact, only 24 hours in a day.

Hi, of course! So I was using up left over roast pork but you could do it with raw cubed pork, you'd just put it in earlier. If you google Cuban Pork you'll get a bunch but here's what I did:

Saute an onion and a capsicum or two (I did one large red, one small green) and when soft add about a TBS cumin, a TBS smoked paprika, a tsp oregano, cook for 1-2 minutes until fragrant. Add a can of black beans, a tin of tomatoes, a tablespoon of chicken stock powder, a couple of squirts of lime juice (maybe 2TBS?), about 1/4 cup orange juice, and the aforementioned pork. If you're doing raw pork, brown it as a first step then add everything else. Simmer until pork is tender, serve over white rice with a dollop of sour cream. It was actually amazing and I will make it again very soon.

Passion project is a novel, and my day job involves a lot of writing as well so it's sometimes hard to make myself do an hour in the evenings, but I'm pressing on.

Am taking the girls to Matilda the Musical tomorrow. Bought the tickets last year and went for the matinee because it was cheaper and I could splurge on good seats. Have made them up little bags of sweets and bought some juices. I'm excited! I do try and take them to one Proper Show a year (last year was a children's ballet) but this is by far the biggest-name thing I've ever been to, largely because a lot of the big shows don't make it to my small city.

I'm so pleased, Cherry! I would never have thought of it myself, in fact, but I won some gourmet cooking sauces in a raffle last year and one of them was a Cuban pork one so we ate it and then recreated it.

Thanks Tallulah - I think of myself as pretty lazy as well, in fact, and I have to admit I've only managed one exercise session. I do give Mr E credit for being on board generally. He still spends evenings browsing online shops, and generally has more expensive taste than I do (he lost his winter gloves the other day and nothing but a new pair of nice suede ones would do) but on the other hand he'll spend a day in the kitchen making quince jam from our own fruit tree and he's come up with plans for building some huge planter boxes in the back of the garden out of old fencing and sticks. So I'll keep him, I think.