Yeah, there's an app for that

I love my new iPod Touch. No, I LURVE it. I lurve it in a way that I lurved my very first Walkman...in a sort of carry-it-wherever-I-may-go-and-be-careful-not-to-drop-it-in-the-toilet way. I love that I just slide a fingertip (or sometimes a fingernail) across the gleaming black surface and instantly I can immerse myself in the entertaining rantings of Rachel Maddow or find the best type of fish to eat to avoid over-farming...or do really useful things like track money...and fat. When I went to the doctor yesterday, the nurse proclaimed that according to their scales, I've lost 2 lbs since labor...which would explain the 2 lbs. So, somehow I am still carrying on my 5 foot 7 frame about 20 extra pounds of Nutella, risotto, and Reese's Cup blizzard. But y'know what? There's an app for that. I've been tracking my caloric intake and burn for a little over a month. While I may not have lost any actual weight, I've gained a world of knowledge...like...

1. If you must drink, choose bourbon and diet coke over wine. Yes, you look a lot more trailer trash (unless you drink your wine from a box and then this switch may be your ticket to that country club invitation), but it will save you almost 100 calories.
2. When at Panera, skip the croutons on the creamy tomato soup. Actually, just skip the creamy tomato soup altogether. They don't call it creamy because it must be differentiated from crunchy.
3. Life is too short to eat a 300 calorie breakfast that makes you want to gag every time you take a bite...like oatmeal, for instance...which is basically goulash with a surgeon general endorsement.
4. Soy milk sounds like a great idea. Your Levis say otherwise.
5. When in doubt, don't eat rice. If you are not working a rice paddy, chances are, you will not burn that 300 calories/cup off anytime soon.

In addition to this new-found knowledge, I have also deemed November the Month of Monetary Awareness. Up until this point, when I've needed to pay my credit card, I go to our joint account, transfer the necessary amount, and pay it. That is to say that I take from the joint account without ever giving. If my checking account and I were best friends, I would always be mooching cigarettes and beer and rides to the Pic-Pac. So I decided (read: my husband) that we needed to try to adhere to the budget a little better. And yes, there's an app for that, too. And it's free. So, I'm on day 4 of this month and thus far I've burned far less calories than I've taken in and...after re-decorating the master bathroom...I'm in the red for the "miscellaneous" allowance. It's going to be a long month.