I did my grocery shopping yesterday at Jewel; the total was $59. For that I got graham crackers, Annie's mac & cheese, strawberry jelly, 24 cans of cat food, 12 rolls of toilet paper, 2 pie crusts, two packages of Swiss cheese, a box of frozen burgers, a baking potato and a head of lettuce. Oh yes, and a plastic container with a spout for storing dry cat food. I've started buying the huge bags to get best unit price, but they are really unwieldy and hard to store. So I'll fill up this container intermittently to keep in the kitchen. It will make it much handier for cat-sitters, too.

Now I'll try to see how much longer I can go without another grocery trip.

I stopped at Walgreens and picked up four more packages of the panty liners on sale. The day before I paid $7 for two packages, but with additional promotional savings, I paid only $9 for four packages yesterday. Now I have enough for 20 months!

Variables are at 19%.

I took the boys to their music lessons, but afterwards took them to their cousins' house for dinner, so there was no financial burden there.

My old boss at the museum is at another institution (she didn't say where) and asked me if I was interested in contract work. I turned her down, which may seem stupid, but I just feel so done with all that. I want to continue to be really retired, with time for family and time for fun. Also, having worked for her now at two different places, I know all the pitfalls, and I'm not willing to go another round. Much as I like her personally, she is too flighty as a boss.

Also, I feel like the field is moving beyond my skills. It is a fast-moving field, and technology is pushing it into territories I don't even know. And I'm not willing to stress myself out trying to learn. Not any more.

I looked up the schedule for the Oscar movies at my local theaters, and I can actually get them all in before I go to Texas on the 2nd. But here's the rub: I would have to go to four of them at 10 p.m. I would have to see two movies a day for three days and three movies on the 1st -- the day before travel -- the last one finishing up at midnight. $35 is a great deal, but I have to think about whether I really want to do this. I don't like being out so late, especially alone, and the day before travel would be exhausting.

I also did a little poking around for flights to Houston, but realized I would have to coordinate my flight with a hotel room. I texted my cousin for recommendations, and he said they were going to reserve some rooms, so I guess I will just wait to hear more.