We've been going over our anticipated expenses for 2008 and our travel costs this year will be...costly. However, they are also necessary when you're living in such a small place. You get itchy feet. I've heard that they're supposed to kick in every three months, and so the fact that I'm feeling them now means that I'm right on target, if not a bit ahead of schedule. One month today, we leave for Mexico and our feet leave this island for the first time. After that, we have a tentative trip planned to Toronto in May for a wedding, a trip home planned for July (though the logistics of who spends how much time and where are still being hotly debated...), and a possible trip to New York in September. That's a lot of useless air miles right there.

Obviously, we have to shuffle a few things around, financially. We have to budget for each of these trips and, even though travel out of here is actually pretty cheap, it all adds up and it all subtracts from our debt repayment/savings efforts. Still, at the end of the day, saving a bit more and having no break is not an option for us. We have paid vacation...why wouldn't we use it somewhere where we can also see much-missed friends and family? No brainer.

One area of our lifestyle that has taken a financial hit as a result of my new household "regime" (which also includes a low G.I. diet, by the way), is our date nights. Sadly, we have made the decision to cut them from once weekly to once monthly. We figure that one great date each month, at a fantastic place, is better than 4 OK dates each month at 4 pretty good places. Since it seems to be impossible for us to eat out together (lunch or dinner) for under $50 on the island, and most often the bill is closer to $70 or $80 (and that does not include a bottle of wine but may or may not include a couple of dark 'n stormies), our bank accounts will definitely benefit from this change.

Consequently, we are cooking again. For those of you who may remember the brief though fabulous life of the Floog, I am bringing it back. Maybe not THE Floog, unless I can instill any interest in Heather and Lai to join me in the revival, but definitely some recipe posting, since I've had some good experiences in the kitchen lately. Mostly vegetarian experiences, but good nonetheless. We moved here with what we considered to be the "best of" our kitchen, though we did forget the one thing we used most - our awesome, deep, stainless-steel skillet with a glass lid. Still, we arrived with our (extensive) spice collection, best utensils, our favorite pots, and the cookbooks I couldn't live without. Time to give this stuff a workout.

The 2008 Regime is coming together nicely.