Money well spent

The whole point of this blog was how to save money, right? There are times in life that you need or maybe just want to spend it. We had one of those days last Monday.  Jeff, Riley, Maddie and I, plus Riley's bff, Lamyaa, went to DC for the day.  The girls couldn't wait to stop by Georgetown Cupcake. Yep--it is the one from TLC's show, DC Cupcake.  I thought going to the newly re-opened American History Museum was going to be the best.  I can't really say what was truly the highlight of the day--it may have been the landing of Marine One, the President's helicopter, just as we were trying to get close to the White House--or--it may have been the twenty minutes we had in the park while waiting for the helicopter to land.  We did walk to the White House, but then were turned away or shepherded to another area, as I am assuming, a safety zone was created for the President's landing. We did have to wait, but when the deep resonating thuds of the helicopter blades broke the quiet afternoon air, it was hard not to get excited.

Reflecting on that afternoon got me thinking about the safety zone I had established around that day so I could enjoy it.  Again, I am talking about money...moolah...dough...the green stuff.  I wasn't stressed at having to eat a couple of meals out. I wasn't stressed about the cost of metro tickets.  Heck, I wasn't even stressed about the cost of the cupcakes (worth every penny, too).  All this because I had planned and budgeted and revised and did it all one more time.  If money had been tighter, I would have created a different plan, a different option, for our family day out.  But, I was able to enjoy all the items we spent money on and all the things that were free--cartwheels in the park, making faces at each other while waiting in line, laughter, excitement, love and togetherness.