July 16, 2007
July 4, 2007
It’s the beginning of the third quarter, and it’s still not clear who is going to win this year’s fiscal game, but I have to say that despite all the setbacks, financially, emotionally, and familially (that’s not right, is it? It’s just familial), I’m slowly creeping towards a milestone of financial stability.
No, there’s not much left after the bills are paid and I’ve mentally subtracted the amount of the outrageous loan I made to my brother. Nonetheless, I have a steady job that brings in a few slices of bacon every two weeks, and I am, at the end of the day, able to pay the bills and have a little left over. It’s time to be grateful that, despite all the obstacles in the way, and despite all the hardships that are yet to be faced, progress is still being made.
There’s light at the end of this tunnel. And I’m grateful.
June 29, 2007
It’s amazing how little time, and how few sentences it can take to evoke that numbing sensation of helplessness.
Pa: Your mom wants to work three days at the local *business which I’ve asked her to give up. It pays next to nothing for hours upon hours of work.* They’ll pay her $50.
*Realization: She’s doing this because she’s absolutely determined to do whatever it takes to gain some financial stability and independence. She resents PaDucky refusing to change his ways, and in the meantime letting me work constantly, and not getting a real job himself until I finally insisted on it. Despite her poor health, it’s not practical for me to ask her to not work at all because I can’t take on the one bill that she does pay out of her own pocket, and I won’t undercut her independence. But knowing that my mom is literally toiling away at drudgery and I’m not able to save her some of it is …. utterly depressing. There’s a small bright side to this. She was offered extra hours at the local restaurant, cashiering, and so she’ll do that instead. But I have a sinking feeling that if Pa hadn’t tattled on her and the cashiering hours weren’t offered, she would have done the other job behind my back.*
Ma: Your dad is really short of money again because your brother made him cover his portion of the monthly investment bill. (This is the investing thing that I’d talked about before, I’m part of it but I’m positive that I’m the only one of the family who is disciplined enough to make money from it.) Your brother said it was because your dad owed him money.
*Realization: One, the two of them should never deal with money together. Neither the borrowing nor lending of. I made my stance on that crystal clear years ago. If Pa needed money, he should have come to me. But he won’t. Why? Because he’d rather lie to me than tell me that he needed something. He’d rather lie to me and say that “Oh, haha, Ma took out the money I meant to give you (my profits that he collects from the investment on my behalf) I’ll get that to you later!” I knew I shouldn’t have asked for it if he didn’t volunteer the payment, but I had to know if he was still going to lie to me. I guess he will. Two, apparently there’s still nothing I can do to force anyone in this family to GROW UP. And for the sake of my sanity, I have to bite my tongue, and refuse to get involved if they insist on making deals, plans, or anything behind my back.*
I realize I’m not the parent here, but with all the tattling going on, and the sheer inability to make the tough, prudent choices anymore, I feel like I AM their parent!! Part of me finds that exasperating, yet a little bit funny. This had better be good training for the future.
June 25, 2007
Wanda brings up the conundrum I frequently debate: to travel or not to travel?
In particular, my group of friends had a mini-pool party this weekend, and we got to chatting about trips we’d love to take. The conversation rapidly evolved into a discussion of weekend trips we could actually take over the summer like a kayaking trip either over by Alamitos Bay or in the Channel Islands, or camping in Yellowstone, or a long weekend in New York.
B, an outspoken blonde, asked with some asperity if we were ever going to take a cruise as we’re always talking about it, and never actually do it? Cue the requisite “Can we take a cruise when we have money?” from a few members of the group. B’s response? Absolutely guaranteed to give me hives: “That’s what credit cards are for. I’m in debt anyway, what does it matter?” *shuddering uncontrollably* Seriously???
I withheld my mental, knee-jerk, ranty response to her disparaging implication that now that she’s got money, others should be willing to pony up for fun regardless of their circumstances.
I only said that I didn’t believe in getting into debt for luxuries, but it did turn my mind to the trip to Italy and Greece that my best friend is taking with her family next year, and whether or not I’m refusing to consider it out of an enforced sense of poverty? I expect it would cost approximately $2000-2500 and I already have about 130 vacation hours. Sure I don’t have the money yet, but if (and this is a BIG if) the rumors about a substantial raise really do come through, could I? And I really want to go. Of course, if I evaluated everything on the basis of how much I really want it …. š
To be honest, you know what I’m really looking forward to if that raise truly comes through? Giving my mom a monthly allowance. I’m sure it couldn’t be much, but it would mean, to me, that she would see that she doesn’t have to slave away at her various jobs, earning a mere pittance, so that she’s not a burden to me. It would mean that she isn’t a burden to me and I could prove it. And for her to believe that? Priceless. So, really, there are more important things in life than going on a trip or three.
June 24, 2007
I’ve got a challenge for you, my sartorially gifted readers. I’d love some advice on how to build work appropriate outfits with this blazer. I know the pictures aren’t the best, but a basic description of the blazer is: Full notched collar. Single button front. Havana plaid. Half sleeves with three button cuffs. Front flap pockets. Contoured fit.
Bearing in mind that I’ve only got black pinstriped, regular black or gray trousers, knee-length black or white skirts, and I’d really rather not buy more clothes just because of this blazer, what sort of outfits would you suggest? Other than with a tank top and blue jeans, I’ve got that one down. š
I must be on an out-for-the -summer circadian rhythm. I’m irresistably sleepy at 5pm, wake up in time for dinner and then stay up the rest of the night reading into the wee hours. I’ve really got to stop this! If for no other reason, so that I don’t sleep between 4am and 11am, losing the entire morning.
Despite the late start, I did manage to get myself to the mall to replace my parents’ cell phones with T-Mobile (remind me to tell you about that encounter and also hit about 7 different stores to try to find replacement shorts for my two pairs of khaki shorts, circa 2000. This is part of my ongoing quest to deFrumpify my wardrobe, an item or two at a time.
All in all, I did ok, though I spent a bit too much. Didn’t finish half of my errands, but I DID accomplish a few important things:
T-mobile, 2 Samsung T-219 phones for: $0. No tax, no shipping (savings of $20, had I ordered them over the phone) and no hassle.
Express, New York and Co., Forever 21, Ann Taylor Loft, Aeropostale and American Eagle were all having some sort of sale, alas, nothing fit.
Macy’s: $61.61 for (all on sale) two pairs of shorts, and a 3/4 sleeve Guess blazer whose niche in my closet I’ve not quite determined yet. The blazer was $35 on sale, making the shorts a great deal ($11 and $13, respectively) but the blazer? Not so much.
Trader Joe’s: $10, their milk and eggs are consistently priced lower than any other store, and that’s their regular price. Their bread, however, leaves much to be desired. At nearly $3 for a 2-pound loaf, I expect the bread not to fall apart when I make a sandwich!
I didn’t get to:
Recycling.
Walgreens to check out their FAR items.
Target: I need some heel inserts for my new work shoes.
Perhaps next weekend!
June 23, 2007
My friends and I spent a rather pleasant afternoon by the pool today. We tried to avoid prime sunburn hours, especially for the ultra-whities among us, by having lunch first and then sitting mostly clothed with our legs in the unheated spa. Despite the liberal use of sunblock at least 30 minutes before I went outside, I still managed to get a little burned.
I used this ridiculously expensive bottle of Aloe Up bought from the hotel gift shop during our business retreat back in … er, February? I had neglected to bring any sunscreen outside of my usual facial moisturizer sunscreen, and we were scheduled for a hike in the Tucson desert, so I let the office buy me a nice 7 ounce bottle of this “Enriched Aloe Spa Formula” which is touted as an “Aloe based Ultra High Sunscreen, SPF 30.” It’s what they call a dry lotion formula that’s sweat resistant, hypoallergenic, non-comodogenic, and biodegradable. I’m not sure why exactly it had to be biodegradable, but there you go. Anyhow, the back of the bottle says it’s sweat resistant, very water resistant (MUCH better than the merely water resistant) and “Formulated for athletes who spend hoursi n the sun, water, wind or snow. With antioxidants.” I looked hard for the “Cures cancer, gout and other miscellaneous ills” but didn’t find it. Yep, it sounded like a bunch of hooey when all I was looking for was effective sun protection.
So, despite the non-greasiness, the moderate lack of that weird sunscreen smell, and the SPF 30, I still got Roasty-Toasty! *sigh* Actually, it’s weird because I’ve only gotten sunburned a couple times before this. Either my skin’s gotten more sensitive as I get older, or it’s time for new sunscreen! Still, the expiration date is 02-22-09, it seems a little soon to require replacing, doesn’t it?
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