Let's Get Funky

I've been in a funk this week-- we're so busy with our lives that it's hard to have a night to ourselves. Every time I think it might happen, we're so exhausted it turns in to falling asleep on the couch. Right now I'm in the midst of a bout of insomnia, no doubt bolstered by accidentally sleeping for four hours this afternoon... my mind just won't turn off!

I'm also really stressed about work since the end of this year pretty much sets next year for me. Under $40k a year combined is hard to live on (that's after taxes) and we'd like to get to a place where we can be settled and be there for a while-- not a cruddy one room apartment in a duplex! I realize patience is key, that we've only been married a year, but things have been tough and it would be nice for us to get a little break.

On the upside, we're actually done with all our Christmas shopping! We're not doing a lot this year, small things for a few people, but it's always nice to realize that something you weren't even trying to get done is done!

We have two weeks left of after school, then holiday camp; somewhere in there we'll go to Indiana to see the Clark side for Christmas. We're excited to see Josh and Sarah as we haven't seen them since the wedding, and of course it's always nice to see Marc and Jan, plus a few days away will be nice for both of us.

The main problem on my plate now is assigning shifts for holiday camp; we don't have monster enrollment so I can't fill the shifts as heavily as I'd like, but I know everyone needs a little extra cash. Plus, the family from Hell (no, really, I'm fairly certain that's where they're actually from) is breathing down my neck again. This is the family that was soooooo unhappy with our program and pulled their kids out (because when the kids bully the campers and counselors, really what's happening is that THEY are being bullied by US) and swore they'd never come again and now they're acting like they own the place and want back in. I told them enrollment was closed (because I don't WANT them there, nobody does) and he blew me off and said that my boss would let them in. WHAT A JERK! The dad just loves setting a bad example for his kids, "See, son, if a woman talks back and doesn't give you what you want, just go to her boss so she can be put in her place and we get what we want." That's his general mantra.

I could rant about that family for a while, so I'll leave it at that, but if they don't take no from my boss (who will, as I told them, just tell the dad to talk to me) and disappear like good little jerks then I'm going to have to give them a big long talk about how they are poisonous and I don't want or need them in our camp. Not to mention he's already hounding me about summer and I'm sorry, but I haven't even thought about that yet. But I am going to stop now...

Anyway, I'm going to go watch some more Psych and try some breathing exercises. And consider the fact that, in spite of my excellent grammar and superb spelling, I still have to use spell check for the word "exercise" because I just can't spell it!

Ciao for now, a cheerier post and some pictures soon!

Deep Breaths

I wish I could fly off to Phuket with Valerie this weekend, I could use a step back from everything! I'm really stressed because I haven't been making much at work and I have this whole paying for the wedding thing, not to mention the lots of tiny things that are stressing me out about the wedding thing, and trying to pay the rest of my bills... it's really stressful. I try to take deep breaths, but sometimes it gets overwhelming. I'm also a little bit irritated that since the economy is down, nobody's stocking the inventory they usually do which means that my brilliant plan to get lots of fun decorations from Valentine's Day clearance was severely thwarted!

To escape, I'm turning to making cards and thinking about going back on the citalopram to help me manage and be able to take a step back and look objectively at things. I'm going to start a new budget as of Monday that's a little different than the one I've been working on (which assumes a certain amount of income every month) and instead put away money for the things I know I'm going to have to pay-- $100 for prescriptions, $70 for the phone, $30 for gas (since I don't really go much of anywhere), $30 towards the wedding (I'm trying to put in at least $10 a week), and then at the end of the month I'll split the rest amongst my bills and send off checks. I'm hoping that will help me relax a little bit, and maybe end up with a few extra bucks here and there for all these babies that are popping up! In the next three or four months, Krystal, Meg, Kimberly, and someone else (gah, why can't I remember!) are all having babies!

Baby shopping will be totally therapeutic, the clothes are so adorable and two of the babies are boys and one's (Cy) father does ATC for the Marines and the other's (Peanut for now) mom used to be a First Officer at XJT and this afternoon at Target I found some little cammo socks and onesies and bibs with airplanes and jets on them. I also found the perfect blanket for Vera (Meg's baby girl), it's totally 60's and Meg will love it. I had to keep myself from buying all the totally adorable little print dresses on clearance for Analia-- they'd be perfect for Singapore and would look SO cute on her! And they had them in toddler sizes since we won't see them until Christmas and shipping anything over an ounce (aka, a letter) is just insane! If they go down under $5 each, I may still pick up a couple to keep around-- being kid's clothes, they don't take up much space, and Valerie's said that trying to buy kid's clothing over there is expensive and not very cute. There were even some little oshkosh twill capris which would be good since it rains a lot and wet hems are no fun!

Yes, we have concluded that I just need to have my own little girl so I can dress her up and not have to worry about spoiling other people's children...

Anyway, I need to go move my car so that dad can park in the morning and then hit the hay! He didn't realize he was going to have to have his eyes dialated (hello, they have to look at a busted vein in your retina-- what about that makes you think you'll be able to drive afterwards?) so I'm taking him in the morning and he's taking me for breakfast afterwards.

Ciao!

Blug

Went and had dinner at Palate with Em, talked wedding, had the cheese plate, had some cake. I'm not feeling too hot, though, and I think it was the wine tasting this afternoon. We had a few heavily tannic wines which always make me feel ill, but I didn't consider spitting them out. The Prosecco was good, though; a sparkling wine from northeastern Italy. Now food keeps showing up on tv and it's making me sick to my stomach... I hope I don't wind up with another fever... I've had more this week than I've had in five years!