Life’s Crazy Treadmill
By Susan | February 16, 2010
I feel like I’ve gotten so much done in the past few days, but that I still have so much more to do. I’m sure everyone feels that way sometimes, though, right?
Friday night, I went to a Jewelry 101 class (#13 on the list!). Saturday morning we were up early to get the car serviced, then ran some errands and got the car washed for the first time all winter (I think I heard the car weep with gratitude). From there, I ran to a yarn store to purchase some much needed yarn (that was within budget, I might add) and after dinner we watched The Hurt Locker.
Sunday was a get things done around the house day, and including making pretzels and figuring out how to crochet and general cleaning up.
Monday, I worked from home due to another snowstorm (really, Louisville? Really?). Basically, I sat in front of my laptop all day long waiting for e-mails, taking 5 minute breaks to run to the basement and switch out loads of laundry.
In other words, I’ve been busy, but without really accomplishing anything. You know how it goes. You get on life’s treadmill, you get everything done that needs to get done, but you don’t really feel like you’re moving forward or getting anywhere. Because you know that next weekend, you’ll be doing most of the same stuff again, over and over, weekend after weekend, more laundry, more cleaning, etc. etc.
I try to spice it up with the fun things (class, pretzels, yarn) but these little luxuries don’t seem to be having the joyful uplifting impact I’m hoping for.
I think it’s this winter that’s getting me down. Lack of sunlight. I started taking my Vitamin D again, hoping that will help. I think I just need some sunshine to get me off of the treadmill and make some forward progress.
Topics: Daily Ramblings | 3 Comments »
Wants vs. Needs
By Susan | February 11, 2010
Since last month was the first month on this whole new crazy “let’s get out of debt” experiment, I didn’t follow a strict budget. Instead, I wrote down what I thought our budget should be, and then wrote down all of the expenses to see how far off I was on a somewhat typical month. A month where we sort of tried to watch out dollars, but didn’t full-out, absolutely deny any expense as being “not in the budget.” (Within reason. Which is why we still don’t have a 60″ TV, as cool as that might be.)
Here’s the thing – I work with budgets for a living. Part of my job is overseeing a client’s budget, making sure their money is used efficiently and effectively, tracking all spending and making sure that the budget is spent to its fullest but (this is key) not OVERspent. So I figured this month long sorta kinda budgeting would be a breeze.
Yeah, right.
I didn’t think about one very important aspect of my work with a client’s budget. It’s something I probably wouldn’t have thought of if I hadn’t read it in The Wealthy Barber
Business budgets are one thing, because business budgets are all about needs. But personal budgets are about more than needs – they also include wants. That’s the major difference.
That was a light bulb moment. Because looking back at the January pseudo-budget and the lists of expenses, there were an awful lot of wants written down. Which explains why certain areas of the pseudo-budget were capped out well before the end of the month.
I feel a little silly that this didn’t occur to me before now, but it really makes sense. When I was putting the February “It’s real this time” budget together, based on the January spending, I put a little aside for those wants that may come up. It’s a finite amount, enough that we shouldn’t feel too deprived but not so much that it will hinder us from reaching our goals. The amazing thing is that we haven’t blown through it yet, and last month at this time, we would have spent double that amount already on random “want” items.
You can bet that I’ll be buying some yarn with that “want” portion of the budget. Just not as much as I might have last month.
Topics: Paying the Bills | No Comments »
Snow and Lists and Backaches
By Susan | February 9, 2010
Oh, man. We got about 6 inches of snow here overnight, and it is crazy around these parts. Truly, it wasn’t that bad, mostly because schools were closed and businesses delayed opening so my morning commute, though snowy, was fairly easy.
The best part? When I arrived at work, I discovered that during my drive in, they had announced that our opening was delayed two hours. Rather than turn around and head home, I got to get a bunch of work done in a very quiet atmosphere. Then, I got to leave early during a break between snow bursts and work from home the rest of the day. Score!
Photo taken during a previous snowfall – we got about 3x as much as this photo shows. But I thought it was pretty, and figured the post needed a pretty photo.
When I got home, I volunteered to shovel the front steps and the sidewalk in front of our house. I’m not sure what I was thinking, as this was a lot more work than I remembered from all of my snow-shoveling stints as a wee child. (I’ve lived in apartment complexes for most of my adult life, which did not require me to shovel.) After I was finished, I was sweaty, achy and exhausted. In other words, I need to work out more. (I let Mr. Martini handle the driveway. Lucky him.)
Finally, I must report that this was the second weekend in a row that I did not complete anything from my 101 in 1001 list. Never fear, though, as I have plans for this weekend, to complete not one, but TWO items. Which ones? You’ll have to wait and see.
And now, I’m going to go take a couple of Advil to prevent the sore back I’m sure to be getting. Oy.
Topics: Daily Ramblings | 1 Comment »
The 4 a.m. Blog Post
By Susan | February 4, 2010
Sometimes when I’m lying awake at 4 in the morning, I compose blog posts in my head. Like I did this morning.
Wait, why was I awake at 4 a.m. this morning? I’m glad you asked, if only to give me the opportunity to tell someone my tale.
But first you need to know a particular quirk about our cat, Zelda. Every morning, she follows me in the bathroom while I get ready for the day. This is her “bathroom kitty time,” a time when she brushes up against my legs and rubs her face on my ankles and lets me pet her and love on her while she purrs her little heart out. I must admit, it’s a nice way to face each new day, with a purring kitty warming up my shins.
The only problem is that sometimes, Zelda’s internal clock wants bathroom kitty time a little early. And sometimes, it’s a few hours early, like today. To get my attention on these days, she’ll paw at the cupboard door under the bathroom sink, opening it just enough for it to slam shut very very loudly. The resulting BAM! BAM! BAM! wakes me up and gets me out of bed and into the bathroom to investigate, where I see Zelda, who starts purring and looking for her bathroom kitty attention.
Except that instead, she is removed from the bathroom, placed unceremoniously into the hallway, and the bathroom door is shut.
And on mornings like this morning, that means that I find myself unable to sleep at 4 a.m., as Zelda takes the opportunity to chase after her sister, and runs all over the house for an hour. As it turns out, nine pound cats sound like elephants when they chase each other in an empty, silent apartment.
Which is why I was composing blog posts in my head this morning at 4 a.m. I can’t remember most of it, but the point was:
Why don’t people use the world “lovely” anymore? I love that word. I use it whenever I can. The problem is that I think it makes me sound a) like a grandmother; or b) pretentious. Which makes me sad, because I don’t want to sound pretentious, or like a grandmother, or like a pretentious grandmother. But sometimes “lovely” just works perfectly.
I say we bring back “lovely.” Who’s with me?
You know, this may be one of those posts that sounded way better in my head at 4 a.m.
Topics: Daily Ramblings, My Life Recapped | 2 Comments »
My Life Needs a Report Card
By Susan | February 1, 2010
In school, I always knew where I stood. I understood the rules, I understood the grading system, and I knew that good grades meant I was on the right track. If a class was too hard, I knew that I could struggle through, and move on once the semester was over. Then I knew to avoid that type of class, or at least that professor, for the remainder of my school days. For me, it was philosophy courses – my brain wasn’t wired that way. I worked my way through a semester trying to decipher the readings and writing the best essays I could about caves and lights and all that, knowing that once I got to the end of the semester, I could move on.
My problem, I’m finding, is that life doesn’t hand out systematic report cards. Sometimes I find myself struggling with a situation, and trying to find the best answer to it, but I don’t have much to guide me. If I knew I was getting a C+ at this area of life, I might try to find a better solution. Without a quarterly report card, it’s sometimes hard for me to see a situation clearly, to understand what the issues are and to better decide if I should try to find a different class, or a different professor, of if I need to change my major entirely. As much as I may love Einstein, it doesn’t mean I’m cut out to be a physics major, you know?
I’m sure this seems pretty transparent, but in reality I just had a rough afternoon. Today made me miss the confident Student Me who knew how the system worked, and figured if college was that straightforward, surely grown-up adult life would be a breeze. I guess I need to look at days like this as my Adult Report Card, and take stock of the grades that life seems to be handing me. No one wants to live a C+ life. Or, at least, I don’t.
Topics: Daily Ramblings, Grumbles | No Comments »