That was easier than expected. Darren had an interview today and was hired on the spot. He starts Monday. Meanwhile, I reapplied at Macy’s and also interviewed today. We’ll see what happens with that. With Darren working I don’t need a second job, but the extra cash will be useful.
We celebrated modestly, with a trip to Chipotle.
I had sort of a stupid day at work today, so the good news was even more welcome. That said, I still think turning in early is something I’ll be doing tonight.
I’m having a little dilemma in regards to my second job. Kate knows- I spent a bit of time last night emphatically encouraging her to not get one.
Basically, I just don’t know if my time is worth the money.
It brings home about $100 a week, at most. Lately it’s been less because I’ve been hella sick (oh, my strep totally came back, by the way. I’m medicated this time). Has the extra money been useful? Of course. Of course it has, and that’s why this is a problem. The cash is useful, especially in the last two or three weeks wherein we have been going out way too much. But I just hate it so much. I want my time back. My precious weekends (I’ve been making an effort to get at least one weekend day off, which helps, but still doesn’t feel like enough)!
Logical solution: stick to the damn budget we created forever ago. Blamo, problem solved. I should modify said budget to allow for X amount of entertainment dollars (bar nights, dinner out, etc) and when that money is gone, it’s gone. Learning to say no would also be helpful. No we are not going to the bar with you, we are staying home for Netflix and popcorn!
That said, even if we manage to accomplish that successfully (god, we are the worst), that doesn’t negate the fact that the extra money is nice. We have a credit card to pay off, and every little bit helps. Darren and I are sitting in the same boat here. There are big parts of both of us that want me to quit Macy’s, because it eats up a lot of my time and is making me crazy. But we both recognize the benefit as well. On the other hand, the debt is not huge. We can pay it off without the added money. It’s just, extra dollars = quicker repayment. Obviously.
The other thing is, Darren’s job is a long-term temp assignment. Could he be hired on in this position permanently? Yes. But there’s no guarantee. There’s no specific end date either, so who the hell knows. Maybe he’d be able to get unemployment, hopefully he’d get another assignment or a permanent job quickly, but either way would there be enough income? There are just so many uncertainties and I’m a giant worrier so the end result is me going batshit because I don’t know what to do.
I have a loose plan right now, and that is as follows: take the job day by day, with a definite end time of late May regardless of financial standing. I’m not spending all summer working non-stop, that’s for damn sure. Barring potential disaster, of course. Ideally I will be done sooner, but I’m just going to see what happens. Work on budgeting, spend a little more money on groceries rather than going out whenever we’re bored with what’s in the fridge. What else can we do? Nothing but get our shit together and be responsible adults. I mean really.
The good news is, we don’t owe taxes this year. Not federally, at least. Getting some money back even, which we can put into savings because oh yeah, the car’s transmission is going and goddamn that thing just costs us so much money we really just need to replace it (seriously, ever since we got it, something breaks right before Christmas and we have to spend several hundred dollars on that rather than Christmas presents. But it was free!). On top of everything else. Adulthood is so. Much. Fun.
Mkay. Rant over!
I’m going to end on something happy: the weather is supposed to be decent for the next couple of days, so I am wearing a cute skirt today – with leggings – and it is delightful. Yay!
I think my last new year’s resolution was when I said I’d spend more time naked in 2011. Right. I don’t really do the big life-changing resolutions – I tend to make those decisions whenever the need arises.
Having said that, in the spirit of all the resolution-y blog posts I’ve been reading the last couple days (which I love, by the way), I thought I’d write up my own little list of things I’m going to keep working on in 2013 and beyond:
Since I started working at Macy’s, my free time is a lot more precious and I started using it to straight up relax. Which is all well and good, but it sort of wrecked my habit of regular workouts. I still go to the gym every morning during the work week, but my evenings with Jillian pretty much stopped. I haven’t gained weight, but I also haven’t made any progress on anything physical in like a month. The holiday season didn’t help. So I’m going to make exercise more of a priority again. 20 minutes is not too much to ask of myself when I have a night off.
Going along with that, Christmastime ruined my diet. I mean I don’t diet per se, but I eat fairly well most of the time. But with holiday meals and cookies and other treats being so prevalent this past month, I let myself get distracted. It’s one month out of the year, so whatever. But now it’s time to get back on the horse.
I’ve made some nice changes to my wardrobe in the past six months or so. I, like most people, feel better when I wear clothes that I actually like and look good in. It help that I shrunk out of things- it’s easy to get rid of stuff when it doesn’t fit. Gives me a nice excuse. It takes time, though, and obviously money. If I could I’d take myself on a shopping spree, but that’s not possible, so I do it a little bit at a time. So far so good. Will keep going.
I’ll keep working on my 30 by 30 list. Fun!
I’m going to make a point, for however long I stay at Macy’s, to try to always have one weekend day off. This won’t always be possible, but I’ll do what I can to make it so.
And y’know, in the interest of my own health and sanity, maybe I’ll try to drink less. Let’s be real: my hangover yesterday was no joke.
That’s about it. Nothing exciting, really. Pretty much just me making an effort to stay healthy, happy, and sane. I don’t need much more than that.
Happy new year, y’all.
Welp, I am sick. And I have to work the second job tomorrow through Sunday (on Sunday, I open AND close). Lame.
Prospero’s reading of “8” on Sunday went very well. Darren had to cover for an actor who got very ill the night before. It was obviously super last minute, but he did a nice job. We had a decent turnout and I thought the post-show discussion was just fantastic. Now I just hope Tuesday goes well. I love voting, and I have the night off, which means I can watch election results. This pleases me.
Every Halloween, the building that my office is in has a pumpkin contest. They just gave out the pumpkins on Monday, so I didn’t think we’d be able to submit anything. At about 10:00 this morning, I figured I’d throw something on there and call it good.
Behold, Paisley Pumpkin.
The result of 30 minutes and a few Sharpies.
Later in the day, UPS brought me something I’ve been patiently waiting for.
BlocSocks
In July/August, I backed a Kickstarter campaign to help Bulgarian grandmothers establish a knitting business. I’m happy to report that the project was successful. Now I have these super awesome, handmade wool socks just in time for winter. My feet are going to be so cozy.
Bloc Socks is in the process of setting up their website, as well as an Etsy page. I wish them all the success. ALL of it.
Tonight I’m going to Target to stock up on illness supplies. Caffeine-free tea, Delsym, cough drops, etc. I must suppress this thing. I must.
Meanwhile, here are some things I’ve got my eye on. Yeah, those are the same boots in different colors. I have a problem. And that glorious Fossil bag is going to have to wait a long time before I can take it home. The boots too, really. Everything else? Well, we’ll see.
Things have been a little bit ridiculous for the last couple weeks.
On September 11 Darren lost his job and I nearly had a panic attack because of it. After he told me, I spent 24 hours in a state of horror, until he found work. Right. He’s working a very intermittent job painting houses – we’re talking two days a week so far, even though it was supposed to be full time. He doesn’t know for sure if he’ll be working this week at all, but it’s helped anyway. A little cash is better than none, obviously. He’s applying all over the place and had a couple interviews this week (for the same job, one with the recruiter and one with the actual company). Hope, hope. We’re just trying to push through. We’re good for now, but in a few weeks we’ll have to start tightening the budget. Not that we aren’t already. Blurg.
In the meantime, I’ll be taking on a second job. I start at Macy’s on Saturday, and am both excited and terrified. I love Macy’s and I’m excited to work there (handbag department, WHAT UP), but we’ll see how I do with managing two jobs. Fortunately the hours at the location I’ll be at are better than most retail, so even if I have to work after work (y’know?), I’ll get home at a reasonable enough time.
Right. Enough of that. Hard times are a bummer but we’ve always made it through. Darren said the other day that he thinks this will end up working in our favor in the long run, and I agree.
A couple Sundays ago I went with Jenna and her bridesmaids to try on dresses (for those not in the know, Jenna is my brother’s fiancee and she is awesome). After trying on a boatload of pretty dresses, we all liked the same one. The bridesmaids will be in different-but-coordinating colors, and I’ll wear grey to match the groomsmen because I am one. Yes! The wedding is in a year so y’all get to wait for pictures.
Dad’s old shop sign in Kyle’s garage
There was a Rave-themed party at Casa Como on Saturday, and it was glorious. As usual, all my photos are from Instagram. I know, I know. Forgive me?
Eric’s silver face and my 90s raver-kid inspired getup.
The rest of my ensemble: tulle and Chucks. Not pictured: two pairs of leggings. It was cold!
I invested (read: on sale at Target) in a few pairs of tights for fall and some leopard print loafers for new-job comfort, so I’ve been looking fancy in spite of the madness. Gotta live for somethin’.
Auditions for Prospero‘s staged reading of “8” are this weekend, so aside from work that’s mostly what I’ll be doing. Fortunately “work” is paperwork and training videos, so nothing strenuous prior to several hours of… well, hopefully busy-ness (come audition! We need lots of dudes). In theory, the rest of my time will be spent watching season five of Gossip Girl on Netflix so I’m caught up for the season 6 premiere next week.
This is my life.
I’ve kind of been planning posts in my head, but I’ve just been too fucking lazy to actually write them.
Wednesday and Thursday, a good chunk of my work days consisted of meetings. One the the corporate VPs was in town to talk about how we can make our company even more awesome. Now, when these big meetings happen mt attendance is not usually a thing. This time, I was in about half of them, taking notes. It was interesting – we’re working on good things here – but dang if that shit doesn’t just make the whole week wonky.
Anyway, I didn’t come here to talk about meetings. I came here because I found the most amazing thing at Goodwill today. I almost want to go back and buy it. It would look great in our living room.
Are you ready for this?
Are you sitting down?
If you follow me on Tumblr or Twitter the surprise is going to be ruined.
Friends, feast your eyes on this.
I find it especially wonderful that I found them in the Brass & Metal section.
The only thing stopping me from going back for these is it’s not a complete set. Where are you, Joey?
Also, Darren would probably shun me for spending money on N*Sync bobble heads.
His loss.
fearlessly, myself. 