Job #1 is still scheduled to start next week.
Then an old client of mine called me up yesterday and asked for help on a project.
I totally accepted. Hey, I like money.
But that makes Job #2.
I'm desperately trying to get Job #2 done this weekend, but it doesn't look likely. Which means I'll be working two jobs next week.
Still, I feel a little selfish.
Am I a bad person for taking on two jobs when so many other copyeditors are desperate for work?
Showing posts with label money. Show all posts
Showing posts with label money. Show all posts
Friday, July 10, 2009
Friday, June 05, 2009
And your total comes to...
Way too much. That's how much money I've spent on pets in the last 30 days.
Between Star's classes, Peepers's pox, and Dozer's allergies and TPLO surgery (1/2 down, and 1/2 next week), I've probably spent $2K. This doesn't count the dogs' new collars (bought before I knew two pets would need major vet visits) and all the dog treats for class.
The remodeling job costs money, of course, even if Byrd is doing it himself. And since the walls aren't yet insulated and sheetrocked, a good chunk of the air pouring from our brand new (expensive) A/C is cooling the bugs and birds outside. So the electric bill is higher than normal, but at least we're animal friendly!
I'd give credit to the veggie garden for reducing our grocery bills, except that it's only producing squash right now. And Byrd hates squash. And our water bill has gone up. (Welcome to Texas summertime, where searing afternoon heat ensures vegetable garden demise without adequate water.) At least the ornamental plants in the front garden are drought-hardy and native.
Let's not bring up the 30th birthdays of myself and my best bud, less than a week away, for which we had hoped to go to Schlitterbahn (are you too old for Schlitterbahn at age 30? Byrd says yes, I say never) and/or have a nice dinner at a fancy food place. And Father's Day, also a nice dinner event.
To make matters worse, I am without a contract job this month, so Byrd is the only income source. This will change on July 15, when my next job starts.
And the money earned from that job will be eliminated by a two-week vacation to Oregon in August.
I suppose this steady money-suck could explain why Byrd looks a bit tense lately.
At least blogging is free.
Between Star's classes, Peepers's pox, and Dozer's allergies and TPLO surgery (1/2 down, and 1/2 next week), I've probably spent $2K. This doesn't count the dogs' new collars (bought before I knew two pets would need major vet visits) and all the dog treats for class.
The remodeling job costs money, of course, even if Byrd is doing it himself. And since the walls aren't yet insulated and sheetrocked, a good chunk of the air pouring from our brand new (expensive) A/C is cooling the bugs and birds outside. So the electric bill is higher than normal, but at least we're animal friendly!
I'd give credit to the veggie garden for reducing our grocery bills, except that it's only producing squash right now. And Byrd hates squash. And our water bill has gone up. (Welcome to Texas summertime, where searing afternoon heat ensures vegetable garden demise without adequate water.) At least the ornamental plants in the front garden are drought-hardy and native.
Let's not bring up the 30th birthdays of myself and my best bud, less than a week away, for which we had hoped to go to Schlitterbahn (are you too old for Schlitterbahn at age 30? Byrd says yes, I say never) and/or have a nice dinner at a fancy food place. And Father's Day, also a nice dinner event.
To make matters worse, I am without a contract job this month, so Byrd is the only income source. This will change on July 15, when my next job starts.
And the money earned from that job will be eliminated by a two-week vacation to Oregon in August.
I suppose this steady money-suck could explain why Byrd looks a bit tense lately.
At least blogging is free.
Monday, March 12, 2007
A Really Great Day for No Particular Reason
I think it's bizarre that some days seem to go really, really well - even when it's not a holiday, no one's having a party, and I didn't win the lottery. No, nothing particularly fantastic happened today, but it was still a really nice day.
Today Byrd came home from work early (OMG), we put front porch lights up (OMG), the weather was gorgeous, and I got to see our resident bat swoop around in the evening twilight as we finished up the lights. You're thinking, eh, so what? Consider the following: Byrd worked 100 hours last week. I teased him that the dogs barely recognize him anymore, but truthfully, when he's working that much I feel like I've married a ghost. And we haven't had front porch lights since we built the front porch - almost two years ago. And bats are really really cute and they eat lots of mosquitos, which makes me a HUGE fan of bats, and especially excited that a bat has decided to live in a little decoration on the front of our house. I hope he brings a few friends!
The icing on the cake, though, was that Byrd and I spent almost 8 hours together, made several very important decisions involving money, the house, and his computer, worked on a household project... and despite the fact that home projects and monetary decisions are two things we tend to get into fierce debates ("fights") about, we did not even bicker the tiniest bit today. Not even a raised voice or an irritated tone.
Byrd bought me a plant to kill (because there's no garden to plant it in yet, but I really wanted it anyway) while we were at Lowe's looking at porch lights, and he smiled cheerfully while I pretended to hammer invisible nails into the porch siding (I need the practice). My nickname for Byrd is Mr. No Man, because sometimes it seems like everything out of his mouth is a variation on the word "NO." Tonight was a total change, however. Tonight he was Mr. Yes Man.
In exchange, I gave Byrd the encouragement and justification to order a brand-new computer from Dell. I do admit this was at least partly for selfish reasons... I'm sick and tired of troubleshooting the homemade computer he currently uses. Byrd was thoroughly pleased, though, because his nickname for me is The Tightwad - I hate spending lots of money on things that I don't think are necessary... and Byrd likes to buy some really unnecessary things. But tonight I even let him upgrade his new computer with the more expensive video card and extra memory. At first I was struck by intense fear that Byrd would go bananas when he realized I wasn't going to try to "reason" with him (control him), but he actually exercised extensive self-control during the customization part of the purchase, passed on several upgrades, and even downgraded a few things to reduce the total cost.
After much thought, I've come to the realization that I'm probably too controlling when it comes to spending money. I read somewhere that money matters are the #1 thing that married couples fight about, and we're no exception. I've got to loosen up a little. Byrd and I will probably always have different spending priorities and we just need to learn how to compromise with less fuss and more trust. I know, easier said than done... but at least today we took a solid step forward toward a more harmonious marriage. Maybe that's why today was such a good day!
Today Byrd came home from work early (OMG), we put front porch lights up (OMG), the weather was gorgeous, and I got to see our resident bat swoop around in the evening twilight as we finished up the lights. You're thinking, eh, so what? Consider the following: Byrd worked 100 hours last week. I teased him that the dogs barely recognize him anymore, but truthfully, when he's working that much I feel like I've married a ghost. And we haven't had front porch lights since we built the front porch - almost two years ago. And bats are really really cute and they eat lots of mosquitos, which makes me a HUGE fan of bats, and especially excited that a bat has decided to live in a little decoration on the front of our house. I hope he brings a few friends!
The icing on the cake, though, was that Byrd and I spent almost 8 hours together, made several very important decisions involving money, the house, and his computer, worked on a household project... and despite the fact that home projects and monetary decisions are two things we tend to get into fierce debates ("fights") about, we did not even bicker the tiniest bit today. Not even a raised voice or an irritated tone.
Byrd bought me a plant to kill (because there's no garden to plant it in yet, but I really wanted it anyway) while we were at Lowe's looking at porch lights, and he smiled cheerfully while I pretended to hammer invisible nails into the porch siding (I need the practice). My nickname for Byrd is Mr. No Man, because sometimes it seems like everything out of his mouth is a variation on the word "NO." Tonight was a total change, however. Tonight he was Mr. Yes Man.
In exchange, I gave Byrd the encouragement and justification to order a brand-new computer from Dell. I do admit this was at least partly for selfish reasons... I'm sick and tired of troubleshooting the homemade computer he currently uses. Byrd was thoroughly pleased, though, because his nickname for me is The Tightwad - I hate spending lots of money on things that I don't think are necessary... and Byrd likes to buy some really unnecessary things. But tonight I even let him upgrade his new computer with the more expensive video card and extra memory. At first I was struck by intense fear that Byrd would go bananas when he realized I wasn't going to try to "reason" with him (control him), but he actually exercised extensive self-control during the customization part of the purchase, passed on several upgrades, and even downgraded a few things to reduce the total cost.
After much thought, I've come to the realization that I'm probably too controlling when it comes to spending money. I read somewhere that money matters are the #1 thing that married couples fight about, and we're no exception. I've got to loosen up a little. Byrd and I will probably always have different spending priorities and we just need to learn how to compromise with less fuss and more trust. I know, easier said than done... but at least today we took a solid step forward toward a more harmonious marriage. Maybe that's why today was such a good day!
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