Skip to main content

Plans and Promises

Text Message: We need *** to pay the bills this month.

Phone call: "So when do we need the money by?"
"Um, sometime before the end of the month."
"Okay."
"And you're giving me your credit cards, and I'm hiding them. We're a cash family now."
"Okay."
"And you're reading this book."
"Why?"
"Because you need to know what this guy says. I agree with him."

This is the part of life that I love and hate. I love the fact that I feel like I'm living purposefully. I have a goal. It terrifies the snot out of me because it means that I have to give up my weekly shopping sprees on shoes and hats and makeup. I will have to finally master the art of snipping away the dead skin around my toenails. There are worse consequences in life.

I hate the fact that we had to reach this point for me to finally rouse the sleeping tiger within me to get some control over my life decisions. My tendency is to let people be who they are in the belief that one day they will see the light. I've been hoping for far too long that my husband and I would find ourselves on the same financial path. We did...the broke one!

Ah, but today is a new beginning. My credit cards are safely hidden. The budget for the month is set. I feel like a new woman. I'm looking forward to getting rid of the clutter, both in my house and on my credit report.

Regaining my direct and non-negotiable "voice" again has been priceless.

Comments

Christy said…
Suggestion - you can get about $20 for donating blood plasma. Don't ask how I know that.

Popular posts from this blog

Stalking a Pirate

Prepared we were not to cross Captain Jack's path late in the summer of ten, with the sun bearing down as we wandered the town where the Koreshans once lived. But he nodded. We smiled and went on our way, rolling it all in our heads. We giggled and talked and suddenly stopped to turn back and run after him. You see love for a pirate and sailing the seas rest deep in a gypsy girl's soul, where she dreams of the day he will take her away to find a new place in the world. So we followed his swagger as he wound through the woods and stopped to take in the sights. You know when chance comes to call you must answer with all because sometimes she doesn't seek twice. There we tracked Captain Jack on the seashell lined path and dreamed of the life that he lived With his swashbuckling ways that man made our day late in the summer of ten. You know love for a pirate and an adventurer's life lie deep in a gypsy girl's soul, where she dreams of the world she has yet to explore an...

Trying to Keep It All Together

The title of this post is a bit of a misnomer. Just this morning I said, "I'm having a hard time getting it together right now." I'm in one of those periods when showing up is the best I can offer, and I can't even guarantee that. That said, I just popped on here to share that I'm struggling. I'm dealing with a lot of loss right now. Some of it is easy to spot. Some of it I've tucked away because it's either terribly painful or terribly embarrassing--at least to me. Some of it was inevitable. Some of it was a surprise. All of it rises up into the center of my chest and begs me to stop for a moment to acknowledge it. It's doing that right now even as I type this. I'm having a hard time getting it together right now.

Warning Signs

This post has been sitting on my computer for the last few weeks. In the wake of this week, the message seems even more appropriate. *** For several months now, the service engine light has been on and off...mostly on. I've taken it to the mechanic several times, and he's pulled the code and checked out all the usual suspects before calling me to pick it up. There have even been a few times that it goes off on its own. And then comes back on. It's a bit of a waiting game, as I'm waiting until someone finally figures out what's going on. I was thinking about the service engine light this morning on the way to work and comparing it to how many times in life we talk about missing the warning signs. It's a convenient response, kind of like, "stay strong" or "she's in a better place now." Those empty words that fill an uncomfortable space and are usually best left unsaid. The truth, which sometimes seems to be messier, is that warning...