Once the weekend is over we'll go straight on through for 11 weeks until Thanksgiving. Gotta build up some strength for that stretch.
I think my classes are going well so far, and I like all my students. No grumpy classes -- they're all responding well. This is the fifth semester I've taught and it continues to get easier. Not EASY, but, for example, I'm capable of riffing on a topic without constantly checking my notes. The first year I couldn't do that. So I'm pretty happy at school.
On the home front, things are bleaker. We are out of money and I don't get paid until September 30th. I keep thinking back across the summer -- we thought Clifford's house would be rented by July 1st, by August 1st, by September 1st. I guess now we're looking at October 1st, although it's possible someone might want to move in mid-month. The house is ready, and our property management team is bringing people over to look at it. But so far no one has fallen in love with it.
That huge income tax refund, nearly $4000, that was supposed to carry us through until September 30th -- where did it go? The car's $400 tune-up, the cat's $350 insulin and hundreds of dollars worth of diabetic cat food, food for us (the twins eat so much!), more repairs on Clifford's house, utilities for both houses, a $535 house insurance payment, $676 for two months of health insurance. I must be forgetting something. Remember, we don't have a mortgage anymore.
I did spend about $100 on clothes for me and the boos, though some of that I took back today. Sometimes if I buy something online I don't like, I won't bother to return it, because it seems more effort than it's worth. But today I drove to Kohl's in Louisville and returned an $11 shirt because the stripes didn't match up in the back. I also drove all the way out to the Carter's store in Lakewood and returned 4 pairs of pants that were too big for the boos. Only $27 back, but then I bought replacements in the next smaller size, and because they were having a Labor Day sale, the pants were only $5 each, $20 for all. So I saved $7 and came home with pants that will fit the boys. Took a lot of time, but my time's not worth much. And gas is cheap.
We had a shock last weekend when our old TV broke -- the blue part. Red and green still worked, but everything looked awful. Granted, we inherited that TV from Rocket Boy's dad 14 years ago, and it was an old TV even then. No one can say we didn't get our money's worth (since it was free). Fortunately I managed to find another TV, slightly less old, on craigslist, for $20, so that problem was solved quickly. And Rocket Boy paid $15 to dump the old one at the Center for Hard to Recycle Materials. Someday we'll get a flat screen TV, but obviously now is not the time.
But now today, while I was out returning clothes all over the Denver metro area, Rocket Boy broke my printer! I shouldn't say he broke it, because all he did was print something on a plain piece of paper, but the printer responded by jamming up, and we can't get it unjammed. I NEED that printer to be able to prepare for classes! I'm so bummed about this, though of course it isn't Rocket Boy's fault at all. This has always been a flaky printer, and it's probably just wearing out. Of course we cannot afford a new printer, and I'm leery of buying one on craigslist. Printers are so quirky. Well, we'll figure something out.For the first time in ages I can't pay off my credit card this month. I paid $250 but the bill was over $1400 (my new glasses, that tiny vacation we took, and the usual stuff like Walter's brother's cable bill and our cell phones). I have $244 left in my checking account. Twenty-seven days until I get paid, but it won't be a full payment because they'll take an extra month of health insurance out of it. Maybe it'll be $1000. Maybe less. And who knows how long until we get rent money? We'll be fine, I know we will. But I would like to skip this part.
No comments:
Post a Comment