Pushing Away the Inevitable

I'm spending the rest of Saturday morning trying to put off what I don't want to do...WORK. I have a major trial coming up this week and I need to be working on things, but I am quite disgruntled that I have to spend my weekend, my THREE-DAY weekend, my EASTER weekend, that way. But it can't be helped. Sigh.

I've lost 30 pounds as of today. None of my clothes fit anymore. This should be a good thing, and I am glad, but I'm also broke right now. I can't afford to buy several new suits, new jeans, new EVERYTHING. I WILL get myself a new pair of jeans, however. That was my reward for reaching the 30-pound mark.

Things with Ricky are good. We should be planning our wedding, but I think we're really, honestly just going to call up our parents one day and go, "Hey, can you make it to City Hall next week? We wanna get hitched." Oh, that's another thing about losing weight...I need to get my rings re-sized before they fall off my fingers.

NOT Homeowners

Well, the fiance' and I sat down and had a LONG and PAINFUL discussion last night, the outcome of which is that we are NOT going to be making an offer on the house we like. In fact, we are not even going to continue looking for a house right now. When I sat down and figured up the finances (AGAIN...I feel like I do this every damn month), it appears that we are living beyond our means as it is. We have a lot of debt that we need to get under control before we even think about taking on a mortgage and the additional costs that come with owning a home. I'm sad, but SO relieved. I didn't realize how stressed out about this I'd been until we decided to put the brakes on it. I didn't want to disappoint him, he didn't want to disappoint me, neither one of us wants to give up the fantastic opportunity we have in the current buyers' market. But the bottom line is, we are not financially ready. And I think there is something in realizing that and acting appropriately. Maybe at this time next year we'll have paid off a credit card or two (at least that is my plan), and we'll be ready to get out of here and into a home of our own. At that point, we might even be able to afford more house, without some of our debt dragging us down. Although it's been fun looking, and I'm sad to see it end, I KNOW we've made the right decision. I wouldn't feel this relieved if it were otherwise.

Good Day

Today was a really good day. It was the first day all week that I've felt, well, un-sick. So that's the first good thing. Started the day off with a nice long talk with my friend Susanna. It's been a while since we've chatted, so that was cool. We had a lot stored up that we needed to talk about, and, despite the fact that the talk eliminated the "need" for us to go out for drinks after work, it was good to get all of that stuff out.

I also got an email from the higher-ups at work inviting me (and many others) to apply for a supervisory position. Although I was just one among many, it was still nice to know that I was ON the list. Not everyone was.

Finally, during a particularly difficult court session this afternoon, I received several genuinely-appreciated compliments from another attorney. That really made my day. My job is tough: I spend a lot of time listening to people (mostly clients) complain and/or tell me what I'm doing wrong. In my line of work, there are few perks and even fewer compliments, so hearing that someone else thinks I'm doing a good job means a lot.

Finishing the evening on the couch doesn't hurt, either.

Sick

I'm sick with a chest cold. It sucks. We had a half day at work today, so I went in at noon, but left right away. My co-workers sent me home! Spent the rest of the day in bed. It's questionable whether I will go in tomorrow. I probably will stay home, regardless, because I have trials and, because of being sick, am not prepared to try CRAP. God, I hate being sick.

On a happier note, I've officially lost 17 pounds. Unofficially, I think it's more like 19...once I hit 20 pounds lost, I'm getting new workout gear!

Reading Update

I'm now reading The Best American Mystery Stories of 2007. In addition to Glamour. In addition to stuff online. In addition to preparing for trials. Blah.

Homeowners?

Well, I finally got around to speaking to the leasing office in our complex about our lease and whether or not our condo is selling. Turns out they are NOT selling our condo, as we had originally thought, so the pressure on us to find a new place to live is off. Whew. (Imagine that, a sale not going through in this market!) However, now that we have been thinking about it for the past few months, we might still want to buy. Our lease is up as of June 30, so we don't have as much time as we thought (we thought it was up Sept. 30...due to the transfer of leases, apparently it is not).

I think we want to stay in the county we are currently in. But we have to come up with a down payment of at least 5% on any house we might buy. We can probably afford about $150k, so that means we need to come up with...gulp...$7500. For a couple who are never very far ahead on the financial end of things, this sounds like a fortune. However, tax season is nigh, and I am hoping to get a nice chunk of change as a refund. We are going to pool our refunds, save as much as we can between now and then, and then beg our parents for early wedding presents. Maybe that will be enough.

In the meantime, I get to start going to open houses, and searching the web for a place!!! I can't wait to have something else to do in my "spare" time at work! LOL!

Having a Social Life

My social life goes in cycles. Most of the time, I have nothing to do, other than hang out at home with the Fiance' and the cats. But occasionally I have one of these socially busy weeks, where I'm doing something allllll the time. This weekend is going to be like that.

Tonight I deigned to show up at happy hour after the monthly office meeting. It was fun to see everyone and have a couple drinks. I haven't been drinking much lately, so two were all I needed to feel good.

Tomorrow night, I am going to a local bar with some buddies to see a friend-of-a-friend-of-a-friend's band. Haven't been out on a Saturday night since the Draft House Debacle of this past summer. So that should be interesting. I am feeling some guilt, however, at leaving the Fiance' to fend for himself tomorrow night. Oh well. He'll be fine.

Sunday...THE SUPER BOWL!!! At Susanna's house. Gotta save all my Weight Watchers' points for that. There will be tons of food and tons of people and TONS OF FUN! So this is the most I've been away from the house in quite some time. Hope it doesn't burn down.

There are changes coming at work. I sense a deep forboding.