Life Changes
If there's anything I know about what 2006 will be like, I know beyond a doubt that, for me, it'll be very eventful.
Sam and I finally have an official wedding date. May 6, 2006. It's exciting. It's also a little scary. There's so much to do in the 6 months between now and then. Caterers, entertainment, invitations, Save The Dates, hotels, airlines... There's a lot of planning involved in a wedding. And will marriage really change the nature of our relationship? Or will we be as we have been, only with the titles of husband and wife? Who knows? I wonder if my mom will come. I'd like to think that she'd at least be decent enough to rise above our petty squabbles, but she has threatened not to come. I hope they're just threats. I hope she comes. And then, if she does come, and when Sam and I do get married, how will our family dynamic change? Will Sam suddenly be invited to holidays? Will they start talking, however awkwardly? However they go, big changes are ahead.
I'm also trying to decide what I want to do with myself next summer. I want to quit my job and do something else, but what? Here are my two options:
1) Start up our retail store
2) Go to Japan to teach English
Both are things that I really want to do. And doing one kinda causes a lot of problems for doing the other thing. Say I decide to start up my business. I'd have to stick around California for a long while until the business becomes established and I have managers I trust to run the place while Sam and I are gone. And even then, we'd only be able to leave for at most a month, before the business would eventually need us. And I really would like the experience of actually living in Japan.
So say I decide to go to Japan for a year to teach English. Sam and I would both be making about $28k each that year, which is quite a bit better than what we're making this year. We might be able to save some money for the business, depending on how expensive living in Japan actually is. (I've heard stories...) Which sounds fine and dandy, but what will happen when we return to California? We wouldn't have a place to live, for one. My parents would probably let us stay at their house for a little while if I asked them. I'd rather not do that, though. We could stay with a friend, I suppose. But everybody else is in transitional phases right now too. My brothers and friends might be living on their own by then, or they may not be. Gah! Too much to think about. And we still wouldn't have enough start up money to start our business right away. We'd need to get a loan, and will the year away from the US affect our ability to get a small business loan? *brain explodes*
I suppose once we get that decision sorted out, it won't be so difficult. I really would like to go to Japan soon, while I still remember most of my Japanese. I'm still young and we don't have children to complicate things. I won't be young, child-free, and Japanese-y forever. We can start a business at virtually any time in the future, no matter how old we are or if we have children... But oh, the complications.
I'm gonna stop dwelling on this for now, before my brain really does explode.
Sam and I finally have an official wedding date. May 6, 2006. It's exciting. It's also a little scary. There's so much to do in the 6 months between now and then. Caterers, entertainment, invitations, Save The Dates, hotels, airlines... There's a lot of planning involved in a wedding. And will marriage really change the nature of our relationship? Or will we be as we have been, only with the titles of husband and wife? Who knows? I wonder if my mom will come. I'd like to think that she'd at least be decent enough to rise above our petty squabbles, but she has threatened not to come. I hope they're just threats. I hope she comes. And then, if she does come, and when Sam and I do get married, how will our family dynamic change? Will Sam suddenly be invited to holidays? Will they start talking, however awkwardly? However they go, big changes are ahead.
I'm also trying to decide what I want to do with myself next summer. I want to quit my job and do something else, but what? Here are my two options:
1) Start up our retail store
2) Go to Japan to teach English
Both are things that I really want to do. And doing one kinda causes a lot of problems for doing the other thing. Say I decide to start up my business. I'd have to stick around California for a long while until the business becomes established and I have managers I trust to run the place while Sam and I are gone. And even then, we'd only be able to leave for at most a month, before the business would eventually need us. And I really would like the experience of actually living in Japan.
So say I decide to go to Japan for a year to teach English. Sam and I would both be making about $28k each that year, which is quite a bit better than what we're making this year. We might be able to save some money for the business, depending on how expensive living in Japan actually is. (I've heard stories...) Which sounds fine and dandy, but what will happen when we return to California? We wouldn't have a place to live, for one. My parents would probably let us stay at their house for a little while if I asked them. I'd rather not do that, though. We could stay with a friend, I suppose. But everybody else is in transitional phases right now too. My brothers and friends might be living on their own by then, or they may not be. Gah! Too much to think about. And we still wouldn't have enough start up money to start our business right away. We'd need to get a loan, and will the year away from the US affect our ability to get a small business loan? *brain explodes*
I suppose once we get that decision sorted out, it won't be so difficult. I really would like to go to Japan soon, while I still remember most of my Japanese. I'm still young and we don't have children to complicate things. I won't be young, child-free, and Japanese-y forever. We can start a business at virtually any time in the future, no matter how old we are or if we have children... But oh, the complications.
I'm gonna stop dwelling on this for now, before my brain really does explode.