FRIDAY!
Hooray Friday.
Quick update: looks like we won't be puppy-sitting after all, they moved Becky's surgery up to next weekend. Also, yay for getting paid! (and getting our tax refund, it looks like!) Both of these things will be very useful for moving (if the landlord ever gets back in touch with me...)
Today's celebratory Friday deep conversation topic: Visiting with the family
My family lives in East Texas, roughly a 13 hour drive away. Phi's family lives in North Alabama, a 6 hour drive away. Both of them make a lot more money than we do (obviously), only have one teenage child currently living at home, and have adult family members that live either in town, or less than an hour away.
However, for some reason, it is we who are suppposed to take off of work, and drive to visit them. I'm sorry, but my friends are sick and tired of getting roped in to coming and feeding my cat and the ferrets, and/or watching Pippin for us. Boarding any/all of them is pretty much not economically feasible, especially considering the outrageous boarding costs in this town. A professional pet sitter will still run us at least $20 a day, probably a lot more. Call me selfish, but I'd like to be able to pay off our credit card debt ( a hold over from the move two years ago, ferret surgery, and car maintenance and repair costs) and then be able to (gasp!) save money, rather than constantly spending all of our money on road trips.
The worst part about it is that we do want to see our families (well, at least I do); it doesn't help that they are all constantly guilt tripping us about how much they miss us, and love us; and oh you'll be missing some cousin's wedding/graduation/baby being born; your brother will be in town and you haven't seen him in so long, etc. It's not that we don't want to see you. It's that gasoline is over $3.00 a gallon, sitting in a car for over half of a day is not good on my back or our nerves, and our pets can't just take care of themselves. We already told my family that we wouldn't be coming to visit them this Christmas (You can imagine the guilt and stress this one started), but I don't really think they believed us.
*Deep breath*
In short, I'm rather looking forward to that time far in the future when we are in the peace corps, or living in Washington State, or a different country; when driving to visit them will be quite impossible.
All of you lucky ducks who live within an hour's drive of your parents, you don't know how lucky you are.
Quick update: looks like we won't be puppy-sitting after all, they moved Becky's surgery up to next weekend. Also, yay for getting paid! (and getting our tax refund, it looks like!) Both of these things will be very useful for moving (if the landlord ever gets back in touch with me...)
Today's celebratory Friday deep conversation topic: Visiting with the family
My family lives in East Texas, roughly a 13 hour drive away. Phi's family lives in North Alabama, a 6 hour drive away. Both of them make a lot more money than we do (obviously), only have one teenage child currently living at home, and have adult family members that live either in town, or less than an hour away.
However, for some reason, it is we who are suppposed to take off of work, and drive to visit them. I'm sorry, but my friends are sick and tired of getting roped in to coming and feeding my cat and the ferrets, and/or watching Pippin for us. Boarding any/all of them is pretty much not economically feasible, especially considering the outrageous boarding costs in this town. A professional pet sitter will still run us at least $20 a day, probably a lot more. Call me selfish, but I'd like to be able to pay off our credit card debt ( a hold over from the move two years ago, ferret surgery, and car maintenance and repair costs) and then be able to (gasp!) save money, rather than constantly spending all of our money on road trips.
The worst part about it is that we do want to see our families (well, at least I do); it doesn't help that they are all constantly guilt tripping us about how much they miss us, and love us; and oh you'll be missing some cousin's wedding/graduation/baby being born; your brother will be in town and you haven't seen him in so long, etc. It's not that we don't want to see you. It's that gasoline is over $3.00 a gallon, sitting in a car for over half of a day is not good on my back or our nerves, and our pets can't just take care of themselves. We already told my family that we wouldn't be coming to visit them this Christmas (You can imagine the guilt and stress this one started), but I don't really think they believed us.
*Deep breath*
In short, I'm rather looking forward to that time far in the future when we are in the peace corps, or living in Washington State, or a different country; when driving to visit them will be quite impossible.
All of you lucky ducks who live within an hour's drive of your parents, you don't know how lucky you are.