best 2 nights . ever.

Oh be still, my heart!  Two days later, I’m still swooning over them… and envisioning thoughts of one day meeting my favorite band in the world.  Ah, but no one understands how I feel…*sigh*

The Cure @ Madison Square Garden – June 20, 2008

The Cure @ Radio City Music Hall – June 21, 2008

my last 2-cents. literally.

I didn’t know it was possible to only have 99 cents in your bank account. The other day, I got an email from my bank warning me that my “account balance is below the specified amount.” It’s a service to remind clients that they’re broke, basically. So I opened the email and much to my chagrin, I found out I only have 99 cents in my bank account. Ninety-nine. Cents.  Really.  If I knew how to take a screen shot, I would’ve. And if it weren’t so darn sad, I would be laughing out loud.

Man, how did it come to this? Well actually, I know exactly why. No work = no money. I’m still on maternity leave after all, therefore I have no income. Unlike European countries whose governments subsidize parents on maternity and paternity leave, I don’t get paid. My short-term disability money ran out a long time ago and my job doesn’t pay me anything.  Therefore, my current situation.  And no I don’t have any major savings either.  What little I did have already went to paying off bills.  So it’s time to break open my piggy bank. Literally.

Well one may ask, “if you’re on leave, what kind of expenses do you really have?” Well there’s gas, car payments, credit card payments, blah, blah, blah.  So it’s not like I’m just frittering away cash. For the most part, I had no credit card balance when I left my job.  Yet charging coffee, lunch, and that cute baby outfit here and there surprisingly add up! I’m also paying for Li’l C’s upcoming baptism and charged a plane ticket which resulted in an all-new balance on my American Express. Egads.

I hate being unemployed and not contributing to the household income.  I mooch $20 off the hubs here and there to help me out with my Starbucks addiction and miscellaneous stuff, but I hate sponging off him.   I also sponge off my parents who generously offered to take over my car payments while I’m on leave (not to mention buy diapers and clothes for the kids). Sad huh? Here I am, on the verge of turning thirty-two years old and I have yet to financially support myself! I know, I know…I go on this rant every year.

I am determined to start anew once I go back to work though. From now on, I will really live well below my means. I am not going out (although with 2 kids now, how could I anyway?), I am not buying anything for me (not that I have since going on leave).  Absolutely no new books, clothes, shoes or anything for myself.  My only source of entertainment will be cable and the occasional movie. I won’t even go see bands!

It’ll be hard to return to work with two kids in daycare. First of all, I won’t have money to put them in daycare in order to go to work (so hello credit card!).  And when I do go back to work, I will not have any money left over for anything. It’ll be like I’m going to work strictly just to pay for childcare. How lovely. But I’ll see how it goes.

In the meantime, I will tell my bank to stop sending me reminders that I have no money in my bank account.

pomp and circumstance

My littlest brother graduated from high school this past weekend. High. School. Can you believe it?! Class of 2008! We’re so very proud of him! He’ll be attending St. John’s University this fall (where over 40,000 students applied this year!) and doing the whole college thing. The baby of the family is finally going to college! I still can’t believe it. To me, he’ll always be my baby brother who I took care of. I mean, we’re 15 years apart! Whenever we went out people would think he was my son! Aside: I think this is why I occasionally (by mistake!) call my own son my “baby brother” –force of habit is pretty strong!

So I feel like a parent when he graduated. I feel so excited and thrilled for him. Imagine being 17 years old again and looking at your future straight in the face! I know he’ll go on to do some amazing things!

I should write him a manual about what-not-to-do during college to avoid some of the crazy things I did! Then again, he should have his own experiences, don’t you think?

Congratulations to the Class of 2008!

Wow…this makes me realize that it’ll be around the year 2025 or so when rockstar baby graduates from high school! Egads.

happy anniversary

2 beautiful babies, 10 years together (with 2 years of dating, not including the one year of him “chasing me” –which he will vehemently deny), and counting…

Cheers to us!