Not as preoccupied. Can count on only one hand the number of times my day came to a grinding halt and I stared off into space in sorrowful contemplation. Smiled. Laughed. Am eating and sleeping fine. Made it through the follow-up consult with my OBGYN with no problems. Discussed future baby-take-two plans with Mom over the phone.
Still feeling odd about finally feeling like myself again.
I feel weird about feeling almost OK. I’m sure it’s only temporary.
All the associated magazines and freebies and bills and other accoutrements have been tucked away into a corner, as if the “out of sight, out of mind” methodology will work on this.
Not like I’m not reminded by every commercial, every slip of the tongue, every time one of my pregnant co-workers walks by. Not like I don’t zone out and think about it, instead of successfully getting back into the daily grind.
The logical part of my mind, the part that’s usually in control of how I live my life and how I present myself to others, says that grief is stupid. It’s more useless than even regret, because at least, with regret, you have the opportunity to learn something and make changes in the future. Grief… it’s like constantly reminding yourself that this situation sucks, and that there’s nothing to be done.
The emotive part of my mind has been held in check for far too long — years, in fact — and threatens to take off with the rest of me.
I feel alone. No, not alone, because Aaron’s feeling quite the same way I am, although he’s trying to be strong for me. I feel… empty. I’m alone in my own skin again, and I’m not sure how to react to that, especially after having just gotten used to being someone’s… home?
I tell myself, at least it wasn’t really self-aware yet. Or even conscious. Not yet able to hear, or see, or feel. Still, it doesn’t help. To see it grow from a barely discernable blob with a heartbeat to a small human being with wriggling arms and legs — then to see it lying horrifically still and lifeless, displayed on a monochrome monitor in a darkened room, as the poor ultrasound technician tried every possible way to find a heartbeat…
This is probably the single most gut-wrenching experience I’ve ever been through. Maybe that’s a testament to how lucky I’ve been in the past 30 years.
So, as per usual, I was whiling away the hours playing CivCity: Rome this evening. I completed the campaign I had started last night, then began a new mission. Unfortunately, I was so stoked about successfully completing the previous military mission that I failed to save my game before starting anew. This created a slight annoyance when the Egyptians overcame my legionnaires and velites (OK, non-Latin speakers, v’s are pronounced like w’s, so say it in your head: WELL-ih-tays. Close enough).
Anyway, the dudes with swords and the dudes with javelins were toast. I had no more army. And here come the fucking Egyptians. Dammit. Where’s the “Concede Defeat” button? How about “Restart Mission”? No? You mean I have to just wait around for the damned Egyptians to either a.) destroy my Town Center or b.) inadvertently cause me to run out of money?
Wait. Where are they going? My Town Center is RIGHT THERE. Where you came in? Where you fellas headed, anyway? Oh, you’re just going to plunder and sack the entire town. Nice. I’m gonna go get a glass of milk. Call me when you’re done.
Ten or fifteen minutes later, the marauders finally, FINALLY made me run out of money. Killing all the workers and destroying the tax-revenue-generating houses will do that, I suppose. The bastards never did attack my Town Center, even when I used my last remaining… um… shit. Singular of “velites” is… *hits google in ultimate geeky frustration* …veles. I think it’s one of those funky third declension nouns? It’s been over seven years since I took any Latin. —Anyway, even when I lured them over toward the Town Center to kill my last javelin dude, my dude proved victorious over the one enemy dude that was sent over to dispatch him, and no one else cared.
Long story short, I finally got to restart after I ran out of money and the Senate refused to grant me another loan. This time, I was sure to save BEFORE I started the mission, so I can reload my saved game if things go south on me again.
CivCity: Rome rocks my socks.
(But only after I updated the LSM page and learned all about walking through and sorting arrays in PHP and filled out the HR paperwork for my new freelance gig.)
That is all. Thanks for the game, Amy!
Even though it wasn’t the post-graduation dream job I’d hoped for, my four-year-plus stint at Sky Bank has helped me learn about the world of finance, which is good. Sometimes I forget how much of what I’ve learned can be applied to my daily life until someone reminds me.
I wouldn’t call it a resolution, exactly, but one of my medium-term goals is to reduce my credit card debt. I have… *does some math* …over $7500 in credit card debt spread across four cards, with APRs ranging from 13.24% all the way up to 19.80%. This is unacceptable to me at this point in my life, so I decided to start with one and pay it down. I haven’t defined my goal yet, i.e. how much and how soon, but I at least have a focus.
Two of my cards have similar balances, but the one with the higher balance has a significantly lower interest rate. I asked Aaron earlier this week which one he would pay down first, and he wasn’t much more sure than I was. Today, I asked James at work, and he suggested that I figure out which one was accruing more interest, and pay that one down first.
Holy shit. I *do* know how to calculate that. In my sleep.
So, for each card, I took my balance, multiplied by the rate, divided by 365 days in a year, and multiplied by 31 (actual) days in a month. It might not be the exact same way the credit card companies figure my interest, versus how certain loans work, but it was a ballpark figure that I could use for my own devious purposes.
Turns out that the lower balance, higher APR card accrues just under one dollar more interest per month than the higher balance, lower APR card. So, my initial decision was supported, and I’m on my way to having lower credit card debt. w00t!
Thank you, Sky Bank, for teaching me at least one relatively valuable life skill. That, plus I know how my mortgage works, how checks clear (or don’t clear), and how electronic payments are posted. Yay for unexpected jobs?
