2003-01-10 - 9:00 a.m.
It's 2003 already?

I've been shamefully neglecting this place. Sorry, guys. I forget sometimes that there are people who still look for me here!

Life has been in kind of a manic upswing for awhile. I'm very busy with the new job, especially now that they've decided to hire me permanently (YAY!!!!!) so there's no time to write at work, and when I get home my other fanclub is on my case ... I'm in the middle of writing not one, but two, long fanfic. It's very wearying, trying to get 1,000 words a day on paper, especially when the Muse is on a hike. (Good practice for when I get to be a novelist, I'd imagine. *grin*)

If you care about such things, by the way, here are the links:

They Also Serve, third longfic in my "Lesser Men" series, 12 chapters of 20 written.

The New Seer, an independent fic, 3 chapters of who knows-how-many written.

Anyway. The financial picture bottomed out this month ... I just balanced my checkbook last night, and discovered that my new paychecks haven't quite covered my rush to catch up with late bills; by the numbers, I'm $178 or so overdrawn, but (fortunately) I linked my checking account to my credit card account months ago, and it's supposed to do a cash transfer from there instead of bouncing things. Joy; I'm *so* not looking forward to my next statement(s).

Next month, however, February 2nd to be precise, the temp contract runs out and I'll start making $14.00 an hour. March 2nd the benefits kick in. I'll make it!!! For awhile there, I wasn't sure I would.

March 10th (drumroll please) I turn 25. Egad. The first quarter century of my life will be over. Somehow, I thought I'd be a lot further along when that happened, you know? But I suppose things aren't so bad. I'll be making more money than my mother by that point, I'll (hopefully) be all caught up with my bills for the first time in forever, and for the first time in my LIFE I'll be able to just buy myself a book or a sweater without panicking about my bank balance.

Of course, I also have a good family, and several good friends. Two of whom I'll be seeing a lot of this weekend. I'm dragging Jocasta out east on a couple-hundred mile drive tonight, to see Hildegaard. It's been eight months since we saw her last! And Jocasta, silly girl, doesn't seem to know what a phone is for, so she hasn't even spoken to Hildegaard in nearly as long. Good grief. We were *supposed* to be the Three Muskateers -- or, as Hildegaard put it, the Solatiga. (I think it means something like "The Three Mistakes" in Indonesian. *laughing*)

I miss her. I miss them both, really. Jocasta's married and lives 45 minutes away; Hildegaard's still single, but she lives something like 4 and a half *hours* away. It's hard to keep a friendship alive over that much time and distance. I'm not letting go of either of them, but sometimes it really sucks to have best friends I can't hang out with and can't even talk to that often, due to incompatible schedules.

I was going to get tattooed this weekend, too, but it's a no-go now that I'm out of money. Maybe when Hildegaard comes out *here* for her birthday in April she'll have decided which one she wants, and we can go together. I want a small, blue escallop on my lower back -- that's a sort of seashell -- just lines, not filled in. Simple, and to the point. (It's a "Shell", do you see?) All the reasons not to get a tattoo still apply, but ... I feel like this is a landmark year of sorts, and it's an identity thing. It's a statement. It's me.

Well, I'd probably better stop writing this, or someone'll walk by and notice. I really don't want to make a bad impression at this job; so far, they love me, but I'm having a few problems getting here on time again. Good grief. As soon as my benefits start back up I think I will get that Ritalin prescription filled; even me out during the day so I can get stuff done and go to sleep at a decent hour. I didn't realize before just how much of an insomniac I am; on the weekends I have no problems waking up. It's the weekdays that kill me ... but then, I'm usually getting less than 5 hours of sleep. *shrug*

More later. Blessings, all. (Especially Argyle, oh faithful online friend. *grin*)