i was visiting with my mom on sunday and, as usual, we started talking about money. five years ago, this post would be about how my mom was just trying to ruin my life and boss me around and blah, blah, blah. now, i realize that when it comes to money, you listen to a woman who paid off fully the mortgage on a duplex at the age of 35. that kind of woman deserves respect.
but she also made me really depressed. she encouraged me to look for work where company or government pensions were offered (because we all know that i'm not a good saver). i got my back up, of course, and was just about to say, "that's my plan when i'm 35!" and then i realized that i turn 35 in six months. faaaaaaaaaaaaack.
i went home feeling despondent. i still love my job. i still have so much more to learn in my job. it's a job and a career that i could be working in for the next ten years, without being bored. but she's absolutely right. and further, the reality is that the older i get, the less likely it is that i'm going to get married and have that elusive second income. i can't keep hoping that the other half of my "DINK" fantasy is coming my way. i have to start planning for my future, now.
the way i see it, if all goes well, i'll retire in good health in 30 years. i can work for 30 more years. it doesn't daunt me. that's plenty of time to jolt my RRSP back to life. but she kept pushing me to get a job with a pension. the problem with that is those kinds of jobs bore me to tears.
i can't say that - maybe there is a job out there that offers a nice pension that i can grow in. or maybe there's a reason why i left my nice, cushy union job that was earning me a government pension and good benefits.
i decided to look at my old pay stubs from my union days to see how much was being taken from each paycheque and being put into the pension fund. but i discovered that i recycled those long ago (see? the minute i throw something out, i need it!). i looked over my yearly pension statements and it appears that every year, maybe about $1000 - 1300 was being taken from my paycheque. i know they invest in mutual funds. if i can do that, plus my RRSP, it'll be like i had a union job. except that i won't have the benefits when i retire.
being an adult sucks sometimes. but at least i now have a new focus, a new "project" to consider once i get back to work and have to deal with seeing Crush everyday again.
and no, the cute guy hasn't called. i'll give it until friday, and then i'll delete his number. yes, i realize i can call him but i'd really like him to call me first. decisions, decisions.
Tuesday, January 04, 2011
Saturday, January 01, 2011
happy new year
my first post of 2011. hurrah!
i was a bit of a new year's grinch last night. as Doc Tardy and i were driving to our new year's party venue, she was being (unusually) pro-active/positive about 2011, telling me that it would be "our year". i grumped and said, "we've been saying that for the past three years."
i wasn't even particularly excited about going out for new year's. once again, it was something that i felt i had to do in order to be "interesting" or "normal" or "cool". i chose the venue we went to because, at the very least, it wouldn't be overrun with 19-year olds on their first legal new year's bender.
the evening turned out to be great. we had planned to meet up with a guy from high school who we knew was going to be there with friends. i remembered him as a little awkward and a bit annoying but he turned out to be loads of fun. very positive and up for a good time. and as luck would have it, a good thing we met up as all six of the friends he was with (3 couples) bailed on him before midnight. i guess they thought it would be okay since Doc and i were there. anyway, both he and Doc Tardy got decidedly buzzed on the 6 bottles of mini-champagnes we acquired. it amounted to about one bottle of full-sized champagne each.
i also met a cute guy while on the nearly-empty dance floor. his friend was the one who sidled up to me first. initially, i thought the friend was the one who was interested in me and, while there was no attraction to him on my part, he was funny and hey, it's 2011 - time to put away pretenses, at least for the night. turns out he was the wingman because once his friend and i started chatting, he took off. the cute guy and i had several dances and indeed, he enjoyed twirling me and did so at every chance he got.
at one point, we were standing and chatting about the movie they had been looping on the TV screens all night and this young guy who had been watching us from the sidelines came up to us and started talking to me. the cute guy sat down with another one of his friends and the young guy and i continued to chat. he was a bit more than loaded and said to me, "you see that guy in the blue shirt to your left? i think he was hitting on you." i feigned surprise and he continued, "yeah, so i decided to come in for the rescue. see, he walked off!" i figured he was too drunk to explain that i was okay about being hit on. but he left eventually.
when my little group decided it was time to go, i walked over to the cute guy and said we were going. he asked for one last twirl, which turned into a lot of turning, a some close-hold dancing, and a lot of hand holding. finally, i had to say goodbye and told him that it was really nice to meet him. lots of smiling, lots of eye contact and he said, "can i call you?" and i walked away with a phone number.
Eug educated me that he won't call until monday, but we'll see if he calls at all. i'd like him to. he was nice. he didn't even try to kiss me, even though i could tell he wanted to. maybe he wasn't as drunk as i thought he was...or at least, as drunk as his wingman was.
as for Crush, i had asked him to come to my venue if he didn't end up doing anything for new years. he was predictably vague. i was predictably disheartened. but the cute guy kind of softens that blow, at least for the time being.
2011 - this is our year! ;)
i was a bit of a new year's grinch last night. as Doc Tardy and i were driving to our new year's party venue, she was being (unusually) pro-active/positive about 2011, telling me that it would be "our year". i grumped and said, "we've been saying that for the past three years."
i wasn't even particularly excited about going out for new year's. once again, it was something that i felt i had to do in order to be "interesting" or "normal" or "cool". i chose the venue we went to because, at the very least, it wouldn't be overrun with 19-year olds on their first legal new year's bender.
the evening turned out to be great. we had planned to meet up with a guy from high school who we knew was going to be there with friends. i remembered him as a little awkward and a bit annoying but he turned out to be loads of fun. very positive and up for a good time. and as luck would have it, a good thing we met up as all six of the friends he was with (3 couples) bailed on him before midnight. i guess they thought it would be okay since Doc and i were there. anyway, both he and Doc Tardy got decidedly buzzed on the 6 bottles of mini-champagnes we acquired. it amounted to about one bottle of full-sized champagne each.
i also met a cute guy while on the nearly-empty dance floor. his friend was the one who sidled up to me first. initially, i thought the friend was the one who was interested in me and, while there was no attraction to him on my part, he was funny and hey, it's 2011 - time to put away pretenses, at least for the night. turns out he was the wingman because once his friend and i started chatting, he took off. the cute guy and i had several dances and indeed, he enjoyed twirling me and did so at every chance he got.
at one point, we were standing and chatting about the movie they had been looping on the TV screens all night and this young guy who had been watching us from the sidelines came up to us and started talking to me. the cute guy sat down with another one of his friends and the young guy and i continued to chat. he was a bit more than loaded and said to me, "you see that guy in the blue shirt to your left? i think he was hitting on you." i feigned surprise and he continued, "yeah, so i decided to come in for the rescue. see, he walked off!" i figured he was too drunk to explain that i was okay about being hit on. but he left eventually.
when my little group decided it was time to go, i walked over to the cute guy and said we were going. he asked for one last twirl, which turned into a lot of turning, a some close-hold dancing, and a lot of hand holding. finally, i had to say goodbye and told him that it was really nice to meet him. lots of smiling, lots of eye contact and he said, "can i call you?" and i walked away with a phone number.
Eug educated me that he won't call until monday, but we'll see if he calls at all. i'd like him to. he was nice. he didn't even try to kiss me, even though i could tell he wanted to. maybe he wasn't as drunk as i thought he was...or at least, as drunk as his wingman was.
as for Crush, i had asked him to come to my venue if he didn't end up doing anything for new years. he was predictably vague. i was predictably disheartened. but the cute guy kind of softens that blow, at least for the time being.
2011 - this is our year! ;)
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