The Best Thing About a 5 Year Lease...

is that it gave me an opportunity to look 5 years into the future. 5 years is a long time! 5 years ago, Brett and I were just friends. (We just hit our 4.5 years together point.) A lot can happen in 5 years.

I have done a lot of thinking about the future lately. We are really making an effort to pay off our debt this year. It may not happen by December 31, but if nothing crazy happens, it should happen with our tax return for sure. And then our lease will be up in March, and we will be gettin' outta here! We love this apartment. Almost everything about it is great... great size, great view, great location. BUT... it's pricey. I think that we could do better. Not in this area maybe, but somewhere. And – this is the worst part – we've got bugs. I thought bugs might be an issue living by the creek, but it's not that wall where the bugs are a problem. We had the apartment sprayed last week, and this weekend Brett put out serious bug killer. But we hate the bugs. If I say anything else I will creep myself out, so moving on.

We would like to rent a house. With the credit card debt gone, and renting somewhere cheaper, we will be able to start saving for a house. And if I were to get a teaching job at a public school for the coming school year, it would speed that up somewhat. I don't want to count on that though.

Work was so weird today. My mind is starting to detach from that job. It feels temporary now. I was truly stunned by how temporary it felt today. Walking into work, I felt like I hadn't been there in a week! It was a busy weekend, yes, but more than that... my mind was thinking about my future job, not my current job. Walking into work was like going back in time. I shouldn't do that too much. Shouldn't completely live in the future. Each day is a blessing. And I've made the mistake before of missing out on blessings because I wanted to be somewhere else. AND... I wish that I wouldn't let them upset me so much. One person in particular. She is just so stinkin' bipolar! One minute I am her best friend, the next minute, she acts like I should be paying her to talk to me! Like it is KILLING her to stand in the room long enough for me to finish my sentence. And I tell ya! I am like a freakin' Labrador! It doesn't matter how hard she kicks me, every time she is nice, I celebrate like I just won the lottery! I don't mean to do that. But after she has been SO mean all day, one smile at 4:00 feels like someone pouring water on a fire, when really it is a snake putting me in a trance so it can finish me off. haha... dramatic, I know! But it's crazy. This chick can make me cry with her rudeness, not because of the extremity – it can be very subtle – but because of the suddenness! I am never expecting it. WHY??? I should expect it every day! I feel it every day! Sigh.

Monday is done. Tomorrow I am meeting Jennifer for frozen yogurt, and it will be greatness. Thursday I am going to dinner with my mom, hopefully at Boston Market, and Saturday I am going to see Sex In The City 2 with some of my most favorite ladies in the world! I am VERY excited. And also VERY excited to have next Monday off. I hope that we relax on Monday.

I know you haven't heard from me very consistently lately. I'm trying to get my act together. I will keep trying.

p.s. Can you tell I just read Paula Deen's memoir? I sure am droppin' a lot of Gs!