I’m a bit late wishing everyone a Happy New Year because I’ve been dealing with a little drama at my volunteer job. You see, I decided to resign effective December 31st so I could focus on some new goals for the new year. When my replacement was chosen in mid December I trained her and then she promptly fell off the face of the earth, not responding to any requests (aka keeping the adoptable pet profiles updated on Petfinder and AdoptAPet). A week later she sent an email explaining she had been out of town with no internet access but would begin making updates in two days time (why she agreed to take over the responsibilities knowing she was going out of town that same day is beyond me, not to mention why, knowing she had a backlog of updates, she decides she’s not doing anything for an additional two days when I had told her most requests should be competed in 24 hours). Based on an email I was copied on last night, she still hasn’t done diddly squat since agreeing to take over on DECEMBER 19th! I really don’t understand people like her at all. Whether you’re getting paid or not, if you agree to do something, you should do it. Some people really lack integrity. But it’s not my problem, so whatever. I really need to focus on myself in 2014 and not let people like her bother me.
I’m not going to do an official 2013 year in review here with links and whatnot because I’m just not feeling it. The year brought many changes: leaving my job of a decade in January, learning to survive on one salary, getting down to my goal weight, finding part-time work in August, adopting our two rats, and saying goodbye to one of them right before Christmas. It wasn’t the best year due to having no money to go on vacation and still not finding fulfilling work, but that doesn’t mean I’ve given up. It’s a new year full of possibilities. Sure, those could be that we have even less money than last year since Joe found out back in November that his entire department is being eliminated this July, but a lot can happen between now and then. This will be the third time he’s gone through a restructuring so he may get lucky again. However, if he does get let go without finding another job within the company, he will get a pretty nice severance package that will keep our income (and benefits) the same until early 2015. We won’t be able to contribute to his 401k, however, which will suck, but I’m crossing my fingers that it won’t be long before we’re contributing again. Because you know how I stress about saving enough for retirement. I do not want to work until I’m in my 70’s or live on a low fixed income. Just thinking about it makes me super anxious.
New Year’s Eve always depresses me so this year we decided to treat it like a regular day. We made a couple of nice steaks for dinner, watched a movie (the follow-up to Firefly, Serenity), and went to bed before 11 pm. It was great! Just skipping the NYE specials on TV stopped the hopelessness I tend to suffer from at the end of every year. Those damn shows make me feel like I should be out partying even though that’s not me at all and I wouldn’t even enjoy myself. Then I start feeling like I’m boring and blah blah blah and by the time I go to bed I want to kill myself. Not really, but kinda. So it was nice skipping that whole roller coaster ride of emotions.
The following morning we hit the mall to do some shopping since it’s always dead and everything is heavily discounted, but wouldn’t you know it, I came home empty-handed (Joe got socks). But I’m ok with that. What l learned this past year is that I’m not that into buying stuff anymore. At least not to the extent I used to be. For one, I’m much pickier, so I don’t see a lot of stuff I actually want. For another thing, even with the stuff I see and technically like, the first thought I have is, “do I really need it?” and the answer is usually no, so I don’t buy it.
That being said, after watching the Happy Endings marathon on VH1 (why oh why was this awesome show canceled? Oh that’s right, because people would rather watch fake reality TV showcasing people behaving like morons), I’m determined to find a delicate sterling silver necklace like the character, Penny, sports in the show (exhibit A / exhibit B). The problem I’m having is that the standard size chain sold is 16″ and thanks to my little neck it doesn’t sit high enough on my collarbone like I want. I need a 14″ chain but they are really hard to come by. My only other option is find a necklace I like and spend $15-$20 to have it altered at a jeweler. So far I’ve found one necklace I like for $16 at JCPenney of all places, but it seems silly to spend the same price on a cheap piece of jewelry to have it fitted to my desired length. It would make more sense to buy a higher quality necklace from a jeweler, which they’d adjust for free, but I haven’t seen any I like. Such problems I have, right? That’s ok, though – I like having a mission.