Money Bleed in The Long and Winding Road

I've spent WAY too much money in the last few weeks. My budget and all my good intentions have been shot to hell. I bought a patio umbrella, and a stand for it, for the balcony. I sure wish I'd done that when I first moved in. The mornings and evenings out there have been wonderful, but with all the heat and sunshine we've had this summer (hello! This is Seattle! I moved here from New Orleans to get away from the heat!), the balcony has been unuseable in the afternoons because it has no roof and it gets direct sun. Last weekend when my friend T was over, we couldn't sit out there as we'd planned, because it was just to hot and sun-intensive. But later, after we'd gone out to dinner, we were sitting out there around 9:00 or so and I commented that maybe next spring I would get an umbrella for the balcony. And then within the next few days I thought... well, if you know you're going to get one anyway, now is the time of year when they're on sale.

So.

Also I bought a bunch of new clothes, and 3 new pair of shoes. A pair of boots to wear with jeans and pants in the winter, a pair of shoes to wear with dress pants to work, and a casual pair of Sketchers slip-on "walkers" that look like ballet slippers and which will come in handy after my shoulder surgery when it will be months before I could tie a shoe. I desperately needed the clothes and the shoes, and that kind of expense is really a part of any annual budget (haha!) but still, it's money I hadn't factored into expenses for this month.

And I got a pedicure today. I thought about just soaking my feet in my tub, and doing my own toe nails. But come on. No way I'm going to give my feet the TLC I get from a pedicure. And sitting back in the massage chair, and the leg and foot massage, is just well worth it. I think I really needed it. So that makes it a necessity.

There was this girl in the pedicure chair next to me. She walked in the salon about 10 minutes after I did. She is one of those girls everyone stops to stare at. She is 6'0" (I found that out from the conversation she and her pedicure girl were having) and weighs 135 lbs. So she is really really tall and thin, and when you look at her, you wonder if she's a model. Not a black girl, but darker skin. Black-framed glasses. Skinny jeans, heels, and lots of bling on her wrists. Her nail tech got her going in conversation which is how I found out so much about her. She was born in the Ukraine and has been in the U.S. since she was five. She speaks fluent Russian, and she had a friend with her and they talked in Russian. She and the nail tech were talking about the perils of being tall. Anyway, the point that I'm doing a really bad job of getting to, is that this girl was so striking and her life experience is so different from any I've had, but when she opened her mouth, god, it was like listening to a Valley Girl even though she was obviously intelligent. So, like, really, you know, I was trying hard to tune her out.

Tomorrow is my last day of work before vacation. 10 days off in a row. Tomorrow night I'll head over to S&D's for dinner. D's parents arrived today from London for their annual visit. I am looking forward to time with D's mom -- we are good buds. Saturday, I'll be cleaning house and packing and stuff. You guys know I cannot go on vacation without leaving the house immaculate.

And Sunday morning we hit the road for the beach house in Yachats, Oregon.

My new apartment is really a mess, for the first time since I moved in. I hate it, but it's been a really busy week. I remind myself that I'll be cleaning everything up on Saturday.

I'm babbling. That's all I've got for now. Ciao.