Manna from heaven

Well, after weeks of worry over how I'm going to pay my bills come August, the solution presented itself today in the form of a call from my employer, looking to see if I would be willing to pick up a class next week in LA. Trying to hold back my glee while I said, "Well, I guess I could make that work.." was truly a performance to see.

So I'm off to LA next week, back in an airplane, ick, but with money in my pocket, yay. After buying the new camera a few weeks ago, I followed up with the purchase of a new computer ($435 - $150 in rebates, who can resist that sort of temptation?). I've spent the intervening time trying not to think about how long it will take me to pay off these purchases while paying the minimum payments (approximately 3 lifetimes). Now maybe I can cut down on that amount of time, if only a little.

The trip in August my parents are paying for, more or less. Unbelievably, my mom bought my plane tickets (though it's only a matter of time before she starts bitching at me about paying her back for them, I'm sure. She's already made allusions by saying things like "I know you're good for it"), and they're picking up the car rental ($900 right there), and places to stay. My parents aren't cheaping out on the places to stay, either, at least not the whole trip. Sure, we're gonna stay at some cheap-o places, but we're also staying at some really nice B&Bs, too. And of course, for all of this, it's not my credit card # that's been put on the reservations (this paragraph is sure to nettle my sister, who's not going).

But with all of this in mind, having this little bit of extra money will allow me to be a little more generous and forthcoming with my credit card while we're on the trip. Food and gas aren't going to be cheap either, so I figure I'll chip in where I can ("We stopped for gas half an hour ago? That's it? Well, I'll top it off here anyway." <Magnanimous wave of the hand>).

Then again, maybe I'll just pocket my card. Or leave it at home. Maybe they owe me the trip. We only ever took one vacation when I was a kid. 5 days in Florida. I'm glad I went when I did, I barely enjoyed Disneyworld then, I certainly wouldn't now. But that was it. The pet store really anchored my family at home. And of course, braces for the other kids. I'm the only one who didn't get braces. And now that I'm a "professional" (No, not like Léon), I don't really have time to get braces. I guess once I can afford it I can always go the Invisiline route, but still, one vacation in lieu of braces, that seems like a fair trade to me.

But if I do break out the credit card, I can feel slightly better, knowing that I have a little bit of money in the bank to cover at least some of the purchases. Knowing that I taught another class that I'm not really qualified to teach. Knowing that it didn't matter. All that mattered is that I got the class, I taught the class, and the money kept me going. Like manna from heaven.