Man, what an up and down kinda day.

I always fight the alarm when it goes off, because there is no freaking way that it’s already time to get up in the mornings, you know? I’m such a night owl, mornings are hard for me. I’ve been like that since high school, so I don’t think it’s going to change. Man, a freelance job would be so amazing, because then I could indulge in my night owl tendencies. As it is, the DAY goes by so slowly…. trudge trudge trudge

I checked my email and had a nice one from adamselzer that made me smile, an email from Southwest Airlines telling me they’d given me my free flight (with drink coupons!) award, and an email from Netflix saying they’d reduced my monthly rate. Wooot.

I got into a brand new dentist today. That was neat. I got my teeth cleaned for the first time in, well, let’s not say. Unfortunately, there is some other work to be done (including surgery) that I absolutely cannot afford, so I won’t get getting any of that done for at least a year. My insurance only covers 80% of stuff (even cleanings—most insurances do 100% but OH not mine!) and I simply do not make enough money to incur any debt (cause there’s that pesky little thing called “making payments”), not that they’d give me credit anyway, given recent events. I have to go out and find a 2nd job. HOW, I don’t know. But I have to. Which sucks, unless I can find something freelance and involving editing. I have a hard time finding retail because I can’t work weekends (I have Aidan on the weekends).

But right now, my goal is Chicago, summer of 2008. That means I need to give up some things to make it there. Number one thing I’m doing is cancelling Netflix on July 15th. Why the 15th? Why not now, you ask? Because they don’t give partial refunds for a month already charged, and they just charged me on June 22nd or something like that. I’m getting my month. Also, I want to give them time to cancel the pending charge for July. I don’t need to see new movies all the time, and if things get better, I can go back. Another thing? Look for a second job, and in the meantime, pray I can write something a publisher will buy.

I have so many goals now.

– Move to Chicago | Summer 2008
– Find a job in Chicago | (no later than) Autumn 2008
– Get teeth fixed | Autumn 2008
– Go to grad school for either 1. creative writing 2. library science 3. primary education| 2009 or 2010
– Sell a novel | by 2010

To get there, that means:
– VERY little eating out (unless someone else is paying!). I’m talking once every two or three months at most.
– No more buying clothes (can’t gain anymore weight!!)
– No Netflix.
– Rare road trips. My transportation expenses are already 4.9% over conventional wisdom per month. Gas prices and expensive mandatory insurance.
– No other unnecessary expenses.

Put plainly, to achieve any of my goals, I need more money. And as money tends to come in slowly for me, I have to figure out how to go out and get it… without getting arrested or something in the meantime.

Argh. Frustration.

But this cool. Look what I got in the mail (click to see bigger):

And randomly….

One of my favorite Bob Dylan songs:

Night.

PS – The quote in my subject can be attributed to: WH Auden