I remember being a kid and thinking (and sometimes saying... okay, shouting...) how much better adults have it than kids. They get to go to work and make money. I had to go to school where in which I was not making money. I had to do homework, where in which again, I was not making money. I was under the impression that if I had a job where in which I was making money, life would be better.
I also remember my parents fretting and reworking a budget when we needed a new appliance or they needed new tires or some other relatively large-ish, non-recurring expense. And I remember thinking, "Why the heck don't you have a couple hundred dollars to just throw at this problem? You make a couple thousand a month! Surely you can afford tires."
And now I'm an adult. And being an adult sucks sometimes.
Don't get me wrong. I love that I own my house and if I want to paint my bedroom hot pink, I can do it. And I love that I can stay up until all hours of the night doing whatever I want. And I love that I can eat candy for dinner. I love that I can do most things without someone telling me I can't. I can cut my hair, paint my nails, wear crazy clothes.
But I don't like that I have to pay for those things. Sure I have a car. Sure I can drive pretty much wherever I want, whenever I want. But I have to pay for gas. And oil changes. And tires.
Sure I can have all the puppies and kittens I could ever dream of. But I have to pay for shots. And food. And toys.
Sure I have a house and can paint my room whatever color I want, do the dishes whenever I want, watch the TV as loud as I want. But I have to pay the mortgage. And the utilities. And all the other obnoxious bills you have to pay to keep a house working. It sucks.
Lately I feel like every month I am paying some extraordinary amount of money for something out-of-the-ordinary. For example, I had to get new tires on my car. Now I know I only have to do this every 3-ish years, but son-of-a-bitch. I had to get a plumber out to clear a drain. I had to pay for car insurance. I have to get a new dryer. I'll have to get my air conditioner tinkered with (hopefully not replaced).
All of these things, these non-formulary expenses, fucking suck. Being an adult fucking sucks sometimes.
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
Thursday, May 2, 2013
Everything's better in Texas.
I'm on vacation!!
Yahoo!
I decided last year that I wanted to travel a whole bunch more, I didn't quite succeed at it for circumstances out of my control (cough cough divorce and lack of funds cough cough). The only places I went outside of Missouri was Iowa for the day with Lauren and then down to my dad's in Alabama. Don't get me wrong, both are great and fun, but I want to throw my net out a little bit more.
Hannah and I decided in December that we were going to go on vacation to some place sunny and warm. We couldn't decide on someplace out of the continental US (funds were again a pretty big deciding factor) so we decided to stick stateside. My options were Texas or California - Texas was the most financially do-able. So here we are!
Our first day was getting to Houston, picking up our rental car, going to Ikea (which was a little disappointing because it was on a Sunday and incredibly crowded. When I went in Chicago, we went during the week and it was a heavenly little ghost town). This one was a mad house. There were people everywhere that weren't paying ANY attention to their surroundings and so many loud kiddos. I got a couple little things - a fun little blanket, some frames for my vacation pictures, and a little basket/bowl thing. Then we drove to Galveston.
We knocked around the little shops (the few that were open) and then had a couple drinks and fancy appetizers at this cute little bistro next to our hotel.
The next morning, we woke up and went to the beach -
Pleasure Pier in Galveston
We hung out near Pleasure Pier, which has a Bubba Gump Shrimp Company and the little amusement park in the background of my photo. We headed back to the historic part of the town where our hotel was, checked out a shop there that was closed the night before (I got a couple souvenirs) and then headed back to the beach in bathing suits!
We headed to Corpus Christi after eating at Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. (where I got another souvenir) The weather on the way to Corpus got dark and stormy, which was unfortunate because turns out, Hannah has crippling anxiety when it comes to bad weather... BUT, we made it safe and sound after a handful of detours.
We grabbed a drink in the hotel "bar" (this word is used loosely) and then went to Whataburger for a midnight snack. The next morning, we woke up and headed to the Texas State Aquarium, grabbed an authentic Mexican lunch, and then went to a really secluded beach that was beautiful and breezy. I got a bit of a sunburn... :(
Taken at the Texas State Aquarium
Wednesday morning we woke up and went back out to the beach - a different one this time, but still really pretty. It was a pretty big bummer of how many people throw their trash on the beach and just don't clean it up. I feel like a beach should always be a little big cleaner when you leave than when you got there. I guess cleaning up a beach for a summer really drilled that into my head. After the beach at Corpus, we headed to San Antonio... which is where we are now.
We checked out the Riverwalk, got some mexican food and then some mexican desserts - Tres Leches cake and Mexican Donuts. It was heavenly and indulgent and delicious. My waistline is not thanking me right now. We went out for drinks afterwards and then Hannah ended up drinking a little more than planned... which is why I am hanging out in the lobby of the Menger Hotel typing on my laptop.
Today, the plan is to get some barbecue at The County Line and then go to Sea World before heading back to Houston for the evening. Then we wake up tomorrow morning and head back to the Show-Me State!
Yahoo!
I decided last year that I wanted to travel a whole bunch more, I didn't quite succeed at it for circumstances out of my control (cough cough divorce and lack of funds cough cough). The only places I went outside of Missouri was Iowa for the day with Lauren and then down to my dad's in Alabama. Don't get me wrong, both are great and fun, but I want to throw my net out a little bit more.
Hannah and I decided in December that we were going to go on vacation to some place sunny and warm. We couldn't decide on someplace out of the continental US (funds were again a pretty big deciding factor) so we decided to stick stateside. My options were Texas or California - Texas was the most financially do-able. So here we are!
Our first day was getting to Houston, picking up our rental car, going to Ikea (which was a little disappointing because it was on a Sunday and incredibly crowded. When I went in Chicago, we went during the week and it was a heavenly little ghost town). This one was a mad house. There were people everywhere that weren't paying ANY attention to their surroundings and so many loud kiddos. I got a couple little things - a fun little blanket, some frames for my vacation pictures, and a little basket/bowl thing. Then we drove to Galveston.
We knocked around the little shops (the few that were open) and then had a couple drinks and fancy appetizers at this cute little bistro next to our hotel.
The next morning, we woke up and went to the beach -
Pleasure Pier in Galveston
We hung out near Pleasure Pier, which has a Bubba Gump Shrimp Company and the little amusement park in the background of my photo. We headed back to the historic part of the town where our hotel was, checked out a shop there that was closed the night before (I got a couple souvenirs) and then headed back to the beach in bathing suits!
We headed to Corpus Christi after eating at Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. (where I got another souvenir) The weather on the way to Corpus got dark and stormy, which was unfortunate because turns out, Hannah has crippling anxiety when it comes to bad weather... BUT, we made it safe and sound after a handful of detours.
We grabbed a drink in the hotel "bar" (this word is used loosely) and then went to Whataburger for a midnight snack. The next morning, we woke up and headed to the Texas State Aquarium, grabbed an authentic Mexican lunch, and then went to a really secluded beach that was beautiful and breezy. I got a bit of a sunburn... :(
Taken at the Texas State Aquarium
Wednesday morning we woke up and went back out to the beach - a different one this time, but still really pretty. It was a pretty big bummer of how many people throw their trash on the beach and just don't clean it up. I feel like a beach should always be a little big cleaner when you leave than when you got there. I guess cleaning up a beach for a summer really drilled that into my head. After the beach at Corpus, we headed to San Antonio... which is where we are now.
We checked out the Riverwalk, got some mexican food and then some mexican desserts - Tres Leches cake and Mexican Donuts. It was heavenly and indulgent and delicious. My waistline is not thanking me right now. We went out for drinks afterwards and then Hannah ended up drinking a little more than planned... which is why I am hanging out in the lobby of the Menger Hotel typing on my laptop.
Today, the plan is to get some barbecue at The County Line and then go to Sea World before heading back to Houston for the evening. Then we wake up tomorrow morning and head back to the Show-Me State!
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