A Penny Saved

Christmas went well this year. I spent that weekend with my roommate’s family on the other side of the state. We hung out around the house, talked, watched movies, and ate delicious food all weekend. My roommate’s younger sister is my age, and is married and has a 21-month-old. It was weird to hang out with her and her husband, because it’s like looking through a warped mirror at some of the other possibilities of what my life could have been like. It was also weird to play with her daughter, because in college it’s possible to go months upon months without ever talking to, or even seeing, anyone under the age of seventeen. I had kind of forgotten about children, even though I used to baby-sit a lot in high school. So, being around the three of them was like being re-introduced to the real world after the academic sabbatical known as college.

Two of my friends were out here for New Year’s Eve weekend, and that was awesome. They graduated a year before me and have been out in Pennsylvania ever since. K.’s going to grad school out there, while her boyfriend F. works as a programmer. K.’s still deciding whether or not she wants to go for her Ph.D. If she doesn’t, they’ll probably move back here next year, but if she does, they could wind up in any of six states. They drove back on the first.

I have my January paycheck, but I’ll probably have to wait to deposit it until Friday, when the banks are open a little later and I can go after work. My roommate’s been driving me to work because of the poor road conditions, so I can’t go to the bank on lunch break like I usually do. I’d carpool, but no one in my office seems to share my bank, and I was well under budget for last month, so I don’t need the money immediately.

Two factors contributed to being under budget:

1. I didn’t give presents, aside from two vintage Dungeons and Dragons book sets for K. and F. that I bought back in September, an awesome find at a Goodwill for $0.50 a piece. I warned my friends and family of this years no-gifting policy in advance, and most of them were relieved. “Great! That means I don’t have to get you anything!” Precisely. The gift of spending time with them and eating tasty food together was plenty enough blessing for me.

2. I stayed home a lot. I don’t find driving in the snow that pleasant, especially because I’m an inexperienced driver. It’s been snowy here since about December 15th, so I’ve been staying in a lot more since then. That means I spent less money than usual. Instead of going out, I watched lots of Avatar:The Last Airbender (awesome show!) and Sailormoon (another awesome show!); played Dungeons and Dragons with K., F., and my roommate; and played in the snow. We did hit the mall on Saturday when K. and F. were here, and I bought a five pairs of VS cotton underwear. They are my favorite kind (they always fit me perfectly) and were on special 10 for $25, so K. and I went in on one together.

But now vacation time is over, and it’s back to work. My next day off is for Good Friday.