You can't shake me

2006-02-19 - 7:24 a.m.

I spent all day yesterday cleaning my apartment and yet it looks worse now than when I started. And when I try to think of what I actually cleaned, I can think of nothing. Well...I threw away a few piles of junk mail. Found and payed a few bills and while I had the checkbook out wrote some checks to a few charitable organizations. And then I went nuts and did my taxes. Can you believe it? It's February. I've never done my taxes in any month other than April. I was relieved to find that I really don't have to pay too much, only $124. Somehow I'd imagined having to write a check for thousands of dollars after everyone had told me I'd need the tax break of buying a house and how I'd stubbornly stayed in my nice rental apartment.

Anyway, doing my taxes of course made my scrutinize my finances. I came to two conclusions. First, I really need to do something about retirement. I've got a fairly large chunk of change just sitting here doing nothing. It needs to do something. Second, I have no idea how my dad supported a family of four while making half as much as I make. I don't feel like I'm just scraping by, but I certainly don't feel rich. I guess actually that I do. I mean, I don't worry about money (besides the retirement thing). When I was growing up we never went skiing or traveled by airplane because that was just too expensive. We rarely even stayed in hotels, when traveling we always camped. And trips to see a play or the symphony were a rarity indeed. Nowadays I do any of these things without giving it a second thought. I never really think about how lucky I am to be able to do that. It'll be different, I suppose, when I have a family to support, but for now, as a single girl, I'm good.

Anyway, yesterday I didn't set foot outside my apartment. Right now I'm digesting breakfast and then I plan on going for a longer run. It's been a while since I last ran. It's hard to work up the energy to go for a run after working tele or CCU shifts, and especially when I'm having to cover both at once. Also, my knees were really sore after last weekend. I'm not sure what exactly caused the soreness (biking, hiking, or volleyball), but I was using that as a back up excuse for not running--I was giving my knees a vacation. They're feeling better now and I'm feeling particularly chubby, so I'm off for a run in a little bit. Plus I'm working CCU all next week so I'd better get in some exercise now.