So it seems as if we’ve abandoned this blog. Sorry about that. It’s been a busy couple of months.
We visited Joe’s family in Arizona in November and shortly after returning he got a job!!! We are both relieved that we will have money coming in and better insurance. Our Marketplace plan premiums were due to double in January! Those commercials claiming you can get a plan for $100 a month are lies, don’t apply to Illinois residents, or are the most bare bones plans in existence because we had the lower level ones and were still paying a combined total of nearly $400 per month which was 25% of our income at the time! Plus anything beyond annual exams would be completely out of pocket before a $4000+ deductible was met. This country really needs true health care reform, not this garbage.
In any case, I’m back to being primarily responsible for cooking and cleaning so on my first day of “duty” I reorganized our pantry. We all have our different ways of doing things and I didn’t care for Joe’s pantry setup but left it alone since he was using it more than I was. Now that I’m mostly in charge (not 100% since I do work as well, just not full time like he does) I’ve set it up the way I prefer it.
Another development is that we came home from Arizona with a dog. A puppy, to be more specific. She’s a Shih Tzu mix born on September 21st. Isn’t she the cutest?
It wasn’t planned and it definitely wasn’t a wise financial decision since at the time Joe was still unemployed. Yes, even smart, frugal people make poor decisions with their heart and not their heads. We just happened to get lucky and it all worked out.
Her name is Wookie and she is quite the handful. We didn’t make our decision to adopt her lightly but we still weren’t prepared for all the work having a puppy brings. Joe had dogs growing up but his parents dealt with them. I didn’t have any pets other than fish growing up so this is all new for me. The first week with her was the hardest and our house was messy and disorganized but we’ve settled into a better routine since then.
Joe started his new job on Monday December 12th and flew to Denver for training so I was on my own until that Thursday evening. I work Tuesday through Thursday and had to adjust my lunch break from a half hour to an hour so I could feed Wookie at noon. I work ten minutes from home but even so between the drive and dealing with her I’m lucky to get 15 minutes to scarf down my own lunch. Then when I’d get home from work she’d be understandably starved for attention so I couldn’t get much done outside of playing with her.
Needless to say, last week was pretty stressful for me. I’m sure as she matures things will get better but this whole experience has underscored two things for me – 1) I’m selfish with my time and 2) I totally made the right call when I decided I didn’t want to have kids. How people have kids, pets, and a job while still staying sane is a mystery to me.
We stay sane by not having a pet. That would drive us nuts. Especially in cold Chicagoland winters.
It’s not that bad now that she has the indoor potty pad. She was trying to eat everything outside plus telling us she needed to go out when she didn’t really need to potty so we decided to do potty pad training until her bladder is larger and the weather is warmer. Once it’s spring she won’t have to be taken out every hour and our sanity will remain intact. It’s an adjustment period but worth it for all the love and fun that comes along with having a dog.