When will the rest of the world grow up and get a clue? Right now I'm tired of budgeting and scrimping and saving just to be able to do something fun in the distant future. I'm really tired of it. I'm cashing in all my survey points and doing what I can around here like recycling my bottles to get some spare change together.

Oh, I'm not dead broke right now. I just see lots of plane tickets in the future and no clue how I'm going to pay for all of them. I may have to ask the inlaws to cover one of the tickets. This is the downside to being responsible enough to want to pay the rent and car note on time the rest of the summer.

I also want to do something fun when my Boy comes home. I want to go away with him overnight to the Lodge, for at least one 24 hour period. We can lock the door and watch tv together, and hold each other so tightly it feels like we're attached. It's a stereotype. It's something you see in comic strips or in teenagers making out in public with no regard for the rest of the world. Now we're two "mature" married people, we're parents for godssakes, and we're going to be doing that.

I can't even put it into words right now how I feel at the thought that if I can just squirrel away enough pennies, I can do this. It gives me hope. It gives me some strength. It kicks me in the ass to do it again and to keep scrimping.