Money matters

So, it's Thursday. Yeah.

I'm still battling the cold I had last week, just a bit. Just enough that I feel kind of crappy/achey/headachey when I wake up, and then again in the afternoon. But no fever or cough or anything really debilitating... just that low level murmur of ick.

I'm really proud of the job I pretty much finished yesterday (going in this morning just to clean up). It looks beautiful. I was kind of getting nervous because the client was loitering around the job for about an hour without saying anything about the work, even though she kept looking at it. I was telling myself, "It looks great, if she doesn't like it then oh well," trying to stick to my resolution to care less. Finally on her way out, she said "Thanks Ibis, looks great!" Whew.

I'm going to be a very busy bee next week as I agreed to straddle two jobs at once for this designer. Often I don't have full days because I can only do so much to the room before I need to let everything dry and come back the next day. This is an aspect of the job that I love (and that will make childcare so much cheaper for us when we have a baby) - I can do 4-6 hr days, easily. But I volunteered to work my butt off next week since both job sites are ready for me, and essentially it's an opportunity to make a crapload of money in one week. Then I can probably take a little time off, or not. At any rate, it will make my last week before testing go by quickly!

Sometimes I worry a bit about how I'm going to manage working pregnant. Mostly it's just a bridge I'll cross when I come to it. But sometimes I think about it. I have talked/emailed with other women in the business who have kids, and they have told me that they were able to keep working pretty far into the pregnancy, sometimes all the way to the end... just having some trouble with ladders toward the end because of balance issues. I guess it depends on how active you are beforehand, and how little or how much pregnancy kicks your butt. I feel pretty confident I can do it, especially since I don't have to put in very many hours per day, and often have breaks.

But that is one reason it's crucial for us to save, save, save, this summer. I have to fund my own maternity leave. I know I can do it, but it will mean being disciplined. Last summer I made good money, but every month we spent too much on something big: June, we spent too much on my birthday. July, we spent too much on going to Chicago for Lollapalooza. August, I don't remember but I know there was something. September, we went to Massachusetts for my friend's wedding and that cost a fortune. We just have to rein it in this summer and focus on baby, baby, baby. Like that will be hard... ha.