Organizing My Life

Tree from a few years back

Happy December!  Thank goodness we've gotten through November - Adoption Bewareness Month.  I've been busy getting organized and figuring out my life.  It's not easy, but I'm working at it pretty hard.  I used to be super organized and I lost track of it somehow.  So I'm trying to get it back, get back into the swing of things, and get productive again.  I was on a good streak a few weeks ago (Yoga everyday, getting stuff done after work) but then stuff happened and I lost track of things again.  Now I'm realizing that I have to force myself into it.  So I'm back to making lists and figuring stuff out.

I've been meaning to figure out my loan situation for a while now.  I've been getting stuff in the mail (I go into repayment mode next month as it's officially December now!) but it all comes in separately.  I have three different companies for loans (but only two websites to visit - one has two tabs which made me feel stupid when I couldn't find two of my loans).  With the whole apartment thing, I figured that I should really see what I can afford and what I can't.  And I discovered a few things.

First of all, because I've been sending in checks and big chunks of change every time I start to build up some savings, I've whittled down some of my loans already (saving everything last year helped too).  I discovered that I've already paid a very large sum and when I did the math (I'm a math geek) I have already managed to pay 27% of my loans off.  That's almost a third.  Almost.  Considering my loans are huge I'm pretty excited about the whole thing.  So that made me feel better.

I figured out that if I stay at home, I can pay my loans off in two years if I put all my extra money towards them.  Obviously, this is the most ideal situation.  If I have to get an apartment, I can pay them off in three.  So it's a difference of about a year.  This is assuming I don't get a raise (and I've been told I can expect one come the spring) and that I don't pick up an extra job (which is always an option for the weekends) and that there aren't any major financial issues that come up (which could always happen).

I'm going to stay home for now.  I have a few other options to make my life better.  I'm going to start staying with my grandmother on the weekends.  Had I gotten a job in Boston I would have moved in with her during the week to save on gas and the commute, plus she's lonely and 80 and could use some company.  So it's a good solution.  I'm also going to start pointing out when my father is treating me like crap.  I've been biting my tongue, but I think that if it's said out loud, he'll start to see that he's not being respectful or kind to me.  It probably won't work, but I need to try.  And I have places I can go for the night if things get really bad.  It's not ideal, but it will work for now until I can better figure out my situation and see how things go with Rudy.  If he transfers his job, I need to make sure that I'm not stuck in a lease.  If he doesn't, then I have more freedom.

On top of that, I did out my Christmas list and started shopping hardcore.  I have most of my gifts taken care of at this point.  I have a few more things to pick up, but I'm pretty sure I can get it all finished this weekend.  That only leaves wrapping.  Plus I was able to pick up a bunch of stuff for my mom too, so she'll be able to get all of her stuff wrapped next week so by the time Christmas rolls around, she won't stress.  We have a saying in my house.  My mother goes crazy two times a year.  Self-evaluation time for work (which isn't an issue anymore) and Christmas (which I'm trying to make as stress free as possible).  So we'll see how that goes.

I've got a lot going on right now, but I'm processing and dealing with things.  I cleaned my room last night, did a bunch of laundry, and organized my space.  That makes me feel better.  I have a few more things that I need to do, but overall I'm pretty happy with things right now.  I hope it stays that way.