things are looking up... and down

last night things were starting to look up! i had finally started feeling better, so i was able to get some grading done and enter it in the gradebook before leaving work. then, andrew and i went and picked up my engagement ring from the jared people. it'd been sent off to scott kay for the second time since it was first made because there was a loose stone, and it needed to be resized back to a 6.5 (when we had it reset the first time, it somehow increased in size??). it looks beautiful, and despite a slight rough spot where the engraving guy got a little pressure-happy, is even more perfect than ever. i really missed my beautiful rock, and it's so nice to have it back, set right, and the right size!

then, andrew and i ate at home and used his comps to see dearly departed at state. though the performance location was pretty lame (in one of the ballrooms in the student union, where they usually hold madrigal dinner), and the crowd was less-than-professional (the girl behind me not only let her phone ring during the play, but actually attempted ANSWERING IT while the performance was going on!!!), the actual performance gets a wholehearted two-thumbs-up! andrew frequently gets comps to the shows at state because he works on a lot of them, and i am not always exactly thrilled at the performance level, but this play was truly enjoyable. it is meant to be funny, and it is. while the actors are not all experienced or broadway material, i really thought the majority of the acting was terrific. and that coming from a harsh critic like me (as all my guard girls know), is high praise.

after the play, we came back and since i felt better for the first time in a few weeks, i stayed up -- way too late. so this morning some of the good i felt from hibernating all week was reversed by my dumb desire to not be lame for one night. here's where we go from the looking up to the looking down... i hurt this morning trying to get up, and i barely made it out the door in time to get to work, but that was ok. classes went alright despite the students' abysmal performance on our last quiz (which should have all been review from like 2nd grade), and then i got the paycheck i've been waiting for. the one that will answer all my prayers of our financial woes. and it was WAY less than i thought it'd be. see, i decided to have extra taxes taken out to account for joint filing this year... so there's a large chunk that, since andrew isn't working, shouldn't really be taken out. then, on top of that, i didn't realize that ewa pays on a 12-month, rather than 10-month calendar. so a huge chunk that i was expecting to receive isn't there because it's going to pay for those two months i'm not actually teaching. see, i guess i'll be excited about this during the summer, when i continue to receive a paycheck for nothing, but right now it is not cool. and i was planning on working this summer anyway, so while it will be nice to have double the income then, it is scary right now.

andrew's been working jobs all week long in an effort to contribute, and i'm so glad, but the bills just keep rolling in, and i can't wait until he's got something full time. oh well, tonight jackie and i are joining carrie and mike and a bunch of their friends for a wine-tasting "event", and jackie has promised to take my mind off this monetary stress! i'll just have to be positive - yay!