ch-ch-ch-changes.

miyuki's job is having a trickle down effect on the rest of our lives.

most obvious, of course, is the financial boost we'll see. her employment, coupled with the benefits she will receive (and hence I can stop paying premiums on) will essentially double our income. and yes, we were living beyond our means these past six months. but no, we hadn't stretched it that far. I expect we will have a surplus of nearly eight hundred dollars to deal with each month. I want to be smart about it, so most will go towards debt reduction and savings. that will still leave a couple hundred leftover for fun. we can go see more movies (it's gotten REALLY lean lately, going to maybe two movies a month at the second run, $3 theatre), and enjoy going out to eat more often. I'm a glutton, and good food is my worst vice.

it will also free up some spare monies to apply towards a gym membership, in part to counteract the gluttony, but also because I just need to exercise.

we've already discussed future expenditures. miyuki needs new clothes for work, she has a fairly limited selection of nice office clothes. she'll have to work on that a bit at a time, at least at first, picking up a piece here and there. I, on the other hand, want only for a new pair of sneakers, and a dozen pairs each of new socks and undies. the rest of my wardrobe is sufficient for my needs. there are other things we spoke about as well... part of our budget includes $100 from each of her paycheques going into a special savings account for vacations. I haven't been on a real, proper vacation since I was 19. I just haven't been able to afford it. this will allow us $2400 a year to go somewhere nice. take a week, go somewhere we've never been. obviously, that won't be enough to go to london or japan or anything, but we can supplement if needed. it should be more than enough for us to finally get to go to eastern canada. a trip to montreal, a trip to the maritimes... I'd like to visit chicago and boston eventually, if only to watch a baseball game and wrigley field and fenway park. I've got friends in missouri I promised to visit at some point as well. maybe visit my cousin in texas? our friend jenn will be in alaska for two years starting this weekend, we could even venture up there in the summer... I've been so few places, I want to see more of the world.

when we get around to buying a house or condo (which should be within two years), I've decided I want a pool table. miyuki was shocked when I showed her how much they cost, but we agreed that, space permitting, it would be nice to have. it would provide entertainment for guests and would give us something more productive than tv to do from time to time. mostly, I just want to learn to shoot pool without looking like a complete ass, and I know that will never happen without practice. and I don't like practicing in bars with other people around.

and then, of course, there's the vespa... I even did some research into the moped army. the seattle chapter is called the mosquito fleet, but I don't know how well I'd fit in. for one thing, I want a new vespa, and the 150cc one. most of the people in the moped army ride old skool mopeds, the ones that look more like bicycles and shit. very few of them appeared to ride newer models. the vespa I want goes 60mph, it's a small motorcycle. short of winning the lottery and buying everyone I know a similar model, I don't think I'll have any part of a vespa gang... we'll see tho. I plan to do a lot of research before I buy, and haven't ruled out buying an older model and learning to repair it.

one of the unexpected results of miyuki's new employment is how it has affected my schedule. since she's up at 5:30 for work every day, I figured I'd do the same. she leaves for work about 6:30, takes the bus and starts her shift by 7:30. I can start mine between 6 and 6:30, and even after putting in 9 or 10 hours, still beat her home from work (my commute is a wonderful thing). this will eventually free me up for things like the gym, but for now I'll probably use the time to run errands, do laundry, etc. I started at 6am today, and my boss mentioned how it didn't make sense for me to start so early, since I'd end up staying late anyway. he's right. so I'll start going in at 6:30. I'll still get up with miyuki, tho, and I'll try something I haven't done in fifteen years: eat breakfast each morning. breakfast had always been reserved for leisurely weekends only, or maybe a fast food drivethru breakfast, which always leave me feeling like crap. I've never had time to eat because I'm always rushed. if I get up with her, I'll have an hour to start my morning. hell, I could even go back to showering in the mornings... I stopped doing that years ago because I realised by showering at night, I could sleep an extra twenty minutes. but miyuki will want to shower at night now as well (so she isn't waking up at 5am), I suppose I could alter my schedule to conserve hot water.

busy busy busy. and if you're not a vonnegut fan, that doesn't mean much to you...