Hey guys. We’ve been on hiatus for a little while, but we’re not dead!
We’re also not quite set to go live yet, so don’t celebrate too quickly. There are some nifty things in store, though. I mean, first, check it, new layout. Along with the slightly slicker layout will come a slightly different focus for Living Behind The Curve. You see, it’s changing owners, but only sorta. LBtC was started as Dani’s project, and it followed mostly her idea of what it should be — quite successfully, I might add. It always was a team effort, but times being what they are, it looks like the blog is going to become one of my projects for the foreseeable future.
What does this mean to you, my astonishingly faithful readers? Probably not a whole lot, but that’ll depend entirely on your taste. As you may have gathered over the months, I’m a little less interested in the how-to and a little more interested in the day-to-day of living behind the curve, and the posts will reflect that. You’ll get more ranty analysis from me, for better or for worse*. I will keep cranking out the SRSLY recipes, though, because several people have let me know that I’ll be taking my life in my hands otherwise.
And, honestly? If you’ve spent any time in the Personal Finance realm or the frugality realm or the homesteading realm or any of the other realms we may trip through from time to time, you know as well as I do that there are only so many ways you can write about budgeting, paying down your debt, spending less than you make, and saving money before you want to start jabbing grapefruit spoons into your eyes. (Let’s be honest, all blog niches suffer from this problem.) Once you’ve read The Sacred Gazette and you’ve read the blogs for three months, you’ve pretty much covered your bases. I mean, if you want me to keep beating those old goats to death, let me know and I’ll fulfill your wildest dreams, but for gawd’s sake, aren’t you a little sick of it, too?
So, soon, folks. I promise.
Until then, and in the spirit of the slightly snarkier, bitchier sensibility I’ll probably bring (I did mention that part, right?) I have a story for you. Heather Havrilesky recently wrote about how she “learned to love the recession” in Salon. It’s wonderful that they’re publishing about frugality and all… but… you just go read it, ok? And then come back here and tell me what you think, because I find her whole thing to be insufferably smug and superior. I need other opinions. I don’t want to hate her just because she probably makes twice what I do, and her partner probably makes three times what mine does and she thinks it’s remarkable that she decided that a bag of soup beans were too expensive at $2.69. I don’t want to be that jerk who thinks she’s all hardcore and the rest of the world is full of posers. So set me straight, yeah? Is it my bad attitude, or hers?
* I say this because, unlike every other multi-author blog, you all haven’t seemed to establish any favorites. As far as we can tell, there aren’t any Dani fans or Mer fans, just readers. Which is cool, but also weird. If I’m wrong, let me know in the comments — except for my mom. We all know she like Dani better.
Ok, folks, just a little administrative update. In plain terms, I just ripped everything apart and put it back together again, just for kicks, and also so I can keep the website all nice and up to date on the back end. I’m pretty sure that everything is back where it’s supposed to be, but can one ever be certain about anything? If you happen to stumble across something broken on the site, or something that looks out of place, do hit the contact form or comment here and let me know, ok?
Thanks, you’re a giant, amorphous, electronic, collective doll.
I received some wonderful news today - my former boss was promoted to a position that he has worked long and hard to achieve. It’s a big milestone for him, and will do wonderful things for the organization. Although I had an inkling that this was coming, I was surprised at the onslaught of emotions that hit when I read the message. It was almost like one of those “life flashing before your eyes” moments, but without the pesky near-death experience. In a flash, I remembered the stress from that job and commute, imagined how crazy things will probably be during the transition period for my former department, and let out a huge sigh of relief.
What more could I do? As soon as my new boss came out of her meeting, I hugged her.
You see, as soon as I got that news, I knew beyond the shadow of a doubt that I made the right decision in changing jobs. I wasn’t unhappy with my decision prior to today, mind you - I’ve known all along that this was a very good change for me, one that I was truly enjoying. (I’ve been saying for months now that I “retired” from corporate IT to become an executive assistant.) That moment this afternoon, however, was powerful. I did the right thing, and that feels damn good.
To me, this is a sign that I’m on the right track, and that living behind the curve is the right thing for us. (Walking away from a well-paying corporate job with kick-ass benefits that covered both of us was not a move I made without Mer’s input, after all - that’s not how we roll, yo.) We’ve fleshed out what that means to us in the new year: it’s not just simple, frugal, and fabulous anymore.
Living Behind the Curve is more about life than finance. It’s about discovering, setting, and reorganizing priorities. It’s about enjoying the here and now, while keeping an eye on the future. Living Behind the Curve is living the life you want and working toward more.
Priorities played a huge role in the changes we made in 2007. One of the hardest lessons for both of us to learn is that sometimes you just need to let go - it’s important to enjoy the doing, but it’s equally important to enjoy not doing. So, when life became overwhelming at the tail end of the year, we made changes to our priorities and lifestyle. We cut way back on blogging, not only here but also at Catch the Spoon and our personal blogs. We stopped taking on side jobs. Mer took a break from podcasting, we finally hired someone to clean our house, and we invested in a metric ass-ton of flannel pajamas. Several months later, our house is clean, our stress levels are down, and even though I look like a working-class Hugh Hefner* during my non-working hours (see photo), we are happier than we were a few months ago.
We’re a few days from heading into a new semester, and we have plans to soar through more smoothly than ever before. Thank you all for sticking around during our unplanned hiatus - there’s more SRSLY recipes, silly TV show comparisons, goat-free simplicity, and intents and purchases to come in 2008. (I also owe Sara some holiday recipes…)
Life is freaking awesome and it’s only going to get better - that’s Living Behind the Curve in 2008.
*If wearing silk pajamas would get me an evening or two with Holly, Bridget, and Kendra, I’d *so* be there. Instead, I opt for the much cheaper flannel variety. **
** Mer’s note: Even if wearing silk pajamas did get Dani an evening or two with the Girls Next Door, she’d freeze to death before the cocktail hour was over. Not that that would be a particularly bad way to go, mind you.
Combine all ingredients except chick peas in large zip-top bag; freeze. When ready to serve, place frozen mass in slow cooker and cook on low for 6-8 hours. Add chick peas 20 minutes before serving.
Serve over your favorite starch; I prefer orzo pasta with this dish.
I received some wonderful news today - my former boss was promoted to a position that he has worked long and hard to achieve. It’s a big milestone for him, and will do wonderful things for the organization. Although I had an inkling that this was coming, I was surprised at the onslaught of emotions that hit when I read the message. It was almost like one of those “life flashing before your eyes” moments, but without the pesky near-death experience. In a flash, I remembered the stress from that job and commute, imagined how crazy things will probably be during the transition period for my former department, and let out a huge sigh of relief.