In roughly 24 hours, I will be in my car driving to the Philly airport to leave for FinCon12. To say that I’m excited is an understatement. This,however, actually sums it up perfectly:

I went last year, too, and the amount I learned and eventually applied to this site has helped it become the shining jewel you read daily (or find by accident while searching for unsavory things on the internet. Yes, I’m talking to you. You know who you are). But more than the lessons and information I gained for improving DMS, I also learned the following lessons last year:

• Green drinks, namely mint chocolate martinis, are evil. Particularly when Long Island Iced Teas are consumed beforehand. 
• Hotels will give you complimentary toothbrushes if you forget yours. However, they are one-time use only and you look a little foolish if you ask for more than one. Which means that…
• Having a friend with a car and GPS to help you find the nearest Target is essential.
• You can never have too many business cards and, upon sitting down at a table for a meal, the first few minutes are like a dizzying game of poker. Cards are flying everywhere, and there’s a whole lot of really confused people. 
• If you enjoying sleeping, I’m sorry. It will not happen in nearly the quantity you would like. 
• Smartphones and iPad outnumber conference participants 2:1
• Free alcohol tastes exponentially better than alcohol you pay for. 
• FinCon folks like to get their groove on while on the dance floor. 

Today marks both a beginning and an end.

Today, my child starts kindergarten (and yes, I’m very emotional. I don’t want to talk about it. That line makes my therapist very happy). I haven’t mentioned it much here but, despite our initial intent to put her in private school, the fact that I kind of went crazy, left my job, and decided to attempt to be a writer meant that our funds are now…diminished. We’ve been meeting our basic expenses but there’s not a whole lot left over for over $8000 in tuition for private school. And she made it to #4 on the waiting list for our charter school. As a result, and after extensive research, my daughter will be entering kindergarten in public school. I’m very comfortable with the school, it’s reputation and the bizarre coincidence that the principal and my husband are fraternity brothers.

So there’s that.

As far as the end, it marks the end of the daily assault on my ears. Staying home with my daughter has presented a number of challenges. And none of those challenges were more difficult than having to listen to the same 5 songs. Every. Single. Day. Multiple times a day. When this first started, the songs didn’t bother me. Now? I hate them. I don’t want to listen to them ever again. Ever. Not even in Zumba where my taste in music is substantially relaxed and I actually enjoy songs I normally wouldn’t.

So, to celebrate my ears being released from their auditory hell, I’m going to share some of those songs. I’m considering it their final send-off before I sent them into iTunes prison (which, incidentally, is next to the prison that holds comments from people like Average Joe from The Free Financial Advisor and Shannon from Ready for Zero. I’m strategic like that).

Feel free to click away and not punish yourself. I promise not to hold it against you. In fact, I’ll probably respect you more.

 

Last week, during my therapy session, my therapist and I discussed how important music is to me. Much of the emotion and words I can’t come up with on my own, I can find through songs. I feel music the way some people feel poetry or paintings or photography. It’s that substantial and significant to me.

I talked to her about the importance of the Sick Puppies song “Maybe”. That song, more than probably any other, has a significant impact on my life. It came into my life at just the right moment and, on more than one occasion, it’s provided exactly the reinforcement that I need that the decisions I’ve made are the right ones, even if I doubt them most days. And that got me thinking…

My life needs a playlist. I have a driving playlist, an angry playlist, a working out playlist, and when I’m getting ready to go out or for the day, I just listen to whatever random stuff comes on Pandora or the radio. Which made me ask myself why don’t I have a playlist when I’m feeling down or not confident or some other negative thoughts about myself (I do this a lot, so having this is probably really important)? I told myself that I don’t have a good answer for that question. I then replied, it’s time to get one.

So here it is. I’ve thought long and hard about which songs would be best to play to myself when I feel bad. I’ve added a few in addition to Maybe, If You’re Going Through Hell, and Get Thru This.

Be Good To Yourself by Journey

Favorite lyric “Be good to yourself or nobody else will”

My Life by Billy Joel

Favorite lyric “I don’t care what you say anymore this is my life. Go ahead with your own life, leave me alone”

Three Little Birds by Bob Marley

Favorite lyric “Don’t worry about a thing. ‘Cause every little thing is gonna be alright”

Note: This isn’t Bob Marley singing the song. It’s a cover version that I found on the Bob Marley website. I figured if they thought it was good enough, that’s cool to use here.

Readers, is there anything you would add to this playlist or to your own life playlist? 

So, I kind of missed this Tuesday’s Money Tune post. It wasn’t intentional, I just can’t keep track of days anymore. This is particularly unhelpful when you walk around all day Wednesday thinking it’s Thursday and then you get really disappointed. It’s also confusing and rather unpleasant. But I digress.

As most of you know, I’ve been home with my daughter all summer (hence my lack of participation in pretty much everything). We spend a lot of time talking, playing, going swimming, and just having fun. But what I’m learning is that, sadly, my little baby is growing up. You know that part in Billy Madison where he grabs the kid’s cheeks and yells “You gotta cherish it?” Yeah, I feel like doing that to her most days. Because although being a grown-up definitely comes with its perks (driving, living on your own, being able to purchase alcohol legally, eating pizza for breakfast and ice cream for dinner…stuff like that), it’s also exhausting. There’s so much to remember when you’re responsible for yourself and I remember that time at my alma mater’s homecoming that, while in a bar, I had a conversation about the pros and cons of a flat top stove. Uh huh. That’s the kind of exciting stuff we grown-ups get to talk about. Fun shit, right?

Sometimes, I want to just shirk all of my responsibilities and act like a kid again. And I’m not talking for a day, either. I’m talking permanently. Because this responsibility shit just gets too overwhelming. Then I remember that I like having my own money and my own rules, and I just listen to MXPX’s “Responsibility” instead. It’s a good enough substitute (also, check out Norm in the video. Awesomesauce!).

I LOVE stand-up comedy. Seriously, ridiculously love it. When I was a kid, Saturday nights were the best because after I got home or while I was staying up late at a sleep-over, we would watch comedy specials on HBO or Comic Strip Live (or course this was watched in conjunction with Headbanger’s Ball. I’m eclectic). And I still love it. In fact, stand-up comedy is one of the few interests that I have in common with my husband.

I’ve been fortunate to see some of the greatest comics of all time including George Carlin and Bill Cosby. But one comic I haven’t seen that I am absolutely longing to is Louis CK. He’s freaking hilarious (and completely inventive? Remember what he did a few months ago by selling his stand-up special on his website rather than traditional methods? Remember how much money he made? Remember what he did with it? Yeah. My respect for him increased exponentially after that). I cannot watch him without laughing. Since this is a money site, I figured I’d share one of his funniest bits about being broke. I’m sure that most of us can relate to this (warning: language is completely, utterly, and totally not appropriate for work):

So that’s probably my favorite comedy set about money, next to the SNL skit with Steve Martin and Chris Parnell’s “Don’t Buy Stuff You Can’t Afford”. What’s yours?