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Today rocked. Totally.

Started off with the awesome news from my sister that my BIL passed his paramedic exam. He has worked extremely hard to earn this, and the corresponding raise he deserves. The guy has more street experience than most of the medics out there, and now he'll be rewarded for it. (And add to his rich trove of hilarious stories gathered while serving St. Louis City's finest inhabitants. I want to ghost write his book some day. He's got some smoov tales.)

Status meeting with my monk went well. It always does, but given my experience with my last boss (who went out of his way to avoid me while simultaneously doing his best to get me to resign), I'm still pleasantly surprised each week. Near the end of our meeting, he looked around my office studiously. "I like the red couch...but would it look better on THAT wall? It would be better feng shui." I think my mouth was hanging open. A Benedictine monk espousing the virtues of Eastern mysticism? I said that it might be better; I haven't really had much time to consider it. "I'll give it a try later." "Want to move it now? I'll help!" And up he jumped with a grin on his face. "I LOVE moving furniture around!" So we ended our meeting by rearranging my office. He was right. His way is much better. He cracks me up.

Lunch with the best friend to celebrate her birfday. Always so great to catch up with her, and I love how she can so succinctly capture how I'm feeling and what I'm experiencing in new perspectives. Plus she calls me on my bullshit, which is the mark of a true friend. I miss her tremendously, and it's mostly my fault. Too much going on, and getting in the way of keeping in touch with her.

Tonight Zozer and I headed out to Dad's to retrieve the cats. M took some Indians out to dinner (Indian Indians, not Native American Indians) so we were on our own. We had a great dinner with Dad and Judy, caught up on everything, and then brought our sweet furballs home. I didn't realize how much I had missed them. My house feels complete again.

Zoe went to sleep straight away as it was past her bedtime, and I settled in with my credit card statements, checkbook, and budget spreadsheet. (Fun!) It's reassuring to see our savings growing again, since we've been digging in deep to cover new home expenses. And the kicker was when I realized that I feel more secure in my new position than I ever did in my old. It's hard to keep paying large bills (granted, they were one-off bills like architect fees, permit fees, utility disconnect fees, demolition services, etc, but still) when you feel like any day your asshole boss could call and say, "You know, this just isn't working out..."

Now, though, I feel like we're past the hard part. New job in which I fit well, am extremely happy, and have already received much appreciation, all of which adds up to a steady paycheck for a bit more than I was making. Stuffing a huge chunk into retirement. Most of the out of pocket expenses for the new house paid. A good handle on what's coming down the pike. Growing savings. Good stuff.

Whew. I need a beer!