be a responsible adult

Annoying legal stuff is being taken care of! I dealt with it, talked to a lawyer at my insurance company, and it looks like this whole thing is frivolous. It’s a long story, but basically I was pulled over by a cop one night and some lady pulled out into the intersection and hit the cop car. Then, she tried to sue me! Lame!

So check this one off the list. Must keep going with the rest now.

The subject of cohabitation was discussed for the first time EVER today, and I wasn’t even the one to bring it up. I was talking about hating my current apartment and how I’d like to move into a nicer place soon, and oh so casually, K says, “We could get a place together if you’re into it.” Just like that.

And of course, I am all for this idea. I was so nervous about even bringing it up because I didn’t want him to feel rushed, and it turns out he’s been thinking about just as much as I have. Go figure.

I don’t know what this goal means, exactly. It’s probably different for everyone. I just feel that I’m ready to step things up a bit in this department. I feel I’ve been heading in this direction (slowly) ever since I got out of my terrible relationship late last year (and into this wonderful new one!).

For me, it involves all this below, some of which involve goals I already have listed on 43T:

- Getting out of debt. I’m thinking I might try consolidation to get rid of the rest of it. I’m not sure this would be any faster than paying it off, chunk by chunk. Making a call to one of these services wont hurt.
- Dealing with DMV/legal stuff. I’ve been putting this off for almost TWO years now (really). It’s time to put an end to these troubles, once and for all! (Don’t ask…it’s a long story which is not all that interesting.)
- Being financially responsible in general. This would include opening an IRA, paying all bills on time (I’m okay with this so far), rebuilding my credit, setting aside more savings. I’d like to buy a house someday, and move into a nicer rental in the meantime. Can’t do any of that with bad credit looming over me.
- Increasing my income. I’m up for a raise soon, but I’m so burnt out at my job right now that I’m not putting 100% effort into it. I took a sick day today because I’m feeling under the weather (and overwhelmed at work), but this will be the last one I take for a very long time, sick or not – I need the money, I need the raise. I’ve also been taking several housesitting/petsitting jobs on the side to generate more income. I somehow need to figure out how to balance working this job with what I really love – books and writing. After I’m back on my feet financially, I should start chipping away at my degree again.
- Taking my relationship to the next level. The next level for us would be…uhh…cohabitation. This wont happen for awhile, though I’m really looking forward to the day it does. I’m an excellent live-in girlfriend if I do say so myself!
- Getting organized. I’m slowly getting there, throwing and giving things away, letting go of the past. I want so much for all of my things to be perfectly spotless and organized. It’s very hard to have a grown-up living space when you share common areas with a man-slob.
- Taking excellent care of myself. Another thing well on the way already. This lovely little thing called HEALTH INSURANCE is helping me out quite a bit. It’s funny that I went so long without, because now I’m reliant on it. I eat pretty well, but should probably go to the gym more often and am still sometimes a total insomniac. I’m working on it.
- Procrastinating less. This has been a 43T goal on my list FOREVER. I can’t seem to kick the last-minute habit. Responsible adults don’t wait until the very last minute for everything, do they?

I have a lot to say about this particular goal, so stay tuned for quite a bit more. Today I’m going to make some phone calls and get a few things going.